USA > Connecticut > New London County > Norwich > History of Norwich, Connecticut: from its possession by the Indians, to the year 1866 > Part 26
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The next October a further committee was appointed by the Assembly, and directed to repair to Mohegan, to hear the grievances of the Indians, and to endeavor to settle all differences between them and their neighbors. These Commissioners, James Wadsworth, Esq., and Capt. John Hall, met at the house of Lieut. Joseph Bradford in Mohegan, March 16, 1720, for the purpose of marking out the boundary lines between the Indians and the towns of New London and Norwich .* They had another meeting at the same place in February, 1720-21, and were apparently very success- ful in settling the various claims and reconciling all parties. In conclu-
* Joshua Hempstead of New London attended this meeting of the Commissioners. As he went up, with the aid of two assistants he measured the road from New London to Norwich, through the Mohegan territory, and records the result in his diary. "From the Mill Dam in New London to Trading Cove brook where we ride over at ye end of Norwich plain is 9 mile and a half and 36 rods." The eighth mile, he says, " is in the falling ground a little beyond the Stone Fort."
268
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
sion they laid out and sequestered to the use of the Indians between four and five thousand acres of good land, which was never to be alienated until the tribe became extinct. These proceedings were ratified by act of Assembly, May 11, 1721.
In 1723, Capt. John Mason, third of that name in regular descent, stated to the General Court that the Commission of 1705 had cost him more than £600, which was a large proportion of his estate, and he asked for indemnification out of the Mohegan lands that had caused the contro- versy. Had he succeeded in this application, it might have put an end to the contest, but the court decided that he had no claims upon them for redress, and the struggle was renewed. The Masons again carried their complaints to England, and a Commission of Review was appointed by George 2d, to examine the proceedings of the Court at Stonington in 1705, and discarding all intermediate acts and decisions, to confirm or annul the decision of that Court.
This Commission, consisting of the Lieut. Governor and Council of New York, and the Governor and Assistants of Rhode Island, convened at Norwich, May 24, 1738. The Commissioners not agreeing as to the course to be pursued, the members from New York, at the outset, entered a protest and withdrew. The remainder, after an examination of wit- nesses, reversed the decision of the court, and gave judgment in favor of the colony .*
John and Samuel Mason, however, would not suffer the matter to rest here; they presented a memorial to the King, alleging that the proceed- ings of the court were irregular, and in behalf of the Indians praying for a redress of grievances. Orders were therefore issued for a new Com- mission of Review.
This second Court of Commissioners convened at Norwich, June 28, 1743, and the trial lasted seven weeks. The sessions commenced at the house of Simon Lathrop, Esq., but on the third day were adjourned to the meeting-house, where the remainder of the sitting was held. The town at this time literally overflowed with strangers, and no business of any kind was done, except what was connected with the pending contro- versy, and the necessary purposes of life. All the officers of government and distinguished men in the colony were present. The whole tribe of Mohegans was quartered upon the inhabitants, and hundreds of persons in the neighboring towns, who had lands at stake, came in from day to day, to hear the proceedings. The Lathrops, Huntingtons, Leffingwells, Tracys, and all the principal men in Norwich, were of the Indian party,
* "June 5, 1738. The great Court of Commissioners at Norwich is over and the case is gone in favor of the Colony. The New York Counsellors, viz. Coll. Cortland and Mr. Hossmonden, deserted and drew off and the Gov. & Council of Rhode Island hath reversed the former judgment." Hempstead's Diary.
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
and kept open house for John Uncas and his people. Ben Uncas was upheld by the State, and his party was rendered respectable by the notice of all the officers of government. The rival sachems maintained consid- erable pomp and state while the trial continued, which was until the 17th of August.
The decision was again in favor of the colony ; but the Masons appealed from the judgment to the King in council, and thenceforth all legal action upon the case was transferred to England. The final decision was not until 1767. Sir Fletcher Norton, then prime minister, advised that the English should be conciliated by a decision against the Indians.
