USA > Connecticut > Tercentenary pamphlet series, v. 1 Connecticut and the British Government > Part 12
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Guilford was the last settlement made in Connecticut independent of an outside authority. All future planta- tions received their right to exist either from the New Haven jurisdiction or from that of Connecticut. The boundary line between the two was very indefinite, as were all boundaries based on Indian deeds, and neither colony knew exactly where its territory began and ended. New Haven after 1643 claimed to Guilford's east line in that direction, to the southern part of present Meriden on the north, including Wallingford, Woodbridge, and Mil- ford, and two isolated tracts, occupied by Stamford and by Southold on Long Island. Connecticut claimed the
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country as far southwest as Greenwich, by virtue of con- quest, indefinitely toward the unexplored region of the west and northwest, and north to the latitude running through a point three miles south of the "freshes" of the Charles River in southern Massachusetts. The eventual settlement of these boundary lines became a matter of great concern to the colony and continued to trouble its leaders in one part or another, throughout its entire colo- nial history.
The defeat of the Pequots had done more for Connecti- cut than simply relieve her from the dangers of a hostile tribe of Indians. It had opened up for settlement the whole region along the coast and into the interior lying west toward the Dutch in Manhattan. At first this land seemed very remote, but after the occupation of New Haven and Milford some of the people in Hartford, Wethersfield, and Windsor, who were interested in start- ing new settlements or who desired new lands for their families, turned their attention to this western stretch of coast as available for their purpose. In 1639 the General Court of Connecticut gave Roger Ludlow-one of the colony's leading founders, a magistrate, and a participant in the Swamp Fight near Fairfield-permission to begin a plantation at Pequonnock (Stratford). Ludlow bought lands of the Indians there, who were glad of English pro- tection against the Mohawks, and included within his pur- chase not only Pequonnock but Uncoway (Fairfield) also, a locality which lay just beyond and had a good harbor. When called to account for his long absence from his duties as magistrate and for purchasing land not specified by the court, Ludlow answered that he apprehended "others" were planning to "take up the sayd place, who had not acquainted the court with their purpose" and thinking that such action might be prejudicial to the
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commonwealth he had endeavored to anticipate them. His reference to "others" was to the discontented church mem- bers in Wethersfield, who were looking for a new home. The General Court immediately appointed a committee to visit the new plantation, instructing them to give the oath of fidelity to the planters there, to make freemen of as many as they saw fit, to tell the plantation to send depu- ties to the General Court, and to provide a local court of justice, with right of appeal to the higher authority. They were also to appoint a sergeant to form and drill a train- band. From these instructions the inference is clear that by 1639-1640 there were many people gathered in these two places, though how they got there and where they came from is difficult to ascertain. In 1640 Uncoway and Pequonnock are spoken of as the towns of Fairfield and Stratford and in 1643 the latter was granted the privilege of a magistrate. Until 1647 the two towns seem to have held their court jointly and in 1648 appear together in the list of estates, standing fourth, in the amount of the rate, immediately after the river towns.
Meanwhile New Haven, having heard of a good loca- tion for a town beyond Fairfield, made haste to buy Rippowams (Stamford) through Captain Nathaniel Tur- ner in 1640. Apparently, Connecticut did not lay claim to this particular region by conquest or she would certainly have objected to such an encroachment upon her rights. In Wethersfield the ecclesiastical life of the town had not been smooth, the church there with seven members and four ministers had been utterly unable "to walk peace- fully and in the light of God," and their disputes and dif- ferences had greatly troubled their Puritan brethren else- where. Expostulation brought no results, and the only remedy appeared to be withdrawal of the disturbing party. The leaders were the Reverend Richard Denton, of
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whom Cotton Mather says, "Though he was a little man yet he had a great soul, his well accomplished mind in his lesser body was an Iliad in a nut shell. I think he was blind of one eye, yet he was not the least among the seers of Israel"; and Richard Gildersleeve, who had got into trouble with the General Court for casting out "perni- cious speeches, tending to the detriment and dishonor of the commonwealth." These men accepted the invitation of Davenport, who from New Haven had tried to restore harmony, and agreed to purchase the land of New Haven for £33, to settle and improve it before May, 1641, or to fortfeit £5 apiece, and to join with New Haven under a common jurisdiction.
