USA > Connecticut > The history of Connecticut, from its earliest settlement to the present time. Ed. by W. H. Carpenter and T. S. Arthur > Part 2
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CHAPTER XXII.
Reviving effects of peace-Decline of the Federal party in Connecticut-" Toleration party"-Triumph of the "Tole- rationists"-Oliver Wolcott governor-Constitutional con- vention called-Constitution sanctioned by the people- Changes made by it-Disorganization of parties-Wolcott the first governor under the constitution-Is succeeded by Gideon Tomlinson-Charles H. Pond, the present execu- tive-Statistics of education-Of benevolent and other in- stitutions-Of religion-Agriculture-Manufactures-Com- merce-Mineral resources of the state-Internal improve- ments-Banking capital-State debt-Population. 277
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
CHAPTER I.
Adriaen Blok discovers and explores Connecticut River-As- pect of the country-Contemporaneous explorations of Cap- tain John Smith-New England so named by Smith- Plymouth council established-Settlement of New England influenced by the persecution of the Puritans-Enactments against Puritanism during the reign of James the First-Pu- ritan exiles settle in Amsterdam-Motives which induced them to remove to New England-Their voyage in the May- flower-New Plymouth founded-Sufferings of the colonists -Emigrations to New England continue-Company of Massachusetts Bay obtains a charter-Rapid growth of the new colony planted under its protection-Early grants of Connecticut to Earl Warwick, and to Lords Say and Brooke - Boundaries according to the original patent-Dutch traders on the Connecticut-River Indians invite the English to traffic-House of Good Hope built by the Dutch, near Hart- ford-Plymouth people establish a trading-house at Windsor -Governor of New Netherlands sends a force to drive them away-Failure of this new expedition-English and Dutch claims upon Connecticut-Lord Say and his associate pro- pose to settle there-Reasons for their abandonment of that project-Winthrop and others arrive at Boston as commis- sioners for Say and Brooke-Fort Saybrook built at the mouth of the Connecticut.
EARLY in the year 1614, the States-General of the Netherlands promised, to such of their * citizens as should discover new lands, an exclu-
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
- [1614.
sive privilege of trade to them for four successive voyages. On the strength of this promise, a company of merchants residing at Amsterdam fitted out five ships to explore the coasts of North America. Commanding one of the ves- sels composing this fleet, which presently crossed the Atlantic in safety, was Captain Adriaen Blok, a navigator of no little skill and enter- prise.
Soon after the arrival of Blok at Manhattan Island, on the southern extremity of which the Dutch had erected a rude fort during the pre- vious year, his vessel, by some accident, caught fire and was destroyed. Repairing this loss, by building on the coast a small yacht, which he called the "Restless," Blok, some time during the summer, sailed on a voyage of discovery through the East River into Long Island Sound.
Coasting along the northern shore of New England, he discovered the outlets of two con- siderable streams. Entering the largest of these, he named it Fresh River, in contrast to the Hudson, whose waters were salt. Its Indian name was Quonehtacut, or Connecticut-that is, Long River.
Up this broad and gently-flowing stream, Blok slowly sailed to a point some fifty miles from the sea, and a little above where the city of Hart- ford now stands. The aspect of the country through which he passed was in the highest
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VOYAGE OF BLOK.
1614.]
degree pleasant and attractive. On either side of the river were beautiful meadows with a soil of surpassing richness, and covered with tall and luxuriant grasses down to the very edge of the water. Here and there over these natural mea- dows, and along the margin of the stream, were delightful clusters of vine-clad trees; under the shade of which were built the cabins or wigwams of the harmless and unwarlike Indian tribes, by whom this portion of the Connecticut valley was peopled. Back from the river, and beyond the almost level meadow lands, the ground began to ascend by gentle undulations. Here the trees grew taller and closer together; and, at length, climbing the distant hills that formed the line of the horizon, they presented the appearance of a dense and unbroken forest. Corn, hemp, and an infinite variety of fruits and medicinal herbs, were found abundantly in the fields and the woods. Game of all kinds swarmed in the forest, and the river was alive with fish. Such, in part, were the natural beauties and advan- tages of the valley of the Connecticut, which Blok was the first of white men to see and admire.
