USA > Connecticut > Windham County > History of Windham County, Connecticut. Volume I, 1600-1760 > Part 38
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welcome resting-place to many a weary traveler, and was widely known as the Half-way House between Hartford and Boston.
These new inhabitants, with the children of the early settlers, identi- fied themselves with the interests of the parish and added greatly to its strength and prosperity, and soon it was said that the second society of Killingly exceeded the first in numbers and wealth. The church received many accessions, but as there was great remissness in bringing letters from other churches, it was voted, September 13, 1738, "Yt such persons as reside among us and have took with us for a considera- ble time at ye Lord's table, shall gett letters of dismission or recom- mendation from ye churches whereunto they belong or be debarred from our communion any longer, provided they don't do it on or before the Sacrament in November next." Accordingly on that day, Novem- ber 12, sixteen persons brought letters from Killingly and six from other churches, and the accessions continued till in four years the membership of the church had nearly trebled. All parties united in affection for. the church and its pastor, and the only difficulty apparent for many years was collecting the prescribed assessment for the support of the Lord's table. A committee of three brethren were joined with the pastor to receive the deacons' account of the contributions at the close of the year, and such as neglected to pay their quota at the speci- fied time were "lyable to censure before ye church." The derangement of the currency made it needful to raise this annual quota gradually in ten years from two to six shillings. Jonathan Clough and William Larned were chosen deacons of the church in 1742.
The efforts of the society at this time were chiefly directed to keep- ing up the credit of Mr. Cabot's salary, and providing seats for the congregation. Twenty, thirty, forty, and finally eighty pounds were needful to make up the depreciation of currency. In 1739, the illness of Mr. Cabot made it necessary to hire a minister for two months, de- fraying the charge by a contribution every Sabbath. The cost of Mr. Cabot's wood was defrayed by an annual rate. Though the meeting- house was sufficiently ample, its seats were insufficient for the increasing congregation, and young men and women, according to the fashion of the day, begged the privilege of building pews for their own especial accommodation. John Dresser and twelve others were allowed " to build the hind-seats in the side gallery into a pew and take it for their seats." Ephraim Guile, Richard Bixby, Bryant Brown and nine others built one in the front gallery. The corresponding half of this pew was built by five young women-Abigail Caly, Rebecca and Mary Merrill, Esther Wiley and Rachel Green, "at their own proper cost and charge, and for their own use to set in"-a board partition extending to the roof of the house discreetly precluding open communication between
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the sections. A pew over the men's stairs was next allowed to six young men. Nothing further was required by the meeting-house, save occasional mending of glass, till 1743, when it was voted, "to finish the inside "-Josiah Mills undertaking " to pint the peak ends with lime and also the inside of the roof, and lath the cracks of the roof, and plaster the sides above the lower girths and the insides of the meeting-house against the gallery stairs ; also to put in good joyce and lath and plaster over-head, and case the windows, and lath and plaster against the Rev. Mr. Cabot's pew." This being accom- plished, and lathing and plastering under the galleries, and the ' under- pinning rectified by laying the stones in clay mortar-Henry Green, Major Sabin and Lieutenant Child were appointed to seat the com- pleted house to the best of their judgment.
The relations of Thompson with Killingly were still indefinite and obscure. According to the enactment of 1729, Killingly was restricted "to the ancient claimed and reputed line of the Massachusetts, called Woodward's and Saffery's line," and Thompson was simply a religious society outside of any town organization, but neither town nor society accepted this construction, and Thompson was considered a part of Killingly, and bore her share of public works and charges. One of the representatives to the Assembly, and a fair proportion of town officers, were always chosen from Thompson Parish. Simon Bryant, John Dwight, Hezekiah Sabin, Jonathan Clough, Joseph Cady, Jedi- diah and Urian Horsmor and Penuel Child were sent successively as deputies. Jacob Dresser was chosen town clerk in 1744. William Larned, in 1746, was voted a small sum of money in return "for the good service he hath done the town as treasurer." Samuel Morris, in consideration of his services in maintaining bridges and public roads, was exempt through life from country taxes.
