History of Windham County, Connecticut, Part 73

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

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HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.

CHARLES D. THAYER .- John and Dacy Thayer were the grand- parents of the subject of this biography. Their son John mar- ried Ruth Mowery and settled in East Douglas. The children of this marriage were: Mowery, born April 27th, 1811; Charles D., December 26th, 1813; Arrilla, August 9th, 1815.

Charles D., the second son, is a native of Douglas, Massachu- setts, where he enjoyed the advantages of the public schools, and afterward continued his studies at the Oxford and Uxbridge high schools. He then taught for several terms, and after- ward began his business career as a clerk, first at Oxford and then at New Boston. This sedentary life, however, was not to his taste, and he resolved to make farming the vocation of his life. He assumed charge of his father's farm in New Boston, managed it with success during the latter's lifetime, and on his death received a deed of the property, the elder son also en- joying a like inheritance. Mr. Thayer remained on this farm from 1838 until 1869, when his present home near New Boston was purchased. Here he has since continued the employments of an agriculturist.

His business life has been one of integrity and principle. This fact, together with experience and judgment, have rendered his services much sought as trustee and executor. He was formerly a director of the Thompson National Bank. A democrat in his political views, he has served as assessor, selectman, and in other offices, and received the nomination as candidate for the state legislature, but yielded to the superior strength of the opposing party. Mr. Thayer married November 12th, 1843, Lucy E., daughter of David Nichols, of Thompson. Their children are: David N., born December 10th, 1844; John M., March 16th, 1847; Arrilla R., February 4th, 1850; and Charles F., November 6th, 1852. Charles F. married Mary Hewitt, of Preston, Connecticut. David N. is a resident of New York, and his brothers are suc- cessful lawyers in Norwich, Connecticut.

MARCUS F. TOWNE .- David Towne, the grandfather of Marcus F. Towne, married Lucy Upham. Their children were two sons and two daughters, of whom George, born in Thompson, Febru- ary 18th, 1794, married Sally, daughter of Rufus Tyler. The children of this marriage were: Lucy, who died in youth; Rufus T., Marcus F., Noadiah W. and Lucy U., wife of Joseph S. Perry.

Marcus F. Towne was born June 21st, 1824, on the farm in Thompson, where his whole life, with the exception of a single

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HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.

year, has been spent. He attended the common school, and for a short period the high school, after which his attention was given to farming. He also became proficient as a blacksmith, and combined this with his other duties. Mr. Towne entered into a co-partnership with his father, and while farming operated a thresher. He also did more or less teaming. Receiving before his father's death a deed of a portion of the farm, he subsequently added to this a valuable tract by purchase. He also owns fifty acres in Woodstock, which is used as a pasture land for the fat- tening of beef for the market.

Mr. Towne is a director of the Thompson Savings Bank. He has been for many years director and for two years pres- ident of the Woodstock Agricultural Society. He is in poli- tics a republican, was for the years 1873 and 1884 a member of the Connecticut house of representatives, has been for seven years a selectman, and for a long period on the school dis- trict committee. He has been for thirty-two years an active, exemplary and useful member of the Congregational church of Thompson, and a portion of that time one of its deacons. He was November 29th, 1848, married to Lucy Ann, daugh- ter of Jason Wakefield, of the same town. Their only child, a son, died in his fourteenth year. He was again married July 6th, 1856, to Mary J., daughter of Paul Kinney, of Union, Connecticut. Their children are Lucy A., George V. and Ad- fer M.

AARON WHITE died at Quinebaug, in the town of Thompson, April 15th, 1886, aged 87 years and six months. He was born in Boylston, Mass., October 8th, 1798, and was the eldest of ten chil- dren, seven sons and three daughters, of Aaron and Mary White.

His ancestry were of the early puritan settlers of Eastern Massa- chusetts, and among them on the side of his mother, were the Adams' of Boston, her grandmother being a sister of Governor Samuel Adams, a distinguished patriot of the revolution. His father kept a country store, cultivated an adjoining farm, was a leading man in town affairs, town clerk for twenty-two years, many years a member of the board of selectmen, and repeatedly a representative to the legislature.

The father having determined to give his son, Aaron, Jr., the advantages of a liberal education, sent him to the academies in New Salem and Leicester, and in his fourteenth year the boy en- tered Harvard, graduating in the class of 1817.

Marcus Je Lowand

ARTOTYPE, E. BIERSTADT, N. Y.

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HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.

