History of Litchfield county, Connecticut, Part 166

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

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Another truly New England feature in this their first solemn agreement is seen in the ample provision made for a school, "that learning might not be neg- lected to the children." Our fathers were republi- cans, rejecting with abhorrence the divine right of kings. Upon republican principles they formed their civil institutions. They thought the church should be accompanied by the school-house. In this way they judged intelligence and good morals could best be propagated.

It is interesting to notice, also, the poverty of our ancestors at this time. All the expenses growing out of the purchase and settlement of the plantation were to be paid in wheat, peas, and pork, in equal propor- tions as to value, and if any settler was so poor that he could not obtain a surplus of these beyond the wants of his own family, then he was to pay in other articles to the satisfaction of the committee having charge of the expenses of the settlement.

.In our times we fail to appreciate the difficulties attending the founding of a new town in New Eng- land. The first signers to the covenant to found a new town at Woodbury were but seventeen, but there were as many founded most other towns in New Eng- land. The territory of our town comprised a whole

county, and the number of noble men who founded it, and removed their families here during the first two years after its settlement, was fully equal to that of most New England colonies at the date of their set- tlement. There were but forty-one signers to the articles on board of the "Mayflower," on the 11th of November, 1620, for the founding of the cele- brated colony of Plymouth. The first grant of the entire colony of Connecticut was made to eleven persons, and the first three towns, in 1635, were settled by about sixty persons, men, women, and children, or twenty to each town, a much smaller number than that which first colonized Woodbury. Roger Williams pitched his tent at Providence, founded Rhode Island, and formed a body politic for the advancement of religious freedom when his fol- lowers only numbered seventeen. Massachusetts Bay Colony had a still smaller beginning. At first it was nearly a failure, and for a considerable time was held only by Roger Conant and three other " disheartened companions," and yet, in his lofty trust, he believed that " God would make this land a receptacle for his people." Let it not be considered, then, that the founding of Woodbury was an inconsiderable or trivial affair. The history of an early Connecticut town is the history of a colony, or State, or the Union in miniature. In no way can we form so accurate an estimate of the dangers and difficulties that beset our fathers, the hardships borne, and the labors performed to secure the liberty and unnumbered blessings which we now enjoy as by a perfect history of the events and struggles of such a town.

In our day, surrounded by the comforts, conveni- ences, and luxuries of life, we can little estimate the hardships encountered by the men and women who first trod these now smiling valleys. They had no covering for their heads but the overarching heavens, no lodgings for their weary, travel-worn bodies but camps made of evergreen trees. There were no pub- lic roads and no vehicles. The first females, as well as the males, went on foot or on horseback through a trackless wilderness, guided by marks upon the trees or feeling their way wherever they could find room to pass. In the midst of the first drear winter their pro- visions gave out, and some of the settlers were obliged to make their way through the pathless forests to the older settlements for food to sustain them during the remaining winter months. Some of those sturdy men went to Stratford, a distance of thirty miles, with hand-sleds, and returned laden with corn for their pressing necessities. We can have but a faint idea of the dangers that surrounded those early found- ers on such a journey, exposed to all the perils and privations of those interior forests. Added to their lack of bread, the pioneers had neither dwellings nor clothing sufficient to prevent suffering. Should any emergency happen, they were cut off from any suc- cor or effective retreat. What a sad beginning had this now fair and opulent town on the Pomperaug !

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It was necessary to erect and fortify houses, to make roads, and to spend much time in watching, training, and preparation for defense against the In- dians of New York. Everything was to be con- structed from rude materials or brought from a great distance and procured at a dear rate. They were obliged, with little previous knowledge of the art, to break ground on bare creation, drawing their sub- sistence from an unwilling soil. That fifteen families in the wilderness, before they had time to provide for their own pressing wants, should undertake to support a minister of the gospel shows the abiding confidence, the lofty trust of those men of iron nerve. Every- thing must be manufactured by themselves or they must go without the indispensable necessaries of life. They, being only tillers of the soil, must become their own blacksmiths, carpenters, shoemakers, cloth- iers, and tailors. "The grim present was lowering upon them with all its sharp and angular realities." But they accepted the chances with a firm reliance upon Providence.

