History of New London county, Connecticut : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 134

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 134

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1 In illustration of the statement concerning the remarkable number of lawyers, as well as other brilliant men and women of Lyme origin in dif- ferent parts of the country, I will mention a few well-known names; but it must not be understood that I am in the garden to enll all the flowers. Chief Justice Ebenezer Lane, of Ohio, was a grandson of Governor Mat- thew Griswold, and Judge William Lane is a grandson of Governor Roger Griswold. One of the sisters of Governor Matthew married Elijah Backus, of Norwich, from whom descended Gen. John Pope, of the late war.

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OLD LYME.

"Two generations farther back we have a curious episode, in which Matthew Griswold the second figured as 'Lyme's champion.' He was a tall, broad-chested, powerful young athlete, and a justice of the peace. There was a troublesome controversy between New London and Lyme about a tract of land some four miles in width, which both claimed. One summer morning in 1671 a party of Lyme haymakers went in to the controverted meadow to mow the grass, led by Griswold. About the same time a company from New London entered upon the other side. They all pitched in together, and such a scrimmage was never witnessed before nor since in the land of steady habits. It be- gan with words, but quickly came to blows with fists, feet, scythes, rakes, whetstones, and clubs. There were other justices of the peace present besides Gris- wold, and the belligerents were pretty generally ar- rested. They went to law, each party indicting the other, twenty-one from New London and fifteen from

Another sister married Judge Hillhouse, whose descendants are among the prominent families of New Haven. Gen. Joseph G. Perkins, of the late war, also Col. John Griswold, an accomplished young officer, who fell at Antietam, were grandsons of Governor Roger Griswold Rev. George Griswold, pastor of the East Lyme Church for thirty-six years, and Rev. Sylvanus Griswold, of Feeding Hills, were of the same family ; also Nathaniel Lynde Griswold and George Griswold, the great East India importers of New York ; the wife of Hon. Frederick Frelinghuysen; the wife of Senator Lanman; the wife of Senator Foster; the wife of John Lyon Gardiner, of Gardiner's Island; the wife of President Tyler : Chief Justice S. T. Hosmer ; and Eleanora, the wife of Virginia Cenci, Prince of Vicovaro, present Grand Chamberlain to the King of Italy. The prince is a lineal descendant of the family of Beatrice Cenci, and resides in the ancient Cenci palace. The Seldens have contributed largely to the eminence of our country. Conspicuous among the jurists of the present generation are Judge Samuel Lee Selden and Judge IIenry R. Selden, of New York. We may add to the list Hon. Dudley Selden, member of Congress ; Gen. McDowell, of army notoriety ; President Nott; Rev. Dr. Samuel Nott; Prof. Eaton, of Yale; A. L. Backus, of Toledo; the wife of Rev. Leonard W. Bacon ; Mrs. Gen. Lewis Cass ; and Mrs. Gen. Ilunt, of Toledo. A daughter of John McCurdy married the famous and witty ecclesiastic, Rev. Nathan Strong, of Hartford ; another married Dr. Channing, of Boston. A daughter of Lynde McCurdy married Ilon. John Allen, member of Congress; and their son, Hon. John W. Allen, was also a member of Congress. Robert McCurdy, the great importing merchant of New York, is a brother of Judge McCurdy, and the danghter of the latter is the wife of Prof. E. E. Salisbury, of New Haven. From the Smiths, Demings, Pecks, Sills, Marvins, Lords, Colts, Elys, Sterlings, Champions, and other Lyme families the army is legion. Senator Tru- man Smith; Senator Nathan Smith; Judge Nathaniel Smith ; Rev. Matthew Hale Smith ; Col. Henry C. Deming, member of Congress ; Rev. Dr. Edward Strong, of Boston; Judge Strong, of St. Louis; Judge Strong, of the United States Supreme Court; Rev. Dr. Stone, of San Francisco; Mrs. Rev. Dr. Hubbell, author of " Shady Side ;" Hon. David Stone, editor of the Journal of Commerce; Mrs. Prof. Hoppin, of Yale Theological Seminary ; Dr. John Peck ; Rev. Thomas Ruggles Gold Peck; Judge Seth E. Sill ; Gen. Theodore Sill, member of Congress; Miss Sill, of the Rockford Seminary ; Judge William Marvin, of Key West, Fla .; Judge Richard Marvin, of New York ; George Griffin, the famous New York lawyer; Rev. Edward Dorr Griffin, president of Wil- liams College ; the inventor of Colt's revolvers; Judge Colt, of the Su- preme Court; Judge Colt, of St. Louis; Hon. Alfred Ely, member of Congress, author, etc .; Elias H. Ely, fifty years a member of the New York bar; Abner L. Ely; D. J. Ely ; Z. S. Ely, prominent New York merchants ; Hon. Ansel Sterling, member of Congress; Gen. Elisha Ster- ling ; Hon. Micah Sterling, member of Congress (all lawyers of eminence); Gen. Epaphroditus Champion, member of Congress; Rev. Heury Cham- pion ; Hon. Aristarchus Champion, of Rochester; Chief Justice William L. Storrs; Hon. Henry Storrs, member of Congress; the two wives of Governor Trumbull, and a host of others.

