USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Fairfield > This is Fairfield, 1639-1940 > Part 3
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It chanced one day that Sassacus himself had cautiously left the swamp toward evening, for the purpose of gaining a supply of food; and had some- how found his way to the very spot where George Harwood had rescued Tahmore from death.
The girl was there now, seated upon a mossy stone, listening to the music of the wind as it played through the branches, or musing, perhaps, on the very circumstance which had made that a sacred one to her. There George Harwood had saved her life. There her soul had burst the bands of ignor- ance, and gradually freed itself from the deep dark- ness in which it had been enshrouded. There she had been first made acquainted with that Glorious Being, whose works she had often admired. Ah! she was in greater danger as she sat there now, though all unconscious of it, than when she stood awaiting the spring of the fierce beast, who was to tear her limb from limb! Now, as then, human eyes were gazing -now, as then, her beauty excited the energies of a strong nature-but unlike him who had there
seen her-and had proved her best friend-he who now stood spellbound to the spot, was to be her bitter enemy-and, for a short time at least, to dash from her hand the cup of joy-and leave but the bitterness of disappointment. It was Sassacus the Pequot Prince. In a moment, the fact that he had been defeated in battle, driven from his country; that he was now an cxile, compelled to hide himself in the recesses of a dismal swamp-all were forgotten. He thought of nothing; saw nothing but the beauty of the fairy creature before him. His prudence; his caution; the craftiness of his nature; seemed to desert him; so powerful was the impression which the sight of the loveliest flower of the Mohican na- tion wrought upon his stern and energetic soul. Whilst he stood; lost in admiration; he uttered an involuntary exclamation of surprise. Tahmore start- ed at the voice, and would have fled, but he sprang forward and caught her by the hand. He told her that the pale faces had burned his wigwam; and that his wife and children had all perished in the flames. And then he besought her to become his bride. And he who had scorned a treaty with the whites; who had disdained to stoop to the proudest chiefs around him; was now a humble suitor at the feet of a sim- ple girl. He sued in vain. Her heart was faithful to its trusts; and with a firm voice she replied.
"Tahmore must not listen to the voice of the great chief; she must not love him; she will be his friend; but she can never live with him in his tent."
"Sassacus is a king," answered the chief; "and the young fawn knows not what she does when she refuses to become his bride."
"Nay, nay," said the girl, with kindling eye, “it must not be; for Tahmore loves another."
"Hah! And who will dare to love the maiden that Sassacus has set his eye upon? Who shall stand be- fore the great chief when he is angry?" And the fierce savage clutched his knife, and glared around him, as if looking for some object on which to vent his rage. At that moment young Harwood-accom- panied by Onee-to and his dog, came in sight, and the terrified girl sprang into her lover's arms. Sas- sacus cast upon them one look of vengeance, and darted through the forest muttering revenge.
The next day Tahmore sat upon the Mortar Rock, pounding corn for the evening meal. Her merry voice rang upon the clear air-her soul was glad- her heart beat high with hope. The day had been fixed which was to bind her fate with that of the only one she had ever loved, and the anticipation of that happiness, the occurrence of the preceding day, and the threats of Sassacus were nearly forgotten. At that very moment, while no care oppressed her mind, those were near who would scruple not to ruin forever her happiness, and to blast her affec- tions ere yet they had fully blossomed.
Through the small bushes that covered the entire ridge except that part of the rock where Tahmore sat, crept the athletic form of a tawny savage; while two others stood guarding the only access to the summit of the rock. Silent was his progress. He seemed intent on reaching, unperceived, the spot where the unsuspecting girl still sat engaged in her employment. But at the moment, when he had
1 This story was written some years ago. Since then, this "Swamp" has been in great part cleared up.
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reached the edge of the brushwood-a large eagle came sailing majestically through the air, and as Tahmore turned her head to watch its flight, the form of Sassacus caught her eye-and at once re- vealed her danger. Resistance was in vain-to es- cape seemed impossible; and there appeared but one alternative-to fall into the power of her enemy; or die. It was almost needless to tell which she pre- ferred. With one bound she was at the edge of the precipice-the next moment she stood at its foot unharmed! The tall, thick grass at the base of the rock had preserved her from injury; and once more the frantic chief was cheated of his prey.
