USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884, Vol. II > Part 58
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65
The rivalry and dispute as to possession of the land at Matianuck terminated in the spring of 1637. Thomas Prince sold the land owned by the Plymouth company to the people of Windsor, and made a formal transfer as agent of the colony of New Plymouth. The following is a
1 Stiles's History of Windsor, pp. 86-88.
2 Colonial Records, vol. i. p. 7.
To Pitve MeADand
SUNNY
· BARTLETT.
HAYDENN
@ HOLCOMB
GRISWOLD,
SSILAFRY
ST NICHOLAS D
DRAKE
BISSELL
FERRY
H.STILES
: WM GAYLORDJ
F STILES
J STILES
OLDAGE
HAWKINS
HAWKES
J ROCKWILLO
J HULL
.
PINNEYNO
G HULL"
GAYLORD
HOSKINS
STOUGHTON
HOLCOMB
RANDALLS
HANNUM -
TILLEY
L. ANTL
INCHELI
DIBBLE
CLARKE
WM Rockwtu
Graffvlk
ONAOL
BAKAR
DENSLOW
POMROY
Coorte
& BUELL.
PUND
MODY3 G71117
RIVULET
MILL BROOK
OVER
· BOWFIELD
HERO
BRANTEND
MORRE
E
J Moore.
LITTA
Mit MARSHALL
"S ALLEN
ROGER LUC
Loomis.
Look.
Wercorr
PORTERS
PURTEM
- JAJ. MARINAL
LEG PHELPI
WHITEHEAD
& WeLCUTY
"Loomis'
Jas Loomis.
MAT THEM SALE Y
WYANE
ANA Hpusk
WOLCOTT JA
WOLCOTT, SEN
J Moore
GEO PHELPS
WITCHFIELD
RUSSETOP
GREAT
BASCOMDE
THRALL
PALMER
FOULKES
PwDY
HANNAH NEW BERRY
P2.14H_
MEADOW
GREAT
MARY NEWBERRY
SARAH NEWDERRY
.
RowLINE
Jus NEWBE INM
JOHN NEWBERRY
Russeren
DEN), NEWBERRY
DOW
JOE NEWBERRY
MEAR
WITCHFIELDS
ALLOTTED TO GETILERS LIVING IN THE
PALISADO. ON BACKER ROW AND
SOUTH AND WEST OF THE RIVULEY.
~> WINDSOR . 1653 ~~ 1650 .
PLYMOUTH ME
PLYMOUTH LOT
-
THE ALLOTMENTS OF MEADOW
AND EXTENDING 'JO THE RIVER.
O TILLEY
& WELLEKR
RIVER
THE
REBECCA NEWBERRY
A ALFORD
-
BRICK BILH SWAMP
0
ARANDALL
LAND GENERALLY OF THE SAME WIDTH
SCANTUCK VER
.
TO THE FOOT OF THE MEADOW HILL
RIVER.
To POQuoNOGK.
MR PHELPS. MEADOW.
MON 17 TRAIN
THE HOUSE LOTS LATENUEDr
PHELPS
NOISNES THORNTON
ORTUN #
FARMINGTON RIVER
TEK. . JANDARHAT
WARKAM Q
GREAT.
THIS PORTION OF THE MEADOW WAS
MAP OF
HOYTA
HOYTES MEADOW.
NORTH WEST FIELD.
Q
..
LONG MEADOW.
.
ROCKY HILL
=
SEQUESTER MEADOW.
INDIAN NECK
CHILLIERS
.
