History of Middlesex county, Connecticut, with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Part 94

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

USA > Connecticut > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex county, Connecticut, with biographical sketches of its prominent men > Part 94

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He has the rare faculty of inspiring both affection and respect in all with whom he comes in contact; and we are glad to note that his financial success has been com- mensurate with his intrinsic worth. He has for 13 years been president of the Fish Mongers' Association. In politics, Mr. Miller acted with the whigs until the break- ing out of the late war, from which time he has been a member of the democratic party. In voting for city offi- cers, it is the man he seeks to honor, not the party. Mr. Miller, while still a hard worker, is not unmindful of the pleasures of those near and dear to him. In 1865, he bands, and bearing an appropriate inscription.

purchased, in the village of Essex, the Williams house and some land adjoining that had belonged to Miss Polly Glover. There was a small house on the property, which Mr. Miller remodelled and made large additions to, mak- ing a most beautiful summer residence, which he has appropriately named the Valley Home. He has ever since occupied it during the summer months. Mr. Miller is well known to the citizens of Essex and vicinity, having divided his time between this and his home in Brooklyn for the last 18 years. Of a very social disposition natur- ally, Mr. Miller entertains, during the summer season, many friends from the city and elsewhere, who are always loth to leave his hospitable roof. Indeed, while his family now consists of only himself and wife, his summer

The subject of this sketch, a son of the late Captain John Urquhart, was born in Essex, June 26th 1838. He entered the merchant service when quite young, and, at the age of 21 years, was master of the fine ship American Eagle, of E. Morgan's Sons' London line. He has al- ways been remarkably fortunate in his profession, and has made some of the quickest trips across the Alantic on record. At the time of the loss of the French steamship Ville du Havre, Captain Urquhart was in command of the ship Trimountain. On the morning after the disas- ter he received the rescued crew and passengers of the Ville du Havre from the Loch Earn to his own vessel, where they were kindly cared for, and landed safely at Cardiff, Wales. For his kindness to the survivors of the wrecked vessel, Captain Urquhart was presented with a handsome silver service, costing $1,500. He also re- ceived, from the citizens of Bristol, England, a hand- some silver salver, and from the French Transatlantic Steamship Company, a fine gold chronometer and chain. In 1879, while in command of the Isaac Webb, Captain Urquhart rescued the crew of a disabled British bark, the Ivolina, of Falmouth, and carried them to Liverpool. For this service he received a beautiful and costly silver beaker, gold lined, having embossed gold

TOWN OF HADDAM.

BY RICHARD M. BAYLES.

GEOGRAPHICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE.

T HIS TOWN lies upon the Connecticut River, and is the only township in the State that is bi-sected by that water. Salmon River forming a part of its east- ern boundary, it includes what is known as Haddam Neck upon the east side of the Connecticut. The town is bounded on the north by Middletown and Chatham; on the east by East Haddam; on the south by Chester and Killingworth; and on the west by Killingworth and Durham. Its location is central in the county, and the county is central in the State.

The town contains four railroad stations, on the Con- necticut Valley Railroad, viz .: Higganum, Haddam, Arnold's and Goodspeeds; four post offices: Haddam, Higganum, Haddam Neck, and Tylerville; eight churches; and fourteen school districts.

Extensive flats of natural meadow of apparently ex- haustless fertility skirt the river at Haddam, on the west side, and opposite Shailerville and Higganum on the east side. The town contains about 30,000 acres. That part of it lying on the west side of the river was formerly called Haddam Society, that on the east side Haddam Neck, and a section in the northwest part, which has since been joined to Durham, Haddam Quarter.

The surface of this town on both sides of the river rises into hills, which, with the intervening valleys, form a succession of varying undulations. The elevations reach from 200 to 300 feet in height, though their average is less. The "Strait Hills " run across the northwestern part, and another range runs nearly parallel with them. "Long Hill " lies back of the hills near the river, below Mill Creek, and stretches away toward "Turkey Hill," in the southern part of the town. These ranges of hills, in a general way, extend nearly north and south. The rocks of this town have yielded valuable specimens of the precious minerals. Among these are beryl, garnet, black tourmaline or schorl, pyrites, and quartz crystals. Many rich specimens from here have been secured for the museum of Yale College and private collections without number.