Having lingered on the Connecticut long enough to complete a map of its explored course, Blok again dropped down to the ocean, and con- tinued his voyage eastward to Cape Cod, in the mean time discovering and exploring Narra-
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. [1614.
ganset Bay. Block Island still perpetuates his name and the memory of these explorations. From Cape Cod he probably returned to Man- hattan, whence a map, exhibiting the discoveries he had made, was forwarded to the States- General.
Upon this voyage of Blok, and upon a previous one made by Hendrik Hudson, the Dutch based their pretensions to that part of the American coast included between the fortieth and forty- fifth parallels of north latitude. It will presently be seen with what success these pretensions were urged.
At the very time when Blok was prosecuting his discoveries, Captain John Smith, the founder of Virginia, and the adventurous representative of a sturdy and energetic race, was exploring that portion of our eastern seaboard lying be- tween the Penobscot and Cape Cod. Returning home, Smith published an account of his voyage, together with a chart of the coasts he had visited. To the region thus described he gave the name New England-a name bestowed upon it con- temporaneously with that of New Netherlands by the Dutch, and one, too, which it has ever since retained.
Previous to this visit of Smith to New Eng- land, several unsuccessful attempts had been made to establish settlements there. Reanimated by the glowing pictures he presented of the
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PLYMOUTH COMPANY.
1620.]
country, the Plymouth Company, to whom eight years before it had been patented by James I. of England, once more exerted themselves to throw into it a body of colonists. Nearly six years elapsed, however, and no visible success had attended their efforts. But, although un- fortunate in one attempt to plant a colony, Smith was as sanguine as ever.
His enthusiasm was contagious. Forming schemes of colonization upon a gigantic scale, the Plymouth Company applied for, and finally obtained, on the 3d of November, 1620, a new, distinct, and extraordinary patent. By the au- thority of King James, forty of the richest and most powerful of the English nobility were in- corporated as "The Council established at Ply- mouth, in the county of Devon, for the planting, ruling, and ordering of New England in Ame- rica." By this grant, upon which were based all the other grants made to the New England colonies, a territory was conferred upon the patentees, with uncontrolled sovereignty and un- limited jurisdiction, extending in breadth from the latitude of Philadelphia to that of Passama- quoddy Bay, and in length from the Atlantic to the Pacific ; excepting, however, such places "as were actually possessed by any other Chris- tian prince or people."
In the mean time, however, a people, whom persecution had driven from their native land,
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. [1620.
were preparing to accomplish what this powerful and opulent company might have failed in. A. permanent settlement was already being planted in New England.
Springing up with the Reformation, Puritan- ism had continued to flourish in the midst of many unfavourable circumstances. Driven out of England by severe penal laws, enacted during the latter half of the sixteenth century, a nume- rous company of its professors had collected, about the year 1600, at Amsterdam, hoping to be recalled to their native land by the successor of Queen Elizabeth.
But if James ever sincerely preferred a Pres- byterian to an Episcopal establishment, as the Puritans were at one time sanguine enough to believe, his accession to the throne of England materially modified that preference. Under an enactment against Nonconformists, passed early in his reign, the most pious and learned persons were subjected to fines and imprisonment, and to punishments of distressing severity. Attacked by the Court of High Commission-an arbitrary, tribunal without juries, which wielded a power scarcely less terrible than that of the Spanish Inquisition-the greater part of the Noncon- formist congregations were dissolved, or com- pelled to meet in secret.
Some out of these congregations, however, sought in strange lands that freedom of worship
25
THE "PILGRIMS."
1620.]
which they could not obtain in their own. Among these was a portion of the church members under the charge of the Rev. John Robinson. Remov- ing first to Amsterdam, they at length settled, in 1609, at Leyden, where, for a number of years, they remained in peace and harmony with each other and with the strangers by whom they were surrounded.
Yet, in the mean time, they had become dis- satisfied with their condition. Strict in their own morals, they regarded with no pleasure the less austere manners of the Dutch. Their chil- dren, too, were leaving them; some to become soldiers, others sailors, in the service of the States-General. At length, in 1617, they began to cherish the idea of founding a colony, where, being at liberty to worship God according to the dictates of conscience, they would, at the same time, be able to retain their national traits and language as Englishmen, preserve their offspring from evil communications, and promote the dis- tribution of "the gospel of the kingdom of Christ."
