USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Windsor > The history of ancient Windsor, Connecticut > Part 8
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Sept. 1644. "James Hallet, for his theft, is adjudged to restore fourfold for what shall be proved before Captain Mason and Mr. Wolcott, and to be branded in the hand, the next train- ing-day at Windsor." (Col. Rec.)
Hallet was probably incorrigible, for he had previously been remanded by the court from the house of correction, and given in charge to his master Barclet, who was "to keep him to hard labor and course diet, during the pleasure of the court, provided
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that [the said] Barclet is first to remove his daughter from his family before the said James enter therein."
Our chapter would hardly be complete without some notice of the sumptuary policy of our ancestors. And here we are well aware that we tread upon disputed ground. Upon this feature of their legislation, have been heaped obloquy, ridi- cule and contempt; and the so called Connecticut Blue Laws have been the butt and scoff of scores of writers of later generations, whose reverence for their forefathers was as slight as their knowledge of history. For, however foreign and repugnant to our ideas, those laws may be which restrain or limit the expenses of citizens in apparel, food, furniture, &c., it must be remembered that they were perfectly in accordance with the best and highest views of the political economy of that day. They existed in every civilized government of Old Europe, as well as in every American Colony, then and for more than a century after. They had their origin in the then prevalent belief that simple habits and frugality were essential to the healthy growth of sound civil liberty, and that private and social extravagance in any form tended to check that growth, and thereby embarrassed and destroyed the state. And even as late as 1778, in Connecticut and some other states, the prices of labor and its products, tavern charges, &c., were regulated by law, while in England, many such laws remained in force until 1824.
Following out, therefore, the line of policy in which they had been educated, and which the customs of the age sanctioned, our fathers, from time to time, enacted such laws as in our day would be universally resented as an unwarrantable interference with private affairs. In 1641, noticing an increasing, and, as they deemed it " an unseemly" increase of extravagance in dress, which they term an "excess of apparel," and desiring to nip the nascent evil in the bud, the General Court required the con- stables of each town to take notice of any person so offending within their several limits, and present them to the Particular Court.
Yet there are sufficient indications that even the much dreaded
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" censure of the Court," could not entirely check the growing evil, and that some little "innocent finery " would from time to time crop out, in spite of spying constables.
The General Court in June, 1641, regulated the scale of labor- ers' prices, &c. They ordered that "able carpenters, plow wrights, wheelwrights, masons, joiners, smiths and coopers, should not take above 20d for a day's work, from the 10th of March to the 9th of October, nor above 18d a day for the rest of the year."
The working day was set at 9 hours per day in the summer time, " besides that which is spent in eating and sleeping, " and 9 hours in winter. Mowers were only allowed 20d for a day's work. Artificers, handicraftsmen and chief laborers were not to take above 18d per day from 10th March to 9th of October, and 14d per day the remainder of the year. When work was done by the job, its price was to be valued, in the same proportion.
Sawyers could "not take above 4s 6d for slitt work or three inch plank, nor above 3s 6d for boards, per hundred." The price of boards was also regulated at 5s 6d per hundred.
The hire of 4 of the " better sort" of oxen and horses " with tackling," should not be valued at above 4s 10d per day, for 6 and 8 hours work (according to time of year), except they be employed in breaking upland ground, for which they were allowed 4s 15d for 6 hours.
In May 1647, the court passed the following curious order, which would in these days seem very harsh to the tobacco grow- ing settlers of Windsor, and the tobacco loving Yankeee nation in general.
"Forasmuch as it is observed that many abuses are crept in and committed by frequent taking of Tobacco, it is ordered by the authority of this Court, that no person under the age of 21 years, nor any other that hath not already accustomed himself to the use thereof, shall take any tobacco until he have brought a certificate, under the hand of some who are approved for knowledge and skill in physic, that it is useful for him, and also that he hath received a license from the Court for the same. And for the regulating those who either by their former taking it, have to their own apprehensions made it necessary to them, or upon due advice are persuaded to the use
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thereof, it is ordered, that no man within this Colony, after the publication hereof, shall take any tobacco publicly in the street, nor shall any take it in the fields or woods, unless when they are on their travel, or journey of at least 10 miles, or at the ordinary time of repast commonly called dinner, or if it be not then taken, yet not then above once in the day at most, and then not in company with any one. Nor shall any inhabit- ant in any of the towns within this jurisdiction, take any tobacco in any house in the same town where he liveth, with and in the company of any more than one who useth and drink- eth the same weed, with him at that time; under the penalty of 6 pence for each offence against this order, in any of the par- ticulars thereof, to be paid without gainsaying, upon conviction by the testimony of one witness that is without just exception before any one Magistrate."
