USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume I > Part 4
USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume I > Part 4
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For some time they lived openly at Cambridge, but being warned by a royal proclamation fled toward New Haven March 7th, 1661. En route they stopped at Guilford and were fed and sheltered by Governor Leete, but soon proceeded to New Haven where Mr. Daven-
*Webb's Historical Conn., p. 122.
22
HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
port first befriended them and concealed them in his house. Their pursuers under the royal proclamation were soon at their heels and in order to mislead them they made frequent excursions into the country. " Fearing lest they should bring trouble upon those who had aided them, they offered to surrender themselves to Governor Leete, but he claiming he had no proper warrant, was in no haste to do so. The judges now showed themselves publicly on the streets of New Haven, so as to clear their friends from any complicity with their conceal- ment, then disappeared from view.
" When the officers of the crown visited New Haven, the magistrate and people showed them every civility, and were officious in aiding their search, while at the same time they did their best to secrete the refugees. They well said, 'We honor his Majesty, but we have tender consciences.' Their ' honor' of his Majesty was not very deep, and was bounded only by their fears. Any open disobedience would have cost them dear, so they tendered the regicides the best aid they could in secret."*
The judges fled to a cave formed by several large rocks, on the western summit of West Rock, which is still known as the Judges' Cave, where they remained for a while, and also occupied several places in Woodbridge, called the Lodge and Hatchet harbor, each place affording them temporary shelter where they were fed by friendly hands. On the 19th of August, 1661, they went to Milford, where they abode several years, but in 1664 they went to Hadley, Mass., where they remained until their death. There is a tradition, which appears to lack proper foundation, that their bones were sub- sequently brought to New Haven and buried on the green near where is now the monument to the memory of Colonel John Dixwell, the third of the regicide judges. He came to New Haven about 1670, and lived here in a very quiet manner as James Davids, until his death in 1688. In the later years of his life he disclosed himself to the minister, the Reverend Pierpont, and a strong friendship sprang up between them. At his death he requested that a plain stone should mark his grave, with his initials, J. D., Esq., and date of his death and age, " lest his enemies might dishonor his ashes." His fears appear to have been well founded. President Stiles says, in his "History of the Judges": " Some officers, as late as 1775, visited and treated the graves with marks of indignity too indecent to be mentioned." The plain stone slab still stands near the Dixwell monument, in the rear of Center church at New Haven. The latter was erected over the bones of Colonel Dixwell in November, 1849, at the expense of a Mr. Dixwell, of Boston, who was a descendant.
The incidents and traditions connected with the sojourn of the judges in New Haven county would form material for an interesting romance. Three fine avenues in the northwestern part of the city of New Haven perpetuate the memory of these regicides.
*Beckford.
23
IHISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
The residence of the regicides in New Haven colony and the mani- fest sympathy of many of her citizens with them, influenced in no small degree the future events of the jurisdiction. Under these cir- cumstances the colony could not reasonably hope for much favorable consideration at the hands of the new king, Charles the Second. Governor Leete himself, who at heart countenanced the presence of the judges, was one of the first in public authority to entertain " fears that evil consequences might result to the colony and to him per- sonally from the neglect to apprehend the regicides,"# and was will- ing to enter into negotiations to avert the evil, "and to purchase his own peace." He assented to a proposition of Governor Winthrop, of the Connecticut colony, to obtain a royal patent which should embrace all the territory of the two colonies, and which would eventually unite them. It was plain to both of these statesmen, that such a union must prove advantageous. Governor Leete probably realized, too, that under royal rule the tenure of the colony would be very uncertain. While it was a fully organized body, so far as its own affairs were con- cerned, being in fact an independent little republic, its sole right to the soil upon which it existed was based upon Indian treaties and the sufferance of those who had not yet chosen to assert their claims under the warrant of former kings. A prudent policy of estate would demand a more explicit basis, which it was purposed to secure in a liberal and comprehensive charter. The work of procuring this was very properly undertaken by Governor Winthrop. His experience as governor of Connecticut since 1658, had impressed on him the needs of the colonists, which were further revealed to him by his many busi- ness affairs. He was, moreover, a man of education and large experi- ence as a traveler, which fitted him for the work of a diplomat.
