Class. Book- n :p^^:pei?,s / NEW HAVEN COLONY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. YOL. lY. NEW HAVEN: PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY 1888. t<7 TuTTLE, Morehouse & Taylor, PRINTERS, 371 State Street, New Haven, Conn. CONTENT".. Page Prefatory Note, . . ■ • ' , ' ' • 'v List of OfBcers, ..-•••• "^ List of Members, ..•••••• '^' Papers: I. The Diary of Mb. Ebenezeb Townsend, Jr., the Supercargo of the Sealing Ship " Neptune," on her Voyage to the South Pacific and Canton ; with a Preface by Thomas R. Trowbridge, . . 1 II. New Haven in 1784; by Professor Franklin Bowditch Dexteb, of 1 1 7 New Haven, . . - • • • • . n i III. Connecticut Borovighs; by Calvin IT. Carter, M.A., of Waterbury, 139 IV. The Family of Nathaniel Eaton, of Cambridge, Mass ; by Professor Daniel C. Eaton, of New Haven, . . . • .185 V. A Young Man's Journal of a Hundred Years Ago ; edited by Pro- fessor Simeon PI Baldwin, of New Haven, . . • 1^3 VI. New Haven's Adventure on the Delaware Bay; by Rev. Epher Whitaker, D.D., of Southhold, Long Island, . . • .209 VII. Personal Reminiscences of the Revolutionary War, by the late Thomas Painter, of West Haven; edited by Henry Howe, of Colum- bus, Ohio, . . . • • • • ■ '-^^^ VIIL Yale Graduates in Western Massachusetts; by Rev. Alpheus C. Hodges, B.A., of Buckland, Mass., . . . • • 253 IX. Branford Annals; 1700-1800; by Rev. Elijah C. Baldwin, of Cheshire, ......•• '-^^ X. The Captives of the Araistad; by Professor Simeon E. Baldwin, of New Haven, . . . • • • • .331 XI. The Trading- House on the Paugasset ; by Rev. William G. Andrews, D.D., of Guilford, . . . . • • • 371 XII. The Past and Future of this Society, being the Annual Address of the President for the year 1886; by Professor Simeon E. Baldwin, of New Haven, .....••• 397 Inscriptions on Tombstones in Guilford, erected prior to 1800, . -lOG Index, .......•■ -452 PREFATORY NOTE. The New Haven Colony Historical Society has published three vol- umes of its Papers, besides the present ; Vol. I, in 1865 : Vol. II, in 1877 ; Vol. Ill, in 1882 ; and now adds Vol. IV, in 1888. The Society does not consider itself committed to the support of the positions taken in any of the papers published in these volumes. For the statements or the conclusions of each, the author is alone res]>onsible. SIMEON E. BALDWIN. "] JAMES M. HOPPIN, I THOMAS R. TROWBRIDGE, \ JOHNSON T. PLATT. J JAMES M. HOPPIN, I Publication THOMAS R. TROWBRIDGE, i Committee. OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY. 1887-1888, President. SIMEON E. BALDWIN, A.M. Vice-President. Hon. JAMES E. ENGLISH, A.M. I Secretary. THOMAS R. TROWBRIDGE. Treasurer. ROBERT PECK, A.B. Advisory Committee. (Constituting with the above named a Board of Directors.) Rev. Timothy Dwight, D.D., LL.D., President of Yale University, ex-officio. His Honor Samuel A. York, A.M., Mayor of the City of New Haven, ex-officio. Philip Hugo, Town Clerk of New Haven, ex-officio. Henry Beonson, M.D. Edward H. Leffingwell, M.D. Hon. Charles R. Ingersoll, LL.D. Rev. E. E. Beardsley, D.D., LL.D. Rev. James M. Hoppin, D.D. Frank E. Hotchkiss. Charles H. Townshend. Johnson T. Platt, A.M. E. li. Bishop, M.D. George Petrie. ~ Eli Whitney, A.M. Charles Dickerman. Hon. Charles L. Englisei. J. B. Sargent. James G. English. T. Attwater Barnes. RuEL P. CowLES. Hon. Caleb B. Bowers. Hon. Lynde Harrison, LL.B. Henry L. Hotchkiss. Ellsworth I. Foote. Edwin H. English. Executive Committee. Simeon E. Baldwin, AM. Rev. E. Edwards Beardsley, D.D., LL.D. Edward H. Leffingwell, M.D., Thomas R. Trowbridge, ex-offi.cio. Librarian and Cii,rator. Dwight E. Bowers, A.B. Janitor. George W. Carrington. N. B. The rooms of the Society, in the old State House, are open to the pub- lic daily, both morning and afternoon. All persons interested in historical sub- jects are invited to join the Society as active members. LIST OF MEMBERS. Honorary Members. Sir ITenry Sumner Maine, K.C.S.T., LL.D., F.R.S., Londou, England. General Charles W. Darling, Utica, N. Y. Life Members. Rev. WiLLiAxr G. Andrews, D.D. Simeon E. Baldwin, A.M. Roger Sherman Baldwin. E. Henry Barnes. Rev. E. Edwards He ardsley, D. D. , LL. D. L. Wheeler Bkecher. Hon. HOBART B. BiGELOW. E. Huggins Bishop, M.D. George Bliss, New York City. Frederick Bostwick. Henry Bronson, M.D. Cornelius S. Bushnell. Hon. Simeon B. Chittenden, A. M , Brooklyn, iV. Y. John J. Crane, M.D. James D. Dewell. Hon. Charles L. English. Edwin H. English. Henry F. English, LL.B. Hon. James E. English, A.M. James G. Knglish. Richard M. Everit. "William B. Goodyear. Frank E. Hotchkiss. Henry L. Hotchkiss. Edward H. Leffingwell, M.D., A.M. Rev. Samuel J. M. Mekwin, A.M. Hon. Charles L. Mitchell. Joseph Parker. Robert Peck, A.B. Thomas F. Rowland, New York City. J. B. Sargent. Joel A. Sperry. Ezekiel G. Stoddard. Hon. James M. Townsend. Charles H. Townshend. Daniel Trowbridge. E. Hayes Trowbridge, Jr. Henry Trowbridge. Henry Trowbridge, Jr., A.B. Rutherford Trowbridge. Thomas R. Trowbridge. William R. H. Trowbridge, A.M. Wilson Waddingham. Hon. George H. Watrous, A.B., LL.B. Hon. Francis Wayland, LL.D. Eli Whitney', A.M. Eli Whitney, Jr, A.M. Annual Members. January, 1888. Theodore J. Ackerman. Max Adler. •John B. Adriance. David R. Alling. Frank S. Andrew. Francis Bacon, M.D. Rev. Thomas R. Bacon, B.D. Amos F. Barnes. T. Attwater Barnes. William A. Beckley, Frank E. Beckwith. A.M., M.D. Edward C. Beecher. Hon. Edward C. Billings, A.B., LL. New Orleans, La. Henry T. Blake, A.B. Franklin R. Bliss. Edwin B. Bowditch. Hon. Caleb B. Bowers. Hon. Edward E. Bradley. Robert B. Bradley. Robert Brown, A.M. Robert A. Brown. MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY, Vll Henry H. Bunnell. George A. Butler. Gen. Albemarle Cady, U. S. A. Hiram Camp. "William H. Carmalt, A.M.. M.D. James H. P. Chambkrlin. S. Hartwell Chapman, A.M., M.D. Horace H. Chittenden. Herman D. Clark. James Gardner Clark, A.M. Frederick H. Cogswell. Joseph Colton. ruel p. cowles. George 0. Cruttenden. EvARTS Cutler. David L. Daggett, M.D. Hugh Dailey, LL.B. Isaac N. Dann. John A. Dann. Wilbur F. Day. Andrew W. Deforest. Clarence Deming, A.B. Hon. Lucius P. Deming, LL B. Franklin B. Dexter, A.M. Charles Dickerman. Hon. TiLTON E. Doolittle, A.B., LL.B. Ben'jamin H. Douglass. Cornelius T. Driscoll, A.M. James M. B. Dwight, A.M. Nathan Easterbrook, Jr. D. Cady Eaton, A.M. Daniel C. Eaton, A.M. Matthew G. Elliott. Benjamin R. English. James L. Ensign. "Wallace B. Fenn. Philander Ferry. Rev. George P. Fisher, D.D., LL.D. Eleazer T. Fitch. John B. Fitch. Lewis Fitch. Ellsworth I. Foote. James H. Foy. William Franklin. Joseph R. French, A.M. Herrick p. Frost. Hon. James Gallagher. Mrs. Philip S. Galpin. David L. Gardiner. DoRSEY Gardner. Miss Emily L. Gerry. Hon. Griswold I. Gilbert. Levi C. Gilbert. Daniel C. Glenney. Hon. James Graham, Orange. Gen. Edwin S. Greeley. Alfred E. Hammer. Hon. Lynde Harrison, LL.B. Charles M. Hawkes. William T. Hayes. John E. Heaton. Henry Hendricks. Albert B. Hill, Ph.B., S.I.M. William Hilluouse, A.M., M D. Mrs. Henrietta E. Hooker. Frank H. Hooker, A.B. Rev. James M. Hoppin, D.D. Hobart L. Hotchkiss, LL.B. Justus S. Hotchkiss. Leonard S. Hotchkiss. Edward R. Howarth. Stephen G. Hubbard, A.M., M.D. Ransom F. Humiston. Thomas Hurle. Hon. Charles R. Ingersoll, LL.D. Hon, Colin M. Ingersoll, A.M. Levi Ives, M.D. Robert S. Ives, A.M., M.D. Charles L. Johnson. Edwin M. Johnson. Tredwell Ketcham. Andrew L. Kidston. Enos S. Kimberley. William L. Kingsley, A.M. Lyman M. Law. Daniel C. Leavenworth, M.D. Charles S. Leete. Rev. Julius Y. Leonard, A.B. Douglas Leffingwell. Elias Loomis, LL.D. Samuel L. Marsden. George B. Martin. Jamks M. Mason. Charles M. Matthews. Rev. Haslett McKim. Jr., A.M. Rollin McNeil, M.D. Edward P. Merwin. Hon. Samuel E. Merwin. Hon. Samuel Miller. Cornelius S. Morehouse. Mrs. Frank E. Morg.a.n. Robert Morgan. Hon. Luzon B. Morris, A.M. Gard.ver Morse. Seth H. Moselev. William Moulthrop. Rev. Theodore T. Munger, D.D. Henry G. Newton, M.A., LL.B. John G. North. 0. B. North. Henry H. Olds. Thomas H. Pease. Henry F. Peck. John M. Peck. Vlll MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY. Mrs. Mart E. Peck. Tracy Peck. A.M. George Petrie. Thomas Phillips. Johnson T. Pi.att, A.M. Rev. Noah Porter, D.D., LL.D. J. Collins Pratt. William W. Price. Henry J. Prudden. Lemuel S. Punderson. Miss Harriet A. B. Punderson. James Reynolds. Rev.WiLLTAM T.Reynolds, North Haven. Gerritt S. Rice. Richard E. Rice, A.M. Hon. John B. Robertson, A.M., M.D. George A. Root. Amory E. Rowland. Frederick C. Rowland. William H. Sage, M.D. Edward E. Salisbury, LL.D. Leonard J. Sanford, A.M., M.D. LocKWOOD Sanford. Henry B. Sargent, Ph.B. Frank Seward. George Dudley Seymour. Charles Shelton. George Sherman, A.M. Roger Sherman, Cambridge, Mass. Bernard Shoninger. Francis E. Spencer. William F. Stahl. Willis K. Stetson. Mrs. K. Stevens George H. Sutton. Charles L. Swan, .Tr., A.B., LL.B. Moses C. Sweezey. George W. Taylor. Harry L Tho.\ipson. John W. Townsend. William K. Townsend, D.C.L. George H. Tuttle. Theodore A. Tuttle. Rev. Justin E. Twitchell, D.D. Henry A. Warner. Herbert C. Warren. Hon.- Harmanus M. Welch. William S. Wells. Thomas Westbrook. Fdwin S. Wheeler, A.M. John D. Wheeler, Ph.B. Charles A. White, A.M. Henry D. White, A.M. Oliver S. White, A.M. William D. Whitney, Ph.D., LL.D. Joseph T. Whittlesey, Ph.B. Hon. Augustus C. Wilcox. Nathan A. Willcox. Frederick Wells Williams, A.B. Mrs. Jane E. Winchester. Leonard Winship. Theodore D. Woolsey, D.D., LL.D. Samuel A. York, A.M. Ex-officio. The Aldermen of the City of New Haven. Samuel Avis. Samuel H. Barnes. Charles W Blakeslee. Frank C. Bushnell. John Clancy. Andrew J. Clerkin. Hugh Dailey, LL.B. George L. Dickerman, A.B., LL.B. John T. Doyle. NoYES E. Edwards. Daniel S. Gilhult. Owen A. Groak. Francis S. Hamilton. Robert A. Hollinger. Hubert Jones. John W. Kenney. Patrick Kent. Charles Kleiner, LL.B. Morris T. Lynch. James E. McGann. Richard M. Sheriden. George D. Watrous, A.B., M.L. James D. Whitmore. J. Rice \Vinchell. The Selectmen of the Town of New Haven. James Reynolds. Isaac E. Brown. Edwin W. Cooper. Louis Feldman. William R. Hughes. Ernst Klenke. George M. White. THE DIAEY Me. EBENEZER TOWNSEND, Jr., THE SUPERCARGO OF THE SEALK^G SHIP " ISTEPTUNE;' On her Voyage to the South Pacific and Canton. [Read by Thomas R. Trowbridge, Jr., in November and December, 1883.] PREFACE THE VOYAGE OF THE " NEPTUNE " AROUND THE WORLD IN 1796-99. The Diary wliicli follows tliis introductory notice I had the pleasure of reading before the Historical Society in 1883. Mr. Ebenezer Townsend, the principal owner of the " Nep- tune," and the projector of the voyage, was at the time one of the most — possibly the most — extensive ship owner in New' Haven. His vessels sailed to many of the great shipping ports of the world, and a large fortune had resulted from his com- mercial adventures. For some years prior to the sailing of the " ISleptune," seal- ing voyages had been performed by ships from Salem and Providence which had proved very lucrative, and the New Haven ship owners were eager to " try the venture." Mr. Townsend iitted out the " Neptune " for a sealing voy- age under command of Daniel Greene, a veteran shipmaster, strict disciplinarian, and an honest man. The ship's company consisted of forty-live young and sturdy Connecticut men. 2 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. She carried an armament of twenty twelve-pound guns and was called a fast sailing ship. The " Neptune" was 350 tons bur- den, and was built in this city at the old Olive street ship yard. Ebenezer Townsend, Jr., was the Supercargo, and in those days it was no sinecure to be the supercargo of a sealing ship. All of the details of the ship's business, the weighing of food, the account of skins captured, selling the same in China, pay- ing the ship's bills, buying and receiving the homeward cargo, all of these and other duties fell to the lot of the old-time supercargo — an office which now is obsolete : ocean cables and steamships have destroyed it. From this port the " Neptune " sailed for the Seal Islands in the South Pacific (Massafuero, Massatierra, etc.), and after killing and salting down eighty thousand seals proceeded to Canton, where the skins were sold at a price which gave the ship a gross freight of $280,000. A cargo of tea, silks, nankeens, and China ware was loaded, and the " Neptune" came home to New Haven after an absence of about three years. The pecuniary results of the voyage have never been equalled by a New Haven ship, and it is probable that no American vessel ever made so much money in the same period of time, when we take into consideration that the " Neptune" took no cargo from this port. The share of the profits which was awarded to Mr. Town- send, Sr., amounted to $100,000, our Diarist received $50,000, and $70,000 were divided among Capt. Greene and others who were interested in the voyage. The United States Govern- ment levied upon the cargo a duty amounting to $74,000. During the War of 1812 the American ship owners met with many losses, some losing their entire property. The super- cargo was among the number. Soon after the war he went to New York, where for many years he was proprietor of the Tontine Coffee House, a place where ship owners and masters of vessels met, settled freights, planned voyages and arranged charters. Later on, Mr. Townsend moved to the extreme West (for those days), where he died not many years ago. Portraits of Mr. Townsend the elder, and of Capt. Greene, are in the possession of the Society and hang in the Portrait Gallery. Thomas E-. Trowbridge, Jr. THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. [Author's note as to the History of American Sealing.] Anchorage of Swan Island, at States Harbor. 1797. HISTORY of sealing. This harbor derives its name from the ship States which lay here two years ago to obtain elepliant oil and hair seal skins. She was a very large ship, about 1,000 tons, and from Boston. She was fitted from there soon after the Revolutionary War, and the first ship that we know of that took fur seal. She was owned by Lady Haley. They took about 13,000 skins as an experiment, which skins were sold in New York without their value being known and were thought to be sea-otter skins. They were afterwards shipped to Calcutta and thence to Can- ton by Capt. Metcalf from JSTew York, who started from New York about the same time that Capt. Kendrick started from Boston. They were both afterwards in the Northwest Coast trade from Canton, and made very great voyages with their sea-otter skins. In the year 1790, Elijah Austin, an enterpris- ing merchant of JSTew Haven, Conn., fitted out two vessels on sealing voyages for Falkland Island in consequence of the information derived from Lady Haley's ship. These were the first vessels that undertook the fur seal-skin voyages for the China market. One was commanded by Capt, Daniel Greene and the other by Capt. Roswell Woodward, both men of uncommon enterprise. They were very successful and ob- tained part of their skins at South Georgia. Capt. Greene only proceeded on to Canton : Capt. Woodward returned to the United, States. In this voyage Capt. Greene circumnavigated the globe and was absent three years* * New Haven, June 30, 1883. I find this record in another book of Eben. Townsend's, which is ail it contained that is not mentioned in this book. Chas. Peterson. DIARY. Ship Neptune, } Jan. 1, 1797, Lat. 16% Long. 21^2'. f Deae Beother : It is my intention to write you every month the principal occurrences during the voyage which I liave undertaken in the ship Neptune, Capt Daniel Greene, on a sealing voyage into the Pacific Ocean and to China; this I can do very conven- iently by a recapitulation from my daily journal of such events as are in any way interesting, and would save you the trouble of searching a dry sea journal in which you would not look in expectation of many incidents, in that I shall be particular as to the run of the ship. Although I have considered myself a tolerable navigator I calculate to perfect myself considerably during this voyage, and particularly as to lunar observations, which I have hitherto neglected, as on my West India voyages they have not been considered of much importance, and in my school education I scarcely heard them named ; in fact at the present time they appear to be just gaining a reputation : many very respectable navigators as yet are without confidence in them ; and I am informed, although they would be of great im- portance to whalemen, that scarcely a Nantucket man makes use of tliem in their long Pacific Ocean voyages. They will soon learn better and the additional expense of a hundred dol- lars for a first-rate sextant would be thought nothing of. We sailed from New York on the 29th November last with a fine wind at northwest. You will recollect that I left you at New Haven about the 10th with the ship's crew. I did not expect to leave you the evening that I did, but having hired a vessel to take that part of the crew, being about twenty pretty THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 5 crazy fellows, I dared not trust them, without being with them. They had all promised to be punctually on board at eight o'clock in the evening ; most of them were as good as their word, but there were two or three missing, as there was a dance at the old brick Prout House. I supposed they were there when I went, and found all but one. One I found secreted under the bed, although some of the girls said there were none there. Jack Sloan, to whom we had advanced about eighty dollars, was the only one now missing. We went on board wath what we had got and then found a couple, left on board before, gone. There appeared to be no getting along so. What we had was in good sailing trim, although rather by the head. We had four carriage guns on deck. They said it would not do to go out of the harbor without giving a salute, and iinding no powder on board nothing would do but some of them would go up town and get some. Finally as nothing else could be done (harsh means would not do, that must be let alone until tliey are sober and tlie ship in blue water), I there- fore told them if two of the steadiest would go up and get thqse that went up last, that I would go up to the store and get some powder, and that I would go down with them in the vessel to New York and give a salute as we left the harbor. It was agreed to, and although I felt uneasy at handling the powder in the night and among a crowd of crazy fellows, I went up and got it Finally we started a little past midnight and we kept firing until we got well out into the Sound. There was no rest to the wicked ; about five and twenty on board a small sloop, everything in confusion, what were not drunk were afraid they should be sober, and kept drinking. However, they behaved as well as you would expect for the situation they were in ; they were all good-natured, no quarrel- ing, but rich as lords. Our boatswain, an Englishman whom we shipped very accidentally, lay down and sung — he was too drunk to stand up : — he turns out to be as good a fellow as we have on board the ship The next night after leaving you the weather was very thick in the Sound and we dared not run. This was very unpleasant ; 6 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. our crew, however, were very sober. The following morning we got down, much to ray relief. In the course of this day the runaway sailor, left at Xew Haven, got down in a packet, and we hoped that he would prove honest, but the rascal only came that he might get his clothes, which happened to be on board the sloop. After getting them he again gave us the dodge and we lost him and what we advanced with him, as it is not the practice at New Haven as in New Yoi'k to require a bondsman for advances to a sailor. The ship being in the stream we hoped to have no more trouble of this sort. Our boatswain was in a few days, with several of the crew, taken by an officer for grog-shop debts, and we thought best to let them go jail, as we then knew where to find them. When we sailed we paid the debts and took them on board. Our crew at starting consisted of thirty-six men and boys. I have ob- served that we sailed on the 29th November, 1Y96. The first four or five days we steered off south-east of east to clear Nantucket shoals, after which we stood about east by south, excepting when for the purpose of keeping before the sea we varied our course. For the first twelve days it was a con- tinual gale, much of the time under close reefs and part of the time nothing but a reefed foresail. Shipped several heavy seas; were obliged to take in our boats from our quarters. Our landsmen were verj' sea-sick ; some of them, young men who had never seen hardships, looked rather dejected. We had in the height of the gale a litter of seven pigs. The ship labored very heavy, owing to our having a large quantity of ballast in her hold. This was a proper precaution, she being a new ship and very narrow on the beam. We shall take in our salt at the Cape de Verds, between decks, after which she will roll easier. A few days ago Doctor Forbes fell into the main hold on to the ballast and stood a good chance to have broke his neck, but fortunately not so much hurt but he soon afterwards extracted a troublesome tooth for me. We have spoken but three ves sels, one a Dane, one an American outward-bound Indiaman, and an English privateer. The latter, about eight o'clock in the evening, brought us to with a couple of shot over us and THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 7 proved to be the Brig " Swinger," Capt. Harper, from Liver- pool. Had sprung a top-mast in cbase and M^anted a spar from lis, but as we were on a long voyage he was civil enough not to press us on the subject. We gave him a few tumblers and he left us, having treated us very civilly. He mounted fourteen guns. Christmas was a very pleasant day with us. Ther- mometer stood at 70° Fahrenheit. Being calm, three of the crew, unknown to the officers, got under the ship's bow to bathe, holding on by a rope. Having played too long, William Harri- man, who could not swdm, could not hold on to be got on board, and let go, w^ent under the ship's bottom, came up against the fore-chains, and not being frightened caught hold of a shirt which happened to be hanging there and was fortunately saved. On the 27th December we crossed the Line and about four o'clock commenced the frolic with the raw hands. We were hailed from under the bows of the ship, wishing to know if it was the ship named after him, say the " Neptune," of New York, as he was Mr. Neptune and had been cruising for us a number of days. We answering in the affirmative, he said he would come on board. He immediately made his appearance over the bows of the ship, accompanied by Mrs. Neptune his wife, and his barber, having ordered his boys oif from the ship in his stone canoe with paddles of whalel)one. Neptune him- self had on a red flannel cap, an old tarred pair of trowsers which came a little l)elow his knees, his feet and legs about the height of a pair of half-boots with a coat of slush and tar, which he said kept the water out and prevented the flsh pick- ing at his feet when he occasionally took his morning walks. An old pea-jacket in very good repair over his shoulder like a Spanish roquelaire, a red flannel shirt, cravat of red bunting large enough over the lower part of his face so that he could scarcely get his trumpet to his mouth. His face so much cov- ered that it leaves it out of my power to describe any of the features excepting his eyes, in which there was nothing extraor- dinary. His voice appeared very coarse and affected, was very sprightly, although he said he was several hundred years of age. 8 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. His wife was rather fancifnlly dressed, although very little of the female in it. She had a man's hat on her head tied under her chin with a rope-yarn, a great coat tied around the waist, an American Jack over her head and shoulders, which answered for a veil and shawl. She was also bare-footed, with a bottle of rum in one hand and a broom in the other. Her features generally were very masculine. Her voice I could not judge of as she had so hard a cold that she could but whisper. The barber who accompanied them was indifferently dressed and very little about him that spoke his occupation at Urst view, for his razor was a piece of iron hoop well rusted, his lather made of slush and tar, his brush a very coarse tar-brush ; his hone was a coarse file which served to notch rather than smooth the edge of his razor. He acted in several occupations as Avell as barber. He was ordered to call over from his list that ])art of the crew who had never before visited his master's domin- ions. This was more formal than necessary, for strange as it may appear, Neptune himself by some strange magic knew every one of them as soon as he could get his eyes upon them. It was natural enough that he should know which had and which had not visited him before, but that he should know them all by name may appear strange, but so it was. After shaking hands with tlie Captain and so on with all of us old acquaintances, he said it was his duty as Master of the Ocean to proceed in initiating into his family those new visitors. Being nine in number they were ordered below. Preparations were then made, tlie lathering pot was filled up, the razor put in order, a hogshead set on end with one head out and filled with water. This was that they might be well shaved and well washed before they should be initiated. One was then called up blindfolded. In this there appeared to be some Free-Ma- sonry. He was seated over the hogshead of water so that by striking away a small supporter he would fall into the hogs- head of water and would be washed without inconvenience. The lather was then put on; was asked if he wished his up]^er lip shaved and when answering in the affirmative the barber very carelessly filled liis mouth full of the latlier. This vexed THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 9 liim and really I did not wonder at it. He began to swear, but the barber, whether from carelessness or a good disposition to prevent his swearing, kept his brush so lively a going that really the only security he had was to keep his mouth shut. Being well lathered he began shaving ; that was really a tough operation and I believe if he had not been afraid to open his