USA > Connecticut > The history of Connecticut, from the first settlement of the colony to the adoption of the present constitution, vol. I > Part 14
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
cle, arriving at the same point whence he started, without stating any thing in an explicit manner. He kept the Eng- lish aloof from his person during this oration, evidently "talk- ing against time," while his warriors were gathering around him in formidable numbers. The high-spirited Atherton, who probably never knew what fear was, could control his temper no longer. He marched to the door of the chief's wigwam, and there leaving his men, he rushed into the wig- wam, and in a very unparliamentary way, it must be admit- ted, seized his majesty of Narragansett by the hair, in the midst of his oration, and dragging him forth from the circle of his attendants, pointed a loaded pistol at his head, and told him he would blow his brains out if he dared to offer the least resistance. Arrested, probably, in the very flush of some lofty metaphor, like a falcon struck down by an ar- row while in the swiftest turnings of his airy flight, the chief in astonishment and alarm ended the negotiations at once, by counting out the wampum which he had sworn that he was not possessed of, and paying it over to Atherton, who thereupon set him at liberty .*
Taking leave of Pessacus, the English ambassador hastened to pay a visit to Ninigret. He was not long in finding him. As he came on business, and not for the sake of enjoying the luxuries of Indian hospitality, Atherton proceeded at once to state to the Nihantick sachem the object of his mission, and to tell him some very wholesome though unwelcome truths. He charged upon him the intended alliance of his family with the Pequot chief, and with his manœuvres to possess him- self of the conquered country. In the course of the conver- sation he demanded of him where the proposed bridegroom was to be found, and what number of warriors he had with him. He insisted on having direct answers to all his ques- tions, as he said he wanted to make a faithful report of all that passed between them, to the commissioners. What in- formation he gleaned in regard to the alliance, I am unable to say. His visit was not without its effect, and served the
* Trumbull, i. 188.
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163
[1650.] GOV. STUYVESANT VISITS HARTFORD.
purpose for which it was intended, that of intimidating the Nihanticks.
This expedition of Atherton is one of the boldest enter- prises recorded in our annals. It has also the merit of being entirely bloodless ; and has such a happy mixture in it of tragedy and comedy, that it leaves a very pleasant effect upon the mind. The conduct of Atherton gives us, in a few bold, dashing strokes, a complete portraiture of his character.
All this time affairs were getting worse between the con- federacy of New England and Peter Stuyvesant, governor of New Netherlands. At last, the Dutch governor with a view of bringing about some arrangement between the contend- ing powers, both in reference to commerce and jurisdiction, thought it advisable to accept the invitation sometime be- fore tendered him by the commissioners, and take a journey to Hartford, where that body was then in session. He ar- rived at Hartford on the 11th of September, 1650. He came in a style befitting his rank. He was invited, as he had often been before, to attend the meetings of the commissioners. With much stateliness he declined to accept the invitation, and expressed a wish that the business should be transacted through the medium of written correspondence. This form- ality of putting upon paper what could be so much more readily expressed by oral conference, did not accord with the practical usages adopted by the other party ; but as his Ex- cellency was inflexible, they thought it best to yield the point as one of mere etiquette.
The Dutch governor having prevailed as to the manner of conducting the negotiation, he may have thought he should succeed equally well as to the matter.
He commenced this diplomatic correspondence by a state paper that struck at the root of the controversy at once. He complained of the encroachments of the English upon the rights of the West India company, and of the injuries done to the Dutch, especially by the colonies of Connecticut and New Haven. He asserted that the Dutch had an unques- tionable title to all the lands upon the Connecticut river, hav-
164
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
ing bought them of the aboriginal proprietors, before the English, or any other power had laid claim to them. He demanded a surrender of those lands, and a suitable remuner- ation for the use of them. He entered his protest against the act, which excluded the Dutch from the English colonies for the purposes of trade. He spoke with indignation of the cus- tom, which he said prevailed among the English traffickers, of selling goods to the Indians at such ruinously low prices, that other nations could not compete with them. He ex- pressed a willingness to come to some understanding in rela- tion to the boundaries of the respective claimants. Worse than all, and most likely to widen the breach between the English and his government, he dated this unlucky letter at New Netherlands. The commissioners could with difficulty suppress their contempt at his arrogant pretensions. They replied that they would not treat with him unless he dated his epistles at some other place than New Netherlands. In answer to this objection, he said, that if they would not date at Hartford, he would not date at New Netherlands. He suggested, by way of compromise, that they should both date at Connecticut. The English made answer that he might date at Connecticut if he liked, but as for themselves they should date at Hartford. Very reluctantly governor Stuyves- ant was compelled to give way. He found that the English were as fastidious and captious as he in relation to forms, when those forms might be afterwards converted into sub- stantive evidence as descriptive of a part of the territory in dispute, and as an acknowledgment either of title or juris- diction.
