USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Greenwich > Ye historie of ye town of Greenwich, county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, with genealogical notes on the Adams. > Part 23
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The charter granted to the Colony of Connecticut on the twenty-third day of April, 1662, by Charles II, not only confirmed the popular constitution of 1639, but contained
I History of the Colony of New Haven, by Edward E. Atwater, published in 1881, p. 184.
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Ye Historie of Ye Town of Greenwich
more liberal provisions than any heretofore issued. It included the New Haven Colony, which submitted to its terms in 1665, and it thereby became part of the Colony of Connecticut. It, however, retained its capital city until 1875, when Hartford became the sole capital.
SUPERIOR COURT.
Under this charter the General Courts were called the General Assembly. The old Particular Court became the Court of Assistants and exercised many of the judicial powers of the former General Court. It was presided over by the governor, or deputy-governor, and six assistants, formerly called magistrates. This court was succeeded in May, 17II, by a new tribunal called the Superior Court, and the old court abandoned. It was presided over by one chief judge and four other judges, all appointed by the General Assembly. It now has original civil and criminal as well as appellate jurisdiction, and is presided over by a single judge appointed by the General Assembly on the nomination of the governor.
SUPREME COURT OF ERRORS.
The Supreme Court of Errors was created at the May Session of the General Assembly, 1784, and originally con- sisted of the lieutenant-governor and the council. It had only appellate jurisdiction and was the court of last resort. It was abandoned in May, 1806, and the Superior Court constituted the court of last resort, which judicial powers it exercised until the constitution of 1816. In May, 1819, the Supreme Court of Errors was revived and consisted of one chief judge and four associate judges, any three of whom constituted a quorum. It was given final and conclu- sive jurisdiction of all matters brought by way of error, or appeal, from the judgments or decrees of any Superior Court.
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Courts
COUNTY COURT.
At the May Session of the General Assembly,1 1666, Fairfield County was created, and also a County Court for said county. The County Court for Fairfield County was originally presided over by one assistant, formerly magis- trate, and two commissioners, or three assistants, appointed by the General Assembly, and had probate, as well as civil and criminal jurisdiction. At the January Session of the General Assembly, 1697, it was decided that the County Court should be presided over by three or four of the most able and judicial freemen, appointed by the General Assem- bly, that shall be Justices of the Peace.
Three of these justices with a judge appointed by the General Assembly had power to hold the several county courts. In 1855 the county courts were abandoned, and their jurisdiction conferred on the Superior Court.
COURT OF COMMON PLEAS.
In 1870 the Court of Common Pleas of Fairfield County was created, and originally had only civil jurisdiction. In 1889 it was given criminal jurisdiction, and now has original civil and criminal as well as appellate jurisdiction. It is presided over by one judge for the civil cases, and one judge, another one, for the criminal cases, both appointed by the General Assembly on the nomination of the governor for the term of four years.
The Hon. Dwight Loomis, late judge of the Supreme Court of Errors, and J. Gilbert Calhoun of the Hartford Bar, in their Judicial and Civil History of Connecticut, state in regard to the appointment of judges by the General Assem- bly, as follows: "In practice, the method of nomination is by first securing the approval of those members of the Assembly, from the county in which the court is located, who belong to the prevailing political party. The person
1 Colonial Records of Connecticut.
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thus selected by the county caucus is then regarded as the nominee of the entire party in the Assembly and his name supported with the same fidelity that a nominee for the Senate of the United States would receive. A more per- nicious method of selecting a person to fill a respectable judicial office could hardly be devised. To secure his nomination, the candidate is invited to enter the lowest phase of party politics, where he will be at the mercy of the 'third House,' which is never so strong as in councils only half legislative, and the other half political and personal, and he usually discovers that the claims for candidates for other offices somehow get so entangled with his own, that the ultimate result is a deal in which the last consideration . to receive attention, or respect, is the fitness of the indi- viduals for the position to be filled. The system is one that can rarely produce good results, whether the office be im- portant, or obscure, but it is all the more deplorable when it is employed for the selection of wise and upright judges.
