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 32
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On the 3d of September a sufficient number of assistants joined those already at Hartford, to constitute a legal court. After confirming the steps taken on the 29th in commissioning Captain Bull to treat with the Mohawks, they appointed commissioners to meet with the commissioners of Massachusetts, Plymouth and Rhode Island, at Boston, to consider the best way to insure peace, or if necessary to declare war.
The usual fall Assembly met on the Ioth of October, when it was voted, that owing to the expense of raising troops to defend " the colony & of assisting his Majestie's other colonies, the troops sent to defend New York should be recalled." At the same time Captain Leister was assured that in case of an invasion, they would relieve him to their best ability. The number of men to be raised in each county for the expedition was chosen. Major Gold was appointed to furnish one lieutenant, one ensign and fourteen men for the county of Fairfield.
The governor or deputy-governor, with not less than three of the assistants and a number of gentlemen, were constituted a committee or council of safety.
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A change was made at this time in the mode of electing governors and magistrates. An annual freeman's meeting was appointed at the meeting- house in each town in the colony, on the third Tuesday in March, at which time each freeman was allowed to give in the written names of twenty persons nominated for assistants, to the constable and commissioners. On the following Tuesday the constables were to carry these sealed nominations to the county towns, and the constable of each county town alone, or with another appointed to accompany him, was to carry the said sealed nominees to Hartford on the last Tuesday in March, and present them in the court chamber to the assistants or secretary, before whom each con- stable was to take oath " faithfully to sort the votes." Out of the twenty nominees, the ones who had the most votes were to be returned to the county towns, and the several towns in each county notified of the twenty, that by the freemen were appointed to stand for the nomination at the court of election. The last Tuesday in April was appointed for the free- men to meet at nine o'clock in the morning in the meeting-house, and out of the twenty nominated, proceed to elect the governor, deputy-governor, assistants, treasurer and secretary. Each freeman was to write his vote for the governor and deputy-governor upon a slip of paper, seal it and write his name upon it; and in like manner the names of the treasurer and secretary, the assistants and deputies, seal them and write his name upon them, and deliver them to the deputies of his town, to be delivered by them to the court of election, " any former order to the contrary notwith- standing." "And the twelve men who had the most votes, were declared assistants for the year ensuing.
It was declared that all persons twenty-one years of age, of peaceable, orderly and good conversation, owning estates to the value of forty shillings, upon taking the freeman's oath, should be allowed to vote. Having resumed the government, the annual salaries of the governors and magistrates were agreed upon. A tax of a penny half-penny on the pound was levied to defray the expenses of the colony. If any paid two-thirds of their tax in money, it was to be accepted as full pay for the whole.
While active measures were being made for the defense of the colonies, a French fleet, conveying a large body of land forces, had been sent from France for the reduction of New York; but the design was frustrated by the unhappy condition of the French in Canada, who were suffering greatly from the incursions of the Mohawks. Meanwhile Captain Bull, with a company of Connecticut troops, was dispatched to Albany to defend that part of the country, as well as to treat with the Five Nations.
CHAPTER VI
1690-1700
CHURCHES, SCHOOLS, GOVERNMENT
Prosperity of the town .- French and Indian war .- Loss at Schenectady .- Military rule .- Fairfield troops at Albany-Military tax .- Matthew Sherwood, captain of dragoons .- John Burr, cap- tain of militia .- Embargo on grain and provisions .- Agent to England .- First colonial con- gress in America .- Magistrates of 1690 .- Expedition against Quebec .- Tyranny of Leisler .- Friendship of the Mohawks .- Fugitive slaves .- Fairfield village and school .- Salt manufac- tories .- Connecticut charter .- Latin schools .- Fairfield village church and members .- Rev. Charles Chauncy .- Death of Rev. Samuel Wakeman .- Rev. Joseph Webb, third pastor of Christ's church .- Grover's hill .- Town acts .- Witchcraft .- Men and Indians sent to defend Maine and Massachusetts .- Military claims of Col. Fletcher .- Major Winthrop sent to England .- Fairfield taxed .- Fairfield village and parish .- Postal laws .- Powder money. -Agents sent to the Five Nations .- Death of Queen Mary .- Parish records of Fair- field and church covenant .- Piracy and Captain Kidd .- Value of Silver .- Maintenance for ministers .- Expedition to New Foundland .- The Earl of Bellomont .- County courts .- Epi- demic of 1698 .- The king's highway and postal routes .- College in Connecticut .- Magis- trates of 1699 .- Counterfeiting .- Laws for Fairfield village .- Official fees .- Preservation of forests .- Founders of Yale college.
