USA > Connecticut > New London County > Norwich > History of Norwich, Connecticut: from its possession by the Indians, to the year 1866 > Part 29
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Waweekus Hill was famous for these reptiles. It is a popular tale that a cunning player on the violin once went to that hill with his instrument, and enticed a large rattlesnake to follow him into the town street, fascina- ted by his music.
Another tradition is that an adventurous lover, returning home late one evening from a visit to the lady of his heart, was both snapped at by a wol: and hissed at by a rattlesnake, just as lie passed through a turn-stile near the place since known as Strong's corner. This young man, whose name was Waterman, lived above the meeting-house, and the lady he vis- ited, below the Little Plain. To walk two miles at that period, through
* Woollaneag is the name given to this animal by the Connecticut Indians. Some tribes call it Warraneag.
.
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thicket and swamp, to make an evening visit, and back again at midnight, was an undertaking almost equal in heroism to that of swimming over the Hellespont.
A tremendous host of these baneful reptiles sallied forth every spring from the ravines and clefts of the rocks, to bask on the ledges or glide through the green pastures and meadows below. It is appalling only to read the dry statistical returns made by the serpent-hunters to the select- men, and consider the number of heads and rattles, bones and skins, brought by them for vouchers and cast down for the bounty. How strong then must have been the nerves of those who went forth to do battle with these coiling monsters, attacking them in their nests, or with still more hazard meeting them warm and hissing on the rocky slopes, with their venom at its height and all their lithe articulations exalted to the point of furious attack and desperate encounter.
Though the rattlesnake is considered a slow-moving animal that seldom bites unless first trodden upon or struck, he is furious in his charge. The power of fascination, currently, but no doubt falsely, ascribed to him, and the extreme virulence of his poison, producing death in some instances, give a terrific interest to the details of the snake-hunter.
In 1720 the bounty was doubled to 4d. per head, and 76 charged that season to the town; 28 by Moses Woodworth. In 1721 the number slaughtered was 160; the widow Woodworth presenting the spoils of 23, and David Knight, Jr., 28. The next year 123 were brought in, Stephen Woodworth claiming the bounty for 48. In 1724, 69 were brought in, and of these David Wentworth was credited 29.
In 1728 the number was only 46; but of these, nine were rattlesnakes, destroyed by widow Smith.
1730. Voted, that whosoever shall kill a rattlesnake within this township at any time within one year ensuing, except in the three summer months, and produce one joint of the bone and its tail shall have two shillings for each snake so killed.
This law was the next year declared in force till otherwise ordered.
Under the stimulus of this premium, many fierce old rattlers were hunted out and slaughtered. In 1731 the number claiming the bounty was nearly 300: in 1732, over 100; in 1733, 174; in 1734, 63; in 1735, 54.
Dec. 15, 1735. Voted to pay four shillings apiece for rattlesnake's next year. No pay to be given unless the snake be shown within 24 hours to the selectmen or to two indifferent neighbors.
In 1736, 112 snakes were presented, and upwards of £20 paid in bounty. The following is a memorandum of one of the selectmen, of those exhibited to him :
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
May, 1736. An account of rattlesnakes tails brought to me, Joseph Perkins.
Jacob Perkins brought 7 tails.
Thomas Pettis
5
Samuel Lawrence brought 3 rattles. Abijah Fitch 1 "
John Bingham
3
Robert Kinsman 4
Joshua Hutchins
23
Ezra Lothrop
2
In 1737, only 21 were destroyed. In 1738, 78; of these, 27 were brought in by Jacob Hazen.
In 1739 the bounty was raised to ten shillings a head for all killed, except in the months of June, July and August ; provided that the killer took oath that he went out for no other purpose than to destroy them.
This did not produce any large number of victims ; the reptile race was evidently on the decline. A few were annually brought in, but they diminished in number from year to year.
We find no town action on the subject of rattlesnakes after the year 1764, at which time the bounty of twenty shillings, old tenor, was com- muted into six shillings lawful money.
A solitary but noted serpent of this species, that had long been known to haunt a high ridge of land in the central part of the township, and which was prematurely considered at the time the last rattler of Norwich, was destroyed in 1786. His traces had been often observed, and his haunt sought, but without success. He dwelt under a large rock, and his hole had an outlet on both sides, with a branch in another direction to which he could retreat, so that it was a work of some difficulty to outwit him. But he was at last both "scotch'd" and killed.
