USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > New Haven > Thirteen historical discourses, on the completion of two hundred years : from the beginning of the First Church in New Haven, with an appendix > Part 28
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temptation to refuse, or else to think of removing, which he desired they would not put him to, but that it might be forborne. Which be- ing put to vote, it was yet determined to proceed to a present choice. But Lieutenant Nash earnestly pressing them to forbear, appealing to God who knew the uprightness of his heart in what he had said, it was respited till another time. Whereupon Lieutenant Nash thanked the town for sparing him at this time, and said, if God shall persuade his heart of his call to this work, he shall be willing to do the town service." Ultimately, I believe, but not till more than a year afterwards, the. Lieutenant became convinced of the genuine- ness of his call to be Captain. In 1672, he was chosen one of the Assistants of Connecticut. (Trumbull, I, 322.) See p. 160.
MATTHEW GILBERT, who was one of the " seven pillars," and who in connection with Robert Newman, was chosen one of the first deacons of the Church, appears to have resigned the deacon's office in 1658, if not earlier, for in that year he was chosen one of the Magistrates, and about the same time, the ordination of Brother Peck and Brother Miles to the deacon's office, was entered in the Church Records. In 1661, after the death of Gov. Newman, Mr. Gilbert was chosen deputy governor. Three years afterwards, he was superseded in that office by Gov. Jones, and was again elected Magistrate. This was the last year of the independent jurisdiction of New Haven Colony. He died in 1680; and it is probably his grave, with the initials M. G., which is pointed out as the grave of Goffe the Regicide.
ROBERT NEWMAN, first deacon, and afterwards ruling elder, is mentioned with some particulars on p. 20. FRANCIS NEWMAN, to whose minute accuracy as Secretary, afterwards imitated by Gib- bard and Bishop, we are indebted for almost all our knowledge of the early times of New Haven, is commemorated on pages 114, 115. Robert Newman appears to have returned to London after 1651, and sometime before 1657. See p. 157.
The reader will naturally inquire after the " seven pillars." Of the first four, Eaton, Davenport, Newman, and Gilbert, he is already sufficiently informed. The remaining three were less distinguished.
THOMAS FUGILL was the first Secretary, with the title of " public notary." The records made by him are a wonder for the beauty of
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the penmanship ; but they are far less satisfactory than those made by his successors, particularly after Francis Newman came into that office. In the year 1645, he fell under censure for having made an incorrect record for his own advantage. He was very sternly dealt with, turned out of his office, and excommunicated from the Church. Soon afterwards he returned, it is believed, to London.
Of JOHN PUNDERSON, little appears upon the records. His de- scendants have been numerous and respectable. His son John, and his grandson John, were deacons of the Church of which he was one of the founders. He died February 11, 1680.
JEREMIAH DIXON, (in the records his name is written Jeremy, ) left New Haven at an early period ; and I have as yet been unable to trace him. It does not appear that he returned to England ; yet his removal was probably to a distance.
In selecting the seven pillars it seems to have been intended to have all orders and ranks in the community fairly represented. Fu- gill and Punderson were men of small estates. Dixon was an un- married man.
Master EZEKIEL CHEEVER, (or CHEEVERS,) was the father of New England schoolmasters. He died in August, 1708, having probably outlived all who with him were the founders of the New Haven Church. His funeral sermon was preached by Cotton Mather, and published with a " Historical Introduction," and a poetical " Essay" on his memory. Some extracts from the work are given in II, Mass. Hist. Coll. VII, 130, as supplementary to a brief account of Cheever gathered out of the town records, by the late Col. Lyon.
Mather says, in his "Historical Introduction," " He was born in London many years before the birth of New England. It was Jan- uary 25th, 1614 (i. e. 16}}.) He arrived in this country in June, 1637, with the rest of those good men, who sought a peaceable secession in an American wilderness, for the pure evangelical and instituted worship of our great Redeemer, to which he kept a strict adherence all his days. He then sojourned first, a little while, part of a year, at Boston ; so that at Boston he both commenced and conclu- ded his American race. His holy life was a married life. He died in Boston, August 21st, 1708, in the ninety-fourth year of his age ; after he had been a skilful, painful, faithful schoolmaster for seventy years ; and had the singular favor of Heaven, that though he had usefully spent his life among children, yet he had not become twice a
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child, but held his abilities, with his usefulness, in an unusual degree, to the very last."