mouth he would have begged hard to be excused from the operation. After getting his beard off, which in some places took the skin with it, he was told to thank the l)arber through his speaking trumpet : in that he considered his mouth safe and readily took the trumpet. The minute he held his mouth open a bucket of water was poured in which gave him a throat full of salt water. Was asked some questions more but knew bet- ter than to answer. The platform was then knocked away and he soused into the hogshead of water. This being unexpected at the moment he must have thought himself overboard. A selvagee was then got under his arms and he was hoisted out. He was then unblindfolded and introduced to Mr. and Mrs. Neptune as one of their family and sworn in in the usual man- ner, that is, never to eat brown bread when you can get white, never to kiss the maid when he could kiss the mistress, never drink I^ew England when he could get West India rum, never eat mussels when you could get oysters unless he liked them better, and many more as foolish oaths. However, it all an- swered for frolic, then a drink of grog with Mr. Neptune. Went throuo-h with the nine much in the same manner. Some of them got clear of the ducking part by paying a bottle of rum. Some were too cunning to answer the questions put to them, therefore kept their mouths clean. One being asked after they got through, if the razor was easy, he said if they called it skinning it was pretty hery, but if it was shaving it was d d hard. One of the oaths which I ought not to have forgotten was that they should conduct themselves with the utmost delicacy towards Mrs, Neptune who was several times rather shocked at some indelicate expressions. After getting through, it was difficult to say which was the drunkest, Nep- tune or his wife ; it all, however, ended at sunset good natur- 10 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. edlj. Capt. Greene at first was at loss as to indulging the frolic, but finally gave way to the crew as an old custom, and being on a long voyage something animating appeared to be wanting and they pi"omised not to go too far ; they therefore were much more moderate than they frequentl}- are. If I fre- quently give you these trifling stories, excuse me, for I have leis- ure and it won't take you long to read it. It is rather trifling, I agree. This day, being five days since the frolic, is Sunday and 'New Year's. All have a fresh meal, as is usual on Sunday, having killed a hog. Hove to through the night, being about up with the Cape de Verds. Ship Neptune at Sea, ) 64 days out, February 1, 1797. [ Lat. 24° 1' south. Long. 36 32' west. ) In my last I left niyself hove to for Cape de Verd Islands on fii-st of January last. On the next day, early in the morn- ing, we made the Isle of Sal, having been much alarmed with the surf, whieli appeared very near before morning. At eight o'clock A. M., we made Bonavista, bearing S.S.W. four leagues distance ; ran down the north side ; saw a ship and brig standing off and on. Got out the boat, and Capt. Greene and myself went on board the brig, '' Capt. Hathaway." The cap- tain of the ship was also there, which proved an Englishman .under American colors, hailed from Philadelphia, commanded by Capt. French. He was much frightened, fearing we were Frenchmen. The brig had lost both anchors and the ship one, by the rollers coming in. It is a very bad place to get off salt in the winter. We thought best to run over to the Isle of May, which we did the next day. There we found the ship "Eliza," of Boston, Capt. Jones, from Bremen, taking in salt, which we found rather clearer than at Bonavista. We anchored pretty near in shore, let go our anchor rather too soon the first time and drifted off the bank, made sail and beat up again. THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 11 Most are nea:roes liere. The governor is a negro. The free negroes all bear the title of captain : Capt. Jack, Capt. Jim, &c. Waited on the governor according to custom. He treated us with watermelon and spirits. This is a ])oor place. Plenty of hogs, goats and pumpkins and watermelons. We got no other fruit or vegetables Goats were one to two dollars each. Fowls (not plenty) at five for a dollar. We bought two bul- locks at twelve dollars each, which we took on board alive. We took on board eight and one-half moy of salt, each moy sixty bushels, at five dollars, which is about eighteen cents per bushel. We pay a duty of half a dollar per moy and twelve dollars anchorage. The salt ponds are about two miles from the landing, and the salt brought down on jackasses. A ship from :N'antucket arrived, Captain Fordish, bound around Cape Horn on a whaling voyage, had as well as ourselves very rough weather off the coast, came in to refit, liaving stove his try works and one boat. Capt. French also came down from Bon- avista. We lay here four days only. When we started to go on board, Turner, our boatswain, was missing. We went in different directions to find him. Soon found him coming down, half shaved at least, no jacket, a pig in one hand, a bottle of rum and a handkerchief of eggs in the other, which was all he got for his pea jacket, which was worth twelve dollars at home, and three times as much to him. We could not stop to go back to get it. When we got down to the boat in which were two of our men, about fifteen feet below the rock from which we got down l>y a rope, he first lost the pig which he did not kill ; he then lost his eggs, telling the hands in the boat to hitch ; he then motioned with the rum, but it was his darling and he thought better of it. The proceeds of his jacket did not last long. The eggs and rum his shipmates helped him to finish as soon as he got on board. The pig lasted longer. A thoughtless fellow, going into cold weather without a loose coat. January 5th. In the evening got under way in company with Capt. French. He gave us an invitation to sup with him. Wind very light. Capt. Fordish accompanied us for about a 12 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. . dozen miles, to return in his wlialeboat, whicli he thought nothing of. Good music on board. Drum, fife, a very fine barrel-organ. We had a very jovial dance. Drank plenty of excellent port wine ; so much that the captain, whom we thought on the whole at the close a very scurvy fellow, was very glad to get rid of us The wind springing up we thought prudent to return on board. The " Neptune's " boat came for us. Going along side we had a very near u])set by getting un- der the ship's bows, Capt. Greene, Doctor Forbes and myself. We stood along under easy sail through the night, and in the morning we were off St. Jago. Ships standing off and on. Capt. French having a letter for the governor, as we wanted some few refreshments we concluded to so manage it as not to be subject to the port charges, although they were trifiing. We went on shore with Capt. French, one passing for boat steerer, another for doctor, &c. We loaded one boat with poultry, eggs, limes, oranges, bananas. Oranges very plenty and half a dollar per hundred, very sweet. All cheaper than at the Isle of May. We saw no whites but the Governor's family and a few officers who were stationed here by the Portuguese gov- ernment. The capital was about three miles from the harbor where we landed. It is said to be very pleasant in the country, but here there were but a few thatched huts. At four p. M. went on board and bore away with a good fresh trade. French, in the division of our poultry, cheated us of a couple of tur- keys in a very little manner, and promising to keep company with us, varied his course in the night, and although in sight of us for four or five days, did not speak us. We would say good bye to the Friends, as that was the name of the ship. On re- curring to my journal, I find she was in sight for ten days. Sunday, January 15th. Caught two sharks and killed a hog, all eaten, nothing lost. Being near the equator, winds very light. We caught many sharks and dolphins. The latter are very good. Sharks, unless they are small, are not good. Some days we caught plenty of bonitas, which are better than either of the others. They are rather larger than a mackerel, meat black but tolerably sweet. We crossed the equator on the 18th THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 13 of January, when we killed a bullock. Our longitude on cross- ing was 24° 30' W. of Greenwich. Doctor Forbes was rather unwell ; every one else in good spirits. A sow which we got at St. Jago's brought us a litter of six pigs. They are growing for a pot-pie, finely. Immediately on crossing the line we ob- served to the southward two and finally three bright spots in the sky, what the sailors call " Magellan clouds," which we raised as we made to the southward ; they bore from us a little to the westward of south. We found the weather very com- fortable, crossing the line ; the thermometer from 79° to 82° and about the same from the Cape de Verds to where we are, say 24° south ; one or two days only at 84°. Our blacksmith has got his forge up and at work ; the carpenter stocking anchors for our shallop, which we have in frame. Our ship at this time appears very finely. Yesterday morning we found it a short time squally with rain, caused by our passing near the island of Trinidad, in latitude 20° 30' south. Last night a noddy flew on board, which is about the size of a crow, black with a white crown, web-footed, a long bill, not eatable, and we let it go again. Whaleman on board says we are now on good whaling ground, he judges, from seeing for ab*out ten leagues a line on the water of fine stuff like ground cayenne pepper, which ap- peared also oily, which he says is produced by the whale feed- ing on squids. It had a singular appearance, ranging to wind- ward like gulf-weed. This is feed for the spermaceti whale. Little West Point Haebor, Falkland Islands. March 1st, 1797, } Lat. 51° 30' S. ; long. 61° 35' W. ) My last left us about on the coast of Brazil on the first of February last. We had very pleasant weather in crossing the South-East Trades. We did not make the land, but colored our water off the River La Plata. On the 8th, at 6 P. M, we spoke the ship " Harlequin," of JS^antucket, Capt. Clark, with eleven hundred barrels of oil. Left the Brazil Bank twelve days before ; was bound home with a leaky shij). His crew 14 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. consisted of fifteen men. Had lost his boy overboard. She was quite a small whaleman. He had been out fourteen months. All hearty, had no appearance of scurvy ; said if he should find an appearance of it he had a remedy in taking the o-rass from his ship's bottom, soak it in fresh water, after which put it in vinegar and give it to the invalid. He spent about two hours on board of us. The wind was very light. He asked for nothing but pump-tacks, which he was extremely in want of and short of many other things. We gave him some spirits, wood, potatoes, onions and pump-tacks. By this vessel I wrote father and mother as well as yourself. Capt. Clark informed us that he was in company with Capt. Cash, of Nantucket, a few days before, when in striking a whale she brought her tail over, which struck Capt. Cash in tlie head and killed him instantly, and what was very extraordinary it neitlier injured the boat or another man in it. On the 10th we had an addition of six more pigs. Doctor Forbes having been much sea-sick and other ways not well and withal rather hippish, Capt. Greene bled him about a fortnight ago. The blood settled under the skin and looking very dark alarmed us. The doctor has calculated to lose his arm but he is now in better spirits and all is doing well. Says he has a letter already written to his mother telling her he should not live to see her, which he now thinks best to tear up. He says he thinks his starboard yard arm will last him the voj^age. In lat. 11° S. we had a very hard squall of thunder and lightning, the wind from the N.AV., thermometer at 62°. Next day we had hard gales from the N.W. which brought us to our close reefs. Acci- dentally broke my thermometer which I regret very much. On the 22d February we got round, being 85 days from New York. A good passage. At 6 A. M. made the land, bearing east eight leagues distant, being the Grand and Steeple Jason Islands. Got out our boats and all but nine of the crew went on shore and returned in the afternoon in high spirits. Mr. Griswold, our first oflicer, said the seal appeared very plenty and no crew there. We almost felt sure of our voyage. They soon packed up and went again on shore and we bore away THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 15 with the ship for this harbor and anchored at dark at the mouth of it. A brig in sight in anotlier harbor about four miles from us. This we did not hke. Next 'morning we warped into this harbor. The captain of the brig came on board. Proved to be an Enghsh brig, Capt. Morse, after a cargo of hair seal and oil from the sea elephant. As he did not interfere with our voyage we were glad to see him. Got our shallop's frame landed and we have her now building. The captain of the brig proves to be a very drunken fellow. A few mornings since he came on board of us at daylight ; said his crew had mutinied. It appeared they were dissatisfied that he would give them no salt provisions, but made them hunt their provisions. They therefore hove their powder over- board. This was punishing themselves. They would have made the same noise if he had obliged them to live on salt provisions. Capt. Greene went down with a boat's crew and brought the brig up and anchored her near us. The geese are now plenty and fine. The weather is getting cold, frequented with squalls of hail. On the 3d instant Mr. Griswold came in from the Jason Islands with a boat's crew, and much to our disappointment says tliere are very few seals. We drove on with our shallop as fast as possible as she was much wanted to search the islands. Unfortunately the doctor, who is also a good carpenter, has not been well enough to help us, but is just beginning to work with us. Capt. Greene set off with Mr. Griswold in the whale boat for the Jasons. When within a mile of it a squall struck them and they were obliged to put before the wind and with much danger were drove back again. It is a very dangerous country for boating on account of squalls and strong tide rips. I have commenced my attack on the seals. It is uncommon to see them in this harbor, but a hair seal swimming near where we were at work on the shallop, and as we had frequent opportunities to kill wild hogs, kept a musket loaded, I took it up and put the ball just through the back part of the head of the seal. He was so badly wounded that he could not well get under water, but flounced about at a great rate. I jumped into the yawl and attacked him with my 16 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. oar, Capt. Greene laughing and saying " haul him into the boat." As he was a stout fellow I did not much like it, but reflecting that it would not do to come so far a sealing and be afraid of them, I watched my chance and getting hold of one of his hind flippers I very suddenly jerked him into tlie boat, at which he flounced worse than ever. I punched him with the end of the oar, as I had nothing else, but for some time I did not know which would keep possession of the boat, and I believe if no one could have seen me I should have quit and swam ashore, but I conquered the rascal. This pleased Greene very much. We find a couj^le of barrels of cider very good, which we have now bottled off. It was boiled down agreeable to the Connecticut rule before it was received on boai'd. This is really a luxury at this time. March 17th. Capt. Morse had another frolic. He came on board of us at midnight being afraid of his life. One of his mates hove a harpoon at him which stuck into the deck. Next day he confined both his mates and sailed for Port Stephens ; he however got no further than what is called Big West Point Harbor, as he there found company, Capt. David Bunker from Hudson, State of New York, and Capt. Williams in a brig from New York, both after elephant oil and hair and fur seal skins, Capt. Bunker has been in these islands four months and had but 150 bbls. elephant oil and 600 hair seal skins. Capt. Williams has been here eight months and had done rather better : had on board 7,000 fur and 12,000 hair skins. They all came on board of us. They calculated to proceed on to the west of Patagonia and after that to New York. By Capt. Williams I wrote to my friends in America. Two days after this Morse returned to this harbor, sent his boat in and, as the sailors say, marooned his two mates. That is, he landed them on this island, giving them a musket, some ammunition, he having got a recruit from the other vessels, some pork, a little salt, but with what he left them they would have been rather uncomfortable very soon if we had not been there. After landing both his mates he made sail and we saw no more of him. We afterwards received these m.en on board of us, THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 17 one named Brown, the other Way. They behaved themselves very well on board of ns and would have been well enough on board of Morse if he had been steady himself. This island, a great proportion of it, is covered with what is here called tns- sock bogs ; tussocks as high as a man's head, growing in small bunches. The hogs feed on these and it affords them a good shelter. We, in going through one of these spots, started a sow with seven or eight pigs. We all gave chase. In dodg- ing about she passed near me ; being in chase I had a fall and you may judge I was rather frightened, for as I fell she turned upon me and showed her tusks, but as I fell short of her she did not attack me. As she passed Capt. Bunker he got hold of her when she was broadside to him and fell over on to her. He being a heavy stout man he kept her very quiet and we cut her throat. We got none of the pigs. March 26th. We landed our shallop, having set her up and finished her in 33 days, which I think very well w^hen it is considered there were but four of us to do it for a great part of the time. She proves to be a very good boat ; is about thirty tons' burthen. On the 29tli Capt. Greene sailed in the shallop for Jason Islands, leaving but the carpenter, doctor and myself on board. Made a small garden on shore. Put in the ground onions, radish, pepper grass, mustard and lettuce Noticed in digging the garden the common, what we call angle worms in America. Why not speculate on them as well as animals that resemble those on the Continent. It is but a few days since we chased a fox into his hole at Big West Point Harbor on the English Maloon. If the fox was brought by a vessel it is not likely the worm was. Little West Point Haebor. Falkland Islands, ) October 12th, 1797. f Dear Brother :— My last, by Capt. Williams, will give you our proceedings up to the first of April last. This will close our stay at this harbor as we leave this day for Swan Island, about forty miles to the southwest, being one of this group of 18 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. ■ islands. A few days since Capt. Greene and myself were hunt- ing. His gun missing fire by leaving out the priming and knocking the Hint with his knife, it went o±f and took about half the barrel in bursting. As he held it on his knee and I stood near him it was rather a narrow escape from injury. As neither was hurt it was a good lesson to us. On the 15th of April a ship stood near in to one of the Jason Islands when our crew were sealing, but coming on squally they could not board her to learn who they were. The sight of a vessel causes considerable anxiety in this lonesome country, and quite a dis- a]ipointment to have him go off without knowing more. On 24th of April we near lost our shallop, which would have been a very serious evil. Coming on to blow, hove in a heavy sea into Steeple Jason Cove. She broke off the palms of both anchors and went on shore. They got her off, and at great hazard got to sea, where they found they could not keep her free long enough to get into this harbor ; they therefore ran her into Grand Jason, where they were just able to get her into two fathoms of water before she sunk. They afterwards got her up, and by nailing canvass over where she had bilged, were able by hard pumping and bailing to get her into this harbor, where we got her on shore and repaired her. A few days after we launched the shallop, I had a very unpleasant quan-el with Elderkin. who is a very smart carpenter but a very ugly fellow. Capt. Greene, with the whole of the crew, were out on the islands, none but the carpenter and myself on board for several days. Previous to Capt. Greene's going out the last time I had observed that the boat he was building for the shallop was too narrow, which he would not agree to. I told Capt. Greene I thought so, and he ordered him to alter her, which he was now doing when I asked him some questions, which he answered very impudently, and observing at the same time that I had always found more fault with him than any one, and that I was no officer and had no right to do it. I told him I was inter- ested in the voyage which was sufiicient for him, and if 1 had been an officer of the ship I should have marooned him, that is, put him on sliore on a desolate island long before ; that THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 19 not one other of tlie whole crew bnt obeyed me as quick as they did an officer, and that lie was an ugly fellow, and had been most of the voyage. This enraged him. He took up his axe and made towards me. I retreated into the cabin and fastened the door. He did not follow, I then loaded my pis- tols, t\5'0 balls in each, and went on deck. He was in a great rage, stamping about the decks. I had made up my mind to do nothing further to increase his rage, for he was so much like a madman I was really afraid the result would be serious. I observed to him coolly that he had best go to work. He asked me if I thought he was afraid of my pistols and again made towards me with his axe. I then cocked my pistols and told him if he came on to the quarter deck I should certainly kill him, and I should not have dared to have done otherwise. He thought best not to leave the main deck. He however could not go to work in some time. As I had jDOssession of all the stores in the cabin I punished him by stopping his grog. I had uniformly given him his half pint every day. This was severe for him, as he would be a drunken rascal if he could. For the several days that I was alone with him I went on shore and about the ship armed, for we would, if he had taken my life and hove me overboard, have had no proof against him. He continued very sulky some time, and has not yet, although it is six months since, drank a drop of grog, which is the more singular as he is so fond of it, and when the crew have been on board we gave it out to his mess without excluding him. He is now very civil to me, but he is, I think, the most cross- grained fellow I ever had to do with. He has been a very useful man, and the only quarrelsome one on board. The only exchange of blows on board thus far was between him and the boatswain. We live peaceably. The last of the month the shallop went out and set fire to Flat Island. This was done to drive the seal that were on it to some other island where it would be better taking them. May 3d. Having been up the big harbor with the yawl and returning at dark it came on to blow and rain and forced us back. We hauled our boat in shore and although it was rain- 20 TBE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. ing very hard we soon made up a pretty comfortable tussock house, where we turned in for the night and slept dry. May 11th. A boat's crew returned having been sealing on' Sedge Island, where they got about eleven hundred. There had been some vessel there recently before them, as they found a piece of salt salmon which was yet good. This being the time of Connecticut election, a long evening and nothing to do, the crew held a sham election, and James Ellis was chosen Governor, the very opposite in every thing to what I hope and believe they have got in Connecticut. Mav 21st. Capt. Greene having been down to Port Egmont in the shallop returned with four hogs and forty geese, which they killed down there. They found lying there Capt. David Bunker in a ship from Hudson. He arrived the 8th January, and her tender, a North River sloop of 50 tons, sailed out by his brother. Funis Bunker. They had 160 and 17u days pas- sage. They have 50 barrels of oil and 2,000 fur and hair skins. They have drowned one man, and his mate had his thigh broken bv the warp running out of the boat while they were fast to a whale. They had no surgeon or physician on board, but neces- sity generally makes up the faculties ; they sj)lintered it up and when it had well knitted and he went on the deck for the lirst time, a bird lighting on the bowsj)rit started a dog who tripped him up by running between his legs and broke it short off a second time. This was much worse than at first, and what is very extraordinary it knitted a second time, and is well, al- though he is a man upwards of sixty years of age, nearer seventy they say. July 3d. Opened a barrel of potatoes, being more than eight months since they were put up, and although we had crossed the hot latitudes, found very few rotten, but among them new potatoes near as large as a hen's egg, from those that had sprouted. July 7th. Thin ice in a bucket of water on deck for the first time. July 11th. Capt. Greene accidentally got his arm put out at the elbow. None on board with him but myself and the doc- THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 21 tor. As the doctor liad never set a bone Greene had no con- iidence, and a dispute arose as to tlie right way of turning it "in. The doctor persisted in his own way and got his surgical books ont to prove it. Capt. Greene in a good deal of pain, I could be but neutral, but ready to assist, and urged the neces- sity of its being done immediately. He sat down and I held on above the elbow when the doctor, taking hold of his hand, turned it into its place It is now well, but as he was obliged to keep it in the slings some time Capt. Greene is hardly will- ing to believe it set right, but it nndoubtedly could not be better set. It for some time caused considerable