USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Bridgeport > The story of Bridgeport > Part 3
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The following year it was ordered that "Mr. Haynes, Mr. Ludlow and Mr. Wells should settle the bounds between Pequannock and Uncowaye on or before the 24 of June, according to their former com- mission, and that they should tender the oath of fidelity to the inhabitants of said towns and make such free as they should approve."
"To make free" was a term used to signify the "swearing in" of the freemen. All male persons liv- ing within two or three miles of a town were re- quired to take the oath of fidelity to the Connecticut government and to "submitt boath my p'rson & estate thereunto."
BRIDGEPORT SETTLES ITSELF
From the above, we know that there really were settlers here in 1639 and 1640. Else why should the
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General Assembly name a man to train the Pequon- nock settlers in military discipline? And why, otherwise, send three persons down to Pequonnock and Uncoway to "tender the oath of fidelity to the inhabitants of said towns?"
Historian Hollister also, speaks of settlements at "Pughquonnuck" in 1639. Incidentally, the name Pughquonnuck, or Pequonnock or Paquanocke, or however else you choose to spell it, was used to desig- nate all those lands east of the Uncoway river, now Ash Creek, as far north as King's Highway, and as far south as the Sound.
But who were these first 1639 settlers in Pequonnock? And where did they "set down?" We don't know. We can only guess. Historian Schenck tells us that:
"There is no record of any settlement at Pequonnock at that time, (1639-1640), but from the earliest extant boundaries of lands in 1650, occasional reference is made to home lots having been previously owned by Nicholas Knell, afterwards of Stratford, John Evarts and others. There is ground to believe that BEFORE the emigration from Concord in 1644, a few persons had settled on Old King's Highway near the Green ad- joining the old Pequonnock burying ground."
The "old King's Highway" is the present North Avenue. The "green adjoining" is the little Clinton park right at the northwest junction of Clinton, North and Brooklawn Avenues. A police traffic box stands on the corner. The "old Pequonnock burying ground" is now known as the "old Stratfield Ceme- tery" and lies a little to the northwest of the park. The burying ground is bounded on the north by Sterling Place, east by the park, south by Pierce Place and west by Briarwood Avenue.
The "old Pequonnock burying ground," it is be- lieved, provided the final resting place for all the early settlers until the year 1812.
Granted that the first settlers were in this vicinity before 1644, as Mrs. Schenck believes, it is not un- reasonable to suppose that they immediately set to work, building log cabins, turning over the fields, and storing wood from the forests. It is supposed the first whites here merely helped themselves to the land, for there is no early record of Indian deeds. In fact, it is generally conceded that for 20 years territory in
this vicinity was held as conquered and ceded terri- tory by authority of the General Court.
We do know that as early as 1653 there was a grist mill close to the little settlement, at the head of Moody's Mill Pond, near the Mountain Grove Cemetery.
WITCH HANGED HERE
We are also fairly certain that in the fall of the year 1653, as many of the settlers as were able to leave their harvesting, attended the hanging of Goody Knapp in Fairfield, for the towns- people gathered for miles around for the event. Not every day in the week did a witch "get her due."
Goodwife Knapp is believed to have been the wife of one Roger Knapp, who lived at one time in New Haven but moved to Fair- field. Just when Roger came to Fairfield is not known. His name does not appear among those of the other residents until 1656, although it is believed he was in town before that date. His son, Nathaniel, lived in Pequonnock in 1690 and joined the church, afterwards organized there. His name occurred frequently on the early records of the Stratfield Church.
The hanging of Goody Knapp was not the first of its kind in the community. As early as 1651 Goody Basset was executed as a witch in Stratford. Just before her death, Goody Basset made a confession in which she referred in a rather mysterious way to "others who hold their heads full high", intimating that they were equally guilty. She mentioned no names but her remark and the peculiar manner in which it was made caused several women to fall under suspicion. One of them was Goody Knapp of Fairfield, whom Historian Schenck described as noth- ing but a "simple-minded woman."
For two years neighbors watched Goody Knapp like a hawk. At the end of that time they were con- vinced she was a witch. A loud clamor went up. It reached to Hartford. Very shortly Roger Ludlow and three others were ordered to keep court at Fair- field "to execute justice there as cause shall require."
