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A HISTORY
OF THE
Plantation of Menunkatuck
AND OF THE
Original Town of Guilford, Connecticut,
COMPRISING
THE PRESENT TOWNS OF GUILFORD AND MADISON,
WRITTEN LARGELY FROM THE MANUSCRIPTS OF
THE HON. RALPH DUNNING SMYTH.
BY
BERNARD CHRISTIAN STEINER.
|
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR. BALTIMORE 1897 |
'Z^i ^vkbinvoaib Company
BALTIMOKE, MD., U.S.A.
TO THE MEMORY OF MY GRANDMOTHER
RACHEL S. SMYTH
THIS WORK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PACK
Preface 7
Halleck's Connecticut g
I. Rev. Mr. Whitfield and the Settlement of the Town 11
II. The Signers of the Covenant 41
III. The Home Lots 49
IV. Union with New Haven 56
V. The Counter-Emigration 60
VI. The Guilford Indians 71
VII. Rev. John Higginson 74
VIII. The Plantation Court 78
IX. Dr. Rossiter and the Troubles concerning the Union with Con- necticut 99
X. The Regicides log
XI. The Suit against Mr. Robinson 112
XII. Rev. Joseph Eliot 115
XIII. Rev. Thomas Ruggles, Sr 121
XIV. Later Settlers in Guilford 124
XV. Town Meetings 140
XVI. The Liquor Question 150
XVII. Guilford Probate District and Guilford County 152
XVIII. The Town Records 154
XIX. Later Land Purchases 156
XX. The Patent 159
XXI. Boundaries of the Town 162
XXII. Division of the Land 166
XXIII. Physical Characteristics of the Town 177
XXIV. Trees and Timber 180
XXV. Rivers and Ponds and Drainage 183
XXVI. Shell Fish 186
XX\'II. Madison 191
XXVIIL North Guilford 199
6 TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE
XXIX. Falcon or Faulkner's Island 202
XXX. Leete's Island, Sachem's Head and Guilford Harbor 204
XXXI. Roads, Bridges, Wharves and the Railroad 211
XXXII. The Town House 221
XXXIII. The Town Mill 227
XXXIV. Care of the Poor . 232
XXXV. Wild Animals 236
XXXVI. Cattle 238
XXXVII. Fences 246
XXXVIII. Trade, Quarries and Manufactures 249
XXXIX. The Borough, The Green and The Fire Department 257
XL. Taxation, Newspapers, Banking and Population 262
XLI. Centennial Celebration, July 4, 1876, and Quarto-Millennial
Celebration, Sept. 8-10, 1889 269
XLII. The First Church and Society in Guilford 273
XLIII. The Church and Society in North Guilford 293
XLIV. The Fourth Church and Society in Guilford 301
XLV. The Third Church and Society in Guilford 340
XLVI. The First Church and Society in Madison 344
XLVII. The Church and Society in North Madison 362
XLVIII. Protestant Episcopal Churches 371
XLIX. Churches of other Denominations 386
L. Cemeteries of Guilford and Madison 391
LI. Education and Libraries in Guilford and Madison 394
LII. Physicians and Health in Guilford and Madison 412
LIII. Colonial Military History 417
LIV. Guilford and Madison in the Wars with Great Britain 425
LV. Guilford and Madison in the War of the Rebellion 456
LVI. Biographies of Guilford Men 470
LVII. Secret Societies in Guilford and Madison 507
LVIII. Representatives in the Legislature and Town Officers of Guilford
and Madison 511
PREFACE.
Among my grandfather's papers were considerable collections of materials he had intended to use for a history of the town of Guilford. Among these was a fragment of a complete history of the town, written by Mr. Smyth shortly before his death. This forms, with some changes, the first four chapters of the present work and a part of the fifth. It is probable that I should have written part of it somewhat differently, but it seemed best to permit this record of his ripened knowledge of Guilford history to remain without essential change. The rest of the book was prepared from Mr. Smyth's manuscript col- lections, the Town Records, and other available sources. Owing to the extensive materials at hand, it is belieyed the work is, to a consider- able degree, exhaustive and complete.
I desire to return thanks to Mr. Chas. H. Post for courtesies shown while examining the Town Records, and to the Rev. W. G. Andrews for generous sympathy. Among those who have rendered especial assistance in the compilation of this work are Rev. Frederick E. Snow, Dr. Ellsworth Eliot, Mr. Samuel H. Chittenden, Mr. Frederick C. Norton.
This history of Guilford has had three predecessors. The Rev. Thomas Ruggles, Jr., prepared a sketch of the history of the town over a century ago, which has been twice published. In 1827 Dr. David Dudley Field prepared a sketch of the history of Guilford and Madison for the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, using Mr. Ruggles' work as a basis. In 1832 he revised it. About 1840 this sketch was revised and enlarged by R. D. Smyth. After Mr. Smyth's death this manuscript was found among his papers by his son-in-law, the Hon. Lewis H. Steiner, edited by him and published by Munsell in 1877. All the important statements therein are embodied in this work.
" For to collect all that is to be known, to put the discourse in order, and curiously to discuss every particular point, is the duty of the author of a his- tory."— II Maccabees ii. 31.
" The inhabitants of this town, more than most others in this State, have retained the ancient manners of the New England colonists. Parents are regarded by their children with a peculiar respect derived not only from their domestic government and personal character, but in a considerable degree from the general state of manners. Old people are in a similar degree revered by the young, and laws and magistrates at large. Private contentions have heretofore been rarely known, and lawsuits so rare that no lawyer till lately has ever been able to acquire a living in town. The weight of public opinion has been strongly felt, and diffused a general dread of vice." — Dwight's Travels, II, p. 514.
" My fathers and brethren, this is never to be forgotten, that our New England is originally a plantation of religion and not a plantation of trade. Let merchants and such as are making their cent per cent returns remember this. Let others who have come over since at sundry times remember this, that worldly gain was not the end and design of the people of New England, but religion. And, if any man among us make religion as 12 and the world as 13, let such a one know he hath neither the spirit of a true New England man, nor yet of a sincere Christian." — Rev. John Higginson.
" The Lord hath wrought great glory by them through his great power from the beginning. There be of them that have left a name behind them, that their praises might be reported. And some there be which have na memorial. But with their seed shall continually remain a good inheritance, and their children are within the covenant. The people will tell of their wisdom, and the congregation will show forth their praise." — Ecclesiasticus xliv. 7-9.
CONNECTICUT. By Fitz-Greene Halleck.
(The picture of village life in this poem is supposed to have been taken from Guilford, the poet's birthplace.)
I
Still her gray rocks tower above the sea
That crouches at their feet, a conquered wave; 'Tis a rough land of earth, and stone, and tree,
Where breathes no castled lord nor cabined slave; Where thoughts, and tongues, and hands are bold and free,
And friends will find a welcome, foes a grave; And where none kneel, save when to Heaven they pray. Nor even then, unless in their own way.
II
Theirs is a pure republic, w^ild, yet strong,
A " fierce democracie," where all are true To what themselves have voted — right or wrong —
And to their laws denominated blue; (If red, they might to Draco's code belong;)
A vestal state, which power could not subdue. Nor promise win — like her own eagle's nest, Sacred — the San Marino of the West.
Ill
A justice of the peace, for the time being.
They bow to, but may turn him out next year; They reverence their priest, but disagreeing
In price of creed, dismiss him without fear; They have a natural talent for foreseeing
And knowing all things; and should Park appear From his long tour in Africa, to show The Niger's source, they'd meet him with — " we know."
IV
They love their land, because it is their own,
And scorn to give aught other reason why; Would shake hands with a king upon his throne.
And think it kindness to his majesty; A stubborn race, fearing and flattering none.
Such are they nurtured, such they live and die; All — but a few apostates, who are meddling With merchandise, pounds, shillings, pence, and peddling.
lO • CONNECTICUT.
vr
But these are but their outcasts. View them near At home, where all their worth and pride is placed;
And there their hospitable fires burn clear,
And there the lowliest farmhouse hearth is graceti
With manly hearts, in piety sincere,
Faithful in love, in honor stern and chaste,
In friendship warm and true, in danger brave.
Beloved in life, and sainted in the grave.
VII
And minds have there been nurtured, whose control
Is felt even in their nation's destiny; Men who swayed senates with a statesman's soul.
And looked on armies with a leader's eye;
Names that adorn and dignify the scroll,
Whose leaves contain their country's history. ******
Her clear, warm heaven at noon — the mist that shrouds Her twilight hills — her cool and starry eves.
The glorious splendor of her sunset clouds. The rainbow beauty of her forest-leaves.
Come o'er the eye, in solitude and crowds. Where'er his web of song her poet weaves;
And his mind's brightest vision but displays
The autumn scenery of his boyhood's days.
Sft iJC SjC JJC I^ 3jt
XXIII
And who were they, our fathers? In their veins Ran the best blood of England's gentlemen;
Her bravest in the strife on battle plains, Her wisest in the strife of voice and pen;
Her holiest, teaching, in her holiest fanes, The lore that led to martyrdom; and when
On this side ocean slept their wearied sails,
And their toil bells woke up our thousand hills and dales,
XXIV
Shamed they their fathers? Ask the village spires Above their Sabbath-homes of praise and prayer;
Ask of their children's happy household fires, And happier harvest noons; ask summer's air,
Made merry by young voices, when the wires Of their school cages are unloosed, and dare
Their slanderer's breath to blight the memory
That o'er their graves is "growing green to sec!"
CHAPTER I.
Rev. Mr. Whitfield and the Settlement of Guilford.
In giving this first chapter of Guilford's history we speak of a period when she stood abstract and alone, working her individual way, with- out the aid of any other community, either ecclesiastical or political, to the free and independent position which she once occupied, both* as a church and as a state. The original emigration to Guilford sprang undoubtedly from that same priestly oppression and kingly subservi- ency which was mainly instrumental in procuring the settlement of most of the early plantations of New England.
It lias been said, however, and repeated so often indeed that it has come to be received almost as established history, that the founders of Guilford were either a part of the same company which first landed at Boston in June 1637 ^"d subsequently settled at Quinnipiack or New Haven in the spring of 1638 under Messrs. Eaton and Daven- port,' or that they afterwards joined them — being a part of the same company — as Prudden and his associates did, early in the spring of 1639; ^"cl further, that they co-operated with them in all their move- ments: first, in their emigration; secondly, in the selection and pur- chase from the Indian tribes of the territory needful for their habita- tion; and especially that they were present and assenting, if they took no part, in the meeting so famous in Mr. Newman's barn in Quinni- piack early in June, 1639, when the peculiar polity of the New Haven colony was adopted.
Consequently it is assumed as an established fact that Guilford and its founders were originally a component part of the colony of New Haven, formed pursuant to a united simultaneous purpose made in England previous to their first emigration.
My intention is to furnish for you the conclusions derived from recently discovered documents, and a very careful and more extended collation of contemporary records, which, as I think, thoroughly prove beyond controversy that Guilford, in her origin and settlement, was not a component part of New Haven colony, but an independent, separate government, having her own written constitution and laws,
• Ruggles MSS. pp. I, 2. Mass. Hist. Col. IV. i8_'. I. Trum. Ct. (I. ed.) 99, 104. I. Holmes An. 252, 253 n. I. N. H. Hist. Soc. Pap. 2, 3. 4. I. Spraguc's An. 100.
12 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
exclusively adopted by her own people, " intending a peculiar govern- ment,'" as distinct and appropriate as that of any one of the colonies of this continent.
Moreover, that it did not become a component part of the New Haven colony, by entering into combination with it as a confederate, for mutual protection and defense in 1643, ^riy more than the other neighboring colonies became one by combining in a similar manner to form the larger confederation of New England/
An equally striking and full as apt a comparison might be made with that larger confederacy which combined in later times — following the same model — in founding and perpetuating our great republic, which we fondly liope and confidently expect shall also in its progress, under the providence of God, become the model of other similar free and united republics, until they shall have extended throughout the world.
Their end and aim indeed was, and should ever be in all such instances,. the same — the highest and the noblest which human governments can conceive or attain — in their own language, " the advancement of the cause of our Lord Jesus Christ," and the enjoyment of the liberties of the Gospel and of freedom, in purity and peace, equally by every inhabitant of the land. Problems indeed not yet fully conceived or understood by them, or by us, in all their beauty and comprehensive- ness, but which shall shine forth, under the light of future times, with all the glory that beamed around the Saviour's face on the Mount of Transfiguration.
The beginning of the history of Guilford is so thoroughly inter- woven and identified with that of her first minister and pastor, the Rev. Henry Whitfield, the projector and leader of her emigration to New England, that it becomes necessary to introduce a portion of his biography into our narrative.
Mr. Whitfield' was born in 1597, and was descended from an old and well-known English family which had long been distinguished in the south of England, both in church and in state. He was the younger son of Thomas Whitfield, Esquire, an eminent lawyer of the courts of Westminster, who resided at Mortlakc, formerly called East
' I. Sav. Winth. 306.
^ Gov. Eaton speaks of these plantations in his book of laws entitled " New- Haven's Settling in New England and some laws for Government, published at London, 1656," and says they were, " though united in Nation, Religion and afifection, yet otherwise severall and distinct jurisdictions free from any expresse engagement one to another." II. New Haven Colonial Records 561.
* I. Hollis. Con. 102. Berry's Genealogy of Surrey and Kent. Foster's Alumni Oxonienscs makes the year of his birth 1591. This is clearly wrong.
WHITFIELD AND THE SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWN. 1 3
Sheen, on the south side of the Thames, in the county of Surrey, near London, a gentleman of wealth and influence, during the times of the first James and Queen Elizabeth.
His mother was Mildred Manning, the daughter of Henry IManning,' Esquire, of Greenwich, in the county of Kent. His father, with high hopes for the future distinction of his son, intended him for the bar, and accordingly furnished him with a liberal education, first at the University of Oxford ' and subsequently at the Inns of Court. But in early life, says Cotton Mather, he became a Christian, and the gracious influences of the Holy Spirit upon his heart induced him to become a preacher of the Gospel, and his sense of this duty became so strong that his friends gave way, especially as he was sustained in his inclina- tions by such eminent ministers as Dr. Edmund Staunton of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, his alma mater, the Rev. Nicholas Byfield, and others.
Mr. Whitfield entered the Christian ministry in the Church of Eng- land in the year 1618,' at the age of twenty-one, and obtained at the same time the rich living of Ockley,' in the county of Surrey, in the diocese of Winchester, where he continued for twenty years.
During the same year in which he was instituted into his benefice he married Miss Dorothy Sheafife, the daughter of Dr. Edmund SheafTe* of Cranbrooke, in the county of Kent, a lady of tastes and character similar to his own, the mother of his children, his companion in New England, and his survivor on his return to his native land.
The situation of Mr. W^hitfield during the period of his rectorship at Ockley was eminently desirable. " He was," says Dr. Trumbull, " one of the wealthiest clergymen that came into Connecticut." He had learning, friends and high position in life. His appearance is said to have been extremely dignified and prepossessing. " His delivery had in it," says Dr. Mather, " a marvellous majesty and sanctity."
His courteous manners, his attainments as a scholar, his eloquence as a preacher, the purity and gentleness of his every-day life made him eminent in an age distinguished for great and good men. His char- ities were in accordance with his opulence and opportunity. His house
' Matriculated at New College on June 16, 1610 (Foster's Alumni Oxonienses).
* Foster's Alumni Oxonienses says 1616.
* Camden says: " Some distance from the head of the river is the town of Aclea, commonly called Ockley from the oaks. Here Aethelwolf, the son of Egbert, engaged the Danish army with success; and here also is a certain custom observed time out of mind of planting rose trees upon the graves, so that this churchyard is now full of them " (Britannia. Vol. I. p. 183).
* Berry's Gen. Kent. Pedigree of Wliitfield as per Berry's Sussex Pedigrees, and article by Mark Antony Lower, M. A., F. S. A., in Sussex .A.rchaeological
14
HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
was the resort and asylum of the oppressed and persecuted. His doc- trines were enlightened and evangelical; so that "his labors," says Dr. Mather, " were blessed not only to his own parish, but throughout all the surrounding country, from whence people flocked to hear him." His ministrations became so efficacious and popular, indeed, that at the earnest solicitations of his friends he procured a pious and worthy clergyman to act as a curate for his own parish and spent much of his time in visiting and supplying other churches, dispensing spiritual
Collections, Vol. 19, pp. 83+. See latter for much interesting detail.
Harl. See. Visitation of London.)
■William Wliltneld = dau. and heireaa of Richard Holme of Wliltfleld Hall, of the manor of Alstonmore,
Cumberland. Cumberland.
WILLIAM WHITFIELD = MAUDE, daughter and co-
(See
Gent. , possessor of Randal- holme in right of his wife. (About end of 13th cen- tury.)
heiress of John Whetelay, lord of manor of Randal- holme, in parish of Alston, Co. Cumberland.
1 John:
William =
Richard =
I
Richard of Whitfield Hall = I
Robert.
I John.
I Miles = Maud.
I Thomas.
ol New- ton Berry.
I 2 Anni9_ Robert: Daughter and heiress of John Giles, bapt. at of Bldlerden, Kent. Buried 1567.
or Matilda.
:1 Katherlne, widow of Wenberne.
Alston,
1451.
Went to Wadhurst, Sussex, about 1491.
Accused of being a Scot In 1522. Burled
June 2, 1541, aged m or 90.
Robert: of Worth,
Sussex. Paid £100
for de- fence
against Spanl.Hh Armada, Apr., 1688.
Ann, daughter of
Geo. Roberts, of
Breuchley, Kent.
: Agnes, daughter
of William
At wood,
of Kent.
John = l EUz. Stacy, of 2 " Crowe.
Tenter- den, Kent.
2d sou.
Thomas, Ellza= Rich. Geoffrey, of Chld- 3d son dingley Place,
of Ellzabeth = John Edwards, of May- Cliff, field and Huntlaud. Sus- She may have been dau. of 2d wife, sex. Margaret = Thos. May, of Pashley, iu Ticehurst.
I Thomas = Mildred, daughter of Henry Manning, of Greenwich,
Mortlake, Surrey.
by Catharine, daughter of Erasmus Kerkener. (See long pedigree in Archaeologla Cantlana, 6, 271.)
She was probably connected with the family of the poet Chaucer. (N. E. Hist. Gen. Reg. LI, p. 389.)
1 I
William, 5 2d sou. daugh- ters.
John
of Worth,
near Eabt
Orlnstead,
Sussex,
1C31.
= Eliza, dau. of Sir Ed- ward Colo- pei)er, ot Wakehursi, Sussex.
Henry = Dorothy, of Ookley, daughter of Dr. Shoiiffe, of
Surrey. 2d sou.
Cranbrook, Kent.
Arms of Whitfield — Argent, a bend plain sable. Crest—' See N
MM Katharine = Wm. Geoffrey (or Jefferay). Elizabeths Rich. Southcott.
Lucy =
Frances = 1 .... East.
2 . . . . Mulford. Bridget
between two cottises engrailed,
Out of a palisade crown argent, a stag's head or. E. Hist. Gen. Reg. LI, p. 419.
WHITFIELD AND THE SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWN. 1 5
and pecuniary assistance to the needy/ Though he was for twenty years a conformist of the estabhshed church/ still his house during all that time was a place of refreshment and security for the pious non- conformists in their troubles and persecutions. Such men as Cotton, Hooker, Goodwin, Nye, Davenport' and many others memorable in Old England, and afterwards in New England, frequently found refuge and concealment in his comfortable home.
A ministry such as Whitfield's was not likely to be looked upon with favor by the reigning hierarchy of England at that day. Accord- ingly we find that he became early obnoxious to Archbishop Laud and the other high churchmen about the king, and soon after he incurred the scrutiny and censure of the High Commission Court, of which Archbishop Laud was the head," for not reading the Book of Sports and for not conforming to some of the ceremonies required in the liturgy service."*
Afterwards, being present at a conference in which Mr. Cotton and some other Congregational divines discussed the subject of church discipline, there appeared so much of Scripture and reason on their side that not long after he became a nonconformist. Not being will-
^ I. Sprague's An. loi.
* A little volume of religious exhortation and instruction, entitled " Helps to Stir up to Christian Duties," by Henry Whitfield, B. D., published at London, 1630, and of which a second edition was published 1634 at London dedicated to Lord Brook, by the peculiar purity and elegance of its style and the manly force and energy of its argument fully attests some points of the character I have given of Mr. Whitfield.
^Young's Chron. Mass. pp. 428, 515, 112, 102, and II. Math. Mag. 593.
* I. Mather Mag. 593. L Sprague's An. lor. L Neal Hist. Pur. 313. HL Brooke's Lives.
^ The following interesting extract from the Calendar of State Papers (Domestic, Charles L) shows that Mr. Whitfield felt the tenure of his parish was uncertain, some years before he finally left it.
March 2, 1634-5. Henry Whitfield to Dr. Stoughton, Aldermanbury. Inquires of Stoughton (being as it is with the writer and how he shall be enquired into, and especially the Archbishops visitation being presently after Easter) if he knows of a young man as a curate now at liberty, for the writer would not draw any out of a settled place, his own standing being very uncer- tain, yet he thinks he may abide as he is till the end of summer. He is to do nothing for the writer but read prayers and officiate in that kind, help in the administration of the sacrament or the like, because preaching is now at a great rate; he shall have after £20 per annum for the time he is to stay with the writer, and is to live in a gentleman's family in the writer's parish, where he shall be conveniently provided for, since the writer's own house is full. If Stoughton can help him he may send word to Mr. Stone (vide N. E. H. G. Reg., July, 1805) in Cateaton St. Would gladly know how it goes with Stoughton about the book, for the writer heard he was like to be questioned."
l6 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
ing" under these circumstances to continue longer in the exercise of the ministry- in the Estabhsbecl Church, he procured a pious and evan- gelical successor, and embracing, says Dr. Mather, a modest secession, with true sincerity and self-denial, at the close of the year 1638 or about the beginning of the year 1639, he gave up his position and prospects in the national church and in his native land.
