USA > Connecticut > Windham County > History of Windham County, Connecticut. Volume I, 1600-1760 > Part 13
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Very little is known of the early days of the Quinebaug plantation. No organization was effected, or even attempted, for several years.
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THE QUINEBAUG COUNTRY.
The settlers broke up their land, built rude habitations and made some few improvements. They had a fine country, well watered and not too heavily timbered. Black Hill, so named by the first settlers, had been burned over every year for an Indian hunting ground. The valley adjoining the Quinebaug was found to produce extraordinary crops of corn and in spite of Fitch and Tracy injunctions, was used as a common cornfield for the settlement. Portions of this field were set aside for their Indian neighbors, who were very numerous but peaceable and friendly, and willingly allowed the settlers to share their fisheries, hunting grounds and planting lands. Fears were at first entertained and garrison houses provided, but it was found needless " to make any great matter of use of them." No attempt was made to lay out public highways. The old Greenwich Path led on to Provi- dence, and rude ways were trodden out to Norwich, New London and Windham. Needful supplies were procured at these distant settlements, and religious services occasionally attended.
Society was, for a time, in a most rude, chaotic state. The double land claim occasioned much confusion. The Fitch and Winthrop adherents were at open war with each other. Major Fitch was es- pecially careless as to the character of his tenants, and had great difficulty in collecting rents from them. The first existing records relating to the Quinebaug Plantation tell of oppression, violence, resistance to legal authority, and other high-handed misdemeanors. In the summer of 1695, Benjamin Spalding, Thomas Brooks, Obadiah Johnson, John Smith and Dan Edwards were summoned before the Court of New London County, "to answer complaint of Major James Fitch, for cutting and carting away hay from his farm at Peagscom- suck," and were sentenced to pay each five shillings to Major Fitch, the same amount to the Treasury and costs. Benjamin Palmer, tenant of Major Fitch, was next arraigned, not only for refusing to pay the rent of the Peagscomsuck farm and improving a parcel of barley that did not belong to him, but for abusing the person of the collector, Richard Adams, by striking him several blows and for profanely swearing that he would kill Major Fitch and the marshal. For these various offences, he was adjudged to pay a fine of £70, or be whipped fifteen stripes on his naked body. To satisfy this demand, Marshal Plumb stripped Palmer of nearly all his worldly substance, consisting of nine stacks of meadow hay, stacks of oats, barley, rye and flax, corn in the ear and unhusked and eight bushels in the chamber, garden stuff, swine and working oxen-" too much for the debt, but no sur- plus returned." Palmer, by advice of his attorney, John Gallup, sued Plumb for damages. Other actions were brought against Palmer for refusing to make satisfaction and improper language, but were finally
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HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.
settled or withdrawn. Samuel Cleveland, the tenant succeeding Palmer, was reduced to still greater suffering by over-extortion of produce for rent, so that the Major himself wrote to Thomas Brooks and Benjamin Spalding, " That they should deliver to said Cleveland all that might be judged needful for his present necessities." John Gallup, James Deane and Nathaniel Jewell were also brought to trial for mowing grass and carting off loads of hay from the land claimed by the Tracys. John Smith, a Winthrop land-holder, was accused of illegal seizure of land sold by Owaneco to Stephen Merrick ; Peter Crery, of forcibly entering upon Owaneco's land and cutting off timber. Others were arrested for carting off hay and grain and appropriating logs and rails. The New London Court was largely occupied with cases from the Quinebaug Country. Fines were levied, whipping and imprisonment inflicted. The Gallups were leaders of the Winthrop faction and the largest resident land-owners, and one of them, accord- ing to tradition, gave such offence to the planters by greed and over- measurement that he was driven out of the plantation as a "land grabber." In 1699, the Winthrops attempted to bring the question of proprietorship to an issue by entering complaints against Major Fitch and Judge Tracy, for entering upon land belonging to the plaintiff's. The cases were tried before the Court of Common Pleas for New London County, and verdict being allowed to the defendants, appealed to a higher tribunal.
