History of Middlesex county, Connecticut, with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Part 5

Author: Whittemore, Henry, b. 1833; Beers, J.B. & Company, publishers
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York : J. B. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 818

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The intercalated sheets of trap are much harder than the associated sandstones, and this fact has produced a characteristic effect upon the topography of the district. The Connecticut Valley, since its elevation above the sea level, has suffered a great amount of erosion by the action of water and ice. The trap, owing to its greater hardness, has offered much greater resistance to erosion than the comparatively soft sandstones and shales. Hence, the trap sheets generally reveal themselves, in the topography of the district, as north-and-south ridges.

These ridges, which are remarkably uniform in char- acter, present generally an almost precipitous face to the west; while the eastward slope is gentle, corresponding nearly with the dip of the strata. The summit of the ridge is formed by the sheet of trap, while the baked strata of the underlying sandstone may often be seen beneath the trap on the steep west face. The most ex- tensive trap ridge of the Connecticut Valley is the one which extends from the Hanging Hills of Meriden to Mount Holyoke, in Massachusetts. A considerable ridge lies just on the western boundary of Middlesex county, extending from Paug Mountain, in the southwest corner of Durham, to Higby Mountain, on the western border of Middletown. Similar trap ridges are found in the sandstone basin of New Jersey; but in those the steep face is eastward, the dip of the strata being westward. The palisades on the Hudson afford a classical example of such a ridge.

While the development of igneous rock in connection with the Connecticut Valley sandstones is so extensive, there is remarkably little exhibition of igneous rock in the metamorphic region which occupies the larger part of Middlesex county. There is, however, one remarkable

dike of trap, which extends almost continuously across the metamorphic region of Connecticut, from Branford on the south, to Stafford on the north, and continues thence northward into Massachusetts This dike crosses the towns of Killingworth, Haddam, and Chatham, in Middlesex county.

IV. The Quaternary.

No rocks of Cretaceous or Tertiary age occur in Middlesex county, The only geological phenomena, therefore, which remain for consideration, are those relating to the Quaternary age. In the earliest epoch of the Quaternary-the Glacial epoch-as is now well known, all the territory of the northeastern United States and Canada was covered by a vast glacier- a glacier such as those now existing in Greenland and in the Antarctic. The terminal moraine marking the south- ern boundary of the ice-sheet has been traced on Long Island, and westward across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Middlesex county shows the same character- istic evidences of glacial action which are found in other glaciated regions. These evidences are twofold. One class of signs is seen in the peculiar forms and surfaces of rocks, resulting from glacial erosion-the rounded forms of roches moutonnées and the smoothed, polished and striated surfaces. The markings are often well pre- served on the harder rocks, as the quartzite of Co- balt Mountain and the trap rocks. They may be seen even on the softer rocks, when a fresh surface is laid bare by the removal of the superficial drift ; but of course on soft rocks the marks are speedily effaced by weathering. The other characteristic evidence of glacial action is the ubiquitous deposit of drift-the irregularly stratified or entirely unstratified superficial mass of clay, sand, and gravel, often containing large boulders. Sometimes iso- lated boulders are perched on the summits of hills com- posed of an entirely different kind of rock.

The melting of the continental glacier in the Cham- plain epoch produced, of course, great floods in all the rivers. There is no more interesting chapter in the geological history of Middlesex county than that which relates to the post-glacial flood in the Connecticut River.

Every one who has observed, at all attentively, the lower Connecticut (or the lower, non-torrential portion of almost any river), has learned to recognize the alluvial meadows or flood-plains by which the river is bordered. They are ordinarily dry, but in times of flood are covered by the water ; and their elevation above the ordinary water level is an indication of the height of the floods. Now the valley of the Connecticut is bordered, in many places, by strips of plain elevated far above the modern flood-plains, but exhibiting the same characteristically level surface, and beariug indubitable testimony to the height of the water in the post-glacial floods. These ancient flood-plains, elevated above the modern flood- plains, are called terraces. The highest terrace, marking the maximum height of the flood, increases in altitude as we go northward. At the Shore Line Railroad bridge, at Saybrook, the highest terrace is 36 feet above mean

GENERAL HISTORY.

tide level ; at Essex, 58 feet ; at Chester, 78 feet ; at Goodspeeds, 94 feet ; at Higganum, 125 feet ; at Maro- mas, 152 feet ; at Middletown, 195 feet ; at Hartford, 210 feet ; at Springfield, 240 feet.

