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 33
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The Village, as laid out, consisted of a two-rod highway next Woodbury, and then a half mile wide of land laid out in lots, and then a highway running north and south eight rods wide, and then another tier of lots half a mile wide-an eight-rod highway-a third tier of lots, and then on the east side another highway of eight rods. The first lot began at the south end of the west tier, following it to its north end, and then beginning across the highway, followed the second tier down, and finished at the north end of the east tier. An attempt was made to sell 150 acres to cover the charge of the lay out, should any "Chapmen " appear. The land was offered "at a vandue," and no other chapman appearing, Dr. Daniel Porter became the buyer; but for some reason he declined to perfect the purchase, and the proprietors received the land again. In 1722, it was agreed that Cap. Judd, Cap. Warner and Lieut. Hopkins should have the management of the lay out of The Village; they were "to call to the lot;" to "see what lot was drawn" and to give an order for it to be entered by the clerk by number as the lot fell, and each man's propriety was added to his name. The list is entitled, "A list of the Lott as It was Drawn for A Division of the Sequestered Land Att the North west quarter of the bounds. Nov. 28 1722 " and may be found on page 62, vol. I. "Town Meetings, Highways, and Grants." It is a complete list of the proprietors of Waterbury in 1722; for John Stanley Junior's name is at last added to the pro- prietors, making one hundred and one owners. The grade of owner- ship varies from £270 to £40. There are three £270 lots (Mr. Peck's, Mr. Southmayd's-and the "School Lott"); fifteen, of £180; one, (belonging to Daniel Porter) of £171; two of £162; the £150 pro- priety created in 1715; eight of £144; one of £126; three of £108; four of £90; and sixty-three of £40, or an ownership amounting to £8,637. The number of heirs, among whom the various proprieties were divided, is unknown. To meet the charge of the laying out of The Village, whose lots were drawn for in 1722, it was in 1723 decided to sell public lands, or to grant them to the creditors at five shillings an acre if the charges did not exceed the one hun- dred and fifty acres at that valuation.
One school house, fourteen feet wide and sixteen feet long, built about 1709, seems to have been the only school house in Waterbury until after 1731. In 1730, men living at Judds Meadow, at Woster Swamp, and at Bucks Hill, desiring to receive their proportion of moneys derived from school lands, a division was made for their benefit. We thus learn that on Dec. 14, 1730, "Samuel Barnes,
3º3
THE NEW INHABITANTS.
John Andrews, John Barnes, James Brown, Ebenezer Hikcox, James Johnson, Isaac Bronson, Sergt. Joseph Lewis, Joseph Lewis, Jr., Samuel Warner, Sen., Samuel Warner, Jr., Edmund Scott, Jr., and Samuel Scott," were living at Judds Meadow. At "Woster " Swamp -which at that date included not only Watertown, but the "Up River" country of present Plymouth-were Henry Cook, Isaac Castle, Jonathan Kelcy, Joseph Hurlburt, Joseph Nichols, Jonathan Scott, Sen., Jonathan Scott, Jun., David Scott, Gershom Scott, John Sutliff, Samuel Tommus, Dr. John Warner, Ebenezer Warner, George Welton, James Williams, Abraham Utter, and Ebenezer Richason. At "Bucks Hill," Sergt. Richard Welton, John Warner, Obadiah Warner, Benjamin Warner, Richard Welton, Jr., Joseph Judd and William Scott," or thirty-seven families, among whom are found twelve names that were unknown in the old plantation of Mattatuck. This division of school money was the first step and sound indicative of the disintegration of the ancient township.
The number of families living outside of the "town spot" and not in the localities named, we have not enumerated. The Isaac Bronson named in the Judds Meadow region was not the Break Neck resident of that name, but an Isaac Bronson living there in 1730 on the west side of the river, who may have been the son of Isaac of Break Neck.
The earliest itemized tax list known to be extant is of the year 1730. That, together with some fifty lists of the period from 1730 to the close of the century, is in the writer's possession, having been found in 1891 in the Kingsbury house so often referred to. The list of 1730 is the joint product of the third John Scovill, James Porter, and Samuel Hickcox, the "listers " for that year. It is largely written by James Porter, but Mr. Southmayd's hand appears in it, as it does for many years in most of the public docu- ments of the town.
