History of New London county, Connecticut : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 129

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1317

USA > Connecticut > New London County > History of New London county, Connecticut : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 129

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Elizabeth Mason, who married Elisha Waterman, had the following children : Andrew (1), deceased ; James ; Elizabeth, married Nathaniel Sexton ; Elisha ; and Nancy Fitch, who married James M. Peckham, has two daughters, Elizabeth and Mary (deceased), and Andrew (2).

Jeremiah Mason, only living child of James Fitch Mason, was born in Lebanon, Conn., in the same house where he has always lived for eighty-six years, March 4, 1795. He bears the honored name of his grandfather Jeremiah, and right well has he tried through a long life to honor that name. His advan- tages for an education were limited, yet by that same energy which has always marked his progress he has acquired a good practical education. His life-work has been that of a farmer, and he has by great perse-

verance and frugality become one of the largest and best farmers in Lebanon. He has been liberal to the church and charitable to the poor. He is a great friend to children, and many there are to-day who enjoy meeting Uncle Jerry. He is a Republican in politics. In 1862 he was a member of the Legisla- ture. He has always been of a retiring disposition, not seeking official honors, but preferring the quiet of home. He is universally respected, being honest, industrious, and frugal.

Edward Mason, the youngest of eight children, was a great favorite in the family, and after his death Jeremiah invited his widow and three children, the youngest three and the eldest thirteen years of age, to make their home with him and his two sisters, ex- pressing a wish that the family might be kept to- gether, sparing no expense that a father could bestow upon his children.

The youngest, Wm. Alfred Mason, enlisted in the Eighth Regiment Connecticut Volunteers at the age of seventeen ; lived only six months, and died of con- sumption.

. James Fitch Mason married Fanny G. Hoxie. They have two children,-William Alfred and Fanny Fitch. James Fitch Mason resides on a large farm in Franklin, which was given to him by his uncle Jeremiah, and which has been occupied by the Mason family for six generations. He is a very prosperous farmer. The farm adjoining, known as the " little farm," has been given to Nancy Fitch Mason by her uncle Jeremiah. She is caring for him at the old homestead, where he has always lived. He has two large farms, which he improves and directs at the advanced age of eighty-six years.

CHAPTER LIV.

LEDYARD.

Geographical-Topographical-The Pequots-Indian Burial-Place-The "Last Retreat"-" Mashantucket"-The Pioneers-Allyn's Point-Or- ganization of the Parish-First Meeting-Warning-Posts-The First Minister-Name of the Town-Incorporation of the Town-The First Selectmen-Ecclesiastical History-Congregational Church-The Sep- aratists-The Methodist Episcopal Church-The Baptist Church- Prominent Sons of Ledyard-Military Record-Judges of Probate- Representatives from 1836 to 1882.

THE town of Ledyard lies southeast of the centre of the county, and is bounded as follows : on the north by Preston, on the east by Stonington and North Stonington, on the south by Groton, and on the west by Thames River, which separates it from Waterford and Montville. The surface of the town is hilly, and the soil generally fertile.

The following history of Ledyard is from the pen of Capt. William T. Cook, who has earned the grate- ful remembrance of his fellow-citizens and the sons of Ledyard in rescuing from oblivion the annals of the town.

530

HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

The Pequot Indians were the aboriginal inhabitants of this section of the country. They were a warlike race, more savage than the surrounding tribes, and more unfriendly towards the whites, although there is no record of any Indian battle taking place within the limits of what is now known as the town of Ledyard.

A favorite place of burial seems to have been on the farm now owned by Mr. William Fanning. An old gentleman who was present at the opening of one of these graves many years ago gives this description of it: A circular opening was dug in the earth, and the body placed in a sitting posture. A stake had been forced into the ground perpendicularly in front of it; a nail was driven into the stake, on which was hung a looking-glass opposite the face of the dead, who was supposed to be a female. Two earthen bowls were also deposited in the grave; these were supposed to contain the succotash to be used as food on the journey to the spirit-land.

