USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Windsor > The history of ancient Windsor, Connecticut > Part 21
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of the older towns might be weakened. Such, probably, were the main reasons which, for many years, retarded the progress of settlement and improvement on the east side of the Great River.
The BISSELL family, to whom the monopoly of the Country Ferry was granted in 1648-9, were undoubtedly the pioneers of the East Windsor emigration. It is not probable, however, that they had any permanent residence on the east side for many years after that date, as so insolated a position, in the then unsettled state of the country, would have been full of peril to themselves and the common welfare. In January 1662-3, Nathaniel Bissell received from his father John, a deed of property upon the east side of the river, near the ferry, wherein is mentioned a house already built. This was undoubt- edly the first and for several years the only dwelling house in East (now South) Windsor;1 and it is probable that John Bis- sell, Senior, himself moved over to the east side in 1662, for in that year he made over without reservation, his former residence on the west side of the Connecticut to his son John, Jr.
The numerous purchases and grants which were made during the following ten years, bear evidence that the Windsor settlers justly considered their possessions on the east side of the Con- necticut as among their most important and valuable interests. Indeed the spirit of speculation in eastern lands seems to have been as rife among them, as the " western land fever" has since been among their descendants. In 1672 there was a decided movement towards the settlement of the east side as a distinct town. We learn from the Colony Records, that the court, hav- ing at a previous session, granted a considerable tract of land on the east side of the river " within Windsor bounds," to Capt. Benjamin Newberry, Deacon John Moore and others, received a petition from the inhabitants of Windsor, asking for the post- ponement of confirmation until they could present objections to the same.
1 Thos. Burnham and others had purchased lands at Podunk in 1659-60, but there is no evidence that they were occupied, otherwise than for agricultural purposes.
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EAST OF THE CONNECTICUT RIVER.
The court answered this petition thus: " and it is conde- scended to by Capt. Newberry, and Deacon Moore, that if Windsor plantation at their next town meeting, by unanimous or major vote, of the inhabitants of Windsor, will release their township right in the lands on the east side of Connecticut River that are within their bounds, to make a distinct plantation, on that side of the River, then the said Capt. Newberry, and Deacon Moore engage to release their particular grants, for the accommodating of the said plantation, provided the plantation be - confirmed a plantation by this court also, October next, and they have their proportion therein."
The reply of the town to this accommodating proposition of Messrs. Moore and Newberry, has not been preserved. That it was insufficient to influence the previous decision of the court, is evident, from the record of its subsequent session; wherein they declare that they see " no cause to put a stop to Deacon Moore and Capt. Newberry's" proceedings.
These gentlemen, however, were by no means the only per- sons on the east side. Already many individuals, mostly mid- dle-aged or young married men, urged by the adventurous spirit of the day, or by the necessity of larger accommodations for their growing families, had crossed the river, and had built their humble dwellings along the uplands which overlooked the meadows. A road, also, had probably been opened from Scantic to Podunk, for in June 1672, occurs on the town books the fol- lowing " List of Persons on the East side of Great River," who were appointed to work the highways:
Thomas Bissell, John Colt,
Nathan'l Bissell,
Edward Elmor, Sr.,
Nathan'l Bancroft,
Edward Elmor, Jr.,
Nathan'l Briskall, John Elmor,
Thomas Buckland, 1
Joseph Fitch,
Thomas Buckland, Jr.,
Samuel Grant,
John Buckland, John Higley,
Samuel Baker, Richard Johnson,
Samuel Cross,
Edward King,
1 Or Burnham.
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HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.
William Morton,
Stephen Taylor,
John Osborne, Jr.,
Stephen Taylor, Jr.,
Joseph Phelps, John Taylor,
John Porter, Jr., Jonathan Winchell.
