USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Fairfield > This is Fairfield, 1639-1940 > Part 4
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Those first families had come from Windsor. Another company came from Watertown and in 1644 a third group consisting of 16 families joined the earlier ones, coming from Concord. The latter group brought with them a minister, a Mr. Jones who had come from England. The first adventurers purchased a large tract of land from the Indians. Uncoway at that time was comprised of present day Fairfield, Greens Farms, Redding, Weston and the western sec- tion of Bridgeport. It extended from the bounds of Stratford to the western limits of the Sasqua Indians.
Uncoway was laid out in Four Squares with twenty-five or thirty acres included in each. There were five wide streets laid out as well- two running northeast and southwest and three running northwest and southeast all the way to the sound.
Fairfield has been organized from the very start. One Square contained the parsonage land for the use of the minister, another was for the Meeting House, the Court House and the School House, another was for a military or public park and a place for the burying ground, and the fourth one for the founder of the town. Large buttonball trees surrounded the Squares.
The winter of 1639 was rather uneventful and with the coming of Spring in 1640 the new colonists looked forward to their rewards of abundant crops from the rich virgin soil. The first town house was built and served a tri- purpose-town house, school house and meeting
house. It continued as a town house and school house until 1693.
Every effort was made to use the land well. Rules and regulations were established, It was made necessary for each family to plant one teaspoon of English hemp seed. Each family had to raise at least half a pound of flax in order to be assured of a linen supply, specific direc- tions for planting having been given. Every person who kept cattle was expected to sow ten perches (ten rods) of hemp (or flax) or under- go the censure of the court. A committee was appointed to provide appropriate fencing to pro- tect the crops and also to keep the cattle under complete control. If any family possessed more than one spoonful of hemp seed, they were re- quired to sell it to a neighbor who was not as well supplied. The pelts and skins of the animals had to be carefully preserved and dressed for use at home.
Apparently in lieu of an epidemic of profit- eering, a wage scale of twenty pence a day for a day's work was set for the period from the 10th of March to the 11th of October and eight- een pence a day for the remaining part of the year. The work day was eleven hours for the first period and ten hours for the latter. That wage scale included carpenters, masons, wheel- rights, plowrights, smiths, coopers and joiners. Twenty pence for a day's work was the rate for a mower. Sawyers for three inch planks were not to exceed above three shillings six pence a day for boards by the hundred and boards were not to be sold for more than five shilliings, six pence per hundred.
Roger Ludlowe was appointed by the General Court to enforce the laws of the Colony in the new settlement and thus became Fairfield's first judge. As Hartford, the seat of the General Court, was such a distance, he and Mr. Hopkins of Stratford were ordered to hold Court in each place. Tribute was also collected from the In- dians at this time and Ludlowe was appointed to carry out this responsibility. The first magis- trates for Uncoway were appointed in 1643.
In 1641-1642 the Dutch activities were be- ginning to become a bother to the settlers because of their selling ammunition to the Indians. The Colonists feared that all of the Indians might join together for an all out war. It seemed that Miantonimo, chief of the Narragansetts, had entered into an agreement with the Indians of the Hartford and Middletown area and Adam, an Indian whom the General Court of Massa-
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chusetts had granted to Roger Ludlowe in 1634 as an household servant, reported to his master that Miantonimo had been to Long Island and with gifts of wampum, had entreated those sa- chems there to join him. The Colonists' fears became very real. Laws made it illegal to sell arms to the Indians or to repair any for them. Fairfield's Indians too were restless.
The Indians about Fairfield were fond of war, and often soliciting the Old Indian chief, for leave to destroy the English. Once they obtained it on condition of pulling up a large neighboring white oak tree. Well, to work they went, and stript off its branches, but still the trunk baffled their utmost en- deavors.
'Thus,' says the Old Sachem, 'will be the end of your war. You may kill some of their pappooses, but the old plaguey stump tother side the great waters will remain and send out more branches.'1
The United Colonies of New England became a reality just about this time and the various colonies joined in a federation for the purpose of friendship, defense, offense, and mutual aid.
War with the Indians continued to seem in- evitable.
