USA > Connecticut > The history of Connecticut, from the first settlement of the colony to the adoption of the present constitution, vol. II > Part 40
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How is it with respect to the principle of coercion in the Germanic body ? In Germany there are about three hun- dred principalities and republics ; deputies from there meet annually in the general Diet to make regulations for the empire. But the execution of these is not left voluntarily with the members. The empire is divided into ten circles- over each of which a superintendent is appointed with the rank of major-general. It is his duty to execute the decrees of the empire with a military force."
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SPEECH OF ELLSWORTH.
[1788.]
[The Swiss Cantons and the Dutch republic are next re- ferred to and briefly considered.]
"But to come nearer home, Mr. President, have we not seen and felt the necessity of such a coercive power ? What was the consequence of the want of it during the late war, particularly towards the close ? A few states bore the burden of the war. While we, and one or two more of the states, were paying eighty or one hundred dollars per man to recruit the continental army, the regiments of some states had scarcely men enough to wait on their officers. Since the close of the war, some of the states have done nothing towards complying with the requisitions of Congress ; others, who did something at first, seeing that they were left to bear the whole burden, have become equally remiss. What is the consequence ? To what shifts have we been driven ? We have been driven to the wretched expedient of negociating new loans in Europe to pay the interest of the foreign debt. And what is still worse, we have been obliged to apply these new loans to the support of our own civil government at home.
Another ill consequence of this want of energy is that treaties are not performed. The treaty of peace with Great Britain was a very favorable one for us. But it did not hap- pen perfectly to please some of the states, and they would not comply with it. The consequence is, Britain charges us with the breach, and refuses to deliver up the forts on our northern quarter.
Our being tributaries to our sister states is a consequence of the want of a federal system. The state of New York raises sixty or eighty thousand pounds a year by impost. Connecticut consumes about one third of the goods upon which this impost is laid ; and consequently pays about one third of this sum to New York. If we import by the medium of Massachu- setts, she has an impost, and to her we pay a tribute. If this is done, when we have the shadow of a national government, what shall we not suffer when even that shadow is gone ?
If we go on as we have done, what is to become of the
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
foreign debts ? Will foreign nations forgive us this debt, because we neglect to pay ? or will they levy it by reprisals as the laws of nations authorize them ? Will our weakness induce Spain to relinquish the exclusive navigation of the Mississippi, or the territory which she claims on the east side of that river ? Will our weakness induce the British to give up the northern posts ? If a war breaks out, and our situa- tion invites our enemies to make war, how are we to defend ourselves ? Has government the means to enlist a man, or buy an ox ? or shall we rally the remainder of an old army ? The European nations I believe to be not friendly to us. They were pleased to see us disconnected from Great Britain ; they are pleased to see us disunited among ourselves. If we continue so, how easy it is for them to canton us out among them, as they did the kingdom of Poland. But supposing this is not done, if we suffer the union to expire, the least that can be expected is that the European powers will form alli- ances, some with one state, and some with another, and that we shall be involved in all the labyrinths of European politics. But I do not wish to continue the painful recital. Enough has been said to show, that a power in the General Govern- ment to enforce the decrees of the union, is absolutely necessary.
The constitution before us is a complete system of legisla- tive, judicial, and executive power. It was designed to supply the defects of the former system; and I believe, upon a full discussion, it will be found calculated to answer the purposes for which it was designed."
Dr. Johnson followed on the same side of the question.
The paragraph which relates to taxes, imposts, and excises, was largely debated by several gentlemen.
" Monday, Jan. 7 .- General Wadsworth objected against it, because it gave the power of the purse to the general legislature ; another paragraph gave the power of the sword ; and that authority which has the power of the purse and sword, is despotic. He objected against imposts, and excises, because their operation would be partial and in favor of the
461
RATIFICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION.
southern states. He was replied to by Mr. Ellsworth, at considerable length.
The convention finished debating on the constitution by sections. It was compared critically and fully. Suffice it to say, that all the objections to the constitution vanished, before the learning and eloquence of Johnson, the genuine good sense and discernment of a Sherman, and the didactic strength of Ellsworth, who like the Earl of Chatham, spoke on this occasion with the authority of an oracle.
The grand question was moved by General Parsons, and was seconded by General Huntington. Upon the general discussion of the subject, His Excellency Governor Hunting- ton, and Governor Wolcott, both addressed the convention in favor of ratifying the Constitution. Mr. Law and other gentlemen followed.
