USA > Connecticut > New London County > New London > History of New London, Connecticut, From the First Survey of the Coast in 1612 to 1852 > Part 39
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Capt. Nathaniel Coit was a noted ship-master of New London employed for a number of years in the Irish trade. The following account of the loss of his vessel, near Cork, is from an English newspaper.
Jan. 5th, 1740. " The Dolphin of New England, Nathaniel Coit master, from Cork, is wrecked on a great rock called the Roane Cariggs on the Bay of
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Bantry, about four leagues from town. The vessel was staved to pieces, and a passenger drowned, but the Capt. and crew, who were six in number, got up- on the rock. The bad weather continuing, no body would venture to save them, but nine brothers, sons of Morten Sulivan of Beerhoven, who after ob- taining their father's leave and blessing, boldly ventured forth and brought the Captain and sailors ashore."
One of the seasons noted in the annals of New England for intense cold was the winter of 1740-41. The extreme severity of the weather at New London commenced with a violent snow-storm at Christmas. By the 7th of January, the river was frozen over be- tween Groton and Winthrop's Neck ; and the intense cold continued without interruption from that time to the middle of March. The ice extended into the Sound toward Long Island as far as could be seen from the town ; Fisher's Island was united to the main land by a solid bed. On the 14th of February a tent was erected midway in the river between New London and Groton, where an entertain- ment was provided. A beaten path crossed daily by hundreds of people extended from the Fort (now Ferry wharf) to Groton, which was considered safe for any burden till after the 12th of March, at which time the river was open to the ferry, but fast above. People continued to cross on the ice at Winthrop's Neck till the 24th, when the river began to break up. Ice in large blocks remained in vari- ous places almost to midsummer. At one spot in Lyme parties as- sembled to drink punch made of ice that lay among the ledges, as late as July 10th.
July 31st, 1742. A severe thunder-storm in which a son of Jona- than Lester of Groton, ten years of age, was struck and killed. He was near his father's house at work upon hay, and had two brothers with him, one of whom was slightly wounded, the other untouched.
July 2d, 1743. A succession of thunder-showers. Two lads on horseback near the town on the Norwich road were killed, and the horse also on which they rode. They were buried the next day in one grave. They were each thirteen years of age, and sisters' chil- dren : grandchildren of Nathaniel Beeby, Senior. The house of Samuel Chapman (on the Cohanzie road) was struck by the same bolt and much shivered.
Oct. 22d, 1747. Hempstead writes-
"News came by the post of the death of my good friend, John Winthrop Esq. of this town, in London G. B. where he hath been ever since 1726. He sailed from hence in July, twenty-one years since ; was aged about sixty-six."
The John Winthrop here mentioned was the son of Wait-Still
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Winthrop,1 and born in New London Aug. 6th, 1681. His death is said by other authorities to have taken place at Sydenham in Kent, Aug. 1st, 1747.
This gentleman had succeeded to most of the estate both of his father and his uncle; for Fitz-John and Wait-Still Winthrop had never divided the landed estate which they inherited from their father. The former having but one child, Mrs. Livingston, and she destitute of heirs, it seems to have been understood between the brothers, that the landed possessions should descend undiminished to John, the son of Wait. This also was the tenor of a general deed executed by Governor Winthrop in 1700, and produced after his death. A con- siderable amount of testimony was also brought forward to corrobo- rate this instrument. Among other depositions on record at New London, is that of Joseph Dudley, Esq., the father-in-law of the younger John Winthrop, who testified,
" I have near forty years had a particular intimacy and friendship with the Hon. John Winthrop, Esq., late Governor of Connecticut Colony and have oft- en heard him declare that he would keep his father's estate inviolate and un- broken for the heirs of the family and the name of his father ;- and in the summer of 1707 when the present John Winthrop Esq. offered an intermarriage with my daughter, the said late Governor treated with me of that marriage of his nephew ; he told me he was the best heir in the Provinces ; and that all he had, as well as all that his father had, was for him," &c.
The deed however could not be proved ; for it had never been re- corded; Samuel Mason before whom it was ackowledged, had de- ceased, and the witnesses (Wm. Thompson and Jeremiah Hooper) could not be identified. Mr. Winthrop had an only sister, married to Thomas Lechmere, Esq., of Boston, who claimed an equal portion of the estate. A lawsuit between the parties ensued. The case was carried from court to court in Connecticut, and decided in favor of Lechmere. Winthrop appealed to the king in council, and in July, 1726, went to England to sustain his cause in person.
