History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume I, Part 2

Author: Rockey, J. L. (John L.)
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: N. Y. : W. W. Preston
Number of Pages: 966

USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume I > Part 2
USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume I > Part 2

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

* Evidenees of an extinct crater in the form of an ash bed of clearly defined outlines appear in a spot several miles north of Meriden, near Mount Lamentation, which may be taken as a strong presumption of the correctness of the theory. It is said that this ash bed is the only one of the kind now found in New England, and is an object of great curiosity to the student of nature.

HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.

extensively and profitably mined a number of years in the town of Cheshire.

The county has a large variety of building stones, the red sand- stone being the most abundant and most widely distributed. In some localities its qualities are very superior. Limestone is also found; and flag stones are distributed over many parts of the county. In Milford are quarries of green marble, and in Branford, Guilford and Madison superior granite abounds. The Stony Creek granite is also adapted for monumental work. The soil of North Haven, Hamden and some other towns yields material for first-class brick, and the county was rich in other building material. Much of the area was covered with timber, and nearly every variety of deciduous and cver- green growth, common to the eastern section of the Union, was found here. In some localities lumbering was long an important occupation, but the most valuable forests have been cut down, and but little tim- ber land remains. A considerable area is still in woodland, and some of the sandy plains are covered with a barren growth.

The county has a great variety of soil, adapting it for the numer- ous products of the farmer, gardener and orchardist, and for many years these occupations were the ones which chiefly engaged the at- tention of the people. In recent years these pursuits have been sub- ordinated to the avocations of the workshop and the factory, and the urban population has far exceeded, in its increase, that of the rural sections. Many farms in the hilly and sandy sections have been al- lowed to go to waste, and the population of the exclusively farming towns has steadily decreased. The increase of the city population in the past two decades has been very great, causing New Haven county to become, in the number of its inhabitants, in the variety of its inter- ests, and in its accumulated wealth, the leading county in the state.

The first white man to discover the territory now embraced in the county was the Dutch navigator, Captain Adrian Block. In 1614 he made a voyage from New Netherland up the sound and visited the spot where is now New Haven city, to which he gave the name of " Rodenberg" (Red Mount), from the reddish appearance of East Rock, or the Red Rock on the east of the Quinnipiac. He passed on, ascended the Connecticut as high as Hartford, and returning con- tinued his voyage to the upper end of the sound, where Block Island still perpetuates his name. Soon after, the Dutch several times stopped at Quinnipiac or " Rodenberg," with a view of establishing a trading post, but found little to encourage them in taking such a step. The natives were poor and indolent, and there was no prospect for trade. In Branford, however, a Dutch trading house was built in after years. In the main there was nothing in the New Haven section to cause the Dutch to plant a settlement, but upon these early discoveries they later based their claims of the ownership of Connecticut.

HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.

In 1620 James I. granted a general patent of New England, which embraced this section. Ten years later the Plymouth colony con- veyed the Connecticut region to Robert, Earl of Warwick, and the same year it was confirmed to him by a patent from Charles I. The earl, on March 19th, 1631, in turn executed a patent for a part of this section to Viscount Say and Seal, Lord Robert Brooke, Sir Richard Saltonstall and their associates, among whom were John Hampden and others-all being noble, honorable men. In the same year the land was spied out by Governor Winslow of the Plymouth colony. who named himself the discoverer of the river and the valley of Con- necticut. And it was decided to make a settlement at Windsor.

Thus there were two rival claimants to the same territory -- the Dutch as discoverers, the English as patentees. In 1633 each effected a lodgment in the state, the Dutch building a fort at Hartford; the English, through William Holmes, of the Plymouth colony, putting up a house at Windsor, a point on the river seven miles north. Nat- urally there was contention between the two nationalities, each as- serting its claim, but in the course of a few years the Dutch yielded, sold their interests to the English, and withdrew from this soil.

