USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Woodbury > History of ancient Woodbury, Connecticut : from the first Indian dead in 1659 to 1854 > Part 17
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One day she went into the house of a neighbor, who was churning cream. She conversed indifferently with the lady of the house about butter and other matters, and, after a time, retired. The churning went on during the afternoon and evening, but no butter was produced. Next morning the churning was resumed by the good dame and her husband, with no better success than before. After a long time, it occurred to them that Moll had been there the preceding day, and that she had doubtless bewitched the cream. The good man of the house, determining to burn the witch out of the cream, heated a horse- shoe and dropped it into the churn. A few moments after, the pro- cess of churning ceased, and the object desired was attained.
One day a party of girls, one of them now an aged lady still living in the ancient territory, and who attests to the facts above related,
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HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
together with this occurrence, went to gather grapes near Moll's cabin. They picked their way to the spot with great caution and secrecy, for fear of being seen by Moll, who would undoubtedly be- witch their grapes, so that they could not be eaten. While gather- ing the grapes, they stationed a sentinel to give them warning if Moll appeared. After a while the sentinel observed her coming, and gave the alarmı. They ran "across lots," kept out of her way, and, as they supposed, saved their fruit, but upon trial it was found to be utterly unfit for use.
Such, in the language of Herodotus, are the " facts related to me in the neighborhood," and believed by many people, well informed on other subjects. They are to be classed and explained with similar events happening elsewhere in different ages and diverse elimes.
In October, 1751, as various divisions of land had been granted and were still to be granted, it was desirable to know, as accurately as possible, who were the original proprietors, and what was the ex- tent of their rights. Accordingly we find that at a town meeting of this date, Col. Joseph Minor and Capt. Thomas Knowles were ap- pointed a committee to
" Endeavor to find out what is the proportion of Each proprietor according to their original grants."
Two weeks later, October 21st, 1751, they reported a list of names according to requirement, and the town took the following action in the premises :
" The list of the Names of the proprietors, as they are hereafter Recorded, being Drawn by Col. Joseph Minor, and Capt. Thomas Knowles, a committee appointed for that purpose. In which meeting it was voted and Concluded as follows, viz ; Forasmuch as Many of the Names of the original proprietors of the Lands in Woodbury are lost, or torn out of said Proprietors Records, which would hereafter be likely to breed many unhappy Contentious, which to pre- vent, it is voted and concluded as follows, viz ;
" That the List of the Names of the proprietors of Lands in Woodbury, pre- sented to this meeting by Col. Joseph Minor and Capt. Thomas Knowles, a Committee appointed for that purpose, Shall be held good and valid, both as to the Number of proprietors, and the bigness of Each accommodation ailixed in Said list unto the Name of Each proprietor, unless any one proprietor can Shew Evidently to the contrary.1
Jonathan Atwood 12 John Brooks, 10 Richard Brownson, 10
Thomas Applebee 10 Ebenezer Brownson 10 Samuel Blakelee 10
James Beers 12 Thomas Bedient 12 Cornelius Bronson 12 Samuel Bull 10 John Baker 10 Henry Castle, Jr. 12