anxiety, as if not well set he might lose the use of his arm. A good sur- geon with their usual knowledge of physic I think much better than a physician on such a voyage. I think I should prefer Buchan's Family Physician with a good surgeon to a good physician and no surgeon. July'26th our shallop again arrived in distress. Had been again driven on shore in a gale at the Grand Jason. She got in about half full of water. We got her on shore and repaired her by mending her keel, putting a streak or two and a num- ber of graving pieces in her bottom, and giving her a new rudder and stern post. July 28th I ate the last of my oranges. Have kept a few among my clothes in my chest to this time. We are sadly unfortunate with our shallop. After we had repaired her, in heaving her off we broke her best anchor in three pieces, and after getting her in the water found she leaked rather bad. We hove her out again and partially stopped it, but she never has been as tight as she was before she got on shore. August 22d. Capt. Bunker came up from Port Egmont with his sloop tender, and Capt. Greene and he agreed to make up a crew and go on to the coast of Patagonia and search for seal in the sloop. In the evening we had a ball on board. Music good, being a drum and violin. Nothing but a few ladies wanting to have made it pleasant. You know I never was fond of what at home we called a he frolic. On the 26th of August Capt. Bunker and Greene wdtli a 22 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. " crew of twenty-four men sailed in tlie sloop Betsey, with the nnderstanding that if we heard nothing from them in six weeks I was to send our shallop over and look for them, as they may have got their vessel on shore. After being absent a month and three days they returned in a passage of twelve days from the main, having left a crew sealing at Cape Mat- tass, with a whale-boat to shift along the coast, if necessary. On their iirst arrival on the coast they found a few Spaniards sealing on an island, near the mouth of Port Desire River, who told them there would be no difficulty in getting permission from the Commandant at Port Desire to seal. They, there- fore, Capts. Greene and Bunker, went up to Port Desire with a whale-boat crew about seven leagues, leaving the sloop at anchor. "When they got to the garrison, after some few ques- tions, were told by the Spaniards that they believed them to be Englishmen, and as Spain was at war with England they must consider themselves ju'isoners, and accordingly dispatched an armed boat with twelve men to bring up the sloop. They remonstrated and proposed to remain as hostages and send down for the vessel's papers, but all to no purpose. As this would ruin all our voj^ages, for they said that they must be sent to the Piver de La Platte for trial, as English and Ameri- can papers were so much alike, they were therefore determined to make a bold push. The Spaniards were determined to pre- vent it and accordingly stationed an armed barge down the river, a little below the garrison. It looked very dark, for they were placed inside the garrison and there appeared no chance for escape. However, Greene, who you know is reso- lute and hawk-eyed, gave a word of caution to keep together and be ready. The Spaniards always keep a padre or priest in their garrisons and when their prayer bell rung at 8 o'clock in the evening and they had all got into a small church, which was inside of the garrison, the wished for time appeared. They started and were hold of their whale-boat, which lay hauled up on the shore, nearly all together. It appeared so quick done that they scai'cely knew" whether any alarm was given, and after they were afloat and it was too dark to be tired THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 23 at, there was little danger, as they could row two feet to one of any boat rowed by Spaniards. They muffled their oars and got alongside the sloop about midnight, jumped in on deck and got possession of the arms, the soldiers being asleep. They then made them get into their own boat, and knocking out their flints gave them their muskets and a drink of grog each ; told them to tell the Commandant that he did not know^ how to keep Yankees. They got under way with the sloop and ran to the northward. When our men jumped in on the deck of the sloop it made a little bustle, and the carpenter, who was always a rash, desperate fellow, jumped out of his bertli and fired out the cabin door, as he thought, for the thickest of them. It appeared that our carpenter, who is the same fellow I had the quarrel with, was determined from the time the Spaniards took possession to retake her if he could, and accord- ingly so managed as to get a musket loaded with a brace of balls in'to his berth and, I suppose from intensely thinking on it, really thought he was doing it before he got fairly waked up, for he did not know what he was about till he had fired. It was extraordinary that no one was hurt, as there was about thirty men on deck. The Spaniards had a lad with them whom they had recently bought from the Patagonia Indians, who had been a prisoner with them six years, and was waiting for a passage home. When he was taken he was a cabin boy, with his father, only eleven years of age. Was an English lad named James Jones. He probably will be able to tell a trav- eler's story when he gets home, and as the English are ex- tremely credulous he may, perhaps, with the assistance of some ingenious fellow, get well paid for his voyage. His parents probably have suffered more than he has. Oar crew killed a tiger and brought over an armadillo which they caught ; it is about the size of our large mud turtle, weighing say five or six pounds ; it lived two or three weeks, perfectly harmless. I have it now in a preserved state and shall bring it home with me. I have also preserved a king penguin, which I found asleep on the beach. He stood erect about three and a half feet high, very handsome. I came up to him and grasped him 24 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE.- 'round the neck. This kind of penguin is very scarce, and very handsome. October 5th, our shallop came in with all the crew from the islands and we began preparing the ship to leave this by get- ting our topmasts on end and rigging over head, as we have had the ship completely stripped since we have been here. In overhauling our stores found a hogshead of bread and a barrel of flour entirely eaten up by the mice. On the 11th of October we unmoored and found our cables in good order, got underway and ran into Big Harbor, and came to for one night with our small boAver in seven fathoms water, good bottom. States Harbor, Swan Island, Dec. 25th, 1797. Dear Brother : My last was dated 12th October last, at West Point, which was the day we left for this place. The entrance into this harbor was very blind. We had a close search to find it with our boats. We anchored without the harbor in seven fath- oms. Next morning we found the j^assage in, which was very narrow : we got underway and ran the shi]) in. Unbent sails after mooring the ship and prepared for a sealing cruise in the shallop. Sailed for a fortnight's cruise, leaving me alone on board, but as it was a good harbor and the ship had good cables and anchors, I felt safe. I was then captain, mate and all hands. As I had enough to do, it was not as lonesome as you may imagine. I was left with a dog, a cat and five kit- tens, but the dog killed the cat, and the kittens being but a day old they died also. I never felt the loss of a cat so much. On the 26th the shallop returned with about 700 seal skins. Had been on a number of islands ; found generally that the seals were off. November 9th, Capt. Greene sailed again in the shallop and on the 13th returned with two thousand skins which they took on Bird Keys. At New Islands he found the ship "Betsey," Capt. Edmund Tanning, his first ofiicer, Caleb Brintnall, four THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE, 25 montlis from New York, by whom we received letters, which was very acceptable. They are also on a sealing voyage. Also ship "Lydia," Obed Fitch, master, four months from New Bedford ; and the ship " Olive Branch," Obed Paddock, five months from Nantucket, bound 'round Cajje Horn, for sperm oil. They informed us that Capt. Fosdick, who I wn-ote you was one of our party in the frolic on board the English ship " Friends," left French at the Cape de Verds, in consequence of which he was taken sick and his ship proceeded on her voyage around Cape Horn without him. Tliis we were very sorry to hear, as he was a very clever fellow. He after- wards returned a passenger to Nantucket. On the 14th November, Capt. Bunker arrived from the main in the sloop " Betsey," live days passage from Cape Mattas, with but about two thousand skins. Had been unfortunate : had his boat stove by a whirlwind and carried away his mast- head, * In the evening had another sociable 1)all on board. We will endeavor to be merry if we have had hard luck. Eighteenth, sloop " Betsey " sailed for Port Egmont, which closed our partnership, Capt, Greene made a cruise of a few days to the Basbee Islands in lat. 52° 55'. No seal of conse- sequence on the Island. Found it good landing, well watered and well stocked with bird rookeries. Two or three days after Capt. Bunker sailed we found on the Island a suitable mast for the sloop "Betsey," which would be very important to Capt. Bunker. Capt, Greene certainly evidenced his known disposi- tion very strongly, for he took it in tow with the shallop to Port Egmont and presented it to Capt. Bunker, as his mast was sprung and twice iished. When you except the pleasure of doing good, this was certainly disinterested kindness, for he could scarcely have calculated ever to see him again. Capt. Worth, in the brig " Garland," was also laying at Port Egmont and getting elephant oil. December 6th, Capt. Greene sailed in the shallop for New Island expecting to find ship " Betsey " still there, but she had gone. Found, just arrived, the ship " Maria," Capt. Benjamin Paddock, eighty-four days from Nantucket, bound around Cape 26 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. Horn, for sperm oil. By her we got news of a general peace in Europe. On the IGtli we had a very serious misfortune. Our shallop and two whale boats were among the Islands. The two whale boats pressing through a strong tide rip, which is very danger- ous in this country, one boat witli eight or ten men, was hove completely bottom upwards. The boatswain, who was steer- ing the other boat, being very near and also in very imminent danger, with a great deal of expertness and more resolution, hove the boat immediately around, head to the sea, in doing which it was almost a miracle that they were not capsized also. By this very hazardous, but more humane action, all were saved except two, one William Tritton, of New Haven, who never was seen after the boat upset ; the other, Peter Eebater, a German, sunk a short distance from them. They were both good men and were much esteemed by the ship's company. Tritton, at home, was unsteady, and gave his family trouble, but it was principally owing to a watit of ambition, and he was yet young. On board of the ship he was loved by his ship- mates, and willing and able to do his duty. Peter Rebatter was rather an extraordinary lad. At the Island of Bermuda, where he was a prisoner, he attached himself to me and had been with me ever since. There has always been something mysterious respecting him. lie said he left home to get rid of going into the army. His education appeared to be more than ordinary. He was very studious and much of a mechanic. He was very useful : he would make his own tools and with them anything that was wanted. He made a kettle-drum on the passage, and you will recollect his making, at New Haven, the fire engine in miniatui-e for father, which could heave water over the house, although very small. We all liked Peter, and Peter liked all. He not only knew liis own duty and was willing to do it, but he knew much more and was willing to do it. As I consider the conduct of the boat's crew that was yet safe, so highly, I cannot say enough. I wish to bring to your mind the danger of bringing a boat around in a sea that had already upset one of e(pial size and then in that THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 27 situation to receive on board an additional crew. The heart directed ; they did not stop to reflect on the danger. Don't tell me there is no such thing as disinterested benevolence. After the crew was on board we collected together what be- longed to the lost sailors, and as their clothing, etc., wonld be serviceable to the remainder of the crew and worth nothing at home, we had a vendue, which brought in for their friends upwards of two hnndred dollars. Three pounds of tobacco sold for eight dollars. As nothing was payable until the close of the voyage, it was l)eyond the calculation of sailors to look so far ahead. December 22d. Capt. Barzillai Worth, in the brig Garland, and Capt. Bunker, in his sloop tender, came up from Port Egmont and anchored at Island Harbor, the other side of this island, and visited us on board. Capt. Worth was on his way to the North-West Coast of America and Canton ; he thinks to make ilp his cargo of skins and meet a vessel at the Sandwich Islands to whom he will deliver his cargo and receive from her some trade for the North-West Coast. The vessel wdiicli he calculated to meet belongs to the same owners. He calcu- lates his oil will bring him forty-flve pounds sterling per ton of eight barrels, or 240 gallons. Capt. Worth's second mate, Mr. Thompson, and himself not agreeing together, he came on board of us. We also exchanged Joseph Leverich, to take Thomj^son's place as mate, for a cooper which we wanted very nmcli. Although but a few rods across from the head of this harbor to Island Harbor, but on the opposite side of Swan Island, there is one hour difference of high water: Island Harbor later than States Harbor. Dec. 2-Ith, at 4 P. M., we got under way with the ship, our shalloj) in company, bound on to tlie coast of Patagonia. States Harbor, which we have now left, is an excellent good one, be- ing completely land-locked. It derived its name from a ship of that name which lay here two years for elephant oil. She belonged to Lady Haley, an English woman living in Boston, where she fitted out that ship. She was about a thousand tons burthen and fitted out soon after the peace. They knew noth- 28 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. " ingof the value of seal skins at that time, hut finding them so plenty took a few home for the experiment. I speak of the fur skins for the^^ were after hair skins and elephant oil. I think they cari'ied home about thirteen thousand. They were sold in New York, and only by the purchasers thought to be sea-otter skins. They were shipped to Calcutta and sold there as such. I'rom thence they were sent to the China market where it was found what they were, and their value. That started the sealing voyages. I think they sold for five dollars each in Canton, and but half a doihir in New York. At that time these islands were iriany of them filled with them. Capt. Metcalf carried out the first seal skins, and with Kendricks, from Boston, were the two first adventurers from the United States to the North-West Coast. Kendricks was killed in re- ceiving a salute from another vessel, in consequence of one of her guns being accidentally shotted, at Wahoo, one of the Sandwich Islands. Metcalf was killed on the North- West Coast. Both of them made several successful voyages from Canton to the coast, but their owners were never benefitted. They spent it as they went along. Neither was well calculated for such an enterprize : they were top-heavy with success. As we are now quitting the Falkland Islands I will give you a rather more general description of them, and will relate some incidents which I have omitted ; but I will endeavor not to trouble you with trifles, although I am aware of the difiiculty when I feel an interest myself and at the same time wish to write without reserve to you, for I write for your own and the family's information only. If I were capable of writing in a way that would interest a stranger I should be pleased at doing so, and would write with mOre care. These isles belong to Spain. They keep a garrison on what is called Spanish Maloon. They have in several instances ordered ofl^ the Americans, but we heard nothing from them since we have been here. They care but little about the seal, but are very tenacious of their sovereignty. In the year 1770 the British took possession of Port Egmont. The title to these islands had been a subject of controversy among several of the THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 29 maritime nations of Europe. The Spaniards at that time Lad their garrison at the Spanish Maloon, and therefore protested against a settlement by the British. No attention being paid to the protest, ships and troops were sent from Buenos Ayres, which forcibly dispossessed and drove off the British settlers. The British Government demanded prompt satisfaction for force being used to dispossess them, and really gasconaded them out of the island. It is true the island was worth nothing The imbecile Spanish government disavowed the violent pro- ceedings of their officers. The fort, the port and everything else was restored to the same situation that had been disturbed. The British soon learned the unimportance of the place, and soon evacuated it, and Port Egmont with all this group of islands are now in the hands of Spain. Capt. Greene shot a cow at Port Egmont in 1792, which had been running alone wild since the English were there. It must have grazed alone for more than twenty years. With a little precaution the island might have been well stocked with cattle. There are also plenty of hogs which are an English breed and far superior to the hogs on the other islands. These islands are in about the latitude of 52° south, and are about a hundred leagues east of the Straits of Magellan, and convenient for the American whalemen bound around Cape Horn. There are plenty of hogs and goats on Little West Point, and hogs on many of the islands. Swan Island, Saunders Island and New Island. Wood is scarce, being none but a kind of brusli which is called stumpy ; none of it larger than your leg at the ankle. There are good runs of water on all the islands, and very convenient watering at West Point or New Island. The latter place is where the whalemen generally stop. There are also plenty of wild fowl ; upland and lowland geese, ducks, teal, logger-headed ducks, rooks, shags, curlew^s, penguins of various kinds, viz : the jackass penguin making a noise like the bray of an ass — they burrow in the ground — the gentoo penguin that cover acres in rookeries, and several other kinds that also rookery. They, with very little pains, make their nests and lay by the acre. The penguin has but legs and flip- 30 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. . pers, no wings. They walk erect, are about the size of a large duck, and in going among them they very gently, without fright, open to the right and left like a regiment of soldiers to let you pass. In their laying they follow the albatross, and the gulls follow tliem, which also lay in rookeries. The albatross was the most useful to us for eggs. They are much larger than a goose, their wings about seven or eight feet from the extremity of one to the extremity of the other. They lay an egg that would about till a common tumbler, and equal in quality to a hen's egg. Generally set on two eggs. Their nests are built within about two or three feet of each other, stacking up mud and straw about three feet high, which covers three or four acres. In our rookery at West Point they began to lay on the 18th of October, and three days after we collect- ed 1500 eggs. We had them plenty through the remainder of the spring, and then received on board a number of hogsheads of albatross and penguin eggs which lasted us three or four months, after many of our crew were tired of them. Our pan- cakes were eggs thickened with flour, and there was always a terrible clatter at breakfast and supper by the crew with their tin pots, beating up eggs as a substitute for milk in their tea and pea coffee. The gull's eggs were also good, but the penguins were not as good. I have no doubt the ship could be loaded with egss in the season of egging, which begins in the second spring month, say about the first of October. Before we left we sent a cou])le of men out on one of the islands to collect eggs. They stacked them in the rookeries like a pyramid, as they stack round shot, setting the eggs up endways. The rats and rooks destroy a good many eggs on West Point. We used to fry cakes in seal oil, which is pretty good when first tried out from fresh blubber. Our crew generally got very fond of it. They cooked the young pompies (which are young seal) by roasting them ; that only, however, when short of fresh meat, which was frequently the case on the islands where we took the seals, although the other islands were so well stocked. The upland geese, teal, ducks, curlews and rooks were the only fowl good for eating. The upland geese were flavored like com- THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 31 mon market geese with you, but did not look like tliem. The lowland geese looked exactly like your market geese, and are the same kind, I believe, but taste nothing like them — as they feed on fish, they are very iishy. The unpland geese feed altogether on the upland berries. We never found any of their nests. They are good in the fall and winter, but very poor in the summer when they have shed their wing feathers. At that time we frequently ran them down and. caught them by hand. Just before we left Swan Island we caught and shot ninety-nine geese. We have now a coop of them on deck. We frequently shot the whole of a flock of six or eight geese, and at three or four different shots. Those not hurt would sud- denly fly when we flred, but immediately alight again by the side of those killed. They were not used to being shot at. The rooks are crows, but eat very well. We found them diffi- cult to get. They live by plundering other birds of their eggs, and on carrion which they may come across. We frequently caught them in snares. I have seen them take a line, which formed a slip-noose snare, with their claw and haul it out of the way before they would touch the bait tliat was inside. When we arrived at West Point we landed three or four tur- keys and a few hens, but w^e got no increase, in consequence of the rooks which even killed some of the fowls. We also land- ed a goat and six hogs, which we took off' when we left. The hogs which we landed were frequently joined by the wild ones. We occasionally fed them to keep them wonted ; we could call them when the wild ones would come very near. They in- creased considerably. We killed a wild boar that measured eight feet stretched out. It was some time before our dogs learned to take the hogs well ; after they had, they, only want- ed to get sight of a hog to have it. They would not meddle with our own, but they would pick out wild ones from among them. We had an excellent slut which at the time I thought I had ruined. She sprung from behind a tussock uncalculated for and got hold of the hog just as I flred, and received a part of the charge in the mouth. I had rather never have seen another hog than have wounded the dog when so faithfully 32 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. doing its duty. It was in great agony. I loaded my gun with a brace of balls to end its misery, but on further examination thought I would try and save her, although I did not believe it possible. She however got well. We thought it rather extra- ordinary. Yery soon hunted well as ever, showing no fear. The hogs on Saunders Island are the best in this country, and the most unpleasant night I have spent in the country was a short cruise in the shallop after them. In returning we ran for the needles, a narrow passage and strong current. We missed them in consequence of the current, and first we knew we were close in with the breakers. The night was very dark ; we were unacquainted, not knowing exactly where we were, and luffing and bearing away among the rocks all night. In the morning it was very ioggy : we were at sea without knowing where we were, not a drop of water or any liquor on board ; it soon cleared np and we got in safe. There are not many fish among these islands. We caught a few small iish alongside the ship and tried a seine in Big Harbor, West Point, and set it for mullet, which sometimes strike in schools in States Har- bor, but without success, except in one tide, when we caught about three barrels on the 18th December. Shellfish are more plenty; the country is full of mussel beds, which are very good ; limpets, which are also very good. They have but one shell, and adhere very closely to the rock ; a sudden blow takes them off. They are about the size of a small round clam, or qualiog. There appeared to be two sorts of limj^ets, one set with a division in the shell by a joint. Some winkles. We found round clams, or quahogs, as they are sometimes called, at the head of States HaT'bor pretty plenty. Two of us went about three quarters of an hour and caught half a bushel in about eighteen inches of water. We frequently got a bushel or more at a time. You will conclude that the Falkland Islands are beautiful ; they are so, and we genei'ally lived well there ; however, our sealing would frequently prevent us from hunting and confine us to salt provisions. The goats were much more difficult to get at than the hogs. The goats were very shy, but the hogs, in many instances, would not run from THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 33 US, particularly when come upon very suddenly. I was hunting among the tussock bogs, which are covered with a sort of flag as high as my head. I came on a large wild hog so that I could touch him with my gun, I snapped my gun twice and then was obliged to take out my knife and hammer the flint, after which I shot him through the head. During the whole time he did not stir, but appeared perfectly amazed, looking right at me till he fell. He probably never saw the face of man before. The goats coming among the clifl's in the mountains, if we kill