It was the prevalent opinion in England that the Mohegans had right on their side, but that it was not expedient to do them justice, and indeed not equitable, as the English had long possessed and improved the lands in question, and the Indians had dwindled away and did not need them. One of the Masons, however, remained long in England, prosecuting his claim ; obtained money upon it, sold out rights in it, ran in debt upon it, was at one time a prisoner in the Fleet, and never returned to his native country. The Revolutionary war soon afterwards broke out, the Mohe- gans found themselves at the mercy of the State, and never afterwards showed any disposition to renew their claims. Occom, the eloquent advo- cate and preacher of this tribe, on hearing of the termination of this affair, writes thus to a friend :
" The grand controversy which has subsisted between the colony of Conn. and the Mohegan Indians, above seventy years, is finally decided in favor of the colony. I am afraid the poor Indians will never stand a good chance with the English in their land controversies, because they are very poor, they have no money. Money is almighty now-a-days, and the Indians have no learning, no wit, no cunning : the English have all." [MS. Letter of Occom.]
(Autograph.)
1754. Jamfon Dccom
In this controversy, our sympathies are very naturally enlisted in favor of the Indians; nevertheless, it does not appear that they were treated with any undue severity or injustice by the colony. Most of the settlers on the debatable lands, fairly purchased them, and had obtained deeds though not, perhaps, always of the lawful owners. And there is reason to believe that the Indians themselves would not have complained, had they not been instigated by others. This case may fairly be merged in
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
the great question still pending and unsettled, whether a cizilized race has a right, under any circumstances, to take possession of a country inhab- ited by savages, and gradually dispossess the original proprietors .*
* Materials for the history of the Mason Controversy are to be found in the Book of Proceedings of the several Commission Courts in this case, which was printed in Lon- don for the nse of the King and Council in making their final decision,-a copy of which was sent to the Colony, and is preserved among the State Records at Hartford. It contains several interesting documents. Among them is one presented at the great Commission Court held at Norwich in 1743, by Ben Uncas 2d, who was then the chief Sachem of Mohegan. Being allowed to offer what he had to communicate, he came forward in person, with a Bible in his hand and a brazen crown in the shape of a hawk upon his head, and presented a writing, of which the following is the first part :
" I am now in the 48th year of my age, and after the decease of my father, Ben Uncas, in 1725, was chosen and installed chief Sachem and have ever since remained in actual exercise of power, and as one evidence, I have here in Court, the Bible trans- lated into Indian, which was sent by Charles Second, King of England, unto the then chief Sachem and delivered successively at every instalment, and also a certain brass hawk, taken from a famons great Captain of the Narragansetts, our enemies, by one of my ancestors in a famous battle and victory over said Narragansetts, always delivered in like manner and kept as a memorial of the great battle and victory."
CHAPTER XVII.
TOWN AFFAIRS. JUSTICES' COURTS.
THE annual expenditure of the town during the first century of its existence amounted to a very small sum. The heaviest items, unless on some extraordinary occasion, were for perambulating and stating bounds, laying out highways, plank for bridges, and the bounty on killing birds and snakes. Exclusive of this last item, the annual demands upon the treasury frequently fell below £10. The expenses arising out of the dif- ficulties that existed with neighboring towns, on account of boundaries, added some years greatly to this amount. There was an ever-open quar- rel respecting a tract of land south of the Norwich and north of the New London line, with the Indians or individual settlers. The disputes with Preston were still more perplexing and acrimonious. They commenced in 1695, and continued for nearly a century, being a constant source of litigation, trouble, and expense. Committees were appointed from year to year to settle the boundary-line between the two towns, but it would not remain settled. In the year 1718 there was an access of bitterness and self-interest on both sides, and the contention was severe. It is scarcely credible that a contest between friends and neighbors, merely for territo- rial jurisdiction, should have been so often renewed, and so long in wear- ing out. The hostility, however, as in most instances of the kind in our settlements, was not between individual inhabitants, but the towns in their collective capacity .*
LIST OF TOWN DEBTS. DEC. 30, 1718.
£ s. d.
To John Tracy for killing 4 snakes,
0 0 8
Th. Leffingwell Jr. 6 do
0 1 0
Elisha Waterman 67 birds
0 2 93
John Rood 24 do
0
1 0
Jabez Hide 5 snakes -
0 0 10
Th. Bingham 4 snakes and drumming
1 0 8
* In 1723 the disputes respeeting the town boundaries were carried to the Legislature for decision. Benajah Bushnell was the town agent in the business. He was absent twelve days, and charged the town £2 10s.
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
Th. Leffingwell Jr. one day to meet New London Committee 0 5 0 Joseph Reynolds for a plank -
010 Solomon Tracy one day on Committee 050
Charges about Preston Line - 6 13 10
Several persons for perambulating at 3s. per day each.