FIFTY years had now elapsed since the settlement of the town of Fair- field, and the fair fields which attracted Roger Ludlow and his little band of pioneers had become fairer still under the cultivation of the thrifty planters. The large tracts, from one end of the town to the other, even to the centre of Redding, had been staked off or fenced in to the dividend- holders. Prospered in an unusual degree, Fairfield had known nothing of the distresses and devastations of the northern and eastern towns of Con- necticut. Rich in agriculture and in commerce, the growth of wheat, corn, oats and barley furnished supplies for other markets and enriched the planters. In point of political influence, no town in New England was of more importance, nor was there one that more readily responded to calls for military assistance from the eastern colonies, or from the province of New York. Fairfield's assistants, judges and ministers, might well be compared to the sturdy, rugged pines of the forest, standing out as sen- tinels, honored and revered by their contemporaries in America, and not less honored in England. Most of them were young men when they came to Fairfield, and had seen one after another of their early associates pass away. Though years advanced upon them, and their locks were
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white with the frosts of time, they still girded on their armor, ready to die in harness, whenever and wherever death should overtake them.
The alarming state of affairs in the frontier towns of New England and New York, and a threatened invasion by a French fleet, sent out by Louis XIV., under the supervision of the Count de Frontenac, to surprise Albany and take possession of the Island of Manhattan, occupied the minds of the leading men of the country at this time. The revocation of the edict of Nantes by Louis XIV. in 1665 had led a number of Huguenot families to emigrate to America. It was rumored that the French king had given orders, if the expedition was successful, " to put to the torture " some two hundred Huguenot families who had settled in the province, and to destroy the English settlements in the vicinity of the island. "All officers & principal inhabitants from whom ransoms could not be exacted," were to be detained in prison, and all French refugees of the reformed religion found in New York were to be shipped back to France. The control of New York by Leisler was most unfortunate, and divided the province into factions. His rule was that of a tyrant, and all who did not favor his usurpation, of whatever creed, were called Catholics, and treated with insult and severity. Appeals were sent to the king by promi- nent gentlemen, asking for a large force to protect "the centre of all the English plantations." An effort was made at this time to include New York, Connecticut, the Jerseys and Pennsylvania, under one government, which was strongly opposed by the Rev. Increase Mather in England.
Meanwhile, a body of between two and three hundred French and Indians, equipped and furnished for a winter's campaign, under the com- mand of D'Aillebout, De Mantel and Le Moyn, had been dispatched from Montreal against the English frontier settlements. During a march of twenty-two days of intense suffering from cold and hunger, they reached Schenectady on the 8th of February, having resolved to give themselves up as prisoners of war. Encouraged, however, by their scouts, they entered the town at eleven o'clock at night, fell upon the unsuspecting inhabitants, and put them to death in the most cruel and inhuman manner. Sixty persons were killed and twenty captured. Others, escaping in their night-clothes into the forests, suffered the pangs of frozen limbs and amputation.
Captain Bull, who had been sent with the Connecticut forces to defend Albany, lost his lieutenant, one of his sergeants, and five others were taken prisoners. On the 18th of March an attack was made upon Salmon Falls. Thirty-six men were killed, and fifty-four, mostly women and children, taken captives. The whole country was roused, and Connecticut was
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1690]
again called upon to assist still further in the defense of New York, the frontiers of New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and the upper towns on the Connecticut river.
