USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > New Haven > History of the colony of New Haven to its absorption into Connecticut > Part 21
USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > New Haven > History of the colony of New Haven to its absorption into Connecticut > Part 21
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According to the arrangement thus made, the colony school went into operation in the autumn of 1660. At the General Court held in May of the following year, "there were sundry propositions presented by Mr. Peck, school-master, to this court, as followeth : -
" First, That the master shall be assisted with the power and counsel of any of the honored magistrates or reverend elders, as he finds need, or the case may require. 2. That rectores scholæ be now appointed and established. 3. What is that the jurisdiction ex- pects from the master? Whether any thing besides instruction . in the languages and oratory? 4. That two indifferent men be ap- pointed to prove and send to the master such scholars as be fitted for his tuition. 5. That two men be appointed to take care of the school, to repair and supply necessaries, as the case may require. 6. Whether the master shall have liberty to be at neighbors' meet- ings once every week? 7. Whether it may not be permitted that the school may begin but at eight of the clock all the winter half- year ? S. That the master shall have liberty to use any books that do or shall belong to the school. 9. That the master shall have liberty to receive into and instruct in the school. scholars sent from other places out of this jurisdiction, and that he shall receive the benefit of them, over and above what the jurisdiction doth pay
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him. 10. That the master may have a settled habitation, not at his own charge. 11. That he shall have a week's vacation in the year to improve, as the case may require. 12. That his person and estate shall be rate-free in every plantation of this jurisdiction. 13. That half the year's payment shall be made to, and accounts cleared with, the master, within the compass of every half year. 14. That £40 per annum be paid to the school-master by the juris- diction treasurer, and that fro per annum be paid to him by New Haven treasurer. 15. That the major part of the foresaid pay- ments shall be made to the school-master in these particulars as followeth ; viz., 30 bushels of wheat, 2 barrels of pork, and 2 bar- rels of beef, 40 bushels of Indian corn, 30 bushels of pease, 2 fir- kins of butter, 100 pounds of flax, 30 bushels of oats. Lastly, That the honored Court would be pleased to consider of and settle these things this court time, and to confirm the consequent of them, the want of which things, especially some of them, doth hold the master under discouragement and unsettlement; yet these things being suitably considered and confirmed, if it please the honored Court further to improve him who at present is school-master, al- though unworthy of any such respect, and weak for such a work, yet his real intention is to give up himself to the work of a gram- mar school, as it shall please God to give opportunity and assist- ance.
"The Court, considering of these things, did grant as followeth ; viz., to the second, they did desire and appoint Mr. John Daven- port, sen., Mr. Street, and Mr. Pierson, to take that care and trust upon them ; to the third, they declared that besides that which he expressed, they expected he would teach them to write so far as was necessary to his work; to the fourth, they declared that they left it to those before mentioned ; to the eighth, they declared that he should have the use of those books, provided a list of them be taken ; the ninth they left to the committee for the school; and the rest they granted in general, except the pork and butter, and for that they did order that he should have one barrel of pork and one firkin of butter, provided by the jurisdiction treasurer, though it be with some loss to the jurisdiction, and that he should have wheat for the other barrel of pork. This being done, Mr. Peck seemed to be very well satisfied."
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The school thus established continued only about two years, being discontinued partly on account of the paucity of scholars, and partly on account of the expense of litigation with Connecticut concerning her assump- tion of title to the territory of New Haven, which threatened to exhaust the treasury. The vote to dis- continue is thus recorded : -
"At a General Court held at New Haven, for the jurisdiction, Nov. 5, 1662, it was propounded as a thing left to be issued at the next General Court after May last, by the committee for the school, whether they would continue the colony school or lay it down. The business being debated, it came to this conclusion, that, considering the distraction of the time, that the end is not attained for which it was settled no way proportionable to the charges expended, and that the colony is in expectation of una- voidable necessary charges to be expended, did conclude to lay it down, and the charges to cease when this half-year is up at the end of this month."