The constables of each town were to make presentment of such offence to each particular Court. Puritanic and blue as this may seem, Connecticut was not alone in pronouncing against the weed. Queen Elizabeth of England enacted edicts against its use, James I, not only followed her example, but added the weight of his pen and personal influence; and Charles I, made another attempt to put it down. Russia made its use a capital offence; Popes have thundered against it and threatened excommunication, and in nearly every great power of Europe, it has been made a matter of penal legislation. But in spite of all, and over all-tobacco, filthy, poisonous, useless - is triumphant, and counts its votaries by tens of thousands.
About the same time, "for the preventing that great abuse which is creeping in by excess of wine and strong water," the court " order, that no one shall remain in any common victual- ling house in the same town where he liveth above half an hour at a time in drinking wine, beer or waters," nor should they be allowed to drink more than three pints at a time. Venders of the same were forbidden to deliver wine to any one " who came for it unless they bring a note under the hand of some one master of a family, and an allowed inhabitant of the town."
This law is in some respects identical with the famous Maine law, which some two centuries later, so widely agitated the public mind of America.
We have thus endeavored to present our readers with a clear
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and summary sketch of the government under which Windsor and her sister plantations in the colony, had their beginning and their growth. It is an interesting subject to every student of American history; and especially so to those who reflect that these laws under which their fathers lived, were the work of Roger Ludlow, Wolcott, and others, men whose names, through long lines of descent, have been honorably associated with the town of WINDSOR.
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CHAPTER IV.
THE RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION OF WINDSOR.
"IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO WRITE A STORY OF NEW ENGLAND LIFE AND MANNERS FOR A THOUGHTLESS, SHALLOW-MINDED PERSON. IF WE REPRESENT THINGS AS THEY ARE, THEIR INTENSITY, THEIR DEPTHI, THEIR UNWORLDLY GRAVITY AND EARNESTNESS, MUST INEVITABLY REPEL LIGHTER SPIRITS, AS THE REVERSE POLE OF THE MAGNET DRIVES OFF STICKS AND STRAWS. IN NO OTHER COUNTRY WERE THE SOUL AND THE SPIRITUAL LIFE EVER SUCHI INTENSE REALITIES, AND EVERY- THING CONTEMPLATED SO MUCH (TO USE A CURRENT NEW ENGLAND PHRASE) 'IN REFERENCE TO ETERNITY.' "-Mrs. H. B. Stowe.
The first Church of Christ in Windsor, "now the oldest Evan- gelical Church in America; and, except the Southwark Church, London, the oldest Orthodox Congregational Church in the world,"1 possesses a history which is both interesting and in- structive. The first 29 years of its existence in Windsor, were uneventful. As far as we can learn it fulfilled its mission, by an active course, abounding in good works. Happy in its min- ister, strong in its members, powerful and salutary in its influ- ence, it could not have been otherwise than as "a light set upon a hill." And the fact that in those carly days, the town was emphatically the church, and the church was the town; and that the records of the latter necessarily embrace the liis- tory of the former, renders its unnecessary, as well as imprac-
1 I quote the words of my friend, Mr. Jabez II. Haydon, of Windsor Locks, Ct., whose able argument on this point, will be found at length in the Ap- pendix, No. 3.
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ticable, to treat the ecclesiastical history of Windsor, as dis- tinct from its civil history.