A copy of the above list is here given.
TAX LIST FOR THE YEAR 1730.
John andriss one pe . IS 00
nathael arnold 3 p .
54 00
2 oxson 3 cows 2 one y
19 00
2 oxs one hors 7 cows 32 00
3 hors thee swine
12 00
3 2 yr one yr 3 swine
10 00
hom lot and land
04 16
hom lot and land
II IO
53 16
107 IO
Thomas andar one pr
18 00
Nathaniel arnold Junr
2 hors 2 oxson 2 Cows
20 00
one person one hors
21 00
one yr one swine .
2 00
2 swine
02 00
hom lot and land
05 00
45 00
23 00
304
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
James baldwine one p 18 00 .
one ox 4 cows one hors .
.
19 00
one 2 yr 2 swine
04 00
medow land
00 06
6 swine 06 00
hom lot and land 18 04
41 06
John barns one prcon 18 00
5 horses 2 oxsen 3 cows .
.
32 00
4 2 ye 3 one ye 3 swine .
14 00
hom lot and land .
07 16
land meadow
03 12
71 16
46 12
Samuel Barns one pr
3 00
moses bronson one pr 18 00
one ox 3 COWS 2 2 yrs
·
17 00
one yr one hors 3 swine .
07 00
hom lot and land .
05 IO
meadow land -
03 16
47 IO
43 16
Thomas Barns one person . 18 00
2 oxson 3 horses 7 cows . .
38 00
2 oxsen 5 COWS 4 2 yr 31 00
I 2 yr 3 1 yr 2 swin
7 00
5 one yr 3 hors 4 swine 18 00
hom lot and land
II 08
hom lot and land 17 IO
74 08
Jacob Benson 3 .
. 54 00
one cow one 2 yr
. 05 00
4 oxen and land
OI 12
60 12
land
03 12
Ephrem bisel one pr . . 18 00
63 12
Isaac Casel one person
18 00
3 cows one hor 2 one yr . 14 00
32 00
De Thoms Clark one pr . 18 00
4 oxen 5 hrs 4 cows 5 3 yr 58 00
one 2 yr 3 one yr 6 swine II 00
hom lot and land .
13 04
100 04
Henry Kook 2 persons
36 00
6 oxen 4 cows 3 hors 45 00
one 2 yr one yr 03 00
meedow land . OI IO
85 IO
4 oxen 16 6 cows 18 3 horse . 43 00
9 2 ye 3 3 yr 8 swine 35 00 . one yeir old .
. OI 00
hom lot and land
· 17 04
. his facculty 18 00
42 00
132 04
James Brown two person . 36 00
two oxen two cows 2 hors 20 00
three swine
03 00
one year old
01 00
James blackle one pr 18 00
one hors 2 cows 4 2 yr 17 00
2 one yr 4 swine
· 06 00
his chest .
. 06 00
47 00
Ebenezer Bronson one person . 18 00
6 oxen 2 cows 2 two yr old 34 00
4 horses two I year old two swine
16 00
hom lot and 05 12
73 12
12 acor of pasture
Isaac Brunson 2 per . 36 00
gershom fulford on p 18 00
one cow 3 swine 06 00
lef John brunson 3 pr 54 00
2 oxson 6 cows 6 2 yr 38 00
6 one yr old 5 horses 21 00
137 04
John Bronson one pr 18 00
2 oxson 4 cows one ye 21 00
4 swine
04 00
2 oxsen 2 cows 2 swin 16 00
2 horses 06 00
Thomas bronson 2 per 36 00
102 IO
THE NEW INHABITANTS.
305
Jonathan garncey one p . 18 00 .
3 hors 2 oxen 2 Cows
23 00
5 hrs 5 oxsen 5 cows 5 2 yr 60 00
2 3 yr 2 one yr 4 swine
12 00
hom lot and land .