He was favorably received, and succeeded in his case. A decree of the king in council, in 1728, set aside the decision of the colonial court, and declared John Winthrop the sole heir of all the landed estate of his father and uncle, grounding this decision on the English law of primogeniture. This decree was regarded in Con- necticut as a public calamity, inasmuch as it involved the abrogation of the colonial law respecting intestate estates, (which was declared
1 Trumbull erroneously calls him (vol. 2, ch. 4) son of the last Governor Win- throp; he was his nephew.
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null and void) and established the law of England giving all real estate to the oldest son. Had this decision been actually enforced we can scarcely conceive of any single act that would have caused a greater amount of perplexity, suffering and despair to the inhabitants of the colony. Families would have been broken up, and estates thrown into a mass of confusion. Happily the wise exertions of the friends and agents of the colony averted the blow. A subsequent decision was obtained confirming Winthrop in his possessions, but allowing the law of inheritance in the colony to remain as before.
Mr. Winthrop never returned to America. He was disaffected with the colonial government, and the course he had taken rendered him unpopular at home, which may account for his long residence of twenty-one years in England. His family continued at New London and in 1741, his oldest son, John Still Winthrop, went out to him and remained with him till his death.
" Nov. 25th, 1748. In the evening I went up to Col. Saltonstall's to see John Winthrop who this night arrived with Mrs. Hide from London, by the way of Nantucket first and Rhode Island next, and Fisher's Island last. Great joy to his mother and friends. He has been gone seven years next February." (Hemp- stead.)
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CHAPTER XXII.
Groton made a town .- Account of Sir John Davie, its first town-clerk .- Packer's visit to the baronet .- First three ministers of the church, Woodbridge, Owen and Kirtland .- North society formed .- Preaching of Seabury, Punderson, Croswell and Johnson .- Baptist churches.
THE inhabitants on the east side of the river, began to ask for a separate organization about the year 1700. They supposed them- selves able to stand alone and take rank among the group of towns that were gathering in the colony.
There is no evidence to show that the parting of New London from her friend and associate was otherwise than amicable. Daugh- ter she could scarcely be called, being of nearly equal age, but she had been fostered like a sister and was now at her own request to be released from watch and ward, and left to her own management.
The terms on which the inhabitants of the west side consented that . those on the east side of the river should be a town of themselves, were arranged and voted, Feb. 20th, 1704-5, and were, in substance, as follows :
" That they pay their proportion of the town's debts; that the ferry and the land and house belonging to it, shall continue to belong to the free school on the west side ; that all estate hitherto given to the ministry, or for the sup- port of schools shall remain the property of the west side ; that the inhabitants of the west side shall retain their right to cut masts or timber in the pine swamp near the straits on the east side, and the said swamp forever remain common to both sides ; that inhabitants on either side, owning property on the other side shall each retain their right as proprietors."
The same year the Assembly passed an act incorporating the town by the name of Groton. It is probable that this designation had long been in familiar use; it was intended to commemorate Groton in Suffolk where the Winthrops originated, and was probably first
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given by Winthrop, or his sons, to the large family possessions on Poquonock Creek and Bay.
The separation was almost a split through the center in point of dimensions. The part cut off contained upward of seventy-two square miles : the greatest length from Groton Long Point to Poque- tannock is fourteen miles ; the breadth from six to seven and a half miles. It was then an expanse of farms, forests and waste land, with nothing like a hamlet or point of centralization in the whole area, but it is now pleasantly sprinkled with villages and neighborhoods.
The first town meeting held in Groton was in December, 1705. Samuel Avery was chosen moderator and first townsman, and was annually re-chosen, until near the period of his death in 1723. The other townsmen were Samuel Fish, Nehemiah Smith, Capt. James Morgan and George Geer. John Davie, clerk; Jonathan Starr, con- stable.
John Barnard was chosen school-master.1
John Davie, the first town-clerk in Groton, continued in office till December, 1707, when Nehemiah Smith was chosen to succeed him. The handwriting of Davie was peculiarly bold and distinct. He had graduated at Harvard College in 1681, and appears from the offices to which he was chosen to have been a man of activity and intelli- gence. He established himself in 1693 on a farm at Poquonuck- the same that had been first broken up and cultivated by William Meades. We find him a rate-collector in 1695; the next year a townsman or selectman ; constable for the east side in 1702, and re- corder of the new town of Groton in 1705.
