USA > Connecticut > In olde Connecticut; being a record of quaint, curious and romantic happenings there in colonial times and later > Part 6
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Averys that had gone out from the old hive made a good showing in the ranks. The thunder of the guns on the day Fort Griswold was defended was plainly heard here, and in the afternoon a breath- less horseman came riding up with news-nine Averys had been killed in defense of the fort and many more wounded, among the latter Col. Parke Avery, then living in the old house; and very soon a long line of wagons came over the hill, bearing the wounded to be tenderly nursed back to health and vigor by the patriotic women of the home- stead. It was in 1783 that the first wall paper made its appearance, and years after that before its white and sanded floors were made acquainted with carpets. The old house has recently had a very narrow escape from destruction, for the new line of the New York, Providence and Boston Railroad, now building to connect with the new bridge across the Thames, passes within a few feet of its western gable, and had not the engineers deflected their line a trifle, would have passed through it. It is a pity that none of the old family furniture has been preserved. "My mother had fourteen children," said Mr. Avery, speaking of this matter, "and every time they came to visit me they would take away some article of furni-
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ture, saying that if they gave me the old house, they must have the furniture-so it is all gone."
The ancient records of Groton found in the old house are interesting, but not so much so as the story of the man who indited them. This first Town Clerk was named John Davie, an educated man, graduated at Harvard in 1681. His writing in the town books is in a firm, clear, clerkly hand, . and the ink has faded but little during the nearly two hundred years it has been spread upon the page. Soon after his graduation he married a Hartford woman, daughter of John Richards and sister to Governor Saltonstall's wife, and settled down to the life of a farmer here on Poquonnock Plains. Six children were born to him here, as he has recorded in the town register. One day he was hoeing corn on the plains in company with John Packer, a neighbor, both men in homespun and barefooted, with their sleeves rolled up to their elbows and their trousers up to their knees, when a stranger, clad in the latest London fashion, ap- peared, and asked the official if he was John Davie. "Yes," was the reply. "Then I salute you Sir John Davie of Creedy Court, Devon, " he replied. Tradition says that the new Baronet fin- ished his row-he was hoeing on a wager with his
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fellow-worker-then accompanied his visitor to the brown homestead, treated him to cake and wine, and learned the whole story-how his uncle, Sir John Davie, Bart., had died without male issue, leaving him sole heir. In a short time the Poquonnock farmer exchanged the brown farm- house for baronial halls. He never forgot his na- tive land, however, and always retained his inter- est in Groton. He aided the settlers to build their new church, and when it was finished presented it with a silver communion set. He also made gifts to his relatives, and was one of the early benefactors of Yale College. We remarked on hearing this story that it read like a romance; it is, however, sober truth.
They tell a story here of the war of 1812 worth relating: One day Commodore Hardy in the "Ramilies" and Sir Hugh Pigott in the "Orpheus " hove in sight, and the people came to the conclusion that New London was to be at- tacked. Major Smith at once manned Fort Gris- wold with volunteers from the vicinity, while the women and children fied into the interior. At the last moment the Major found he had no wadding for his cannon, and sent out a squad in search of flannel for that purpose. Unfortunately all the
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houses and stores were closed, and they could secure none. Returning, they met on the street Mrs. Anna Bailey, who, on hearing their story, dropped her flannel petticoat, and told them to give it to the British at the cannon's mouth. The officers and garrison were greatly elated by the lady's spirit, and Hardy would no doubt have fared ill had he attacked. When the danger was over, Commodore Decatur gave a grand ball, at which Mrs. Bailey was the heroine of the occasion. Later her fame spread throughout the country, and she was visited by Lafayette, Monroe, Jack- son, and other notables. "Mother Bailey" died in 1851 aged ninety-two years. -
Mystic village is the point at which one should station himself in order to discover the picturesque and untraveled ways of the ancient town of Groton and possess himself of her more interesting history. It lies between the Pequot and Narragansett coun- tries (the village includes the old Pequot fort where Captain Mason gained his victory over that war- like tribe), and in various directions are localities famed in the border warfare of colonial times. The mouth of the Mystic just beyond the town is studded with islands. Fisher's Island lies just across the narrow Fisher's Island Sound. The
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river for three miles above the village is a broad and deep estuary, at places expanding into bays, and above this its bed, quite to its sources in the Lantern Hill range, is charmingly romantic and picturesque. North and East lie those vast stretches of sunken lands which once formed the refuge of the Indians when hard pressed. They are a strange feature of the landscape-in places showing ponds of inky-black water, again quiv- ering jelly-like masses of bogs, in other places thickets of bushes and aquatic plants.
