USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > The history of Waterbury, Connecticut; the original township embracing present Watertown and Plymouth, and parts of Oxford, Wolcott, Middlebury, Prospect and Naugatuck. With an appendix of biography, genealogy and statistics > Part 6
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It became more apparent, however, from year to year, that it would be necessary to construct a fence on the west side of the river, running down to and crossing it at each end, so as completely to encircle the common field. Some, however, so late as 1704, were in favor of extending the line on the east side south as far as Beacon Hill Brook, the southern boundary of the town, and of being content, for the present, with the additional security which that extension would afford. I copy the vote of the proprietors to show how this subject was dis- posed of :-
[Voted] to fenc from ye east end of ye mountain against mount taylor on ye west sd ye Riuer and so to ye falls in ye Riuer at ye lor end of ye long meadow and to make ye fenc good and substanchall aganst al orderly horses and cattell and sufficiant aganst too yeir olds and ye fenc to be uewed by the fenc-uewers. deak Tho judd Left Timothy Stanly Jon hopkins sen" benjamin borns sen' & Tho. judd jur was Chosen a com ty to modell ye land* in sd feild and proportion ye fenc of sd feild to each man acording to his propriaty & lay out to each man his part- ye lands on which ye fenc is to be laid is all yt is fit for plowing or mo- ing in sd feild hauing Respect to ye fenc already layd out each man to keep his fenc alredy layd out to him and there being much land spoyled with ye flood ye oners of such land to be considered and abated in this diuition yt ye whol Rang of fenc of sd feild may be equally proportioned to each propriator accord- ing to his benifit of lands in sd feild as near as they can desembr 12 1704
Ye propriators agreed to leaue a mile at ye north end of ye loyn wher they began to measure on ye west sid where they intend to set ye fenc to be dun by ye propriators in a genaral way to be layd on ye land yet undeuided as it shall be taken up march ye 5th 170%
* "To modell ye land "-to appraise the land, or rather to determine its relative value or quality, in order that an apportionment of fence on this basis might be made among the owners. I infer this to be the meaning of the phrase, from the connections in which it is used in the record.
53
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
This last part of the fence was to be done by the propri- etors in their collective capacity until the undivided lands spoken of were taken up, when it was to be distributed among the owners of such lands according to usage.
But the vote which I have given, dated December 12th, 1704, and which determined the principle on which the new fence was to be divided among the proprietors, gave much dissatis- faction. At a subsequent meeting, April 10th, 1705, a modi- fication of the principle was sought and obtained. It was then determined-
Y' ye whole Rang of fenc quit round sd feild shail be equally diuided on ye acer alike of all sorts of land With in sd feild booth of plowing moing up- land and paustor yt is allready layd out or giuen to any man and each man to maintain his fenc so layd out to him but the fenc already layd on ye east gd [side] to remain and belong to them yt it belongs to not to remove them but to be counted as part of their diuition as fare as it will go ye former act by this made uoid in exempting pastor lands considering waste land & modalizing
This uoat was full but four or 5 acted aganst it and doctor porter one of them did protest aganst it.
But there was delay in making the fence, and much mur- muring at the injustice of the last vote. By that vote, it will be noticed, each man's proportion of fence was to depend, as it did in the beginning, by order of the grand committee, on the number of acres he owned in the common field, without reference to the value of the land; so that a person having twenty acres of valuable "moing" land had to build no more fence than he who had twenty acres of upland or "pans- tor," or who had a large proportion of waste lands barely worth fencing. But the argument was not all on one side. It would cost as much to fence the poor as the good land. An acre of the second or third quality increased the size of the field to be inclosed as much as an acre of the first quality. If a man's lands had been damaged by floods it might be claim- ed that it was his misfortune and not his neighbors'; unless, indeed, the neighbors chose to share it with him. There was then some show of right in a per acre distribution of the fence. But those who claimed this at last yielded the point. Our fathers were friends of peace, and bore each other's burdens.
54
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
In order " for to attain a peicable proceding" the proprietors again agreed "to model ye land," "proportioning ye fenc to each propriator according to his benifit," " abating for paustor lands, waste lands and lands spoyled with the flood." In fact, the vote that was passed on the 12th of Dec., 1704, was, with some slight alterations of orthography, &c., again adopted. This was on the 17th day of Dec. 1706. A new committee- Thomas Judd, Jr., John Hopkins, Sen., and Dea. Judd-was appointed " to model ye land in sd feild & deuid ye fenc," while " Stephen ubson sen, John welton sent and abraham an- druss " were chosen "a com"ty to model ye lands " of the first named committee.