Lyme. The former were fined £9 and the latter £5. The fines were remitted by the General Court of Con- necticut, and the land divided between the two towns. But the dividing line was not determined. Then arose another civil or uncivil war. New London kindly offered to take three miles and give one mile to Lyme, and Lyme made a similar disinterested proposition to New London. The wrangling continued for some months. Tradition says 'it was finally agreed, since the tract was not worth the expense of further litiga- tion, to settle the question by a private combat.' This decision was piously recorded as 'leaving it to the Lord.' Each town chose two champions, appointed a day, and people gathered in great numbers to see the fight. Matthew Griswold and William Ely fought for Lyme, and so valorously and well that they won the victory, and New London relinquished all claim to the property.

" A pretty little romance once occurred in this same notable vicinity, which gave the name to 'Bride Brook.' In the winter of 1646-47 a young couple in Saybrook were to be married. The only magistrate qualified to perform the rite was absent. They sent to New London for John Winthrop, who replied that he would meet them at the river, which was then re- garded as the boundary line between Saybrook and New London. It was some six or seven miles east of the Connecticut River, but thither the bridal party proceeded through deep snow-drifts. Arriving on the bank of the specified stream, they found it impassable on account of the ice, which was breaking. Conse- quently the marriage service was pronounced upon the New London side, and the loving pair promised to love, honor, and obey upon the Saybrook shore, and went their way rejoicing.

"Lyme was formerly a part of Saybrook, the set- tlement of which commenced in 1635. The region was selected for the commencement of empire by Cromwell, Hampden, and several English noblemen who had become dissatisfied with the management of civil and religious affairs under Charles I., and fully determined to remove permanently to the wilds of America. They organized a company, and secured a patent for a large portion of Connecticut, and sent John Winthrop the younger to take possession and build a fort at the mouth of the Connecticut River. It was called Saybrook, in honor of Lord Say and Seal and Lord Brook, who were foremost in pushing the enterprise. It was located on a peninsula, circu- lar in form, and connected to the mainland by a nar- row neck, over which the tide sometimes flowed, and was considered safe from any sudden incursion of the Indians. Two great handsome squares were laid out on the rolling land near the fort, designed as a build- ing site for palatial residences.

"Col. George Fenwick was the only one of the original patentees who came to abide in Saybrook. Cromwell and some others actually embarked in the Thames, but were stopped by an order from the king.

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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

Col. Fenwick was accompanied by his young, lovely, golden-haired, sunny-tempered wife, Lady Alice Bo- teler. She had been reared in the bosom of English luxury and refinement, but could adapt herself to pioneer life, and made her rude home in the quaint fort bright with wild-flowers and merry with laugh- ter. She brought with her a 'shooting-gun,' with which she used to practice, to the great diversion of her neighbors, and she had ' pet rabbits,' and a little gar- den which grew table delicacies. She was fond of out-of-door exercises, and was often seen cantering over the country on horseback. She had few asso- ciates : Mrs. John Winthrop, whose home during that period was on Fisher's Island, Mrs. Lake, a sister of Mrs. Winthrop, Mrs. Annah Wolcott Griswold, and Col. Fenwick's two sisters (one of whom married Richard Ely) comprised about the whole list. She died after nine years of Saybrook life, and was buried within the embankment walls of the fort. Col. Fen- wick soon after returned to England, where he was one of the judges who tried the unhappy Charles I. He left his private affairs in this country in charge of Matthew Griswold, who erected the monument over Lady Fenwick's grave, which for two and a quarter centuries was an object of sorrowful interest on the treeless, flowerless, desolate bluff which overlooks the flats and shallows of the mouth of the Connecticut River. It is, however, no longer there, but occupies a shady nook in the old Saybrook Cemetery. Four years since an enterprising railroad corporation found the world so narrow that it must needs plow di- rectly through this sacred spot, and not only rob us of the last shovelful of earth which our heroic ances- tors heaped together, but heartlessly overturn the ' quiet couch of clay' upon which Lady Fenwick had so long rested. Her remains were reinterred with imposing ceremonies. Her golden hair was found in a perfect condition, or nearly so, and a lock of it is preserved in an air-tight box in the Acton Library at Saybrook.

