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 30
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Mr. Whiting made every effort to sustain the cause in England ; but thus far with little avail. Again the affairs of the colony were left in the hands of the governor or deputy-governor, and any six of the assistants until the October term. The last Wednesday in May was appointed a day of public fasting and prayer. Little business occupied the court at this crisis of doubt, consternation and gloom. A few matters relating to Fairfield were brought forward. Major Gold petitioned the Assembly that a neck of land in the west part of Danbury, adjoining the land laid out to him at Umpewage, should be added to his former grant, which petition was granted, provided the land did not exceed five hundred acres. To this one hundred more acres were added a few days after. ¿ Simon Couch, of Bankside, petitioned that
* The names of John Wheeler and John Burr are not recorded in the May list of deputies, but may be found in the October list marked absent .-- Col. Rec. of Conn., III., 239.
+ The Rev. Gershom Bulkley was never admitted a freeman of the Connecticut colony, and the commission he received from Andros was made null and void by the revolution. He is described as having been "overweening, self-important, obstinate in adherence to his opinions or prejudices, a litigious spirit, and the peculiarities of his political creed detracted from his usefulness, and kept him almost continually at strife with his neighbors or with the government of the colony." -Col. Rec. of Conn., III., 389.
# Col. Rec. of Conn., III., 231-235. A patent of this land was granted Major Gold, May 20, 1687. Col. Rec. Deeds, &c., II., 182.
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his right in the land of his father-in-law, Francis Andrews, at or near Bankside, be granted him, according to the agreement made at the time of union between Fairfield and the Bankside planters. The court granted his petition, and ordered that Mr. John Burr and the selectmen of the town should, forthwith set out to each planter of Bankside his proportion of land, by virtue of their agreement with the town of Fairfield in 1666. Among the town votes of January 9th, of this year, is the following : " For good considerations moving ym, ye town orders one acre & a half of land near ye east farms, for any of ye inhabitants to bury their dead in, as occasion shall be." John Burr, of Fairfield, and Lieutenant Mathew Sherwood, of Pequonnock, were appointed to lay it out. This burial place, has ever since been known as the old Stratfield or Pequonnock grave yard. It is situated on the king's highway, but a short distance north of Mountain Grove cemetery, adjoining the military green of the early settlement.
Again the disputed boundary line between Norwalk and Fairfield was brought forward. The court decided that a white oak tree, east of the deceased Daniel Frost's house at Bankside, was the early west bounds of Fairfield, and that a just mile west of the said white oak tree should be their west or head line, to run up to the Stamford path, and then north- ward according to the former grant of the court : " & the town of Fair field is to have all the lands southward of this line from Standford path east of Saugatuck river." Two hundred acres of land were granted to John
Burr. * Lieutenants Samuel Morehouse and Nathaniel Seely were appointed to lay out this grant ; and also one hundred acres to John Bell of Stamford. + In order to avoid having their timber lands impoverished by Andros, a law was passed, that no more timber should be sent out of the colony without a license from the towns in which it was cut, under a penalty of forfeiting said timber. The captains of the vessels were forbidden to receive it without a license, under a penalty of forty shillings for every breach of this law. Tanners were also forbidden to cut down trees for bark, without a license from the towns in which they lived, under a penalty of five shillings for every barked tree.
From the following vote, it is clearly to be seen that the politic course pursued by Major Gold and the town deputies, in agreeing to yield to the
*" Laid out with other grants to Jehue & John Burr, April 1693, within a tract of two square miles, purchased by them of the Indian proprietors upon the Wemesheage (Wemesseage) brook ; & patented to Daniel & Samuel Burr May 1717."-Col. Rec. of Deeds, &c., III., 229-233.
+ " This grant to Lieut. Jonathan Bell of Stamford, was assigned, by his sons, Jonathan, Abra- ham & John, April 1712 to John Edwards & Samuel Couch of Fairfield, -to whom it was laid out, on the west side of Capt. Osborn's ridge," between Fairfield and Danbury, and patented, Oct., 1716.