In spite of these quarrels and disturbances, the Quinebaug Planta- tion gained in numbers and strength. The first inhabitants west of the Quinebaug were probably the tenants at Peagscomsuck. Rowland Jones, who purchased in 1691, four hundred acres of land on what is still Rowland's Brook, was one of the first west-side settlers. Thomas Brooks and Obadiah Johnson also settled west of the Quinebaug, but little progress was made till 1697, when Major Fitch with his family removed thither, digging the first cellar and erecting the first perma- nent habitation in what is now the township of Canterbury. With hundreds of farms, and many thousand acres of land at his disposal, he selected for his establishment and permanent residence "a neck of land " enclosed by a curve of the Quinebaug, below the river island Peagscomsuck, which gave its name to the settlement. At the time of this removal to the Quinebaug Country, Major Fitch was a little past middle age, and had been for many years one of the most promi- nent men in Connecticut. From early manhood he had been actively employed in civil and military affairs ; helped re-establish colonial government after the revolution of 1689 ; was appointed assistant in 1690 ; sergeant-major of New London County in 1696; served as boundary commissioner and land revisor ; led military expeditions,
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THE QUINEBAUG COUNTRY.
manned forts, guarded the frontier and exercised jurisdiction over the Mohegans and all their lands and interests. The popularity of Major Fitch was now somewhat on the wane, his immense land operations excited public jealousy and involved him in controversy and litigation, so that a remonstrance was presented to the General Court, " by many of his Majesty's loyal and dutiful subjects," who could not see cause to acknowledge Captain James Fitch to be Lord Proprietor of the Colony.
In this remonstrance, it was asserted-
" That Captain Fitch had laid claim to our established inheritance by pre- tences of grants from Owaneco . had such a large liberty to spread his wings far and near that he might easily stretch Owaneco's wings over two or three counties more than his own to accommodate his own designs, seeing that Owaneco is a person of so flexible a temper that he will do anything for a bottle of rum . . and is almost blind in drinking away his own and other men's lands in that sort of liquor. Thus, gentlemen, you may see on what easy terms Captain Fitch has procured the Wabbaquasset, Mohegan, Quinebaug and a great part of the Pequod countries from Owaneco, and hath already sold out vast tracts of our land to some now in England, Rhode Island, and some to privateers, as we have been informed. Let any man give an example of any of the King's subjects, in Europe or America, since the times of William the Conqueror till to-day, that ever ingrost so much land as Captain Fitch hath done in this Colony, which was before given and confirmned to other men under the great seal of England, so that we cannot but declare and protest against these sales as illegal, and pray the Court to pass an act condemning them. We cannot but declare against Captain Fitch, his being such a great land-pirate and selling so much of our land to strangers, and hope the General Court and our people will variously consider how pernicious a man Mr. Fitch is to the rising generation in this Colony, and what a scandal it is to this government and how gravaminus to many of the Queen's subjects, that a person that makes it his business to sell the free men's lands should any longer continue in office in this Colony."
This jealousy of Major Fitch's possessions and Indian influence was aggravated by his own willfulness and violence and his persistency in carrying out his own schemes without regard to means or consequences. Various mal-administration charges were alleged against him, and an irregular, if not illegal, entry of land in the town book of Norwich, in 1697, greatly injured his standing in his native town and, quite probably, led to his change of residence. So serious was the charge, that for three years succeeding he was dropped from the Assistant's office.
