USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Woodbury > History of ancient Woodbury, Connecticut : from the first Indian dead in 1659 to 1854 > Part 15
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 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77
After a life of arduous and successful labor, the second pastor, at a good old age, came down to the grave like a " shoek of corn fully ripe for the harvest." He died September 6th, 1760, in the eighty-third year of his age, and the sixty-first of his ministry, after a severe ill- ness of "about two days' continuance." We have contemplated him hitherto only as a minister of the gospel. But his labors ended not here. He was at the same time, minister, lawyer and physician. Like many of the early ministers of the colony, he prepared himself for the practice of physie, that he might administer to the wants of the body, as well as those of the mind. In this capacity he was often called. The only person the author has found who ever saw him, was Dea. Amos Squire, of Roxbury, who died two or three years ago, aged ninety-nine, and who recollected having seen him when a lad about eight years of age, while on a visit in this capacity to his father, who had received a severe wound from an ax. He had also done what other ministers did not, and that was to perfeet himself in
1 Lambert's Hist. of New Haven.
141
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
legal knowledge. This was the more necessary, as at the beginning of the eighteenth century there were few lawyers in the colony, and as late as 1730, an aet was passed limiting the number of lawyers that might practice to three in Hartford county, and two in each of the other counties.
He was clerk of probate for the district of Woodbury, then com- prising many towns, for a period of forty years. In this capacity he drew most of the wills for his parishioners, and did nearly all the business of the office, the judge, for the time being, approving his acts. All the records of the court during the time he was clerk, ap- pear in his handwriting. IFe was also one of the largest farmers in the town, the inventory of his estate at his decease, amounting to £900, besides his books and wearing apparel.
But, as we have seen, amid all his varied and onerous duties, he neglected not the spiritual wants of his parish. IIe was in " deed and in truth" a father to them, and by them greatly beloved. He lived and died enshrined in the hearts of his people.
He was the son of Rev. Solomon Stoddard, of Northampton, Mass., where he was born August 9th, 1678. He was educated at Har- vard College, and graduated in 1697. IIe studied theology with his father in his native town, and with some of the able divines of Bos- ton, and, when fully prepared for his high calling, retired to this " dwelling-place of the wood," to spend his days in his Master's ser- vice. He was an able, earnest and experimental preacher. His in- tellect and acquirements were of a high order. As proof of this, he was appointed to preach the "election sermon," at the May session of the General Court, in 1716, an appointment bestowed on the more prominent ministers only of the colony. The following action was taken in the premises :
" Richard Christophers and Peter Burr, Esqrs, are appointed a Comtee of this House to Joyn with a Comtee of the Lower House and Return the Thanks of this Assembly to the Revend Mr. Anthony Stoddard for his sermon preached Yesterday on Occasion of the Election, and desire a Copy of it for the press.
" Hartf: May 11th, 1716.
" Past in the Upper House,
" Test. Hez: Wyllys, Seety."
The lower house joined, and the resolution went into effect.
The aged pastor was buried in the central part of the old burial- ground, and there reposes, surrounded by a numerous congregation, slumbering in deatlı, to whom in life he had ministered, and very many of whom he had himself, while living, followed to the grave.
142
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
As in life he was ever united to his people, so in death they are not divided. There let them rest together till the last "great trump" shall eall them to a bright reunion around the throne of God.
At this stand-point in the religious history of our town, ninety years having passed away, it is worth while to take a glance of retro- spection at the trials and difficulties that met the early fathers in the church. Many of them had good estates, and a comfortable position on the other side of the ocean, before coming to this wilderness land. But they came for " conscience' sake," and it was their design, in founding the several towns, to erect churches in strict accordance with Scripture example, and to transmit evangelical purity, with civil and religious liberty, to their posterity. All their acts and all their aims tended to this one grand design. Accordingly, we find that all persons were obliged by law, to contribute to the support of the church. All rates for the support of ministers, or for defraying any ecclesiastical expenses, were laid and collected in the same manner as the rates of the respective towns. Great care was taken, that all should attend the means of publie instruction. The law obliged them to be present at the publie worship on the Sabbath, and upon all days appointed by the civil authority for public fasts, or for thanksgiving. The Congregational mode of worship was adopted and established by law, but it was provided that all sober, orthodox persons, dissenting from them, should, on representing it to the General Court, be allowed peaceably to worship in their own way. Such, however, were behield with distrust. Our fathers, who desired religious freedom, and periled all for it in this wilderness, probably had not anticipated that they would speedily have an opportunity to extend that toleration to others, which, in the father-land, they had in vain sought for themselves. But while in their weakness, and with vivid recollections of the past, they viewed with alarm any deviations from their doctrines and order, they yet had the germ of toleration, and developed it with more rapidity, it is believed, than any other section of Christendom can show.
