USA > Connecticut > Windham County > History of Windham County, Connecticut. Volume I, 1600-1760 > Part 22
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67
" MR. BUTCHER : My other occasions obstructing my coming up to your town before winter to sub-divide Mashamoquet Purchase and there being a neces- sity of having it done with what convenient speed may be, these are to request you to do it; and in doing thereof, I would have you attend the instructions above specified. Sir, I have formerly acquainted you with what terms I was to do it upon, which will be made good to you and I hope with some ad- dition which Lieutenant Ruggles, also, gives hopes of, which is all at present from your friend and servant, JOHN GORE."
The survey and divisions were accomplished during the winter, and on March 27, 1694, nearly eight years after the date of purchase, the several proprietors met in Roxbury to receive their respective shares. John Grosvenor-who died September 27, 1691, "in ye 49th year of his age"-was represented by his widow ; Samuel Ruggles, Sen., deceased, by his heirs, Thomas and Elizabeth Ruggles ; Samuel Gore, deceased, by his heirs ; John Pierpont, by Jacob, Benjamin and Daniel Dana of Cambridge, purchasers. The remaining proprietors
MASHAMOQUET. MORTLAKE. 185
were, probably, present in person, and the allotments were distributed in the following order :
1. Esther Grosvenor.
2. Thomas Mowry.
7. John Chandler.
8. Jacob, Ben'j. and Daniel Dana.
3. John Ruggles.
8. Benjamin Sabin.
4. John Gore.
10. Thomas and Elizabeth Ruggles.
5. Samuel Gore's heirs. 11. John White.
6. Samuel Ruggles. 12. Joseph Griffin.
The recipients thus certified their satisfaction :-
" The proprietors of Mashamoquet, having empowered Mr. John Butcher to divide the one-half thereof amongst them, and he having performed the same and exhibited a plot, we whose names are underwritten, being proprie- tors, have drawn lots and do approve of, allow, and rest satisfied with our several shares."
The Purchase, as then laid out, extended from Woodstock line on the north through the centre of the granted township. Its eastern bound ran through Bark Meadow, east of the base of Prospect Hill. Its western bound was not clearly defined at this period. As the plot drawn by Mr. Butcher is not preserved, it is difficult to identify the lots laid out by him. These lots were subsequently re-surveyed, confirmed, and equivalents and additions laid out to them by John Chandler, Jun., and a copy of his careful "Plott" is here given .- [ See Lithograph.]
The proprietors, it will be seen, received lots in different localities that each might have his portion of upland, lowland and meadow. John Gore probably received the whole of his fine farm upon the Mashamo- quet, at the first division. The large domains of Mrs. Grosvenor and Mr. Mowry in the west of the Purchase, include lands laid out at the second division. The double lines on the plot doubtless indicate highways.
The Mashamoquet Purchase was thus ready for occupation, but the Indian war still delayed its settlement. The Wabbaquassets, scattered by King Philip's War, had returned after the settlement of Woodstock to their native haunts upon the Quinebaug and Mashamoquet, and though in the main friendly and peaceable were sometimes persuaded to join with the savage Mohawks in bloody forays and incursions. It was in this time of peril and panic, when the Woodstock settlers were huddled together in garrisons and none of the Mashamoquet proprietors dared to take possession of their property, that one man had the courage to cross the line and establish himself in the northeast corner of Connecticut within the limits of the granted township. Captain John Sabin, the first known settler of the township of Pomfret, was, like the first settler of Killingly, a native of Rehoboth, and either brother or cousin to Benjamin Sabin of Woodstock. One hundred
24
186
HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.
acres of land, " near New Roxbury, alias Woodstock, supposed to be in Connecticut, bounded north by Woodstock, west by Purchase, east by land between it and Quinebaug River, south by land belonging to James Fitch"-were conveyed by Fitch to Sabin for nine pounds, June 22, 1691. How soon Captain Sabin took possession of this land is not indicated, but prior to the disturbances of 1696, he had built himself a house with fortifications and gained much influence and authority over the Indians. During the Indian war he rendered much service to the inhabitants of Woodstock and also to the Government of Massachusetts and Connecticut, " by standing his ground," protecting the frontier and engaging his Indian neighbors in the service of the English. The Wabbaquassets "would not be ordered by any but by virtue of author- ity from Connecticut," and thus Captain Sabin as a resident of that Colony was placed in authority over them after the alarm of 1696, and left in command of the military forces in Woodstock. After the close of the war, his discovery of fresh combinations and consultations among the Indians called out Mason's expedition to Woodstock, detailed in a previous chapter. The services rendered by Sabin and the consideration in which he was held, are best portrayed in the sub- joined letter, sent by the Earl of Bellemont, governor of Massachusetts, to the Governor of Connecticut :--
" BOSTON, 1700.