The finding of these articles in this grave shows that the body was placed there after the country was settled by the whites. The glass and bowls dropped in pieces on being exposed to the air. In the grave where another body was laid years after were buried a gun with seven pounds of powder and seven pounds of shot for the use of the hunter when he should ar- rive at the " happy hunting-grounds." A white man is said to have coveted these then precious articles and hired a man to rob the grave, but his courage failed before the time came for the attempt to be made, and the Indian is supposed to still retain his gun and ammunition.

The " last retreat" (so called) of the Pequots is a portion of it situated in the northeast part of this town. This reservation, consisting originally of nine hundred acres, was called in the Indian dialect, Ma- shantucket. It is now known as "Indian Town." The tribe has been gradually dwindling away, and probably at this day there is not a pure blood left.

Efforts have been made to Christianize them, but have been attended with little success. The late Gen. William Williams took a deep interest in the remnant of this tribe, employed teachers, and endeavored to gather them into a school, but his labors were una- vailing.

North Groton, together with Groton, Stonington, and several other towns, were included originally in the township of New London, but not all were con- tained in the township which now belongs to New London County.

In Miss Caulkins' "History of New London" we find the names of some of the early settlers, as fol- lows : Christopher Avery, Robert Allyn, Philip Bell, Jonathan Brewster, William Chapman, Edward Cul- ver, Silas Deane, Edmund Fanning, George Geer, John Hurlbutt, William Maynard, Benadam Gallup, James Morgan, Isaac Lamb, Robert Park, Peter Spi- cer, Ralph Stoddard, Ezekiel Turner, and William Williams. Other names were added afterwards.

In regard to Jonathan Brewster, who died in 1661, bills of sale are recorded, dated in 1658, conveying all his property in the town plot, his house and land at Poquetannock, with his cattle and swine, to his son, Benjamin Brewster, and his son-in-law, John Pickett.

Mrs. Lucretia Brewster, the wife of Jonathan, was evidently a woman of note and respectability among her compeers. She was one of the first band of Pil- grims that arrived at Plymouth in the "Mayflower," December, 1620, being a member of the family of her father-in-law, Elder William Brewster, and having one child, William, with her.

Her husband came over in the "Fortune," which arrived Nov. 10, 1621.

The bodies of Jonathan Brewster and his wife now lie in the Brewster Cemetery, and a neat monument was erected to their memory a few years since by their descendants.

Silas Deane, Sr., seems to have been a prominent member of the ecclesiastical society for about ten years. The following is a copy of a receipt given by him with others as members of said society : " Gro- ton, Jany. ye 29, 1754, then reed of Lieut. John Stan- ton £295 1s. 3d. old Tenor, being in full of the Rate which sd Stanton collected for said Society. Wee say recd, Eb. Allyn, Joseph Morgan, Silas Dean, Com. for sd Society."

Silas Deane, Jr., was born on the place where Mr. William Fanning and his son George now reside; he graduated at Yale College in 1758, and was one of the three commissioners appointed by Congress to urge France to acknowledge the independence of the United Colonies.

The Allyns settled at what is known as " Allyn's Point;" 1 the Stoddards, at Long Cove; the Averys, in the northwest part of the town, now known as " Avery Hill"; the Hurlbutts, about Gale's Ferry.

Gale's Ferry received its name from a former pro- prietor who established a ferry at that place, and during the Revolutionary war had a ship-yard on the Point, where vessels were built to cruise against the British.

The Geers settled in the northern portion of the town. Peter Spicer was one of the resident farmers in the northwest part. Capt. Abel Spicer, of the Rev- olutionary army, was of this family.

