USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884, Vol. I > Part 2
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The changes in the elevation of the land were accompanied by changes both in location and width of the Connecticut River. The traces of fluvial action caused Hitchcock to locate an ancient river-bed on the west side of the present river in Wethersfield, west of the village, and also in a line through the west part of Hartford, uniting with the river a little above the city. The river terraces are distinctly marked along the river border, and are usually two in number, -the lower hav- ing an average height of sixteen feet above low water, and the higher a height of thirty-six feet, while the height of the river border formations above modern flood-levels is one hundred and fifty feet at Middletown and one hundred and eighty feet at Springfield.
The low-water height of the Connecticut River at Hartford is the same as the mean level of the Sound at the mouth of the river at Say- brook, some forty-nine miles south, the tide at the former place being about one foot and at the latter four feet. The tide in the river is noticeable above Hartford at the foot of Enfield Falls in Windsor. The highest modern flood was that of May, 1854, when the river reached a height of twenty-nine feet ten inches above low water. The mean discharge of the river at low water is five thousand cubic feet per second, and it drains, with its tributaries, the Farmington, Podunk, Hockanum, and Little rivers, - the larger part of the county, in which the annual rain-fall is not far from forty-four inches, that being the average of a series of observations at Hartford for a term of ten years.
5
GENERAL DESCRIPTION.
The changes in the river-bed resulting from the cutting away of the bank on the upper side of a bend and the filling on the lower side have moved the river its whole width to the eastward in about twelve years in a section six miles south of Hartford; while at Wethersfield the river-bed since 1690 has made a remarkable change; so gradually, how- ever, as to have attracted but little attention from year to year. The course of the river below Hartford and within the limits of the county is extremely crooked ; and at the date stated the river, after flowing southeast to Wethersfield, turned sharply to the northeast and then to the southeast, again dividing at Naubuc on both sides of Wright's Island that was over a mile in length. By the shifting of the clay and sand forming its banks from one part of a bend to another the river now flows diagonally across its old bed, leaving a cove on each side that lies nearly parallel to its present course; and the island has completely disappeared, leaving the stream, however, at its average width of about four hundred yards.
MINERALS. - The ores and mineral substances in the county of industrial importance and at present mined are mainly feldspar at Glastonbury, sandstone at Farmington, and trap-rock at Hartford. The feldspar is obtained from a granite vein in South Glastonbury, and in the form known as orthoclase. It is of value because of its use in the manufacture of the best porcelain ware, and the value of the annual output is not far from thirty thousand dollars. The quarries at Glas- tonbury and Middletown furnish the largest part of the total supply used in the United States.
The minerals, ores, etc., that are of value, but are not at present mined, are copper ores (bornite and chalcocite) at Granby, Bristol, and Simsbury ; hydraulic limestone, near Berlin, in Simsbury ; and mala- chite in Bristol.
SOIL AND PRODUCTS. - The soil of the larger part of the county is formed by the decomposition of the rock of the secondary formation, or of the river alluvia, the latter having the first place in point of value. The statistics from which a knowledge of the comparative value of the land in the county may be gained are very meagre; but the comparative value put upon the land in the several counties in colonial times is shown by the fact that the Statutes of 1750 directed the listers to assess all the meadow lands in the County of Hartford, both ploughing and mowing, at fifteen shillings per acre, and all meadow land within the other counties seven shillings and sixpence per acre.
In 1661, and for many years following, wheat, pease, and flax were staple products of the county ; and in 1762 beef, pork, and flour were prominent factors in contributing to its wealth. In 1845 Hartford County stood first in the value of the products, tobacco (of which it furnished ninety per cent), Indian corn, rye, fruits, and swine, and sec- ond in the value of hay, buckwheat, and horses.
In the value of its tobacco crop the county still leads the State; and Wethersfield holds its old-time reputation for onions, and has gained in its specialty of garden seeds.