After the death of his first wife-a daughter of Captain John Mason-Major Fitch married Alice Bradford, widow of Rev. William Adams, of Dedham, and mother of Mrs. Whiting, of Windham. Nine sons and daughters accompanied him to Peagscomsuck, and soon the Indian " neck " became an attractive family seat. The social position of Major Fitch and his wide business relations, drew many people around him, and his plantation was at once recognized as a place of no small consequence ; a rendezvous for land-traders, civil and military officials and hordes of idle Indians. Here Courts were held, military
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HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.
expeditions organized and many thousand acres of land bartered away. It was the first, and long the only, settlement between Norwich and Woodstock, extending its hospitalities and accommodations to many a weary traveler. The expedition that marched to the relief of Wood- stock in 1699 passed the night, both in going and returning, "at Major Fitch's farm in Peagscomsuck." A road was soon laid out from Windham to this noted establishment, and connecting with Greenwich Path, formed the great thoroughfare to Providence. Kent was the name given by the Major to his plantation, but its Indian appellation persistently adhered to it.
Other settlers soon followed Major Fitch. Samuel Adams, from Chelmsford ; Elisha Paine, from Eastham; Obadiah and William Johnson, Samuel and Josiah Cleveland, from Woburn; Thomas Brooks, Rowland Jones and Robert Green, all settled west of the Quinebaug. To encourage these settlers, Owaneco, in 1698, made over to Major James Fitch, Josiah Cleveland and Jabez Utter, the land between the Quinebaug and Appaquage Rivers, extending eight and a half miles north of Norwich north line-except those lands formerly granted to Major Fitch, Solomon and Daniel Tracy and Richard Bushnell,-" in trust for ye inhabitants now dwelling in the plantation of Quinebauge, they bearing their proportion of charge, to wit: Thomas Brooks, Obadiah Johnson, Samuel Cleveland, Robert Green, Rowland Jones and Major Fitch. The above are on the west side of Quinebaug ; the intention is to promote plantation work." This conveyance did not prevent Owaneco's selling the same land to other settlers at every opportunity. Indeed, some tracts were sold to three or four different purchasers by this "flexible" and unscrupulous chieftain. In 1699, Owaneco sold to Obadiah Johnson and Samuel Adams all the south part of the tract west of the Quinebaug not previously appropriated. Elisha Paine bought two thousand acres in the south of the tract from Major Fitch. Tixhall Ensworth, of Hartford, also settled on land bought of Fitch. Josiah Cleveland bought land at Wanungatuck, " both sides of Tadneck Hill," of Richard Bushnell ; Solomon Tracy, Jun., took possession of the land owned by his father. In October, 1697, it was ordered by the General Court, "That the people inhabiting upon Quinebaug River shall be and belong to the county of New London." After the election of Fitz John Winthrop as governor of Connecticut, in 1698, his request for the confirmation of his Quinebaug lands received due consideration, and a committee was appointed with full power to find out and renew the bounds, but no immediate investi- gation was attempted. In May, 1699, the inhabitants east and west of Quinebaug River had become sufficiently numerous to present to the General Court the following petition :-
" Whereas, some thirty families are here and have made some settlement,
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THE QUINEBAUG COUNTRY.
and although the place be of itself considerable for a good township there ouglit to be a regular, orderly settlement, and that we may have the privilege which belong to other towns, without which we cannot as we should serve God nor our country, we, therefore, pray for town privileges, and that two suitable persons be appointed to measure out ten miles square, and that we may have a name and brand and freedom from charges.
We also pray that the Court would appoint a committee of indifferent, unin- terested persons to lay out allotments and to equalize such as liave been in part laid out, for, without any reflection on the persons that have been already concerned, we humbly conceive it cannot be reasonable to suppose that a peaceable, honorable, speedy, righteous laying out of lots and divisions of lands and meadows can be by six brothers, who also pretend to, and would hold, near a sixth part of the plantation to themselves; whereas, it is well known that this place lyeth under many pretended claims besides our honora- ble Governor's claim, and by their own surveying, running near two miles for less than a hundred acres to lay out spots of meadow-such actions, so contrary to law, if not regulated, the place is spoiled; and, therefore, we humbly pray the Assembly to appoint Captain Wetherell, Mr. Pitkin and Mr. Ely to inquire into the legal proceedings, and inform the weak and feeble, that they may have a more speedy and peaceable settlement, so that we may have the worship of God among us-the which above all is to be desired and sought for, and have our rights defended to ourselves and heirs.