The Wethersfield people were true to their compact. In 1640 a company was formed of some twenty-eight men, with their wives and children, for the purpose of remov- ing to Stamford. In 1641 the migration took place and by 1642 there were probably in the neighborhood of sixty people in the plantation. They organized the town, di- vided their lands, and conducted themselves with "con- tentment and satisfaction." They chose a constable, sent their deputies to the New Haven General Court, and held a local court of justice for the trial of all cases up to forty shillings. New Haven added considerably to her position and influence by her dealings with Southold and Stamford. She became an agent doing a real estate busi- ness, in line with the mercantile traditions of her leaders, a sort of middleman between the Indians and prospective colonists, although reaping no direct profit in the form of money.
In 1640 the land around Norwalk had been deeded by the Indians to Captain Daniel Patrick, and in 1641 all that remained was given to Roger Ludlow. Nothing fur- ther seems to have been done until 1650, when the Indian
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deeds were confirmed by the Connecticut General Court. In that year Nathaniel Ely and Richard Olmsted on be- half of themselves and other inhabitants of Hartford petitioned the court for permission to plant a settlement at "Norwaake," having already negotiated with Lud- low for the purchase of Captain Patrick's land. The Gen- eral Court, glad to have the wilderness improved, agreed to the plan on condition that it be executed in an orderly manner and with due regard for the rules in such cases laid down by the committee appointed by the court- such as, to improve the land immediately, call a minister, and get thirty families on the ground. The company ac- cepted the terms of both Ludlow and the court, and paid the former £15, laying out a lot for himself and his sons worth £200. Under these conditions the plantation was begun. In 1651 the court made Norwalk a town and or- dered it to pay its share in the general expenses of the colony.
It is not quite clear why this company of men and women removed from Hartford. The most reasonable explanation is the desire for more land, as the members were not especially important people, being honest, simple farmers, whose desire it was to settle peacefully, so that there can have been no reasons of state involved.
The same Patrick who purchased part of Norwalk bought land in 1640 where Greenwich stands today, in partnership with one Robert Feake. The two men put up rough shacks for themselves and lived there for two years, presumably under English, not Dutch, jurisdiction. In 1642, however, they asked to be placed under the Dutch, because, as they claimed, they had not been pro- tected by New Haven. As Connecticut's claim was very shadowy New Netherland gladly accepted them and agreed that they should enjoy "the same privileges as all
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patroons" under the Dutch West India Company. Thus Greenwich for a time became a sort of manor or patroon- ship. Some few Dutchmen settled there, but we hear little of the place until 1655, when Stamford complained to New Haven that it harbored Indians, drunken Englishmen, and other disorderly persons, who committed sundry "inconvenient" acts, such as letting out their cattle, breaking down fences, and damaging crops. Stamford sug- gested that Greenwich be taken under the authority of New Haven, where by an agreement between the Dutch and Connecticut in 1650 it had already been placed, but being somewhat of a no-man's land it was at the time seemingly outside the jurisdiction of anyone.
Finally, in 1646, the General Court of New Haven or- dered the Greenwich inhabitants to submit, but they re- fused. Then the colony threatened to seize by force their leaders, "Richard Crabb and some other of the most stubborne and disorderly persons," unless they speedily appeared at a court of the magistrates and gave in their adhesion. This threat was effective and twelve of the people, including one Dutchman, signed an agreement to yield themselves, place, and estate to the government of New Haven, subjecting themselves to the order and dis- pose of the General Court there. They were made a part of Stamford and relieved of rates for the space of one year. Many new settlers came in from this time forward, most of whom were from Hempstead, Long Island, and from Massachusetts.
New Haven's control upon Long Island started with a small group of people from Norfolk, England, under the Reverend John Young, who came by way of New Haven in 1640 and in New Haven's name purchased lands and, after a short stay on the mainland, went across the Sound and founded the town of Southold. They were soon joined
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by settlers from Massachusetts, and soon after their ar- rival gathered a church "anew." As was the case with Stamford, Southold became a part of the New Haven Colony.
