USA > Connecticut > The history of Connecticut, from the first settlement of the colony to the adoption of the present constitution, vol. I > Part 31
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On the 27th of November 1707, while in the discharge of his duties as governor of the colony, died the Hon. Fitz John Winthrop, in the 69th year of his age. I have already given a history of his public life in my account of the ex- pedition against Canada, and of his services in England in 1694, as the agent of the people to vindicate the right of the governor to command the militia. He was as zealous in de- fending that strong hold of popular liberty as his father, John Winthrop, had been in establishing it. Though maligned by some of the worst enemies that have ever beset a good man, he lived to see them, like Leisler and Milborn, suffer the penalties awarded to traitors, or like Dudley and Cornbury, baffled in the cross-currents of politics. He still keeps an honorable place in the gallery of our colonial governors, as a gentleman of great fidelity in all his public relations, and of unblemished private life.
To fill the vacancy occasioned by his death, Deputy Gov- ernor Treat, convoked a special assembly on the 17th of December, at New Haven. It was ordered that the votes of both houses should be mixed and then sorted and counted, and that the candidate who received a majority of votes, should be declared governor. The ballot resulted in the election of the Rev. Gurdon Saltonstall, who then had charge of the church at New London. On the 1st of January
369
GOVERNOR TREAT.
1708, he signified his acceptance of the place and took the oath of office. The regular election that took place on the 13th of the following May, confirmed the choice. At the same time, as the deputy governor, then eighty-six years old, had made known his desire to withdraw from the cares of public life, it was thought best to excuse him from further service. Nathan Gold was elected to fill his place.
As the infirmities of age soon confined Governor Treat to the narrow circle of his own neighborhood until his death, that took place about two years after his resignation, I have thought this a proper occasion to give a slight sketch of his life and character.
Robert Treat, the third governor under the charter, and son of Richard Treat, one of the patentees named in it, was born in England, in the year 1622. At an early age he ac- companied his father to America. Richard Treat-(always designated in our early colonial records, by the title of Mr. or Master,) was a gentleman of high character, and was among the first planters of Wethersfield. He held several important places of trust in the colony. Robert, from what cause it does not appear,* did not long remain with his father, but left Connecticut for Milford, during the in- fancy of that settlement, while yet it was a republic independ- ent of New Haven. At the first meeting of the planters of Milford, and when Treat was only eighteen years old, he was chosen to aid in surveying and laying out the lands of the new plantation. Soon afterwards he was appointed one of the five judges that constituted the "particular court" of the Commonwealth. After Milford was joined with New Haven in 1644, he soon became known in the colony as a gentleman of good culture and marked abilities. In 1661, he was elected a magistrate and remained in the magistracy
* It is probable that Mr. Prudden, who preached in Wethersfield during a part of the year 1639, and had proved very acceptable to a part of the people there, may have induced Mr. Treat to remove to Milford, as he did some other planters. Certain it is that Treat was in Milford as early as 1639, as appears by the Milford records.
24
370
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
until 1664, when he declined any longer to hold office under a government that he felt to be already tottering to its fall, crushed by the weight of debts and taxes, and hemmed in by a troop of adverse circumstances that, like a beleaguering army, cut off at once all supplies and all hope. It was main- ly through his influence that Milford left the jurisdiction of New Haven, and placed herself in the keeping of Connecti- cut. He was the only man then living in the colony of New Haven, who had at the same time the moral courage and the resolute will successfully to meet the unabated oppo- sition of Davenport to the union, that could hardly have been effected as it was, had he failed to unite his fearless counsels with the persuasive admonitions of Winthrop.
