USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Fairfield > The history of Fairfield, Fairfield County, Connecticut, from the settlement of the town in 1639 to 1818. Vol. I > Part 10
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*Col. Rec. Conn., 1, 140. + Trumbull's Hist. of Conn., 1, 161.
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region from the Mohawks. The perfidious Narragansetts did not fulfill any of the promises they had made to the English ; but continued in acts of direct treachery and intrigue against them, of which the commissioners gave them to understand they had full knowledge. The Dutch and Indian war continued. A battle was fought at Horseneck or Stricklands' plain. After a long and obstinate resistance, the Dutch were victorious, and the Indians put to flight. Many were slain on both sides, and their dead buried in heaps, and covered with earth, giving their graves the appearance of small hills.
At the court of election held in Hartford in May, Ludlow was again elected one of the magistrates, and Charles Taintor and Edmund Harvey deputies from Fairfield. A particular explanation of the tenth fundamen- tal article was called for by some of the attendants of this court, it never having been fully understood. It had been previously thought that a particular court could not be legally held without the presence of the governor, or deputy-governor, or some one chosen by the governor as moderator, and four magistrates. A more full interpretation of the article was entered upon, and it was finally " ordered, sentenced & decreed" that the governor or deputy-governor, with two magistrates, should have power to keep a particular court ; and in case the governor or deputy-governor could not be present, if three magistrates met, they might choose one of themselves as a moderator. A guard of eight complete in their arms every Sabbath and lecture day, was at this time ordered to be kept in each of the towns at the seaside ; and as the population became more numerous it was to be increased. It was enacted that the taxes upon the towns for the general support of the colony should be brought in yearly in the month of September. Ludlow was appointed to give out warrant for the taxes at the seaside. The soldiers in each of the towns were authorized to make choice of their military officers, and present their names to the particular court, to be acted upon according to the judgment of the court.
Owing to many abuses, committed from the frequent use of tobacco, it was ordered that no person under the age of twenty years, nor any one not yet accustomed to its use, should take take the weed until he had obtained, " a certificate under the hand of some who are approved, for knowledge & skill in phisicke, that it is useful for him, & that he has received a licence from the Court for the same : " -- " and for the regulating of those who had already made it necessary for their use," it was ordered : " that no man in the colony after the publication hereof, shall take any tobaco publicquely in the street, nor the field or woods, unless when
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travelling at least ten miles, or at the ordinary time of repast, com- monly called dinner ; or if it be not then taken, yet not above once in the day at most, & then not in company with any other. Nor shall any inhabitant in any of the towns, within this jurisdiction take tobacco, in any house in the same town where he liveth, with or in the company of any more than one who useth & drinketh the same weed with him at that time, under a penalty of six pence for each offence against this order, in any of the plantations thereof." The constables were appointed to present the names of such as transgressed this act to the particular court.
To prevent the abuse of wine and strong water, it was ordered : " That no inhabitant in any town should continue in a tavern or victualing house in the town in which he lived more than half an hour at a time, drinking wine, beer, or hot water." Neither should any one sell wine or any drink " above the proportion of three to a pint of sack; " nor should wine be sold " to a private resident or to those who come for it," unless by a note signed by " some one Mr. of a family, & he an allowed inhabitant of the town." Neither were hotel keepers permitted to sell or draw hot water to any but in case of necessity, under the censure of the court in any one of the above cases.
At the next particular court held on the 3d of June, Thomas Newton, of Fairfield, was fined £5 " for his misdemeanor in the vessel called the Virginia, (in which he was probably captain) in giving Philip White, wine when he had too much before." It was also resolved, that Ludlow, having perfected a body of laws, not only the man hired to labor for him should be paid by the court, but that Ludlow himself should "be further con- sidered for his services."