FISH AND GAME. - The streams and rivers at one time abounded in salmon and trout. A few of the former are still seen in the Con- necticut. They were quite abundant about 1878 as a result of artificial propagation ; but they brought so high a price in the market (a dollar
6
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
to a dollar and a half a pound) that the temptation was irresistible to sell all that were caught in the shad-nets ; and so the supply was prac- tically exhausted, and the effort to replenish the river with its most valuable fish was a failure. But it should be added that dams in the Connecticut at Holyoke, Mass., and in the Farmington River prevent many of the fish from reaching their breeding places, and so are an im- portant cause of the failure of any attempts to restore the salmon. Small salmon are caught occasionally with trout in the upper waters of the Farmington, and probably there will always be a few of these fish in the river. Trout have grown more abundant since the State under- took to supply five thousand of the young to each applicant who wished to stock streams in the State with them. There has been considerable legislation to preserve them. The season is from April 1 to July 1. Owners can forbid fishing by putting up prohibitory notices ; and there is a heavy penalty not only for fishing, but for trespassing upon land with intent to fish, in such waters. The most famous Connecticut River fish is the shad, which is believed by many to be superior to the shad of any other river. The State by planting the young in the Far- mington and Connecticut rivers has maintained the supply fairly well. The forerunners of the shad are the alewives, which, without artificial propagation, swarm up the river and the small streams in great quantities each spring.
Sturgeon are frequently seen in the Connecticut, and the striped bass, which are quite numerous, sometimes reach immense size. Black bass are also found in the Connecticut, having run there from ponds where they were planted. These fish were introduced into the ponded waters of the State about 1860, and have become very numerous. As they have increased pickerel have become scarce. The Fish Commis- sion has introduced land-locked salmon in numerous ponds, but they have never become plentiful. As a peculiarity among fish in the county, it may be mentioned that when the Shuttle Meadow Reservoir in New Britain was thrown open to fishermen, yellow perch of as much as two or three pounds' weight each were caught in large numbers. In most of the waters of the county they do not exceed one half or three quarters of a pound.
No large game remains in the county. At times wildcats are re- ported in the thinly-inhabited regions. Foxes and raccoons are abun- dant ; and partridges, quails, and woodcock are not yet so scarce that the skilful hunter cannot find them.
FLORA. - The flora of the county differs little, if at all, from that of the state at large, and the labors of the late Charles Wright of Wethers- field, Nathan Coleman of Berlin, and James N. Bishop of Plainville, have left little to be discovered in this particular field. The last-named botanist's catalogue of phænogamous plants growing without cultivation in Connecticut (published in 1885) includes the following species . -
RANUNCULACEA. CLEMATIS - Virgin's Bower. C. verticillaris, Avon.
RANUNCULUS - Buttercup.
R. multifidus, Plainville. R. sceleratus, Berlin.
CIMICIFUGA - Bugbane. C. racemosa, Bristol.
BERBERIDACEÆ. PODOPHYLLUM - Mandrake.
P. peltatum, Southington.
NYMPH ÆACEA.
NUPHAR - Yellow Pond-lily. N. luteum, var. pumilum, Farmington. FUMARIACEAE. DICENTRA - Dutchman's Breeches. D. Canadensis, Plainville.
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GENERAL DESCRIPTION.
CRUCIFERA.
BRASSICA. B. Sinapistrum, Plainville.
VIOLACEÆ. VIOLA - Violet. I'. pedata, Farmington, Glastonbury, etc.
IIYPERICACEA. HYPERICUM - St. John's-wort. H. pyramidatum, Berlin, Farmington. GERANIACEÆ. GERANIUM - Cranesbill. G. pusillum, Windsor. ROSACEA. POTERIUM - Burnet.
P. Canadense, Berlin.
GEUM - Avens.
G. strictum, Berlin, Plainville. DALIBARDA. D. repens, Farmington.
LYTHRACEA. LYTHRUM - Loosestrife.
L. Salicaria, Bristol.
LUDWIGIA - False Loosestrife.
L. polycarpa, Hartford. NES.EA -Swamp Loosestrife.
N. verticillata, var. flore pleno, Plainville, - the only known American habitat. CACTACEE. OPUNTIA - Prickly Pear.
O. Rafinesquii, Unionville.
UMBELLIFERA. THASPIUM - Meadow Parsnip.
T. trifoliatum, Farmington.
CAPRIFOLIACEÆ. VIBURNUM - Lanrestinus.