Having settled this preliminary question, the English were not backward in stating their title to Connecticut, by posses- sion, purchase, and discovery. They added, that the honor- able West India company had set up so many claims, and couched them in terms so ambiguous, that the commissioners were not well advised either as to the extent of country that the Dutch supposed themselves entitled to, or as to the title by which it was held. After a great deal of mutual accusa-
165
NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE DUTCH.
[1650.]
tion and recrimination, involving a minute recital of all the quarrels by sea and land that had sprung up between the two powers, it was agreed that the whole matter, including the boundary question, should be submitted to arbitration. Sev- eral days were spent, and numerous and tedious were the letters that passed between them, before they came to this result.
The commissioners chose Bradstreet of Boston, and Prince of Plymouth ; and his Excellency of New Amsterdam, chose Thomas Willet and George Baxter, as arbitrators, with full power to settle all differences .*
On the 19th of September, the arbitrators made and pub- lished an award, that appears to have been as satisfactory to the parties concerned as could have been anticipated. It is a state paper of very great ability and conciseness. It very adroitly states at the outset, that most of the alleged griev- ances complained of by Connecticut, and New Haven colonies, had happened during the administration of governor Kieft, the predecessor of governor Stuyvesant, and that they post- pone a hearing upon all these questions until the Dutch governor can find time to prepare his answer.
They pass over the controversy growing out of the seizure of Mr. Westerhouse's vessel in a manner equally acceptable to governor Stuyvesant, by finding that the affair happened partly through a mistake of his secretary, and partly through the default of Westerhouse in trading at New Haven with- out a license ; and that the seizure was by no means ordered or made by way of asserting title in the Dutch to New Ha- ven. It was then awarded that the colony of New Haven should rest satisfied with this explanation, and not claim any remuneration for the same.
Having thus bestowed the shell of the nut, these worthy gentlemen proceeded to dispose of the boundary question, which was the kernel, in the following words :
" I. That upon Long Island, a line run from the wester- most part of Oyster Bay, and so a straight and direct line to
* Records of the United Colonies.
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
the sea, shall be the bounds betwixt the English and Dutch there, the easterly to belong to the English, and the wester- most to the Dutch.
"II. The bounds upon the main to begin at the west side of Greenwich bay, being about four miles from Stamford, and so to run a northerly line, twenty miles up into the country, and after, as it shall be agreed, by the two govern- ments of the Dutch and New Haven, provided the said line come not within ten miles of Hudson's river. And it is agreed, that the Dutch shall not, at any time hereafter, build any house or habitation within six miles of the said line; the inhabitants of Greenwich to remain (till further considera- tion thereof be had,) under the government of the Dutch.
"III. The Dutch shall hold and enjoy all the lands in Hartford that, they are actually possessed of, known and set out by certain marks and bounds, and all the remain- der of the said land, on both sides of Connecticut river, to be ' and remain to the English there.
" And it is agreed, that the aforesaid bounds and limits, both upon the island and main, shall be observed and kept inviolable, both by the English of the united colonies, and all the Dutch nation, without any encroachment or mo- lestation, until a full and final determination be agreed upon in Europe, by the mutual consent of the two states of Eng- land and Holland.
" And in testimony of our joint consent to the several fore- going conclusions, we have hereunto set our hands this 19th day of September, Anno Domini, 1650.
SIMON BRADSTREET, THOMAS PRINCE, THOMAS WILLET, GEORGE BAXTER."