In 1670, he was appointed major of the Connecticut troops, and in 1675, he was raised to the rank of colonel. His gallantry and bravery-evinced throughout the whole course of Philips' war, from its first stages, in which he was again and again chiefly instrumental in saving from total destruction some of the finest border towns in Massachusetts, down to the fatal hour when, with the Connecticut troops, he passed from the rear to the van of Winslow's army, and led the forlorn hope across the bridge and in front of the block-house whence the murderous fire of Philip's sharp-shooters had more than once driven the forces of Massachusetts-are without a parallel in our history, save in the life of Mason who preceded him, or Putnam who came after him. In 1676, he was elected deputy governor, and in 1683, governor of the colony. He filled the executive office for fifteen years, when he declined any longer to act in that capacity, and Gen. Fitz John Winthrop was chosen to supply his place. There existed between Treat and John Winthrop the most cordial friendship, grow- ing out of the admiration that each felt for the character and abilities of the other, and also on account of the part that they respectively took, the one in procuring the charter, the other in vindicating its jurisdiction and in preserving it from the violence of its enemies.
Winthrop died before the clouds that had begun to gather
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GOVERNOR TREAT.
in his day had darkened into the storm; Treat lived to with- stand the fiercest bolts of delegated power.
Governor Treat was not only a man of high courage, but he was one of the most cautious military leaders, and possess- ed a quick sagacity united with a breadth of understanding that enabled him to see at a glance the most complex rela- tions that surrounded the field of battle. Nor did he excel only as a hero : his moral courage and his inherent force of character shone with the brightest lustre in the executive chair or legislative chamber, when stimulated by the opposi- tion and malevolence of such men as Andross. In private life he was no less esteemed. He was a planter of that hospitable order that adorned New England in an age when hospitality was accounted a virtue, and when the term gen- tlemen was something more than an empty title. His house was always open to the poor and friendless, and wherever he gave his hand he gave his heart. Hence, whether march- ing to the relief of Springfield, or extending his charities to Whalley and Goffe, while he drowned a tear of sympathy in the lively sparkle of fun and of anecdote, he was always welcome, always beloved. His quick sensibilities, his playful humor, his political wisdom, his firmness in the midst of dan- gers, and his deep piety, have still a traditionary fame in the neighborhood where he spent the brief portion of his time that he was allowed to devote to the culture of the domestic and social virtues. He died at Milford, in the 89th year of his age .*
* Governor Treat, was a son of Richard Treat, Esq., of Wethersfield, who was one of the patentees of Connecticut. The governor married Jane, daughter of Edmund Tapp, Esq., of Milford, who died April 8, 1703. He then married the widow Elizabeth Bryan, who died in about three months after their union. The children of Governor Treat, were 1, Samuel, who graduated at Harvard College, 1669, was settled in the ministry at Eastham, Mass., and died in 1717, leaving a numerous family ; 2, John, who died young ; 3, Robert, who settled in Milford, and was a magistrate; 4, Joseph, also of Milford, who became a justice of the quorum ; 5, Mary, who married Rev. Samuel Mather, minister at Windsor ; 6, Abigail, who married Rev. Mr. Andrew, of Milford ; and Anne, who was the mother of the Hon. Robert Treat Paine, one of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence from Massachusetts. Lambert; Rev. Dr. Chapin, &c.
372
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
His eventful life, that began in the early part of one cen- tury, and ended in the first quarter of another, was mild and tranquil at its close, beaming smilingly upon the world as a summer sunset lingers upon the horizon to light up with its warm blending of colors the vapors that herald the coming of darkness.
The refusal of Connecticut to furnish her quota of troops in answer to the call of Governor Dudley, delayed the con- templated expedition against Canada, but did not defeat it. At the May session of the General Assembly, 1709, a letter from the queen was presented and read, advising the colony of the plan of the campaign. It was resolved to reduce the French in Canada, Acadie, and Newfoundland. The con- tents of letters from the Earl of Sunderland, were also made known to the legislature, in which the number of troops and the amount of supplies to be provided by each of the colonies were specified. Connecticut was ordered to raise 350 men, and the other colonies lying east of Connecticut, were to pro- vide an aggregate of 1,200 men, with transports, pilots, and provisions, for three months' service. The earl acquainted the colonies with her majesty's design to send a squadron of ships to Boston by the middle of May. This armament was expected to resume the old attempt upon Quebec. But this was not the full burden that was to be placed on the shoulders of the colony.