How far the school came short of attaining the end for which it was established, may be seen in the light of some remarks made by Mr. Davenport in a town meeting held the preceding August. " Mr. Davenport further propounded to the town something about the colony school, and informed them that the committee for the school made it a great objection against the keeping of it up, that this town did not send scholars to it, only five or six; now, therefore, if you would not have that benefit taken away, you should send your chil- dren to it constantly, and not take them off so often ; and further said that he was in the school, and it grieved him to see how few scholars were there."
The colony school being discontinued, the town of
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New Haven negotiated with George Pardee, one of their own people, to teach the children "English, and to carry them on in Latin so far as he could. The busi- ness was debated, and some expressed themselves to this purpose, that it is scarce known in any place to have a free school for teaching English and writing, but yet showed themselves willing to have something allowed by the public, and the rest by the parents and masters of such that went to school ; and in the issue twenty pounds was propounded and put to vote, and by vote concluded to be allowed to George Pardee for this year out of the town treasury, and the rest to be paid by those that sent scholars to the school, as he and they could agree. This, George Pardee agreed to, to make trial of for one year. He was also advised to be care- ful to instruct the youth in point of manners, there being a great fault in that respect, as some expressed."
Our history of schools in the colony of New Haven might here come to a conclusion, for, when the year expired for which Mr. Pardee was engaged, the colony of New Haven had become absorbed into the colony of Connecticut, and thus lost not only its name but its existence as a jurisdiction.
But it will not be deemed improper to add that within two years after the union, the town of New Haven, stimulated by its desire to secure to itself that part of Gov. Hopkins's bequest which was in the power of Mr. Davenport, established a "grammar or collegiate school," and invited Mr. Samuel Street to be the school- master. The town appropriated £30 per annum, and the Hopkins estate in the hands of Mr. Davenport yielded by this time £10 more. A few months after-
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ward, Mr. Davenport came into the town meeting, and " desired to speak something concerning the school ; and first propounded to the town whether they would send their children to the school, to be taught for the fitting them for the service of God in church and com- monwealth. If they would, then he said that the grant of that part of Mr. Hopkins' estate formerly made to this town stands good; but if not, then it is void, because it attains not the end of the donor. Therefore he desired they would express themselves. Upon which Roger Alling declared his purpose of bringing up one of his sons to learning ; also Henry Glover, one of Wil- liam Russel's ; John Winston; Mr. Hodson; Thomas Trowbridge; David Atwater; Thomas Mix; and Mr. Augur said that he intended to send for a kinsman from England. Mr. Samuel Street declared that there were eight at present in Latin, and three more would come in in summer, and two more before next winter. Upon which Mr. Davenport seemed to be satisfied, but yet declared that he must always reserve a negative voice, that nothing be done contrary to the true intent of the donor, and that it be improved only for that use; and therefore, while it can be so improved here, it shall be settled here; but if New Haven will neglect their own good herein, he must improve it otherwhere unto that end that may answer the will of the dead."
As this declaration of Mr. Davenport was made in February, 1668, and he removed to Boston some two or three months afterward, having in the previous Septem- ber received a call to the pastorate of the first church there, it may be inferred that the people of New Haven had some reason at that time to apprehend that they
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might lose the benefit of the Hopkins bequest. On the 18th of April, however, Mr. Davenport executed a deed of trust, in which he conveyed unto "William Jones, assistant of the colony of Connecticut, the Rev. Mr. Nicholas Street, teacher of the church of Christ at New Haven, Mr. Matthew Gilbert, Mr. John Davenport, jun., and James Bishop, commissioned magistrates, Deacons William Peck and Roger Alling, and to their successors," his interest in the Hopkins bequest ; reserving "full power of a negative voice, while it shall please God to continue my living and abiding in this country or any part of it;" appending the condition that the rent of Oyster-shell Field and of Mrs. Eldred's lot should be to the use of the school; and declaring null and void his former conveyance for the encourage- ment of a "colony school," on the ground that the colony school had been dissolved by the act of the General Court of the colony of New Haven.I
The Hopkins Grammar School thus established, has, with some intermissions which occurred early in its his- tory, afforded to the boys of New Haven from that time to the present day, opportunity "to be taught for the fitting them for the service of God in church and com- monwealth." It opens its doors so indiscriminately to the children of all classes of people, Christian, Jewish, and pagan, that the following action of the town may perhaps awaken the risibles of the reader : -
" At a town meeting in New Haven, Dec. 9, 1728, Voted, That the land lying in the governor's quarter in New Haven called the Oyster-shell Field be put into the hand of the school committee in New Haven commonly known by the name of Hopkins Com- mittee, as they now be or hereafter shall be, according to their 1 See Appendix V.