Having concluded to establish himself in the practice of law in Rhode Island, Mr. White after a brief period of study in the offices of General George L. Barnes, of Woonsocket, in Smith- field, and of the late Judge Thomas Burgess, of Providence, was admitted to the bar of Rhode Island, at Providence, at the Sep- tember term of the supreme court, 1820-a little under twenty- two years of age, and opened his office at Cumberland Hill, in the town of Cumberland.

A mail route was laid out over Cumberland Hill, and the office of postmaster there was held by him until he removed to Woon- socket Falls in 1829.

As he had the reputation of being a careful bank manager, he was invited in 1829 to take charge of a new bank at Woonsocket Falls, as cashier and one of the directors. Without relinquish- ing his law practice he accepted the appointment, and continued . in charge of the bank for a few years.

Esquire White became an ardent adherent of Governor Dorr, personally and politically, and chief adviser in all matters touching political subjects and the personal affairs of his friend the governor, therefore he was compelled to leave Rhode Island in 1842 and he came to New Boston.

Mr. White at first took up his abode in this obscure village, in a brick building, which at that time was the village store, and the grandest building in the vicinity. He removed not long af- terward to Barnes' tavern, on the old Boston and Hartford turn- pike. Here he made the acquaintance of a daughter of Mr. Al- fred Barnes, and a mutual attachment was formed, resulting in their marriage in 1843. To this event was due his change of abode from Rhode Island to Connecticut, his wife dying when his son was born. The son now lives on a farm in Grafton, Mass. He is unmarried.

Mr. White in the latter years of his life took up the subject of numismatics, the collection and study of coins. The United States government in 1857 discontinued the coinage of copper cents, substituting at first the nickel cent, and a few years after- ward, the bronze one and two cent pieces as at present used. This furnished Mr. White a rare opportunity for augmenting his collections, especially of the cheaper coins, and he improved it to a greater extent, probably, than any other person in the United States. In his legal practice he spared no effort to have his clients' business done in the best and most thorough manner, yet

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HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY.

his charges for services rendered were extremely moderate. A teetotaler in principle and practice, he would not tolerate the use of alcoholic drink as a beverage by any one in his employ- ment.

Mr. White was possessed of considerable real estate in this vi- cinity, and although reported rich, the actual value of his whole estate, real and personal, is not known, and was probably much exaggerated in popular opinions. After Mr. White's death, his brother shipped from the station at Quinebaug 42 tons of pen- nies, the value of which would be about $8,000.

Mr. White after graduating from college, spent a year and up- ward as a school teacher, first in Roxbury, now Boston High- lands, and afterward in the city of Vergennes, Vt. He then com- menced the study of law in Middlebury, Vt., in the office of Ho- ratio Seymour, afterward governor and senator in congress from Vermont.

In his will Mr. White gave directions for his burial on a knoll on the northerly side of the railroad, just over the boundary line of Massachusetts, in the town of Dudley. The knoll is shaded with pines, transplanted when small seedlings by Mr. White about forty years ago. After giving minute instructions for a monument to be erected at his grave, he directs the following epitaph written by him January 1st, 1844, to be engraved on the stone :

To the memory of Aaron White, Son of Aaron and Mary White, born October 8th, 1798, died-

HIC IN EXILIO PROFUGUS, HUMANUM GENTES JUS DEFENDENS ET HOSPITIUM ET AMOREM, ET DOMUM ET SEPULCHRUM INVENI.

HERE DRIVEN INTO EXILE, WHILE DEFENDING THE RIGHTS OF MAN, I FOUND HOSPITALITY AND LOVE, A HOME AND A SEPULCHRE.

CHAPTER XXX.

THE TOWN OF PUTNAM.

Incorporation and General Description .- Early History .- First Settlers .- West of the Quinebaug .- The South Neighborhood .- Early Improvement of Water Privileges .- Roads and Bridges .- The Stone Mills .- Early Homestead Resi- dents .- The French War .- The Revolution .- After the War .- Cargill's Mills. -Quinebaug High Falls .- Educational and Religious .- Killingly Hill .- Be- ginning of Cotton Manufacturing .- Pomfret Factory .- During the War of 1812 .- Residents and Managers of the Factory .- Rhodesville .- Building up of Additional Factories .- Rival and Conflicting Interests of Three Adjoining Towns .- Various Propositions and Controversy .- Organization of the new Town of Putnam.