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king's commands to resign their charter if absolute necessity required, and to be annexed to New York, was made a matter of grave offense :
" The town of Fairfield do hereby at a town meeting held this day, being ye 23. of May 1687, do withdraw ye power given unto Major Nathan Gold, Mr. Jehu Burr & Lieut. John Banks in reference to their defending sd. Fairfield's title to ye land within ye town bounds against any, they not being inhabitants of ye town; & do thereby discharge them from ye sd. power & trust given or committed to sd. Nathan Gold, Jehu & John, by an order of said Fairfield of May 1683."*
The receipt of a letter from William Whiting of London, caused Gov- ernor Treat to summon a General Court, to be held at Hartford on the 15th of June. Neither Major Gold's, John Wheeler's, nor John Burr's name appears on the list of those present. Mr. Whiting's letter was laid before the Assembly: He had given the letter addressed by the Assembly to Lord Sunderland immediately after its reception, the con- tents of which were by his lordship communicated to the Lords of the Committee for Foreign Plantations, and by them to his Majesty ; but he had not learned of his decision, Sir Edmund Andros not yet having made any return of the Connecticut quo warrantos, which it was expected he would do by the next ship from New England. Mr. Whiting assured the Assembly he had taken care that he should be notified if any process was made ; but it was his opinion that their case would be lost, as the court was at Windsor, and but little could be known of what proceedings were taking place there.
With great opposition on the part of many in the colony, the Assembly did not consider themselves able to raise money to send an agent to Eng- land, which Mr. Whiting had recommended them to do ; but having full confidence in his ability, ordered that he should be notified by letter in the name of the governor, deputy-governor and assistants of their gratitude for his past services in their behalf, and request him to continue to defend their interests. A reasonable satisfaction was voted for his services. Sev- eral of the Assembly requested to see the Charter of Connecticut. Secre- tary Allyn sent for it, and exhibited it to those present ; " & the governor bid him put it into the box again, & lay it upon the table, & leave the key in the box, which he did forthwith." This remarkable entry in the colony records, gives an impression that some of the members of the court questioned whether the charter had not already been given up, but the singular order of Governor Treat gives a clue to the surmise that some scheme was on foot for its preservation, even if it was "left on the table with the key in the box."
* Fairfield Letter B, Town Votes, p. 79.
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Mr. Whiting reported through Secretary Allyn, by a letter dated June 14th, that thus far no information had at that date been filed in the court against them, although, on the IIth instant a rule was passed, that they should appear on the following day (being the last day of that term of court) for judgment against them. On the 14th of August he wrote, that on the day set for their appearance, he gave a warrant of attorney to one of the clerks of the crown office to appear in their behalf, which he signified to his Majesty's officer of the court, " but no information either then or since having been given against the colony, the case stood as it did." Again, on the 21st of September he wrote, that as yet no infor- mation had been given against them; but urged that money should be immediately sent out to defend their charter, as the forty pounds already sent him was well nigh exhausted. The General Assembly met, as usual, on the 13th of October. Major Gold, and John Burr did not appear, having been stripped of their offices by their fellow-townsmen ; and they evi- dently were not willing to seem to oppose the demands of the quo war- rantos.
A petition was presented to the Assembly by Samuel Hayes of Nor- walk, in behalf of Thomas Fitch, Thomas Bennydick, and John and Jehu Burr, representing that as Pequiage contained twenty families, and others were expected soon to settle there, it should be constituted a town, and named Swamfield; but the court gave it the name of Danbury .* The Assembly proceeded in its regular routine of business until about the last of October, when it was speedily interrupted by the appearance of Governor Andros among them, with his suit and sixty regular troops. His coming was not unexpected, as he had notified Governor Treat on the 22d, that having recently received orders from his Majesty to annex Con- necticut to his government, he should either send or come himself to Hartford by the end of the following week.t
A literal construction had been placed upon the letter of the Assembly,
* Probably named after a village in Essex, five miles from Chelmsford .- Col. Rec. of Conn., III., 240.
+ Col. Rec. of Conn., III., 387 .- Gershom Bulkley in his " WILL & DOOM" describes Andros's journey to Hartford as one of triumph, having been conducted through the town with the respect and welcome congratulations of the populace. That he was conducted from the Rocky Hill ferry through Wethersfield to Hartford by the Hartford county troops, where the train bands of several towns, aware of his coming, had united to pay him welcome. That he was received with courtesy by Governor Treat and the assistants and deputies of the court, and conducted to the governor's chair, with the honor due to his office.