I have been made sensible of the good service done by Mr. John Sabin, an inhabitant within your government, referring to the Indian affairs-he having created that confidence in them of his friendship as to be trusted with their secrecy, and that during the late troubles and war he did, at his own great charge and expense to the almost ruining of his estate, subsist and succor a considerable number of the Wabbaquassets within a fortification about his own house, whereby, he not only prevented their defection but also rendered them serviceable to the English, and has since made discovery of the combi- nation and consults had among the Indians to make a new resurrection and rebellion and to commit fresh hostilities upon his Majesty's English subjects. I understand, he was encouraged by your Government to hold his part in the war and that he should have allowance for his charge and expense upon the Indians, which not being adjusted and paid before the peace, he is now neg- lected. I cannot but account it very impolitic to lose so useful and public- spirited a man, or that lie be discouraged by ingratitude, much more by injus- tice. I pray in his favor, that you will effectually recommend his services and expenses to the consideration of your General Assembly for a suitable recom- pence to be made him. I shall not fail to endeavor some gratification for him from this Government-Your humble and faithful servant,
BELLEMONT, Governor of Massachusetts. Governor Winthrop."
Upon hearing this letter, the General Court ordered " That Mr. John Sabin upon the consideration mentioned . shall be allowed the sum of five pounds out of the public treasury."
187
PETITIONS. POMFRET.
PROGRESS.
XXVII.
PROGRESS. PETITIONS. POMFRET.
D' URING the Indian war the family of Captain Sabin were the only white inhabitants of the future Pomfret now known to us, though it is possible that Benjamin Sitton, styling himself of " Masha- moquet in Nipmug Country," who purchased of the Danas in 1698, " fifty acres of wilderness land at a place called Mashamoquet, bound- ed west by Windham Rode," was also a resident. Some land sales were effected during this period. Land in the Quinebaug Valley was sold to Sabin by Fitch and Owaneco. Two hundred acres, bounded north on Sabin's first purchase, the full breadth of the land, were sold by Major Fitch to Samuel Paine of Rehoboth in 1695. Philemon Chandler, of Andover, nephew of Deacon John Chandler of Wood- stock, purchased a Mashamoquet allotment of Thomas and Elizabeth Ruggles, in 1696. After the close of the war, sales multiplied and settlers straggled in. Nathaniel Gary removed to the new settlement probably as early as 1698, settling on land east of the Purchase, received, according to tradition, for his services as chain-bearer in laying out that tract, having all he could encompass in an hour's nimble running. The payment of twelve pounds secured him, in 1699, a deed of five hundred and fifty acres "southeast from Woodstock," in what was afterwards called the Gary neighborhood. The land between the Purchase and the Quinebaug, the whole length of the township, was owned by Major Fitch, who is said to have once offered it to John Grosvenor for fifteen pounds. His sons, John and Leicester, gave a much larger sum in 1698, for four hundred acres of this valuable land, extending from the mouth of the Mashamoquet to a brook at the north end of the interval. Farms east of the Purchase were sold by Major Fitch to Samuel Allen and Samuel Gary in 1699. Three hundred acres on the Quinebaug, just below its junction with Mill River-now in- cluded in the Perrin Farm-are said to have been purchased from the Wabbaquasset proprietors at a very early date by Sam. Perrin, Benj. Griggs and Peter Aspinwall, then of Woodstock, and were confirmed to them by Major Fitch on the payment of twelve pounds in 1702. The remaining land between the Quinebaug and the Purchase, from Woodstock line to the mouth of the Mashamoquet, was purchased by Captain John Chandler for twenty pounds in 1701.
The first settlement within the Purchase limits was prior to 1700. One of the first settlers was Thomas Goodell, who, after a brief sojourn in Woodstock, bought land of Deacon Chandler in 1699. He is said
188
HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.
