USA > Connecticut > New London County > Norwich > History of Norwich, Connecticut: from its possession by the Indians, to the year 1866 > Part 12
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Mr. Fitch manifested a deep interest in the fate of these homeless, broken-spirited strangers. He earnestly requested that they might be settled in a community by themselves, apart from the control of Uncas and the debasing influence of heathenism. The Council of War gave a temporary and conditional sanction to his benevolent designs. They say :
" Norwich gentlemen are desired to consider of a place for such as are not otherwise disposed of to plant on, as near as may be for Mr. Fitch to have often recourse to them till the General Court, or some other Court or Council, doe order or appoynt them else- where."#
It proved to be a difficult business to manage. Vagrants skulking in the woods, half-famished wanderers, fearfully imploring aid, the forlorn
* Conn. Col. Rec., 2, 386.
t These three were John Kirby of Middletown, killed between Middletown and Wethersfield ; Edward Elmore of East Windsor, killed at Podunk ; and Henry Dens- low of Windsor.
# Conn. Col. Rec., 2, 475.
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remnants of former considerable tribes, meekly submitting to the hunters : when all these were gleaned out of the wilderness, not only the Mohegans, but the Pequots of Groton and the friendly tribes at or near Stonington, were embarrassed with the multitude of fugitives. The Council of War therefore appointed three Commissioners, Samuel Wyllis, James Rich- ards, and John Allyn, to hold a general Indian convention at Norwich on the second Wednesday of December, and there, in concert with Mr. Fitch, as one of them, "to receive, dispose and settle all surrenderers according to order."*
Of this meeting no special record has been preserved, though several allusions show that it took place. It must have displayed the greatest assemblage of Indians that were ever gathered at one time in Norwich, famous as the place has been for similar meetings. The neighboring tribes were summoned to appear and give account of all captives and sur- renderers, with the time of their coming in. Then the Committee were to call for their personal appearance, and "to list them by their names, their relations and progenies respectively."
All young and single persons were to be settled in English families as apprentices for ten years. Those taken in war were to be sold as perma- nent bondsmen, and distributed to each county proportionably ; while others were to be disposed of temporarily in some fit place under English teachers and Indian constables, and every full-aged man was to pay to the colony a yearly tribute of 5s. per head as an acknowledgment of subjec- tion.
These were rigorous terms. How far they were put into execution is not known, nor has the number of registered persons been ascertained. Some were doubtless concealed or favored by the friendly Indians. Uncas was accused of double-dealing with his captives and dependents,-keeping some at hard service, accusing others falsely to the English, and instigating many to run away. A certain number of innocent families were registered by Mr. Fitch and placed under his superintendence. With respect to these the following action of the town is recorded :
Feb. 1, 1676-7. A motion was made by the Rev. Mr. Fitch with reference to a place of residence for those Indians who are listed surrenderers, where they might be enter- tained and accommodated with lands for their improvement in order to their comfort- able living till sneh time as some other way may be made open for them.
The Town consented that they should settle on the hill called Wawequos, where they should have liberty, they behaving themselves orderly, to make the best improve- ment of the place for their own advantage for 4 years without any rent being de- manded.
It is probable that the highland ridge, called Waweekus, in the western
Conn. Col. Rec., 2, 481.
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part of the town, near the present line of Bozrah, was the place designed for this Indian settlement. From some cause not explained, the project failed of accomplishment. A few families may have been gathered upon the hill, but if so they were soon dispersed. The kind-hearted Mr. Fitch labored hard for his poor Indians, yet with unsatisfying results. Out of the hundreds that surrendered during the war, only one village consisting of about thirty families was actually established, and this was on a reserv- ation, laid out by the town for this express purpose, between the rivers Shetucket and Quinebaug, where Owaneco and his people had formerly sojourned.