We have communed with local antiquaries in regard to the origin of the name Mystic, with no satisfactory results, however, and are left to form our own conjectures. Perhaps the play of the fogs around the hills and rocky islets-a curtain . that rises and falls, advances and recedes, pro- ducing the fleeting scenes of the phantasmagoria- suggested it; perhaps the name came from the sorceries of Indian medicine-men; perhaps from some sect of mystics that originated here. But however the name came, it is pretty sure to stick. The people are pleased with it; it is novel and distinctive, gives them an individuality, so to speak. The old port is quiet now. Occasion- ally a collier sails in or a fishing steamer puts to
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sea. Thirty years ago it was a busy, bustling center of the shipbuilding industry. Some of the old ways and sail lofts remain, and now and then . you meet a veteran of the shipyards who is not averse to giving you reminiscences of better days when Mystic was famous the world over for her ships, when vessels were advertised as Mystic- built bottoms because of their high reputation.
The first Mystic shipbuilders were Messrs. Greenman & Co., who began in 1827 in a small way at "head of Mystic." This firm began with smacks and schooners, then built brigs, barks and clippers for the Southern and California trade -125 vessels in all. The business so increased that by 1852-55 there were five shipyards in op- eration, and nearly 500 men-calkers, joiners, carpenters, blacksmiths-went down to the yards to work of a morning. Of these firms, besides the Greenmans above mentioned, the most im- portant were Irons & Grinnell, who began oper- ations in 1840, and built in all 620 vessels; Charles Mallory & Co., who began in 1849, and built 52 vessels, and Hill & Grinnell, who succeeded the old firm of Irons & Grinnell on the death of . Irons in 1858, and built 16 vessels, including 5 Spanish gunboats.
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The type of vessel that gave distinction to Mys- tic was that known as the "half clipper." The first clippers intended for the California trade were built for speed chiefly. Freights were high and carrying capacity was not so much considered. But in a few years freights fell, and a demand arose for vessels that were both swift and capa- cious. Mr. M. C. Hill, then foreman for Charles Mallory & Co., originated the model of the half clipper. The old gentleman is still living in Mys- tic, and gave us some interesting reminiscences of his craft in the days when it made the name of Mystic familiar in uttermost ports.
"The first shipyard here, " he began, "was that of Greenman & Co. I well remember when the five shipyards were in operation, with half a score of ships on the stocks, and 500 men busy upon them. The most famous ships ? Well, there was the 'Pampero,' the first California clipper, built in Mallory's yard by myself; the ' Andrew Jack- son, ' built by Irons & Grinnell, and the 'Twi- light,' built by the Mallorys after my drawings, were both famous for speed. They left New York for the Golden Gate on the same day and hour, and arrived in San Francisco on the same day and within an hour of one another. The bark
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'Aquidneck,' built by myself for Baltimore mer- chants in the Rio trade, performed a feat never surpassed. She made the trip from Baltimore to Rio in time never equaled by steamer or sailing vessel. I suppose the most notable shipyard in Mystic was that of the Mallorys. D. D. Mallory, the founder, came here from Waterford, Conn., when quite a young man, and began life as a sail- maker. By industry and economy he accumu- lated capital sufficient to engage in the whaling business, and later embarked in shipbuilding. Besides many Government vessels he built eight of the fifteen gunboats for the Spanish Govern- ment which were built in Mystic. There were thirty in all, you remember, in the contract taken by Ericsson, fifteen being built in New York and fifteen here. The war struck the first blow at the prosperity of our shipyards. The depredations of Confederate privateers led shipowners to reg- ister under the British flag. Then the age of steam and iron vessels came, and there was little demand for wooden craft such as our yards turned out. "
We were not slow in discovering the many de- lightful drives in the vicinity of Mystic. Chief of these is the drive to Lantern Hill, about six
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: miles above the village. The road winds along the curves of the estuary for the first three miles, . and then leads you up the narrow wooded valley of the Mystic, through meadow intervales, under frowning crags, until at length you reach the base of the hill. It is a long climb to the top, but when you reach it the view is superb. It is the highest land hereabouts and forms a landmark for vessels coming in from sea. Montauk Light is thirty miles nearer the ocean, and stands upon a con- siderable bluff, yet sailors approaching Montauk Point sight first this rugged Connecticut hilltop. Of course, from so lofty a position the eye ranges over a wide and varied landscape. Town and village with their church spires are prettily blended with the dark-green foliage of June, and beyond is the Sound with its islands and the dark-blue ocean.
