History of New London county, Connecticut : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 136

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 136


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


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129 | Part 130 | Part 131 | Part 132 | Part 133 | Part 134 | Part 135 | Part 136 | Part 137 | Part 138 | Part 139 | Part 140 | Part 141 | Part 142 | Part 143 | Part 144 | Part 145 | Part 146 | Part 147 | Part 148 | Part 149 | Part 150 | Part 151 | Part 152 | Part 153 | Part 154 | Part 155 | Part 156 | Part 157 | Part 158 | Part 159 | Part 160 | Part 161 | Part 162 | Part 163 | Part 164 | Part 165 | Part 166 | Part 167 | Part 168 | Part 169 | Part 170 | Part 171 | Part 172 | Part 173 | Part 174 | Part 175 | Part 176 | Part 177 | Part 178 | Part 179 | Part 180 | Part 181 | Part 182 | Part 183 | Part 184 | Part 185 | Part 186 | Part 187


The McCurdy Porphyry-Granite Quarry .- This quarry is situated on the old McCurdy farm, about seventy-five rods from the New York and Boston Shore-line Railroad, and about fifteen rods from boatable tide-water, leading, at a distance of about three-fourths of a mile, to a navigable arm of the Connecticut River near its mouth. Both ways of ap- proach are within the farm.


The stone is a carnation-red porphyritic granite. It is remarkable for its rich color, and for its large proportion of brilliant crystals of feldspar, many of which are opalescent. Believed to be without a rival in this country, it is more beautiful than any granite of Scotland, and in appearance mostly resembles the famed Egyptian syenite, though excelling that in richness of color and brilliance of crystals. It is easily quarried, dressed, and sawn, and receives a high polish, is very durable, and is equally well adapted to every form of use, rough or ornamental. The supply is practically inexhaustible.


CHAPTER LXII. OLD LYME-(Continued). CIVIL AND MILITARY.


THIS town, which is the south part of the ancient town, was organized as a separate town in 1855.


REPRESENTATIVES FROM 1855-82.


The following is a list of the representatives from the organization of the town to 1882. The names of the representatives prior to 1855 will be found in the history of the town of Lyme :


1858, James Griswold; 1859, Daniel Chadwick; 1860, John M. Chad- wick ; 1861, William B. Tooker; 1862, M. Griswold, Jr .; 1863, Israel Matson ; 1864, John E. Swan; 1865, Mat. Griswold, Jr .; 1866-67, 1877, John S. De Wolf; 1868, D. M. Watrous; 1869-70, Robert F. Chapman; 1871, N. S. Lee ; 1872, John G. Rowland; 1873, R. W. Chadwick ; 1874, Joseph A. De Wolf; 1875, Edward Sheffield; 1876, Lemuel A. Calkins; 1878, Erastus C. Clark ; 1879, Richard S. Gris- wold; 1880, Charles W. Morley ; 1881, George W. De Wolf.


CHAPTER LXIII.


OLD LYME-(Continued).


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.


Rev. Davis S. Brainerd was born in Haddam, Conn., Oct. 12, 1812. He was the fourth son of Mr. Heber Brainerd. He entered Yale College in 1830, and graduated from there in the class of 1834.


560


HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.


Having early chosen the profession of a minister of the gospel, he studied theology at Princeton and New Haven, with a few months at Andover.


In 1841, June 30th, Mr. Brainerd was settled as pas- tor of the First Congregational Church in Lyme, and had a long and successful pastorate of nearly thirty- four years, among a highly cultivated and intelligent people. He was elected a member of the corporation of Yale College in 1861, and in 1867 was chosen a member of its Prudential Committee, which honors he held until his death, April 30, 1875.


He married Anna, the eldest daughter of Capt. Daniel Chadwick, of Lyme. They had five children, one son and four daughters.


CHAPTER LXIV.


EAST LYME.


Geographical-Topographical-The Bride Brook Marriage-Washing- ton's Visit, etc.


EAST LYME lies in the southern part of the county, and is bounded as follows : on the north by Salem, on the east by Montville and Waterford, on the south by Long Island Sound, and on the west by Lyme and Old Lyme. The surface of the town is generally hilly and the soil fertile.


As the territory embraced within this town origin- ally comprised a portion of New London and Old Lyme, much of its early history will be found in the history of those towns.