Arrangements were entered upon to engage any one disposed to un- dertake the whaling business for the term of seven years. Black Rock afterwards became for many years a noted whaling ship port. Although the Narragansetts and Nehantic Indians still continued in an alarming attitude, the commissioners at a special meeting in July obtained a con- tinued promise of peace. At the court of election in May, Ludlow was for the third time chosen deputy-governor of the colony. Andrew Ward and Charles Taintor were elected deputies from Fairfield. Salaries of £30 annually were directed to be paid to the governor and deputy-governor, as a compensation for their official expenses. At the sitting of the Gen- cral Court on the 18th of May, Ludlow and the Fairfield deputies, not wholly satisfied with the movement of the three first Maxumux farmers, who it appears had purchased the Maxumux lands of the Indians on their
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own responsibility, brought the affair before the court, which resulted in the following resolution :
" Whereas, There are certain farms to be set forth upon the borders within the limits of Fairfield, It is ordered there shall be no further proceeding in taking up any ground there about, until it be viewed by some that shall be appointed by such as shall keep the next Court at Fairfield."
An important movement had taken place among the planters at Fair- field. The fine meadows and planting fields of Maxumux had attracted their attention, and some of them had contemplated a settlement there. At a particular court held at Fairfield on the Ioth of October, the Bankside farmers were allowed to proceed in their undertaking. Among the early documents preserved in the state capitol at Hartford, is the following, dated 1648 :
" Imprimis. It is agreed that Thomas Newton Henry Gray & John Green, shall have liberty to sit down & inhabit at Machamux ; & shall have for each of them laid out as in propriety to themselves & their heirs forever, twenty acres in upland, to be indifferently laid out by the appointment of said town, in a convenient place, where it may not be too obnoxious to the depasturing & feeding of the cattle of the said town. And that if they improve the said land, to make a sufficient mound or fence, or mounds & fences, to secure their said town & land from the trespass of the cattle of the inhabitants of said town. And their said fence shall be viewed by the said town, or their deputies, whether sufficient or no, & shall be therein subject to such orders as the town shall make about other farms of the town.
" Item. That there shall be sufficient passage & way or ways for the cattle of said Fairfield to pass to the sea shore; & all the way to feed & depasture to & again in those parts ; & that neither the inhabitants of the said town nor their cattle may be prevented that way.
" Item. That there may be a convenient quantity of meadow laid out by the inhabit- ants of said town, or their deputies, to the parties above said, for their comfortable sub- sistence in that place. And that the parties above said shall only keep their own sheep in & upon their said land, & commons adjoining, & not take cattle to foragement and de- pasture in the commons of the said town.
" Item. That the aforesaid parties & their heirs be subject to all taxes & rates of the said town wherein they have a common benefit, together with said town, & are subject to the officers of said town, save only in watching & warding.
" Item. That there may be liberty to said parties to take in two more inhabitants by full consent & approbation of the town of Fairfield; & that they be approved as aforesaid, there may be like quantity of upland & meadow set out to them by the town upon the terms aforesaid.
"Item. It is agreed that if the said town & the parties are not agreed between themselves about the upland & meadow, then the court to be indifferent judges." *
" It was to this deed that William Hill attached his written testimony of Roger Ludlow leav- ing the town records in his hands .- State Archives, No. 52, Vol. I., Town and Lands
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The two parties chosen to join this enterprise were Daniel Frost, of Fairfield, and Francis Andrews, of Hartford. This land, which was pur- chased from the Maxumux Indians, stretched from a white oak tree near Frost point, one English mile along the sea coast towards Compaw, and six or seven miles inland. The Maxumux Indians lived on an elevated bank east of this strip of land overlooking a grand expanse of water, Long Island in the distance, and a charming view of meadows and fine rolling hills on the west, north and north-west. A few years after they removed from their sea-side planting field to Clapboard hill, which was set apart as a reservation for them.
Each of these five farmers were granted ten-acre home-lots. Daniel Frost's home-lot lay on the point, and was " bounded on the north & west with the highway, on the east with the land of the Old Indian field ; & on the south with the sea beach." Henry Gray's home-lot was next west of Daniel Frost's. Thomas Newton's lay west of Henry Gray's. John Green's and Francis Andrew's lay west of Thomas Newton's. The name of Maxumux gave place to that of Bankside, and the planters were for several years called "The Five Bankside Farmers" and "The West Farmers." John Green became so prosperous a land-holder, that the name of Green's Farms was applied to the vicinity west and north-west of Bankside as early as 1699 .* Near the west limits of this purchase, was an island of about one hundred acres, first named Farmer's island, and the Great island, then Fox island, and in time, falling into the possession of the Sherwood family, it came to be called Sherwood's island. West of this island lay another of about ten acres which has always been known as the little island. East of Sherwood's island, standing well out in the Sound, was still another small island, which has entirely been washed away by the action of the waves and storms of more than two centuries.+ At the sitting of the General Court in May, Ludlow offered a motion that Moses Wheeler should be made a ferryman across the Housatonic at Stratford, which was also referred to the next court at Fairfield, " both in behalf of the country & the town of Stratford."
