USA > Connecticut > Windham County > History of Windham County, Connecticut. Volume I, 1600-1760 > Part 19
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The church of Canterbury was harmonious and prosperous, though its membership increased less rapidly than in adjoining towns, owing probably to the disreputable character of some of its early inhabitants, -- the " vagabond fellows," who would bear no public charges. The influence of the religious revival in Windham in 1721, extended to Can- terbury, so that Elisha and Solomon, sons of Elisha Paine, Sen., and many other young people, were brought into the church, and its mem- bership doubled within a few years. Mr. Estabrook was a man of wisdom and learning and much respected throughout the Colony. The annual Election Sermon was preached by him in 1718. After the death of Deacon Eleazer Brown in 1720, Timothy Backus and Thomas Brown were appointed deacons. Strict discipline was maintained in the church, as was manifested by the following votes and resolu- tions : March 8, 1715, "The church of Canterbury being under fears and suspicious that those of us that have borne office in the town and have been under oath, have been negligent in the execution of their office and discharge of their oath, we do in pursuance of the sixth article of our covenant : resolve-That if any one of us are or shall be chosen into any civil office and take oath for the execution of said office, that we will do our utmost endeavor faithfully to execute the offices our oaths oblige us to and to improve the power we are invested with for the suppression of sin and the pro notion of religion." It was also voted in 1717, "That no complaint shall be brought to open hear- ing in the church unless it be committed to writing and signed by the complainor, provided this act shall not be construed to hinder the Pastor's attending gospel order in inquiring into misdemeanors when there is no complaint, or of particular brethren's informing of scandals yt do not particularly concern themselves." In 1718, it was decided " that all baptized persons were under the watch of the church and that it had power to deal with such in case they offend."
There is no evidence that the malignant distemper which so heavily
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ASPINOCK. KILLINGLY.
afflicted Plainfield in 1725-26, extended to Canterbury-but one special case of suffering is reported, so severe as to call relief from the General Assembly. Anna the wife of Gershom Matt-apparently a transient resident-after the birth of triplets, "which through God's mercy were all living," languished long under distressing and expen- sive sickness ; pleurisy, dropsy and a dangerous imposthume, succes- sively, seizing on her; her infants, meanwhile, out at nurse, at a great expense ; and lastly her husband was attacked by sore sickness and " brought very low and nigh the dust of death ;" by which series of adverse providences they were reduced to great want and straits, and petitioned that a brief, craving the contribution and charity of good people in such towns as should be deemed meet, might be granted for their relief in this distress-a mode of relief not uncommon before the days of newspapers. The Governor and Council in New Haven, October 16, 1725, thereupon,-
" Ordered, That a brief be therefore granted, and that it be directed, and it is hereby granted and directed to pass into and through the towns and respect- ive congregations in New London, Groton, Stonington, Preston, Norwich, Lebanon, Canterbury, Plainfield, Pomfret, and Killingly for the end aforesaid; and that the money collected by said brief be transmitted to the Reverend Mr. Samuel Estabrook of said Canterbury and by him delivered for the relief of the said poor distressed family."
XXIII.
ASPINOCK. KILLINGLY.
"THE township next following Canterbury in date of organization was Killingly, laid out north of Plainfield in 1708, in the north- east corner of Connecticut, in the wild border land between the Quine- baug and Rhode Island. This region was early known to the whites as the Whetstone Country, but long left neglected. Rough hill ranges, alternating with marshes and sand-flats, offered poor inducements to purchasers and settlers. It lay remote from any public thoroughfare of travel, and its settlement would probably have been delayed still later had it depended merely upon individual fancy or selection. But the Whetstone Country, though sterile and unattractive, had one great advantage. It was owned by the Colony of Connecticut and not by individuals or corporations. While Mohegan land-claims had swallowed up a great portion of Windham County territory, this northern section east of the Quinebaug was at the disposal of the Government. The wild Whetstone Country was thus, after a time, cherished and protected
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HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.