The question being put, the vote stood :
Yeas, 128 Nays, 40
Majority, 88
RATIFICATION.
" In the name of the people of the State of Connecticut :
" We the delegates of the people of said state in General Convention assembled, pursuant to an act of the legislature in October last, have assented to and ratified, and by these presents do assent to, ratify and adopt the Constitution reported by the convention of delegates in Philadelphia, on the 17th day of September, A. D., 1787, for the United States of America.
" Done in Connecticut, this 9th day of January, A. D., 1788. In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands."
After having presented to the reader the foregoing facts, and the appeal of Ellsworth to the delegates, it cannot be thought immodest in us to claim for Connecticut, what Cal- houn, the great southern statesman, admitted in the Senate of the United States in 1847, "that it is owing mainly to the
.
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
states of Connecticut, and New Jersey, that we have a federal instead of a national government-the best govern- ment instead of the most intolerable on earth. Who are the men of those states, to whom we are indebted for this admira- ble government ? I will name them-their names ought to be engraven on brass and live forever. They were Chief Justice Ellsworth, and Roger Sherman, of Connecticut, and Judge Patterson, of New Jersey. The other states farther south were blind ; they did not see the future. But to the coolness and sagacity of these three men, aided by a few others not so prominent, we owe the present Constitution."*
However we are to decide the question of state sovereignty growing out of the construction of the Constitution, the facts stated in the paragraph just quoted, are not to be disputed. Without the delegates from Connecticut, the Constitution could not have been adopted, and we may repeat the prayer of Sir William Blackstone, in relation to the basis of the British government, as better applicable to our own- "Esto Perpetua." Let the fate of this noble structure, under which we have grown up to be the first republic of the earth be what it may, the influence of Ellsworth, Sherman, and Johnson, cannot be lost upon the world.
* The application of this extract from Calhoun's speech was first made by Dr. Bushnell, in his " Historical Estimate," one of the best specimens of the " multum in parvo," to be found in American letters.
4
Eng. by D.C.Hinman
Pointes ty Earle.
Roger Sherman
Holly-ter - History of conter fient
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CHAPTER XX.
NEW AND DERIVATIVE TOWNS.
LITCHFIELD county was organized in 1751 ; Middlesex county in 1785 ; and Tolland county in 1786.
Lebanon is composed of several tracts of land, which were united by agreement among the planters about the year 1700. The first clergyman of the town, the Rev. Joseph Parsons, was settled in November, 1700. Here were born and lived the two governors Trumbull, as well as other distinguished members of that and other families. Lebanon was an impor- tant place in the revolution. Washington, Franklin, Jeffer- son, Lafayette, Rochambeau, and other patriots of that day, came here to consult with the elder Trumbull. De Lauzun's legion of cavalry wintered here ; and at this place Washing- ton reviewed the French regiment.
On running the boundary line between Connecticut and Massachusetts, in 1713, the towns of Woodstock, Suffield, Enfield, and Somers, (embracing the entire northern frontier of Connecticut then inhabited,) had been somewhat infor- mally surrendered to the jurisdiction of Massachusetts. The people of those towns repeatedly remonstrated against it, and seemed determined to throw off their allegiance to a government to which they had thus been annexed without their consent. In May, 1747, the General Assembly of this colony, in response to an application made by these towns, appointed commissioners to meet such as might be appointed by Massachusetts, and consult and report on the matter in question. At the end of two years, finding that no amicable adjustment could be made between the two governments, the General Assembly of Connecticut resolved, that inasmuch as the said agreement had never received the royal con- firmation, and the respective governments having no authority
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
or power to give up, exchange or alter their jurisdiction, the agreement was declared void, and the towns were received under the jurisdiction of Connecticut. Massachusetts appeal- ed to the crown, but, after a fair hearing, the claim of Con- necticut was fully established.
Woodstock was settled by inhabitants of Roxbury, Massa- chusetts, as early as 1687, and was called New Roxbury ; but received its present name in 1690. It is situated near the north-east corner of the State, and is eight miles long and seven miles broad. General William Eaton, American Consul to Tunis, was a native of Woodstock.
Suffield was the residence of General Phineas Lyman, whose name often appears in this volume ; and was also the birth-place of Gideon Granger, Post Master General of the United States. Suffield is the seat of the "Connecticut Literary Institution," an academy in high repute throughout the Union.