" In 1661, Governor Winthrop made a visit to England in the interests of the colony. He found in Lord Say and Seal, the only survivor of the original patentees, a warm friend, through whose in- fluence he was enabled to gain audience with Charles II. At this interview, Winthrop, with his wonted tact, first presented the king a ring that had been given by Charles I. to his grandfather, and then presented a petition from the colony of Connecticut for a royal charter. This charter, freely granted by the king, can still be seen in the office of the secretary of state at Hartford, framed with wood from the Charter Oak. Based, as this instrument was, upon the colonial consti- tution of 1639, it was indeed a royal gift, and proved of great value to the young colony, as evidenced by the many subsequent attempts to revoke it on the part of the successors of Charles II."+
The jurisdiction of the charter extended over a territory including New Haven, and being nearly what is now the present state. It was a most liberal document. "It conferred upon the colonists unqualified *Atwater. +W. S. Webb.
24
HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
power to govern themselves. They were allowed to elect all their own officers, to enact their own laws, to administer justice without appeals to England, to inflict punishments, to coufer pardons and in a word, to exercise every power, deliberative and active. The king, far from reserving a negative on the acts of the colony, did not even require that the laws should be transmitted for his inspection ; and no provision was made for the interference of the English govern- ment, in any cvent whatever. Connecticut was independent, except in name."*
The charter bore date April 22d, 1662, but it did not reach this country until some months later. At the general assembly held at Hartford October 9th, 1662, " the Patent or Charter was this day pub- licly read in audience of the freemen and declared to belong to them and their successors."
In November, 1662, Connecticut made overtures of union to tiie New Haven colony, but inasmuch as the charter did not limit the right of suffrage to accepted church members, that question became the " great bone of contention," and a bitter controversy ensued which kept the colonists apart more than two years. Davenport and his adherents were very loth to surrender the principle of a "church- state " for which they had so long labored, earnestly maintaining that there was no safety in entrusting the civil affairs into the hands of "an orderly citizen," possessed of a certain amount of property, as was the Connecticut requirement. But this liberal provision in the royal charter especially commended the union to disaffected citizens of the New Haven jurisdiction who made individual application for citizen- ship in Connecticut. Some of them, after being received as freemen, no longer recognized the New Haven authority, which had, as may easily be imagined, a demoralizing effect. This plan was contrary to the purposes of Governors Winthrop and Leete, who had an under- standing that the freemen of New Haven should not be brought under the authority established by the charter unless by their own consent,"+ meaning, probably, their collective consent, which had not been obtained. However, this unexpected issue had the effect of hastening the union. Conservative men in every town recognized the claims of Connecticut and the advantages which would result from having a united colony and counseled to that end, as the only way to terminate the unfortunate strife and contention, awakened by this matter, pre- vailing in almost every town. The exponents of the "church-state " idea made a last vigorous protest, which was well considered and plausible, but did not secure the relief the colony needed and wanted. New Haven was overborne in all the matters for which she had especially contended and was at last, by a variety of circumstances, forced to make an unconditional acceptance of the terms of the charter,
*Bancroft. +Atwater.
25
HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
whereas if she had been less obstinate she might have secured some concessions to her advantage in the matter of suffrage. The last general court of the jurisdiction was held December 13th, 1664, when it was voted :
"1. That by this act or vote we be not understood to justify Con- necticut's former actings, nor anything disorderly done by our own people upon such accounts.
"2. That by it we be not apprehended to have any hand in break- ing or dissolving the confederation.
"Yet, in testimony of our loyalty to the king's majesty, when an authentic copy of the determination of his commissioners is published to be recorded with us, if thereby it shall appear to our committee. that we are by his majesty's authority now put under our Connecticut patent, we shall submit. as from a necessity brought upon us by their means of Connecticut aforesaid, but with a salvo jure of our former right and claim, as a people who have not yet been heard in every point of plea."
The action of the royal commissioners in assigning Long Island to New York and giving Connecticut jurisdiction to the Westchester line fully determined the matter and the union was completed in January, 1665 .* Mr. Davenport remained in the colony three years before his removal to Boston, but did not, in that period, become a freeman in. Connecticut. Abraham Pierson and a number of his parishioners at Branford would not accept the result, but removed to Newark, N. J .. rather than become citizens of a state where the divine law was not given a fundamental place. Others, too, in consequence of the methods employed to bring about the union, cherished feelings of resentment. but these soon gave place to praise of the better results obtained in the affairs of the united colonies. The administration of Governor Winthrop was judicious and conciliating and confidence was further increased and friendship cemented when the two next governors, leading citizens of New Haven, William Leete, of Guilford, and Robert Treat, of Milford, were chosen. The New Haven jurisdiction was reluctantly given up, but was soon forgotten by those who enjoyed the liberal provisions of the state which displaced it. And in these times a few only remember the fact in history that for the first twenty. six years after the settlement of the county its affairs were managed by a distinct colony. in which was exemplified the highest form of " church-state " yet attempted.
