USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Windsor > The history of ancient Windsor, Connecticut > Part 9
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83
INDIAN TRIBES OF CONNECTICUT.
the excellence of its waters and the salubrity of the air, were all circumstances which naturally collected them in great numbers to this tract. Neither wars, nor sickness, had so depopulated this as they had some other parts of New England." Numerous as they were, there is little doubt that all the Connecticut clans, were only fragments of one great tribe, of which the chief branches were the Nehantics and Narragansetts. It was not uncommon for the son of a sachem, when he had arrived at 'manhood, to leave his home with a few followers, and establish a new family or clan, subordinate to his father's. Or perhaps, two brothers of the "blood royal " agreeing on a division of sovereignty and hunting lands, would form in time distinct tribes, closely linked by intermarriages, and maintaining a firm alliance in matters offensive and defensive. "The Nehantics of Lyme, for instance, were closely related to the Nehantics of Rhode Island ; Sequassen, chief of the Farmington and Con_ necticut River countries, was a connection of the Narragansett sachems; and the Indians of Windsor, subjects of Sequassen, were closely united to the Wepawaugs of Milford. Thus vari- ous connections might be traced between the Narragansetts and the tribes of western Connecticut, while both united in holding the Pequots in abhorrence, aud seldom bore any other relation to them than those of enemies or of unwilling subjects."
The Connecticut tribes, indeed, at the coming of the white man, presented the singular and pitiable spectacle of a whole nation, numerically large and capable, in a state of abject fear and submission to two powerful and savage enemies. Those inhabiting the eastern part of the colony (excepting the large and powerful clan of Narragansetts ) were subject to the Pequots, or Mohegans, an inland tribe, who, by superior prowess, had established themselves in that fine country, along the coast from Nehantic on the west to Rhode Island on the east.
It was their exactions and cruelties that induced Wahquimcut and others of the River Sachems, in 1631, to seek the aid of the English. And their bitter hostility toward the white man, be- cause they accepted that invitation, provoked the terrible retri- bution which overtook them at the Mystic fort in 1637, and which utterly blotted the Pequot race and power from the face of the earth.
84
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.
The tribes west of the Connecticut river had been similarly conquered and made tributary to the lordly Mohawks or Iroquois. Two old Mohawks might be seen, every year or two, issuing their orders and collecting their tribute, with as much authority and haughtiness as a Roman dictator. Their presence inspired the western tribes of Connecticut with dread and fear. If they neglected to pay this tribute, forthwith the Mohawks would come down upon them, like wolves upon the fold. As soon as the Con- necticut Indians discovered their approach, the alarm was raised from hill to hill, " a Mohawk! a Mohawk!" and with the terrible battle-cry of the enemy "we are come, we are come to suck your blood," ringing in their ears, they would fly without attempting the least resistance. If the fugitives could not escape to their forts, they would immediately flee to the English houses for shelter, and sometimes the Mohawks would follow them so closely as to enter with them, and kill them in the presence of the family. If however, there was time to shut the doors, they never entered by force, or on any occasion, offered violence to the English. 1
Gladly then did the unfortunate River Indians, receive the white man as a neighbor and a protector; gladly did they wit- ness the extinction of their dreaded foe, the Pequots, by his prowess; but, how little did they imagine that their own fate was sealed, that thenceforth they themselves would gradually disappear before the arts and civilization which he brought with him. Could they have obtained one glance into the dim and dusky glass of the future, their joy would have changed to mourning, and the sweetness of friendship would have turned to the worm-wood bitterness of hate.
The Indians, at the coming of the English settlers, were a nomadic race, subsisting chiefly on fish and the products of the chase, together with such little stores of corn, beans and squashes as they could raise in their rude way,2 and nuts and
1 Trumbull.
2 They attempted to cultivate little of anything else than Indian corn, and that only in the rudest manner. Their domestic implements were made principally of stone, and adapted chiefly to culinary purposes. Mr. Jabez H.
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THE INDIANS OF WINDSOR.
berries which they gathered. Their wigwams or habitations were rude, and their domestic manners and morals loose. They believed in two deities. One, the Good Spirit, was benevolent in disposition and gave them their corn, beans and squashes, but as they imagined that he did not trouble himself about the affairs of men, he received but little veneration from them. The other deity, was the author of all evil, and as they entertained a salutary fear of his power and malignant spirit, they honored him with the greatest respect, which was evinced in frequent dances, feasts, and, it is believed, sometimes by human sacri- fices. The language which they spoke was the Mohegan, a language with some variations of dialect common to all the aboriginal tribes of New England.