A week after the above occurrence, Tahmore was sitting in the door of her father's tent. Nearly all the warriors of her tribe were absent on a great hunting expedition, and were not expected to return for several days. Her eyes were strained anxiously toward the south; her betrothed had promised to visit her that day; it now lacked but one hour of sunset, and she had not yet seen him. She had placed herself there that she might catch the first glimpse of him emerging from the forest. She felt sad; some presentiment of evil shed its influence over her; and she sat in silence. The hour had passed, and yet he came not; the shades of evening began to thicken around, and still no tidings. But in his stead came one with a triumphant smile upon his haughty lips and in an exulting tone, once more demanded Tah- more as his bride; and when she returned the same answer as before; the certainty of revenge-the knowledge that he had it now in his power to bend that unyielding spirit, made him look like a wolf, while he stands parleying with the lamb; glutting his greedy eyes upon the tempting sight, as certain of feasting on his flesh, as if he had already had him in his ravenous jaws. The tall form of the chief drew up-and a cold malignant smile played upon his features as he said,
"The pale face whom Tahmore loves is my pris- oner! If ere tomorrow's sunset she yields not to my wishes, I will tear out his heart and roast it for my food! In the great swamp of the Sasco he is guarded by my trusty warriors. Let the maiden come here, and by consenting to be my bride, free the white man from my grasp-if not I have told her what I will do. Sassacus will sue no more!" And with that he disappeared as suddenly as he had made his en- trance.
About fifteen miles to the east of Uncoway, lay the army of the English, then commanded by Cap- tain Stoughten, of Massachusetts. About midnight, a light was seen approaching the encampment; and in reply to the challenge of the sentinel, a soft voice inquired for the commander; urging important in- telligence as a reason for seeing him at that untime- ly hour. She was admitted to his tent, and at once proceeded to inform him that the remnant of the tribe of Pequots was concealed in the Sasco Swamp; that they held a white man their prisoner; and if he was not released during the following day, that would be his last.
The next sunrise saw that army surrounding the marsh, which from that day has been called THE SWAMP OF THE PEQUOTS. All was silent as the
grave; and many a soldier began to wonder at the credulity of their commander in trusting to the tale of an unknown Indian girl. Not a Pequot was to be seen; but presently from a little eminence in the cen- ter of the swamp, a small, thin column of blue smoke curled upwards to the clouds. Half an hour-and, mingling with the roar of musketry, the clash of swords, and knives, and tomahawks, were heard the shouts of men, and the yells of savages, and the groans of the wounded and the dying. In the center of the conflict, freed and armed by a soldier, was George Harwood, fighting hand to hand with the Pequot King.
Few of the tribe survived that bloody day. Sas- sacus himself, with twenty of his most hardy men, escaped and fled to the country of the Mohawks, and perished by their treacherous hands, Such was the fate, and such the melancholy end of the last of the Pequots.
A few months since, as I was riding through a beautiful village in Connecticut, my eye rested upon a large and commodious mansion in its center. A group of children were sporting in the yard, and the striking resemblance which some of them bore to a countenance I well remembered, caused me to stop and inquire their name. It was Harwood. I immedi- ately dismounted, and was soon welcomed by my old friend George Harwood. We had formerly been very intimate-but he had never told me the history of his family. And as he related to me the incidents of the preceding narrative during the evening, I was no longer at a loss to account for the dark and pe- culiar shade of his complexion-his fiery eye-and the strong energy of his nature. I saw before me the descendants of the identical George Harwood of my story, and Tahmore the Indian girl; and easily could my imagination picture her beauty as I looked upon the rosy daughters of my friend. The next morning we visited the rock, only a few miles dis- tant, which forms an important feature in our tale. Her people had commemorated the noble deed of the heroic girl, who preserved her honor and her : happiness, and the happiness of her betrothed, by springing from its summit. The rude hieroglyphics which described the event are still visible, and most probably will be till the last son of Adam shall have mouldered back to dust.
Taken from-The Southport Chronicle. February 15, 1869.
