USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Derby > The history of the old town of Derby, Connecticut, 1642-1880. With biographies and genealogies > Part 7
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INDIAN HISTORY.
later-not long after the order of the General Court concern- ing fortifications was issued-they voted to build another fort, and selected for this purpose the house of their pastor, the Rev. John Southmayd. In the meantime they had provided other means of defense. On the 15th of April, 1703, the town in- structed the selectmen "to provide a town stock of ammunition according to law,"-a law which required that each town should keep "a barrel of good powder, two hundred weight of bullets, and three hundred flints, for every sixty listed soldiers, and after that proportion." The stock was duly purchased, and Timothy Stanley, who was by this time Lieutenant and com- mander of the train band, was made keeper of ammunition for the town. The order of the General Court in respect to forti- fications was followed up, at the regular session in May, by other enactments affecting the town of Waterbury. Eight towns, one of which was Waterbury, were designated as "fron- tier towns," and it was ordered that these should not be broken up or voluntarily deserted without permission from the General Court. It was also ordered as follows :
" That ten men shall be put in garrison in each of these towns, Dan- bury, Woodbury, Waterbury and Simsbury ; and that the rest of the men to be raised out of the counties of New Haven and Fairfield, with such Indians as can be procured, shall have their chief head-quarters at Westfield ; . and said company of English and Indians shall, from time to time, at the discretion of their com- mander, range the woods to endeavor the discovery of an approaching enemy, and in especial manner from Westfield to Ousatunnuck " [that is, Stockbridge].
As already stated, the whole period now under review was a time of anxiety and alarms. But early in 1707, the Colony was aroused to special diligence in preparations for defense, by the intelligence "that the French and enemy Indians were prepar- ing to make a descent upon the frontier towns of New Eng- land." There was also reason to suppose that the Pootatuck and Owiantonuck Indians (the Woodbury and New Milford tribes) had been invited to join the enemy, and that measures must be taken to secure their fidelity and to preserve the small frontier towns. The Council of War was immediately convened at Hartford, and it was ordered, first, that the suspected tribes
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WAR ALARMS CONTINUE.
should be removed with all convenient speed to Fairfield or Stratford, or if the sickness prevailing among them should pre- vent this, then two of their chiefs should be conveyed to Fair- field to be held as hostages. It was also "resolved, for the preservation of the frontier towns of Simsbury, Waterbury, Woodbury and Danbury, that order be sent to the inhabitants of these towns to provide with all possible speed a sufficient number of well fortified houses, for the safety of themselves and families in their respective towns." It was further "re- solved, that the inhabitants of Waterbury fortify their houses sufficiently for their safety ;" and in view of the great losses which the town had recently sustained through extraordinary floods, it was agreed to recommend to the General Assembly an abatement of the Colony taxes of the town. At the same session it was resolved still further, " that the inhabitants of Woodbury, Waterbury and Danbury do every one of them maintain a good scout, out every day, from their respective towns, of two faithful and trusty men to observe the motions of the enemy." These resolutions were passed in council, in February, 1707. In the same month the town of Waterbury responded, by voting "to build the fort that is at Lieutenant Stanley's strong" and "build a new fort at the east end of the town." These defenses were left for a time incomplete ; but in June, aroused perhaps by some new alarm, it was voted, " considering our troubles and fear of an enemy, to lay aside cutting bushes " (that is, clearing away underbrush on the com- mons) "and this day forthwith to go about finishing and re- pairing the forts, and to finish them by Wednesday next, at night." That they were duly finished and the defenses of the settlement made satisfactory to the General Assembly, appears from the fact that at the October session the Assembly "al- lowed to the town of Waterbury fifteen pounds out of the coun- try rate," in view of the expense they had incurred in fortifying. A year afterwards, in an act "for the encouragement of mili- tary skill and good discipline," it was ordered by the Assembly that the committee of war in Hartford county should establish garrisons in certain towns, one of which was Waterbury, at the charge of the Colony or of the respective towns as the commit- tee should order. Two garrisoned forts were established at Wa-
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INDIAN HISTORY.
terbury at the expense of the Colony, and a third at the expense of the town. One of these forts was at the west end of the town, around Mr. Southmayd's house; one at Lieutenant Stanley's, and the third at the house of John Hopkins, the grandfather of the Rev. Samuel Hopkins, D. D., the famous theologian. This house, in which Dr. Hopkins was born in 1721, stood a short distance east of the center of the city, on the corner of East Main and Brook streets. The forts, it will be seen, were situated so as to accommodate the scattered popu- lation.