At other times we drive to Fort Hill, about two miles west of the village. On this hill stood the central stronghold of the Pequots, described by Captain Mason in his account of the battle as being two miles from the fort on Pequot Hill, stormed by himself. Here is another magnificent view. Another delightful drive is to Stonington, six miles east; from the summit of the ridges
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which lie between, one gets delightful views of land and water. The little local walks are also very delightful. West Mystic bristles all over with stern granite crags, on which and amid which. the houses of the village nestle. On one of these, commanding the ship channel, and some forty feet above it, stood Fort Rachel, one of the de- fenses of Mystic in the war of 1812. A friend who accompanied us thither for a Sunday evening stroll told its story as follows :
"In the war of 1812, as you know, the British paid much more attention to this part of the coast than to any other, several of their larger vessels patrolling our waters almost constantly. On the 12th of June, 1813, an armed cutter of the enemy, with a launch in tow, was seen approaching up the ship channel yonder, with the evident design of plundering and burning the town, as he had several of our coast villages. A masked battery of one twelve-pounder, named Fort Rachel, after a local heroine, had already been thrown up on this rock, which, as you see, commands the ship channel completely. An express hastily sum- moned the minutemen of the village to the fort, which was unmanned. Twenty men responded. There was powder for the gun, but no ball, but
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spikes, scrap iron and pieces of chain were hastily gathered and thrust into the muzzle. The British, quite unsuspicious of danger, were allowed to approach to about where the drawbridge now stands, when the gun was fired at point-blank range, sweeping the cutter's decks. As soon as she could recover from the confusion the cutter manned her launch, and sent a detachment ashore to carry the cliff, which, to appearance, was un- defended; but while this was being done, our lads, under Captain Haley, had time to load, and as the launch neared the shore again discharged their weapon with such good judgment that the craft was sent to the bottom, and most of her men were killed or wounded. The British com- mander then turned and fled. In plundering and burning houses tenanted by defenseless women and children he had been measurably successful, but for contending against spikes and scrap iron he had no stomach. This Haley, with four other Mystic men-Burrows, Park, Washington and Tufts-was the hero of another gallant affair. For two days after Hardy attacked Stonington, the British fleet lay off the Hummocks, and our boys thought they would try a stratagem on them. They manned a large sloop-rigged fishing boat,
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loaded her with boxes, barrels and bags, and sailed out past the fleet as if intending to run the blockade. Meantime, one looking through the hill yonder might have seen Capt. Jonathan Wheeler's company of Groton militia concealing themselves amid the rocks of Groton Long Point. The British eagerly pursued the American sloop in the familiar barge used in their predatory ex- cursions. The sloop at first tried to outsail her pursuers, but apparently failing in the attempt, turned and ran in upon Groton Long Point, where the men beached her and fled on shore. The British eagerly pursued them, and when once on land were met by a volley from the militia, which killed several, wounded more, and sent the sur- vivors into the water, where they surrendered. The captured barge was afterwards sold for $1,200 a part of the proceeds being divided among the captives.