But this west fence was long in getting itself built. The truth is, it was a great work for the people, considered as an addition to their other necessary labor, in their then weakened condition. But our fathers were men of pluck. Votes were taken and committees appointed, the land measur- ed and "modeled," and the work apportioned "according to interest and benefit;" and at last a sort of board of relief was selected " to Regulate mistackes if any be and if any are over charged to haue it taken off and they yt want to hane it [;] but if any haue not enough fenc and it be not in ye loyn [line] staked out to take it by sucsesion at ye northend, ye south ward to be first so sucsesiuely [April 12, 1708.]" The fence upon the west side, like that upon the east, was designed to inclose all the lands most valuable for culture which could be conveniently done. It ran along upon the high ground, in many places at a distance from the river, and the remains of it are still met with at certain points, in the form of a broken wall of stone.
The whole quantity of divided lands included in the com- mon field, soon after the west side fence was built, when the entire common fence was apportioned, seems to have been six hundred and eighty-one acres. How much land there was un- divided, or which had not yet been taken up, may be gathered from the circumstance that one mile of fence at the upper end, on the west side, was left, by the act of March, 1704-5, " to be done in a general way," and to be afterwards distributed to
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
those who should come into possession of the inclosed undivi- ded lands. One mile of fence may therefore be considered as the just proportion of the prospective owners-as the propor- tion which the undivided bore to the divided lands. As there were twelve miles of fence in the whole, six miles on each side the river, and as eleven miles represented six hundred and eighty-one acres, one mile should represent sixty-two acres. These sums added together, give seven hundred and forty-three acres as the entire contents of the common field, at the time indicated.
To show who were the owners of the divided lands in the common field, how they were distributed and how the fence was apportioned, at the period of which I am speaking, I give an extract :
An accountt of the number of the acurs of land ech man has to fens for in the generall feild as it was mesured by us: in march 1709
Thomas Judd
Steun ubson John scoull
Abraham Andruss
27
Jeremiah Peck
30
Wid. Andruss
14
Doct. Porter
26
Benjamin Barnes
21
Richard Porter 10
Serg. Bronson
17
Thomas Porter
5
Isaac Bronson
Obadiah Richards
10
John Bronson
9
John Richards
18
Wid. Bronson
8
Thomas Richason
13
Mr. Bull
4 John Richason
7
John Carrington
5 John Scovill
21
Joseph Gaylord
4 Edmund Scott
19
Benjamin Hickox
George Scott
16
William Hickox
21
Jonathan Scott
7
Thomas Hickox
19
David Scott
11
Ebenezer Hickox
Mr. Southmayd
21
John Hopkins
22
Lt. Timothy Stanley
38
Wid. Jones
11
Samuel Stanley
29
John Judd
25
School Land
7
Philip Judd
15
Stephen Upson
24
Thomas Judd Jr.
23
Thomas Warner
6
Dea. Judd
47 Daniel Warner
2
Benjamin Judd
John Warner
1
Mill Land
19 John Welton
18
Thomas Newell
1
Stephen Welton
11
Parsonage
18 Thomas Welton
1
56
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
The common fence was variously constructed according to the nature of the ground and the convenience of materials. It was made of rails laid in the form of the " worm fence," or of logs and poles, with the help of stakes. If stones were more abundant than anything else, these were laid into a wall. I find the hedge fence spoken of, its strength being increased by stakes. In some instances, a ditch was dug, and its effect augmented by rails or a hedge upon the embankment.
The following order relates to the "sufficiency " of the common fence.
March: 20: 1691: an ordor What shall be counted soficien fenc for our meadows
Rayl fenc to be: 4: foots high not exseeding: 6: inches between ye Rayls: too foots from ye ground upward-heg fenc: four foots and a half high: 5 stakes to each Rod and well Rought-ston fenc, three foots and nin inches in height- log or pool fenc four foots in height and well Rought-dich, too foots wid and Rayls or heg four foots in height from ye bottom of ye ditch to ye top of ye fenc and well Rought-
And if there be any aduantag by resin of the land or plac where ye fenc is it is to be left to ye judgement of ye fencuewers what shall be soficant-
By order of ye tounsmen abraham andrus John hopkins-aprill: ye: 6: 1692: this order to stand for ye fenc uewers to go by till ye town see caus to alter it THOMAS JUDD
In the spring season, when vegetation began to start, it be- came the duty of cach proprietor to put in good repair his portion of the common fence. The proprietors each year, in meeting, fixed upon the day beyond which the work should not be neglected. The day chosen was usually between the tenth and fifteenth of March.