The Bride Brook Marriage .- " In March, 1672, when the controversy in respect to bounds between New London and Lyme was carried before the Legis- lature, Mr. Winthrop, the Governor of the colony, being called on for his testimony, gave it in a narra- tive form, his object being to show explicitly that the little stream known as Bride Brook was originally regarded as the boundary between the two planta- tions. The preamble of his deposition is in substance as follows :


"' When we began the plantation in the Pequot country, now called New London, I had a commission from the Massachusetts government, and the ordering of matters was left to myself. Not finding meadow sufficient for even a small plantation, unless the meadows and marshes west of Nahantiek River were adjoined, I determined that the bounds of the plantation should be to the brook now called Bride Brook, which was looked upon as certainly without Saybrook bounds. This was an encouragement to proceed with the plantation, which otherwise could not have gone on, there being no suitable accommodation near the place.'


" In corroboration of this fact, and to show that the people of Saybrook at first acquiesced in this boun- dary line, the Governor related an incident which he says 'fell out the first winter of our settling there.' This must have been the winter of 1646-47, which was the first spent by him in the plantation. The main points of the story were these :


" A young couple in Saybrook were to be married :


the groom was Jonathan Rudd. The Governor does not give the name of the bride, and unfortunately the omission is not supplied by either record or tradition. The wedding-day was fixed, and a magistrate from one of the upper towns on the river was engaged to perform the rite; for there was not, it seems, any person in Saybrook duly qualified to officiate on such an occasion. But 'there falling out at that time a great snow,' the pathis were obliterated, traveling obstructed, and intercourse with the interior inter- rupted, so that 'the magistrate intended to go down thither was hindered by the depth of the snow.' On the seaboard there is usually a less weight of snow, and the courses can be more readily ascertained. The nuptials must not be delayed without inevitable necessity. Application was therefore made to Mr. Winthrop to come to Saybrook and unite the parties. But he, deriving his anthority from Massachusetts, could not legally officiate in Connecticut.


"' I saw it necessary' (ho observes) ' to deny them in that way, but told them, for an expedient for their accommodation, if they come to the plantation it might be done. But that being too difficult for them, it was agreed that they should come to that place which is now called Bride Brook, as being a place within the bounds of that authority whereby I then acted; otherwise I had exceeded the limits of my com- mission.'


"This proposition was accepted. On the brink of this little stream, the boundary between two colonies, the parties met,-Winthrop and his friends from Pe- quot, and the bridal train from Saybrook. Here the ceremony was performed, under the shelter of no roof, by no hospitable fireside, without any accommoda- tions but those furnished by the snow-covered earth, the overarching heaven, and perchance the sheltering side of a forest of pines or cedars. Romantic lovers have sometimes pledged their faith by joining hands over a narrow streamlet; but never, perhaps, before or since was the legal rite performed in a situation so wild and solitary and under circumstances so interesting and peculiar.


" We are not told how the parties traveled, whether on horseback or on sleds or snow-shoes, nor what cheer they brought with them, whether cakes or fruit, the juice of the orchard or vineyard, or the fiery extract of the cane. We only know that at that time conveniences and comforts were few and luxuries unknown. Yet simple and homely as the accompani- ments must have been, a glow of hallowed beauty will ever rest upon the scene. We fancy that we hear the foot-tramp upon the crisp snow ; the ice cracks as they cross the frozen stream ; the wind sighs through the leafless forest, and the clear voice of Winthrop swells upon the car like a devout strain of music, now low and then rising high to heaven, as it passes through the varied accents of tender admonition, legal decision, and solemn prayer. The impressive group stand around, wrapped in their frosty mantles, with heads reverently bowed down, and at the given sign the two plighted hands come forth from among the furs and are clasped together in token of a life-long,


561


EAST LYME.


affectionate trust. The scene ends in a general burst of hearty hilarity.


"Bride Brook issues from a beautiful sheet of water, known as Bride Lake or Pond, and runs into the Sound about a mile west of Giant's Cove. In a straight line it is not more than two miles west of Niantic Bay. The Indian name of the pond or brook, or of both, was Sunk-i-paugor, Sunkipaugsuck.1


"It received the name of Bride Brook on the spot, at the time of the nuptial celebration. Winthrop, in his deposition (which is on file among the State records at Hartford), says, 'And at that time the place had [i.e., received] the denomination of Bride Brook.' That a considerable company had assembled is evi- dent from the narrative, which alludes to those pres- ent from Pequot, and to the gentlemen of the other party, who 'were well satisfied with what was done.'


"Thus it appears that Bride Brook was originally the western boundary of New London. It had been fixed upon as the terminus between her and Say- brook anterior to the marriage solemnized upon its eastern brink, though it obtained its name from that occurrence.