He was indeed again cited to appear before the Archbishop's Court, but he seems to have escaped from the censure by relinquishing his place and retiring from the covmtry.
While he was a conformist, he was undoubtedly a Puritan; in his secession he became a Congregationalist and an Independent. He believed the two great ruling principles of the order which he had adopted to be the establishment of purity and spirituality in the churches, and of liberty and equality in the political and social rela- tions of all communities, whether of church or state, and he accepted them with his whole heart, and they became the ruling principles of all his subsequent life.
" This was the conjuncture," says an eminent English historian, " when the liberties of his native country were at their greatest peril." The opponents of the existing government began to despair of their country, and many were looking to the American wilderness as the only asylum where they might enjoy civil and religious freedom. The tyranny of Laud and Wentworth had reached its culminating point. They went upon the great principle of thorough, but it was thorough in the wrong.^ The perfidy of the king was hopeless and inevitable, so that in 1638-39, when Whitfield relinquished his living in Ockley, Archbishop Laud, who had now become primate of England, trium- phantly reported to his master the king that in several dioceses not a single Dissenter was to be found. Every part of the country was sub- jected to the most perfidious espionage. Every little congregation of Separatists was hunted out and broken up. " Even," says the English historian, " the devotions of private families could not escape the vigi- lance of his spies."
All the prominent Puritan divines, the associates and friends of Whitfield, were either silenced or driven into exile. Some had fled into the Low Countries, seeking a precarious existence among the Dutch; but more had chosen to brave the perils of the Atlantic voyage and the hardships of uncivilized life in America, in hopes of finding there an asylum and a future home. Mr. Cotton had escaped from Boston in Old England to Boston in the Now. Hooker and Stone
* Forster's Eng. Statesmen, 160.
WHITFIELD AND THE SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWN. I7
with their associates, after remaining awhile at Cambridge, had tra- versed the hitherto unbroken wilderness and had planted themselves on the Connecticut river at Hartford. Davenport and Eaton had fixed their habitation at Quillipiack, irrevocably engaged, as they them- selves said then, " to stand and fall, grow and decay, flourish and wither, live and die together." Many others of the Puritans and non- conformists, the friends and associates of Mr. Whitfield, had perma- nently established themselves in different parts of the New World.
Various and contradictory were the reports which came back to England from those who had ventured their lives and fortunes in that then distant land. Many accounts from Xew England were painful and dreary, but others were more satisfactory and hopeful.^ They spoke indeed of present privations, of bitter suffering and frequent deaths before which many of the nobler and gentler spirits were pass- ing away. Still they were prophetic of a better future, and promised eventually " liberty and freedom to worship God for themselves and their posterity after them " in the land of their exile." Such was the aspect of affairs both in Old England and in America at this time when Mr. Whitfield found himself a minister without a people, sus- pected and proscribed, obnoxious to the censure of the great eccle- siastical tribunal of the land, which spared neither the property nor the limbs nor the lives of its victims. There was evidently no place for him in his native countr}\^ He accordingly, early in the year 1639, sold his estate and prepared to emigrate with his family and friends to New England.
During the latter part of the time of his connection with the national church, and while he was itinerating the counties of Kent, Surrey and Sussex, and probably north as well as south of London, he had associ- ated about him a circle of young people of principles and opinions similar to his own, who had sympathized with him in his persecutions and who had readily joined him in his separation from the English
' Thos. Dudley's letter to the Countess of Lincoln, Young's Chronicles, pp. 314-318, " Many died weekly, yea almost daily. Amongst whom were Mrs. Pynshon, Mrs. Coddington, Mrs. Philips and Mrs. Alcock, a sister of Mr. Hooker's. The ships being gone, victuals wasting and mortality increasing, We held fasts in our congregations. But the Lord would not be deprecated, for about the middle of September died Mr. Gager, a skillful chirurgeon; Mr. Higginson, minister of Salem; and on the 30th of September, Mr. Johnson, another of the five undertakers, the lady Arabella, his wife, being dead a month before; within a month after died Mr. Rossiter, another of our assistants, a godly man, which still weakened us more."
' Guilford T. R. Constitution.
' I. Mather Mag. 593. L Sprague's An. loi.
l8 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
church. Many of them were Hberally educated; all were persons of high culture and earnest zeal for religion and liberty, and some of them were connected with the most distinguished Puritans of the time. Among them were Desborow, Kitchell, Leete, Hoadley, Chittenden, Sheaffe, Mepham, Thomas and John Jordan, and others. " They felt,'* says Dr. Mather, " that they could not live without his ministry, and they joined him enthusiastically in his design of emigrating to New England."
Several of them — we know not how many — had already been pro- scribed by the reigning hierarchy of the day. Noble, in his history of the Cromwell family, says of Desborow, the future member of several parliaments, the Lord Chancellor and Keeper of the Great Seal for Scotland, " that he was obliged to go to New England to enjoy his religious opinions." " The troubles of his country forced Mr. Hoad- ley, who had been a clergyman of Rolvenden in Kent, to go to New England to enjoy his opinions," says his grandson. Dr. Benj. Hoadley, the great Whig Bishop of Bangor, Hereford, Salisbury and Winchester. Dr. Mather says that Mr. Leete was obliged to resign his place as Registrar of the Bishop of Ely's Court and was exposed to persecu- tion, which caused him to retire into New England in 1639 ^^''^h many worthy ministers and other Christians. Mr. Chittenden, it is said, was obliged to retire for a while into Holland for similar reasons.
Another quite as important early and very intimate friend of Mr. Whitfield appears at this time, who apparently had more influence than any other in promoting and directing his company's emigration to New England. I allude to George Fen wick. Esquire, the agent and partner of certain great lords and gentlemen, leaders of the Puritan party in England, who were then designing and preparing a settlement at Saybrook on the Connecticut river as a refuge from the tyranny which had become insupportable in their native land; a plan of which emigration and settlement,^ drawn up by Hampden, had been sub- mitted to" and had the approval of Sir John Eliot in the dungeon where the cruelty of Charles L had left him to die.
Mr. Fenwick was the representative at this time, in this country, under these lords and gentlemen, of all the ])atent privileges and chartered franchises granted under royal and other patents of all the territory comprised within the present limits of the State of Connecti- cut, with all the jurisdiction powers derived thereby from the govern- ment.
' Forstcr's life of John Pym, English Statesmen, Harper's ed. p. 161. II. H. Walpole's cat. 352. Eliot's MSS. in possession of Lord Eliot, quoted by Forster in Eng. Statesmen. ' Forstcr's Eng. Statesmen, 246.
WHITFIELD AND THE SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWN. IQ
Sufficient consideration has never hitherto been given, as it seems to me, to the important position which Mr. Fenwick then held, not only in the affairs of the mother country, but more especially in those of our own.^ He was certainly one of the most prominent and efficient members of the Puritan party in England. Educated at Oxford, for many years a distinguished barrister of Gray's Inn, where he early became the associate and intimate friend of Mr. Whitfield. After- wards he was one of Cromwell's colonels, a member of Parliament, and one of the judges designated by that body to try treason in the king.
One of the most important chapters of his, as well as of our own, history still remains to be written, illustrating the origin and history of the Warwick patent, with its high purpose of the settlement under it of those great Puritan lords and leaders. Lord Say and Scale, Lord Brook, Lord Riel and other noblemen; but far more than these, of England's greatest statesmen, Oliver Cromwell, John Pym, John Hampden, Sir Arthur Hasselrig and others, who afterwards controlled so long, for good or ill, the destinies of England.
In June, 1635, this company of lords and gentlemen — all of them grantees, directly or indirectly, of the Wanvick patent — made John Winthrop, Junior, then in England," governor for them of the jurisdic- tion of Connecticut, and sent him over hither with a large amount of money and a great company of carpenters and builders, under the charge of Lion Gardiner, an experienced engineer and architect, trained in the Low Countries under the Prince of Orange,^ " to con- struct fortifications at the mouth of the Connecticut River, with pres- ent accommodations for themselves," but more especially * " such other houses as might be fit to receive gentlemen of quality about to come out of England."
A subsequent letter, written by Sir Arthur Hasselrig and Mr. Fen- wick to Mr. Winthrop, Junior, from London, dated the i8th of Sep- tember following, shows the importance and extraordinary urgency which this matter had assumed, and is as follows:
" You ' will receive from Mr. Hopkins a particular of what is sent. Therein you shall find our constancy and care. Our dependence on you is great. We need not express it. Your ability to perform your undertaking we doubt not. Your integrity to go on with the work we suspect not. Our request is that fit houses be builded. We write
* Hubbard says of him, p. 279, " The hands of those on that side of the country were strengthened by the coming over of Mr. Fenwick, a gentleman of great estate and eminent for wisdom and piety."
'Trumb. Conn. Ap. II, 527-8. 'II. Mass. Hist. Col. 136.
* I. Palfrey 450, 451. • IV. Mass. Hist. Col. VI, 364.
20 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
this as we hope to congratulate your arrival, and to encourage your forwardness in a work of such exceeding consequence. We shall be happier to live to see you. Howsoever our best desires are yours."
Within a month after this, there arrived at Boston Mr. Harry Vane and the famous Mr. Hugh Peter,' " having order," says the elder Winthrop, " from these lords and gentlemen to assert their claims to all the land conveyed to them by the Warwick patent against all intruders, which they did immediately by a proclamation signed by them jointly with Mr. Winthrop, addressed especially to the new set- tlers at Windsor, Hartford and Wethersfield, requiring them to state under what right and pretense they had taken up their plantation within the precincts of their patent,'" and also requiring them to " acknowledge the rights and claims of said persons of quality, and in testimony thereof to submit to the council and direction of their pres- ent governor, Mr. John Winthrop the younger, established by com- mission from them in those parts."
In May following, Mr. Fenwick' himself arrived at Boston, especi- ally charged with carrying out the same great purpose, and after stay- ing a few weeks in that city, making preparations for the work going on at Saybrook, he set out on horseback with Mr. Hugh Peter across the country, intending to take in the plantations at Windsor and Hart- ford on their way. From thence a pinnace, sent up the river for that purpose by Mr. Winthrop, Junior, conducted them safe to their place of destination, the new fortifications at the mouth of the river.
At this time* the Pequot war was about commencing, and the murder of Mr. John Oldham occurred within less than a week after their arrival. After the overthrow of the Pequots and the establish- ment of the Mohegan Uncas on the ruins of the Pequot dominion," Mr. Fenwick, in pursuance of the same great object, purchased of him all the territory from Niantic to Tuxis, including a considerable tract of land subsequently comprised within the limits of the ancient town of Guilford.
Alternate hopes and fears, fluctuating with the continually changing aspect of political affairs in their own country, and with the equally
' I. Sav. Winth. 170. ' I. Sav. Winth. Ap. 391, 398. ' I. Winth. Ap. 390, 392.
* Lion Gardiner's Relation, III. Mass. Hist. Coll. Ill, pp. 129-139. Mr. Fenwick and Mr. Oldham arrived at Saybrook fort together. Gardiner's Rela- tion.
"^ Mr. Fenwick and H. Peter left Boston, July 6th, 1636. They probably arrived by the 13th of July. Oldham arrived at the same time. On the 20th of July, 1636, Mr. Gallup found Mr. Oldham's vessel containing his body, mutilated and yet warm. I. Winthrop 189, 190. I. Palfrey 458.
WHITFIELD AND THE SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWN. 21
varied reports of the aggression and repression of Indian ferocity which came to them from our own, kept this company of lords and gentle- men and their partner and agent Mr. Fenwick for a long period in a state of doubt and uncertainty as to their ultimate settlement in Connecticut.
Once certainly, according to the historian Hume/ and the author- ities collected by him, they had already embarked in a company includ- ing Sir Arthur Hasselrigg, Hampden, Pym, Cromwell, and many others, in eight ships, ready to sail in the Thames, resolved forever to abandon their native country and seek that liberty in the other extremity of the globe which was denied them at home, when they were detained by an order from the Privy Council. And the king had afterwards, says the historian, " full leisure to repent this exercise of his authority,"
It is difficult to determine the precise time of Mr. Fenwick's return to England after his first visit to this country, but it is certain that he was in England as early as the beginning of the year 1638.
Soon after, he was in company with Mr. Whitfield and his associates and arranged with them their already intended emigration and settle- ment within the limits of his patent, in friendly proximity to Messrs. Eaton and Davenport and their company, who were already located at Ouinnipiack. No man in England could have been better acquainted with the country between the Connecticut river and their plantation than Mr. Fenwick, not only from his own personal observation, but also by reports such as that made by Captain Stoughton* on his return from the rout of the Pequots, in which he said that the country was abundantly better than that of Massachusetts Bay and well fitted for a plantation. Besides, as has before been stated, Mr. Fen- wick had already purchased of Uncas the Mohegan a considerable portion of that territory. Further, Mr. Fenwick was also preparing to return to Connecticut in the business of his partners, the said lords and gentlemen, to be ready for any emergency which the convulsions of the times might eventuate.
' V. Hume (Harp, ed.) 85. Dugdale. Bates. I. Hutch. Mass. 42. Forster's Eng. Statesmen.
Hutchinson says, " Many persons of figure and distinction were expected to come over, some of whom are said to have been prevented by an express order of the King, as Mr. Pym, Mr. Hampden, Sir Arthur Hasselrig, Oliver Cromwell, etc. I know this is questioned by some authors, but it appears plainly by a letter from Lord Say and Sele to Mr. Vane, and a letter from Mr. Cotton to the same nobleman, and an answer to certain demands made by him, etc." T. Hutch. 42. 4.1. * I. Sav. Winth. 400.
22 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
Accordingly, he arranged with Mr. Whitfield and his company ' their joint emigration to Connecticut in the same ship, and made joint stock of their cattle and other effects necessary for the supply of their plan- tations.
Mr. Fenwick had just married Lady Alice (Apsley) Boteler, widow of Lord John Boteler,' the daughter of Sir Edward Apsley, of Sussex, a lady connected with the St. Johns, the Hutchinsons, and others of the eminent and noble Puritan families of England."
Mrs. Fenwick, or Lady Boteler, as she is usually called, not only entered earnestly into the spirit of the adventure ' and joined her hus- band in the emigration, but by a letter written subsequently by Mr. Fenwick to the elder Winthrop, dated July 6, 1640, it appears that she even stinted her own means to furnish Mr. Whitfield the necessary supplies."
Mr. Fenwick too, in like manner, both before and after their arrival in Connecticut, evinced his long-continued friendship and regard for !Mr. Whitfield by giving him all that land," formerly purchased of Uncas between the Athammonassett river and Tuxis, included in the boundaries of ancient Guilford. We give the letter to Mr. Leete announcing this generous donation:
Mr. Leet: — I have often been moved by Mr. Whitfield to enlarge the bounds of your plantation, which otherwise, he told me, could not comfortably subsist, unto Athammonassett river; to gratify so good a friend and to supply your wants, I have yielded to his request, which, according to his request by this bearer, I signify to you for your own and the plantation's better satisfaction, hoping it will be a means fully to settle such who, for want of fit accommodation, begun to be wavering amongst you, and I would commend to your considera- tion one particular which I conceive might tend to common advantage,
^ IV. Mass. H. C. VI, 365.
' I. Hollister's Conn. 149, note prepared by J. H. Trumbull.
' MS. letter of 1857 from J. H. Trumbull, Esq. * IV. Mass. H. C. VI, 366.
"IV. Mass. Hist. Col. VI, 365. George Fenwick to John Winthrop, Say- brook, July 6, 1640. " When I was with yow I did not know how Mr. White- field and I should devid. I thought it most equal! that he should have part stock & part of your debt, but he being vtterly destitute of catle, and relyeing vpon those he expected vpon his bargaine with my wife, I have condiscended to lett him haue all the 5 cowes that remained of my wife's whole stock and haue taken your debt wholly vpon my selfe." " I have bene & am lik to be more straitned for moneyes this yeare then in that little tyme I haue lived I haue euer bene." Tradition says those " cowes " were the ancestors of the sturdy breed of red cattle which are still used by the farmers of the town.
• Guilford T. R. Vol. A, 4, 5.
WHITFIELD AXD THE SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWN. 23
and that is, when you are all suited to your present content, you will bind yourselves more strictly for continuing together; for however in former times (while chapmen and money were plentiful) some have gained by removes, yet in these latter times it doth not only weaken and discourage the plantation deserted, but also wastes and consumes the estates of those that remove. Rolling stones gather no moss in these times, and our conditions now are not to expect great things. Small things, nay moderate things, should content us, a warm fireside and a peaceable habitation with the chief of God's mercies, the gospel of peace, is no ordinary mercy, though other things were mean. I intended only one word, but the desire of the common good and settle- ment hath drawn me a little further. For the consideration, Mr. Whitfield told me you were willing to give me for any purchase, I leave it wholly to yourselves. I look not to my own profit, but to your comfort. Only one thing I must entreat you to take notice of, that when I understood that that land might be useful for your plan- tation I did desire to express my love to Mr. Whitfield and his children, and therefore offered him to suit his own occasions which he, more intending your common advantage than his own particular, hath hitherto neglected, yet my desire now is that you would suit him to his content, and that he would accept of what shall be allotted him as a testimony of my love intended to him before I give up my interest to your plantation, and that therefore he may hold it free of charge, as I have signified to himself. I will not now trouble you further, but, with my love to yourself and the plantation, rest.
Your loving friend and neighbor,
George Fenwick. Seabrooke, Oct. 22nd, 1645.
If you consider John Mepham ' for his wife's sake and for mine, I shall take it kindly.
Our friends were now ready for their departure, and we are enabled to catch some glimpses of their preparation. They certainly embarked at London, and it may have been in one of those very ships from which Cromwell, Pym, Hampden and Hasselrigg were so rudely detained. We learn further,' although we do not know its name, that it was a ship of 350 tons. We find also, by a memorandum preserved by Bishop
' The Planters gave Mepham 40 acres of land, and on January 26, 1674-5, land in that section is granted to John Evarts's four sons, provided " they secure the Town from all molestation, claime, or demand which John Mepham's heirs may pretend to on account of respect to him by Master Fenwick's favour."
' I. Sav. Winth. 306. Hubbard 279. I. Trumb. Conn. 106.
24 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
Hoadley in his autobiography, that Mr. John Hoadley, his grand- father, left home in Rolvenden in Kent to join Mr. Whitfield and his ship on the 26th of April, 1639.
An original indenture recently found among the papers of the Mass. Hist. Soc, in the handwriting of William Leete, made at his English residence at Keystone in Huntingdonshire,^ about g miles from Hinch- inbrook, the residence of Cromwell, and only a few miles from Ettisley, the residence of Mr. Desborow, made on 13th of April, the same month, with one Edward Jones of Northampton, a house-builder, provides for their joining the ship at London, for an expected delay in making preparation, for Jones' freight and passage to Quinnipiack, and for three years' service at his trade at their place of destination in the southerly part of New England.'
The exact day' on which the vessel sailed is not known, but from what we know of the length of their passage, the time of their arrival and the other attendant circumstances, we are enabled to determine with tolerable accuracy that they commenced their voyage about the 20th of May, 1639. That they were on their way was certainly known at Quinnipiack, and their safe arrival was looked for with much solici- tude. Besides the many other desirable friends* on board, there was a young child of Mr. Davenport's who had been left by him at London under the care of Lady Mary Vere, Baroness of Tilbury, a daughter- in-law of the Earl of Oxford.
Away on the wide and stormy sea, out of sight of England, from which most of them had parted forever, they began to feel more thoroughly their mutual dependence upon each other and the necessity of keeping their little company together unbroken; and accordingly, after having been about ten days on their voyage, they drew up and signed their plantation covenant, pledging themselves to stand by and not desert each other in the new land which they were about to enter. This instrument, brief but complete for its purpose, has recently been found among the papers of the Mass. Hist. Society, and is as follows:
Covenant.^
We whose names are here underwritten, intending by God's gracious permission to plant ourselves in New England, and if it may be, in the
' MSS. in Mass. Hist. Col. at Boston, being papers once preserved by Gov. Leete, and of which he must have been the collector, examined by me at Boston, June, 1865.
' I. Sav. Winth. 306. Hubbard 279. IX. H. & G. Reg. 149.
' I. Trumb. Conn. 106. * IX. H. & G. Reg. 149.
"This Covenant is among the MSS. papers of the Mass. Hist. Soc, Boston, preserved probably ])y Gov. Leete.
WHITFIELD AND THE SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWN.
25
southerly part about Quinnipiack, do faithfully promise each, for our- selves and our families and those that belong to us, that we will, the Lord assisting- us, sit down and join ourselves together in one entire plantation and be helpful each to the other in any common work, according to every man's ability and as need shall require, and we promise not to desert or leave each other or the plantation, but with the consent of the rest, or the greater part of the company who have entered into this engagement. As to our gathering together in a church way and the choice of officers and members to be joined to- gether in that way, we do refer ourselves, until such time, as it shall please God to settle us in our plantation. In witness vyhereof we sub- scribe our names, this first of June, 1639.
Robert Kitchel, John Stone,
John Bishop, William Plane,
Francis Bushnell, Richard Guttridge,
William Chittenden, John Housegoe,
Wm. Dudley,
John Permely,
John Mepham,
Thomas Norton,
Abraham Cruttenden,
Wm. Leete, Thomas Jones, John Jordan, Wm. Stone, John Hoadley,
Francis Chatiield, Wm. Halle, Thomas Naish, Henry Kingnoth, Henry Doude, Thomas Cooke, Henry W^hitfield.