Samuel Rockwell,
The young settlement had but just fairly commenced, when (1675) King Philip's War broke out. Immediately "great fear fell upon the land." Danger lurked in every bush, and peered from behind every tree; their houses were scattered, their num- bers few; the Indians numerous and suspected; and the broad stream of the Long River cut them off from any immediate help of their friends and neighbors on the west side. In that hour of anxious fear, and torturing suspense, they felt that "in union there is strength." Many removed to the opposite side of the river, and those who remained carried their "lives in their bands." The frequent orders of the council of safety, in regard to places of refuge and precautions necessary to be taken, show how imminent was the danger. Finally the inhabitants on the eastern side of the Connecticut were ordered "forthwith" to remove themselves, with their cattle and grain, to the west side; and garrison houses were ordered to be kept for the protection of the few who were obliged to remain. One of these garrisons was established at Nathaniel Bissell's at Scantic, and another at Thomas Burnham's at Podunk. In fact, the settlement was temporarily broken up and dispersed. But soon the war closed. Peace smiled again upon the settlements, and the tide of emi- gration set back with renewed vigor. The lofty forest trees bowed their heads before the energetic stroke of the settler's axe; the meadows gained new beauty and fertility under his daily toil; and the smoke which curled lazily up from the chim- neys of his cabin, announced to the inhabitants of the old town, that the settlement "on the east side" of the Connecticut was a fixed fact.
Yet this was attended with dangers and hardships almost equal to those experienced by their fathers, on their first arrival in the country, thirty years before. There were the same stub- born elements of nature to be subdued. The Indian was still an undesirable neighbor, and the constant fear of his sudden
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attack, compelled them to carry their arms with them into the field, and even to the sanctuary; while at night they sought a common safety with their families in block-houses. Two of these were built on the Street ; one where John Allen, 2d, and the other where Abizur Porter lived in 1845.1
Sickness, also, weakened the strength of the settler; for the depressing emotions of fear and anxiety, added to the fatigue and exposure of daily toil, rendered him an easy prey to the malaria which arose from the virgin soil which his plough up- turned, and from the low wet lands on the river.
Our information concerning the location of the first settlers is exceedingly scanty, yet it may be remarked, that, as a gene- ral rule, their descendants at the present day, occupy very nearly the same localities. The BISSELLS, who as before men- tioned were the first, settled at the mouth of Scantic River. Next above them were the OSBORNS; and next to them the STILESES. EDWARD KING (the Irishman) had a house on the south side of Podunk as early as 1663. In 1679 JOSEPH FITCH sold the house he then lived in to JOHN COLT. This house was on the north side of Podunk. In 1667, SAMUEL ELMOR sold to JOHN ELMOR, land and " encumbrances " in Podunk meadow. JOHN PORTER (Jr .? ) built one of the first houses, afterwards occupied by Warham Porter, of the 4th generation. THOMAS ELLSWORTH built the first house above Scantic river, a few rods north of the present line of division between East and South Windsor.2 The three first, and for a considerable time, the only houses on The Hill, were, one on nearly the spot now occupied by Mr. Carlos W. Clapp's residence; one where the house of the Rev. J. E. Tyler now stands; and the third nearly opposite the Academy.3 JOHN LOOMIS is supposed to have built a house nearly opposite Roderic King's. His brother JOSEPH LOOMIS is supposed to have built a house nearly opposite Horace Filley's present dwelling. It was taken down about 1770.4 With these few facts we must
1 Manuscripts of the late Dr. Ebenezer F. Reed.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
* + Ibid.
29
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HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.
rest content. The lands of the early settlers all, or nearly all, ran back from the river three miles, thus giving to each one an almost equal proportion of meadow, upland and woodland. The first houses were as a general rule erected on the upland, along the present street from Hartford to Warehouse Point, &c. As their numbers and necessities increased, they gradu- ally moved further back in the woodlands, and there cleared away farms and building spots. Of these later settlements, such as the present town of Ellington, the parish of Scantic in East Windsor, and Wapping in South Windsor, we shall speak more fully in a subsequent portion of our volume.
Attempts to obtain a distinct Church Organization.
The first inhabitants of Windsor Farms, 1 for many years at- tended public worship on the west side of the river, and retained their connection with the church and congregation there. But this was accompanied with great inconvenience and, in certain seasons of the year, with so much hardship and even danger, as to induce them, at a very early period, to seek relief. Accord- ingly, in May, 1680, they petitioned the assembly for a separate township, that they might settle a minister, and enjoy religious ordinances of their own. Their request, however, seems to have been denied, as eleven years after, in October, 1691, we find them again urging the matter in the following well-set and expressive language. 2
To the Hon1 Gen1 Court sitting at Hartford, October 8, 1691:
The petition of the inhabitants of Windsor on the East side of the River, humbly sheweth; That whereas by God's pro- vidence, who is the Supreme Orderer of the bounds of all men's habitations, ours are so disposed as that we are incapacitated for attendance upon the public worship of God, in our Towne, without great Trouble, Labor, Hazard, and difficulty on the Sab- bath, which by Divine appointment is a day of rest, and a con- siderable part of our inhabitauts being for the most part wholly deprived of any opportunity of enjoying God in his ordinances
1 The term Farms was not unfrequently applied to the outsettlements of the older towns. Cotton Mather gives a catalogue of ministers in Massachusetts and Connecticut, in which he mentions "Windsor, Mr. Samuel Mather, and Farme, Mr. Timothy Edwards."