But a few words concerning the nature of the organization which prevailed among the churches of New England at that day, may not be inappropriate. That our fathers were Puri- tans, was to them a reproach, but to us it is a "crown of honor." Their ecclesiastical polity was republican in principle, and congregational in form.1 Dissenters, not from the faith of the established church, but from its liturgy and ceremonials; and recognizing no head but Christ, they claimed the right to form and govern themselves as a church, according to the rules laid down in his New Testament. Each church was supplied with a pastor, teacher, one or more ruling elders, and deacons. 2 These latter possessed the same functions as now, but the duties of the pastor and teacher, were held to be distinct. The pastor was to exhort, persuade and sympathize with his people, " and therein to administer a word of wisdom." The teacher, or doctor in ecclesia, as he was termed, was to teach, explain and defend the doctrines of Christianity, " and therein to administer a word of knowledge; and either of them to administer the seals of the covenant." From the former they expected pastoral visitations and friendly counsels; from the latter carefully studied sermons in elucidation and defence of the great truths of religion. A most judicious division, in our opinion, of the labors of the pastoral office, evincing a self respect for their own interests, and a consideration for the necessities of those who filled it. How much in contrast with the general custom of the present day, when one weak but willing man is burthened with the work of two, and however faithful he may be, can hardly escape being infringed upon either one or the other horn of complaint, viz: that his sermons lack study, or that he visits too little.
1 This is the commonly accepted view of this subject. Our own opinion (and it has been strengthened by every step which we have taken in our researches on the subject, as connected with our present history) is, that the early churches of New England, were Presbyterian, rather than Congregational, in form and organization. See Appendix, No. 4.
2 Offices clearly indicated, it was thought, by these passages : Romans xii,
7; I Corinthians xii, 28 ; I Timothy v, 17, and Ephesians iv, 11.
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The ruling elder, who was regularly and solemnly ordained, was " to assist in the government of the church, to watch over all its members, to prepare and bring forward all cases of disci- pline, to visit and pray with the sick, and in the absence of the pastor and teacher, to pray with the congregation and expound the scriptures." In short he was " to join with the pastor and teacher in those acts of spiritual rule, which are distinct from the ministry of the word, and the sacraments committed to them." Ruling elders, though not salaried, were commonly men of education and superior gifts. Mr. John Witchfield, Mr. John Branker "the schoolmaster," and Mr. William Hosford, were the first and probably the only ruling elders which the Windsor Church ever had. 1
Personal religion, consisting of a degree of conformity of the heart and character to the precepts and requirements of the Bible, was the qualification for church membership. The exami- nation of applicants for admission was conducted, at first, by the officers of the church privately. It afterwards became the custom to conduct them in the presence of the whole church. Still later, it was the practice to present a relation of personal experience, by the men orally, by the women in writing. This becoming, in a few years, a mere form, was dispensed with and a return was made to the original method of examination by the church officers, to whom is now commonly added a committee of the brethren.
Each church was united in a very solemn covenant, wherein " avouching the Lord Jehovah, Father, Son and Holy Ghost to be their Sovereign Lord and Supreme God," the members dedi- cated themselves to Him, to one another, and to the life that is in Christ. And, it was a frequent and beautiful custom with the churches to renew their covenant, on which occasion each and all the members solemnly renewed their obligations to the
1 Henry Wolcott, Jr's. Shorthand MS., deciphered by J. H. Trumbull, Esq., shows that these gentlemen frequently delivered the " weekly lecture " before the Windsor Church. We have called them the only ruling elders of that church, in lack of other evidence, and because the office fell into very gene- ral disuse at an early date. See also Appendix.
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Lord and to each other, in the same manner as when first admit- ted to the number of his visible people. This they often did by recommendation of the court, on days of public humiliation, and especially when threatened by wars, trials and calamities, for in all things our pious fathers recognized the hand of God.
Fasting was often observed by them. Public fasts enjoincd by authority, particular fasts of individual churches, and private fasts were considered very eminent means of grace. The Sab- bath was also to them "holy time," and kept with a strictness and pious fervor of which we know but little in these days. Its saered hours were carefully improved in public worship, family instructions and prayer, in studying the Seriptures and in secret retirement and meditation, Around it the law threw its author- ity, and woe to the unlucky wight who forgot either in word, or look, or act the respect which was due to its sanctity.