On the 2d of February Henry Jackson was given liberty from the town to erect a grist mill on Uncoway creek.§ A severe law was enacted to
* Letter A of Town Deeds, p. 262.
t Testimony of Captain Franklin Sherwood of Sherwood's island, and Captain Ephraim Burr of Fairfield.
# Col. Rec. Conn., 163.
§ B, Town Votes, 1648. This will appear to have been erected near the mouth of the stream, or creek, which empties into the west side of the Uncoway river near Black-rock bridge. The
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prevent the Dutch from selling arms or ammunition to the Indians, under which any of them found guilty of this offense, not subject to the laws of the colony, " should be shipped for England & sent to Parliament." In July every soldier belonging to the train-bands was granted half a pound of powder a year, to be used on training days, which was to be provided by the masters and governers of each family in which said soldiers belonged, to be called for and used at the discretion of the captains or principal offi- cers of the train-bands.
At this time Connecticut seemed nearly overpowered, not only by the claims of Massachusetts, but by those of the renowned Peter Stuyvesant, who claimed that all the territories, rivers, streams and islands from Cape Henlopen to Cape Cod, and all the lands and plantations in the united colonies, belonged to the Dutch under an ancient grant to the Dutch, and afterwards purchased by them of the Indians. They also demanded a ship which he had ordered to be seized in the Harbor of New Haven. The hostile attitude of the Dutch and the murder by the Indians of one John Whitmore, a highly respectable resident of Stamford, as well as the murder of several Englishmen who were part of a crew belonging to a vessel which had been cast away near Long Island, filled the minds of the inhabitants of Fairfield, Stamford, and others along the coast, with the greatest anxiety for their own safety.
At the meeting of the commissioners on the seventh of September at Plymouth, Governor Hopkins and Ludlow, represented Connecticut. John Endicot and Simon Bradstreet were present from Massachusetts, William Bradford and John Brown from Plymouth, and Governor Eaton and John Astwood from New Haven. This was a gathering of some of the most noted and sterling characters of New England, men whose faces were care-worn with anxiety of mind, furrowed and weather-beaten with fatigue consequent upon their frequent long journeys by sea, or through the almost trackless wilderness of New England.
Soon after, Uncas, with several of his men, was sent to Stamford to discover the murderers of Mr. Whitmore .* The passage through Fair- field of so great a chief must have created considerable excitement and curiosity on the part of the planters as well as of the natives. Uncas having questioned the principal Indians of Stamford, discovered that the
hill which rises on the north-west of this stream has always been called the " Old Mill-hill," or the " Old Mill-lot." From the mill the river was forded towards Pequonnock, until within the early part of the nineteenth century, when the Black-rock bridge was built .- Testimony of Mr. Stephen Morehouse.
* Trumbull's Hist. Conn., p. 181.
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son of one of the sachems, and another Indian "fell a trembling," and were believed to be the conspirators in the murder; but before they · could be seized they both made good their escape. The other Indians, either through fear of their sachem or out of attachment to his son, could not be induced to testify against them. Thomas Newton, who had been one of the most enterprising planters in Fairfield, at this time fell into trouble with the authorities of the town and colony; and to escape the severity of the law for the charge brought against him-which Savage says was probably witchcraft-he escaped from prison and fled to the Dutch for protection. A large reward was offered to secure his return ; but he was protected by the Dutch governor, who believed him innocent, and who afterwards made him one of his military captains. He became one of the most prominent men of Newtown, Long Island. Several planters at Fairfield were fined twenty shillings at the time of his escape; and Thomas Staples was fined forty shillings, which leads to the suspicion that his friends believed him innocent .*
The Narragansetts and the Nehantics, still intent upon their treacherous course toward the English, had not fulfilled their promises ; but on the contrary had hired the Mohawks and the Pocomtock Indians to unite with them in totally destroying Uncas and the Mohegans. The fear of an Indian war was as great at this time as when the Pequots threatened the extermination of the whites. Thomas Stanton was timely dispatched to confer with them. Upon his arrival he found the Pocomtocks assem- bled and awaiting the Mohawks, but upon his informing them that the English were resolved to defend Uncas at all costs, they abandoned their project and returned home. The Narragansetts and the Nehantics thus finding themselves deserted, gave up their design.