502
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
copy of the deed on the town records, to which is appended a comment by the recorder, Matthew Grant : -
" An agreement made between MT. Thomas Prince for and on behalfe of New Plimouth in America, and ye inhabitants of Windsor on the River of Connecti- cott in ye sayd America ye 15 day of May 1637. In Primus on consideration £37: 10s: 0 to be payed about 3 months hence, ye said MT. Prince doth sell unto ye inhabitants of Windsor all that Land meadow and upland from a marked tree a quarter of a mile above Mr. Stiles, North, to ye great swamp next ye bounds of Hartford, South, for bredth, and in length into ye country toward Paquanack, so far as Zequasson and Nattawanet two sachems hath or had as their Proprietys, all which hath been purchased of ye said Zequasson and Nattawanet for a valuable consideration, ye particulars whereof do appeare in a Noate now pro- duced by ye sayd MT. Prince, allwayes excepted & reserved to ye house of ye said New Plimouth, 43 acres of meado and 3 quarters, and in upland on ye other side of ye swamp, next their meado, 40 acres viz. 40 rod in bredth, and in length 160 rod into ye country for ye present, and after wards as other lotts are layed out, they are to have their proportion, within their bounds aforesayd. There is likewise excepted 70 rod in bredth towards ye sayd bounds of ye sayd Hartford in an Indifferent place to be agreed upon, and to goe in length to ye end of ye bounds aforesayd. In witness whereof ye parties abouesayd have set their hands and seales ye day and yeare above written.1
"Signed, sealed and delivered. In presence of
JOSIAS WINSLOW. ROGER LUDLOW.
THOS. MARSHFIELD. WILLIAM PHELPS.
The mark of WM. BUTLER. JOHN WITCHFIELD."
" The above deed or instrument is a true copy of the original being compared therewith Apl. 7, 1673 per us
JOHN TALCOTT
Asst." JOHN ALLYN, Sec'y
Then follows the explanatory note by Matthew Grant : -
"This bargain as it is aboue exprest, and was written and assigned, I can certify does not mention or speak to every particular of ye bargayn as it was issued with Mr. Prince before it was put in writing. This should have been ye frame of it. Dorchester men that came from ye Mass. bay up here to Con- necticott to settel in ye place now called Windsor, Plimouth men challenged propriety here by a purchase of ye land from ye Indians, whereupon in ye latter end of ye 35 year, some of our Principal men meeting with some of our Plimouth men in Dorchester, labored to driue a bargayn with them to bye out their, which they challenged by purchas, and came to termes and then May '37 as it is abone exprest, then our company being generally together (that intended to settel here) MT. Prince being come up here in ye behalf of ye Plimouth men, that were partners in their purchas issued ye bargayn with us. We were to pay them £37: 10s. for their whole purchas, which Mr. Prince presented to us in writing, only they reserved ye 16 part off for themselues & their 16 part of meado land came by measuring of ye meado to 43 acres 3 quarters, which was bounded out to M'. Prince, he being present, by myself appointed by our com- pany, in Plimouth meadow so called by that account ; their 16 part in upland they took up ncere ye bounds of Hartford, 70 rod in bredth by ye riuer and so to continew to ye end of ye bounds. They were also to have one acre to
1 Here ends the deed on the Windsor Records. The signatures are omitted, but are affixed to the copy of the deed in the Colony Records. Mr. Prince's signature is omitted from both records.
503
WINDSOR.
build on, upon ye hill against their meado. Also Mr. Prince sayed he had purchased ye land on ye East side of ye riuer that lies between Scantic and Namerick, and that we should haue in lew of 40 rod in bredth of upland behind the swamp against their meado, and to run in length 160 rod from the swamp, to be forty acres, and afterward to have their proportion within their bounds, according to a 40 acre man, in the commons. " This I witness,
Marrow Grand
Thus the Dorchester people were left in undisturbed possession of their location in Windsor, and made a permanent settlement on the west side of the Connecticut, their land on the east side being used for pasturage.