It was further proposed that Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey, and the southern colonies should raise 1,500 men to cross the country and take possession of Montreal. With her usual alacrity, Connecticut raised her share of the troops for the land army, and placed them under the com- mand of Colonel Whiting. The Assembly, by a formal vote, also thanked the queen for her kind care of the colonies, in taking such active measures to remove a dangerous enemy. As early as the 20th of May, the provincial armament was ready to sail for Quebec. Francis Nicholson was placed at the head of the land army. He was directed to march as far as Wood Creek, and there await the coming of the fleet
373
FIRST BILLS OF CREDIT.
[1709.]
that was expected at Boston, when he was to press forward and reach Montreal, so that the attack upon that place might be made simultaneously with that upon Quebec. Not only did the colonies raise their respective quotas of men, but such was the zeal of the inhabitants to engage in the war, that many volunteer companies were raised and sent on to join the regular troops, and more than one hundred batteaux and as many birch canoes were constructed to transport the army across the lake. Three forts, several block-houses and store- houses, were built for the protection of the army and of the frontier. All these preparations only resulted in a useless expense to the colonies. The fleet, so long and anxiously waited for, did not come from England, and in the fall, after disease had thinned the ranks of his army and threatened utterly to depopulate his camp, Nicholson marched back to Albany. One quarter of those who had been placed un- der his command were dead. Connecticut alone lost ninety men. The colony was so straightened for means by this bootless enterprise that the Assembly was compelled to issue Bills of Credit* to the amount of eight thousand pounds. This was the first time that Connecticut ever resorted to an issue of paper money, though she has since done it more than once, not merely for her own protection, but for the salva- tion of the Union, for which she afterwards fought with such valor. Although the colonies were deeply disappointed at
* It may interest the reader to know the form of these Bills of Credit, and I subjoin an exact copy of one, taken from the Colonial Records : " No. ( ) 20s.
" This Indented Bill of Twenty Shillings due from the colony of Connecticut, in New England, to the possessor thereof, shall be in value equal to money, and shall be accordingly accepted by the Treasurer, and Receivers subordinate to him, in all public payments, and for any stock at any time in the Treasury.
" Hartford, July the Twelfth, A. D., 1709.
"By order of the General Court."
In connection with this provision, it was enacted, that these bills should be is- sued from the treasury as money, but should be received in payments at one shil- ling on the pound better than money. One half only were to be signed and issued at first, and the other half were to remain unsigned, until it should be found necessary to put them in circulation.
374
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
the failure of a scheme that had thrown upon them such heavy burdens, yet their situation was too critical to allow them time to brood over the past. The French still retained their old Indian alliances, and were making all the efforts that they could to alienate from the English the waning affections of the five nations. Could the enemy but bring about this result they well knew that the whole English fron- tier would be in their power, and the settlements along its entire line would be again exposed to the sickening atroci- ties of an Indian border war. These the colonies had al- ready experienced, and the recollection was enough to stimu- late them to the most vigorous exertions.
That they might hit upon some uniform plan of operation, a congress of governors was held at Rehoboth, Massachu- setts, in the beginning of October, to deliberate upon the con- dition of the country and advise what should be done. General Nicholson, Colonel Vetch, and other experienced military gentlemen, were invited to attend upon the Con- gress, and give it the benefit of their advice. The result of their deliberations was an address to the queen, setting forth the harmonious relations that subsisted between the colonies, the loyalty that prevailed among the people, and the necessity of adding the French colonies in North America to the other dominions of her empire. The address ended with a petition that her majesty would send out an ar- mament which, with the provincial troops, would be equal to such an enterprise.
At the session of the General Assembly in October, Gov- ernor Saltonstall made known the doings of the executive convention and caused the address to be read. The legislature approved of its terms and adopted a similar one in behalf of Connecticut. Governor Saltonstall was appointed agent for the colony to present it to the queen .*
In 1708, twenty-five inhabitants of Norwalk united in purchasing of Catoonah, the chief sachem, and other Indians, a large tract of land lying between that town and Danbury.
* Colonial Records, MS.
375
QUEEN ANNE AND THE FIVE SACHEMS.
[1710.]
The deed is dated on the 30th of September of that year, and at the ensuing session of the General Assembly, it was incorporated as a town by the name of Ridgefield. John Belden, Samuel Keeler, Matthew Seymour, and Matthias St. John, were among the chief proprietors and settlers.