to have come up alone to the new township to put up a house and pre- pare for his family, but that his wife became uneasy, took her spinning- wheel in hand and came up to look for him in mid-winter, and by the aid of teams and chance Woodstock travelers inade the long journey in safety. Mrs. Esther Grosvenor removed to Mashamoquet in 1700. Her oldest son, William, was graduated from Harvard in 1695, and had settled in Charlestown. Her other sons, John, Leicester, Joseph, Ebenezer and Thomas, and one daughter, Susanna, came with her to the new country. A noble inheritance awaited them, the fairest por- tion of Mashamoquet, embracing the site of the upper part of the present Pomfret village and the hills eastward and westward. The road to Hartford and Windham passed through their land, near their first residence, which was on the western declivity of Prospect Hill, near the site afterwards occupied by Colonel Thomas Grosvenor's man- sion-house. Mrs. Grosvenor was a woman of great courage and energy, and though delicately reared in England, endured cheerfully the labors and privations of the new settlement. Like Mrs. Ripley of Windham, she was skillful in tending the sick, and was long the only medical practitioner in the settlement. Her sons, just entering man- hood, aided in bringing their large domains under cultivation, and early identified themselves with the growth and interests of the township. Susanna Grosvenor was married in 1702 to Joseph Shaw of Stonington. Their wedding, attended by the Rev. Josiah Dwight, is the first reported in Mashamoquet.
Philemon Chandler removed early in the century to his lot on the Wapaquians, in the south of the Purchase. Deacon John Chandler of Woodstock died in 1702, leaving to his youngest son, Joseph, "the lot in Mashamoquet, lying upon the line, and, if he see cause, all the Mashamoquet lands." The one hundred and fourteen acres upon the line were valued in the appraisal of the goods at £20; two hundred acres on Mashamoquet Brook at £12; Purchase lands still undivided at £26. The lot on the Mashamoquet was purchased in 1704 by Nathaniel Sessions-probably son of Alexander Sessions of Andover- who at once took possession of it. In 1705, the little settlement was strengthened by the accession of Deacon Benjamin Sabin of Wood- stock, with his sons, Stephen, Benjamin, Nehemiah, Ebenezer, Josiah and Jeremiah. Deacon Sabin selected for his homestead a farm ad- joining Philemon Chandler's, and settled his sons on land purchased of Samuel Gore's heirs and others. In 1706, Joseph Chandler sold a hundred acres of land west of Sessions on the Mashamoquet to Richard Dresser of Rowley, who conveyed the same the following year, together with a small dwelling-house built upon it, to Abiel Lyon of Woodstock. Mr. Lyon at once occupied this dwelling, and set up a
189
PROGRESS. PETITIONS. POMFRET.
sawmill on the Mashamoquet. Joseph Chandler married in 1708 Susanna Perrin of Woodstock, and settled on the "lot on the line," bequeathed him by his father. Part of this lot and other land border- ing on Woodstock were purchased and occupied by Edward Payson of Roxbury in 1708. Ebenezer Truesdell, after a short residence in the Quinebaug Valley, bought land and a house of Thomas Goodell, in the southwest part of the Purchase, now included in Abington. In 1709, Joseph Tucker, Samuel Gates and John Hubbard also bought land and settled in the south part of the Mashamoquet Purchase.
East of the Purchase, settlement was also progressing. Eight hundred acres on the Quinebaug were purchased of the Grosvenors and Captain John Chandler by John Lyon of Woodstock in 1705, and sold by him, with mansion-house and barn, to James Danielson of New Shoreham for £155, in 1706. Mr. Danielson soon afterward bought land in Killingly, east of the Quinebaug, and seems to have resided in both settlements. The mill privilege of a small brook running into the Quinebaug-known as Bark Meadow Brook-was purchased by James Sawyer in 1709, who there built and carried on the first grist- mill in the settlement. Samuel Warner and Samuel Taylor also settled in the Quinebaug valley, on land purchased from Danielson and Gary. Griggs' share of the Perrin land was secured by Samuel Paine then of Woodstock, who, with his brother Seth, early settled in this vicinity.
The settlement of Mashamoquet was attended with comparatively few hardships. Its soil was good and easily subdued ; its smooth hills bare of trees to a great extent and covered with a rank, coarse native grass, resembling, it is said, a rye-field in harvest time. In proof of the natural resources and fertility of this region, old settlers were wont to relate, that a cow and calf left prior to settlement to forage for them- selves through the winter, were found in the spring not only alive, but in excellent condition. Vicinity to Woodstock greatly aided the younger settlement. Many of the settlers had emigrated from that township, and still shared its business, social, and religious privileges. Indians were numerous but not especially troublesome, though fortresses were maintained in various localities during the Indian Wars. Various hunting and fishing privileges were claimed by them, and liberty to levy food and cider from the settlers. Mrs. Grosvenor, when alone, was once invaded by a company, who threatened to take the boiling meat from the pot, and made violent demonstrations, but were kept at bay by her broomstick till the arrival of her son, Ebenezer, who had gained much authority over them. The meeting-house in Woodstock was much frequented by the Borderers in Mashamoquet, and the Rev. Josiah Dwight served for many years as their pastor, attending weddings and funerals and baptizing many children.