All these defenses were prepared with reference to attacks coming from the hostile savages of the north, the allies of the French. The Connecticut Indians were habitually employed by the colonial government as reliable soldiers. An act was passed by the General Court in May, 1704, in the following terms :
" It is ordered by this Court that as many of our friend Indians as are fit for war, and can be prevailed with and furnished with all things suitable, shall go with our forces against the common enemy ; and Major Ebenezer Johnson [who has already been noticed as the owner of Indian slaves] is hereby empowered and ordered to employ suitable persons to acquaint the Indians in the counties of New Haven and Fairfield of this conclusion concerning them, and to furnish such of said Indians as shall offer themselves for the service as aforesaid, with arms and ammunition and what else may be needful to fit them out for war, and cause them forthwith to repair to Derby, to march with our Eng- lish forces under the command of the chief officer for the said service. And this court allows the [same] wages to such Indian volunteers as those have that have gone to the eastward. . And for the encouragement of our forces gone or going against the enemy, this court will allow out of the public treasury the sum of five pounds for every man's scalp of the enemy killed in this Colony, to be paid to the person that doth that service, over and above his or their 1 wages and the plunder taken by them."
This last mentioned provision shows that the General Court not only recognized the Indian taste of scalping, but was quite willing to encourage it. And when, in 1710, an Indian scout was established, the same encouragement was held out. The scouting company were promised, for each Indian scalp of the
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SNOW-SHOES.
enemy brought to the committee of war, the sum of ten pounds to be divided equally amongst them. In 1724, the award was fifty pounds for every scalp. Another order, passed at the October session of the General Court in 1704, shows that the colonial authorities were familiar with the difficulties of Indian warfare and considered it necessary that the settlers should adopt the Indian's method,-not, indeed as regards scalping, but to the extent of wearing moccasins and snow-shoes. It was ordered :
" That every town and plantation in this Colony shall be provided with a number of snow-shoes and Indian shoes. no less than one pair of snow-shoes with two pair of Indian shoes for every thousand pounds in the list of the estate of such town, which snow-shoes and Indian shoes shall be provided at or before the tenth day of December next, by the selectmen in every town, at the charge of the Colony, and shall be kept by them in good repair and fit for service when there may be occasion to make use of them."
During the October session of 1708, it was enacted that there should be " allowed and paid out of the public treasury of this Colony the sum of fifty pounds, in pay for the bringing up and maintaining of dogs in the northern frontier towns in this Col- ony, to hunt after the Indian enemy." It was also ordered, that no person whatsoever should furnish lead, or sell, even to friendly Indians, any gun for any time longer or shorter ; and that those who had lent guns to friendly Indians, should re- cover them as soon as possible.
From all this it is evident that the towns and the general government understood the situation of affairs and were deter- mined to be thoroughly prepared for emergencies. If the de- fense of the frontiers had been neglected, we know not what disasters might not have overwhelmed the settlements. As it was, the one frontier town of the Naugatuck valley suffered but little. The only Indian raids upon Waterbury were in 1710. A party of savages came down through Simsbury into what is now the southern part of Thomaston, and killed a man named Holt ; probably a hunter from another town. The place where the deed was committed is named Mount Holt, a spur of Mount Toby. Another party from Canada, having made their way into the upper part of the town, ascended a hill on the west side
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INDIAN HISTORY.
of the Naugatuck, opposite Mount Taylor, to reconnoitre. To the south, in Hancock's meadow, they saw Jonathan Scott, one of the Waterbury settlers, and his two sons, one of them fourteen years of age, the other eleven. Scott was seated under a large oak tree eating his dinner ; the boys were a little distance from him. The Indians approached stealthily, taking such a course that the tree hid them from view ; reached him without being discovered, and made him prisoner. The boys took to their heels and would have escaped, but their father was given to understand that it would cost him his life if he refused to recall them, so he reluctantly brought them back. To prevent him from offering resistance, they cut off his right thumb. The three were taken to Canada, where they remained until after the proclamation of peace in '1713. Scott and his eldest son, Jona- than, then returned to Waterbury ; but the younger son, John, having become accustomed to savage life, preferred to remain among the Indians and never came home.
