USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884, Vol. I > Part 26
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At the organization of the Grand Lodge, Frederick Lodge received a charter from that body and was designated as No. 14. For many years it has been located in Plainville, and numbers seventy-two members.
The records of the Grand Lodge show that a lodge was in existence in the town of Berlin as early as 1791. It was represented that year at the May session of the Grand Lodge, but no record has been found of its original charter. It received a charter from the Grand Lodge of Connecticut, and continued to work under the name of Berlin Lodge No. 20 until 1797, when its name was changed to Harmony Lodge No. 20, and in 1848 it was removed to New Britain, and has since existed in a flourishing condition, numbering now two hundred and thirty-three members. From these three lodges have sprung twenty-two others, located in the surrounding towns in the county, and aggregating a membership of about four thousand.
197
FREEMASONRY.
Other masonic bodies have since been organized, including Pythag- oras Chapter No. 17 of Royal Arch Masons, Wolcott Council No. 1 of Cryptic Masons, Washington Commandery No. 1 Knights Templars, and within a few years, three bodies of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite.
Washington Commandery was instituted in July, 1796, at Col- chester, by three Knights Templars hailing from three different com- manderies (then known as encampments), at which time five candidates received the orders of Knighthood. Eliphalet Bulkeley was at this meeting chosen captain general ; James Baxter, first captain ; Henry Champion, second captain ; Asa Bigelow, treasurer ; John R. Watrous, secretary ; Ebenezer Perkins, marshal. Meetings were held in 1798, 1799, and 1801, alternating between Colchester and New London ; and in June, 1801, a charter was received from London, England, when the commandery was permanently organized. No written records of the first three meetings are in existence, and the only evidence is a small pamphlet printed at New London in 1823, which records the names of those who received the orders of Knighthood, with dates showing that five meetings must have been held prior to 1802.
In 1844 this commandery was removed to Hartford, and the first meeting was held on the 3d of August, when it was organized by the election of Sir Knight George Giddings, grand commander ; Sir Knight Elizur Goodrich, Jr., generalissimo; Sir Knight James Ward, captain general ; Sir Knight Elihu Geer, prelate; Sir Knight Nathan C. Geer, senior warden. It has since its removal continued to flourish, number- ing among its members many of the most prominent men of Hartford. Foremost among them is the name of ex-Governor Thomas H. Sey- mour, who was for a number of years the Eminent Commander, and always held the chivalric order in high esteem. In 1881 a monument was erected to his memory in the Cedar Hill cemetery, and the cere- monies of unveiling were conducted by the commandery, assisted by other bodies of the Templar order from all parts of the State.
This commandery claims to be the oldest of any now existing in this country, and is without doubt the only one that ever received authority from the Grand Encampment of England, which at the time was the only governing body of the order in the world. It was organ- ized in June, 1791, under patronage of His Royal Highness, Edward, Duke of Kent, from which indirectly has evidently sprung the order of Knights Templars of the United States, numbering about sixty thou- sand members. These early bodies, with the exception of Washington Commandery, received no authority from the Grand Encampment, and were undoubtedly organized by virtue of that inherent right delegated by the esoteric portions of the ritual. The order is the most popular of all now in existence, and much stronger in this country than in any other.
198
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
Mr. Stephen Terry furnishes the following sketch of the Odd Fel- lows : -
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was introduced into this county by the institution of Charter Oak Lodge No. 2, at Hartford, April 21, 1840. From that time it steadily increased until about 1852, when there were in the county 18 lodges having 1,148 members and funds amounting to $9,479.44, and four encampments. The lodges were distributed as follows; namely, three in Hartford, and one each in Warehouse Point, Granby, Manchester, Tariffville, Windsor Locks, Thompsonville, Bloomfield, Bristol, New Britain, East Hartford, Broad Brook, Farmington, Collinsville, Plainville, and Southington, and were established successively in the several places in the order named. The encampments were distributed as follows: two in Hartford and one each in Warehouse Point and Plainville. From 1852 it rapidly declined, but continued to exist until 1860, when the sole remaining lodge (the one in Thompsonville) made its last report. The causes of the decline were various, conspicuous among them being jealousy of New Haven, where the Grand Lodge then held all its sessions, cul- minating, in 1853 and 1854, in the expulsion of the two strongest lodges in Hartford, and distrust of the then novel feature of dues and benefits.