"I must tell you about another exploit in which Captain Burrows figured. One day the Mystic sloop 'Fox,' commanded by Capt. Jesse Crary, was captured, though captain and crew succeeded in escaping to the shore. Crary determined to retake his craft, which was as the apple of his eye. He accordingly bought the sloop 'Hero,'
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procured letters of marque from New London, and sent her out in command of Captain Burrows, to retake the 'Fox.' The 'Hero' convoyed a fleet of six vessels as far as Montauk, and soon after sighted the 'Fox,' which ran off with the 'Hero' in hot pursuit. Both craft had been built by Eldridge Packer of Mystic, and were equal in speed, but Burrows knew better how to sail his vessel, and gained on the 'Fox'; indeed, he over- hauled her so quickly that he was enabled to run his bowsprit into the enemy's mainsail, and to board her, where, after a gallant fight, he gained her colors. The two vessels received a hearty greeting as they came up to the village, through , which the news of the expedition had been quickly spread. "
CHAPTER VIII
FISHER'S ISLAND
F ROM the masthead of the old whaling barque "Nile," slowly rotting at New London's docks, we saw one day, a long, blue outlined island, eight or ten miles out to sea and acting as the natural breakwater of the harbor. Its corol- lary on the Long Island coast is Plum Island, and between the two the currents of Long Island Sound rush with the velocity of a mill race. Much of the island is unfenced and uninhabited; and although it has all the elements of a summer resort-pleasant prospects, cool breezes, pictur- esque walks and drives-it is rarely visited by the tourist. Its history is a notable one, and it derives additional interest from the fact that it has been for more than two centuries the occasion of much wrangling and contention as to jurisdic- tion between neighboring States.
Captain Adolphus Block first discovered it, sail- ing up the Sound from Manhattan in his square-
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bowed, high-pooped, native-built yacht the "Rest- less," poking his inquisitive nose into every creek and bay along the coast as far east as Cape Cod, and claiming for his Dutch masters territory that rightfully belonged to the English king, and this in 1614, six years before the "Mayflower" landed. Block named the island Fisher's Island after one of his companions, it is said. It was pretty cor- rectly mapped by De Saet, an early Dutch geog- rapher, who thus speaks of it in his journal:
"A small island lies to the southwest by south from this river (the Thames) as the coast runs. Near the west end of it a northwest by west moon causes very low water."
For twenty-five years after its discovery the island remained a wilderness, known only to the Dutch traders, who resorted thither to purchase peltries and wampum of the Indians. But in 1640 John Winthrop, Jr., son of the famous Governor Winthrop, the founder of Boston, obtained from the Massachusetts plantation a grant of Fisher's Island so far as it was theirs to grant, "reserving the right of Connecticut if it should be decided to be theirs." Nearly at the same time, in order that there might be no flaw in his title, he applied to the Connecticut General Court for a similar
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grant, which was given him in the following words, which are copied from the records of a General Court, held at Hartford, April 9, 1641:
"Upon Mr. Winthrop's motion to the court for Fisher's Island, it is the mind of the court that so far as it hinders not the public good of the country, either for fortifying for defence, or setting up a trade for fishing or salt and such like, he shall have liberty to proceed therein."
But the patent granted to the Duke of York in 1664 contained an insignificant clause that was not only a source of disquiet to Governor Win- throp, but has continued to be a disturber of the peace to the present day. This clause gave to New York all the islands lying in Long Island Sound, and shortly after the patent was granted Winthrop applied to and received from Governor Nicholls of New York a third patent, declaring his island to be an "entire, enfranchised township, manor, and place of itself, in nowise subordinate or belonging unto or dependent upon any riding, township, place or jurisdiction whatever." Con- necticut, however, did not by Winthrop's act re- linquish her claim to jurisdiction.
In 1680 Sir Edmund Andros, the petty tyrant who soon afterward made an ignominious exit
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from the colonies in chains, wrote to the magis- trates of Connecticut, asserting his authority as Governor of New York over Fisher's Island; to this the General Court of May 13, 1680, thus stoutly replied :
"Whereas this court is informed that Sir Ed- mund Andros hath asserted that a certain island called Fisher's Island, belonging to heirs of John Winthrop, deceased, is part of his Royal High- ness's territories, which by charter from his Maj- esty, Charles II., King of England, is indeed granted unto this, his Majesty's colony of Con- necticut, and under the government (thereof). This colony, for preserving the just limits of his Majesty's gracious grant to them, do hereby pub- licly assert that said island is a part and member of this colony of Connecticut and under the gov- ernment thereof, and that they have exercised and shall exercise government there as occasion shall require, and do hereby declare and protest against the said Sir Edmund Andros and all other persons their claims or exercise of authority or government on or over said island."
