USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Bridgeport > Reports and papers. Fairfield County Historical Society, Bridgeport, Conn. 1882-1896-97 > Part 40
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HOWARD N. WAKEMAN,
Recording Secretary.
XXXI
REPORT OF THE CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.
The Corresponding Secretary adds the following brief re- port :-
In addition to regular routine work, the society appreciates and solicits more correspondence with other societies or in- dividuals, upon subjects of historic interest and research, tending toward mutual benefit.
All relies and documents given for exhibition and preserva -- tion are valued, and will be kept to serve as object lessons to succeeding generations. They may awaken or stimulate de sires for a more intimate knowledge of the customs, deeds, and events in the history of the past.
JAMES R. BURROUGHS. Corresponding Secretary.
XXXII
LECTURE COURSE. 1897-1898.
1897.
- Oct. 19th.
Witchcraft in the Colony of Conn.
By the Rev. Frank S. Childs,
Fairfield.
Nov. 16th. Old New England Days.
By Prof. Anson Titus,
Tufts College, Mass.
Dec. 21st. Lafayette.
By Prof. A. M. Wheeler,
Yale University.
1898.
Jan. 18th. Early New England Newspapers.
By W. L. Stone, Esq.,
New York.
Feb. 22d. " Washington Day."
Symposium by distinguished speakers.
Mar. 15th. "Jackson Day."
Historical sketch and addresses by
local clergymen and others.
-
XXXIII
INDEX TO THE PRINCIPAL CONTENTS OF THE PUBLICATIONS OF THE FAIRFIELD COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, FROM 1882 TO 1897.
1882. First Anniversary.
Sketch of the Life of Richardson Miner, Pastor of the Church of Christ at Unity, 1730 to 1744.
Acccount of the great fire in Bridgeport, 1845.
Sketches of Bridgeport churches in 1835, with list of members.
1882. Biographical Sketel, Roger Minott Sherman.
1884. History of the Bridgeport Bank, with personal sketches of its President and early Directors.
. 1885. Fourth Anniversary and Reports. Some Dutch troubles in early Connecticut, 1609. History of the Porter property.
1886. Fifth Anniversary and Reports of Officers.
John Read the colonial lawyer.
Notes concerning the township of Stratford in New Hampshire
The old Stratfield Baptist Church ; Elder Jolin Sher- wood.
.
Paper concerning the bones discovered at Seaside Park. Historical discourse on the Consociation, Fairfield East and Fairfield West, 1736 to 1886. Necrology.
1887. Annual Report.
Captain Stephen Burroughs and his times. Stephen Burroughs the astronomer.
1887. Study of Locks, by Alfred C. Hobbs.
1889. Annual Report.
William Samuel Johnson, and the making of the Con- stitution.
XXXIV
1892. Annual Report.
Rev. Blackleach Burriit.
The Welles family. The Pilgrims Fathers and what they wrought. Inscriptions in the cemetery at Easton, Conn. Charter of the town of Stratford, 1686. Extracts from the will of P. T. Barnum. Necrology.
1894. Resume of the society's work. By-Laws. List of Members. Necrology.
1895. Annual Reports.
Account of the dedication of the Barnum Institute ; Opening exercises and addresses.
Sketch of the life of Rev. James Beebe.
The Fatal Silver Bullet, a Revolutionary story. Inscriptions from the old Cemetery in Norwalk.
1897. Fifteenth Anniversary and Reports : Lincoln Anniversary.
Wyoming or the Connecticut East India Company.
Inscriptions from the old Greens Farms Burying Ground.
Inscriptions from the "Den" Burying Ground, Weston. List of Church Registers in the Society's Library.
Copies of most of the foregoing publications may be obtained upon application to the Treasurer. Price, 50 cents each, in paper ; $1.00, in cloth.
XXXV
DONATIONS TO THE LIBRARY AND MUSEUM, APRIL 1895 TO NOVEMBER 1897.
Library.
DONORS.
RESIDENCE.
