The history and genealogies of ancient Windsor, Connecticut, Vol. I, Part 12

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Hartford, Conn., Press of the Case, Lockwood & Brainard company
Number of Pages: 1038

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Swearing, drunkenness, and contempt of the civil authorities were severely dealt with, as the following records will show :

" Sept. 5, 1639. Thomas Gridley of Windsor was complained of for refusing to watch, strong suspicion of drunkness, contemptuous words against the orders of the

SPECIMENS OF EARLY COLONIAL JUSTICE.

Court, quarrelling, striking Mr. Stiles's man, Ile was censured to be whipt at Ilart- ford, and bound for his good behavior " for which he entered a recognizance of £10. (Col. Record.)

Dec. 2, 1652. Henry Curtis, fined 5s, for neglecting his watch.

Edward Messenger, for his unmercifulness towards his servant and lying to exten- uate his fault, to be severely whipped when he shall be called forth by the Governor. (Rec. Particular Court.)

1654. William King, his Scotchman, for cursing, contrary to order, 10x, and set in stocks. (Ibid.)

1 Mch 1654. Walter Fyler, having charged [ Rev. ] Mr. Stone [of Hartford] with the breach of a fundamental law, and upon the Elders in general sin and wickedness, opportunity given [to prove his charges] but he could not make it out, but did multi- ply offences in open Court, fined £5, bound with David Wilton and Thos. Ford in 520 to appear at next court: next year was freed from his recognizance. (Ibid.)

6 Sept. 1655. On complaint of William Hayden, John Griffin, Jacob Drake, and John Bancroft, all of them for their riotous misdemeanor in William Hayden's family and thereby frightening his wife, the Court adjudgeth they all find securities, £20 each for their good behavior to the next Court and then to make their appearance. John Griffin adjudged to pay 20x, to the common treasury, John Bissell bound each €20. 10. 0. (Ibid.)

Mrs. Hayden had died July 17, only a few weeks before - was the " frightening " followed by serious consequences? All were neighbors, and whatever the " misde- meanor" was, there was probably no evil intent in it.

11 Dec. 1655. Mr. John Witchfield complains of Mr. Matthew Allyn for rescuing of hogs when they were driving to pound. In the complaint of Mr. Witchfield contra Mr. Allen, about the rescuing of hogs, though several things look very suspicious to be a reseue yet this court doth not find the complaint legally proved. (Ibid )

"June 2, 1664. Mr. Nicholas Stevens for his cursing at Windsor before the Train band last Monday is to pay to the public treasury 10 shillings."

" May 12, 1668. Nicholas Wilton for wounding the wife of John Brooks, and Mary Wilton, the wife of Nicholas Wilton, for contemptuous and reproachful terms by her put upon one of the Assistants, are adjudged, she to be whipt 6 stripes upon the naked body, next training day at Windsor; and the said Nicholas is hereby disfran- chised of his privilege of freedom in this Corporation, and is to pay for the Horse and Man that came with him to the Court this day, and for what damage he hath done to the said Brooks his wife, and sit in the stocks the same day his wife is to receive her punishment. The Constables of Windsor to see this attended."

" 1668. John Porter having been accused by this court for defaming of some who have been in authority in this court, do order that he make full acknowledgment of the same and manifest his repentance the next training day at Windsor, or else that he appear at the next county court to answer for his miscarriage therein."

In 1670, Owen Tudor "of Windsor was deposed from his office of Constable for swearing and drunkness."

Open contempt of God's holy word or ministers was rigorously dealt with. The first offence with public reproof and bonds for good behavior, the second by a £5 fine, and standing in the pillory upon a lecture day, bearing on the breast a paper duly labeled in capital letters, "AN OPEN AND OBSTINATE CONTEMNER OF GOD'S HOLY WORD."

Absence from church was visited by a fine of 5 shillings, thus : " Thomas Stoughton for his unnecessary withdrawing of himselfe from the publique preaching of the Word, on the Lord's day, is fined 5x." (Rec. of Particular Court., ii., April 18, 1654.)

HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.

Forgery was punished by three days in the pillory, payment of double damages to the injured party, and disqualification as witness or juryman.

Fornication, by fine, whipping, or prohibition to marry.

To nearly all these various punishments was added that of disfran- chisement of all civil qualifications in town and commonwealth, "until the Court manifest their satisfaction."