Ludlow was this year chosen one of the magistrates of the General Court, and George Hull and Andrew Ward deputies from Fairfield. To the application made in May of the previous year by Ludlow and the Fairfield deputies that Maxumux or Bankside should be set forth upon the borders or within the limits of Fairfield, the General Court appointed Daniel Titterton and John Hurd of Stratford to survey and view the said land, "& consider thereupon how convenient it is for them & inconvenient for this commonwealth to have the said premises settled upon the town of sd. Fairfield, & make return thereof to the next General Court." Twenty pounds required and paid by Fairfield and Stratford, was declared in full of all accounts for their proportion of the public rates. Ludlow was
* Col. Rec. Conn., 1, 174. Rev. B. F. Reylea's Hist. Disc. on the 150th anniversary of the church in Green's Farms, p. II.
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appointed to levy the taxes at the seasons agreed upon by the people of Stratford "both for what is lacking & also for the future," toward the maintainance of their pastor, the Rev. Adam Blackman.
It was ordered that the fort and buildings at Saybrook, which had been purchased by the General Court of Connecticut of Mr. Fenwick in 1648, and destroyed by fire soon after, should be rebuilt at a point called New Fort-hill at the charge of the commonwealth. At a particular court held in Hartford on the 7th of June, Mr. John Webster of Hartford was appointed to assist Ludlow in holding a particular court, at Stratford " next Thursday come fortnight " for the execution of justice. On the 22d of July a special meeting of the commissioners was held at Boston, at which time it was resolved that the sachem of Stamford, whose son was supposed to have murdered Mr. Whitmore should be seized and imprisoned until the murderer was given up to justice; the murderers of the Long Island seamen and planters were likewise demanded. But a short time before the meeting of the commissioners, a bold attempt had been made upon the life of Uncas, by an Indian hired by the Narragan- setts and Nehantics to assassinate him. The wounds he received were at first thought to be mortal, but he soon recovered, and appearing before the commissioners at this time, eloquently set forth his long and valuable services in the defense of the English and their rights; and urged as a return of his faithfulness, that they should provide for his safety and avenge his cause. A rumor was in circulation that a daughter of Nini- grate was about to marry a brother or son of Sassacus. This gave ground to fear that a plot was now on foot by the Narragansetts and Nehantics to collect the scattered Pequots and to return them to their own country as a separate nation. The commissioners, regarding an Indian war inevitable, gave orders that all the colonies should forthwith be made ready for such an emergency .*
At this time the Massachusetts commissioners objected to any decision
* The Pequots given to Uncas had revolted from him, on account of the severity of his treat- ment, which was proved to be true. He was reproved by the commissioners, and fined a hundred fathom of wampum. Having resolved that the Pequots should never again become a distinct tribe, Uncas was required to receive them under his protection and to treat them kindly. This, however, the Pequots refused, and yearly sent in their petition to the commissioners to be allowed to settle by themselves under the control of the English. They pleaded that Wequash had said, if they departed from their country and were kind to the English. they would be treated well by them. Upon due consideration it was recommended that Connecticut should allow them a suitable amount of land for them to dwell apart from the Mohegans. . In the mean time they were advised to return to Uncas, who was counseled to govern them without revenge and with kindness. -Trumbull's Hist. Conn., 1, 186, 187.