Books
Pamp'Its.
Miscellaneous Articles for
Museum.
A
American Catholic Historical Society, American Historical Asso'n.
B
Balch, Fdwin S
Barnunt, Mrs. P. T
Bartram, Mrs. Orlando
..
1
Bennett, Ferdinand
Blassett, Emmanuel
Boardman, Miss E. L.
3
Boston Public 1.ibrary,
Boston, Mass.
1
1
Bowser, Henry E.
Bridgeport, Conn. =
2
Bullard, D. R.
Black Rock, Conn. Buffolo, N. Y.
Buffalo Historical Society,
C
Child, Rev. Frank S.
Fairfield, Conn
2
Coe, David
StratforS, Conn.
2
8
Connecticut Historical Society.
Hartford, Conn.
3
....
Cowpens Centennial Committee,
Charleston S. C.
I
D
Day, Mrs. G. B.
Bridgeport, Conn.
14
30
3
Dexter, Flanklio B.
New Haven. ConD.
E Exchange.
3
F
Fairchild, Mrs. H. C
Bridgeport, Conn.
1
Feirabend, Mrs.
Fenner, Chas.
Lost Angeles, Cal. Bridgeport, Conn.
70
34
G Goode, Mrs. Mary
Stratford, Conn.
H
Hall, Stiles
Bridgeport, Conn.
47
Hoadley, Chas. J.
Hartford, Conn.
16
Hobart, Miss Hannah
Fairfield, Conn.
2
2
Hooker, Edward
Brooklyn, N Y.
Hudson, Mrs. S. E. J.
Stratford, Conn.
1
[ Ireland, Joseph N. K
Bridgeport, Conn.
2
Krating, Bernard Kelly, Micht+ 1
Bridgeport, Conn.
1
1
Krtrham, William E.
Yonkers, N Y. Fairfield, Conn.
1
. .
Kippen, Jhiss
Philadelphia, Pa.
13
Philadelphia, Pa· Bridgeport, Conn.
2
3
3
44
7
2
Boyd, Mrs. C.
4
Deacon, Edward-
16
1
1
=
2
First Presbyterian Church,
1
104
Hawley, Mrs. Frederick B.
1
1
XXXVI
DONORS ..
RESIDENCE.
Books.
Pump'its.
Miscellaneous Articles for
MuseuIL.
L Lacey, R. B Lacey, Miss H. B. Lee, Henry
M Marsh, Edward W. Mc Neil, Capt. John Montana Historical Society, Mowry, Wm. C.
N
Nebraska State Historical Society.
N. Y. Genealogieal & Biographical S'c'y, New Eng. Genealogical & Hist. Soc'y. New London Historical Society, Nelson, Miss Emily
Nichols, E. H.
O Oneida Historical Society, P
Pinkerman, John P.
Porter, Mrs. H. H. Porter, Mrs. Fannie S. Price & Lee Co.
Purchase.
Putnam, Eben.
R
Robb, W. C. Rochester Historical Society, Rhode Island Historical Society. Royal Academy of Sweden,
S
Secor, David P. Seeley. Clinton B.
Scott, Mrs. P. R. Shelton, Miss Jane De Forest
Silliman, Frederick E.
Smith, Joseph P.
T
Terry, Mrs. Hattie E. Trubec, S. C. Turner, Gro. S. Turner, Mrs. Geo. S.
U
U. S. Commerce Commission,
V
Van Hoosear, David H.
W
Wade, Patrick Warren, Henry Dexter Wh. temore, William H.
Worcester Society of Antiquity, Wright, Carroll D.
Y Yonkers Hist, and Library Ass'n,
Bridgeport, Conn.
15
13
5
2
51
Bridgeport, Conn.
2
6
Helena, Mont. Hartford, Conn.
1
Lincoln, Neb.
1
New York City.
1
Boston, Mass. New London, Conn.
1
Bridgeport, Conn.
1
3
New York City.
1
Utica, N. Y.
2
Bridgeport, Conn.
