The history and genealogies of ancient Windsor, Connecticut, Vol. I, Part 63

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

USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Windsor > The history and genealogies of ancient Windsor, Connecticut, Vol. I > Part 63

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By strenuous and persevering efforts, and aided by its two auxiliary societies, the Woman's Relief Corps and the Sons of Veterans of this place, the Post had raised, in 1889, sufficient funds to purchase the fine location known as the Haskell Homestead, when, by the generosity of Mr. Charles E. Chaffee, a beautiful Memorial Hall was erected thereon and presented to it, on the 10th of June, 1891, as its permanent home.

The civic and military display on that day was worthy of the occa- sion, and the speeches of welcome by J. R. Montgomery, president of the day : of presentation, by Hon. John L. Houston of Thompsonville; of reception and dedication, by Department Commander Henry N. Fanton ; the address of Judge Arthur F. Eggleston of Hartford, admirably voiced the grateful appreciation of Mr. Chaffee's gift by the members of the Post, as well as of the citizens of Windsor Loeks. The day was a pub- lic holiday, all business being suspended in stores and factories ; and the whole town was gay with flags and decorations.

" Memorial Hall" is built of Monson granite, a grayish stone of great beanty. The building is two stories high exclusive of the basement and an unfinished attic. At the northeast corner is a round low tower surmounted by a flag-staff. The entrance is in the form of a large arch- way, with the words "Memorial Hall" on the stonework in gilt. The

529

MEMORIAL HALL, WINDSOR LOCKS.

interior is finished in hard woods. On the first floor are the library and rooms for the use of the Sons of Veterans and Woman's Relief Corps. A wide staircase leads to the second floor, where is found the reception room of J. H. Converse Post, No. 67. G. A. R. The large

MEMORIAL HALL.

Grand Army Hall occupies the remainder of this floor. The building is beautifully frescoed and finished, the windows are large and there are handsome mantels and fireplaces. In the lower hallway is a bronze nie- morial tablet. The cost of the structure was about =30,000.

Mr. CHARLES E. CHAFFEE, the donor of this beautiful structure, is a native of Monson, Mass .. and was born June 30, 1818. Commencing his VOL. I .- 67

530

HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.

career, as a youth, with a suit of home-spun clothes and but fifty cents in his pocket, his ability and industry have won him position and snc- cess. He began as a wool-sorter, in Rockville and Thompsonville, Conn., and from thence came into the employ, at Windsor Locks, of the Medlicott Company, of which he is now president and treasurer.

CHARLES F. CHAFFEE

" Memorial Hall " -- which is the outcome of a " self-imposed obli- gation, on his part, to pay a loving tribute to the spirit of self-sacrificing patriotism, on the part of those, living and dead, who bore the brunt of

531

ST. PAUL'S PARISH.

the terrible struggle to preserve the nation's life" -is not the only evi- dence of Mr. Chaffee's generosity towards his adopted town. The Con- gregational church (of which he is a member) is largely indebted to him for generous gifts.

St. Pauls ( Protestant Episcopal ) Parish. Episcopalian services inaugurated here in 1854, by Rov. Prof. Jackson of Trinity College, Hartford, were continued by him and Rev. Win. Cook of Wethersfield, until June. 1856, when an abortive attempt was made to organize a parish under the name of St. Bartholomew. In September, 1866. services were again commeneed and continued with more or less regu- larity, sometimes by clergymen and sometimes by lay-readers, until the organization of the present parish, 22 August, 1870, under the charge of Rev. G. M. Wilkins. A church edifice, costing about $12,000, was con- serrated 7 May, 1872 : the seats were made free in 1875: and, in 1889, a chancel and vestry-room were added to the church by Mrs. John B. Windsor of Hartford, the former being a memorial to her deceased hus- band, who had during his lifetime been an active member of the parish. The chancel was consecrated 18 June, 1890. Rectors-Rev. G. M. Wilkins, 3 October, 1869-14 JJuly, 1873 ; Rev. William Wilson, Easter. 1874-31 March, 1877 : Rov. George W. Lincoln, June 3, 1878-21 No- vember, 1880 : Rev. W. H. George, 1 January 1881-1 February, 1883 ; Rev. William Peek, 1 April, 1883-23 May, 1886: since which lay service has been provided by the Bishop of the Diocese.