Enfield lies on the east side of the Connecticut river, with the Massachusetts line for its northern boundary. It was settled as early as 1681, by emigrants from Salem, Massa- chusetts, being at that time a part of Springfield. The town has produced many persons of distinction, and contains a thriving agricultural population. The "Shaker Settlement " in Enfield has attracted much attention.
Reading, in Fairfield county, was incorporated in 1761. The township is said to have derived its name from Colonel John Read,* an early and principal settler. In the winter of 1779, as I have elsewhere stated, Major-General Putnam had his winter-quarters in Reading. Reading was the birth- place of Joel Barlow, the poet and diplomatist. t
Chatham was a part of Middletown until October, 1767. James Stancliff and John Gill were the first settlers in 1690; William Cornwell became a resident in 1703. In 1710, there
* Colonel Read had a park of ten or fifteen acres, in which he kept deer. He died in 1786, aged 85 years.
+ In Reading also was born the Hon. Samuel G. Goodrich, of Boston, late American Consul to Paris ; and well known as the popular author of "Peter Parley's " works.
1
465
EAST WINDSOR AND SOUTHINGTON.
were but nine or ten families within the limits. The town embraces Chatham parish, East Hampton parish, a greater part of the parish of Middle Haddam, and a portion of the parish of West Chester.
East Windsor was a part of the old town of Windsor until 1768, when it was organized as a distinct town. The settlement began there in 1680 ; and in 1695, an ecclesiasti- cal society was formed, and the Rev. Timothy Edwards was ordained as the first minister of the place. The "Theological Institute of Connecticut" was established here in 1834. Among the distinguished men who were born in East Wind- sor, were Roger Wolcott, major-general in the expedition against Louisbourg in 1745, and afterwards governor ; Oliver Wolcott, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and governor of Connecticut ; John Fitch, inventor of the first steamboat ; and Jonathan Edwards, the greatest of Ameri- can divines.
Southington, previously a part of Farmington, was incor- porated as a town in 1779. The first settlers bore the names of Woodruff, Langdon, Lewis, Newell, Root, Andrews, Gridley, Hart, Barnes, Clark, &c. It is a thriving manufac- turing and agricultural town.
Washington, in the county of Litchfield, was set off from Woodbury and incorporated as a town in 1779. The first sermon preached there was by Mr. Isaac Baldwin, of Litch- field, who subsequently relinquished the ministry, and became the first clerk of the court of common pleas in Litchfield. The first minister settled here was the Rev. Reuben Judd, who was ordained Sept. 1st, 1742. The fol- lowing eminent men were born in Washington, viz : Daniel N. Brinsmade, judge of the county court for sixteen years, representative at forty-three sessions, and clerk of the House of Representatives ; Captain Nathan Hickox, a gentleman distinguished both in public and private life for his talents, integrity, and influence ; Frederick Whittlesey, member of Congress from the State of New York, and Vice Chancellor ; Ebenezer Porter Mason, one of the most eminent astrono-
62
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
mers of his age-of whom Sir John Herschel speaks "as a young and ardent astronomer, a native of the United States, whose premature death is the more to be regretted, as he was, so far as I am aware, the only other recent observer who has given himself, with the assiduity that the subject requires, to the exact delineation of nebulæ, and whose figures I find at all satisfactory."*
Cheshire, originally a parish of Wallingford, was incorpo- rated in 1780. The first minister, the Rev. Samuel Hall, was ordained as a pastor in December, 1724. The Rev. John Foot was settled as Mr. Hall's colleague in March, 1767. The Episcopal Academy in this town was incorpora- ted in 1801, and has the reputation of being one of the best academic institutions in Connecticut. Cheshire was the birth-place and residence of the late Hon. Samuel A. Foote, LL.D., governor, and United States senator.
The parish of Westbury, in Waterbury, was incorporated as a town by the name of Watertown, in 1780. It contains some of the finest farms and most enterprising agriculturists in Litchfield county. The Rev. John Trumbull was the first pastor of the church in this place. His son of the same name became famous as a judge, and as the author of " McFingal."* The late learned Professor Matthew Rice Dutton, of Yale College, was a native of Watertown.
East Hartford, in Hartford county, and Woodbridge, in New Haven county, were incorporated as towns in 1784.