We now come to the consideration of that part of our subject, which is more intimately connected with the purpose of our history, viz., the Indians of Windsor. With regard to these, tradition, rather than research, has been the basis of our pre- vious knowledge. And in the investigation which we have made, historic truth has compelled us to differ widely from the commonly accepted opinion as to their numbers and influence. The most that has hitherto been known about them is contained in the following extract from Dr. Trumbull's History of Con- necticut:
" Within the town of Windsor, only, there were ten distinct tribes, or sovereignties. About the year 1670, their bowmen were reckoned at two thousand. At that time, it was the gene- ral opinion, that there were nineteen Indians, in that town, to one Englishman. There was a great body of them in the centre
Haydon of Windsor Locks, has a little of the corn raised by the Windsor Indians, which bears strong marks of its culture. It is a portion of a bushel or more, which was uncovered by the breaking away of the banks of the Connecticut River, a little above the mouth of the Tunxis or Farm- ington, some years since. It probably dates back prior to the settlement of Windsor. The kernels are many of them irregular, at least on one side - the kernels but partially filling the cob - such as farmers see when a chance stalk of corn grows up with some other crop. This corn had evi- dently been charred by accident or design, and buried below the ordinary depth of cultivation, which accounts for its preservation, and its having lain so long undisturbed.
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HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.
of the town. They had a large fort a little north of the plat on which the first meeting-house was erected. On the east side of the river, on the upper branches of the Podunk, they were very numerous."
With all due respect for the venerable and generally accurate historian, we do not hesitate to pronounce the above statement, a mistake. That it is founded on " old men's tales " and " old women's fables," and that it is unsubstantiated by any evidence whatever - a very little criticism will show.
The statement, that in 1670 there were 19 Indians to one Englishman in the town, can be traced back pretty conclusively to the Rev. Mr. Hinsdale, from whom Dr. Trumbull probably obtained it. If, however, Mr. Hinsdale kept historical facts as loosely as he did his church records, his testimony is worth little. But we have weightier testimony than any traditionary lore. We have in the Old Church Record ( unknown to either Trumbull or Hinsdale) a list of the number of births and deaths in Wind- sor from its settlement in 1635, down to 1677.1 Supposing, as undoubtedly was the case, that the deaths in that period did not exceed the number of original settlers and those who sub- sequently immigrated into the town; then the number of whites living in Windsor in 1670, was between 6 and 700.2 Multiply- ing this by 19 would give us from eleven to thirteen thousand Indians in Windsor alone, or as many as, according to the best estimates, the whole colony of Connecticut held at that time. The absurdity, therefore, of Trumbull's estimate is appa- rent. If it had been correct, there certainly is no reason why the Windsor Indians should have invited the English to the banks of the Connecticut to aid them in resisting the attacks of the Pequots, for they alone could have overpowered and con- quered the latter in a single campaign.
That " there was a large body of Indians in the centre of the town," we also find no evidence except the assertion of Trum- bull. As early as 1640, all the lands where the "large fort" stood was laid out into house lots and occupied as such. There
1 See Appendix.
2 Up to 1670 there had been 228 deaths, and (on an average of 24 births per year) 840 birthis - leaving 612 living souls.
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THE NUMBER OF INDIANS IN WINDSOR.
is not the slightest allusion in any of the town or colony records to such a fort, or to the presence of any considerable body of Indians at this spot. We know that the English in 1637, even doubted the fidelity of the savages who accompanied them in the Pequot expedition, until it was tested in the engagement with the enemy; and common sense assures us that the Windsor People were never so imprudent as to allow the Indians as neighbors under the very walls of the palisado. In King Philip's war in 1675, it is well known that the Windsor Indians remained faithful, and were mostly situated on the eastern banks of the Connecticut. In short, all the evidence, both real and presump- tive, which we have been able to collect, strongly disproves the existence of any very large number of Indians, either in the centre or within the limits of Ancient Windsor.
