USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > The town and city of Waterbury, Connecticut, from the aboriginal period to the year eighteen hundred and ninety-five, Volume I > Part 26
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It ought perhaps to be mentioned in connection with the Waterbury church, that the example that the mother church at Farmington had set in 1652, doubtless was a formative influence in 1691. That church was organized by the "joining in the cov- enant " of seven men, of whom Reverend Roger Newton was one. At a later date members were added. There was a distinction in the degree of membership, however, delineated by the terms applied to different holders of the honor. Certain members were " joined to the church;" others were "joined to the congregation; " while a few were recorded as "joined in the covenant." Abundant instances might be cited in proof that the "seven-pillar" form of covenant was followed often, if not universally. Salem and Scituate churches are mentioned as evidence in Massachusetts, while the first church organized in Connecticut, that at Wethers- field, was formed in the same manner.
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THE FIRST CHURCH OF WATERBURY.
Fifty-three years later, in 1747, Deacon Thomas Judd died, and the memorial stone placed above his grave tells us that he was "the first Justice, Deacon and Captain " in Waterbury, and that his age was 79 years. The hand that prepared the inscription was led into error, for the man whom it delighted to honor was five years older than the stone-age assigned him; and it was his uncle, Lieut. Thomas Judd, who was the first justice of the peace. His claim as the first captain is unquestioned, while the statement that he was the first deacon is subject to question. It may be true that the church was without deacons for nearly five years, but it is not cer- tain that it was so. The sweet reasonableness of a thing does not resolve itself into history; if it could, we might with every pro- priety suggest that the Waterbury church, even as other churches had done, appointed two deacons; that they may have been Corporal Isaac Bronson and Lieutenant John Stanley; that the records retained the military titles that had already become familiar, and that in 1695, when Lieutenant Stanley returned to Farmington, Thomas Judd was elected to fill the vacancy, as in 1696 we find Deacon Thomas Judd taking the place in the records formerly occu- pied by Thomas Judd, the smith. If we depend upon our town records for the evidence of deaconship, we shall find but one deacon in the church for thirty-three years. The alacrity with which even Deacon Judd permitted his military title to conceal his ecclesias- tical standing, evidences the ease with which, in the absence of church records, the first deacons have passed into oblivion.
As soon as possible after the church was organized, preparations were made for building a house for the worship of God. In the State Library we find in Ecclesiastical Papers, Vol. I. p 89, the fol- lowing autographic petition for aid in the work, in which Mr. Peck gives to us glimpses of the life his people were then and had been living.
THE PETITION TO THE GENERAL COURT FOR ASSISTANCE IN BUILDING AN HOUSE FOR THE WORSHIP OF GOD.
[May it] please the honourable Generall Assembly to take into [their] serious consideration the Condition & Request of your humble & [loving] servants the Inhabitants of Waterbury, as to our Condition. The [Providen]ce of God & that in severall wayes, hath brought us low by losses [of the fr]uits of the earth, losses in our living stock, but especially by much [sickness] among us for the space of the last four years: We live remotely in a corner of the wilderness [wh]ich in our affairs costs us much charge pains & hardships. As to our Petition & that which we desire; it is your encouraging & assisting of us as we hope in a good work; yet too heavy for us; viz the building of an house convenient for us to assemble in for the worship of God; Such an house we doe more & more find very great need of. Wee return our honoured gentlemen hearty thanks for the late encouragement they gave us unto Church work; wee are embolden fro. our past experience of your former candidness & favour toward us: yet once more to present this our humble
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
Petition for your help in this great & needfull affaier. Much we could mention by way of persuasion: but we are prevented of time & we hope that a few words to the wise will be sufficient. It may be considered that we have been often at charges in sending forth horsemen for the timely discovery of an approaching enemie, which hath been or might have been some safeguard to our neighbours in other Townes. For this our Scouting we have had no public recompense. We also have had farr more trouble than some other Townes in this Colonie by the souldiers passing to & fro & their often entertainments with us, which hath occa- sioned much expense of our time etc. We also are informed that we shall not be the first that have had publique assistance in the like work in this Colonie. We hope right worthy Sirs that you that are the Patrons of this Christian Common- wealth; will be pleased to give us further encouragement to build God's house & the encouragement which we doe particularly petition for is that our Publique rates may be given to us for the space of the four next ensuing years. We find in holy writ that some whose spirit God hath Stirred up have been famous in promot- ing such a work; as David & Solomon. We hope & trust we shall have a placid return fro. our Worthies upo. whom our eyes are: So we remain your humble & needy Petitioners and Servants.