Through instructions from Governor Andros in August, 1688, Major Gold had taken every precaution for the defense of Fairfield in case of an attack from foreign foes or hostile Indians. The town was now put under strict vigilance and military rule. All along the Sound, watch and ward was kept by day and by night. A special General Assembly was held at Hartford on the IIth of April, when war was declared against the French and Indians of Canada. The governor, deputy-governor, and the assistants of the General Court were made a council of war. Two foot com- panies of English and Indians were ordered to be speedily raised and sent for the protection of Albany, one of which was to be from the Hartford and New London counties, under the command of Captain Joseph Fitch ; while the others, consisting of sixty English and forty Indians, from Fairfield and New Haven counties, were commanded by Captain Ebenezer John- son of Stratford. A tax of four pence on the pound was levied to defray the expenses of the expedition. That there might be no failure in fitting out and maintaining the soldiers for the expedition, the Assembly recom- mended the select-men and assistants of each town to send the colony what provisions and grain should be necessary for the space of ten months. John Burr was appointed captain, Mathew Sherwood lieutenant, and Nathan Gold, jr., ensign of the Fairfield train band. Mathew Sherwood of Stratfield was commissioned captain of the dragoons of Fairfield county, James Judson lieutenant, and David Waterbury ensign .* The commissioned officers of each town were to list, and appoint every seventh man in each company to be a flying army of dragoons. All male persons upwards of sixteen years of age, except Indians and negroes, were ordered to serve on the town military watch. The watch of persons absent or at sea was to be supplied by their families; widows and men disabled by infirm- ities, owning estates of fifty pounds, were to supply a watch for their protection. Ministers, assistants, and commissioned officers were exempt from this obligation.
The fortifications of each town were ordered to be repaired and equipped without delay. There appears to be no document confirming the idea that Grover's hill was fortified at this time, but it undoubtedly was, and had been for a long time, as it commanded the harbor of Black
* Captains were allowed 25s. a week; lieutenants, 18s ; ensigns, 15$. ; sergeants, 12s. ; cor- porals, IO3. ; and trumpeters, 125. The Indians were to be paid by agreement with their captains. -Col. Rec. Conn., vol. 4, 19, 20.
I7
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Rock and Fairfield. To prevent the seizure of grain by the French or pirates, it was ordered, " that no corn or provision of any kind should be shipped out of the ports of the colony for the space of three months, with- out special license from the governor or two assistants," under a penalty of confiscation. Major Gold and Captain John Burr were appointed to give special licenses for Fairfield county. A letter having been sent to the king by the governor and council in January, and fifty pounds having also been raised to send to their agent in England to be used in behalf of the interests of the colony, the Assembly agreed that it should be paid out of the public treasury.
Through the influence of Captain Leisler, the meeting of the commis- sioners of the united colonies took place on the Ist of May at New York instead of Rhode Island. This was the first colonial congress ever held in America. Major Gold and William Pitkin represented Connecticut. It was agreed that an attack should be made upon Quebec, and that an army of eight or nine hundred Englishmen and five or six hundred Indians should be raised without delay. A fleet and army of eighteen hundred or two thousand men were to proceed up the St. Lawrence at the same time and unite with the land forces in the attack upon Quebec. The Five Nations were expected to join them. New York was to furnish four hundred men ; Massachusetts, one hundred and sixty; Plymouth, sixty ; Connecticut, two foot companies of two hundred men, out of which number New Haven and Fairfield counties were to raise sixty English and forty Indians, and Maryland one hundred. Rhode Island, not being able to send men, promised to raise money instead .*
Without delay Leisler armed and equipped vessels to proceed to Quebec, and also privateers to cruise off Block Island and on Long Island Sound. + Although an appeal was made for assistance from England, the navy of King William was needed at home, and could not furnish any help whatever to the colonies at this time. The general court of election met at Hartford immediately after the congress adjourned. Major Gold and Major John Burr were chosen assistants, Mr. John Wakeman, deputy, and Jehu Burr, commissioner. Major Gold was appointed with Mr. Samuel Willys to return the thanks of the Assembly to the Rev. James Pierpont for preaching an election sermon. It was also voted that one hundred and thirty-five Englishmen should be added to the Connecticut soldiers already in Albany, and as many Indians as would swell the number to two hundred. The commissioners were ordered to supply all
* Trumbull's Hist. Conn., I., 402.
+ Mrs. Martha J. Lamb's Hist New York, I., 379.
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1690]
necessary clothing and provisions for the soldiers that had occasion to march through the plantations. Each dragoon was to be furnished with ten pounds of good biscuit. Daniel Burr was appointed commissary for Fairfield county.