them it is very hard work to get them home. We killed one that by the marks on his horns was thirteen years old. He measured three feet between his horns. He made good soup, but his meat was rather strong. We found a bitch on one of the islands, which we afterwards left at Swan Island. I hope she will not fill the island with dogs, as they would destroy the hogs. It'was without reflection or we should not have done it. We have left a garden at Little West Point Harbor, on Fox Point and on Swan Island, where we planted two or three barrels of potatoes ; the last we planted we had on board just a year — they could not have been kept so long at home. Spinach, turnips, pepper-grass, mustard, etc. We were not long enough in either place to benefit by them. The soil is very sour and cold. The potatoes looked pretty well and I hope will benefit somebody. Perhaps we may touch here after we leave the west of Patagonia. There is plenty of celery that grows by the small streams of water among the grass that keeps it bleached and equal to our garden celery at home. Perhaps it was introduced by the English at Port Egmont, and got scat- tered over the island by the birds, although it is thought to be a native of the soil. There are but two or three sorts of berries among the islands. No fruit. There is a small vine that bears what we call a tussock berry, is pleasant, has much of the taste of wintergreen ; one sort in appearance, but not in flavor, like the cranberry, and a bush berry that grows very thick on a bush about the size of the whortleberry. There is but little flavor to any but the first. I have very frequently been getting ber- ries in snow squalls. This is an unpleasant country but never 34 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. intensely cold or entirely warm. We have spent a winter at West Point and the warmest part of a summer. Our winter elothino; was necessary in summer and in winter. I never saw ice an inch thick, or the land, except the mountains, covered with snow. I don't think the snow was ever three inches deep while we were there. We had frequent hail and sometimes snow squalls in summer. There never was any ice in the har- bor excepting what made on the shore at high water mark. This can only be accounted for, as it is ten degrees further from the equator than you are, but by having no extensive continent to get a freezing wind from. The most prevailing winds are from S.AV. to W., or say S.S.AV. to W.S.W., by compass, the variation here being two points easterly. We had very few easterly winds, some northerly. Our snow squalls generally came from southwesterly quarter. We seldom had it clear or stormy all day. Generally clear and squally by turns, except in mid-summer we sometimes got a pleasant day throughout. In the middle of the winter we left James Ellis on one of the islands to take care of skins. He carelessly got out of lire and was without fifteen days. The principal inconvenience was he could not cook ; was obliged to eat his pork and limpets raw ; he did not suifer from the cold. The fuel used by a seal- ing crew among the islands is the blubber or fat of the seals ; this makes them nearly as black as negroes. They cook the harslet with the fat of the seal, both for fuel and fat, and it tastes very much like hog's harslet. A sealing crew want a good stock of bread, molasses and peas for coffee, and they can get along with little beef and pork ; but to be out of bread, or molasses for sweetening to their coffee, is very uncomforta- ble. They get very much attached to what they call slops, which is tea and coffee, in this cold uncheerful country. We have now on board about thirty thousand fur seal skins, which we have got by great exertion. I believe every island and key where there was any prospect for seal has been thoroughly examined. We calculated on getting our cargo at these islands, and are much disappointed at not having any more. There are some few hair seal and sea elephant THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 35 among these islands, but they are now pretty well cleared of every thing but birds and hogs. The fur seal which we take have been by traders distinguished by the name of sea-dog and the ursine seal. We call the male old wigs, and the female clapmatches. The hair seal males we call sea lions and the female clapmatches also. The young seal are called jDups until they are old enough to be called yearlings. The hair seal and fur seal never associate ; the one always take a sandy beach ; the fur seal always takes a rocky one. They generally lay in rookeries of three hundred to several thousand. We take them by getting between them and the water, and being frightened they huddle together, when they are killed by a blow with a walnut stick of about three feet long over the nose. They are very easily killed. They sometimes break through for the water, and it is almost impossible to stop them. The old wigs take the lead, the others follow like sheep. They are sometimes on very high ground, but they will go o& a precipice iifty feet, falling on their breast without apparent injury. Two or three years ago a man was knocked oif by them from a high rock and dashed to pieces. They are not dangerous if a good lookout is kept : they move slow. Our men sometimes get bit by them, but it is through carelessness. After they are killed, the next thing is to skin them, in which they take blub- ber and all, being less labor than to skin them close. They are then laid on a slab or a tanner's beam and the blubber all taken off very clean close to the skin, with what the tan- ners call a beaming knife ; after this they are all to be washed clean, the flipper holes sewed up and carried to the pegging ground, which is frequently a considerable distance, and fre- quently to another island. The pegging ground must be good clear ground, where it is clean and free enough from stone Jor rocks to get a peg down easy with the hand. They are pegged out with ten pegs each, and one good, long cleai- summer's day will make them lit to come out of the pegs. But in this country we frequently have them down a week and sometimes three. After they are out of the pegs they are to be stacked and let them sweat a little, and in this way they can be spread and stacked 36 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. several times before they are sufficiently cured to take on board the ship. During the whole time they are in the pegs we are turning them where they may cure so as not to receive the sun, and scraping them with our knives to get whatever blubber may have been left on. After they are on board the ship they are to be frequently shifted and beat, to keep worms out. What skins we take in the winter we have the additional trouble of salting and freshening them in the spring, which is a good deal, as they are to be carried on board sliip to be salted and of course to be carried on shore again to be dried. From West Point we had to carry them about four miles to the pegging ground, but it was by water ; they were to be carried up a hill, which we had to do on our backs. There is a great deal of la- bor in getting a cargo of skins, but we would not mind that if we could find them. The seal produce young yearly, generally two ]3ups. Those among these islands appear to lie on the rocks most of the time. They are off most of the time the two last spring months, we calculate to wean their pups, as they, the pups, remain on the rocks ; they remain off till near the pupping time again, which is early in the summer. We find the old wigs, or males, very much scarified, which is done in their battles for the females. The shores of these islands are generally bold and surrounded with rock-weed, what here is called kelp ; it attaches itself to rocky bottoms and frequently in ten or twelve fathoms water. It is dangerous running among it because if a rock is concealed near the surface there is no break in the water. In the harbors there is always a clear passage in the channel. Many of the harbors are benefited by the kelp, by breaking the force of the sea. There are a good many right whale and humpback whales around these islands, but there is too much rough weather for £-ood whaling. Our shoes were not expensive here as we gen- erally wore moccasins, taking a green seal skin, put a foot on it and cut around it, sew up the heel and run a string around the toe, which draws it up, and tie it on the instep. By walk- ing it becomes leathered and soft to the foot. Hats got to be a very scarce article ; some made seal-skin hats. I did my own THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 37 washing and ironing and did it well. Perhaps you would have laughed to see me ironing, but we have no idlers, and boys, steward and all, go sealing. Port Desire, Coast of Patagonia, ) February 15, 1798. Latitude 47 43' South. \ DearBrothek: — My last was dated 25th December last. On the 26th we got under way for this coast at 4: P. M. New Island bore E.S.E., distance 12 leagues. That island in 51° 40' S. Our shallop of about thirty tons in cora]:»any. For the first two days it blew heavy but she made very good weather ; wind at IS^prth. 28tli we struck soundings in Lat. 49° 39', forty fathoms, white sand. 29th at one P. M. made the land. Proved to be St. Jalienn's Bay. Shallop and whale boat run in shore and returned at dark with the stem of a small vessel and a piece of timber. Said the shore appeared free from reefs. December 30th. Ship standing to the northward under easy sail. Shallo]) and whale boat ran in to examine the shore. Passed a small island with two or three hair seal on it in Lat. 47° 55' S. At 5 p. m. boats returned. Saw some smokes of the natives, one reef three-quarters mile from the shore, otherwise a good, straight, gravelly shore. December 31st. I went in again in the whale boat, shallop in company, find a string of islands with shoal points putting off from them, none more than two or three miles. One island 48° 12' S. had about a thousand hair seal on it and a good place to take them. About seven miles to the northward saw another island with a good rookery of hair seal. After- wards passed a number of dry rocks and small islands, the last only with about five hundred fur seal. A squall rising, the ship set her colors for us. The squall struck us just as we got on board. From this up to Port Desire we ran in the night and did not examine. January 1st, 1 798, we were off Port Desire Islands in Lat. 48° 12' : ran in N. W. for the islands. In the afternoon I went 38 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE.' on shore in the whale Ixjat on Isle de Rej, or Kin^ Island, being the largest of Port Desire Islands. Found it well stocked with seal, and the Spaniards that were here when Greene and Bunker were in the sloop were gone ; we con- cluded they had quit sealing. The Island of Seal looked very tempting and after getting on board and holding a council of war, first as " to the prospect of success, afterwards as to the policy, having determined we would get a good many seal, the only thing against that was rather bad anchorage, but we must run some hazard to make up our voyage ; as to the policy, as we were pretty well armed we must take care and not be taken by the Spaniards, and as to the matter of right we have been so badly treated in the sloop that we thought we would now take satisfaction, and if we got a good cargo of skins it would be more to our advantage than any other course we could pur- sue. On the principle of power giving right, if we get the skins and get off with them that will be proved also. January 25. We ran in and anchored in rather an open roadstead, in Lat. 47° 43', four leagues north from the largest and outer island. Unbent our sails, struck our topmasts and got the ship snug. Got our carriage guns on deck for the first time and loaded them, ready for defence, if necessary. Sent a boat in the night up to the fort to reconnoiter. Saw no vessel of war there and returned at dayliglit. On the 4th we sent a crew on shore sealing, on a point of our harbor where we thought we could get a few thousand. At noon we saw in shore of us four men. Capt. Greene wished me to go and see who they were. I found them to be the Spanish Command- ant and three soldiers armed. The Commandant, with some importance, asked what sliip it was and what we were doing here. I gave him a fictitious name, said I commanded the ship, had S])rung my topmast and come in to refit. " But," said he, "you are getting seaL" I told him I was on a skin voyage and not knowing of any settlement in the country, pre- sumed it was not incorrect. He ordered me, very peremptorily, to leave the country within ten days and take no more seal. I told him if he said so I must comply. I invited him on THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 39 board but he declined. Told me that Capt. Fanner, from New York, left here five or six days before for Falkland Islands, or Mai Venus, as the Spanish name is. That Greene and Bunker had been there with their tender from the Falk- land Islands and that he had assisted them and allowed them to get a cargo of skins and that they w^ent away his particular friends. Many more tilings I knew to be false. We contin- ued sealing and the next day four of the Spaniards coming down on horseback, when they were at a distance, frightened our crew, some of them hallooing out that there was a parcel of Patagonians coming upon them. They ran for their boats, leaving the sealing utensils behind. It was so unexpected to see men on horseback that they did not stop to count them. Capt. Greene sent a boat on shore for them ; keeping himself out of the w^ay and the men that were over with him in the sloop. We had already blacked our name off the stern of the ship. I wrote a letter to the Commandant, as he sent these men to pilot the ship up to the fort. I told him I did not wish to come up under a few days ; sent him a cheese, a ham and a few bottles of brandy and gin, and invited him to come on board. On the Tth we had got about two thousand skins from the point, when the Commandant came on board. I attempted a bargain with him for sealing ; he said he must ad- vise with the connnissary, who was the head of the sealing Spanish i)arty. He accordingly sent up for him ; we made a conditional bargain, after which Capt. Greene came into the cabin. At seeing him he was very much frightened, but Greene took him by the hand and laughing it off it was soon over. He is yet, however, much mortified, but we can let it pass as doing his duty. Tlie next day the Connnissary, whose name was Sebastian Rosseau, came on board. He was a fine old Castilian and if he had had any connnand in the gar- rison the sloop would have had no difiiculty. Capt. Greene was glad to see him, as an old friend, who had said when Greene was prisoner, that he would be his friend and was so, and now said he was glad v^hen he ran away from the garrison. The Commissary being satisfied with the contract, 40 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. eonditionallj made, it was confirmed ; we were permitted to seal two months ; after which we were to leave the country^ delivering to them our shallop with its appurtenances. We have now been here but six weeks and have taken all the seal worth staying any longer for. The Spaniards calculated us to seal in the same indolent manner that they do. On the iOtli of January, we ran with the ship up to the garrison ; as we muster as many men as they do we had noth- ing to fear. After unbending sails and getting the ship snug, the sailors were allowed a frolic on shore. As there were about thirty Indians, all on horseback, on shore and ready to let their horses for a biscuit apiece, our sailors were soon mounted. If you could have seen them, yon would fully have believed the old remark that set a sailor on horseback, and he will ride to the devil. Up hill or down hill, it was all the same. The horses were good and very sure-footed ; one fell, but rolling over two or three times, got up unhurt and mounted again ; none were hurt. On the next day their chiefs, viz : Tesenta, Patteress, Chaouse, with their two sous, Lacrose and Gailar, dined on l)oard of us. They were dressed in Spanish uniform <»n this occasion. They were all fine look- ing men and showed a great anxiety to conduct themselves with decorum. As an evidence of this, one of them, after drinking pretty free of some gin-twist, which you know is a powerful diuretic, went on deck, enquired of one of the sailors the proper place for the necessary purpose, was shown the hawse-hole forward, where, when I accidentally came on deck, I found him on his knees, as he supposed it correct ; he took pains to tell his other companions there was the place for that purpose. We lay in a cove opposite the garrison on the same side of the river, near the shore, with a bow anchor and a stern anchor off shore, and a bow anchor and a stern anchor on shore. We lay very snug. This being summer, we have much the pleasantest weather that we have had since we arrived in the country. On the 26th the shallop came up from the islands. They had ex- amined the coast to the southward for six or eight leagues, and THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 41 which we did not do in the sliip, fonnd considerable many hair seal, bnt no fnr. On tlie 10th February, touched here the brig Hetty, Capt. Robertson, of and from New York. Had been out five months. Had on board six thousand hair seal skins, salted, which he had taken on the coast to the nortliward. On his passage out, watered in the river La Plata; was well treated. During our stay at this place we have been well treated by the Com- mandant Gascon, and the Commissary Rosseau, although we know Gascon to be a scoundrel. Their padre, or priest, is a very clever man, and generally dined on board with the others two or three times in the course of the week, and always on Sundays. We frequently dined with them in the garrison ; therefore, as to society particularly, it has been much pleasanter here than at the islands. This river has a rapid tide of al)out five knots, extends about twenty-hve miles into the country, but bad navigation above Port Desire. It is an inconvenient place to wood or water ; the wood is twenty miles up the river, the water is poor. There is but one well, which is about thirty feet deep, but a supply may be had from it. It scarcely ever rains in the summer, and the country appears full of salt. There are some springs in the valleys, but the water is unpleas- antly brackish. We have seen no trees, but here and there a bush, with some indifferent berries on some of them. The whole country that we saw represented a severe drought, a dry clay soil covered with a parched short grass, that scarcely looked green, excepting in the valleys. The dews were fre- quently heavy, or there could not have been any grass. As the Commandant had but little for his soldiers to do, he was able to grow some vegetables in his garden, which was so situated in a valley as to be free from sun the most of the day. We got from him some few peas and potatoes, and a pretty good supply of cabbages for our cabin. They were all watered from his deep well. I never was as fond of cabbages before. At the garrison they fried their shell-beans in uil and they were excellent. The Patagonian Indians, who are a wandering set of beings^ 42 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. never eat vegetables, but live entirely on meat, seldom get any bread, but the meat being wild, is dry, not fat, and is not so much in want of absorbents. Their choice of ground to pitch their tents is valleys, where water is handy. You would be surprised to see their horses in such order as they are ; they are fat ; the grass must be better than it appears to be. The Patagoniaiis frequently came down to trade with us : they were very fond of our liquor and biscuit. They would give us a horse for a dozen biscuit. We received some guanaco, much like a deer, and dr}^, white, sweet meat. They brought one on board alive : it was a very docile animal. They brought on board also ostrich, hares, wild-cat and tiger meat. We also bought from them guanaco blankets, which will make very line sleigh rugs. They are made from sewing together the skin of that animal and painting the inside ; they are large as a bed-spread. The Indians are clothed from these skins ; the men wrap them around them over their shoulders, the women tie one of them around their body like a short petticoat and heave another over their shoulders. They are neither hand- some or ugly, but hlthy in their persons. The men are well- made and uniformly large, stout men. I have not seen a small one ; but the account given of their being very large, I do not hesitate to say is a traveler's lie. The largest man whom we have seen is Pateross, a chief ; he measures one-quarter of an inch less than six feet. The Spanish say, there is no larger man in the country. Turner, our boatswain, was a prisoner with these same Indians for a year, and was all over the coun- try, saw no larger men. Turner had told us, on the voyage, of being a ])risoner with these Indians, but we rather doubted his story, but they knew him immediately and were very glad to see him. He had run away froni them. It was their inten- tion to have sold him to the Spaniards. He was well treated while he was with them. There appeared no enmity between them although they kidnapped him from an English ship, that was on the coast after oil. They say they do not now take prisoners. We visited their camp ; their houses were about eight to twelve feet square, light poles for frame, covered with THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 43 skins, so that when they change their ground, as they have plenty of horses, tliey move with ease. They appeared to have skins enough to be comfortable at any season of the year. When they move they make a formidable appearance : all are on horseback. The women ride astride, like the men. Like all Indians they are fond of trinkets : four pence worth they value more than a half yard of flannel. They have had so much intercourse with the Spaniards that they, most of them, speak some Spanish. They have the usual appearance of Indians as to complexion, color of hair, etc. I notice nothing- peculiar, e^icepting there is more corpulence ; not as trim as our northern Indians. They are very expert horsemen and gen- erally hunt on horseback. They have a singular way of hunt- ing the guanaco which will out-run any of their horses. They endeavor to surround him so tliat he cannot run from one without nearing another. They also have the assistance of dogs. A string is used about four or Ave feet long, with a stone a little larger than a grape-sliot at one end, and another a little larger still at the other, encased with leather. One stone they hold in their hand, giving the other a quick velocity around the head, the horse on the full spring : they heave with so much dexterity that it is wound around the legs of the animal, and they become an easy prey to the pursuer. It is from the inside of the animal that they get the once highly valued Bezoar Stone, which was thought to contain good medicinal virtues ; they are now of little value. As it is so cheap riding here, I have several times rode three or four miles into the country, and I have been to a salt pond about six miles from this. It is about two miles from the sea shore ; it is about two miles long and one mile broad, so white and dazzling we could scarcely look on it. It was about two inches thick, a very white, small grain of salt, and we could walk all over it the same as on an ice pond. As it never rains here in the summer, what falls in the winter was now com- pletely evaporated and the salt was left at rest on a muddy bottom, but firm walking on the salt. This pond was a novel sight : it was very handsome. It is to the northward of us, and 44 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. tlie only way of getting it would be to get the Patagoniau horses to aid in the transportation : that would not be ex- pensive. This river is pretty well stocked with fish and plenty of mussels. No other shell iish. The Spaniards say, formerly there M^ere plenty of oysters, but at present there are none on the coast. In confirmation of there having been oysters, the doctor and mate on the shore saw some oyster shells of a very large size, they say near eighteen inches long. The garrison is commanded by a Commandant, with about a dozen soldiers that are for a regular guard, and with them, which may be an assistance if necessary, a commissioner and about twenty men for sealing. This must be a heavier tax on the Spanish gov- ernment than the woi-th of the country, but there is too much indolence in that government to find out that it is unnecessary. There is a block-house, two stories high, 25 or 30 feet square, a church, u bake-house or store, and a couple of barracks. Pick- eted in with faced stuff about nine feet high they have seven six-pounders and four swivels mounted in miserable order. At the gate is a cross with the figure-head of a ship which was cast away, of an unusual appearance, set up for the Virgin Mary, and they never go out or in without crossing themselves. On the 14th of February we had the ship all ready for sea, but the wind blew too fresh for us to get out of the cove. We calculate a three knots current at full tide set along the coast and the full and change of the moon brings high water on the seaboard at a quarter past twelve o'clock. Oui- friend Eousseau has presented us with a noble ram which has four horns, which we call the Patagunian Kam. He was brought from the Eiver La Plata. I cannot omit telling you their manner of taking seal, in which way they would get about one to our ten. They have one spot which they call the slaughter- house, where they must all be driven with much difficulty before they are killed. They are then skinned close, as we would skin a calf, leaving the poorer part, say the belly part, of the skin on. They, however, cure them well, and take no poor skins. They also try out the blubber and save the oil Our carpenter has contrived to purchase towards two hundred THE VOYAGE OF THE XEPTUNE. 