T HE township of Putnam, incorporated in 1855, was made up from parts of Thompson, Killingly and Pomfret. The Quinebaug river, with its great falls in the heart of the village, is its most distinctive physical feature, its main source of life and business prosperity. Manufacturing enterprise, aided by railroads, built up a flourishing village. This village demanded expansion and the liberty to manage its own affairs, and after a desperate struggle obtained town privileges, taking in as much surrounding territory as was needful to give it cor- porate standing, and by running its south boundary line obliquely, cutting off barren land eastward. This funnel-like conforma- tion of the projected town excited much ridicule during the contest, and it is said that its pictorial presentation before the legislature had much influence in procuring the rejection of the early petitions. But while the manufacturing interests of the town are strongly dominant, Putnam is by no means deficient in agricultural resources. With improved culture and immediate market, farming has made great advances. Dairying and mar- ket gardening are remunerative industries. There are many good farms in the vicinity of the valley and in the former South Neighborhood. The Assawaga or Five Mile river in the east of the town furnishes a number of mill privileges. The recent

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discovery and utilizing of the Aspinock Mineral Spring at Put- nam Heights is likely to prove of much benefit to this section.

Though Putnam is one of the youngest towns in Windham county, and is pre-eminently a growth of modern civilization, its roots reach far backward. The High Falls were noted far back in aboriginal days. The surrounding valley was a favorite resort of the red man long before Lieutenant John Sabin crossed the Woodstock line into the wilderness of Connecticut. An In- dian trail ran southeast from the falls toward Rhode Island be- fore Peter Aspinwall cut his way through the woods to make a path to Providence. The "Joseph Cady farm," east of Putnam village (now owned by Mr. Eli Davis), was noted for producing a remarkable variety and quantity of medicinal herbs and roots, much used by the "medicine men" of the Indians. It is tra- ditionally reported that Indians came from a great distance to gather these herbs, and that in consequence this locality was made a sacred haven, where no bloodshed was lawful, and tribal foes might meet in safety. The Falls were noted for their re- markable facilities for fishing, especially when shad and salmon were trying to ascend them.

The first known settler within the limits of the present Put- nam was Richard Evans of Rehoboth, who purchased for twenty pounds a grant of wild land laid out to Reverend James Pier- pont, of New Haven, and is described in 1693, " as resident of said granted premises." The farm was further described as bounded by wilderness and about three miles from Woodstock. Very little can be learned of this first settler east of the Quine- baug, except the fact that he occupied the farm now owned by Mr. William Holland, and that in about twenty years he and his son Richard were in possession of "two tenement of housen, barns, orchards, tanning pits and fulling mill," all testifying strongly to their thrift and industry.

Lietenant Peter Aspinwall, of Woodstock, was apparently sec- ond on the field, and the first resident within the bounds of the present Putnam village. Sent by Woodstock, in 1691, " to make a way unto the cedar swamp, on the other side of the Quinebaug, for a road to Providence," during the progress of the work he removed his residence to the valley, but not probably until the close of the Indian war of 1695-98, and his marriage to the widow of John Leavens. Lieutenant Aspinwall was a very prominent man in Woodstock, one of its original pioneers and settlers.

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He was also very active in military affairs, serving as scout and ranger during the troublesome warfare. Remaining a bachelor till somewhat late in life, he was apparently unfortunate in his matrimonial venture, "the widow and her sons keeping him low," according to the Aspinwall chronicle. These step-sons, particularly James and Joseph Leavens, were the first business men within Putnam limits, being employed by James Corbin, trader at Woodstock, to collect tar for Boston market. It was while engaged in this service that Joseph, the younger brother, received a wound in the thumb from a rattlesnake, and only saved his life by immediate amputation. Rattlesnake hill, near Five Mile river, " half a mile long and a hundred rods broad," was the scene of this adventure, and was one of the early land purchases of the brothers. James Leavens also owned a mill privilege on Five Mile river, believed to be the site of Hawkins' mills, and carried on the first saw mill east of the Quinebaug.

The Providence road cut by Peter Aspinwall wound around the base of Killingly hill to this mill, and accommodated cus- tomers. The Assawaga received its English name from the fact that the first land laid out upon it was "supposed to be about five miles from Woodstock," the only settlement in the section. Peter Aspinwall's farm was south of the Providence road, bor- dering on the Quinebaug. Its site can be identified by the old burying ground, its north or northeast extremity, which he gave to the town of Killingly.