A deed of sale is recorded in New London, which is in substance as follows : "Sarah Davie, relict widow of Humphrey Davie some- time of Boston in New England and late of Hartford in New Eng- land aforesaid, Esq., deceased-for and in consideration of sixty pounds current money of New England paid by John Davie of New London in New England aforesaid, yeoman, son of the said Hum- phrey Davie, deceased," relinquishes to him all right and title to a certain piece of land in Boston, containing two acres and a half- "in the present tenure and occupation of Mr. James Allyne minister in Boston aforesaid." July 3d, 1699.
This is conclusive testimony that John Davie of Groton, was son of Humphrey Davie, who died in Hartford, Feb. 18th, 1688-9.
1 " Mistress Barnard is to be paid twenty shillings per annum for sweeping the meeting house and keeping the key." Groton Records.
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Humphrey was brother of Sir John Davie of England, who was created a baronet Sept. 9th, 1641. To this baronetcy, and the estate attached to it, John Davie of Groton, farmer and town-clerk, suc- ceeded in 1707. On receiving intelligence of his good fortune, he settled his affairs in haste, leased out his farm, and went to England to take possession of his inheritance.1 The last time his name is mentioned on the Groton book previous to his departure, is in the record of a gift of £6 to be laid out in plate, for the communion service of Mr. Woodbridge's church. He never revisited this coun- try ; but subsequently sold his farm and other lands, with his cattle, stock, and proprietary rights, to John Gardiner of the Isle of Wight, (Gardiner's Island.) The deed was given by "Sir John Davie of Creedy, County of Devon, within the kingdom of England, Baronet :"-Aug. 21st, 1722.2
" The children of John Davie" are recorded in Groton, (first book,) in his own hand, as follows :
" Mary, born June 30th, 1693. John, born July 27th, 1700.
Sarah, Oct. 21st, 1695. Humphrey, April 12th, 1702.
Elizabeth, " March 17th, 1697-8. William, March 22d, 1705-6. " These were all born in the town now called Groton."
The above-named children, with the exception of the youngest, are on the record of baptisms by Rev. Gurdon Saltonstall, who enters them as children of "Mr. John Davids," and under date of May 26th, 1695, notes : " Brother Davids Indian Jane made a profession of ye Christian faith, and taking hold of the Covenant was baptized." This mistake in the name was then common. The title brother is not here used to designate merely church relationship: Mr. Saltonstall and Mr. Davie had married sisters-daughters of James Richards, of Hartford-which was, doubtless, in the first place the moving cause of Davie's settlement and residence in Groton.
According to tradition, the unconscious baronet was hoeing corn
1 Douglas observes (Summary, vol. 2, p. 184) that a donation of books was made to the library of Yale College " by Sir John Davie of Groton upon his recovery of the family honors and estate in England." The word recovery seems to intimate that his title was contested.
2 The consideration, E500, Sir John Davie empowered his attorney, Gurdon Sal- tonstall, to pay over in the following manner; to wit, to Mrs. Margaret Franklin of Boston, £250; to Mr. Daniel Taylor, minister of the gospel at Newark, Mrs. Mary Pratt, and Mrs. Mather of Saybrook, each £83, 6s. 8d. These were probably his . nearest relatives in America, and to them he relinquished his estate on this side of the ocean.
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on his farm when informed of his accession to fortune. James Packer, one of 'his neighbors, was at work with him, and they were at strife to see which would do the most work in the least time. Letters had been sent from England to look up the heir of the Davie estate and application being made to Mr. Saltonstall, he im- mediately dispatched a messenger to Groton with the tidings. This messenger arriving at the house, was directed to the field; and as he approached Davie, who was at work barefoot, with shirt-sleeves and trowsers rolled up, he inquired his name ; and on receiving an an- swer, struck him upon the shoulder and raising his hat exclaimed, "I salute you Sir John Davie."