That the queen might be more easily induced to send the aid that was so much sought for, Colonel Schuyler, one of the most wealthy gentlemen in the province of New York, whose whole heart was in the project, resolved to approach her majesty's confidence by exciting her curiosity and play- ing upon her imagination. At his own expense, therefore, he fitted out a vessel, and, with five Indian sachems in his charge, representing the five nations who had withstood the tempting offers of the French, he sailed for England .* He carried also an address from the Assembly of New York, begging for the interposition of the crown.
The queen readily granted an interview to Colonel Schuy- ler, and the swarthy deputation that had accompanied him, and the chiefs were received with such ceremonials as suited the rank of the respective parties. These children of the forest, erect and unabashed in the presence of royal- ty, made a very favorable impression upon the mind of the queen. In their simple, wild way, they gave her a history of the part that they had taken in the struggles with the French, and what faithful allies they had proved to her chil- dren across the water; with what readiness they had sub- mitted to the loss of their best warriors, and with what de- light they had received the intelligence that so great a sove- reign as she was, was about to send ships and men to subdue the common enemy. They said that as one man they had hung up the kettle and taken up the hatchet in aid of Nichol- son ; but when they found that their great queen, on account of some weighty matters at home, had kept back her ships, their hearts were heavy, lest the enemy, who had before feared them, should now think that they were too weak to make war upon them. They said that the reduc-
* Bancroft, Trumbull, Brodhead.
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
tion of Canada was very necessary to them, as they could not occupy their hunting-grounds with any security as things then were; and intimated that, should the queen be unmind- ful of them, they must either quit their country and seek other places of abode, or remain neutral-neither of which alternatives would accord with their inclinations .*
This deputation, with the several addresses before alluded to, met with a gracious reception, and the applicants were led to hope that an armament would at once be sent to re- duce Canada.
In July 1710, advices arrived in New England, that a fleet under the charge of Lord Shannon, was soon to set sail ; and in anticipation of it, Nicholson, with several armed ships and some transports, left England in the spring for the American coast.
These preparations, however, proved not to be designed for the reduction of Canada, but only to get possession of Port Royal and Nova Scotia.
On the 14th of August, a special assembly was convened on account of a letter addressed by the queen to the colony, calling for troops and supplies. In debt as she was, and suf- fering as her people still were from the heavy loss of life that befell the army at Wood Creek, Connecticut voted to raise three hundred men in obedience to the requisition. No time was lost in procuring vessels and sailors for the expedition, and in four weeks our quota of troops were safely transport- ed to Boston.
By the 18th of September, the provincial fleet was ready to sail. It consisted of thirty-six ships of war and trans- ports, under command of General Nicholson. On the 24th, the armament reached Port Royal, and landed without oppo- sition. On the 21st of October, three small batteries of two mortars, and twenty-four cohorns, were brought to bear upon
* Smith's Hist. New York, i. 121, 123; Holmes, i. 501, 502. Trumbull, i. 437. These Indian sachems attracted great attention in England. Sir Charles Cotterel conducted them, in two coaches, to St. James's ; and the Lord Chamber- lain introduced them into the royal presence.
377
CONNECTICUT THANKS THE QUEEN.
[1711.]
the fort, assisted by a bomb ship named the Star that proved very effective. The next day, the commander of the fort capitulated. Thus, unaided by the English fleet, Port Royal fell into the hands of the provincials with the loss of only about forty men, twenty-six of whom were drowned by the wreck of one of the transports in the service of Connecticut.
Flushed with the anticipation of new conquests, Nichol- son sailed for England in the fall, to renew his solicitations for a fleet to prosecute the war. In June 1711, he again ar- rived in Boston with new requisitions from the queen, com- manding the several colonies to raise fresh troops, and with the assurance that an English fleet was about to sail for America.