04 04
and land 05 06
57 04
105 06
Joseph Haries one pr
18 00
Stephen Hopkins, Jr. one person 18 00
two oxen I hors one cow 14 00
one I year old one swine 03 00
22 00
land 00 16
Ebenezer Hickcox one p
IS 00
one hors one ox
07 00
land
.
OI 00
Timothy Hopkins 2 prs 36 00
4 oxsen 5 cows 4 2 yrs 39 00
26 00
gidon Hickcox one pr
18 00
2 oxsen one cow 2 hors .
17 00
one swine
01 00
hom lot and land
5 00
Joseph Holebut one pr 18 00
2 oxsen 2 cows one 2 yr . 16 00
one swine 2 horses 2 yr old 09 00
meadow land . 00 12
43 12
James Jonson one pr
18 00
one hors hom lot 06 00
60 00
Thomas Hickox one p
18 00
4 hors 2 oxsen 9 cows
47 00
6 2 yr 3 one yr 3 swine
18 00
3 horses 2 oxen one cow I yr 21 00
3 acres of land
IS
99 00
57 18
Cap william Hickcox one pr . IS 00
5 horses 2 oxsen 6 cows 2 3 yr 47 00
4 2 yr 2 one yr 2 swine . 12 00
hom lot and land 12 IO
for tavern keeping . 10 00
99 10
Ebenezer Hopkins one pr .
18 00
2 Oxsen 3 cows one hors I swine 21 00
39 00
hom lot and land
05 IS
John Hopkins one pr IS 00
2 hors 5 COWS 2 2 yr
25 00
3 one yr old 4 swine
07 00
mill .
12 00
hom lot and land 10 00
hom lot and land . 05 14
72 00
Beniaman Judd one person 18 00
one ox two cows 10 00
two I yr old one swine 03 00
hom lot and land 03 19
34 19
John Judd one person
IS 00
two hors 3 oxen IS 00
3 cows one yr old
10 00
51 18
Joseph Judd one person . 18 00
one hors one cow one swine . 07 00
30 14
4 one yr S horses 9 swine 37 00
land 06 IO
IIS IO
41 00
Samuel Hickcox one person
18 00
3 hors 2 cows 2 oxsen
23 00
one 2 yr 5 one yr 2 swine
09 00
hom lot and land . 10 00
24 00
John Jonson 2 persons 36 00
hom lot and land . 16 00
35 16
one hors hom lot
04 00
Stephen hopkins 2 persons 36 00
2 one year 2 swine . 04 00
20
306
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
Samuel Judd one person 18 00 .
2 hors one ox one cow . 13 00
hom lot and land 2 15
two oxen ten two yr 28 00
4 hors one yr on swine . hom lot and land 14 00 12 00
84 00
Daniel Porter one person . 18 00
one hors three cows 12 00
one two year old 02 00
land
02 00
Thomas Judd one person . ·
18 00
34 00
Wid [Deborah] Porter one hors 03 00
one ox 2 cows one ye II 00
3 swine
03 00
hom lot and land
06 00
two oxsen 5 Cows 2 2 yr · 27 00
3 one yr 5 horses 4 swine ·
22 00
hom lot and land .
10 16
Ebnzer Porter one person
18 00
one hors
03
95 16
Jonathan Chelcy (Kelsey) one pr. IS 00
one ox one hors two cows .
13 00
land . .
·
I6
two hors two oxen . 14 00
Land
04 00
31 16
Stephen Celey (Kelsey) one per. 18 00
one ox one hors . 07 00
upland 5 acres
02 00
27 00
Joseph Lewis snr 2 prs 36 00
5 oxen 8 cows 6 horse
. 62 00
4 2 yr 2 one yr S swine
. 18 00
hom lot and land
16 IO
2 oxen one hors 2 2 yr 15 00
7 acres upland 02 16
I32 IO
Joseph lewis Junr one p . 18 00
one hors 2 cows 3 2 yr
15 00
2 swine and land
05 IO
38 IO
John Richards 3 prs . 54 00
6 oxen 5 cows 4 hors .
51 00
4 oxen 3 cows two hors . .