In the meantime the English had carried out their plans to occupy the country more completely than their rivals, and hurried on to the scenes of their new homes, undeterred by the hostility of some In- dians, who had in 1634 murdered Captains Stone and Norton, with eight men, while they were on the Connecticut river. In 1635 they made preparations to establish settlements at Windsor, Hartford and Wethersfield, and in the furtherance of this purpose some sixty per- sons left Massachusetts to take up their abode in those localities. In- stead of sailing up the river, they went thither on foot, driving their cattle before them, in the wilderness. The following winter was very severe, and there being a scarcity of food, many suffered from famine. Others, at the risk of losing their lives in the snow and storms, re- turned to the Plymouth colonists.

But the purpose to found a new state assumed encouraging forms, in spite of these obstacles. In the fall of 1635 John Winthrop, Jr., was appointed governor of the " river Connecticut," by the owners of the Warwick patent, to hold his office for one year, after his arrival at that place. He came to the mouth of the Connecticut, where he built a small fort and named it for his patrons, Say-Brook. The settlers were now assured of greater safety from the Dutch and the Indians, and the subsequent events soon justified the wisdom of such a move, for, in 1636, the Indians besieged the fort. On the 26th of April, 1636, the colonists on the Connecticut held their first court, or general coun- cil, at Newtown (Hartford), the meeting being composed of the three settlements named: Windsor, Hartford and Wethersfield, which was another step toward permanent organization. And when, in the month of June, the same year, Reverend Thomas Hooker and his

HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.

assistant, Samuel Stone, with about one hundred people, joined the settlers at Hartford, the force of numbers and the added weight of the character of the settlers were bound to carry it to success. Nothing now appeared to obscure its future but the wily Pequot Indians. They again committed depredations the latter part of 1636, and were so hostile in the spring of 1637 that the court at Hartford determined on war against them May 1st. 1637. Twenty-five days later, under the leadership of the intrepid Captain John Mason, the Indians were attacked at their fort at Mystic (New London), which was destroyed. Six hundred savages were slain, and the remainder were dispersed. Their flight along the coast westward followed. A sachem and a few followers were overtaken in Guilford and beheaded, the act giving name to that point on the sound shore. The rest of the Pequots were brought to a stand in a swamp in Fairfield county. A fierce fight ensued, and July 13th, 1637, the Pequots were so completely defeated that they were thereafter powerless. The pursuit of these fugitive Indians was the means of introducing the English into the New Haven country. Upon the return home of the whites they gave such glowing accounts of the Quinnipiac region that it was determined to further explore it with a view to its settlement by some of the newly arrived emigrants from England at Massachusetts Bay.

Accordingly, early in the month of September, 1637, an exploring party of twenty men, led by Theophilus Eaton, after viewing the Connecticut coast from Rhode Island west, sailed into the harbor of Quinnipiac. The advantages of the situation pleased them, and they determined to secure the country, and on this harbor found a com- mercial city, in which they could carry out the principles which led them into the New World. Eaton and most of his associates belonged to the company of Puritans which followed Reverend John Daven- port to America in the " Hector" and her consort, landing in Boston June 26th, 1637. This company was composed of men of wealth, edu- cation and influence, most of them being the old parishioners of Mr. Davenport's St. Stephen's church, Coleman street, London. When he was persecuted on account of his religious belief, they stood by him and resolved to cast their lots with him, even though it involved the sacrifice of position and invited persecution upon themselves. At Boston they were warmly welcomed, and every effort was made to persuade them to settle in the Bay colony. The report of the " famous Mr. Davenport and the opulence of the merchants who accompanied him, gave to this company, in the estimation of the colonists, an un- usual value." So strong was the desire that they should remain that the "General Court offered them any place which they should choose."