A part of this enormous height of water is undoubtedly due to the subsidence of the land. Strata containing marine shells of recent species, now elevated above the sea level, prove that in the Champlain epoch the north- ern part of North America stood at a lower level than at present, and that the amount of the subsidence increased progressively northward. On the shore of Long Island Sound the amount of subsidence below the present level was about twenty-five feet ; at Montreal, it was five hundred feet ; and, in the Arctic regions, it was more than a thousand feet. As the amount of this subsidence can be indicated only by marine formations, we have no exact measure of the subsidence in districts remote from the coast. In the Connecticut Valley the subsidence un - doubtedly increased northward ; but whether at a uni- form or at a varying rate we know not. Probably the amount of the subsidence at Middletown was not far from fifty feet, and at Springfield not far from one hund- red feet.

Making allowance for the subsidence of the land, we should still have a flood at Middletown one hundred and forty feet or more above mean tide level. That amount of elevation may be assumed to be due to the increase in the volume of water by the melting of the glacier. The Connecticut River, at the maximum of the post-glacial flood, must have been indeed a colossal stream. From Hartford to Springfield and beyond, it averaged fifteen miles in width. Only a part of that vast flood found its way to the sea through the present channel of the lower Connecticut. In at least three places-the first north of Mount Tom, the second between Springfield and West- field, Massachusetts, the third between Hartford and Meriden-the Connecticut overflowed westward into the valley now occupied in various parts by the Farmington, Quinnipiac, and Mill Rivers. A part of the waters of the Connecticut resumed, therefore, in the post-glacial flood, the position of the old Triassic estuary, and reached the Sound at New Haven.

The subsidence of the post-glacial floods, and the re- elevation of the land which had sunk below its present level, brought the region substantially into its present condition, and formed the conclusion of its geological history.

NOTE .- In such an article as the foregoing, elaborate bibliographical references seem unnecessary. It may be well, however, to mention the principal authorities on this subject. Percival's "Geology of Connecticut " gives a very full and accurate account of the distribution of the different rocks, and from his work the map (see p. I), illustrating the present article has been taken. The main authority on the Quaternary Geology is Prof. J. D. Dana. His papers on the subject have been published in the "American Journal of Science," and the "Transactions of the Connecticut Academy." Important papers on the trap rocks have been published by W. M. Davis and B. K. Emerson, in the " Bulletin of the Museum of Com-

parative Zoology," and in the " American Journal of Science." Information on many points bearing on the geology of our county may be obtained from Dana's " Manual of Geology," Dana's "System of Mineralogy," and Hitchcock's "Geology of Massachusetts."

CHAPTER III.

EARLY SETTLERS.

I T is not possible now to learn when the first settlers came into the territory now included in Middlesex county. It has been stated that English settlements com - menced in Saybrook in 1635, and in Middletown in 1650; but probably there were settlers in both towns prior to those dates. The first settlers were almost wholly of En- glish descent. Some came directly from England, but more from older settlements in the colonies of Connecti- cut and Massachusetts.

Dr. Trumbull estimated the number of inhabitants of Connecticut in 1713 at 17,000; and probably the towns now included in Middlesex county had 3,000 of these. The population of these towns at different periods is given elsewhere. It may here be remarked that from the first slavery existed among the people here, and that there were in the county in 1790, 208 slaves; in 1800, 72; in 1810, 57; in 1820, 8; in 1830, 2; and in 1840, but one. The slavery which existed here had practically but few of the odious features that characterized the institution in some portions of the country. The slaves were gener- ally kindly treated, and care was taken that in their gradual manumission they should not be cast helpless on the world, but that they should be cared for in their youth by their owners, and provided for in their declin- ing years by those whom they had served.

The first settlers of New England left Europe and came here in order that they might worship God accord- ing to the dictates of their own consciences. To accom- plish this object they renounced the luxuries of the Old World, and encountered hardships of which their de- scendants can have but a slight conception. Field says they were "strict in their religious principles and prac- tices. Attentive to public and family worship, they caused their religion to appear in all their conduct. They were also distinguished by some customs which owed their existence either to their particular religious sentiments or to the circumstances in which they were placed."

