USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > New Haven > History of the Colony of New Haven, Before and After the Union with Connecticut: Containing a. > Part 4
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The history of the colony of New Haven, after the union, must of course be blended with that of Connecticut at large. Such items as are suited to the plan of this work, and of particular interest, will be inserted.
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New Haven, from its first settlement, had experienced much trouble from the Dutch, who supplied the Indians with fire-arms, and incited them to hostilities against the English. But King Charles II., sending an armament for the re- duction of the Dutch possessions in America, under Colonel Nicholls, in 1664, New Amsterdam surrendered on the 27th of August, and thus ended the power of the Dutch in Amer- ica, and with it the difficulties they occasioned the colonists. New Netherlands having been granted to James, duke of York and Albany, received the name of New York.
Soon after, Col. Nicholls and associates, appointed by the crown, met with agents appointed by Connecticut, and agreed on the boundary line between New York and Connecticut. This was on the 30th of November, 1664. In the May ses- sion of the general court, in 1665, county courts were first instituted by that name, to be holden in New Haven, one on the second Tuesday in June, the other on the third Tuesday in November, to consist of two magistrates and three justi- ces of, the quorum.
To prevent all dispute about his title, the duke of York took a new patent of his territories in America, dated June 29, 1674, and committed the government of them to Sir Ed. mund Andross, who, by virtue of the patent, laid claim to the lands on the west side of Connecticut River, notwithstanding the priority of the patent of Connecticut, and in violation of the agreement of 1664. To enforce his claims, he attempted, in 1675, to take the fort at Saybrook ; he was, however, de- feated in this attempt by the firmness and resolution of Capt. Bull. In the year 1675, Philip, sachem of the Wampanoags, who lived at Mount Hope, in the present town of Bristol, R. I., began a war, the most general and destructive ever sustained by the infant colonies. His object was the complete extir- mination of the English. At his instigation, the Indians on the northern frontiers burnt Brookfield, Deerfield, and a con- siderable part of Springfield, and killed many of the inhab- itants. Hadley was assaulted, but relieved by Major Treat.
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The English had endeavored to secure the friendship of the Narragansetts, and to prevent them from joining Philip, had formed a treaty with them, July 15, 1675. But it was well known that they secretly aided the hostile Indians, and it was determined to reduce them by a winter expedition. For this object, the colony of Massachusetts furnished 527 men, Plymonth 150, and Connecticut 300, and to these were
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attached 150 Mohegan Indians. These troops, commanded by Josiah Winslow, governor of Plymouth, marched late in December (wading in deep snow) and attacked the fort of the enemy. This fort was built on a gentle rise of dry ground, in a large swamp, in, the present town of Kingston, R. I. The Narragansetts were furnished with muskets, and made havoc with the assailants, especially among the officers who first entered the fort, most of whom were killed. Six cap- tains and 80 men were killed, 150 wounded, and all suffered incredibly from frozen limbs and other hardships. But the victory was complete; three or four hundred Indians were slain, all their wigwams burnt, and the country ravaged .*
The Connecticut troops were divided into five companies, and commanded by Major Treat. This brave officer made no less than seventeen fair shots at the enemy, and was thereby as often a fair shot for them. It is the tradition, that he received a ball through his hat, that he was the last man who left the fort in the dusk of the evening, commanding the rear of the army. Philip was killed in about a year after the destruction of the Narragansetts. . For some years after, the English had no difficulties with the Indians, but that they did not relax their vigilance, appears by the records of those times :
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Att a court held att New Haven, March 28, 1681-Mr. Jones acquainted them that the occasion of the meeting was because of ye rumours of ye Indians being gathered together and designed to fall upon ye English, and by som it is apprehended that there is danger toward, and that therefore it was good for ye Towns to make som fortification that may be for refuge in case of danger, and Ma- jor Treat beeing heare ye last Lecture, informed us thatt hee had intelligence of a great body of Indians gathered up Hudson's Riv- er, ande indeed ye appearing of ye blazing star in ye winter, with ye report of guns and drums heard by som, and ye Earthquake ta- ken notis of in a neighbor towne, may bee forerunner or bee warn- ings of som great changes or judgments neare, ande it wer best now to consider if it wer not our wisdom to make such provision as we can for our defence if we should be assaulted.