The surface of the town is traversed by a number of small streams. The largest of these is Higganum

River, called in the early days of the settlement " Tom Hegganumpos." It has three branches: the northern branch, called the Shopboard Brook, the middle or west branch, called also the Candlewood Hill Brook, and the south or Ponsett Stream. The first rises in Middle- town, the second in the northeastern part of Killing- worth, and the third in the western part of this town. Just below the junction of the three branches the water has a very abrupt descent of 30 feet, through a rocky gorge less than 30 rods in length.

Mill River is another considerable stream, which rises in the southern part of the town and after receiving the waters of Beaver Brook flows eastward into the Connec- ticut. This stream takes its name from the fact that upon it was erected the first corn mill in the town.

The soil of this town is generally good, but the surface is for the most part too hilly and rocky for cultivation. The southern part of the town is sandy, especially in the neighborhood of the river. In some of the intervals along the streams there are tracts of level and produc- tive land.

One of the most remarkable rocks in the town is that known by the singular name of Shopboard Rock. It is about half a'mile above the village of. Higganum. The rock presents a bare, worn, and sloping surface about 60 feet high and 75 feet across. Tradition says that the name was derived from the circumstance that a tailor once cut a suit of clothes on it for a customer whom he met at the place, and the stream flowing by it was named Shopboard Brook.

From the fact that the name appears on the records as early as 1713, the event in which it originated must have taken place at a very early date.

Two islands lie in the middle of the river opposite this town. These are Lord's Island, called by the early settlers Twenty Mile Island, from the fact that it was supposed to be 20 miles from the river's mouth, and Haddam Island, in the same way called Thirty Mile Island. The first is on the line between this town and Chester, only the upper end of it being abreast of this town. The second lies between Haddam Centre and Higganum. The distances suggested by their names are

369

HADDAM-SETTLENENT.

considerably in excess of the truth, and they are not 10 miles apart. Haddam Island, which is entirely within the limits of this town, was for many years one of the most valuable fishing stations on the river. The water upon the east side of the island was deep and much frequented by fish, and being narrow, was easily swept with a seine. Two fishing companies, one at either end, occupy it for this purpose. Legends exist that some of Kidd's fabulous treasures were deposited in this island, and many seekers after hidden wealth have dug for it here.

The following turnpikes have been in operation in this town: the Middlesex Turnpike, along the river, char- tered in 1802, and abandoned since the completion of the railroad; the Haddam and Durham Turnpike, running from Higganum to Durham, chartered in 1815, aban- doned nearly 50 years ago; the Haddam & Killingworth Turnpike, chartered in 1813, from Higganum to Killing- worth; and a branch of the latter, diverging from it in the Burr District, and running to Haddam Centre through Beaver Meadow, granted in 1815. All these have been abandoned for several years.

The town is remarkably healthy, as shown by its mortuary records, though it has been visited by several severe and fatal epidemics.

The latest grand levy shows the town to contain 480 houses; 21,89034 acres of land; 31 mills, stores, etc .; 192 horses; 1,012 neat cattle; sheep valued at $557; 39 car- riages and wagons subject to tax; clocks and watches valued at $840; musical instruments to the value of $2,825; bank, insurance, and manufacturing stock held to the amount of $81,917; railroad and other corporation bonds, $6,600, etc. During the previous year the amount expended on roads and bridges was $2,789.09.

PURCHASE AND SETTLEMENT.

The first purchase or occupancy of any of the land within the limits of this town by Englishmen, of which there is any account, was about 1652, when Captain John Cullick, who had for some time been secretary of the colony of Connecticut, having extinguished the Indian title, obtained a confirmatory grant for what was then called Twenty Mile Island, now Lord's Island, and a tract on the east side of the river near it, the dimensions of which are not given. Cullick had probably made little or no improvement upon his land previous to the settle- ment of Haddam.

The locality and afterward the newly organized town, took its name from Thirty Mile Island. Individuals con- templated making a settlement here as early as 1660, and in October of that year the Legislature accordingly ap- pointed a committee to purchase the lands from the In- dians. For some unknown reason the negotiation was not consummated until nearly two years later. The de- sired purchase was finally made on the 20th of May 1662, when the committee above referred to, consisting of Matthew Allyn and Samuel Willys, obtained from four kings and two queens of the Indian tribes that occupied them a deed for these lands. The value of the articles

given in payment would probably not exceed $100. The territory extended from " Mattabeseck-mill-river," a stream afterward called Miller's Brook or Sumner's Creek, substantially on the line between the subsequent towns of Chatham and Haddam on the north, down to " Pattaquounk " Meadow, which is now called the Cove Meadow, at Chester.