The first settlers north of the Providence road were the inev- itable "three brothers" of all New England settlements-Nich- olas, Daniel and Joseph Cady, from Groton, Mass., soon after 1700. Nicholas settled first north of Killingly hill, but removed to a fine farm on Whetstone brook. His brother Joseph pur- chased the wilderness land held in such repute by the Indians, a mile east of the Quinebaug. He was a man of great strength and prowess, much respected by the Indians, able it was said to beat their strongest warriors in wrestling. A bunch of the sacred herbs, suspended over his cabin door, served as an amulet against assault or surprise. As soon as circumstances warranted Captain Cady erected the large house still standing in tolerable preservation, and owned by Mr. Eli Davis. It was considered an old house in 1774, when after the demise of the second Joseph Cady it was sold to Lieutenant-Governor Sessions, of Rhode Is- land. Daniel Cady's homestead was north of Joseph's, and after

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a few years passed into the hands of William Larned, who built a large house near the angle of the roads, whose frame forms part of the present residence of Mr. William Plummer. These two old houses merit commemoration as the oldest now standing within the limits of Putnam village, and connected with its early settlement.

One of the original owners of Killingly hill was John Allen, of Marlborough, Mass., a man of means with sons to settle in life. Among his purchases was a very valuable interval, com- prising 160 acres upon the Quinebaug, "near a pair of falls, fifty rods above the mouth of Mill river, extending up stream to a crook of the river, near the mouth of a small brook running into the river " (east side). All the above settlers purchased their land before Killingly was made a town, and called themselves in their several land deeds, inhabitants of Aspinock, near the Quine- baug. This picturesque name seems to have been applied to the valley east of the river from the Cady settlements to Lake Mash- apaug, but was laid aside after Killingly was organized in 1708. Its derivation and signification are still doubtful.

West side the Quinebaug the first settler was Captain John Sabin. Although his fine old mansion was just outside the line dividing Putnam from Pomfret, yet his ownership of the land and intimate connection with the first settlement of the Quine- baug gives him a prominent place among Putnam notables. His settlement even preceded that of Richard Evans, dating back to 1691, and his services during the subsequent Indian wars, by maintaining fortifications upon the frontier and restraining and "subsisting " the Indians, were publicly recognized by Massa- chusetts and Connecticut governments. He was made lieuten- ant of Woodstock's first military company, captain of Pomfret's first company and sergeant-major of Windham county's first troop of horse. He was also Pomfret's first representative to general court and one of the most prominent and respected citi- zens of Windham county. Owning much land in the valley, many building sites passed to his sons, furnishing three or four " old Sabin Houses " within the limits of Putnam. His own his- toric mansion, demolished with great labor and difficulty by Mr. William I. Bartholomew in 1835, was just south of Woodstock line. This homestead descended to his son Noah. His son John adopted the medical profession and settled in Franklin, Conn. His son, Lieutenant Hezekiah Sabin, was the first resident pro-

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prietor of Thompson hill. His daughter Judith married Joseph Leavens, of Killingly, receiving for her marriage portion a beau- tiful farm upon Lake Mashapaug.

Captain John Sabin is most intimately connected with Putnam as the builder of the first bridge over the Quinebang below the High Falls, in 1722. For more than twenty years Peter Aspin- wall had besought the assembly for liberty to build a bridge at this point, showing that the want of such convenience had been a grievous burden and affliction to travelers and himself, the river being exceedingly high and swift and not always fordable. Leading citizens of Pomfret reiterated the complaint, that the Quinebaug was at some seasons impassable, and that persons had endangered their lives in trying to pass, but the assembly turned a deaf ear to all petitions for relief. Captain Sabin, with his usual energy, threw himself into the breach, and with his sons' aid built a good, substantial bridge, costing £120, and then called upon the government for reimbursement. The commit- tee sent to inspect reported the bridge built in suitable place, out of danger of being carried away by floods or ice, the height of bridge being above any flood yet known by any men living there ; thought it would be very serviceable to a great part of the government in traveling to Boston, being at least ten miles the nearest way according to their judgment. Three hundred acres of land on the east side of the Connecticut river were ac- cordingly granted, on condition of keeping the bridge in repair " fourteen years next coming."

The second settler within the present limits of Putnam vil- lage was Jonathan Eaton, of Dedham, who in 1703 bought land on both sides of the Quinebaug, at what was called the Upper Falls, now improved by the Putnam Manufacturing Company. His home was on the west side of the river, in what was then known as "a Peculiar," viz., a strip of land unassigned to any town. Even Killingly, which exercised rights in the territory of Thompson long before it was legally assigned to her, levied no taxes west side the river. Being thus cut off from civil rela- tions, we can learn little of this early settler excepting the fact that, though not compelled by law, he carried his numerous children to be duly baptized in Woodstock meeting house, and that he was elected deacon of the church in Thompson parish. With two traveled roads near his dwelling, he probably exer- cised the privilege of entertaining travelers. Above the Upper 48

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Falls the Quinebaug was easily forded in low water, and an In- dian trail trodden out in time to a bridle path connected his es- tablishment with the Cady settlement. The mill privilege owned by Deacon Eaton was improved by his sons, at a much later date.