John Bartlet 12 Cornelius Brownson 10 Samuel Castle 12
1 Proprietors' Book, p. 43, et seq.
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HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
John Curtiss
12
Nathaniel Hurlbut 10
John Nichols 10
Stephen Curtiss 10
John Huthwit 2 grants 5
Samuel Nichols 12
Lt. Israel Curtiss 16 Thomas Hurlbut 16
Andrew Nichols 10
Israell Curtiss, Jr. 12 Jonathan Hongh 12 Valentine Prentis 10
Henry Castle 2 12 Benjamin Hicoek 12
William Preston
5
Isaae Castle 12 Lt. Joseph Judson 25
Jehiel Preston
5
Joslina Curtiss 10 John Judson first 12 Jolin Pieree 1 12
William Castle 10 John Judson 2ª
10 John Pieree 2 10
Thomas Drakly 12 Joseph Judson
10
Haekaliah Preston
16
John Davis grant 10 Jonathan Judson
10
the parsonage right
20
Thomas Drakly 2d
10 David Jenkings 10 the three Prestons
10
Abraham Fulford 12 Samuel Jenner 12 Mr. Samuel Sherman
25
John Fern
10 Moses Johnson first
12 Capt. John Sherman
12
Thomas Fairchild 12 John Johnson
10 John Root 1
12
William Fredrick
10 Moses Johnson 2a
10 William Roberts
10
Benjamin Galpin
12 Eliphalet Judson
10
Josiah Root
10
William Gaylord
10 Joseph Judson 31 10
12
Mr. Anthony Stoddard 25 16 Thomas Squire 1
Joseph Hurlbut 2d
12
Samuel Knowles
10 Ebenezer Squire 10
Samuel Sherman 10
Jonathan Hurlbut
10 John Levenworth
12
Adino Strong
10
John Hurlbut 12
Thomas Le -----
10 Franeis Stiles 10
Benjamin Hurd
10
Capt. John Minor William Martin
12
John Skeel 1
12
Robert Hurd
10
John Minor 2
12
Jolin Skeel 2
12
Joseph IInrd
10
Samuel Minor
10
Thomas Skeel
10
Peter Hawley
12
Joseph Minor
12 Samuel Squire
10
John Huthwit
12
Ephraim Minor
12
John Squire
10
Benjamin Hinman
10
Josiah Minor
10
Elnathan Strong
10
Adam Ilinman
10 John Mitehel 1 12
Jonathan Squire
10
Edward Ilinman 18 John Mitchel 2 10 John Sherman 2 10
Titus Hlinman
12 Mathew Mitehel
12
John Stratton
10
Samuel Hinman 12
Jonathan Mitchel
10
Joseph Seely
15
Andrew Hinman
10 Samuel Mun 1
12
Roger Terrel 1
12
Noah Ilinman
10 Samuel Mun 2
10
Stephen Terrel
10
Benjamin Hurd 2
10 Joseph Martin 10
Jeremiah Thomas
10
Samnel Ilieock
10 Aaron Mallary 10
Nathaniel Tuttle Ephraim Tuttle
10
Samnel IFull
10
tion
16
Hezekiah Tuttle
10
John Hurd first
25 William Maek
12
Roger Terrel 2
10
Joseph Hicock first
10 Ditto for his sons 10
John Thomas 2
10
Denis Hart
9 Samuel Martin
10 Ezra Terrel
10
Henry Hill
10 Daniel Mun
10
John Thomas 1
12
Ephraim Hinman
10 Thomas Mallary the 2 mill accomoda- 10 tion
5 Ambrose Thompson Ebenezer Warner
12
Joseph, Benj" & Sam! Hicock
10
Robert Warner
12
Joseph Hinman
10 Caleb Nichols
18 Joseph Wallar
12
Joseph Galpin
10 Horaee Knowles
Joseph Hurlbut, sen" 12 Thomas Knowles
10
Thomas Squire 2 12
Cornelius Hurlbut 10
Thomas Levenworth 12
20 Benjamin Stiles 12
Ebenezer Hurd
10
10 Thomas Minor 12 Lt. Samuel Stiles
16
Joseph Hieock
12
John Ilurd
10
first Mill accommoda-
16
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HISTORY OF ANCIENT
WOODBURY.
Zacharialı Walker 12 Thomas Wheeler 12 Mr. Zachariahı Walker 25
John Wheeler 1 16 John Wyat 10 Dr. Ebenezer Warner' 5"
John Wheeler 2 10 Timothy Walker 10
This list is given entire, as it is probably an almost perfect list of the original proprietors to this time, and as such worthy of preserva- tion.
In the expedition against the Spanish West Indies, in 1740, Wood- bury had some soldiers, but as most of the troops in that fatal cam- paign perished of pestilence, their names are lost. In May, 1743, and during the same troubles, it appears that some suspicious men were lurking about on the frontiers of the colony, and the circum- stance was deemed of sufficient importance to be brought to the atten- tion of the General Assembly then in session. The matter was re- ferred to a committee, who immediately reported.
" That we are well informed, that there are Several Strangers, and we sup- pose that they are not of our Kings Subjeets, but forraigners, which are Strug- gling about the inland parts of Fairfield County, and the Western parts of Hartford & Sometimes in New-Haven County, and that in a more especiall manner, they are conversant with those Indians, that Inhabite at podetuck in Woodbury, and those that live West of the Housatonick River Westward of the Town of Kent, * * * * * and that the Indians are more and more estranged from his Majesty's Subjects by their means, and upon the whole we feare his Majesty's Interests may be greatly Indangered by Said Strangers."2
For which reasons they recommended the arrest of those " Stran- gers," and their examination. A resolution to that effeet was ac- cordingly passed, but whether the men were arrested, or what the subsequent proceedings were, can not now be determined.