Since that period, at considerable intervals of date, here and there, a rattlesnake has been discovered and destroyed. One was killed upon the farm of Mr. Zephaniah Lathrop, May 27, 1801, which measured five feet- two inches in length, and had twenty-one rattles ; supposed therefore to be twenty-one years old.
The genuine rattlesnake is now probably extinct in this neighborhood.
The red-snake, vulgarly called the rattlesnake's, mate, also abounded in. Norwich, and is still occasionally found. This species of snake is very beautiful in color, being of a chocolate or nut-brown, curiously barred and mottled with changeable hues. In the poison darted from its fangs, it is only second to the rattlesnake. It gives no warning, but when roused, draws up, leaps, and bites, in the space of two seconds, and it is said, will reach the flesh through a thin boot. The wound is followed by immediate pain, swelling, and great inflammation. Instances have occurred in which it has become serious, by neglect, improper treatment, and exposure to.
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
cold and wet, breaking forth afresh every year in the snake season, and causing lameness or other infirmities.
This species is sometimes called the deaf adder, and is probably identi- cal with the copper-head, [boa contortrix.] It is still a vivacious inhabit- ant of the rocky woodlands ; its thick head and large yellow eyes being the dreaded image that haunts the sunny ledges in the months of May and June. Several have been killed in the rocky pastures of the town- plot since 1860, and even in 1864 a nest of them was found and destroyed on the rocky highland in the rear of the Free Academy. The largest was nearly three feet in length, and is preserved in the museum of the Academy.
The black-snake of the present day is comparatively a harmless crea- ture; but stories are current of these reptiles having attacked children in the whortleberry-fields, or haymakers in the meadows, and wound them- selves about the body and throat, so as to produce suffocation. When Waweekus Hill was first cleared, the workmen were greatly annoyed by them. There is a tradition to the following effect: A party of laborers were out on the hill at work, and one of them being employed at some distance from the others, his companions were suddenly alarmed by his cries and shrieks for help. They ran to his assistance, and found him rolling on the ground with several black snakes on his body. He stated after his rescue, that these reptiles came upon him out of a thicket, with such fury as to put it out of his power to defend himself. They wound about his legs, lashed them together, bound up his arms, and were near his throat when his friends came to his assistance. No attempt will be made to prove the truth of this story, but doubtless it is as well founded as that of Laocoon. Supposing the man to have been asleep when the reptiles swathed his limbs, it is not absolutely incredible.
One species of black snake, which formerly infested this region, was called ring-snake, or racer, and was known by a white or yellow ring around the neck. They would erect the head seven or eight inches from the ground, and in this attitude, with tongue out and eyes glaring, run with the swiftness of a horse. They were bold, fierce, and dangerous. It was this species that had the credit of swathing the limbs of its victims, but these stories are now regarded as entirely fabulous.
In later days, even down to the present generation, black-snakes have been found in the uncultivated or sparsely settled parts of Norwich, and in the more retired towns of the vicinity, in such numbers and of such magnitude as to render almost credible the wildest traditions of the olden time concerning them. In April, 1810, 28 black-snakes were killed at Lisbon, within the space of an acre and a quarter, the total measurement of which was 114 feet. From a single nest or burrow of these animals, ' at Griswold, in 1844, no less than 63 were extracted, in a half torpid
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
state, varying in length from three to nearly six feet .* Similar instan- ces occur from time to time, and occasionally find their way into print. The following notice will bring this article down to the latest date :
" A copperhead snake three feet long was killed by two young men in the woods near this city, May 21, 1865."t
* Newspaper items.
t Norwich Bulletin.
CHAPTER XXI.
BEGINNINGS AT THE LANDING.
THE original Landing-place was below the Falls, at the head of the Yantic basin or cove, where Elderkin's mill was situated. As trade in- creased, and positions lower down were occupied for business purposes, the term Landing Place was transferred to the point where the rivers unite, and the upper station-the original Indian canoe-place-was distin- guished as the-old Landing-place.
What is now Norwich City, or Chelsea Society, with its crowded pop- ulation, its work-shops, ware-houses, stores of merchandize, its terraced streets, cupolas, spires, dwelling-houses, rising in tiers, line above line, was at first known only as Weequaw's Hill, Rocky Point, and sometimes Fort Hill, from which it is inferred that an Indian fort or stone inclosure once crowned its summit.