The influence of the pastor in the early days was very great. Many of the clergy, who first came into the country, had property, and assisted their poor brethren in the expenses and difficulties en- countered in making the new settlements. The people were far more dependent on their ministers for everything at that time, than they have since been. The proportion of learned men was far smaller then, than at the present day. The clergy possessed a large .part of the literature of the colony. They fitted the young men for
1
143
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
college, and assisted them in their studies, and with their advice after- ward. By example, by counsel and by money, they encouraged thie people in their difficult circumstances, and were ever active and abundant in their labors. They were also fellow-exiles and sufferers with them in this new and strange land. All these circumstances combined, gave them a remarkable influence over their hearers, of all ranks and dispositions. Perhaps in no government have the clergy had more influence, or been more rationally and sincerely re- spected and beloved, by the rulers and by the people, than in Con- necticut.
All these influences exhibited their happy results in the actions and character of the people. The huge, old meeting-house was always filled with the " great congregation," in summer's' heat, or winter's cold. Although the idea of warming a meeting-house with a stove or a fireplace never entered the mind of the boldest innova- tor upon ancient customs, yet the attendance at the house of God was scarcely less in winter than in summer. The meeting-house was almost always built on the top of the highest hill, at the intersection of roads leading to the various parts of the town, as near the geo- graphical center of the territory as possible. But the people "went up to the temple" to worship for many miles around, though storms were in the air, and the cutting wind howled fiercely over the bleak hill of " the tabernacle." By means of the " ride-and-tie system, frequently, they managed to get to the place of worship, where, by the aid of warm clothing, close sitting, and a glowing fire in their "Sabbath-day houses," or at the parsonage, at intermission, they seemed not to be aware of the cold weather. By the ride-and-tie system, it was a common thing for a farmer, who had a good horse, either to go alone, or take his wife behind him, on a pillion, and ride half the way to church ; then dismount, and walk the rest of the way, leaving the horse fastened by the wayside, for a neighbor and his wife, who were on the road behind, and who would come up and share the accommodation thus afforded. The Sabbath-day house, liberty to erect which on the common around the church, was grant- ed by the town to such individuals as applied, consisted of a small structure, divided into two rooms, for the accommodation of the two sexes, in which was built a good fire, where they could partake of their refreshments, and spend the hour of intermission in such a man- ner as was suitable to holy time. The hours of the Sabbath, after the return from church, were generally spent in employments appro-
144
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
priate to the conclusion of the day of rest, and such as were caleula- ted to fit them for the everlasting Sabbath in heaven.
But the early fathers have long since departed. Several genera- tions of their descendants sleep with them, and it is to be feared, that many of their valuable customs, and their striet purity of conduct, have departed with them. "Ancient Woodbury" has been greatly favored with able, learned and pious ministers. Within the period under contemplation, in 1750, and several years afterward, there were laboring, at the same time, within our limits, Rev. Anthony Stoddard, of the first society, Rev. John Graham, of Southbury, Rev- Dr. Bellamy, of Bethlem, Rev. Thomas Canfield, of Roxbury, and Rev. Daniel Brinsmade, of Judea societies ; a galaxy of talent, learning and piety, without its equal, perhaps, in a single town, at one time. The influence of those revered men has not entirely departed. It " still lives," and will go on blessing and improving those within its reach, till the latest "recorded syllable of time."
CHAPTER IX.
CIVIL HISTORY CONTINUED FROM CHAPTER VI.