James Packer had made several voyages, and when Sir John Davie left Groton he gave him a hearty invitation, if he should ever find himself in England, to come to his estate in Devonshire and make him a visit, assuring him that it would always give him pleasure to see an old neighbor and hear from his American home. A few years later, Packer being in England, took the stage-coach from London and went out to Sir John's estate. He arrived just as the family were sitting down to dinner, with a party. of the neigh- boring gentry for guests. Sir John recognized his former comrade at once ; received him with open cordiality; introduced him to the company as an American friend; and treated him with marked at- tention. The next day he carried him over all his grounds and showed him his various accommodations. Before parting, Sir John and his lady had a long and free conversation with their visitor, in the course of which the baronet expressed himself thus :
" You see how I live, Packer : I have an abundance of this world's goods, and can gratify myself with a continual succession of pleasures, but after all I am not so happy as I was when you and I changed work at threshing and we had but one dish for dinner, and that was corn-beans."
DaveLE
The ecclesiastical independence of Groton was antecedent to its political organization. The first arrangement for their accommoda- tion on the Sabbath, was in 1687, when it was ordered that for the
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future they should have liberty to invite the minister of the town to preach on their side of the river every third Sabbath during the four most inclement months of the year. In 1702, the town con- sented that they should organize a church and have a minister of their own, granting him a salary of £70 per annum and authorizing them to build a meeting-house thirty-five feet square. The whole was to be accomplished and maintained at the joint expense of the east and west sides.
Mr. Ephraim Woodbridge was ordained their first minister, Nov. 8th, 1704. Of his ministry little is known, no church or society records of that period being extant. He was a son of the Rev. John Woodbridge, of Killingworth and Wethersfield, and grandson of Rev. John Woodbridge, an ejected minister from Wiltshire, En- gland, who died at Newbury, Mass., in 1695, aged eighty-two. Soon after his settlement he married Hannah, daughter of James Morgan, who was of equal age with himself: both were born in 1680. He died Dec. 1st, 1725. Dr. Dudley Woodbridge,1 of Stonington, and Paul Woodbridge, of South Kingston, R. I., were his sons.
We might here strike off the history of Groton, since technically considered it is no longer a part of the history of New London ; but one who has lingered long in the vicinity of that granite town- ship and become interested in its various associations, will not be willing to part suddenly from so dear a friend. Let this serve as an apology for keeping hold of the historical thread of the older Groton churches, and for introducing occasionally some matters that belong rather to Groton than to New London.
The second minister of the first church of Groton, was Rev. John Owen. He graduated at Harvard College in 1723,2 and was or- dained at Groton Nov. 22d, 1727.3 His first wife was Anna Mor- gan, whom he married Nov. 25th, 1730. His second wife was Mary, relict of Rev. James Hillhouse, of the North Parish of New London.4
1 The name of Dudley in the Woodbridge family was derived from the wife of Rev. John Woodbridge of Wiltshire, who was a daughter of Gov. Thomas Dudley, of Massachusetts.
2 Farmer.
3 Trumbull.
4 She survived Mr. Owen and married Rev. Mr. Dorrance, of Voluntown. Tradi- tion says that the three husbands were all natives of Ireland. In the case of Mr. Owen this is doubtful; though he might be of Irish extraction.
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Mr. Owen was distinguished for liberality of opinion toward those who differed from him in points of doctrine; advocating religious toleration to an extent that often exposed him to the suspicions of his brethren and the rebukes of magistrates.1 A gravestone in the ancient burial-ground at Pequonuck, informs the passer-by that " The Reverend and pious Mr. John Owen, the Second ordained minister in Groton, died Lord's day morning, June 14, 1753, in ye 55th year of his age ---
God's faithful Seer."
The only son of Mr. Owen was for many years town-clerk and teacher of the grammar-school of New London.
Third minister, Rev. Daniel Kirtland ;2 installed Dec. 17th, 1755 ; dismissed 1758.
Groton being a large town, with great inequality of surface, which rendered it very inconvenient for Sabbath-day assemblage in any one point, as soon as the advance of population would allow, the northern part, by permission of the legislature, withdrew and organized a second ecclesiastical society. The first recorded meeting of this society was held at the house of Capt. John Morgan, Jan. 3d, 1725-6. The first preacher to this society was Mr. Samuel Seabury, then a young man just assuming the sacred office. He was not ordained or settled, and remained with them only ten weeks ; having preached four Sabbaths at Capt. John Morgan's, four at William Morgan's, and two at Ralph Stoddard's. At the expiration of this term or soon afterward, he declared himself a convert to the doctrines of the Church of England and crossed the ocean to obtain Episcopal ordi- nation. He returned to this country commissioned as a resident missionary to the Episcopal church in New London. Mr. Seabury was a native of Groton, born July 8th, 1706.