45 skins and paid but triliing in old clothes and trifles. He is so ugly that we really should serve him right not to allow it, but it may benefit his family that he has left poor. Ship Neptune, off the Island of Massafuera or ) Lesser Juan Fernandez, in Lat. 33" 41' S., Long. [ 80' 50' W. of Greenwich, June 8th, 1798. ) Dear Brother : My last, was from Port Desire, under the date of 15th Feb- ruary last, when we were again ready for sea. We sailed from there on the 16th, leaving our shallop in the hands of the Spaniards, agreeably to contract. She was a very fine sea boat and sailed remarkably well, and in the summer season I believe would be safe to double Cape Horn. On the 17th we spoke our old friend Capt. Bunker, from the Falkland Islands, bound to the northwest. Had had poor success getting oil ; said he had seen no vessel since we parted with him. On the 20th we made the land, stood off and on through the night ; very squally weather. At noon on 22d we anchored in the Big Harbor, West Point, about four miles from our old harbor. On the 28th, having wooded and watered, we got under way, with the wind at northwest. Towards night it hauled to the southward and blew heavy. Our situation very unpleas- ant among the islands. Next morning we were very glad to get back to our old anchorage, where we lay, wind-bound, until the 6th of March, when we got under way for the last time, being almost tired out. Began to think, as the season w^as fast getting late to double Cape Horn, that we should be obliged to go on to Canton by the way of the Cape of Good Hope, southing it to some islands on our way for a few more seal. We were extremely anxious to double Cape Horn, as it would promise more seal and besides we wished to visit the Sandwich Islands and circumnavigate the globe. During this visit to these islands we have got some hogs, some fowl, several bushels potatoes from our gardens, as many mussels as we wished 46 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE.- (some we put up as pickled oysters and they were very good), some berries, wliich we preserved also, that were very good for some time. We found a few berries different from what we had before seen, in form like a blackberry ; color, red ; sweet flavored ; grew near the ground. The tussock, or maiden hair, berry just rijie, which is the only berry that is very good. With the berries which we stewed by mixing scurvy glass, w^hich was a little tart, they answered in lieu of cranberries. I noticed what was new to me in the largest red berry, which grows near the ground like a cranberry, that although the berry was pei'fectly sound the seed inside had vegetated and would have soon taken root. On our arrival here thirteen months ago we landed a number of hogs, two goats and some poultry. The goats we took off when we left before. The hogs, with some of their increase, we now take on board, in all about fourteen or fifteen ; and two turkeys was all we found of our poultry. The rats and rooks had been destructive to them. We left potatoes in each of our gardens, which may benefit, jjerhaps, some poor fellow with the scurvy. We had not got as many as we planted. Our fair wind with which we started soon headed us. We intended going through the Straits LeMair, but the wind would not allow us to do it. Winds, until the 18th, from the south to W.S.W., but a small part of the time not able to lay our course ; hard making westing. On the 19th we had our greatest southing, being in about 60° south ; we then had a heavy gale from the southwest ; split our foretopsail and forestaysail ; hove the ship to under her foresail and mizzen staysail. The most severe weather we had had after leaving the American coast. The rigging loaded with ice and the decks filled with snow. Rough weather till the 23d March, when we got the ship's head to the northward, our latitude then was 58° 56' S., longitude 77° 58' W. We had several days rough weather with snow ; but we had doubled Cape Horn, which is held as a bugbear by English navigators, although not by the Nantucket whalemen. On the 28th, in Lat. 49° 54',' Long. 85° 30', saw considerable THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 47 kelp-weed floating ; perhaps we are in tlie vicinity of the Duke of York's" Islands, which are doubtful as to whether thej are or are not islands. On the 1st of April, in Lat. 43° 54', Long. 8Y° T', a small yellow land bird, like some I have seen at the Falkland Islands, came on board. It stayed with us till the next day and got rested, when it left us and steet'ed a direct course for the land, although it was far out of sight ; on the 3d April we saw a number of fur seal in the ocean ; on the 5th, Lat. 37° 2(V, Long. 84° 7', saw some kelp and a number of seal ; on tl^e 6th, saw a coujdIc of singular fish of about one hundred pounds each, shaped like a hollo wbird or flounder, only proportionately shorter, swam upon edge ; 7th, saw a number of spermaceti whale and some fur seal ; 8th, our Lat. 85° 14' S. saw a flock of land birds, after which we had light winds and calms for several days. We had oj^ened a half bar- rel of sourkrout for the first time since we left New York. It was put at New Haven by our little Dutchman, Peter, who was drowned at the Islands. He finally, after cutting up the cabbage heads, put them in salt and water for twenty-four hours ; it was then packed into the half barrels in layers with pepper, pimento, cloves and vinegar. It was excellent, and I should })articularly recommend it on all long voyages. April 1 Ith we made the Island of Juan Fernandez, distance about thirteen leagues. It is a high, mountainous land. The Spaniards have a garrison on this island. On the 12th we made Massafuera or the Lesser Juan Fer- nandez, the island that was said to have been the residence of Robinson Crusoe. Boat went on shore and found Capt. Fan- ning, from New York, whom we saw at the Islands, had been here and proceeded on to Canton, leaving part of his crew, who wished to stay and take their chance for sealing on their own account ; also, a boat's creyv landed from a New Bedford whaleman, that was to call and take them off with what skins they might have ; also, an English lad, by the name of Bil ; he was landed alone from a vessel and has lived several months by himself in a cave. He keeps at work sealing, and says if he can get bread and rum he shall be contented. He brought 48 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. and sold ns sixty skins, which we considered worth twenty dollars. We asked him what he wanted for them, he said, his keg filled ; it would hold about two gallons. Want nothing else ? 'No, he must have something to drink. We told him that was not their value ; he said it was no matter, he should be happy ejiough with that. However, we paid him about the value. He says he was never so happy before ; there is no larboard watch, no reefing top-sails, nobody to quarrel with, and he sleeps when he pleases and works when he pleases. In the afternoon of the 12th we landed all but enough to work the ship. As there is no harbor, we have been obliged to stand o£E and on with ship, which has been very unpleasant. On our arrival here we broached our last hogshead molasses, the last of five ; it was full within two gallons. We have now been here about seven weeks and have got on board fifteen thousand skins, taken here about half salted. Those taken last it was difficult to dry, as the weather has been bad. The season is now winter and we have found it very bad getting off our skins, as we have no way but by our boats, which we have frequently bilged in the surf. The shore is very rugged all around the Island. The land is mountainous, covered mostly with large trees, here and there a very pleasant lawn, on which we see many goats feeding, frequently twenty and thirty in a herd. The shore is bold and the mountains very erect. No low land but what has washed from the mountains and but little of that. A number of very romantic gulfs ; one, with a waterfall each side of a pyramidical rock extending far above the water, had a very pretty appearance. The water falls about eighty feet and now has a hard rock to contend with on all sides. In such a place as this our crew sometimes catch goats, and four or five men can take them. There are a great many small round stones mixed in with the earth of this island. There are nine sheep on the island, probably landed by some whalemen lately, as they all keep together. I hope they will be left to increase. This is a good island to wood or water at in the summer season. There are also a great plenty of good fish ; we have caught them weighing 45 lbs., and two THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 49 others in a yawl caught about 500 lbs. in an hour. I think the best tishing I ever saw ; we can catch them about as fast as we wish with hooks, and increase the size as we deepen the water. We caught the best fish in about fifteen fathoms. There is a great variety ; and here it has been said they liave caught the electrical or torpedo fish, but we caught none. The seal live on the fish of this island. We found the quality of the skins nearly equal to the Falkland Island skins and larger in size. If we had known what they were and come immediately around, we should have done much better, but judging from the latitude of the Island we thought the furs would not be as good as we now find they are. We found no difficulty in keeping our station with the ship, although there is generally a lee current ; we could generally keep our sta- tion under double-reefed topsails. Our crew were under the rocks, with a sail extended over them from one side. They were much troubled with ticks and bugs. I slept on shore one night only and I was full of blotches for a week. I had rather be on board the ship if we were in a gale of wind the whole time. Where I slept was worse than usual, I believe. We have given a couple of hogs to Mr. Stoddert, who heads the whalemen's crew and is yet to be here several months. He has promised to leave some of the increase on the island for the good of those who come after us, we having benefited by the same disposition in others. The island being now stocked with nothing but goats, it is sometimes difficult to get at them, as they traverse the cliffs with so much more assur- ance than a man, and the precipices here are very unsafe. In going from one part to another of the island I have stood several minutes, not knowing whether to retreat or advance, for in clinil)ing a precipice there is more safety in ascending than descending. One man, a few days ago, fell forty or fifty feet ; all that saved him was the bushes by which he caught. The stone, to which he trusted his feet, gave way. There are frequent snow squalls on the mountain and its top frequently whitened, but we are free from it below. The crew left here by Capt. Fanning we have agreed to take on board, and have 4 50 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. purcliased their skins. We also leave twelve of our crew here, which is for account of myself and Capt. Greene, and I have agreed to come out for them ; therefore on my return I shall make but a very short stay with you. Those whom we leave are our doctor, David Forbes, who is cai^tain of the gang ; J. T. Greene, who is second ; OHver Bradley, William Gorham, William Brown, David Bogie, Benjamin Thompson, John Howard, Elijah Davis and my negro boy, Aaron C. W, Jacobs. They are to allow us twenty-two months to get back and take them off ; if we are not then here, they are at liberty to make the best of their way off. They are on shares ; we think they will get a good cargo of skins The pups are just getting of proper age to take ; they have as yet been too black and we have not taken any but yearlings and old ones. This crew has now chosen a more comfortable spot and are building- themselves comfortable log-houses, and now calculating for a lengthy residence, will live more pleasantly than since we have been here. We have received on board Capt. Fanning's crew, viz : Josiah Townsend, Gilbert Tomlinson, Lemuel Scot, Jonathan Durgin, Joseph HoUey, Joseph Smith, Thom Car- penter and Abraham Dickerman. The gulch which I men- tioned we caught goats in, we called the pound. The water that fell from the mountains, coming from the regions of snow, was cold. We caught plenty of fish on the shore by spreading a blubber sealskin on the surface of the water ; the lish would be picking at it, when we would catch them by hand, reaching underneath the skin. OWNEHO, ONE OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, > Lat. 2r58'N., Long. 16' 09' W. from Greenwich, Aug. 30th, 1798. \ Dear Brother: My last was dated at Massafuera, 8th June, last. On the next day we left it to touch at the W. Ambrose Islands, and if we found good sealing, to spend a little time there, although we could have had but a little to spare and arrive seasonably at THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 51 Canton. On the 10th, being Sunday, we killed the last of the hogs which we brought from home. We had been so well supplied with fish and with goats from the shore, that it was the first encroachment on our stock for some time. 12tli and 13th, Juan Fernandez in sight, which is a high, rugged island, as I have before remarked to you. We took our departure from it, being in sight at twenty-two leagues distance, and about ninety miles W. by S. from Massafuera. The morn'ing of the 20th we made the Island St. Felix, one of the West Ambrose as they are collectively called, or perhaps more generally St. Ambrose and St. Felix. In the afternoon we made the Island St. Ambrose, which appeared like a cluster of rocks, bearing W. ^ K. On the morning of the 21st we ran close along St. Felix. Did not like the looks for sealing. What little vegetation there was on it appeared like a very parched one. Ran along to windward of Shoe Island. A reef appeared to run from this to St. Ambrose, about a mile and a half distant. I went on shore at St. Ambrose ; found there had been somebody sealing there not long before and had not left sufficient prospects for us to try the sealing. That island had probably been well covered with seal. Found a barrel- head marked J. Winship, Boston. The island appeared vol- canic ; we found many stones scattered about like cinders. We thought there had been an eruption in the center of the island and that the crater had since tilled up. The island was about sixty feet above the level of the sea ; the banks nearly perpen- dicular ; it was therefore inconvenient getting on to the high ground. In ascending, a stone, which I trusted to, gave way ; I caught. by another but it struck one man below me, who fainted, and it was as much as the rest of us could do to pre- vent his falling. He was not seriously injured. There was scarcely a green thing on the island. I saw a few small bunches of samphire of a small stump-like looking growth, of nearly no substance and scarcely any root ; nothing like any- thing I had ever seen. The whole island appeared black like tire-burned. We found a skein of twine here, yet good. There were a great many birds ; they lay on the earth, without nests, 52 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. and in season a good supply of eggs might be had. Some of tlie young were near flying and some not hatched. The birds were larger a considerable than the gray gull. We picked up a few eggs, the last of which we used seven weeks afterwards which appeared like new laid, although we wei*e in hot weather all that time. We found plenty of iish here, the same as at Massafuera. June 22d. at noon, we observed in lat. 26° 11' S. and by lunar observation our longitude 81° 12' W., St. Ambrose bear- ing due E. ^ N. distance 3 leagues. Saturday night, June 28d, closed the sealing part of the voyage, which the crew celebrated in their can of grog, giving the usual Saturday night toast of "sweethearts and wives," after which they went to dancing, which finished at twelve o'clock with three clieers and good-bye to the sealing. For the rest of the voyage we calculated for nothing but pleasui-e. June 28th. On overhauling our provisions found the mice had been very destructive ; we fortunately have not a rat on board. We found two hogsheads of bread eaten entirely up, another about half gone, and considerable of meal and pease. July 4th. Honored that day as much as was in our power. We gave the crew an extra drink of grog. Although nothing but monarchical government would do on board, no one thought but that he was under a republican government. However, there is not but a republican, I believe, on board, although somewhat monarchical in practice. Got a lunar observation ; gave us 89° 29' West and observed in lat. 14° 45' S. July 6th. Saw a tropic bird, the first we have seen in these seas. 10th. Having been steering west several days with a view of touching at Marquesas Islands and to clear the Galapagos, being then to westward, we hauled up JS^.W. for the Sandwich Islands. 14th. A good many fish alongside, about the size of a mack- erel ; caught some. July 19th. Carpenter finished making a new main yard ; its length is fifty feet. About that time we frequently caught IHE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 53 dolphin, bouitas, and albion ; all ^ood when better is not to be had. From the 24th Jnly to the -ith of August, although in the reguhir East trade latitude, being in 8° North to 12° North, we experienced very singular winds ; they were continually in the Western board, from W.iST.W. to S.S.W.; a good deal of rain. 26th July, we saw several good sizable turtle, a shark along- side one of' them ; they appeared peaceable ; they could not, I think, fight each other to advantage. On the 2d August a cluster of birds, about 150, passed along under our lee, about the size of a gray gull ; some were white and some black. This strange spell of weather appears to have affected the crew ; a number began to complain of the scurvy at that time, which increased, and on our arrival at Owyhee several were black to their hips with it. We were very fearful of losing some, but they got well astonishingly almost immediately on our arrival. We are now all in good health. Excepting the spell of weather named to you above, we had pleasant weather and most of the time our studding-sail and royal set. The Pacific Ocean is fully entitled to its name. From the 15th to 28d July found a current setting us about 15 miles in 24 hours to the south- ward ; from that to 3d August it set us about as much to the northward, after which we did not discover any of importance. Saw many gannets about that time. Aug. 6th. Turtle passed close to the side of ship fast asleep, and the carpenter hove the grains into a large dolphin which he got even with the quarter rail and lost him. There were ten of our crew with the scurvy when we arrived. It first showed itself in hard blue spots on the legs and pain in the joints. At 6 o'clock, evening of the 12th of August, 1798, we made the long wished for island of Owyhee, the east end of which bore S.S.W., distance 12 leagues. Very high land. Stood in under snug sail through the night and in the morning were about five leagues distance. We then attended to our arma- ment, loaded our carriage guns and took such precautions as were necessary to guard against the treachery of Indians. Ran close in with the island, when a canoe came off with a couple of 54 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUXE. Indians, a few potatoes and a couple of pumpkins. We were not pleased, after roundins^ the ship to, to get them on board, that tlieir cargo was so trilling. However, we thought we should soon have enough off. We received them on board and dropped their canoe astern of the ship and squared away and soon towed so hard on the canoe that she hlled and parted her tow rope. The Indians sprang immediately overboard and were very quick alongside their canoe and quicker in getting the water out of her and getting into her themselves. It was a single canoe ; nothing singular in the canoe itself, being dug out from a log ; but it had an outrigger, a light piece of wood same length as the canoe, of three inches diameter to skim the surface at about three feet and a half distance from the canoe and fastened to it by four or five pieces of wood in the shape of a sickle with the handle fastened across the canoe and the point to the outrigger ; this operated as a lever without disturbing but a trifle the passage of the boat through the water. This outrigger they immediately took hold of, and forcing it under water and back again, with an ex])ertness which you cannot conceive of, they completely turned the water out of her. We rounded to again and received them on board, guarding against a like accident. By what we could learn from them, after run- ning some time and no canoes coming off, we concluded there must be a taboo, and yet we could not comprehend a taboo that would not allow them to come on board of us. We ran along between forty and fifty miles, close in. The land ap- peared in the highest state of cultivation and some cleared spots were seen towards the summit of the mountain, which showed itself above the clouds which rolled along below. The ascent appeared just gradual enough from the shore to be beau- tiful and show itself fairly to the eye. We passed a number of villages which appeared much like the negro houses in the West Indies. The night of the 13tli we were obliged to stand off and on again without any communication further with the shore. We were very uneasy, having several of our crew very bad with the scurvy, and the two men appearing afraid to go on shore and so e-lad to have ffot on board we feared that some- THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 55 thing very serious might be on shore. We coiikl find out but little from them by signs. On the morning of the 14th liaving experienced a strong lee current through the night we again stood in and still no canoes came off. As I have been some among Indians and do not l)elieve them so hostile in disposi- tion as to wish to injure, unless some benefit was to be derived or revenge 'gratified, and that I had nothing to fear unless there had been some recent outrage by white people, I therefore proposed to Capt. Greene to let the yawl go on shore armed, and that I would go in her and would go on shore, letting the boat keep ofi^ a little, out of the power of the natives, until I could discover whether they were friendly or not. Having stood with the ship within about four leagues of the landing, but what we thought nearer, we started in the yawl, being five of us and one of the Indians for pilot and pulled in in about three hours. The beach was filled with Indians. We rowed pretty near the shore when I jumped overl)oard rather above my knees in water and the boat pulled olf a few rods from the shore. I was received with the strongest marks of friendship in their countenances and gestures. Tidi Miti, who is the king's brother and the head chief in that district where we were, came down and taking me by the hand, walked from the shore with me surrounded by Indians. I very soon noticed a change in his countenance and his eyes turned frequently towards my pistols, which were in a belt around my waist. They were a very snug pair and being no way cumbersome I had landed with them on, when I ought and intended to have left them in the boat ; but it cannot surprise you that it did not occur to me when my mind was so taken up with this new visit that I was about making. His countenance showed that he was not pleased at my landing armed, which as soon as I noticed, I presented him with my pistols ; he would receive but one, giving me back the other. This much more than rein- stated me, for as soon as he opened the pan and saw them loaded he clasped my hand and by his gestures showed that he was extremely pleased that I had confidence in him. I saw immediately there was nothing to fear. They soon, by signs, 56 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. let me know that tliere was a wliite man among them whom tliey had sent for. He came down in abont an liour, which time I spent very comfortably in the chiefs house. The white man, whose name was Shacklesby, said that John Young, who also lives in this bay, an Englishman, set off for the ship this moi'ning and an Irishman with him ; that there was one of the annual taboos on, which was a prohibition from going on the water for ten days ; that it would expire within a day or two, and until then the natives could not go alongside. The yawl now being on shore we began our barter and at evening we got on board with a hog and a good stock of vegetables. The hospitality of Tidi Miti when I landed I must not pass over : he first took me into a circle of about sixty girls, who par- tially rested themselves with their elbows on their knees, and by very expressive signs told me if I had come for a wife I could take which I pleased ; after which he took me to his house and treated me with the fruits of the island. This was very grateful after getting on shore in a hot sun. We landed at Fowchai Bay, in the district of Ko-ah-ra, on the northeast part of the island, and although the boat was surrounded they did not attempt to take anything from us dishonestly. I landed determined to get into no quarrel, and if they should want my shirt they should have it or anything else that I had. What I had calculated to do from prudence I felt willing to do gratuitously, almost, after I was received in so friendly a manner. AVe found John Young and the Irishman on board ; the latter frightened the two Indians on board very much by telling them the king would have them killed for breaking the taboo. The white men on the island, it appears, are not obliged to respect the taboo. They left us in the evening and went on shore and we stood off and on through the night with the ship, wind light and almost from W. to W.N.W. On the 15th we ran in and I again went on shore in the yawl for John Young. I remained on shore and he went off to bring the ship in : which he brought in and anchored at 3 P. M. Wind fresh at W.]^ W. I spent the day with Tidi Miti and returned on board the ship in the evening. Although the taboo was THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 57 not off until next morning there were a good many of the natives visited the ship : they came off privately from different quarters. Although the taboo was very rigidly enforced, their curiosity could not be restrained. 