1 Allyn's Point, where stood the old homestead of the family, is about six miles below Norwich, on the opposite side of the river from the Mo- hegan fields. The ancient fort of Uncas was in full view from the house. South of the pond and cove is a conspicuous elevation known as Allyn's Mountain, from whence the prospect is wide and far-reaching. To this height the neighbors were accustomed to resort as a lookout post when the river was visited by any unusual craft, or the Indians on the other side were gathered for council or sport. From this place on the memo- rable 6th of September, 1781, the conflagralion of New London was witnessed by women and children whose husbands and fathers had hastened to the scene of action. In the war of 1812 the three blockaded vessels forming the squadron of Commodore Decatur were laid up in the river near by, and on this hill his men threw up a redoubt and kept a sentry to watch the movements in and ncar New London IIarbor .- Miss Caulkins.

OLD HOME OF ELIHU SPICER, LEDYARD, NEW LONDON CO., CONN.

531

LEDYARD.

The Morgans settled near the Centre, the Gallups in the southeastern portion, the Williams in the east- ern, and the Chapmans northwest of the centre, the Bills not far from " Allyn's Point."

The first settlers, with their love for religious liberty united an intense desire for education, and simultane- ously with the erection of churches schools were established, and it appears from the old society rec- ord that a "school committee-man" was appointed by the ecclesiastical society.

Groton being a large town with great inequality of surface, which rendered it very inconvenient for Sab- bath-day assemblage in any one point, as soon as the advance in population would allow, the northern part, by permission of the Legislature, withdrew and or- ganized a second, which is now the Ledyard Ecclesi- astical Society. North Groton was incorporated as a parish by legislative action in 1724. The first re- corded meeting was held at the house of Capt. John Morgan, Jan. 3, 1725-26. In November, 1726, a sur- vey was made of the parish of North Groton in order to discover the exact centre, which the inhabitants had determined should be the site for their meeting- house.

The central point was found to be forty or fifty rods from the southwest corner of Capt. John Morgan's "goat-pasture," on land belonging to Samuel Newton, from whom it was obtained by exchange for the society training-field. The warning-posts, where notices were to be set up, were "at Capt. Morgan's, Ralph Stoddard's, and at Sergt. Robert Geer's mill."

The first Congregational minister of whom we have any knowledge was Samuel Seabury, a native of Gro- ton ; he preached here a short time and then became an Episcopalian. The next employed was Rev. Ebenezer Punderson, who remained ten years; his preaching-places before the building of the church were at the houses of Robert Allyn, Ensign William Williams, Capt. John Morgan, and William Morgan; his residence was on the place now owned by Mr. George H. O'Brien. Mr. Punderson, too, became an Episcopalian, and was dismissed from the society. A church was erected by that denomination for him about one and a half miles north of here, near the present residence of Mr. Israel Allyn. This building was removed to Poquetannock in 1784; it received some repairs in 1814, and continued to be occupied till 1841, when it was sold and taken down, a new edifice having been erected within the limits of the town of Preston.

The next pastor here was Rev. Andrew Croswell, who received a settlement of two hundred pounds for the first two years, and one hundred and ten pounds per annum afterwards. The settlement was given in those days in order to assist the minister in purchasing a farm, it being expected he would reside permanently with his people. The society had met with so much disappointment in the change of religious sentiments of their former ministers that they seem to have been

very cautious in giving another a settlement, and stipulated that in case Mr. Croswell should withdraw from the established religion of this government to any other persuasion he should return two hundred pounds to the society. He remained five years, and was succeeded by Rev. Jacob Johnson, whose place of residence was the house on the hill formerly oc- cupied by Mr. Croswell, east of the present residence of Mr. Edmund Spicer. Mr. Johnson remained about twenty-three years. After his departure the Congregational society kept together a short time and then gradually dwindled away, becoming extinct.

Rev. Timothy Tuttle commenced his ministry here in 1810; his pastorate extended to the time of his decease in June, 1864.