..
2
..
6
9
5
New Haven, Conn.
1
2
Salem, Mass.
1
Keene. N. H.
Rochester, N. Y.
1
Stockholm, Sweden
1 4
45
Bridgeport. Conn.
1
New York City. Stratford. Conn.
3
Shelton, Conn.
1
1
Washington, D. C.
1
Bridgeport, Conn.
1
1
1
Washington, D. C.
1
Wilton, Conn.
1
Bridgeport, Conn.
1
Boston, lass. ..
3
Worerster, Maxa.
1
Washington, D. C.
6
3
Yonkers, N. Y.
1
1
1
. .
1
Stepney, Oonn.
1
1
1
3
Library.
WYOMING
Connecticut's East India Co., -OR-
TWO LECTURES
Delivered before the
Fairfield
County Historical
ociety,
BRIDGEPORT, CONN.,
March 10, 1893,-April 21, 1893,
-BY-
HENRY T. BLAKE, ESQ., -OF-
New Haven, Conn.
BRIDGEPORT, CONN. . THE STANDARD ASSOCIATION, PRINTERS. 1897.
.
Connecticut's East India Company ; THE STORY OF WYOMING.
I have selected the title of this paper not because it is ap- propriate from a geographical point of view, but because I shall briefly sketch an episode in the annals of our ancient, and as some suppose, our prosaic commonwealth, which in its leading features will strikingly remind ns of the great com- mercial corporation of England. Few among those who have been but cursory readers of Connecticut history are aware that there once existed within our borders a similar company which for more than a generation owned and occupied large and distant regions in which it founded and maintained col- onies, established their governments and framed their laws; which made treaties with independent powers, sent its agents to represent it before the government of Great Britian, raised armies and carried on successive and successful wars against organized states; and which by its enterprise and military achievements brought under the political jurisdiction of Con- necticut a beautiful and fertile province whose mountains of iron, hills of coal and subterranean rivers of oil vied with "the riches of Ormus and of Ind." But while the British Company, fostered and supported by the ambition and greed of England, has rewarded the mother country by swelling to fabulous proportions its wealth and power, that of Connecticut tardily recognised, feebly sustained and finally abandoned by the parent state, saw all its labors and expenditures end in failure and its own existence in extinguishment. Nothing now remains of the former vast possessions of the Susquehanna Company but a dozen musty volumes of records in the Historical Society collection at Hartford, and almost un- known is that tale of fortitude and adversity whose tragic pathos once stirred the heart of the world. A solitary echo of the interest it awakened across the Atlantic survives in literature: the mellifluous but incongruous poem by Campbell, "Gertrude of Wyoming."
-
4
CHAPTER I.
The occasional traveller who strolls along the silent streets of the venerable town of Windham, meeting no inhabitant ex- cept perhaps a straggling cow, and hearing no sound but the hum of a drowsy insect, or the feeble croak of a town born frog, receives little impression of its activity and importance as a political and business center before the Revolution.
Then it was one of the wealthiest, most bustling and thriv- ing towns of the Colony: gay with elegant social life and the home of influential leaders in Connecticut affairs. Within its limits were included as parishes several of the now adjoining towns. It had four well trained military companies, four meeting houses, a court house and jail and numerous stores. It furnished nineteen captains and more than sixty other officers and soldiers to the old French War
Its appearance was far more attractive than at the present time. At the head of its capacious public square stood the Congregational church elegantly painted in a brilliant yellow, and around the square stood public buildings and stores, and the handsome dwellings of the aristocracy. But in an evil hour, and in some mysterious manner a portion of the public square was allowed to be sequestered to private use. Let other communities hear the sequel and heed the lesson. The prosperity of Windham has departed, its glory has faded away, the ancient church and other public edifices have dis- appeared, and solitude and silence have taken possession of the streets.