2 State Archives, Eccl. 1, 87.
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in public worship, and God having increased the number of our families to above 50, wherein it is reckoned there are near 300 persons capable to hear the word of God to profit, and appre- hending it inconsistent with the design of our fathers who came into this wilderness that they might enjoy the ordinances of God in peace, without disturbance, and laying out our land for a settlement of so many of us their children on yt side the River, that we should be thereby deprived of the liberty of quietly enjoying God in his ordinances on the Sabbath, & the Town together being by God's Goodness to us able to maintain 2 ministers; We humbly petition that the Hon1 Court would be pleased to order that the Town should mutually maintain 2 ministers, and one of the 2 to be settled on the East side of the River. We request the Hon' Court to consider that it hath pleased the Hond Gen" Ct to grant an enlargement of 5 miles to our place for the encouragement of the plantation, which is nothing to us, without the enjoyment of God's ordinances there. And the extreme hazards, dangers, and difficulties to the most able, and total inability of the greater part to go to the publick meeting at the Town, and the many Sabbaths that none of us can go, forces us to make this our application to this Hond Court Your compliance herewith will oblige us, & as in duty we are bound to pray &c.
Signed by us in behalf of the major JOSEPH FITCH part of the inhabitants of Windsor
on the East side of the River S NATHE BISSELL SAMUEL GRANT SR
At their next session, May, 1692, the Court declared that " find- ing a difficulty arising in the case," they were unwilling to ren- der an immediate decision; but appointed Mr. William Pitkin, Mr. Timothy Woodbridge, and Mr. Noadiah Russell, " to meet at Windsor, and to endeavor to bring the people to a comfortable agreement between themselves for settling the ministry to the best accommodating of the people, and to make report thereof to the Court at their next session." The committee was to meet on "Thursday come 7 night at Windsor."
It does not appear from the records, exactly what was the nature of the " difficulty in the case," which influenced this ac- tion of the court. It probably, however, arose from the unwil- lingness of the inhabitants of the town on the west side of the river, to allow the formation of a new society, which would involve a division of the estates, and thus increase their own share of the burden of ministerial support. That this was one if not the chief " difficulty," is evident from the record of the subsequent court, wherein (June 22d) they say, that "having
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HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.
considered the same " they " do not find the estate of the people to be such as may at this present encourage this Court to grant their petition," and they therefore " recommend it to the inhab- itants of Windsor to a hearty endeavor in the first place to set- tle a comfortable maintainance to their present minister, & then that they (of the West side) do freely grant the people on that (East) side to provide for the settlement of a minister on that side in some good way of their own agreement, for this Court sees that after a little patience the necessity of the case will call for it, & it will be [a matter] of necessity to have 2 places of public worship in that Town, one on each side the river."
This sensible advice of the honorable court was followed, and the east side folks held their " souls in patience " for two years longer. But the inexorable " necessity of the case," was still upon them, a burden too grievous to be borne. Conse- quently we are not surprised to find them again agitating the question.
April ye 9th, 1694 .- We whose names are underwritten, being the inhabitants of Windsor, on the east side Connecticut river, do earnestly desire that we may have liberty to procure and settle a minister among us to be maintained by the present inhabitants and those that shall inhabit with us hereafter. 1
Joseph Fitch, Sr.,
James Porter,
Nath'l Bissell,
John Elmor, Sr.,
Sam'l Grant, Sr.,
Joseph Skinner, Jr.,
John Colt, Sr.,
John Strong, Jr.,
Sam'l Rockwell, Sr.,
John Pinney,
Thomas Stoughton,
Geo. Sanders,
Stephen Tailer,
Benj. Bissell,
Thomas Bissell,
John Stoughton,
Nath'l Loomis,
Joseph Colt,
John Loomis,
Matt. Grant,
Henry Wolcott,
John Taylor,
Jeremiah Diggins,
Robert Stedman,
Samuel Baker,
Samuel Rockwell,
Job Drake, Sr.,
Joseph Fitch,
Josiah Loomis,
Joseph Rockwell,
Nath. Porter,
Josiah Grant,
Sam'l Grant, Jr.,
John Grant,
Joseph Drake,
John Moore, Jr.,
1 State Archives, Eccl., 1, 103.
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Joshua Willes, Sr., Joseph Loomis,
Thos. Long, John Elmor, Jr.,
James Loomis,
Joshua Willes,
Simon Wolcott,
[Moses ?] Loomis.