There are but twenty-five signatures to this covenant, but as each person signed for himself and those that belonged to him, including minors, dependants and servants, only the head of the family putting his name to the instrument, we may readily conclude the whole number of males to have been much larger. Mr. Samuel Disborough, their first magistrate, was at this time not quite twenty years of age. and consequently was not one of the signers. The same was true of Mr. Thomas Jordan, a lawyer, who became distinguished after his return to England some fifteen years later. Mr. Jacob SheafTe, brother of Mrs. Whitfield and Mrs. Chittenden, who afterwards became a prin- cipal merchant of Boston, had recently come of age, was still unmarried and was probably attached to some of these families. It is a remark- able fact that this company was almost entirely composed of young men' just starting in life.
That they were anxiously expected at New Haven' appears by a letter recently copied by Rev. Mr. Waddington of London from MSS.
' Indeed Hubbard, who was almost a contemporary, says, " It was remark- able that all besides Mr. Whitfield Iiimself who began the work were young men, an unusual thing for those times." II. Hubbard, p. 328.
MX. H. & G. Reg. 149.
26 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
in the British Museum, written by Mr. Davenport to Lady Vere and dated Ouinnipiack, Sept. 28th, 1639, a part of which I copy.
" By the good hand of God upon us, my deare child is safely arrived, with sundry desirable friends, as Mr. Fenwick and his lady, Mr. Whit- field, etc., to our great comfort. Theyre passage was so ordered as it appeared, that prayers were accepted, for they had no sickness, but a little seasickness — not one dead — (but they brought to shore one more than was known to be in the vessel at their coming forth, for a woman was safely delivered of a child and both are alive and well) they attained to their haven where they would be in 7 weeks. Their pro- vision at sea held good to the last. About the time we guessed they might approach near us, we sett a day apart for public extraordinary humiliation by fasting and prayers, in which we commended them to the hands of our God whom the winds and sea obey, and shortly after we sent a pinnis to pilot them to our harbor, for it was the first ship that ever cast anchor in this place. But our pilott having watched for them a fortnight, grew weary and returned home. And the very night after, the ship came in guided by God's own hand to our town. The sight of ye harbour did so please ye Captain of the Ship and all the passengers that he called it Fayre Haven." ^
yir. Whitfield and his associates were undoubtedly received with joy and affection by the dwellers at Ouinnipiack. They were again among friends who sympathized with them in their sufferings, opin- ions and faith. They had left their oppressors a thousand leagues behind them, separated by a wide, almost impassable ocean, and they were now truly in a new world. The historian Hubbard says they arrived at New Haven on the 15th of July, 1639, but a very careful examination of the contemporaneous authorities, and especially those upon which he makes up his date, induces us to fix the time of their arrival a week or ten days earlier, that is from the 6th to the loth of July, 1639.
It is evident that they had no intention of losing themselves in the colony of Eaton and Davenport. They wished to form their own independent community; the contemporaneous note of the Elder Win- throp is that " they intended their own peculiar government," a San Marino, if you please, of their own.
They accordingly soon commenced negotiations with the Indians for the purchase of that part of the territory about' Menunkatuck,
' New Haven received its name the next year at a general court held the ist of the 7th month, 1640. The record is in these words, " This town now named New Haven." I. N. Hav. Col. R. 40.
^ Hubbard 319, " A company came out of the Southern parts of England, Kent, Suffolk, Surry, etc. with Mr. Henry Whitfield willi wlioni came also
WHITFIELD AND THE SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWX. T.J
where they intended their habitation, which had not already been purchased by Mr. Fenwick/ In acquiring this Indian title an inter- preter became necessar}', but he was readily supplied in the person of, not Mr. Thomas Stanton, who had acted for Eaton and Davenport, but Mr. John Higginson, Mr. Fenwick's chaplain at Saybrook.
Mr. Higginson, who soon became one of their company and one of the first seven pillars of their church," their first teacher and second pastor, and who at one time stood at the head of the clergy of New England, and whose sturdy patriotism and logic at a later period fur- nished a sterner barrier against the insolent tyranny of Andros and Randolph than any other, claims from us a more particular notice. He was the eldest son of the Rev, Francis Higginson and his wife Ann, who was, as Mr, Felt supposes, a sister of Governor Eaton, He was born at Claybrook in Leicestershire, August 6, 1616, He came with his father to Salem in 1629 at the age of 13 years, and was one of the first members of the Salem church. After his father's death in 1630 he accompanied his mother to Charlestown, and afterwards to Ouillipiack. After acting as chaplain of the fort at Saybrook, 1636, teaching school for a while at Hartford, he fitted for the ministry with Messrs, Hooker and Stone. While engaged in these pursuits he made himself familiar with the Indian languages of New England,' not only for intercourse, but for Christian instruction of these savage tribes. He had frequently* been employed by the Winthrops in their negotia- tions with the Pequots and Narragansetts, and had recently returned ° from a mission to the Indians on the shore of Long Island Sound, west of New Haven, for the purchase of their lands in anticipation of the Dutch.
I^Ir. Wm. Leete, the late worthy Governor of the Connecticut Colony, then a young man. They chose a place about 16 miles easterly from Quillipiack (since called New Haven), and there set down, which is since called Guilford." ' Tradition says, " At first they thought of Milford, but finally fixed upon Guilford, because they found it, particularly about the town plat, where they first settled, low, flat, and moist land, agreeable to their wishes." History of Guilford. 1st ed. p. 12. The meaning of Menuncatuck, according to J. H. Trum- bull, is Menliaden River. " I. Felt Annals of Salem 24. H. Felt 542, 543.
* Higginson told Sir E. Andros that he learned the Indian language in his younger time and was at several times made use of by the Government and by divers particular plantations as an interpreter in treating with the Indians about their lands. I. Felt's Salem 24.
Felt says Mr. Higginson was one of the most zealous and earnest in oppos- ing the claims of Andros and Randolph. Randolph wrote from prison, July 23, 1689, " All things arc carried by a furious rabble animated by a crafty minister."
* I. Winth. 192. II. Winth. 345. * See Mr. Higginson's letter.
28 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
The country about Menuncatuck was then subject to a squaw sachem named Shaumpishuh, sister of Momaugin, and had recently joined with him and her uncle Quosoquonsh, Sachem of Totoket, or Branford, in the sale of the lands at Ouinnipiack to Messrs. Eaton and Davenport. The Indians of Menuncatuck, greatly thinned by disease and the in- cursions of other tribes, were at this time very few. The whole family of the Ouinnipiacks to which they belonged numbered only 47 men. They were kindred to the Indians of Mattabeset and the tribes west of the Connecticut, and were undoubtedly a branch of the great Narra- gansett tribe,' cut off from the parent stock by the intrusion of the Pequots and Mohegans about half a century before this period. Weak- ened by sickness and harassed by the cruel ravages of the Mohawks and Pequots on either hand, they declared to Mr. Eaton that by reason of their enemies they could not stay in their own country and had been obliged to flee from it. The advent of the English, therefore, was looked upon by them as a great blessing, furnishing a protection against these hereditary enemies. " They accordingly, in as solemn a manner as Indians are wont to do on such occasions,"' says Mr.. Higginson, " expressed their desire to Mr. Whitfield and his com- pany for the friendship of the English and their willingness that they should come and dwell among them." And the Sachem queen of this little tribe of Menuncatucks, acting under the advice of her uncle and counsellor, Quosoquonsh, a monarch treating- with the founders of a republic of their own, accordingly on the 23d of August, 1639, pre- sented to Mr. Whitfield and his interpreter, Mr. Higginson, a map,, which I have recently had before me, rude indeed, but fully indicating the position of the territory, of all the country from Athammonassuck to Ouinnipiack, with all the rivers, shores and adjacent islands, upon which the Sachem squaw made this her certificate: "That from Tuxis^ to Oiocommuck river the land wholly and only belongs to herself and is at her dispose, the description of it being given by Quosoquonsh, her uncle, and assented by herself, Aug. 23d, 1639. In the presence of me,, Henry Whitfield and John Higgeson."'
The terms of the treaty of cession and sale and the consideration^ fully adequate under the existing circumstances, having been satis- factorily arranged, a meeting was held by Mr. Whitfield and his asso- ciates, together with the Indian proprietress, on the 29th of September,.
' I. O'Callaghan, New Netherlands, 150, 151. I. Broadheads, N. Y. 232.
*Mr. Higginson's letter.
' The original map with the certificate upon it is now among the MSS. of the Mass. Hist. Soc. at Boston. The certificate is in the handwriting of Mr. Whitfield. The signatures are autographs.
WHITFIELD AND THE SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWN. 29
1639, and, as is stated in the record, at Mr. Newman's barn at Ouilli- piack, which had come to be the great hall of council on such solemn occasions. Here, using their own language,
" I. It was first agreed and concluded by the whole number of planters with one consent, that the whole lands called Menuncatuck should be purchased for them, although the deeds and writings thereabout be by one consent made and drawn in the name of these six planters only, viz. Henry Whitfield, Robert Kitchel, William Chittenden, John Bishop, John Coffinge, William Leete, each planter paying his pro- portionable share toward the charges and expenses about purchasing and settling the plantation."
At the same time a provisional arrangement was entered into for settling the civil government of the colony until a more definite dis- position could be made. This was as follows, brief but adequate:
" H. It is agreed also that the civil power for the administration of justice and the preservation of peace shall be and remain in the hands of Robert Kitchel, Wm. Chittenden, John Bishop and Wm. Leete, chosen for that work."
They then proceeded to complete the deed of purchase from the Sachem squaw, the original of which, in the handwriting of Mr. Whit- field, is still preserved in the Massachusetts Historical Society Library, and is as follows, viz. :
"Articles^ of agreement, made and agreed upon the 29th of September, 1639, between Henry Whitfield, Robert Kitchel, William Chittenden, William Leete, John Bishop and John Cafifinge, English planters of j\Ienuncatuck, and the Sachem Squaw of Menuncatuck, together with the Indians, inhabitants of Alenunchetuck, as followeth:
First. That the Sachem Squaw is the sole possessor and inheritor of all the lands lying between Kuttawoo and Oiockcommock river.
Secondly. That the sayed Sachem Squaw (with the consent of the Indians there inhabiting, who are all, together with herself, to remove from thence), doth sell unto the foresayed English planters, all the lands within the foresayed limits of Kuttawoo and Oiockcommock river.
Thirdly. That the sayed Sachem Squaw, havinge received 12 coates, 12 fathom of Wompom, 12 glasses, 12 payer of shooes, 12 Hatchetts, 12 paire of stockings, 12 Hooes, 4 kettles, 12 knives, 12 hatts, 12 poringers, 12 spoons and 2 English coates, professeth herselfe to bee fully payed and satisfied. In witness whereof the foresayed parties have sett their hands.
Squaw "J'^a Sachem, Hry Whitfield,
her 4-^ mark. in the name of ye rest.
In presence whereof
John Higgenson, Robert Newman."
' Less formal than the deed from Uncas. The date is, of course, old style. Kuttawoo is East River and Oiockcommock is Stony Creek.
30 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
"The names of the Indians that are to sit down at Kuttawoo:
Sunk squaw (at Quillipiack), " this written afterwards."
Qussuckquansh (at Totoquet), " written afterwards." His wife and 2 children. Commossuck.
Auquaihamch, a blind Indian. Chamish, a dumb old man and his wife. Aiasomut, a wife and two children. Meishunk, a wife and two children. Pauquiam, his wife and one child. Mequnhut, and his one child. Kaukechihu. a wife and two children. Metuckquachick, one child. Ponaim, a young man. Wantumbecun, one child. Apoaweion, one wife. [making 13 men, 8 women and 12 children, or 33 in all.]
" All these are the inhabitants of Kuttawoo (which formerly lived at Menoughkatuck, and the Squaw Sachem, in her own name and their promiseth their friendship and faithfulness to the English, and I, H: Whitfield, in my owne name, and of ye English yt are to inhabit at Alenoughketuck, promise the like to them, so long as they doe so continue, provided yt they be friends to ye English, as they professe they are. The sayed Sachem Squaw, in her owne name, and ye rest of the above named Indians, promiseth that they will not hurt or steal any thing belonging to the English, as cows or hogs, corn, etc., and if any shall, they shall be punished and just satisfaction be made to ye owners, also they promise yt no traps shall be set by any Indians at any place within ye aforesayed limits where any English cattle vse to come to feed. I also promise, in my owne name, and ye names of ye rest, yt no hurt shall be done to them or any thing of theirs, and if any shall, just satisfaction shall be taken when they complaine.
" Qussuckquansh binds himselfe to pay for all ye hurt yt ye Menoughketuck Indians shall doe; and I, H. Wh., do bind myselfe to pay for all ye hurt ye English shall doe."
At this meeting of purchase and treaty-making it does not appear that any of the inhabitants of QuiHipiack were present participating or advising, except Mr. Robert Newman, who owned the barn, who witnessed the deed. They next prepared for their removal to the new plantation with their famiHes. The Rev. Thomas Ruggles,' who says that he conversed with old people who were personally acquainted with the first members of the church, states in his historical manuscript " that as soon as the first purchase was made the planters immediately before winter removed from New Haven and settled themselves at Guilford." He wrote in 1729 that the first planters were twenty-eight in number, and that is probably a correct statement of the nmnbcr of
' Ruggles MS. p. 6.
WHITFIELD AND THE SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWN. 3I
heads of families. Mr. Whitfield and his associates left no record of the allotments of the first division of the land. It appears to have been made in such a. manner as to have given general satisfaction. The record of it may have been burnt, as certain records of the first begin- ning of the settlement are said to have been burnt by accident, the house where they were lodged being consumed by fire. All the other and more important records of the proceedings at the commencement of the colony are preserved. The divisions of the land at the begin- ning appear to have been restricted to their individual homesteads and a few necessary out-lots. These divisions were made according to the estates of each of the planters and to the amount contributed to the common stock by each one.
The second Indian purchase was made, on the 20th of September, 1641, by Mr. Whitfield from Weekwash,' commonly called the pious Weekwash, and included the Neck, so called, lying beyond the Kutto- woo or East River, and is as follows:
Be it known by these presents that I, Weekwash of Passquishank, do give unto Henry Whitfield all the land called the Neck, lying beyond the East river of Menuncatuck, w-hich reacheth unto Tuckshishoag, with all the profits that doe belong to said ground. In witnesse of which bargaine:
John Jordan, Weekwash his mark.
Samuel Disborow, Thomas Jordan.
Memorandum. Before these witnesses Weekwash did avow himself to be the right owner of this land and that he had true right unto it as given him by the squaw Sachem Quillipiag.
' Wequash, sachem of the Niantic Indians in Connecticut, died at an early period after the settlement of Lyme, and is buried at the Christian Indian burying ground on the west side of the bay, near the mouth of the Niantic river. His memorial stone says, " He was the first convert among the New England tribes." This may be a mistake . . . Mr. Shepard wrote of him, " Wequash, a pious Indian at the river's mouth, is dead and certainly in heaven. He knew Christ, he loved Christ, he preached Christ up and down, and then suffered martyrdom for Christ." (Allen's American Biographical Dictionary.)
" On Wequash cook, an Indian living about Connecticut river's mouth and keeping much at Saybrook with Mr. Fenwick, attained to good knowledge of the things of God and salvation by Christ, so as he became a preacher to other Indians, and labored much to convert them, but without any effect, for within a short time he fell sick, not without suspicion of poison from them, and died very comfortably." (II. Savage's Winthrop's New England, p. 74.)
Capt. Israel Stoughton writes to Gov. Winthrop, Aug. 14, 1637, " For We- quash, we fear he is killed; and if he be, 'tis a wicked plot and, seeing he showed faithfulness to us and for it is so rewarded, it is hard measure to us-ward, and what is meet to be done therein, it is difficult for me to conclude." (I. Win- throp, p. 400, vide 2 Conn. Col. Rec. p. 57.)
32 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
[Consideration], a frize coate, a blanket, an Indian Coate. one faddom Dutchman's coate, a shirt, a pair of stockings, a pair of shoes, a Faddom of Wampom.
On the 17th of December, 1641, Mr. Whitfield and the other trustees bought of Uncas,' the Mohegan, all the land from East River or Kut- tawoo to Tuxis, including- all the land in this quarter not previously sold to Mr, Femvick, comprising most of what is now included in the 1st Society of Madison.
The original deed is in the handwriting of Mr. Leete, and is as follows:
Articles of agreement made and agreed upon the seaventeenth of Decem- ber, 1641, between Henry Whitfield, Robt. Kitchell, William Chittenden, John Jordan and the rest of the English planters of Menuncatuck, and Uncas, the Mohegin Sachem, as followeth:
Imprimis, That Uncas, the Mohegan Sachem aforesaid, is the right, true and sole owner, possessor and Inheritour of all those landes lyeing betweene the East river of Menuncatuck, called Moosamattuck, consisting of uplands, plaine landes, woodes and underwoodes, fresh and salt marshes. Rivers, Ponds, Springs with the Appurtenances, belonging to any of the said landes and the River, Brooke or Creeke called Tuskshishoagg, neare unto Wattommonossock which belong to Uncas or any other Indians. And that he, the said Uncas, hath absolute and independant power to aliene, dispose and sell all and every pt of the safd landes, together wth the Island wch lyeth in the sea before the said landes, called by the English Falcon Island and by the Indians .
2<ib-. That the said Uncas doth covenant wth the said English planters of Menunchatuck aforesaid, that he hath not made any former gift, grant, sale or Alienation of the said landes or any pt of them to any pson or psons what- soever, and that he will warrant the same and make good the Title thereof to the said English planters, and their heirs, against all men whatsoever, either Indians or others.
3'3'>'. The said Uncas, for and in consideration of four coates, two kettles, four Fathoms of Wampom, four hatchetts, three Hoes, now in hand, paid, or to be paid, doth bargaine and sell unto the foresaid English planters of Menun- chatuck all and every pt of the pticculars formerly mentioned, lyeing betweene the East River of Menuncatuck and Tuskshishoag as is aforesaid, to them and their heirs forever, by what names soever they are or have been usually called w^^ all the rights, prveleges or royalties of Fishing, and that it shall not bee lawful for the said Uncas, or any of his men, or any others from him, to set any Trapps for Deare in the said landes, or any wares in the Rivers for to catch Fish, but to leave it wholly to the use and possession of the English planters aforesaid so farre as our boundes hereafter to be set doth limit y™.
4ihiy. In that divers Indians have seemed to lay claime to this lande aforesaid, as the Sachem Squaw of Queliappyack and Weekwash through her right. The
* Uncas had obtained this land by his marriage with tlie daughter of the Hammonassett Sachem Sebequanash. Prol)ably most of his warriors moved to the eastward of the Hammonassett river after the purchase. (Deforest's " Indians of Connecticut," p. 182.)
WHITFIELD AXD THE SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWN. 33
one eyed squaw of Totoket and others, to this he saith, that he hath spoken w^^ all the Indians of Quelliapyack together with the Sachem Squaw, the one eyed Squaw and the rest and they doe all acknowledge, that the right of the said land now sold by Uncus is Uncus his childe's. Hee reporteth also that Weekwash did confesse to him that this land aforesaid did belong to his Childe. There were also at the Agreement makeing two Sachems the name of the one was Achawamutt, the other Nebeserte, who also aflfirmed the same that Uncus his childe was the true heir of this said land.
The boundes of this land w^*" we have purchased is as followeth From the East River to Tuckshishoag by the Seaside. From the lesser river as it goes as far as the marsh w'^^ is neare the head w<=^ wee judge to be eight miles off.
From the East River, where Connectacut path goes over halfe above the said place where wee go over on a Bridge, or tree lying over fro them, it goes up East and by North in the woodes w'^^ boundes hee, is by promise to set out to us at the Spring.
Henry Whitfield Uncus or Poquia ^r his marke
S.AMUELL DiSBOROW i*
JoH Jordan Uncus Squaw c| her marke
We, the planters of Menunkatuck aforesaid, do covenant with Uncas or
Poquiam that if at any time any inconvenience or annoyance at any time shall
arise to the English planters of Menunkatuck by the misdemeanors or evil
dealings of the Indians which are his men or from himself, they shall and will
at all times come to the English upon notice given them and make them
such satisfaction as the English shall require according to right and if any of
the English planters of Menunkatuck shall do wrong to him or any other
Alohegan Indians under his Government, upon complaint made to the English
I^Iagistrates and ofificers there shall be made just satisfaction by them according
to right
William Leete Secretary
Having thus secured the Indian titles to the territory necessary for their habitation, a meeting was convened on the 26. of February, 1641-2, when the trustees of the Indian purchases made the following declara- tion of their trust:
" Wee, whose names are here underwritten, who have purchased of the Indians the whole lands called Menuncatuck, and have purchased them in our owne names, doe signify by these p''sents what our true full intent and meaning is (Viz) not to make any advantage of the said purchase for o'"selves or posterity by this act, nor that any of the planters shall be prejudiced by it, in regard to their pi'portionable devisions, either of home or out lots, but that all lots shal be made and devided equally according to estates given in and according to the number of heads in each family, unto whom lots do or shall belong, neither will we the said purchasers make any choysse of o"" lotts above others but the lots shall fall or bee layd out by agreement, at the times of devis- sion. Moreover we profcsse that o"" meaning is (according to their desires) to resign up all o"" right in trust in the said purchase of lands, into the hands of the church here, so soone as it shall please God to gather one amongst us,
34 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
whether we be members of the said church or not. In witnesse whereof we have set to our hands.
In presence of the rest of the Planters.
Robert Kitchell, John Bishop, W™ Leete, Henry Whitfield, William Chittenden, John Caffinge.
Also it is agreed by consent that, although all the planters of Menuncatuck do pay their prportionable shares for the purchase of the said plantation, and for all the other charges expended about the necessary public business of the said plantation, that all the former right in trust shall so remain in the hands of the six purchasers until a church be gathered here.