This settlement was effected during the winter and spring of 1678. The Indians, known afterwards as the Showtuckets, were provided with corn and other necessaries to begin life anew, and a fort was built for their protection, Mr. Fitch, in his report of the business to the General Court, observes :
"I am sufficiently informed there are a considerable number more abiding with Uncus, who are doubtless willing to come and settle with the others, but are meerly hindered by Uncus."*
It was hoped that this remnant of a subdued race would take root and prosper and grow into a permanent community. They had comfortable wigwams, and were furnished with some of the tools and conveniences of civilized life. But the settlement seems to have languished for a few years, and finally tapered into extinction. The enmity and intrigues of Uncas were alone sufficient to deaden its prosperity. At its outset, one of the men was waylaid and murdered, and though Uncas endeavored to fasten the deed upon the Mohawks, Mr. Fitch believed that it was done with his connivance and by some of his agents.
In the meantime Norwich was harrassed with Indian fugitives. It is probable that the well-known benevolence of Mr. Fitch allured many of these troublesome dependents to the town, but their thriftless habits and pilfering propensities could not be long endured. At length a vigorous effort was made to clear them all away, except those that were engaged as family servants.
Nov. 12, 1678. In town meeting an order was passed, requiring the Selectmen to remove forthwith all Indians from the town plot. Twelve days warning was to be given, and if, after that, any inhabitant should allow them to remain on his home-lot or pasture near the town, he was to pay a fine of twenty shillings. Similar orders were reiterated from time to time, yet a few families of resident Indians continued in the town until they slowly melted away. Several wigwams remained far into the next century. One of the last that decayed was on the hill not far from the
* Conn. Col. Rec., 2, 591.
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spot where the Marsh house stands, the place being still known to aged people as the wigwam pasture. It was a part of Leffingwell's grant.
MR. FITCH'S PRAYER FOR RAIN.
The summer of 1676 was remarkable for a long-continued drought. It was particularly severe in the southern part of Connecticut ; the fields of Indian corn were parched, and the Mohegans were apprehensive that they should lose their whole crop. They had recourse to powwows, incanta- tions, and various heathenish rites, but could get no rain. At length they applied to Mr. Fitch, entreating him to intercede with the Lord of the harvest to refresh their drooping fields with the customary showers.
Of this drought and the successful prayer for rain, an account is given under Mr. Fitch's own hand, which he calls "a true narrative of that providence."
" In August last snch was the want of rain, that the Indian corn was not only dried and parched up, but the apple trees withered, the fruit and leaves fell off as in autumn, and some trees seeming to be dead with that dronth; the Indians came into town and lamented their want of rain, and that their powows could get none in their way of worship, desiring me that I would seek to God for rain : I appointed a fast-day for the purpose; the day being come it proved clear without any clouds until sunsetting when we came from the meeting, and then some clouds arose ; the next day remained cloudy ; then Uncas with many Indians came to my house, Uncas lamented there was such a want of rain: I asked whether if God should send us rain he would not attribute it to their powows ; he answered no, for they had done their utmost and all in vain : I re- plied, if you will declare it before all these Indians you shall see what God will do for us, for although this year he hath shewn his anger against the English and not only against the Indians, yet he hath begun to save us, and I have found by experience twice in the like case, when we sought by fasting and prayer he hath given us rain, and never denied us. Then Uncas made a great speech to the Indians (which were many ) confessing that if God should then send rain, it could not be ascribed to their powaw- ing, but must be acknowledged to be an answer of our prayers. This day they [the clouds] spread more and more, and the next day there was such plenty of rain that our river rose more than two feet in height."*
An impression has prevailed somewhat extensively, that Uncas yielded at length to the eloquence of Mr. Fitch and the convictions of truth, and became at least a favorer of Christianity, and an outward attendant upon its ministrations. This charitable inference is based upon the sachem's frequent promises to attend upon the preaching of the word, the bond or pledge to this effect signed by him at the instance of Major Talcott, and the impression made on his mind by Mr. Fitch's prayer for rain, as related above. Unfortunately the sequence of dates militates against this favor-
* Relation of Mr. Fitch in Hubbard's Narrative of Indian Wars.
t " Whether Uncas died in faith or not, I am unable to say. It is agreeable, how- ever, to find him at last acknowledging the God who is above, and paying homage to the religion of his Son." Holmes' Memoir of the Mohegans.
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able judgment, and the fallacy of the sachem, as Mr. Fitch calls his double-dealing, deprives us of all confidence in his promises.