In the month of June, 1650, the General Court of Connec- ticut granted to Nathan Ely, Richard Olmsted, and other in- habitants of Hartford, liberty to remove to Norwalk and commence a plantation there, provided "they attend a due payment of their proportions in all the public charges, with
167
SETTLEMENT OF NORWALK.
[1651.]
a ready observation of the other wholesome orders of the country."*
As early as 1640, Roger Ludlow had purchased of the In- dians the eastern part of the town. Captain Patrick had also procured the title to the central part of it. The better evidence appears to be, that a few bold planters had taken possession soon after these grants were made, and had con- tinued to retain it until the arrival of the company under Mr. Ely and Mr. Olmsted. Of this fact, however, there is no record proof.
Although leave was granted to the petitioners in 1650, they did not remove to Norwalk until 1651. The western part of the town was deeded to them by Runkinheage, on the 15th of February. It is quite probable from the date of this instrument, that the whole company removed in Janu- ary, or the early part of February, and it is not unlikely that the tradition is true, that a part of them spent the entire win- ter there. As appears by a contract made by Roger Lud- low, Esquire, with this company, under date of June 19, 1650, the principal families, aside from the two gentlemen already mentioned, bore the names of Webb, Richards, Mar- vin, Seymour, Spencer, Hales, Roscoe, Graves, Holloway, and Church. By this agreement the company became bound to mow the grass on the meadows, and stack the hay in the sum- mer of 1650, and as early as the spring of 1651 to break up the ground in Norwalk, preparatory to planting during the next summer. This agreement gives additional authority to the legend that a portion of the inhabitants spent the winter of 1650 on the spot. The Indians would probably have burned up the haystacks before spring, had not some of the farmers been there to guard them. It is very probable, too, that the hay was most of it fed out to the cattle during that winter. This contract with Ludlow was of the nature of a quit-claim deed of that gentleman's original purchase for the consideration of fifteen pounds, the same price that he had paid for it ten years before, with the interest from the date of his purchase,
J. H. Trumbull, i. 210.
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168
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
and a reservation of a convenient lot, to be laid out for Mr. Ludlow's sons. The name of this charming place, with its rich lands, its excellent harbor, its unrivaled fishing-grounds, and its most attractive river, was derived from the tribe of Indians who inhabited it - the Norwalks, or Nor- wakes. No town in Connecticut has more salubrious sea- breezes or a climate more healthful and invigorating. The Rev. Thomas Hanford, the first clergyman, began to preach there in 1652, soon after which a church was formed and he was ordained as its regular pastor .*
Some time during the year 1651, the place called Matta- besett began to be inhabited by the English. This settle- ment had long been in contemplation, probably some time before October, 1646, as we find by our record of the doings of the General Court, that on the 30th of that month a gen- tleman, bearing the name of Phelps, was designated to "join a committee for the planting of Mattabesett." The com- mittee made very slow progress in the settlement of the place, but it is quite probable that a few hardy men, who stood less in awe of Sowheag than the other Englishmen did, soon after this began to remove into the immediate neighborhood of that formidable sachem; and that little parties dropped down the river in boats from Hartford and Wethersfield, from time to time, until the fall of 1650, when the number of planters who had established themselves there, seemed to call upon the General Court for their order bear- ing date the 11th of September, that "Mattabesett should be a town," and should proceed to make choice of a constable.
Owing to the want of early records, some obscurity hangs over the birth and infancy of this town. It is certain that in the fall of 1652, it was represented in the General Court, and that in the fall of 1653, its name of Mattabesett was changed to that of Middletown, which it has since kept with honor- able distinction. It is not surprising that a fierce tribe of Indians should for so long a time have kept the inhabitants
* The Rev. Edwin Hall, D. D., of Norwalk, is the author of a valuable His- tory of that town, published in 1847. It comprises 320 pages.
169
MIDDLETOWN.