" The annals of history can furnish but few inci- dents more striking than the Bride Brook marriage. All the accessories of the scene are picturesque and impressive. The little company stood in the midst of a dreary waste of snow, far from any human habitation except the huts of savages ; ancient forests and immense solitudes were around them, beyond which, in shadowy magnificence, vast and indefinite, lay that unexplored world on whose brink they stood. We might, perchance, add to these features the stal- wart forms of natives, a tribe of whom dwelt not far from the place, darting among the trees or looking on at a distance. What sublime scenery for a wedding ! There is no marriage upon record that has such ro- mantic associations."


" When this fair town was Nam-e-ang,- A bleak, rough waste of hill and bog,-


In huts of sea-weed, thatch, and log, Our fathers few, but strong and cheery, Sate down amid these deserts dreary.


"'Twas all a wild, unchristian wood, A fearful, boisterous solitude, A harbor for the wild-fowl's brood, Where countless flocks of every pinion Held o'er the shores a bold dominion.


" The sea-hawk hung his cumbrous nest, Oak-propp'd, on every highland crest; Cranes through the seedy marshes prest ; The curlew, by the river lying, Looked on God's image, him defying.


" The eagle-king soared high and free, His shadow on the glassy sea A sudden ripple seemed to be ; The sunlight in his pinions burning, Shrouded him from eyes upturning.


1 " Sunkipaug means cold water. In Elliot's Indian Bible, Prov. xxv. 25, he has, 'As sonkipog [cold water] to a thirsty soul,' etc. ; so in Matthew x. 42, ' Whosoever shall give sonkipog [a cup of cold water] to one of these little ones,' etc .-- S. Judd, MS.


" They came, the weary-footed band ; The paths they cleared, the streams they spanned,


The woodland genius grew more bland ; In haste his tangled vines unweaving, Them and their hopes with joy receiving.


" Then beasts of every frightful name, And wild men with their hearts of flame,


By night around them howling came; No arms had they but care and caution, And TRUST IN GOD was all their portion.


" Firm as the rocky coast they stood, And earnest as the rushing flood, Disdaining fear, yet fearing God ; Each man was both a lamb and lion, With heart of flesh, but nerves of iron.


" They yoked the eagle to the dove, They tamed the wilderness with love, Clear light within, clear light above; By faith upheld, by foes undaunted, Home, freedom, country here they planted.


" Great hearts wero those that hither came,- A WINTHROP of undying fame,


A BREWSTER of an honored name; Great hearts, the growth of three great nations, Laid deep for us these firm foundations.


" The angels as they glided by Some gleams of brightness lent the sky ; And earth's own angels, too, were nigh,- The choicest of fair England's daughters Came with them o'er the billowy waters.


"Now thanks to thee, O God of lands ! Who settlest lonely mnen in bands,


That brought these angels to our strands; The Rose of Eden, heavenly woman ! To gardens changed these wilds inhuman.


"See! like the rose-tree's sudden bloom, Bright visions break the wintry gloom, The evergreens breathe forth perfume, Love's purple light the scene is flushing, A romance into life is rushing.


" A streamlet-Nam-e-aug's western bound - A path by craggy hillsides found, Meandering to the distant Sound ; A slender stream, but clear and glowing, Down through umbrageous valleys flowing.


" Forth from a lovely lake it came, Sweet stream with an ungentle name ; But now, ice-bound, snow-wreathed, and tame, No longer sparkling, prattling, leaping, The Naiad of the brook was sleeping.


" To this fair stream two sledgy trains, Grotesque and quaint as Lapland wains, Rushed swiftly o'er the dazzling plains : . Vast earth before, behind all hoary, Embosomed in a shroud of glory.


" How still is all surrounding snow ! How dead but for this diamond glow !


The sun's exuberant overflow, Filling the air with quivering gladness, Relieves earth's spectre of its sadness.


" No sounding bells waked nature's ear, Yet musie, flowing sweet and clear, Rippled the sea of silence drear. Cheery they come,-men, maidens singing, And all the echoes round them ringing.


" They meet : here noble Winthrop stands. Come forth, ye gladsome bridal bands, Ye snow-capt hills, clap all your hands ! Ye spicy cedars, green and towering, Draw round them all your screens embowering


562


HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.


" The woven nets are lightly spread, The spruce boughs yield their fragant aid, The white smoke o'er them curls a shade, And fruits and viands, choice and dainty, Flow from the ample horn of plenty.


" Her furry wrappings cast aside, As rosy skies when clouds divide, Forth steps the conscious, blushing bride, A trembling, serious, fadeless beauty, Commingling sweetness, love, and duty.


" She stood like Summer on the snow,- No morning dawn around could throw Such rosy light, so warm a glow, --- And hovering clouds, with seraphs laden, Showered heavenly blessings on the maiden.