All this may have been true ; but it was a time when the magistrates of Connecticut united political tact with wisdom and courtesy. The wisdom of submission with them "became the better part of valor." To appear " as wise as serpents & as harmless as doves," was fully exemplified.
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addressed to the Earl of Sunderland on the 26th of January, that in case his Majesty should not see fit to continue Connecticut a separate colony, but join it with the other colonies and provinces under Sir Edmund An- dros, " it would be more pleasant than to be joined with any other prov- . ince." As soon as the letter was received at Whitehall, " the King readily granted their request of being annexed to the Bay," and at the very moment, when they hoped some check would be given to the intrigues of Andros and Randolph, through the timely interference of their agent William Whiting, their own words were turned against them, and construed into " resignation of their charter by their own act." * The king pursued his quo warranto no farther, but commissioned Andros to take upon him the government of Connecticut.
It was no doubt an hour of great triumph, when Andros found himself governor of a colony he had so many years endeavored to control ; and with its annexation to the other colonies, he had reason to dream of almost unlimited wealth and power. Standing in the midst of the Assem- bly, surrounded by his suit, he demanded of Governor Treat the sur- render of the charter of Connecticut, and pronounced the government to be dissolved.
According to tradition, Governor Treat, in a most eloquent manner, plead the cause of the Connecticut planters, in defense of their charter and the privileges it conveyed to them. He reminded Andros of the hardships they had endured in planting the colony ; of the expense they had incurred in purchasing their patent and their lands of the natives; of the blood and pecuniary losses they had sustained in subduing both for- eign and savage foes ; of his own personal exposure; " & that it was like giving up his life, now to surrender the patent & privileges so dearly bought & so long enjoyed."
As the day waned and evening approached, the court room was filled with men resolved upon almost any daring deed. Outside were stationed the troops of Andros, and a multitude of eager, earnest men and women awaited the issue of the debate within. The night closed in upon the crowded listeners, and the candles were lighted upon the council table, revealing such firmness of expression upon the furrowed, weather-beaten faces of the veteran forefathers of Connecticut, as must have daunted any one capable of appreciating the feelings of heroes and patriots under this terrible ordeal.
Unmoved, Andros awaited the surrender of the charter, which was most reluctantly brought in and laid upon the table before him and the assem-
* Gershom Bulkley's Will and Doom.
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bled spectators. In an instant the candles were extinguished ; but all was orderly and silent in the house for some minutes. When the candles were relighted, it was discovered that the coveted charter was gone, and no one present could tell who had spirited it away. The memorable charter of King Charles of happy memory, however, found a safer place for its preservation, without lock or key, in the capacious hollow of the grand old Charter Oak of Hartford .*
The next morning Andros assumed the control of the government of the colony. The record of this epoch in the history of Connecticut is preserved by Secretary John Allyn in the following few words :
" His Excellency Sr. Edmond Andross Knt, Capt. Generall & Govr of his Maties Terito- rie & Dominion in New England, by order from his Matie James the Second, King of England, Scotland, France & Ireland, the 31 of October, 1687, took into his hands the Government of this colony of Conecticott, it being by his Matie annexed to the Massachu- setts & other colonys under his Excelencies Government. FINIS."}
Occupying the Governor's chair, Andros ordered his commission from the king to be read. He informed Governor Treat and Secretary John Allyn, it was his Majesty's pleasure that they should be members of his council, and called upon them to take the oath of allegiance, which was administered before him. He then proceeded to organize courts of judi- cature in the several counties, making those who had occupied the offices of governor, deputy-governor and assistants, judges of the court of com- mnon pleas or justices of the peace. He appointed sheriffs and constables in the several counties, and caused all the officers under him to take the oath of allegiance, after the laws and customs of England. On the 7th of November he commissioned Governor Treat colonel of the militia and captain of the cavalry of the county of New Haven.
Governor Joseph Dudley, of New York, was appointed chief justice of New England, and William Stoughton and Peter Bulkley associate judges. George Farewell, of New York, was made attorney-general, and John West, of Boston, secretary. Gershom Bulkley was made a justice of the peace. Major Gold was made a judge of the common pleas for the county of Fairfield. John Perry, of Fairfield, was appointed postman between
* Captain Wadsworth having seized the charter, secreted it in the hollow of an oak tree in front of the house of the Hon. Samuel Willyis, of Hartford, which from this circumstance was called the Charter Oak.