The second and present period of the order in this county began with the institution of Hartford Lodge, No. 82, at Hartford, Feb. 1, 1867. There are now eight lodges, three Daughter of Rebekah lodges, two encampments, and one uniformed degree camp. The lodges are located as follows: four in Hartford, two in New Britain, and one each in Bristol and Plantsville; the Daughter of Rebekah lodges are in Hartford, Plantsville, and New Britain; the encampments are in Hartford and New Britain; and the uniformed degree camp is in Hart- ford. On the 31st of December, 1884, the lodges reported 1,009 mem- bers, funds to the amount of $16,279, and $3,026 expended during the year for the relief of members.
The Daughter of Rebekah lodges are composed of members of lodges and the wives, widows, and unmarried daughters and sisters of lodge members. The lodges and Daughter of Rebekah lodges are all subordinate to a Grand Lodge of Connecticut, and the encampments and uniformed degree camp are subordinate to a Grand Encampment of Connecticut ; and the Grand Lodge and Grand Encampment are subordinate to a Sovereign Grand Lodge of the order, to which they each send representatives.
This county has furnished to the Grand Lodge and Grand Encampment of Connecticut four grand masters and two grand patriarchs, namely :
James B. Gilman, of Hartford, G. M. from July, 1841, to July, 1842. Henry L. Miller, of Hartford, G. M. from July, 1845, to July, 1846.
Freeman M. Brown, of Windsor Locks, G. M. from February, 1853, to Feb., 1854. Stephen Terry, of Hartford, G. M. from May, 1872, to May, 1874.
Calvin L. Hubbard, of Hartford, G. P. from February, 1852, to February, 1853. Oliver Woodhouse, of Hartford, G. P. from October, 1882, to October, 1883.
The following is a tabular statement of the names and numbers of the several lodges, etc., with the dates of their institution, dates of their ceasing to exist, and reinstitution : -
ODD FELLOWS. - OTHER SECRET SOCIETIES.
199
Name.
No.
Location.
Instituted.
Defunct.
Charter Oak.
2.
Hartford.
April 21, 1840.
Mercantile.
8. Hartford.
June 13, 1842.
Farmers and Mechanics.
22. Warehouse Point. June 12, 1845.
Acanthus.
23.
Granby.
Aug. 20, 1845.
About 1853.
Oakland.
25.
Manchester.
Oct. 9, 1845.
1852.
Tunxis.
38.
Tariffville.
Jan. 21, 1847.
1853.
Pine Meadow.
39.
Windsor Locks.
Feb. 1847.
1855.
Hyperion.
40.
Hartford.
Feb. 3, 1847.
1855.
Thompsonville.
45. Thompsonville. Bloomfield.
Bristol.
Aug. 3, 1847.
About 1857.
Phenix.
52.
New Britain.
Feb. 15, 1848.
About 1859.
Eln.
53.
East Hartford.
Feb. 28, 1848.
1858.
Protection.
54.
Broad Brook.
1848.
1856.
Unity.
56.
Farmington.
Aug. 2, 1848.
About 1853.
Eclectic.
64.
Collinsville.
Feb. 13, 1849.
1855.
Sequassen.
74.
Plainville.
Ang. 14, 1851.
About 1859.
Eureka.
75.
Southington.
May 16, 1851.
About 1859.
American.
80.
Hartford.
June 12, 1855.
About 1856.
Hartford.
82.
Hartford.
Feb. 1, 1867.
Phenix (reinstituted).
52. 2 . Hartford.
March 6, 1872.
Connecticut.
93. Hartford.
April 27, 1874.
Gerstaecker.