. and brought as soon as possible into notice and market. The land, if poor, was good enough to give away, or pay to creditors, and many civil and military services were requited by grants of land in this region. Its first white proprietors were thus the leading men in the Colony. Governors Haynes, Treat and Saltonstall ; Majors Fitch and Mansfield ; the Reverend Messrs. Hooker, Pierpont, Whiting, Buck- ingham, Andrews, Noyes, Woodbridge and Russel ; the Hon. Giles Hamlin, Matthew Allen and Caleb Stanley, had grants of land in the northeast corner of Connecticut and were associated with the early history of Killingly. The grant to Governor Haynes was given as early as 1642 ; that to the Rev. John Whiting in 1662, but the greater number at a later period. No particular spot or bounds were desig- nated in these grants, which simply allowed a certain number of acres to be taken up, "without any prejudice to any particular township or former grant." The land " was all before them where to choose," and the first comers chose the best localities. Measurements were in all cases extremely liberal.
The first to take possession of land in the Whetstone Country under these grants, were those notorious "land-grabbers," Major .James Fitch and Captain John Chandler. A grant of " fifteen hundred acres, to be taken up together and lyeing beyond New Roxbury, near the north- east corner of the Colony line," was confirmed to Major Fitch by the General Court, October, 1690, who, with his usual dispatch and dis- crimination, at once selected and had laid out to him the best land in the whole section, viz. : the interval between the Quinebaug and Assawaga, extending from their junction at Acquiunk to Lake Masha- paug, and also the valley east of the Assawaga, as far north as Whetstone Brook. Captain John Chandler, of Woodstock, was next in the field, buying up land granted to soldiers for services in the Narraganset War as indemnity for losses. Two hundred acres, pur- chased by him from Lieutenant Hollister, were laid out at Nashaway, the point of land between the Quinebaug and French Rivers, and confirmed to him by the General Court in 1691. A great part of the valley land adjoining French River and a commanding eminence two miles east of the Quinebaug, then known as Rattlesnake and afterwards as Killingly Hill, were speedily appropriated by Captain Chandler. The other grantees, less familiar with the country and less experienced in land-grabbing, found more difficulty in taking up their grants. The land was savage, remote and difficult of access. Roads and convey- ances were both lacking. Wild streams, deep marshes and tangled forests impeded exploration. Surveyors were scarce, costly and not always capable of wise selection. Indians were numerous and now somewhat turbulent and refractory. The Rev. Samuel Andrews
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ASPINOCK. KILLINGLY.
8
succeeded in obtaining the laying out of his grant of two hundred acres in 1692-west of Rattlesnake Hill, "bounded three sides by wilderness."
In 1693, the future Killingly received its first known white settler- Richard Evans-who purchased, for twenty pounds, a two-hundred- acre grant of the Rev. James Pierpont, of New Haven, and is described in the deed as "late of Rehoboth, but now resident of the said granted premises." Little is known of this first settler of Killingly beyond the fact of his early settlement. The bounds of his farm cannot now be identified. It was laid out in the wilderness, about a mile east of the Quinebaug and three miles from Woodstock, just south of Wood. ward's and Saffery's line. It was in the northern extremity of the subsequent township of Killingly; was afterwards included in the " South Neighborhood " of Thompson, and now forms a part of the town of Putnam. Mr. Evans was accompanied by a grown son, Richard Evans, Jun., and in time built two homesteads and made various improvements. His establishment served as a landmark for all the surrounding region, many tracts of land being identified by distance or direction from Richard Evans.
In 1694, the Rev. Noadiah Russel selected and secured two hundred acres, "five miles southeast from Woodstock, east of the Quinebaug ; lands that bound it, not taken up." Seventeen hundred acres, scattered about "on Five-Mile River, southeast from Richard Evans," were con- firmed to James Fitch, Moses Mansfield, Rev. Mr. Buckingham and Samuel Rogers, in 1695. This was "the wild land in Killingly" granted by Major Fitch to Yale College. The Indian troubles follow- ing after this date checked further land operations in the Whetstone Country. For several years no sales or surveys are reported, and Richard Evans remained apparently its sole white inhabitant till the close of the century.
With the return of peace, business and speculation revived. In 1699, the Rev. Noadiah Russel sold his two hundred acres, " east side of Quinebaug, alias Aspinock River, according to the Indian name," to Peter and Nathaniel Aspinwall, Samuel Perrin and Benjamin Griggs, all of Woodstock, for twenty pounds. This valley of the Quinebaug, ex- tending from the Great Falls, now in Putnam, to Lake Mashapaug, and known as Aspinock, had now attracted the attention of Woodstock's business men. Turpentine was gathered here in large quantities from its numerous pine trees by that noted trader, James Corbin. James and Joseph, sons of John Leavens, were thus employed by him in 1700. The younger brother, Joseph, on one occasion strayed off alone, and while felling a tree was suddenly attacked and wounded in the thumb by one of the original proprietors of the soil-a venomous rattlesnake.