MISCELLANEOUS EVENTS FROM 1712 TO 1775; LAND DIVISIONS; SCHOOL-HOUSES ; CIDER-MILLS ; GREAT SICKNESS OF 1727, 1719 AND 1760; GREAT EARTHI- QUAKE ; AURORA BOREALIS, 1719; POOTATUCK FERRY, 1730 ; HINMAN'S FER- RY, 1752; BRIDGE BUILT NEAR HINMAN'S FERRY BY GEN. WASHINGTON, 1778: CARLTON'S BRIDGE LOTTERY, 1780; SEQUESTRATION OF BURIAL GROUNDS, 1741 ; PARSONAGE LANDS LOCATED, 1741; PARSONAGE LANDS SOLD, 1744; EFFORTS TO FORM A NEW COUNTY CALLED WOODBURY, IN 174S, 1751, 1768 AND 1791 ; MINE HILL, 1721; WOLVES AND WILD-CATS; TOWN- HOUSE REPAIRED ; CASUALTIES ; RELICS ; TEA-PARTY AT PARSON STODDARD'S; RULOOF DUTCHERS' ESTATE ; UMBRELLAS AND CALICO FIRST INTRODUCED; WITCHCRAFT-MOLL CRAMER ; LIST OF ORIGINAL PROPRIETORS IN 1751; WAR WITH SPAIN ; FRENCH NEUTRALS, 1756 ; LOUISBURG TAKEN, 1745 ; WAR WITH FRANCE-EXPEDITIONS OF 1755, 1756 AND 1757 ; ALARM FOR THE RELIEF OF FORT WILLIAM HENRY, 1757; EXPEDITIONS OF 1758 AND 1759 ; LOUISBURG, FORTS FRONTENAC, DUQUESNE AND NIAGARA, CROWN POINT, TICONDEROGA AND QUEBEC TAKEN.
AGAIN we betake ourselves to the task of gathering up the frag- ments that remain of the civil history of the town, "that nothing may be lost." The limits assigned this work give warning, that each sub- jeet must be briefly touched, and it is proposed to take heed to it.
It has been before stated that all divisions made in the public lands of the town to the original proprietors, or their representatives, were proportioned to the home-lot, which was from two to five aeres in size. The former divisions of land having been brought sufficiently under cultivation, new allotments were occasionally made, as neces- sity required. Accordingly in 1720,
"The town grants a Division of thirty acres to cach ten acre accommodation, and so proportionably according to articles, in the old township, half a mile from the town."
In February, 1729, the town voted to lay out seventy-five acres to each " ten acre accommodation," making no allowance for waste land, and proportionally for the five acre, or " Bachelor's" accommodations.
146
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
Previous to this date, in all the divisions of land, an account of waste or bad land had been taken, and more in quantity was given him to whom it fell, in the survey, or more land was given elsewhere to make his proportion equal to others. In 1734, the North Purchase, which had been granted to the town in 1703, purchased of the In- dians in 1710, and surveyed in 1724, was laid out into lots for the purpose of division among the original proprietors. Col. Joseph Minor, Rev. Anthony Stoddard and Dea. Noah Hinman were ap- pointed a committee to draw the lots for the proprietors, according to a scheme previously agreed upon,
" To begin att Waterbury bounds in the first or South Tier, and number west, and when the Lotts in that tier are finished, to begin in the second tier and so number West untill that be also finished, and so sucksessively untill the whole Six tiers be finished."
The lots were drawn by the committee appointed for this purpose January 14th, 1732. In 1733, the South Purchase was acquired of the Indians by a committee of the town. In 1738, the town voted to lay out
" The Sonth Purchase in the Southwest part of Woodbury bounds into Equal lots, and as many lots as there are original proprietors in Woodbury Records,"
leaving necessary highways and lands to be appropriated for com- mons. Mr. Noah Hinman, Capt. Thomas Knowles, Capt. Richard Brownson, Mr. Knell Mitchell and Mr. Cornelius Brownson were appointed a committee to carry this vote into effect. They " judged convenient" to lay out highways 200 rods apart, over hill and dale, without regard to " circumstances." This committee also established the north line of the South Purchase, or the line between the old proprietors and the land to be divided, there being no dispute between the whites and Indians with regard to the lines between them. This line was to
" Run from New Milford bounds Eastward cross the falls att Shepoag River, and from thence Easterly up the brook that runs westerly into Shepoag River near the falls till we come against the head of Mine-Hill brook, and then East- erly down to the head of said brook, to a beach-tree marked, and down said brook to a Certain white oak tree marked, which tree stands on the South side of said brook."