"By the way, this library, which was dedicated with great enthusiasm on July 4, 1874, will repay a visit. It is an institution which originated with the ladies of Saybrook about twenty years ago, but which remained to take definite shape through the gift of a lot to the trustees by Hon. Thomas C. Acton, the well- known president of the Board of Police Commission- ers in New York City in the time of the draft riot. He was also chiefly instrumental in raising funds to erect the handsome building, which, in grateful recog- nition, was christened the Acton Library. It contains some seventeen hundred volumes already, and the germ of a museum of relics and curiosities. It is sit- uated on one of the principal streets of Saybrook, di- rectly opposite the summer residence and attractive grounds of Mr. Acton.

" An attempt was made in 1675 to annex Saybrook and its surrounding territory to New York. Sir Ed- mund Andros appeared off the coast with an armed

fleet, and demanded the surrender of the fort in the name of the Duke of York.

"'We will die first,' was the reply of Capt. Bull, the commander.

" The garrison was immediately drawn up and pre- pared for action. Andros did not wish to incur blood- shed, and sent pacific messages. He finally proposed an interview with the officers, and landed. He was received courteously. But when he ordered the duke's patent and his own commission to be read, Capt. Bull, whose messenger, sent in hot haste to Hartford, had just returned with instructions from the General Court, stepped forward and forbade the read- ing. The clerk of Andros attempted to go on.

"'Silence !' roared Capt. Bull ; and then with deep, sonorous voice he recited the protest of the Hartford authorities. When he had finished, Sir Edmund Andros, pleased with his boldness and soldier-like bearing, asked his name.

"' My name is Bull, sir.'

"'Bull ! It is a pity your horns were not tipped with silver !'

" Andros wrote to his royal master after his return to New York that nothing could be done with officers or people in Connecticut, for the existing government was bent upon defending its chartered rights.

"Saybrook's historical point, where the lordly palaces of Europe were to have been and are not, was the seat of the first Yale College. The building was one story high and eighty feet long, and, together with the lot, was a donation from Nathaniel Lynde, the great Saybrook landholder, who was a grandson of the Earl of Digby. The books which formed the college library were donated by the ministers in the vicinity. The scholarly people of Lyme and Say- brook enjoyed the privilege of attending fifteen commencements, and sixty of the graduates of that period afterwards became distinguished in the min- istry. When the subject was agitated of removing the institution to New Haven, these two ancient towns at the Connecticut's mouth arrayed themselves in open opposition. But potent influences were working elsewhere. The Governor and his royal Council finally visited Saybrook in state-it was in the summer of 1718-and presently a warrant was issued to the sheriff to convey the college library to New Haven. He proceeded to the house where the books were kept, and found resolute men assem- bled to resist his authority. He summoned aid, en- tered forcibly, and placed the books under a strong guard for the night. In the morning every cart pro- vided for the journey was found broken, and the horses were indulging in the liberty of a free country. Other conveyances were obtained, and the troubled sheriff was escorted ont of Saybrook by a company of soldiers. But, alas ! the bridges on the road to New Haven were all destroyed. After multiplied delays and vexations the end of the route was reached, when, lo ! three hundred of the books were missing, also val-

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OLD LYME.

uable papers. It was whispered that they had been spirited away and buried.

"Saybrook is larger than Lyme, and more given to business. Its streets are broad and beautiful, and well lined with the venerated trees which the first settlers planted. Its homes are mostly surrounded with spacious gardens and grounds. It has a newness hardly in keeping with its length of years, but many houses are standing, nevertheless, which have tasted the salt air for three and four half-centuries, and are full of historic charms and associations. Prominent among them is the Hart mansion. It was built by Capt. Elisha Hart, the son of the old minister of Saybrook, and brother of Maj .- Gen. William Hart, one of the original purchasers of the three and one- half million acres of land in Ohio known as the ' Western Reserve.' Capt. Hart married the daugh- ter of John McCurdy, of Lyme, and they were the parents of seven of the most beautiful women on this side of the Atlantic. Two of these daughters were courted and wed under this roof by the distinguished naval officers, Commodore Isaac and Commodore Jo- seph Hull. It was the residence of Commodore Isaac Hull and his family for many years. A third daugh- ter married Hon. Heman Allen, United States minis- ter to South America. A fourth married the celebra- ted Rev. Dr. Jarvis. Many a thrilling romance might be gathered from the silent halls of this house. Say- brook has five miles or more of sea-beach, presided over by Fenwick Hall, a great elegant summer hotel, which draws annually hundreds of visitors.