In the Sermon, Dr. Mather says, "It was noted, that when schol- ars came to be admitted into the College, they who came from the Cheeverian education, were generally the most unexceptionable. He flourished so long in the great work of bringing our sons to be men, that it gave him an opportunity to send forth many Bezaleels and Aholiabs for the service of the tabernacle, and men fitted for all good employments. He that was my master seven and thirty years ago, was a master to many of my betters no less than seventy years ago ; so long ago, that I must even mention my father's tutor for one of them."
Particular notice is taken of "his piety, and his care to infuse documents of piety into the scholars under his charge, that he might carry them with him to the heavenly world. He so constantly prayed with us every day, and catechized us every week, and let fall such holy counsels upon us ; he took so many occasions to make speeches to us, that should make us afraid of sin, and of incurring the fearful judgments of God by sin,-that I do propose him for imitation."
Having shown what his "master was in the school," he adds, "Out of the school, he was one, antiqua fide, priscis moribus; a Christian of the old fashion ; an OLD NEW ENGLAND CHRISTIAN ; and I may tell you, that was as venerable a sight as the world, since the days of primitive Christianity, has ever looked upon. He was well studied in the body of divinity ; an able defender of the faith and order of the gospel; notably conversant and acquainted with the scriptural prophecies.
" He lived as a master the term which has been, for above three thousand years, assigned for the life of man; he continued to the ninety-fourth year of his age,-his intellectual force as little abated as his natural."
Col. Lyon says, in his brief Note on Ezekiel Cheever, " I am igno- rant whether he came from England with Governor Eaton, in 1637, or joined him at Boston ; but he came to New Haven with him. His name appears in the Plantation Covenant, signed in Newman's barn, June 4, 1639. Although a poor man, he must have been of considerable estimation, as he signed among their principal men. Every thing was done with much formality at that time. By their doomsday-book, I find his family consisted of himself and wife only. She died in 1649. His estate was set at &£20, and a few acres of
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wild land beside. He taught school, and sometimes conducted pub- lic worship. It is probable that he wrote his ACCIDENCE at New Haven. In 1644, his salary was raised to ££30 per annum ; for three years before, he had received but £20 per annum.
"I suppose he left this town about the year 1650, (his name does not appear on the records after that,) and spent the remainder of his long life in the Bay State. In Cambridge catalogue, I see that Thomas Cheever was graduated in 1677 ; perhaps a son of Ezekiel, by a second wife."
What Col. Lyon calls the "doomsday-book" of the New Haven planters may be seen in Barber's Hist. and Antiq. of New Haven, p. 38. Ezekiel Cheever's family, instead of being set down there as " consisting of himself and his wife only," included three persons as early as the uncertain date of that document, probably 1638. If Col. Lyon had consulted the baptismal record, he would have seen that Ezekiel had a numerous family without a " second wife." The second baptism in the record, is that of "Samuel Cheevers, the son of Ezekiel Cheevers," "the 17th of the 9th month," 1639. Mary his daughter was baptized 29th of Nov. 1640. His son Ezekiel was baptized the 12th of June, 1642. Another daughter, Elizabeth, was baptized the 6th of April, 1645. " Sarah Cheever," probably another daughter of his, was baptized 21st September, 1646. “Hannah Cheever," 25th of June, 1648.
Pres. Stiles in his Literary Diary, 25th April, 1772, mentions seeing " the Rev. and aged Mr. Samuel Maxwell of Warren," R. I., and adds, "He told me he well knew the famous Grammar school- master, Mr. Ezekier Cheever of Boston, author of the Accidence ; that he wore a long, white beard, terminating in a point ; that when he stroked his beard to the point, it was a sign to the boys to stand clear." "In Mr. Maxwell, I have seen a man who had been ac- quainted with one of the original and first settlers of New England. Now a rarity !"
Afterwards, in 1774, July 14th, Dr. Stiles mentions reading Dr. Mather's sermon on the death of Cheever ; and having noted down several dates from the sermon, he adds, "He was a pious and learned divine as well as preceptor. He wore his beard to the day of his death. He very much formed and established the New England pronunciation of Latin and Greek. He printed an English Acci- dence, still in use. The hair of his head and beard were white as snow. 'He died, leaning like old Jacob upon a staff; the sacrifice
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and the righteousness of a glorious Christ, he let us know, was the staff which he leaned upon.' I have seen those who knew the ven- erable saint, particularly Rev. John Barnard of Marblehead, who was fitted for college by Mr. Cheever, and entered 1698. It is said that if he stroked his beard upon his boys doing ill, it was a certain sign of severity."