New Haven county was named and some provision for its manage- ment was made at the general court, held in the fall of 1665. But the following May. the bounds of the four original counties of the state were defined. New Haven county was made to embrace the four towns of the old jurisdiction east of the Housatonic: Milford, New
*Want of space precludes giving much interesting matter in connection with the closing days of the jurisdiction.
26
HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
Haven, Branford and Guilford, which are properly the original towns of the county. They took up the entire coast line and their northern bounds were not given, an unorganized section intervening between them and the settled parts of Hartford county. In May, 1722. all the lands west of Farmington, not organized, were annexed to New Haven county : and in May, 1728, the large town of Waterbury, which from the time of its settlement was in Hartford county, was also, on the petition of its inhabitants, annexed to New Haven county. The northwestern bounds of the county were still further extended in 1807, when Southbury was annexed to New Haven county. Up to that time it was a part of Litchfield county. Several towns in the state were settled under the auspices of towns in New Haven and when in- corporated were annexed to this county for convenience of legislation. New Milford, incorporated in 1712, was thus for a number of years a part of New Haven county, becoming later a part of Litchfield county, formed in 1751. The town of Durham, incorporated in May, 1708, was annexed to New Haven county, of which it remained a part until 1799, when it was detached and annexed to Middlesex county, which was formed in 1785.
A number of efforts were made to embody this town (Durham) and Saybrook and Killingworth, in Middlesex ; Guilford and Branford, in . New Haven, into a new county, with the name of Guilford. Bills to that effect were introduced and passed the lower house in 1718, 1728. 1736, 1744 and 1753. In each case the more conservative upper house negatived these aspirations.
Movements were also made to create a new county, with additions from Litchfield, of some of the northwestern towns, with Waterbury or Woodbury as county seat. Some minor changes in the county limits have been made, but they remain essentially as above noted.
The 26 towns of the county are the following, which were created in the order named :
1. New Haven .- Settled as Quinnipiac, in 1637-8, by Puritans from London, headed by John Davenport. Named New Haven by the town court, September, 1640. Originally the area was about thirteen miles square, embracing territory out of which have been formed Wallingford (including Cheshire and Meriden), East Haven, North Haven, Hamden and parts of Orange and Woodbridge. It is pre- eminently the mother town of the county.
2. Milford .- Settled as Wepawaug, in 1639, by Peter Prudden, and non-conformist adherents from Yorkshire and other points in England. Named Milford in November, 1640. From the original town have been formed, in part, Derby (including Ansonia, Seymour and Oxford) Orange and Woodbridge, the latter including Bethany.
3. Guilford .- Settled in the latter part of 1639. as Menunkatuc. by Henry Whitfield and his company of Puritans from Kent and Surrey,
27
HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
England. Named Guilford in October, 1643. Originally the town embraced Madison.
4. Branford .- Settled under New Haven jurisdiction in 1644. as the "plantation at Totoke.t," by non-conformists from Wethersfield and Abraham Pierson and some of his adherents from Southampton, Long Island. Embraced North Branford.
5. Wallingford .- Settlement projected in 1669. as New Haven village. Named Wallingford in May, 1670. Became a separate town in 1672. Subdivided into Cheshire and Meriden.
6. Derby .- Settled as Paugasset by traders from New Haven. 1654, and planters from Milford, 1659. Town privileges were granted in 1675. and the name of Derby applied to the locality.
.
7. Waterbury .- Settled as Mattatuck by inhabitants from Far- mington in 1677. In 1686 it was incorporated as a town with the present name and became a part of Hartford county. In 1728 Water- bury was annexed to New Haven county. The original area has been reduced by the formation of the towns of Wolcott. Prospect, Middlebury and Naugatuck, to each of which she contributed terri- tory.
8. Cheshire .- Settled under the direction of Wallingford as " West Farms." Organized as the parish of New Cheshire and incor- porated as a town with the present name in May, 1780. A part of the western portion was taken off to form Prospect.
9. Woodbridge .- Settled by New Haven and Milford planters. Organized as the Society of Amity and incorporated in 1784, as the town of Woodbridge. From the original town was set off Bethany.