Physicians : Dr. SAMUEL W. SKINNER practiced for many years at the Locks; was surgeon in First Heavy Artillery (Fourth Connecticut Infantry ) during the civil war, since when he has been a resident of Toledo, Ohio.

Dr. RALPH T. CHAFFEE, a native of Wilbraham, Mass., came to Windsor Locks, from Granby, in 1850, commenced to practice accord- ing to the homeopathie system, in 1857 ; removed to Hartford, 1865 ; re- turned to Windsor Locks, 1867 ; was at Hartford From 1871 to 1875, and died in Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1878.

He was succeeded by FRANK MAIN, M.D., of the same school, who removed to Springfield, Mass., in 1891. Dr. MAIN'S successor is Dr. CHARLES W. KELLY.

The other present practicing physicians at the Locks are S. R. BURNAP, A. W. COYLE, and JOSEPH COOGAN.

532

HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.

1640

His

SEFI

WILLIAM HAYDEN MEMORIAL STONE.

Windsor, Conn., Dedicated 2 Sept. 1885. This boulder is of flint stone, egg-shaped ; its weight is a little over two tons; its greatest length five feet : its breadth three and a half feet. The lettering, which took eight days labor and the repair of 300 chisels, is as follows:

MEMORIAL STONE.

WILLIAM HAYDEN BORN IN ENGLAND

HARTFORD WITH THE FIRST SETTLERS.

DORCHESTER, MASS., 1630

WINDSOR

1640

SETTLED HERE 1645

REMOVED TO HOMONOSCETT

WITH FIRST SETTLERS. DIED THERE SEPT. 27, 1669.

DEDICATED

SEPT. 2. 1885.

WINDSOR, EAST OF THE GREAT RIVER.

EAST WINDSOR, 1768-1891. SOUTH WINDSOR, 1845-1891. ELLINGTON, 1717-1891.

----

Jarras#2 man

Rev.

Timis Edwards.

Thomas Stoughton

Johngrant

Samuel Grant somer

Janel Rockwith

John Stoughton Jonathan Edward, I.D.

Rev.

6 Thomas

Hatganga bissia

Daniel Skimer.

Thomas

Facsimiles of AUTOGRAPHS OF SOME OF EAST WINDSOR'S EARLY SETTLERS.

WINDSOR, EAST OF THE GREAT RIVER.

CHAPTER I.

THE SETTLEMENT OF WINDSOR FARMES! AND THE HISTORY OF THE SECOND CHURCH AND SOCIETY OF WINDSOR, 1662-1768.

Its First Settlement.

TT will be remembered that the first purchase of land made by the Dorchester People after their arrival on the Connecticut, was upon the east side of the river, within the present town of South Windsor." Tradition has always asserted that, at first, they intended to settle here, but that fear of floods induced them to remove to the high lands on the west side. All the evidence, however, which has been presented in a former chapter, tends to show that their original intention was to locate on the present site of Windsor. Yet, it is not improbable that this pur- chase, made during the disputes and negotiations with the Plymouth Com- pany concerning their land at Windsor, was intended as a dernier resort : and that, in case of the failure of those negotiations, the Dorchester party would have effected a permanent settlement on the east side of the river.

' The term " farms " was not infrequently applied to the out-settlements of the older towns. Cotton Mather gives a catalogue of ministers in Massachusetts and Connecti- cut, in which he mentions " Windsor. Mr. Samuel Mather, and Forms, Mr. Timothy Edwards.'

" Windsor Formex." I Glimpse of an Old Parish, together with the Deciphered Inscriptions from a few Foundation Stones of a much-abused Theology, by John A. Stoughton, Hartford, 1883. 150 pp.