96. New Britain.
June 3, 1875.
Beethoven.
98.
Hartford.
April 27, 1876.
Eureka (reinstituted).
75.
Plantsville.
Jan. 1, 1878.
Pequabock (reinstituted).
48. Bristol.
Feb. 8, 1883.
Daughter of Rebekah Lodges.
Stella.
11. New Britain.
Sept. 5, 1873.
Union.
17. Plantsville.
Sept. 30, 1878.
Miriam.
18. Hartford.
Jan. 29, 1879.
Encampments.
Midian.
7. Hartford.
Dec. 24, 1844.
Expelled 1848.
Connecticut.
11. Hartford.
March 4, 1847.
Nov. 3, 1853.
Hinman.
13. Warehouse Point.
Oct. 29, 1847.
July, 1852.
Montevideo.1
15. Bristol.
March 7, 1848.
1856.
Midian (reinstituted ).
7. Hartford.
Feb. 7, 1873.
Comstock.
29. New Britain.
May 26, 1876.
Uniformed Degree Camps.
Capitol City.
1. Hartford.
Dec. 9, 1882.
Kophan Ter carry . err.
The first lodge of the Knights of Pythias, St. Bernard, No. 7, was instituted April 19, 1869. Its first officers were : J. K. Wheeler, past chancellor ; L. E. Hunt, chancellor commander; A. T. Ashmead, vice 1 Removed to Plainville in 1851.
May 11, 1847.
About 1860.
Lafayette.
47.
June 15, 1847.
About 1852.
Pequabock.
48.
New Britain.
Feb. 22, 1872.
Charter Oak (reinstituted).
Expelled 1854 Expelled 1853. 1856.
200
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
chancellor ; S. V. Woodruff, master of exchequer ; J. H. Barnum, mas- ter of finance ; L. A. Dickinson, keeper of records and seal; James Watson, master at arms; William Knox, inside guard ; W. H. Higgs, outside guard. The first meetings were held in Stedman's (now Bliss's) Hall. In November, 1885, the name of the lodge was changed to Cres- cent, No. 7. The membership (January, 1886) is one hundred and twenty-four.
Washington Lodge, an offshoot from St. Bernard, was instituted May 13, 1870. Its first officers were : Scott J. Priest, p. c. ; William E. Cone, c. c. ; Horace O. Case, v. e .; H. J. Case, m. of e .; H. K. Barber, m. of f .; A. A. Hunt, k. r. s. ; J. H. Brewster, m. at a .; E. C. Clark, i. g. ; B. N. Jerome, o. g. The first meetings were held in Stedman Hall, but since 1872 have been held in Pythian Hall. The present membership is one hundred and thirty-eight.
Hermann Lodge, No. 16, was instituted May 13, 1870. Its first officers were : John Poll, M.D., p. c .; Robert H. Smith, c. c .; William Westphal, v. c .; R. Ballerstein, k. of r. and s .; Charles Hugendubel, in. of e .; J. J. Lehr, m. of f. ; Jacob Lehr, m. of a .; H. Spiller, i. g .; William Maxwell, o. g. The meetings have always been held in Bliss's Hall. The present membership is eighty-four.
The Knights of Pythias have lodges in Bristol (Ethan Lodge, No. 9), New Britain (St. Elmo, No. 21), and Collinsville (Tioga, No. 41).1
Pioneer Lodge, No. 315, Knights of Honor, was organized June 28, 1876, with the following officers : J. H. Bingham, past dictator ; James R. Sloane, dictator ; Joseph E. Marvel, vice dictator ; J. A. Steven, as- sistant dictator ; L. B. Herrick, chaplain ; Henry T. Russell, guide ; A. W. North, reporter ; B. H. Webb, financial reporter. The first meeting was held in the office of Webb Brothers, Asylum Street. Since July 10 the lodge has held its meetings in Odd Fellows Hall. The number of members has grown from eight to one hundred and sixty- nine (January, 1886). There are lodges at Manchester, Thompson- ville, and New Britain.