21
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HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.
No help was near, the young man was in imminent danger, but with great coolness and presence of mind he hacked off the bitten thumb with his axe and then dispatched his assailant. His very peculiar chirography corroborates the truth of this legend, as also the sobri- quet, "Old One Thumb," afterwards given him by the Indians.
Despite this mishap, the young Leavens brothers decided to settle in Aspinock. They were joined, and perhaps preceded, by our old friend Peter Aspinwall, who had been employed by the Woodstock authorities in 1691, " to lay out a road to the Quinebaug, where it may be most convenient to make a bridge and lay out a road to Providence." He laid the road between the Quinebaug and Mill Rivers to a point just below the Great Falls, which he deemed a convenient place for fording or bridging, and thence southeasterly, winding around the base of Rattlesnake Hill. While engaged in this arduous work, Lieutenant Aspinwall took up his residence in the vicinity of the Falls, and was greatly hindered and burdened helping travelers across the river. Communication between Woodstock and Providence was greatly facili- tated by the opening of this way, and also that between Hartford and Boston, many travelers preferring it to the old Connecticut road through Woodstock. In 1703, Lieutenant Aspinwall represented to the General Assembly, "That for a long time the want of a bridge over the Quinebaug, in or near the road to Boston, has been a grievous burden and affliction, as well to travelers as to the complainant, who lives on the east side; not being always fordable, exceedingly high and swift "-and offered to build a bridge and take care of it for one hundred and fifty acres of land. This good offer was accepted by the Upper House but refused by the Lower, so that the Quinebaug was left unbridged for twenty years.
Lieutenant Aspinwall then removed his residence to his Russel pur- chase, south of the Providence road, a mile southeast of the Falls, and devoted his energies to the settlement of Aspinock. In 1703, he purchased of Caleb Stanley two hundred acres of land abutting south on Mashapaug Lake. The land adjoining it westward and extending to the Quinebaug was laid out to Thomas Buckingham, and sold by him to Captain John Sabin, of Mashamoquet, whose daughter Judith married young Joseph Leavens, and received this beautiful valley farm as her marriage portion. James and Peter Leavens bought up land grants and also settled in this vicinity. Other settlers soon followed Aspinwall and the Leavenses. Jonathan Eaton purchased land between the Quinebaug and Mill Rivers, on the Woodstock road, in 1703, and was the first permanent inhabitant of what is now Putnam village. James, Daniel and Nicholas Cady of Groton, Massachusetts, removed to the valley of the Quinebaug about 1704, buying land of Chandler
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ASPINOCK. KILLINGLY.
and Andrews. In 1704, John Allen of Marlborough, a gentleman somewhat advanced in life, of ample means, with sons to settle, pur- chased the Stanley farm of Peter Aspinwall, and there put up "a tene- ment of housing and other accommodations." These several settlers were the pioneers and planters of Killingly, settled on or near the Quinebaug, mostly between the Falls and Mashapaug Lake, styling themselves in their various land-deeds "inhabitants of a place called Aspinock," three, four and five miles from Woodstock. Most of them were young men, full of life and energy. Lieutenant Aspinwall was the leading spirit of the settlement, often employed by the Colony in surveys and public services. In 1704, he was appointed ranger of the woods in eastern Connecticut and commanded various military expeditions. Large numbers of the Nipmuck Indians still frequented their ancient haunts and were in the main peaceable and friendly but troublesome and extortionate, roving about in large companies and demanding food and lodging from the settlers.
With the erection of a settlement, land traffic became more lively. Grants were laid out and quickly taken up by purchasers, at prices ranging from twenty pounds to " three hors and one kine." A thousand acres to the heirs of Governor Haynes, three hundred to the heirs of Joseph Haynes and three hundred to Robert Treat were "pitched upon " by Captain Chandler in 1707, and laid out by John Prents. Giles Hamlin's grant was sold to John Allen and laid out at Potta- quatic, on the then northern boundary of Connecticut. Rattlesnake Hill was also purchased by John Allen of Captain Chandler. James Leavens bought much land in various localities and set up a sawmill on the Assawaga, near the Rhode Island line. Richard Evans, the first settler, had now two houses on his plantation, with orchards, tannery pits and a fulling-mill. "Grinding " and other supplies needful for these "Borderers " were procured in Woodstock.