Hartland contains 17,654 acres, and is bounded north on the Massachusetts line, south on Barkhamsted, east on Granby and west on Colebrook. The proprietors held their first meeting in Hartford, on the 10th of July, 1733, and immedi- ately attempted to sell the lands ; but more than twenty years elapsed before any permanent settlement was made within the limits of the township. In the spring of 1753,
* The Rev. Jeremiah Day, D.D., LL.D., of New Haven, Hon. Thomas Day, LL.D., of Hartford, Hon. Elisha Whittlesey, of Ohio, Prof. Elisha Mitchell, D.D., of the University of North Carolina, and Rev. Nathaniel S. Wheaton, D.D., ex- President of Washington College, (now Trinity College,) are also natives of Washington.
467
NORFOLK.
John Kendall, with his family, moved on to the lands, but, through fear of the Indians, he left during the following year. In 1754, Deacon Thomas Giddings, from Lyme, became a permanent resident of the township ; and the next year two other families joined him. In 1757, the settlement consisted of eight families. The location of Hartland being quite on the Indian frontier, and the lands being rough, wild, and altogether uninviting to the eye of the pioneer, it was long before a sufficient number of inhabitants had settled there to form either a civil or ecclesiastical organization. The town was incorporated in 1761 ; and in 1768, the Rev. Sterling Graves was ordained and settled as the first pastor of the church. Uriel Holmes, senior and junior, were among the most prominent men in the town. The latter removed to Litch- field where he was chosen a judge, and member of Con- gress.
Norfolk is an elevated township, bordering upon Massa- chusetts, and was laid out nine miles in length and four and a half miles in breadth. It was offered for sale at Middle- town in 1742, at which time but a small part of the lands were disposed of ; and the first settlements were made upon the tract in 1744, or soon after, by Titus and Cornelius Brown, from Windsor, and John Turner and Jedediah Rich- ards, from Hartford. The sale of the lands in Norfolk was not completed until 1758. The town was incorporated in the year last named, at which date there were but twenty- seven families within its limits. Among the early settlers were Ezra, Ebenezer, and Samuel Knapp, and James Bene- dict, all of Danbury ; Jacob Spaulding, and Isaac Holt; Jacob and Samuel Mills, Asahel Case and Samuel Cowles, all of Simsbury ; Samuel Manross, from Farmington; and Joshua Whitney, from Canaan. The Rev. Ammi Ruhamah Robbins, a native of Branford and a graduate of Yale Col- lege, was ordained as the first pastor of the church in Nor- folk, October 28, 1761 .* Though the lands of this township
* Among the citizens of Norfolk particularly deserving of notice, I may name the late Joseph Battell, Esq., a gentleman distinguished for his wealth, enterprize,
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
are rough and broken, they sustain an intelligent, patriotic, and thriving population ; while an abundance of water-power is turned to good account in driving the machinery of various manufacturing establishments.t
Barkhamsted was granted to the people of Windsor in 1732, and contains, by estimation, 20,530 acres. The first person who made a permanent settlement within the limits of the town, was Pelatiah Allyn, from Windsor, about the year 1748. He remained the sole inhabitant for a period of more than ten years. The next person who located on the tract was Israel Jones, from Enfield, in 1759. Among the other principal settlers were William Austin, Joseph Shepard, John Ives, Joseph Wilder, Asa Case, and Jonathan King. There were but twenty families in the town in 1771, and the act of incorporation was not passed until 1779. The Rev. Ozias Eells, the first pastor of the church, was ordained January, 1787.
Winchester constituted a part of the tract that was partitioned out among the Hartford patentees at a proprie- tors' meeting, holden on the 5th of April, 1732, and continued by adjournment to the 27th of September following. The township contained 20,380 acres, and was named at the May session, 1733. It was incorporated in May, 1771; and the first pastor was settled in the town, November 11, 1772. The village of Winsted, which is situated in this town, is the present terminus of the Naugatuck railroad, and is one of the most thriving and enterprising localities in the State.
The first settler of Colebrook was Benjamin Horton, who located himself about three-fourths of a mile south of the centre, on the Norfolk road, in December, 1765. Joseph Rockwell came into the town a few weeks later. Joseph Seymour, Nathan Bass, and Samuel Rockwell, soon followed,
and benevolence ; and the late Hon. Augustus Pettibone. General George B. Holt, a prominent citizen of Dayton, Ohio ; Rufus Pettibone, Judge Supreme Court of Louisiana ; Rev. Thomas Robbins, D.D., of Hartford ; Lewis Riggs, member of Congress from the State of New York. &c., were born in Norfolk.
t See Hist. Norfolk, by Anson Roys-1847. 1.