How did our forefathers dress? What were their costumes and fashions? All the garments of both sexes were of homespun, of their own manufacture, from the raw material to the perfected garment. The small-clothes, and even the coats of the men, were often made of deer-skins and leather. Nothing is more commonly mentioned in the early inventories of estates. And yet, amid all this rigid simplicity, the General Court, four years after the settlement of Woodbury, passed an aet against the excess of ap- parel among the people, as "unbecoming a wilder- ness condition and the profession of the gospel ;" ordering that any person who should wear any cloth- ing that should be "apparently beyond the necessary end of apparel for covering or comeliness," should, on due conviction, forfeit ten shillings for every of- fense. How great a commotion would be caused by the passage of such a law in the present days of fool- ish extravagance !

So numerous had the arrivals of our ancestors be- come in the new plantation of Pomperaug during the year 1673, that at the May session of the General Court, in 1674, it was made a town, called Woodbury (meaning a "dwelling-place in the wood"), and ex- empted from taxes for four yours. In May, 1675, a committee was appointed to lay out a road to Derby, and Stratford was ordered to construct a road to the same place. This committee did not report till May, 1677; and it is probable that it was not completed under several years, so that the settlers remained secluded from all the world for many years.

CHAPTER LXXI.

WOODBURY (Continued).

King Philip's War in 1675-Inhabitants of Woodbury go back to Strat- ford-Orders of the General Court-Rev. Mr. Walker's Letter-Inhab- itants Returo in 1677-The First Three Corn Mills-Town First Rep- resented in the General Court in 1684-Patent Granted to the Town in 1686-General Court grants the North Purchase to the Towo in 1703-Sanie Purchased of the Indians in 1710.

BUT far more serious evils awaited the adventurous pioneers in this " dwelling-place in the wood."

In June, 1675, King Philip's war broke out, and filled this and the neighboring colonies with the gloom and terror which always accompany Indian warfare. The startling intelligence of a general combination of all the Eastern tribes for the utter extermination of the white race fell with a sad cadence on the afflicted ears of the settlers. Philip, with his fierce band of relentless warriors, appeared suddenly on the scene of action, and misery and de- struction followed in his trail. Every portion of the colony suffered from the predatory excursions of the savages and continual alarms. The frontier towns, like Woodbury, were particularly exposed to destrue- tion. The General Court, deeply affected with the apparent dangers, enacted military regulations of the most careful and rigorous kind. It was equivalent to putting the whole colony under martial law. Sixty soldiers were to be raised in each county, places for refuge and defense to be immediately fortified in every plantation, disobedience of orders in time of attack to be punished with death, and no male be- tween the ages of fourteen and seventy to be suffered to leave the colony without permission. Each plan- tation was to keep-a sufficient watch from sunset to sunrise, and to keep one-fourth of the town under arms every day, taking regular turns. The watch was directed to call up every man in the town an hour before day, and each one was directed to armi himself, repair to his appointed ward, and there stand guard, ready to repel any attack till half an hour after sunrise, when the "warders" again took their places. Scouts on horseback were also sent into the woods each day to look for the foe, with directions to go only so far as to enable them to return by nightfall. These orders were carried out with alaerity by our town. This was then the most remote northwestern town in the colony, and one of the most exposed. It was known both by the whites and Indians that persons sleep soundest just before the dawn, and hence the order that every inhabitant should be awakened by the watch, and called to arms an hour before day. Guards were stationed on Lodge, Ore- nang, and Castle Rocks to watch for the enemy and protect the inhabitants. Fortified houses were erected on Lodge Rock, on the location now occupied by the house of Mr. Horace Hurd, in West Side, and near Widow Nathan Warner's dwelling-house, in Judson Lane, to receive the settlers in case of assault. It is