Soon after this purchase, a company of 28 men from Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield, in whose behalf the purchase had been made, entered upon the land and commenced improvement. These men were: Nicholas Ackley, Joseph Arnold, Daniel Brainerd, Thomas Brooks, Daniel Cone, George Gates, Thomas Shailer, Gerrard Spencer, John Spencer, William Ventres, John Bailey, William Clarke, Simon Smith, James Weils, James Bates, Samuel Butler, William Corbee, Abraham Dibble, Samuel Ganes, John Hannison, Richard Jones, Stephen Luxford, John Parents, Richard Piper, Thomas Smith, Joseph Stannard, John Webb, and John Wyatt. The first 10 as here named are known to have come from Hartford, while the places whence the others severally came are not definitely known.

They are supposed to have been mostly young men, many of whom were just married. They paid back the expense of the purchase by installments as they were able. Some part of the amount seems to have remained unpaid for several years. March 13th 1669, the town voted to pay to James Insigne, of Hartford, 38 shillings, 6 pence, which the record says was part of the purchase money of the plantation. The whole number of those whose names appear as the founders of the settlement did not come here at once, but remained at some other place, where, perhaps, business or some other attraction detained them for a greater or less period of time. Indeed, it is possible that a few of them never settled here at all, but sold out their interest to others; and of those who did settle there were some who remained but a short time. Some of them were so slow in improving their rights here that the action of the society appeared necessary to prompt them. Nicholas Ackley, for ex- ample, was so far delinquent that the little colony took such action in his case that resulted in obtaining the fol- lowing covenant from him to assure them that he would in fact become one of them:

" This writing made ye eight off november 1666 bind- eth me niklis Akly of harford to come with my ffamely to setle att thirte mille Iland by ye twenty ninth of octo- ber next inseuing date hearof, ealso to have my part of fence up yt belongs to my home lot by ye Last of -- nexst inseuing as of failing hearof to forfit ten pounds to ye inhabitant of thirte mile Iland as witnes my hand and Seall.

" NICHOLAS ACKLY

" witnes James Bate."

It is probable that the settlement progressed but slowly and no formal or systematic organization of the society was effected within three or four years from the date of purchase. If anything was done in this direction no record of it remains. One of the earliest scraps of evi-

370

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

dence extant in regard to organizing the settlement on a basis looking toward the establishment of permanent homes for individuals is the following:

"may sixty-six - whom it may consearne

written was apyntted by the Gennarl Corte of Connecticut a Committee to Plant the Planta- sion at thirty mile Island or to order the planting of the sayde Plantasion and accordingly we did Promote the planting of the sayd Place what in us lay, and in order thearto we did make a purchase of the Indians of such Lands as we thought convenient for the Peopell that should inhabit the said plantasion and that land which we did intend for thirty mile Island Plantasion that land from Midleton boundes to the sowth [towards] the end of the purchas which if we mistake not runnes to the brooke belowe Pattaquonck meadows we say all that Land we did grant to the sayd Plantasion for we did not intend any of it for Saybrook or any other Plantasion, Judging it might be but a competency for that plantasion upon which purchas of the sayd Land for that place the peopell nowe inhabiting at thirty mile Island weare en- couraged to setell themselves and ffammilyes at the sayd thirty mile Island Plantasion.

" SAMUEL WILLIS, " MATHEW ALLYN, "WM. WADESWORTH, " SAMUEL CORMEN."

Soon after the "settling of the plantation " others joined the settlers. Among the first of these were Richard Walkley from Hartford, John Bates, and William Scovil. In October 1668, the town was invested with privileges as such, and about that time the name Had- dam was given to it, as it is supposed out of respect to Haddam or Hadham in England.

Desirable persons were admitted by vote of the town to the privileges of inhabitants and were granted accord- ingly shares in the common proprietorship and allotments of land to their individual use. All lands held in indi- vidual fee were taxed on a fixed scale of valuations, which varied from 5 to 20 shillings per acre according to the availability and situation of the land. The charac- ter of those who proposed to join their society, or in- deed who frequented it, was subject to rigid scrutiny, and a remarkable degree of candor was evinced in their expressions of disapproval when an undesirable person lingered in their society, as the following extracts will show. April 10th 1673, it was "agreed by voate that John Sled and his wief should not be entertained in the towne as inhabitants or resedence and also Goodman Corbe was forewarned not to reseave him into his hows becose they weare not persones qualified according to Law." Again, January Ist 1683, the townsmen were ordered "to warne frederick Elies and his wief to de- parte the towne by next march inseueing."