V. nudum, Berlin, Farmington, Plainville.
COMPOSITE. ASTER - Aster.
A. concolor, Berlin.
ERIGERON - Fleabane.
E. strigosum, Berlin.
HELIANTHUS - Sunflower.
H. doronicoides, Plainville. CIRSIUM -Thistle. C. horridulum, Berlin.
VACCINIACE E.
GAYLUSSACIA - Huckleberry.
G. dumosa, Berlin.
VACCINIUM -Cranberry, Blueberry.
V. stamineum, Bertin, North Granby. GENTIANEE. GENTIANA - Gentian.
G. quinqueflora, Berlin, Bristol. BORRAGINEÆ. ECINIUM -- Viper's Bugloss. E. arvensis, Windsor. SOLANACEÆ.
PHYSALIS - Ground Cherry.
P. Pennsylvanica, Berlin. SCROPHULARIACEÆ. LINARIA - Toad-flax.
L. Elatine. Wethersfield. ANTIRRHINUM - Snapdragon. A. Canadensis, Plainville.
LENTIBULACEA. UTRICULARIA - Bladderwort. U. striata, Poquonnock. LABIATA. MENTHA - Mint.
M. sativa, Plainville. MONARDA - Horse-mint.
M. fistulosa, Berlin. LOPHANTHUS - Giant Hyssop.
L. nepetoides, Berlin, Bristol. STACHYS - Hedge-nettle.
S. palustris, Berlin. S. palustris, var. asper, Wethersfield. S. palustris, var. cordata, Farmington.
PLANTAGINEÆ. PLANTAGO - Plantain.
P. Virginica, Berlin. POLYGONACEÆ.
POLYGONUM - Knotweed.
P. incarnatum, Berlin.
P. ramosissimum, Berlin. P. arifolium, Berlin, Bloomfield, Plainville. EUPHORBIACEÆ. EUPHORBIA - Spurge. E. Ipecacuanhæ, East Windsor, Enfield. ORCHIDACEÆ. ORCHIS. O. spectabilis, Farmington, Granby. HABENARIA - Rein-orchis.
H. Orbiculata, Granby, Windsor.
H. ciliaris, Berlin, Bristol. GOODYERA - Rattlesnake-plantain.
G. repens, Granby, Hartford, Hartland. SPIRANTHES - Ladies' Tresses. S. latifolia, East Hartford, South Windsor. ARETHUSA.
A. bulbosa, Granby. POGONIA. P. pendula, Suffield.
P. verticillata, South Windsor. MICROSTYLIS - Adder's-mouth.
M. ophioglossoides, Berlin. LIPARIS - Twayblade.
L. Læselii, Bristol, Suffield. APLECTRUM - Putty-root.
A. hyemale, Hartford, Suffield. CYPRIPEDIUM - Lady's Slipper.
C. arietinum, New Britain. C. spectabile, Bristol, Southington. JUNCACEE. JUNCUS - Bog-rush.
J. bufonius, Berlin. J. scirpoides, Berlin. TYPHACEA. SPARGANIUM - Bur-reed. S. simplex, var. androcladum, Berlin. S. simplex, var. angustifolium, Berlin. ARACEE. CALLA - Water-arum. C. palustris, Berlin, New Britain. ORONTIUM - Golden-club. O. aquaticum, Berlin. NAIDACEÆ. POTAMOGETON - Pond-weed.
P. hybridus, Berlin, Hartford. P. lonchites, Bristol, Hartford, Plainville.
P. lucens, var. minor, Plainville. P. pectinatus, Hartford.
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
CYPERACEÆ. CYPERUS - Galingale.
CAREX - Sedge.
C. Buxbaumii, Plainville.
C. erythrorhizos, Hartford. ELEOCHARIS - Spike-rush.
C. monile, Plainville.
GRAMINEÆE.
E. diandra, Hartford. SCIRPUS - Bulrush.
G. acutiflora, Hartford.
S. sylvaticus, Berlin.
Among native grasses are the red-top, June, and blue. Of plants not native to the soil it is worth noting that a Christmas rose or black hellebore, domesticated many years ago at Poquonnock, blooms annually in December.