Also it is agreed that the civil power for administration of Justice and p^- ervation of peace shall remaine in the hands of Robert Kitchel, William Chit- tenden. John Bishop and William Leete, formerly chosen for that worke, until some may bee chosen out of the church, that shall bee gathered.*'
The lands necessary for their plantation having been thus secured, it became necessary that the grounds should be laid out, the high- ways opened and prepared, the building lots designated and fitting habitations erected. As usual in all such cases, the carpenters, masons and house-builders from all the neighboring plantations, as well as their own, were put under immediate requisition. The huts left by the Indians may have furnished a present shelter. It is evident from the records and concurrent tradition that they spent their first winter at Guilford.' A universal helpfulness prevailed. It is said that the Indians assisted carrying the stone necessary for Mr. Whitfield's house and others of that character on hand-barrows, and in various other ways furnishing aid.
Several of the first houses were built of stone. Among them were Mr. Whitfield's, the finest in the plantation and which still remains; also Mr. Desborow's, Mr. Stillwell's and Mr. Higginson's. Mr. Whit- field's was fitted up with folding partitions, and for one or two years it was used for the place of meeting on the Sabbath, until the first meeting-house was erected.
The first meeting-house was also built of stone, and was situated about the middle of the north end of the public green. It was about 24 or 25 feet square with four roofs coming to a point in the center.
But the highways duly prepared, the home lots selected and their houses buildcd, the meeting-house erected, and the general order of the community established, nothing now remained to hinder their
' Ruggles MSS. I. Trumb. Conn.
WHITFIELD AND THE SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWN. 35
gathering into that church estate towards which all their previous movements and anticipations had been directed. Other reasons given for the delay in forming a church are that the settlers may have felt their continuance in Guilford more or less doubtful at first, that Mr. Higginson for some time may not have decided to stay as a teacher and that they wished to have a teacher as well as a preacher from the beginning of the church.
Accordingly in the month of June, 1643, '" ^ public meeting of all the planters, and without the aid or attendance of any other churches or communities, but by the unanimous consent of all their people, the church was gathered, upon which their whole social polity was pre- dicated.'
The records of these important events in handwriting of Mr. Des- borow are as follows, perfectly clear and explicit in all its detail:
" A church^ was here gathered at Guilford consisting of these 7 persons: — Mr. Henry Whitfield. Mr. John Higginson, Mr. Samuel Desborow, Mr. William Leete, Mr. Jacob Sheaflfe, John Mephani and John Hoadley.
The nineteenth day of the fourth moneth (June 29), 1643, the ffeofTees in trust for purchasing the plantation resigned up their right into the hands of the church, and these foure of them, also w^^h ■were chosen to the exercise of civil power, did also expresse that their right and power for that worke was " now terminated and ended, whereof notice being taken at the public meeting, it was further p''pounded, agreed and concluded, that whereas, for the time past (while as yet there was no church gathered amongst us) we did choose out foure men to wit Robert Kitchel. William Chittenden, John Bishop and William Leete, into whose hands we did put full power and authority to act, order and dispatch all matters, respecting the publicke weale and civill govern- ment of this plantation, until a church was gathered amongst us, w'^^ the Lord in mercy having now done, according to the desire of o'' hearts, and the said foure men at this publicke meeting, having resigned up their trust, and power to the intent that all power and authority might be rightly settled within the church, as most safe and suitable for securing of those mayne ends yych wee pi'pounded to o''selves in o'" coming hither and sitting downe together, namely, that wee might settle and uphold all the ordinances of God in an explicit congregational church way, w'** most purity, peace and liberty, for the benefit both of o''selves and our posterities after us. We do now therefore, all and every of us agree, order and conclude that only such planters, as are
They had been persecuted and driven from their native country because they were Congregationalists and Puritans, and they wished to enjoy their sentiments here unmolested by those who had no sentiments in common with them, who endeavored to destroy their religious and political bonds by which they had bound their new society and government together." History of Guilford, ist ed. p. 57.
' Davenport, four years earlier, derived this method of ecclesiastical organi- zation from the text: "Wisdom hatli builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars."
36 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
also members of the church here,^ shall bee, and bee called freemen, and that such freemen only shall have power to elect magistrates. Deputies and all other officers of public trust or authority in matters of importance, concerning either the civil! officers or government here, from amongst themselves and not elsewhere, and to take an account of all such officers, for the honest and faithful discharge of their several places respectively, and to deale with and pi'ceed against them for all misdemeanors and delinquencies in their several places according to rule, unto which Magistrates Deputies or ofticers we doe freely subject o'"selves in all lawful commands, p^vided that they bee yearly chosen, from time to time, and p'"vided also that no lawes nor orders bee by them made, but before all the planters, then and there inhabiting and residing have had due warning and notice of their meeting, or of what is to bee done so that all weighty objec- tions may be duly attended, considered and according to righteousness, satis- fj'ingly removed."
It is since further agreed and ordered, that in all general courts (consisting of the Magistrates and Deputies \\\\o are also appointed to keep particular courts) all orders shall be made, in generall courts by the major part of the fifreemen, and all actions in particular courts, sustained by the major vote of the Magistrates and Deputies, only it provided for issue sake that when the votes fall equall in cither of those courts, then the magistrate shall have a double or casting vote.
Also it is agreed that there shall bee one fixed gen'"all Court yearly for election of officers &c when shall be chosen the Deputies for the particular court, Treasurer, Secretary. Surveyors of highways, Marshall, Viewers of fences, &c.
It is ordered that there shall be foure fixed p''ticul'' Courts every yeare (viz) the first Thursdays in fifebruary. May, September and December, when and where all the members of the Court are to attend, from time to time, at eight o'clock in the forenoon upon the penalty of five shillings for every such default.
It was further ordered that all the freemen and planters should attend each and all of these courts, and remain to their close — unless dismissed — under suitable but severe penalties.
And it was further ordered that whosoever so appearing and attending shall have just cause to speake to or transact any businesse w^^ the Court or com- pany, or to or with any person or persons in their presence, they shall both in expressions and in all other manner of their behavyor, so comely and respect- fully demeane themselves, as may hold forth an honorable esteem of the
' These rules of none being freemen but themselves and from the church here, and none being officers but from amongst themselves and not elsewhere, were more exclusive than that of the other colonies, which was at the time of their admission as freemen, each must be a member of some one or other of the approved churches of New England. I. N. Ilav. Hist. Soc. Papers 23.
'January 31, 1649. Upon a review of the more ffixed agreements, lawes and orders formerly (from time to time) made. The Gen' Court here held the day and year aforesaid, thought fit, agreed and established them according to the ensuing draft as followcth. T. R. Vol. B. p. i.
At a Gen' Court, held Fei). 14, 1649, tlic whole frame of the foundation, agreements, orders and conclusions were read and all new orders were voted as they stand in the drafts then read to the planters in publique. T. R. Vol. A. p. 38.
WHITFIELD AND THE SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWN. 37
Authority then present, and a due attendance to peace, not speaking untill called or allowed to speake, nor addressing their speech to any but the Court, or Magistrate, or such as they shall allow him or them to speake unto, nor con- tinuing by impertinencies, needless repetitions or multiplications of words, w<='» rather tends to darken than cleare the truth, or right of the matter upon such penalty as the Court, considering the fact or carriage w'^ the aggravating circumstances adjoyned shall see cause to impose and inflict.
Many other laws, statutory and penal regulations, and provisions suitable and convenient to their situation were also enacted, which appear at length on their records.
Under these laws their courts were duly established and their court records kept with great care and regularity for a period of about 20 years, until they were brought under the Connecticut jurisdiction. With such magistrates as Mr. Desborow and such secretaries as Mr. Leete, they fully proved themselves in no wise inferior in learning or dignity to any other courts, at that time in New England.
New Haven, into combination with which they were forced by the exigencies of the situation, probably objected to receiving them before they should " embody in church estate." The phrase " church here " is thought by Prof. Hart to show that they feared the external pressure from New Haven.
The consideration shown for planters not church members is also noticeable, another evidence of that tolerant spirit which Guilford has never lacked. They are to be notified and required to attend town meetings, and probably were allowed to speak at them.
Although they acknowledged the scriptures contained in Divine Revelation, as furnishing a supreme rule of conduct, yet they had a due regard for the common law, which they had brought with them from their mother country', and which, founded, as they believed it to be, upon the general principles of righteousness and justice, furnishing the necessary rules for defining and ordering the social relations, regu- lating the proceedings and determinations of their courts, the descent of lands, dispositions by wills, the forms of holding and transferring property, the methods of entering into and enforcing the obligations of contracts, they considered they had no right to neglect or set aside.
In proof of this might be cited an early order on the Guilford Court for the division of the estate of a deceased planter, where recognisances were taken by the court from the parties to abide further light on the subject. And afterwards it is noted that the recog- nisances were discharged and cancelled, the court having received light from England satisfying them that they had proceeded correctly.*
Neither is there any allusion on their records, such as there appears
' Guilford Records, vol. A, pp. 76, "jj.
38 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
to be on the New Haven and Milford records, indicating any idea on their part of dispensing with the rules of the common law. Indeed it is impossible to believe, in the light of their proceedings and all the attendant circumstances, they could have intended understandingly to give up and disregard the common law, founded upon the decisions and accumulated wisdom of ages, interwoven, too, as it was, into all the affairs of their everyday life; nor can we believe for a moment that such men as Mr. Leete, Mr. Desborow, Mr. Thomas Jordan, to say nothing of Mr. Whitfield — men not only bred to the law, but eminent in the profession, both in their own as well as in their mother country, before and afterwards — could forego and belie the teachings of their whole lives.
That the founders of Guilford may have endeavored, as many other good jurists have very properly done, to make the common law and their civil polity predicated upon it conform more strictly to the rules, as far as they were manifest, in the higher law of Divine Revelation is undoubtedly true; but that they could have designed to ignore the whole common law of England, leaving themselves without any code adapted to their own peculiar circumstances, whatever may have been done by their sister colonies,' can never be believed.
That other colonies' took a different course for a short period, from dififerent light or want of light in the matter, may have been one of the reasons why Guilford chose to adhere to her own peculiar and separate polity.
At a General Court held at New Haven for the Jurisdiction, the 3d of April, 1644. " It was ordered that the judicial lawes of God, as they were delivered by Moses, and as they are a fence to the moral law, being neither typical nor ceremonial, nor had any reference to Canaan, shall be accounted of moral equity and gen'"lly bind all offenders, and be a rule to all the courts of this Jurisdiction in their proceedings against offenders, till they be branched out into particulars hereafter."
This simply amounts to this, that the law^s of God as delivered by Moses were here established as " a rule to all courts of this Jurisdiction in their proceedings against offenders," that is, in all those matters of the criminal law where the penalty or punishment is ordinarily fixed by particular statutory enactments of the Legislature of the land. They
' .A.t Milford — It was " voted tliat they would guide themselves in all their doings by the written word of God, till such time as a body of lawes should be established." Lambert p. 92.
'I. N. H. Col. Rec. (Iload.) 12.
" In all public offices which concern civ^il order as choice of Magistrates, and officers, making and repealing lawes, dividing alotments of inheritance, and all things of like nature, we would all of us be ordered by those rules which the Scripture holds forth to us."
WHITFIELD AND THE SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWN. 39
did not bring- the penalties and punishments enacted by the parUament of Great Britain with them to this country any more or less than any other colony of America, but they established the provisions of the law of Moses as their rule of penalties and punishments " until they could be branched out into particulars hereafter." This, however, had clearly nothing to do with the common law which they brought with them and always used in its application to breaches of contracts, de- scents of lands and other property; also to civil injuries between man and man which are answered in damages, nor to the rules which regu- late the ordinary methods of procedure of courts in matters either civil or criminal.'
While the fundamental system of civil government adopted by the founders of the colony of Guilford was thus distinctively their own, on the other hand it is equally evident that their ecclesiastical polity, with the bare exception of their selection of seven of their principal planters, as the nucleus of their church, like that at New Haven and that at Milford and perhaps some others, was in all other respects no less distinctive and peculiar.
Mr. Whitfield, like yir. Davenport, Mr. Prudden and many other ministers who came to America, had been a clergyman of the estab- lished church of England previous to his emigration, but unlike those ministers, he did not think it necessary, on his settlement in Guilford, to be again ordained preparatory to a rig^ht discharge of all the duties of pastor in their church.
That they had chosen him and he had chosen them seems to have been sufficient for their alliance, without any further installment or consecration for their respective duties.
He had gathered them in England, or rather they had gathered themselves around him there, and he had come across the Atlantic with them as their pastor, and having- called Mr. Higg-inson into their fraternity as their teacher, they, the whole community of the planters, gathered their church around their ministers, as a center, and as far as appears from the records and from tradition, without the advice or aid of any other churches or elders.
There were, however, three men chosen annually at a special meet- ing every year * from the first, men such as Mr. Desborow. Mr. Kitchell, Mr. Leete and Mr. Thomas Jordan, to collect the minister's mainten- ance and to manage the other temporalities of the church, holding an office similar, perhaps, to that of vestrymen in the Church of England, and there is no account of any other officers in their ecclesiastical conmiunity.
'I. N. H. Col. Rec. 130.
' See Town Records, October 7, 1646, and August 19. 1^)47.
40 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
Mr. Hig-ginson, it may be noted incidentally, in the discharge of his duties as teacher, officiated one-half of the day on each Sabbath and also had the charge of the public school.
Probably in their primitive condition no necessity was felt for Deacons among them. It is certain at any rate that none were selected or appointed during the pastorate of either Mr. Whitfield or his suc- cessor, Mr. Higginson, for a period of nearly a quarter of a century.
Unlike the neighboring churches, who seem never to have considered themselves completely supplied with officers until they had appointed a Ruling Elder, the church at Guilford not only never made any such appointment, but they wholly repudiated it in their organization.
These fundamental points of difference in the order and discipline of the first church at Guilford from the other neighboring churches are fully proved from their records, as also by a letter among the papers of President Stiles, written to him by the Rev. Thomas Ruggles, Junior, the fifth pastor of the Guilford church over one hundred years ago, in which he says, " with regard to the church at Guilford, they never had, and upon principle never ivould admit, a Ruling Elder, and in this respect," he says, " their practice was quite dififerent from that of the church of Mr. Davenporte." And he adds: " I have made diligent enquiries into the subject many years ago, with old , people who were personally acquainted with the first members of the Guilford church. They invariably agree that Mr. Whitfield was never ordained in any sense at Guilford, but officiated as their pastor by virtue of his ordination in England. So he and his church," he says, " would never allow a Ruling Elder, and the ancient tradition in the church was and is that New Haven and the other churches conformed their judgment and practice to Mr. Whitfield ^ and his church's judg- ment, who were strictly Congregational."
Thus we have endeavored to follow the pioneers and founders of the colony of Guilford through their troubles and persecutions, and eventual expatriation from their native land; their first gathering into an association for their emigration to the land of their exile; thence through the first years of their settlement and of their political and ecclesiastical organization, forming themselves into a separate sov- ereignty independent and their own, having their own written con- stitution and laws, adopted exclusively by themselves, and as is said by the Elder Winthrop, intending their own peculiar government, standing, as is added by the historian Hubbard, on their own liberty until they had fully established themselves into an independent republic.
' H. F. Waters, in his Genealogical Gleanings in England (N. E. Hist. Gen. Reg. July, 1897, vol. LI, pp. 389-420), gives many interesting particulars with reference to Mr. Whitfield's ancestry.
CHAPTER II.
The Signers of the Covenant.
The pioneers of Guilford being now comfortably established in their plantation, it may not be improper next to consider somewhat more distinctively the individuals who gave the principal character to its civil and religious society.
Prominent among them, after Mr. Whitfield, the pastor, and Mr. Higginson, the teacher, to whom we have already briefly alluded, appears the first magistrate, Mr. Samuel Desborow, the third also among the pillars of the first church, the future member of Parliament and Lord Chancellor, who has left behind him on the Guilford records, as a specimen of his fine conceptions and exquisite skill, the beautiful draft of. their gathering into church estate, and of the constitution and laws by which they embodied themselves into their civil community.
He was born on the manor of Eltisley,^ in Cambridgeshire, on the 30th of Xovember, 161 9, and was the third surviving son of James Desborow, Esquire, and a younger brother of the famous Major Gen- eral John Desborow who married Jane Cromwell, a sister of the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell, and was a member of several Parliaments and one of the judges appointed to try Charles I.
Mr. Samuel Desborow studied law with his brother John Desborow, who in early life was a barrister. He was brought up as a Puritan, but his father dying in October, 1638, when he was only 19 years of age, and his elder brother, James Desborow, Esq., who inherited the manor and advowson of Eltisley, being an Anabaptist, he not finding himself free to follow his own opinions' at home, the next year joined Mr. Whitfield and Mr. Leete and their company in their emigration to New England. Whether he had ever been a graduate or member of the university which was in his own neighborhood does not appear. It is certain that his education was superior to men of his rank at that time.
Mr. IVillion Lcctc, the fourth among the pillars of the Guilford first church, was probably born at Keystone in Pluntingdonshire. was a
' His father, James Desborow, esquire, and his ancestors for several genera- tions, had owned the manor and advowson of Eltisley. II. Noble, Cromwell Family 244. MI. Noble's Crom. 244. Stiles, Judges 34. II. Noble 254.
42 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
son of John Leete ^ and was born , 1611, and was therefore
about 28 years old at the time of his emigration. He was married in England, and his first child, John Leete, is said to have been the first white child born in Guilford, and was born in 1639, soon after the settlement.' It is supposed that he was a graduate of Cambridge. He became a lawyer, and was for a considerable time registrar of the Bishop of Ely's court at Cambridge. In this service he became acquainted with the proceedings of the Bishop with the Puritans and non-conformists, and with the pleas and serious conversation of the latter when arraigned before their courts. He observed the great severity which was exercised towards them for going to hear sermons which they liked in other parishes when they had none at home, while such ofifenses as wantonness and drunkenness were looked upon as trivial matters, and persons guilty of lasciviousness and adultery were treated much more lightly than those who for conscience sake had violated some of the rules of uniformity. This led him to a serious consideration of these matters and to examine more thoroughly the doctrines and discipline of the Puritans. In consequence of this, he soon after embraced their opinions and faith, and abandoning the society of the men with whom he had formerly associated, he resigned his place in the Bishop's court. For this he was subjected to persecu- tion, which induced him to join Mr. Whitfield and his company and retire to New England. On his arrival at Menuncatuck he became one of the trustees of the Indian purchases, showed his consummate skill as a draftsman and a lawyer in drawing up the deeds from Uncas, and was chosen one of the four men into whose hands the civil power for the administration of justice and the preservation of peace was committed until the church was gathered.
Mr. Jacob SheaiTc, the fifth of the pillars of the first Guilford church, was the youngest son of Dr. Edmund and Joanna Sheafife, and was born at Cranbrooke in the county of Kent, England, on the 4th of August, 1616. He was a brother of Edmund Sheaffe, Jr., who emi- grated to Boston; also of Mrs. Joanna, wife of Mr. William Chittenden; Mrs. Dorothy, wife of Rev. Henry Whitfield, and also, as it is supposed, of Mrs. Margaret, wife of Mr. Robert Kitchell. He was hardly twenty- three years of age and unmarried at the time of his emigration to Connecticut. Mr. Savage thinks it strange that one so young should have been selected as one of the pillars of the church,' but if he had examined carefully he would have found that four others of the seven were of a similar age. Mr. Sheaffe ' married Margaret Webb,
' I. Math. Mag. 156. Steiner's Sketch of Wm. Lcete in Proc. of Am. Hist Ass. for 1891. ' I. Trumh. 375. ' IV. Sav. Die. p. 66-7. ' IV. Sav. Die. p. 444.
THE SIGNERS OF THE COVENANT. 43
only child of Air. Henry Webb of Boston and the wealthiest heiress in that city, by special permission of the General Court of Massachusetts, September, 1642. After spending four or five years at Guilford after his marriage as a merchant, he sold his estate there to George Hub- bard, the 226. of September, 1648, and removed to Boston, where he spent the remainder of his life as a merchant and died March 226., 1658.' His widow subsequently married Rev. Thomas Thatcher; she died February 23d, 1693, aged 68. ,
Mr. John Hoadlcy, the seventh of the pillars of the Guilford church, was born at Rolvenden in the county of Kent, England, January, 1617, N. S. He is said to have been a graduate of one of the universities and was fitted for the ministry in the established church. He was, however, a Puritan; was obliged, on account of his persecution, for opinion's sake,' says his grandson Bishop Hoadley, to join Mr. Whit- field and his company and journey to New England. He left his home in Rolvenden, as has been previously stated, to join their ship in London on the 26th of April, 1639. On his passage to this country he became acquainted with Miss Sarah Bushnell, daughter of Mr. Francis Bushnell, Sr., of Horsted, in the county of Sussex, where she was baptized, November 26th, 1625. They were married at Guilford, July 14th, 1642. His name is the ninth on the plantation covenant. He was one of the deputies of the first particular court, and the dis- tinction which he gained as one of Cromwell's chaplains at the garrison of Edinburgh, and afterwards as chaplain of General Monk, Duke of Albemarle, shows his ability and character.
John Mcpham, the sixth of the pillars of the Guilford church, is sup- posed to have originated in the county of Kent. The date of his birth is unknown, but he was one of the youngest members of the plantation. His name appears the i6th on the plantation covenant. He married
Mary after his arrival at Guilford, . In the letter
of Mr. George Fenwick to Mr. Leete making the gift of the land at Athammonassuck, he says: "If you consider John Mepham for his wife's sake and for mine, I shall take it kindly," which was remembered with a gift of 40 acres of land. He was one of the deputies of the Particular Court in 1645 ^"^^ ^ deputy of the Jurisdiction Court at New Haven with Mr. Leete in 1645 ^"^1 1646. He was the surveyor of the plantation, lie was evidently a person of education and ability, and
' The monument of Jacob SheaflFe is a tabic in King's Chapel churchyard in Boston, and has this inscription: "Here lyeth interred the body of Jacob Sheaffc, who sometime lived in Cranbrookc in Kent in OVLD ENGLAND who deceased ye 22d of Marcli 1658 AE 42 years."