Up until this time the ruling elders and dea- cons of the settlement had been responsible for the discipline of the group. As the third group of settlers arrived, bringing with them a minis- ter, this responsibility was lightened to a degree. Reverend John Jones was welcomed and given a dwelling house and seven acres of land. To these people this meant that they were actually bcoming a unit. In 1645 the name of the settle- ment was changed from Uncoway to Fairfield.
Finally, in 1646, the Indians submitted to the English, the troops disbanded and a general thanksgiving was celebrated in Fairfield and the other towns. However, this same year the Dutch started to become very exacting about their lands. They claimed all lands, rivers, streams and islands from Cape Henlopen to Cape Cod and all of the lands in the United Colonies un- der an ancient grant to the Dutch, which had been purchased by them from the Indians. Thus continued the great anxiety among the Fairfield settlers for their own safety.
Life went on however and the people did more and more to make their surroundings pleasant and convenient. In 1648 the first mill was built and Henry Jackson was selected to grind the grist. The Bankside farmers who lived
at the western side of the plantation were not pleased with their land settlements and disagree- ments arose between them and the Norwalk planters. The Bankside farmers had become wealthy from their vast crops. Some of them even owned slaves.
It was about this time (1651) that witchcraft had become one of the modes of the day and Fairfield too was included in this delusion. It seemed that as Goody Basset of Stratford was about to be executed, she was heard to say that there was another witch in Fairfield. A poor, simple-minded woman named Knapp, Goody Knapp, was suspected of witchcraft. She was tried, condemned and hanged at Try's field which was near the Indian field in Black Rock. This was the sixth case of witchcraft in the Colony.
In 1653 the Indians were still troublesome and the settlers were extremely anxious over the seriousness of the trouble between England and Holland. The renewed problems along the Sound too were a worry. Governor Stuyvesant once again made his claim to Connecticut. All the claims that he had renounced in 1650 in Hart- ford he simply renewed.
War seemed to ring in the air on all sides and plans were formulated to meet it head on. Connecticut's quota of men for the first expedi- tion in the event of war was sixty men and eight of these were to come from Fairfield. They were to be ready to march at a day's warning. Lieutenant Thomas Wheeler was to be one of the officers for the Connecticut contingent. An- drew Warde and William Hill were made com- missaries. Roger Ludlowe had been sent to Massachusetts to treat with the Bay Colony in their opposition to the declaration of war on the Dutch. They continued to decline to unite in the prosecution of a war and Ludlowe made a sec- ond trip to Boston to try and point out the necessity for such a declaration. At home in Connecticut, preparation for war continued.
The Dutch too were equally disturbed and anxious. There was great dissatisfaction in New England generally at that time because of the strong colonial laws and Governor Stuyvesant's tyrannical rule was very annoying to the Dutch. Connecticut's mildness of rule stood out vividly against that of the other colonial districts.
The Dutch military were sent to Connecticut and "lay in the road near the opening of Fair- field harbor"-Black Rock. As one can imagine, their presence caused a real stir in Fairfield.
1 E. H. Schenck. The History of Fairfield Vol. 1., pg. 29. William Wheeler's Journal.
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Thus a meeting was called here and it was de- cided to prepare an army at once. Roger Lud- lowe was appointed Commander-in-Chief. The excited town began to drill their men immedi- ately for this critical period. This move was not supported immediately by the other colonies of Connecticut nor by the federation of New Eng- land at all. With the Dutch troops at hand, an attack was expected momentarily, and Fairfield was left to protect itself without help from any- one.
It was at that moment that Roger Ludlowe's popularity began to wane. In addition to his unpopular decision to declare war, he was also the victim of a law suit brought against him by Thomas Staples. It seems that Ludlowe had col- lected statements from many of the citizenry saying that Mrs. Staples was a witch. Other cir- cumstances tended to make him discouraged and he decided to return to England. He still felt that war with the Dutch was inevitable. He had watched Fairfield grow from a green wilderness to an established town. It was a distinguished work and one of monumental proportions but his loss of status among his colleagues depressed him and he left for his native homeland.