The third family within the bounds of Putnam village was probably that of Samuel Perrin, who, with Peter Aspinwall and Benjamin Griggs, secured a deed of land from Major James Fitch in 1703, both sides the Quinebaug, below its junction with Mill brook. According to tradition, this land was purchased of the Indians, and it seems improbable that so valuable a tract should have been sold at so low a figure by a veteran land job- ber unless there had been a prior claim upon it. Aspinwall, as we have seen, took the land east of the river; Griggs sold his share to Samuel Paine. The Perrin farm was retained in the family for several generations. How soon Samuel Perrin took possession of this purchase is not apparent, as he still retained his Woodstock residence, but soon after 1714 he built the well known " old Perrin House," so familiar to older residents of this section. It was probably first cultivated by his younger brother David, who died early, unmarried, and was made over to his son, Ensign Samuel Perrin, after his marriage to Dorothy Morris in 1724.

During this period many others had gathered in the South Neighborhood and eastward on the Assawaga. James Leavens' saw mill passed into the hands of Isaac and John Cutler, of Lex- ington, Mass. The former had many sons settling in that vicin- ity, building gambrel roofed houses, one of which still stands, " the old Cutler House," near the Rhode Island line. John Cut- ler died early, leaving numerous children. Part of his original farm was lost by a re-settlement of the above line, and his son Hezekiah removed to the vicinity of Killingly hill. The first meeting house in Killingly was built a little south of this hill, near the Providence road, in 1715, and encouraged settlement in that vicinity. The first minister, Reverend John Fisk, had his residence west of the hill.

Putnam's first settler, Richard Evans, had now removed, and his home farm was occupied by Simon Bryant, of Braintree, who purchased house, barn, orchard, tanning pits, etc., in 1712. His oldest daughter, Hannah, married William Larned in 1715, and their son Simon succeeded to the Evans farm, the first land laid

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out east of the Quinebaug in this section, now owned by Mr. W. R. Holland. Thomas Whitmore settled north of Simon Bryant at an early date, on the farm now improved by Mr. G. W. Whit- tlesy. George Blanchard occupied land southward now held by Mr. William Converse. Michael Felshaw secured the farm still southward, reaching to the brow of Killingly hill. The farm now improved by the family of the late J. O. Fox was first owned by James Wilson. Near him was the residence of Jonathan Hughes, whose son Edmond set out the "Great Elm," so famous in revolutionary annals. John Johnson's homestead was upon the site of the present residence of Mr. James Arnold. Samuel Lee purchased the northern part of what is now known as Parks hill, and built the house afterward occupied by Deacon Lusher Gay and his descendants. He died before 1730, at which date his widow, Mary Lee, was licensed to keep a house of public en- tertainment.

A granddaughter of Captain Joseph Cady, who afterward mar- ried Deacon Gay, delighted in old age to tell of " a puppet show " which she attended at this public house when she was six years old, viz., in 1731. There were many little girls and boys grow- ing up in the vicinity at that date. Deacon Eaton had eight or nine, Simon Bryant had seven daughters, William Larned seven sons, Joseph Leavens had eight daughters and three sons, the Cady and Lee children could hardly be numbered, and it is pleasant to know that they had this evening's entertainment. Up to this date there is no evidence that they even had the priv- ilege of attending school, but were probably taught at home by fathers and mothers. The boys of the neighborhood enjoyed special privileges in fishing, the Quinebaug being famous for shad, salmon and lamprey eels. The latter were caught in in- geniously constructed weirs or " eel-pots; " suckers were speared by torchlight. The Indians were very skillful fishermen, and initiated their favorites into some of the mysteries of their art. An "Indian girl " was included in the inventory of Captain John Sabin's possessions. An Indian family occupied a wigwam be- side a huge boulder near the site of the Davis ice house, self- elected tributaries to Captain Cady, who had rescued them from some great peril. Both he and Captain Sabin were greatly respected by their Indian neighbors. An old squaw thus expressed her emotion, upon the return of the former from military service: "O Massa Cady, I glad to see you ! I

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History of Windham County, Connecticut, Part 73

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