The towne having hearde what was propounded, som spake of fortifying houses onn ye outside of ye Towne, ande divers moued thatt a committee bee appoynted to consider what fortifications wer neccessasy ande ye Magistrates and Townsmen, ande commission- ed military officers were chosen a Committee for to consider of ye matter and prepare for ye Towne and allsoe did desire and appoynt
* Lieut. Robert Seeley, of New Haven, was killed in taking this fort.
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ym to consider of great guns ande other things necessary to ye case of affayres ande to appoynt such watches and wardes as ye case may require.
This extract is a fair specimen of the spirit of those times, showing the implicit belief the early settlers placed in super- natural signs and forerunners.
In 1686, Charles II. died, and was succeeded by the duke of York, who took the title of James II. He was a Catholic, and proved to be an oppressive tyrant. He wished to procure a surrender of all the patents of the colonies, and form the northern part of America into twelve provinces, with a gov- ernor-general over the whole. Accordingly, in July, 1685, a quo warranto was issued against the government of Con- necticut. The next year, in July, the assembly of the col. ony agreed upon an address to his majesty, in which they be- sought him to recall the writ against them, entreated his par- don for any faults in their government, and humbly requested the continuance of their charter. On the 21st of the same month, two writs of quo warranto were delivered to Govern- or Treat, but the time specified for appearance before his majesty was already past. On the 28th of December, another writ of quo warranto was served on the governor and com- pany, requiring their appearance within eight days of the pu- rification of the Blessed Virgin. Though these writs gave no proper time for the appearance of the colony, yet they de- clared all its chartered rights vacated upon its not appearing at time and place.
When the writs of quo warranto arrived, in 1686, Connec- ticut sent Mr. Whiting, as an agent, to negotiate for the pre- servation of their colonial charter and rights. But in vain'; for the king and council had determined to vacate all the charters and unite all the colonies to the crown under a gov- ernor of royal appointment. Sir Edmund Andross was ap- pointed the first governor-general over New England, and arrived at Boston, Dec. 19, 1686. He immediately wrote to the governor and company of Connecticut to resign their charter, but without success. In October, 1687, Andross, with his suite and more than sixty soldiers, arrived at Hart- ford, while the assembly was in session, and demanded a sur- render of their charter. The charter was produced, and while the officers of the government were debating with An- dross on the subject, the lights were extinguished by garments thrown over them, and the charter, which lay on the table,
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was seized by Mr. Wadsworth, of Hartford, and secreted in a hollow oak standing before the house of Mr. Wyllis. An- dross, however, proceeded to take formal possession of the government, and closing the colony records with the word finis, annexed it to Massachusetts, and appointed officers, civil and military.
Upon the abdication of the throne by James . II., and the accession of William and Mary, the people of Boston arose in arms and arrested Andross and his council, and persuaded the old governor and council to resume the government. Connecticut obtained from the most able lawyers in England, an opinion that the colony, not having surrendered the char- ter under seal, and no judgment being entered on record, the charter was not invalidated ; the former government was therefore re-established, on the 9th of May, 1689. On that occasion, the governor and company sent an address to King William, dated June 13, 1689, petitioning for ratifica- tion and confirmation of their charter.
In 1690 commenced .the war between England and France, called King William's war, which continued till the peace of Ryswick, in 1697, during which time the colonies were in- volved in destructive warfare with the French and Indians. During the summer of 1692, there was much contention between Governor Fletcher, of New York, and the govern- ment of Connecticut, about the right of commanding the Connecticut militia. Gov. Winthrop was sent as an agent to England on the subject, where it was decided that the quota of Connecticut to be under Gov. Fletcher, should be 120 men, the rest of the militia, as usual, to be under the governor of Connecticut.