The first land owned by the English, purchased by the Plymouth company from Sequassen and Nattawanut in 1633, and transferred to the Dorchester people in 1637, was afterward, in 1670, repurchased by the town of Windsor from Arramamett and Repequam, the suc- cessors of Natta- Aramamalm his Mark wanut. In the deed given at the latest date, " Nassahe- gan's propriety," which embraced the district of Poquonnock, is mentioned as already "sold to the inhabitants of Windsor." William Phelps, Sr., had bought it in 1635, and being unable to prove full payment, honestly repurchased the same in March, 1665.1 The next purchase before the Pequot War embraced the large tract of Windsor Locks, the northern third of Windsor, and the southern part of Suf- field. In 1642, March 13, "Nassahegan of Paquanick " deeded to John Mason, of Windsor, all his " lands lying between Powquaniock and Mas- saqua " (Simsbury), only excepting a portion of the meadow occupied by the Indians, known as Indian Neck. April 21, 1659, we find George Griswold purchasing of certain Indians named, " nine acres more or less," and Sept. 11, 1662, Nassahegan, of Poquonnock, being indebted £3 5s. to George Griswold and delaying to pay, [congo quifund) gives for full payment all his land in In- dian Neck. Again, in 1666 James Enno
and John Moses, agents of the town of Jamos ono Windsor, purchased from Nassahegan a tract of 28,000 acres, on the south side of the Rivulet to the foot of Massaco Mountain, and on the north side to the " mountain that answers the foresaid mountain," and " eastward to a new way [or road], passing out of Pipe-stave Swamp going to West- field," and southward from the Rivulet to the Mill Brook " as it runs
.
1 Stiles's History of Windsor, p. 105.
504
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
into the Wilderness and so to the Mountains." All these purchases were honestly made, and in many cases repurchased, so that there was a grain of truth in the grim pleasantry of Sir Edmund Andros when he disputed the tenures by which the colonists held their lands ; " An Indian deed is no better than the scratch of a bear's paw." But the result, so far as Windsor purchases were concerned, was satisfactory to all parties, and the present estimation of values is not to be taken into account. The first Indian deeds of sale at Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield were never preserved.1
Windsor bore her burden in the war against the Pequots. The tribe boldly asserted : " We are the Pequots ; and have killed Englishmen, and can kill them as mosquitoes, and we will go to Connecticut, and kill men, women, and children, and carry away the horses, cows, and hogs." In the midst of the threatened calamities the General Court met at Hartford, May 1, 1637, and made a declaration, remarkable in its sim- plicity and force, of an offensive war : -
" It is ordered that there shall be an offensive war against the Pequot, and there shall be ninety men levied out of the three plantations of Hartford, Weth- ersfield, and Windsor."
Windsor was to furnish thirty men, six suits of armor, and a supply of sixty bushels of corn, fifty pieces of pork, thirty pounds of rice, and four cheeses. The corn was to be ground, and one half made into bis- cuit. There was ordered " one hogshead of good beer, for the captain, and minister, and sick men ;" and, " if there be only three or four gal- lons of strong water, two gallons of sack." On the 10th of May the army embarked at Hartford in " a pink, a pinnace, and a shallop," 2 an
hundred and sixty men, ninety from the plantations, and seventy me ha long Mohegan Indians. The re- nowned John Mason, of Wind- sor, was appointed captain of the army, the Rev. Mr. Stone chaplain, and Dr. Thomas Pell, of Saybrook fort, surgeon. Mr. Pynchon was the owner of the shallop. After a night spent in prayer, and " encouraged by the Rev'd ministers," the fleet, with many Indian canoes, set sail for the mouth of the river. The Windsor people at home erected a fortification called a palisado.3
The names of the soldiers contributed by Windsor to the Pequot
1 Dr. Stiles's recommendation (page 9 of Preface, and also page 398) concerning care in pre- serving the ancient records has been heeded. A new town-hall has been erected in the cen- tre of the town, with fire-proof safe for probate records and fire-proof vault for town records. In the first eleven volumes there was no index of the grantors, but only of the grantees. This defeet has been remedied by mueh painstaking labor on the part of Deacon John B. Woodford, the present town clerk, who has made a complete index according to the Burr method, containing over twenty thousand names.