This work is a most valuable contribution to the history of Old Windsor cast of the Connecticut river; of which we shall make frequent use in the following pages. Mr. Stoughton's work is compiled from a mass of old Edwards and Stoughton family papers, long dormant in the garret of the Capt. John Ellsworth house. An ancient Account Book of Mr. John (brother of Capt. Thomas) Stoughton, who married Abigail the sister of Rev. Timothy Edwards; and who, from his social position and business qualifications, was a prominent man in the east side matters, also, furnishes us with many interesting and important points of information concerning the beginning and course of Mr. Edwards ministry ; which are further elucidated by Mr. Edwards's own carefully kept Rate. Book, in which he entered the payment of tithes, or " rates," and other busi- ness dealings between himself and his parishioners

2 See Chapter on Indian Purchases.

530

IHISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.

From this alternative, however, they were relieved by the final agree- ment with the Plymouth Company in 1637, which left them in quiet possession of the much coveted lands at Windsor. For thirty years after, there seems to have been no occupation of the lands on the east side, except as a pasturage for their cattle, and some small pieces of mowing.' Tempting as were the advantages offered by its broad expanse of fertile meadow, there were obstacles and dangers in the way of its actual settle- ment, which could neither be overlooked nor rashly encountered. The broad stream of the Great River, at all times an inconvenient highway, was, in the winter season, almost impassable with ice and drift. It was also a serious barrier to social intercourse and omutual aid or protection ; while its annual freshets obliged them to build on the upplands at a con- siderable distance from its banks, and consequently at a greater remove from the main settlement. On those eastern shores, also, dwelt the Podunks, and their allies, the Scanties, who, though never overtly mischievous or imfriendly, could hardly be considered as safe or pleasant neighbors. Moreover, prudence and the exigencies of the times. forbade any undne increase of colonization, whereby the strength and safety of the older towns might be weakened. Such, probably, were the main reasons which, for many years, retarded the progress of settlement and improvement on the east side of the Great River.

The BISSELL family, to whom the monopoly of the Country Ferry was granted in 1648-9, were undoubtedly the pioneers of the East Wind- sor emigration. It is not probable, however, that they had any perma- nent residence on the east side at that date, as so isolated a position, in the then unsettled state of the country, would have been full of peril to themselves and the common welfare. In January, 1662-3, Nathaniel Bissell received from his father John, a deed of property upon the east side of the river, near the ferry, wherein is mentioned a house already built. As " Goodman Bissell's Sen'r's" landing place on the east side the Great River is referred to in a record in Windsor, Book of Town Wages, under date of January, 1659/60, we may reasonably infer that this honse was erected abont 1658 or '59. It was undoubtedly the first and for several years the only dwelling-house in East (now South ) Wind- sor : 2 and it is probable that John Bissell, Senior, himself moved over to the east side in 1662, for in that year he made over withont reserva-

'Matthew Grant, in describing the great flood of 1638-9, says that it "endamaged many cattle over the river, " i. e. on the east side. Also, "Sept. 7, 1657, it was voted that the meadow east side of the river be cleared by the 23d." These and many other similar extracts might be adduced to show that the lands on the east side were to some extent improved.

"Thos. Burnham and others had purchased lands at Podunk in 1659 60; but there is no evidence that they were occupied, otherwise than for agricultural purposes.

---- 1

L İ

537

BEGINNINGS OF EAST-SIDE SETTLEMENTS.

tion, his former residence on the west side of the Conncetient to his son John, Jr.

The numerous purchases and grants which were made during the following ten years, bear evidence that the Windsor settlers justly con- sidered their possessions on the east side of the Connecticut as among their most important and valuable interests. In 1660, twenty-five years after the first settlement of Windsor, we find the community stirring itself to establish what had evidently been a long-felt want and matter of discussion amongst them, viz. : a common highway along the meadows on the east side of the Great River, from Podunk to Scantic, and thence up through Scantic to connect with the " country road " towards Spring- field. This we learn from the following record in the Book of Windsor Town Ways, p. 16:

"Jan: 23d, '59 [-60] we met to Consider of wayes or Landing places over East side of great River, we agree that there is need and allso has formerly been yielded that there shall be a Common highway Thwart Every man's Lands, from podunk River where it shall be found most Convenient upon view, & so to run through Every mans Lotts, until it comes to Scantock, one rod and half in breadth, and men shall be appointed to set it out where it shall be most meet ; yet this shall not be for any Country use for Drift of Cattle, but only for the Town use for horse or Cart, and from Scantoek to go in Like maner through Every mans Lotts untill it comes to the Country way, same breadth with the former and to be Bounded out, and for Landing places at Goodman Bissels Senr's, there is a Comon Landing place for men to go down with Carts to boat their Corne or hay if any man need Liberty to set Rocks they must agree with the owner of the Land ; for the Country Landing place it is to go up Betwixt Abraham Randwels & the widow Gibbses. [This was at the original Bissell's Ferry. - J. II. II.] A True Copy of Record Test, Timothy Loomis, Register.

This was a continuation of the road to which the historian of East Hartford thus refers ( Hartford Co. Mem. Hist., ii. 86): "one of the first roads laid out through the town ran along the edge of the meadow hill.

A road from the Connecticut river crossed the meadows to the above-described road, and is the present north meadow road. From the earliest settlement a roud extended northward through the meadows to Podunk and Windsor."' But, before long there must have been a road

1 " There seems to be no reason for doubting that this highway through the meadows extended below Podunk river to Hartford Landing place" in East Hartford. In the lay-out of said landing-place and a road to it, in 1678, said new road was to be "two rods wide upon the bank," or highland belonging to Mr. John Pantry, and from " thence to turn North two rods wide until it meets" with the common highway north upon the highland, " by the merestones " [upon the highland], etc. And John Easton's deed for the same in 1696, refers to it as follows - said two rods in width "should only extend to the highway upon the bank leading from Potuneke to Hartford Landing-place, on the bank of the meadow next to the low land, leading to the river " (ride, my history - Hartford Town Notes, 1678, and John Easton's deeds in Htfd. Rec., 1696). Easton also deeded " 20 ft. in breadth of land from 'said highway on the bank of the river.

. which 'hath been the towns for many years.'" - Letter of JOSEPH (. GOOD- WIN, Town Clerk and Historian of East Hartford, Ct., daled 21 Feb., 1891.

VOL. I .- 68

538

HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.

opened along the edge of the hill above the meadows, for we learn from a document dated at Hartford April 6, 1692, that in May, 1670, the General Court had "ordered that the selectmen in the respective Planta- tions [on the river] shall lay out a Highway six rods wide upon the up- land, on the east side of the Great River, that men may pass to their Lotts there as occasions shall require" ; but complaint was made at the date of this document, over twenty years later, that this order had been "neglected by the selectmen of Windsor, weh is to the great damage of the Inhabitants there," and therefore the Assistants (John Allyn, Caleb and Nath'I Stanley) order the selectmen of Windsor to attend to this former order and to "lay out the sayd Highway that so one neighbor may pass to another without being a Trespasser."' From this we may infer that travel along the east side of the river had hitherto been rather by sufferance than by any legal right of way over cach others' lands.

In 1672 there was a decided movement towards the settlement of the east side as a distinct town. We learn from the Colony Records, that the court, having at a previous session granted a considerable tract of land on the east side of the river " within Windsor bounds " to Capt. Benjamin Newberry, Deacon John Moore and others, received a petition from the inhabitants of Windsor, asking for the postponement of con- firmation until they could present objections to the same.

The court answered this petition thus: " and it is condescended to by Capt. Newberry, and Deacon Moore, that if Windsor plantation at their next town meeting, by unanimous or major vote, of the inhabitants of Windsor, will release their township right in the lands on the east side of Connecticut River that are within their bounds, to make a distinct plantation, on that side of the River, then the said Capt. Newberry, and Deacon Moore engage to release their particular grants, for the accom- modating of the said plantation, provided the plantation be confirmed a plantation by this court also, October next, and they have their propor- tion therein."