The committee reported that they had accomplished the object of their appointment in June, 1742, and their report was accepted. In November of the same year, the lots were drawn for the proprietors
147
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
by a committee appointed for the purpose, in proportion to the inter- est of each proprietor, who was also to pay his proportion of the ex- penses of the survey. In 1754, four acres were granted to each ac- commodation. In April, 1758, Joseph Pierce, Samuel Wheeler and David Boland were appointed a committee to purchase the Indians' land at Pootatuck. This they immediately accomplished, with the exception of a small tract of land where the " wigwams" stood, and even this narrow foothold was purchased of them the next year. In the early part of this year, a committee was appointed .to lay out the Pootatnek purchase into lots, in the same manner as had been done in the case of the South Purchase, which comprehended the north and west three-fourths of the ancient Indian Reservation. In March, 1760, this committee made a report of their doings, which was ac- cepted by the proprietors, and another committee appointed to pre- pare drafts for the drawing of lots, to be so contrived, that each original proprietor, or his legal representatives, should have a lot in the Purchase, and so that the representatives of two or more original proprietorships could have their lots in one body. In 1771, a new division of five acres to each original proprietor, or his representa- tives, was granted, and the next year all the seqnestered lands in the old township were in like manner divided between them. In Decem- ber, 1782, the last division among the proprietors was granted in open meeting, and consisted of one acre to each "accommodation." Thus the original proprietors had been over one hundred years in dividing their surplus land, and there were yet remaining considera- ble tracts sequestered for various purposes, besides land in the South and Pootatuck Purchases. This might well be considered getting rich by degrees from " mother earth."
Great attention was paid to the education of youth, and the found- ing of schools, from the very first settlement of the town. It is be- lieved that the people of this town were more particular in this re- spect than in many other towns in the Colony, or in New England generally, careful as they invariably were in these matters. Nearly all were educated in the first rudiments of knowledge. Few could be found who could not read and write. It is confidently asserted that an inspection of our early records will compare favorably with those of the present day, as evidencing the dissemination of common edu- cation among the people. Rare indeed was the instance of a person signing a deed, or other document with his mark. And yet there was but one school in the ancient territory for the first fifty years. The scholars had to come from all distances, from a fourth of a mile
148
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
to six or eight miles, and return daily. Previous to the division of the town into societies, which commenced in 1730, a vote had been passed to build " Several School Houses," in various parts of the town, for the accommodation of the children. But in 1735, the for- mer vote not having been carried into effect, it was rescinded, and it was by "ye Town Commended to ye Several Societies, to proceed amongst themselves in ye best manner as may be for their Respective Conveniences."
Accordingly, as each ecclesiastical society was incorporated, the first thing in order was to establish a school.
One of the few luxuries of the early fathers, was the fruit of the orchard, and the beverage made from it. The apple-tree was the constant attendant of all the early founders of towns, and followed them in all their wanderings. If the early patriarchs could not, like their eastern prototypes, " sit under their own vine and fig-tree," they made haste that they might as soon as possible, with equal satisfac- tion, sit under their own apple-trees. Nor does it appear that they had the fear of the " Maine Law" before their eyes, for they freely granted the privilege of erecting " Cyder Mills," to the inhabitants even in the highways, the place of greatest temptation. Accordingly, we find in the doings of a town meeting held May 31st, 1739, liberty granted to Matthew Minor " to set up a Cyder Mill in the Highway," and a like privilege granted to Ebenezer Strong. The same boon was granted to others in succeeding years. It seems, however, that they were in some sense " restrictionists," having the germ of "pro- hibition," as they did not allow "unlimited free trade" in the article.
There have been several seasons of remarkable and alarming mor- tality in the town, when men seemed to die as if fated, without the power of eure or restoration. One of these seasons was in the year 1727, when disease seemed to make the burial places of the town, garner-houses for the dead. It is not now known what was the na- ture of this disease, which swept off the inhabitants of the new town like chaff. The records show forty-four deaths, which is probably not more than half the actual number, taking into consideration the defective state of the records, and the unusual neglect in causing deaths to be recorded, in such a time of calamity and alarm. The number of deaths entered for several years previous to, and succeed- ing this date, had been only from four to six each year. This was a sad decimation for a community that had struggled for years with all the wants and deprivations of the wilderness, together with the con- tinual alarms and attacks in the Indian wars, growing out of their
149
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
frontier, exposed situation. The inhabitants, with the notions of that early day, had another cause of alarm in the mighty earthquake that shook the earth throughout this great continent, October 29th, 1727. In deed and in truth could the people of Woodbury cry out in terror, " The Lord is wroth ; He is swallowing up His people in His fierce anger."