[1651.]
of Hartford and Wethersfield, as well as those who ulti- mately came from Massachusetts, from occupying this inter- esting part of the valley of the Connecticut. Indeed, the ex- ternal features of the scene, as presented to the eye of those who passed up and down the river, must have been less in- viting to men who looked rather for rich lands than for beautiful scenery, especially when contrasted with the plains that opened up their perspective of grass-lands, lengthened interminably by the over-arching elms that lured the eager sight on either bank, a few miles further up the valley. The pioneers were not tourists in search of the diversified and the picturesque in nature, and therefore as they sailed down they must have turned a cold shoulder to the apparently wet lands, covered with wild bushes that lay above the site of the pres- ent city, and it could not have occurred to the most pro- phetic mind of all the voyagers, that the cliffs of red sandstone rising above the water that had been fretting their base for so many obscure ages, could contain quarries of such inexhaust- ible wealth, so soon to be developed by their descendants. Below the city, too, where the swift stream, with frowning evergreens fringing its dark borders, could be twice spanned by the flight of the Indian's arrow, as, speeding on its errand of mischief, it skimmed the surface of the compressed cur- rent, selecting its victims from the pinnace or the shallop, the sun-browned traffickers must have shuddered at the sight of the very shades that now tempt the leisure-loving on a summer's day to lean over the sides of the boat and look back with a kindly regret. But when once the keen English far- mer had ventured to go ashore and ascend the hills that com- mand the rich and variegated landscape, he could not long remain in ignorance of the abundance that had been poured from the full horn of plenty on every side.
The Indians at Mattabesett were very numerous. A good deal of trouble was expected to result from their being so near the English settlement, but they were much more do- cile than their white neighbors anticipated. The tribe had a reservation on the western bank of the Connecticut, in the
170
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
place called Newfield. Here was an old burial-ground. A cemetery it has been very properly called, for these Indians indulged enough in the refinements of external mourning to erect monuments over the graves of their dead. On the eastern bank of the river was another reservation. At a place called Indian Hill was a graveyard with rude stones and inscriptions after the manner of the English. Here, in a sitting posture, with his blanket wrapped about his shoulders, the vessel containing the food prepared by his friends, that was to sustain him upon his long journey, resting upon his knee, the warrior's skeleton may still be found blackened with the mouldering earth. Ghastly the exhumed skull frowns upon the obtruding sunlight for a moment, and then slowly crumbles beneath the corroding influences of the up- per air, to which it has been so rudely exposed !*
The settlement at Delaware was too remote to be any- thing other than a burden to the colony of New Haven. In the spring of 1651, fifty men from New Haven and Totoket hired a vessel and with their effects sailed for Delaware bay. They went provided with a commission from governor Ea- ton, and with two letters, one from him and the other from the governor of Massachusetts-both addressed to governor Stuyvesant, informing him that these adventurers were about to settle their own lands, and would not encroach upon the rights of the Dutch. When Governor Stuyvesant had read these letters, he was very much enraged. He seized the messengers who delivered them to him, and put them under guard. At the same time, under pretence of making some inquiries, he sent to the master of the vessel to come ashore, and as soon as he could get him within his reach, he caused him to be arrested. He also got possession of the commis- sion of the company by some feint, and refused to deliver it up to the owners. He forced all who came on shore to sign a paper, in which they promised very solemnly that they would
* For a more full account of the early history of Middletown, and the adjacent towns, the reader is referred to the Rev. Dr. Field's statistics of Middlesex Coun- ty, and to his centennial address at Middletown, in 1850.
171
THE DELAWARE LANDS.
[1651.]
not pursue their voyage, but with all speed of wind and wave would hasten back to New Haven. He dismissed them with direful threats of confiscation of goods, and imprisonment in Holland, if he ever caught them attempting to make a settle- ment at Delaware.
On the 14th of September, the commissioners met at New Haven. It was not very long before Jasper Crane and Wil- liam Tuttle, smarting under the summary proceedings to which they had been subjected at New Amsterdam, pre- sented their petition in behalf of themselves and others, call- ing fervently for redress. It was a very inflammable docu- ment, setting forth the character of Governor Stuyvesant in a light that he could hardly have contemplated with equanimi- ty. It spoke of his subjects, too, in terms of great severity. It ended with a stirring appeal to the commissioners for protection and vindication.