The pledge to attend on the ministry and to encourage his people to do the same was signed June 7, 1673. In September, 1674, Uncas sent an agent to Wabequisset, (Woodstock,) to meet Mr. Elliot, who was then on a preaching tour to the Indians, to protest against the introduction of Christianity among his tributaries in that region,-the agent delivering his message in these brief expressive terms :
" Uncas is not well pleased that the English should pass over Mohegan river, to call his Indians to pray to God."*
The character of Uncas, as drawn at this time by General Gookin, com- prehends only sinister and repulsive features :
" Unkus, an old and wicked wilful man, a drunkard and otherwise very vitious ; who hath always been an opposer and underminer of praying to God."
The sachem's recognition of the mighty power of God, in the success- ful prayer for rain, was in 1676. But in May, 1678, Mr. Fitch depicts his character in colors of the blackest dye. He accuses him of hostility to the English, and hatred of their rulers, laws, and religion ; of cunning, malice, robbery, oppression, and breaking of pledges, closing the statement by saying that he is
" The greate opponent of any meanes of soul's good and concernment to his people and abounding more and more in dancings and all manner of heathenish impieties since the warrs and vilifying what hath been done by the English and attributing the victory to their Indean helpes."t
Such is the latest contemporary portrait of the sachem Uncas, drawn, too, by a truthful, tender-hearted, saintly man, proverbially the friend of the aborigines, and a benefactor to the sachem himself. It is impossible, therefore, for the most lenient judgment or the most ardent hope to con- ceive of him as a Christianized man, or even a noble-hearted barbarian. Yet there were some valuable points about him. He manifested a certain degree of native talent, a more than common share of worldly wisdom, and a persevering activity in securing the independence of his tribe. Moreover, the generous and kindly treatment which the Narragansett prince received from him, while in his power as a captive, ought to be placed to the credit of the Mohegan chief. Miantonomoh confessed that he had nothing to complain of in this respect, and that the courtesy he had experienced was beyond the common degree of consideration in such cases.
* Gookin's Hist. Col. of the Indians.
Conn. Col. Rec., 2, 593.
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The savage character of Uncas is by no means an exponent of that of his tribe. Whatever they may have been in the days of their heathenism, for the last hundred years they have been noted as a civil, teachable, act- ive, and intelligent people. With the sachem himself the inhabitants of the town always sustained amicable relations, and his tribe, the Mohegans, from the earliest period of the settlement to the present day, may be called favorites with the people of Norwich. They have been looked after with almost parental care, and the men of most influence in the town, on all public questions, have taken their part, against the state and against opposing tribes.
CHAPTER IX.
CHURCH HISTORY. THE MEETING-HOUSE ON THE HILL. MR. WOODWARD'S SETTLEMENT. GRAVE-YARDS.
THIE Meeting-house Green or Plain was originally somewhat larger than it is at the present day. A considerable slice, where the post-office and several dwelling-houses stand, was cut off from the common in 1684, and given to Capt. James Fitch, as an addition to the home-lot bestowed on him by his father. The first meeting-house stood near the south-west corner of the Green, not far from the dwellings of the minister and mag- istrate, and forming with them the three corners of a triangle .* It is not probable that this primitive church had either steeple, porch, or gallery. We may conjecture that a sun-dial stood near the door, and perhaps a horse-block. Without doubt it was furnished with a pulpit, though no tasseled cushion supported the open Bible. In all probability long benches were used instead of pews,-the men sitting on the right hand of the min- ister, and the women on the left. A choir of singers was then unknown ; the deacon read off the lines, and the congregation followed in tuneful quavers.
In 1668 a small rate was collected to pay Samuel Lothrop "for repair- ing and heightening the meeting-house." But this first rough-hewn edifice could not long satisfy the demands of the growing town. It was in use only twelve or fourteen years.
In 1673 the town contracted with John Elderkin to build forthwith a new meeting house. The site fixed for it was the summit of the hill, towering over the Green, and looking east and west toward the two ends of the town- plot. The country was at this period in a disturbed condition. The at- mosphere was dark with the shadows of approaching evil. On the west- ern border of New England the Dutch had assumed a threatening attitude, and several of the larger Indian tribes appeared surly and vindictive.