The population of Windham in 1750 was 2400; the entire county contained but 13,000 inhabitants, and the rest of the state was peopled in a like proportion. On those rocky hill- sides where farming was the sole occupation, such a popula- tion was beginning to seem redundant, and was already looking for some outlet. Connecticut, it was thought had about reached the limit of its self-supporting capacity. The farming lands were all taken up, and there was no longer the same chance for the young men who were poor, to achieve prosperity as there had been for their fathers. The time had evidently arrived to begin the settlement of that vast tract
5
beyond the Delaware River which belonged to the colony by its Charter and extended west across the continent to the unknown shore of the Great South Sea. Adventurous ex- plorers who had been to spy out its eastern end in the valley of the Susquehanna, brought back enthusiastic reports of its beauty and productiveness. It was a land flowing with milk and honey, waiting to be occupied by the chosen people. True the savage Canaanite inhabited the land: the Indian tribes who under French influence in case of war might be objection- able neighbors. There were suspicions too that the heirs of Wm. Penn, proprietors on the Southern border of the tract although it was not included in their domain might be unfavor- able to its occupation as a part of Connecticut. But these considerations were easily disposed of. As to the Indians the land would be purchased from them in a fair trade, and should they attempt any subsequent treachery, so much worse for the Indians. Still less was serious trouble to be expected from the peace loving, non-resistant inhabitants of the city of brotherly love. Were they not all mild and harmless Quakers, too fair minded to question the indisputable title of Connecti- cut and too peaceable to make trouble for inoffensive neigh- bors who minded their own business and kept within their rights? Wherefore since the Saints shall inherit the earth, and we are the Saints, let us go up to the land and possess it.
An emigration fever sprang up which spread from town to town and from county to county like the California excite- ment of 1849. It only needed organization and direction to start the movement; capital and influence must combine to form a Company, purchase the title to the soil from the In- dian owners and aid the first Colonists to remove and estab- lish themselves; these in their turn would buy lands from the Company, and the abundant crops would support them until they could realize handsome profits by the sale of farms to future comers.
Full of such glowing anticipations the Susquehanna Com- pany was organized at a large and enthusiastic meeting held at Windham July 18, 1753. Articles of agreement were signed by 250 subscribers. Eliphalet Dyer and Jedediah
6
Elderkin, two leading lawyers of Windham took a prominent part in the movement. Dyer and others were subsequently appointed a Committee to go to the Susquehanna valley and select the land ; also to make the purchase from the Indians, and to receive and lay out the tract. Elderkin was appointed on another committee to collect and pay over the money re- quired for the enterprise. Representatives of nearly every family in Windham and the neighboring towns were among the subscribers ; Israel Putnam's name appears on the origi- nal list. An agent to sell shares or land rights was appointed in every county of the Colony. Two Spanish milled dollars was the price fixed per share. but applications were so numner- ous that in January 1754 it was raised to four dollars, and in May to five dollars, and at a later date to nine dollars until 1200 members had been enrolled. Nothing stirs the public mind like the rapid rise of stocks. The whole Colony and es- pecially the northern counties invested heavily in Wyoming Rights, and patriotism and profits combined to boom the en- terprise.
Nor was the excitement confined to the human population alone for just at this juncture the frogs of Windham broke ' out in that extraordinary demonstration which has rendered the old town famous and covered its batrachian inhabitants with imperishable renown. What was the cause or purpose of the uproar has never been discovered. The theories of a frog migration and battle have been discarded. That the prodigy had some reference to the Susquehanna move- ment was evident to the people of Windham from the cries of "Col. Dyer! Col. Dyer! Elderkin, too! 'Elderkin, too!" but whether it was a portent for good or evil was a matter of controversy. By some it was regarded as a warning of disaster by old croakers divinely inspired; by others, (and these were largely in the majority,) it was declared that the sign was sent like that of the frogs in Egypt as a call to let the people go.