The commissioners lost no time in writing to Governor Stuyvesant a letter, charging him with breaking his faith, so solemnly plighted at Hartford. They told him, among other salutary truths, that his interference with the planters who had sailed for Delaware, was insupportable, and that the New England colonies had as good a right to Manhattan as the Dutch had to these Delaware lands.
At this same session, it was resolved that if the petitioners should begin a plantation at Delaware, numbering one hun- dred and fifty good men, well armed, within twelve months, they would uphold them in the enterprise, and defend them from all opposition, whether from the Dutch or Swedes.
While at New Haven the commissioners were also waited upon by a deputation that must have been the fruitful theme of conversation at New Haven for many days,-two French gentlemen, M. Godfroy and Gabriel Druillets, agents of M. D'Aillebout, governor of Canada. These gentlemen pre- sented three commissions, one from their governor, another from the council of New France, and a third addressed to M. Druillets himself, giving him authority to teach to the In- dians the doctrines of Christianity. They appeared in behalf
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
of the French in Canada, and in hehalf of the christianized Indians of Acadie, whom they represented to be suffering, on account of their religion, the hardships and cruelties of a bloody persecution, waged against them by the Mohawks. A holy war, they denominated it, that was designed, in viola- tion of the most solemn treaties, to quench in blood the last spark of the Christian faith upon the western continent. M. Druillets was an orator of a very graceful and persuasive ad- dress. He used all the arguments at his command to induce the colonies to declare war against the Six Nations. If they were opposed to involving themselves in a war with the Indians, he begged that they would allow volunteers to go from any of the New England colonies, with a " free pas- sage by land or water to the Mohawk country," and that the converted Indians might be taken under the protection of New England. He held out the prospect of a free trade to be established upon a permanant basis between the French and English colonies, as a fair requital for the favors, if they should be granted.
With becoming politeness the commissioners, for many good reasons, declined to add to all the evils then impending over them, the burden of a new war.
On the 30th of June, 1652, the General Court of Connecti- cut met to adopt measures for the defense of the colony against the Dutch. A war had already broken out between England and Holland. It was ordered, that the cannon at Saybrook should be mounted upon carriages, and that all the families in the neighborhood should be brought within the inclosure of the fort. The Indians in the vicinity of all the plantations were required to evince signs of their friendship to the English, by delivering up their arms to the governor and magistrates.
Some time in March it became rumored abroad that Gov- ernor Stuyvesant had concerted a plan with Ninigret to ex- terminate the English in all the colonies, and that the sachem of the Nihanticks had been spending the winter with his ally, at Manhadoes, and had been sent home in a Dutch
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CHARGES AGAINST GOV. STUYVESANT.
[1652.]
sloop in very great state, and with a large supply of guns and ammunition. The sole evidence to support this charge, was the testimony of Indians, who came to Hartford and other towns, and made oath to the existence of the plot. Nine sachems sent in their affidavits to Stamford, to the same effect .* The story, without foundation as it was, and originating in the malice and cunning of some one who had a motive for giving it currency, could not fail to alarm the English. A meeting of the Congress was called on the 19th of April, and the commissioners proceeded to hear the allegations. They were presented in such an adroit manner, and backed up by such an army of Indian witnesses, that six of the commis- sioners were satisfied of the existence of the conspiracy. Those who represented Massachusetts were so remote from the supposed scene of the tragedy, and were so conscious of the strength of their colony, that they could look at the evidence more calmly, and were convinced that the charges against the Dutch and Indians were without foundation. It was re- solved to send letters to the Dutch governor before war was declared.
When Governor Stuyvesant heard of this attack upon his character, he was highly incensed. His conduct on the occa- sion was, however, dignified and becoming. He hastened to write letters to the Congress, in which he denied that he was guilty of the outrageous wickedness attributed to him. His sensibilities were so shocked at the reflection that his char- acter could be thus misrepresented, that he generously offered to send a messenger, or go in person to Boston, if it was de- sired, to establish his innocence ; or if the Congress would send a committee to Manhadoes, he would undertake to give the colonies the most satisfactory proofs of his integrity and honor. At the same time he expressed his astonishment that the English could give credit to such accusations, com- ing from such corrupt sources.
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