Besides his Accidence, Cheever published a book on the millen- nium. Allen, Biog. Dict.
The following petition, copied from the Hutchinson papers in the library of the Massachusetts Historical Society, is published in "Prize Book, No. IV, of the Public Latin School in Boston," 1823.
" To his Excellency, Sir Edmund Andross, Knight, Governor and Captain General of his Majesty's territories and dominions in New England.
" The humble petition of Ezekiel Cheever of Boston, schoolmas- ter, sheweth that your poor petitioner hath near fifty years been em- ployed in the work and office of a public Grammar-schoolmaster in several places in this country. With what acceptance and success, I submit to the judgment of those that are able to testify. Now see- ing God is pleased mercifully yet to continue my wonted abilities of mind, health of body, vivacity of spirit, delight in my work, which alone I am any way fit for and capable of, and whereby I have my outward subsistence,-I most humbly entreat your Excellency, that according to your former kindness so often manifested, I may by your Excellency's favor, allowance and encouragement, still be con- tinued in my present place. And whereas there is due to me about fifty-five pounds for my labors past, and the former way of that part of my maintenance is thought good to be altered,-I with all sub- mission beseech your Excellency, that you would be pleased to give order for my due satisfaction, the want of which would fall heavy upon me in my old age, and my children also, who are otherwise poor enough. And your poor petitioner shall ever pray, &c.
" Your Excellency's most humble servant, " EZEKIEL CHEEVER."
At New Haven, Ezekiel Cheever was not so confined to his du- ties in the school as to be excluded from other honorable employ- ments. In October, 1646, he was one of the deputies from New Haven to the General Court for the jurisdiction. He was also a
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preacher ; for I find that in May, 1647, among other " gross miscar- riages" charged upon one "Richard Smoolt, servant to Mrs. Tur- ner," for the aggregate of which he was " severely whipped,"-was his "scoffing at the word of God which was preached by Mr. Cheevers."
I have not seen Mather's sermon on the death of Mr. Cheever. Of the two specimens that follow from the poetical " Essay," I find the first in Allen, and the last in the notice published among the Historical Collections.
" A mighty tribe of well instructed youth Tell what they owe to him, and tell with truth. All the eight parts of speech, he taught to them, They now employ to trumpet his esteem. Magister pleas'd them well because 'twas he ; They say that bonus did with it agree. While they said amo, they the hint improve Him for to make the object of their love. No concord so inviolate they knew As to pay honors to their master due. With interjections they break off at last, But ah is all they use, wo, and alas !" * *
" He lived and to vast age no illness knew ; Till Time's scythe, waiting for him, rusty grew. He lived and wrought ; his labors were immense ; But ne'er declined to preterperfect tense."
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No. VI.
JOHN WINTHROP, OF CONNECTICUT.
I ASK pardon, not of the reader, but of the author, for transferring to these pages Mr. Bancroft's admirable picture of the younger Win- throp.
" In the younger Winthrop, the qualities of human excellence were mingled in such happy proportions, that, while he always wore an air of contentment, no enterprise in which he engaged seemed too lofty for his powers. Even as a child, he had been the pride of his father's house ; he had received the best instruction which Cam- bridge and Dublin could afford ; and had perfected his education by visiting, in part at least, in the public service, not Holland and France only, in the days of Prince Maurice and Richelieu, but Ven- ice and Constantinople. From boyhood his manners had been spot- less ; and the purity of his soul added luster and beauty to the gifts of nature and industry ; as he traveled through Europe, he sought the society of men eminent for learning. Returning to England in the bloom of life, with every promise of preferment which genius, gentleness of temper, and influence at court, could inspire, he pre- ferred to follow his father to the new world; regarding 'diversities of countries but as so many inns,' alike conducting to 'the jour- ney's end.' When his father, the father of Massachusetts, became impoverished by his expenses in planting the colony, the pious son, unsolicited and without recompense, relinquished his large inherit- ance, that 'it might be spent in furthering the great work' in Mas- sachusetts; himself, single-handed and without wealth, engaging in the enterprise of planting Connecticut. Care for posterity seemed the motive to his actions. His vast and elevated mind had, more- over, that largeness, that he respected learning, and virtue, and ge- nius, in whatever sect they might be found. No narrow bigotry lim- ited his affections or his esteem ; and when Quakers had become the objects of persecution, he was earnest and unremitting in argument and entreaty, to prevent the effusion of blood. Master over his own mind, he never regretted the brilliant prospects he had resigned, nor complained of the comparative solitude of New London ; a large li- brary furnished employment to his mind; the study of nature, accor- ding to the principles of the philosophy of Bacon, was his delight ; for ' he had a gift in understanding and art ;' and his home was endeared