From Waterbury. Anno Domini. 91 October. 7.
In the name & on the behalf of the rest of our inhabitants.
JOHN HOPKINS, } THOMAS JUDD,
Townsmen.
The petition was answered the next day.
OCTOBER, 1691.
Upon the petition of Waterbury this Court grants them their present country rate toward the erecting of a house for the pub: worship of God in that towne, prouided they improue it for that use and no other.
This people-our fathers-"living remotely in a corner of the wilderness, brought low by many losses and by much sickness dur- ing the space of four years," (to which had been added two years of war's alarms), had just risen up to prepare a house for the wor- ship of God, and were taking hold on life anew, when a sudden and awful blow fell upon the little town. By a mighty freshet, their precious meadows, on which they chiefly depended for the support of life, were torn up by the roots and carried away. From the Plum Trees, a meadow above Lead Mine brook on the north, to the straits below Judd's meadows on the south, the spring of 1691 gave stones for bread,-and yet the brave planters held on. Not a man left the settlement! Their meadows gone, they clung to the hills, and began to lay out mountain lots. We, who have so often seen the wrath of the Naugatuck, when in a spring freshet its furrowed waters dashed over the meadows, islanding Hop meadow hill, and covering all the region between the river and Meadow street, (thus completely cutting off access to present Brooklyn and West Side hill), can understand something of the blow that then befell Water- bury. The smaller meadows on the Mad river and the branches of both rivers doubtless suffered too, thus forcing every man to spend
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THIE FIRST CHURCH OF WATERBURY.
his days in a struggle with forest trees and stones for the posses- sion of the soil hidden under them in the hills. Under these con- ditions, the work of building the house for the worship of God was retarded. When the floods came, Waterbury had forty-three tax- payers, and not estimating dwelling houses, a list of £1859. In 1694, with the same number of tax payers, her list had fallen to £1554.
In May of 1693, Mr. Peck received from the colony "two hun- dred acres of land, for a farme." Whether this was a grant for special services, or a gratuity, does not appear.
We learn nothing more of the house for the worship of God until 1694, when :
The Town agree to use or improve the money that now is, or hereafter shall be due for wild horses * that are sold in the town. We say to improve it for help- ing to build the meeting-house, and to stand by the officers that sell them, and hereafter to allow those that bring in such horses one-half.
How much aid the good cause received in this manner is not known. In 1694 the Court again granted Waterbury its country rate toward the finishing of the meeting-house, provided that the town should discharge to the country its indebtedness of the town. From this time, we find nothing regarding the church building until 1699. There is no proof that it was finished, or that Mr. Peck ever preached in it, and there is no proof to the contrary. It is not known at what date Mr. Peck became incapacitated for preaching, thus throwing a double burden upon the people, but in 1695 there was another minister to be considered, who is referred to, not by name, but as the present minister, when the parsonage land was de- voted to his use. In 1696, and until the ordination of Mr. South- mayd, the children of Waterbury people were taken to other towns for baptism, Milford and Woodbury being of the number.
In 1696 Mr. Peck executed a deed of gift of all his property in Waterbury. He mentions six children, Samuel, Ruth Atwater (to whom he gave, among other books, "Ye Articles of ye Church of England "), Caleb, Anna Standly, Jeremiah, and Joshua. In this deed, the lands that his son Jeremiah owned which had been given him by the town, were to be accounted as Reverend Jeremiah's lands, and to be equally divided between Jeremiah and Joshua. The house and home lot and the three-acre lot were exempt from this division, and bestowed upon Jeremiah. To Jeremiah also was
* It must not be understood that wild horses went roaming through the country. If a man neglected to brand his horses properly, he could not easily reclaim them, and in many instances branded horses were not reclaimed. Waterbury, it will be remembered, had a horse pasture, but the adjoining towns seem to have been without that useful adjunct, and the animals were apt to stray abroad, and were taken up, prop- erly advertised, and then sold.