In this posture of affairs, if a new meeting-house was to be built, the
* We learn the situation from incidental allusions afterwards made to the place where the old meeting-house stood; as in the following item :
1684. "Granted to Capt. Fitch, a gusset of land from the S. E. corner of the old meeting-house to the corner of his father's home-lot."
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prudence and foresight of the managers would lead them to select for it an appropriate site. On this elevated platform it could not be easily sur- prised, and it might serve as a watch-tower, an arsenal, and a garrison- post, as well as a house of worship.
The building committee were Deacon Hugh Calkins, Ensign Thomas Leffingwell, Ensign Thomas Tracy, Simon Huntington, and William Backus. It was completed in the course of two years. Elderkin had contracted to build it for £428, but the expense exceeding his estimate, he presented in town meeting the following petition :
CHRISTIAN FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS,-
Your humble petitioner pleadeth your charitie for the reasons hereafter expressed. Gentlemen, it is well known that I have been undertaker for building of the meeting- hons, and it being a piece of work very diffienlt to understand the whole worth and valne off, yet notwithstanding I have presumed to doe the work for a sertain sum of money, (to wit,) 428 pound, not haveing any designe thereby to make myself rieh, but that the towne might have there meeting-hous dun for a reasonable consideration. But upon my experience, I doe find by my bill of cost, I have dun said work very much to my dammage, as I shall now make appear. Gentlemen, I shall not say mueh unto you, but onely if you may be made sencible of my loss in said undertaking, I pray for your generous and charitable conelusion toward me, whether it be much or little, I hope will be well excepted from your poor and humble petitioner.
JOIN ELDERKIN.
The town declared themselves to be at this time greatly burdened by the necessity of raising the £428 ; but as a compensation for the gallery of the new meeting-house, they granted Elderkin a tract of land "at Pocketannuk's Cove's mouth."
Mr. James Fitch having provided nails for this meeting-house, to the value of £12, " wherein his forwardness for the use and benefit of the town, is owned and accepted," liberty was granted him to take two hund- red acres of land, as a satisfaction for the same, viz., "100 in the crotch between Quinebaug and Showtucket, and 100 as convenient as he can find it, on the other side of Showtucket river."
The situation of this meeting-house was very imposing. Perched like a citadel upon its rocky height, with perpendicular ledges, or abrupt, stony declivities on either side, it presented a formidable and secure aspect, and was the center of vision to both ends of the town. The difficulty of access was such as to require climbing rather than walking. Without doubt the wayfarers often caught hold of shrubs by the path, to assist in pulling themselves up, and aged people felt their way, planting the staff firmly at each step.
In winter it must have been a cheerless sanctuary, even when the approach was not obstructed by icy foot-paths and incumbent snows. Churches in those early days were always comfortless in cold or stormy weather. They had no apparatus for warming; neither fire-place, stove,
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nor furnace. The women carried heated stones or bricks in their muffs, and the men put their feet into fur bags, or moccasins, with which many of the seats were provided. At a later date, foot-stoves were used.
To this church, until all fear of the Indians had passed away, the men of the congregation were accustomed to repair with muskets upon their shoulders, which were not, however, carried into the house, but stacked without and kept under watch and guard by some person conveniently stationed for that purpose. The regular soldiers, or militia-men, went in last, and sat near the door, to be ready in case of alarm.
Swords were customarily worn when in full dress, by persons both in a civil and military capacity. Hats were made with a broad brim and a steeple crown. Perhaps two or three at the church door reverently took off a "black beaverett," though that was a costly article in those days, and considered quite magnificent. The poorer sort of people wore buff-caps, knit from woollen yarn, often in gay colors, and crowned with a heavy tassell. The coat was made with a long, straight body, falling below the knee, and with no collar, or a very low one, so that the stock or neck-cloth of spotless linen, fastened behind with a silver buckle, was fully displayed. In warm weather it was not considered indecorous to go to meeting in one's shirt-sleeves, or to take off the coat when there.
It is not probable that any one of the inhabitants assumed such a degree of state and dignity as to wear a ruff, though that article was in vogue among people of rank, as were also hand-ruffles. A conspicuous wrist- band with sleeve-buttons was more common.