About the same time two other plantations were be- gun, Southampton and Easthampton, the former settled by people from Lynn, brought to Long Island in a New Haven vessel, who purchased their land directly of the Indians, having already, June 12, 1639, obtained from James Forrett, agent of the Earl of Stirling (d. February, 1640) a grant of territory between Peconic and the east- ernmost point of Long Island. This grant was supplanted by another, April 17, 1640, allowing representatives of this group and their associates "to sit down upon Long Island, there to possess, improve, and enjoy eight miles square of land," subject to an annual quit-rent, eventu- ally fixed at four bushels of the best Indian corn. The Dutch made them a good deal of trouble, and after con- siderable confusion Southampton voluntarily entered the jurisdiction of Connecticut, according to terms carefully drawn up by committees from each party, which became the basis on which other Long Island towns were admitted and which continued to prevail until Connecticut lost Long Island entirely after 1664. Easthampton also was settled from Lynn, the company securing for £34 through Thomas Stanton in Theophilus Eaton's name and at Edward Hopkins' expense, an In- dian deed to land to the east of Southampton. There by 1649 thirty-six settlers had arrived, who paid their debt to Hopkins and soon organized their town. Easthampton remained independent until 1658, when its people in turn applied for admission to the Connecticut Colony.
Thus far we have been dealing chiefly with the towns on seacoast and rivers and must turn for the moment to
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take up movements into the interior. Wethersfield, Hart- ford, and Windsor had not in their four years from 1636 to 1640 acquired as many neighbors as New Haven had in the two years from 1638 to 1640. These towns were still the only settlements above Saybrook, whereas there were five on the coast, with three others in contemplation. Several reasons may be assigned for this isolation of the river towns. Expansion on the part of the towns was slow, partly because the Pequot War had drained their strength and partly because there was a large amount of available farm land in the immediate neighborhood, either near the settlements or across the river. Thus the pressure of a desire for new land was not felt as soon as might be expected in view of the number of inhabitants. The peo- ple who left Wethersfield to go elsewhere were not in need of land and they journeyed as far away as possible in or- der to get beyond the reach of church disputes and dis- sensions.
As far as new plantations on the upper reaches of the river were concerned, the opportunities were not favor- able. Above Windsor a company of settlers would run the risk of falling either wholly or in part within the bounda- ries of Massachusetts, for the Woodward and Saffery line of 1642, because of inaccurate instruments, a fact not discovered until 1702, struck the Connecticut River sev- eral miles too far south and the matter remained unset- tled for many years, leading to endless disputes between Windsor and Springfield, and after 1680 with its off- spring, Enfield. Land on the east, beyond the cleared strip opposite the river towns appeared to be rough, heavily wooded, and dangerous. At Mattabesec or Mid- dletown, the Indians of that name had their headquarters and had shown themselves unfriendly to the English. Below Middletown the character of the river banks
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changed to steep, rocky land or low marshy land-either variety equally uninviting to the newcomer, who not unnaturally preferred to pitch his new home on the coast with cleared land all ready for the plough.
To all appearances the country west of the river be- yond the settlements was unpromising. A great wilder- ness, beginning with the Talcott range, stretched indefi- nitely toward the horizon. A few enterprising traders had been up and down the Tunxis River and had marked off favorable spots for settlement, for the friendliness of the Tunxis Indians and the growing need of more spacious farms were leading them to find locations in that quarter. In 1640 certain ones of Hartford, Windsor, and Wethers- field moved the court for "some enlargement of accom- modation" and the latter appointed a committee, two from each town, to "view these parts of Uncus Sepus" and make a report. In June the conditions of settlement were left in the hands of the particular court for comple- tion, but it was not until 1645 that a name, Farmington, was found for the Tunxis plantation, bounds were de- termined on, a temporary recorder appointed, and the town vested with all the liberties of the other towns but warned not to make orders among themselves contrary to the "fundament agreements" contained in the condi- tions of settlement.