May 9, 1699.
EAST SIDE SETTLERS.
Isaac Shepard.
John Spalding.
Matthias Button.
Richard Pellet.
Edward Spalding.
Joseph Spalding.
Benjamin Rood.
James Kingsbury.
Jacob Warren.
John Fellows.
Thomas Pierce.
Nathaniel Jewell.
Samuel Shepard.
Thomas Harris.
Timothy Pierce.
WEST SETTLERS.
Robert Green.
Samuel Cleveland.
Thomas Brooks.
Richard Adams.
Josiah Cleveland.
Obadiah Johnson. William Johnson."
About two-thirds of the inhabitants were represented in this petition. Major Fitch and his adherents could not be expected to sign a docu- ment which, indirectly, admitted the claim of the " honorable Governor." The " six brothers " referred to are probably the various Gallups, whose names are also withheld from the petition and whose previous land operations had excited so much ill-feeling. In spite of these omissions, the petition was most favorably considered, and the following "Acts of the Governor, Council and Representatives, granted, upon the motion of the Governor, and petition of ye people of Quinebaug :"
" Impr. That they shall have the powers and privileges of a township, provided it doth not prejudice any particular person's property.
2. That their bounds shall be as exprest by the Governor's Honor, viz. : Ten miles east and west and eight miles north and south, abutting southerly on Preston and Norwich bounds and westerly on Windham bounds, provided it doth not prejudice any former grant of townships.
3. That the Governor's Honor shall give the plantation a name, and also appoint a horse brand for the use of the inhabitants.
4. That they shall have three years exemption from paying rates to the country.
5. That Captain Daniel Wetherell. Mr. William Pitkin and Captain William Ely, they or any two of them, shall be a committee to lay out the bounds of the town and to make return thereof to this Court in October next."
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HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.
XVII.
AGREEMENTS. QUINEBAUG LAND INVESTIGATION.
0 N May 31, 1699, the inhabitants of the Quinebaug Plantation met to organize town government. James Deane was chosen town- clerk ; Jacob Warren, Joseph Spalding, Stephen Hall, William Johnson and Samuel Adams were chosen selectmen ; John Fellows, constable ; Thomas Williams, surveyor. Though many things were needful for the health and orderly settlement of the new town, the first care was to secure a minister. For several years the Quinebaug settlers had been deprived of religious privileges, but now their township was con- firmed to them and a young minister had been already procured in whom they were all united. Their first vote after electing town officers was, "To give the Rev. Mr. Coit a call for one quarter of a year, for ten pounds. Stephen Hall, Nathaniel Jewell, Joseph Spald- ing and Thomas Williams to go and treat with him, receive his answer and return it to the town." Rev. Joseph Coit-the son of Deacon Joseph Coit, of New London-was graduated from Harvard College in 1697, and, after preaching on probation a few months in Norwich, was invited to settle there, but expressly declared his disagreement from Norwich church, presuming to " set up his own opinion in oppo- sition to the Synod Book and a cloud of witnesses." To a young man of such independent habits of thought the liberty of a new plantation was doubtless attractive, and Mr. Coit at once accepted the invitation to Quinebaug. Religious services were held during the summer, alter- nating from the east to the west side of the Quinebaug. September 6, the town voted, " That we should still Indeavour to have the gospel preached among us and still Indeavour to get the Rev. Mr. Coit to remain another quarter. As to rate, first see by an Endeavour what those that are in our improvement and pretend to an interest in our plantation are willing to contribute towards carrying on the public worship of God in this Plantation, and then to make the rate accord- ingly upon allotments as have bin of-sat."
Some difficulty was found in collecting this rate. Some of the inhabitants of this somewhat lawless community were indifferent about religious worship, while others-especially the Massachusetts settlers- were deeply anxious to establish religious institutions and settle their plantation upon a sound Christian basis. A meeting of the inhabitants was accordingly held, November 13, 1699, and the following agree- ment adopted :-
" Whereas, we, the inhabitants living on the cast and west sides of Quina- bogus River, did, last May, petition the General Court of this Colony that we
.
