History of Windham County, Connecticut, Part 51

Author: Bayles, Richard M. (Richard Mather)
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: New York, Preston
Number of Pages: 1506

USA > Connecticut > Windham County > History of Windham County, Connecticut > Part 51

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).

516

HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.

bined the trade of a mason with the employments of a farmer. On his removal at a later day to Canterbury, he was for years the landlord of the Canterbury Hotel. He married Sarah Randall, whose children were : Darius, Mason, Sarah Ann, wife of Harvey R. Dyer, and Victoria, who died in childhood.

Darius Wood was born February 3d, 1818, in Foster, Rhode Island, where his youth, until the age of sixteen, was spent at school. He then accepted a clerkship in Providence, remained two years thus employed, and at the expiration of that time re- moved with his father to Canterbury. The two succeeding years were spent on a farm leased by him, after which, on his perma- nent settlement in Canterbury, he embarked in the business of storekeeping. From thence Mr. Wood removed to Central Vil- lage and conducted the Central Company's store for a period of ten years. In 1864 he made Webster, Massachusetts, his home, and in company with a partner engaged in the dry goods and grocery business. The firm at a later date purchased a flouring mill at Greenfield, Indiana, which for ten years they operated successfully, when Mr. Wood having disposed of his interest in this property, continued in the grocery, flour and grain business in Webster. He fills the office of vice-president of the Webster Five Cent Savings Bank, and is largely identified with the busi- ness interests of the place. He has represented the districts of both Plainfield and Canterbury in the state legislature, but de- clined all municipal offices. He is a supporter of the Congrega- tional church, of which Mrs. Wood is a member.

Mr. Wood was on the 19th of March, 1838, married to Clarinda E., daughter of Samuel Burlingame, of Killingly. Their chil- dren are : Irving, who is married to Mary M. Sherwood, of New York ; Courtlandt, now a resident of Dakota, and a daughter, Alice Victoria, who died in childhood.

Darius Wood

ARTOTYPE, E. BIERSTADT, N. Y.

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE TOWN OF POMFRET.

Description .- The Wabbaquasset Country .- Purchase by Roxbury Men .- The Mashamoquet Tract .- Blackwell's Purchase .- The Mortlake Patent .- The Mashamoquet Purchase Allotted .- Town Privileges Obtained .- Indian War. -Settlers and Settlement .- Progress .- The Town Fully Organized .- Mort- lake Management .- Mashamoquet Proprietors .- Increasing Population .- Prosperity of the Settlement .- Good Health of the People .- Slow Progress of Mortlake .- Inhabitants in 1731 .- Abington Society Erected .- Mortlake Transferred to New Proprietors .- Social Character of the People .- Business Fluctuations .- Literary Movements .- Libraries .- Pomfret Hall .- Schools .- Roads and Bridges .- Improvements in the Quinebaug .- Great Thorough- fares .- Ecclesiastical History .- First Society and Church .- Disturbing Con- troversies .- Baptist Church .- Christ Church .- Quakers .- Methodists .- Ro- man Catholic Church .- Pomfret Landing .- Biographical Sketches.

T HE town of Pomfret is one of the central towns of Wind- ham county, lying a little north of the geographical cen- ter. It is surrounded by its sister towns, Woodstock on the north, Putnam and Killingly on the east, Brooklyn on the south, Hampton on the southwest, and Eastford on the west. Its original territory has been diminished by contributions toward Brooklyn on the south, Hampton on the southwest, and Putnam on the northeast. Its present dimensions are about six miles square, with irregular excesses of a mile in the southeast part, and a mile and a half upon the northwest corner of Brooklyn. Its area is about forty square miles. The surface of the town is hilly and rolling, but a large part of it presents a good soil and is well adapted for profitable culture. The Quinebaug river, which flows along the southern half of the eastern boundary, receives the Mashamoquet, which drains a large part of the sur- face of this town. The New York and New England railroad crosses the town diagonally from southwest to northeast, afford- ing stations at Elliotts, Abington and Pomfret Centre. Each of these localities has a post office and the town contains other post offices, Pomfret and Pomfret Landing. The main village, known

518

HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.

as Pomfret Street, is located on a beautifully commanding hill in the northern part of the town. The wide old street, lined with majestic shade trees and borders of the richest verdure, is filled with homes that speak from their neatness and luxurious fur- nishings, of peaceful, refreshing, health giving rest and enjoy- ments which they must afford to those whom fortune has favored with a resting place within them.