+ Col. Rec. of Conn., Vol. III., 248. The common seal of the colony was delivered up to Andros by Secretary Allyn, who afterward used the great seal, which had been appointed for his administration, and which bore the remarkable motto, numquam libertas gratias extat.
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Boston, Fairfield and Stamford, to carry the mail once a month in the winter, and every three weeks in the summer, or oftener if required.
In the month of November, 1687, Governor Andros, who had formally taken possession of the government of the colony, appointed Thursday, the Ist of December, " to be a public day of praise & thanksgiving to Almighty God " throughout New England, with inclosed orders for the same, and the king's "Declaration for Liberty of Conscience " (April, 1687), to all. Andros had not only proclaimed himself a member of the Church of England, but had at once, upon his assuming the duties of a governor over the colonies, made preparations to erect a church in Boston, to carry out the provisions of the Book of Common Prayer. The church he erected was called the King's Chapel, and is to the present day one of the chief noticeable landmarks of that city.
From this date Episcopacy may be said to have had its rise in New England, although it was bitterly opposed in all the New England colo- nies ; and while many efforts before this and afterwards were made by individuals to worship according to the dictates of their own consciences, it was not until the eighteenth century opened that any successful attempt was made to hold the services of the Church of England in Fairfield and the neighboring towns.
At the same time Andros published an act for enforcing the former laws made by the governor and council of Connecticut, with other regula- tions. He also ordered that the semi-annual general courts should be held, one at New Haven and the other at Hartford; and that the magis- trates of New Hampshire should attend the latter. The quarterly courts for the county of Fairfield were appointed to be held at Fairfield on the third Wednesday in March, June, September and December, and the inferior court of pleas, soon after the regular county courts had ended. The superior court for the counties of Fairfield and New Haven was to be held at New Haven twice every year, and their sheriffs were ordered to send their deputies or under-sheriffs to attend such courts, whose duty was to make return of writs, to summon a jury or juries for cases pending. The former restriction of limiting the inferior courts of common pleas of the counties to cases under forty pounds with costs, was removed ; and it was made legal for them to decide " all causes & cases wherein titles of lands were not concerned, to any sum or value; with liberty of appeal to the superior courts by a writ of habeas corpus, to be issued under a special bail, out of the clerk's office of the superior court." Justices of the peace were allowed to decide all cases under forty shillings. A court of chancery was also instituted, subject to the laws of England. The pro-
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bating of wills was from henceforth to be granted only by the governor, or such persons as he commissioned for that purpose, after being proved in the remote counties from Boston in the court of common pleas, and certi- fied at the secretary's office at Boston. Fifty shillings was exacted for each will probated. All males over sixteen years of age, except his Majesty's council, owning houses, cultivated and broken lands, or other property, "at sea or on shore," were taxed at the rate of one shilling eight pence a head for the county tax; and all estates, both real and per- sonal, at the rate of one penny for every twenty shillings. For regulating taxes a certain value was placed upon horses and all kinds of cattle, sheep, hogs, grain, etc. Fish, sheep's wool, cotton wool and salt, were alone exempt. Workmen, tradesmen, laborers, and in fact all classes and con- ditions of men, were taxed. Paid servants were taxed, and masters of families were taxed for unpaid servants. Those not able to meet these demands were ordered sent to the common jail until their case could be laid before the next court of sessions. Even strangers, and vessels coming into port were rated. All kinds of foreign and domestic liquor, wine, ale, and cider were heavily taxed. Peddlers were forbidden to sell goods from town to town under a penalty of ten pounds, and be sent from constable to constable until they reached the town to which they belonged. The elder brother of a family, according to the custom in England, was made the chief heir in line of descent, and also heir of the entire estate of a deceased brother to the exclusion of younger brothers. An act for the suppression of piracy was made. The ratification of marriage was restricted to civil magistrates, and bonds, and sureties exacted by the governor. The usual town tax for the support of ministers was abolished, and no one allowed to give " even two pence to a non-conformist, under threats of punish- ment; & if this law was not complied with they were informed that their meeting houses should be taken from them." * Printing presses were forbidden, except by special license.