For the space of seventy years after the settlement, the greater part of Chelsea was technically a sheep-walk, belonging to the inhabitants of the east end of the town, and used by them for the pasturage of cattle. The reservation extended from No-man's Acre to the mouth of the Shetucket, and was inclosed with a general fence. A cartway through it was allowed, and in 1680, "a pair of bars" connected with this cartway was maintained by the town, near the Shetucket, and another pair below the house of John Reynolds. The whole space between Yantic cove and the Shetucket was a wilderness of rocks, woods and swamps, with only here and there a cow- path, or a sheep-track around the hills; where the trunk of a fallen tree thrown over a brook or chasm served in lieu of bridge. Not only in the spring floods, but in common heavy rains, a great part of East Chelsea, and all the lower, or Water street, up to the ledge of rocks on which the buildings upon the north side of that street are based, were overflowed ; and even in the dry season these parts of the town were little better than swamps. What are now only moist places, and slender rills, were then ponds, and broad, impetuous brooks.
In January, 1684, a committee was appointed to lay out and bound for the town's use sufficient land for a public landing-place and a suitable highway connected with it; after which they passed the following restrict- ive decree :
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
April, 1684. "It is agreed and voated that the rest of the ungranted and unlayed ont land at the mouth of Showtuck shall be and remain for the benefit of cattle water- ing and never to be disposed of without the consent of eight or ten of the familys at the east end of the towne."
It was not long, however, before this act became a dead letter. Sites at the water's edge were soon in great demand for commercial purposes. These were prudently doled out by the town in plots of three or four rods each. In 1686, Capt. James Fitch, the first of these grantees, was allowed sufficient land near the water side to accommodate a wharf and warehouse. Not long afterward, Capt. Caleb Bushnell obtained a similar grant. These facilities were near the mouth of Yantic Cove. It was here that the wharfing, building, and commercial enterprise of Norwich Landing began.
1692. A Committee appointed by the town to go with John Elderkin and to state a highway to the old Landing place, with conveniency also for a ware-house.
October, 1694. Mr. Mallat, a French gentleman, desiring liberty of the town that he might build a vessel, or vessels, somewhere upon our river, the town grant the said Mr. Mallat liberty to build and also grant him the liberty of the common on the east side of Showtucket river to cut timber for building.
Mallat's ship-yard is supposed to have been at the Point. It was not long occupied, and the fee of course reverted to the town.
In 1707, a vote was passed of the following emphatic tenor :
" No more land to be granted at the salt water and no way shut up that leads to the salt water."
The first masters of vessels at the Landing, of whom we obtain any knowledge, were Captains Kelley and Norman. These, in 1715, were engaged in the Barbadoes trade.
May 11, 1715. Capt. Kelley in the Norwich sloop sailed for Barbadoes. 1
Sept. 8. Capt. Kelley sailed for Barbadoes.
Dec. 13, 1716. Capt. Norman sailed .*
Capt. Kelley very soon established a regular ship-yard at the Landing, the town granting him the necessary facilities.
Jan. 10, 1716-7. Joseph Kelley, shipwright, has free liberty to build vessels on the Point where he is now building. the town to have the use of his wharf.
[This grant was not revoked till 1751.]
The same year Caleb Bushnell applied for a situation by the water-side convenient for building vessels, which was granted by the following vote:
Dec. 3, 1717. The town grants to Caleb Bushnell 20 feet square upon ye water upon the west side of the rockie Point at ye Landing place.
* Diary kept at New London.
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
Between 1721 and 1724, similar grants of "20 feet square on the west side of Rockie point," were made to Simon Lothrop, Joshua and James Huntington, and Daniel Tracy, a sufficiency for the town's use being reserved on which they were not to encroach. These were all enterpris- ing young men, just entering into business. Simon Lothrop afterward purchased the Elderkin rights on Yantic Cove and at the Falls.
April 20, 1723. The town grants liberty to Capt. Caleb Bushnell to set up and maintain two sufficient cart gates across the highway that goeth to the Little fort.
Feb. 25, 1724. Voted to build a town wharf at the Landing place.