190
HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.
The first recorded public recognition of the Mashamoquet settlement was in 1708, when its inhabitants were invited to join with the select- men of Woodstock and Killingly in petitioning for a road to Provi- dence, and were also ordered by the General Assembly, to send in their list of polls and estates, that they might bear their part and proportion of rates and taxes. The estates were appraised at £920, but the list of polls omitted. In 1709, " three men from Massamugget" were directed to join in a projected expedition against Canada, which failed of accomplishment. In 1710, a military company was organized, when about fifty males over sixteen years of age were reported in the settle- ment. John Sabin, its first and leading citizen-who had previously enjoyed the honorary title of Captain-was now appointed lieutenant ; Ebenezer Sabin, ensign; Ebenezer Grosvenor, sergeant ; James Sawyer, cornet.
In 1713, efforts were first made to secure town organization. Though the settlement was thriving and prosperous, many improvements were needful. No roads had yet been laid out, no bridges erected and the Sabbath day journey to Woodstock was burdensome and inconvenient. Nathaniel Gary was accordingly sent to Roxbury to apprise the non- resident proprietors-"Mr. Jonathan Belcher, attorney for Captain John Blackwell, and also Captain Ruggles, Joseph Griffin, Thomas Mowry, Edmond Weld and Daniel Dana-of their intention to be a town, which they all very well liked and approved of." On his return with this report, a meeting of all the inhabitants within the town limits was held, May 3, 1713, and the following agreement adopted :-
" At a meeting of the inhabitants and proprietors of Massamugget, it being our indispensable duty, as we would aim at the glory of the Lord our God, and regard not only our temporal and civil good but also, and especially, the spiritual and eternal good of our own souls and the souls of our dear wives and children-therefore, to lay such a foundation and make such suitable pro- visions as that we may have a gospel ministry settled amongst us and enjoy God in all his holy ordinances, the which that we may do-it is unanimously voted and agreed to, that for three ensuing years all our public charges in building a meeting-house and minister's house and settling a minister and his maintenance shall be raised after this way, viz. : one-half on all lands within the township as granted by the Gen. Assembly and now belonging to each inhabitant and proprietor of the township so granted, and the other half of public charge as aforesaid, on heads, stocks and other ratable estate. And we also agree that three judicious persons be appointed to give us timely and seasonable advice in any matters of difficulty, either respecting placing the meeting-house, or whatever else may concern or conduce to our public peace and the orderly settlement of our place. We also agree that the Honorable Assembly be petitioned unto to grant us a freedom from ordinary country charge or rates for three years, as has been their custom and favor to all new towns; and that the General Court or Assembly order that all those inhabitants and proprietors of land lying in our township that shall neglect or refuse to pay their just proportion of public charge, for the next three years ensuing-their dues being suitably demanded-that so much of their land be seized and disposed of according to law as may answer his or their just due and proportion of public charge within our township as aforesaid. Lastly, we desire and empower our loving neighbors, Lieutenant John Sabin
.
191
PROGRESS. PETITIONS. POMFRET.
and Sergt. Leicester Grosvenor, humbly to present our petition, and pray tlie Gen. Assembly to put their sanction hereunto .- Witness our hands :
Benjamin Sabin. John Cummings.
Leicester Grosvenor.
John Sabin. Samuel Warner.
Ebenezer Grosvenor.
Nathaniel Gary.
Thomas Goodell. Benjamin Sabin, Jun.
Benjamin Sitton.
Philemon Chandler.
Jeremiah Sabin.
Samuel Gates. Daniel Allen.
Stephen Sabin.
Edward Payson. David Allen.
Ebenezer Sabin.
Samuel Paine.
Joseph Tucker.
Josiah Sabin."
Seth Paine. Samuel Taylor.
In accordance with this agreement, Lieutenant Sabin and Sergeant Grosvenor appeared before the General Court, May '14, 1713, "in behalf of ye inhabitants of. a certain tract called Mashmugget Purchase : "-
" Showing-that the petitioners have for some time labored under many difficult circumstances, by reason of not being incorporated and fixed in an orderly way, and are not only in a confused condition in respect to our civil concernments, but have not, nor are likely to have, a settled minister to break to us, our wives and children, ye bread of eternal life, unless this Honorable Assembly will please to consider our circumstances and have compassion and grant that ye Mashamoquet Purchase, in conjunction with Capt. Blackwell's, (part of said Purchase and in one angle of it), as by a map of the whole purchase, which is seven miles north and south, and six, east and west, appears-may be one town as at the first-and also grant a name, horse brand and freedom from rates. Also, beg them to put their sanction to our unani- mous agreement, relating to raising wherewith to defray public charges. Jolın Sabin and Leicester Grosvenor empowered to present this petition :-
Humbly pray the Hon. Assembly to afford us such a stroke of their authority and such favor, countenance and encouragement that we may be speedily settled, and pray that the blessings of Heaven may be showered down upon their persons, families and estates, and that the Lord their God would be pleased to direct them in all their weighty affairs."