"She was a dame of fair degree ; Her lover, fearless, bold, and free,


Had suffered scaith by land and sea; Their hearts long pledged by word and token, Now let the sacred rite be spoken.


"Then hands were clasped, and Winthrop prayed : The life-long covenant was made ;


High heaven a mute attention paid; Winds, groves, and hills, with reverence lowly, Trembled around a scene so holy.


"' Now Sunk-i-paug is Bridal Lake : Flow, ever flow !'-thus Winthrop spake, ---


'Round hearts and homes thy journey take ; Love's streamlet out of Bride Lake welling, GOD LEAD A BRANCH TO EVERY DWELLING.' "


-Bride Brook, a Legend, by Miss F. M Caulkins, 1852.


Washington's Visit .- Gen. Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette visited this town, and halted at the residence now owned and occupied by Daniel Calkins, M.D. In speaking of this Dr. Calkins says,-


"I remember in my boyhood hearing my grandmother speak of Gen. George Washington and M. de Lafayette calling here while passing through. The time was midday, and if my memory serves me, as told by my grandmother, they had an escort of men or guard, and those men partook of a meal, while on ' bivouac,' on the hill in front of the house, under the old willow-trees. I have now in my possession the kettle or large iron pot in which the men boiled the meat and potatoes for said meal.


"Tho Marquis de Lafayette, in his last visit to this country, made a point to call at all places where he and Washington had called during the Revolutionary struggle. In passing through here from Lyme, where he stayed all night, he made a call at this house sufficient length of time to rest about midday, and was introduced to quite a large concourse of people by Judge Moses Warren. Lafayette addressed the people assem- bled on the hill, under the willows in front of the house, alluding to his former visit with Washington and his memories of those times when they and their men stood on the hill and under the trees, many years before, charging them to look well to and guard the liberties for which their sires had fought, bled, and died.


"In repairing the house in 1872 I retained the floors where Washing- ton and Lafayette walked, as also the doorstep where Washington and Lafayette's feet have stepped. Although I was beset by many to have the stepstone recut, it remains as it was a century ago, and shall remain so as long as I live for the memory of Washington and Lafayette."


CHAPTER LXV. EAST LYME-(Continued).


ECCLESIASTICAL-MILITARY AND CIVIL HISTORY.


The Congregational Church, East Lyme, was organized in 1719, and Rev. George Griswold was the first pastor.


Mr. Griswold was an active promoter of the great awakening. He labored not only at home, but also in other parishes. The work continued nearly two years, and one hundred white persons and thirteen Indians became members of the church. From 1761 the church was able to have but little preaching until 1793, when it had become virtually extinct. In that year it was reorganized. Henceforth it main- tained public worship constantly by services of the brethren in prayers and the reading of sermons and by occasional preaching. In 1816 domestic missionaries began their labors in this place, under which the church and congregation increased until the settle- ment of Mr. St. John in 1823. Since that time it has been favored with constant preaching, and with oc- casional revivals of religion. The meeting-house erected by them stood at least a century. In its ad- vanced age it was colloquially termed the Old Syna- gogue. It was a small, square building, without steeple, bell, or porch. A pulpit occupied the centre of one side; doors opening directly upon earth, air, and sky were on the other three sides. The gallery was low, projecting gloomily over the pews. The beams, pillars, and pilasters were so roughly finished as to show everywhere the marks of the hatchet. No varnish or paint in any part overshadowed the native wood, which became in age venerably silver-gray. Here as late as 1820 you might see the old woman's plain linen cap and straight border ; the small, black, mode bonnet, kept on by long bonnet-pins ; the short, red cloak, with the hood falling back; and men with enormous steel shoe-buckles and checkered pocket handkerchiefs. "Old Hundred," "Bray," and "Mear," sung in the pitch, tone, and time of the ancients, harmonized admirably with this inter- esting relic of the past.


This building was replaced by a stone church, a structure of simple elegance, neatly fitted up and furnished with a marble floor. The society is princi- pally indebted for this church to the liberality of the Griswolds of New York, emigrants from its bosom, who in their adopted homes show this grateful re- membrance of the place of their nativity.


In the burial-place near lie the remains of the first pastor of the church, Rev. George Griswold, who died in 1761, after a faithful ministry of thirty-six years. During the great awakening of 1740 and 1741 he had a large accession to his church, and it is an interest- ing fact that among the new members were thirteen Niantic Indians.