The first settler south of Lake Mashapaug was James Danielson of Block Island, who, in 1707, purchased of Major Fitch "the neck of land " between the Quinebaug and Assawaga Rivers, for a hundred and seventy pounds. The high price of this land shows that its value was then appreciated. Mr. Danielson had served in the Narraganset war, and his name appears on the list of officers and soldiers who received the township of Voluntown in recompense for their services. Tradition tells us that he passed through the Whetstone Country on an expedi- tion against the Nipmucks, and stopping to rest his company on the in- terval between the rivers, was so pleased with the locality that he then declared, that when the war was ended he should settle there. Nothing more is known of him till thirty years later, when he buys the land from the junction of the rivers, "extending up stream to the middle
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HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.
of the long interval." Tradition adels, that he first traded with the natives, receiving for a tridle all that he could see from the top of a high tree, but found that Major Fitch had forestalled him. Mr. Daniel- son at once took possession of his purchase, built a garrison house near its southern extremity and was soon known as one of the most promi- nent men in the new settlement. No other settler appeared for some years in his vicinity. The land south from Acquiunk was held by Plainfield proprietors under their purchase from Owaneco, and no attempt was made for many years to bring it into market.
Though the number of inhabitants in Aspinock and its vicinity was still small, their remoteness from the seat of Government and inde- pendent mode of settlement made town organization very needful. No band of proprietors was there to manage and dispose of land, and the numerous deeds of transfer had to be recorded in Hartford, Plainfield and Canterbury. The need of proper public officers was also im- perative, and in May, 1708, town organization was thus allowed and inaugurated :---
" This Assembly grants a township to the eastward of Woodstock and a patent thereof; the bounds whereof to be northerly on the line of the Massa- chusetts Province (it being by estimation about ) five miles from the line between this Colony and the Colony of Rhode Island and the river called Assawaug; easterly on the said line between the said Colonies; southerly, partly on the northern boundary of Plainfield and partly on a line to be con- tinned east from the northeast corner bounds of Plainfield to the said line between the said Colonies ; the said northern boundary of Plainfield being settled by order of the General Court, May the 11th, 1699, and westerly on the aforesaid river; the said township being by estimation about eight or nine miles in length and five or six miles in breadth, be the same more or less.
Always provided. That no person now inhabiting on said land, or any other persons dwelling without this Colony who have purchased any lands within the said township, that shall not give due obedience to all the laws of this Colony for the upholding the worship of God and paying of all public charges, shall have no benefit by this act. And provided, also, that no township, nor any persons who have heretofore had any lands lying within the said township granted to him and legally laid out, shall be any ways preju- diced by this act nor any part thereof. And this Assembly desires the Hon'ble Governor to commissionate Lt. Aspinwall, or some other suitable person, to train and command the soldiers in the said township, and to give a name to the said town, and also appoint the figure of a brand for their horses. It is also desired that the Hon'ble Governor, Major Fitch, and Mr. Richard Christophers, or any two of them, shall give advice and direction for the calling and settling of a minister in the said town as need shall require.
And this Assembly grants to the Governor two hundred acres of land within the said township.
And it is also provided, that what country lands lye within the aforesaid tract granted to be a township not already laid out, those that have country grants have liberty to take them up, provided they do it within one year next coming.
Captain John Chandler is appointed to bound out the said lands.
And this Assembly leaves it to the Hon'ble the Governor, with the Secretary, to sign a patent unto Col. Robert Treat, Major James Fitch, Capt. Dau. Wetherell, Mr. Joseph Haynes, Mr. Samuel Andrew, Mr. George Denison, Mr. James Danielson, David Jacobs, Samuel Randall, Peter Aspinwall, Joseph Cady, in behalf of the rest of the proprietors; provided it wrong no person or persons' just and legal rights."
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ASPINOCK. KILLINGLY.
The stringent provision for securing obedience to the Colony laws for upholding the worship of God, was called out by the movement then in progress for remedying defects in the discipline of the churches of Connecticut and securing a firmner religious establishment-this very Assembly requiring the ministers and managers to meet in Saybrook " to draw a form of ecclesiastic discipline."