Immediately after the expiration of the time for these re- pairs, the fence viewers, who were annually appointed by the town, were required to make a careful examination of the fence, to decide whether it was conformable to law, and an ade- quate protection for the lands inclosed. If they found it in- sufficient in any place, they gave notice to him to whom it belonged, requiring him to make it good in five days, accord- ing to the statute. In case this notice was neglected, it became the duty of the fence viewers to make the necessary repairs, and to charge the delinquent double the cost of the work, to be collected by warrant. If they were not able to make the
57
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
repairs, or " hire sufficient help to do the same, so that the common field may be timely secured," they were authorized by law
To make complaint to the next Assistant, or Justice of the Peace; and it shall be in the power of such Assistant or Justice of the peace, to issue out his warrant to the Constable of said Town, in which such common field is situate, or to the fence viewers, to impress men and teams sufficient to repair such defective fence, who shall be paid by such fence viewers for their labor, as they can agree, or as shall be determined by such Assistant or Justice of the Peace. [Acts and Laws, printed 1715.]
Early in the spring, annually, there was a vote passed by the proprietors "to burn about the common fence." I give an example :
March 6th 1709-10 The propriators agreed by uoat that the beating the Drumn through the town ouer night shall be warning that the fence on the west side is to be burnt about the next day and on the east side the day following.
In obedience to this summons, all the owners of the common fence sallied forth, each, I suppose, to look after his own. Wherever the fence was made of combustible material, they set fire to the dry leaves, grass and other rubbish in its imme- diate neighborhod, preventing, by great watchfulness, its spreading to the woods, or destroying the fence. This being done, the woods and fields were burnt over without concern for the purpose of improving the pasturage. In this way, too, the damage which might have resulted from accidental fires, not infrequent, was prevented.
Sometimes the firing of the woods was forbidden for a season, in order that the young trees might attain some growth. For instance, December 13th, 1713, "it was voted that the east woods should not be fired for seven years," and "if any person shall fire the above woods, he shall pay 20s."
Early in the history of the town, there were two gates on the east side the river, frequently referred to, opening a pas- sage through the fence from the village to the common field. One of these was in Bank street, near Grand, and was called the south gate. It was not removed till recently-some twenty years ago. The other was near the west corners of
58
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
Willow and West Main streets, and was known by the name of the west or common gate. This, it seems, was removed, at the date mentioned below, to a point farther west, some ten or twelve rods probably, and the common fence extended on either side down to it. The record, it will be noticed, does not convey a very clear idea.
Genuary 25. 1702 ye town ordered yt ye west gate and fenc belonging to je town should be remoued belo deac judds barn to be directed by ye towns men in seting of it down and john scouell to set yt part of his common [fence] yt frunts yt highway clos in yt highway where ye gate is to be set deac judd and john scouill hauing consented to haue theyr fenc next sd highway from ye common fenc doun to sd gate to be accounted common fenc and proceded in yt respect by ye fencuew- ers as such.
On the west side of the river there were no gates, but four sets of bars. The "west bars" were on the Woodbury road west of the present covered bridge. The " south bars" were on the way to Town Plot by the present R. R. depot, crossing the river near the new bridge. The "Long Meadow bars " were on the road to Judd's Meadow, below the "riding place" at the lower end of Mad Meadow. "Isaac's Meadow bars " were on the road which ran up Manhan Meadow, crossing the river near the present fording place, and so on west through Steel's Meadow and over Steel's Brook towards Elon Clark's.
For many years after the settlement of the town, there were no private fences except those which inclosed the home lots. Individuals relied on the common fence to protect their crops. Lands lying without this fence were for a time undivided. They were used by all for wood, timber, stone, pastnrage, &c., and were called the " commons." The cattle, in the pasturing season, were kept in herds which were watched by a herdsman. I find an "order" of the committee relating to this subject :
Wharas we received a paper signed by sargt Thomas Judd Isaac bronson and benjamin Judd in refaranc to herding of cattell we doe order and apoint for the futur that the inhabitants att a towne meeting the maigor of the inhabitants so meete shall haue full pouer to resolue and determin the way and method for herding and to statt what shall be charged for keeping of cows and what shall be leuied one dry cattle
april 5 1682.
The sheep of the town were put under the care of a shep-
59
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
herd, and thus kept from mischief. I discover, however, no action on this subject earlier than 1708.