First Baptist Church, East Lyme.1-The history of this church is shaded in some obscurity. Baptist sentiments began to prevail here before the year 1730, through the labors of the venerable Valentine Wight- man, who was pastor of the Baptist Church in Groton. As early as 1747, Nathaniel Jewett, of Lyme, was expelled from the Legislature for being a member of


1 This church was called the Baptist Church in Lyme until 1839, when it was changed to East Lyme on account of the division of the town.


563


EAST LYME.


a Separate Church, and this is supposed to be the church to which he belonged.


The first records to be found commence in 1752, from which time a faithful account of their walk has been preserved. Elder Ebenezer Mack was then the pastor, and the names of sixty-eight are recorded as members. The first meeting-house was erected in 1755. Elder Mack labored faithfully for more than sixteen years, through various vicissitudes of pros- perity and adversity, when, at his request, he was re- leased on account of feeble health from the pastoral care; yet he continued in covenant relation, though soon after he ceased to walk with them in the ordi- nances, because he thought it inconsistent for a Bap- tist Church to build and commune at the Lord's Table with those who held and practiced infant sprinkling. A Council was called, which gave their decision in favor of Elder Mack, and from this Council originated the Stonington Association.


While thus without a pastor for several years, they were occasionally visited by Elder Zadoc Darrow, Elder Joshua Morse, and others, who preached and administered the ordinances. In one of his visits in 1771, Elder Morse proposed that this church and the church to which he administered should " enter into a sisterly relation." The brethren requested him to state what his articles were. He replied, "That none be admitted to membership but real believers, and .


nothing be practiced for baptism but immersion." His first proposition was unanimously adopted, and the second by a large majority.


Yet the church became much scattered, and the few who remained were in great discouragement. A day of fasting was appointed to pray to God, as the Lord of the harvest, for an under-shepherd, and in- quire whether the man was among them. They were soon convinced that he was, and called Jason Lee to be their pastor. He was the son of Elder Joseph Lee, pastor of a church at Southhold, L. I., yet his family lived in Lyme. In 1774 a Council of sister- churches was called, and they proceeded publicly to set him apart to the work of the ministry. From this time a good degree of prosperity was enjoyed. The labors of their pastor were blessed to their edi- fication, and sinners were seen "flying as a cloud, and as doves to their windows." Branches were formed in Marlow and Lemspter, in New Hampshire, and in the North Society, in New London (since called Montville). The Separates, as they were then called, became the most numerous in the society. The Stand- ing Order could not lay a tax on them, as formerly, for the support of their minister, for when they assembled for that purpose the Separates also met with them, and the vote was carried to have " No Tax."


About this time several of the brethren gave evi- dence that they were called of God to a more public work, and in 1782, Eleazer Beckwith was ordained as an evangelist, and "given up" to take the pastoral care of the branch at Marlow. Elder Beckwith after-


wards became one of the most entertaining preachers. Large crowds assembled to hear him, and some who remember him testify that, above any one else, he seemed to bring heaven near.


The same year Christopher Miner was called to ordination. He removed the following year to Chat- ham, where a Baptist Church was organized a few months afterwards.


The next year Richard Sill was set apart by ordina- tion to the work of an evangelist. The church first reported their numbers to this Conference in 1788, at which time there were two hundred and nineteen. In the following year, with the assistance of Council from sister-churches, William Comstock and Nehe- miah Huntley were ordained as evangelists.


Until the year 1795 occasional communion with the Pedobaptists had been allowed, although a ma- jority had all along been opposed to it. In 1797, Elder William Hill and a large number of brethren from Saybrook united in covenant and labor with them.


The year 1798 is distinguished by the commence- ment of still better days. Through this and the following year the most powerful revival was enjoyed that this church had ever seen.


The church called two more of their number to the ministry,-Nathan Champlin, who was ordained in the year 1800, and William Welch, in 1801. In the years 1806 and 1807 ninety-nine were received by baptism. The cause steadily advanced until they were called to part with their beloved leader. In March, 1810, after three months of distressing ill- ness, which was endured with exemplary patience, Elder Lee died, in full expectation of a glorious im- mortality, in the seventieth year of his age, the fortieth of his ministry, and the thirty-sixth of his pastoral labors.


Elder Asa Wilcox commenced his labors by preach- ing a discourse at the funeral of Elder Lee, from 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8. During the eight years of his ministry some seasons of refreshing were seen, and although they encountered many trials, and dismissed twenty- five of their members to form the Waterford and Montville Church, and others were set off to the Second Church in Lyme, their number, which at the death of Elder Lee was four hundred and thirty-one, was increased to four hundred and forty-one.


In 1816, Mr. James Davis, a minister in the Con- gregational order, was received upon a relation of experience, and baptized by Elder Wilcox. He was ordained a few months afterwards by a Council called for the purpose.




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