31 00
2 one yr 5 swine 07 00
one two year old 2 swine · 04 00
15 acres meadow land 05 00
117 00
71 00
Jeremeah Peck
one person 4 cows . .
30 00
33 15
Cap Thomas Judd one pr . .
18 00
2 cows 2 hors 2 2 yr
16 00
one yr .
OI 00
hom lot and land
04 00
39 00
two horses
. 06 00
24 00
William Judd 2 per. . 36 00
23 00
21 00
James Porter one person . 18 00
Thomas porter one person . 18 00
3 oxen 12 2 COWS 6 .
18 00
I two year and 2 yearlings 04 00 3 swine 3 3 Acres Hom lot 3 06 00
Land meadow and upland 3 16
49 16
Jonathan prindel one p 18 00
35 16
Nathan Prindel one person . 18 00
one hors one cowe I ye . .
07 00
25 00
Joseph Nickkols two persons . 36 00
36 00
THE NEW INHABITANTS.
307
Thomas Richards one pr . 18 00 ·
3 hors 3 oxson 5 COWS 36 00
2 one yr 5 swine 07 00
hom lot and land 06 02
land IO 14
57 02
Ebenezer Richson two persons 36 00
4 horses two oxen . 20 00
3 cows two 2 year old 13 00
one I yr old two swine 03 00
land
05 IO
home lot and . 05 12
43 IO
77 12
Daniel rose one per
18 00
one hors one cow
06 00
. OI 00 three acres Hom Lott 4 acres upland 04 12
24 00
david Scoott one pr. . 18 00
3 hors one ox one cow
16 00
one 2 yr 3 swine
05 00
hom lot and land
07 00
one 2 yr one yr 03 00
hom lot and land 08 02
46 00
Edmon Scott Snr 2 pr 36 00
3 hors 4 oxsen 3 cows 2 2 yr . 38 00
3 one yr 4 swine 07 00
nom lot and land
IO 14
one swine OI 00
hom lot and land 07 00
91 14
Edmon Scott Jnr one pr 18 00
2 hors one ox one 2 yr 12 00
land .
02 18
32 18
Edmon Scoott min' one p 18 00
2 oxsen 2 cows one hors · 17 00
hom lot and land .
4 00
39 00
geshom scott one person 18 two
oxen 8 . . 26 00 .
two cows 6 one Horse 3 . 09 00
one swine 20 sh 3 Acres Hom Lott 04 00
+ Acres plowland OI 12
2 2 yr 3 one yr 2 swine 09 00
hom lot and land . 06 18
74 18
42 00
46 00
Widow Sarah Scott (David) 2 p. 36 00
one ox 3 cows one hors . .
16 00
one 2 yr one yr 2 swine . 05 00
hom lot and land II OO
68 00
William Scoott one per 18 00
one ox one hors one cow IO 00
one swine hom lot & land 03 00
31 00
John Scovel 2 persons 36 00
2 hors 2 oxsen 3 cows 23 00
+ Acres meadow 2 Acres pasture 01 08
Jonathan Sot Sen" 2 persons 36 00
three oxen 3 Cows . 21 00 2 three years old one 2 year . one I year one swine 4 hors 14 00
08 00
90 14
Jonathan Scoot Jun' one person 18 00 two oxen one Cow 3 hors 20 00
obadiah scott one person one ox 22 00 three cows three horses . .
18 00
one year old .
45 12
Samuel Scott Snr I per. 18 00
2 oxen 3 hors 3 cows 26 00
55 02
Samuel Scot Jun one p. 18 00
2 oxsen 2 cows 2 horses . 20 00
308
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
William Scovel one person
18 00
.
2 horss 3 oxson 4 cows 30 00 . one hors one 3 ye one 2 ye
2 2 yr one yr 3 swine 08 00
hom lot and land . 07 00
63 00
Joseph Smith one person .
18 00
4 horses 4 swine hom lot and land 18 06
36 06
John Sutliff 2 pr 36 00
3 hors 2 cows 3 2 yr one yr 22 00
meedow land . OI 16
59 16
Samuel Thomes one person . 18 00
two oxen one cow one hors . 14 00
32 00
Caleb Thomes (Thompson) one per-
son
. 18 00
John Ubson one per .