In addition to the signers of the agreement, the following names were affixed to this petition :-
Ebenezer Truesdell. Josiah Sessions.
Benjamin Goodell. John Hubbard.
Joseph Sabin. Thomas Grosvenor.
Nathaniel Sessions.
Joseph Grosvenor.
James Danielson. Abiel Lyon.
Samuel Gary. Joseph Chandler. David Bishop.
The Assembly, upon hearing this petition, at once ordered :-
" That the said inhabitants, as soon as they have procured a minister to live and preach among them, shall for the space of four years next ensuing, and have hereby granted them full power (as inhabitants of other towns may) to make rates, and raise such sums of money for building a meeting-house, minister's house and settlement, with his maintenance, as the major part shall judge fit; that the said sum or sums may be raised two-thirds on the real estate or land within the bounds of said Massamugget and one-third on heads and stocks and other rateable estate. And it is also ordered, that the said Massamugget shall be called Pomfret, and the brand for horses shall be this figure, P."
May 27, 1713, Messrs. Sabin and Grosvenor made return of their proceedings and the grant of the Court, at the first public town- meeting of the inhabitants of Pomfret. Lieutenant Sabin, Sergeant Grosvenor and Ensign Sabin were elected selectmen for the new township ; Philemon Chandler, clerk. No further proceedings are
192
HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.
recorded. The first object of the town was to secure a more accurate determination of its boundary. A survey was ordered and completed, March 20, 1714. The bound of the town, as then laid down, began at a stake by Quinebaug River between the upper and lower Falls, thence west six miles, thence south seven miles, thence east over the top of a hill called "Gray Mare," to the Quinebaug, its eastern bound. The manor of Mortlake, and also part of the township granted to Captain Blackwell, were included within its limits. Before proceeding with the organization of Pomfret, it will be necessary to gain more definite knowledge of this part of its territory and the Blackwell township.
XXVIII.
BLACKWELL'S TRACT. ADAMS' TRACT. SALE AND SETTLEMENT OF MORTLAKE. EXPULSION OF MARY UTTER.
ATTEMPTED ANNEXATION.
M ORTLAKE, as we have seen, was purchased by Captain or Sir John Blackwell, for the establishment of a colony of English and Irish Dissenters, who were suffering from the oppression of King James .. The course of public events frustrated this scheme. During the administration of Andross no settlement was possible, and after the Revolution it was no longer needful. Religious liberty under Wil- liam and Mary could be enjoyed in Great Britain, and Blackwell him- self soon returned to his native land, making no attempt to settle or improve his purchase, and thus for nearly thirty years Mortlake was left a wilderness. The land adjoining it, included in the township granted to Captain Blackwell, accrued to Major Fitch as a part of the Wabbaquasset Country. A tract two miles square in its southwest corner was taken from him in 1695, by Simon Stoddard of Boston, in execution of judgment for debt. In 1703, Richard Adams of Preston obtained, for two hundred pounds, from Major Fitch, a deed of three thousand acres of wilderness land, south of Blackwell's tract. Its bound began at the junction of the Five-Mile and Quinebaug Rivers ; extending west on Blackwell's line, to a pine-tree marked B, by the side of Blackwell's Brook, and beyond it; thence south four hundred and eighty perch, thence east to the Quinebaug, where Beaver Brook empties into it. Richard Adams, Jun., appears to have made a settlement on this tract even before the deed of conveyance was executed and was the first settler, within the limits of the township granted to Blackwell, and the present town of Brooklyn. His wife was a daughter of Daniel Cady of Aspinock. Their homestead was in
193
SALE AND SETTLEMENT OF MORTLAKE.
the depths of a dense wilderness, much infested with wild beasts and Indians, about a mile southeast of the site of the present Brooklyn Green. A colony of beavers held possession of the brook adjoining. Their nearest neighbors were the Shepards across the Quinebaug in Plainfield ; the nearest settlements were Plainfield and Peagscomsuck, and miles of pathless forest separated them from the few settlers of Mashamoquet. Richard Adams was numbered with the inhabitants of Plainfield in 1701 ; in 1703, assisted in the organization of Canterbury, and was claimed for many years as an inhabitant of that township.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.