No sooner had the Farmington plantation been started than other plantation projects were set on foot. Certain inhabitants of Windsor asked for an enlargement of terri- tory in a favorable spot higher up the Tunxis River, at the further end of the mountain range and petitioned the court to that effect. The governor, George Wyllys, and John Haynes of the magistrates were authorized by the court to dispose of "the ground uppon that parte of Tunxis River called Massacowe or Massaco, to such
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inhabitants of Wyndsor as they shall see cause." But nothing came of this and in 1646 the court decided to purchase the lands and to appoint a committee to sell them for what they cost. But again the plan failed. In the meantime one John Griffin, engaged in making tar, pitch, and turpentine, obtained a grant of all the lands in Massaco as compensation for injury done and this grant was confirmed by the court "in consideration that [Griffin] was the first to perfect the art of making pitch and tarre in these parts." But it was not until 1664 that the eagerness of the Windsor people to obtain land over- came their fear of the Indians and their unwillingness to go so far from the river into the wilderness, and a settle- ment was begun, called Simsbury, a shortened form of the English Simondsbury in Dorsetshire. Both Farming- ton and Simsbury were on a water course, within a more or less convenient reach of the Great River, and it was to be many years before any of the settlers were bold enough to strike into the woods beyond the reach of river communication.
The land in the region of Totoket had been purchased by New Haven in December, 1638. In 1640 she had sold it to Samuel Eaton on condition that he would settle there with his friends. This condition was not fulfilled and the New Haven court gave the land into the keeping of the particular court to get rid of as it saw fit. People were encroaching there without right or title and New Haven was very desirous of having an orderly company take over the place and establish a permanent plantation. Fortunately for its purpose, a group in Wethersfield, un- der the leadership of Richard Swayne, was looking for an escape from the ecclesiastical troubles in the town and after visiting Totoket purchased for £12 title to the soil. The purchase was made in 1643 and a few months after-
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ward in 1644 the settlers arrived, and were later joined by Abraham Pierson and a part of his church from South- ampton, Long Island. The conjoined planters willingly entered within the New Haven jurisdiction and set up their church after the New Haven model. The new planta- tion was called Branford, a popular corruption of Brent- ford, a London suburb on the Thames opposite Kew.
The western bank of the Connecticut River, between Saybrook and Wethersfield remained unsettled until 1646. As early as 1639 men had been sent to Mattabesec (Middletown) to find the Indians who had murdered a white man and who were supposed to be in hiding some- where in the neighborhood. This visit may have opened up the advantages of the country, which were not clearly evident when viewed from the river, for Mattabesec was on the turn of the stream, and though its shores were marshy on one side, they were rocky on the other. In the back country, however, were good arable fields with an abundant water supply, fed by five small streams which ran in at this point. But the Indians were hostile and it was not until 1646 that it was considered safe to begin a plantation. In that year a committee was appointed, but we hear nothing further until 1650 when a land commit- tee began to push the undertaking with so much enter- prise that the next year the plantation was large enough to be made a town by the General Court. Mattabesec was called Middletown in 1653, it was already organized and entered in the rateable list, and a church was formed in 1665.
Stonington, like Hartford and Windsor, started as a trading post. In 1650 Thomas Stanton was given liberty to traffic at Pawkatuck and was granted a three years' monopoly of the business. A year later, this monopoly was infringed by an interloper, William Cheesborough,
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who intruded on the territory and put up a house near that of Stanton. He was ordered to remove and put under bonds of £100 not to trade further and unlawfully with the Indians. In 1652 the deputy governor, John Haynes, was granted 3,000 acres east of Pequot and gradually other settlers began to cross the Thames and move into the Pawkatuck country. The numbers had become suf- ficient by 1657 to warrant the General Court in ordering the establishment of a minister and in the same year Mystic and Pawkatuck were set up as a town independ- ent of Pequot at New London, whence most of the planters had come. Massachusetts had had pretensions to this region and was familiar with it before any settlement took place there, under the name Southertown, which later grew into the modern Stonington, and when in 1657 Connecticut extended her jurisdiction in that quarter Massachusetts reasserted her pretensions and, assuming that Mystic and Pawkatuck were hers, not Connecticut's, incorporated them as a town under the name Southertown. Connecticut, basing her claim on the Warwick patent, replied that she had long exercised authority there, that the inhabitants had taken the oath of fidelity to her, and that the territory was rightfully hers. Massachusetts re- joined rather bitterly, "Wee cannot a litle wonder at your proceeding so suddenly to extend your authority to the trouble of your friends and confederates." A heated con- troversy ensued, Connecticut expressing the hope that Massachusetts would stop laying further temptations be- fore "our subjects at Mistack of disobedience to their government" and adding that she would not have en- dured so long these "uncomfortable debates" had it not been "to maintain the love with our Massachusetts friends." The matter was referred to the commissioners of the United Colonies and decided in Massachusetts' favor,