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
given the farm the General Court had granted. With his custom- ary regard for contingencies, he made the following conditions : "Yt Jeremiah and Joshua pay all my lawful debts, provide well and comfortably for me and my wife as long as we both live, and if they fail or neglect their duty, I reserve yt power to sell the land for my relief." On behalf of his wife, in the event of his death, and the failure of his sons to provide well for her, and in case she should leave them during the time of her widowhood-bearing his name-he gave her power to command the use of one-third part of all the lands he had given to Jeremiah and Joshua. To his wife he gave, to be hers, after his decease, two cows and six sheep, with all "the movables within doors excepting a silver tankard," which went to Jeremiah. This will, of over three thousand words, proves that Reverend Jeremiah Peck to the end of his life continued an exceedingly careful and provident man.
Mr. Peck lived nearly three years after the execution of this deed, but as an assistant had been required before it was made, and we know that the Rev. John Jones officiated at a later date, it is not probable that he was again able to perform public duties. He was placed in a trying position, for while he yet lived, his church and people were eagerly, and with great enthusiasm, preparing to receive his successor. A young man, fresh from Harvard College, had won the heart of Waterbury and aroused it to a pitch of enthusiasm that makes itself felt through the dim pages of the old records. His name was Reverend John Read, and he was destined to become a brilliant and successful man, but Mr. Read was not destined for Waterbury. In vain they offered him their hearts and lands, and promises to build him an house with three chimneys, 38 feet long and 19 feet wide, with a stoned cellar and other elegancies of con- struction. To this, they added an annual salary of £50 and £20 in labor for two years, and after two years of service as an ordained minister, he was to receive one of the three grand propriety rights in the township.
The town made great effort to secure John Carrington's house lot (Leavenworth street now runs through it), to put the new house upon, but his heirs declining to sell it, it was decreed to take off the obligation that lay upon the lot "at the West end " and "set the minister on it." The obligation was, that it had been sequestered, as school land. This lot at the "West end" is now Mr. Robert Brown's corner at Willow street.
It was while his people were making ready for another minister, that " on the 7th of June, 1699, the Reverend Jeremiah Peck 'left this world, in the 77th year of his age.'" His pastorate in Waterbury was a short and a serious one. It began and continued amid the
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THE FIRST CHURCH OF WATERBURY.
storms of war. The "great sickness " and the "remarkable flood," together with the "losses in live stock," and in "the fruits of the earth," (for Mr. Peck was a farmer as well as a minister), when combined with age and growing infirmities, must have made the active years of his life here full of care and anxiety. It is but a meagre record that we have given of this man. The finding is most unsatisfactory, but we are compelled to leave it thus. In cer- tain towns settled at an early date, it was the custom to bury the dead in the garden of the minister. Mr. Prudden's garden, at Mil- ford, is cited as an instance-and the first place of burial in our town was likewise at the foot of the minister's garden, for Mr. Peck's house lot extended through to Grand street, and the part of the late Grand street cemetery in use during the first century, was but a continuation of that house lot. It was probably within this time- consecrated ground on "Burying-Yard Hill," that Reverend Jere- miah Peck, after his long and useful life, was laid to rest, but no inscribed stone raised in memory of him remained when, in 1892 the city of Waterbury dishonored itself by desecrating the graves of one hundred and seventy-six years; by blotting from the face of our fair township the last vestige of its founders ! Neither church- spire nor mill-chimney can ever be raised high enough to over- shadow this crime, committed against the generations gone, and the generations to come. Two weeks after Mr. Peck died the town en- gaged to pay money, or that which was equivalent at the place where Deacon Thomas Judd should buy "nayls," for the clapboarding and shingling the minister's house. Committee was added to committee in order to hasten the work-meanwhile, as an extra temptation, the coming minister was proffered ten acres of upland "where it could be found." A month later, Mr. Read was desired "to go on and accept the call to the work of the ministry on the terms propounded to him on the town's behalf," and an extra committee, composed of a lieu- tenant, deacon, ensign and sergeant, was desired to go on and secure Mr. Read if he was "obtainable;" but he was, evidently, not obtaina- ble, for sometime between July 18 and August 21, 1699, Mr. Read dis- appointed his devotees, and they turned away, much disheartened, to look for another minister, appointing Deacon Judd to make the search "by himself and the best counsel he could take to get one to help in the work of the ministry, and to bring a man amongst them upon probation, in order to settlement, if he could." The next month, Deacon Judd not having been successful, John Hopkins was appointed to give him aid in getting a minister. Ministers were not to be had for the asking, in the seventeenth century. October 12th came, and a rate of a half penny on the pound was laid, to be paid in current silver money, or that which was equivalent, bearing
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
its own charge to the market, for to buy nails and glass for the minister's house. During all this time, while the records are eloquent with effort regarding a minister, not a word appears in regard to the meeting-house, and are we to believe that the minister's house had glass in the windows, and the house of God none? *
One of the latest acts of the century was the laying of "a rate of 8d on the pound for carrying on the work of the minister's house, to be given in labor or provision pay," and twenty days later, after the long silence, the following: "What charge Ensign (Timothy) Standly and Sarg. Bronson, committee for building the pulpit and seats in the meeting-house, are at, more than the money given in the country rate, and horse money according to the town act, shall be paid by the town." We may conclude then, that in 1700 the meeting-house had a pulpit and seats, or was about to be supplied with them.