Among other secret organizations are : Ararat Lodge, No. 13, U. O. B. B., organized in 1853; Independent Order of the Free Sons of Israel, Judith Lodge, No. 33, organized March 26, 1871 ; Knights of St. Patrick, organized Feb. 8, 1874 ; Germania Lodge, No. 338, D. O. H., instituted April 4, 1874 ; Kesher Shel Barzel, Isaac Leeser Lodge, No. 142, organ- ized April 4, 1875; Uhland Lodge, No. 2, Connecticut Order Germania, organized May 17, 1875 ; Hartford Lodge, No. 19, B. P. O. E., organized Feb. 11, 1883; Marshall Jewell Commandery No. 250 (United Order of the Golden Cross), organized September, 1883 ; Capitol Lodge, No. 131, Sons of St. George, instituted Nov. 9, 1883; Capitol City Council, No. 140, Order of United Friends, instituted May 19, 1884 ; Alpha Castle, No. 1, Knights of the Golden Eagle, instituted July 15, 1885; Trumbull Council, No. 21, N. P. U., instituted May 7, 1885.
1 The titles given above are the new ones adopted in 1877.
CHAPTER XI.
EMIGRATION.
BY THE REV. INCREASE N. TARBOX, D.D.
NEW TOWNS PLANTED FROM HARTFORD COUNTY. - HADLEY. - VERMONT. - THE WESTERN RESERVE. - THE GENESEE COUNTRY.
T HIE beginnings of the Connecticut Colony lie so far back in the past, and the great dispersion from the Atlantic States over our broad territories has been so long going on, that there is hardly a town of any considerable size along our northern belt, from the Hudson River to the Pacific Ocean, in which persons may not be found whose ancestral roots dip back into Hartford County, Connecticut. But the object of this chapter is more especially to bring into view those movements from the county which have been in clusters of families, associated bands, little or larger colonies, going forth to plant new towns or new districts of country, near or far away.
The earliest movement of this kind seems to have been made by Mr. Roger Ludlow in 1639, when he led out a little company of eight or ten families from Windsor to plant the town of Fairfield on the South Shore. It is said that this attractive spot was first brought to the notice of the river towns in the pursuit of Sassacus and the flying Pequots, after the great fight in 1637. The town, as we suppose, took its name from the pleasant impression made by its surface and soil upon the eye of the beholder.
The town of Stamford was begun in like manner, in 1641, by a com- pany which started out from Wethersfield. The territory was purchased for them by Nathaniel Turner, agent for the New Haven colony, and the purchasers agreed that they would connect themselves with the New Haven jurisdiction, and would have twenty settlers on the ground before the last of November, 1641. Between thirty and forty families were there before the end of that year (1641).
In 1644 another colony went out from Wethersfield to plant the town of Branford. This was also within the New Haven jurisdiction. Mr. William Swaine, who was one of the eight commissioners appointed in the Massachusetts Bay to govern the Connecticut plantations for one year, purchased this territory of the New Haven government. Along with this little company moving from Wethersfield to Branford was Mr. John Sherman, one of the ministers coming from Watertown, Mass., to Wethersfield, then passing from Wethersfield to Branford, and a few years later going back to the ministry of Watertown, Mass., where he remained until his death, in 1685. He was an eminent scholar, and took some part in the instruction of Harvard College.
202
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
The town of Farmington was incorporated in 1645, chiefly by men who went out of Hartford ; but as Farmington is a part of Hartford County, upon this fact we shall not dwell.
Hadley, Mass., was a direct ontgrowth from Hartford, aided by Wethersfield. It started with a strong and able body of men. They were some of Hartford's chief citizens, who had become weary with the long debate and strife in the First Church under Mr. Stone's ministry. Mr. John Webster, who had been Governor of the Connecticut Colony, and Mr. John Russell, minister at Wethersfield, who had been chosen as the spiritual head of the movement, may be reckoned as the chief leaders. On the written compact into which they entered, April 18, 1659, the names of Mr. Webster and (Elder) William Goodwin stand first, and are followed by about thirty more from Hartford, and by Mr. Russell's and about twenty others from Wethersfield. The territory on which they planted themselves under the general name of Hadley includes the present towns of Hadley, Amherst, Granby, Hatfield, and South Hadley. In this settlement, and by the Rev. Mr. Russell especially, the regicide judges were concealed when they could no longer be safely kept within the New Haven plantations.