Rev. N. B. Cook supplied the pulpit from that time till Oct. 1, 1867, when the labors of the present pastor, Rev. Charles Cutting, commenced. The ordination of Mr. Tuttle took place at Groton, Aug. 14, 1811. The ministers and delegates were entertained at the house of Capt. Elijah Bailey. We transcribe the fol- lowing bill (presented by Capt. Bailey on that occa- sion) for the purpose of showing the change which has taken place in public opinion since that time :

" The 1st and 2d Society Committee in Groton to ELIJAH BAILEY Dr.

"Groton, Augt. 13, 1811. To 24 Dinners at 18 6d. €6

14,

10 Suppers " 1s 6d. 250

14 Breakfasts at 18 6d. 350

" 28 Dinners at 18 6d. 7

" 12 horses kept 1 day each. 2

Liquors, Sugar, &c., &c., &c.

This town now votes no license to liquor-sellers, and it is said that no ardent spirit can be purchased within its limits.

A Separatist or strict Congregational Church was formed somewhere between 1745 and 1750. The first pastor was Nathaniel Brown, Jr., who was succeeded by Elder Park Allyn, but the church was short- lived.

The house in which Elder Allyn resided is now occupied by Mr. Amos G. Avery. The church edifice stood a few rods west of the minister's house; the doorstep of the church is still seen there, but the build- ing was removed many years since to Gale's Ferry and occupied by the Methodists. .

A Methodist society was established at Gale's Ferry soon after the commencement of the present century. It was supplied for many years by Ralph Hurlbutt, Esq., a native of the place, and a local preacher of that denomination. Mr. Hurlbutt was a man of su- perior talents and an interesting preacher, and the church owed much of its prosperity to his fostering care. Since his decease they have been supplied by the Methodist Conference, Rev. William Turkington being the present pastor.

The Baptist Church was formed in 1843. The edi- fice stands about two miles east of the centre of the town. Its first pastor was Elder Stephen Peckham, who labored long and faithfully for its prosperity. It has no pastor at present, the pulpit being supplied by different preachers of that denomination.

532

HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

The town of Ledyard received its name in honor of Col. Wmn. Ledyard, who was killed with his own sword by a British officer at the massacre at Fort Gris- wold, Sept. 6, 1781. Tradition says he was a native of this society.

The town was incorporated June 1, 1836. At a meeting of the inhabitants June 11, 1836, it was voted to have but three selectmen, and Capt. Anson Avery, Capt. Henry Hallett, and Mr. Noah Davis were chosen.

Nathaniel B. Geer was one of the constables. At the time its charter was received the town contained about two thousand inhabitants, but the number has somewhat decreased, the last census placing the popu- lation in the vicinity of fourteen hundred.

From time to time many have left the town, we trust to be useful in other fields, and there are prob- ably but few States in the Union that cannot reckon a native of Ledyard among their citizens. California especially has, received many who were reared among these hills and prepared here to exert a good influence in the community.

We have already spoken of Silas Deane, whose power was felt on the other side of the Atlantic, and coming down to more modern times, we may mention the name of Asa Whitney, the projector of the first Pacific Railroad. Mr. Whitney was raised almost under the shadow of Lantern Hill. Rev. Joseph A. Copp, D.D., an eminent divine near Boston, claimed this town as his birthplace.

The late Henry W. Williams, of Pittsburgh, Pa., one of the judges of the Supreme Court of that State, Elias H. Williams, one of the judges of the Supreme Court of Iowa, and Rev. Robert Allyn, president of McKendree College, were also natives of this town. Rev. James A. Gallup, of Madison, deserves more than a passing notice. A graduate of Yale in 1851, ordained to the work of the ministry in 1854, he has shown himself to be an able and successful preacher of the gospel.

Of the sons of Ledyard, one in particular has en- deared himself to the dwellers in his native town. We refer to Hon. Henry Bill, of Norwich. The Bill Library, with a circulation of over two thousand vol- umes and a fund of more than $1800, stands as a me- mento of his earnest desire to promote our well-being. We must also remember him whose munificence erec- ted the monument to Ledyard's fallen heroes.