Catechetical instruction was another very prominent feature in the religious policy of our ancestors, and was practiced in many ways. Sometimes the minister, or ruling clders or deacons, in their frequent parochial visits, would catechise the assembled family group. Frequently the church was eatechised, either in special meeting for the purpose, or during the intermission of public worship on the sabbath. And it was an indispensable portion of home instruction, most rigidly adhered to by parents. The catechism most in use previous to 1700 was the onc com- posed by the eminent Mr. William Perkins; after that time, however, the Westminister Assembly of Divines' Catechism took a hold upon the affeetions of New England, which, we are glad to say, it yet retains.
Psalm singing, both in public and private, was a very essen- tial part of the divine worship of those days, and one which was much delighted in by those pious people. The version first used by them, was that by Sternhold and Hopkins, which was printed at the end of their Bibles; after which came the New England Psalm Book, made principally by Mr. Welde, Mr. Eliot and Mr. Mather. This version was printed at Cambridge in 1640, and was more distinguished for its exact conformity to the original Hebrew and Greck, than for its poetic merits. It was long in use-even by some congregations, until the
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close of. the American Revolution. The church of Plymouth retained Ainsworth's version until the latter part of the 17th century. It was common for the minister to expound a little upon the Psalm before singing. Some congregations sang the psalms in course. The practice of "lining " the hymn was in- troduced subsequently to 1680.
Gospel discipline, as tending to preserve the purity and proper humility of the church; and frequent meetings for social conference and prayer, as a means of keeping alive the warmth and effi- ciency of experimental religion, were highly esteemed by the Christians of New England.
In short, we can not but admire the high ideal of religion which they proposed for themselves. Theirs was not a dead religion, but a "life of faith with works." It was a life of principle, sustaining them through many trials, guiding them through this world, rendering their death beds scenes of holy triumph, and blessing their children, and " their children's children, even to the third and fourth generation."
This chapter would hardly be complete without some refer- ence to a functionary - whose office, however important in the olden time -has become almost obsolete in the "fast days" in which we now live.
The tythingman was a parish officer, annually elected to pre- serve good order in the meeting-house, during divine service; as well as to make complaint of any disorderly conduct, travel or other violation of sabbath time and ordinances. In early days, the young folks and children were seated in the galleries of the meeting-house; and being removed from the watch of their parents, required the constant attention of the tythingman, whose patience and watchfulness were often sorely tried by their mischievous antics. In some churches also, he seems to have had the additional charge of keeping the "old folks" awake; in which case, a gentle rap with the end of a long pole or staff of office was generally sufficient to bring the "lapsing senses " of the offender to a " wide-awake " position. His eye and car were also keen to detect the sound or appear- ance of any sabbath traveler on the high road, and such a one,
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quickly found their onward course arrested "in the name of the commonwealth," unless they could prove that necessity was their excuse.
About the beginning of the present century, a General Arm- strong (?) having been ordered to report himself promptly at Boston, was passing through Windsor on the sabbath, when suddenly his carriage came to a stand. Surprised and impa- tient, he called to his driver to know why he stopped; the reply was " a man here refuses to let us pass." Putting his head out of the carriage window, the general beheld the late Mr. Lemuel Welch, holding the horses firmly by the head, and very carnestly insisting that they should proceed no farther -that day at least. Angry at the supposed impertinence, the general ordered him to stand off, at the same time drawing and presenting his pistol at the intruder. But Mr. Welch was not so easily frightened. Maintaining his hold upon the horses he firmly retorted: " I've seen a bigger gun than that, sir; you can't go no farther. I've been in the Revolution and seen a bigger gun than that, sir. I'm tythingman in this town, and you can't go no farther." Find- ing the officer inexorable, the irate general concluded that "dis- cretion was the better part of valor," and accordingly went back and laid the matter before Judge Oliver Ellsworth, who in his capacity of magistrate, and in view of the urgency of the case, gave him a pass, which secured him against any similar arrest within the jurisdiction of Connecticut.