The Dutch were still foremost in the worries of the townspeople and again in 1654 Fairfield and her neighbors buzzed with activity prepar- ing for war. The Dutch had pleaded with Gov- ernor Stuyvesant to seek peace with the English, but instead he simply became more and more enraged. When the word reached the Colonies that Holland and England had finally declared peace, the news proved to be joyous to both the Dutch and the English in New England. Even Governor Stuyvesant rejoiced and his words are included here: "Praise the Lord O England's Jerusalem; & Netherland's Zion. Praise the Lord! He both secured your gates, & blessed your possessions with peace, even here, where the threatened torch of war was lighted; where waves reached our lips, & subsided only through the power of the Almighty."1
The Indian troubles seemed to have developed anew meanwhile and an army was in prepara- tion to fight them. Connecticut was to supply forty-five men and six were to be chosen from Fairfield. At this time there were seventy-four taxable persons in Fairfield and their estates were valued at £8,634.
In April 1656 all of the Chief Sachems of the Indians living in Fairfield gathered for the pur-
pose of giving a deed to the settlers for the Town of Fairfield. These lands had been purchased from them by Roger Ludlowe but it was hard for them to realize, that once they had sold them for some wampum,2 a few coats and per- haps some hatchets, spades, looking glasses, jews harps, hoes and kettles they did not have any rights to them. After debating the limits of their assigned reservations, they gave the following deed for Pequonnock and Uncoway:
DEED OF PEQUONNOCK & UNCOWAY
Whereas there have been several Indians who have made claime to much of ye land yt ye Town of Fairfield have & doe possess, ye Town of Fairfield having taken ye matter into consideration, ordered & appointed Alexandre Knowles, Henry Jackson, Francis Purdy, with several others, should treat with Pequonnock Indians concerning, & upon ye treaty with those Indians, whose names are underwritten in ye behalf of all ye Pequonnock Indians, they have agreed as followeth: First, they own ye land yt ye Town is built upon, from ye Creeke yt ye Tide-Mill of Fairfield, South Westward is called Sasqua which they own, have been purchased from ye Indians, & is now ye Englishe's Land; Secondly, ye sd. Indians have acknowledged, consented to & granted yt all that tract of land which they call Uncoway (which is from the above sd. Creek Eastward unto ye bounds between Fairfield & Stratford) from ye sea, to run into ye Country seven or eight Miles: for ye future it shall be ye land and property of ye Inhabi- tants of ye Town of Fairfield: Giving & granting to ye sd. Town of Fairfield all ye above sd. tract of Land called Uncoway with all ye Creeks, Rivers, Ponds, Woods & privileges thereto belonging or ap- pertaining to be to ye sd. Fairfield, ye Inhabitants thereof & to their heirs forever, quietly to enjoy and possess it: & they do promise & engage yt neither they nor their heirs, nor any other Indians shall for ye future molest or trouble ye sd. English in ye quiet possession of ye sd. land: Only it is to be noted yt ye field which ye Indians now possess, called ye Indian field, which is a small neck of land or ye other side of ye creek, is excepted, ye Indians still keeping their property in that small neck or field: ye Indians are to have ye privilege of killing deer within ye above sd. tract of land: only they are not to set any traps within ye sd. tract of land: In witness of all which ye sd. Indians have hereunto set to their hands this 20th March 1656.
Whereas ye above sd. Land is granted to ye town
2 E. H. Schenck-The History of Fairfield Vol. I, pg. 22. Indian Wampum, wampumpeag, or peag which was made of the ends of a periwinkle shell and the back part of a clam shell, was at first received in trafficking with the Indians, and for a time was used as money among the planters. The beads were small and of white, purple and black, about a quarter of an inch in length and in diameter less than a pipe stem, drilled lengthwise, and strung upon a thread. The white beads were rated half the value of the black or violet. At one time a fathom, or string of wampum consisted of 360 beads, and was valued at 60 pence, 6 white beads one penny, 360 black beads 120 pence, and 3 black beads one penny. Their value however varied from time to time.
1 Bryant's History United States II 149.
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of Fairfield by ye sd. Indians, we also manifest or respects unto them, yt we do engage upon sufficient warning, to cart them their stuffie for them to erect & build a fort, & upon this consideration ye sd. In- dians have acknowledged ye above grant.
Umpeter Nosset, X his mark. Nimrod, or Pocunnoe, X his mark. Matamuck, X his mark. Authonyes, alias Lotashau, X his mark. Washau, X his mark.
Signed & delivered in presence & witness of us,
Alexander Knowles. Thomas Pell. Henry Jackson. Nathan Gold. George Hull.