"Lyme and Saybrook are about ten minutes by railroad apart; by carriage and the picturesque old Connecticut River ferry-boat, with its white sail, per- haps an hour. Lyme embraces a number of small villages scattered over its wide territory, and the in- tervening drives are exceptionally attractive. The road to North Lyme winds among sharp steeps, wild crags, around glimmering lakes, through weird ravines and darksome gorges, every now and then emerging into the broad sunlight upon the top of some remark- able elevation, where magnificent views may be ob- tained, stretching for miles up the Connecticut and across the Sound, with the valleys of soft green, the pretty curving creeks reflecting the blue sky, and Lyme half hidden among the leaves below. The variety in the landscape would drive an artist to dis- traction. It is a singular mixture of the wild and the tame, of the austere and the cheerful.

" A beautiful lake some two miles long lies among these hills, seemingly thrown in by nature hap-hazard, as a sort of plaything for her subjects. The Mohegan Indians had a settlement upon its shore in the olden times, and their bark canoes skimmed its polished surface in all weathers. It abounds in legends.

When piracy was at its zenith, several noted brigands were in hiding for some time in a cave ·near 'Lion's Rock,' and it was afterwards currently reported that Capt. Kidd had buried a box of treasures under the same overhanging bowlder. Two negro slaves stole away one dark night to dig for it, armed with a Bible, which they had been told it was necessary to read aloud whenever the devil should make his appearance to protect the property. They were followed to their ghostly task by some waggish young inen, who hid near by to watch operations. For a time there was no sound save the steady stroke of the pick-axe into the earth. All at once there was a clink as if it had hit some hard substance.

"'Quick, Sambo, read de Bible; I hear de debel down dar,' cried Pete.

."Sambo scrambled for the book and turned over the leaves.

"' Read, Sambo, read ! de debel am gettin' hold ob de lid ob de box.'

" ' I can't find de place, de debel he shake me so,' said Sambo, dropping the Bible and running, followed by Pete, neither looking behind them nor pausing until they had accomplished the whole five miles to the town.

" Upon the heights near this lake is the residence of the celebrated Rev. Dr. E. F. Burr, author of ' Pater Mundi,' 'Ecce Colum,' and other works, who is the pastor of the church in North Lyme. To the west a short distance, near the old homestead of the Elys, and on one of the highest points in the region, is the elegant country-seat of Mr. Z. S. Ely, of New York. This romantic corner of Lyme was the ancient home of the Seldens and Sterlings, one branch of the Lords, and other notable families. It was here that John Pierrepont, the poet, wooed and won his pretty Lord bride, and it was also here that Henry Howard Brownell's last poem was written.

"Lyme, notwithstanding its uneven surface, has very little waste land. Agriculture and the raising of horses, mules, and horned cattle have been a great source of wealth to the inhabitants, particularly in former years. The shad-fisheries in the Connecticut have also yielded large profits, and shell and other fish have been taken plentifully from the Sound. The town has a thrifty, well-cared-for appearance even to its remotest borders, and a quiet, unconscious aspect, as if the stormy world had rained only peace and contentment upon its legendary soil and historic homes. It is one of the loveliest nooks on the New England coast, and if its distinguished sons and daughters could all be gathered home, the world might well pause to exclaim, in figurative language, 'However small a tree in the great orchard, Lyme is a matchless producer of fruit.'"

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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

CHAPTER LXI.

OLD LYME-(Continued). ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.

Congregational Church.1-An old record reads thus: "Lyme, Mch. the 27th, 1693, at a town meeting it was desired and agreed upon with the inhabitants of this town, as agreed by a unanimous vote, that there may be a church gathered in this town, and Mr. Noyes called to office, if it may be obtained accord- ing to the rules of Christ."