The reply of the town to this accommodating proposition of Messrs. Moore and Newberry, has not been preserved. That it was insufficient to influence the previous decision of the court, is evident, from the ree- ord of its subsequent session; wherein they declare that they see " no cause to put a stop to Deacon Moore and Capt. Newberry's " proceed- ings.

These gentlemen, however, were by no means the only persons on the east side. Already many individuals, mostly middle-aged or young

1 Original copy of record, among Stoughton Mas. Stoughton Mss. are papers once belonging to C'apt. Thomas Stoughton, and now in possession of Ruth T. Sperry by in- heritance. These papers are quite distinct from the papers inherited by Judge John A. Stoughton from his ancestor, Mr. John Stoughton, brother of Capt. Thomas Stoughton.

---

539

HARDSHIPS OF THE NEW SETTLERS.

married men, urged by the adventurous spirit of the day, or by the ne- eessity of larger accommodations for their growing families, had crossed the river, and had built their humble dwellings along the uplands which overlooked the meadows. A road, also, had probably been opened from Scantie to Podunk, for in June 1672, occurs on the town books the fol- lowing " List of Persons on the East side of Great River," who were ap- pointed to work the highways :

Thomas Bissell,

Samuel Grant,

Nathan'l Bissell,

John Higley,

Nathan'l Bancroft,

Richard Johnson,

Nathan'l Briskall,

Edward King,

Thomas Buckland,1

William Morton,

Thomas Buckland, Jr.,

John Osborne, Jr ..

John Buckland,

Joseph Phelps,

Samuel Baker,

Samuel Rockwell.

Samnel Cross,

John Porter, Jr.,

John Colt,

Stephen Taylor,

Edward Elmor, Sr ..

Stephen Taylor, Jr.,

Edward Elmor, Jr.,

John Taylor,

John Elmor, Joseph Fitch,

Jonathan Winchell.

The young settlement had but just fairly commenced, when (1675) King Philip's War broke out. Immediately " great fear fell upon the land." Danger lurked in every bush and peered from behind every tree : their houses were scattered, their numbers few; the Indians nu- merons and suspected ; and the broad stream of the Long River eut them off from any immediate help of their friends and neighbors on the west side. In that hour of anxious fear and torturing suspense, they felt that "in union there is strength." Many removed to the opposite side of the river, and those who remained carried their " lives in their hands." The frequent orders of the council of safety, in regard to places of ref- nge and precautions necessary to be taken, show how imminent was the danger. Finally, the inhabitants on the eastern side of the Connecticut were ordered " forthwith " to remove themselves, with their cattle and grain, to the west side ; and garrison houses were ordered to be kept for the protection of the few who were obliged to remain. One of these gar- risons was established at Nathaniel Bissell's at Seantic, and another at Thomas Burnham's at Podunk. In fact, the settlement was temporarily broken up and dispersed. But soon the war elosed. Peace smiled again upon the settlements, and the tide of emigration set back with renewed vigor. The lofty forest trees bowed their heads before the energetic stroke of the settler's axc; the meadows gained new beauty and fertility

1 Or Burnham ?

540

HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.

under his daily toil; and the smoke which curled lazily up from the chimneys of his cabin annonneed to the inhabitants of the old town that the settlement "on the east side" of the Connectieut was a fired fact.

Yet this was attended with dangers and hardships almost equal to those experienced by their fathers, on their first arrival in the country, thirty years before. There were the same stubborn elements of nature to be subdued. The Indian was still an undesirable neighbor, and the constant fear of his sudden attack compelled them to carry their arms with them into the field, and even to the sanctuary; while at night they sought a common safety with their families in block houses, two of which were built on the street ; one where John Allen, 2d, and the other where Abizur Porter lived in 1845.1

Siekness, also, weakened the strength of the settlers; for the de- pressing emotions of fear and anxiety, added to the fatigue and expos- ure of daily toil, rendered him an easy prey to the malaria which arose from the virgin soil which his plow upturned, and from the low, wet lands on the river .?