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but Connecticut refused to agree and after the issue of the charter of 1662 compelled Massachusetts to give in. On October 15, 1672, Massachusetts made a parting refer- ence to Connecticut's having obtained the charter, "which we hoped and had some assurance should not prejudice our right" and added, "this charter made your claime to the jurisdiction of these parts with so much pressure and at such a season that it was judged by us more dangerous to the common cause of New England to oppose than by our forebearance and yielding to endeav- or to prevent a mischief to us both." The withdrawal of Massachusetts and her failure in attempting to make the Mystic River the eastern boundary of Connecticut left the latter colony face to face with Rhode Island in the controversy over whether the Pawkatuck River or Nar- ragansett Bay was the eastern boundary. This quarrel was prolonged until 1727, when by decision of the king in council the Pawkatuck was made the boundary line.
The junction of the Shetucket and Quinebaug Rivers appealed to Jonathan Brewster of New London as offer- ing an advantageous location for a trading house, with which to start a traffic with the Mohegan Indians. In 1650 word was brought to the General Court that Brew- ster had established himself at "Mohegan" without leave, an action considered "very disorderly," but he was allowed to remain until the court saw fit to remove him. Just when the idea of settling a plantation there entered the minds of a group of people at Saybrook cannot be as- certained. Why Saybrook people wanted to migrate is equally mysterious. They were comfortably provided for at home, were well housed and at peace, and as far as known were neither restless nor discontented. Why they should have wanted to settle a new town in the wilderness is a puzzle, unless it be that they were attracted by the
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opportunities for Indian traffic at the head of a navigable stream. In 1659 we find the Reverend James Fitch and Captain John Mason (who had already assisted in laying out three or four other plantations) enthusiastically gather- ing the people of Saybrook into a company for migration to Norwich. In May of that year they received per- mission to go from the General Court, provided they set- tled within three years, and, twenty-eight in number, left Saybrook in 1660. As the settlers comprised the majority of the Saybrook church and were led by their minister, their migration resembled that of Windsor and Hartford, the removal of a body of covenanted Christians. There was no ecclesiastical reorganization after they reached Norwich, though their desertion of Saybrook necessitated the setting up of a new church there. They bought nine square miles of territory for £70 from the Mohegan chief- tains, Oweneco and Joshua, sons of Uncas, the purchase price being defrayed by all the planters. In 1661 the Gen- eral Court ordered "Norridge" to send a committee to see about the organization of the town, instead of ap- pointing a committee of its own to "view" the place, and continued to keep in touch with the progress of the place, in order to see that all conditions were successfully met. In 1663 the court, satisfied with what was being done, ad- mitted freemen and deputies, thus constituting Norwich a full fledged town.
Some of the early divisions on the other side of the Shetucket brought the planters into close contact with the Indians, who made an attack upon two of them work- ing there in 1676. Many of the Norwich people had sent their sons to take up land at "East Norwich" and by 168I there were at least six families in the place. As the number increased and the settlement promised to become permanent, these east side settlers found it more and
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more difficult to go to Norwich for Sabbath day worship. Finally, when the boundary between Norwich and New London was run, they found themselves outside all town jurisdiction and in 1686 nineteen of them applied to the General Court, saying that they were fourteen miles from New London and six or seven from Norwich and that they "hazard their lives over the water to hear the Word of God preached." They wished to be a plantation by themselves and to have their own minister, and prom- ised to pay minister rates to Norwich until their own in- cumbent was settled. In 1687 their request was granted, they were created a town under the name of Preston, and were temporarily freed from country rates in order to encourage the organization of their church. They were authorized to send deputies, the first of whom ap- peared in 1693, and full church estate was recognized in 1698.
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