Soldiers in the Pequot War of 1637 and 1638 who settled in Fairfield:
Roger Ludlowe Thomas Lyon
Dr. Thomas Pell Samuel Gregory
James Eggleston Thomas Basset
Nehemiah Olmstead John Wood
William Hayden
Richard Osborn (received "eighty acres of land for his good service")
There are many interesting facts about the Indians of our area which have been handed down by word of mouth and I feel that they too could be enjoyed right here.
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The Indians knew it was time to plant corn when the oak leaf was the size of a mouse's ear.
The Indians of this area depended a good bit on shell fish for food as hunting was more un- certain.
In the spring they counted on the runs of shad and lamprey eels.
The Indians generally hunted alone-each seeking food for his own family. Each tribe knew their territorial bounds and those limits were carefully observed by all when hunting.
Succotash, which we enjoy today-a mixture of corn and lima beans which the Indians boiled in their earthen pots and often seasoned with fish (sometimes dried, sometimes fresh) is the most famous Indian dish which has been handed down to us.
The Indians would run up to one hundred miles a day to keep fit.
They had coarse hair and a good set of white teeth.
There were between fifteen and twenty thou- sand Indians in all Connecticut and of these, perhaps three or four thousand were warriors.
When the tribe travelled, the women carried the children and provisions.
Canoes were the main means of transportation.
The men's clothing for winter was made of skins and in the summer they wore only a loin cloth. The women wore sort of a wrap around type skirt of cloth and this was generally decor- ated with paint.
Indian pudding, a traditional Thanksgiving dinner dessert for many of us, has come down from the early peoples of Fairfield. This is a baked mixture of corn meal, molasses, eggs and milk.
The ministers reported from time to time of their work among the Indians in endeavoring to Christianize them. Badges were ordered to be worn at one point by the friendly Indians.
There are a few local stories about Indians which bear repeating.
Mrs. Lottie Burr told a very interesting story about the Indians up in Devils Den. Mrs. Burr lived with her family on Black Rock Tunrpike just above where the Blue Bird Inn is now-the fourth house above. In back of their house was a heavily wooded area. In the early spring her father and grandfather went into the woods to make charcoal. At a particular spot in the woods they had a stone fireplace and a log cabin. It
was there that they brought the large chestnut logs to make into charcoal. They would stand them on end and then let the wood smolder. They had to watch the logs carefully to keep them from burning up. There was always a pile of dirt close by to throw on the smoldering logs in case they broke into flames.
It seems that one day when they went out to cut logs, Mrs. Burr's father noticed a chip out of several trees. It was really a small ax mark. Upon looking at the other trees around, he no- ticed another mark just like it, and then another, and another. He, together with her grandfather decided to follow them, for they soon realized it was a trail. They went into the woods a good three miles and there found under a rock ledge, a family of three Indians living in a tent with the ledge providing much shelter-the floor was made of piles of straw. The family consisted of a man, his wife and a son. The woman could write and speak English.
The Indian woman told the two men that she wished she had some books for the boy so that he could learn to read. When they returned to their own home and related the story of their trip into the woods, Mrs. Burr, who was then six years old (1878) took her only three linen ABC books and went with her Grandfather into the woods to give the books to the Indians. To thank Mrs. Burr for her kindness, the little boy stood on his head and turned somersaults for her en- tertainment.
Sometime later, one night after dark, there was a knock at the door at Mrs. Burr's home. When her mother went to the door, sixteen Indians stood there-men, women and children. The family of three whom they had found in the woods were among them. Mrs. Burr remembers that the Chief's head dress of feathers went around his head and all the way down to the ground. They wanted food and asked permission to spend the night in the barn. Mrs. Burr's mother had just taken six loaves of bread out of the oven and gave the Indians five of them. Her father had been clamming the day before and gave them a peck of clams and a kettle. The Indians cooked the clams and ate the bread and then went to the barn to sleep. The mother of the Indian boy who wanted the books earlier, spoke for the group and they promised not to smoke in the barn which, of course, was still full of hay. Mrs. Burr's father was worried about fire. Early the next morning, her father went to the barn to see if all was well. He found the hay-
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strewn-lair empty. The Indians had rested and gone back to their woodland early-no one hav- ing seen or heard them when they went.
Mrs. Burr also remembers one Indian by the name of George coming to their house during the summers, looking for work at weeding the garden. The Indians also came to the door sell- ing baskets. They made a special work basket for her one time and attached to it a little one for her thimble. They also made a bow and ar- row for her when she was a little girl. The Indians made a square basket-like tray, upon which her Grandmother dried her yeast.