18 00
one hors one ox 4 as cows 19 00
one yr old 3 swine . 04 00
hom lot and land 03 12
44 12
Stephen Upson Sen one hors one
OX 2 COWS .
13 00
one I year hom lot and land . 5 02
18 02
Stphen upson Jun one per
18 00
3 hors 4 oxson 5 cows 2 on yr 42 00
hom lot and land .
07 00
67 00
Thomes Upson one person
18 00
two horses two oxen one swine 15 00
three cows one 2 ye I one year old I2 00
hom lot and land
06 00
51 00
Abraham auter (Utter) one person 18 00
2 cows 2 one yr 10 00
3 horses 3 one yr 12 00
5 swine hom lot and land
08 00
48 00
abraham warner one p
.
.
18 00
one half a hors OI IO
27 10
Beniamen Worner one person
.
18 00
two oxen two cows 3 hors 23 00
five Swine 05 00
hom lot and land 05 00
51 00
Ebenezeer Warner Sen one per- son
IS 00
one hors one cow three swin .
09 00
27 00
Ebnezeer Warner jr Son of Daniel one person
IS 00
three horse and half ·
IO IO
one cow & two yr old
.
05 00
33 IO
do ephrem warner one pr .
IS 00
one cow 2 hors 5 2 yr
19 00
one swine
OI 00
hom lot and land
3 06
41 06
Doc John Worner one person
.
IS 00
two hors one ox 2 yr old 2 swine 14 00
hom lot and land
04 12
36 12
John Warner Jun two person
.
36 00
two oxen two cows 4 swine
.
IS 00
two hors two 2 ye .
10 00
hom lot and land
.
02 16
66 16
Obadiah Warner one person
.
IS 00
two oxen 2 cows one hors
3
swine
20 00
hom lot and land
03 00
41 00
Samuel Worner Sr. Land
.
OI 00
one hors 2 COWS I two yr
·
II 00
12 00
THE NEW INHABITANTS.
309
Samuel warner Jun one p 18 00 ·
Richard Welton Sen 3 person 54 00
2 hors one ox 2 cows
.
16 00
two oxen 7 hors 3 cows . 38 00
one 2 yr 4 swine
06 00
4 two yr old 2 one year 5 swine 15 00
hom lot .
OI IO
hom lot and Land . 19 00
41 IO
126 00
gorg welton 2 per 36 00
richard welton jun one per 18 00
2 oxson 2 cows 3 hors 2 2 yr
2 hors 2 oxson 3 cows . 23 00
21 yr
29 00
one yr 2 swine 03 00
5 swine meadow land 05 18
hom lot and land 03 16
70 18
47 16
John Welton one person 18 00
Daniel Williams one person . 18 00
two oxen two cows
·
14 00
one hors ·
03 00
one year old one Horse . . 04 00
Hom Lott Meadow Land
04 00
James Williams
40 00
2 hors one cow land 09 16
The sum total of this list is £5024 15S.
[In May of 1731, was added to this list the sum of {214.]
JOHN SCOVILL,
JAMES PORTER,
Listers.
SAMUEL HICKCOX,
21 00
It contains the names of one hundred taxpayers who paid taxes for one hundred and twenty-five persons, while one hundred men held dominion over two hundred and twenty-seven horses, two hundred and forty-two cows, two hundred and fifty-nine young cattle, one hundred and sixty- six oxen, and one hundred and ninety-three swine-a very respectable exhibit for Waterbury in 1731-that town ranking as number forty-one of the forty-four towns of the colony in the amount of its tax-list-but three, Derby, New Milford, and Ashford, sending up to the General Assembly tax lists of less amounts.