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constitution or custom, by them to be improved for the upholding and maintaining a grammar school in the first parish in this town, for the educating of children of Congregational or Presbyterian parents only, and no other use whatsoever forever hereafter ; and if it shall hereafter be thought most advantageous to make sale of the lands commonly called the Oyster-shell Field as aforesaid, and the major part of proprietors in this town shall agree thereto, the money thereby produced shall be past into the hands of said com- mittee to be improved as aforesaid, and to no other use whatso- ever."
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CHAPTER XIV.
MILITARY AFFAIRS.
E ACH of the colonies of New England had its mil- itary chieftain. A captain was as necessary as a magistrate. Miles Standish came with the pilgrims from Leyden to Plymouth ; but, so far as appears, he came as a soldier rather than as a Separatist. He was a man of pure morals, but never identified himself with the church at Plymouth. It was not required in that colony, as it was in Massachusetts and in New Haven, that military officers should be church-members. Of the expedition sent by Massachusetts against the Pe- quots in 1636, John Endicott was chief captain ; John Underhill, Nathanael Turner, and William Jenningson, were subordinate captains ; and there were other infe- rior officers. As the number of privates did not exceed one hundred in number, Underhill, in his narrative of the expedition, apologizes for the unusual proportion of officers. "I would not have the world wonder at the great number of commanders to so few men, but know that the Indians' fight far differs from the Christian practice, for they most commonly divide themselves into small bodies ; so that we are forced to neglect our usual way, and to subdivide our divisions to answer theirs, and not thinking it any disparagement to any captain
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to go forth against an enemy with a squadron of men, taking the ground from the old and ancient practice when they chose captains of hundreds and captains of thousands, captains of fifties and captains of tens. We conceive a captain signifieth the chief in way of com- mand of any body committed to his charge for the time being ; whether of more or less, it makes no matter in power, though in honor it does."
Eaton and Davenport not knowing, when they left England, that they should settle afar from their friends in Massachusetts, had not been careful to bring with them a military chief. During the winter they spent at the Bay they found a valuable accession to their com- pany in Nathanael Turner, one of the three captains of the first Pequot expedition who were subordinate only to Endicott. Having lost his house at Lynn (then called Sagus) by fire, in January, 1637, " with all that was in it save the persons," he was free to listen to proposals from a company, which, with large resources, proposed to settle at Quinnipiac. He listened, and was persuaded to take part in the responsibilities and rewards of the undertaking. Capt. Turner was invested with mili- tary command at Quinnipiac during the time of the provisional authority which preceded the permanent settlement of civil affairs in the plantation ; for, on the 25th of November, 1639, only thirty days after the organization of the court, and, so far as appears on the record, before any appointment of military officers had been made, it was "ordered that every one that bears arms shall be completely furnished with arms ; viz., a musket, a sword, bandoleers, a rest, a pound of powder, twenty bullets fitted to their musket, or four
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pounds of pistol-shot or swan-shot at least, and be ready to show them in the market-place upon Monday, the 16th of this (sic) month, before Capt. Turner and Lieut. Seeley, under the penalty of twenty shillings fine for every default or absence."