Having obtained a patent from the Virginia Company, together with the promise of King James not to molest them in the practice of their religion, the greater part of the congregation of " Pilgrims" at Leyden, designing to establish an independent colony in North America, set out from Delft Haven on their voyage across the
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. [1620.
Atlantic. Reaching Southampton, in England, they stopped there more than a month. In two vessels, the Speedwell and the Mayflower, on the 5th of August, 1620, they started once more on their pilgrimage. Twice they were compelled to put back, in consequence of the unfitness of the Speedwell. Finally abandoning that vessel, the more resolute of the company embarked at Plymouth, England, on board the Mayflower; and, on the 10th of November, after a long and perilous passage, came to anchor within Cape Cod.
As they had arrived at a part of the continent not included in their patent from the Virginia Company, they thought it best to enter into a voluntary agreement to yield their mutual obe- dience to such "just and equal laws and ordi- nances," as should be deemed "most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony." After signing a paper to this effect; they elected John Carver to be their governor for one year, and then set about seeking a suitable place to land and commence building a town.
It was already winter. Exposed to the incle- mencies of the season and climate, with many of their number ailing seriously, the Pilgrims wander- ed for five weeks along the coast before a fitting site for their proposed settlement could be found. This was on the shore of Plymouth Bay, pre- viously so named by Smith, on his map of New
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NEW PLYMOUTH FOUNDED.
1623.]
England. Landing here, December the 16th, 1620, they presently began to erect the first houses of a town ; which, in grateful remem- brance of the kindness they had experienced at the place of their final embarkation, they deter- mined to call New Plymouth.
It forms no part of the design of this history to relate in detail the occurrences that befell the founders of the Plymouth or Old Colony. During the first winter of their stay in America, disease, the climate, hardships, and famine carried off one-half their number ; but the remainder were in no way daunted. Clinging resolutely to the land of their adoption, they proved that they were indeed what they claimed to be, " men whom small things could not discourage, nor small discontents cause to wish themselves at home again."
Though ten years after the landing of the " Pilgrims" at Plymouth their original number had but trebled itself, still the country in their neighbourhood was fast filling up with colonists. Persecuted continually in England, Puritanism sought a refuge on the shores of Massachusetts Bay.
With this object in view, in 1628, six gentle- men of Dorchester, England, procured from the couneil for New England a tract of land, in length from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and in breadth from three miles south of Charles River
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. [1630
to three miles north of the Merrimac. Three of the original company having parted with their rights, John Winthrop, and other persons of wealth and influence, became interested in the enterprise.
Already opulent, and possessed of an untiring perseverance, equal to their religious zeal and fervour in action, the new company determined upon immediate colonization. John Endicott- " a fit instrument to begin this wilderness work" -accompanied by his family and about seventy others, accordingly left England in June, 1628. In the following September the little band of pioneers founded the town of Salem.
The next year a charter was obtained for the new colony, which was constituted a body politic, by the name of the " Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England." From this period the settlement of Massachusetts pro- gressed rapidly. In 1630, it having been de- termined to remove the seat of the corporation from England to America, by transferring the charter to those who should inhabit the colony, Winthrop, the newly-elected governor, together with several other gentlemen of means and in- fluence, formed the resolution to emigrate. Be -- fore the close of the year, no less than eleven ships, with nearly two thousand colonists, safely reached New England. Nine or ten towns, in- cluding Boston, were in a short time settled.
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COLONIAL BOUNDARIES.
1630.]
Like their neighbours of Plymouth, many of these emigrants came over in congregations, under the charge of their pastors.
Following out their scheme of extended coloni- zation, the council for New England, in 1630, granted to Robert Earl of Warwick, and he, in the following year, conveyed to Lords Say and Brooke, and to eleven others, among whom were the afterward celebrated Hampden and Pym, all that tract of territory in New England, bound- ed on the east by Narraganset River, on the north by a direct line from the head of that stream to the Pacific, and on the south, for a hundred and twenty miles, by the coast, and thence by a direct line to the Western Ocean.
Such, according to the original patent, ap- pears to have been the earliest boundaries of Connecticut. Ignorance of the country render- ed the statement of them extremely indefinite in the patent itself; and this indefinitencss was subsequently the cause of much contention.