Scarcely had the colonies recovered from the distress oc- casioned by King William's war, before they experienced the horrors of another war with the Indians, French, and Span iards, called Queen Anne's war, which continued from 1702 to the peace of Utrecht, March 31st, 1713. The whole weight of this war in America fell on New England. Con- necticut furnished near 400 men. Great Britain, under George II., again declared war against France and Spain, March 29, 1744. The most important event of this war in America was the capture of Louisburg, in the island of Cape Breton. For the expedition Connecticut furnished upwards of 1000 men, under Roger Wolcott, Esq., lieutenant-govern- or. Preliminaries of peace between England and France 4
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were signed in April, 1748, soon after which hostilities ceased.
The last war in which the colonies were involved previous to the war of the revolution, was " the French and Indian war," which was declared May 18, 1756. The cause leading to this war was the alledged encroachments of the French upon the frontiers of the colonies in America belonging to England. In this war Connecticut made great exertions, and did more, most of the time, than double her proportion, compared with the rest of the colonies. In the year 1759 she had more than 6000 men in actual service. In 1652 the New England troops did important services in the reduction of Havanna* and Martinique. It was however a fatal enterprise to most of them, for of nearly 1000 men who were engaged in the enterprise, not 100 returned. Such as were not killed in the service died of the bilious plague.
The conquest of Canada having been achieved, a definite treaty. of peace was signed at Paris, February 10, 1763. This put an end to French and Indian warfare, by which the colonies had been afflicted at times from their etuly settlement. After this the extension of settlements, commerce, wealth, and population, in Connecticut, were extremely rapid. On the 13th of October, 1698, the two houses of the general assembly sat separately for the first time. Before that time the assistants and deputies appear to have acted together.
It was enacted, May 8, 1701, that the October session of the legislature should be annually held in New Haven. Pre- vious to this time, and ever since the union of the colonies, the assembly had convened both in May and October, at Hartford.
The first emission of paper money in Connecticut was oc- casioned by the expedition for the reduction of French Can- ada, in 1709, on account of the want of money otherwise to carry it on. The whole amount of bills issued were to be called in within two years.
Connecticut, by her charter, was bounded on the west by the South Sea.t Nearly nineteen years after a patent was
* According to tradition, New Haven and Milford, in this expe- dition, lost a large number of men.
t At the time the charter was given there was no correct knowl- edge of the extent of the continent on the west. A Jesnit traveling to the west a few days from Quebec, from the top of a mountain saw water, and supposed he beheld the South Sea. Probably the water he saw was one of the western lakes.
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granted to William Penn, which covered part of the territory embraced .in the charter. For nearly a century Connecticut neglected to claim these lands, but in 1753 a company was formed with the design of " planting the lands within the char- ter limits, on the Susquehannah." Accordingly, the next year a purchase was made of the Six Nations of a large tract at Wyoming. In 1774 the settlement was formed into a town called Westmoreland,* which sent representatives to the assembly of Connecticut. A contention soon arose be- tween Connecticut and Pennsylvania concerning these lands, but the controversy was suspended by the revolutionary war. In 1781 commissioners were appointed by both states and au- thorized by congress to settle the dispute, who decided that the lands in question belonged of right to Pennsylvania. Although the state acquiesced in the decision with the view to obtain the implied sanction of the charter claims, Connec- ticut, in 1786, ceded to the United States all the lands within the charter limits, west of Pennsylvania, except a tract of 120 miles in length, adjoining that state, on the west. This ces. sion was accepted. The money arising from the sale of the greater part of this tract constitutes the school fund, for the support of schools throughout the state. This territory now forms a part of the state of Ohio, and is still called the West. ern Reserve.
"During the time of the revolution, Connecticut was one of the foremost in the confederacy in resisting the oppression of Britain, and sustained her full share of the burden of the war. Her officers, for boldness and daring bravery were unequaled, and her soldiers were applauded by the commander-in-chief of the American armies, for their intrepidity and fidelity. In the last war with Great Britain, in the first conflict on the ocean, the first flag was struck to a native of Connecticut ; t on the land, the first flag which was taken was surrendered to one of her sons.#
" The early colonists were men of intelligence, abating some of their religious views, and understood those principles of liberty which have resulted in the establishment of those institutions which distinguish Connecticut among her sister
. So called from the idea of the Connecticut people, that we had more land west.
t Commodore Isaac Hull, of Derby.