On the first day of September following, "Mr. Turner was chosen captain to have the command and ordering of all martial affairs of this plantation, as setting and ordering of watches, exercising and training of soldiers, and whatsoever of like nature appertaining to his office ; all which he is to do with all faithfulness and diligence, and be ready at all times to do whatsoever service the occasions of the town may require." This seems to have been a permanent appointment ; for he continued in office, till, having determined to visit the mother country, he had embarked in Lamberton's vessel. Then "the governor propounded whether the military affairs of the town may be comfortably carried on without a cap- tain, or whether it were not convenient to choose a cap- tain instead of Capt. Turner, not knowing when he will return. After some debate, Mr. Malbon was chosen captain, with liberty to resign his place to Capt. Turner at his return."
Robert Seeley, above mentioned as lieutenant before · the adoption of the fundamental agreement, was for- mally elected to that office Aug. 6, 1642. In 1649 he asked the town to excuse him from further service, but the Court was unwilling to do so; and "it was pro- pounded that the men in the town would underwrite what they would give toward the maintenance of Lieut. Seeley in his place." Before the settlement of New Haven, Seeley had been the lieutenant of Capt. Mason
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in the expedition from Connecticut against the Pe quots in 1637. He had passed Quinnipiac in the chase of the Pequots westward, and, unless Turner was with him in that pursuit, had been the first of those who soon afterward settled there as planters to set his eyes on its hills and meadows, its creeks, rivers, and fair haven.
Soon after the inspection of arms appointed in No- vember, 1639, it was ordered that a similar inspection should take place quarterly ; and it was defined that "every one that beareth arms" meant "every male from sixteen to sixty years of age, who shall dwell or sojourn within this plantation or any part of the bounds and limits of it for a month together." The number of persons thus made subject to military duty was in 1642 not less than two hundred and seventeen, as there were then thirty-one watches, each consisting of seven men. The whole company was divided into four squadrons, each commanded by a sergeant ; and the squadrons being trained in succession, one on Saturday of each week for four weeks, there was every fifth week a gen- eral training of the whole company, which occurred always on Monday. The squadron-training was omitted that week. At a later date the number of general train- ings was reduced to six in a year ; and after the organ- ization, in 1645, of a volunteer artillery company, whose members were exempt from squadron-training, the four squadrons were exercised two.at once, and only required to train each six times a year.
Besides the officers already mentioned, "the trained band " had an ensign, four sergeants, and four corporals. In 1642 the ensign, or antient as he was usually styled,
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was Francis Newman, afterward governor of the juris- diction. The sergeants contemporary with him were William Andrews, Thomas Munson, John Clark, and Thomas Jeffrey ; and the corporals were Thomas Kim- berley, John Moss, John Nash, and Samuel Whitehead.
Fines for absence and late-coming, whether on days of general training or on squadron days, were given up to the military officers and company for their encourage- ment, "to be disposed in powder and shot, that they may set up marks to shoot at, or may furnish themselves for their military exercises." A portion of Oyster-shell Field was set apart for " a shooting-place ;" and here, on training-days, the soldiers were exercised in target practice.
The arms which the militia were required to show were, in the revision of the orders, specified as "a good serviceable gun, a good sword, bandoleers, a rest, all to be allowed by the military officers ; one pound of good gunpowder, four pounds of bullets, either fitted for his gun, or pistol bullets, with four fathom of match fit for service with every matchlock, and four or five good flints fitted for every firelock piece, all in good order, and ready for any sudden occasion, service, or view." The order makes it indifferent whether the gun be a match- lock or a firelock ; only if the soldier have a firelock, he must be furnished with a sufficiency of flints, and if his gun is a matchlock, he must have a sufficiency of match. Any musket of the seventeenth century would seem to us ludicrously inferior to those with which modern soldiers are provided ; but even the matchlock gave its possessor, so long as he had a rest and a match, im- mense superiority over an enemy destitute of fire-arms
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The muskets of that day had no bayonet ; but sol- diers were sometimes exercised in the use of the pike, a weapon consisting of a long wooden shaft pointed with steel. New Haven, while requiring each soldier to be equipped with a musket at his own cost, provided pikes at the public expense.