It appears, however, that all these persuasions were in vain, as most of the Davenport party were not content to become a part of an established community. "It is probable that the motive which had

HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.

the greatest influence with the principal men was the desire of being at the head of a new government, modeled both in civil and religious matters agreeably to their own apprehensions. In laying the founda- tions of a new colony there was a fair probability that they might accommodate all matters of church and commonwealth to their own feelings and sentiments. But in Massachusetts the principal men were fixed in the chief seats of government, which they were likely to keep, and their civil and religious polity was already formed."* It may be, also, that they had some sort of an agreement or compact which prevented them from becoming a part of an established com- munity which, together with other considerations, made them very anxious to become a separate colony. It was determined to make a wise selection of territory, removed from all external influences, but enjoying all natural advantages. The task of selecting it was entrusted to Eaton, who was one of their most experienced and practi- cal business men. After examining the possibilities of the Quinnip- iac region Eaton and thirteen of his men set sail for Boston to make their report to the expectant company. The other seven men were first assisted in building a hut, in which they could subsist during the winter and retain possession of the land. It is believed that this humble first habitation in the county stood near a spring which was in the locality of where are now Church and George streets, and was perhaps, quite rude in its appointments. It was tenanted by Joshua Atwater, Francis Brown, Robert Pigg, Thomas Hogg, John Beecher and two others, whose names have not been preserved. It has very properly been supposed that a part of the time of these seven men was occupied in cutting and hewing timbers to build houses the fol- lowing spring, when they should be joined by the other members of the projected colony. They probably suffered but little hardship during the winter, as there was an abundance of game, and fish and oysters could also be obtained. One of their number, supposed to have been John Beecher, died and was buried at a point about fifty rods east of their hut. In 1750, while the cellar for the stone house at the corner of George and Meadow streets was being dug, his bones were found, after being forgotten many years. It is believed that this John Beecher was the ancestor of the celebrated Beecher family in this country.+ The other members of the Davenport company re- mained in Boston all winter, living in such places as they could find shelter, but presumably keeping up their organization as a company, and perfecting their plans to occupy their new houses, as soon as the season would permit.

Those coming from London in the "Hector" and her consort numbered about fifty adult males and the entire company comprised

* Trumbull.

+ What lends color to this belief is the fact that among the company landing at New Haven in April, 1638, was the widow Beecher, with several sons.

HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.

about 250 persons. But when, on the 30th of March, 1638, the com- pany left for the Quinnipiac it received many accessions from the Massachusetts colonies, so that there may have been near three hun- dred persons, and having property aggregating in value about £36,- 000. After skirting along the coast leisurely for a fortnight the ves- sel in which they sailed from Boston reached the Quinnipiac harbor, and passed up a small stream, called West creek, long since filled up and now extinct. A landing was effected near a large oak tree which stood where are now George and College streets, when they offered prayer and thanksgiving to God for his mercy in bringing them safe- ly to these shores. A few days later, April 15th, 1638, they observed their first Sabbath here by holding a meeting under this tree. This was also attended by some Indians who had become acquainted with the six men remaining here and were on friendly terms with them. Mr. Davenport preached upon the "Temptations of the wilderness," basing his remarks upon Matthew IV: 1. The occasion was most solemn and impressive, as one can readily imagine. In the afternoon Rever- end Peter Prudden preached. He was the leader of the Hereford county people, who had come to Boston in the vessel " James," sail- ing from Bristol. They came to Quinnipiac with the London com- pany and remained here with them until they could occupy their own plantations at Milford, a year later. Thus was founded the religious commonwealth which became known as the New Haven colony, and from that Sabbath until the present time religious meetings have been regularly held in this county, no circumstances of season or place being allowed to interrupt them.

Not long after this the settlers at Quinnipiac observed a day of fasting and prayer, to prepare them to enter into a solemn compact which they called the "Plantation covenant" and which should provisionally govern them until they should be further incor- porated as a church and a state. The terms of the covenant were as follows: "That, as in matters which concern the gathering and ordering of a church, so also in all public offices which con- cern civil honor- as the choice of magistrates and officers, making and repealing laws, dividing allotments of inheritance, and all things of like nature-they would all of them be ordered by the rules which the Scripture held forth to them." Under this initial government, with the Bible as the sole guide, the affairs of the settle- ment were administered more than a year and a half.