In our opinion, moulded on a careful examination of the sub- ject, the facts are these. We believe that the Indians in this vicinity were once numerous. Arrow heads, stone axes, and parts of stone vessels are often met with, particularly near the river. Indian skeletons are often discovered in making excava- tions or by the breaking away of the river's bank. It will also be remembered that the " number of warlike Indians " was one of the chief dangers which deterred the Massachusetts Colony in 1633 from joining in the trading enterprise proposed by the Ply- mouth Colony. It is not improbable that at that time the Indians may have had a fort upon the spot mentioned by Trumbull.1 The position is certainly favorable for such a purpose, as our fathers thought, for they too built their palisado there. But after Holmes had set up his trading house in Plymouth meadow, the Indians mostly settled in his immediate neighborhood, that they might better avail themselves of his assistance, against their mutual enemy the Pequots.2 While here, they were at-
1 Some years since, Ephraphas Mather, while making an excavation near his house (opposite and a little north of Mr. James Sill's) dug up an Indian skeleton, accompanied with various bits of wampum, and copper beads, evi- dently of Dutch or European manufacture. In digging a cellar to the same house, several other skeletons were found. This is near the spot where Trum- bull locates the " large fort."
2 This is evident from Bradford's Journal, and also from the deposition of Sequassen (Conn. River Sachem) before the court, in 1640, in which he says
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HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.
tacked in the spring of 1634, by the small-pox, and " very few of them escaped." Their chief sachem, together with nearly all his kindred, werc among the victims of this pestilence, which almost broke up the tribc. So thinned werc their numbers, and so effectually was their power broken, that the Massachusetts People gained confidence to attempt the colonization of the country, which was commenced by the Dorchester People in the following year. At the time of their arrival then, it is more than probable that the whole number of Indians, men, women and children within the present limits of Windsor, did not exceed three hundred. That there were more living east of the river than on the west side, we are quite certain; but we much doubt whether all the Indians dwelling within the original bounds of Ancient Windsor, viz, between Simsbury Mountains and the hills east of Ellington, exceeded one thousand. The restless Pequot, and the pestilence, had prepared the way for the advancing wave of civilization, and before that wave the red sons of the forest disappeared as footprints on the sea shore are effaced by the rising tide.
A grand sachem, Sequassen, whose scat was at or near Hart- ford, held the sovereignty of the Windsor, Hartford, Wethers- field and Farmington tribes.1 He seems to have been a brave and talented, but unprincipled, person, whose fame has been somewhat tarnished by his alleged conspiracy against the English in 1646. His only immediate connection with our Windsor history, which we know of, is his interest in the first land in Windsor sold by the Indians to the Plymouth Company in 1633. The latter had purchased the same " for a valuable consideration," from Sequassen and Nattawanut, who are de- scribed as " the rightful owners." Nattawanut was the actual sachem of the Matianuck or Windsor tribe. He fled to the English for protection from the Pcquots, and was brought back
that he was " neither at any time conquered by the Pequots, nor paid any tribute to them. And when he sometime lived at Matainuck (Windsor) and hard by his friends (the English) that lived here, that he and his men came out and fought with " the Pequots.
1 De Forest, Hist. of Conn. Inds ; Conn. Col. Records, and other author- ities
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NUMBER OF INDIANS IN WINDSOR.
by Captain Holmes, in 1633, who purchased of him the land on which he settled at Windsor. He is probably the sachem who died from small-pox the next spring, as his name does not again appear after that time. He was succeeded as early as 1636, by Arramemet, whose residence was on the high ground, at the upper end of Hartford Meadow, opposite to the mouth of the Podunk River. It seems that he afterwards removed to the immediate vicinity of the Plymouth House, where he could easier avail himself of assistance if attacked by the Pequots. After the transfer of the lands of the Plymouth Company, to the Windsor Settlers, in 1638, Lieut. Holmes, the agent of the former, refused permission to the Indians to plant on the small tract of land which was reserved to the Plymonth House. Whereupon " Arramemet and the Indians cohabiting with him," complained to the court about it, and the court, after a full hearing of the case, decided that the Indians might "plant the old ground, for this year only, and they are to set their wig- wams in the old ground, and not without."1
Arramemet afterwards, 1670, resold or confirmed to the Windsor People, all the land which his predecessor Nattawanut had sold to the Plymouth Company, nearly forty years before, and which they had transferred to the Windsor People. This extended from Hartford to Poquonnoc, and probably marks the limit of the Matianuck tribe. Arramemet, although the successor, was not the son of Nattawanut. He was either a Podunk by birth, or intimately connected with that tribe by marriage, as he figures in several of their land sales on the east side of the river. In 1672, he resided at Podunk, where he deeded lands to his son-in-law Nautahon (alias Joshua), the son of the cele- brated Uncas. 2
North of the Tunxis or Farmington River, was another dis- tinct tribe called the Poquonnocs. Their seat was upon the beautiful meadows of that portion of the town, which still bears