"It is ordered that a convenient company and number of pikes . be provided at the town's charge, that the military and artillery companies may be trained and exercised in the use of them, but no man hereby to be freed from providing, and at all times continu- ing furnished, with all other arms, powder, and shot, as before ex- pressed ; and that a chest be made in some convenient place in the meeting-house, to keep the said pikes from warping or other hurt or decay. And Thomas Munson and the rest of the sergeants undertook to have it done without delay; and Mr. Pearce was appointed to give out and lay up the pikes from time to time, that they receive no damage betwixt times of service ; and in considera- tion hereof and of some bodily weakness, he is at present freed from training, and allowed to provide a man to watch for him."
In respect to defensive armor, the following order gives information : "It is ordered that when canvas and cotton-wool may conveniently be had, due notice and warning shall be given ; and then every family within the plantation shall accordingly provide and after continue furnished with a coat well made, and so quilted with cotton-wool as may be fit for service, and a comfortable defence against Indian arrows ; and the tailors about the town shall consider and advise how to make them, and take care that they be done without unnecessary delay."
Capt. Turner was by virtue of his office chief cap- tain of the watch, appointing the watch-masters and designating the watchmen to be subject to each, though
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· not without the approval of the magistrates. "It is ordered that a constant and strict watch shall be kept every night in this plantation from the first of March to the last of October every year ordinarily, leaving extraordinary cases, either of mildness or of sharpness of weather or times of danger, to the governor and magistrates, who may remit or continue the watch longer, or increase and order them as seasons and occa- sions may require. But in the ordinary course the watch is every night to consist of one intrusted as master of the watch (who is diligently to attend and observe all the orders made by this court for the watch while they remain in force), and of six other watchmen. This watch-master is to be appointed yearly, and the six watchmen to be sorted, as may be most convenient in respect of their dwellings, by the captain, with approba- . tion of the magistrates. But if by death, remove, or any other occasion, after the watches are settled in their course for the year, a breach be made, and so cause of an alteration, the captain shall with all con- .venient speed order and settle them again, so as may be most convenient for the town, and shall give sea- sonable warning to all the watch-masters whom it con- cerneth, that the service may go on without interruption or disorder."
What the orders for the watch were, may be learned from the following record: "At a court holden the 3d of June, 1640, all the masters of the watches received their charge and orders as followeth : -
"I. The drummer is to beat the drum at the going down of the sun.
"2. The master of the watch is to be at the court of guard
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within half an hour after the setting of the sun, with his arms complete.
"3. All the watchmen are to be there within an hour after the setting of the sun, with their arms complete and their guns ready charged; and if any of them come after the time appointed, or be defective in their arms, they are to pay one shilling fine ; for total absence five shillings fine. And if the master of the watch transgress, either in late coming, defectiveness in arms, or total absence, his fine is to be double to the watchmen's fine in like case.
"4. The master of the watch is to set the watch an hour after sunset, dividing the night into three watches, sending forth two and two together to walk their turns, as well without the town as within the town and the suburbs also, and to bring to the court of guard any person or persons whom they shall find disorderly or in a suspicious manner within doors or without, whether English or Indians, or any other strangers whatsoever, and keep them there safe until the morning, and then bring them before one of the magistrates. If the watchmen in any part of their watch see any apparent common danger which they cannot otherwise prevent or stop, then they are to make an alarm by discharging their two guns, which are to be answered by him that stands at the door to keep sentinel, and that also seconded by beating of the drum. And if the danger be by fire, then with the alarm the watchmen are to cry fire, fire. And if it be by the discovery of an enemy, then they are to cry arm, arm, all the town over, yet so as to leave a guard at the court of guard.
"5. The master is to take care that one man always stand sen- tinel in a sentinel posture without the watch-house, to hearken dili- gently after the watchmen, and see that no man come near the watch-house or court of guard ; no, not those of the present watch who have been walking the round, but that he require them to stand, and call forth the master of the watch to question, proceed, or receive them, as he shall see cause. The master of the watch is also to see that none of the watchmen sleep at all, and that none of their guns remain uncharged till the watch break up (and then they may discharge), and also that no man lay aside his arms while the watch continues.
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