"By a statute passed in 1886, it was provided that 'every nomination made in either branch of the General Assembly for judge of any Court of Common Pleas, or District Court, shall be by the introduction of a concurrent resolution making such appointment, which resolution shall be referred, without debate, to the joint standing committee on the judiciary, who shall report thereon within six legislative days.' This provision was extended to judges of district, city, police and borough courts, where the Assembly has power to appoint, in 1889: If designed as a correction of the evil method of selecting judges, it is no especial improve- ment."
PROBATE COURTS.
The jurisdiction in probate matters was exercised by the Particular Court until 1666, when Fairfield County was created and at the same time the County Court of Fairfield County which was given probate jurisdiction and was
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Courts
presided over by one assistant, formerly magistrate, and two commissioners, or three assistants. At the October Session of the General Assembly, 1698, the Fairfield County Probate Court was created. On the ninth day of May, 1728, the General Assembly passed an act creating a probate court at Stamford for the towns of Stamford, Greenwich, and Ridge- field. In the year 1853, the Town of Greenwich was set off as a probate district by itself. The court is presided over by one judge elected by the voters in the probate district. "The position can be filled by any citizen. Among the one hundred and twelve probate judges of the state to-day (1895), only thirty-two of them are lawyers. The other eighty include farmers, cobblers, shopkeepers, mechanics, clerks, real estate agents, painters and livery men." Appeals always lie from the decision of these courts to the Superior Court.
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
"The earliest use of the title 'justices of the peace' in the colony was in 1686, under the Andros government, when, throughout the whole territory of New England, they were empowered to try causes under forty shillings in amount, and not involving the titles to land." They have limited original civil and criminal jurisdiction. The Justices of the Peace are elected by ballot and hold office for the term of two years. Where justices' juries are permitted, they consist of six persons drawn from the regular list of the town. Appeals lie to the Superior Court, or to the Court of Common Pleas.
The courts, so far as the Town of Greenwich is con- cerned, now are:
SUPREME COURT OF ERRORS, 3D DISTRICT.
It consists of one chief judge and four associate judges appointed by the General Assembly on the nomination of the governor. It has appellate jurisdiction only, and is the court of last resort. The term of office is for eight years.
312 Ye Historie of Ye Town of Greenwich
SUPERIOR COURT OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY.
One judge presides who is appointed by the General Assembly on the nomination of the governor. It has appellate, as well as original civil and criminal jurisdiction. The term of the judge is for eight years.
COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY.
One judge appointed by the General Assembly on the nomination of the governor presides on the civil side, and another judge appointed by the General Assembly on the nomination of the governor presides on the criminal side. It has appellate, as well as original civil and criminal jurisdiction. The term of the judges is for four years respectively.
PROBATE COURT.
The Probate Court for the District of Greenwich was created by an act of the General Assembly passed in 1853. The judge is elected by ballot, and now holds the office for the term of two years.
BOROUGH COURT OF GREENWICH.
.
The Borough Court of Greenwich was created by an act of the General Assembly passed in 1889, and approved May 21, 1889. Amended in 1893, 1895, 1901, 1905, and 1907. The judge and deputy judge are appointed by the General Assembly and hold office for the term of two years from the first Monday in June, odd years. It has limited original civil and criminal jurisdiction.
JUSTICES COURT.
This court is presided over by Justices of the Peace, who are elected by ballot for the term of two years. It has limited original civil and criminal jurisdiction.
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Incidents of the Early Settlers
The Colony of Connecticut was made up of separate towns, and at the time Greenwich was incorporated a town, in 1665, there were in the present bounds of the State of Connecticut fourteen plantations, called towns.1 Each of these was a petty commonwealth by itself, maintaining within the limits of the town a government of its own choice. The inhabitants of each town elected their own local officers, framed their own codes, and cared for their own common interest. Assembled in town meetings, they discussed and determined all questions relative to local improvements and expenses, took action as to the opening of roads, the building of bridges, the levying of taxes, the support of the poor, and all other matters appertaining to the welfare of the town. They also exercised the right to grant, or deny, applications for admission to citizenship. Two deputies (now representatives) chosen by a majority of the voters of each town, took part with the magistrates (now senators), also chosen by vote, in the general govern- ment. The legislature thus constituted, then known as the General Court, met in the spring and fall of each year. With this law-making body, the courts, a governor, and other high officials of their own election, the people of the Colony of Connecticut were already, more than one hundred years before the Revolutionary War, an independent state.