Laudable mention might be made of the Morgan brothers, of Aurora, N. Y., grandsons of Christopher Morgan, Esq., of this town, men of large wealth and larger hearts, who have been foremost in acts of benevolence.

The town furnished her quota during the last war. Lieut. Stanton Allyn, of the Twelfth Regiment, was one of our first volunteers. The "Connecticut War Record" says, "He was a young man of high promise. Among his comrades and at school he was without a peer. When the war broke out he stepped into the

line without a moment's hesitation, and went bravely through every battle with his regiment up to the siege at Port Hudson. On the 10th of June, in that disas- trous charge, he was foremost with his men. He was in the column of one thousand heroes which Gen. Banks summoned as a forlorn hope. But the great strain upon his nerves during the progress of the siege was too much for him to bear ; from exposure to the rains and scorching sun, a violent fever seized upon his system and shortly swept him away. He was much loved and deeply mourned by his companions and associates."

Samuel S. Whipple, grandson of Mr. Henry Wat- rous, was another brave man who fell in the heat of battle. The color-bearer of the First Connecticut Cavalry, he was always where the bullets flew the thickest, calling on the "boys" to "rally 'round the flag!" At Ashland, Va., he received a shot through the body, and turning to a companion at his side said, "I'm shot! Take my horse and the colors and go for- ward," and fell from his horse dead. The colonel wrote, "He was a brave and faithful man, and car- ried his colors as proudly and coolly in the heat of battle as on parade."

The ladies of the town responded nobly to the call for hospital supplies, consisting of clothing, bedding, and food. A company of earnest workers might be found at that time occupying the basement of the church, day after day and evening after evening, full of patriotism, bent on doing all in their power for the relief of those who had gone to take their part in the struggle for the nation's life on the field of battle.

Early and Prominent Residents .- Scarcely any rural locality in the whole United States may more justly claim distinguished mention than the North- cast School District of Ledyard, called for a hundred years and more the "Allyn District." In this stood the second Protestant Episcopal church in the county, the old churchyard of which now contains graves of early settlers dating back to 1739. In this little district were born Silas Deane, of Revolutionary memory, and Stephen Whitney, the projector of the great Pacific Railway. Deane was born here, and certainly was among the most useful servants of the Continental Congress. He was the second of the three commissioners sent to France to arrange commercial intercourse and to find a way by which the king might assist the colonies with arms, ammunition, and supplies, not only without the knowledge of Eng- land, but so that she could not even complain of par- tiality. Deane appears to have been the instrument of completing negotiations begun by Arthur Lee in London, and of dispatching several enterprises which greatly relieved the struggling armies of the colonies. But through the imprudence of Thomas Paine in the first place, who divulged the secrets of the committee, and in the second place through the impatience of certain members of the Congress, who could not be let into the secrets of diplomacy, he fell under suspicion

Ing! byBMPall & Sons 13 Rorelay ANY

533

LEDYARD.

and was deprived of his authority, and was for a long time regarded as very unwise and almost mischievous. But late researches among documents in Paris have shown that Deane was not only upright and unselfish but shrewd and far-seeing, and almost the wisest of his times. The contracts made by him with Beau- marchaise, really for the king of France, under the name of R. Hortales & Co., did much to relieve the distress of the army and furnish it with arms and money, and contributed to the equipments so useful and even necessary to the capture of Burgoyne.

Of the Bill family, Philip Bill was the first settler in Connecticut. He came with John Winthrop the younger from Ipswich, in Massachusetts, to New London in 1668. He settled in the eastern part of New London, near what is now Allyn's Point, and which in 1705 was set off as Groton, and in 1836 as Ledyard. His neighbors were Robert Allyn and George Geer, all well-known names in the subsequent history of the town.