The trial took several days. In the end, Goody Knapp was declared guilty. The evidence of Mrs. Lucy Pell and Goody Odell, the midwife, who by
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direction of the court, had examined the person of the prisoner, weighed heavily against the poor woman. Goody Odell testified to finding upon the body of the prisoner certain witch marks which were regarded as proof positive of intimacies.
After the verdict of guilty was read, Goody Knapp was urged to confess. The latter, half hysterical, wholly terrified, screamed that she would, if she had anything to confess but she hadn't. She said later that, if she had a confession to make, she would whisper it to Mr. Ludlow at the gallows.
The gallows were erected "between the house of Michael Try and the mill or a little west of the Strat- field boundary", which place William Wheeler in his early Black Rock diary sets down to be "northwest of the Indian Field in Black Rock, near the present site of the Burroughs Home." The latter is the home for aged women at 2470 Fairfield Avenue.
When the body was cut down, th e women crowded around eager to examine the witch signs. One Goodwife Staples, friend of the dead woman, scoffed and said: "They were naught but such as she herself or any woman had." To which remark an older woman replied: "Aye, and be hanged for them, and deserve it too."
It is probable that the "witch signs" for which the women so eagerly sought, were in reality "such as any woman had", but in those days a mole or freckle, or even the scar of an old wound could be distorted into a "witch mark" in the imagination of the super- stitious. It behooved all women to keep such con- ccaled, if that were possible.
PEQUONNOCK VILLAGE
Fairfield and Stratford grew rapidly. By 1641 there was already a road of sorts between the two settlements. The road, which had previously been an Indian trail, ran back of the Golden Hill reserva- tion about two miles from the shore, so as to avoid the deep water of the lower river and the necessity of a drawbridge. It was ordered to be kept "two full rods in width" by the General Court. Later the road was formally laid out and a tablet, marking its estab- lishmen in 1673, stands on the lawn of the Olivet Church at Main Street and North Avenue.
First known as the "Country Road" and then as "King's Highway", this road formed part of the old Post Road from New York to Boston. Today, we know it as North Avenue and Boston Avenue.
Pushing along King's Highway, the one to the east and the other to the west, the parent parishes met at a point which now marks the junction of Park and North Avenues. There the pioneers "raised up" a log cabin settlement, which shortly became known as the "Village of Pequonnock."
The year 1678 saw the formation of the Stratfield Ecclesiastical society and a petition, addressed to the General Assembly at Hartford in May of that year, is the first official record we have of the little settle- ment.
Meanwhile, a few other log cabins had been "raised up" in Pequonnock farther to the south. Henry Summers, Sr. and Samuel Gregory built homes near the junction of the present Park and Washington Avenues. At the time there were no highways in the vicinity. A well-worn Indian path, which served as a cartway, passed to the northeast over Golden Hill where now Washington Avenue is located.
But to return to our village of Pequonnock. The petition to the General Court was prompted by the fact that the settlers wanted a school of their own. Isaac Wheeler, John Odell, Sr., and Matthew Sher- wood petitioned, complaining to the General Court that four miles to the center of Fairfield was too far for the Stratfield children to go to attend school. The complainants stated that they had set up a school of their own and employed an experienced teacher and that 47 children were then in attendance. They pro- posed to bear the expense of the school themselves, if the General Court would be so kind as to free them from taxation in support of Fairfield's school. This was done.
No sooner had Pequonnock established its own school than it decided it wanted its own government and its own minister. In 1690 the settlers petitioned the General Court, praying for the right to set up a separate government. But, because of the opposition of the Fairfield settlers, the request was not granted.
The little community was given permission, how- ever, in 1691, to engage its own minister.
A second petition for a separate form of govern- ment was offered the Court at Hartford, in 1694, this time successfully. The settlers also asked since the place was on the boundary line of the towns of Fairfield and Stratford, belonging partly to each, that the Indian name, "Pequonnock," might be changed
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to "Fairford", a word whose composition is apparent at a glance. However, the General Court decided that it should be called Fairfield Village, and so ordered.
The name of the community was again changed in 1701, this time to "Stratfield", the new appellation being a combination of the first syllable of Stratford and the last of Fairfield.