The early settlers were farmers, living frugally upon the products of the soil. Most of their wants were supplied by domestic industry, and what they purchased was commonly procured by the way of barter. "They trafficked chiefly," we are told, in wood and cattle. By the middle of the eighteenth century, however, we find quite a variety of trades carried on in the town, such as those of wheelwrights, hatters, carpenters, tanners, saddlers, weavers, coopers, basket-makers, and millers. They were farmers, who plied these handicrafts in addition to the cultivation of the soil, particularly during the fall and winter months. A few,
I Baird's History of Rye, published in 1871.
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Ye Historie of Ye Town of Greenwich
however, devoted the greater part of their time to fishing. The week-day life of the early settler was one of hard and unremitting toil. No eight-hour law, or Saturday half holi- day would have suited his ideas, or agreed with the require- ments of his environments. His acres of forest land must be cleared and fenced, his meadows mowed, swamps drained, and upland lots tilled by his own strong arms aided, perhaps, by those of his sturdy boys. Not less busy were his wife and daughters, upon whom devolved not only the cares that now rest upon the humblest of their sex, but also the labor of preparing, through every stage of manufacture and adjust- ment, the coarse but substantial garments of the entire family, as well as the bedding. Each room in the house, even the kitchen and the parlor, or best room, was generally supplied with a bed. Besides these, a table or two, a cup- board, some chests, and a few chairs constituted the heavier articles of household furniture. The dishes in ordinary use were made of wood; only a few families took pride in dis- playing a few pieces of pewter in the cupboard. The floors were generally bare and the kitchen was the principal sitting- room of the family. On the Sabbath the family attended church all day, or paid a fine for being absent without a reasonable excuse.
An incident is related of Richard Crab, who seems to have been somewhat remiss in his attendance at the meeting- house on the Sabbath and who also was found harboring a Quaker by the name of Thomas Marshall.1 So on the first day of December, 1657, Daniel Scofield, then marshal at Stamford, with a strong force was directed to proceed to Greenwich, Old Town, now Sound Beach, search the house of Richard Crab and seize the aforesaid Thomas Marshall and his books. When they came to Goodman Crab's house to demand the Quaker's books and seize the aforesaid Thomas Marshall, Goodwife Crab went into ye other room and made herself fast by shutting the door, and Richard Crab
I New Haven Colonial Records, vol. ii., p. 242.
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Incidents of the Early Settlers
used means to have the door opened again, and when it was opened Goodwife Crab came and said: "Is this your fasting and praying, to come and rob us and rob men's houses; then she held up her hands and said the vengence of God hangs over your heads at Stamford for taking away our land with- out commission and wronging of them; then she fell a railing of the ministers, and said they were priests and preached for hire, and called them Baal's priests, and she would not hear them, and said we were shedders of ye blood of the saints of God; also she told Goodman Bell he was a traitor, a liar and a villain, and his posterity would suffer for his iniquity. She then fell upon the officer, John Waterbury, and said he was a traitor and railed upon the marshal Daniel Scofield, with bitter words." Whereupon Richard Crab and his wife were bound over for trial at the Magistrates Court at New Haven for their many clamorous and reproachful speeches against the ministry, government and officers, and neglecting of meetings for sanctification of the Sabbath.
Richard Crab pleaded his own case before the court. "The governor told him that these were notorious things which were testified to, and must not be suffered. He replied so they are, " but he could not restrain his wife. The governor demanded of him, "whether he owned the Lord's Day to be ye Christian Sabbath, to be sanctified by virtue of the fourth commandment, to which he answered that he did own it." He was fined by the court and compelled to give security for his quiet Christian carriage, and that he would testify his esteem of ye ordinances by his attendance on them.