Here the matter ended for the time being, but on each occasion that the vexed question of the boundaries of the two States came up for settle-
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ment the island was always an important factor in the problem. Early in the present year a report was presented to the Legislature of Connecticut by its three commissioners previously appointed to treat with the commissioners of New York on this affair, which recommended the surrender of the island to New York. This report was accepted by the Legislature, but the act created so much dissatisfaction in some parts of the State that it was led to supplement its action by reappointing the commissioners to treat further with those of New York, and to devise some method for its acquisition by Connecticut. And this is the pres- ent status of the matter. It cannot but be re- marked, however, that in the eastern part of the State the prospect of the cession of the island to New York is viewed with the greatest objection. Connecticut claims it by patent, conquest and purchase, and the general feeling is that the island is lawfully hers. "Why, look at it," said a prom- inent gentleman conversing on the subject re- cently; "the island is scarcely three miles off our coast-just far enough to be beyond the reach of riparian law; it was settled by our people; it is bound to us by every tie of interest and kinship; we have considered it ours for more than two
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centuries, and now it is given to a foreign State, whose nearest territory is twenty miles away across a stormy channel, and whose nearest county town is thrice and its capital ten times that distance. Connecticut ought to have it, of course she ought, and if she had half the pluck and belligerency of her younger days she would have it, or"-a very expressive bit of pantomime finished the sentence.
There is no way of acquiring the island now, it is said, except by act of Congress, and it is probable that New York, having maintained a death grip on it for more than two centuries, will require a pretty liberal fee before agreeing to the act of cession.
Soon after receiving his patent from Connecti- cut, in the spring of 1644, Governor Winthrop began his settlement of the island by sending hither several "yeomen," who cleared the forest and put up two or three rude cottages for winter quarters. There is no evidence of Winthrop's presence on the island until the spring of 1645, when he came with a company, and the settle- ment of the island was actively urged forward. None of the pioneers, however, brought their wives and families with them; these remained behind until the autumn of 1646, or until com-
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fortable dwellings had been built for them; but the colonists were not all this time without the refining influence of female society. As early as April, 1645, there is evidence of a lady's presence among them. Roger Williams, writing to Gov- ernor Winthrop from "Narragansett, 22, 4, 45," sends his "loving salutes to your dearest and kind sister, " and other letters of the Winthrops of this period mention her. This brave lady was Mrs. Lake, sister-in-law to Governor Winthrop. She .had been visiting Lady Fenwick at Saybrook, but on Winthrop's arrival on the island went thither in company with Mr. Thomas Peters, a brother of the Rev. Hugh Peters, a Puritan divine, who figures somewhat largely in the early records of the colony. She is worthy of honor as being the first Englishwoman who trod the soil of the Pe- quot country.
Governor Winthrop remained on the island un- til the success of the plantation was assured, and then, having received a grant on the banks of the Thames, removed thither and founded the present city of New London.
The piratical annals of the island (if I may be allowed the expression) form a not uninteresting episode in its history. For a period of nearly
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fifty years-from 1680, let us say, until 1723, when the "Greyhound," man-of-war, broke the spirit of the marauders by capturing a pirate crew of twenty-five men, and bringing them into Newport, where they were hanged-the shores and islands of the eastern part of the Sound and of the ocean as far east as Cape Cod were havens of refuge for all the pirates who infested the American coasts. Hard pressed, hither they fled for safety. The innumerable islands, bays, creeks and chan- nels of these waters afforded secure hiding-places, and their swift currents, shoals, reefs and the dense fogs that are whirled swiftly in from the ocean were additional elements of security.
Every one who has read of Captain Kidd will remember Gardiner's Island and Bay on the coast of Long Island as his favorite haunt, and Fisher's Island, directly opposite, was much frequented by himself and others of his ilk. Here, behind its wooded shores, in their low, black schooners they waited until a rich West Indiaman, bound to or from New London, came sailing by, when they pounced upon her, and after rifling her of such parts of her cargo as pleased their fancy, either burned her or allowed her to proceed on her voyage.
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