Among ferns may be mentioned the walking-leaf ( Camptosorus rhizophyllus), West Hartford, etc., and the creeping-fern (Lygodium palmatum), named Windsor fern years ago, from a popular impres- sion that it was confined to East Windsor; whereas it occurs in East Hartford and Berlin, and probably is not rare on the mountains west of the river.
The following partial list of trees, made by Mr. Charles Wright shortly before his death, is sufficiently full for the purposes of this work : -
American aspen ; white, mountain, and black ash; basswood ; American beech ; white, black, yellow, and canoe (rare) birch ; butternut; red cedar ; wild cherry ; chestnut ; dogwood (Cornus circinata), Berlin; white, red, and slippery elm ; hemlock ; shell-bark hickory ; pignut ; black walnut, - a good specimen in East Hartford ; hornbeam or iron-wood ; hop-hornbeam or lever- wood ; hackberry (Celtis occidentalis), Berlin ; hackmatack or tamarack ; American holly (Ilex opaca), Burlington ; red-flowering, sugar maple, and white (Acer dasy- carpum), East Windsor, Wethersfield, maple; red mulberry ; white, swamp white, scarlet, chestnut (Taleott Mt.), red, pin, and black oak ; pepperidge ; pitch and white pine. Among plums : The wild yellow (Prunus Americana), Berlin ; dwarf cherry (P. pumila), Bristol, Farmington ; river and wild poplar; white spruce (?); sassafras ; sycamore or buttonball ; tulip-tree or whitewood. Wil- lows in large variety, including Salix tristis, Berlin ; S. humilis, Farmington, Plainville ; S. livida, var. occidentalis, Farmington ; S. nigra, Berlin.
Among cultivated trees mentioned by Mr. Wright are the yellow- wood, Kentucky coffee-tree, liquid amber or sweet gum tree (specimens of which may be seen in the park in Hartford), catalpa, magnolia, Aus- trian pine, European ash, honey locust, European linden, and purple or copper beech. Among trees noticeable for size, etc., are an elm in Broad Street, Wethersfield, twenty-six feet in circumference, and the Beckley elm in the same town ; an elm in South Windsor scarcely in- ferior in size, and a very fine one in Berlin ; a shad-bush in Glastonbury nine feet in circumference, with spread of ninety feet ; the basswoods on Wethersfield Street; a very large white maple near the. Church of the Good Shepherd, Hartford; a robust and symmetrical wild cherry in Cedar Hill Cemetery ; a sycamore on the river-bank, Hartford, between State and Ferry streets ; a hackberry on Burnside Avenue, East Hart- ford, twelve feet in circumference. A black willow in Bristol, planted in 1814, near a pond, had, when measured in 1878, a circumference near the ground of twenty feet six inches ; at six feet from the ground a circumference of twenty-one feet ; and the spread of the branches was eighty-one feet. A white oak in the same town was eleven feet three
E. Engelmanii, Hartford.
GLYCERIA - Manna-grass.
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GENERAL DESCRIPTION.
inches in circumference, and had a spread of sixty feet. The Lom- bardy poplar was introduced by Joel Barlow, who in 1801 brought some of the trees as a present to Elisha Babcock, publisher of the " American Mercury." There was a row of poplars on the south side of the Hartford State House early in the century, and some poplars are still growing along the New Haven Turnpike.
The present area of the county is about seven hundred and fifty square miles. When the county was established in May, 1666, it included not only a great part of what it now has, but also all of what is now Tolland County, and more or less of what is in Windham, Middlesex, New London, and Litchfield counties.
In 1726 Windham County was formed, and Windham, Mansfield, Plainfield, and Canterbury were set off to it from Hartford County.
In 1751 Litchfield County was formed, and Litchfield, Barkhamsted, Canaan, Colebrook, Cornwall, Goshen, Hartland, Harwinton, Kent, New Hartford, Norfolk, Torrington, and Winchester were taken from Hartford.
In 1785 there was still further dismemberment. Middlesex County was set up, and took from Hartford, Middletown, Haddam, Chatham, and East Haddam; and Tolland County was also set up, and took Tolland, Bolton, Ellington, Stafford, and Willington.