1 Col. Records of Conn., 11, 16.
2 See Indian Purchases.
2 Windsor Land Records. Chapin (Hist. of Glastenbury) erroneously calls Arramemet a son of Uncas.
12
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HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.
their name. Amid the charming scenery of that pleasant valley of the Tunxis, dwelt the largest number of Indians collected at any place in Windsor, west of the Connecticut. Their first sachem known to the English, was Sheat, who died soon after the settlement, and was succeeded by his son Coggerynossett, and his nephew Nassahegan.1 These twain seem to have held joint sovereignty, until the death of the former about 1680. After this date Nassahegan was the chief sachem of the Poquonnoc tribe.2 He was a good friend to the English, for we learn from a deposition made by Coggerynosset before his death, that Nassahegan "was so taken in love with the coming " of the white man, that he gave them certain lands " for some small matter." His name, with the prefix of captain, is found among those Indians who went up with the English, to the relief of Springfield in 1675. The next year he seems to have somewhat fallen under suspicion, and was confined at Hart- ford.3 Most of the lands of his tribe passed away from their possession before 1700. Sepanquat his son is only once men- tioned as deeding a certain tract in Poquonnoc to Samuel Mar- shall in 1670, in consideration of a fine which he had incurred at the county court, and which the said Marshall had agreed to liquidate. Remnants of the Poquonnoc tribe lingered for many years around the homes of their fathers, and some have dwelt there even within the memory of people who are now living. A place in Poquonnoc meadow, bordering on the river, is still called The Old Indian Burying Ground.
The only one of the tribe who is in any way prominently con- nected with our history, was Toto, a grandson of Nassacowan. This friendly Indian, during King Philip's war in 1675, having learned the purpose of the savages to attack Springfield, dis- closed the plot to the Windsor People on the very evening pre-
1 Or Nassacowen - which we consider as a different spelling of the same name.
2 It is probable that the Poquonnoc Indians were owners of Simsbury, as the deed of Simsbury in 1680, is given by Nassahegan, Toto and Seacett - and there are other evidences of their being closely allied with the Massaco and Farmington Indians.
3 Col. Rec., II, 470.
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INDIAN HISTORY.
ceding the attack. Messengers were promptly sent to Maj. Treat at Westfield, and Toto (so tradition says) was himself sent to bear the news to Springfield. Tradition further relates that he accomplished this perilous feat, running the whole dis- tance there and back, in a single night. Be this as it may, his timely warning was all that saved the town of Springfield from utter destruction. The people of Farmington have erected a monument to the memory of the "ancient warriors " of the Tunxis Valley - surely it would not be inappropriate, if either at Windsor or Springfield, some marble column should preserve to posterity the name and the fame of faithful Toto.
Tradition tells us that the Indians who resided on the high grounds bordering on the Pine Meadow (now Windsor Locks), between Pine Meadow Brook and the foot of the Falls, num- bered one hundred warriors. We learn from a deed of confirma- tion, signed in 1687 by the widow of Coggerynosset, sachem of Poquonnoc, that all the land north of that bought of the PI.7. mouth Company (two and a half miles north of the meeting- house) to "Stony Brook opposite the great Island at the falls " was bought by the Windsor People of her father, Tehano (or Nehano), previous to the Pequot war, in 1637. It is not im- probable that Tehano resided at Pine Meadow, but we think there were few, if any, Indians there long after the English settlement at Windsor.