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of the other commissioners in regard to the Connecticut boundary line and the purchase of the fort at Saybrook until Connecticut exhibited her patent, and proved priority of possession before the date of John Winthrop's arrival at Saybrook. To their arbitrary pleadings Governor Hopkins and Ludlow responded, reminding them that the situation of Connecticut in 1638 was a very different one from that of the present time. They disclaimed all right of priority on the part of Massachusetts, on the ground that having departed from that jurisdiction upon their own deter- mination, and withdrawn without any form of government, they had not considered themselves within the boundaries of their patent ; but, on the contrary, within the limits of the Connecticut patent of Viscount Say and Seal, Lord Brook and their associates, and therefore involved in their interest. In regard to the Connecticut patent, they showed that a copy of it had been exhibited at the time of the confederation, " which had been well known to many," and that it had recently been acknowledged by the honorable committee of Parliament ; and that all included within its limits had been given equal privileges and power, as all others under the patents of Massachusetts and Plymouth. In reference to any breach of brotherly love between the colonies, they claimed that love was ever to be based upon truth and peace ; and " that in all the proceedings of the confederation, it was their desire that truth & peace might embrace each other ; " and " that all things which were rational & consistent with truth & righteousness should never be an occasion of offence to any."
Governor Haynes laid a copy of the Connecticut patent before the commissioners, and the governor offered to prove its validity upon oath .* They acknowledged that they had not the original Connecticut patent, but a copy of it, to the truth of which Governor Hopkins was willing to give oath.+ At a particular court, held the 13th of September, at Hartford, when acting upon the vote of the commissioners, it was decided to make war upon the Stamford Indians, in order to induce them to deliver up the murderers of Mr. Whitmore. Mr. Ludlow and Mr. Tallcot, of Hartford, were appointed " to ride over to New Haven the next day to confer with
* Trumbull's Hist. Conn., 1, 189. Referring to the removal of the Connecticut planters from Massachusetts, Johnson, in his Wonderworking Providence, says: "With whom went the grave & reverend servants of Christ, Mr. Hooker & Mr. Stone, for indeed the whole Church removed, as also the most honored Mr. Haynes & divers other men of note, for the place being out of the Massachusetts patent, they erected another government called by the Indians Connectico, being further encouraged by two honorable personages, the Lord Say & the Lord Brook, who built a fortress at the mouth of the river, & called it Saybrook Fortress."
+ A copy of this patent was found by Governor Winthrop among the official papers of Governor Hopkins after his death .- Conn. Col. Rec., vol. I., p. 569.
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Governor Eaton & the other magistrates of that colony, about this matter, & to return as speedily as possible."
On the 18th of September Ludlow was appointed by the General Court of Connecticut to prepare the soldiers of Fairfield and Stratford with provisions and all other necessaries for the design upon the Stamford Indians. George Hull, of Fairfield, and William Beardsley, of Stratford, were chosen to assist him. This movement so alarmed and intimidated the Stamford Indians, that they proved peaceable ever afterwards ; but it does not appear that the murderers were given up to justice.
A form of church discipline, entitled the Cambridge platform, having been agreed upon at Boston on the 17th of October by the ministers throughout New England, it was adopted by the General Court and all the churches of Connecticut soon after. This platform, with the ecclesiastical laws of the colonies, formed the religious constitution of the Established Church of New England for about sixty years, or until the Saybrook plat- form was agreed upon.
Within the past two years affairs of grave importance had taken place in England. Cromwell, who had become "entire master of Parliament & of the king, attempted to quell the disorders he himself had so artfully raised." He called a secret council of the chief officers of the army, with a view of debating the best mode of governing the nation, and of dis- posing of the king's person. Charles had offered to resign to Parliament " the power of the army & the nomination of all the principal officers, provided at his death these prerogatives should revert to the crown." (December 24, 1647.) The Independents, however, who had the Parlia- ment in control, coerced them into sending four proposals to the king of such a character as left him only the power to reject them. On the 3d of January, 1648, Parliament voted " that no more addresses should be sent to the king, nor any letters or messages received from him ; & that it should be treason for any one, without leave of the two houses to hold any intercourse with him." From this time Charles I. was in reality dethroned, and the constitution formally overthrown. The king was placed in close confinement; cut off from his friends, correspondents, and even deprived of his servants. The Scotch in vain protested against the course pursued by Cromwell and the Independents. In all parts of the kingdom tumults, insurrections, and conspiracies prevailed, which Crom- well's army soon subdued. In vain Prince Charles in July (1648) with offers of ships from the English navy, made every effort in Holland and at home to restore his father to the throne. Step by step the unhappy king was stripped of all temporal power, and upon his head was visited
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