On the 11th of February 1686, a patent was granted by the Assembly to the inhabitants for all the lands of their town that had previously been granted them and confirming those grants with all their appurtenances and privileges to them and their heirs and assigns forever,

THE SETTLERS AND THEIR HOMES.

At the first, or at least as soon as some degree of order could be established, the settlers opened a highway run- ning substantially where the old country road from the court house to the foot of Walkley Hill now does. Why they chose such a rough spot of ground it is hard to understand, but the evidences prove beyond a doubt that here they laid out the " town plot " and built their houses. Some of the cellars remained visible until within the memory of persons now living. Nineteen home lots were laid out here, and houses were probably built on the most of them. For the greater part the lots were nearly uniform, being about four acres each, and extended from the highway to the river, a distance of from 80 to 125 rods. Each man also had a lot of about three acres on the opposite side of the highway from his four acre lot. These lots must have been seven or eight rods in width on the highway. Those on the east side of the road are all bounded on the northeast by the "Great River."

HADDAM IN YE OLDEN TIME.

From data gleaned from the records, and carefully compared and verified, the writer has arranged a map of the original town plot. While it is impossible to assert anything in regard to the definite shapes of the lots, their relative position in regard to each other, and to other objects specified, is accurate and can be abundantly veri- fied by the records. Some objects then existing remain to the present time, and help to locate the whole plot by fixing certain points. The burying ground, without a doubt, remains where it was then provided for, adjoin- ing the lot of Joseph Arnold. The " highway that leads into the woods " is probably the road that starts back of the court house and runs westerly up the hill. The other "highway into the woods " is the road that runs from the old road up the hill past the residence of Mr. Zachariah Brainerd and the Methodist church. Wells' Brook still runs through its primitive gorge.

Besides the town plot another settlement was made about a mile southeast. This was called the Lower Plantation, or sometimes the Lower Town Plot. It ex- tended along a highway from Mill River southward. A very early record, the date of which, however, has been lost, states that seven men were at first assigned to this settlement. Their names were James Bates, William Ventrous, Abram Deible, Richard Jones, John Hanni-

John Wiatt

MILL RIVER LANDINGS

a Samuel Butler 8A.

John Spencer 8 A.

7A.

James

BROOK.

Tho's. Brooks. 4A.

1 LAND

3 A. T. B.

Stephen Luxford. 4A.

Z 3A. S. L.

3 A. Smith

First Minister · 4A.

3A. Minister

Parsonage forever 4A.

3A. Parsonage

Gerrard Spencer. 4A.

3A. G.S.

Thos. Smith . 3 A.

3A. T.S.

3 A. J. B.

Highway into the Woods

3 A. D.B.

3 A. D.C.

3A . J. S.

3A. S.S.

3A. W. C.

Highway that leads into the Woods.

Geo Gates. 4A.

Reserved for Burying Ground and Meeting House

Joseph Arnold 5A.

3A. J. Arnold

3A. R. P.

5-A. James Wells.

John Henderson.

RIVER.

HIGHWAY.

Wm Ventious. SA.

a Wm Corbee

8A.

Thos. Richeson.

4A. J. Bates.

James Bates.

8 A.

Way It leads into ye Woods.

3A. J. Hannison

John Hannison.

8A.

J. Parents.

4A. A Deible.

NOWwOS

THE LOWER PLANTATION.

Nicholas Ackly.

N. Ackly

5A.

Tho's. Shaller.

6A.

NOW

TOWN FLUT.

RIVER

KA91103VN00

John Balie

4A.

Daniel Brainard 5% A.

Daniel Cone 4A.

Joseph Stannard 4A.

Simon Smith . 4A.

William Clarke 4A.

Abram Deible 8 A.

3 . CONNECTICUT NM01 0

COMPILED BY RICHARD M. BAYLES.

30 A.

Load reserved to the Landing __ --

Wells

WELL.S

Richard Jones 8.A.

4.A.

Blacksmith sold to Jahn Eldorkin

Richard Piper. 5 A.

R. Piper's home meadow.

5 A. G.G.

John Parents 8A.

HADDAM-DIVIDING THE LAND.