The story of the unhappy inhabitants of Acadia, or the " French Nentrals," is well known-a story of wrong, oppression and outrage upon humanity without excuse. Acadia, or Nova Scotia, after re- peated conquests and restorations, was at last, by the treaty of Utrecht, yielded to Great Britain. The old inhabitants remained on the soil they had subdued and cultivated, and for nearly forty years after the peace resulting from this treaty, they had been left to them- selves, and prospered in their seclusion from the great world. They had promised submission to England, but loving the language, usages and religion of their forefathers, they would not fight against the standard of France, or renounce its name. They had fertile and
1 Proprietors' Book, p. 43, et seq.
2 War, vol. 4, pp. 126, 127.
164
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
cultivated fields, which were covered with their flocks and herds. They constructed houses neatly built in clusters, which were well furnished with the comforts and conveniences of civilized life. They were happy in the abundance their own hands provided, and formed as it were, one great family. They were of pure morals, and actua- ted by unaffected devotion to the faith of their fathers. When Eng- land began to send numerous colonists to Nova Scotia, their priests became alarmed for the security of their church, and fomented dis- affection. The arrogance of the British officers, and the cruelties inflicted on these unoffending people, greatly added to it. Their property was taken for the public service without their consent, and without stipulation with them in regard to payment. Compelled to fetch fire-wood, even, for their oppressors, they were assured, that if there was any delay in bringing it, the soldiers would " absolutely take their houses for fuel." 'Under frivolous pretenses they were compelled to give up their boats and their fire-arms, leaving them without the means of flight or defense.
The region cast of the St. Croix was entirely under the power of England, and no resistance was to be feared from the Acadians. They bowed in meek submission before their masters, willing to take the oath of allegiance to England, but still refusing to bear arms against their beloved France. Their taskmasters could have exer- cised clemency without the slightest danger to themselves, but they had determined otherwise. The edict had gone forth, that the French Neutrals should be carried away captive to other parts of the British dominions. Their haughty oppressors lusted after their comely houses and fruitful lands. No warning of their purpose was given, till it was ready to be executed. As soon as they perceived the dangers that awaited them, they offered to swear unconditional allegiance to the government, but they were not allowed to do so, being told that having once refused the oaths, they could not now be administered ; and some of the principal men were imprisoned. It was unanimously determined in solemn council, to send the French inhabitants out of the province, and to distribute them among the several colonies of the continent, that they might not be able to re- turn and molest the intruders who should secure their beautiful homes and cultivated fields.
They secured their persons by artifice. By proclamation all the males from ten years old and upward were peremptorily ordered to appear at their respective posts, on the 5th of September, 1755.
165
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
They obeyed, and at one of the places of assembling, which was a church, they were informed by the American commander
" You are convened together, to manifest to you, his Majesty's final resolu- tion to the French inhabitants of this, his province. Your lands and tenements, cattle of all kinds, and live stock of all sorts, are forfeited io the crown, and you yourselves arc to be removed from this his province. I am through his Majes- ty's goodness, directed to allow you liberty to carry off your money and honse- hold goods, as many as you can, without discommoding the vessels you go in."
They were then declared the king's prisoners, and their wives and families shared the same fate. "The blow was sudden ; they had left their homes but for the morning, and they never were to return. Their cattle were to stay unfed in the stalls, their fires to die out on their hearths. They had for that first day, even, no food for them- selves or their children, and were compelled to beg for their bread !"
The 10th of September was the day appointed for the first embark- ation of the exiles. One hundred and sixty-one constituted the first company ordered to march on board the vessel, which was to take them from their homes forever. It was possible for them to leave their homes, their lands, and their garners, but it severed a sensitive chord in the human bosom, when called upon to leave their parents, wives and children. Neither the pen nor the imagination can paint the scene that followed. Forced by the bayonet, the men were driv- en on board, and the women and children were left till other trans- ports should arrive. The miserable people left behind were kept near the sea, without proper food, or clothing, or shelter, till their turn came, but the fierce winds of December' " had struck the shivering, half-clad, broken-hearted sufferers, before the last of them were re- moved." Seven thousand of these exiles were forced on board ships, and scattered among the colonies, from New Hampshire to Georgia, according to previous determination. Four hundred were sent into Connecticut, by Gov. Lawrence, and were distributed among the towns of the colony, according to their lists, by the General Assem- bly, which convened January 21, 1756, for that purpose. The share that fell to Woodbury, was nine. The names of four only are now known, Petre Beaumont, Henrie Sciscean, Alexandre Pettigree, and Philemon Cherevoy. The descendants of the latter are now resi- dents of the town. The selectmen of the several towns were desired to find accommodations for them, at some distance from the settle- ments, and take care to keep them at some suitable employment.