Settlement of the Rev. Mr. Edwards.
The desired permission was accordingly granted by the assembly on the 10th of May, 1694,1 and every impediment being now removed, the inhabitants of "Windsor on the East side of the River," procured the services of the Rev. Timothy Edwards, who preached to them as a candidate from "the midst of November" following, until March, 1695,2 when he was formally ordained as their pastor.
Their choice had fallen on one eminently qualified, both by nature and education, to be their spiritual guide and counselor. He was well descended, being the eldest son of Mr. Richard Edwards, of Hartford, "a respectable merchant and an exem- plary Christian," whose grandfather was a Welsh clergyman in London in the days of "good Queen Bess." The boyhood of young Edwards was spent in the midst of a pious, well regu- lated family circle, and having pursued his studies at the gram- mar school of his native city, he was at a proper age sent to complete them under the Rev. Peletiah Grover, of Springfield.
Under the instructions of this eminent classical scholar, he finished his preparatory studies, and entered Harvard College in 1687. On the 4th of July, 1691, he received on the same day, the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Arts, "which was an uncommon mark of respect paid to his extraordinary proficiency in learning.
Such were the antecedents of the individual, who now, in the prime of his youth, consecrated his talents to the service of God, and to the welfare of this pioneer congregation.
1 This permission was accompanied by the explicit declaration, that those who preferred to attend public worship on the west side might do so ; and that those who had estate on the east side, but resided on the west side, should be rated in the latter place.
2 Eccl. Soc'y Records, I., 1. Dr. Sprague in his Annals of the American Pulpit, sets May, 1694, as the time of his ordination, but this is evidently incorrect. We have preferred to follow the Eccl. Soc'y Records.
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HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.
First Meeting House.
About the time they called Mr. Edwards, they had erected a small meeting house, which was located on or near the corner of a lot adjoining the north-east corner of the old burying ground. This house, as far as we can learn, was merely a covered frame, without floor or seats, and the people sat upon the sills and sleepers. In December, 1706, the Society voted ' that the young men should have liberty to make a seat upon the beams [of the meeting-house.] The young men's names are as followeth : William Morton, Jr., Josiah Rockwell, Samuel Bis- sell, Robert Stedman, Jr., Joseph Loomis, Jr., Jeremiah Drake, William Stoughton."
Various subsequent charges of expenditures for "mending," show that this edifice was never entirely finished.
Having now settled a minister, the court granted them "so much of their country rate as amounted to 3 pence upon the pound for their encouragement," which favor was repeated the suc- ceeding year. This was a customary as well as necessary act of legislation in those carly days, when money was scarce, and all the resources and energies of the people were hardly equal to the demands that were made upon them by the exigencies of the times, and the labor of subduing the country to the uses of civilized life.
" At a meeting of Inhabitants on the East side of the Great River in Windsor for the settling of Mr. Timothy Edwards in the work of the ministry, September 25, 1695, it was then voted as follows:
" That they will allow Mr. Edwards, besides the hundred pounds formerly granted, three score pounds a year for the two first years, 1 seventy pounds per year for the two next years, and eighty pounds per year for the future, and his wood."
1 His first year commenced in the midst of November, 1694, and ended in the midst of May, '95. Ho received for it £31 9s. Sd - at a rate (in year 1695) of 3ad on the pound. The collectors were John Stoughton and Samuel Tudor. " A copy of a receipt which Mr. Timothy Edwards gave to the collectors which is as followeth :
"I do hereby acknowledge that I have received the full of my Rate made for the first half year, as witness my hand. December 11, '96. TIMOTHY EDWARDS.
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" At a General Court held at Hartford May 12th, 1698.
Ordered by this Court that all those that inhabit on the East side of the Great River in the township of Windsor - and those who shall hereafter inhabit there shall pay their equal propor- tions with the rest of their neighbours for the maintenance of the worship of God in that place so long as they shall there inhabit.