At the close of the century, seven of the original proprietors had died in Waterbury, Robert Porter and Philip Judd in 1689, Edmund Scott and John Carrington in 1690, Abraham Andrews, cooper, in 1693, Samuel Hikcox in 1694, and John Bronson in 1696. Two-Ben- jamin Jones and Joseph Hikcox-had died elsewhere. Five-Will- iam Judd, Thomas Hancox, Thomas and John Newell and Lieut. John Stanley-had returned to Farmington, and John Scovill had removed to Haddam-fifteen in all. If we add to this list those who died or left the town before 1681, we shall find that in 1700 less than one-half of the Grand Proprietors of the township remained. Before 1700 thirty young men, sons of the planters, had been added to the list of land owners. The whole number of tax-payers in October, 1699, was forty-seven. We close the century with the list of the planters' sons who had become land owners and had settled in the town; they being called Bachelor Proprietors in distinction from the Grand Proprietors, or sharers in the thirty-four divisions of the little republic of Waterbury. Nine sons of planters either died or failed to gain residence here between 1681 and 1700.
THE BACHELOR PROPRIETORS BEFORE 1700.
Isaac and John Bronson, Clark Carrington, Joseph and John Gaylord, Samuel, William, Thomas and Joseph Hikcox, Thomas and John Judd, Deacon Thomas Judd, John Richards, John, Thomas and Israel Richardson, Edmund, Samuel, Jonathan, George, David and Robert Scott, John Scovill, Samuel Standly, John, Ephraim and Benjamin Warner, John, Stephen and Richard Welton.
* Twenty years after this church edifice was built, changes were made in it, and its doors and windows were repaired. At that time, the vote taken relating to the purchase of glass has led to the erroneous belief that the windows were without glass until 1715.
CHAPTER XVIII.
YOUNG MR. SOUTHMAYD-HIS ACCEPTANCE BY THE TOWN-ENSIGN TIM- OTHY STANLEY'S HOUSE TO BE FORTIFIED-"YARDS"-A NEW INHABITANT-THE MEADOWS ALONG THE GREAT RIVER-WATER- BURY ISLANDS-WATERBURY HILLS.
J OHN READ, while at Harvard College, had a classmate named John Southmayd. We are not able to assert that young Mr. Southmayd listened to the story told by his friend Read, of the generosity and needs of a poor and feeble little town in the wilderness, and was moved by compassion and other considerations to preach for its people-or that Mr. Read softened his refusal by sounding the praises of his friend, but both statements are made tenable by ensuing events. Dr. Bronson gives the following anecdote relating to the young men, which was told by Professor Hedge, of Harvard. Southmayd, while a student, prepared a chair which was so constructed that when a person sat down in it, it sud- denly gave way. When the Freshmen class was entered, its mem- bers one by one were invited to Southmayd's room and offered the treacherous chair. In the same class with Southmayd there was one by the name of Read, who was mischievous, and one Collins, who was dissolute. A wag, to hit off the three, composed some lines which ran thus:
" Bless'd is the man who hath not lent To wicked Read his ear, Nor spent his life as Collins hath, Nor sat in Southmayd's chair."