1 Bancroft.
-
166
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
Thus were these unhappy people scattered in small and sorrowful bands throughout the land. They were without resources, and the households to which they belonged were scattered they knew not where. The newspapers of the day were burdened with advertise- ments from members of families, seeking those they had lost. They sighed for their native land, but, to prevent their return, it had been laid waste, and their much loved homes were but heaps of ruins. " A beautiful and fertile tract of country was reduced to a solitude." Misfortune pursued them wherever they fled. "I know not," says Bancroft, "if the annals of the human race keep the record of sor- rows so wantonly inflicted, so bitter and so perennial as fell upon the French inhabitants of Acadia." " We have been true," said they of themselves, " to our religion, and true to ourselves ; yet nature ap- pears to consider us only as the objects of public vengeance."
In 1744, war was proclaimed between France and England. In 1745, an expedition against Louisburg was planned and put in exe- cution, and its capture was consummated. Connecticut furnished more than one thousand men for this expedition, commanded by Roger Wolcott, afterward governor of the colony. Woodbury furnished a portion of these, but how many is not now known. Zechariah Brins- made, to whom those now bearing the name in the ancient territory are related, was one of these soldiers.
In 1755, this war was renewed, and during its continuance, there were four expeditions against Crown Point, in each of which men and officers from Woodbury figured. In short, during all the wars between France and the mother country, which affected the colonies, Woodbury furnished not only men but field-officers. In the first year of this war, Connecticut raised one thousand men, under the com- mand of Col. Lyman and Elizur Goodrich, Esq. Woodbury fur- nished two captains, Capt. Benjamin Hinman, and Capt. Adam Ilin- man, and a large number of soldiers. In the battle near Lake George, on the 8th of September, Capt. Adam Hinman was wounded in the shoulder by a grape-shot. In 1756, twenty-five hundred men were raised in Connecticut for the invasion of Canada, and the quota from Woodbury was increased, under the command of the same ofli- cers from the town as before. Next year, Capt. Benjamin Hinman was again in the field by commission from Gov. Thomas Fitch. In this year there was an " alarm" for the relief of Fort William Henry, near Lake George. Two companies marched from Woodbury with all haste. One numbered eighty men, under the command of Capt. Ebenezer Downs, and the other ninety-six, under the command of
167
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
Capt. Wait Hinman. Among the rank and file of the latter compa- ny, were Hezekiah Thompson, Esq., the first regular lawyer in the town, and Doctor Joseph Perry. These companies were absent from town about three weeks. A full list of the men engaged will be found among the statistics at the close of the volume. Connecticut had already furnished fourteen hundred men for the campaign, and sent five thousand more in this " alarm." During this year, 1757, Adam Hinman was appointed captain of one of the companies that were raised in Connecticut, and placed under the command of the Earl of Loudoun, for resisting the encroachments of the French at Crown Point.1
But hitherto colonial officers had had little standing among the " regulars." Every officer in the regular service, of whatever rank. took precedence of those in the colonial service. They were treated with the greatest hauteur, and even insolence, by the royal officers sent here, swelling with pride, to domineer over the provincials, caring more to show their superiority over the latter than to advance the king's interests. Although the colonists had answered the sum- mons of the king with the greatest alacrity, yet their burning ardor was unavailing, abused and frowned upon as they were. They were kept in close subjection to the regulars, and, remaining in idleness, as well as those who lorded it over them, they had no opportunity to exhibit the native courage which burned in their bosoms, and conse- quently had done nothing. Yet instances of courage and daring flashed up in every part of the colonies, disconnected with the royal service. During the years 1756 and 1757, Abercrombie and the Earl of Londoun, though having large bodies of troops under their command, both regular and provincial, through indolence and imbe- cility, did absolutely nothing, while Montcalm and other French offi- cers were pressing their successes in every direction. The campaign of 1757, ended most ingloriously. To the ineapacity and pusillanimi- ty of these commanders, are to be attributed the constantly recurring losses of that year. Had the colonies been left to themselves they would have done better. Indeed the ministry of England and the men employed by them were such that disaster and loss attended them in almost every part of the globe. Even a British historian, speaking of the campaign of 1757, says, " That it ended to the eter- nal disgrace of those who then commanded the armies, and directed the councils of Great Britain." Yet these imbecile men contrived to
1 State Archives, War, vol. 6.
168
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
satisfy the home government, by complaints of America. It was nothing that the few successes which had been gained, had been prin- cipally the result of the efforts and bravery of the provincials. It was nothing that they had saved the remnants of Braddock's army ; noth- ing that they had conquered Acadia; nothing that they had defeated Dieskau at Lake George; nothing, in their besotted imagination, could be done while there was no " viceroy or superintendent over all the provinces."