"United together for the purpose of enjoying the or- dinances of the Lord, as they believed them to be taught in the Scriptures, and exposed to the same enemies and dangers, they settled in bodies, and abounded in mutual affections and kind offices. A man of common standing they called a good man, while the title of Sir was given to magistrates, ministers, and men of liberal education."

Exposed constantly to the attacks from the Indians, they were careful to acquire the use of arms. They spent six and sometimes more days annually in military exercise. In plantations where there were 100 soldiers,

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY,

20 were required to serve on guard on the Sabbath and on other days of public worship, and in no plantation less that 8, with a sergeant. In times of war and special danger guards were kept constantly in every town, and in some instances several in the same town. The prac- tice of keeping guard on seasons of public worship con- tinued till May 1814, when the towns were excused from it by statute, except in time of war.

This practice, probably, produced the custom of as- sembling people for public worship by the beat of the drum, which prevailed for a time in Middletown, Had- dam, Saybrook, Killingworth, and Durham. Whether it was ever introduced into Chatham and East Haddam is unknown.

" The circumstances of these people were exceedingly straitened. They had sacrificed a large portion of their property by removing to America; were unacquainted with the business of subduing a wilderness; had no com- merce, and scarcely any means for acquiring property. In the meantime their families were to be supported, their children educated, and the institutions of the Gos- pel established and maintained; and these things were to be done in the midst of enemies whose notions they were obliged perpetually to watch, and against whose appre- hended attacks they were obliged to provide the means of defense. Necessity, therefore, compelled them to the most rigid economy. Everything about them bore the marks of simplicity. Their houses were constructed in the plainest manner, their furniture consisted of a few indispensable articles, their dress was made of coarse cloths, wrought in the family, and their tables were spread with the homeliest of fare. Scarcely an article of luxury was used in Connecticut for a century after En- glish settlements began, and very few articles were intro- duced for a considerable period afterward."

In the midst of such surroundings " the hardy sons of New England " were reared; but it must not be imag- ined by those whose lot has been cast in pleasanter places that their lives were wholly without enjoyment, or that the hardships to which they were subjected pro- duced in them either physical or mental degeneracy. On the contrary, the sum of their happiness was fully equal to that of those who consider themselves more highly fa- vored by fortune; for their enjoyment of the few com- forts which they possessed was not abridged by unavail- ing repinings and longings after luxuries that were be- yond their reach. They partook of their homely fare with that relish which only an appetite sharpened by act- ive exercise can give; they slept sweetly on their humble couches, for their daily toil gave them robust health; and their homespun garments were worn with a feeling of laudable pride rather than shame, for they were the pro- ducts of their own industry, and vanity had not crept in among them. They lived by their industry and frugality,

strong physical systems, the active intelligence, and the indomitable energies of their parents; and they were reared in the midst of circumstances that tended to de- velop and strengthen these qualities. Thus was pro- duced in the midst of the inhospitable surroundings of these pioneers, the race of men who are everywhere dis- tinguished for their intelligence, their thrift, and their ready adaptability to any circumstances in the midst of which they may be placed.

CHAPTER IV.

AGRICULTURE IN MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

BY P. M. AUGUR.

T HE GEOGRAPHY, topography, and geology of this county are elsewhere treated of. The soil in the county is fertile. There are no unreclaimable swamps, and no sand wastes. There are, however, moun- tains and rocky hills, too rough for culture, and only suited to forest growth and pasturage. In the three towns of Clinton, Westbrook, and Old Saybrook, there is considerable land in the highest state of cultivation, pro- ducing crops which would be considered enormous in the virgin soil of the west, and specimens of corn and vegetables grown on these lands have gone abroad to other States as wonders of eastern products; while in the other towns in the county there is more or less land quite equal in fertility, especially in Middletown, Middle- field, Cromwell, the northwestern part of Portland, and the northern part of Durham. Much land is admirably adapted to produce the largest and finest crops of tobac- co, grain, market truck, and fruits, large and small, these fruits being superior in intrinsic richness to the same grown South or West. The pasturage on the hills of Mid- dlesex county is superior, the fine natural grasses abound- ing, and the butter from the milk of cows fed on it hav- ing an exquisite delicacy.