In July, 1754, a Congress of delegates from all the colonies assembled at Albany to confer with the tribes of Indians inhabiting central New York, known as the Six Nations, in
7
order to secure their friendship in event of a war between Great Britain and France, then impending. These tribes claimed ownership and sovereignty over the Susquehanna lands, and Dyer and his associate agents of the Land Com- pany resorted to the conference in order to effect their pro- posed purchase. The object of the Congress was accomplished, at least in appearance, as the Indians agreed to an English alliance. After the treaty was concluded, the negotiation on behalf of the Susquehanna Company was entered upon.
The Colonial delegates who were present from Pennsylvania interposed objections, claiming not a jurisdiction or ownership of the territory, but only a right of pre-emption and made overtures for purchasing on their own account. But the astute savages had heard of the modes of trading practiced by the heirs of Wm. Penn, and preferred to deal with Yankee customers. Under the persuasive influences of eloquence and fire water a purchase was soon effected in behalf of the Com- pany for #2,000. A deed was executed; the cash was paid over to the Indians in a blanket and the noble red men immediately adjourned to a neighboring orchard where they divided the money and drank the rest of the fire-water.
The tract conveyed was bounded on the south and north by the parallels of 41° and 42° of latitude, east by a line parallel with the Susquehanna River and always ten miles distant therefrom, and west by a north and south line 120 miles west of the north end of the easterly boundary. It thus comprised an area of 60 miles in breadth north and south, by about 130 miles east and west.
In 1755 the Company in order to obtain the support of the Connecticut Colony in case of any friction with the Pennsyl- vania authorities, applied to the General Assembly for its approval of the purchase and for authority to lay out a town- ship with forts and mills: to which application that cautious body gave "a ready acquiescence providing it should be his majesty's royal pleasure to grant such lands to the petitioners, humbly recommending them to his majesty's royal favor in the premises." In the meantime another company in Connec. ticut called the Delaware Company had been organized and
---
8
purchased all the land east of the Susquehanna tract between it and the Delaware River. This Company had little promin- ence in subsequent events, as it made but one small settlement on the Delaware River and had practically no separate history.
Thus by the year 1755 the promised land was ready to be occupied, but at this time the relations between Great Britain and France were so strained that war was immediately ex- pected and the preparations for it in Connecticut together with the dangers to which new settlements on the Susque- hanna would be exposed prevented any migration to that region. War was actually declared in the following year 1756 and continued till 1763, though for the last two years of that period hostilities were not very active. In this war many of the promoters of the Susquehanna Company, including Eliphalet Dyer, Israel Putnam, Zebulon Butler, Phineas Lyman and others took conspicuous parts as military officers, and the occupation of the Susquehanna region remained in abeyance with one disastrous exception. A colony of immi- grants settled near the present site of Wilkesbarre in 1762, and in the same year was cut off by the Indians. More than twenty were killed and the rest fled through the woods back to Connecticut. This was the first expulsion of the Yankees from Wyoming. From this time no farther steps were taken in settling the valley till 1768.
The delay however was not entirely on account of the war. Ever since the purchase at Albany in 1754 the authorities of Pennsylvania had been busily occupied in striving to render it nugatory. They sent a remonstrance to the Governor of Con- necticut inquiring whether the purchase had been made by authority of the Colony ; to which that functionary rendered an evasive reply. They also commenced intriguing with the Indians to induce them to repudiate their sale under a pretence that they had been deceived. The operation was a long and difficult one as the Indians had some scruples against such barefaced mendacity, but by means of repeated conferences, abundance of presents and unlimited rum, and through the aid of Sir William Johnson, the savages in 1768 were finally
.
9
brought to declare their deed to the Susquehanna Company void, and to sell the same lands to the honest Quakers.