.
With such imbecile commanders to ruin everything, the patriotism and means of the provincials were worse than wasted. It was of no avail, that with a ready zeal they rushed at each alarm to the scene of attack. It was of no avail that each little town, like Woodbury, sent a hundred and seventy-six men for the defense of a single fort. It was of no avail that that fort was defended by the gallant Munro, with a small but faithful corps-naught can save it. " How peacefully rest the waters of Lake George between their ramparts of highlands ! In their pellucid depths, the cliffs and the hills and the trees leave their image, and the beautiful region speaks to the heart, teaching affection for nature. As yet not a hamlet rose on its margin ; not a straggler had thatched a log lint in its neighborhood ; only at its head, near the center of a wider opening between its mountains, Fort William Henry stood on its bank almost on a level with the lake. Lofty hills overhung and commanded the wild scene, but heavy artil- lery had not as yet accompanied war-parties into the wilderness."1 Such was the scene on the first of August, 1757. A few days later the gallant commander, the patriotic band, the fort itself, had disap- peared, and nothing remained to tell that civilization had reposed upon its margin, but the charred remains of the fortification, and here and there among the hills a crucifix to mark a grave.
But Pitt attaining power at this juncture, the Earl of Londoun was recalled, while other and better officers took his place. Lord Howe, Wolfe and Amherst were leading officers under the new regime, though Abercrombie was still nominally commander-in-chief. Pitt rejected the policy of degrading the colonists, adopted by his predecessors, and relied on the spontaneous patriotism of the people. He accord- ingly obtained the king's order, that every provincial officer of . 110 higher grade than colonel, should have equal rank with the British, according to the date of their respective commissions. He informed the colonists that he expected nothing of them but the " levying,
1 Bancroft.
169
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
clothing and pay of the men," and that for these expenses he would " strongly recommend to parliament to grant a proper compensation." Upon his summons more than twenty thousand men were, without difficulty, called into service.
The new policy produced the most favorable results. In 1758, Connecticut raised five thousand men for the invasion of Canada, which were divided into four regiments. Col. Benjamin Hinman, of Woodbury, was commissioned by Gov. Fitch, as lieutenant-colonel of the third regiment, and captain of the second company of foot, and Israel Putnam, major of the same regiment, and captain of the third company under him. The greatest enthusiasm everywhere pre- vailed. Louisburg fell before the well-directed efforts of Amherst and Wolfe. Fort Frontenac yielded to Bradstreet, and Fort Du- quesne disappeared in smoke before the sagacity and perseverance of Washington under Forbes. The only misfortune of the year, the disgraceful and disastrous defeat at Ticonderoga, came through the miserable inefficiency and cowardice of Abercrombie, who had been retained in command by the partiality of Bute, against the judgment of Pitt. In this expedition perished the gallant Howe. Most of the soldiers from Woodbury went north with Abercrombie, and a large proportion of them never again saw their homes in this pleasant val- ley. Nearly all that the sword spared, disease swept away. After this disastrous defeat, Abercrombie was recalled in November, and Amherst was appointed commander-in-chief.
In 1759, Connecticut, as in the preceding year, raised five thou- sand men. Col. Benjamin Hinman and the other surviving officers of the previous year, from Woodbury, entered again into the service, with the full quota of men from our town. Among the subordinate officers were Lient. Phineas Castle, Lieut. Nathan Tuttle, and Gra- ham Hurd. This campaign was rich in victories, though destructive to the troops. Sir William Johnson captured Fort Niagara, and Amherst forced the French to retire from Ticonderoga and Crown Point ; but by far the most glorious event of that campaign was the surrender of Quebec to the victorious army under Wolfe, who met death on the battle field, and whose " spirit escaped in the blaze of his glory."
Of the soldiers from Woodbury who perished in this campaign, only three names are preserved, Amos Hurd, Benjamin Sanford and Lovewell Hurd. Great was the rejoicing in Woodbury, not unac- companied with sorrow for the loss of the slain, when the news of this victory arrived. Not here only was such the case, but everywhere.
12
170
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
In the eloquent words of Bancroft, " America rung with exultation ; the towns were bright with illuminations ; legislatures, the pulpit, the press, echoed the general joy ; province and families gave thanks to God. England too, which had shared the despondency of Wolfe, tri- umphed at his victory, and wept for his death. Joy, grief, curiosity, amazement, were on every countenance." When the parliament as- sembled, Pitt modestly and gracefully put aside the praises that were showered upon him. "The more a man is versed in business," said he, " the more he finds the hand of Providence everywhere."
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