Situated on the north shore of Long Island Sound, ' and within thirty miles of the City of New York, Greenwich has enjoyed from its earliest times whatever facilities existed for public communication. It is indeed difficult at this late day to imagine how rude and inconvenient the early modes of communication must have been, until a comparatively recent
I Baird's History of Rye, published in 1871.
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Ye Historie of Ye Town of Greenwich
period. For nearly an hundred years after the first settle- ment of the town, all travel by land was performed on horseback, or on foot. Deputies (representatives) rode their horses up to the sessions of the General Court, or were con- veyed thither by sailing vessels. The journeys of the early settlers were short and limited to the neighboring towns of Rye and Stamford. The interests and sympathies of the people then were eastward, not as now toward the City of New York.
Government communications between different places were established at an early date, and in 1672 the General Assembly fixed a schedule of prices to be paid persons who should be employed in the service of the colony for the con- . veyance of letters and other official documents. This was done owing to the great extravagance of the messenger, who, by profuse spending at the ordinaries (taverns), and other public places on the road upon the country's credit, rendered large expense accounts, and caused great delays in the journeys. The charges from Rye to Hartford, from the first of May to the middle of October, were "horse hyer twelve shillings, the man and expenses twenty shillings; all is one pound and twelve shillings." From October to April, the charges to be eight pence more "for every night they lye out."
Postal communications between New York and Boston were first established on the first day of January, 1673. The messenger, or post, made only monthly trips, leaving New York on the first of the month, and Boston on the middle of the month. According to instructions, dated the twenty- second day of January, 1673, the messenger, or post, was to apply to Governor Winthrop of Connecticut for "the best direction how to forme the Post Road, to establish places on the road where to leave the way letters, to mark some Trees that shall direct Passengers the best way, and to fix certain houses for your several stages [stopping places] both to bait and lodge at." The post through the Town of Greenwich followed the old Indian trail from the great stone in the
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Old Post Road
Byram River to the Mianus River at Dumpling Pond (now North Mianus), and from thence to the village of Stamford: The names for this trail have been the Westchester Path, Country Road, Kings Highway in 1679, Post Road, Turn- pike Road, and now it is the Post Road again. It now deviates somewhat from the original trail, particularly between the top of Byram and Nigerhole Hills, at the top of Put's Hill, and between the mill pond at Cos Cob and the City of Stamford. As early as 1672 the General Assembly began to pass laws regulating the Country Road.
The messenger was to allow persons who desired to travel in his company and to afford them the best help in his power. He was to provide himself with a spare horse, a horn, and good portmanteaux.
Madam Knight gives the following account of her jour- ney on horseback from Boston to New York in 1704.
Tuesday, October ye third, about 8 in the morning, I with the Post proceeded forward . . and about 2 after- noon, arrived at Post's second stage, where the western Post met and exchanged letters. . . . . Having here dis- charged the Ordinary for self and Guide, as I understood was the custom, about 3 afternoon, went on with my third Guide, who road very hard; and having crossed Providence ferry, we come to a River which they generally ride through. But I dare not venture; so the Post got a lad and canoe to carry me to the other side, and he rid through and led my horse. ... Rewarding my sculler, again mounted and made the best of my way forward. The Road here was very uneven and ye day pleasant, it being now near sunset. But the Post told me we had 14 miles to ride to the next stage, where we were to lodge. I asked him of the rest of the Road, foreseeing we must travel in the night. He told me there was a bad river we were to ride through, which was so very fierce a horse could sometimes hardly stem it; but it was nar- row and we should soon be over. Late at night, the traveller after all these adventures was roused from her pleasing imaginations by the Post's sounding his horn, which assured me he was arrived at the stage where we were to lodge; and
I Baird's History of Rye, published in 1871.
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Ye Historie of Ye Town of Greenwich
that musick was the most musical and agreeable to me.
From Norwalk we hasted towards Rye, walking and leading our horses neer a mile together, up a prodigious high hill, and so riding till about nine at night, and there arrived and took up our lodgings at an ordinary, which a French family kept.