In November, 1726, a survey was made of the parish of North Groton, in order to discover the exact center, which the inhabitants had determined should be the site of their meeting-house. The central point was found to be " forty or fifty rods from the south-west corner of Capt. John Morgan's great pasture," on land belonging to Samuel Newton, from whom it was obtained by exchange for the society training field. Until the house should be finished the preach-
1 Trumbull, Backus, Great Awakening, &c.
2 Erroneously called Samuel by Trumbull. There are some slight errors in Trum bull's dates respecting Groton ministers.
+
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ing places designated were the houses of Capt. John Morgan, Will- iam Morgan, Robert Allyn and Ensign William Williams. The warning posts of the society where notices were to be set up, were at Capt. Morgan's, Ralph Stoddard's and Sergt. Robert Geer's mill. Several preachers succeeded Mr. Seabury ; each engaged but for a limited time. No minister was settled until 1729.
" In society meeting, Aug. 28th, 1729.
" Voted to call Mr. Ebenezer Punderson to be our gospel-preaching minister and to offer him a settlement of £400 to be paid in two years, and a standing salary of £100."
" At a session of the General Assembly in New Haven, Oct. 9th, 1729.
" This Assembly grants leave to the inhabitants of the north society in the town of Groton to embody into church estate, they first obtaining the consent of their neighboring churches."
Mr. Punderson was ordained Dec. 29th, 1729. Mr. Adams of New London preached the sermon. The meeting-house, though not entirely completed, was comfortably fitted for the ceremony.
On the first day of January, 1733-4, Mr. Punderson made a com- munication to the society, avowing himself "a conformist to the Episcopal church of England," and expressing doubts of the validity of his ordination. This notice was received in the first place with amazement and sorrow, and a committee was appointed to reason with him and endeavor to convince him that his ordination was canon- ical and his position safe and desirable. Of course this measure was unavailing. A council was convened at the house of Capt. Morgan Feb. 5th, and the connection dissolved.
The society after this event was two years without any regular preaching. The Rev. Andrew Croswell, their next minister, was ordained Oct. 14th, 1736. The settlement offered him was £200 per annum for the first two years and £110 per annum afterward. The previous unhappy experience of the society induced them to add the following condition.
" In case he should withdraw from the established religion of this govern- ment to any other persuasion, he shall return £200 to the society."
Rev. Andrew Croswell was ordained Oct. 14th, 1736. He was a man of ardent temperament and, like Mr. Owen, deeply interested in the Great Awakening. The revival of religion in 1740 and 1741, designated by that term, swept through no part of New England with a current more powerful than in New London county. Lyme, New London, Groton and Stonington were in a state of fervid ex- citement. Mr. Croswell came out in writing as the champion of
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Whitefield and of Davenport. He went forth, also, to interest other parishes than his own in the new way of presenting truth. In Feb- ruary and March, 1742, he was preaching in different towns in Massa- chusetts, with good success, but with "irregular zeal."1
In 1746, Mr. Croswell decided on leaving Groton. Having made known his determination, a society meeting was called, which passed the following vote :
"Aug 21st, 1746. Whereas Mr. Croswell is determined to leave this society, he thinking himself called of God so to do, which thing we don't approve of, yet we shall not oppose him therein, but leave him to his own choice."
Under this Mr. Croswell entered his resignation.
" Groton, Aug. 21st. Whereas I the subscriber once took the charge of the society in North Groton, and they having left it to my choice to go away if I saw fit and thought myself called so to do, I now resign my pastoral office over them, wishing them the best of heavenly blessings and that the Most High God, if he pleases, would give thiem a pastor according to their own heart.
"ANDREW CROSWELL."
This was the whole form of dismission. Mr. Croswell went to Boston, and in April, 1748, the society voted that he was dismissed. Mr. Croswell became the first pastor of the Eleventh Congregational Church in Boston, which worshiped in what had been the French Protestant church in School Street. He was installed Oct. 5th, 1748, and continued in this charge till his death, April 12th, 1785, aged seventy-six.
Mr. Jacob Johnson, the third minister of this society, was ordained in June, 1749, and remained with them twenty-three years. In Oc- tober, 1772, at a society meeting, he asked for a dismission, and the result is recorded in two words, " Voted, dismissed."2
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