In the year 1691, a street was laid out from the Fairfield line to Pequonnock harbor. This street is now known as State Street and it opened up a route between Fairfield and Stratford along the shore. At the harbor end there was as yet no settlement, but it was not many years before the beginning of a com- munity was formed at the shore. Soon after 1691, houses were built on Line Road, now Park Avenue.
FIRST CHURCH
As was stated above, the people were granted leave by the General Court at Hartford in 1691 to engage their own minister. Two years later, the first church in the community was erected "on an eminence in upper part of Division Street a few rods south of the King's Highway." The Daughters of the American Revolution set this location near the corner of what is now Worth Street and Park Avenue. (Note: Park Avenue was first known as Line Road, later as Division Street.)
The house of worship, known as the "First Church of Christ in Stratfield," and also as the "Stratfield Congregational Church" took some time to build, for it was not completed until 1695.
Rev. Charles Chauncey, "son of Mr. Israel Chauncey, minister of Stratford, of good English family", was the first pastor, ordained June 13, 1695. He was "a diligent worker". He baptized no less than 444 children before his death.
Rev. Chauncey received the stupendous sum of 60 pounds (about $300) per year for his services, when he first took charge of the little parish. Later he was raised to 80 pounds, this being paid in provisions at the ruling rates: wheat, five shillings per bushel; Indian corn and rye, three shillings per bushel; pork, 31/4 pence per pound. He also had a liberal supply of firewood of oak and hickory.
The drum was used to summon people to church and the drummer was told to walk all around the meeting house so that the sound of the call would penetrate in all directions.
All local affairs were settled at parish meetings during those times. Officers, appointed at legal meetings, included a school committee, selectmen, collectors, a treasurer, a constable and a recorder, not to forget the sheepmasters, very important men in the community.
The selectmen laid the tax, the collectors gathered it and the treasurer paid it out for the support of the pulpit and the school.
The constable had various duties, for besides chas- ing after thieves, "bulgarions", profane swearers and "Sabbath breakers", it was his business to warn those who frequented taverns and spent their time idly there, and also to look after the boys during public worship.
Keeping the boys in order during church services was quite a job, for discomfort, mischief and sleepi- ness combined to make them restless. The meeting house in the winter months was cold and drafty. There was no heat, for it was expected that the reli- gious fervor of the occupants would keep them warm. Sermons were unbearably long even for grown people, and it was not uncommon for them to run three to five hours.
CONSTABLE AND GRAVE DIGGER
This first constable must have been an awe inspir- ing person to those young boys but less so than his successor, Noah Morehouse, who was the village gravedigger and received three shillings for digging large, and two shillings and sixpence for digging small graves.
The sheepmasters had charge of the town flock. The sheep were of the long legged breed, pastured on land owned in common and at night they were folded together by the sheepmaster.
Horses were branded not only on the shoulder but upon the ear, every owner having his private mark, which was registered as carefully as trademarks are at the present day.
Was there a chamber of commerce in those times? Hardly, yet it would appear that the "business men" were banded together in a sort of trade guild. Wit- ness the following entered in the parish records by the recorder or society's clerk:
1706-7 March 21st. "Mr. Jos. Bennitt of Stratfield haveing payd full satisfaction to the majority of mer- chants in Stratfield for his tradeing in said place as a merchant, the said Society acknowledges the same &
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allow him to enter on ye records of Stratfield- Joseph Bennitt Merchant."
Sam'l Hubbell, Recorder."
1713-Sept. 23. "Voted that the wedow hubbell shall be tavern ceper (keeper) for this yer."
1715-July 17. "Mr. Ben fairwether alsow cosen (chosen) tarven ceper for the yer in suing."
During the early years of the 18th century, the little Stratfield community grew and prospered. In 1703 the train band was formed and every able- bodied man took part in the military training so im- portant in those times. The men drilled on the parade ground east of the burial plots. This parade ground is now Clinton Park previously located.
As the population increased, it was found that the first meeting house was too small. Accordingly, a second larger one was erected on what is now the northwest corner of Park and North Avenues. It was finished in 1717. Six years later, in 1723, it was "voted that Mr. Edwards shall have Liberty to build a little House somewhere near ye meeting house."