The eensure of the General Court, the stocks, and the whipping post were " peculiar institutions " of " the olden times." the latter two of which, thank God, are unknown to the moderns. Windsor, of course. possessed a pair of stocks from a very early day. In the annual exhibit of town payments. in 1663, we find that worthy old carpenter, William Buell, charging " for a pair of stocks and mending some seats, 9x. 6d." In May. 1679, " Jacob Drake demands for making a pair of Stocks:" and as late even as May 15, 1724, we find it recorded that "Friend Shivee sat in the pillory and his right ear cut off for making plates for bills." When the stocks were abolished in our town we do not know.

The whipping post, as tradition says, stood upon the green (Broad street) where the present sign-post stands, and was in use certainly as late as 1714, when Timothy Loomis records that " John F. was whipt at ye sign post. T. G. Whipper.

From this extract we might infer that it then served the double office of sign-post and whipping post. Whipping was generally performed upon a " lecture " or " training" day ; and very often "at the cart's tail," a peculiarly aggravating feature of the punishment. For example, in the first case of bastardy tried in the colony, in 1639, the court ordered as follows :

" John Edmonds, Aaron Starke, and Jno. Williams were censured for unclean prac- tives, as follo. : Jno. Williams [ Edmonds ?] to be wipt at a Cart's [tail] upon a lecture day at Hartford. John Williams to stand upon the pillory from the ringing of the first bell to the end of the lecture, then to be whipt at a Cart's [tail] and to be whipt in a like manner at Windsor within & days following.

"Aaron Starke to stand upon the pillory and be whipt as Williams, and to have the letter R, burnt upon his check, and in regard of the wrong done to Mary Holt, to pay her parents $10: and in defect of such to the Commonwealth, and when both are fit for that condition, to marry her.

"It is the mind of the Court that Mr. Ludlow and Mr. Phelps see some public pun- ishment inflicted upon the girl for concealing it so long."

Women, it will be seen, received less consideration, on account of their sex, than they now do, when convicted of wrong-doing. Even as late as 1767. a mulatto girl called Peggy was convicted of stealing and ordered to be whipped six stripes on the naked body in some public place in Windsor.

In a communication to the National Issue (a temperance campaign

THE SUMPTUARY POLICY OF OUR ANCESTORS.

paper published in Windsor) of July 1, 1886, Mr. Oliver Hayden, of East Granby, Conn., says: "I remember, when quite young. of seeing a post, about eight feet high, standing opposite the road north of the Pearson house [Palizado Green], near the main road. said to be the whipping post; and a very indistinct recollection of seeing the remains of the old stocks, which in " ye olden times " used to adorn most of the village greens."

It is quite probable that Mr. Hayden's recollections are not as "indistinct " as he thinks, concerning his having seen the remains of the old stoeks on Windsor Green " some seventy years ago." Mr. John War- ren Barber, author of the Connecticut Historical Collections, informed me once that he saw, when a boy, in 1806, what was then left of the old stocks on Broad Street Green.

Branding was a form of punishment not uncommon. Burglary, or highway robbery, was blazoned with the letter B. A second offense was followed by a second branding, and severe whipping. If the offense was committed on the Lord's day, one of the culprit's ears was to be cut off. If repeated on the same day the other ear suffered likewise. If a third time, death followed.

Sept. 1644. " James Hallet, for his theft, is adjudged to restore fourfoll for what shall be proved before Captain Mason and Mr. Wolcott, and to be branded in the hand, the next training-day at Windsor." (Cot. Rec.)

Ifallet was probably incorrigible, for he had previously been reman- ded by the court from the house of correction, and given in charge to his master Barclet, who was " to keep him to hard labor and coarse diet, during the pleasure of the court, provided that [the said] Barelet is first to remove his daughter from his family before the said James enter therein."