16th. The taboo was off and we were surrounded with canoes very early in the morning. Tidi Miti visited us and remained two or three days with us. Capt. Greene received a letter from the king, probably written by I. Davis, welcoming him to the island and saying he should visit us ; which he answered and sent him a couple bottles wine and a couple bottles rum, which was conformable to the advice of Mr. Young. We bartered nails, knives and hatchets for hogs and vegetables. Tidi Miti's wife also visited us and remained with him. 17th. Homes, a Yankee frum Plymouth, Massachusetts, can:ie on board : said he had been here two years ; had a wife and two children. We continued our traffic as usual through tlie day and at sundown Tidi Miti tabooed the water around the ship until the next morning, when all the canoes left us. 18tli. Capt. Stewart, an Englishman, visited us and with Mr. Young and their wives remained on board. Capt. Stewart had been there four years. Mr. Young made us a present of a very line turtle of about sixty pounds. Surrounded through the day with canoes, and all hands trading. At sundown tabooed by Tidi Miti. We, however, allowed some of the natives to remain on board through the night, but never so many as to be in any danger from them. We never allowed more than our own number to be on board at any time and we always ke])t a part of the crew under arms. 19th. At about sunrise, the king, whose name is Amai- amai-ah, came on board in quite handsome style in a double canoe, paddled by about five and twenty men. He was seated on the center, on a platfoi-m about four feet higher than the sides of the canoes ; he appeared to be not far, one way or the other, from forty years of age; a large athletic man, well proportioned, perhaps a little over six feet ; rather a reserved, forbidding countenance, at first view ; two upper fore teeth ffone, which added to the harshness of his countenance ; a 58 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. keen, penetrating: eye and a good one, which rather contra- dicted the conclusion to ])e drawn from the other parts of his face. He had on an English dress of blue broad-cloth for his coat and pantaloons, trimmed with red; liis waistcoat red, trimmed with fur. He very soon got rid of that uncomfort- able dress and appeared in the same that his subjects do. He is very active and was all over the ship in a few minutes and making many enquiries. While we lay there I proposed learn- ing him the compass, which I had some reason to regret, for he kept me at it continnally until he learned it. He brought on board with him a dozen stand of arms ; this was for show, as they passed them on board the ship and they were stowed away half out of order until he left us again. It is very diffi- cult keeping Lis muskets in order, for they feel so pleased with them that they keep snapping them. One of his wives came on board with him ; she was a large woman, with a great deal of the cloth of the country around her, which she also soon got rid of and appeared as other Indian women. He also brought a Jew cook with him and if he remains here I think it will be difficult to trace his descendants, for he is nearly as dark as they are. He was soon followed by Isaac Davis, in another canoe with the king's other wife, who is sister to the first one ; they are both of them large, fat women. The king's daughter, a princess, soon came on board after the king ; she had with her two boys of about a dozen years as a watch over her conduct, she being tabooed by her father, who says she is to marry some great chief ; her mother was a woman of rank but not wife to the king. Davis said the king and his daughter were very much attached to each other, but notwith- standing she ap])eared very diffident about going into the cabin to see him. I had the honor of waiting on her in, but they took no particular notice of each othei". The king and his brother did not appear to take particular notice of each other, but the next day, in meeting with a couple of chiefs whom he had not seen for some time, they all three kneeled down to- gether and cried very loud and the tears flowed very profusely. Two sisters met in the same way one day on board. We had THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 59 now all the royal family on board. The princess is about fif- teen years of age, not handsome, but a tine, plump, healthy- looking girl and very sprightly. When I was making some memorandum in my journal she very sportively took the pen out of my hand and attempted to write. I therefore can show you her writing when I get home. In the afternoon I went on shore in an Indian canoe and had a swimming match with the Indians. I had a good deal of sport with about two hundred of all sorts and sizes ; they would any of them swim two feet to my one ; they laughed very heartily at seeing my white shoulders among their dark ones ; any of the children would outswim me. I returned on board ship in the evening. We had the wind from sea through the day and off the land through the night. Aug. 20th. The chief who cut off a schooner, a tender to Oapt. Metcalf, came alongside the ship. The king was request- ed to order him off, and he did so. He was smartly dressed up for the visit, and when ordered on shore was laughed at b}^ the Indians. Isaac Davis being the only man saved, and he and John Young being then on board I got from them the particulars. Capt. Metcalf, of New York, on a northwest voyage, having a small schooner, a tender with liim, had ap- pointed Owhyhee as a place of rendezvous in case they were separated. Capt. Metcalf gave command of the schooner to his son ; Isaac Davis was his mate. Although the father and son had been separated several months, they both fell in with the Island of Owhyhee the same day ; the father to windward and the son to leeward of the island. Having visited the island before, young Metcalf placed too much confidence in them, not reriecting there was no law to protect him and that he was completely at the mercy of the chief who commanded, with the most powerful temptation to get possession of his vessel, everything on board of which they were anxious to possess. Tins chief was the rascal. The deck being full of Indians they at once murdered the captain and every man excepting Davis, and hove tlieui overboard ; him they knocked down and hove overboard, but afterwards took him into a canoe to save 60 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. him and took liim on sliore. When the king was informed of this rascally transaction he was verj much oifeuded, but the perpetrator was a powerful chief, and from policy the rascal was not publicly punished, and at that time they had but very little communication with strangers, who were considered rather as intruders than as entitled to any of their hospitality. The king, however, went immediately down and took charge of Davis, took him home with him, and has been a very tender father to him ever since. The next day after that transaction, Capt. Metcalf, the father, running along the island landed a boat's crew near where the schooner was cut off and the natives got possession of Mr. John Young, who was boatswain of the ship. He was taken back to see Davis, and has also experi- enced the particular friendshi]> of the king, who indulges them both with as much land as they want and as many slaves as they wish. Capt. Metcalf soon got sight of the schooner and learned the fate of his son. At this time there were a great many Indians in their canoes around him. He waited until he was well surrounded when he opened a fire with his broadsides and killed as many as he could. I could not ascer- tain with any degree of confidence how many he killed, but the Indians did not appear to think he did wrong, although it very unfortunately so happened that none of the guilty ones were there, for he was not oif the right village. This was cer- tainly a most cruel thing, and although I am willing and am disposed to make great allowance for the feelings of a father, and believe none but a father, under the circumstances, would make sufficient allowance for him, yet I think it was very bar- barous, and that it was unjustifiable. Perhaps his feelings had completely deranged his mind, so that it was the act of a madman. If he had acted wisely he might have got the chief himself, the execution of whom would have been more ser- viceable and gratified his resentment more. Young and Davis now are right hand men to the king, and are vei'y serviceable to him as well as to the foreigners who visit the island. They honestly appear to consult the interest of the visitors and visit- ed. We had on board of our ship that day an evidence of TPIE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. fil equal depravity to a savage. A man by the name of Martin, an Irishman, whom Capt, Greene had told he would let him have a passai>'e down to China. For some trifling offence taken on shore at an Indian some time before, Martin seeing him come alongside, and thinking himself safe, determined on having revenge. He took the musket out of the hands of the sentry and fired at the Indian, who happened to see what he was do- ing jnst soon enough to jump out of the way, but the ball went through the canoe where he had set. Capt. Greene had him tied up immediately and ordered him three dozen, and the boatswain to give it to him in the presence of the king, who soon thought he could do it better himself, and took the rope's end from the boatswain and put it on well until Capt. Greene requested him to desist. He was then untied and ordered to be put on shore ; but on his stating that he should be killed by the Indians, and begging on his knees for his life, Capt. Greene's usual humane feelings were brought into action, and he suffer- ed him to remain, and he is yet on board as humble as a dog. Martin had procured me a very sprightly boy which I intended to bring with me to America, but on seeing this fracas he thought himself, and I think very correctly, better off at home. We continued our trade. We bought a number of hogs from the king, for which we paid from three pints to five quarts of rum each. In the evening one of the queens got very drunk, which the king took no particular notice of. On the 21st we agreed with Amai-amai-ah, the king, for all our deficiency of supplies, to receive them at Whahoo, an island to leeward. We agreed and paid for at the same time forty-five large hogs, and as much sugar-cane and vegetables as would fill our quarter deck square with the binnacle, and as high as the quarter rails. We paid a barrel of flour for twelve hogs ; a barrel of pitch for ten hogs, and a large pitch kettle for eleven hogs ; the balance we paid in canvass, rice, and blocks and some rigging. I was very much diverted at a little piece of finesse in the king, on my measuring out some rum to him. As I was measur- ing it in a quart pot, when I had put up twenty quarts (every one 62 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. he counted), he said I had put in but nineteen ; I asserted I was ri2:ht, he said not, and that I must put in another, I was cer- tain I was right, and did not believe but that he knew as well as I did, for he is a hawk-ejed fellow. I persisted and began to measure it over again, when he proposed to split the differ- ence, (this he must have learned from some Yankee). When he saw I would not agree to that, but continued to measure, he said it was no importance, and let it go as it was. Do not con- sider this dishonesty or meanness in him, for he was free from either ; it was rather a piece of wit which he wished to exer- cise. In the afternoon we unmoored the ship and prepared to get mider way. John Young received a letter from Capt. North, our acquaintance of the Falkland Islands ; he had just arrived and was laying at Karahchoora Bay. The king, with all the royal family and other visitors, left us, except Isaac Davis and Stewart and Homes ; the hrst who came down with us to see contract made with the king fulfilled. On leaving Davis the king embraced him and cried like a child. Davis said he always did when he left him, for he was always apprehensive that he might leave him, although he had promised him he would never do it without giving him previous notice. We tried to persuade him to continue with us, and linally he said nothing prevented him but the promise he had made the king. It was not long after the king .left us before he returned and jumping in on deck presented me with one of my pis- tols. As we were always on the lookout I kept my pistols loaded under the head of my bed from where it was stolen. An Indian got it and jumped with it out of the cabin win- dow, and when he had got on shore presented it to the king, and as it was the pistol which I handed, on my first landing, to Tidi Miti, the king's brother, he told him whose it was, when he immediately brought it off to me. It was one of a handsome pair, and if he had not despised to do so mean a thing he would have been pleased at keeping it. When he left us both times we gave him three cheers, which he returned very well with his Indians. THE VOYAGE OF THE ISEPTUNE. 63 We did not get under way until about midnight, as it took us a long while to get our anchors ; it was good holding ground. Davis, with Homes and Stewart, being on board gave me a good opportunity of getting what information they possessed, which you shall have the beneht of. Stewart has been master of a vessel and is a man of considerable intelligence ; has been here four years. Davis and Homes are illiterate but very honest men. Davis has been here eight or nine years and Homes two years. They all speak in the highest terms oi the king. They say what Capt. Cook called a Moral the natives call Hi-ow, and is not, as he supposed, a burying place, but where the chiefs and the priests meet and make oiferings, praying for a gratitication of their wishes, which agrees with the prayers of our own clergy, for I do not understand their prayers are particularly selfish but for the good of the nation. They, however, being heathen, pray to their idols which are scattered about in the Moral or Hi-ow, which by us may be called a temple. Their idols are not in the shape of anything in the heavens above, or in the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth. In these places human victims are sometimes offered, but they are tliose who have forfeited their lives by their conduct. They say when a chief dies his body is rolled up snug in tapper, which is the cloth of the country, and a house built over it, where it lies until the Hesh is consumed. The bones are then placed, they believe, in some general family deposit. The w^omen-people, when they die, are tied neck and heels and sometimes buried and sometimes hove into the sea. The clergy are hereditary and as full of ceremom^ as the Catholics and have a great deal of authority ; it is they that regulate the taboos, and although they are generally regular, they can lay intermediate ones when they please, and that it is death to violate them. However, by the manner of their visiting our ship the night before it was off, as I have already remarked to you, it would appear that they were not so rigidly enforced, as well as by the two men hazarding a visit on board when we first made the islands. But the curiosity of these Indians is very great and not like the Nortli American 64 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. Indians, who affect not to have any. The chiefs cannot eat pork unles^s it has been killed and consecrated at the temple. What they call their Marhahiti, which is their annual taboo and comes regular by so many moons, is about a month before Christ- mas, and during that they are prohibited from fighting, and then they who cultivate the land make payment of tithes to the chiefs, who are the owners, of which there are too many, but, notwithstanding, those who work make it rather an exercise than labor, for they only work in the cool of the morning and evening, retiring to the shade whenever the sun becomes uncomfortable. They speak of time by so many Marhahitis. The young women never work out-doors but the old ones do. The women at the birth of their children retire from the society of the men, and then on monthly periods also, when they as entirely retire and it would be death not to do so. Pork, plantains and cocoanuts are tabooed to the women, as well as some other scarce articles ; some because they are scarce and some for other reasons, but I found the women very glad to eat any of those articles if they were out of the reach of detection. That the taboo which was on when we cruised for ten days was regular every six months. The women are never allowed to eat of what the men have eaten a part. On lioard of us, when we offered them anything to eat, would ask if the men had eaten of it. The same with the men. If we answered yes or no, it was all the proof required. Tidi Miti, I noticed while on board, would not eat some salt fish from a plateful because some of the women had eaten from it, but he did not make the same objection when we got some more on another plate, although we got it out of the same box. The men and women have their respective eating-houses ; a man and his wife never eal? in the same house ; if either sex enter the eating-house of the other it would be pulled down. The chiefs as well as natives generally are great gamblers and frequently play away their lands, their wives and their children. One of the chiefs insisted on playing checkers with Capt. Greene for a hog. He had paid considerable attention to the game and could play it, but not well enough ; he lost his hog. The king THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 65 is now building a honse at Mowliee, wliicli is to be built and furnished in the English style. He calculates to make it his residence part of the time. It ap]:)ears to be a policy with him to change his residence occasionally, which I think is a good plan for him, for where he is known he will be popular. He obtained his throne bj lighting for it, in which he proved his talents as well as his popularity. At the demise of a king there are always several candidates whose claims are nearly equal ; although hereditary, not so closely defined but that there are plausible claims. The most popular gets it. The present king had a number of severe actions and slew his adversary fairly on the field of battle. There have been several insurrec- tions but none recently. He, however, was not able to bring the leeward islands under his jurisdiction until within about two years. The last which he conquered was Wahhoo, or "Worhoo, where they had a very hard-fought battle ; part of the king's force joining the enemy. There is, however, yet one island unconquered, which is Attoi, and Ami-amai-ah has been a long time building his canoes to attack it, which he does not appear to be in a hurry to do, and if he does, it will be some time first. He has the advantage of his o^^jDonents in having more muskets than they. The difference between them and spears is very great. Inferiors always stoop when any- thing passes belonging to superiors in rank ; when anything passes belonging to the king they stoop, the person who is carrying it crying out Mory ; there are those whom the king stoops to, for there are those who rank higher, although not so much power. The lands belonging to the king are very exten- sive, the residue are divided among the nobles who are masters of those who work them, ^vlio have the privilege of changing masters when they please. The nobles, who are hereditary, therefore are not masters of the time of their vassals. The king can take the life of a nobleman or slave when he pleases, and he often deprives them of their estates for violent acts of injustice. It is very much doubted whether Capt. Cook was the first discoverer of these islands ; it in fact appears pretty evident 5 ()Q THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. tliat lie was not ; however, he may be entitled to the credit of it, provided he received no aid in the discovery and the Spaniards from policy obliterated the discovery by their own navigators. I presume Cook knew nothing of them before he saw them, but as the Spaniards had laid down a group of islands in the same latitude, a few degrees eastward of the Sandwich Islands, where there are none, it is likely to be the same, for at that time they could not be supposed to be very correct in their longitude. There is at Mowee the ring and part of the shank of an anchor of about seven hundred weight which was not long ago hooked up there, where there is no recollection of there ever having been a vessel, and from the appearance it must have been there a great many years. Mr. Young says they have a tradition that a couple of white men came on shore and- remained there about one hundred and lifty years ago. They landed in a small vessel covered over with skins and he had seen their descendants wdiich satisfied him of the truth of the story, and that they were white. We had light breezes through the day from N.K.E. to E.N.E.; through the night we lay ])ecalmed under Mowee. We killed eight hogs and salted them down, taking out all the bone. August 23d caught a shark. The Indians belonging to the families of the white men saved the teeth, as they use them to cut their liair. We had light winds fore part of the day, the latter part we had a good breeze from the N.N.E. which run us off Whahoo, where we stood on and off through the night. August 24th. Early in the morning we were close in with Whahoo, off Diamond Hill, when the canoes began to visit us. We steered along N.W. by W. until Diamond Hill on Whitreter Bluff bore S. 72° E. per compass, when we anchored in ten fathoms, sandy bottom with small shells and scattered coral rock. We anchored rather far out. In the afternoon I went on shore with Mr. Davis when he gave orders for our supply early in the morning, we laying about two and a half miles from the landing. 25tli. Early in the morning we began receiving our sup- THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 67 ply, which was deUvered to us faster than we could take it on board. The Indians were flocking in from every planta- tion with hogs and vegtables. Pleasant weather, wind at N.E. 2t)th. I went on sliore with an intention of getting a couple of boys, one for Capt. Greene and one for myself, but they being informed of my views were very shy ; the boys would run from us when we can^e near them. It was very differ- ent from what it was at Ow-hy-hee, for there we coukl have got as many boys as we pleased. We were anxious to liave just such as we pleased which accounts for our not getting them. There was some unaccountable cause for their shyness ; it was not the case with the natives generally. We did not take much pains for we had no wish to get any but those who wished to go w^tli ns. An American by the name of Hamilton resided there. I found the Island of Whahoo a delightful one. The harbor is a good one but ratlier narrow to get in. The ship lay rather in the bay as it is generally difficult to get into the harbor but by warping. I have a draft of this harbor which I have copied from one in the possession of Capt. Stew- art. The lands are in the highest state of cultivation, every^ thing of luxurious growth ; the sugar-cane tiner than any I have ever seen, I think rather larger than at Ow-hy-hee and, as at that Island, you here see the bread-fruit, cocoanut, plan- tain, sweet potatoes, taro, yams, banana, w^hich are native pro- ductions, and watermelons, muskmelons, pumpkins, cabbages and most of our garden vegetables introduced by foreigners. They supply themselves with salt in the same manner as at Turk's Island in the West Indies. Small pans are made in the ground near the sea water, which is let in occasionally and by evaporation produces the salt. They have artificial fish ponds both of fi'esh and salt water, without whicli their supply of fish would not be bountiful. These ponds would do credit to a refined state of society. There are natural ponds that abound with fresh-water fish. On the island is a pearl-oyster fishery. It is in a river about three or four miles from where we an- chored. We got some few pearls and some of the pearl oyster shells, which is called, you know, mother-of-pearl. In the 68 THE VOYAGE OF THE KEPTUNE. afternoon our contract being honorably complied with and we having received the forty-five hogs and vegetables, till we said we had enough, having in all then on board one hundred and forty-iive hogs, some small but mostly from 80 pounds np to 250 pounds, with an ample supply of sugar cane for the hogs, as well as every other production which we wanted, we got underway and stood out of the bay about four o'clock. Before we started, having benelited so much by the good offices of Isaac Davis, who was clothed with the supreme power while at this island, and on all occasions had been our friend with the king, we presented him with ten gallons of liquors, rum, brandy and gin, a barrel of beef, a musket, a cheese, some coffee and chocolate, a couple of shirts, and as he said he should be glad to go to the United States, but if he did he could not go to work as formerly, we gave him a conditional obligation that if he ever did come to the United States and called on us we would each pay him one hundred dollars, and we do not doubt that other visitors to these islands will also subscribe, bv which means perhaps he may have something that may be serviceable to him, and we think him worthy of it. We also sent by Davis some liquors, etc., to Mr. John Young, at Ow-hyhee, whom we also esteemed highly. In the evening, Davis, Stewart, Homes and Hamilton left us and we got under way, steering at about S.W. At two o'clock we hauled up N.W. by W.I^W.; light wind from the westward the latter part of the night. At two o'clock in the afternoon of the 27th August we made the Island of Attoi ; ran in for the northeast part of the island. At dark it was about four leagues distant. 