10. East Haven .- Settled by the inhabitants of New Haven as " East Farms." Village privileges in New Haven granted in 1701. In- corporated as a town in 1785.
11. Hamden .- Settled by New Haven and for many years was a parish in that town. In May, 1786, incorporated a town.
12. North Haven .- Settled as " North Farms" of New Haven. Incorporated a town, October, 1786.
13. Southbury .- Settled about 1672, by the pioneers of Woodbury. Incorporated as a town in May, 1787, and was in Litchfield county until 1807. Parts of the original town were taken off to form Oxford and Middlebury.
14. Wolcott .- Settled as a part of the original town of Farmington. Formed as a parish out of parts of that town and Waterbury, and was first known as Farmingbury. Incorporated a town in 1796.
15. Oxford .- Settled by planters from Derby and Southbury, from which the town was taken and incorporated in 1798. Its area has been . diminished by annexation to Naugatuck. Seymour and Beacon Falls.
16. Meriden .- Settled by Wallingford as " North Farms." Taken from that town and incorporated a separate town in 1806.
28
HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
17. Middlebury .- Settled by inhabitants from Woodbury, Water- bury and Southbury, and taken from those towns and incorporated in 1807.
18. Orange .-- Settled early by planters from New Haven as " West Farms," and by planters from Milford as "North Farms" or "Bryan's Farms." The former, organized as West Haven parish, the latter as North Milford parish, were united and incorporated as the town of Orange in May, 1822.
19. Madison .- Settled as East Guilford by the planters of Guilford, from which it was taken and incorporated as Madison, in 1826.
20. Prospect .- Settled as parts of Waterbury and Cheshire. Organized as the parish of Columbia. Incorporated a town, with name of Prospect, in 1827.
21. North Branford .- Settled as the northern part of Totoket or Branford, and set off from that town and incorporated in 1831.
22. Bethany .- Settled by planters of Milford and New Haven. Was a part of Woodbridge until May, 1832, when it was incorporated a separate town. From the west have been taken parts to add to the towns of Naugatuck and Beacon Falls.
23. Naugatuck .- Incorporated in May, 1844 : taken from Water- bury, Bethany and Oxford. In 1871, its southern part was taken off to form Beacon Falls. The Waterbury part was long known as Salem parish.
24. Seymour .-- Settled as the northern part of Derby, and long known as Rimmon Falls and Humphreysville. Incorporated as a town with the present name in May, 1850. A small part of Oxford was later added.
25. Beacon Falls .-- Incorporated in May, 1871, and taken from Seymour, Oxford, Naugatuck and Bethany.
26. Ansonia .- Settled as the central part of Old Derby. Taken from that town and became a separate town corporation in April, 1889, thus being the youngest town in the county.
The county has within its limits three thriving cities, namely :
New Haven .-- Incorporated January 21st, 1784, the fifth city in the Union and the first one to be chartered after the declaration of inde- pendence. The older cities in the United States are New York, Philadelphia, Albany and Richmond.
Waterbury .- Incorporated in 1853. Population in 1890, 28.646.
Meriden .- Incorporated in July, 1867. Population in 1890, 21,652.
There are, also, in the county the following boroughs : Ansonia, Birmingham, Fair Haven East. Guilford (incorporated in 1815), Wal- · lingford and West Haven, a full account of which appears in the towns where they are located.
The growth or decline of the above towns, in the past ninety years, is shown in the following statistics of population :
29
HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
TOWNS.
1×10.
1×30.
1450.
INSO.
1490,
New Haven
6,967
10,678
22,529
50,840
62,882
86.045
Bethany -
014
1,135
631*
550
Beacon Falls
379
505
Branford
1,932
2,333
1.425*
2.488
3,047
4,460
Cheshire
2,288
1,764*
1,62;
2,344
2,284
1,929
Ansonia -
Derby
2,051
2,253
3,824
8,020
11,650
5,969
East Haven
1,209
1,229
1.673
2.714
3,057
955
Guilford
3,845
2.344*
2,650
2,576
2,782
2,150
Hamden
1,716
1,669
2.108
3,02%
3.40×
3.882
Madison -
1,809
2,063
1,814
1,672
1.429
Meriden -
1,249
1,708
3,525
10,495
18,340
25.423
Middlebury
847
$16
763
696
566
Milford -
2,674
2,250*
2,465
3,405
3,347
3.×11
Naugatuck -
1,720
2,832
4,274
6,218
North Branford
1,013
1,035
1,025
825
North Haven
1,239
1,282
1,328
2.634
3,341
4,537
Oxford
1,453
1,763
1,564*
1,338
1,120
902
Prospect
651
674
551
492
445
Seymour
1,677
2.121
2,318
3.300
Southbury
1,413
1,55%
1,484
1.318
1,140
1,0×9
Wallingford
2,325
2,419
2,639
3,676
4,680
6,584
Waterbury -
2,874
3,070
5,137
13,106
20,2:0
33.202
Wolcott
952
844
603
491
493
522
Woodbridge
2,030
2,049
919*
830
829
926
Totals
37,064
43,848
65,841
121,257
156,523
209,058
*Diminished by the formation of new towns.