No report of the organization of town government is preserved, nor is there any record of town acts the first twenty years of its existence. Selectmen were duly appointed and discharged the duties of their offices. Books were procured for recording land-deeds-David Church serving as town-clerk. Joseph Cady was chosen lieutenant and John Winter ensign of the soldiers or train band, and at the suggestion of some unsuitable person the graceful Indian Aspinock was exchanged for barbarous Killingly. In October of 1708, the Court granted " liberty to the inhabitants of Killingly, to survey and lay out one hundred acres of land within their township for the use and encourage- ment of a minister to settle there and carry on the worship of God among them." A hundred acres of land for the first settled minister was also pledged to the town by Captain Chandler, in presence and with concurrence of the selectmen.
The growth of the new town was very rapid despite its poverty and remoteness. Land was cheap and open to purchasers. Grantees hastened to take up their rights and sell them out to settlers, so that population increased much more rapidly than in the richer neighbor- ing towns owned by corporations and large land-holders. The land north of Danielson's, extending from the middle of " the long interval" to Lake Mashapaug, was conveyed by Major Fitch to John, Nathaniel and Nicholas Mighill ; a farm east of the lake was sold to John Lorton ; David Church of Marlborough, and William Moffat settled in the Quinebaug valley, adjoining James Leavens. Many grants were bought up by Nicholas Cady north of Rattlesnake Hill, in the neigh- borhood of Richard Evans, and sold by him to George Blanchard of Lexington, Thomas Whitmore, William Price, John and Samuel Winter, John Bartlett, William Robinson and others, who at once took possession of this northern extremity of the town. So near were they to the mystical Woodward's and Saffery's Line, that they often ran over it into the territory of Massachusetts, and Captain Sampson Howe, who settled at Nashaway in 1708, though clearly beyond the limits of Con. necticut, was ranked among the inhabitants of Killingly. Far in the east, northeast of Rattlesnake-then known as Killingly-Hill, a settlement was begun by Isaac Cutler and his son Jonathan of Cam- bridge, who purchased of James Leavens, in 1709, land on a brook running into the Assawaga, with a dwelling-house and part of a saw- mill.
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HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.
Within the time allotted, the grantees had taken up their land, and on October 13, 1709, on the payment of forty pounds through Captain Chandler, a patent of the remaining lands in Killingly was granted by the Governor and Company of Connecticut to its proprietors, viz .: Colonel Robert Treat, Major James Fitch, Captain John Chandler, Joseph Otis, James Danielson, Ephraim Warren, Peter Aspinwall, Joseph Cady, Richard Evans, Sen. and Jun., John Winter, Stephen Clap, John and William Crawford, George Blanchard, Thomas Whit- more, John Lorton, Jonathan Russel, Daniel Cady, William Price, William Moffat, James and Joseph Leavens, John, Nathaniel and Nicholas Mighill, John Bartlett, Samuel Winter, Ebenezer Kee, Isaac and Jonathan Cutler, Peter Leavens, Sampson Howe, John Sabin, John Preston, Philip Eastman, David Church, Thomas Priest, Nicholas Cady, John, Thomas, Matthew, Jabez and Isaac Allen. Nearly one-third of these forty-four patentees were non-resident, so that Killingly numbered at this date about thirty families.
XXIV.
LAND-TAX. CHESTNUT HILL. CHURCH ORGANIZATION. SOUTH KILLINGLY SETTLEMENT.
K ILLINGLY was thus in 1709, an organized township, owning its land and enjoying to an unusual degree the favor and protection of the Government. Only a small part of its large territory was yet occupied. Its inhabitants were mostly gathered within the Quinebaug valley and in the open country north of Killingly Hill. " A gangway" leading from Plainfield to Boston extended through the whole length of the town, connecting by a cross road with the ways to Hartford and Woodstock at the fording-place below the Great Falls of the Quine- baug. Its condition may be inferred from the tradition, that when James Danielson's negro was sent to Boston with a load of produce, he had made so little progress after a day's journey as to go home to spend the first night. The Providence way after encircling the base of Killingly Hill wound back far to the north, past Isaac Cutler's, enabling the inhabitants to procure boards from his sawmill and helping build up that remote section. Mr. Cutler was early allowed to keep a house of public entertainment and his tavern was noted as the last land-mark of civilization on the road from Connecticut to Providence. Other parts of the town were only accommodated with rude bridle paths. A grist-mill was set up by James Danielson and supplied such inhabitants
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