Our chapter would hardly be complete without some notice of the xumptuary policy of our ancestors. And here we are well aware that we tread upon disputed ground. Upon this feature of their legislation have been heaped obloquy, ridicule, and contempt : and the so-called Connectient Blue Laws have been the butt and scoff of scores of writers of later generations, whose reverence for their forefathers was as slight as their knowledge of history. For, however foreign and repugnant to our ideas those laws may be which restrain or limit the expenses of citi- zens in apparel, food, furniture, etc., it must be remembered that they were perfectly in accordance with the best and highest views of the political economy of that day. They existed in every civilized govern- ment of Old Europe, as well as in every American colony, then and for more than a century after. They had their origin in the then prevalent belief that simple habits and frugality were essential to the healthy growth of sound civil liberty, and that private and social extravagance

HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.

in any form tended to check that growth, and thereby embarrassed and destroyed the State. And, even as late as 1778, in Connecticut and some other States, the prices of labor and its products, tavern charges, ete., were regulated by law, while in England many such laws remained in foree until 1824.

Following ont, therefore, the line of policy in which they had been educated, and which the customs of the age sanctioned, our fathers, from time to time, enacted such laws as in our day would be universally resented as an unwarrantable interference with private affairs. In 1641, noticing an increasing and, as they deemed it, " an unseemly " increase of extravagance in dress, which they term an "excess of apparel," and desiring to nip the naseent evil in the bud, the General Court required the constables of each town to take notice of any person so offending within their several limits, and present them to the Particular Court.

Yet, there are sufficient indications that even the much-dreaded " censure of the Court "could not entirely check the growing evil, and that some little " innocent finery " would, from time to time, crop out. in spite of spying constables.

The General Court, in June, 1641, regulated the scale of laborers' prices, etc. They ordered that "able carpenters, plowwrights, wheel- wrights, masons, joiners, smiths, and coopers, should not take above 20d. for a day's work, from the 10th of March to the 9th of October, nor above 18d. a day for the rest of the year."

The working day was set at nine hours per day in the summer time, "besides that which is spent in eating and sleeping," and nine hours in winter. Mowers were only allowed 2047. for a day's work. AArtificers, handicraftsmen, and chief laborers were not to take above 182. per day from 10th of March to 9th of October, and 147. per day the remainder of the year. When work was done by the job, its price was to be valned in the same proportion.

Sawyers could " not take above 4x. 6d. for slit work or three-inch plank, nor above 38. 67. for boards per hundred." The price of boards was also regulated at 5s. 67. per hundred.

The hire of four of the "better sort" of oxen and horses "with tackling." should not be valued at above 4s. 10d. per day, for six and eight hours' work (according to time of year), except they be employed in breaking upland ground, for which they were allowed 48. 15d. for six hours.

In May, 1647, the court passed the following eurious order, which would in these days seem very harsh to the tobacco-growing settlers of Windsor, and the tobacco-loving Yankee nation in general.

" Forasmuch as it is observed that many abuses are crept in and committed by fre- quent taking of Tobacco, it is ordered by the authority of this Court, that no person under

THE SUMPTUARY POLICY OF OUR ANCESTORS.

the age of 21 years, nor any other that hath not already accustomed himself to the use thereof, shall take any tobacco until he have brought a certificate, under the hand of some who are approved for knowledge and skill in physic, that it is useful for him, and also that he hath received a license From the Court for the same. And for the regulat- ing those who either by their former taking it, have to their own apprehensions made if necessary to them, or upon due advice are persuaded to the use thereof, it is ordered, that no man within this Colony, after the publication hereof, shall take any tobacco publicly in the street, nor shall any take it in the fields or woods, unless when they are on their travel, or journey of at least 10 miles, or at the ordinary time of repast com- monły called dinner, or if it be not then taken, yet not then above once in the day at most, and then not in company with any one. Nor shall any inhabitant in any of the towns within this jurisdiction, take any tobacco in any house in the same town where he liveth, with and in the company of any more than one who useth and drinketh the same weed, with him at that time; under the penalty of 6 pence for each offence against this order, in any of the particulars thereof, to be paid without gainsaying, upon conviction by the testimony of one witness that is without just exception before any one Magis- frate."

The constables of each town were to make presentment of such offense to each particular court. Puritanie and blue as this may seem, Connectieut was not alone in pronouncing against the weed. Queen Elizabeth of England enacted edicts against its use : James I. not only followed her example. but added the weight of his pen and personal influence : and Charles I. made another attempt to put it down. Russia made its use a capital offense; popes have thundered against it and threatened excommunication, and in nearly every great power of Europe it has been made a matter of penal legislation. But in spite of all, and over all-tobacco, filthy. poisonous, useless -is triumphant, and counts its votaries by tens of thousands.