Philip Bill was a large landholder and influential citizen in shaping the destiny of the young colony, planted for the most part by Winthrop, or at least largely by his influence. His son, Joshua Bill, was not less influential than his father, for we see in the records of old Groton that he was one of the commis- sioners to establish a reservation for the remnant of the Pequot Indians, which inhabited this town. The result of their deliberations was the location of the tribe where their reservation now is in Ledyard. He also surveyed and laid out, under the authority of the town, the road leading from Groton Ferry north- ward to the Preston line as it now is; this was done in 1723. Among his descendants was Gurdon Bill, who settled in the said Northeast District of the town, and after graduation at the Plainfield Academy taught school for seven successive winters, and sub- sequently embarked in merchandising and did a suc- cessful business. His family in many respects are among the most noted of all the families in this por- tion of New London County. Reared to industry and frugality, and aided by a small but choice library of their father, the sons, Edward, Henry,1 Gurdon, Frederic, Ledyard, and Charles, have each in various fields become somewhat conspicuous as public men. The eldest was for several years a member of the Iowa Senate. Gurdon settled in Springfield, Mass., and has acquired by his economy a large fortune.

Ledyard, born the same day that the town was chartered, prominent as a business man, of refined, educated tastes, and author of the books entitled " A Winter in Florida" and " Climates for Invalids," and one of the most carefully and correctly prepared genealogies yet published of his own family, and the generous donor of the soldiers' monument in his na- tive town, -- a massive, classical, granite obelisk, stand- ing on Liberty Square, in almost the geographical

centre and highest point in town, known as Meeting- house Hill. The said monument was erected in 1873. He also was engaged for a time in publishing in New York.

Charles graduated from the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale College; has likewise published some well-known and highly popular books, which have greatly tended to enlighten the youth of the land. His health failing, he visited Europe, and spent two years in travel, visiting all the principal places of note,-Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, France, Ger- many, Italy, and the Nile.

Frederic Bill has retired from active business and resides in the town of Groton.

The family of Allyns are likewise so conspicuous in the history of the town we cannot forbear giving sketches of some of them, namely :

Robert Allyn was of Salem, Mass., and a land- 'owner in 1637. He came to New London in 1651, where he obtained a house-lot; had land east of the harbor, which is now owned by the heirs of Belton Allyn Copp, who are his descendants. Allyn's Point was among his early possessions. To that place he removed and built a wharf and trading-house, which was maintained by himself or son during their life, and by his descendants for more than one hundred years. In the settlement of Norwich he was one of the thirty. five original proprietors, and either himself or son re sided there till the emigrant's death in 1683, aged about seventy-five years, when his only son John exchanged his lands in that town for lands nearer home, and occupied the homestead at Allyn's Point. His four daughters married,-first, Sarah, married George Geer, whose descendants are very numerous and highly re- spectable; second, Mary, married Thomas Park; Han- nalı, married Thomas Rose; and Deborah, married John Gager, Jr. The males have not been very nu- merous, but count among those who have the making of history, four having gloriously died at Fort Gris- wold,-viz., Capt. Samuel, a selectman of the town at that time, Capt. Simeon, Benadam, and Belton,-and Lieut. Stanton Allyn, one of the highest honored of his rank at the fall of Port Hudson. Of sea-captains, may be mentioned Capt. Robert N., Jacob Christo- pher, Gurdon, who was a sailing-master of one of our large war-vessels during our Rebellion, and is the au- thor of the "Old Sailor's Story," recounting his voy- ages and ventures ; Capt. Francis, who for some time commanded a packet in the New York and Havre line, and had the honor of bringing Lafayette to this country in 1824, he declining the offer by Congress of a ship of the line to take passage in the ship " Cad- mus" with Capt. Allyn, who was a polished gentle- man as well as a popular master. After quitting the sea he resided at New London, where he originated the Cedar Grove Cemetery Association, and was its president till his deatlı. Capt. Allyn is remembered by many for his fine personal presence, ready wit, and for social qualities.

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History of New London county, Connecticut : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 129

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1317

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1317