Concerning the locations of the carly settlers, our information is ex- eeedingly seanty ; yet, as far as can be ascertained, their descendants at the present day ocenpy very nearly the same localities.

The BISSELLS, who, as before mentioned, were the first, settled at

1 Max. Dr. Elijah F. Reed.

2 1711, A memorial, dated 27 March, addressed to the Gen. Assembly, and signed by Job Drake, John Taylor, William Woleott,

Joseph Drake,

William Taylor, John Woleott, Jr.,

Joseph Phelps, Thomas Bissell, Joseph Newbury,

Jacob Strong,

Dan'l Bissell,

Roger Wolcott,

John Strong, Ephraim Bissell,

Joseph Loomis, Jr.,

Sam'l Pinney.

Sam'l Rockwell, Sr., Richard Skiner,

Joseph Baker,

Joshua Willis, Sr., Thomas Skiner,

Matthew Grant,

John Wolcott, Sr., Ilez. Porter,

Sam'l Rockwell, Jr.,

Simon Wolcott, Joseph Porter,

Sam'l Grant, Jr.,

Joseph Loomis, Sr., John Loomis,

Sam'l Baker, Sam'l Tudor,

Joseph Skiner,

John Moore, Jr., ITenry Wolcott,

says they are " severall of the prop'r's of the Wett Lands on the East side of the Great River in Windsor "- and " Forasmuch as there is on the East side of Connecticut River in Windsor, a considerable tract of land (lying between the upland and Dry Meadow) of many hundred acres that is almost wholly useless by reason the Water stands thereon a Great part of the year " &c., they recite that: Oct. 14, 1686, the Gen Assembly ordered a ditch or drain to be made through all the lots " from Podungne River," and nothing was done - but some one interested, at their own charge, made two ditches, one be- tween Sam" Tudor on the North and Henry Wolcott on South, which "if they were finished and cross ditches dugg through the Lotts woukd doubtless effect the thing in- tended -wherefore they pray that all the inhabitants of Wett lands from South part of Sam. Tudor to Scantick River, be compelled to make a five-foot wide drain."- Stoughton M&s.

541

LOCATIONS OF EARLY EAST-SIDE LAND-OWNERS.

the mouth of the Scantie River.' They were very large landholders on the East side (See chapter on Indian Purchases and on Ellington), and purchased of the Indians a tract which included the present location of Osborne's Mill on the Scantic River." The coming over from Old Wind- sor, in 1680, of Simon Wolcott, youngest son of Mr. Henry Wolcott, with his wife and nine children, of whom the youngest (afterwards Gov- ernor) Roger, was then an infant a year old, was a most important ad- dition to the new settlement.

Next above the Bissells were the OSBORNS, and next to them the STILES family. THOMAS ELLSWORTH built the first house above Seantic River, a few rods north of the present line of division between East and South Windsor.3 The three first, and for a considerable time the only houses on The Hill, were, one on nearly the spot now (1891) occupied by the Richard T. Abbe residence; one where the house Imilt by Rev. J. E. Tyler stands : and the third nearly opposite the Academy. JOHN LOOMIS is supposed to have built a house nearly opposite Chandler Ward's, and on the north corner of the road to Bissell's Ferry; while his brother JOSEPH probably built a house nearly opposite Cassius M. Newberry's present dwelling (south corner of the road to Wapping), and which was taken down about 1770. '

EDWARD KING (the Irishman) had a house on the south side of the Podunk as early as 1663. In 1679 JOSEPH FITCH sold the house he then lived in, on the north side of the Podunk, to JOHN COLT. In 1667 SAMUEL ELMOR sold to JOHN ELMOR land and " encumbrances " in Po- dunk Meadow. "Mills," says Stoughton ( Windsor Farmes, 116), " were erected at a very early period on Podunk Brook, on the site of those now owned by C. C. Vinton & Son, in South Windsor.5 They were for a long time known as Rockwell's mills, and so late as 1867 furnished to the antiquary the refreshing sight of a primitive colonial saw-mill, the

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The history and genealogies of ancient Windsor, Connecticut, Vol. I, Part 63

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