It is an interesting fact that the wife of Jonathan Scott, whose name was Hannah Hawks, was the daughter of John Hawks of Deerfield, and that her mother was killed in the Indian attack upon that town, on the 29th of February, 1704. Her only sis- ter was taken prisoner and was put to death on her way to Can- ada. Her only brother, his wife and his three children were also killed. Mrs. Scott was the sole surviving child. and John Hawks spent his last days with her in Waterbury. After his return from captivity, Scott continued to reside in Waterbury until about 1720, when he removed to Wooster Swamp in the northern part of Watertown, near Scott's mountain. There he built a saw-mill and lived with his sons. There is a tradition that he died by violence, at the hands of the Indians, while on his way to the north ; but it seems to have no foundation in fact. The other tradition is more probable-that he was buried on Scott's mountain, where his supposed grave is still pointed out.1
The capture of Scott and his sons, very naturally produced great excitement in Waterbury. The settlement was very weak, for in 1713 it numbered only thirty families and not more than
1Bronson's Hist. Waterbury, pp, 105, 106, 185.
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CAPT. JACOB GRISWOLD.
two hundred souls ; and the greatness of the impending danger could not be known, neither could disaster be completely guarded against by the utmost vigilance. In July, following the capture of Scott, the town appointed a committee, consist- ing of the Rev. John Southmayd and three others, "to draw up in writing the circumstances of the town in this time of war," and to present the memorial to the General Court in New Ha- ven, in August. The General Court in response made special provision for the protection of the town, by appointing " a com- mittee of war, with full power upon the application of the inhab- itants of the said town of Waterbury, and in case of danger on the approach of the enemy, to raise and send men thither from the county of New Haven for their relief, by scouting or lying in garrison there, as occasion may require."
There was no further trouble, however, and the proclamation of peace in 1713 brought relief from apprehension. But the upper part of the valley was exposed to similar dangers after- ward. Before war broke out again a settlement had been ef- fected at Litchfield, and when Indian raids from the north were renewed Litchfield was the frontier town and exposed to the same perils which Derby and Waterbury had experienced be- fore. Between 1720 and 1730, five houses in different parts of the town were surrounded with fortifications, that is, with pal- isades similar to those with which we have already become fa- miliar in Waterbury. Soldiers were stationed in the town to guard the inhabitants while in the fields and also while at pub- lic worship on the Sabbath. Notwithstanding these precau- tions, attacks were made by northern savages, and settlers were taken captive. In May, 1721, Captain Jacob Griswold, while at work alone in a field about a mile to the west of the present Court House, was suddenly seized by two Indians who had rushed upon him from the woods. They pinioned his arms and carried him off. Traveling in a northerly direction, they reached by night a spot within the limits of what is now Canaan. They kindled a fire and having bound Captain Griswold, hand and foot, lay down to sleep. In the night Griswold succeeded in disengaging his hands and feet, and although his arms were still pinioned, he seized their guns and escaped. After travel- ing a short distance through the dark woods, he sat down and
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INDIAN HISTORY.
waited for the dawn, when he resumed his journey, still carry- ing the two guns. When the savages in the morning found their captive was gone, they pursued him and soon overtook him. During the greater part of the day they kept in sight of him, but when they came too near he pointed one of the guns at them and thus kept them at bay. In this manner he traveled until near sunset, when he reached a high place in an open field about a mile north-west of where the Court House now stands. He then discharged one of the guns, which immediately sum- moned his townsmen to his assistance. The Indians fled and Griswold was restored in safety to his family.