In the mean time, the site for their future town had been selected and the work of building houses had been pushed actively forward. The plain north of West ereek, where lay their pinnace still affording them temporary shelter, was chosen as the place for the home lots. George street was laid out half a mile long parallel with the creek and taken as a base line upon which was described a square, also half a mile long. This was divided by two parallel streets running east

HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.

and west, and by two parallel streets running north and south, into nine equal squares. The one in the center was sequestered as a market place and became the celebrated New Haven Green. The other eight squares or quarters, as they were called, were fenced and assigned to settlers for house lots, a number being grouped together, and the size varying according to the number of persons in a family or in propor- tion to the amount the family had invested in the common stock of the company. Usually these quarters were known by the names of their principal occupants or the principal men to whom they were assigned. The northeast one became known as Governor Eaton's quarter. The north center one was assigned to Robert Newman; the east center to John Davenport; the southeast to George Lamberton; the south cen- ter to Thomas Gregson, etc. Around this half mile square were sub- urban quarters, those on the west side being temporarily occupied by the Yorkshire and Herefordshire people. The half mile square not being sufficient for house lots, two additions were surveyed, the one being southeast of the main plot and extending to the harbor. It was enclosed by the present George, Water, Meadow and State streets. The other addition was on the west side of West creek. All of them were laid out by John Brockett, who apparently was a skillful survey- or, as his angles were nicely made.

Many of the colonists put up large houses, a number of them being two stories high, and "tradition reports that the house of Theophilus Eaton was so large as to have nineteen fire places and that it was lofty as well as large. Davenport's house on the opposite side of the street, is said to have had thirteen fire places."* In this matter of building these colonists laid themselves liable to criticism by the other colonies, and Hubbard, the historian, said : "They laid out too much of their stocks and estates in building of fair and stately houses wherein they at the first ontdid the rest of the country." It is sup- posed that some of these buildings were not completed for several years and as labor and material were cheap the expense may, after all, not have been so great. As an excuse or explanation why this style of building was so general, it may be said that the founders of New Haven were mainly gentlemen and merchants, used to living in superior houses in London and in other parts of England, and hav- ing the means at their command, it was quite the proper thing for them to here build "stately" houses, especially when it was their am- bition to make this a great commercial town. The failure of this pur- pose and the necessity which forced them to accept the conditions of a planter's life were after considerations. And it does not appear that the actual farm buildings, later put up, were superior to those in other parts of the state. It should be noted, too, that not all of New Haven's first settlers lived in " stately " houses. Some of those in more moderate circumstances, or those who came later in the season,

* Stiles' History of the Judges.

HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.

spent the winter of 1638-9 in huts or habitations which, in these later days, have become popularly known as " dug-outs "-being an excava- tion on a side hill, covered over with grass upon which a layer of earth has been placed. They insured warmth and a fair degree of comfort, but were not, in any way, " fair and stately."

The settlement received an addition to its numbers, in October, 1638, when some Yorkshire people under the leadership of Ezekiel Rogers, a non-conformist minister of high standing, came to America with a view of becoming a part of the Quinnipiac plantation. After arriving in Massachusetts, and after some of the party had already come to New Haven, Mr. Rogers changed his mind and established himself at Rowley, Mass., to which place, subsequently, some of the Yorkshire people returned. The principal settlers at Quinnipiac were now John Davenport, Samuel Eaton, Theophilus Eaton, David Yale, Thomas Gregson, Matthew Gilbert, John Evance, Stephen Goodyear, William Peck. Robert Newman, Francis Newman, Thomas Fugill, George Lamberton and Ezekiel Cheever. Most of them were reputed wealthy, and had been honored in the old country in social positions to an unusual degree, and were, all in all, in character, greater than those who had previously come to the New World.