Occasionally we find a town expenditure for military equipments, and for "ammunition, with the charge of bringing it up from New London."
In 1720, John and Simon Tracy were appointed by the town "to make search for the Towne Armes, with their magazeans of amunition and other accotrements for war, injoyned by law," who reported as follows :
At Lieut. Tracy's two Guns and two pair of Snoe shoes.
At Samuel Fales one gun and at Lieut. Bushnells one Barril of Pouder and one gun and 77 pound of Led .*
At Lieut. Backuses 344 pound of bullets.
At Ens. Leffingwells one Barril of Pouder.
At Deacon Simon Huntingtons one half Barril of Ponder and 31 pound of bullets and 400 flints.
At Simon Tracys one pair of Snoe shoes, and 4 pair of maugosuns-we were also informed yt there was formerly Lent to Mr. John Leffingwell pr Lieut. Bushuell 71 pound of Led which sd Leffingwell was obliged to pay in Bullits ye same quantity.
All ye Led and Bullits 523 pound.
The Town's Poor. The earliest instance on record of a poor person supported by the town, is the following from the records of the county court :
Feb. 9, 1685-6. " The Courte having ordered Katherine Duneffin to be accounted the poore of Norwich and by them to be provided for, orders two shillings pr weeke to be payde by the Town of Norwich for ye bringing up the child for 2 years from this date."
Expenses incurred for the poor rarely appear in the early accounts of the town, but occasionally, in the course of years, a few items are found ; such as, "a pair of shoes for Alice Cook, 5s.," " a coat and leather breeches for old Russell, 12s.," "a sheet to bury John Nickols in, 10s.," "13 watches with Gaylor at 2s. per night, £1 6s."
Dec. 19, 1727. To Thomas Blythe for digging Gaylor's Grave, 5s.
Dec. 17, 1729. To Jacob Hyde for digging Micah Rood's grave, 4s.
In 1723, great amazement seems to have been excited in the townsmen by what they designate "the extraordinary charge of Henry Wallbridge Jr. for entertayneing Christian Challenge in her late sickness and distraction
* It was not uncommon for soldiers at this time to run their own bullets : this fact accounts for the quantity of lead on hand.
273
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
at his house." Yet the whole charge for eight weeks "nursing, diet, and strengthening salve," going for doctors, four days waiting and tending, and finally conveying her to Windham, amounts only to £3 5s. 6d. Dr. Calib Bushnell's bill "tords the cure of Christian Challenge," stands thus, and will show what a physician's fees then were :
To 3 travells - to Lusisalig Bolsum
£0 7 6 - 0
0
to 3 times Bleeding
0 1 6
This poor woman appears to have been a traveler, tramper, or transient person, as wandering beggars are indifferently called in New England, who was "rode over by Solomon Story on the Sabbath day, either wil- fully or carelessly," and being very much hurt, was for some time a bur- den on the town.
The Courts. In 1720 the erection of a town-house was proposed. Sub- scriptions for the building were taken up, and a corner of the Plain fixed upon for the site. Norwich was then engaged in a struggle to wrest from New London a share of the county court sessions, and if successful in the contest, a town-house would be necessary for the accommodation of the courts. But the Legislature did not see fit to grant the half-shire privi- lege at that time, and the house was not built.
Another strenuous effort was made in 1734, the inhabitants petitioning the General Assembly that the Supreme Court in March, and the Supe- rior Court in November, for New London County, might be held in Nor- wich. The agents for the town in this business were Capt. John Williams, Capt. Joseph Tracy, and Mr. Hezekiah Huntington. The petition was granted, and Norwich became a half-shire town.
The contest had been long and determined, marked in some instances with bitterness and exasperation ; but Norwich, having grown rapidly in numbers and influence, at length had her claim to a share of the courts sanctioned by equity and the public convenience.
In connection with this privilege, the town came under the obligation of furnishing convenient accommodations for the courts and county pris- oners. A new jail or prison-house was soon afterward built and ceded to the county, and a town-house erected under the oversight of the se- lectmen, the expense being defrayed by a penny tax on polls and ratable estates.
The jail stood under the shelter of the hill, upon the parsonage lot, nearly in the rear of the present brick school-house. The town-house was at the south-west corner of the Green, with a whipping-post and pillory near.