'Autobiography of Bishop Hoadley in tlu- ist vol. of his fol. cd. of his works, P- 3. 4-
44 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
might have become a person of distinction had it not been for his early death. He died in the fall of 1648, aged about 30 to 32 years. His widow married Mr. Timothy Baldwin of Milford, March 5th, 1649, 50. He (lied in 1665, when she married, October 20th, 1666, Captain Thomas Tapping.
Mr. Williafu Chittenden was a native of Cranbrook in the county of Kent, and was born about the year 1610. His name is fourth on the plantation covenant. It is said that owing to persecution he retired into the Low Countries, and was for a while in the service of the Prince of Orange. He married Joanna Sheafife, sister of Mr. Jacob Sheaffe and of Mrs. Dorothy Whitfield. Mr. Chittenden joined Mr. Whitfield and his company in their emigration to New England. His name is the third in the list of trustees of the Indian purchases, and the second of the four men to whom the civil power for administration of justice and preservation of peace was committed to await the gathering of the church. He was one of the deputies of the particular court chosen in 1646 and continued until his death. He was elected fourteen times deputy to the jurisdiction court at New Haven. He was lieuienant of the train-band and the principal military man in the plantation. He died February, 1660. Dr. David D. Field, who visited Cranbrook in 1848, says the Chittendens are still numerous there.
Robert Kitchcll was one of the most prominent as well as one of the most wealthy of the first settlers of Guilford. He is supposed to have come from the county of Kent, England, and was born probably about 1612. He married Margaret, supposed to be a sister of Jacob Sheafife. His name stands first on the plantation covenant, next after Mr. Whit- field's in the list of trustees of the Indian purchases, and first in the list of those to whom the civil power for administration of justice and preservation of peace was committed until the gathering of the church. He was engaged by the other planters in 1644 and '45 to build a mill for the plantation upon consideration of certain toll; but in 1645, ii^ consequence of a great break in the mill-dam caused by a storm *' be- yond all mens expectations and beyond all mens foresight," they agreed to make him remuneration. In October, 1646, he was chosen one of the deputies of the particular court, which post he held during his continuance in the j^lantation. In June, 1650, he was chosen one of the delegates to the court of the jurisdiction at New Haven, to which he was re-elected for nine subsequent sessions. In 1666 he was chosen to lead those who went to Newark, New Jersey, where he was the first magistrate, and in a small history of that place, published in 1850. he is called the benefactor of that plantation. He died at Arthur Kill in New Jersey, October, 1671.
Mr. .John Bishop, one of the signers of the plantation covenant, where
THE SIGNERS OF THE COVENANT. 45
his name is second on the hst, next after Mr. Kitchell's. His name is fifth on the hst of trustees of the Indian purchases and third of tlie four men to whom the civil power for the administration of justice and preservation of peace was committed. He was evidently older than most of the other founders of the plantation. He married Ann
in England and brought with him several children when
he came to jNIenuncatuck. He was probably as old as 35 years at the time of his emigration. He is said to have been a brother of Mr. James Bishop of New Haven. His estate was one of the largest in the plantation after that of Mr. Whitfield. He died in January, 1660.
John Jordan was the seventh on the plantation covenant. He came from the county of Kent, from Lenham or the vicinity, with his brother Thomas Jordan and joined Mr. Whitfield and his company in their emigration to New England. He was a witness to the deed of Uncas, and also that of Weekwash, and although quite young at the time of his emigration, still he was a prominent member of the community. December 17th, 1645, he was desired with John Stone to receive the College Corn (the contribution for Harvard College), which is requested to be paid before the 25th of March ensuing. He married Anne Bishop, daughter of John and Anna Bishop, about the year 1640. He died about the ist of January, 1649-50. His will w^as dated February 2, 1646. His widow married Thomas Clarke, of Milford, May — , 1652. She died January 3d, 1672-3.
Thomas Jordan was a younger brother of John Jordan. His name does not appear on the plantation covenant, and probably, like Mr. Desborow, he was not then of full age. He appears as a witness to the deeds of Uncas and Weekwash. It is said that he was a lawyer. In 1646 he was chosen treasurer of the plantation, and afterwards, during his continuance at Guilford, no one shared more fully the public confidence. In 1646 he was chosen one of the deputies for the par- ticular court to sit with the magistrate, and one of the three men to collect the minister's maintenance. In 1651 he was chosen one of the deputies to the Court of the Jurisdiction at New Haven, and so con- tinued through all the sessions of that year and every year until he left Guilford about the beginning of 1655 and returned to England. At a Jurisdiction Court held at New Haven on the 29th of June, 1653, he was chosen to go to Boston w ith Mr. Wm. Leete as commissioner to the Congress of the Commissioners of the United Colonies of New England and to bear an answer to the General Court of ^Massachusetts with regard to the proposed war against the Dutch. He was also appointed commissioner with Mr. Leete the next year. After his return to England he resided at Lenham in Kent and was an eminent attorney for many years, lie died in England about the year 1705. He is
46 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
supposed to have married Dorothy Whitfield, born at Ockley, March, 1619, eldest daughter of Rev. Henry Whitfield.
Henry Kingsnorth, the twenty-second signer of the plantation coven- ant, was from Staplehurst, in the county of Kent, where he was born about the year 161 8. He was a friend of Mr. Whitfield. He married Mary Stevens, daughter of John Stevens, who came early to Guilford, but was not in the first company. He was a man of standing and property both in Old England and New England. He died without children in the time of the great sickness and was buried July 30th, 1668. By his will he disposes of his property in England to his relatives and his property in Guilford to such son of his brother Daniel Kingsnorth as should come from England for it, othenvise to John Collins and his wife Mary. Accordingly James Kingsnorth came the year following with a certificate of the rector, churchwardens and parish clerk of Staplehurst, in Kent, to his identity. He also brought a letter from Rev. Henry Whitfield to Mr. Jno. Hall affirming the same. There- fore he was adjudged the estate and resided in Guilford until his death in 1682. Xot leaving any issue, by his nuncupative will he bequeathed all his real estate to either of his brothers or either of their sons that should come over to New England for it, and if none of them came in five years time, then the inheritance was to fall to his uncle and aunt Collins, they sending over to each of his brothers or their sons a piece of plate worth £3 in England. His two brothers, Daniel and John Kingsnorth, afterwards acknowledged the receipt of such pieces of plate, and by their deed, made and executed in England, conveyed the said real estate to John Collins, 1686.
Thomas Jones was the sixth signer of the plantation covenant. He was not far from twenty-one years old at the time of his signing the covenant. He probably came from some of the counties north of London. He appears to have been the first marshal of the plantation, and was re-elected from year to year until June 9th, 1651, when George Bartlett was chosen, in the words of the record, " to succeed brother Jones in the marshals place when Providence shall remove' him." Before June, 1652, he seems to have removed. He may have gone away with Mr. Desborow, as he certainly left Guilford about the same time. In a letter' written by Mr. Davenport to John Winthrop. Jr.. dated March, 1655, 'i^ says Mrs. Desborow and Goodman Jones, of Guilford, died lately of small pox in England or Scotland. He married
Mary , probably about the time of his coming to Guilford.
She died December 5, 1650. He married, second, Carter.
' He thoujL^ht of removing as early as June 12, 1650. 'Append" to Bacon's Hist. Dis. p. 368.
THE SIGNERS OF THE COVENANT. 47
On the 4th of March, 1667-8, Lieut. Wm. Chittenden, his agent,' sold his lands at Guilford to John Meigs, formerly of New Haven.
Willimn Dudley was the fourteenth signer of the plantation covenant. According to a tradition in the family, he was a native of Sheen, on the south side of the Thames in the county of Surrey; and, as is well knowTi, they claim connection with the great family wdio were earls of \\'arwick and Leicester. He lived at the time of his emigration at Ockley, in Surrey. His marriage in the handwriting of Mr. Whitfield is on the records of that church under date of August 14th, 1636, to Jane Lutman, who came to Guilford with him and was the mother of his children. His oldest son, born perhaps June 8, 1639, "^^X have been the child born on the passage alluded to in the letter of Mr. Davenport to Lady Vere. He was a man of property, but bore few offices of trust among the planters. He was probably about 25 years old when he came to Menuncatuck. He died at Guilford, May 16, 1684.
Francis BnshncU, the third signer of the plantation covenant, was probably the elder of that name and died about 1646. His son, who bore the same name, was born in 1609 and came to Salem in 1635. He was a millwright and carpenter and kept the Town A4ill after the death of Thomas Norton in 1648. About 1659-60 he removed to Saybrook. and upon the solicitations of its inhabitants, erected a corn mill on Oyster River, it being the first erected in that town; for which the proprietors gave him a farm, on condition that a mill should be kept there continually and that the inhabitants should have equal privileges in regard to grinding, which farm was held by his descendants on these conditions for two centuries. He died December 4, 1681. One of his descendants, David Bushnell, invented the American Turtle, the first torpedo, during the Revolution; another, Cornelius, furnished Ericsson the funds for the " Monitor."
William Stone, the eiglith, and John Stone, the tenth signer, were probably brothers. William was a tailor and died November, 1683; John was a clothier and mason and died in Februar}% 1687.
William Plaine, the eleventh signer, was executed in 1646 for cor- rupting boys.
Richard Guttridge, or Goodrich, the twelfth signer, died May 7, 1676.
John Hughes, or Housegoe, the thirteenth signer, did not settle in Guilford.
John Parmclcc, the fifteentl: signer, died in New Haven, November 8, 1659. He left numerous descendants in Guilford.
' He left a son or nephew, Samuel, and on the sale of his lands he gave free consent thereto.
48 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
Thomas Norton, the seventeenth signer, is probably son of WiUiam Norton, of Ockley, England, and was one of the wardens of Mr. Whit- field's church there. He came to New Haven in May or June, 1639, and thence with the first settlers to Guilford. He was the miller from 1646 until his death in 1648.
Thomas Naish, the twenty-first signer, did not settle in Guilford, but in New Haven, where he died. May 12, 1658.
Henry Dozvd, the twenty-third signer, died August 31, 1668, and left numerous descendants.
Abraham Crnttcndcn, the eighteenth signer, was probably from Kent. He died January, 1683.
Francis Chatiidd was the nineteenth signer of the plantation coven- ant and was a prominent member of the company. He came with his brothers Thomas Chatfield and George Chatfield, who were probably too young at the time of the emigration to sign the plantation covenant. They evidently belonged to the better class of emigrants, as the honor- able prefix of Mr, is attached to their names, and that of gentleman when thev made their deeds of lands. It is evident that Mr. Francis Chatfield much opposed the combination of the plantation of Guilford with that of New Haven, and for this, on the 14th of August, 1645, he was arraigned before the magistrate and deputies. Francis Chatfield died about two years after, in 1647. unmarried, and his estate was divided between his brothers Thomas and George Chatfield.
Thomas Chatfield married Ann Higginson, sister of Rev. John Hig- ginson, and having sold out his accommodations in Guilford, he settled at East Hampton, in the East Riding upon Long Island before 1659, where he became the magistrate and .principal man of the planta- tion.
George Chatfield married, first, Sarah Bishop, daughter of Mr. John Bishop, but she dying, September 30th, 1657, he married Isabel Nettle- ton, March 29th, 1659, and joined afterwards in the settlement of Killingworth, where are many of his descendants. His eldest son, John Chatfield, was a tailor and was one of the first settlers of Derby, Connecticut. George Chatfield died at Killingworth, June 9th, 1671.
Thomas Cook was the last of the signers of the plantation covenant, except Mr. Whitfield. Like most of the others, he was quite a young man when he came to Guilford, and he lived to be the last survivor of the original signers. He died at Guilford, December ist, 1692. He
married Elizaljeth . He was a representative to the General
Court at Hartford, Ma)-, 1666, was usually the juror from Guilford after the county courts were established in 1666, and held many other hon- orable offices.
CHAPTER III.
The Home Lots.
There is no particular account of the proceeding's in making the first division of lands. It is evident that they first laid out the high- ways and public grounds. Among their first transactions in this direc- tion, they laid out their large and beautifully located public green, a perpetual monument of their foresight and sagacity, as a common center, with its highways, mostly at right angles, running by its corners to the harbor, the river crossings and the surrounding villages. It was originally laid out in the form of a parallelogram, bounded by the highways running due east and west and due north and south. It is said that it originally contained about i6 acres, and it was also said to be a mile round it. The present area within the limits of the outer fences is about 12 acres.
Ample width was also given to the streets running in continuation of the sides of the green or crossing these streets at right angles.
After the streets and public grounds were laid out, the individual lots were laid out according to the following order, which was estab- lished by the Town soon after its first organization, entitled —
" The proportion of Lotts," (in the handwriting of Mr. Desborow). — " It is agreed and ordered that no planter shall put in his estate above five Hundred pounds to require accomodation, proportionable in any division of lands in this plantation except it bee w'^^ expresse consent of the major part of the ffreemen, met together, and for some good causes and grounds granting liberty, to some such as desire a further enlargement. And that all planters desiring accommodation here shall put in the valuation of their estates according to one or the other of these four sumes appointed for the rule of proportion, (viz.) either five hundred pounds, Two Hundred and fifty pounds, one hundred pounds, or fifty pounds, according to which last and lowest summe the poorest planter may put in for and have accommodation suitable if hee desire. And it is further ordered that all lands shall from time to time be allotted or divided, unto all and every of the planters here, both according to his or their estates put in, and according to the number of heads in each family, viz. — for every hundred pound est&te, five acres of upland and si.x acres of meadow, and for every head three acres of upland and half an acre of meadow and so propor- tionably for fifty pounds estate, none being reckoned for such heads to any man but himself, his wife and children."
"Not to refuse lots j^ranted. — It is ordered that no planter accepting and possessing any one part of his lots or accommodations of land divided or appointed unto him, according to the manner of rule of proportions, agreed as
50 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
is expressed in the foregoing order, shall so refuse or leject any other part of the proportional allottments or divisions of land (w^^^ of right do appertaine to him) as to delay or deny to pay equal rates &c for the same with others in that division.
" Rules for sizing lotts. — It is agreed that all quarters of meadow or upland appointed to bee layd out to any planters here, shall first be syzed and set in equal proportion for quality and goodnesse by addition of land, such and so much as the syzers. shall think fit by comparing the upland w^i^ that in Norton's quarter, the meadow with that on the West River, the syze of wh*^!^ lands is agreed and appointed for the rule of valuation in the first division of out lotts.
" Against engrossing lotts. — Whereas, much experience shows that sundry inconveniences do arise to the burdening, disturbing or depopulating of smaller plantations when either sundry lotts or accommodations are engrossed into one hand or possessed and held by unsuitable or unfit persons; it is therefore agreed and ordered that none shall sell exchange, fraudulently let, or give (either all or any part of his lotts or accommodations unto any, whether planter or other w^^^out the consent of the court first publickly procured and recorded, together with the sale or exchange, particularly expressed and set downe in a book for teriers of land.
" Taking of land for public uses. — It is ordered that every particular mans lotts bee his owne right and propriety, yet for the comon good's sake, for laying out wayes suitable for all necessary occasions w<='i in after time may better appeare than at present can be foreseen or discovered, it shall be lawfull for the Court here to take and lay out so much land as they shall judge meet for a way or for other public use, out of or thorow all or any part of any mans lott provided that they do appoint and lay out to him for satisfaction so much land as may in justice be esteemed worth that w^^ is taken from him, when it shall be required."
The original home lots were drawn or laid out according to the foregoing rules, and their localities were as indicated below.
The stone house built for Mr. WhMeld still remains; his home lot was called four acres. The fine large open space in front of his house seems to have been arranged by himself.
The house/ built in 1639, was erected both for the accommodation of his family, as a place for religious meeting, and as a fortification for the protection of the inhabitants against the Indians, is one of the oldest dwelling houses in the United States. The house was kept in its original form imtil 1868, when it vmderwent such renovation as changed its appearance and internal arrangement to a great extent, although the north wall and large stone chinmey are substantially the same as they have been for over two centuries and a half. It occupies a rising ground overlooking the great plain south of the village and commanding a very fine prospect of the Sound. It is said that the first marriage was celebrated in it, the wedding table being garnished
' Palfrey's N. E. II, p. 59. Footnote written by R. D. Smyth.
THE HOME LOTS. 5I
with the substantial hixuries of pork and pease. According to tradi- tion, the stone of which this house was built was brought by the Indians on hand-barrows, across the swamp, from Griswold's Rocks, a ledge about 80 rods east of the house, and an ancient causeway across the swamp is shown as the path employed for this purpose. The walls are three feet thick. In 1859, when drawings of the house w^ere made by Walter H. Smyth, a small addition had in modern times been made to the back of the house, but there is no question that the main build- ing remained in its original state, even to the oak of the beams, floors, doors and window-sashes. In the recesses of the windows were broad seats. Within the memory of some of the residents of the town, the panes of glass were of diamond shape. The height of the first story is seven feet and two-thirds. The height of the second is six feet and three-quarters. At the southerly corner in the second story there was originally an embrasure, about a foot wide, with a stone flooring, which remains. The exterior walls are now* closed up, but not the walls W'ithin.
The walls of the front and back of the house terminate at the floor of the attic and the rafters lie upon them. The angle of the roof is 60°, making the base and sides equal. At the end of the wing, by the chimney, is a recess, w^hich must have been intended as a place of con- cealment. The interior wall has an appearance of touching the chimney like the wall at the northwest end, but the removal of a board discovers two closets which project beyond the lower part of the building.
Mr. Higginson's home lot contained three acres, and his house was built of stone, occupying nearly the site of the house of Lewis R. Eliot, except that it stood so far back as to leave ample front yard.
Mr. Desborozv's home lot contained ten acres, situated on the south side of the street, now called Bridge street. His house, also built of stone,^ occupying nearly the same site as that now occupied by that of Captain William C. Dudley.
Mr. Lcctc's home lot, containing three and a quarter acres, occupied the corner of what is now Broad and River streets; his house placed back of the house now occupied by Leverett C. Stone.
Mr. Chittenden's home lot, containing three and a quarter acres, was on the opposite corner, now owned by his descendant Simeon B. Chittenden, of Brooklyn, N. Y. Here, the particular and perhaps the general courts were held for a score of years. It is not now known
'Jasper Stillwell, living north of Mr. Whitfield near Miss Kate Hunt's house, had a fourth stone house.
52 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
whether they were held at the house of Mr. Chittenden or whether a regular court house was erected.
Mr. KitchcVs home lot, containing five and three-quarter acres, occupied the corner of what is now Broad and Fair streets, recently occupied by Judge Nathaniel Griffing and now by Mrs. Hannah Brown.
Mr. Jacob SJicaffe's house stood on the opposite side of Broad street, near the present dwelling house of Mr. John Hubbard, on a home lot bounded west by that of Mr. Chittenden, containing three and a half acres.
Mr. John Hoadlcy's home lot was on the same side of Broad street, next east of Mr. Jacob Sheaffe's, and contained two and a half acres; his dwelling being west of that now occupied by Mr. John Evarts.
Mr. Thomas Jordan's home lot, containing three acres, was near the northwest corner of the green, occupying the sites now covered by the home lots of Mr. Joel Tuttle and that of Mr. Edward Griswold.
Mr. John Parmelee's home lot, occupying about an acre and a quarter, occupied the site of the first Congregational meeting house and of the buildings in the rear.
The original meeting house, which was of stone, stood on the north end of the green, a little south of the present sign-post.
Mr. Francis Bushncll Jr.'s home lot, containing five acres, was on the west side of Fair street and next north of the home lot of Mr. Kitchel, stretching west to River street.
Abraham Cruftenden's home lot, containing one acre, was almost identical with the lot recently owned by Mr. Alvah B. Goldsmith on River street.
Francis BushncU Sr.'s home lot was that formerly owned by Judge Samuel Fowler and now by Dr. G. P. Reynolds, on the corner of Broad and Fair streets, containing about two and a half acres.
IVilliam Dudley's home lot, next north on the east side of Fair street, where Mr. B. C. West now lives, contained three and a quarter acres.
John Stevens, not one of the original signers of the plantation coven- ant, was probably here at the first allotments of lands. His home lot, next north of that of William Dudley on the east side of Fair street, contained one and a half acres, and his dwelling house stood near that now owned by Deacon Albert Dovvd.
Thomas Cook, Sr., the last surviving signer, had his lot next north on the east side of Fair street, near where Mr. Douglas Loper lives, and it contained originally two acres.
Mr. John CafUnch, who joined Mr. Whitfield's company after their arrival at New Haven, had a home lot of five and a half acres, includ- ing the premises now occupied by Mr. Henry Robinson, extending to
THE HOME LOTS. 53
Fair street and all on east to Fair street from the Abraham Cruttenden lot, including the premises now owned by Samuel C. Johnson. Mr. Caffinch was a wealthy planter; he may have come over in Mr. Whit- field's company, as he first appears as one of the trustees of the Indian purchases in September, 1639. ^^ ^i^ "o^ remain long at Guilford, for in 1643 he had accommodations at New Haven on a £500 estate. He had leased his lands and houses at Guilford to Thomas French, and afterwards sold them to Thomas Standish at Weathersfield. He married, about 1650, Sarah Fowler, daughter of Mr. William Fowler, the magistrate of Milford. He had also two brothers at New Haven, Mr. Thomas Caffinch and Saml. Cafftnch.
William Stone had a home lot of three acres and twenty rods on the east side of Fair street, next north of the home lot of Thomas Cooke, Sr., and kept the first ordinary or tavern, situated near where the present dwelling house now is. Mr. Charles Stone now resides near there.