While these negotiations were going on the Susquehanna Company had also been endeavoring to fortify its title in another direction. The cautious approval of its purchase by the Connecticut General Assembly in 1755 upon condition that the Crown should grant permission to settle the territory had seemed to compel the Company to obtain such permission. During the early years of the war nothing could be done, but in 1760 at a joint meeting of the Susquehanna and Delaware Companies held at Hartford it was voted to send Col. Eliphalet Dyer to England as "Agent to the Court of Great Britain" with the magnificent salary of £150, and an allowance of his expenses for "all necessary extraordinary clothing and ap- paratus for his proper appearance." Jonathan Trumbull, Jedediah Elderkin, Hezekiah Huntington, David Edwards, Samuel Gray and George Wythe, (all but two from Wind- ham), were appointed a committee to assist him. Col. Dyer departed to England in 1761 and found there a Pennsylvania Agent ready to contest his suit. The matter was first referred to the Attorney General, who rendered an opinion adverse to the Connecticut claim. An appeal was taken to the King and Privy Council, which it was understood might not be heard and decided for years, and on which in fact no decision appears ever to have been rendered.
In May, 1763 a resolution was passed by the Company, reciting in substance that, whereas, Mr. Penn has made opposition to our claim in the Susquehanna and has been actively ineiting the nations to hostilities against our settle- ment, (referring to the massacre of the settlers there a few months previous), and has by misrepresentations obtained from the King an order inhibiting all entries on the Susque- hanna lands till inquiries be made and precautions taken to prevent fresh troubles with the Indians, therefore out of high regard for our gracious Sovereign, &c., &c., Voted to suspend all settlement till his majesty's pleasure be heard therein.
Iu May, 1765 Dyer returned and reported the matter still in abeyance, and there being no one left in England to represent
10
the Company, John Gardiner, Esq., of the Middle Temple, London, was employed as its agent and attorney. Two and a half years later Gardiner having removed from London and the cause having made no progress the Company voted to "request Wm. Samuel Johnson, Esq., now in London, to attend to its prosecution." In Jan'y, 1768 at another meeting at Windham, nothing being heard from the case, it was voted that Col. Dyer go again to England, "to appear before the King's most excellent majesty and obtain his confirmation of our title."
In December of the same year, (1768), the Company had become tired of waiting on the convenience of the King's most excellent majesty and determined to proceed to business.
The Company held a meeting at Hartford, (meetings seem to have been held sometimes at Hartford and sometimes at Windham), and passed a lengthy vote which may be condens- ed as follows :- " Whereas, in 1763 his gracious majesty the King inhibited settlement on the Susquehanna lands till pre- cautions had been taken to prevent trouble with the Indians, and we then suspended sueh settlement and have since taken care to satisfy the Indians and ensure their quietness, Voted that we now proceed to settle said lands." It was also voted that forty persons should set out by February 1st, and that 200 more should follow in the Spring, and £200 was appro- priated for their outfit and sustenance. Also that five town- ships should be laid out, to belong to the forty and the 200, in addition to their share rights provided they would occupy and keep possession of the land for five years in the name of the Company, and not conduct themselves disorderly ; and that if any of them should "be sued or prosecuted in the law by the proprietors of Penn, this Company will be at the cost of their defence."
The five townships were subsequently laid out and were named Wilkesbarre, Hanover, Kingston, Plymouth and Pitts- ton.
In the meantime the amiable Quakers were informed of the movement and preparing to counteraet it. All lands in Penn- sylvania were owned in fce by the heirs of Win. Penn, one of
11
whom, John Penn, was the Governor. These proprietors in pursuance of their custom not to part with the title to the soil, executed a lease of 100 acres at Wyoming to three persons for seven years on condition that they should erect an Indian trad- ing house thereon, and defend the land from encroachment. These three persons were Charles Stewart. Capt. Amos Ogden and John Jennings, the latter being the high sheriff of the ad- joining county. The three were also constituted a Chief Execu- tive Directory to protect the proprietaries' affairs at Wyoming. Surely no 100 acres of land was ever leased on conditions which proved more arduous. The Executive Directory having notice of the coming of the first forty from Connecticut, hurried to the ground with half a dozen men and took possession of an old block house which had been left by the unfortunate Colony of 1763, and there awaited the arrival of the Yankees. It was the month of January, 1769; the country was covered with snow and the stillness of death brooded over the wooded valley.
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