28th August, the canoes came off to us from the N.E. part of the island bringing potatoes, plantains, mats, spears, etc. The iirst canoe that came alongside, I, without expecting to be understood, said " who are you?" "I am General Wash- ino-ton," says the Indian, which surprised me. On investiga- tion I found that he was an Indian that had been to the northwest coast of America with Capt. Kendricks. We here hooked a shark which they tried to get into their boat ; they THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 69 jumped into the water altliou^li tliere were sharks around, which tliej did not appear to have any fear of. Our crew got taken in several times by the Indians witli half tinished mats : they being rolled up, they supposed them of the same size as we had found them to the Windward Islands. As soon as they sold, the Indians paddled off. Here I bought a pretty boy of about nine years of age from his father, for some tiifling consideration, but when the father came to leave him he felt so bad I could not bear to take him, and I had made up my mind that I would bring no boy away who came unwillingly. I therefore insisted on his father taking him back, which he wished not to do but was rather indifferent about it. We stopped at this island hoj^ing to get some yams, con- sidering them the only vegetable that would keep during our passage and which was not so plenty to windward. We were able to get but few here. Toward night we squared away for Oneho and lay becalmed through the night under the lee of Attoi. August 27th. We lay becalmed through the day, still under the lee of the island. This is a very line island and the only one in this group that is not subject to the king of Ow-hy-hee. I am informed that there are aqueducts here for the purpose of watering their lands; that one is three or four miles in length, running around the mountain to water the land below, that is built up of stone a considerable height, and that there is a small basin that a vessel from sea can go into and they then run a dam across of a sufficient height, after which the acque- duct will give a sufficient supply to carry her up where they wish and the same wdien they launch her ; answering every purpose of a dry dock. Tliere are here three white men and two Portuguese ; the latter they call black men here. They are building a vessel for the king, who is under strong appre- hensions fi-om the king of Ow-hy-hee. The canoe that boarded us with General Washington on board came over with us to Oneho, where we now are. We arrived this day, August 30th, and one of our Indians went on shore to forward the getting off some yams, which we found were scarce. I believe 70 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. a month later we should have found them plenty. We have not anchored and shall not, as we shall square away for Canton in the evening. We find the trade small at this island, but generally a good island for yams. The southern part of the island looks poor but the rest appears pretty well. I have given you a pretty general account of our proceedings among these islands, taken from my more particular journal, in w^hich there is necessarily much trash, in leaving out which I have also left out some remarks that ought to be made, I shall now give you these remarks with some general ideas of the islands, in doing which you will excuse it if 1 should make some repetition, for I am not very studious to avoid errors where none but my brother or myself are to peruse it. I shall therefore just cast my eye over it and make such additions to my letter as I may think necessary. These islands are eleven in number : Owhyhee, Mowee, Tahourai, Ranai, Moro- toi, Whahoo, Attoi, Xeeheho, Onelio, Moiotinee and Tahura. They are in from 18° to 22° north latitude and 158° to 168° west longitude. Owhyhee, Mow^ee, Whahoo and Attoi are the principal islands for a ship to get supplies at ; sometimes one is best and sometimes the other, according as they may have been visited. There is no danger of a deficiency but in hogs ; it is therefore the safest to touch at Owhyhee and run down the islands. The Island Owhyhee is about twelve thousand feet above the level of the sea at the summit of the mountains of Moiia Roa and Mona Koah, which form plains at different heights, which would give all the advantages of different cli- mates, from the growing of wheat down to the banana, or apples and peaches down to pine-apples. It is said there is frequent snow on the mountains and it is calculated that the region of perpetual snow in this latitude is but between three and four tliousand feet higher. It is therefore probable that in the winter months there is sometimes snow on these moun- tains, as the calculation also is that it descends 2,624 feet lower in winter than summer in this latitude. This island is seen at sea forty leagues : you may see it in the morning and without a smart breeze vou would not be in with it at night. It is tri- THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 71 angular and each side about ninety miles in extent. Although tlie island generally is in a high state of cultivation there is considerable waste land, most of which is because it is not wanted. In the district of Koarali where we lay with the ship, one of the points which formed the bay had its soil com- pletely destroyed by a volcanic eruption, which broke out on the top of a mountain above, and- the lava ran down its side into the sea ; it streaked down in riages, completely burning np all the soil. Tochai Bay, where we were, is a good harbor, but Karahekoa is the principal harbor and the one more usually visited. It is the present residence of the king and will long be remembered as the death place of the valuable navigator Capt. James Cook. The king had a navy yard where we lay and a schooner of about sixty tons on the stocks. She is build- ing under the cover of a thatch building and the superintend- ence of Mr. John Young. She has been on the stocks eighteen months, and probably a year more will be gone before she will be launched. There were also a number of large double war canoes l)uilding under thatched houses, said to be for the invasion of Att(ji, which had been several years since ihey were begun ; the largest are seventy feet in length, six feet in depth and each canoe about two feet wide, lashed to- gether about live feet apart by pieces of timber rising in the middle, on which is a platform for the warriors. Those who paddle are in the canoes. The sides of the canoes tumble in like a ship of war, which make them more safe as to taking in water. Their single canoes are various sizes, about one-third as wide as they are deep, and even with their outriggers are tender-sided. The Irishman who visited us on our arrival came near being drowned : going on shore he overset twice in try- ing to let us know how well he felt ; he would not be still, he tried to hoorah and over he went. We sent our boat and picked him up. He said they were the worst boats he ever was in : a man could not shift his chew of tobacco. I think they are nothing like as easily overset as the North American bark canoes, which I have been pretty well used to and not afraid to go in at almost any time. These canoes will, I 72 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. think, oiitpaddle them against the wind, but in a perfect cahn I do not know that they would, altliough they say they can paddle nine knots, which is faster than I ever saw a bark canoe paddled. These canoes are dug out from logs, or rather partly burned and partly dug out ; they are generally in two pieces ; some are in several ; the workmanship is good and they are not made in a hnrry. The king now has his blacksmiths and his carpenters; there was a blacksmith's forge at the navy yard. The man who killed Capt. Cook was alongside of us. He is not blamed by the natives, and I believe ought not to be, but the circumstance has been so much regretted among themselves, as well as on board every vessel that ever stops there, that he really feels not as though he had done wrong but a regret at having done it ; he never visits on board, but goes alongside with what he may have to sell, and on shoi-e again as soon as it is disposed of. The disposition which made Capt. Cook a great man was what cost him his life ; a perse- verance bordering on rashness and a sprig of national pride whi(?h increases to its full size on board of every armed ship of Great Britain. Owhyhee was calculated to contain one hun- dred and tifty thousand inhabitants when visited by Capt. Cook ; at this time I do not believe it contains over a hundred thousand ; it probably has been reduced considerably by the late wars. Mowee, the next in size to Owhyhee, is said to be a very tine island ; it appeared very pleasant but we did not land on it; is about one-third less than Owhyhee. Wahoo rather a less island, but I think the pleasantest island of the whole ; the harbor is said to be the safest among the group. Attoi is also a delightful island and said to be full the equal in size of all the others ; in agriculture it is said to be the first. The natives of these islands are an active, well-made 2)eo]:»le, color rather of a dark olive, varying two or three shades lighter. Most of the men, particularly the chiefs, rather distigure them- selves by knocking out two or three upper fore teeth. Their dress is the merro, which is a narrow piece of cloth about six inches wide, carried around the waist and in a peculiar manner between their legs, then tucked through in front, the end THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. id hanging looselj down ; being no more than decency would demand in any conntrj where tliere would be any pretensions to it. The dress of the women evidenced a superiority more necessary and more common to them in the delicacy of their dress. They wore a sort of ])etticoat made from the cloth of the country, which descended below their knees, and they sometimes wore a piece of cloth as a mantle over their shoulders ; they also wore ornaments around their neck and on their heads, and would have really looked well but for one very forbidding custom of turning the hair up on the forehead and taking the color out with lime, so tliat there was a streak perfectly white on their forehead when the rest of the hair was very black. They are very pleasing in their manners and evidently, particularly those that are young and handsome, have the same power over the men that they have in countries more civilized. I have before remarked that the young w^omen never work in the field, but the old ones sometimes do. The foreigners, w4ien no vessels are here, more generally dress like the natives. There was an Italian came on board of us, and being much tattoed, I should not have noticed but he was an Indian, unless told to the contrary. I noticed one Indian who always eat with the women, contrary to the uniform custom. Mr. Young told me there were some instances, but they were few and that such men were completely incorporated into the society of the females, and were, no more than they, allowed to go into the houses of the men. There was one thing very unpleasant to my feelings, who you know, as my mother was a woman, have the highest esteem and resjiect for the female character, which was to see them all, pleasant, cheerful women, go stooping about decks merely because there happened to be a chief on deck. They have one very fascinating quality in in the females, which is neatness ; they certainly are the most cleanly people that I have seen ; they bathe a number of times every day, they do nothing scarcely without bathing after it ; they bathe immediately after every repast. As far as we can judge from appearances they are a very haj^py people ; they appear to be children in their amusements and in everything 74 THE VOYAGE QF THE NEPTUNE. but their size. There was a chief with his wife that slept on our cabin floor one night, and tliey laughed and giggled through the whole of it. They sing and dance a great deal, their songs are altogether patriotic, something in favor of their king and their principal chiefs. I shall not attempt to argue the point whether a more civil- ized state of society is more happy or not. If they have more virtues, do they not also have more vices? If a child appears lively and happy, we reasonabl}^ conclude he is so Oapt. Van- couver was very anxious to Christianize these people, but that can never be done until tliey are more civilized. The king Amma-amma-hah told Capt. Vancouver that he would go with him on to tlie high mountain Mona Roah and they would both jump oif together, each calling on their separate gods for pro- tection, and if Capt. Vancouver's god saved him, but himself not saved by his god, then his people should 1)elieve as Capt. Vancouver did. Capt. Vancouver had management enough to get all the islands ceded to the king of England ; this will be a sufficient excuse to the world-monopolizing disposition of that government to take possession whenever they think it for their interest to do so. The king of Owhyhee always enquires when a vessel comes in how George is. Although the former is superior to the latter, that is, he is by far the greatest man among his people, he only appears to be his equal in feelings towards him ; he has an exalted opinion of the English from the circumstance that their ships, that have stopped there, have been the king's ships, and in lieu of bartering as our ships do, they do all by presents through the king, whicli is done on a very liberal scale. The king, when he made his visit to us, brought his own fare, although he brought a Jew cook with him ; what he brought, however, was such as could not be cooked in their way on board ; he brought dogs and pigs ready cooked. Their dogs are a small breed and are fed with their hogs on vegetables, and are never a companionable animal with them. Their flavor is much like a pig ; I tried to eat a piece, as they appeared so good, but after rolling it round two or three times, was as glad to get rid of it as Ethan Allen was of THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. T5 tlie olive : " With your leave, Madam," said lie, " I will put this d— d thing back again." Their modes of barbecuing their dogs and pigs are : they are neatly dressed, their hair being well, singed off, a hole is then dug in the ground, some heated stones laid at the bottom covered with plantain leaves, the inside of the pig stuffed with heated stones and some small heated ones into the legs, then laid into the hole and carefully covered with plantain leaves and heated stones, so well laid that not a particle of earth can get to the |ngs ; it is then covered up until it is well cooked ; the skin is not crisped, but otherwise it could not be better cooked. The small fish are eaten raw. I have seen them eaten immediately from the hook, but they were of the length of my finger. The king brought his pvoy or jmoi/ and some wooden uten- sils of very neat workmanship ; some dishes to hold three gal- lons, made of a wood as handsome as mahogany, round as if turned in a lathe, as well polished, and the top fitted as well as if done by our country cabinet makers. The puoy is made from the yarrow, which is roasted and mashed by mixing with water, is made into a ])udding and by fermentation becomes a little sour, in wdiich state they are very fond of it ; they dip their fingers and eat it as boys do molasses. The yarrow is much like the yam in appearance and flavor ; grows much larger, sometimes weighing half a dozen pounds. It grows in low grounds and frecpiently wdiere it is covered with water, which in turn is covered w^ith its leaves; and when roasted, is as good, in my opinion, a substitute for bread as the bread fruit ; it is as great an absorbent and is as palatable. There are a few sheep on Owhyhee and some poultry at this time of but little importance. There is also a cow ; not long ago this cow had a calf, and it being what the natives had never seen before, they were so much delighted with it that they set oft' with it seventy or eighty miles to show it to the king, and it died before they could get it back again. As I have agreed to come out again for the purpose of tak- ing the crew oft" Massafuera I have promised the king I would bring him a breed of horses. Their fish ponds are 76 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. replenislied with the young- fry at a season of the year wlien the fisli strike in schools. Among their fish they have a craw- fish, difliering but little from lobsters. The pearl oyster is flavored much like the oysters of our own country, and about as good in flavor as those I have seen growing on the mangrove tree in the West Indies. The pearl is found inside of the oyster itself. The king from his frequent visits to foreigners was fond of spirits, but I never saw him drink too much, and there were very few of them who would. They are naturally averse to drinking spirituous liquors, and there was scarcely anything that we eat or drink on board that they were fond of. Bread and salt fish they liked very well. The first Indian who visited us evidenced that he had been on board of some foreign vessel, for seeing my globe on the after locker, he went to it and asked where Owhyhee was. On frequent explanations to the king and others, trying to persuade them the world was so made, they could not believe a word of it : they said, putting a finger under the globe, if they were there they should drop off. They being so expert swimmers, we frequently would heave a nail overboard, when they dive and scarce ever fail getting it, although they would sometimes have to go several fathoms. The girls dove as well as the boys. In landing in a heavy surf they manage exactly as I have seen the negroes at Turks Island, in the West Indies. The third roller, or sea, is the heaviest ; they would go in on the top of it with a quick velo- city, which would carry them well up the l)each. They would land with the utmost ease where you or I would have drowned. They S(jmetimes make use of surf -boards. The surf- board is about their own length and floats them lighter. A woman came off to swim all around us at Whahoo, when we were two miles off ; she probably was in the water four or five hours. Theft has been dwelt on by vessels that have stopped here, I think rather uncharitably ; sufficient allowance has not been made, 1 think, for the great inducement ; they value a nail as much as we do a guinea, and the same time they see we value them lightly, when we are willing to heave them overboard THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 77 merely to see them dive for them ; and among such a crowd as is always around the ship would it not be surprising if there were not thieves ? Should we say the natives of these islands are the greatest thieves in the world, when on shore private property is respected and theft punished by a confiscation of their lands among the chiefs, and by death among the vassals? This, Davis told me was the case, and I believe it. The wants of these islanders appear to be just enough to employ the body and mind, and we cannot say init they are as happy as any peo- ple on earth ; if countenances speak true they are, for they cer- tainly are the most cheerful. I am aware that our appearance among them is very animating, and they of course would ap- pear so, but at the same time that is perhaps entirely balanced in our natural prejudices against a dark-colored people, for what on earth is so beautiful as a pleasing countenanced female of a good fair complexion. While 1 was with them I was fool- ish enough to have a double canoe tattoed on one of my legs ; the operation was but little painful, but it swelled considerably, and troubled me in walking for severed days. The gourds which grow here being so useful for bottles and for dipjiers should not have been forgotten ; they grow to a very large size, and by bandages they give them any shape they please. There are some few oranges at Owhyhee, introduced there, but no limes or tamarinds. The bread-fruit is about the size of a shaddock, knobbed like a pineapple, the points of which are dark ; when prepared are dry, not unlike an Irish roast potato, but more palatable ; 1 think they have been overrated. We have a large quantity of Ush lines of different sizes, which we calculate to put our rigging in good order with, in pointing and gafting ; they are as well spun and laid up as any I ever saw, and are strong ; they spin and lay them up very expertly on their knees. The method of proving whether pearls are good is in vinegar, which dissolves them in about ten days. Take a few of the small ones from a parcel which are of very little value. However, there is no danger in being deceived by them at the islands. These people appear so happy that I reflect much on the subject : although refined societies may be the happiest, the 78 THE VOYAGE OF THK NEPTUNE. refinement must not be carried to great luxurioiisness. May not the Sandwich Islanders be less short of necessary refine- ment than the Italians, who pay little attention to a virtuous refinement, are beyond it ? These Islanders are neat in their persons, respect their legislators and their laws, are cheerful and obliging to each other. Those are refinements. As noth- ing is great or small but by comparison, compare them with the Patagonians, who are far ahead of the miserable Tierra del Fue- gans, near Cape Horn, who are very filthy and in no way com- fortable. Between them and the Italians perhaj^s these Island- ers are the medium, and I do not believe in extremes. Ship Neptune, Macao Roads, October 24th, 1798. Bear Brother : My last was dated at the Sandwich Islands, which we left on the 31st of August last with a good stock of hogs and vegeta- bles. On the next day two of our largest hogs died on deck, we suppose from the heat. We on the same day caught a land bird about the size of a robin, very handsomely spotted with gray and black ; we must have been a hundred miles from any land that we know of. About a dozen of our men complained of their visit to the Islands ; however, they got over it pretty well. On the 2d September we again saw birds which appeared like whip-poor-will ; there was a flock. On the 3d found our yarrow rotting very fast, and our cane that was in the sun on deck beginning to be sour. Saw many birds. At this time the scurvy had nearly disappeared ; a number of the crew complained of nausea at the stomach and of sore throats, which was soon removed by emetics. Our wa- termelons and muskmelons lasted till the 7th. I think our cane might have been kept most of the passage if it had been out of the sun, for we found some below that was there by ac- cident, which was good on the 6th of October, but we were out of cane and potatoes on the 21st September. On the 10th of September we were in 180° west longitude, THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 79 or east, just as we please to call it, being just half around the globe, calculating- from the meridian of Greenwich. We there- fore now drop a day and call it the 11th : the sun this year rises one day less to me than it will to you. On the 15th our lunar observation gave us 11 h. 13' 20" difference of time l)e- tween us and Greenwich : we from tbe lOtli calculated for east longitude. On the 16th we saw a grampus, or a young whale. On the 18th our steward hove his journal overboard, in a pet, which he had kept the voyage ; being a good tempered man it did not conform with his character : how frequently we are in- consistent ! Sept. 27th we had more birds v than usual in sight. October 2d saw a number of land birds. On the 3d, 7 A. M., we made the land, the Island of Sappan, being W.N.W. twelve leagues distant. Our latitude at noon was 14° 57' IS". ; longitude by lunar observation 1-45° 16' E. meridional distance from Owneho, where we took our departure from, 3,251 miles. At 6 P. M. the Island of Tenian, which we made at 1 P. m., bore W. ^ N. distance 2^ leagues. Stood off and on through the night, wash- ing to get some wood at this island Most of our passage down to that island was pleasant, but about ten days of the time, the latter part, we had very singular winds from the trades ; we had it squally with heavy thunder, which split our sails to pieces. Wind from S.S.W. to N.N.W. We had the wind generally from E.N.E to E.S.E. On our first coming out for several days we killed off about eight or ten of our heaviest hogs daily, which we salted down ; our practice was to kill in the evening, cut it up immediately after being dressed and salt it down in a heap on deck, taking out all the bone ; afterwards repack it into casks. We lost perhaps one quarter part, the rest was very good pork, but although fresh, the best pork in the world. Perhaps it was not hard when salted, like our northern pork. With proper management it can be put up in any weather that they have there. We had as much fresh as we wanted all the passage. Oct. 4th. We ran along doubling the south point of the Island within about a league, running between that and 80 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. Aiguigan ; we ran about a league for the northern part of the bay, where we soon saw a white flag flving and the hull of a vessel within a reef which is about half a mile from the shore. I set off in the launch for the shore where I found about sixty or seventy Spanish Indians, commanded by a couple of white Sjjanish othcers. As they M^ere all on the beach our boat's crew were much alarmed, but I could but have confidence in the white flag with our ship, that made a pretty formidable appearance, in sight. They were more frightened than we were. They were a crew from Mari- guan, about thirty leagues from there, getting jerk beef, hides, tallow ; had been there two or three months, and were to leave there soon. They shoot the cattle that are wild on the island ; the beef is cut in thin pieces and strung on poles in the sun and salt water hove on it from the sea occasionally, which cures it. They told us that an American brig commanded by Capt. Swain was cast away there about flfteen months before, from Canton, bound to Peru. We saw considerable China ware scattered on the beach. There were also a couple of Malays among them who had also been cast away among the islands in an English ship. When the Spaniards found we were friends they were ready to do everything for us. They cut wood for us, presented us with a couple of quarters of beef, some bread fruit and cocoa- nuts, also some Manilla cigars of an uncouth length, but the pleasantest I ever smoked. We made them some small pres- ents in return which pleased them also, so that we parted good friends. We found plenty of limes, guavas and cocoanuts. There was also a kind of fruit which the Spaniards called artease, about the size of an orange, green and nubby like a pineapple, of rather an insipid taste. The limes were the largest and best I ever saw ; a smooth, thin skin full of juice. The bushes bent to the ground ; we could have loaded the ship with them. The Indians told us that bread fruit and oranges were plenty the other side of the island, but the oranges were not