2 Mason's History of the Pequot War.
3 " This was a stockade, erected on the north bank of the Tunxis, the east, south, and west lines of which stood directly on the brow of the hill. The palisades were strengthened by a ditch on the outside, the earth of which was thrown up against them. The north line ran across on the north line of, and parallel to, the north line of the present Congregational parsonage. The whole enclosure was a little less than one quarter of a mile square. Into this palisade were gathered, for safety, all the families of the town, with their cattle and ef- feets, while Captain Mason and his little army went down to fight the Pequots. A week after
505
WINDSOR.
expedition cannot all be given with certainty. Dr. Stiles mentions fifteen who are believed to have belonged to this town ; namely, Captain John Mason, Sergeant Benedict Alvord, Thomas Barber, Thomas Buckland, George Chappel, John Dyer, James Eggleston, Nathan Gillet, Thomas Gridley, Thomas Stiles, Sergeant Thomas Stares, Richard Osborn, Thomas Parsons, Edward Pattison, William Thrall. A large grant of land was given to each soldier.
Windsor's proportion of the war-tax of £620 levied by the Court Feb. 9, 1638, was £158 2s., to be paid either in money, in wampum four a penny, or in good and merchantable beaver at 9s. per pound. March 8th, " It is ordered that Captain Mason shall be a public military officer of the plantations of Connecticut, and shall train the military men thereof in each plantation, according to the days appointed, and shall have 407. per annum to be paid out of the treasury quarterly." All persons over sixteen years of age were required to bear arms, except church officers, commissioners, and such as were excused by the Court. Windsor's magazine contained one barrel of powder and three hundred pounds of lead. Every soldier, under penalty of five shillings, was to " have continually in his house in a readiness, one half a pound of good powder, two pounds of bullets suitable to his piece ; one pound of match if his piece be a match lock."
Previous to the year 1638 the colonies had legislated by their courts, which were invested with all the legislative and judicial functions. The first court was held at Newtown ( Hartford), on the 26th of April, 1636. Of the two magistrates from Windsor who were members of this court, Roger Ludlow stands clarum et venerabile nomen. Wise in counsel, ripe in judgment, a statesman of far-sighted policy and liberality of sentiment, he is accounted among the fathers of legislation who " builded better than they knew." To him belongs the honor of first unfolding that representative system peculiar to our government. He probably drafted the constitution of Connecticut, which contains the germ of all constitutions since adopted by the different States and by the American Republic.
It is to be expected, then, that we shall find in the civil organization of the towns the same features which marked the general government. An orderly and decent government established, we must place ourselves on a level with their times, and imagine ourselves amid their surround- ings, if we would estimate aright the necessity of such rules as they
their departure Mr. Ludlow writes, from within the palisade, to his friend Mr. Pyncheon, in Springfield, giving an Indian a new coat for carrying this letter : 'I have received your let- ter wherein you express that you are well fortified, but few hands. For my part my spirit is ready to sink within me, when, upon alarms, which are daily, I think of your condition, that if the case be never so dangerous, we can neither help you, nor you us. But I must confess, both you and ourselves do stand merely in the power of our God. . . . Our plantations are so gleaned by that small fleet we sent out [he pleaded military necessity for taking Mr. Pyncheon's boats without his leave ; the boats were at or below Warehouse Point] that those that remain are not able to supply our watches, which are day and night ; that our peo. ple are scarce able to stand upon their legs ; and, for planting, we are in a like condition with you ; what we plant is before our doors, - little anywhere else.' The houses within the palisade were built around and facing an open square ; around the rear of their house-lots, and next the palisade, was a two-rod road for public convenience. The present Palisade Green is much less than its original size ; it was then as wide, or nearly so, at the north as at the south end. On the Green stood their meeting-house, and in the southwest corner was the ancient cemetery, con- taining the remains of Windsor's early dead." -JABEZ H. HAYDEN'S Centennial Address, p. 23.