This is a true copy according to the original, com- pared by me & recorded this 25. February, 1685. Nathan Gold, Recorder.1
After Ludlowe left, a period of apathy fol- lowed, for he had been such a strong, energetic and respected leader that it was difficult to find any one who could take his place. Nathan Gold who had served as town clerk, captain of the
trained band and judge was made a magistrate of the General Court in 1657 and for a good while afterward seemed to maintain a posi- tion of leadership in the town. Alexander Knowles was elected a magistrate the next year.
Unrest and insecurity continued to peek around every corner turned by these settlers. The New England Colonies in general during this period were still plagued by the Indians at home, and a new fear that their favor with Eng- land might vanish as Charles II ascended the throne shrouded their homes daily. Even though there had been little or no official communica- tion with the Connecticut colonies and the Eng- lish Government since its beginning, the early planters felt a deep relationship with the rulers of their mother land. Apparently the infant col- ony in Fairfield and the earlier towns had been pretty much left to their own slender resources to struggle with innumerable difficulties and hardships as best they could.
The days were dark but each in his own way went about his tasks in a solemn and sincere manner.
1 E. H. Schenck-The History of Fairfield Vol. I, page 93-94. Also Book A-Town Deeds pg 437.
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CHAPTER 3
1661-1700
O NE may well wonder why the year 1661 appears as the opening of a new section, but this is where the available Town Meetings minutes begin. What happened to the earlier ones shall ever remain a mystery. Some have thought that Roger Ludlowe may have taken them with him when he returned to England but no real con- clusion has ever been reached on this thought.
Minutes of Town Meetings1-First Meeting-1661
The Towne hath this day ordered that whereas it appears that many inhabitants of the Towne want Land for a present improvement the Towne hath voted that there shall be a new planting field or fields laid out over the Mill River above Creecros brook upon the neck there: to those inhabitants of the towne that shall desire to have land laid out there provided that there shall none have any more land laid to them above six acres for a family: and as much less or more as they please: provided also that as such Land as is taken up shall be laid down to the Common at Ten years end after this date it is also provided that they shall maintain a sufficient fence about their fields while it is under their im- provement: and when they lay it down at the end of Ten years they are to lay it smooth and sow it with hay seed: And if any shall not fence their pro- portions for their land when their neighbors do: they shall only forfeit their lands and the rest in the field shall have the benefit of the improvement of the said land: such fencing for it: it is also ordered that such lands in the fields that are not fit for im- provement that be esteemed waste land although it be within the fence: also it is agreed that men shall draw lots for the place where they shall lie in the field: John Banks & Jehu Burr are appointed to lay out the field or fields and to measure out every man's several proportions of land & such as they take up the land is to pay them their wages: men have liberty for one week after this date to bring to the secretary what proportion of land they desire provided it be not above six acres a year and if any will after that they have put in already in the week following they may have liberty so to do: (7) whereas Mr. Gold hath a hundred Acres of land lying about the old mill hill: the Town & Mr. Gold have agreed as followeth Mr. Gold (upon considera- tion following) doth surrender up the said hundred
Acres to the Town of Fairfield for ever for and in Consideration thereof the town grants to Mr. Gold that the creek that Samuel Morehouse's mill stand on: shall have no dam in it so made as to dam the water to hurt the meadowe in his pasture. 2 The Town grants to him twenty-five Acres of land to be laid out to him and his heirs forever by Henry Jackson, William Ward, John Banks & John Wheeler: in some convenient place as they shall think meet: or twenty Acres and a swamp on the farther end of Clapboard Hill if these men shall think meet: only it is provided that if the town in future time shall see Cause to erect a mill on the said Creek above them Mr. Gold is to have laid out to him & his heirs for ever seventy-five Acres of land in some convenient place provided it be not be- yond three miles of the Towne: and if the town shall see cause to erect a mill again upon the said Creek the Towne hath the same liberty of daming the water as the town had before the above said agree- ment: the major part of the Committee above hath the power of the whole in ye premises. Henry Jack- son, John Wheeler & George Squire are to lay out all the common highways on the other side of the Creek & Jehu Burr & Cornelius Hull are to lay out the common highways in the great field, & meadows on this side of the creek-20 January, 1661. [sic].