The north side of York street, where the Institute now is, was the home lot of William Barnes, Mr. Leete's man.
Henry Kingsnorth had his home lot of two and a half acres on the west side of State street, near where the dwelling house of Miss Grace Starr now is.
William Hall had his home lot next south of that of Henry Kings- north on the west side of State street. It contained one and a half acres. He afterwards purchased the home lot of John Linsley on the other side of the street, where Mrs. Titus Hall lived. This home lot has remained in the family ever since.
Thomas Norton had his home lot next south of the original home lot of William Hall, on the west side of State street, near what is known as the Partridge house. He had two acres.
Henry Doivde had his home lot, containing two acres, next south of that of Thomas Norton.
John Mepham, the surveyor, had two and a half acres of land in his home lot, which was situated next south of that of Henry Dowde and was on the west side of State street, near where the dwelling house of Mrs. Munroe now stands.
Thomas Jcmes had his home lot of two acres on the east side of the public square, near where the dwelling house of Ralph D. Smyth now stands.
John Bishop had in his home lot seven acres, with one acre added since in front for yards, next south of the home lot of Thomas Jones. It extended to the corner where Mrs. Thomas Landon's house is.
William Plane, the eleventh signer of the plantation covenant, had
54 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
his home lot on Whitfield street and the public green, containing two acres. His house was situated near where Mr. Knowles now lives.
Thomas Relf had his home lot on Whitfield street with a part run- ning up to the green on the north round the home lot of William Plane, containing five and three-quarter acres, being the premises now occu- pied by Mrs. Richard Weld on Whitfield street and by Benjamin Bradley's place at the southeast corner of the green.
Francis ChatMd had his home lot on the north side of Water street, containing four acres, bounded east by the home lot of George Bartlett and west by the home lot of Richard Hughes.
John Stone had his home lot, containing six and a half acres, on the west side of \\'hitfield street, next south of the home lot of Mr. Hig- ginson. Dr. Talcott's house probably stands on this lot.
Thomas Chatficld had his home lot, containing four acres, next south of Thomas Relf on the east side of Whitfield street, bounded by the home lot of Jasper Stillwell. Mr. Meigs Hand's house is on this lot.
John Jordan, one of the signers of the plantation covenant, had his home lot on the west side of Whitfield street, opposite the home lot of Jasper Stillwell. It contained nine and a half acres. His house stood where the late house of John H. Bartlett stood.
Ilcnry Goldam, an early settler, though not a signer, had his home lot, containing two and a half acres, bounded north by land of Thomas French and south by land of George Bartlett. His house stood in the rear of the present dwelling house of Mr. William Isbell.
Thomas French was here early and had his home lot next north of Henry Goldam's. It contained three and a half acres. His house occupied the present site of that of Henry W. Chittenden.
Edzvard Benton, who was here as early as 1643, had his home lot on the corner of the green, bounded north by Broad street. It contained two acres, and his house was on the site now occupied by the house of Miss Lydia D. Chittenden.
Jolm Scranton had his home lot, containing two acres, on the east side of State street, bounded north by land of John Parmelee, Jr., south by home lot of Alexander Chalker. The site of his house is now occupied by that of Luther L. Rowland.
Alexander Chalker had his home lot next south, bounded east on State street. It contained three acres. In 1648 he sold to John Sheather and removed to Saybrook. John Benton lives on this lot.
William Boreman (or Boardman) had the home lot next south, con- taining five acres. In 1645 it came into the hands of Richard Bristow and subsequently into the hands of Abrm. Bradley. Mrs. Aug. Hall now lives there.
THE HOME LOTS. 55
Other early planters had their houses approximately on the follow- ing sites : George Chatfield, at the Capt. James Frisbie place, on the east side of Whitfield street; Thomas Belts, at J. S. Elliott's house, on the west side of the same street ; John Sheather, immediately north of it on the same side of the street; Richard Hues, on Water street, where Mr. James Dudley's house is; Deacon George Bartlett, near Park Hotel, at the southwest corner of the Green ; Richard Giittridge, on State street, where ]Mr. Charles Leete's house now stands ; Benjamin Wright, imme- diately north of it, near Capt. R. L. Fowler's ; William Love, across the street, near Miss Harriet Hall's place; John Parmelee, Jr., further down the street, where William Benton's house is; and Stephen Bradley, at the corner of State and Broad streets, where Henry Chamberlain's place is.
CHAPTER IV.
Union with New Haven.
From the first settlement of the plantations on Long Island Sound, about New Haven, a deep sense of their imminent and continual danger, not only from the aggressions of the Dutch, who claimed even the territory on which they were located, but also from the attacks of the savages on all sides around them, led them to adopt measures of mutual protection and defense/
Accordingly, in the summer of 1643, these plantations, by meetings of their delegates, entered into a treaty to be one jurisdiction upon a fundamental agreement which they solemnly and unanimously approved and concluded, on which their combination was framed/
About the same time, or perhaps a little earlier, articles of confedera- tion were entered into between the plantations under the government of Massachusetts, the plantations under the government of Plymouth, the plantations under the government of Connecticut, and the govern- ment of New Haven and the plantations in combination therewith.
These last articles of confederation were adopted by all the parties except Plymouth on the 19th of May, 1643, and assented to by the commissioners of Plymouth as soon as they received authority, Sep- tember 7, 1643. The plantation of Guilford probably had no formal part in the appointment and instructions of the commissioners from New Haven, who were Mr. Eaton and Mr. Gregson, who were chosen at a General Court, the 6th of the 2d month (April), 1643.
' Gov. Eaton says in " New Haven's Settling in New England," etc., on this subject: " In this time the enemy slept not, but was at work to disturb the peace of the English, both in sowing tares within, among themselves, and stir- ing up the Indians from abroad against them."
" Hubbard, p. 319, after telling the manner of the settlement of New Haven, Guilford, Milford, Stamford and Branford, says, "the towns named did all in their several times of settlement or other opportunities, conjoin themselves to New Haven as the principal, and so one with another, as the body politic, to order and manage the concerns accordingly, and to these towns upon the main was joined a small plantation upon Long Island, called. Southhold, which came to pass by reason of the purchase of the land by Town of New Haven, who disposed of it to the inhabitants upon condition of their union. And thus was this small colony born into the world. In this settlement they wanted the legal basis of a patent," which they could not get owing " to the con- fusions that were in England in the times of the Civil War."
UNION WITH NEW HAVEN. 57
Only one day before the Commissioners were appointed, delegates from Stamford had commenced the combination with New Haven at a court, there, to form the Jurisdiction.
In the meantime the plantation of Guilford had gathered the church and formed the civil government there, as has been previously stated, possibly under pressure from New Haven.
It is probable, however, that the principal men of that plantation had been previously consulted and had given their assent to the instruc- tions prepared at New Haven, as a guide to Messrs. Eaton and Gregson in arranging the proposed confederacy of New England.
On the 6th of July, 1643, another " meeting for the plantations within this jurisdiction," as it is called, was held at New Haven — just three months after that first meeting with the delegates from Stamford — where Guilford appears for the first time in this connection. The record reads thus:
" Mr. Leete and Mr. Disborough of Manuncatuck were admitted members and received the charge of freemen for this court.'
" Mr. Eaton and Mr. Gregson lately sent from this court as Commis- sioners with full power to treate and if it might be to conclude a com- bination or confederation with the General Court for the Massachusetts and with the commissioners for New Plymouth and Connecticut did this day acquaint the Court w**" the issue and success of that treaty. The articles agreed and concluded att Boston the 19th of May, 1643 were now read, and this whole court approved and confirmed."
Provisions were made for numbering and arming the militia of all the plantations within this Jurisdiction or combination. They appear to have been at this time Menuncatuck (which now was named Guil- ford, Stamford and Yenycott (afterwards Southold) and New Haven, and the three former were called upon to contribute, the first two £5 each and the last £2, as their several shares of the expense already incurred by New Haven. Neither Milford nor Branford appears in this combination. " Itt was ordered that each plantation within this juris- diction shall have a coppy of the Articles of Confederation, for which they are to pay the Secretary."
Mr. Eaton and Mr. Gregson were chosen by this court and invested with full power (according to the tenor and true meaning of the articles) as Commissioners for the Jurisdiction, at " the meeting of the Con- foederation to be held at Boston the 7th of September next."
^ The record of this admission of Menuncatuck. on p. 199 [121] of the New Haven Records, is as follows: " Monunkatuck, formerly purchased and planted by Mr. Whitfield and his Company, was also admitted into this jurisdiction upon the same fundamental a^Tcement as Stamford, and upon their desire that plantation [was] called Guilford."
58 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
The government of the New Haven colony, after the formation of the jurisdiction or combination in 1643, was vested in a General Court for purposes affecting the whole community, which court consisted of two branches: one composed of the governor, deputy governor and three or more magistrates selected from those most distinguished for their talents, integrity and patriotism, by the general voice of the free- men annually; the other consisting of deputies elected, in some of the towns semi-annually, but in Guilford annually, in May or June, to meet in the spring and fall of each year. This court in its collective and public capacity was sometimes called the Legislature of the colony, but oftener " the General Court for the Jurisdiction."
The supreme executive power, both civil and military, was in the hands of the governor and deputy governor; the judiciary in that of the governor and the magistrates. Under this general government each town had a government of its own, for the management of its individual affairs, peculiar to itself. This originated from the circumstance that the individual towns at their settlement in 1638-39 and 40 were separate, independent governments and plantations by themselves, and, on their uniting in a jurisdiction or combination for mutual defense, they retained their individual forms of government, except so far as the general policy of the whole was concerned.
The chief principle of the " combination," as it was sometimes called, and in which it differed materially from the colony of Connecticut, was that all power was placed in the hands of the church. To this rule no plantation appears to have adhered more rigidly than Guilford; and although the adoption of this mistaken system of policy seems to have occasioned much inconvenience and disquiet in Milford, Stamford and Southold, yet none is recorded in the records of this plantation.
The method bv which the rating of the individuals in a town was effected for the support of a plantation and as a part of the jurisdiction was the same as the modern method of assessment, and those appointed to make a valuation of property were styled assessors. The method of listing the property, which was so long in use afterwards, was bor- rowed from Connecticut.
Concerning the origin of the name Guilford, which we have seen was given to the town, there is some doubt. The old and commonly accepted theory is found expressed by Ruggles as follows: "The in- habitants who purchased and first settled it principally came from Kent and Surrey and adjoining to London, and in remembrance of the land and place of their nativity from whence they oiibarked, they gave the name of Guilford to the town." From this it has been concluded that the town was named from Guilford in Surrey. This belief Mr.
UNION WITH NEW HAVEN.
59
Smyth at first adhered to, but later somewhat changed his position, as will be seen. " In confirmation of this opinion, it may be said that Mr. Whitfield was from Okely, now Ockley in Surrey. Against this opinion is the fact that Guildford in Surrey lies in a hilly and almost mount- ainous country; that it is 30 miles or more from the ocean and watered only by the small river Wye, a mere stream at Guilford. There is also another Guilford, the small village of Guilford in Sussex, sometimes called East Guilford, lying on the east side of the river Rother, one of whose outlets skirts the other side of the town, making it almost an island. The land lying south of the village slopes southerly into a plain and marsh. A narrow, irregular bay sets up from the sea about one and a half miles on the southwest part of the village. The Rother is about 20 miles in length, corresponding in this respect as well as in size with the river and harbor of Guilford." From the neigh- borhood of this village came many of the planters; Jacob Sheaffe and William Chittenden, from Cranbrook, 12 miles distant, and Henry Kingsnorth and William Boreman came from near at hand. When James Kingsnorth came over as his uncle's heir from Staplehurst in Kent, he '* was examined by the Court here as to his knowledge of places and things there, of which he gave a satisfactory account to the Court, plainly implying a mutual familiarity with that vicinity."
" In addition to this there is no tradition of any emigration to Guil- ford in Xew England, in Guilford in Surrey, nor are there any families there of the leading family names of Guilford in New Haven colony, as appears by a recent inquiry and examination of the Parish Records there by our late lamented friend E. C. Bacon, Esq., in his recent visit to England,".
On the other hand, the village is not of older date than Henr}- VIII; its land has always been owned by foreigners, and it has but little importan.ce.
Another view is that it was named either from Lord Guildford, the title of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, or from the Guldford or Guilford family, neighbors of Whitfield and ancestors of the noble earl.
The present writer is inclined to accept the theory which makes Guildford in Surrey the source of our town's name.
CHAPTER V.
The Counter-Emigration.
After a few years the plantation of Guilford sufifered its first serious calamity in the decease of several of its prominent and other almost equally necessary inhabitants. They lacked not land, for they had plenty of it, but men to till it and to occupy it and manage and assist in the affairs of their community. Francis Bushnell the elder died in 1646; Francis Chatfield in 1647; Thomas Norton, the miller, John Mepham, the surveyor and one of the seven pillars of the church, Wil- liam Summers, John Jordan and William Barnes in 1648. All of these, excepting Francis Bushnell the elder, were young men and persons who could ill be spared from the plantation.
But a still greater misfortune happened soon after to this little com- munity in the removal of several of the most prominent men of their company; for example Mr. Whitfield, their pastor, in 1650; Mr. Des- borow, their first magistrate, in 1651; Mr. Hoadley in 1653, and Mr. Thomas Jordan in 1655.
Mr. Whitfield " was properly," as is said by Mr. Ruggles, " the father of the plantation, loved his flock tenderly, and was extremely beloved by them, whose advice they peaceably followed in all things in love." He was also possessed of a large estate — by far the richest of any of the planters — all of which he expended in advancing the interests of the plantation.
After remaining with his people about twelve years he was induced, in consequence of his own impaired worldly condition here and earnest invitations which he received from England, urging his return ni con- sequence of the change of the times under the Commonwealth, to go back to his native country. He communicated his intentions to his people and urged these circumstances as reasons for his removal.
Accordingly, a meeting of the inhabitants was called to consider upon the matter and to devise means for retaining him still with them as their pastor. The method of his support, as also that of Mr. Hig- ginson, the teacher, was voluntary; that is, each one stated to the plan- tation what he was willing to give for these purposes, which sum was modified somewhat perhaps by the three men chosen to collect the ministers' maintenance and so equalized as to make the payments easy
THE COUNTER-EMIGRATION. 6l
and convenient. I think this is best illustrated by the record of the meeting- above referred to, which I copy.
"At a general Court held the 20th of flfebruary, 1649 [50]. Mr. Whitfield's reasons, tendered to the church here for his removall were read in publique; and enquiry was made of every man in particular, concerning his ability in paying to the ministers for ye present and in probability to continue according to ordinary providence.
Joh7i Sheder professed he was willing and hoped he should be able to con- tinue to do what at present was laid upon him, but not further. John Panneliii, Jioi^ professeth the like.
" add " Jasper Sttllwe// professeth the like, and hoped he might be able to adde Ss. per annum more.
"2idde'' Jo/in Jo/inson professeth the like, and hoped he should be able to continue the same and adde 6s. more
Rtch'i Bristow professeth the like to continue his present some, but not to adde.
Rich'' Guttridge the like.
"t" Alexander Chauker said he doubted how he should.
John Linsley hoped he should be able to continue his present some.
"adde" Thomas French szi6. the like, and said further he was willing to adde 6s. p"" annum.
"Y' Richd Miles'^ professeth his inability to pay his present some.
John Scranitinn professeth his willingness to pay his present some and hoped he should continue able so to do.
Henry Kingsnoth professed his willingness to continue his present some and hoped he should be able to adde.
"Y' Hejtry Goldani professeth inability.
"f " Thomas Betts doubted' his ability to continue his present some.
Thomas Cooke was willing to add. 2s. per annum and hoped he should be able to continue.
Abraham Crittenden, Sen"- professeth his willingness and hoped he should be able to continue his present some.
" Mr." [John] Bishop said the like.
Tho: Jones the like.
Thomas Chatfield, the like.
Willm. Dudley, the like.
John Parnielin, the like.
"\" John Stevens, the like only doubted his continuance of his present some.
Edw: Benton said the like.
Henry Dowd said the like.
Johti Fowler hoped he should be able to continue ye some at present laid upon him.
William Halle said the like.
George Chatjield said the like.
George Bartlett said the like.
Francis Bushnell sa.\d he was willing to continue his present some.
" December 5, 1650. He and Wm. Stone, who were behindhand in paying the minister's dues, are ordered by court to pay.
62 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
" adde " Thomas Stevens s^ he was willing to pay his present some and hoped he might be able to adde 3s. 4d. p^" annum.
"Mr." Thomas Jordan s^ he was willing and hoped he should continue his present some.
"adde" Mr. \^Rol7ert~\ Kite he H s,^ he was willing to continue his present some and was willing to adde.
William Lcctc was willing to continue his present some.
Mr. \_Wm.'\ Chittenden was willing to continue his present some and hoped he might adde los. p"" annum.
George Hubbard.
Previous to this, the two following- votes were passed, showing in- ducements held out to Mr. Whitfield to remain : "At a General Court held on the 15th of June, 1649.
The Planters at Mr. Whitfield's request did grant liberty, out of respect and love to him, that his two sonnes should be free from watch- ing, for this year ensuing. At a Gen' Court held Jan^ 31, i649[50.]
It was agreed & concluded y* the whole One Hundred and five pounds for ministers maintainance shall be levied and assessed upon all the planters & inhabitants, according to y^ discretion of y*" 3 men chosen and appointed for that purpose, viz Robert Kitchell, William Leete & Thomas Jordan.
Mr. Disbrowe declared to the plantation y' Mr. Whitfield did accept of y^ abatement of his rates and the addition of i\o to his former allow- ance & judged y* ye people did so much as they were able & dealt respectfully & kindly with him, but yet he could not any farther engage himself than formerly."
Mr. Whitfield, notwithstanding the reluctance of his people to part with him, felt it to be his duty, and perhaps a matter of necessity, to return to his native country. Hubbard' says: "After sundry years continuance in the country he found it too difficult for him. partly from the sharpness of the air, he having a weake body, and partly from the toughness of those employments wherein his livelihood was sought, he having been tenderly and delicately brought up; although I mean not that he was, as many others of like education were, put upon bodily labor. Finding, therefore, his estate very much wasted, his bodily health decaying, and many other things concurring, especially the strong inducements held out for his return from England by those who sought his help and counsel in the mother country, he at length took his departure about the 25th' of August, 1650, in a small vessell
' Hubbard 328.
° He executed a deed at Guilford on the 20t]i of August, 1650. and on the 5th of September, 16 days after, it was ordered at a Particular court at Guilford, that he be sent to appoint an overseer of the will of John Jordan in his stead.
THE COUNTER-EMIGRATION. 63
bound for Boston, where he expected to take ship for London. The whole town accompanied him to the shore and took their farewell of their beloved pastor with tears and lamentations." His departure ^ was considered a great loss not only to his people, but to the whole country, both on account of his eloquence and ability as a preacher and also from the eminent wisdom and prudence of his counsels in all matters apper- taining to the welfare of the country.
After leaving Guilford, on account of contrary winds he was obliged to put into Martha's Vineyard, where there was a native plantation and church gathered by that indefatigable and devoted missionary for the evangelization of the Indians, Thomas Mayhew. During this time he commenced collecting together the materials of a treatise upon that subject, which he afterwards completed on his return to England and addressed to the British Parliament. He spent ten days on that island in ver}- interesting intercourse with the Indian converts, confirming their faith and assisting Mr. Mayhew in improving their spiritual and physical condition. About the time of his leaving the place, Mr. May- hew gave him a narrative which he had drawn up of the progress of the Gospel among the Indians of that vicinity, dated from Great Harbour in Martha's Vineyard, September 7th, 1650. On his sailing for Boston Mr. Mavhew accompanied him, from whence they visited the Rev. John Eliot at Roxbury and rode with him to Watertown and heard him preach to the Indians there, and assisted him in catechising the children in their native tongue. Mr. Whitfield also made frequent addresses, not only here, but also at Martha's Vineyard, to the Indians, by the aid of an interpreter. Mr. Eliot also furnished Mr. Whitfield a letter con- taining his experiences with the Indians, drawn up in the form of a narrative addressed to Mr. Winslow, the agent in England. This is dated at Roxbury, the 21st of the 8th month, 1650. Mr. Whitfield about that time embarked for his native land.
Soon after his return ^ he took charge of a church at Winchester. On his arrival in England he published a pamphlet volume upon the progress of the Gospel among the Indians,' connected with his own observations with Mr. Mayhew and Mr. Eliot, with the following title, viz: "The light appearing more and more towards the perfect day: A further discourse of the present state of tlie Indians in New England, concerning the progress of the Gospel amongst them, manifested by letters from such as preach to them there. Published by Henry Whit-
' II. Hoadley N. H. Col. Rec. 197.
' Lechford Plaine Dealing Mass. Hist. Col. XXIII, p. 98.
•Mass. Hist. Col. XXIV. pp. 100-197.
64 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
field, late Pastor to the Church of Christ at Guilford in New England, who came late thence."
This little book was so acceptable, not only to Parliament and the Government, but also the people, that in 1652 he published another, with this title: " Strength out of weakness, or a glorious manifestation of the further progress of the Gospel! among the Indians in New Eng- land: Held forth in sundry letters from divers ministers and others to the corporation established by Parliament for promoting the Gospel among the heathen in New England and to particular members thereof, since the last treatise to that effect. Published by Mr. Henry Whit- field, late Pastor of Gilford in New England."
Mr. Whitfield became a member of the corporation of this Puritan Missionary Society, and so continued until his death. In May, 1655. he, with Simeon Ashe, Edmund Calamy and John Arthur, was a patron of one of Rev. John Eliot's treatises. He died in September, 1657. Cotton Mather' says: "His way of preaching was much like Dr. Sibs, and there was a marvellous majesty and sanctity observable in it. He carried much authority with him; and, using frequently to visit the particular families of his flock with profitable discourses on the great concerns of their interiour state, it is not easy to describe the reverence with which they entertained him."