In all this period the English lived on the most friendly terms with the Indians, who appeared to be glad to have them in their midst. As has been stated, they were few in number, peaceful and unambitious. Whatever native spirit they may have had was crushed by their fears of the Mohawks and the Pequots, who had completely subjugated the feeble tribes living in the New Haven country, and by exacting frequent tribute had kept them very poor. If they refused or neglected to honor their demands, the Mohawks would sweep down upon them, plundering them at will, and, at times, carried them into captivity. The very cry of " A Mohawk! a Mohawk!" would " cause them to fly like sheep before wolves, without attempting the least resistance."# The Mohawks thereupon would taunt them, cry- ing out in the most terrible manner, in their language: "We are come! we are come to suck your blood!" The presence of the English relieved them of their fears, and did not interfere with their avoca- tions. But Eaton and his associates were too good business men not to know that they ought to have some title to the soil, and, accord- ingly, made a treaty with the Quinnipiac Indians, whereby they, as original owners, conferred their rights upon the whites-represented by Theophilus Eaton and John Davenport. The Indian representa- tives were the Quinnipiac sachem, Momaugin, and his sister, Shaump- ishuh, and four of his chief men. The conveyance was as follows:

" First. That Momaugin is the sole sachem of Quinnipiac, and hath absolute and independent power to give, alien, dispose or sell all or any part of the lands of Quinnipiac, and that whatsoever he and his

* Atwater's New Haven Colony.

HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.

companions shall now do and conclude shall stand firm and inviolable against all claims and persons whatsoever.

" Second. The said sachem and his company, among which there was a squaw sachem called Shaumpishuh, sister to the sachem, re- membering and acknowledging the heavy taxes and imminent dan- gers which they lately felt and feared from the Pequots, Mohawks and other Indians, and observing the safety and ease that other Indians enjoy near the English -- of which benefit they have had a comfortable taste already, since the English began to build and to plant at Quinnipiac, which with all thankfulness they now acknowl- edge jointly and freely gave and yielded up all their rights, title, and interest to all the lands, rivers, ponds and trees, with all the liberty and appurtenances belonging unto the same in Quinnipiac, to the utmost of their bounds, east, west, north, south, unto Theophilus · Eaton, John Davenport and others, the present English planters there, and to their heirs and assigns forever: stipulating only that the said English planters should grant them such portions of ground on the east side of the harbor, towards the fort at the mouth of the river of Connecticut, as might be sufficient for them, being but few in num- ber, to plant in: and that this be under the entire control of the English, subject to such limitations as they might deem fit: and the Indians, moreover, promising not to remove to another part of Quin- nipiac without the consent of the English.

" Third. The said sachem and company, desiring to hunt and fish within the bounds of Quinnipiac, do hereby covenant and bind them- selves not to set traps so as to injure the animals belonging to the English, nor in any way inconvenience them by their hunting.

" Fourth. The said sachem and company do hereby covenant and bind themselves that none of them henceforth shall hanker about any of the English houses at the time when they meet for public worship of God: nor on the Lord's day, henceforward, to be seen within the compass of the English town carrying on any manner of business; nor. henceforward, without leave open any latch belonging to any Englishman's door: nor stay in any Englishman's house after due warning to leave: nor do any violence or injury to the person of the English, whether man, woman or child,-and if the English do any wrong to the Indians, upon complaint, just recompense shall be made; nor shall any of them henceforward use any Englishman's boat with- out leave; nor come into the English town with bows and arrows, or any other weapons whatsoever, in number above six Indians so armed at a time.

" Fifth. The parties above named do truly bind and covenant to pay the full value of any cattle whatsoever of the English which they shall kill or hurt casually or negligently; to pay double the value for any they shall kill or hurt wilfully; and to bring back home any stray-

HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.

ing cattle of the English which they shall find, receiving a moderate price in recompense for the same.

" Sixth. The number of the men and youths of Quinnipiac Indians being forty-seven at present, they do covenant not to receive or admit any other Indians among them without leave from the English; nor to harbor any that are enemies to the English, but to apprehend such and deliver them up; also to inform the English of any plots which they are aware are being formed against them by the Indians or others.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume I, Part 2

Author: Rockey, J. L. (John L.) Publication date: 1892 Publisher: N. Y. : W. W. Preston Number of Pages: 966

Author: Rockey, J. L. (John L.)
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: N. Y. : W. W. Preston
Number of Pages: 966