18
274
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
The key of the town-house was formally delivered into the custody of Capt. Joseph Tracy, in 1737, and a room ordered to be finished under his direction, in the garret, for the town's stock of ammunition. The follow- ing vote was then passed :
"It is now ordered and enacted, that if any man shall smoke it, in the time of ses- sions of any town meeting, within this house, he shall forfeit the sum of 5 shillings."
In Hempstead's Diary, under date of Dec. 1, 1740, we have the follow- ing brief item :
"Court held in Norwich ; 550 actions, new and old."
Capt. Joseph Tracy was son to John Tracy, one of the thirty-five pro- prietors. He was a very respectable and dignified man, and for a long course of years was uniformly chosen moderator of all public meetings, in alternation with Capt. Jabez Hide. He died in 1765, aged eighty-three.
In 1745 we find the care of the town-house and arms committed to Capt. Philip Turner, and this is the first time that gentleman's name appears on the records. He came from Scituate, Mass., married Anne, daughter of Daniel Huntington, and soon acquired an enviable popularity among his new associates, performing the duties of constable, selectman, and captain of the troop of horse, a spirited band of young men, that he took much pride in parading and exercising. Many bright anticipations were destroyed by his death in 1755, at the age of thirty-nine.
April 28, 1730, all the freemen were enrolled. They amounted to 158; thirteen more were added in September, making 171. The first on the list, and probably so placed in respect to age and dignity, were Joseph Backus, Esq., the three reverend ministers, Lord, Willes, and Kirtland, and the two deacons, Simon and Christopher Huntington. After these come Samuel and Israel Lothrop, William Hide, Esq., Mr. Thomas Adgate, Capt. Jabez Perkins, Capt. Benajah Bushnell, and Capt. John Leffingwell.
It is worthy of note, that at this time and for many years afterwards, there were but one or two citizens at a time who bore the title of Esq., denoting a Justice of the Peace.
The most conspicuous points in town, where all public notifications were ordered to be set up, were the sign-post on the Green, Benajah Lef- fingwell's gate-post, and "the parting of the paths at the corner of Ebene- zer Backus's garden." This last position is still a prominent one, consist- ing of an elliptical plot of land, having an elevated platform where the
275
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
1
house stands, and embraced by highways that run together above and below .* It was the homestead of Joseph Backus Esq., familiarly known for many years as Mr. Justice Backus, and afterwards of his son Ebene- zer, who built the present house, and set out with his own hand the two fine elms before the door. One of the daughters of Ebenezer Backus married the second Governor Trumbull.
In the town-plot two open squares, or plains, were reserved for public use ; one near the centre, and the other on Bean Hill. Repeated applica- tions to build upon them, by individuals, were refused, and all encroach- ments reprehended. "There shall be no shop, house or barn, or any other private building erected on any part of said plain," was the language of these resolutions.
In 1729, the proprietors agree, vote, and grant, "that the Plain in the Town Platt, called the meeting house plain, with all the contents and extents of it," as it now lyeth, shall be and remain, to be, and lye common for public use for the whole town forever, without alteration."
A similar vote was passed at the same time with respect to "the Plain at the westerly end of the Town Platt, lying between Richard Egerton's and John Waterman's, Abial Marshall's and the widow Hide's houses."
In 1743, Messrs. Richard Hide and Ebenezer Hartshorn were appointed to survey the town, and draw a plan of it, embracing the course of the rivers and larger rivulets. The town now comprised eight ecclesiastical societies, viz .: First, West, Newent, East, New Concord, Chelsy, Hano- ver, and Eighth ; but the First or Town Plot society still maintained its pre-eminence, possessing twice the number of inhabitants and three times the amount of influence of any other.
Schools were maintained by what was called a country rate of forty shillings upon the thousand pounds, and all deficiencies made up by parents and guardians. The schools were distributed over the town, and kept a longer or shorter period, according to the list of each society. In 1745 the appointment was as follows:
School at the Landing Place to be kept, - 3 months and 17 days. 5} months each.
two in the Town Plot, one at each end,
at Plain Hills, -
- 2 months 19 days.
Waweekus Hill,
1 16
Great Plain,
-
Wequanuk, - 2
on Windham road,
2 18 15 11
2
.
If any of these schools should be kept by a woman, the time was to be doubled, as the pay of the mistress was but half that to the master.
* Now the residence of Mr. Samuel Case.