Dwelling houses were not taxed, and it is not easy to estimate the number of them at this period. The custom existed of building houses on land not owned by the builder. We meet with instances of that practice continually during the early part of the eight- eenth century, and there is at least one mill and mill trench that was built before the land was made secure by deed. The pro- prietors forbade no man to build his house on the sequestered lands-accordingly, there has been found, even in the present cen- tury what may perhaps be called a survival of the ancient order of things; in any event it is noticeable that to the northward, on Burnt Hill, and in the East Woods a notable number of humble habitations have been constructed, whose owners have held no
3IO
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
title to the lands on which they lived, but whose presence has been tolerated by the land's owner, out of kindliness of heart.
In 1731, twenty-three new names appear on the tax-list, but this is not conclusive evidence that the men indicated were not " of Waterbury " at an earlier date. Upon it are the names of Daniel, Ebenezer, and " Jese " Blakeslee or " Blakslec," John Allcock, Caleb Clark, Jonathan Forbes, who was taxed for a faculty; John Guern- sey, Abraham "Hoges," Isaac Hopkins, Daniel How, James Hull, Robert Johnson, Ebenezer Kelsey, Nathaniel Merrill, Elnathan Taylor, Samuel Towner, and others of Waterbury; while Samuel Brown becomes in this year, Deacon Samuel Brown. These were, with few if any exceptions, young men and most of them married in Waterbury.
At the great town meeting in December of 1731 "it was voted to build a school house of twenty foot square on the Meeting House Green;" and to "give the Revd Mr. John Southmayd for his Sallery one Hundred pound" in money or provision pay at the market price-giving any man permission to make such agreement for his rate as would please Mr. Southmayd and himself. On Dec. 20, 1731, Mr. Southmayd " acquitted and discharged " the town from all rates for his labor among the people from the year 1699, to the year 1723. His pastoral relation to the people began in the former year, and his duties as town clerk a little earlier than the latter year, and no satisfactory explanation of the occasion for the above acquittance has been found. The "twenty-feet-square " school house may seem small, painfully small, for the children of Waterbury in 1731, but it must be remembered that it was not encumbered with desks or other modern appliances, and that it was occupied by the children living at the town center alone, while the meeting house, whose area was five times that of the school house was for the accommo- dation of the entire township.
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE NORTHWEST INHABITANTS PETITION FOR "WINTER PRIVILEGES " - WOOSTER -UP RIVER-HENRY COOK, THE FIRST INHABITANT OF PLYMOUTH - HIS GRANDSON, THE LAST SURVIVOR OF THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION-THE ATTITUDE OF THE TOWN TOWARD THE PEOPLE AT WOOSTER SWAMP - TOWARD THE PEOPLE AT TWITCH GRASS MEADOW.
I N May of 1732 the Second company or train band of Waterbury was formed, with Mr. Timothy Hopkins confirmed as its cap- tain, Mr. Thomas Bronson as its lieutenant, and Mr. Stephen Upson as its ensign. In May of 1728 Waterbury had, at her own intercession (because of the distance), been transferred from the County of Hartford to that of New Haven, and for twelve years the estates of persons deceased had been settled at the Probate Court in Woodbury. In 1732 twenty new names had been added to the list of inhabitants; Mr. Southmayd's salary had been raised to L100 money; the tax had been laid for finishing the galleries of the new meeting house; a new school house had been ordered and the timber for it gathered, and all things were moving along with seeming prosperity, when, in the autumn of the year, a darkness deep and portentous fell.
For the first time in all its history it is recorded that the town meeting was opened by prayer, and verily prayer was become more than ever a vital need, for thirty-two inhabitants to the northward of the Town Spot had sent a petition * to the General Assembly in which they told a thrilling story of the perils that attended the journey from their homes to the meeting house in wintry weather-not from savage foe, not from beast of the forest-but by reason of that "great river" which they called "Waterbury river." They declared that the way was "exceeding bad " and that the river was not passable during a great part of the winter and spring, and, in a subsequent petition, it was declared that the highway from present Plymouth and Thomaston to the meeting house crossed the river nine times, and the petitioners besought the Court that they might have liberty to hire a minister to preach the gospel to them during the months of December, January, Feb- ruary and March, and that their dues to Mr. Southmayd might
* This petition may be found in Dr. Bronson's History of Waterbury, p 254.