We have seen how Waterbury lent its ear to this young and "wicked " Read-a man who became the most distinguished lawyer of his time in New England, and we are soon to see young South- mayd become one of the most wise, sagacious, and beneficent sail- ing-masters that ever directed the three-decked ship of church, plan- tation, and town, safely over the shoals that beset its course.
Before November 2, 1699, Mr. Southmayd had preached here. The two-acre house lot and other lands for the new minister were already cleared and fenced, and Samuel Hikcox and his brother William were appointed to go about and gather a work-rate of £20, out of which they were to dig and stone a well.
In June of 1700, it was announced in town meeting, that "having had some taste of Mr. Southmeats ministry the people were satisfied,
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
and were willing to accept him as their minister to dispense the word of God amongst them, and desired that the church in due sea- son should settle him in Gospel order amongst them." But Mr. Southmayd delayed to accept the duties of an ordained minister. We shall find the reason perhaps, in the following entry, under date of April 9, 1700. "The town agreed considering our present cir- cumstances, to fortify Ensign Standly's house for the safety of the town, and if it should prove troublesome times and the town see they have need and are able afterward, to fortify two more." At the same meeting "it was agreed to go about it forthwith." All men and boys and teams that were able to work, were to begin the next day, and the man who did not help with his own hands was to pay 2s 6d. or with his team 3s. a day, until the work was done.
Until 1700, Waterbury was a compact village. The planters all had their houses at the town spot. "Yards" are referred to as existing in localities quite remote from the centre. Abraham Andrews, Senior, had land "at Judd's meadows. on the east side of the brook that runs into Benjamin Barnes' yard." Isaac Bronson had an acre for a yard very early at Buck's meadow. There was an " old " yard at Hancox meadow brook in 1715. Mention is made of the spring and the place where they used to stack their hay west of the Long Boggy meadow in south-western Watertown. These are sufficient to indicate the custom of making yards for cattle, and stacking hay where it was made.
To the present date, an attempt has been made to prison the chief events as they transpired, reflecting what light might sift through a score of decades upon them while the town was held as a single family-but from this point we must diverge with the diverging inhabitants, pausing only here and there to chronicle a passing event, as we follow our friends to Breackneck, Judd's Meadows, Buck's hill, and whithersoever they go to build, and abide, and subdue the wilderness. While we wait for the finishing of the meeting-house, and for young Mr. Southmayd to say "yes" to the town's wooing, and for the town to build that fort about Ensign Timothy Stanley's house, over whose site stands our City hall, it seems a fitting time to visit the meadows along the Naug- atuck, and give the names by which they were known by their owners, and by which certain of them are known to this day. On the way down the river we stop to mention an important event- the arrival of a new inhabitant, with a new name to add to the twenty-two, hitherto known in the town. He came, or he appears, in 1700 on the list of town-officers, as a fence viewer. His name is Joseph Lewis.
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MEADOWS, ISLANDS AND HILLS.
THE MEADOWS ALONG THE NAUGATUCK RIVER.
Judd's Meadows included all the meadows reaching from the Straits at Beacon Hill brook, to Fulling Mill brook at Union City. In the sub-division of these meadows, the division northward from the Straits on the east side of the river, extending from the brook to the hills northward and eastward, seems not to have been hon- ored with any name, except that the upper portion is known as Ben Jones's lot, and is often referred to as a starting point. One of the Newells had an allotment at the south end, bordering on the river and Beacon Hill brook at its mouth. This, later, was Jeremiah and Joshua Peck's, and they sold it to the new inhabitant, Joseph Lewis. Later, the Hopkinses bought it and the Jones allotment and all the surrounding region. On the west side the river, the first allotment was John Lankton's, bordered on the south by the great rocks, on the north by a little brook. This allotment became John Hopkins's. The Hopkins family retained these meadows until they became, by inter-marriage and deed of gift, Culver property, which they con- tinue to be. North of the little brook, Thomas Richardson's allot- ment began. It ran up into a neck between the hill and the river, and included an island. Richardson gave it to his son Thomas, and he sold it to Samuel Hikcox 2d, in the distribution of whose estate it was "set" to his daughter Sarah, who married John Platt, of Norwalk. The Platts bestowed it upon a relative, Joseph Betts, about 1750. The land lay neglected until it "went to pieces" in Colony, Church and State taxes. The Culvers gathered in the pieces and added them to their farm.
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