He had ten children, two of whom, Nathaniel and John, remained at Guilford a year or two after him. One daughter married Rev. Mr. Higginson and another Rev. Mr. Fitch, the minister at Saybrook and afterwards at Norwich. Nathaniel Whitfield " removed later to New Haven and, after remaining for some years, removed thence to London, England, where he seems to have been a wealthy merchant and to have been very useful to the settlers. Mr. Whitfield's' wife appears to have been here as late as 1659, being then referred to in the records as being in Guilford and managing the estate.
In consequence of what he had expended in the purchase of the town and of the gift of Mr. Fenwick, numerous and valuable tracts of land were allowed him in various parts of the town,* which, upon his
' Magnalia I, 593. ' He was Desborough's agent in London in 1664.
* By his will, dated Sept. 17. 1657, Mr. Whitfield left all his estate to his wife. N. E. Hist. Gen. Reg. LI, p. 417.
"On September 20th, 1650. Mr. Whitfield sold "all that right and title to the Neck of land expressed in this writing being given or sold by Weekwash, the Indian, unto me, to the town of Guilford to the use of them and their heirs." October lOth, 165 1, " Mr. Fenwick's lettre read and an answer apointed to be given wn Mr. Whitfield procured and sent unto us a more full and formal writing or conveyance to discover and make over unto us all his title to the whole lands at Athomonossock on this side the said river, acknowledged and confirmed by the Indians, yt sold it unto him bearing testimony before us,
THE COUNTER-EMIGRATION. 65
return to England, he offered to sell to his people upon low terms. They, however, did not purchase them, partly on account of their poverty and partly from an expectation, which prevailed for a time, that they should eventually follow him. John Winthrop, Jr., was thinking of buying them at one time;' but they were finally sold to Major Robert Thompson of London, in whose family they remained, to the great detriment of the town, until October 22nd, 1772, when Andrew Oliver, Esq., of Boston, as attorney for Thompson's heirs, sold them all to Mrs. W'yllys Elliott of Guilford for £3000 of the current money of Massachusetts. The stone house was purchased in 1776 by Jasper Griffing and passed through the hands of his son Judge Nathaniel Grififing and his daughter Mrs. H. W. Chittenden into the possession of the present owner, Mrs. H. D. Cone. The Sawpitts farm remained in the Elliott family until 1837, when it was purchased of Samuel and Reuben Elliott by Walter Johnson, Esq.
Mr. Samuel Dcshorough ' was almost as great a loss to Guilford as Mr. Whitfield. He was sent at once to Scotland " in some employ- ment under the state, through the interest of his brother and Oliver Cromwell the General " : when he arrived in Scotland he sent a pressing letter to know whether he might expect a permanent settlement there, that he might be certain of procuring a suitable provision for himself, his wife and children. He was chosen to represent the city of Edin- burgh in Parliament and, at a council held at Whitehall, IMay 4, 1655, he was appointed by the Protector Oliver one of the nine councillors for the kingdom of Scotland; in the following year he was returned a member of the British Parliament for the sheriffdom of Mid-Lothian. He so pleased the Protector that, September 16, 1657, he gave a patent for the office of Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland to him or his deputy during his natural life, with all the fees from May ist preceding. He was continued in all his employments by the Protector Richard. He prudently embraced the Royal proclamation sent from Breda. In the presence of Gen. Monk he signed the submission to his Majesty, May 21, 1660, and he also obtained the king's warrant, October 24 fol- lowing, to the Attorney or Solicitor General, to prepare a bill for the royal signature for a pardon . . . which he received in consequence, December 12. " After this he retired to his seat, in Ellsworth in Cam- bridgeshire, which, with the manor and advowson of the church, he had
yt it may be recorded amongst us or what else shall l)e necessary to answer it unto us. Cwe shall not delay to do what is desired)." Mr. Leete added the sentence in parentheses at a later day. ' IV. Mass. Hist. Col. VII. 399.
* Noble's House of Cromwell II, p. 295. Mass. Hist. Col. XXVII, pp. 196- 222. N. E. Hist. Gen. Rej?.. October. 1887, p. 353-56.
66 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
purchased. . . .He remained in privacy until his death, December lo, 1690, and was buried on the south side of the communion rails in the church of Ellsworth." Over his remains is a black marble slab. He married several times.' His last wife, Rose Hobson, widow of Samuel Pennyer of London, merchant, he married in 1655. She died, March 4, 1698, in her 83d year, and is buried on the north side of the com- munion rails opposite her husband. Noble thought wrongly that Dis- browe's children by his first wife died unmarried;' by his last (?) he had Dr. James Disbrowe, a physician, who resided and is buried at Cheshurst in Hertfordshire. He had no sons and only one daughter, Elizabeth, who married Matthew Holworthy. Noble speaks of a por- trait, certainly the Lord Keeper of Scotland, as it agrees in the likeness to an invaluable miniature of that person by Cooper.' By both, the portrait and the miniature, he appears to have been, when in the middle age in life, of an oval face with small whiskers and a lock of hair beneath the lower lip. He has an engaging countenance and such as betrays good sense. Noble also speaks of a " travelling chest " and a cloak at Eltisley, which he supposes to have been Mr. Samuel Desborough's and adds, " I thought any thing of so remarkable a person w'orth recording." Pres. Stiles* speaks of him as a " man of political abilities to sustain so many and such high betrustments with the reputation and acceptance with which he discharged them." The inscription on his tomb is —
Here lyeth the body of Samuel! Disbrow Esquire, late Lord of this Manour, aged 75. He dyed the 10 of December in the year of our Lord, 1690.
His will, made on September 20, 1680, shows a thoughtful and generous nature. He first states that, as his wife is provided for by her jointure, he wishes his son and executor to see she gets it. He further gives her all " that household stuff, plates, Jewells, or other goods whatsoever, which was her own at the time of our marriage," without further proof of its being hers than her word; a life estate in his farm at Ellsworth, and the appurtenances, the necklace of pearls which was his wedding gift to her, any other jewels and plate he has, or shall give her before his death, an ebony cabinet, his best coach and
' His first wife was possibly Dorothy, daughter of Rev. Mr. Whitfield.
^ A daughter Sarah was born at Guilford. March, 1649. In his will he speaks of grandchildren, Christopher, Samuel and James Mills and their father. N. E. H. G. Reg. October, 1887.
' Mrs. Desborough left her husband's ring with his coat of arms on it to Samuel Mills, and to Elizabeth Holworthy his portrait set in gold. N. E. H. Gen. Reg. April, 1891. ■* History of the Judges, p. 35.
THE COUNTER-EMIGRATION. 67
horses with their furniture, and £40 in money to be paid a month after his death. As he has not been able to make her jointure £200 a year, he wishes his son to pay her £12 a year in semi-annual payments, and gives her for her life for the further bettering of her jointure, the mes- suage with close of pasture bought of Thomas Allen ; but if she or any agents of hers shall cut down or destroy " any trees or grovage or young spires now growing, or that may grow, on her jointure land." the last three legacies should be void. He gives £20 apiece to his three grandchildren, wdien they shall arrive at the age of 21, and leaves the rest of his estate to his son James. To the poor of the parish he leaves £5, of which Thomas Cole, his " old diligent servant," is to have 20S., and if he be ever in want, James Disbrow is charged to relieve him. All the household servants, at the time of his death, are to get los. apiece, and all other servants a pair of gloves or two sixpences apiece.
His sister Greene is to have her annuity of £40 continued. He de- sires his son-in-law and grandchildren to wear mourning. A lease of 1500 acres of land in Ireland, granted to him by the London Company of Drapers for 31 years from his wife's decease, he also transfers to his son.
The amount and value of the property distributed show that ]Mr. Desborough must have been a man of some wealth.
The communication he kept up with the Guilford people for some time after his departure is shown by a recently printed letter to him from Gov. Leete, dated October 10, 1654. It is of great interest, and the most important parts are here quoted. Mr. Leete begins by refer- ring to the Protector's olifer to transplant the New Englanders and to a previous letter from Desborough on the subject. " I have made known y'r writing to many," says Gov. Leete, " so yt it is spread (I suppose) thorough the Country & I pceive is marvailous well resented & you laid up in the breasts of people as one of the Cordiall fTreinds of New England there." Desborough's letter had been dated March 5, 1653-4 and enclosed " a coppy of one you pleased to write to the Pro- tector at my request. In behalfe of y"" fifreinds in these pts of New England, entreating his wise & gratious contrivement & help in their afflicted & straitned Conditio." Leete speaks of the uncertainty in the minds of the people as to remaining, " wch. frame cannot chuse but be somewt. (letrimenting to settlemts here, if so should proue to be our way after all, yet for my pt. I think if many had knockt in lesser stakes into the Rocky sand pts. of this wildernes it might better have suited a wildernes state, in its infancy especially." The same despondency is visil)lc which we shall see further on in a contemporaneous letter of Rev. Mr. ITigginson.
68 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
" For matters here I referre you to conferrence w"' yor Cousen Jordan & yor brother Nathaniel (W'hitfield) ; who fully understand the state of things here & can make some apology or excuse for me, in regard to the remainder of yor estate here not being returned as yet, hauing had some test of the difficulty of makeing returnes themselves." Gov. Leete, it would seem, was Mr. Desborough's agent for the sale of his property in Guilford. The colonists were trying new crops and he says : " If New England Tobacco would vend at some rate considerable, both I & my Boyes would leaue of some other improuemt to pro- cure a quantity to pay you wthall. That seeing our stock will not be converted that way, we might see to pay you wth worke, wch you have accepted in New England for currant pay. ... I purpose to send a hogs- head (of tobacco) upo Mr. Stapeley's Acct who wrote to me this yeare to order his estate here & meeting wth a debt of Corne upo the Accot: fro yor brother Nath : wch I knew not els wt to doe with all, it haveing lyen upo losse & charge a good space, I adventured to turne it into Tobacco, by wch. experiment you may pceive wt it will make in Eng- land & see wt it is, if you please. But. if this way liketh you not, then haue I propounded somewhat to yor Consideration in my last Ire, wxh I much entreat may be by yor fauor & Contriuemt brought about, w ch if you please to cause to take effect (as I see not ought to ye contrary) but you may in a faire way unlesse my brother be unwilling either to doe it or resign to another who may, wch I (suppose) he will not. . . . The thing wch I haue propounded in my last Ire yt here I referre to is That you would please to consult or contriue wth my brother how to produce out of yt place, wch you may see how much it is by this enclosed Accot. ; if it can be but in some annual way raised (I suppose it may answer to wt is like to be done here unlesse the times turne) . . . I pray carry it wth great & tender regard to my brother that he may be very free to wt is done, for I would not lose an inch either of naturall or Christian love & affectio for an Elle of profit or worldly Acconi- odatio." This brother was John Leete of Midlow Grange in Hun- tingdonshire and was about a year younger than the Governor.
By this arrangement with his brother. Gov. Leete thinks " may three lawful ends be attained, viz: i) yor estate returned, 2) I here settled 3) The people here more satisfied with me & their jealousy removed of yor being an instrument of my remoueall fro them." It would seem Mr. Desbrow had made some ofTer to Gov. Leete to advance him, if he would return to England, and the townspeople not unnaturally hated to lose this last leader, as they had the others. ** Concerning wch., Truly I was much afflicted & troubled at some passages the other day yt, fell fro some seemeing to be afifected & to affect others euilly against
THE COUNTER-EMIGRATION. 69
you, in refference to ye goodwill you shewed towards me. Nowth- standing I told them ouer & ouer, That you had wrote nothing to me to inuite or give a call, but only expressions of love, showing reall friendship in a willingnes & gladnes of heart to doe good wth the Talent of opportunity, that god had lent you, to me or any other of yor New' England friends, in case god called them, where they might use you, & I haue said that I wished some men's eyes were not euill, be- cause yors was good, & doe professe they take the wrong course to settle me, if they take up euill surmises, or cast any aspersions upo you, since wch my showing myselfe greiued wth such thinges, I hear no more. I wished them, if they thought anything of duty were to be done, in order to prvent or to exhort anything wch fro yor selfe might haue euill Consequence, I desired they w'ould be silent here & write their mindes. I told them I w-as Confident you would take it well & attend ym in any thing, yt was right & for their good. I pray mention nothing, as having a hint fr5 mee, you may know any of ye matters wth us, A'iua Voce by our brethren in England. And, if you doe any thing in order to my settlemt here, be pleased to Expresse yor selfe, as doeing it much respecting them therein. It may be that such convict- ing testimony of yor non alienation, but still continued tender affectio toward the Church of Christ here may cast inward shame upo some spirits & my desire is not to raise any thing in yor spirit, but to bring Convictio upo some others yt, seeing their folly (in an aptness to haue harsh thoughts on almost all men yt. goe for England, as if they regard not this poore people here, haueing [sougjht & obtained great thinges for themselves there) might learne to be more wise or more charitable for the future, wn they see yor enlarged loue, not onely putting forth itselfe. to keep such as come to you into old England. But also to seeke the upholdmt. and encouragemt of them, whom god requires to stay in New England. I might well have left out these latter passages of advise, concerning hints of directio how you should carry it & ex- presse yorselfe to us. not knoweing whether you will please to doe the thinges I request or no & also having so good knowledge of yor better wisdome than mine in euery matter, but onely that I saw somethings here, wch you at a distance could not so well understand & I desire euery thing you doe may turne to the best accot." After a little, he refers again to the uncertainty of their continuance in Guilford and say?, in reference to a debt apparently owed by Air. Desborough to William Dudley, " he will take no Compositi5 for his other 25 li. I haue tendered him mares, Cowes, or Come. &c: he saith. he rather it should lye dead in yor hands there, than to haue much more here as thinges stand."
70 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
The close of the letter is full of tender friendship and ardent piety. " But least I should be tedious, with Cheife respectes & dearest afifectio from my selfe & wife to both yr selfe & deare Mrs. Disbrow, recom- ending you & all yors to the blessed protectio & guidance of god our father, The lord Jesus Christ. & the holy spirit of grace to lead you through all the troubles and difficult turneings & tergivisations of thinges in this age to enter into rest & finde eternall satisfactio . So prayeth Sr., he who euer desires to be yor most Cordiall loueing freind, to his power to serve you. Willm Leete."
Then follows a postscript, desiring remembrances to be given to Mr. Thomas Jones & Mr. John Whitfield, concluding by returning again to the subject of Leete's remaining in Guilford. " One thing I must entreat, that, in case you should expresse, yt you haue done in order to my stay here, that you do carry it, as not to giue ym advantage to wthdraw, wt they doe for me, but rather as expecting they should continue their encouragmt in some certaine way, seeing yt I put by what in reason might more advantage me & mine in my low estate."
The Rro. John Hoadley is said to have left Guilford on October 20, 1653. Soon after his return to England he went to Scotland, where he was chosen chaplain to the garrison of Edinburgh. He landed at Leith, June 29, 1654, and proceeded to Edinburgh. He seems to have held his post in connection with Mr. Samuel Desborough and to have resided there until 1662. He was during all this period a firm supporter of the Lord Protector Cromwell. Involuntarily, however, he became a considerable subscriber to the restoration of Charles H., for General Monk, having in his last journey to Scotland borrowed of him £300 (nearly his whole fortune), used the money to advance the interests of the king. This money General Monk never thought proper to restore.
Rev. John Hoadley and his family left Scotland, June 26, 1662, and settled at Rolvendcn in Kent, August 15 of the same year. Here he resided until his decease, June 28, 1668, at the age of 51 years. His widow died July 1, 1693, aged 76 years. He had twelve children, of whom the first seven were born at Guilford.
Mr. Leete, in 1654, desires Desborough to show " love and helpful- ness to poore brother Hodley ... he was my constant Nocturnal Associate, whom I dearely miss."
CHAPTER VI.
The Guilford Indians.
Tlie Kuttawoo or East River was undoubtedly the dividing line between Lncas and his followers on the east and the Indians who were common to Menunkatuck, Totoket, Quillipiac and Wepowage and their dependencies. Mr. J. Hammond Trumbull calls this tribe the Quiripi Indians, and says the only work in their language is a catechism prepared in 1658 by Rev. Abraham Pierson of Branford.'
These latter, inhabiting the seashore in the old colony of New Haven, seem to have been very mild and pacific in their dispositions, and there are no accounts of aggressions upon the lives or property of the English inhabitants.
" A stone with a human head and neck roughly carved, formerly lying in a fence half a mile northeast of Madison meeting-house, is sup- posed to have been used by them as an idol." When the railroad was built, this stone was removed and built into a wall, where it was found in the summer of 1895. It is now in the yard of Mr. Nathan Bushnell of Madison. " Nothing is certainly known as to what became of the Indians after the purchase of their grounds. They may have joined their brethren, the Menunkatuck Indians, at Branford and East Haven, or the Hammonassett Indians at Killingworth, the remnants of whom remained in that town until 1739 or 1740. The latter sup- position is the most probable, as they appear to have been the most numerous about Hammonassett River, where they had cleared a large field which was easily cultivated and ver}^ productive. Indian bones have been found near the river and also on the neck." They were numerous on the great plains in the southern part of Guilford borough, as appears from the vast masses of shells which they brought upon it and which are mouldering to this day; and considerably numerous in other parts of the town, as the harbors and shores furnished them with great advantages for fishing and the woods for hunting.
They seem to have lived on friendly and intimate terms with their new neighbors and never to have engaged in the more warlike move- ments of the tribes east and west. They seem to have receded as the English settlements extended, until they finally retired to the other
'Conn. Hist. Soc. Colls., Ill, p. q.
y2 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
tribes inhabiting the broad territory north and west. They parted with their territory readily, and ahvays received therefor what at the time was an adequate consideration, although it might bear little pro- portion to the present value of the land. To show this, it is enough to state that Branford was sold by Mr. Samuel Eaton and his friends for " between 12 and 13 pounds," and Stamford was transferred by one party of emigrants to another for the money expended in the pur- chase, amounting to £33.
The Guilford Indians are said to have been tributary to the Mohawks, yearly paying tribute to them, until the arrival of the whites. From fear of Indian attack in Guilford, for many years a watch was kept, houses were palisaded, and the meeting house was guarded on the Lord's Day.
Gov. Leete, in letters to Gov. Winthrop, on April 5, 1659, and Feb- ruary 7, 1660, desires him to inform the Farmington Indians that " we have taken and hired some Mohegin Indians for to plante and worke for vs this sommer, whome we would not have them molest " and that two Indians and their wives " doe live as servants unto mee for planting corne, cutting wood, &c. this winter and next sumer." The one was named Wutsnequam, " the other is one that the Englishmen ordinarily called Strong Liquors." They " have kept here not medling with the quarrels of Vncas."
Col. Ward of Hartford, a man of intelligence, who was born in Guilford, February 2nd, 1768, and spent his youth here, said:
" All I remember of the Indians was when I was about 10 years of age. I remember a squaw by the name of Hannah Punk, who was at that time said to be over 100 years old. She wore a conical cap and had short clothes. She walked firm and strong; her legs were small and looked like old dry sticks of wood. She wore no stockings and was under the ordinary size.
" Tuis was, when I saw him, I should think middle aged. He had a few gray hairs mixed with his long, black hair. He was a strong- built man, rather above the ordinary size, of a striking and dignified appearance.
" Tuis and Hannah were said to be of royal descent, of the lineage of the squaw Sachem of Manuncatuck and Quillipiack. They lived in the north part of the town, in the neighborhood of West Pond, they formerly had several wigwams there, their dress was unlike that of the English.
" When they came to the old town, which they occasionally did to dispose of their Baskets, brooms and other Indian manufactures, the people gathered round them and treated them with great respect.
THE GUILFORD INDIANS. 73
" They \vere kindly treated in the houses where they stopped, and they seemed to haue a particular interest in the prosperity of certain families of the old Inhabitants.
" Thev were both intelligent, but Tuis was thought to have more than a common mind, and many of his sayings were remembered and treasured up until they seemed to have become proverbial among the people.
" There was also Old Ann and Young Ann. They were somewhat fleshy and stout. They made baskets and brooms and were treated very kindly by the people.
" Picket learned the blacksmith's trade of a Mr. Stone, after which he joined the Northern army in the French war and was in the battle at Fort George, where he captured the French General, Count Dieskau. He made brooms and baskets and lived like the other Indians. (He and Ann received aid from the town in 1788. Picket died in 1793.)
*' Walkee was said to live at North Bristol. He died about 1777 and left a son and a daughter; they lived like white people."
Other Indians whose names have survived were Jim Soebuck, Sue Nonesuch and Molly Coheague,
In 1769. ^Ir. Ruggles writes that the aborigines had entirely dis- appeared; a statement far too strong. In 1774 there were more Indians in Guilford than in any other town in New Haven county; and Grace, an Indian, died as recently as 1829. Some of the Guilford Indians retired and mingled with the Naugatuck Indians and then, with the advance of settlement, they became part of the Scaticook tribes.
A peaceful race, they have left scarcely any record of their existence.
CHAPTER VII.
Rev. John Higginson.