"Ye prime Society of Lyme" was thus organized, and the Rev. Moses Noyes was installed its pastor. He had, however, been preaching to the people of Lyme for twenty-seven years prior to this, or from the year 1666, nor does it appear why a church was not earlier organized. The unsettled state of society at that time, when the fathers were attempting a set- tlement among wild and jealous tribes of Indians, may account for it. Preaching, however, was sus- tained by the people of the new settlement, which took the name of Lyme.

A meeting-house was built shortly after Mr. Noyes began to preach, probably before 1668. Tradition de- scribes it as a small log house erceted by the settlers on the brow of Meeting-house Hill, overlooking the Sound and the surrounding country.

The old Indian trail crossed the hill at this place, and it was by this worn pathway that the men on horseback, with the women on pillions behind them, came to meeting.

How the aged eyes of the grandfathers lighted up with excitement and the hot blood of youth came again to the sunken cheeks as they described the scenes of those days! The men came with their loaded muskets in their hands, and regularly detailed some of their number to stand guard during the services that they might not be surprised by the Indians.

The women, by their courageous devotion in sharing privation and braving peril, sustained their husbands and sons in the landable design of planting a settle- ment and a church here.

In this primitive house the early settlers held their meetings for about twenty-one years, or until 1689, when the second meeting-house was built. This date appears to be well authenticated from the following minute of the appointment by the General Court of a committee to locate the house and their report thereupon.

This committee visited Lyme and heard the "sev- eral allegations and reasons" of the people, and "saw reason to pitch upon two places where to set the meeting-house ; and with the consent of the greatest part of the people of Lyme, we, after calling upon the Lord, commended the decision of the case to a lot, which lot fell upon the southernmost we had ap-

pointed, which is upon the hill where the now meet- ing-house stands, more northerly, in the very place where we shall stake it out." The report is signed by John Talcott, John Allin.

"This day in Lyme, June 4th, 1686."

Also the following minute on the records of the town :

"September the 26th, 1695, at the same meeting, Joseph Peck demanded of the town £2 19s. 6d., due to him when the new meeting-house was built in the year 1689." Which records establish the fact that there was a meeting-house standing before this one was built, and that this one was built in the year 1689.

It was a commodious and substantial building, capable of accommodating all the inhabitants of the town.

Its location was on the brow of the hill, somewhat to the north and west of the first one, and on the other side of the Indian trail, which had by this time developed into a well-worn track for horses.

The brow of the hill was chosen as a site for the second house for the same reason probably as before, viz. : on account of the security from surprise by the Indians; also because it was midway between the settlements at Black Hall and the region now called Whippoorwill and the town of Saybrook, opposite to which, on the banks of the Great River, was another growing settlement that demanded church accommo- dations.

After thirty-eight years of service it seems this house needed some repairs. On the society records of Jan. 4, 1727, there is this minute in the quaint old language of the times: "It was voted yt they will repair ye meeting-house in manner and form as fol- lows : First, to clabord ye fore side of said hows, and part of ye east end, and rectifie ye windows and glass, and what els ye cometee for yt affair think fit, not ex- ceeding forty pounds."

In the year 1734 the second house was found to be too small to accommodate the increasing population, consequently we find a record to this effect : " Voted, that this Society think it highly necessary and cove- nant to erect or build a new meeting-house in this Society." And the next year the society voted to build a house "60 ft. long by 40 ft. wide, and 24 ft. between the sill and the plate," and a committee was appointed to go to the General Court and ask the ap- pointment of a committee by that body to locate the site for it, inasmuch as the society could not agree upon any among themselves, and as the former committee had acted so judiciously and well.

The site selected was still the brow of the hill, a little to the north and west of the old house.

After the second meeting-house had stood forty- nine years, we find by the society records in 1738 the third meeting-house was inclosed, and a committee was appointed to finish it. There is also the follow- ing minute: "Sept. the 19th, 1738. Voted, that this Society will pull down the old meeting-house, and

1 By Rev. William B. Cary.

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OLD LYME.

improve what timber and boards that will be proper towards finishing the new meeting-house in this So- ciety."

It was not burned down, as some tradition has it, nor worn out, but was inadequate to the wants of the increasing population.

The third house was located on the same hill as the second, and a short distance from it. And from the fact that this same site was chosen, it is apparent that the interests of the people settled on the bottom- lands between Meeting-house Hill and the Con- necticut River were so important as to demand con- sideration, as otherwise the meeting-house would have been located nearer to Black Hall.

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History of New London county, Connecticut : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 134

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