506
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
felt compelled to adopt. Of town regulations, as well as those of the State, it may with truth be said that " for one law that has been passed of a bigoted or intolerant character, a diligent explorer into the English court records or statute books, for evidences of bigotry and revolting cruelty, could find twenty in England." 1
Their civil requirements were founded on virtue and religion. Hence a town resident, and one who could participate in town affairs, must have the vote of the town as to " good character, blameless life, and honest conversation." Their civil and ecclesiastical regulations can scarcely be separated, for good citizenship was based upon Christian principles. In 1637 the General Court enacted that
" No young man that is neither married, nor hath any servant, and be noe publick officer, shall keep house by himself, without consent of the Town where he lives first had, under pain of 20 shillings per week."
"No Master of a family shall give Habitation or entertainment to any young man to sojourn in his family, but by the allowance of the Inhabitants of the Said Town where he dwells, under the like Penalty of 20 shillings per Week."
The town records of Windsor 2 have several entries showing per- mision granted to certain persons to sojourn together or to entertain others.
"Dec. 1, 1651. John Moses had allowance to sojourn with Simon Miller in his house."
Also, "Sept. 13, 1652. It is assented that Isaac Shelden and Samnel Rockwell shall keep house together in the house that is Isaac's, so they carry themselves soberly and do not entertain idle persons, to the evil expense of time by night or day."
Also, " that John Bennet should be entertained by William Hayden in his family."
Also, 1656, "that no person or persons whatsoever shall be admitted inhabitant in this town of Windsor, without the approbation of the town, or townsmen, that are, or shall be, from year to year in being. Nor shall any man sett or sell any house or land so as to bring in any to be inhabitant into the town without the approbation of the townsmen, or giving in such security as may be accepted to save the town from damage."
There were also strict regulations to insure morality and virtue in social relations. The town-meeting was established, and all were obliged to attend it : delinquents were fined, unless they could give sufficient excuse. The town officers were townsmen, constables, and surveyors. The townsmen, or selectmen as they are now called, had authority in educational matters ; were to see that every child and apprentice was taught to read and write; and were to examine the children of the town in the Catechism. The constable was also an officer of superior dignity, and a town was considered incorporated when a constable was appointed therein by the Court. The first constable in Windsor was Mr. Henry Wolcott, appointed in 1636. John Porter was his successor in 1639. The town was afterward authorized to choose two constables, and the office appears to have been striven after, as in February, 1666, John Strong and Benedictus Alvord, "after much contending," were
1 Hollister's History of Connecticut.
2 Stiles's History of Windsor, pp. 54, 55.
-
507
WINDSOR.
chosen for the year ensuing. The office of town clerk was first created by the Court in 1639. Dr. Bray Rosseter was the first clerk of Windsor, and held that office until he removed to Guil- ford in 1652. The town surveyor was an- Bray Repetir other important office. Matthew Grant, whose name is so conspicuous in the early history of the town, discharged the duties of this office. He was also the second town clerk, and continued "measuring of land and getting out of lots to men " for a period of forty years. Other town officers were appointed, and the name of the office will perhaps suf- ciently indicate the duties to be discharged. These were " chimney- viewers," "fence-viewers," "pounders" of stray cattle, "way-wardens " or surveyors of highways, and " bound-goers or perambulators," who determined disputes as to boundary-lines. "Liquor for bound-goers " is a frequent item charged among the expenses of the town. There was also the town bailiff, or collector, who looked after those who refused or neglected to pay their rates. The "brander of horses " was another important dignitary established in each town by the General Court in 1665; he was not only to brand, but " shall make an entry of all horses so branded, with their natural and artificial marks, in a book kept by him for that purpose, who shall have 6d. for each horse so branded and entered," and a penalty of 207. for every one who neglected to do so. The Windsor mark was the letter " I." "There is still in Windsor," says Dr. Stiles, " a book kept by Timothy Loomis, whilom town clerk, containing all the marks, etc., of every man's horses, put down with a particularity which evidences the importance attached to it."
The " lister," or assessor, was another officer. At first the lands were classed in several grades, each class being put in the list at a certain price. So also with the live-stock. However, in 1675, when a tax was laid for the support of the Rivulet ferry, it was laid upon that class of property likely to receive the benefit. There were then five classes of tax-payers. Of the first class, styled " family, horse, and four oxen," there were twelve; of the second, "family, horse, and two oxen," there were fifty-four; of the third, "family and horse," there were forty-four; of the fourth, " only families," seventeen ; of the fifth, " single men," thirty-eight, of whom fifteen owned horses. It will be observed that no tax is laid on vehicles because there were none.