Vera Copia
Test. ELEAZUR KIMBERLY, Sec'y."
Incorporation as a Distinct Society.
At the October session of the assembly, in 1699, the people of Mr. Edwards's charge, were incorporated into an ecclesiastical society, and henceforth are known as the Second Church and Society in Windsor. 1
Accordingly at their first subsequent meeting, "John Stoughton, Sgt. James Porter, Samuel Tudor, Corporal John Ellsworth, were chosen a committee to order the affairs of the society." John Stoughton was chosen clerk "to record the votes and make rates." Joseph Skinner and John Rockwell were chosen collectors.
December 15th, 1702. Voted " that every man and all the teams shall spend one day to cut and cart wood for Mr. Ed- wards, and if that doth not provide wood enough for one year, then that the Committee now chosen shall have power to call out the men and teams another day."
In 1706, we find the following item among the expenses of the Society:
"To Lieut. Willis for sweeping the Meeting-house, £1:6d."
In those earlier days even a lieutenant did not disdain to be a " doorkeeper in the house of the Lord." He performed this office until about 1723.
Second Meeting House.
" At a meeting of the Society on the East side [of] Connecti- cut River, in Windsor, December 28, 1710.
1 " At a General Court holden at Hartford, Oct. 12th, 1699.
Ordered by this Court and the authority thereof that the inhabitants of Windsor on the East side of the Great River, belonging to the society there, shall have liberty to choose 3 or 4 men for a Committee to order the affairs of that society, and also Collectors to gather rates.
Test. ELEAZUR KIMBERLY, Sec'y." A true Copy.
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HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.
Deacon Drake was chosen Moderator for this meeting.
Voted at this meeting that the place where the meeting-house shall be set up shall be determined by a major vote.
Voted by this Society that they would build a meeting house.
Voted that the new meeting house shall be set up in this place where the present meeting house now standeth, or within a few rods of said house.
Voted also that the new meeting house shall be built 40 feet square, and of a suitable height."
Capt. Thomas Stoughton, Lt. Nathaniel Loomis, Sgt. Henry Wolcott, Sgt. John Ellsworth, Sgt. Samuel Bancroft, were also appointed a Building Committee with discretionary power.
May 22, 1713, " voted the roof of the new meeting house shall be as this is."
Also, voted, to raise a rate of £100 " to be paid by January next" for building said meeting-house.
And one year after (May, 1714) it was voted "that this old meeting house should be put into the Committees hands to dis- pose of." This with an accompanying vote to raise a rate of £100 on the next list for " finishing" the new meeting-house, chronicles the completion of the latter.
Its erection, however, had not been unaccompanied with diffi- culties and vexations. For who ever heard of a New England meeting-house being built, that did not call out some expression of dissatisfaction, or some manifestation of ill temper? In this instance, the cause of the trouble was, that most prolific of all causes, the location of the new house. The records of the so- ciety merely mention a trouble which had arisen from " Henry & Simon Wolcott & others," which necessitated the calling of a council. The matter is more fully explained by a petition pre- served in the State Archives. This petition, dated October 5th, 1713 is made by 57 families living south and 37 families living north of the meeting-house, who after stating that the present or old house stood " near the midst" between Martha Osborn's house on the north, and John Morton's house on the south, 8} miles and 60 poles apart; go on to affirm that the travel of the south families is about double that of the people on the north. They therefore urgently pray that the new meeting-
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house may be more equally located.1 Their request was evidently reasonable, and the number and eminent respectabi- lity of those who urged it, secured the respectful consideration of the assembly, who called a council to compose the difference.
This council, consisting of Joseph Talcott, Timº Woodbridge and Thos. Buckingham, met on the 15th of May following, (1714) and their decision supported the previous action of the society, viz: Ist, that the new mecting-house should be placed according to their own votes and the act of the assembly; 2d, that the dissenting brethren be quiet and Christian-like; 3d, that they reserve the liberty " when God in his providence shall put them into a capacity for it in a lawful and orderly way" to make a distinct society.
Attempt to Divide the Parish.
Still unsatisfied, the people residing in the south part of the town, petitioned the assembly (May 12th, 1715) for liberty to set up a separate society.2 This petition, signed by forty-one persons, was promptly negatived by the assembly. And finally the matter was again referred to the former council, who re- affirmed their previous decision, supporting the vote of the society and the assembly.
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