Before a colony could be planted under the auspices of the lords and gentlemen to whom Connecticut was thus conveyed, circumstances in- . tervened which rendered it necessary that the country should be speedily occupied, or relin- quished entirely by its English claimants.
Almost from the period of Blok's discovery of the Fresh or Connecticut River, the Dutch had carried on a profitable trade with the In- 3*
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. [1631.
dians occupying its valley. That a valuable traffic might be opened there, was made known to the English in 1631. During that year, press- ed by their enemies the Pequods, the unwarlike tribes living upon the Connecticut despatched one of their sachems to Boston and Plymouth, to induce the governors of the two New Eng- land colonies, to send out a company of settlers, assisted by whom they secretly hoped to with- stand the encroachments of their fiercer neigh- bours. Though their ambassador, enlarging upon the richness of the country, promised to the English a yearly tribute of corn and beaver skins, if his proposition was agreed to, the two governors gave him no encouragement.
During the following year, however, a small party from Plymouth visited the Connecticut, selecting, near the mouth of Farmington River, a suitable spot upon which to erect a trading- house. Winthrop and his council having re- jected a proposal that the Massachusetts people should unite with those of Plymouth in building a house at the point selected, Winslow, the go- vernor of Plymouth, resolved to undertake the enterprise alone.
Meanwhile, their Dutch neighbours on Man- hattan Island were not idle. The security of their valuable traffic with the Connecticut In- dians was already a matter of anxiety. From the natives, a little piece of land at the mouth
31
1633.]
EXPEDITION FROM PLYMOUTH.
-
of Fresh River was purchased, and possession of it seemingly made good, by affixing to a tree the arms of the States-General. Pushing full fifty miles farther up the stream, on its western shore, near where Hartford now stands, they bought a second strip of territory from Nepu- quash, a chief of the Pequods. Here, some time in the month of June, 1633, they built, and fortified with two pieces of cannon, a small trading-post, which they named the " House of Good Hope."
While the Dutch were thus preparing to se- cure the lucrative traffic of Connecticut, the Plymouth people had framed, and made ready for immediate erection, the materials of their contemplated house at Windsor. These were shipped on board a small vessel, commanded by William Holmes, a resolute and enterprising " lieutenant and trader." With a crew as reso- lute as himself, and accompanied by several sa- chems owning the land it was proposed to occupy, Holmes, sailing along the coast, entered the Connecticut, and appeared before the House of Good Hope, but a short time after its artillery had been mounted. As his vessel slowly glided in front of the Dutch post, he was hailed by Van Curter, the commandant. "Where would you go ?" was the Hollander's inquiry. "Up the river to trade." "Strike and stay," shouted Van Curter, " or we shall fire !" " We have a
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. [1633.
commission from the governor of Plymouth to go up the river," replied the undaunted Holmes ; " and go we will !" The cannon of the Dutch were silent, and the English passed on.
Having arrived just below the mouth of Farmington River, Holmes purchased a tract of land from the sachems of the River Indians, who had accompanied him from Plymouth. The trading-house was then set up with all expedi- tion, and fortified with palisades.
In the mean time a sharp remonstrance ar- rived from Van Curter. No heed being paid to this, except by an equally sharp reply, Van Curter despatched to his superior at Manhattan intelligence of the proceedings of the English.
Van Twiller, the governor of New Nether- lands, immediately sent a force of seventy soldiers to the Connecticut, to dislodge Holmes. With a brilliant and warlike display of arms and ban- ners, the Dutch detachment made their appear- ance before the English trading-house; but finding the garrison prepared for a desperate resistance, they did not deem it expedient to make an assault; and, after a brief conference, they withdrew down the river to their own post.
Such was the beginning of that bitter but almost bloodless feud, which, for twenty years, subsisted between the Dutch colonists of New Netherlands and their English neighbours. Each
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1633.] PROPOSED SCHEME OF GOVERNMENT.
party seems to have conscientiously believed the other to be an "intruder ;" but neither could be convinced that the offensive name was rightly its due. Undoubtedly the Dutch were the first to discover and occupy, the disputed territory. Even while they admitted this, however, the English claimed the entire sovereignty of North America, on the ground that the discovery of the continent by the Cabots, in 1497 and 1498, had invested England with its sole and rightful possession.