Liberty is granted to Lieut. Simon Lothrop to build a wharf at the Landing place at his own charge provided it shall be free to all mortals.
1734. Permission granted to Lieut. Simon Lothrop to build a ware-house on the side hill opposite his dwelling-house, 30 feet by 20, to hold the same during the town's pleasure.
The limited extent of these grants shows that they were highly prized and that but few such privileges could be obtained. A narrow margin of level land, at the base of water-washed cliffs, comprised the whole accom- modation.
With the exception of these footholds upon the water's edge, the land lay in common. Along the Cove and around the Falls the woods and waters were reeking with rank life, both animal and vegetable. The rock ledges were the haunts of innumerable serpents; the shores were popu- lous with water-fowl; the river with shoals of fish. The young people from the farms around Norwich, when haying was over, came in parties to the Landing to wander over the hills, eat oysters, and take a trip down the river in canoes or sail-boats.
In 1718, there was a division of proprietary lands, called the forty-acre division. In 1726, the undivided lands that remained were mainly com- prised in two sheep-walks. A public meeting was called, in which the names of the proprietors of each were distinctly declared and recorded, in order to prevent, if possible, all future "strifts and law-suits." The East Sheep-walk, of 900 acres, more or less, was divided into shares of twenty acres each, and ratified and confirmed to forty-two proprietors, mentioned by name, or to those who claimed under them. The West Sheep-walk, by estimation 700 acres, was in like manner divided and confirmed to thirty-seven proprietors.
Rev. John Woodward and Rev. Benjamin Lord were admitted on the footing of original proprietors, as were also the representatives of the earliest class of accepted inhabitants, viz., Bushnell, Elderkin, Roath and Rood of the east end, Abel and Armstrong of the west. To these were added Moses Fargo of the west and Edward King of the east, each allowed a half-share, making 79 in all, who were acknowledged as repre-
305
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
sentatives of the original grantees of the town-plot. From this division, it was understood that farmers out of the town-plot, and all persons not claimants under the first grantees, were excluded.
Israel Lothrop and James Huntington were the town agents in making the division of the East Sheep-walk. The lots extended along the water from the Shetucket ferry to the cove, reserving a highway through them two rods wide. A second tier was laid out in the rear of these ; and so on. Each share was divided into tenths, and the tenths into eighths, and dis- tributed apparently by lot. It is expressed in the records by making a pitch, as thus: "Capt. Bushnell made his pitch for his portion of the sheep walk " at such a place.
The titles to land in this part of Norwich are derived from these 42 proprietors of the East end, and the dates begin at 1726. After this division, houses and inhabitants increased rapidly, and in the course of a few years Rocky Point became a flourishing hamlet and trading-post, called in common parlance The Landing, but gradually acquiring the name of New Chelsey, or Chelsea Society.
The earliest householders at the Landing, of whose residence there we find any certain account, were Daniel Tracy, Benajah Bushnell, and Na- thaniel Backus. A little later, Capt. Joseph Tracy and Capt. Benajah Leffingwell were substantial inhabitants, and Caleb Whitney kept a public house. Boating was brisk in the river, and small vessels were built and sent away for sale.
Among those who were efficient in opening avenues of trade and bring- ing business to the new port, none were more conspicuous than Capt. John Williams and Capt. Joshua Huntington. The former resided with his family at Poquetannock, and the latter in the town-plot, but each had a wharf and ware-house at the Landing, and here was their place of busi- ness. Capt. Huntington occupied the Point, near Kelley's ship-yard. It was by heirship from him that this locality went into the Bill family,- Capt. Ephraim Bill having married his only daughter, Lydia.
Great are the changes that have been made around the water-line of Norwich port. All the sharp angles and projecting rocks, the trickling streams and gullies, have disappeared. Central wharf spreads out far in advance of the old town wharf and the water-line where Fitch and Bush- nell had their first conveniences ; and the granite ridge at whose base Kelley built his coasting-craft, and the Huntingtons, Bills and others had their warehouses, has been leveled to a platform occupied by the freight- depot and other accommodations of the railroad.
The division into freeholds gave a powerful impetus to the growth of the Landing. Trade became suddenly the presiding genius of the place. Those merchants who had been so fortunate as to obtain situations upon the water's edge, entered at once into commercial pursuits. From a
20
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
report prepared by authority in Connecticut, to be laid before the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, probably befor 1730, we learn that four sloops were at that time owned in Norwich and engaged in the West India and coasting trade, viz .:
Slp. Martha and Elizabeth, - 40 tons.