In 1673 a committee of five chosen in the town of Farmington were sent to view the territory where Waterbury now stands. They came back and reported favorably. (This place was the ancient Indian Mat- tatuck.) Thereupon a regular constitution, consisting of eight articles, was drawn up to regulate and bind the associates, and it was signed by twenty-eight men. The territory which they bought of the Indians in- cludes the present Waterbury, Watertown, Plymouth, and Thomaston, and parts of Middlebury, Wolcott, Oxford, Prospect, and Naugatuck. The purchasers of this land first broke the soil in 1677, but it was not until 1686 that Waterbury was regularly incorporated as a town.
The towns along the castern boundary of Connecticut were chiefly settled by little colonies from Massachusetts ; but the towns lying mid- way between the Connecticut River and the eastern boundary were, as a rule, settled by men who went out from the valley. So the town of Hebron was started in 1704, and incorporated in 1707, by a company, of whom the leading men and the greater number of the whole were from Windsor. The town of Tolland was purchased of the Indians by two gentlemen from Windsor, and the early settlers came mainly from the Windsor plantation. It was incorporated as a town in 1715. Haddam was settled by twenty-eight young men from Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield. The planters of the town of Coventry (1709) were chiefly from Northampton and Hartford. Bolton, which began to be settled in 1716, received its early inhabitants from the three original river towns, Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield.
If we turn now to the old Connecticut towns between the river and the New York line, we shall find that they were chiefly planted by the people of the valley. In 1718 the territory of Litchfield was purchased by a company of men from Hartford, Windsor, and Lebanon, and in 1724 the town was incorporated.
On the division of the " Western Lands," in 1726, the township of Litchfield and seven other townships in the eastern part of the territory which now constitutes Litchfield County were conceded to the towns of Hartford and Windsor; and by mutual agreement, in 1732, the
203
EMIGRATION.
inhabitants of Hartford became sole owners of Hartland, Winchester, New Hartford, and half of Harwinton, and the inhabitants of Windsor had Colebrook, Barkhamsted, Torrington, and the west half of Har- winton. Each tax-payer in Hartford and Windsor became the propri- etor of a share in one or another of the seven new townships.
The Windsor proprietors of the town of Torrington, one hundred and six in number, held their first business meeting in Windsor, Sept. 10, 1733. The early settlers came chiefly from Windsor and Durham, and the town was incorporated in 1741; and in that same year their first minister, the Rev. Nathaniel Roberts, was ordained.
Winchester was first surveyed and laid out in 1758, and the owners of the wild territory belonged in Hartford, whence many of the early settlers came. It was incorporated in 1771. New Hartford was settled about 1733, and, as its name would signify, its early inhabitants were from Hartford.
The first settlement of Norfolk, which began in 1744, was by men from Windsor and Hartford.
We have thus far been occupied with early and short emigrations, chiefly within the boundaries of the State. It was not until near the close of the last century and the early years of the present, that the great tide of emigration set in, which carried immense numbers of the men and women of Connecticut to distant fields and new associa- tions. In this larger movement it would be impossible to keep Hart- ford County distinct from the rest of the State. In the formation of colonies for the settlement of Vermont, though the western and middle portions of Connecticut were perhaps more busy than the eastern parts, yet the following names of towns in Vermont, given (certainly for the most part) from Connecticut, will, of themselves, tell the story, as in a glass, of her activity in planting and peopling Vermont : -
Bethel,
East Haven,
Mansfield,
Vernon,
Bolton,
Fairfield,
Middletown,
Wallingford,
Bristol,
Fair Haven, New Haven,
Warren,
Brookfield,
Franklin, Norwich,
Washington.