Killingly's satisfaction in administering the affairs of Thompson Parish was greatly marred by her inability to gain full possession of its territory. The controversy with non-resident claimants was con- tinued for many years, Killingly resolutely refusing to submit to the " Explanation of 1729," on the ground that it was based upon a false assumption ; that it made Woodstock's south boundary-line correspond with Woodward's and Saffery's line, whereas, it was evident by a map drawn by commissioners from both colonies, that two miles in length of Woodstock's territory, and several hundred acres of the land laid out to Thompson lay south of that ancient reputed boundary, within the limits always allowed to Connecticut by Massachusetts, and included in the original grant to Killingly. No Massachusetts grant, or agree- ment of commissioners could confer, Killingly argued, a lawful title to this land, and for it she battled with the most persistent energy, boldly
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laying out farms and taking possession, and defending her claim through the various Courts of Windham County. Daniel Cady, in the name of the town, brought an action of ejection against Joseph Thompson. Thompson, by his agent, brought an action of trespass against Joseph Cady, and when "debarred from his just rights " by the judgment of the Superior Court, again appealed to the General Assembly and demanded a new trial. James Wadsworth, Ebenezer West and Captain William Throop were then appointed a committee, "to hear all parties, and settle the whole affair by composition, if it might be gained, but if disappointed therein to give opinion what other acts might be proper to quiet said Thompson in his farm." Repairing to Killingly, April 23, 1734, these gentlemen met Elisha Paine, agent for Mr. Joseph Thompson of Great Britain ; James Leavens and Isaac Cutler, repre- sentatives of the proprietors of Killingly ; and Joseph Leavens, Simon Bryant and Captain Howe, agents of the town-and carefully con- sidered the pleas and allegations of all parties. That Killingly was right in asserting that part of Thompson's land was south of Wood- ward's and Saffery's line, all conceded. Thus it was laid down on the map of the Massachussetts southern boundary line, as established by the Commissioners of both colonies, but the matter had been settled by a solemn compact between the Governments, and this Connecticut land had been confirmed to Thompson by the Government of Connecticut. Efforts had been made to satisfy the demands of Killingly. Some of the land she had been allowed to keep and an equivalent granted to Thompson. Two hundred acres laid out to Rev. Mr. Noyes had been purchased by the Colony and conveyed back to Thompson, and about six hundred acres were still claimed by Killingly.
The committee reported, May 16th, that all the valuable land in Thompson Parish had been laid out with buildings and large improve ments upon it, and should Killingly be allowed this six hundred acres they would be obliged to grant an equivalent to Mr. Thompson in another place, probably west side of Housatonic River, but thought it reasonable that Thompson should first be allowed a new trial and have liberty to bring another action, and recommended that since Killingly had laid out the north part of the town, an act should be passed, for- bidding proprietors and surveyor to lay out any of the farms allowed to Massachusetts claimants. As for that little mistake of the Assembly in declaring that Woodstock line should be taken for Woodward's and Saffery's, about which Killingly made such ado, the committee opined, that, inasmuch as Massachusetts in laying out that township, while endeavoring a conformity unto its southern boundary line, had inad- vertently run two or three miles south of it, and thus Woodstock line obtained the name of Woodward's and Saffery's line, and was esteemed
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and taken to be upon that line, the Assembly had done no wrong in making the aforesaid declaration.
Following these suggestions, the Assembly enacted that no title given by the proprietors of Killingly to any of the land allowed to Massachusetts claimants should be considered valid, and granted Thompson the privilege of another trial. The Superior Court of Windham County, March, 1735, gave judgment in his favor. The proprietors of Killingly, in 1736, and again in 1739, most earnestly protested against the decision, declaring :-
" I. Said land was granted to Killingly by those who had just and legal rights before Thompson had any just or legal claim.
II. Thompson never had any right, but only a pretended one.
III. The pretended equivalent, if ever the same was given, was after the grant to Killingly.
IV. The additional grant made to Killingly, on condition that claimers be not disturbed, the proprietors of Killingly never accepted-and to force men to part with their inheritance against their will is what your petitioners think to be against our English laws. Reasons for not accepting the grant :-
1. Land not near so much in quantity.
2. Not half so good as to intrinsic value.
3. The situation did exceedingly discommode the petitioners, it being so far from them."
The petitioners also alleged :-
" That Thompson, Wolcott, Gore, Gardner and Gambling continued to claim land under the five-thousand-acre grant, and had never made any division among themselves but each took what he pleased, and that those on the north and west had some hundreds more than their proportion, and that those on the south had crowded the proprietors of Killingly, that there had been lawsuits, but all to no purpose; that honest men in Killingly had been turned out of their inheritance without redress; inhabitants estopped from improvements, and that by the same rule that they extended one rod out of Gore's survey, they might extend all over Killingly and much more; that the people were in danger and could not stand it, and asked for a new trial or a wise and judicious com- mittee, that they might not be utterly undone."