In 1786 Hartford County consisted of the towns of Hartford, Wind- sor, Wethersfield, Farmington, Glastonbury, Simsbury, Enfield, Suf- field, East Windsor, East Hartford, Berlin, Bristol, Southington, and Granby.
The following table shows all the towns that have been included in Hartford County, and also indicates when and to what county those were set off which are not now included in its limits. The figures in parentheses indicate the date of the creation of the town : -
1666. - Establishment of Hartford County.
Hartford. Windsor.
Wethersfield.
-
Farmington (1645). Middletown (1651), set off to Middlesex County 1785.
Towns organized between 1666 and 1700.
Haddam (1668), set off to Middlesex 1785.
Simsbury (1670).
Waterbury (1686), set off to New Haven County 1728.
Glastonbury (1693). Windham (1694), set off to Windham County 1726.
Towns organized between 1700 and 1725.
Colchester (named 1699, and set off to | Coventry (1712), set off to Windham New London County), transferred to County 1726. Hartford County 1708, and retrans- Pomfret (1713), set off to Windham County 1726. ferred to New London County 1783. Plainfield (1700), set off to Windham Chatham (1714), set off to Middlesex County 1785. County 1726.
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
Mansfield (1702), set off to Windham County 1726.
Canterbury (1703), set off to Windham County 1726.
Hebron (1708), set off to Tolland Coun- ty 1785. Voluntown (1708), set off to Windham County 1726.
Killingly (1708), set off to Windham County 1726.
Ashford (1714), set off to Windham County 1726.
Stafford (1719), set off to Tolland County 1785.
Bolton (1720), set off to Tolland County 1785.
Litchfield (1720), set off to Litchfield County 1751.
Towns organized between 17.25 and 1750.
Willington (1727), set off to Tolland | Cornwall (1740), set off to Litchfield County 1727. County 1751.
East Haddam (1734), set off to Middle- sex County 1785.
Harwinton (1737), set off to Litchfield County 1751.
Norfolk (1758), territory set off to Litchfield County 1751.
New Hartford (1738), set off to Litch- field County 1751.
Goshen (1749), set off to Litchfield County 1751.
Canaan (1738), set off to Litchfield County 1751.
Enfield (1749). Suffield (1749).
Towns organized between 1750 and 1800.
Colebrook (1761), territory set off to Litchfield County 1751.
Hartland (1761), territory set off to Litchfield County 1751 ; transferred to Hartford County 1796.
East Hartford (1783).
Berlin (1785).
East Windsor (1768).
Bristol (1785).
Granby (1786).
Towns organized between 1800 and 1871.
Marlborough (1803). Burlington (1806).
South Windsor (1845).
New Britain (1850).
Canton (1806).
West Hartford (1854).
Manchester (1823). Avon (1830).
East Granby (1858).
Bloomfield (1835).
Plainville (1869).
Rocky Hill (1843).
Newington (1871).
Kent (1740), set off to Litchfield Coun- ty 1751.
Torrington (1740), set off to Litchfield County 1751.
Tolland (1748), set off to Tolland County 1785.
Winchester (1771), territory set off to Litchfield County 1751.
Barkhamsted (1779), set off to Litch- field County.
Southington (1779).
Windsor Locks (1854).
Charles L. Burdett.
CHAPTER II.
EARLY HISTORY.
SECTION I.
THE INDIANS OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.
BY J. HAMMOND TRUMBULL, LL.D.
T THE Indians of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island all belonged to one stock, and spoke dialects of the same language. These dialects were not so diverse that the natives "throughout the whole country " known to the English, in the time of Roger Williams and Eliot, could not "well understand and converse one with another." They lived, chiefly, by hunting, fowling, and fishing ; the forests abounded in game, and every stream supplied fish : but they had advanced beyond the lowest grade of savage life ; they had learned to cultivate the soil, and to prepare it for cultivation by clear- ing it of wood and underbrush ; and they raised good crops of Indian corn, and probably beans and squashes, for winter supplies.