The occurrence, however, had a marked effect upon the observ- ance of the sabbath in this town. Mr. Welch called on the judge, next morning, for an explanation of the case. He felt much chagrined at the escape of his prisoner, and wished to know if it was expected that he was to " fish with a net that would catch the little fish, and let the big fish run through." He resigned his office in disgust, and his successors for several years neglected to perform their duties. Finally the leading men of the town, became justly alarmed at the increase of sabbath travel, and with the judge at their head, made strenu- ous efforts to restore the execution of the sabbath laws, but with only partial success. Some years later, among the condi- tions which entitled a man to the elective franchise was the
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holding of civil office, and demagogues found this a convenient office to give those not otherwise qualified for admission; and twenty-five years ago, the office of tythingman was given to men, who, if they executed the laws, would have indicted them- selves every sabbath.
Tythingman we believe are yet appointed, but it may with truth be said, that when the gallery pews in the meeting- house, ceased to be the play-ground for ill-governed boys on the sabbath, the office of tythingman had fulfilled its mission.
CHAPTER V.
INDIAN HISTORY.
" THE CHIEFS OF OTHER TIMES ARE DEPARTED. THEY HAVE GONE WITH- OUT THEIR FAME." ANOTHER RACE HAS ARISEN. "THE PEOPLE ARE LIKE THE WAVES OF THE OCEAN ; LIKE THE LEAVES OF WOODY MORVEN, THEY PASS AWAY IN THE RUSTLING BLAST, AND OTHER LEAVES LIFT THEIR GREEN HEADS ON HIGH."-Ossian.
The origin and early history of a savage race is always so shrouded in mystery, that any attempt to investigate it must inevitably be attended with ill-success and disappointment. The restless, shifting habits of the " sons of the forest," as well as their lack of any written language or records, utterly pre- cludes the acquisition of accurate information; and conjecture but adds to the difficulty by lending too ready an ear to tradi- tion. On no subject connected with American history, perhaps, has so much ignorance and credulity been displayed, both by historians and the public, as in that relating to the Indian race. The results are, on the one hand, an unmerited amount of oblo- quy, condemnation, and contempt, which is heaped upon the name and the successors of the Indian; and, on the other, an undue exaggeration of public sympathy which invests the pro- saic redman with all the poetic attributes of a savage demi-god. We must confess that we do not belong to either of these classes. We venture to express our opinion that the testimony of Ameri- can history, is uniformly and unequivocally honorable to the sterling integrity of the Indian. We are not insensible to those
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fine physical traits and endowments which have distinguished him as the philosopher's highest type of man in the savage state. We do not wonder that his superior qualities, of mind and heart, have caused him to be invested, by poet and novel- ist, with a romantic interest that scarcely belongs to him. Nor can we deny that a deep and mournful interest associates itself with the history of his race. The contest between the weakness of barbarism and the strength of civilization is, in itself, always painful; and the spectacle of a whole nation, quietly but surely, wasting before the rapid advance of another, is well calculated to enlist the sympathy and awaken the interest of every gene- rous mind. Yet we are not disposed to indulge in any undue amount of lamentation over their unhappy fate. A closer ac- quaintance with the subject strips it of much of its romance; and compels us to hold them, at best, as a superior race of sav- ages, whose destiny is one of those inscrutable providences of God, whereby he prepares the land for the coming of a new and more enlightened people.
It only remains for us to gather up, with pious care, the few memorials that are left us of the once happy race that possessed the land. Few indeed they are, and so rude, that, like the rough stone implements of the chase, which the farmer's plow occasionally reveals, they rather hint than assert the existence of that race. Their most imperishable record is the expressive nomenclature which they have impressed upon the mountains, streams and valleys of our land. And we are glad to see, that, throughout the length and breadth of our land, the beautiful Indian names are being carefully preserved and applied to local- ities, of whose characteristics they are the most poetical, because the most natural, synonymes.
The number of Indians in Connecticut, although undoubtedly overestimated by the earlier historians, was larger, in propor- tion to the extent of territory, than in any other part of New England. "The sea-coast, harbors, bays, numerous ponds and streams, with which the country abounded, the almost incredi- ble plenty of fish and fowl which it afforded, were exceedingly adapted to their mode of living. The exceeding fertility of the meadows, upon several of its rivers, and in some other parts of it,
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