These continued clamors called out further investigation. The venerable John Chandler, now judge and colonel, was called upon to state "all that he knew concerning the land at a place called Quinna- tisset." With his usual clearness and candor, Colonel Chandler detailed the various sales and surveys of this land ; exhibited attested copies of the deeds granted by Massachusetts to Dudley and Stoughton, and by them to Thompson, Freak and others, and also of the original plots and surveys of this land ; declared that he knew that several fami- lies were settled upon this land previous to the grant of Killingly in 1708, and that the titles of Thompson, Wolcott, Gore, Gardner and Gam bling, had never been contested either by Massachusetts or Connecticut, In view of these facts, and that Connecticut in the agreement of 1713, had allowed these lands to the claimants and received an equivalent, and that Killingly without it had received more than the eight or nine miles in length expressed in the grant-the Assembly declared, " pleas
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of abatement of petition sufficient," and confirmed to Joseph Thomp- son of London, his two-thousand-acre tract in the north part of Killingly, choosing to submit to the loss of a part of her lawful territory rather than break her covenant, and re-open controversy with Massachusetts.
IX.
TOWN AFFAIRS IN KILLINGLY. DISMISSAL OF MR. FISK. MEETING- HOUSE CONTROVERSY. SOCIETY DIVISION.
A FTER the erection of Thompson Parish, affairs in Killingly were managed with more order and regularity. A book for the inscribing of town acts was procured, and the proceedings at town- meetings thenceforth duly recorded. The first town-meeting in Kil- lingly of which there is existing record was held November 25, 1728- more than twenty years after town organization. But forty-four regularly-admitted freemen were then reported, not half the adult male residents. A large number of these freemen were inducted into the various public offices. Justice Joseph Leavens served as moderator of the meeting, and was continued as town-clerk and first selectman. Eleazer Bateman, Isaac Cutler, Joseph Cady and Benjamin Bixby were also chosen townsmen. Robert Day served as constable; Thomas Gould and Jonathan Clough, as branders ; Joseph Barret and John Russel, grand-jurymen ; Haniel Clark, Jabez Brooks, William Whitney, Israel Joslin, William Larned and Daniel Lawrence, as surveyors ; Daniel Waters, Andrew Phillips, Nathaniel Johnson and Jaazaniah Horsmor, as listers ; Benjamin Barret and Jacob Comins, as fence- viewers ; John Hutchins, tithing-man. Peter Aspinwall, James Leavens, Sampson Howe and Joseph Cady still remained in charge of the public lands in the township. It was agreed, "That the annual meeting for the choice of town-officers should be held thereafter on the first Tuesday of December"-a warrant on the sign-post a week pre- vious to be sufficient warning. The place of meeting was to be the meeting-house in the first society.
The more orderly arrangement and settlement of the new parish received immediate attention. All inhabitants of the town qualified for voting were warned to meet at the old meeting-house, on the last Tuesday of April, 1729, "at twelve of ye clock at noon," there to con- sider of some way to proportion the last year's school money to the two
42
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HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.
societies. The proportion was regulated according to the list of each society. Deacon Aspinwall and Simon Bryant were appointed to meet the General Court's committee at the house of Benjamin Bixby in May, to settle the bounds of the parish and represent the town in anything it might be concerned in. A year later, a committee was sent to lay out ways in Thompson Parish. As some inhabitants had been admitted without sufficient scrutiny, it was voted, " That for the future no person should be voted in inhabitant, but what brings the qualifica- tions to the town that the law requires."