276
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
The following is a sample of simplicity and disinterestedness in making out a bill:
" Dec. 16 day 1745. The town is Dr. to me Jacob Hide for 208 feet of 2 inch plank improved to make and mend bridges by order of the surveyor of highways. The price of said 208 feet of plank I think must be about 30s. more or less as the town thinks fit."
Voted, that the selectmen pay Jacob Hide what is just.
In 1746 Mr. Benedict Arnold was chosen grand-juryman, but refused to serve.
The town declared that if any one hereafter refuse to serve on the grand jury, he shall pay a fine.
Town offices in general were not considered very desirable, but those of juror and rate-collector were the only ones so obnoxious as to render fines and compulsion necessary in order to obtain the service.
Law books and other publications for which the town were subscribers, were generally distributed among the several societies according to their respective lists. Election sermons were also subject to a town order.
1702. Voted that the Law books belonging to the town shall be sold at 18d. apiece.
1726. Voted that every Society Clerk shall have a law book and the rest with the Sermon books, sold and the money put into the town treasury.
1751. Eleven law books in possession of the town are ordered to be sold at £5 10s. per book, O. T : 4 to First Society, 2 10 West Society, the same to East Society and Newent, and one to New Concord.
17 Dec. 1764. Whereas, there are a number of books called the Saybrook Platform now in the town treasury to be disposed of for the town's use, and also a number of Election Sermons, this town do now order the selectmen to distribute said books to, and among the several societies in this town, in proportion to the list of said societies.
In 1751 the selectmen were empowered to prosecute with vigor all who should sell or convey land to strangers, and all sales of this kind were declared null and void. Orders were given likewise that no strangers should remain in the town without the public consent, and this consent seems to have been very cautiously dispensed. Applications were fre- quently made for permission to stay in town for a limited time, but this was seldom granted without some condition annexed; such as, if he then remove,-if he behave himself,-if he do not become chargeable. These votes stretch down to 1769.
277
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
1752. A committee was appointed to treat with the Rev. Benjamin Lord relating to his resigning to the town his right of improvement of the parsonage lands purchased of Mr. Giffords.
This parsonage land comprised the original home-lot and pasturage of the proprietor, Stephen Gifford. A portion of it, bordering the north-east side of the Green, was now in request for building purposes. Mr. Lord relinquished his right, and the land was divided into lots, several of which were rented upon long leases, and in the course of a few years occupied with houses.
This parsonage land having been sequestered for the ministry when the whole town was but one parish, was the cause of some uneasiness and lit- igation when other societies were formed; these societies claiming a por- tion of the use and rental.
1754. " At present the township of Norwich pays the highest tax of any township in the colony."*
A few examples of cases of trespass brought before justices of the peace for adjudication, will illustrate the condition of society in the first half of the 18th century.
The penalties at this time were :
For drunkenness, a fine, (5s. to 10s.,) or to sit in the stocks a couple of hours.
Not attending public worship when there was no necessary detention, 5s. Profane swearing, 10s.
Sabbath-breaking, by labor or vain recreation, making disturbance, or laughing during the service in the House of God, 5s.
Assault and battery, or abusive words, blows and injuries,-fines or imprisonment, at discretion of the justice.
Incontinence, births out of wedlock, or too soon after marriage, £10.
These and actions of debt were cases which a justice's court was con- sidered competent to decide, but appeals were allowed to a higher tri- bunal.
If a judgment may be formed from the number of cases and the appa- rent respectability of some of the delinquents, drunkenness was increas- ing rapidly in the land. Another species of criminality, so prevalent as to excite surprise, was perhaps the natural result of an intercourse too little restrained between the young people of different sexes.
No justice in the county was more popular than Richard Bushnell. Cases were brought before him from Windham, Plainfield, Canterbury, Killingly, Preston, North Groton, and North Stonington.
* Chapter on Connecticut, in Douglass' Summary, printed at Boston in 1754.
278
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
"3rd of June 1708. Joseph Bushnell of Norwich complained against himself to me Richard Bushnell, Justice of the Peace, for yt he had killed a Buck contrary to law. I sentenced him to pay a fine of 10s. one half to ye county treasury and one half to complainant."
" March 26 1718. Mrs. Sarah Knight, Samuel Bliss, Joseph Post, Theophilus Abell and his wife and ye wife of William Hide were brought before me R. B. justice of ye peace upon ye presentment of ye Grand Jurors of our Sovereign Lord ye king for sell- ing strong drink to the Indians last Saturday.
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