News having reached the court that the forces sent to the relief of Albany had nearly reached their destination, but that the small-pox had broken out among them; and also that they were unwilling to march under Major Jacob Milburne, the son-in-law of Leisler, or under a major appointed by Captain Leisler, it was resolved to send to Boston and ascer- tain when soldiers from there would be ready to move from Westfield, and who they were willing should be their major. In the mean time it was voted that the recruits should not move from their places until they heard again from Albany. John Winthrop was soon after appointed major-gen- eral and commander-in-chief of the land forces. Sir William Phipps, the governor of Massachusetts, was made commander-in-chief of the fleet, which consisted of between thirty and forty vessels, the largest of which carried forty-four guns and two hundred men.
Early in August the land forces under Major Winthrop arrived at Wood Creek. About the same time the fleet sailed from Narragansett, but through delays and adverse winds did not arrive at Quebec before the 5th of October. Meanwhile the land forces continued their march to the appointed rendezvous of the Five Nations. They found but about seventy warriors from the Mohawks and Oneydas. Messengers were dispatched to the other nations, but they returned with a request for delay. After advancing about a hundred miles farther north, to the head of Lake Cham- plain, General Winthrop, not finding a sufficient supply of canoes to con- vey his army across the lake into Canada, appealed to the Indians for others; but they replied " that it was too late in the season to make canoes, as the bark would not peel." They artfully evaded every effort proposed by the council of war, discouraged an attack upon Quebec as an undertaking which " looked too high," and advised an attack upon Cam- bly and the settlements on this side of the St. Lawrence.
At this critical time another misfortune arose. Milburne had been appointed commissary for the New York forces, and was to furnish a bountiful supply of provisions. Upon discovering that he had failed to do so, a council of war was held, and it was learned that the main body would be obliged to retire to Albany for subsistence. The Connecticut forces had come well supplied with provisions ; but they found only a portion of the army. About a hundred and forty of the bravest young men and Indians were dispatched into Canada to make all the display possible in
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[1690
favor of the fleet. The retreat to Albany, however, prior to the arrival of the fleet before Quebec, resulted in the defeat of the expedition. Mean- while Count Fontenac moved with all his force to Montreal, to defend the country against the advancing army. Upon receiving intelligence through his scouts that this army was retreating to Albany, he immediately returned to Quebec. Before his arrival, there were not more than two hundred Frenchmen in the place, which, if attacked, would have surren- dered at the first summons. The troops, however, landed on the 8th of October, and advanced towards the town. On the following day the ships were drawn up before it, and commenced a brisk cannonading, but to little effect. The well-directed fire of the French batteries did consider- able damage to their vessels, and although the troops maintained their ground with spirit, the accounts which they received of the strength of the enemy so discouraged them, that on the IIth they re-embarked. A severe storm soon after drove them from their moorings, and scattered the whole fleet. Thus ended a well concerted expedition, which, for want of proper preparations and skillful navigators, was defeated.
Captain Leisler and his party were enraged at the retreat. Milburne charged upon Major Winthrop his own short comings ; but the army and the principal gentlemen of Albany, among whom was Robert Livingston, fully justified Winthrop, knowing it would have been madness to cross into the enemy's country without a sufficient supply of provisions. Leis- ler took opportunity while the army were encamped on this side of the Hudson, to arrest Major Winthrop and put him, as well as the Connecti- cut commissary, Richard Blackleach, of Stratford, in irons, that they might be tried before a court-martial. After passing several days under arrest, Winthrop was brought to trial ; but the Mohawks of his camp crossed the river, and carried him off, to the great joy of the army. So enraged was Leisier at the favor shown Winthrop by the gentlemen of the general council at Albany, that they were obliged to take refuge from his wrath in New England. Robert Livingston resided for some time at Hartford.