Success, 40
" Olive Branch,
25
" Mary,
20
Not long afterward the Norwich traders sent a sloop and a schooner to Ireland. As these we suppose to have been their first adventures across the ocean, every item relating to them is interesting. They probably sailed in company, but the schooner returned without her consort.
7 Nov. 1732. " The Norwich scooner, Nath: Shaw master, came in from Ireland." [Hempstead's Diary.]
The sloop was under the charge of Capt. Absalom King, and appears to have been owned by himself and those who sailed with him. They sold the craft in Ireland, probably in accordance with the plan of their voyage, as vessels were then frequently built in the river, where timber was plenty, and sent elsewhere for a market. The crew embarked for home in the schooner with Capt. Shaw, but during the voyage five out of the fifteen persons on board died of the small pox. Among the victims was Capt. King, who died in mid ocean Sept. 3, 1732.
Capt. Absalom King came to Norwich from Southold, Long Island, and had been for several years in the West India trade. IIis wife was HIan- nah, daughter of John Waterman. His youthful widow married, Nov. 8, 1733, Benedict Arnold.
This is the earliest notice that we find at Norwich of Benedict Arnold, -a Rhode Island emigrant, whose name, when afterwards borne by his son, became synonymous with treason and apostacy. No intimation is given of the causes that brought him to Norwich ; but he appears to have been at first a seaman, and it is not improbable that some connection with Capt. King in that capacity first introduced him to the town and after- wards obtained for him the favorable notice of the bereaved wife. He and his brother Oliver are both distinguished by the title of Cuplain.
In 1740, a memorial was presented to the town by Joshua Abel, John Hutchins, and others, praying for a convenient highway to be opened to
* Hinman's Antiquities, p. 352. The date of the document is not given, but it was undoubtedly between 1720 and 1730. The whole number of vessels in the colony was 42, the largest of which was a brigantine of 80 tons, owned at New London. They were mostly small sloops. New Haven and New London had each five; Hartford and Norwich, four.
307
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
the Landing. This was strenuously opposed by the landholders on the line of the proposed highway, and rejected by the town at that time. But a few years later the object was happily accomplished, and two conven- ient avenues were opened, one on each side of the central hill. The two pent highways that had been previously used, that on the east through land of Col. Hezekiah Huntington, and the one on the west through land of Col. Simon Lothrop, were exchanged for streets laid out through the same lands, but more direct in course, and left open for public use. These improvements were sanctioned by the consent of all the parties concerned.
The eastern avenue thus opened, coincided with Crescent and a part of Union streets, terminating at the house of Nathaniel Backus in Union, not far from the corner of Main street. The western avenue coincided with the greater part of Washington street, and ended at "Capt. Bushnell's old ware-house." The committee for making these improvements consisted of William Morgan, Hezekiah Huntington, Philip Turner, and Joseph and Simon Tracy.
In 1750, Daniel Lathrop, Nathan Stedman and Capt. Philip Turner were appointed a committee to open a highway by the water-side, con- necting the above-named streets. This was the first laying out of Water street.
After this, "the old highway over Waweecos Hill, between the Little Plain and Landing Place," was seldom used, and Capt. Benajah Bushnell obtained permission to enclose it, on condition of maintaining convenient bars for people to pass.
The Little Plain,-so called in distinction from the Great Plain, in the southern part of the town toward Mohegan,-was at this time private property, included in grants to the early settlers, with no part open to the public except the streets above mentioned leading to the Landing.
In making these highway improvements and in other works of public interest requiring publie spirit and skillful management, Capt. Turner and Nathan Stedman were zealous and persevering agents. These were com- paratively new inhabitants. Stedman was an attorney, son of John Sted- man of Lyme, and not of the Hampton family of Stedmans. After a few years residence in Norwich, he removed to Ashford. Philip Turner spent the remainder of his short career in the town, and his dust is mingled with its soil.
Dec. 1748. It is ordered that warnings for town meetings shall for the future be set up at the Landing place on some post to be provided by the inhabitants there.
A sign-post was accordingly set up at Mr. Peter Lanman's corner, as the most central and conspicuous situation.
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