It is uncertain whether the small clothes had then begun to grow, so as to reach below the knee, and to be fastened with knee-buckles, or not. The earlier mode was to have them terminate above the knee, and to be tied with ribbons. The common kind were made of dressed deer's leather. Petticoat trowsers of striped linsey-woolsey, the leg short and loose, were a customary article of every-day dress among the common people.
Red woollen stockings were much admired. The shoes were coarse, clumped, square-toed, and adorned with enormous buckles. If any boots made their appearance, prodigious was the thumping as they passed up the aisles, for a pair of boots were then expected to last a man's life. The tops were short, but very wide ; formed, one might suppose, with a special adaptation to rainy weather,-collecting the water as it fell, and holding an ample bath for the feet and ankles !
Wigs were not then common; it was at a later day that hats were trimmed with gold lace, and full-powdered wigs were worn, and scarlet roquelaurs adorned a few distinguished characters. Long hair was getting into vogue. It was combed back from the forehead, and gathered behind into a club or queue, wound with a black ribbon. A congregation of such men, in frugal, respectable attire, with their brave, manly brows, fronting
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their minister, worshiping God upon the high rock that overlooked their settlement, must have been a solemn and majestic sight to superior beings.
But our great-grandmothers are also here : they come decently, but not gandily dressed. They have finery, but they leave it at home on the Sab- bath. The more respectable matrons have all a full dress of flowing bro- cade, embroidered stomachers, and hanging sleeves, but it is reserved for feasts and great eivie occasions. They are dressed on the Sabbath, per- haps, in short gowns and stuff-petticoats, with white aprons of linen or muslin, starehed stiff. The gown-sleeve is short, and they wear mittens extending to the elbow, and leaving the fingers with a part of the thumb bare. The cloak was short, with a hood to cover the head, and was called a riding-hood. The hood was thrown baek in meeting, and those who wore bonnets took them off. The matrons wore eaps, and the young women had their hair eurled or otherwise dressed.
The feminine attire, though in general plain and somewhat uncouth, was of a purer type than some of the fashions of later generations. It might even be ealled graceful and becoming in comparison with the short waist, the low neek, the high head-cushion with its wings or lappets flaunt- ing in the wind, and the huge calash, of the next century.
Rank, birth and station were held in high account, and customs of def- erence and precedency were carefully maintained. It is a faet not easily explained, that such stiff and stately notions should have been cherished in a community where there was so little disparity of wealth and eom- fort.
Mr. was a title of respect awarded only to those who held office in church or state, or were of the rank commonly called gentlemen. Mrs., Mistress, Dame, and Madam, were the feminine titles of honor, bestowed charily and only in accordance with family rank, saintly character, and venerable age.
The minister was simply Mr. The title of Reverend was seldom be- stowed, except in such phrases as our reverend pastor. Church-members almost invariably called each other brother and sister.
Goodman and Goodwife were in common use. Goodey was sometimes heard. Gaffer and Gammer, old Saxon words of address to the aged, are not found on our records. Neighbor was a common adjunct. Parents were uniformly called daddy and mammy, even by people of mature age.
It ean not be doubted that an able scholar and expert penman like Mr. Fitch would keep an ample and accurate record of his little church in the wilderness. Unfortunately no sueli record is to be found. One document, however, belonging to the period of his ministry, having been put in print, is extant, and of great interest. This is the Covenant made, or renewed,
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by the church on the day of the public Fast in the spring of the year 1676, while the war with Philip and the Narragansetts was yet in prog- ress, and the hearts of the people were solemnized by a succession of des- olating judgments.
" We intend, (says Mr. Fitch,) God willing, to take that very daye solemnly to renew our covenant in our church state, according to the example in Ezra's time, and as was sometime practised in Hartford congregation by Mr. Stone, not long after Mr. Hooker's death. If other churches doe not see cause to doe the same, yet wee hope it will not bee offensive; but doe verily conclude if that be rule for practice, this is a time when the Providence of God does in a knocking and terrible manner call for it."*
This Covenant renewed is one of the most intensely searching, spiritual and apostolic documents to be found in our New England annals. It is admirable as a composition, and in this respect likewise creditable to its reverend author.t
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