Agriculture is the chief support of this town. In later years its attractions have been discovered by city people who have adopted the habit of coming hither for a breathing spell in the heated season of the year. Manufacturing has never gained a foothold to any extent within the present limits of the town. Its beginnings at the northeast corner of the town, which were later included in the town of Putnam, will be noticed elsewhere. Its streams afford many sites for mills, and these have been util- ized for grinding grain and sawing timber. Saw mills are oper- ated by Joshua Angell, Joseph H. Bacon, William H. Braman, Lucien N. Holmes, Samuel Lynn and Horace Sabin. Grist mills run by Fremont Bruce, William Brayton and G. H. Sessions.

The population of Pomfret at different periods has been : in 1756, 1,727; in 1775, 2,306; in 1800, 1,802; in 1820, 2,042; in 1840, 1,868; in 1870, 1,488; in 1880, 1,470. The grand list showed: in 1723, 65,588; in 1775, £27,711; in 1800, $55,154; in 1845, $30,751; in 1857, $32,820; in 1887, $801,711.

The territory occupied by Pomfret was included in the Wab- baquasset country, and came into the possession of Major Fitch in 1684. A number of Roxbury men having heard favorable reports of the land lying southward in Connecticut, opened ne- gotiations with Major Fitch, and purchased 15,100 acres to be located by their choice in the Wabbaquasset country near the line of the Nipmuck country. The deed of this sale bore date May 1st, 1686, and the grantees named in it were Samuel Rug- gles, Sr., John Chandler, Sr., Benjamin Sabin, John Grosvenor, Samuel Ruggles, Jr., and Joseph Griffin. A stipulation of the transfer deed was that within three years the ground should be chosen and that it should be owned in fourteen equal shares, twelve of which should be held by the grantees and two by Major Fitch. May 30th the deed was confirmed by the consent and signature of Owaneco and Josiah, his eldest son and heir. Six other proprietors who were admitted to make the required twelve were John Pierpont, John White, John Ruggles, John

519

HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.

Gore, Samuel Gore and Thomas Mowry. These twelve were then residents of Roxbury, Mass.

During the summer of 1686 the tract was located on the Masha- moquet river, and the name of that river was applied to the tract. A patent for a township, including this purchase and land ad- jacent, was granted by the Governor and Company of Connecticut, July 8th, 1686, to John Blackwell, James Fitch, Samuel Craft, Nathaniel Wilson and their associates for this new plantation in the Wabbaquasset country.

Land south of the Mashamoquet purchase was sold by Major Fitch to Captain Blackwell, of England, a noted Puritan and a friend of the commonwealth, son-in-law of General Lambert, treasurer of Cromwell's army and member of parliament during his administration. In 1685, the general court of Massachusetts granted him a tract of land eight miles square, " in behalf of him- self and several other worthy gentlemen of England," and also a share in the new township of Oxford, but he decided to settle his colony within the wilds of Connecticut and secured from Major Fitch, May 28th, 1686, a deed of five thousand seven hun- dred and fifty acres of land, "containing the Newichewanna hills and other lands adjoining, lying west of the Quinebaug and south of Tamonquas, alias Mashamoquet river." This land was confirmed to him "after he made his choice," November 11th, 1686, by Major Fitch, Owaneco and Josiah, in presence of Hez. Usher, William Blackwell, Thomas Hooker and John Hubbard -the Mashamoquet proprietors and other patentees of the newly granted townships, agreeing "That Blackwell's part of 5,750 acres, situated in the southeast angle thereof, shall be accounted a separate tract by and of itself, to hold to him his heirs and as- signs, so that neither the rest of the purchasers nor their sur- vivors or heirs shall challenge to have, hold or enjoy any joynt or separate interest, title, power or jurisdiction or privilege of a township, or otherwise, howsoever, within the same from hence- forth for ever." But even this provision for the independence of his projected colony did not satisfy Captain Blackwell, and October 19th, 1687, he secured from the general court of Con- necticut, confirmation of his purchase, and also a patent for a separate township including it, to be laid out south of Mashamo- quet brook, six miles from east to west and seven miles from north to south- the five thousand acre tract to be an entire town, called Mortlake. This name was given by Captain Blackwell in