The planters did not wait long after Mr. Whitfield's departure to find a successor. Mr. Higginsoii, the former teacher, was in the line of promotion and the town chose him to succeed his father-in-law. Two months after Mr. Whitfield left, we find that at a Town Meeting on Octo- ber 2y, 1650, it was agreed to allow Mr. Higginson £70 per annum, and without any further formality of ordination he seems to have step- ped into the Guilford pulpit as the second pastor. A year later, Octo- ber 10, 1651, Mr. Higginson's "paper of demands for the maiier of ordering his allow^ance was read and agreed to be ordered accordingly," however that might have been. There still seems to have been some little doubt as to his remaining, and not until September 5, 1653, did he, " upon condition of the allowance of fourscore £ per annum in current pay & the building of a cow house, together wdth £20 more for this present year to pay debts, . . . promise & engage himself to settle and carry on the work of a minister here in Guilford, so long as the church and people do continue to allow him the £80 per annum." On October 25, 1654, Mr. Higginson wrote ^ to Rev. Thomas Thatcher of Weymouth, showing that he considered himself finally fixed in Guil- ford : " For myself, I have settled upon my relation to the Ch^ and people here, either to stay or go together, as the will of God shall appear." This letter is so interesting, showing the difficulties of the new settlers and the feeling of uncertainty as to their continuance, as to be worthy of further quotation. " There is a frame of humbling, try- ing, discovering Providences now at work & yt. universally in all places and churches of this wilderness. Amongst others, I conceive the work you intimate may be one, viz. scarcity of clothing and how to provide for posterity. . . . God seems to provide in a gradual way for supply in clothing by the nuiltiplying of sheep, there being many thousands in Rhod. Island and from thence every plantation in these parts begin to get into stock more or less." He also refers to the plans of Cromwell to transplant New Englanders to Ireland, to Hispaniola. or Mexico, anrl to the fact that the apprehension of such a removal " doth for the present stop and stay many in these parts, who were inclined, some for
' Conn. Hist. Soc. Colls. III.
REV. JOHN HIGGINSON. 75
Eng-land and others for Delaware Bay." He mentions " having con- stant intellig:ence from some nearly related to me. who are also nearly related to the Lord Protector, we at Guilford are as like to share in anv privileges there as any other (if there should be any such thing), but it niav be these are but trials & yt. God will have his people stay here still." A note of discouragement is clearly heard, yet faith and trust in God remain, and in noble strain he bursts forth : " I have thought the great design of Jesus Christ in this age is to set up his Kingdom in particular ch*'^ and, yt ye great duty of such as are in ch*^ fellowship, is to conform themselves to those primitive patterns: Acts 2. 42 to ye end, Ephes. 4. 16, I Cor 12. 26, &c. To continue steadfast together, being true to ye. work of Christ, which they are engaged in, in a practical way. Those, yt. with Philadelphia, keep ye words of Christ's patience . . . shall undoubtedly be kept (as under the shadow of his wing) in ye hour of temptation."
Mr. Higginson' remained in sole charge of the church at Guilford until 1659. when he took leave, with the intention of returning to his native country. The vessel in which he had taken passage for England put into Salem harbor in stress of weather, and as the church there was in want of a minister, they made proposals to him, wdiich issued in an engagement on his part to remain and preach for them a year. Be- fore this time had expired, he received an invitation to become their pastor. He accepted it and was ordained in August, 1660. At his ordination the hands of the Deacons and one of the brethren were imposed in the presence of the neighboring churches and elders. Mr. Higginson continued in the pastoral relation to this church until his death, which occurred on the 9th of December, 1708, at the age of 92. He had been in the ministry ^2 years.
Mr. Higginson engaged with no inconsiderable zeal in the famous controversy with the Quakers. He pronounced their " inner light " to be often " a stinking vapor from hell," regarded their religious opinions and practices as dangerous to both the church and state, and hence he did not hesitate to recommend the excommunication from the church of such members as had joined them. It is said, however, that he subsequently regretted the warmth of his zeal on this subject. In the witchcraft delusion, with the single exception that he joined with Mr. Xoyes, his colleague, in the excommunication of a person who had been charged with being under this Satanic influence, he took a part considered " suspiciously moderate." Says Upham : " The fact
' On January 3, 1659-60, a tax laid to pay for a minister in Guilford, was also to cover £14 still owed to Mr. Higginson.
76 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
that, while his colleague took so active a part in the prosecutions, he, at an early stage, discountenanced them, shows that he was a person of discrimination and integrity. That he did not conceal his disappro- bation of the proceedings is demonstrated, not only by the tenor of his attestation in behalf of Goodwife Buckley," when she was accused of witchcraft, but also " by the decisive circumstance that the afflicted chil- dren cried out against his daughter Anna," the wife of Captain \\'illiam Dolliver, of Gloucester; got a warrant to apprehend her, and had her brought to the Salem jail and committed as a witch. Tliey never struck at friends, but were sure to punish all who were suspected to disapprove of the proceedings. But it was impossible to break down the influence or independence of Mr. Higginson. It is not improbable he believed in witchcraft, with all the other divines of his day ; but he feared not to bear testimony to personal worth and could not be brought to co-oper- ate in violence or fall in with the spirit of persecution. The weight of his character compelled the deference of the most heated zealots, and even Cotton jMather himself was eager to pay him homage.' " In 1696," Mather wrote "This good old man is yet alive; and he that, from a child, knew the Holy Scriptures, does, at those years wherein men use to be twice children, continue preaching them, vv^ith such a manly, pertinent, and judicious vigor, and, with so little decay of his intellectual abilities, as is indeed a matter of just admiration." ' This " Nestor of the New England clergy," than whom, says Upham, " no character in all our annals shines with a purer lustre," was visited in 1686 by John Dunton, who thus speaks of him: " All men look to him as a common father; and old, for his sake, is a reverend thing. He is eminent for all the graces that adorn a minister. His very presence puts vice out of countenance; his conversation is a glimpse of heaven."
His hkeness is preserved in the Athenaeum at Salem. His descend- ants are numerous and respectable. Among them have been the Hon. Stephen Higginson, a member of the Revolutionary Congress of 1778, and Col. Thomas Wentworth Higginson, the historian.
On April 13, 1706, Judge Sewall wrote' to Mr. Higginson. that " Amidst the Frowns & hard Words I have met with for ys Undertak- ing, i. e. opposition to slavery, it is no small refreshmt to me yt I nave ye Learned Rcvd & Aged Mr. Higginson for my Abetter. By ye interposition of ys Brest Work I hope to carry on & manage ys Enter- prise with Safety & Success." This is another proof of the high moral character of Higginson's nature.
'Upham. History of Witchcraft & Salem Village II, pp. 194. I95-
* Magnalia I, p. 365. ' Moore's " Notes on Slavery in Mass.." p. 89.
REV. JOHN HIGGINSON. yj
]\Ir. Higginson was twice married and had nine children. Of these, the eldest, John, was a member of the Council of Massachusetts, and Nathaniel went into the East India Company's service, became wealthy, and died in England.
Mr. Higginson published the following: i) " Ye Cause of God & his People in New England"; an Election Sermon, 1663. 2) Address to the Reader of Morton's N. E.'s Memorial (with Thomas Thacher) 1669. 3) " Our Saviour's dying Legacy of Peace to his Disciples in a Troublesome World from John xiv. 27 "... . Also a discourse on the Two Witnesses, etc.; unto which is added some help to self-examina- tion (which I drew up for myself in the year 1652), 1686: dedicated with an autobiographical letter to " the Church and people of God at Salem, Also at Guilford and Saybrook." 4) Preface to Cotton Mather's " Winter Meditations," 1693. 5) " An Attestation " to Mather's Mag- nalia, prefixed to that work, 1697. 6) An Epistle dedicatory to N. Noyes' sermon entitled " New England's duty and interest to be a habitation of Justice & holiness," 1698. 7) " A testimony to the order of the Gospel in the churches of New England " with Mr. Hubbard, 1 70 1. 8) An epistle to the reader, prefixed to Hale's "enquiry into the nature of Witchcraft," 1702. 9) A preface to Thomas Allen's " Invitation to Thirsty Sinners," 1708. 10) " The Deplorable State of New England," 1708. 11) Address to his children (Dying Testimony). Essex Inst. Hist. Coll. II. 97. M. H. S. C. XXXVII.', 222.
Griswold pronounces his literary style to have been " incomparably superior " to that of any other American writer of that early day.
CHAPTER VIII.
The Plantation Court. Early Law Proceedings at Guilfokd.
On April 3, 1644, the General Court of New Haven " ordered that, for the more comfortable carrying on of the afifayres att Guilforde, till they have a magistrate their, the free burgesses may chuse among themselves fower Deputies and forme a Courte."^
" The first, chosen for that purpose, were probably Mr. Desborow, Mr. Leete, Mr. Mepham, and Mr. Hoadley. They may have con- tinued until October, 1645, when Mr. Samuel Disborow was chosen Magistrate and Mr. Leete, Mr. Mepham, and Mr. Hoadley Deputies."
It is supposed that Mr. Desborough was not earlier chosen mag- istrate on account of his youth. Previous to August, 1645, there is no record of cases tried before this court.' Then the records begin and are continued with some degree of completeness' until 1661, when they are discontinued, owing probably to the troublous times con- nected with the union with Connecticut.
Mr. Desborough served as magistrate until 1651, when Mr. William Leete succeeded him and held the position so long as New Haven was a separate colony. Tlie deputies were as follows:
1645 — William Leete, 1650 — William Chittenden,
John Mepham, to Robert Kitchel,
John Hoadley, 1654 Thomas Jordan.
^ ^ „,.,,. ^ George Hubbard,
1646 — William Leete,
to William Chittenden, 1655 — Robert Kitchel,
1649 Thomas Jordan, to WilHam Chittenden,
^ , T'- 1 1 1660 George Hubbard,"
1647— Robert Kitchel ^
(additional deputy),
M. N. H. Col. Rcc. 131.
' The Court met regularly on the first Thursdays in FcbruaiT. ]\Iay, Septem- ber and December, at 8 A. M.
" In these Courts, civil causes and minor felonies were tried and their power extended also originally to the probate of wills, to granting letters of admin- istration and to the division and settlement of estates. The probate of wills, etc., was later transferred to the judiciary of the combination.
* At their election the first two took the oath, but Hubbard. " wanting light for renewing the same oath to the same person for the same worke, did forbeare for a time."
THE PLANTATION COURT.
79
1661 — Robert Kitchel, 1665 — John Fowler,
to George Hubbard. George Bartlett."
1664 John Fowler,
George Bartlett,
The stability of the membership of the court, which was elected yearly, is noteworthy. ]\Ir. Leete was dropped because he became magistrate; Mr. Jordan returned to England in 1655; Mr. Chittenden died in 1660; and Mr. Kitchell left Guilford at the time of the union. This shows that the decisions of the court must have been recognized as just. In 1666 the court was superseded by the New Haven County Court, of which Mr. William Leete was chief magistrate. Since then the magistrates of the town have been the assistants and the justices of the peace.
The proceedings of the court are very interesting and form a pleas- ing contrast with those of some other tow^ns at the same period.
I. Military Cases. (See chapter on Colonial Military History). 11. Failure to pay school rates. (See chapter on Education). Cases of fines for being " defective in watch," of insubordination to military officers, and of failure to pay for the schooling of children are elsewhere dis- cussed. HI. Sedition and Offenses against the Government. " Speak- ing against the government" was one crime often laid to the charge of early Guilford men at odds with the majority. The very first trial recorded was on this charge, of which Francis Chatiicld was accused. He was an opponent of union with New Haven and " exprest much in a sinful passion agt. the govermt of this place, charging y' it was now vile & we were better separate than upon New Haven." This he con- fessed " to proceed from a heat of passion." But that w^as not all his guilt, for he had libeled Mr. Gregson of New Haven, in stating that he had discouraged his man from coming to Guilford by asking " would he come hither to be ruled by them?" This was disproved by both Mr. Gregson and his man.
A third charge was, that he had quoted Mr. Gregson as saying " he did wonder, we are not all to peeces, with other passages vented by him and confirmed by many witnesses," such as, " that Mr. Leet was checked by Mr. Gregson, . . . whicli reports were false."
Contempt of court comes close to contempt of government, and at the same time Goodman Crittenden was heard on a " charg for refus- ing his hearing at ye apointmcnt of ye Magistrate." This was con-
' These assistants were confirmed by the legislature in case of Milford and Stamford, but there is no evidence of such confirmation in case of Guilford.
So HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
sidered " a neglect of command, and contempt and slight, in not giving no reason for this action." ^
JoJdi Stone, member of the church, also " confest " himself guilty, probably of some similar charge.
The court voted on these cases: that, "there being much evil in these carriages of contempt and slight of ye govermt; yet, being con- fest with sorrow for ym, their cases were levifyed, though ye things, in themselves considered, deserve punishment. Though there is sorrow expressed for them; yet, when they are the first beginnings, I should pass it over in way of favor in passing upon them." This wise leni- ency was characteristic of Guilford justice.
The next case of the sort was that of John Bishop, Jr. He was accused of " sundry uncivel speeches and immodest expressions," " or," as it is elsewhere put, '' wanton and lascivious speeches and prophane ex- pressions." As far as the records show, these speeches consisted in saying that it was " best to be in the quarter of gant squaws " and that ^' Mr. Higginson, in his sermon, did so teare at ye young men that, if he had been there, he would have gone out of the meeting-house and not have endured them." He was examined and confessed in part these expressions of discontent; but, on April i, 1647, when he was sent for to attend court, he wilfully absented himself. The court, in view of this contempt, ordered the marshal to " keep a warrant in constant readiness " for him and, on finding him, to apprehend him and keep him safe in ward until the court should take further action. All persons having knowledge of his whereabouts were also com- manded to make it known. On August 19, 1647, ^^^ appeared and being questioned in court, he acknowledged his former confession; but denied further charges and, as he did not seem " to have any real sense of sin," the court deferred sentence. On February 16, 1647-8, he was again called up and " saith, he hath had many thoughts " as to his speeches " and scene much evill in them, more than formerly, and desireth the Court to passe it by, hoping that he shall never let such speeches any more come out of his mouth to defile and corrupt others." The Court fined him £5, which his father promised to see paid. The reason for the fine was stated to be " the corrupting nature of such speeches, spoken to youth, who are most apt to drink in such pollu-
^ There is also this mysterious entry: "Expressed by Mr. Whitfield, as ex- pressed by Goodm: Crittenden, that he refused him a load of hay, therefore ff. appointed him to help at the Mill tho' it was cleared yt. Mr. Leet appointed him to the mill, before yt. Crittenden spoke of his hay: witnessed by Will: Plaine. Appreliciiding Mr. Leet to be displeased, w'^h. other slanders by apprehended not." " This he denied.
THE PLANTATION COURT. 8l
tions, as temptations to fleshly lusts and prophaneness." This fine was not paid on September 4, 165 1, when he promised to pay it before the next particular court,
IVillia))! StoJic was the next to " speak against the Government " and be tried therefor.. There were two charges against him. The first that he " peremptory affirmed, w**" heat & passion in open Court, y*^ he thought & did verily believe, he had wrong in the quantity of his cotton wool." The Jurisdiction ' court ordered that every planter should have a canvas coat, quilted with cotton wool, so as to be a defense against Indian arrows. The town had bought a quantity of cotton wool and distributed it, and the secretary's bill, showing " everyone's just proportion," was "proved to be right and true.'" In apology, " Brother " John Stone said he had no " end to asperse any man or the Court with unfaithfulness or injustice," but confessed that he had said the words charged.
The other accusation was that he gave out " in a slanderous and whis- pering way, some speeches to that purpose, that things were not rightly carryed, in that he was left to be one of the last in apointing & setting out ye place, where he should have his proportions of land." ' This was testified to by three witnesses, who " did always look upon the said speeches, as charging the Court with partiality." The surveyor, John ]Mepham. informed the Court that Stone's land was equal in value to that of others, " in the quarter where it lies." Stone himself confessed that the witnesses had reported him correctly and added, "yt he did and doth still think, that there was no favor showed him, for always others were preferred before him." The Court reserved judgment, which was delivered on October 21, 1647, a"<^l then stated that it was not satisfied with his acknowledgment, " as not fully com- prehending the evil of his miscarriage & every particular of passion in ye charge proved against him." Therefore, he was summoned to "another, full confession and more manifest humbling selfe, unless he can cleare himself." He, accordingly, stated that " he was deeply guilty of irreverence, passion, and slandering & of an unbridled tongue, & is heartily sorry for the same, desiring yt. ye Court and all others would passe it by, hoping it shall be a warning for him forever after."
' I. N. H. Col. Rec. 214. 121.
' Ale.xandcr Chalkcr and Ricliard Guttridge " showed much rashness and con- fidence " about this business, and, being called before the Court. April. 1647, acknowedged their fault and craved forgiveness, which was granted.
'John Hodely testified. Stone said, "if it were not more for ye providence of God, than men, he should do ill enough in this place and, were it not for some oth-jr things, he would nut tarry in the place."
82 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
The Court " did passe it by, witliont fine or penal censure, admonish- ing him to be more careful for the future, lest he let loose his tongue and spirit to such passions, jealousies, boldness, & such other rash slanderous expressions prejudicial to the names, or credit, either of publique, or particular persons."
The next case of a contempt for the authority of the Court is that of Benjamin Wright. This case first appears on October 12, 1648, when " the Court took into consideration a case w'^'^ ye Magistrate pro- pounded concerning ye buying of Mr. Caffinch his lot by Benjamin Wright & declared y* he was no fit planter for so great an accommoda- tion and therefore they disallow the said act contrary to order & warned the said Wright not to proceed in the business."
\\'e next hear of the case at a particular court held November the 8th, 1648.
" Benjamin Wright being called appeared & it was laid to his charge y* he had miscarryed himselfe in sundrye thinges against the orders of the Magistrate & government of this place in 6 particulars then declared against him expressed in court by the magistrate, to which he answered,
" Tliat he desired time to give answer to the things charged against him & did with the same boldness, height and loudness of speech main- taine the speech he had formerly spoken against the Magistrate — wh'^'^ he denyed & Wright affirmed as also affirming that nothing hath beene done by him contrary to the order in the business with Standish; desiring that the case may be transferred to the Court of Magistrates next in May, to be heard there."
The Court bound him to make his appearance there and to answer such things as should be laid to his charge, hereof he is not to fail upon the penalty of £30.
The particulars of the charge laid against Benjamin Wright and expressed by the magistrate in court were as follows, viz.:
" I. That he proceeded in a business of bargaining with Thomas Standish of Wethersfield for a certaine Accomodatio of houses & landes late John Caffinches, contrary to an order or orders made to hinder such proceedings, y* none should be sold to any, whether planter or other, unless the Court approved of them as fit planters for such an accomodatio. — The said Wright having been told by the Magistrate that he was no fit planter for such an Accomodatio & warned not to proceed in it; yet he proceeded in a secret & suble way of seeming exchange seeking thereby to undermine & frustrate the said order.'
' All i)In Titers were allowed to occupy lands on an outlay of £500, £250 or £100, or £50 estate, after which rule all estates were to be rated. Mr. Cafifinch's
THE PLANTATION COURT. 83
" II. That he being called to the court for his miscarriage & then the thing witnessed against as disorderly & he warned not to proceed further in the business, but to desert and cease from going on in the same, he neglected or resisted the court's admonition & went about again in a like subtle & fraudulent way to disappoint the said order.
" III. That he cast aspersions upon the ^lagistrate charging him in publique that he should tell him the said Wright, that if he would for- beare to proceed w^*^ Standish for the said lot, then ere long he would be weary of it & the towne should haue it for little or nothing: w'^" words he did not proue, but upon the Magistrats rehearsal of what he said to him, — viz that if he were not hasty or eager to proceed with Standish then he might be brought to reasonable term & the towne might buy it of him, & he then promised Wright y*^ if it fell into the townes hands, he would do his utmost y* he might have such part as he desired or seemed to desire — he could not but acknowledge those to the expression, yet he boldly maintained that it was all to one effect or purpose.
" IV. That having thus sublely & fraudulently proceeded to get a title to said lot notw'^^standing such advice and admonition given him, he also went on in a like secret suble & fraudulent way to possesse himselfe of the said houses & grounds either by creeping into the house at the windows or elsewhere, or breaking in through some part of the house or doors by force & violence w^*^ were shut & lockt ag^* him by the Magistrates order and appointment.
" \'. That he (after the Magistrates solemne profession in court that what he had done in advising or opposing him in this business, was out of tenderness to him & his family, purposing to gratify his desire so farre as was fit, when it lay in his power) he tauntingly replyed: " You keep back my wages due for my worke whereon my wife and family should live: is that tenderness?" or words to y^ effect: of which uncomely & ungrateful expressions he being admonished & told y* he thereby manifested a revengeful frame of spirit: he replyed that he
lot was a £500 estate and Benjamin Wright's was £50. The order referred to is on T. R. Vol. B. p. 11, entitled against engrossing lots, and is as follows: " Whereas much experience shewcs that sundry inconveniences do arise to the burdening, disturbing or depopulating of smaller plantations when either sundry lots or accommodations are engrossed into one hand and possessed and held by unsuitable or unfit persons, It is therefore agreed and ordered that none shall exchange fraudulently, let or give, either all or any part of his lots or accommodations unto any, whether planter or others, without the consent of the court first publicly procured and accorded, together witli the sale or ex- change particularly expressed and set down in a book of trrrit i'^ of lands.
84 HISTORY OF THE PLANTATION OF MENUNKATUCK.
found nothing else, by w*^*^ expressions the court couicl not but con- cieue y^ he aspersed y". at best to be men of revenge only towards him.
" VI. That when the Court told him y* they required he should depart from his possession of the said lot so disorderly gotten as he would answer the contrary for contempt of the authority here established & notwithstanding the Court told & promised him that they would answer him for w' they did herein at ye court of Magistrates, if he required them, yet he replyed that he would not depart fro his posses- sion unless they cast him out by force and violence."
At a court held at New Haven on the 3d of July, 1649, we gather something of the proceedings of the May court/
" Benjamin Wright of Guilford, having bine at a court of Magis- trats held at New Haven in May last charged w**^ and proved guilty of sundry grave miscarriages, for w'^'^ he deserved seveere correction, but ye Court seeing some show of remorse and hoping for better fruit than they now see, upon Mr. Disborows request, past it by, upon condition that he should make a full acknowledgement at Guilford of his several miscarriages as he had done in court & promised to do then as appeared by the proceedings of that court which were now read, — but when