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by a happy marriage, and ' many sweet children.' His knowledge of human nature was as remarkable as his virtues. He never attempted impracticable things ; but, understanding the springs of action, and the principles that control affairs, he calmly and noiselessly succeeded in all that he undertook. The new world was full of his praises ; Puritans, and Quakers, and the freemen of Rhode Island, were alike his eulogists ; the Dutch at New York, not less than all New Eng- land, had confidence in his integrity ; Clarendon and Milton, New- ton and Robert Boyle, became his correspondents. If he had faults, they are forgotten. In history he appears, by unanimous testimony, from early life, without a blemish; and it is the beautiful testimony of his own father, that 'God gave him favor in the eyes of all with whom he had to do.' In his interview with Charles II., there is rea- son to believe, he was able to inspire that naturally benevolent mon- arch with curiosity ; perhaps he amused him with accounts of In- dian warfare, and descriptions of the marvels of a virgin world. A favorable recollection of Charles I., who had been a friend to his father's father, and who gave to his family an hereditary claim on the Stuarts, was effectually revived. His personal merits, sympathy for his family, his exertions, the petition of the colony, and, as I be- lieve, the real good will of Clarendon,-for we must not reject all faith in generous feeling,-easily prevailed to obtain for Connecti- cut an ample patent. The courtiers of King Charles, who themselves had an eye to possessions in America, suggested no limitations ; and perhaps it was believed, that Connecticut would serve to bal- ance the power of Massachusetts.
"The charter, disregarding the hesitancy of New Haven, the rights of the colony of New Belgium, and the claims of Spain on the Pacific, connected New Haven with Hartford in one colony, of which the limits were extended from the Narragansett River to the Pacific Ocean. How strange is the connection of events ! Win- throp not only secured to his state a peaceful century of colonial ex- istence, but prepared the claim for western lands. Under his wise direction, the careless benevolence of Charles II. provided in ad- vance the school fund of Connecticut.
" With regard to powers of government, the charter was still more extraordinary. It conferred on the colonists unqualified power to govern themselves. They were allowed to elect all their own offi- cers, to enact their own laws, to administer justice without appeals to England, to inflict punishments, to confer pardons, and in a word, to exercise every power, deliberative and active. The king, far
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from reserving a negative on the acts of the colony, did not even re- quire that the laws should be transmitted for his inspection ; and no provision was made for the interference of the English government in any event whatever. Connecticut was independent except in name. Charles II. and Clarendon thought they had created a close corporation, and they had really sanctioned a democracy. To the younger Winthrop, probably because he had preserved a loyal spirit in Connecticut, Charles II. had written, 'the world shall take no- tice of the sense I have of your kindness, and how great an instru- ment you have been in promoting the happiness of your country ;' and the disinterested man asked favors only for the community of which he was a member.
" After his successful negotiations, and efficient concert in found- ing the Royal Society, Winthrop returned to America, bringing with him a name which England honored, and which his country should never forget, and resumed his tranquil life in rural retirement. The amalgamation of the two colonies could not be effected without col- lision ; and New Haven had been unwilling to merge itself in the larger colony ; the wise moderation of Winthrop was able to recon- cile the jarrings, and blend the interests of the united colonies. The universal approbation of Connecticut followed him throughout all the remainder of his life; for twice seven years he continued to be annually elected to the office of her chief magistrate."
Governor Winthrop's first and principal residence in Connecticut, was at Pequot, afterwards called New London. Great efforts were made by Mr. Davenport and Gov. Eaton, to induce him to fix his residence in New Haven. In October, 1654, the General Court of the colony requested the Governor to write to Mr. Winthrop in the name of the Court, " inviting him to come and live at New Haven if he do remove from Pequot." For a year or more, soon afterwards, he resided here, in the house which had been Capt. Malbon's, on the west side of State street, near where it is now intersected by Court street. The town bought that house for his accommodation, offering it to him as a gratuity. He refused to come under any such obliga- tion as would be imposed by his acceptance of such a gift. Ac- cordingly he bought of the town the house and lot, "with all the ac- commodations belonging thereto,"* for ££100, to be paid according to the tenor of the following engagement.