Fairfield at this point had become the leading town in the western part of Connecticut and it was the center of navigation as well as the seat of the county courts. Grain and timber were both exported. The people of the community had for the first time become rather prosperous. At this particular moment, the minutes show that there was much concern by the townspeople as a whole about the division of land, the condition of the fences, the care of the land entrusted to each family, the safety of each family, and the in- tegrity of all newcomers. Each family was at first given six acres of land and as much more or less additional as they pleased. Initially the land was to be held, cared for and improved for ten years and then returned to become Common ground once again. As long as the fields were improved and fenced by the new owners they continued to own them but once the people fal- tered, the land returned to the Town or was given to someone who would care for it.
1 The Minutes of the Town Meetings are quoted again and again from here on but in every instance, corrections have been made in the spelling of the words.
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A new planting field was established in the Sasqua fields for all who had need there. At a later Town Meeting it was decided that more land or the great fields would be allocated, ac- cording to the size of the family.
The Town hath ordered that there shall be a new dividend of Land out of the Common to about 320 Acres: to be proportioned to the Inhabitants of the Towne by the value following: to a master of family half an acre to a wife a quarter of an acre, a child a quarter & every hundred pound estate 2 Acres an so proportionately either more or less: John Burr, Thomas Staples, John Banks & William Ward are appointed to lay out the fields at both ends of the Town where they shall think meet and to lay out every man's proportion of land: every Inhabitant is to bring to the reeorder what number of Children he hath, between this and Tuesday night next: un- der the penalty of forfeiting the land due to such children.
That same year- 1661 - on the 20th of March a quit claim deed for the most western part of the General Court grant of land of 1649 was taken from the Maxumux and Sasqua In- dians. Those deeds follow.
DEED OF SASQUA
Know all men by these presents, yt1 we whose names are underwritten, have sold, & do by these presents, sell, alienate & assigne over unto ye In- habitants of Fairfield, all that tract of land com- monly called Sasqua, bounded on ye north-east with ye land called Uncoway, on ye south-west with ye land at Maxumux, ye line on southwest runs close to ye English farmes at Maxumux, and this tract of land is for run from ye sea straight up into the coun- try six miles at ye least, taking in all ye land yt lie within that length south-west to sd bounds, between us & ye farmes, (or-if Sasqua land run on ye farm's mile, yt land also to be included,) & do to close with ye land yt we purchased of Pequonnock Indians, as by a writing made under their hand, Dated ye 20th March 1656: ye Inhabitants of Fair- field, they & their heirs, are to possess & enjoy this land forever, in as free & full a manner as we have done: we have sold all ye above sd tract of land, with all ye privileges appurtenances, as Rivers, trees, ponds or whatever privileges thereunto pertaining to ye said Inhabitants, for a consideration yt. fully satisfies us; only we will have liberty of hunting in ye woods,-only we are to set no traps within ye six mile: We also acknowledge yt we are true pro- prietors of ye above sd land: We also acknowledge we have given in ye Indian field before this sale, eight acres of land to James Beers, in witness of all which we have hereunto set to ye hands this 20. March 1660-61.
It is also provided yt if in future time Sasqua Indians, ye property purtains to them or their child- ren, if they should want some land to plant on, ye town of Fairfield is to allow them some land to plant on for their livelyhood within their bounds, in such
places as they shall appoint, and ye sd Indians do also sell liberty to ye town of Fairfield, to be com- moners in all their land beyond the above sd six miles: ye Indians are to fence their land sufficiently: In witness of all ye above sd., ye sd Indians, have hereunto set their hands this 20. March 1660-61.
Witnessed: Musquot X his mark Solamorton's l Poppoos X his mark
Nim X rods marke
Anthony's X mk
James alias
Wotussawatum
X his mark
Tospee X his mark Panuncamo X his mark
Cramheag's Squaw Solamorten's Sister X his mark
Wissahoes
Wompegan X his mark
These 4 names subscribed signed,
ye witnesses witnessed, but they
were here not present with them.
We whose names are underwritten, being under age when this sale was made fully consent to ye above sd sale, as Witness our hand this 16th October 1679.
Creconoes X his mark Chickins X his mark
Witness -
William Hill, Recorder Robt. Bisburn
John Basset John Jones (his mark)
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