The increase of the wealth of the towns is shown in the following comparative Grand Lists of 1885 and 1890 :
1\45.
1-90.
New Haven
$49,473,946
$50,739,536
Ansonia
2.579.478
Beacon Falls
272,357
192,655
Bethany
287.556
279,637
Branford
1,550,705
1.677.213
Cheshire
1,227,685
1.077,638
Derby -
4,516,547
1.798,727*
East Haven
619,860
618,609
Guilford
1,414,586
1,359,959
Hamden
1,079,090
1.112.211
Madison
744,329
706,521
Meriden
10,206,193
10,910,919
Middlebury
250,406
251,498
Milford
1,183,244
1.259,898
Naugatuck -
1,793,888
2,004,578
North Branford
4.87,410
471.315
North Haven
170,381
735,194
Orange
2,502.903
2,593,108
Oxford
365,901
322.496
Prospect
170,670
154,621
Seymour
1.148,705
1,220,678
Southbury
611,040
616,284
Wallingford
2,584,234
2,514,199
Waterbury -
9,520,386
10,368,393
Wolcott
226,092
223,905
Woodbridge
413,114
401.867
1,163
1.862
Orange
1,341
1,466
10,342
*Ansonia set off in 1889.
30
HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.
In the year last given (1890) the Grand Lists of the Cities and Boroughs, included in the foregoing towns, were as follows: New Haven, $49,565,988; Meriden, $9,677,129; Waterbury, $8,783,923 ; Ansonia, $2.155,696; Birmingham, $1,230,498; Fair Haven East, $983,827 : Guilford, 695,099 ; Wallingford, $1,745,935 ; West Haven (Orange), $1,641,570.
From the latest available data on this matter (the census of 1880), it appears that New Haven county was the first in the state in the amount of capital invested in manufactures-$30,275,692 ; being about $3,000,000 more than the next highest, Hartford, and about $13,000,000 more than the third on the list, Fairfield county. In manufactured products New Haven county led by $15,000,000, the value of the prod- ucts being $59,536,504.
In amounts invested in agriculture New Haven stood fourth, being exceeded by Hartford, Fairfield and Litchfield. The capital invested was $17,647,923, and the products were only $2,416,763. In the com- bined value of capital invested in manufactures and agriculture Hartford had $57,559,868 ; and New Haven had but $47,923,615.
After the union of the New Haven and the Connecticut colonies, in 1665, the meetings of the general courts and the courts of the assistants (or, in other words, the colonial legislature) were held in Hartford only, convening in May and October of each year. This order was followed until May, 1701, when it was voted that after the next October session, which was to be held in Hartford, the May sessions only should be held in the latter place, and the October meet- ings should thereafter be held at New Haven. This arrangement was continued until the constitution of 1818 abolished the October sessions, and the annual sessions thereafter alternated between Hart- ford and New Haven as semi-capitals of the state. In 1873 Hartford was selected as the sole capital of Connecticut and the state house at New Haven was relinquished to the citizens of the town.
At the time (1701) that New Haven was designated as one of the capitals, there were no public buildings in the town except the meet- ing house, where were held most of the public assemblages. The particular courts were probably held at public inns, or at the houses of the magistrates. It is probable that the lower branch of the legis- lature held its meetings at the meeting house until a state house was provided, and the upper branch appears to have been convened at various rooms in the town, among them being the inn of Captain John Miles. In October, 1718, it convened in the library room of the new college building. In 1717, the state made provision to enable the counties to erect court houses, and that year also was authorized the building of the first state house at Hartford. For the court house at New Haven, the state appropriated £300. The county court at its January, 1718, session resolved :
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