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more than difficult, at this distance of time, to real- ize the trials and alarms which must exist in such feeble communities, reminded each hour of their desperate condition by regulations of such severity as those that had been adopted. Every effort was made for the public safety, but the dangers thiek- ened so darkly around them that the settlers were obliged, early in the summer, to remove their wives and little ones to Stratford, " a place," as stated in their characteristic language, "of more hopeful se- curity." This was rendered the more necessary, be- cause their men, as often as they went to the "seaside towns," or their necessary business, were pressed into the service, so that, as we learn from an autograph letter of Rev. Mr. Walker, in October, 1676, a greater number of men from Woodbury, proportioned to its population, was engaged in King Philip's war than from any other town in the colony. Notwithstanding all these discouragements and dangers, our fathers, after having conducted their households to Stratford, returned to Woodbury, raised and secured their crops, and carried them to Stratford in the autumn.

But the plantation was by no means given up. During the year 1677 the inhabitants slowly returned to the new settlement. In May, 1678, the General Court ordered the remainder to return by the 1st of November, on pain of forfeiting their lands in the town. Immediately after this the town passed a vote that the order of the court should be strictly enforced, and requested the town clerk to write a letter to those who neglected to return, urging them to come back to their lands. In writing this letter, the clerk, Capt. John Minor, urged them to return, saying, " Friends, it is far from our desire that any of you should be abused by this act of ours. We covet not your lands, but your company. We desire not to displease any of you, but if we cannot please you upon lower terms than by undoing ourselves, we assure you that we can- not come to that price." This action of the court and town brought the wandering children home. In June of this year Mr. Walker came with his family to reside, permanently, with his people at Woodbury. Previous to this time his family had resided at Strat- ford, and he had ministered at both places, as occa- sion required. The householders at this time prob- ably numbered about sixty. It is known that there were as many as that four years later. This would show the whole population to be about three or four hundred.

Previous to this date they had had no corn-mill, and had no flour or meal, except what they could get occasionally at Stratford. Even on wedding occasions -those times of great interest among all nations- the principal dishes at the marriage feast were bean porridge for soup, and for the other courses an enor- mous plate of pork and beans, with bread made of pounded corn. How would such a wedding entertain- ment suit our lady friends of the present day ? This deprivation was too great to be borne by our fathers, and

accordingly they procured a set of small mill-stones at Stratford, so diminutive in size that they brought them here on horseback. This was probably in 1674, and they were the only ones used till 1681. They prepared mill-gearing, built a small shed on Middle Quarter Brook, a few rods easterly from the house of the late Deacon Eli Summers, and set their mill in operation. It is said that when it was in complete running order one could grind a bushel of grain per day. Each settler, in turn, carried his grist to the mill in the morning, set it in motion, and went for his meal at night. One of these mill-stones is still in existence, and is fastened to the base of the fathers' monument. Traces of the old dam, also, exist.

But the inhabitants had become so numerous before 1681 that the old mill was entirely inadequate to the wants of the town. It had, therefore, granted " mill accommodations" of land, and other considerations, on the west side of the river, to Jobn Hurd, to " en- courage" him to take upon himself the responsibility of building a " corn-mill" of sufficient capacity to do all the grinding required by the town. The date of this agreement is Aug. 28, 1681. He erected his mill about fifty rods westerly from his dwelling-house, which stood where the Hon. N. B. Smith's now stands. It was erected immediately under the hill, and the water for its accommodation was brought in a ditch-faint traces of which remain-from the Pom- peraug River, about one hundred rods distant, and discharged into the river again about fifty rods below, the mill nearly in rear of " Parson Stoddard's house." The dam was built across the river west of the mill, the bed-sills of which are to this day in a good state of preservation, though it is just two hundred years since they were placed in the river, and can be seen at low water. Hurd and his heirs carried on the mill for ten years, but the floods carried away the dam so often that they gave up the contract. The town then, Feb. 15, 1691, made a contract with John Mitchell and Samuel Stiles to carry ou the mill. There was a stipulation that if after further trial the dam could not be made to stand at the present location, then they might build it "elsewhere with the consent of the town." For the " encouragement of the miller" thirty pounds were granted, and a ten-acre accom- modation was entailed to the " Mill and Miller" that should do the grinding power, so that it could not be conveyed away. This "accommodation" was laid out in Ragland, and has been owned by the owners of the mill to this day. On the part of the miller it was stipulated that he should "well and seasonably grind from time to time, and at all times, all such corn as each and every of the inhabitants of Woodbury shall bring to said mill to be ground." It being found impossible to maintain the dam at the first locatiou, the " millers" soon established the mill near the pres- ent mill and factory of Daniel Curtiss' sons, in which place a corn-mill has ever since been kept up iu ac- cordance with the terms of the entailment.