Of the tribes that occupied the valley of the Connecticut before the coming of the English, our knowledge is chiefly derived from the report of discoveries made by the Dutch captain, Adriaen Block, in the yacht " Onrust " (Restless) in 1614. Following the coast, from the east, Block entered Connecticut River, which he called de Versche Riviere (that is, "the Fresh"). He found few inhabitants near the mouth, " but at the distance of forty-five miles above they became numerous ; " " their nation was called Sequins." On his map, the villages, or lodges, of the Sequins are marked, on both sides of the river, at and above its principal bend, near Middletown. Some forty-five miles above, the explor- ers came to the country of the Nawaas, where " the natives plant maize, and in the year 1614 they had a village resembling a fort for protection against their enemies. . . . This place is situated in latitude 41º 48'." This fortified town was, in my opinion, on the east side of the river, in what is now South Windsor, between Podunk and Scantic rivers, on the ground called Nowashe (which seems to be the equivalent of the Dutch "Nowaas") by the Indians who sold it to Windsor plantation in 1636 ;1 and was paled, or palisadoed, to defend it against the Pequots.
The Pequots were a branch of the great Muhhekanew (or Mohican) nation whose principal seat had been on the east bank of the Hudson River, nearly opposite Fort Orange (Albany). Driven from their country by the Mohawks, they had invaded Connecticut, and, dispossess-
1 See the record in Stiles's "History of Windsor," p. 110. In the general history of Windsor, in vol. ii., p. 497, the Rev. R. H. Tuttle is inclined to locate this fortified town "near what is now called Wilson Station, about midway between Windsor and Hartford," that is, on the west side of the river, where the Windsor sachem lived after his return in 1633.
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
ing or exacting tribute from the tribes which opposed their progress, settled themselves near the sea-coast, on territory formerly occupied by the Niantics, on both sides of Mystic River. The name by which they were known to the English and by neighboring tribes does not seem to have been of their own adoption. Pequttoog (as Roger Williams wrote it) means " destroyers " or " ravagers." Not content with the conquest of the sea-shore tribes, they made war on the Sequins of the Connecti- cut valley. According to the Dutch account, the Sequins were beaten in three encounters, and so became tributary to the Pequots. This was some years after the first visit of the Dutch ; probably not earlier than 1630. One band of the intruding Mohicans had, it appears, settled west of Thames River before the coming of Block in 1614. They retained their national name, and, after the settlement of the English, were known as the Mohegan tribe. Uncas, their sagamore, was nearly akin to the Pequot sachems, but not being of full blood was excluded by Indian laws of descent from the succession. "Growing proud and treacherous to the Pequot sachem, the Pequot sachem was very angry, and sent up some soldiers, and drove Uncas out of his country. . .. At last he humbled himself to the Pequot sachem, and received permission to live in his own country again." Again and again he revolted, was again expelled, and again restored on promise of submission. It was, probably, during one of these seasons of ban- ishment from his own country that he, or some of his company, became connected with the Nawaas on the east side of Connecticut river. " Pozen of Mohegan," -- afterwards well known to the English as Foxen, the crafty " councillor" of Uncas, - was one of the grantors in the deed of Nowashe to the Windsor planters, in 1636, and other " Mohegeneake " (or Mohegans) joined in that conveyance.
Between 1614 and 1631 we have no account of the river tribes. In April, 1631, " a sagamore, upon the river Quonehtacut," whose name (as Governor Winthrop wrote it) was Wahginnacut, came to Boston to urge the English to " come to plant in his country." The Governor declined the invitation, and (as he wrote) "discovered after, that the said sagamore is a very treacherous man, and at war with the Pekoath 1 (a far greater sagamore)." Somewhat earlier, "a company of ban- islite Indians " from Connecticut, "that were drivene out from thence by the potencie of the Pequents which usurped upon them, and drive them from thence," visited Plymouth Colony, and " often sollisited them to goe thither, promising them much trade." Massachusetts declined to join with Plymouth in the enterprise. Some time in 1632, " the year before the Dutch began in the River," Governor Winslow, of Plymouth, and his associates "had a place given (and the place [Plymouth ] afterwards possessed) " in what is now Windsor ; and in October, 1633, Captain Holmes, in a vessel sent by the Plymouth trading company, "brought home and restored ye right Sachem of ye place, called Natawanute." 2
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