Of the General and Particular Courts sufficient is said elsewhere. The Town courts, for the trial of small causes, were established by the General Court in 1639. The magistrates or assistants were judges of the Particular Courts. Many crimes beside murder were visited with capital punishment, and the sin of lying was punished with fines, stocks, or imprisonment. The records of the Particular Court show the sever- ity with which slander, swearing, drunkenness, and contempt of civil or Divine authority were visited. In May, 1664, the Particular Court ordered that : -
"H-D-or his wife should severely correct their daughter with a rod on the naked body in the presence of Mrs. Wolcott and Goode Bancroft this day, and in case it be not attended to this day, the constable is to see it done, the next opportunity, . . . for reproachful speeches which she hath spoken against the wife of John Bissell."
508
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
Sept. 5, 1639, Thomas Gridley, of Windsor, was ordered to be whipped at Hartford, -
"For refusing to watch, strong suspicion of drunkness, contemptuous words against the orders of the court, quarreling and striking Mr. Stiles's man."
June 2, 1664. " Mr. Nicolas Stevens for his cursing at Windsor before the Train band last Monday, is to pay to the public treasury 10 shillings."
May 12, 1668. "Nicolas Wilton, for wounding the wife of John Brooks, and Mary Wilton, the wife of Nicholas Wilton, for contemptuous and re- proachful terms by her put upon one of the Assistants, are adjudged, she to be whipt 6 stripes upon the naked body, next training day at Windsor ; and the said Nicholas is hereby disfranchised of his privilege of freedom in this Corporation, and is to pay for the Horse and Man that came with him to the Court this day, and for what damage he hath done to the said Brooks his wife, and sit in the stocks the same day his wife is to receive her punish- ment. The Constables of Windsor to see this attended."
1668. "John Porter, having been accused by this court for defaming of some who have been in authority in this court, do order that he make full acknowledgement of the same, and manifest his repentance the next training day at Windsor, or else that he appear at the next county court to answer for his mis-carriage therein."
May 15, 1724, it is recorded : " Friend Shivee sat in the pillory and his right car cut off for making plates for bills." Branding with the letter " B" for burglary, and whipping " at the cart's tail " for crimes against morality, were also methods of punishment. Tradition places the whipping-post upon Broad Street Green, where the sign-post now stands. It was used as late as 1714, and the remains of the old stocks were to be seen on the Green in 1806. The colony laws against " ex- cess of apparel " seem strange to us in these days, and that against the use of tobacco is in striking contrast with the habits of the present inhabitants of Windsor, who encourage the growth of the plant almost under the eaves of the sanctuary. Equally in contrast is the conduct at the old town-meetings with that of the present day : --
1696-1697. " At a town meeting, January 19, it was voted that whoso- ever shall at any town meeting speak without leave from the Moderator of the meeting, he shall forfeit one shilling, and it [is] to be restrained by the con- stable for the use of the town."
The first highway in Connecticut was laid out between Hartford and Windsor, by order of the General Court, April 5, 1638.
Many interesting regulations cannot be inserted here in full. Five shillings were added by the town to the ten shillings paid by the country for every wolf that should be killed within the bounds of the town. Order was given concerning crossing by ferry at the rivulet on the Lord's Day ; the magistrates and elders taking precedence, and " not above thirty-five persons at a time were to go in the great canoe, nor above six persons at a time in the little canoe," under penalty of five- pence. Particular orders were given concerning the ferry on ordinary occasions : "Jan. 1, 1650, an agreement was made with John Brooks to keep the ferry over the Rivulet for one year," the town to provide him a dwelling ten feet in breadth and fifteen in length; and subse- quently there appear specific agreements with parties who are to pro- vide passage over this Rivulet.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.