693

WOODBURY.

At the May session of the General Court in 1684, Capt. John Minor and Lieut. Joseph Judson appeared as members. This was the first time the town had been represented, and at that session the court granted that the " Woodbury sallery for their deputies shall be fifty shillings a session." There was a previous regulation, by which each town was to furnish the use of a suitable nag, upon which its representatives might be carried, in proper state, to the place of legislation.

About the same time uneasiness began to arise in the minds of the inhabitants in relation to the title by which they held their lands. The territory of the town had originally been granted to the committee of the Second Church at Stratford, under the injune- tion or proviso that they should receive as many in- habitants to rights and privileges in their lands as the plantation would conveniently accommodate. The extent of territory was large, and it was a much more desirable place for habitation than most other inland towns. Under these circumstances many per- sons offered to be admitted to the privileges of pro- prietorship in the plantation, and the authorities did not see fit to admit all of them. It was very natural for these persons to question the rights of those al- ready located there, and to threaten to have the title by which they held their lands inquired into. It is possible that this was the particular moving cause that induced the town to send deputies to the General Court this year, when it had rested quietly without representation for ten years after its legal organiza- tion as a town. Previous to this the people had re- mained content with the measure of law and justice meted out to them by their committee of the princi- pal men of the place, who ruled in accordance with the "written word." At the May session of the Gen- cral Court, May, 1685, the citizens petitioned for a patent, and at the May session, 1686, it was granted in ample form. At the May session, 1703, this patent was confirmed, and the town during the same year confirmed all the grants of land it had previously made.

At the same session the court granted an addition to the north side of the town, containing seventeen thousand four hundred and eighty-two acres and sixty rods of land. This was called the North Pur- chase, and covered the present town of Bethlehem and Judea Society in Washington.

The town having obtained this grant of the court in 1703, commenced negotiations for the purchase of the same of the Indians, but did not complete the bar- gain till June 23, 1710, when a deed was executed by Nunawague, Chesguncage, Cocksherry, Wussutta- nunckquet, and Sasaw. The town had now full and undisputed title to its entire limits, both from the General Court and the native proprietors.

CHAPTER LXXII.

WOODBURY (Continued).

Character of tho First Settlers-Capt. John Minor-Capt. William Cur- tiss-Hon. Samuel Sherman-Hon. John Sherman-Lieut. Joseph Jud- son-Lieut. Israel Curtiss-Col. Joseph Minor-Hackaliah Preston -- Hon. William Preston.

THE original signers of the fundamental articles, as we have seen, were seventeen in number. Fifteen of these, undoubtedly, removed to the new plantation during the first year. It is not certain that the two aged planters, Samuel Sherman, Sr., and Joseph Jud- son, Sr., ever resided here, although they had larger "accommodations" than most of the other proprietors.

First among the settlers, men of note in Woodbury, and foremost in all difficult undertakings, was John Minor, an interpreter to the Indians, a justice of the quorum among the magistrates, a captain in the militia, and a deacon in the church. He was also a surveyor, a necessary and important character in a new country. All the Indian deeds in this region were executed be- fore him, from his being able to act as an interpreter. Early in life he acquired a good knowledge of the Indian dialects, and conversed in them with fluency. To perfect him in this knowledge, the magistrates of Connecticut sent him to school and college two or three years, wishing to prepare him for a preacher of the gospel to the Indians. He lived with Rev. Mr. Stone, of Hartford, for several years, and acted as interpreter for him when he preached to the Indians. Hle was town clerk of Stratford for ten years from 1666, with the exception of a year, and held the same office for thirty years from its beginning. He was also, for twenty years, almost always a member of the General Court, held an influential position there, and was ap- pointed on committees for the composing of serious differences and the solving of difficult questions. He died at an advanced age, and was buried in the south- west part of the ancient burying-ground, but no stone remains to mark the spot.