Burlington,
Glastenbury,
Plainfield,
Waterbury.
Canaan, Granby,
Pomfret,
Weston,
Colchester,
Guilford,
Salem,
Wethersfield,
Cornwall, Hartford,
Sharon,
Windham,
Coventry,
Hartland,
Salisbury,
Windsor,
Derby,
Huntington,
Stamford,
Woodstock.
These are not all of the Vermont towns which repeat the Connecticut names, but they are enough to show that Connecticut had a large agency in her beginnings.
It is positively stated of some of the above-named towns, that their first town-meetings were held in Connecticut, as the first town-meeting of Torrington was held in Windsor. The proprietors were here, and were organized and prepared to move, but they must transact their first business where they then happened to be. In all this early settlement of Vermont there can be no doubt that Hartford County contributed, by reason of her greater age, wealth, and population, more than any other county in the State. Covering the same early period, but extending
204
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
down further into the present century, Connecticut was an immense contributor for the settlement of the eastern, middle, and western por- tions of New York. It is related of a quiet old Dutchman, who sat by his door in the vicinity of Albany, smoked his pipe and saw the emi- grant wagons go by, day after day and month after month, that he ac- costed one of the drivers, inquiring who was governor in the country where he came from. When told the name of the Connecticut governor for that year, he finished the conversation with the philosophical remark that he must be a great fool to stay there when all his people were going away and leaving him.
Dr. Bushnell, many years ago, stated that the Convention of New York, meeting in 1821, which formed the present State Constitution, was composed of one hundred and twenty-seven members, and that a majority of those members, chosen freely and naturally out of all the tribes, were either native-born sons of Connecticut, or were sons of Connecticut-born fathers. Any fact like this serves to show how Con- necticut has been for a century a hive overstocked and swarming for emigration. So late as fifty years ago the little State had no city of more than ten or twelve thousand inhabitants. The great body of her people were in the country towns, with their fortunes linked to the soil, and they were ready to give inquiring entertainment to every call inviting them forth " to fresh fields and pastures new."
But perhaps the most notable enterprise of Connecticut coloniza- tion in which Hartford County had a prominent part was the settle- ment of the Western Reserve, Ohio, long known as the Connecticut Reserve, or, what was a still more familiar name, New Connecticut. This tract of territory embraced the eight northeastern counties of Ohio, as the boundaries then stood. But three of those counties have since been divided, so that now there are eleven included in the original tract. There is an impression on some minds that this Western Reserve was given to Connecticut as a compensation for her extra services and ex- penses in the Revolutionary struggle. Connecticut did perform extra service and bear more than her average proportion of expense during that long war, but the Ohio lands were given for a very different reason.
When the charters were made out in England, during the seven- teenth century, to the various colonies, for the settlement of this coun- try, they were given with no clear conception how much territory the boundaries would include, or where the lines would run. The charter of Connecticut, like others, covered all territory westward " to the South Sea." But the South Sea was an unknown quantity. The charters therefore interfered one with another, and, after we became a nation, the whole interest had to be settled by the general government in a kind of compromise. Connecticut received, just at the close of the last century, as her reward for not holding to the letter of her charter, the eight northeastern counties of Ohio.
When this gift came to the State a company was formed, embracing a large number of its wealthy men, who bought this whole territory, paying for it what was then deemed a reasonable price. The State had decided that all the moneys arising from the sale of those lands should be placed in a school fund for the education of the children through all the years to come. Those moneys, with subsequent additions, now amount to more than $2,000,000.
205
EMIGRATION.
Dr. Henry Barnard, in 1853, prepared a very able chapter, of 110 pages, which makes a portion of the Report of the Commissioner of the School Fund to the State Legislature of Connecticut for that year. His chapter is entitled "History of the School Fund," and the whole sub- ject is carefully traced from the beginning to the end. The following is the offer which the State concluded to accept, and so this whole territory was passed over to this company of men.
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