In 1749, the town was again visited by the devouring scourge, as was also Waterbury. It was a very malignant disease, a sort of a nervous fever, called by some the yellow fever, as the bodies of some of the patients turned yellow. The crisis of the disease was the ninth day, and if the patient survived that day, he had a fair chance of re- covery. From the imperfection of the records, as before stated, the exact number of deaths can not be known. They show sixty-one, and there were doubtless many more in the extended limits of the town at this time. A similar disease had existed in Albany some three years before this date. The colony taxes were, for this reason, abated to the town of Waterbury, but though Woodbury only applied for a postponement in the time of payment, for some reason, it was not granted.
In 1760, another malignant fever severely afflicted Woodbury and some other places in this vicinity. The disease was extremely vio- lent, terminating on the third or fourth day. Medical aid seemed to be of little avail, but the disease finally disappeared with the appear- ance of frost. In the society of Bethlehem, thirty-four persons died, and at least as many more in the other parts of the ancient town must have perished. Mr. Canfield, in Roxbury parish, at the close of an entry of seven deaths, remarks in ą note, " A very sickly, dying time in Bethlehem." There were not enough well persons to attend upon the sick, and great terror existed among the inhabitants. Almost every house wore the badges of mourning, and orphans walked about the streets. Notwithstanding these seasons of extraordinary calami- ty, the ancient territory justly enjoys the reputation of possessing a healthy climate. From its location, its latitude, its breezy hills, its numerous fountains of cool, sweet, gushing waters, and a multitude of other circumstances, it would be wonderful if it were otherwise.
-
The first appearance of northern lights in this county, after its first settlement, was December 11th, 1719 ;
" When they were remarkably bright, and as people in general had never heard of such a phenomenon, they were extremely alarmed with the apprehen- sion of the final judgment. All amusements, all business and even sleep was interrupted, for want of a little knowledge of history."
150
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
The more superstitious in Woodbury, as in other places, were greatly alarmed at this new manifestation of "Divine Providence," and for many days the quiet of this rural community was disturbed by the unusual occurrence. But in due time the sagacity of Parson Stoddard and others, restored things to a state of tranquillity.
A ferry from Newtown to Woodbury was granted to Peter Hub- bell, at Pootatuck, May 13th, 1730.' This was about an eighth of a mile below Fort Hill, which is located on the west side of the Hou- satonic, directly opposite the Indian village of Pootatuck, on the east side of that river. At these two points within gunshot of the river, the Indians had forts to protect themselves against the Mohawks, and after the introduction of fire-arms among the natives, a fleet of Mo- hawk canoes on the river would afford a capital mark for the practice of gunnery. The ferry was at the north end of Coekshure's Island, previously to this, owned by a sachem of that name, but since known as Hubbell's Island, from the ferryman above mentioned.
In 1752, a ferry was granted to Wait Hinman, three miles below Pootatuck ferry, and was located about a mile below Bennett's Bridge. In 1775, this ferry was, by the General Assembly, "re- newed" to Samuel Hinman, son of the original grantee. In 1778, we find, by documents now existing in the archives of the State at Hart- ford, that
"Gen. Washington, on his march in 1778, built a bridge at Hinman's ferry."?
A part of the bridge fell down during the next summer, and was rebuilt by Newtown and Woodbury, at an expense of £7,656 6s. 6d., half of which was repaid by the quarter-master-general, by order of Gen. Green. The bridge was again impaired in 1780, and Wood- bury and Newtown petitioned the General Assembly for a lottery of £400, to enable them to rebuild it, which was granted. It was now called Carlton's Bridge, for what reason does not appear. Col. In- crease Moseley, Shadrach Osborn and Nathan Preston were appoint- ed managers of the lottery, and Col. Benjamin Hinman and Edward Hinman, Esq., were appointed to take bonds of the managers. On receiving a letter from Gen. Parsons, promising that the town should be aided from the public purse, £100 in bills of credit of the State of Connecticut were voted in a town meeting in November for the im-
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.