Capt. William Curtiss was another early founder of Woodbury, of high standing in the colony, and one of the grantees in the plantation. IIe was from Rox- bury, Mass. His name was usually spelled " Curtice." It does not appear that he bought an interest in the plantation himself, but he was its fast friend, and sent two of his sons, Lieut. Israel and Joshua, with the first settlers. He was a member of the General Court, ten or twelve years, from Stratford ; often a commis- sioner, or justice of the peace ; and from year to year appointed by the court on important committees in various parts of the colony. Ile was appointed, Nov. 23, 1673, captain of the forces raised in Fairfield County to serve ngainst the Dutch at New Amsterdam (New York). In October, 1675, he was appointed, by the General Court, captain of the sixty men to be raised in Fairfield County to serve in King Philip's war, with power to nppoint his inferior officers. In May, 1676, when the people of Woodbury were nt Stratford on

694

HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

account of this war, he and Mr. Samuel Sherman were appointed commissioners for "Stratford and Wood- bnry."

Intimately associated with the last uamed in all that related to the welfare of the town, was the Hon. Samuel Sherman. He was, at the date of its settle- ment, undoubtedly the most distinguished man con- nected with the enterprise. He was from Dedham, Essex Co., England. Came to this country in 1634, and previous to the date of the new plantation had been a leading man in the colony. He had assisted in the settlement of several other towns in the colony, and now undertook the same for Woodbury. He had been a member of the Court of Assistants, or Upper House of the General Court and Supreme Judicial Tribunal, for five or six years from 1663, and held various offices of honor and trust. He is referred to in ancient deeds and documents as the " Worshipful Mr. Sherman." In 1676, as stated above, he was one of the commissioners for "Stratford and Woodbury." It is not certain he ever resided here, although he took a first-class " accommodation" in the grant of the Gen- eral Court. If he did not remove personally to Wood- bury, he evidently caused liis lands to be improved in accordance with the articles of the settlement. They are "recorded to" him May 26, 1675, and on the 22d of June, 1679, it is further recorded that "Mr. Sherman having enjoyed and improved his accommo- dations to this 22d of June, 1679, according to the grant of y* town," has now an " absolnte and positive record to him of the same according to law." He deceased previous to October, 1684, and his sons, Matthew and John, agreed on a division of said lands. He may have resided here, but it is probable that, being advanced in years and comfortably settled in Stratford, he continued to reside there till his death. He furnished one son (John) for the first company, and subsequently two other sons, Samuel and Mat- thew, for other companies. His son, Hon. John Sher- man, was one of the first company, and his farm is more particularly the property of the town than the last two. He was distingnished not only in his town, but also in the colony. He was a justice of the quo- rum, or Associate Connty Court judge for forty-four years from 1684, a representative of the town for sev- enteen sessions, and speaker of the Lower House in May and October, 1711, and May and October, 1712. He was town clerk twenty-five years, and captain in the militia, a high honor in those days. He was the first judge of probate for the district of Woodbury from its organization in 1719, nine years. This dis- trict then comprised all the settled portion of the present county of Litchfield, and Waterbury, in New Haven County. He was also an assistant (or senator) for ten years from 1713.

Lieut. Joseph Judson, Sr., another subscriber to the Fundamental Articles, was a man of note before the removal to this town. He came from Concord, Mass. He was deputy to the General Court there some six

years, and otherwise distinguished. After the settle- ment of Woodbury he was sent as a depnty, with John Minor, to the session of 1684, being the first time the town had been represented, and continued to represent the town for four sessions afterwards. He was one of the leaders of Rev. Mr. Walker's party at Stratford. He had a first-class "accommodation," but it is not certain that he lived here till the close of his life, as a part of his land was afterwards sold to pay a ministerial rate. His son, John, another " original signer," was a prominent individual in the town and colony. He died Jan. 12, 1709-10, aged sixty-three years.

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History of Litchfield county, Connecticut, Part 166

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