We often wonder, as we travel in other States, how sons of New England can leave the green hills of the East and squat on the low prairies of the West, enduring the fierce winds, the poor water, and the coarse, inferior products of that region. It is a noticeable fact, that at the State fair held in Connecticut in 1879 or 1880, where a special list of premiums was offered for fine butter, four out of five of these premiums were awarded for butter produced on the hill-farms in northern Mid- dlesex, and the other on an adjoining hill-farm in Hart- ford county, just across the line. Fine strains of Jersey blood in cows, pure air, pure water, and the sweetest of pasturage are the necessary conditions for such superior production.

Now, while butter, fat beef, veal, and mutton are pro- erected , their humble school-houses and churches, and duced in such fine quality, choice and superior fruits are reared their families in the rigid faith to which they held. Their children were not the effeminate sons and languid daughters of luxury, with pampered appetites that re- quired to be tempted with delicacies. They inherited the grown. The Rhode Island Greening apple grown on the Middlefield hills, and analyzed at the Middletown Ex- periment Station a few years since, was found to have a greater specific gravity and a better analysis than any

GENERAL HISTORY.

European samples on record. The Newtown Pippins, as grown in western New York, and in Michigan, while be- ing superior in smoothness, are greatly inferior in intrin- sic excellence, and the Baldwin, the great apple of New England, and a staple for European markets, although planted largely in western New York, Ohio, and Michi- gan, nowhere equals in quality that of best grown New England specimens.

Grass is here, as elsewhere in New England, the lead- ing product, and the county is adapted to produce good crops of hay of excellent quality. From an examination of the census sheets of a single town, it is found that the largest average yield per acre of a single farm was I ton and 171 pounds, which, at $20 per ton, would be $21.71 per acre ; so there is no doubt that the hay crop of the county is a paying one, and when the farmers come to make two blades of grass grow where but one grew be- fore it will be still better.

Corn .- There is hardly a farm in the county that does not raise maize or Indian corn successfully. A yield of 100 bushels per acre is occasionally reached, and 75 bushels frequently. In Middlefield, according to the last census, the highest farm yield was 80 bushels of shelled corn per acre, while the average town yield was 4016 bushels. This shows beyond all question, that on suitable land this crop is a paying one. It is un- doubtedly so all through the county, and particularly in the warm, rich lands of the Connecticut River valley, and in the shore towns. Clinton, Westbrook, and Say- brook have been especially noted for their superb fields of corn, and ears of wonderful size and perfection are always exhibited at their autumn fairs, and at the winter meetings of the Board of Agriculture. A gentleman from Illinois, the great corn State, once said at one of these meetings, speaking of the Clinton corn, that in his State he never saw finer specimens of ears than those. The corn fodder, well cured, is of such value as often to pay the entire cost of cultivation. By freeing land from stones, rocks, stumps, and all unnecessary fences, and by the use of Thomas's smoothing harrow and good horse culture in rows both ways, corn may be, and it has been, produced at a cost of thirty to forty cents per bushel, while the current price is usually more than twice those figures. There is usually much to en- courage the planting of sufficient corn for home con- sumption.

Potatoes and other root crops .- There is, on nearly every farm in the county, land well adapted to the culture of potatoes. Suitable land of good fertility, a suitable variety, and good culture, will usually secure a good crop.

According to the census sheets of Middlefield, the largest yield was 400 and the smallest 40 bushels per acre. The average yield per acre in the town was 128216 bushels. Other towns may have made a better average, but we have not seen their returns.

Onions on suitable land, particularly for the past few years, have given paying returns. There is considerable land in the several towns of the county, especially the

river and shore towns, well adapted for onions, or any other root crops.

Mangolds, and English and Swedish turnips can read- ily be raised, and are produced, both for stock and for market, in all the towns of the county.

Oats generally yield good returns. They are usually sowed on land previously planted with corn or potatoes. In 1880 the highest yield in Middlefield was 70 bushels per acre, the average yield 3616.

Tobacco .- In Middlefield, in 1880, the largest yield was 2,180 lbs. per acre, the lowest 1,400 lbs. The average was 1,794 lbs. Recently, however, the average of tobac- co has decreased, and other crops have taken its place to some extent.

Wheat .- In Middlefield, in 1880, the highest yield was 34 bushels per acre; the average was 23 bushels.