The treatment Major Winthrop received from Leisler gave great offense in Connecticut, and was regarded as entirely lawless. The gov- ernor and his council of war demanded Winthrop's release, and also that of commissary Blackleach. Governor Treat, in the name of the council, wrote to Leisler: " If you are concerned, so are we, since the army is con- federate ; & if you alone judge upon the general's & council of war's action, it will infringe our liberty. . . . A prison is not a catholicon for all state maladies, though so much used by you." Treat further wrote to Leisler that as he (Leisler) was one to give his signature to the article
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1690]
agreed upon at New York, if he proceeded in his lawless course, and if the sending of their best friends to join with him proved a pitfall to them, it would necessitate future forbearance, whatever the consequences might be, as it would " make not only the powerful friends of Governor Win- throp, but all New England, his (Leisler's) enemies, for Winthrop's char- acter was too well known to be drawn into question or disrepute by his (Leisler's) conduct towards him." *
At the meeting of the General Court in October, the following resolu- tions were offered : "The court having heard & considered a narrative from the Honble Major-General John Winthrop, of his proceedings with the army at Wood Creek; & the reasons of his proceeding no further than the Houtkill or Wooden Creek in that design. Capt. James Fitch & Captain Daniel Withereil are appointed to return him the thanks of the court, for his good service to their Majesties & the colony of Con- necticut ; & to assure him that on all seasonable occasions, they will be ready to manifest their good resentment of his fidelity, valour & pru- dence, already manifested, & help farther promised if occasion required." Forty pounds was then awarded him as a further testimony of their acceptance and thankfulness for his good services. +
Captain Ebenezer Johnson, with Major Gold, John Burr, and Joseph Bastard, of Fairfield, were appointed a committee to examine and audit Commissary Blackleach's account with the country. Isaac Hall of Fair- field was voted thirty pounds for his services as surgeon to the soldiers, ten shillings a week for the services of his son, " & forty shillings to clear his charges in the house." Rev. Charles Chauncey, of Pequonnock, as chaplain of the Connecticut forces, was granted twenty shillings a week. Each trooper was granted two shillings six pence a day ; captains, four shillings ; lieutenants, three shillings six pence ; cornet players and quar- termasters, three shillings ; trumpeters, two shillings nine pence, and cor- porals, two shillings nine pence a day. It was further ordered that two shillings a week should be allowed for every horse used, and four pounds for every horse lost in the late expedition. A soldier " having providen- tially lost his arms," was to be paid their full value out of the public treasury. Every soldier who deserted the army, or fled from his colors, forfeited half of his wages, and if a servant, he was to make reparation by a longer service. All such soldiers and servants were to answer for their delinquencies at a county court. The soldiers in each plantation were to bring their arms and ammunition to the meeting-house on the
" Trumbull's Hist. of Conn., I., 575.
+ Col Rec. of Conn., IV., 38.
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Sabbath, and all public days of worship, when, and as often as the county major or chief military officer in any town should appoint, under a penalty of five shillings. The dragoons were disbanded, and ordered to return to their former foot companies. Major John Burr and Captain Mathew Sherwood, their chaplain, Rev. Charles Chauncey, surgeon Isaac Hall, and the soldiers of the town, were welcomed home with great rejoicing. The release of Commissary Blackleach was made a subject of sympathetic dis- cussion. It would seem difficult to attach reproach to him, and none was made by the General Court. Besides the companies sent to defend Albany and to attack Quebec, a band of soldiers were kept on the Connecticut river for the defense of the county of Hampshire. A tax of four pence upon a pound was levied upon the towns to defray the debt of the colony. Wheat, Indian corn and pork, sent from Hartford and New Haven, were ordered to be disposed of for purchasing necessary ammu- nition, to be sent to the county towns and distributed to the several towns according to their list of estates. Major John Burr and Joseph Bastard, were appointed on a committee to audit the accounts of the colonial treasurer.
A law to prevent the escape of negro slaves from the colony was passed during the sitting of this Assembly, whereby negro servants found escaping or wandering out of the town to which they belonged, without a ticket or passport from their owners, should be arrested, brought before proper authorities, and returned. A penalty of twenty shillings was levied upon all ferrymen who allowed negroes to cross their ferries without a passport. This law was also to be observed towards vagrants and suspected persons. Free negroes, traveling without certificates, were required to pay their own fines. It appears that the stringent laws passed for promoting Christianity by the reforming synods, were not carried out with that success which had been so earnestly desired.
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