A convention of governors was convoked at New Lon- don, on account of this intelligence. Sixteen days after the arrival of Nicholson, the expected fleet made its appearance ; but strange to say, it was almost totally destitute of provis- ions. This fact added to the suspicions before entertained by the colonies, that the object of the English government was not the reduction of Canada. It appeared doubtful whether the requisite supplies could be procured in the short space of time that would be allowed for that purpose. On the other hand, should the preparations come short of the demand, and the expedition prove unsuccessful, it was thought that the whole blame of the failure would fall upon New England. The colonies, therefore, put forth the ut- most exertions to provide for the armament.
The General Assembly of Connecticut was in session when the fleet arrived at Boston, and speedily voted to raise three hundred and sixty men, to procure four months pro- visions for them, and a vessel to transport them to Albany. At the same time a letter was addressed to the queen, proffering the thanks of the colony for her tender care of its interests, and expressing a great deal of gratitude for all that her majesty had done, and, so far as can now be seen, for much that she had neglected to do .*
* Colonial Records, MS.
378
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
With such alacrity did the colonies address themselves to the preparation of this two-fold enterprise, that in about a month the land army and the fleet were both in readiness. On the 30th of July, the armament, consisting of fifteen men-of-war, forty transports, six store-ships, and a train of artillery, such as had never before been sent to the American coast, sailed out of Boston harbor for Canada. Aside from the naval forces, it carried a land army of seven thousand men, made up of five regiments from England and Flanders, and two regiments from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. Sir Hovenden Walker was admiral of the fleet, while the land forces were under command of Brigadier General Hill, brother to Mrs. Masham, the favor- ite of the queen. On the same day, General Nicholson be- gan his march for Albany. His army consisted of four thousand men from Connecticut, New York, and New Jer- sey. Colonel William Whiting, had the immediate com- mand of the Connecticut forces ;* Colonel Schuyler those of New York, and Colonel Ingoldsby, those of New Jersey.
Admiral Walker reached the mouth of the St. Lawrence with his fleet on the 14th of August. That he might wait for transports to come up, he put into the Bay of Gaspe on the 18th, where he lay at anchor until the 20th, when he sailed out of the bay. On the 22d, a dismal prospect pre- sented itself. With a high south-easterly wind to contend against, without soundings, out of sight of land, and en- veloped in a thick fog, the fleet appeared to be at the mercy of the elements. With the hope that the wind would drift them into the channel, the pilots advised that the ships should be brought to, with their heads to the southward. Even after this precaution was taken, the ships still drifted toward the dangerous rocks of the north shore.
Just as the admiral was going to retire for the night, the captain of his ship went below and told him in alarm that he could see land. As if not satisfied with the speed that was already hurrying the fleet to perdition, Walker gave orders
* Colonial Records, MS.
379
OBSTINACY OF WALKER.
[1711.]
that the heads of the ships should be brought to the north. Captain Goddard, of the land army, flew to the cabin and begged the admiral to go on deck and see for himsef. Walk- er only laughed. As the ships drew nearer the gulf that yawned for them, Goddard again sought the cabin.
. "For the Lord's sake," cried he, "come on deck, or we shall certainly be drowned. I see breakers all around us !"
Walker, with as much leisure as if he had been preparing to write one of his own stupid dispatches, put on his gown and slippers, "and coming upon deck," to use his own lan- guage, "I found what he told me was true !"
He might easily find out the truth of it by the light of the moon that just then pierced through the mists and showed the Egg Islands to the leeward, with the white waves break- ing over them.
The admiral then, for the first time, opened his eyes and consented that the advice of the pilots should be followed.
Eight of the British transports were cast away, and of the seventeen hundred English officers and soldiers that were on board of them, eight hundred and eighty-four were lost. Ad- miral Walker, and the other principal officers, were saved, by trusting to their anchors, from being dashed against the rocks .*
As soon as the fleet could be extricated it sailed for Span- ish river bay, but as the wind had shifted and blew stifly from the east, it was eight days before the entire armament arrived there. Here a council of war was held, the result of which was, that the admiral soon after weighed anchor for Portsmouth, England. Of course, General Nicholson had nothing to do but to retrace his steps.t
The failure of this third attempt to subdue the Canadas was of course charged upon the American pilots, who after- wards made oath that their advice was not followed, and, with equal propriety, upon the tardiness of the colonies, who
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