Another tradition relates that the Indians, who resided in this vicinity, had a custom of burying the aged and decrepit mem- bers of their tribe before life was extinct. When old age liad enfeebled the stern warrior, when he could no longer follow the chase, draw the bow, or wield the tomahawk in defence of his people, he requested his friends to accompany him to the place of his burial. An excavation was made in the earth on Sandy Hill, in which the old man stood erect, while his friends replaced the earth about him to the top of his shoulders. Then, placing the implements he had carried in war, and the chase, with a little provision, before him, they bade him a final adieu, and returned to their wigwams. Nor did they visit the spot again, until the wretched devotee had taken his last look on the dark woods which overshadowed him, and his ears had ceased to
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HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.
catch the voice of the Great Spirit whispering among their branches.
This is all very well for a tradition - and such it undoubtedly was one hundred years ago - but we do not believe a word of it. It is entirely unsupported by any evidence whatsoever, and - although, as the reader is aware, we place no very high estimate upon the Indian character - we believe that by giving credence to this tale of the " olden time " we should do the In- dians of Windsor a very serious injustice.
As we have previously remarked, the greatest number of Indians, within the bounds of Ancient Windsor, resided on the east side of the Connecticut River. These were the Podunks, situated at or near the mouth of the Podunk, a small stream entering the Connecticut, in the southwest corner of the present town of South Windsor. Here, just north of the stream where it crosses the road to Hartford, and on the west of the road, is still visible an elevation of some 25 feet, and about half an acre in extent, which was the site of their fort. On the same side of the road, south of the stream, and beyond the swamp, is an elevation, now occupied by the house of Mr. Eli Burnham, which was once the ancient burying ground of the Podunks.1
1 Barber's Hist. Coll. of Conn. says : " A few years since, a number of skele- tons were discovered, by digging from one to four feet. These skeletons were found lying on one side, knees drawn up to the breast, arms folded, with their heads to the south. A covering of bark seems to have been laid over them, with some few remains of blankets; in one instance a small brass kettle and hatchet were found in good preservation ; the remains of a gun- barrel and lock, a number of glass bottles, one of which was found nearly
half filled with some sort of liquid. * * * There were also found a pair of shears, a pistol, lead pipes, wampum, small brass rings, glass beads, a female skeleton with a brass comb, the hair was in a state of preservation wherever it came in contact with the comb. After the Podunks had removed from these parts, in one instanco they were known to have brought a dead child from towards Norwich and interred it in this burying place." There was also another burying place on the river bank, on either side of the mouth of a small brook or drain known as Moore's Drain. The pottery and articles found in the graves on the north side of this drain, were of superior work- manship to those in the graves on the south side, which possibly may be considered as indicative of some difference of rank in those there buried.
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INDIAN HISTORY.
This was their summer residence, but their winter home was a mile and a half eastward, over the high land.1 Their jurisdic- tion extended over the present towns of East and South Wind- sor, and East Hartford, where they had another fort. They bore the reputation of being a ferocious and warlike people. Tonto- nimo, their first sachem with whom the English had any acquaint- ance, commanded two hundred bowmen.2 The Scantics, a small tribe residing in the present town of East Windsor, near the mouth of the Scantic River, were either a part of the Podunks, or so closely allied to them, that there is scarcely any distinction to be made between them.
It will be seen by reference to the deed of the land between Podunk and Scantic, that Tontonimo is called a sachem of the
All these points will be more fully and ably described in Dr. H. C. Gillet's forthcoming History of East and South Windsor.
Barber also mentions a well on the bank of the Connecticut River, at Bis- sell's Ferry, near the mouth of the Scantic River, "supposed to have been made before any English settlements were attempted in Connecticut. The lower part of the well is walled by stones hewn in a circular manner, and the manner in which they are laid together is believed to be entirely different from that in which any Englishman would lay them." Barber's version is the one generally adopted by the inhabitants of the town - who consider the well as having a Dutch origin. As the well is now destroyed, having been gradually washed out and broken up by the river, we have not had an opportunity of examining it ourselves. We have conversed, however, with several careful investigators, in whose judgment we have entire confidence, and who have at various times examined it. These gentlemen concur in stating their conviction that there was nothing unusual in its formation. The stones which were represented as " hewn in a circular manner," were simply hollowed - slightly and roughly, as is often done in these days - for better adaptation to their places, and there was nothing in the appearance of the well which necessarily indicated an origin anterior to the date of the English settlements on the river.
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