.
312
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
cease during those months. Eleven men, living within the de- scribed bounds, did not sign the petition. The answer was accord- ing to their wishes-for thirty - two men petitioned, and thirty families had long been deemed a sufficient number to support a minister. The liberty was granted for four years-from 1732 to 1736. The petition to the Court states that the town had refused the request for the above privilege, but our town records give no evidence that the request was ever made to the town. The only recognition of it was a special town meeting appointing the deputies for the town "to answer a memorial brought to the court by our northwest inhabitants."
It is impossible for us to realize what this blow was to the Town Spot. The men of 1732 knew perfectly well what lay before them- the little children of the distant villages could not be sent to the town school at the centre every day, and they had freely consented to a division of the school moneys-but, the minister's rates! Mr. Southmayd's dues ! How were they to be met? How we wish we could hear the words of the prayer at that town meeting in Decem- ber, 1732 ! Already there loomed up in vision ecclesiastical socie- ties to the north, south, east and west. All that was needed to gain the victory over the old town by her children up the river or down, was thirty families in any one direction who could support a min- ister. It became almost a matter of self-preservation, to prevent the repetition of a like catastrophe elsewhere.
The town meeting was a serious affair, and often a severe test of the manliness of its attendants. Certain laws for the guidance of town officers in the suppression of crime and all manner of evil doing were ordered to be read in every town at the annual meeting in De- cember. Men were not permitted to speak, except to ask permission of the moderator to address the meeting, and no business not ex- pressly stated in the warning could be brought before it for action. It will be remembered that Deacon Judd's dial post was to be the sign post in 1709, and in the same year a notice on the meeting house door was to be sufficient warning for men living at a distance- but later all notices were to be torn down from the meeting house door on the Lord's day, unless such notices related to marriage. The deep feeling of the people was expressed in the fact that but one man who had signed that petition was elected to office for the year 1733.
The earliest name applied to the region now occupied by Ply mouth and Thomaston was Up River, so named in 1688, because that here lay the up river division of meadow lands. Twitch Grass meadow was, for some reason, selected at a later day as a name for the same region, to distinguish the little hamlet there from their
313
EARLY NORTHBURY.
distant neighbors at "Woster" or "Woster Swamp." Taken collect- ively present Oakville, Watertown and Plymouth were in 1730 some- times called Woster, and sometimes "Our Northwest Inhabitants."
Thirty acres of the elevated ground or plain on which the vil- lage of Thomaston stands was the up river division of five men, each one of whom bore the name of John-John Stanley, John Warner, John Newell, John Scovill, and John Carrington. Samuel Stanley, a son of the above John, also had twelve acres laid out on the above plain. Twitch Grass meadow is the extensive meadow west of the river just below the village. The natural expanse of meadow just above Thomaston bridge is Abraham Andrew's meadow of 1688; a portion of it was Philip Judd's, but it was long known as Andrew's meadow. Just above Andrew's meadow, and near the central street to the bridge is a rocky ridge on which there is a " picnic grove." This ridge divides Andrew's meadow from Welton's up-river division. It was in Welton's meadow that the supposed first house in Plymouth was built.
Henry Cook is accredited as the first settler of Plymouth, Conn. He was the grandson of Henry Cook and Judith Birdsale who were married at Salem, Mass., in June of 1639, and he was the son of their eighth child, Henry, who was born in 1652. He was born at Wallingford in 1683, and is said to have lived at Branford, from whence he removed to Litchfield before 1727. We risk little in suggesting that he may have been one of the seven men of Bran- ford who were sent up from the Coast, under the command of a sergeant, for the protection of Litchfield in 1725, and that the new town proved so attractive to him that he removed thither. Pos- sibly Daniel Rose, from the same place, was also one of the seven, for we find Henry Cook of Litchfield and Daniel Rose of Branford, buying land as partners in Waterbury less than two years after the twenty-one men from Branford, Guilford and Wallingford marched (probably through Waterbury), on their way to the new town in the wilderness. That march doubtless inured to the benefit of both towns in more ways than were then dreamed of.
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