520

HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.

memory of the village of Mortlake in Surrey, England, the resi- dence of General Lambert and a favorite resort of Cromwell's followers.

The purchasers of these tracts were desirous to enter upon immediate possession. The Mashamoquet proprietors were first in the field, and on March 9th, 1687, met together to consult upon the settlement of their purchase. Public affairs were then very threatening; a revolution was imminent and delay was apprehended to be of dangerous consequence. Half the land was to be at once laid out; Major Fitch had already received 1,080 acres, east side of the purchase, and each of the purchasers were now to have each 540 acres laid out to him, and the remainder to be equally divided among the twelve proprietors and Major Fitch.

Before this division was effected, Andross assumed the gov- ernment of Connecticut, and attempts to appropriate the pur- chase were deferred till some years after his deposition. May 30th, 1693, the proprietors again met to make arrangements for distribution. Some changes and additions were found needful. The original south bound of the purchase was a line run due west from the mouth of the Mashamoquet, but as Captain Blackwell had been allowed that river, with all its meerings and veerings, for his northern boundary, they were obliged to conform to it, and thus lost a portion of their territory. It was voted, " That a line be run west side of the tract, to take in as much land as Captain Blackwell has taken out of the southeast corner, and that two or three of the best parcels be taken up and sub-divided so that each may have one-half his dues, being five hundred and forty acres." The survey and di- visions were accomplished during the winter, and on March 27th, 1694, nearly eight years after the date of purchase, the several proprietors received their allotments in the following order: 1, Esther Grosvenor; 2, Thomas Mowry; 3, John Ruggles; 4, John Gore; 5, Samuel Gore's heirs; 6, Samuel Ruggles; 7, John Chandler: S, Jacob, Benjamin and Daniel Dana; 9, Benja- min Sabin; 10, Thomas and Elizabeth Ruggles; 11, John White; 12, Joseph Griffin.

The purchase, as then laid out, extended from Woodstock line on the north through the center of the granted township. Its eastern bound ran through Bark meadow, east of the base of Prospect hill. Its western bound was not defined at this period.

521

HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.

The Mashamoquet purchase was thus ready for occupation, but the Indian war still delayed its settlement. The Wabba- quassets, 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 sav- age Mohawks in bloody forays and incursions. It was in the time of this terrible peril and panic, when the Woodstock set- tlers were huddled together in garrison, and none of the Mash- amoquet 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 lim- its of the granted township.

Captain John Sabin, the first known settler of the township of Pomfret, was a native of Rehoboth, and either brother or cousin to Benjamin Sabin of Woodstock. One hundred acres of land, "bounded north by Woodstock, west by Purchase, east by land between it and the Quinebaug River, south by land belong- ing to James Fitch," were conveyed by Fitch to Sabin for nine pounds, June 22d, 1691. How soon Captain Sabin took possess- ion 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 over the Indians. During the Indian war he rendered much service to the inhabitants of Woodstock, and also to the governments of Massachusetts and Connecticut, "by standing his ground," protecting the frontier and engaging his Indian neighbors in the service of the English.