Att sheep meeting in waterbuey march=29=1708 deac Judd John sconell and John Richason was chosen sheep mastors for this yir to order ye prudensials of ye sheep and to hire a sheepord and see him payd as ye law directs by ye owners of ye sheep
The meadows and the lands near the river were convenient, required little clearing or expensive preparation, and were easily worked. On these and their home lots, the people re- lied for their crops. In consequence of the value of the lands which it embraced, the common field was an important in- terest. The proprietors gave much of their time to its concerns. They framed such regulations as were for the good of all. A major vote governed ; not a major vote of the proprietors, but of pounds of propriety. The Colonial Assembly granted general powers, and preseribed the mode of exercising them.
After the fence had been " done up " in the spring, and the fence viewers had attended to their duty, seeing that every thing was fast, the haywards were sent out to impound such cattle, horses, sheep and swine as were found within the com- mon field. The owners of the imprisoned beasts were obliged to pay the poundage; but if it appeared that the fence was more at fault than the beasts, those who had thus paid their money could oblige the delinquent fence owners to bear the loss.
Here are regulations concerning the common gates or bars, the " baighting " of cattle, &c. :
Dec. 12th, 1704, "the propriators by uoate agreed yt he yt lefs [leaves] opin ye com on gates or bers [bars] in ye com on feild should pay al ye damag yt is dun thereby and yt no man shal stak horses* in ye moing land in said feild or baight cattell after ye first of aprill till com "ing timet except they are at work by ym [them] and the fenc of sd feild to be keept up al ye yeir and hogs pound fesiant al ye yeir
* A horse was staked by making him fast to a stake driven into the ground, by means of a rope or cord several yards in length. He could thus be safely left to feed around for the distance which the rope would permit him to go. When the grass was cropped short in one place, the stake was removed to another.
t Commoning time was the time fixed upon in the fall, after the crops had been removed, when all the owners in the common field turned in their cattle and horses for pasture.
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
Jan 7th 1706-7. The propriators agree yt when sd feild shall be opened to turn in cattell it shall be but one moneth and then ye cattle kept out and pounded as in ye sum er and yt men shall turn into sd feild according to their intrist in it and no man to baight or stake in sd field at no time but on his own land and takeing care of them and all ye brake this order to haue their cattle pounded or delt with as trespasors.
Four years afterward, (or March 5th, 1710-11, "it was grd [agreed] on by uote" that moneth, (a common orthography of the day,) in the above record, "is intended for munth and with that amendation the act so stand yearly til the propriaters se cas [cause] to alter it."
Verily, our fathers were getting critical ! The former clerk had left town, and a wiser one had succeeded to his place. The orthography of Thomas Judd, the schoolmaster, is cor- rected by his cousin, Thomas Judd, the smith !
Ye propriators [Dec 12th, 1704] granted liberty to any yt see caus to inclos in prticulor [to inclose his own land] for wheat or other corn
This right was secured by statute. Any man might fence in his own land and thus improve it exclusively ; but he must in- close it at his own expense. If a man adjoining him chose to do the same thing, the division fence must be built by both in just proportion.
Desemb. the 8 1707 it was uoated that nither hors nor cattel shold be baited or staked within the feeld from the fifteenth of april until the medows are clear furder it was uoted that each propriator shold put in cretures according to ther propotion of fence.
In the fall season after the grass had been cut and the crops removed from the common field, it was the custom to turn in the " cattle, horses and sheep " for pasture. It was the practice to name the day on which the fields should be " cleared," and when the people might turn in their cattle, &c. This was late in September or early in October. "Com- moning time " was looked forward to with great interest. At the appointed time, early in the morning, or immedi- ately after sundown, the whole town was astir. All the four footed beasts that lived by grazing were brought out, driven in long procession to the meadow gates, and "turned in " to
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
crop the fresh herbage. There they remained luxuriating and gathering fatness till the late autumnal frosts. The writer's recollections, extending back forty years, furnishes him with some refreshing scenes connected with the opening of the common field. Boys who used to drive the cows a mile to pasture, hailed the time with lively feelings.
There was a law of the Colony, at an early date, requiring every town and plantation " to make and maintain a sufficient pound or pounds for the impounding and restraining of all such swine, horses, cattle and other creatures, as shall be found damage feasant, and swine found unringed or unyoked." But the first record of the "setting up " of a pound in Waterbury is the following :
Genuary: 25'h: 1702-3 ye town uoted yt there should be a pound set up in ye South highway sum where neare ye south gate ye spot where to be set out by ye townsmen
The next year a pound was ordered near the west or common gate, and Deacon Thomas Judd, who lived hard by, was ap- pointed pound keeper.