469
TOWNS ORGANIZED.
and commenced clearing their lands and erecting their dwellings. The town was organized in 1786 ; and the Rev. Jonathan Edwards, D.D., was settled as the first pastor in 1795. He was elected President of Union College in 1799, and was succeeded in the pastoral office in Colebrook by the Rev. Chauncey Lee, D.D .*
These townships, comprising the northern and north- eastern portions of Litchfield county, were the last of the original towns in the colony both in point of settlement and organization. The tract was only known previous to the revolution by the name of the "Green Woods." Its hills, mountains, and morasses, were covered by a dense growth of evergreens, which, in the winter, moaned in sad concert with the howl of the wolf and the war-whoop of the red man, where now smiling villages, quiet, rural homesteads, fruitful fields, and the cheerful hum of industry, bear indisputable witness to the transforming hand of civilization and chris- tianity.
The towns of Franklin, Bristol, Berlin, East Haven, and Thompson, were organized in 1785.
The year 1786 was more prolific in the institution of new towns than any of its predecessors or successors. Elling- ton, Montville,t Preston, Brooklyn, Hampton, Lisbon, Boz- rah, Warren, Granby, Hamden, North Haven, and South- bury, all came into the confederacy during that year, and were vested with all the rights and privileges of their elder associates. Each has contributed its quota to the prosperity and glory of our little commonwealth ; each has a history of its own, that is waiting for the labors of the local histo- rian and chronicler for its full and perfect development. To him we earnestly commend the praise-worthy task.
* Rev. Rufus Babcock, D.D., late President of Waterville College, Maine, Hon. Julius Rockwell, Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, member of Congress and United States senator, are natives of Colebrook.
t The first pastor of the church in Montville, was the Rev. James Hillhouse, who was settled in 1722, and died in 1740, aged 53. He was the founder of a family distinguished for their talents and public services.
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
Weston in Fairfield county, and Bethlem in Litchfield county, were made towns in 1787. The latter is particular- ly distinguished as the scene of the pastoral labors of the Rev. Joseph Bellamy, D.D., one of the most learned and renowned preachers and authors of his day, who spent his entire ministerial life in this retired rural parish. He died in 1790, in the seventy-second year of his age, and in the fiftieth of his ministry ; and was succeeded in the pastoral office by the Rev. Azel Backus, D.D., afterwards President of Hamilton College, New York .*
Brookfield, in Fairfield county, was incorporated in 1788, having been formed from parts of New Milford, Danbury, and Newtown.
Between the last mentioned date and the year 1800, inclu- sive, Huntington, Sterling, Plymouth, Wolcott, Oxford, Columbia, and Trumbull, were incorporated as distinct towns. From the commencement of the present century down to the period of the adoption of the Constitution, the following towns were organized, viz : New Canaan, Roxbury, Sherman, Burlington, Canton, Marlborough, Middlebury, North Stonington, Vernon, Griswold, and Waterford.
Roxbury was originally a part of Woodbury, and was incorporated in 1801. Colonel Seth Warner, of the revolu- tionary army, Hon. Nathaniel Smith, member of Congress, Hon. Nathan Smith, United States Senator, Hon. Truman Smith, United States Senator, and John Sanford, member of Congress from New York, were born in Roxbury. General Ephraim Hinman, and the Hon. Royal R. Hinman, were long residents of the town.
Southbury was a part of Woodbury until 1786, when it was incorporated as a town, and remained a part of the
* In Bethlem were born the Hon. Samuel J. Hitchcock, LL. D., Professor of Law in Yale College ; David Prentice, LL. D., Professor of Mathematics in Geneva College, N. Y .; Harvey P. Peet, LL. D., President of the New York Insti- tution for the deaf and dumb ; Laurens Hull, M. D., of Alleghany county, N. Y., President of the State Medical Society, representative and senator in the N. Y. Legislature.
471
BRIDGEPORT.
county of Litchfield for about twenty years thereafter, when it was annexed to New Haven county.
I cannot close this chapter without so far overstepping the chronological bounds I had marked out for myself, as to notice the flourishing town and city of Bridgeport. Though it has sprung into existence since the adoption of the Consti- tution, a history of the state would be imperfect without at least a reference to its rise and progress. Previous to the date of its incorporation as a town in 1821, Bridgeport form- ed a part of the parish of Stratfield, in Stratford. In 1836, the city of Bridgeport was incorporated ; in 1837, its popu- lation was 3,416 ; in 1850, the number of its inhabitants had increased to seven thousand five hundred and thirty- eight.
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