During 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 " Mashamoquet, in Nipmug Country," who purchased of the Danas in 1698 " fifty acres of wilderness land at a place called Mash- amoquet, bounded 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 Sam- uel Paine, of Rehoboth, in 1695. Philemon Chandler, of Ando- ver, nephew of Deacon John Chandler, of Woodstock, purchased a Mashamoquet allotment of Thomas and Elizabeth Ruggles in 1696. After the close of the war sales multiplied and settlers

522

HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.

straggled in. Nathaniel Gary came to the new settlement prob- ably as early as 1698, settling on land east of the purchase. The payment of twelve pounds secured him, in 1699, a deed of five hundred and fifty acres "southeast from Woodstock," in what was afterward called the Gary neighborhood. The land between the purchase and the Quinebaug, the whole length of the town- ship, 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 400 acres of this valuable land, extending from the mouth of the Mashamo- quet 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 Gray in 1699. Three hundred acres on the Quinebaug, just below its junction with the Mill river, are said to have been purchased from the Wabbaquasset proprietors at a very early date by Samuel Perrin, Benjamin 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 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 to have come up alone to the new township to put up a house and prepare for his family, but that his wife became uneasy, took her spinning wheel in hand and came up to look for him in midwinter, and by the aid of teams and chance Woodstock travelers, made the long journey in safety. Mrs. Esther Grosvenor removed to Mashamoquet in 1700. Her eld- est 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 portion 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 afterward occupied by Colonel Thomas Grosvenor's mansion house. Susanna Gros- venor was married in 1702 to Joseph Shaw, of Stonington.

523

HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.

Their wedding, attended by the Reverend Josiah Dwight, is the first reported in Mashamoquet.

Philemon Chandler removed early in the century to his lot on the Wappaquians, 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, £12; purchase lands still undivided at f -. The lot on the Mas- hamoquet was purchased in 1704 by Nathaniel Sessions-prob- ably 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 Woodstock, with his sons, Benjamin, Stephen, Nehemiah, Ebenezer, Josiah and Jeremiah. Deacon Sabin selected for his homestead a farm ad- joining Philemon Chandler's, and settled his sons on land pur- chased of Samuel Gore's heirs and others. In 1706 Joseph Chand- ler sold a hundred acres of land west of Sessions', on the Masha-" moquet, 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 occu- pied this dwelling, and set up a saw mill 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 land, and other land bordering on Wood- stock, were purchased and occupied by Edward Payson, of Rox- bury, in 1708. Ebenezer Truesdell, after a short residence in the Quinebaug valley, bought land and a house of Thomas Good- ell, in the southwest part of the purchase, now included in Ab- ington. In 1709, Joseph Tucker, Samuel Gates and John Hub- bard also bought land and settled in the south part of the Masha- moquet purchase.

East of the purchase, settlement was also progressing. Eight hundred acres on the Quinebaug were purchased of the Grosven- ors 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 priv- ilege of a small brook running into the Quinebaug, known as

524

HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.

Bark Meadow brook, was purchased by James Sawyer in 1709, who there built and carried on the first grist mill in the settle- ment. 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 compara- tively 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 themselves through the winter were found in the spring, not only alive, but in excellent condition. Indians were numerous but not especially trouble- some, 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 first recorded public recognition of the Mashamoquet set- tlement was in 1708, when its inhabitants were invited to join with the selectmen of Woodstock and Killingly in petitioning for a road to Providence, and were also ordered by the general assembly to send in their list of polls and estates, that they might bear their proportion of rates and taxes. The estates were ap- praised at £920, but the list of polls was 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, and about fifty males over sixteen years of age were reported in the settlement. 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 made to secure town organization, and the following inhabitants and proprietors petitioned the assem-

525

HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.

bly for a charter: Benjamin Sabin, John Sabin, Nathaniel Gary, Benjamin Sitton, Samuel Gates, Edward Payson, Samuel Paine, Seth Paine, John Cummings, Samuel Warner, Thomas Goodell, Philemon Chandler, Daniel Allen, David Allen, Joseph Tucker, Samuel Taylor, Leicester Grosvenor, Ebenezer Grosvenor, Ben- jamin Sabin, Jr., Jeremiah Sabin, Stephen Sabin, Ebenezer Sa- bin, Josiah Sabin, Ebenezer Truesdell, Benjamin Goodell, Jos- eph Sabin, Nathaniel Sessions, Josiah Sessions, John Hubbard, Thomas Grosvenor, Joseph Grosvenor, James Danielson, Abiel Lyon, Samuel Gary, Joseph Chandler, David Bishop.