The military company in the south part of the town was now re- organized, with Ephraim Warren for its captain, Isaac Cutler for lieutenant and Samuel Danielson, ensign. Isaac Cutler, Sampson Howe and Mrs. Mary Lee were allowed to keep houses of public enter- tainment. Roads throughout the town required remodeling. The Chestnut Hill settlers petitioned for better accommodations, and were allowed a way from Serjeant Ebenezer Knight's at the south end of the hill, northward over the hill to Lieutenant Isaac Cutler's, " as the road was laid out by Chestnut Hill purchasers through their tract." Bridle- roads with gates for passing, crossing the hill, were also allowed from Ebenezer Knight's to John Lorton's, and from Ebenezer Brooks' to Joseph Barret's. A highway was also ordered from the bridge over Whetstone Brook to the settlement in South Killingly, and a cart- bridge over Little River in Daniel Lawrence's field. In 1731, Captain Warren, Captain Howe and George Blanchard were appointed " to perambulate the highway that comes from Plainfield, leading towards Oxford," remove nuisances and report needful alterations. This important road, communicating with Boston, Norwich and New London, was then thoroughly perambulated and surveyed, from John Hutchins' on the south to Nathaniel Brown's on the north-a distance of eighteen or twenty miles-and some important alterations suggest- ed. Instead of winding westward around the base of Killingly Hill, it was now carried " to a heap of stones on a rock upon the hill," facili- tating settlement on this beautiful eminence. An attempt to secure a road over the northern extremity of this hill, connecting Sabin's Bridge over the Quinebaug with the road to Providence, was, however, unsuccessful. This movement was initiated by Samuel Cutler, who, after buying and selling farms in various localities, settled at a place called The Four-fanged Oak, about two miles northeast of Sabin's Bridge. This bridge decaying and falling in pieces, Cutler in 1731 replaced it at the cost of £90, and petitioned the Assembly for forgive- ness of country rates, license to keep a place of public entertainment, and a committee to lay out a way from said bridge to the road that goes to Providence. This road, which would indeed have proved a
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great public convenience, saving travelers the long detour about Killingly Hill, was, he averred, "now traveled on but not yet laid out." This request being refused, Mr. Cutler next applied to the parties most interested, and in August, 1732, a town meeting was warned "to consider of altering the country road that goes through the town towards Providence at the west end, in order to meet a road laid out by the town of Pomfret at David Howe's mills." The town voted, "not to alter the road." Cutler, however, maintained his posi- tion, and in the following year " was discharged for paying country rates for ten years ensuing." The way past his house, though never regularly laid out, was gradually improved, and became in time a common thoroughfare.
The various public enterprises in which Killingly engaged, and the expensive controversy with Thompson and Massachusetts proprietors, absorbed much of her income, and she often found it difficult to meet her ordinary expenses. In 1734 the town voted, " If any person or persons shall have money sufficient to procure a book for ye record of deeds for this town, they shall have ye same refunded, and repaid to them again." Shepard Fisk and Jacob Dresser were able to advance the requisite sum, which was repaid them after a long interval. Simon Bryant, chosen in 1731 " to wait on the Rev. John Fisk in case he goes to Hartford, and to assist him and to represent him in his absence in case the said Mr. Fisk cannot go," after ten years' delay was re- imbursed the four pounds expended in that service.
While most of the early settlers of Killingly were still vigorous and active, some had already passed away. Mr. James Danielson laid out a burial-ground between the rivers for the use of the inhabitants, and was the first to be interred in it. Its first head-stone bore the following inscription :---
"In memory of the well-beloved Mr. James Danielson, who, after he had served God and his generation faithfully many years in this life, did, with the holy disciple, lean himself upon the breast of his Beloved, and sweetly fell asleep in the cradle of death, on the 22d day of January, A. D. 1728, in the 80th year of his age. 'A saint carries the white stone of absolution in his bosom, and fears not the day of judgment.'"
Mr. Danielson's estate was valued at £1,390. His son Samuel succeeded to the homestead and much of the landed property. James, who had settled in Lebanon, received a hundred pounds. Four hun- dred pounds were left for his grandson, James, son of Samuel, "to bring him up to college," under the advice and direction of Rev. Ebenezer Williams. The five negroes left by Mr. Danielson-Cæsar, Zipporah, Dinah, Hannah and Jethro-were valued at six hundred pounds.
In 1728, Jacob Spalding, the first settler of South Killingly, was thrown from his cart and instantly killed. He left two young children,
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HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.
Simeon and Damaris. His widow occupied the homestead, and before long married Edward Stewart, a reputed scion of the royal family of Scotland, and a zealous adherent of James II. and the Stewart dynasty.