Decembr ye 12=1704 ye propriators gaue juds meadow men leaue to set up a pound for ym selues on their own charg for impounding their own cattel and such as are left out in ye field when men are at worek with them there
In 1735, the inhabitants of Northbury (now Plymouth) were authorized by the town to erect a pound at their own ex- pense; and in Dec. 1749, Northbury and Westbury (Water- town) had each " liberty to build a pound at town charge." In February, 1753, Andrew Bronson, who lived on the southwest corner of West Main and Willow streets, obtained the consent of the town to remove the pound near his house, " farther westward in the lane," he being at the expense.
There must have been pounds, or yards, for the confinement of cattle, &c., before the early dates above mentioned, as the law required. Haywards were appointed by the town in 1681. The pounds ordered to be set up in 1702-3 and 1704, were probably designed to take the place of one or more of more ancient date, which had gone to decay.
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
CHAPTER VI.
INDIAN PURCHASES: INCORPORATION OF THE TOWN : SEQUESTER LANDS.
ON the 29th day of April, 1684, certain Farmington Indians, (nine in number, including two squaws,) "in consideration of nine pounds already received, or good security for that pur- pose," granted to Serg. Thomas Judd and John Stanley, in the name and behalf of the proprietors of the township of Matta- tuck, an addition to the land which they formerly sold to Major Talcott, Mr. Wadsworth, &c., and lying north of it. It extended north from the rock called Mount Taylor and an east and west line, to a tree marked by Captain Stanley and John Norton, Senr., being eight miles. The grant butted east on Farmington bounds, south on the former grant, (upon that which was formerly the Spinning Squaw's land,) west by a north and south line, which if extended south would run "four score rods from the easternmost part of Quasepaug Pond," north on the wilderness, an east and west line.
This deed purports to have been given by "Patuckquo in the name and behalf and by order of Atumtockquo, Wa- wowas, Taphow, Judas, Mantow, Momantow's squaw, Mercy, Sequses (squaw,) and Quatowquechuck (Taphow's son.)"
In the same year, on the second day of December, John Acompound, Hackatowsock and his squaw, Mantow, Warun- compound, Atumtocko, Spinning Squaw, Patuckco (squaw,) Sebockett, the same persons, for the most part, who are the grantors named in the deed of 1674, for " nine pounds in hand received or security sufficiently given," conveyed to the same party " one parcel of land at Mattatuck situated on each side of Mattatuck River, to extend from the said river three miles towards Woodbury," butting north on the rock called Mount Taylor, and a line running east and west from that point, east
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IIISTORY OF WATERBURY.
on Farmington bounds, the line running from the rock called the " Ordinary " south to Beacon Hill Brook, or Milford, or New Haven bounds, south on Beacon Hill Brook and Pau- gasset, west on Pootatuck and Pomperaug.
The tract of land here conveyed, it will be noticed, is the same, with a little more definite limits, as that granted in the deed of 1674. It was common in those times for the native proprietors to make claims to the lands which they had once sold, on the ground that they had been inadequately paid, or that they did not understand the import of their acts.
Feb. 28th, 1684, (1685, new style,) Conquapatana (sagamore,) Awawas, Curan, Cocapadous, Tataracum, Kecasahum, Wen- untacum, Cocoeson, Wechamunck and Werumcaske (Cocoe- sen's sister,) Arumpiske (Curan's squaw,) Notamunck (Cur- an's sister,) twelve in number, of the Pangasset or Milford tribe of Indians, as I suppose, deeded to Thomas Judd and John Stanley, " per order and in the name and behalf of the pro- prietors of Mattatuck," " for divers causes and considerations thereunto moving and for the sum of six pound in hand," twenty parcels of land, " nine parcels on the east side of Nauga- tuck River southward from Mattatuck town, which comprises all the land below, betwixt Beacon Hill Brook and the hither end of Judd's meadows, called by the name of Sqontk, and from Naugatuck River eastward to Wallingford and New Haven bounds, with all the low lands upon the brook formen- tioned; and eleven parcels on the west side of the first parcel," having certain relations not easy to understand, to Cedar Swamp, the middle of Toamtick Pond, Quasepang Pond, and Woodbury bounds ; at the north part, butting east on " Nau- gatuck or Mattatuck River," and at the south part, east on the lands first mentioned. These twenty parcels of land seem to have been contiguous tracts, each having a distinct Indian name given in the deed, and lying in the southern and south- western parts of the township. They are included, it will be observed, in the first and third purchases from the Farming- ton Indians ; but were also claimed, it appears, by the Derby Indians. Without inquiring very particularly into the justice of the claim, it was thought expedient to extinguish it by pur- chase.
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