Rye in the town of Middlefield for the last census year gave an average yield of 184, bushels per acre.

The Dairy .- Having examined some records of the Middlefield dairies for the census year, I find as follows, from eight different persons; in all cases a matter of rec- ord with the parties respecting: Ist, 5 cows for the year, 925 lbs. of butter and 300 quarts of milk sold; 2d, 6 cows made 1,250 lbs. of butter; 3d, 4 cows made 800 lbs .; 4th, 5 cows made 1,000; 5th, I cow made 300; 6th, I cow made 372; 7th, I cow made 300; 8th, I cow made 408.

The reason for so often quoting from Middlefield in- stead of Haddam, Clinton, and other towns, is that the full original sheets of the census of 1880 for Middlefield were placed in my hands for a short period, and I was thus enabled to glean many items therefrom which I would not otherwise have obtained without difficulty.

The great superiority of dairy cows has its counterpart in other neat stock. Many farmers in former years used thoroughbred bulls of the Devon and Short-horn breeds, and thereby greatly increased the size and beauty of their steers, producing better workers and finer beef.

A change, however, has occurred in the practice of many farmers, and now more attention is given to gilt- edged butter and less to working cattle; indeed, on many farms, horses now, to a great extent, take the place of oxen.

The popular opinion to-day is that for butter the Jer- sey and Guernsey cows are the best; for beauty and work, the Devon; for beef, the Short-horn; for large car- cass and abundant flow of milk, the Holstein; for milk alone on good moderate pasturage, the Ayrshire; and all are found here and there, through the county.

Several herds of Jerseys have been kept in the north- ern part of the county during the last sixteen years and the result has been a great improvement in the character of the dairy cows among those who have availed them_ selves of the advantages which these fine herds afforded for procuring fine thoroughbreds and grades. Dr. J. W. Alsop has done much to elevate the standard of quality in dairy stock, and the same may be said of Dr. Hazen, of Haddam.

Lyman A. Mills, of Middlefield, commenced the breed-

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

ing of Jersey cattle in 1868, when much prejudice against the breed existed. He has taken care to have at the head of his herd only those animals and their descendants that had shown exceptionally high butter-producing qualities. The grades produced among the cattle in his vicinity by mixture with his thoroughbreds have shown remarkable re- sults, even to the production of from two and a half to three pounds of butter per day. Stock from his herd has been taken to all parts of the United States.

In 1868 M. W. Terrill commenced breeding Short Horns and continued till 1879, when he changed to Jer- seys, which he has since continued to breed. His herd, which now numbers about forty, has shown remarkable results in the production of butter.

A. B. Colegrove, of Middletown, has a herd of fifty registered Jerseys of great beauty and excellence. At the State fair of 1884, at Meriden, he was awarded the premiums on herd, bull, and cow; also a larger number of first premiums than any other herd. It is believed that this herd will strongly influence for good not only the dairy stock of Middlesex county but of the State and country.

From The Constitution, Sept. 23, 1884, Middletown, Conn.

A. B. Colegrove exhibited at the Conn. State Fair at Meriden, thirty head of fine A. J. C. C. herd registered Jerseys, headed by the imported Kedive bull William the Conqueror, No. 7386, with a young herd of nine of his sons and daughters which took the sweepstakes, gold medal. Wil- liam the Conqueror headed the herd, consisting of Louvie 2d, No. 6181; Thyme 2d, No. 12430; Chief's Louvie, No. 14378; Columbine of Maple Grove, No. 14379; Rosamond of Maple Grove, No. 14380. which took the herd prize, gold medal. Louvie 2d, No. 6181, took the sweepstake, sil- ver medal, as the best breeding cow over 4 years old; Chief's Louvie, 1st premium as 3 year old; Thyme 2d, No. 12430, 2d premium as 3 year old; Rosamond of Maple Grove, No. 14380, Ist premium as 2 year old; Lilly Valeur, No. 20791, 1st premium as yearling; Mary of Maple Grove, 2d premium as heifer ealf.

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History of Middlesex county, Connecticut, with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Part 5

Author: Whittemore, Henry, b. 1833; Beers, J.B. & Company, publishers Publication date: 1884 Publisher: New York : J. B. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 818

Author: Whittemore, Henry, b. 1833; Beers, J.B. & Company, publishers
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York : J. B. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 818