Very few new inhabitants appear in Killingly during this period. Its increase was mainly restricted to children of the first settlers. Shepard Fisk, afterwards a prominent public man, settled near Kill- ingly Centre prior to 1730, and Daniel Lawrence of Plainfield established himself on a farm in the Owaneco purchase. In 1728, the proprietors of this tract voted, "To lay out and equalize twenty-two hundred-acre shares, and those that have improved or settled said tract shall have their hundreds where they have improved and settled therein." This land was distributed in 1730, to Joseph, Nathaniel and Edward Spald- ing, Joseph Parkhurst, William Blodgett, Samuel Howe, Daniel Wood- ward, Thomas Pierce, John Hutchins and the heirs of Jacob Spalding. John Lorton, Michael Hewlet, Samuel .Spalding and Edward, Jun., Ebenezer Kee, Timothy Parkhurst, John Douglas, John Wilson, and John Priest were admitted as additional proprietors. Title to land south of Manhumsqueag bounds was confirmed to Daniel Lawrence. The Plainfield residents soon sold out their shares of this land to pros- pective settlers, and its population rapidly increased. Roads were laid out connecting this settlement with Chestnut Hill and Killingly Centre. In 1732, the south inhabitants were permitted by the town to build a pound for their own use at their own charge. As all of these families were four, and some five, six and even seven miles from the meeting- house, attendance upon public worship was found very difficult and burdensome, and in the winter of 1734-5, they hired a minister to preach to them in their own neighborhood, but were still compelled to continue the usual rate for the support of Mr. Fisk. Application for relief to the authorities of Killingly proving insufficient, the South Killingly people petitioned the General Assembly in April, 1735, representing "that these families, numbering a hundred and fifty souls, and but few of their women and children were able to attend public worship ; and begging them, as fathers ready to help their distressed children in times of difficulty, to grant them liberty to hire an orthodox minister five months in the year, and freedom from the ministerial tax during that period." This request was graciously granted, and regular religious worship thenceforth held through the wintry season in South Killingly. The inhabitants and proprietors of this section signing the petition, were-William Spalding, Edward Stewart, Nathaniel Patten, John Moffatt, Levi Preston, Amos Pearce, Nathaniel Blanchard, Boaz Stearns, Richard Whittemore, John Eaton, Daniel Lawrence, Joseph Hutchins, Wyman Hutchins, Daniel Kee, John Firman, Nathaniel and
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Josiah Hewlett, Joseph Hoffes, Lebbeus Graves, Daniel Foskett, Stephen Spalding, Jonathan Russel, William Whiting, John Priest and John Wilson. Some of these signers were residents of a strip of town land east of the Owaneco. Purchase, which was laid out and distributed by the proprietors' committee.
Population, though now diffused througout the township, was still more numerous along the valleys and in the vicinity of the meeting- house. A blacksmith's shop was allowed in 1735, "on that corner of the sequestered land near Mr. Fisk's corner." One of the first residents of Killingly Hill was probably Noah, son of Joseph Leavens, who established himself on its southern extremity about 1740. Dr. Thomas Moffat, the first regular practicing physician in Killingly, occupied a site on the western brow of this hill, between Noah Leavens and Mr. Fisk. The road over and west of the hill was often altered to suit the convenience of the inhabitants. Samuel Cutler, after many fruitless efforts, was allowed to open his house for travelers in 1740. The tavern-stand afterwards known as Warren's, at the fork of the roads a half-mile east of Cutler's, was first occupied by John Felshaw, who was licensed to keep a house of public entertainment in 1742. John Hutchins, at the same date, was allowed the like privilege in the south of the town.
The disposition of wandering cattle gave much trouble to the Kill- ingly authorities for many years. The great extent of the town and the unsettled state of its bounds, made it very difficult to restrain or recover them. Great numbers were accustomed to roam at large, foraging for themselves upon the public commons. Pounds were allowed in every neighborhood, and to any individual who was willing to build and maintain one, and were filled with sheep, swine, cows and horses, taken up singly or by dozens, often in suffering condition. Committees were often appointed " to look into the affair of strays in our town, call in the sums due the town for stray creatures, with full powers to prosecute." Even cattle from distant parishes were attracted to the free commons of Killingly, as is shown by the following " Remon- strance of Samuel White of Roxbury "-(West Woodstock) :-
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