Fairfield and the towns in the western part of Connecticut experienced serious alarm at this time, lest a rupture with the French Canadians should involve them in another Indian war. The French had threatened to attack the Iroquois Indians, and a party of Mohicans and Mohawks exas- perated against them attacked Fort Chambly and killed several men, burned houses, and carried away a large number of prisoners. Governor Dongan called upon Andros to assist in the defense of Albany. Andros immediately ordered two hundred foot soldiers and fifty troopers to be raised out of the western part of Connecticut, and dispatched to Albany
* Trumbull's Hist. of Conn., I, 392.
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by the end of April. The officers were to be provided with money to defray the expenses of the expedition.
Governor Talcott waived the effort to raise either troops or money for the time being; but in a most gracious manner suggested that it might be a good expedient for him to send advice to Governor Dongan, to move the French general to a cessation of arms, and so gain a truce of eight or nine months, while dispatches were sent to England and France for their decision; that their subjects in America might not be plunged in a cruel war at the cost of devastated plantations, the effusion of much Christian blood, and the country brought into poverty, as in the late Indian war, " for the sake of a beaver trade, to be upheld by the point of the sword, for the enriching of a few mercenary spirited men." Governor Dongan acted upon this suggestion, and by his eloquent appeal to King James, a treaty of neutrality was established with France, by which it was agreed that all their colonies in America should remain neutral and at peace with each other, even if a breach existed between the two kingdoms. Intent on securing lands to their lawful owners and successors, the following vote was passed at Fairfield :
"Novembr Ist 1687. Ye town of Fairfield this day voted yt those of ye Town yt did divide pasture, building & the Long Lots, Shall be, and be deemed to be wth yr heirs & lawfull Successors, and those yt Shall Come in lawfull power in stead of them, or any of them, Shall be forever ye proprietors of all ye Comons of Fairfield ; yt is of ye two half miles of Comon, and y mile of comon, & all other Lands lying in ye Comon, if any wt ever, according to yt rule : Sd pasture & building & long lots were divided, & Sª Com- mons are hereby granted to, and confirmed on them as above forever, wth others, namely, those y Indifferent men Shall determine to have Satisfaction for Some Divisions, they Say they ought to have, but have it not, and wt Liberty of removing: those shall have yt live in ye Town yt have none, and cannot otherwise claim any as y right, & any other dissatis- fied persons in Fairfield on a Land account ; & those persons shall have so much, as those persons Indifferently chose by ye Town ; & ye said persons shall determine them, or any of them to have ; which determination Shall stand good and be fullfilled by ye Town."
Jehu Burr, Robert Turney and John Thompson were appointed to hear and determine the cases of all dissatisfied persons in lands or com- mons.
Major Gold and Jehu Burr having taken the oath of allegiance, and been selected among the official appointments of Governor Andros, were, at a town meeting on the 9th of January, reinstated as inhabitants of the town, and with John Burr, employed to defend the lands belonging to the freeholders in a lawful way. In the month of March Governor Andros issued further oppressive laws. He appointed an annual town
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meeting on the third Monday in May, for the planters to choose and nomi- nate select men or overseers, not to exceed eight in number, one half of whom were to be chosen out of those who had served the year previous. They were also to nominate commissioners. The duty of the select men, with the assistance of two justices of the peace, was to number the poor of the town, to levy a tax for their maintenance, and to meet once a month to consider the best way to provide for their industry and care. All town meetings but the annual one for choosing and nominating town officers, were strictly forbidden. If any one appointed a constable, refused to act or take the oath of allegiance, he was fined five pounds. Strict military regulations were set on foot. Once every year each captain or lieutenant was required to send " a fair written roll of their respective companies and regiments," or be court-martialed. The use of fire-arms was forbidden after eight o'clock in the evening, unless in case of alarm, under severe punishment. In case of alarm four muskets or small arms were to be dis- tinctly fired, or one cannon and two muskets or small arms, and by beat- ing a drum, when every soldier was obliged to be armed and at his post, or be fined five pounds. Officers of vessels were also forbidden to fire salutes upon entering any of the ports.
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