As illustrating the value of real estate in New Haven at that time, it is worth while to observe how much was sold for £100. The house was one of the best in the town, distinguished as it was for " fair and stately houses."
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" These are to testify that I do owe and am indebted to the towns- men of New Haven, selected by the said town for the carrying on the prudential affairs of the same, the full sum of one hundred pounds for the house wherein I now live with the lands to it, to be paid in goats, the one half at any time between this or October next, upon Fisher's Island, whensoever they shall send a vessel to demand and carry away the same, and the other half the next summer at the same place, when they shall likewise send a vessel to demand and fetch them away, any time before that winter, to be delivered by my servants there. Witness my hand : July 7th, 1657.
" JOHN WINTHROP.
" Witness, FRANCIS NEWMAN."
Mr. Winthrop appears not have resided here longer than two years. The house was bought back by the town in 1659; and the use of it was given to Gov. Newman for his lifetime, and that of his wife if she should survive him.
One reason for the great zeal of the town to induce Mr. Winthrop to reside here, was his medical knowledge and skill. See Prof. Knight's Introductory Lecture; which contains the history of the medical profession in New Haven .*
The lot extended in front about fourteen rods, as measured on Col. Lyon's map, and in depth half way to Church street. Beside the house and lot, there was the housing upon it," (which must have included stable, &c.,) and " all the accommodations belonging thereunto, which in the book where men's accommodations are entered, appear to be thirty five acres of the first division within the two miles, and six and twenty rods; thirty four acres of meadow, and a half; one hundred and seventy eight acres of the second divi- sion ; and twenty acres and a quarter, sixteen rods, in the Neck."
* Mr. Thomas Pell, who in Dr. Knight's Lecture is mentioned as probably a physician, and as going away in 1650, was surgeon to the Saybrook Fort, under Lyon Gardner, in 1636, and was sent in that capacity with Capt. Un- derhill to the Pequot war in 1637. (III, Mass. Hist. Coll. III, 149.) His first appearance on the New Haven records is in Sept. 1642 ; but it is doubt- ful whether he was at that time residing here. His name is not among the freemen or the planters, or among those who took the oath of fidelity to the jurisdiction. In 1647, he appears again, and soon after married the widow of Francis Brewster, a lady who was rather an untoward subject of the juris- diction. After considerable difficulty about the payment of a fine which had been imposed upon his wife before the marriage, and for which the court held him responsible after the marriage, he was called upon to take the oath of fidelity, which he refused to do. His going away was a few months after- wards. He seems to have removed from this place to Fairfield. His wife and her daughters were witnesses in the case of Staplies against Ludlow. See Kingsley, 101.
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No. VII.
EDWARD TENCHI'S WILL AND INVENTORY.
THE records in the Probate office begin in the year 1647. But in the town clerk's office I find a solitary record of a will and invento- ry, dated-before New Haven had an English name-in Feb. 1639- 40. The manner and provisions of the will, as well as its being probably the first will ever written in New Haven, make it worth publishing. I subjoin to the will, the first part of the inventory, which exhibits the titles of all the books which made up the library of one of the planters of New Haven.
The record is somewhat mutilated by time. The reader will see that the hiatus is filled up with such words as seem to be demanded by the context.
"I, Edward Tench, planter in Quinnypiocke, being at present weak in body, but of perfect memory, and having my dear wife, Sa- rah Tench, lying in the house with me, dangerously sick, and near to death by a consumption, so that in the judgment of man, she draweth near her change; do make and ordain this my last will and testament, in manner and form following. First, I commit my spirit, &c .- and my body to be buried in a comely and decent man- ner, according to the course of this place ;- and my debts first paid, funeral expenses discharged, and certain small legacies, part of which are given by my wife, and by me now confirmed, and part by myself now added, all contained in a note and schedule hereunto annexed, I give and bequeath to my forenamed dear wife, the one half of the remainder of my whole estate, whether it be here or in old England, if God please to recover her and preserve her life. The other half of my estate, I give and bequeath to my only son, Nathaniel Tench, now about five years of age, desiring my said wife, to whom I commit him, if God spares her life, to be careful in his education, and to improve his portion for him, till he attain the full age of one and twenty years. But if it shall please God, by death, to take away my dear wife before me, it is my will and mind, and I freely give and bequeath to my forenamed son, Nathaniel Tench, my whole estate; my debts and former legacies being first paid, and funerals discharged ; and of this my last Will and Testa-
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