Mrs. Helen Pease Van Valkenburg said that an Indian woman and her son lived in a wig- wam near the front lawn of her grandparents home on Congress Street as late as 1830 and she still has a little basket which the Indian made for her grandmother, Mrs. Rufus Jennings. Win- ters, they lived in a little low shed-like building further back on the property. The little boy would come to the window and call to her grand- father "Ruffie, Ruffie, come out."
It is interesting when one realizes how valu- able the chestnut trees were to the Indians and early people. For not only did this kind of tree make good charcoal but the Indians also used a chestnut log for their dugout canoes. These canoes would hold about fifty people.
The bark of the chestnut tree was used to make the Indians basket-like wigwam. These domed shaped wigwams were made by taking poles of hickory, bending them, sticking both ends in the ground and then covering them with chestnut bark. Mats covered the inner walls. Generally two families lived in these wigwams which would be about 16 feet in diameter.
The lands of the Pequonnock Indians reserved at Golden Hill in Stratfield had for some years been a matter of dispute between the descend- ants who were currently living there and the Eng- lish. In 1763 the Indians petitioned the General Assembly requesting that their lands be restored to them. A committee was appointed by the as- sembly to investigate the situation. Their peti-
tion: "One Tom Sherman, his wife Eunice Sharon, Indian natives of Pequonnock, repre- sented that they, together with many other Indians long since dead or dispersed into other places, were lawfully seized of about eighty acres of land at a place called Golden Hill in said Pequonnock; that they had many years en- joyed the same till some few years past, when said lands were all, except about six acres there- of, taken from them, and they thereof unjustly dissiezed by Gamaliel French and sundry others; and that in August 1763, one Richard Hall had unjustly seized the remaining six acres to their grievous wrong and injury. They therefore pray the Assembly to grant them a restoration of their lands".
In 1768 Daniel Morris was appointed guard- ian of these Indians. He had to report each year in June to the Probate Court an account of the use, profit and improvement made on the Golden Hill Reservation as well as to show records of any disbursements made to the Indians by him. Parts of some of the early deeds mention those first people of Fairfield.
It is interesting to note that on February 26, 1641 "the Indians of Norwalke are persuaded by largess of eighty fathom of wampum, to- bacco, looking glasses and jews harps-to con- vey to Mst Roger Ludlowe of Fairfield the terri- tory extending from the middle of the Norwalke River to the middle of the Saugatuck River and from the sea a day's walk in the country".
Indian deeds Sept. 11, 1660
Romanock of Aspetuck to his 'Daughter Praske called by the English Ann. "One parcel of land commonly called by the name Aspetock".
May 1, 1667
Crocreecrow to Nathaniel Seely. The "botome of Aspetuck Neck" between the Saugatuck and the Aspetuck about three quarters of a mile in depth.
There are undoubtedly many other tales which have been missed. It would be a delight to have them recorded e'er they are lost forever.
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CHAPTER 2
1639-1660
Roger Ludlowe,1 the father of Connecticut jurisprudence who had come to America with George Hull on May 30, 1630 and who had accompanied the victorious force in the Swamp Fight in 1637, had been very impressed by the
1 Roger Ludlowe, the second son of Thomas Ludlowe of Den- ton, Wiltshire was baptized if not born on March 7, 1590. He matriculated at Oxford from Boliol College in June 1610 but did not graduate. He became a student at the Inner Temple in 1612. The following years found him studying and practising law and within these years he acquired a professional experi- ence which equipped him better than any other person who came to the new land at his time. Ludlowe set sail from Ply- mouth England on the 20th of March, 1630, as a member of the Dorchester Company in the ship "Mary and John". For five years he worked hard for the Massachusetts Colony and earned the right to be called Chief which the Bible awards to those who serve. The strong bent of his spirits to move about brought him to Connecticut where he settled in Windsor. On the Com- mission given by the General Court of Massachusetts to the eight men who were empowered to govern themselves at the new settlement in Connecticut, Roger Ludlowe's name appeared first on the list and Andrew Warde's last. That group of eight was to serve as Legislature and Executive for the new colony. Ludlowe continued to act as chief executive. This was the group that declared the Pequot War.