371

son, Samuel Gaines, and John Parents. If these all act- ually settled here, but a short time elapsed before changes were made. The accompanying map, carefully compiled from the earliest existing records, exhibits a few differences. Richard Jones' lot, for example, was soon in the possession of John Chapell, who sold it to Thomas Spencer in 1671. The six acre lot of Thomas Shailer was sold to John Bate in 1672. Samuel Gaines proba- bly sold his lot at a very early date, to one of the others, whose name appears on the map, but not on the list. Of these, there are four: John Wyatt, William Corbee, Thomas Richeson, and Nicholas Ackly. A landing was early established at the mouth of Mill River, and a road was reserved to go to it across John Wyatt's lot.

Returning to the Town Plot, a few facts may be sug- gested. The home lot of Samuel Butler was soon after. ward sold to Richard Walkley. The lot at first laid out for a blacksmith, was given to John Elderkin in consid- eration of his building a mill. The lot marked for the " First Minister " was probably given to the gospel mes- senger who answered to the terms of the reservation. The "Parsonage forever " lot has been held by the First Ecclesiastical Society, of Haddam, down to a recent date. The highway that goes to the meadow, and to the river, runs between that lot and the first minister's lot. This parsonage lot, owing to the conditions of the reservation, could not be sold outright, but was leased by the trustees of the society holding it, August 12th 1859, to William and James Brainerd for a term of 999 years. The lot is now owned by Zachariah Brainerd. Tradition says that the first blacksmith shop was on the opposite side from the residence of the late Blinn Brainerd, and that the name of the blacksmith was Brooks.

It has already been seen that the first settlements were made on the river. The reasons for this are obvious. Some 30 or 40 years later, the people began to push in- land. In the interior and western part of this town, the families of Dickinson, Hubbard, and Ray established themselves. They were followed by the founders of fam- ilies bearing the names, Lewis, Hazelton, Tyler, Higgins, Thomas, Knowles, Burr, and others. The plain at Cock- aponsit presented an attractive field for the settler, and, about 1694, Nathaniel Spencer, John Baly sen., and Ephraim Baly each had a house lot of eight acres there, besides other parcels of land. Stephen Smith, and John, Nathaniel, and Joseph Sutliff settled in Haddam Quarter, which, in 1773, was joined to Durham.

The following extract tells something of the conditions under which title to their houses were obtained.

" Ordered that every inhabitant of this plantation shall personally inhabitt here upon his land four years from the time of his first comeing hither before he shall have liberty to sell his land."

DIVISION OF THE LAND.

The settlers made no extensive divisions of the and it was repealed February 4th 1673.

land at first, but held their cultivated fields, their pastures, and their timber lands in common, and divided to each individual a home lot, and a few other small par-

cels of land, mostly meadows, that seemed most desirable to hold for individual use. The lots that were distrib- uted in these small allotments were of nearly uniform size. There were seven of these small divisions, and nearly every settler had a lot in them all.

The Home Lots in the Town Plot contained about four acres, and those in the Lower Plantation about eight acres each.

Additional Lots in the Town Plot lay on the opposite side of the highway, and contained about three acres each.

The Home Meadow lots varied in size from two to five acres, and lay between the river on the northeast and a common fence on the southwest.

The Upper Division of the Upper Meadow was on the east side of the river, and lay between the " great rocke" on the northeast and the river on the southwest. The lots varied in size from three to seven acres.

The Lower Division of the Upper Meadow lay on the east side of the river between the same bounds on the northeast and southwest as the division last men- tioned. These lots contained two acres or a little more.

The Cove Meadow lay on the east side of the river, and was bounded by the " great rocke" on the northeast and the river on the southwest. The lots were about four acres each.

The Equal Division lay on the east side of the river, between the " great rocke " on the northeast and the river on the southwest, the lots containing uniformly three acres each, from which circumstance doubtless it took its name.

The " great rocke " so often mentioned in the bound- aries of the meadows was the ledge or rock-ribbed hill that rises from the inner edge of the meadows. In these seven divisions the settlers participated, with perhaps an occasional exception in some of them. Other grants were soon after given for small parcels of land in Mach- imoodus and Heganumpos.

Small parcels of the common land were granted to in- dividuals from time to time as their needs and the favor of the town afforded occasion. Out of the numerous records of the kind a single example here will suffice to illustrate:

" At a towne meeting February 7th 1667, it was `Agreed that Joseph Stannard shal have six acres of land given him out of ye Comon land abutting one the mil river southeast one his owne swamp northeast one ye Common highway southwest on ye Common land nor'- west, provided that the water passage w'thin the swamp shall be free for ye touns use."

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History of Middlesex county, Connecticut, with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Part 94

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