This was undoubtedly one of the "Sabba-Day" (Sabbath-day) houses, common in those times. They were small buildings, divided into two apartments, one for either sex, with ample fireplaces around which those members of the congregation, who came from a distance, gathered at noon time on Sunday between services, took refreshments and discussed theology.
About this time some of the inhabitants urged a bell for the meeting house but the petition was turned down, and it was not until 1774 that the bell was finally installed to be rung "not only Sundays but at noon and at nine o'clock P.M. on other days." By this time the church also had a steeple.
There was no steeple and no bell, however, on the first Episcopal church, erected in the community in 1748. The edifice, called St. John's Church, was "raised up" just a short distance from the Congre- gational Church on what is now the northeast corner of North Avenue and Wood Avenue. While there were ministers from Stratford and Fairfield, who
preached in the Episcopal Church here from time to time, there was no resident rector until Philo Shelton was appointed. He was a lay reader, not having been ordained, but upon the coming of Bishop Seabury he was admitted to the order of deacons. Later, in 1785, Rev. Mr. Shelton was ordained priest of the Episcopal Church in New Haven, being the first per- son ordained in the Episcopal ministry in this country.
By October 1751, a third church had been set up in the little community, this being of the Baptist order. There were ten members. Elder John Sher- wood was ordained to look after the little flock.
LIGHTNING KILLS TWO
Most of the early story of Stratfield centered about the churches. The people were sternly religious. Thus, when two of the best men in the community were struck by lightning right in the meeting house, it was not surprising that the worshippers tried to read into the calamity some message from on high and could talk of little else for days.
July 28, 1771, dawned hot and sultry. It was the Sabbath and the people had assembled for worship. During the service, a terrific thunderstorm descended on the settlement. The room grew darker and darker, heavy clouds rolled up. The form of the pastor was invisible in the deepening gloom. There was a dazzling glare of light-a flash of lightning which revealed the pale faces of the startled wor- shippers. Then came a crashing peal of thunder which drowned out the voice of the speaker. When the last echo died away and the people were again in darkness, a solemn voice from the pulpit said, "Are we all here?"
It was then discovered that two were dead: Lieut. David Sherman and Captain John Burr. And the lightning had ripped open the shoes of Burr's brother, Ozias.
Some time later, when the excitement had died down, the shattered steeple was repaired and a lightning rod put up-a new invention in those days.
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=
. JESS BENTON
"EVERY OTHER FACE WAS POCKMARKED"
CHAPTER FIVE
T HE red flags of smallpox caused a great deal more consternation in the little Stratfield community during the Revolutionary War, than did the blue flags of the British.
So terror stricken did the settlers become when they were unable to check the spread of the disease, which struck down alike, the rich and the poor, the strong and the weak, that they threatened to shoot the sufferers unless the General Court "did some- thing" about the matter. And all this in the midst
of hostilities between the American colonists and their mother country!
Stratfield took but a minor part in the Revolution- ary War, nor did the enemy greatly bother the settlers, for although Danbury was burned and then Fairfield, Stratfield was passed by as being too small for plunder.
Nevertheless, Stratfield did its bit after an event "of uncommon occurrence" had projected the com- munity into the war.
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According to an old diary entry, "There was heard by the inhabitants of Stratfield on February 2, 1775, a report in the air like thunder, and a great ball of fire of various colors was seen to fly swiftly through the city to the eastward."
"Whether this was regarded as prophetic of blood- shed we are not told," comments one of the historians, "but in the latter part of April news reached the settlement of the battle of Lexington.
"There was much excitement and Captain Abijah Sterling immediately raised a detachment of ten men and marched for the seat of war. Upon arrival in Hartford they reported to the authorities, but find- ing for some cause that their services were not re- quired, returned home."
WAR HEROES
There were war heroes in Stratfield a little later. Captain Thaddeus Bennett, a shoemaker and farmer and captain of the train band at the commencement of the Revolution, went to New York with his com- pany in August, 1776 to help defend the city against the British troops. The train band narrowly escaped capture with its brigade when New York was evacu- ated by Washington, because the order for retreat was not received in time.
The company suffered considerable loss by death and the captain died soon after his return home from the campaign in 1777.