His name headed the list of magistrates who held the various courts on the River. When the Eleven Fundamental Orders of Connecticut were written, Roger Ludlowe was the artificer of their form. The language used was undoubtedly his and the principles involved were certainly his standards. On April 11, 1639, he was elected Deputy Governor. In 1643 the Colony chose him to review "the Souldears of the towns uppon the sea coast". In 1644, '45, '46, '47, '48, '49, '50, '51, '52 and '53 he was reelected Magistrate. In 1650 the General Court adopted a body of laws which ever since has carried his name as "Lud- lowe's Code". Most of its articles are today embodied in our State's general legislation.
He served as the Commissioner from Connecticut to the United Colonies of New England (a federation) in 1648, and '51-'53 and when the peril from the Dutch was believed to have become imminent and the federated colonies seemed to act tardily, Fairfield in the fall of 1653 declared war all by herself and appointed Roger Ludlowe Commander in Chief of her forces. He proceeded at once to enlist these forces and have them drill. This made him very unpopular.
His first homelot, a tract of two acres on what is now Elliot Street was near the homelot of Andrew Warde on the same street. That lot was deeded in 1654 to Daniel Finch and At- torney Alexander Briant who in turn on the next day deeded it to Nathan Gold. That year marked the removal of Ludlowe from Fairfield. Ludlowe was too efficient to be round cornered, too energetic to be companionable, too direct to be diplomatic, too self-reliant and outspoken to be popular. He was a wilder- ness subduer and a foundation builder, not a social favorite. He returned to England about September 1654 where he im- mediately was chosen for one post of responsibility after another.
By the time Ludlowe withidrew from the settlement, people who were to carry the responsibility of Fairfield's history had been assigned land and were well established in this land of faire fields and rich meadows.
general beauty and richness of the land, near and about the area where the Pequots had finally been subdued. It was at the time of this conflict that he considered the idea that he might one day return there and start a settlement or a plantation as the records choose to call it.
In September 1639, when he was forty-nine years old, this dream became a partial reality for the "General Corte holden att Newton" (Hartford) gave him permission to settle at "Pequonnocke"-a district which started at the Pequonnock River and extended westerly prob- ably as far as Ash Creek. As the little band moved along to Quinnipiocke (New Haven), several of their cattle were lost, but they failed to lose courage and continued on. As he reached the assigned spot of "Pequonnocke" he still pictured Uncoway. Thus together with his little group of adventurers and their remaining cattle, he "transgressed" his commission and moved on further west to his more favored Uncoway. John Green, Edward Jessup, Thomas Newton, Thomas Staples and Edmund Strickland made up his group of settlers, in part, if not in its entirety.
While Ludlowe was busy with his new settle- ment, the General Court continued to meet and he missed two sessions. He was fined five shil- lings for not being present at the second session. When the Court met again on October 3, he had to explain to the court that he had established his plantation at Uncoway rather than at Pe- quonnocke-he related that "att his coming to the Pequonnocke, he found cause to alter his former thoughts of wintering there" and finding that undesirable persons were planning to "take up a Plantation beyond-he adventured to drive his cattle thither-and to set out himself and some others, house lotts to build on there-and submits whether he had transgressed the Com- mission or not". After Roger Ludlowe's apology to the Court, they appointed Governor Haynes and Governor Wells to visit Uncoway and to
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investigate. At a later date the investigators re- ported back that they had "thought fitt-to con- firme" Mr. Ludlowe's acts at Uncoway and in April, 1640 Mr. Ludlowe, Mr. Haynes and Mr. Wells were chosen "to settle the bounds between Pequonnocke and Uncowaye" and to "tender the oath of Fidelity to the Inhabitants of the said Townes".
It was further stated that such were to be made free as they saw fit and the Town was ordered to send two deputies to the General Courts in April and September. For all law suits under forty shillings the townspeople were to hold court among themselves in Fairfield and to choose seven men among them with liberty to appeal to the General Court. Sergeant Nichols was appointed to train and exercise the men in military discipline.
In June of that same year, Ludlowe was or- dered to "set the bounds betwixt the Plantation of Cuphege (now Stratford) and Uncowaye".
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