The town was organized under the name of Pomfret, in accord- ance with the charter, at a meeting held May 27th, 1713. Lieu- tenant Sabin, Sergeant Grosvenor and Ensign Sabin were elected selectmen for the new township; Philemon Chandler, clerk. The first object of the town was to secure a more accurate determin- ation of its boundary. A survey was ordered, and completed March 20th, 1714. The bounds of the town, as then laid down, began at a stake by Quinebaug river between the upper and lower falls, 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 history of Pomfret, it will be necessary to gain more definite knowledge of this part of its territory and the Blackwell township.

Mortlake, as we have already seen, was purchased by Captain or Sir John Blackwell, for the establishment of a colony of En- glish and Irish dissenters, who were suffering from the oppres- sion 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 William and Mary could be enjoyed in Great Britain, and Blackwell himself 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 execu- tion of judgment for debt.

The Mashamoquet proprietors still had the entire control of

526

HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.

their lands, even though they lay within the bounds of the new town of Pomfret, and indeed comprised more than half of the area of that town. A second division of land among these pro- prietors was made in 1719. At that time some changes had been made in the proprietors. John Sabin was in possession of the right of Samuel Ruggles; Joseph Chandler, in that of Deacon John Chandler; John Mowry, in that of Thomas Mowry; Ebene- zer Sabin, in that of Deacon Benjamin Sabin; and Captain John Chandler, in that of Samuel Gore. The distribution of lands to the proprietors, about four hundred acres to each share, was made in the western part of the town, and was later included in the parish of Abington.

The opening of new territory was followed by a fresh influx of population. Sales and transfers of land became more frequent, and many families were added to the settlement. Jonathan Hide, William Hamlet, Abiel Cheney, Jonathan Dana, Archibald McCoy, Ebenezer Holbrook, Jehoshaphat Holmes, Samuel Per- rin and Daniel Waldo appear as residents of Pomfret, prior to 1720; William Sharpe, Samuel Sumner, John and James Ingalls, soon after that date. Hide bought purchase land of Truesdell; Hamlet removed from Woburn to an allotment laid out to Sam- uel Ruggles, comprising the hill still known as Hamlet's; Che- ney's first residence was south of Mashamoquet, on land bought of Major Fitch, east of Newichewanna brook; Holmes was still farther southward. McCoy's homestead was the fifth lot of the square, bought of Captain John Sabin in 1716; Waldo's, east side of the highway, farther northward, on land bought of Captain Chandler. A beautiful triangular farm, bordering on the Masha- moquet, laid out first to Samuel Gore and sold successively to Captain John Chandler, Thomas Hutchinson and Francis Clark, was purchased by John Holbrook, of Roxbury, whose son, Eb- enezer, took possession of it in 1719. The Perrin farm on the Quinebaug, early secured by Samuel, of Woodstock, was occu- pied first by his son Samuel, who there built, it is said, in 1714, the fine mansion so long known as the "old Perrin House." Jon- athan Dresser, brother to Richard, of Nashaway, bought land of Nathaniel Gray in 1717. About 1720, William Sharpe, with his wife Abigail, daughter of John White, one of the original pro- prietors of Mashamoquet, and their seven sons, three daughters and a daughter's husband-Samuel Gridley-removed to Pom- fret, settling upon a second-division lot between Goodell's and

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.

History of Windham County, Connecticut, Part 51

Author: Bayles, Richard M. (Richard Mather) Publication date: 1889 Publisher: New York, Preston Number of Pages: 1506

Author: Bayles, Richard M. (Richard Mather)
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: New York, Preston
Number of Pages: 1506