The stage line between New York and Boston was first established on the twenty-fourth day of June, 1772, as will more fully appear by reference to the preceding pages of this volume, and in 1802 a stage line was established between Horseneck (Borough of Greenwich) and Ridgefield, running through Stanwich and Bedford.
An account of a journey by stage taken in 1826, written by Amelia, daughter of Zophar Mead, of Field Point, who married Isaac Lyon in 1828, has been preserved by his descendants, and is substantially as follows:
A sketch of a journey taken in 1826 during the months of September, October and November.
September 24. The morning being cloudy and unpleas- ant, I did not leave home till eight and then in company with brother Oliver and sister Louisa. We set out for Uncle Job Lyon's, where we met with Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Holly, Miss Sarah Mead, Miss Elizabeth R. Mead, Abraham Mead, Abraham D. Mead and Isaac Lyon. We had an early dinner and bidding uncle adieu, we left North Street. The weather was lowering and just after we left Bedford it began to rain a little, but we rode to Somers, where we all partook of a good supper and now have retired to our rooms.
September 29. Just been taking a view around me and find it is a delightful morning. The clouds have gone and with them every dull feeling. The air is clear and cool, and my spirits are as good as the weather is fine. Somers is a neat place, too small to be called a village. We left here at an early hour and rode to Carmel, where we took break- fast. We left Carmel at ten, and here we had the pain of parting with our friends, who had come this far with us, leaving Mr. and Mrs. Holly, brother Oliver and myself to proceed on our journey.
Fishkill was the next place we passed through. The part
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A Journey by Stage in 1826
we saw was very indifferent in its appearance. It was very rough and we were either ascending, or descending hills, or travelling on the edges of them, which appeared very dan- gerous. We passed over the Fishkill mountains where there was a broken space in the ridge of the mountains. I should not have known them from their appearance from the other hills we passed. Stormville and Hopewell were the next towns. The last is a pleasant, but small place. At Hacken- sack the land puts on a rich and fertile appearance. My gallant called here on Mrs. Seward, a friend of my grand- mother's. The weather has suddenly changed and the clouds look strangely. The sun is shining. The wind blows high and the rain is falling fast. To give a complete description would be impossible, but I will attempt to sketch some of its most prominent features. The horizon was edged with a dark cloud of a velvet appearance. Above this was a streak of clear sky from whence the sun was shining. Above this was a black heavy cloud, which produced the rain. This is a sketch of the clouds on the left. Those on the right were in the most wild and confused manner thrown into every form that imagination can picture. The under side was of a dark and lively blue and shaded to the lightest satin, like clouds that grace the summer eve, and from these clouds the wind came in sudden gusts, which took up the dust and leaves and sent the rain with redoubled violence, and to add to this scenery the mountains on the opposite side of the North River looked like so many clouds of a smoky blue. About sunset we came in sight of Poughkeepsie. It appeared smaller than I expected, not larger than Stamford. On entering it I found myself very much mistaken. The town lies on the banks of the river, which hides the size of it. We rode through a number of streets, but did not see enough to give much description, but all was bustle and confusion. They had had a general training. Poughkeepsie is a busy place and has many elegant buildings, but it is dusty and noisy.
September 30. Another pleasant morning and we set out on our ride. Leaving Poughkeepsie we passed through many small places, which I did not hear the names of. Rhinebeck and "Loradown" were the largest. This morning I had the pleasure of beholding the North River. It did not appear more than half a mile wide, but in reality it is a mile. This is a beautiful river and has many delightful places along its banks. I with pleasure observed the vessels as they glided
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down the silvan stream towards that much admired City of New York. The Catskill Mountains have been in full view to-day. We have seen an elegant building near the top of one of the mountains, which I expect was the Mansion House. I had a wish to visit it, but it laid out of the route we had planned. We continued our journey until three o'clock, when we arrived at Hudson and concluded to spend the Sabbath there. Hudson is much larger than I expected. It has one street that runs to the river, that is a compact street and is a mile in length. We walked down to the foot of the street where we had a very fine view of the river and of Athens on the opposite bank of the river. It is smaller than Hudson and situated much lower.
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