* Colonel Young, of Lebanon.
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states of the union. Ever republican in the form of her gov- ernment, she has in effect ever been a free and independent commonwealth ; and whilst the other colonies were suffering under the domination of royal governors, she has from the beginning been governed by rulers of her own choice." "Af- ter the declaration of independence, Connecticut continued the government according to the charter, till 1818, when a con- stitution of civil government for the state was formed and adopted.
NEW HAVEN.
NEW HAVEN lies at the head of a harbor, which sets up four miles from Long Island Sound, in north latitude 41º 18, and in west longitude 72° 56', seventy-six miles from New York, thirty-four from Hartford, and one hundred and thirty- four from Boston. It is the capital of the county of the same name, the semi-capital of Connecticut, and was the seat of government of New Haven colony before the union.
The local situation of New Haven appears to have been known to the Dutch, some years before the arrival of the English settlers. They designated the place by the name " Red Mount," doubtless so called from the appearance of East and West Rocks. Its Indian name was Quinnipiack. This name was given to the river forming the eastern boun- dary of the township, and now commonly called Wallingford river, to the adjacent country, and to the tribe by which it was inhabited.
At the time of the settlement by the English the Indians were not numerous, numbering less than fifty warriors, having been much reduced by the incursions of the Mohawks and Pequots. In the treaty at the time of the purchase, the In- dians remarked, that " they remembered the heavy taxes of the Pequots and Mokawks, and that by reason of the fear of them they could not stay in their own country, but had been obliged to flee." The Indians had a strong fort at Beacon Hill,* in East Haven, and on the east side of the hill a large
* So called from a beacon fire, which was built there in case of invasion, in the revolutionary war.
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burying-ground. This eminence formerly bore the name of Indian Hill. Near by they had a place for powawing. The spot was formerly a swamp, but is now a meadow. Their number did not increase after the settlement of the English, but on the contrary, fast diminished. Charles, the last chief of this tribe, was frozen to death near a spring, about a mile north of the Congregational church in East Haven. This was near a century ago, and the Quinnipiacks have long since been extinct. They could not live before the face of the white man,-they could not bear to see the heritage of their fathers possessed by intruders,-they could not brook the servile subjection to which they were reduced, and doubtless the settlement of the English, notwithstanding the "fair pro- posals," was more fatal to their existence than the oppression of the Mohawks and Pequots had been previously.
The settlement of New Haven was made in 1638. The colonists. in two ships,* arrived at Boston on the 26th of June, 1637. The leaders of the company were Theophilus Eaton, Faq., Edward Hopkins, Esq., John Davenport, Samuel Eaton, and Peter Prudden. Many of the men of this company being Wealthy, and of the highest respectability, and Mr. Davenport and Mr. Prudden being genuine puritan ministers, the people of Massachusetts were very desirous to have them settle in that commonwealth, and tried every method to induce them to do so. Charlestown made them generous offers, Newbury proposed to give up the whole town to them, the general court offered them any place where they should choose to settle, .and Mr. Eaton was chosen a magistrate of the colony. But nothing could retain them, as they were determined to plant a distinct colony, where they might establish a government modeled in both civil and religious matters, according to their own peculiar views, and have none to control them. Having heard from those who went in the expedition against the Pe. quots, that the country along the shore west of the Connecti- cut river was fertile, and that there were good harbors, con- venient for navigation and commerce, they concluded in that part of the country to make their settlement. In the autumn of 1637, Mr. Eaton and others of the company made a jour. ney to Connecticut, to explore the lands and harbors on the coast, and being pleased with the situation of Quinnipiack,
* One of them was named the Hector, 4*
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they there determined to settle their colony. On what is now the south corner of Church and Meadow streets, they erected a hut, in which a few men remained during the winter .*
When they were ready to remove, in the spring, the fol- lowing letter was written to the government of Massachusetts colony :
It may please the worthy and much Honored Gouener Deputy and Assistants and with them the present Courte, to take knowledge that our desire of staying within this patent was Reall and strong, if the eye of God's providence (to whom we have committed our waies, especially in so important an enterprise as this, which we confess is far above our capacityes) had guided us to a place con- venient for our familyes and friends. Which as our words have often expressed, so we hope the truth thereof is sufficiently declared by our almost nine month's patient wayting in expectac on of some opportunity to be offered us for that end to our great charge and hindrance many waies.