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QUINEBAUG LAND INVESTIGATION.
might be, according to law, incorporate and have town powers and privileges granted to us, the which the General Court were pleased to grant unto us, and now that we might rightly and truly improve the loyal and reasonable privileges granted to us, so that it may be for the honor and glory of the Lord our God and for the good and comfort of us and our children's children-we, the sub- scribers, do by these presents formerly oblige ouselves, our heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, to maintain an able, faithful, orthodox gospel minister, so as that the sure worship of God may be at all times upheld and maintained amongst us; and as to the way of raising this and all other just, needful and necessary town charges, that it be done justly and equally according to each one's just proportion, in such a way and manner as the major part of us, the subscribers agree on, or according to the law of the Colony-always provided that a suitable and honorable maintenance be taken care of for the minister.
We do agree that a suitable allotment and accommodations be laid out for the minister that God, in his holy providence, shall settle among us; that there shall be an allotment or accommodations laid out in some suitable place to be and remain for the minister for ever.
Though duty to God and the wholesome laws of the Colony would oblige to a thorough care in the education of our children, yet it being found by expe- rience that there is some too great remissness in parents and others, and also difficulty in sending so remote one from another, but that we might be truly Indeavoring to do in this matter as God shall enable; we do agree that the townsmen do yearly take special care in this matter.
In testimony of the premises, witness our hands, November 13, 1699.
James Fitch.
Thomas Brooks.
Samuel Adams.
Stephen Hall,
Benjamin Rood.
Tixhall Ensworth.
Nathaniel Jewell.
James Deane.
Isaac Shepard.
Thomas Williams.
Daniel Woodward.
Samuel Shepard.
Jacob Warren.
Richard Adams.
John Fellows.
John Spalding.
William Marsh.
John Smith.
Joseph Spalding.
Joshua Whitney.
Edward Baldwin.
Thomas Stevens.
William Johnson.
Joseph Parkhurst.
William Douglas.
Benj. Spalding.
John Deane.
Thomas Pierce.
James Kingsbury.
Henry Walbridge.
Samuel Cleveland.
Robert Green.
Matthias Button.
Obadiah Johnson. Josiah Cleveland.
Samuel Howe.
Peter Crary."
Twelve of these thirty-eight subscribers resided west, the remainder east, of the Quinebaug. Sixteen signed their names; the others affixed a mark. The Gallups, Benjamin Palmer, Bump and Welch, who did not sign the agreement, brought up the number of male inhabitants to about forty-five. Jacob Warren was chosen rate collector for the east side of the town ; Richard Adams for the west. January 29, 1700, the committee were again authorized to treat with Mr. Coit, offering him twelve pounds a quarter for three-quarters of a year. Mr. Coit was not inclined to engage for three quarters as things were cir- cumstanced but might abide one quarter for twelve pounds-two-thirds in silver money ; one-third in provision pay. Attempts were made to bring the town into better circumstances and more regular order. At a town-meeting, February 2, 1700, " at the house of Isaac Shephard's present aboad," it was voted, " To accept the General Court's grant of May, 1699, and expect benefit by virtue of the same, and send for the committee to " run the town bounds," and the towns-men were enjoined to take timely care to send for the appointed committee. The partial
15
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HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.
laying out of the town was probably accomplished in course of the year. In October, it was announced, that as the Assembly had left it to the Governor to give name to the new plantation at Quinebaug- " his honor hath named the town Plainfield, and the horse brand he hath appointed to be a triangle, in this forme, ,and hath given order that record be made accordingly." Captain Wetherell, Captain John Hamin, Mr. William Pitkin and Captain Ely were again appointed a committee, to find out and renew the bounds of the tract purchased by Winthrop at Quinebaug, "the committee to take the best information they can get to guide them in their work, either of indifferent Indians or of any other persons, and to give notice to those that border upon the land before they enter upon the work."