About the same time. " for the preventing of that great abuse which is creeping in by exeess of wine and strong water," the court "order, that no one shall remain in any common vietualling house in the same town where he liveth above half an hour at a time in drinking wine, beer, or waters," nor should they be allowed to drink more than three pints at a time. Venders of the same were forbidden to deliver wine to any one " who came for it unless they bring a note under the hand of some one master of a family, and an allowed inhabitant of the town."

This law is in some respects identical with the famous Maine law. which, some two centuries later, so widely agitated the public mind of America.

We have thus endeavored to present our readers with a clear sum- mary of the government under which Windsor and her sister plantations in the colony had their beginning and their growth. It is an interesting subject to every student of American history, and especially so to those who retteet that these laws under which their fathers lived were the work of Roger Ludlow, Wolcott, and others, - men whose names, through long lines of descent, have been honorably associated with the town of Windsor.

VOL. I .- 13

CHAPTER IV.

THE RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION OF WINDSOR.

T THE first Church of Christ in Windsor, " now the oldest Evangelical Church in America ; and, except the Southwark Church, Lon- don, the oldest Orthodox Congregational Church in the world," 1 pos- sesses a history which is both interesting and instructive. The first twenty-nine years of its existence in Windsor were uneventful. As far as we can learn, it fulfilled its mission by an active course, abounding in good works. Happy in its minister, strong in its members, powerful and salutary in its influence, it could not have been otherwise than as "a light set upon a hill." And the fact that in those early days, the town was emphatically the church, and the church was the town, and that the records of the latter necessarily embrace the history of the former, renders its unnecessary, as well as impracticable, to treat the ceclesias- tical history of Windsor as distinet from its civil history.

But a few words concerning the nature of the organization which prevailed among the churches of New England at that day may not be inappropriate. That our fathers were Puritans was to them a reproach, but to us it is a "crown of honor." Their ecclesiastical polity was re- publican in principle, and congregational in form.2 Dissenters, not from the faith of the established church, but from its liturgy and ceremonials, and recognizing no head but Christ, they claimed the right to form and govern themselves as a church, according to the rules laid down in his New Testament. Each church was supplied with a pastor, teacher, one or more ruling elders, and deacons.3 These latter possessed the same func- tions as now, but the duties of the pastor and teacher were hekl to be distinct. The pastor was to exhort, persuade, and sympathize with his people. " and therein to administer a word of wisdom." The teacher, or

1 I quote the words of my friend, Mr. Jabez H1. IJayden of Windsor Locks, Conn., whose able argument on this point will be found in Appendix C.

2 This is the commonly accepted view of this subject. Our own opinion (strength- ened by our researches on the subject, as connected with our present history) is, that the early churches of New England were Presbyterian, rather than Congregational, in form and organization. See Appendix D.

3 Offices clearly indicated, it was thought, by these passages: Romans xii. 7; 1 Cor. inthians xii. 28; 1 Timothy v. 17, and Ephesians iv. 11.

PASTOR - TEACHER - RULING ELDER.

doctor in ecclesia, as he was termed, was to teach, explain, and defend the doctrines of Christianity, " and therein to administer a word of knowl- edge; and either of them to administer the seals of the covenant." From the former they expected pastoral visitations and friendly coun- sels ; from the latter carefully studied sermons in elucidation and de- fense of the great truths of religion - a most judicious division, in our opinion, of the labors of the pastoral office, evineing a self respeet for their own interests, and a consideration for the necessities of those who filled it. How much in contrast with the general eustom of the present day, when one weak but willing man is burthened with the work of two, and however faithful he may be can hardly escape being impinged upon either one or the other horn of complaint, viz. : that his sermons laek study, or that he visits too little.

The ruling elder, who was regularly and solemnly ordained, was "to assist in the government of the church, to watch over all its members, to prepare and bring forward all cases of discipline, to visit and pray with the sick, and in the absence of the pastor and teacher to pray with the congregation and expound the scriptures." In short, he was " to join with the pastor and teacher in those acts of spiritual rule which are distinct from the ministry of the word, and the sacraments committed to them." Ruling elders, though not salaried, were commonly men of education and superior gifts. Mr. JJohn Witehfield, Mr. John Branker, " the schoolmaster," and Mr. William Hosford, were the first and proba- bly the only ruling elders which the Windsor Church ever had. Henry Wolcott, Jr.'s, shorthand MS., deciphered by J. H. Trumbull, Esq., shows that these gentlemen frequently delivered the " weekly lecture " before the Windsor Church. We have called them the only ruling elders of that church, in lack of other evidence, and because the office fell into very general disuse at an early date.