After this occurrence, the settlers were more cautious ; but their watchfulness did not last long, for in the following August a more serious misfortune came upon them. The victim this time was a Mr. Joseph Harris. He was at work alone in the woods, not far from the spot where Griswold was captured, when he was attacked by a party of Indians. Attempting to escape, the Indians pursued him; and when they found that he was likely to outstrip them they shot him dead and scalped him. As Harris did not return home at the usual time, the inhabitants became alarmed about him. They searched for him at night as long as they could see, and again in the morning, when his body was found near the north end of the plain, where the road turns toward Milton. From that time forward the plain was called Harris's plain. He was buried in the west burying-ground, near the church. His grave remained unmarked for more than a century ; but in 1830 a suitable monument was erected over his dust, which bears the following inscription, in which it will be observed there is no reference to his attempt to escape :
"In memory of Joseph Harris, who was murdered by the Indians in the year 1721. While ploughing in the field, about three-fourths of a mile north-west of the grave-yard, he was shot by the Indians con- cealed in ambush. He was found dead, sitting on the ground, his head and body reclining against the trunk of a tree. To record the first death among the original settlers, and to perpetuate the memory of a worthy but unfortunate citizen, this monument is erected, 1830, by the voluntary benefactions of individual subscribers." =
The war between the French and English was not ended un- til some time after this, and the attacks of the northern Indians
FEAR OF THE INDIANS.
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upon the frontier settlements were still continued. In Au- gust, 1723, tidings were brought to the Governor and Council, of an attack upon Rutland and the massacre of several persons by the hostile Indians. They were also advised that about three hundred French Indians were come over Lake Cham- plain toward Connecticut, probably with evil designs. It was therefore "resolved, that Simsbury and Litchfield are frontier towns of this Colony, westward of Connecticut river, which are most exposed to danger by these parties of Indians ; " and in view of the impending dangers, it was decided that the com- missioned officers of these towns should immediately call to- gether the householders in the respective towns, agree upon suitable places for garrisons and encourage the inhabitants to establish such fortifications with speed; also, that the sachems of the several bodies of Indians in the Colony should "forthwith call in all their Indians that were out a hunting in the woods, and that they do not presume to go out again in the woods to hunt north of the road that goes from Farmington through Waterbury and Woodbury to New Milford," without leave from the Council; also, that two scouting parties, consisting each of three Englishmen and six Indians, should range the woods above Simsbury, westward to Stockbridge, to be so ordered that they should meet each other about midway between the two places ; and finally, that a military watch should be kept in the towns of Simsbury, Waterbury, Woodbury, Litchfield and New Milford. In May following, the rule in relation to Indians hunt- ing was enacted as a law by the General Court; and in July, in view of the danger of giving false alarms, the same rule was ex- tended by the Council to English and Indians alike. The spring and summer of 1724 was a period of special alarm and excitement. In that year, the Assembly gave Waterbury authority to em- ploy six men " to guard the men in their outfields, at the discre- tion of the commission officers of said town." The authority thus given was exercised about a month. In Litchfield a small party of Indians was discovered lurking about the town on the night of the 19th of May. Word was immediately sent to the Council at Hartford, and it was ordered that a company of thirty-two men be immediately raised in Hartford, Wethersfield and Farmington and marched to the threatened town without
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INDIAN HISTORY.
delay, to serve as a scouting party. On the 21st of June, it was ordered that ten men be impressed, armed and equipped and sent to Litchfield for the defense of that town against the enemy. As some of the proprietors of home-lots in Litchfield tried to escape from serving on the military watch, Capt. John Marsh was instructed to see that the law was duly executed upon all such persons. A line of scouts was established, ex- tending from Litchfield to Turkey Hills, curving around the most northerly and westerly settlements in Simsbury. Capt. Richard Case, of the latter town, was directed to employ ten men on his scouting party, to rendezvous at Litchfield. These men continued in the service until October. So serious were the apprehensions of attack and so threatening the danger, that some of the more timid of the Litchfield settlers deserted their new homes and sought refuge elsewhere. As the inhabitants who remained felt themselves greatly crippled by these deser- tions, they petitioned the Assembly for aid and it was ordered (October II, 1724) that whoever had left the town because of difficulties which had arisen there on account of the enemy, and should fail within a month of the close of that session of the Assembly to return to the town to abide there, or else to send some man in his stead to perform military duties, should forfeit all his right and estate in the lands of the town. At the same session of the Assembly, it was ordered that the gar- rison soldiers at Litchfield be withdrawn and disbanded. But in the following April, tidings were brought "from Philip Schuyler of Albany, that the enemies were all come over the lake," and thereupon the soldiers in the several frontier towns, including Litchfield and Waterbury, were ordered to “be in perpetual readiness to defend themselves and offend the en- emy;" and a constables' watch was set up in the towns. A company of twenty-one men was also raised and sent to Litch- field, "to be improved in scouting, watching and warding for the safety of said town." In May, 1725, the Assembly, " taking into consideration the difficulties of the town of Litchfield in this time of trouble with the Indians," ordered that non-resi- dent proprietors should pay and forfeit toward defraying the cost of defending the town the sum of thirty pounds each per annum, and pro rata for any time they should be absent with-
THE FRENCH WAR.