Owing to the unseasonableness of the weather, this investigation was delayed till the following spring, during which interval nothing was accomplished for the further settlement of the township. Indeed, nothing could be done till land titles were made valid. A number of inhabitants, viz. : Thomas Williams, Benjamin and Joseph Spalding and William Johnson, all of Peagscomsuck, purchased of Owaneco for six pounds current money-the right to all the land in this section east of the Quinebaug, "except what was already sold and paid for,. in trust for those inhabitants of the plantation of Quinebaug, east of the river, who were willing to bear the charge for the promoting of a plantation,"-but no possession could be taken till Winthrops' claim was settled. Mr. Coit was still loth to engage to remain for any certain time but continued to preach quarter after quarter, and desired the town " to provide him as convenient a place as may be for his abode, and defray the charge of it." As so large a proportion of the inhabit- ants were settled east of the Quinebaug, "it was thought reasonable and also voted to have the service on the Sabbath two-thirds of the time upon the east and one-third upon the west side."
In May, 1701, the committee previously appointed, with the addition of Captain Matthew Allen and Sergeant Caleb Stanley, were again empowered to find out and renew the bounds of the Winthrop land purchase, giving "at least three days warning to Norwich people, or to such of them as are proprietors or claim land adjacent, or to Mr. Tracey only-always provided that what the committee shall do in the premises shall not confirm or invalidate the title of any Indian sachem, and that the work be done at the charge of the Honored Governor, John Winthrop, and Wait Winthrop."
Having summoned the requisite guides and witnesses and given due notice to all interested parties, the appointed gentlemen met at " Plain- field, alias Quinebaug or Peagscomsuck, May 21, 1701-to find out
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QUINEBAUG LAND INVESTIGATION.
and renew the bounds of the land purchased by John Winthrop of Allumps and Aguntus, alias Hyems, and Masshaushowit." It was an investigation of great interest and importance, involving the title to a large tract of land and the present and future peace and well-being of many individuals and families. A large concourse of people had gathered at the New Plantation-Major General Wait Winthrop, from New London, with counsellors and followers ; Judge Tracy, Lieutenant Leffingwell, Richard Bushnell and other Norwich proprietors, together with Major Fitch and all the Quinebaug inhabitants from both sides of the river were present at this memorable meeting. Owaneco was there in royal state, with a great company of his Mohegans. There, too, were the Quinebaugs, the original proprietors of the disputed territory, still numbering some hundreds ; and representatives of the Nipmucks, Pequots, Shetuckets and Narragansets. The place of meeting is not specified, but the preliminary examination was probably held at the Peagscomsuck establishment. The testimony of various Indians as to the reputed bounds of the Quinebaug lands was first taken-Joseph Morgan and John Gallup serving as interpreters. The presence of Owaneco, drunken and degraded as he was, so terrified the craven Quinebaugs that they were obliged to be examined apart. Having taken this testimony, the committee set out, with guides, divers Plainfield inhabitants and a long train of Indians, to search for the bounds thus described to them. They went first "to Pau- tucket, a place mentioned in Hyems' deed, which is a great Falls in Quinebaug River; where there cometh in on the east side another river [the Assawaga], and there on a hill [Acquiunk] thirty or forty rods southeast from the Falls, the said Indians showed them where was Hyems, his fort, in which they said were four cellars or great holes in the ground, and near thereto was a considerable quantity of ground that had formerly been planted, which the Indians told them was the planting ground mentioned in * Hyems' deed-and from this planting ground they traveled by the compass on the point southeast one mile into the wilderness, where, being on the top of a high hill, the Indians showed them other places, and then they set down a compass" and determined that "a right line drawn from this point, Acquidaneck, to Uhquanchaug, on the extreme western limit, crossing the Quinebaug at the said Pautucket or Great Falls-should be the northern boundary of Governor Winthrop's tract."
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