Personal religion, consisting of a degree of conformity of the heart and character to the precepts and requirements of the Bible, was the qualification for church membership. The examination of applicants for admission was conducted, at first, by the officers of the church privately. It afterwards became the custom to conduct them in the presence of the whole church. Still later, it was the practice to present a relation of personal experience, by the men orally, by the women in writing. This becoming, in few years, a mere form, was dispensed with, and a return was made to the original method of examination by the church officers, to whom is now commonly added a committee of the brethren.

Each church was united in a very solemn covenant, wherein " avouching the Lord Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, to be their Sovereign Lord and Supreme God," the members dedicated themselves to Him, to one another, and to the life that is in Christ. And it was a

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HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.

frequent and beautiful custom with the churches to renew their covenant, on which occasion each and all the members solemnly renewed their ob- ligations to the Lord, and to each other, in the same manner as when first admitted to the number of his visible people. This they often did by recommendation of the court, on days of public humiliation, and especially when threatened by wars, trials, and calamities; for in all things our pious fathers recognized the hand of God.

Fasting was often ohserved by them. Public fasts enjoined by authority, particular fasts of individual churches, and private fasts were considered very eminent means of grace. The Sabbath was also to them " holy time," and kept with a strictness and pious fervor of which we know but little in these days. Its sacred hours were carefully improved in publie worship, family instructions and prayer, in studying the Script- ures, and in secret retirement and meditation. Around it the law threw its authority, and woe to the unlucky wight who forgot either in word, or look, or act, the respeet which was due to its sanctity.

Catechetical instruction was another very prominent feature in the religious policy of our ancestors, and was practiced in many ways. Sometimes the minister, or ruling elders or deacons. in their frequent parochial visits, would catechise the assembled family group. Fre- quently the church was catechised, either in special meeting for the pur- pose, or during the intermission of public worship on the Sabbath. And it was an indispensable portion of home instruction, most rigidly adhered to by parents. The catechism most in use previous to 1700 was the one composed by the eminent Mr. William Perkins ; after that time, how- ever, the Westminster Assembly of Divines' Catechism took a hold upon the affections of New England, which it has not yet wholly lost.

Psalm singing, both in public and private, was a very essential part of the divine worship of those days, and one which was much delighted in by those pious people. . The version first used by them was that by Sternhold and Hopkins, which was printed at the end of their Bibles ; after which came the New England Psalm Book, made principally by Mr. Welde, Mr. Eliot, and Mr. Mather. This version was printed at Cambridge in 1640, and was more distinguished for its exact conformity to the original Hebrew and Greek than for its poetic merits. It was long in use even, by some congregations, until the close of the Ameri- ran Revolution. The church of Plymouth retained Ainsworth's version until the latter part of the 17th century. It was common for the minis- ter to expound a little upon the Psalm before singing. Some congrega- tions sang psalmus in course. The practice of " lining" the hymn was introduced subsequently to 1650.

Gospel discipline, as tending to preserve the purity and proper humility of the church, and frequent meetings for social conference and

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THE TYTHING-MAN OF OLD.

prayer, as a means of keeping alive the warmth and efficiency of experi- mental religion, were highly esteemed by the Christians of New England.

In short, we cannot but admire the high ideal of religion which they proposed for themselves. Theirs was not a dead religion, but a "life of faith with works." It was a life of principle, sustaining them through many trials, guiding them through this world, rendering their death beds sernes of holy triumph, and blessing their children and " their children's children, even to the third and fourth generation."

This chapter would hardly be complete without some reference to a functionary, whose office, however important in the olden time, has he- come almost obsolete in the " fast days " in which we now live.

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The history and genealogies of ancient Windsor, Connecticut, Vol. I, Part 12

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909 Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Hartford, Conn., Press of the Case, Lockwood & Brainard company Number of Pages: 1038

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Hartford, Conn., Press of the Case, Lockwood & Brainard company
Number of Pages: 1038