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out permission ; " provided, however, that the right of Joseph Harris is saved from any forfeiture by force of this act."
The stringency of these enactments shows that the General Court not only appreciated the great importance of defending the frontier rather than abandoning it, but anticipated a pro- longed and severe conflict. There is little trace, however, of further troubles until many years afterward. A quarter of a century passed away ere another French and Indian war broke out, and that was the last of the series. In 1752 the old allied enemies of the Colony were making encroachments on the northern and western frontiers ; those frontiers not having yet advanced beyond the present bounds of the country. In a historical sketch of the churches and ministers of that region, we read :
" The times, circumstances and duties of these pastors were in some respects peculiar. Their location was in the frontier settlements, and open to the incursions of savages. Instead of directing their attention to Christianizing the heathen, they had, in common with others, to ex- ert all their influence to prevent their coming under the dominion of a persecuting Roman Catholic government. In the former part of this period, the great question was, Shall we continue to enjoy the blessings of civil and religious liberty, or fall under the domination of a colossal anti-Christian power?"
In 1756 war was formally declared by England. The capture of Fort William Henry, in 1757, by the French and Indians under Montcalm, and the Indian atrocities connected there- with, aroused the colonies of Massachusetts and Connecticut, and a force was raised which was meant to arrest the further progress of the French. In 1759 the invasion of Canada was actually undertaken, and on the 18th of September, as every- body knows, Quebec was captured, the dominion of the French on the St. Lawrence was broken, and the New England colo- nies were delivered from further incursions of the hostile tribes of the north.
In this war the towns of the Naugatuck valley were well rep- resented. Waterbury sent a company of thirty-five men, under the command of Captain Eldad Lewis, and besides these thirty- five, eighteen or twenty others are mentioned in the history of the town as having been engaged at one time or another in the
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INDIAN HISTORY.
war, including the Rev. Mark Leavenworth, who went as chap- lain. Another Waterbury man, Israel Calkins, played a part not altogether unimportant in shaping the course of events. When Fort William Henry, situated at the head of Lake George, was besieged, the English general, Webb, with an army of four thousand men, was at Fort Edward, fourteen miles away. In- stead of marching to the relief of the imperiled fort, General Webb wrote a letter to Colonel Monroe advising him to capitu- late. The messenger was interrupted by the Indian allies of Montcalm. But the French commander, thinking that the de- livery of the letter to Colonel Monroe would promote his own interests, forwarded it to its destination, and the surrender of the fort quickly followed. Now the messenger who carried the letter of General Webb was Israel Calkins of Waterbury. After the surrender of the fort he remained in the hands of his Indian captors and was taken by them to Canada. Here he was " redeemed by a French gentleman," sent to France as a prisoner of war, and finally sent in a cartel-ship to England to be exchanged. He landed at Boston on the 6th of October, 1758, and immediately petitioned the Legislature of Connecti- cut " for an allowance of wages during his captivity," and also a gratuity, in consideration of the severe calamities he had suf- fered, which, he affirmed, "were more than words can express or imagination paint." He speaks of his property as having been dissipated during his absence, and of his family as ex- tremely destitute, and "implores the pity and compassion of the honorable Assembly." His prayer was heard and thirty pounds were granted him.
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