This same company took part in the battle of White Plains and soon after was mustered out, its term of enlistment having expired. A few months after being discharged, Josiah Lacey raised a com- pany for the Continental Army and he was commis- sioned as captain, continuing in service for three years. Stratfield men, it is known, took part in Arnold's expedition against Canada.
Then there was Nathaniel Fayerweather, (son of Benjamin Fayerweather, a farmer and owner of Fayerweather's Island), who was taken prisoner by the British on Long Island Sound and confined to prison where he died of smallpox.
Captain David Hawley also fell into the hands of the enemy during the Revolution. In the early years of the war, the captain sailed to the West Indies for a cargo of gunpowder for Stratford and Fairfield. All went well, he returned safely, and part of the powder was stored in the Nichols tavern on North Avenue. Some time later, Captain Hawley again
sailed from the harbor, in command of a privateer sloop. But this time he was taken prisoner by the British. Escaping, he retaliated by bringing no less than four different enemy vessels into the Black Rock harbor.
In March 1777, the war came close to home. Seven British vessels, anchored off the Mill river in what is now Southport, and 12 to 14 boatloads of men tried to land.
As soon as the alarm was sounded, Captain Abijah Sterling and Lieut. Nathan Seeley of Stratfield, accompanied by the harbor guard, hurried to the spot where other detachments of troops had already as- sembled. After a slight skirmish, the enemy was repulsed and forced to return to the waiting vessels without effecting a landing.
It was Abijah Sterling, who went down to New York in his old-fashioned, open top chaise in 1776 to rescue David Sherman and Esquire Sterling who were suffering from dysentery in Harlem, New York. He found the two in a barn, unable to move. It is said that good old Abijah walked almost all the way home, leading his horse, that the two might ride in as much comfort as possible. Both later recovered. Abijah was for many years a representative in the General Assembly.
At this point it should not be forgotten that one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence was a former Stratfield resident. A Yale man, Dr. Lyman Hall, was, in September 1749, ordained in Stratfield at the First Congregational Church. Later he went to Georgia, became prominent in govern- ment offices there, signed the Declaration of Inde- pendence and became governor of the state, in 1783.
With the exception of parties called out hastily in sudden emergencies and as speedily disbanded, the foregoing comprised about all the military companies recruited in Stratfield during the war.
Stratfield was a quiet, peaceful farming com- munity during the major years of the Revolution, Hurd tells us. Outside of the train band drilling on the parade ground, which today is Clinton park, the location of which was previously given, there was little to disturb life here.
TORY HIDES IN CAVE
True there were Tories, who, although property owners in the community, could speak only ill of the land in which they lived and had words of praise only for their King. These the settlers speedily
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quieted. All except Michael Seeley, who spoke his mind and wouldn't be shushed and who hid in a cave for a whole year, within a few miles of the center of the town, while the irate settlers hunted him.
Miss Helen Harrison tells the story of Michael in her sketches of historical old houses in Bridgeport. It seems that one John Seeley settled on Rocky Hill, now Chopsy Hill. Six of his children were said to have been baptized in the Seeley home on Sylvan Avenue.
Among these offspring was Joseph whose son Michael turned caveman during the Revolutionary War. Michael had pronounced Tory sympathies and was unable to keep his opinions to himself. Some of the Tories had been spirited away during the Revolutionary days. Michael was luckier. The patriots had their eyes open for Michael. Somehow, when they called at his place, he managed not to be around.
One night, a sergeant accompanied by two soldiers, arrived at the house. This time, Michael was home. He admitted that he would have to go with them, but suggested that all have a drink first.
Two of the soldiers went down to hunt for the cider barrel, while the sergeant remained to guard Michael. The latter succeeded in distracting the soldier's attention for a moment and escaped through the back door, the soldier blazing away after him.
Michael went northwest across the lots and made for a ledge of rocks, where the boulders were heaped up like a natural cave with a large flat stone covering the opening on top like a roof. The space was about 12 feet long, four feet wide and about four feet in height. A rock covered the opening, leaving a place large enough at the top for the fugitive to crawl into the cave. At the farther end, a crevice in the rocks permitted smoke to escape from a kindled fire.
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