While the traders of Plymouth and New Ne- therlands were thus establishing themselves on the Connecticut, Lord Say and his associates were arranging matters preparatory to a pro- posed removal from England to the territories assigned them by Warwick. Happily, this de- sign was subsequently abandoned. Say, and others of the company, were undoubted friends of Puritanism, and of a certain degree of civil liberty; but they were not men likely to be pleased with the notions of freedom and the simple manners prevalent in New England. They having proposed to establish in America an order of nobility and hereditary magistracy, the earnest opposition of their more democratic associates was aroused. In the discussion that ensued, much time was spent; the ardour with which they had entered into the scheme of emi- gration began to grow cool; and, finally, other
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1635.
1
objects nearer home attracting their attention, the project was wholly abandoned.
Some time previous to this conclusion, how- ever, on the 8th of October, 1635, John Win- throp the younger, Henry Vane, and Hugh Peters, arrived at Boston, as commissioners on behalf of Say and the other proprietors of Con- necticut. Along with ample means for the purpose, Winthrop had received instructions to take possession of the mouth of Fresh River, and erect a fort there. Learning that the Dutch entertained a like design, he immediately collect- ed, and sent by sea to Connecticut, a small party of men, who began, about the middle of No- vember, to build Fort Saybrook, near the mouth of the river. Considerable progress had been made in the work, and two cannon were already mounted, when, as was expected, a vessel from Manhattan appeared in the stream. Finding the object of their expedition anticipated, and being forbidden to land, the Dutch reluctantly put to sea again. Soon after their departure, the little party at Saybrook was joined by David Gardiner, an experienced engineer, sent out from England by the proprietors. Under his super- vision the work of building the fort was pushed rapidly toward completion.
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REV. THOMAS HOOKER.
-
1630.]
CHAPTER II.
Reverend Thomas Hooker-Silenced for nonconformity-Flies from England to Holland-Affection of his congregation for him-They emigrate to New England-Solicit Hooker to join them-He arrives at Boston in company with Stone and Haynes-Charmed by reports of the fertility of Con- necticut, Hooker's people determine to emigrate there-Ge- neral court of Massachusetts objects-Renew their petition in the spring of 1635-Permission granted them to emigrate -Pioneer companies plant Windsor, Hartford, and Wethers- field-Early and severe winter-Suffering of the colonists- Many compelled to return to Massachusetts-Trials of those left behind-Representative court established in the spring of 1636-First meeting of the court-Hooker and his con- gregation set out from Cambridge-Difficulties of their jour- ney-They purchase lands at Hartford-Division of lands -Activity of the colonists-Windsor and Wethersfield re- ceive new accessions-Churches formed-Difficulty between the Windsor people and the Plymouth colony-Fort Say- brook completed.
1377426
DURING the same year in which the territory of Connecticut was granted to the Earl of War- wick, the Rev. Thomas Hooker, a minister of Chelmsford, in England, having been silenced for nonconformity, fled to Holland, in order to escape the usual fines and imprisonment to which dissenting clergymen were subjected. The learn- ing and eloquence of Hooker had gained him numerous admirers; but his earnest piety and practical benevolence had secured to him what
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. [1633.
was still better-many and true-hearted friends, eager to remove to any part of the world where they might hope to enjoy the guardianship of their beloved pastor. New England being now the chief asylum of the persecuted Nonconform- ists, a considerable portion of Hooker's congre- gation, confident of inducing him to join them, determined to emigrate there. Accordingly, in the year 1632, regardless of the dangers and hardships which they were told awaited them, they. hazarded the storms of the Atlantic, and at Cambridge, in Massachusetts, found freedom in the practice of their faith and a temporary repose from their wanderings. Here they pre- sently had the satisfaction of receiving again into their company many other members of the scattered congregation, who had preceded them and settled in various parts of the colony.
All that the new-comers now wished for was the ministerial direction of their cherished pastor. To him, therefore, they sent a pressing invita- tion, to join them in the wilderness. Yielding at once to their desires, in the summer of 1633 Hooker took passage in the ship Griffin for Ame- rica; having first secured an assistant minister in the person of the "godly" Samuel Stone, a. learned and subtle disputant, and, as Mather quaintly remarks, "a man of principles, and, in the management of those principles, both a load- stone and a flint-stone." Another among the
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