In all which time we have in many prayers commended the guid- ance of our apprehension, judgments, spirits, resolue ons, and waies into the good hand of the on'ly wise God, whose prerogative it is to determine the bounds of our habitacons according to the ends for which he hath brought us into these countryes, and we have considered, as we were able by his help, whatsoever place hath bene propounded to us, being ready to have with contentment ac- cepted (if by our stay any public good might be promoted) smallere decammodac~ons and upon dearer terms (if they might be mode- rately commodious,) than we believe most men in the same case with us in all respects, would have done. And whereas a place for an Inland plantacon beyond Watertown was propounded to us, and pressed by much importunity by some, whose words have the power of a law with us, in any waye of God, we did speedily and seriously deliberate thereupon, it being the subject of the greatest part of a days' discourse. The conclusion was, that if the upland should answer the meddow ground in goodness and desirableness, (whereof yet there is some cause of doubting) yet considering a Boate cannot pass from the bay thither, nearer than 8 or 10 miles distance, and that it is so remote from the Bay or any towne, we could not see how our dwelling would be advantagious to these plantations, or compatible with our conditions, or commodious for our familyes, or for our friends.
Nor can we satisfye ourselves that it is expedient, for ourselves,
* Seven men were left by Eaton, four of whom were Francis Brown, John Beacher, Robert Pigg, and Thomas Hogg. One of the party died in the winter. In 1750, when the cellar of the stone house on the corner of George and Meadow streets was dug, bones were found lying horizontally, almost entire. They were those of a large man, and believed to be the bones of this Englishman, as the Indians buried their dead in a different posture.
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or for our frends, that we chuse such a condition, wherein we must be compelled to have our dwelling houses so farr distant from our Farmes, as Boston or Charlestown is from that place, few of our friend being able to beare the charge thereof (whose cases never- theless we are bound to consider) and some of them that are able not being persuaded that it is lawfull for them to live continually from the greatest part of theyre families, as in this case they will be ne- cessitated to doe. The season of the yeare and other weighty con- siderations, compelled us to hasten to a full and finall conclusion which we are at last come into by God's appointment and direction, we hope in mercy, and have sent letters to Connecticut for a speedy transacting the purchase of the parts about Quillypiac from the na- tives which may pretend title thereunto-By which act we Absolutely and irrevocably ingaged that way, and we are persuaded that God will order it for good into these plantations, whose lone so abundantly aboue our desarts or expectac- ons, expressed in your desire of our abode in these parts, as we shall ever retaine in thankfull memory, so we shall account ourselves thereby obliged to be any waye in- strumentall and serviceable for the common good of these plantac ~- ons as well as of those which the Divine providence hath combi- ned together in as strong bond of Brotherly affection, by the sameness of their condition, as Joab and Abeshai were, whose severall armyes did mutually strengthen them boath against severall enimyes-2 Sam. 10-9, 10, 11, or rather they are joyned together as Hippocrates' bis Twinnes to stand and fall, to grow and decay, to flourish and wither, to live and dye together. In witnes of the premises we subscribe our names,*
John Davenporte. Throph. Caron.
The 12th daye of the 1st Month 1637-8. [March 12, 1638.]
The company sailed from Boston on the 30th of March, 1638, and after a tedious passage of a fortnight, arrived at Quinnipiack. The 18th of Aprilt was the first Sunday they observed in the place. The people assembled under a large spreading oak, which stood near the present corner of George and College streets.# Mr. Davenport preached in the same place, from Matthew iii. 1: " In those days came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea." The senti-
* Collections of the Mass. Hist. Soc., vol. 3, series 3. The sig- natures are fac-similes.
t Which would be the 12th of April, O. S., and 23d, N. S.
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