sweet. THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 81 One of the officers told me that this island was once thickly inhabited, but that the island of Guam, in the vicinity, was depopulated by a plague, and that the government ordered all the inhabitants to move and re-people Guam. Byron, in his voyage, says it was once populated with thirty thousand. Lord Anson describes this island as a little paradise, but it is very different now, although 1 can believe that it was once a very pleasant place, and it is no^v so long since Anson was there he may not have stretched any. There was here and there a lawn on which we saw a number of cattle, but the island generally is so tilled in with lime bushes and under- bruvsh that it is very difficult to get along. We found a regu- lar made well about two hundred yards from the landing, about six feet deep, and another a little further on, eighteen feet deep. We found several clusters of stone columns wdiich we thought nnist have been set up from some religious motive. They contained twelve columns in a cluster, two rows of six each, all regular alike, and the largest was a fourteen foot column or more properly pillar, for they were not round ; on the top of which was set a huge solid stone shaped like a punch-bowl without the bottom rim, and measuring ten feet at the top and three feet and a half at the bottom, which just tilled the top of the tapering pillar which was also cut from solid stone, the top being three feet square, the foot three feet on one side and six feet the other, the wide side tapered off to the three feet ; there- fore the foot was oblong, two sides oblique and two perpendicu- lar. The stone on the top must have weighed several tons. The Spaniards told us that they were built by the Indians about one hundred and twenty years ago, but they looked as though they had stood several hundred years. Several of them had fallen down. Being under the lee of the island we found it very warm. Many of the trees interspersed among the lime bushes were two feet in diameter. It was bold water close into the reef. Among the cocoanuts we found some that had hung on the trees over one season ; the effect on them was new to us all ; in lieu of the milk there was a pithy substance evidently the com- 6 82 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. mencement of vegetation ; the white meat was jet good. The cocoanut tree starts from the cocoaiiut through the eyes or the small holes which you see in the shell end ; if not right up the tree will grow in a direction accordingly. The Indians have a good way of climl)ing these trees, which I do not recollect ever seeing described. They fasten the two ends of a rope to their ankles, clasping their feet around the tree in the ordinary manner, which j) re vents them from slipping. I saw some quahogs, or round clams on the beach, but we were told they were scarce, but were plenty at Guam, which is also, with Tenian, one of the group of Ladrone Islands. Our crew were at this time completely out of tobacco, which is an important thing with sailors ; they there got a comforta- ble supply .from the Spaniards. We got a few yams which kept better than those we had before ; they were brought up from Moryann, and I suppose fully ripe when they were dug. It is said there are guanacos and pearl oysters at Saypan, by Byron. Latitude of Tenian is 14° 54' N. and longitude by our lunar 144° 32' East. We sailed from Tenian on the 3d of October. On the 12th began squally, dirty weather, which lasted four or live days. Saw a flock of birds and passed us alongside a devil's needle, or with us what is called Ave finger. On the 15th, four heron flew around us several times ; apparently wished to alight, being tired. Jack Davis hove the grains into a dol- phin which escaped, but the grains brought up out of the in- side of the dolphin, a very slender fish of six inches in length, whole. October 17th, per lunar, our longitude 124° 56' east, 18' at 1 p. M. we made the Island of Monmouth, one of the Bashee Islands ; wind far northerly ; could not weather them till the 19th at 2 P. M. A small hawk flew into our cabin window. Finding our decks badly eaten by our hogs we knocked out their fore-teeth ; this we should have done at first. On the 21st, in the evening, we were much alarmed at being surrounded with small vessels ; we feared they were Ladrones, which lately have been troublesome. We got prepared for THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 83 them but tliey were nothing but Chinese fishermen. At 10 P. M. we made the Lama Islands ; 22d and 23d we had a heavy gale of wind which increased to a hurricane. Carpenter pre- pared to cut away our masts, but at about 11 P. M. the gale abated. At 8 o'clock in the morning of the 24th we made the Grand Ladrone ; passed a Chinese dismasted and the rudder and other evidences of wrecked fishermen. At 1 P. M. we anchored at Macao roads, broad off, in five fathoms water, and went on shore to get a pilot for Canton. Our first duty was to call on the Governor and after that the Commodore of the Eng- lish ships in the Tyjja, which were but three, commanded by Capt. Turner. I suppose we were under no obligation to call on the Englishman, but it is the practice, and I was gratified at hearing an English gentleman there say he had been consider- ably in America and that he thought that a public house kept by Butler, at New Haven, was the best he had been in, and asked me if I was ever there. Found at Peters, usually called the only public house, Capts. Swift and Garden. Capt. Swift's brig drove out of Macao Roads yesterday with three anchors ahead and Capt. Swift almost crazy, fearing she was lost and almost crazy to find her now in sight, returning. Swift had been in three days from the northwest coast of America in the brig Hazard ; has been out twenty-six months ; he left the Sandwich Islands ten days after we did and says he was told there that we were too indulgent in allowing so many to come on board, in consequence of which some of them endeavored to lay a plan to cut us off, but we kept too good a look-out for them. There was terrible work among their fishermen yester- day ; in going on board to-day we saw the wreck of another one. Macao was given by the Chinese to the Portuguese as a place of residence and a free port, for services rendered in a former war with the Ladrones. There is a Portuguese Gover- nor, but there are many Chinese here and two Chinese temples and enough of the Chinese jurisdiction is reserved that it can- not be alienated from the Portuguese ; the Chinese will never allow any other nation any jurisdiction there. There are a number of handsome buildings and the town is walled in and 84 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. pretty well fortified. Wliat is called the inner harbor is a good one for about thirteen feet of water, but frigates lie in the Typa. There are now here thirteen sail of square-rigged vessels and a number of small craft in the inner harbor. The hurri- cane did them no injury for the harbor is like a mill-pond. The vessels lying here are from one hundred to three hundred tons burthen. It is a place of summer residence when no busi- ness is doing at Canton, for the supercargoes and clerks of the East India Company, and is where they can live at less expense and more pleasantly than at Canton. I, however, saw very little that was inviting. I saw a few Portuguese women on the street, but they were so closely veiled that I could not say whetlier they were handsome or ugly, but if reports are true I might have examined their features more closely for a trifling compensation. We bought eggs and oranges for half a dollar a hundred, and wine good at the hotel for three-quarters of a dollar a bottle. There are about a dozen churches and about four thousand inhabi. ants. The most they do, I believe, is to go to church. There is no enterprise with them ; at the first settlement it was very flourishing, but wealth, which built it up, was probably the cause of its decline ; they became luxur- ious and enervated. I tliink a very profitable trade might be carried on with Cochin China and Siam, and perhaps there would not be so mucli difficulty in opening a trade with this from Japan as from some other places. The jealousy of the Japanese might not operate so strongly as it would with a more powerful and a more of an European settlement. A trade with Japan was once carried on from here, but it failed from some cause, what I do not know, but I believe want of enterprise. It was at this place that Metcalf and Hendricks spent their money wliich they made on their Northwest voyages ; on their return voyage they generally, saile a very troublesome job. The Chinese always, as we say liei-e, squeeze hard in such cases, that is, make you pay well for such indulgence. We have now our cabin so filled up that we have only just room to get to our berths and the table ; we have no light from our skjMight or cabin windows, and after all our ship is very tender-sided. As the Ladrones are said to be troublesome we applied to the English ships that were about ready for sea for convoy out, but as they were mercliant ships they would not be under engagement to keep company ; I do not blame them for that. On the Tth we got under way for good, and at 10 o'clock this morning we landed our pilot at this place with a Mr. James Byers, of Baltimore, who came down from Whampoa with us. Coming down we ran foul of the fish stakes, but did no injury of importance. These stakes are set out on the shoal ground as they are in the North River, but are much lai'ger ; they are in six or eight fathoms water and are the largest bamboos, which THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 89 are very stout, and smaller vessels are sometimes injured by them. Good bye to Canton. I shall now sit down and give you a short sketch, but more particular of this place. Canton is situated on a considerable river about twenty-five miles from its mouth, and about ten miles from Whampoa, the anchoi-age of the ships ; the current of the ebb and flow of the tide is very strong ; therefore, taking the tide right, the passage up and down is convenient except- ing at the chop-houses, where they overhaul everything we have with us, which is four times on the passage. I think the river in its size would compare with the Delaware, but running more extensively into the country than that ; its sides have a great deal of low grounds called paddyfields, which is rice grounds and alluvial. On the river the floating part of the natives are in junks, sampans and what are called pleasure-boats by the foreigners ; the latter appear rather like a very tasty floating house of one story, with a flat roof and a pleasant walk on the top, where the women show themselves. They are really many of them very elegant, but it would be madness for a foreigner to visit them ; there have been frequent traps laid to entice foreigners into them, l)y some of the lower ofticers of the government, and then squeeze them, as we say in China, out of as much money as the aggressor has the ability to pay ; if a supercargo, a high price, but if a petty oflieer, a small one. These women are neatly dressed, the hair brought very smoothly from every side to the crown of the head, and then wound around itself and there confined by a sort of knob and skewered, as it were, go well as not to show the end of a hair. Notwithstanding their complexions were Indian-like, there was something very inviting in their appearance and on the whole they really looked very handsome, although perhaps a very correct de- scription of features and complexion would not appear so ; it is probable they looked more fascinating by far to us, from having so long been deprived of seeing those that were dressed conformable to the delicate character of a female. You must not charge me wrongfully for describing these females as 1 do, 90 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. for there was nothing' in their appearance that was indelicate towards us and they are the only well-dressed females we have it in our power to see. The sampans are small boats roofed over and the sides enclosed, very convenient for passengers, and are generally sculled, which is the greatest power that can be applied with one oar. Many of the boats are large enough for a whole fam- ily, which is the only Jiome they have. Their children carry between their shoulders a gourd, fast, for a buoy, if they fall overboard. The junks are for freight; they are several hun- dred tons burthen and carry very large cargoes ; their holds are divided into ten or a dozen parts and each part is water- tight ; the seams of the vessel throughout are tilled with a Chinam, as it is called here, made from lime and oil. If the junk springs a leak, the cargo is not subject to damage but in one of the apartments, and the vessel would not be likely to go down. They are strange looking things ; their sails are of bamboo and they sail very fast, a little from the wind, and much better than you would have an idea of on the wind. Some of these things navigate the China seas ; they go to Manilla, to Batavia and Cochin China. In addition to the water craft is wliat is called their man-of-war boats ; they are continually passing up and down the river ; they are full of soldiers and mandarins, and with their gongs make a great noise, but, T believe, that it is with them, as I always calculate it is with individuals, their power is in an inverse ratio to their noise. These boats, with some of their heavy junks armed, go down to attack the Ladrones when their encroachments bring them very near the mouth of the river. They go down with much spirit, gongs a going and to each boat about a dozen colors flying, till they are sure they see them, when they about ship and return. The heavy guns on board the junks are firmly fixed ; therefore they have only to bring their vessel to bear in lieu of the gun ; this saves the trouble of each separate gun to bear, for they all bear at once, if they bear at all. The Ladrones inhabit the islands along the coast and are i THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 91 really pirates; they be.ijan with disaffected Chinese and are continually joined by such characters. They are numerous, and are getting to be a nation of themselves, and unless the Chinese get to be somewhat naval or get the aid of some naval power, they will get very powerful, for they are rend- ered desperate by their mode of life. Although the Chinese have very little foreign commerce, really but next to none, yet the lishing along the coast may be an important nursery for seamen, and they are experts in the management of their boats, but they are so hostile to all improvement and so teua- ciously fond of, as they say, when they express themselves in English, that have old custo?ns, that they will not benefit by what they see in others. If the world were like the Chinese we should yet have worn fig-leaves when the climate would allow it. Their gongs are very noisy instruments : they are round, about the size of the bottom of a pretty large brass kettle, and much like it, allowing it to be cut off, with a small rim ; it is a composition and rings with a very sonorous, jar- ring noise, that may be heard much further than a drum ; the vibration is astonishing and I can compare it to nothing so well as to the wheel for hoisting and lowering in father's store, allowing it to be lowering a hogshead of sugar and suffered to let run with its utmost velocity ; it then wants adding the clos- ing sound of the toll of a bell. These intolerable things are going on the liver generally the most of the night. The noise is made on them with a small wooden pestle, which is covered with leather and struck by hand, but you cannot distinguish between the strokes; the vibration is continual. We saw men, women and children on board their fishing boats. The weather was so bad we had not an opportunity of seeing them fishing. We were told their fishing was with nets. The city of Canton is very well supplied with fish and they are carried through the streets alive in tubs in water, in which is not more than half enough to co\er them, and a tub on each end of a bamboo and carried on a man's shoulder. The markets for provisions generally are many, being small open squares at different parts of the city ; vegetables are sold by 92 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. individuals at their various stands in the streets all over the litj. We are obliged by custom to employ what is here called a corapradore, who furnishes us with all our necessary eatables and drinkables, out of which we suppose he makes a profit of two or three hundred per cent, ; that is, we suppose he buys for about one-quarter what he charges us. lie charged us for beef, 7 kinderines ; ducks, 10 kinderines ; or in our own coun- try say, beef, 9 cents per catty ; ducks, 13 cents each ; fowls, 20 cents ; lisli, 10 cents ; pork, IT cents per catty, or for a pound and a third, which is a catty ; which makes the provis- ions to us about the same as at home ; eggs, 8 cents per dozen. Their poultry is good, their mutton and pork excellent, but their beef indifferent. They have all the West Indian fruits and some more. They are supplied with apples, pears and peaches, which are brought down the canals from the north- ward, but I saw none, but indifferent. The oranges are deli- cious, of a greater variety than I ever saw before ; the real China orange is little larger than a lime. They distinguish the good and bad qualities, by Mandarin, for good, and cooly, which signifies a common laborer, for the indifferent. The Mandarin is remarkably tender ; you separate it into the divis- ions and take off the peel with the utmost ease with your ling- ers. They are great hands at dwarfing, and we frequently see small orange trees like a Jerusalem cherry-tree in their houses, full of oranges, and no larger. Their cooking appears to be on the most saving plan ; they use generally cliarcoal for fuel, and their cooking utensils are the thinnest and finest cast-iron I ever saw. Their meat was chopped up fine and of several different dishes ; each man would take his saucer, and taking a little from every dish, make one to suit his own palate. I speak of the common people that were in their boats ; they use no knives or forks, but chop-sticks, which are nothing but single, small, round sticks, four or five inches long, two of which they handle in one hand, only with an unaccountable convenience and dexterity. I could not get a mouthful with them, but they are used to them. When Caj^t. Greene was here, a voyage before this, he, with several others, requested THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 93 the Hong merchant, who had given them an invitation to dine with them, to give it to them in the complete China style ; he did so, and they could not eat a mouthful and be decent in doing it, to his very great amusement, but as a Chinese will never fall short in politeness, he was already prepared to change the table to the English style, and they had an elegant dinner. The Hong merchant, who does the business of a ship, gives several entertainments to the captain and supercargo of a ship, and they invite such of their friends as they please ; they are always in very handsome style, completely foreign ; good wine and porter, which they, the Chinese, generally get fond of, but never to intoxication. Every guest has his own servant behind him at the table and smokes either the hookah or cigars, as he pleases. There was a chandelier over the table of our merchant which cost two thousand dollars. The bird's- nest soup forms always a part of the fare ; although it is very expensive, my taste was not sufficiently reiined to value it equal to its cost. The bii'd's-nest is glutinous and gives consist- ence to the soup, without, I thought, any additional flavor. The nests are of a very glutinous substance and perfectly trans- parent, so that after seeing them, you could have no prejudice of uucleanliness to operate in your mind. They are collected from islands in the China Seas and are said to be the nests of a species of swallow that build them in caverns of roeks by the seashore. They have a great variety of fancy birds carried around for sale in their cages, which are learned to be amusing, some by singing and some by flying. I have seen them, with a bird on their finger, toss almost out of sight some single small kernel, when the bird would fly and bring it back, lighting on the hand, with many other pretty tricks ; but they are great cheats with them. While we were at Canton the mate of a vessel bought a cage-full of birds of various and beautiful plumage and was delighted to carry home such a beautiful variety of birds, when one evening a sudden shower came up and they were forgotten on deck, after which he found his birds all changed, the paint washed off and not a handsome one among M THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE them. He opened bis cage, let all his birds at liberty, d — d the Chinaman, and hove his cage overboard. A man should have his eje-teeth cut to come to Canton. The carpenter of our ship having paid eight dollars for a purchase, thi-ough the art of the Chinaman got into a dispute, when the carpenter demanded his money, and did not find out that, in lieu of his good, he had received counterfeit, until he had gone down on board of the ship when he found every dollar was a plated one. I made a contract for a hundred umbrellas and laying the sample one side I gave a scratch with my nail on the handle as customary. The Chinaman brought it to our factory when I at once saw it was an inferior quality and without the scratch : that made me sure. I kicked the fellow down stairs for a vil- lain. This is allowable here in such cases and the easiest way of getting satisfaction, but to do it is not exactly pleasing, for they are the most humble beings on earth, which rather gives it the appearance of a cowardly act, and one that I should not mention but to give you a little of the character of the people. There however is but one other quarrel that I got into, in which case I happened to have it with one of rather more spirit. It was while we were packing our Bohea which is trod into the chests bare-footed ; to protect their feet they are apt if not closely watched to put on their heel a sort of shoe which is injurious to the tea by grinding it to a powder. The boxes we set in tiers and we pack two hundred in a day, one man to each chest, which makes it a very unpleasant, dusty, dirty business. We generally walk around among them and if they do not readily lift up their feet to show they have nothing on we give them a rap over the shins. One that I struck very moderately came at me. I fortunately had the advantage of him, and he fell, where he could not stir without help, between his own and another chest ; the rest appeared to take no notice and he got up and went to work quietly, iirst taking off his heel- shoe. The Bohea is firstly examined in baskets that it is brought from the country in, of about fifty pounds ; it is then started into a large heap and mixed as much as possible that it THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 95 may be alike ; in this situation we were not satisfied with ours and in consequence our merchant mixed with a consid- erable Campoy an inferior quality of Souchong and we now think it is good : it is taken from the heap in fan-like bas- kets and put into the chests. We began at four o'clock in the morning and finished the packing part about eleven o'clock, for which the laborers received a York shilling or l^^ cts. The carpenters and plumbers then come in and finish about three or four o'clock in the afternoon, when we clean up and dine with the Chinese merchant. We took on board twelve hundred chests of Bohea. The fine teas are exported in the same chests that they are brought from the country in. In the weight of our teas and account of our cargo I always every night compared notes with the head Chinese clerk, or purser as they are there called, and we never dif- fered ; they are very correct. The prices of our teas were 12^ cts. per lb. Bohea, 45 to 48 cts. per lb. for Hyson, Sou- chong 28 to 36 ; the inferior we call Campoy ; Hyson Skin 28 cts. ; this tea I think the highest for its quality for it is the broken Hyson and not strength equal to the price. I believe Hyson clieaper to drink and it certainly is better flavored. There are a number of different sorts of green teas that come from the same plant. The Young Hyson in the name speaks for itself ; it is the young leaf. The Gun- powder is the leaf fully grown, but rolled, every leaf, between the fingers. There are however different qualities of plants as well as situations for the growth. The plants for the black tea are more various. The Chinese drink the black teas, but not because they think it more healthy on account of the manner of curing, as has been suggested, but from habit, and they have no higher- priced teas than the best qiialities black. It is always in their shops as a beverage, given to you without milk and with sugar candy, but which they do not always use them- selves but sometimes. The mode of trying the quality of teas is in small cups with covers ; a given quantity of the tea put in and filled with hot water ; from the color and the strength they determine ; a bright straw color with 96 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. Btrengtli is best for the greens ; they do not generally taste it but sometimes smell of the steam. The Europeans generally take better teas than the Americans and pay a higher price, but they do not trade on any better terms. I believe the Americans stand as fair as any nation notwithstanding the late expedition by Lord McCartney, which cost the British about a million of pounds sterling, for the purpose of endeavoring a monopoly of the trade, in which they were defeated. The Americans bring specie or skins, both of which are much wanted, but the East India Company carry their manufactures to a considerable amount, although unprofitable, for it is a stipulation in their charter that they shall do so. The Americans and English are never on good terms ; there is a jealousy between them ; the hauteur of the Englishman does not please the Yankees ; there is scarcely any intercourse between them. The Eng- lish ships are much larger ; some of them twelve or iifteen hundred tons, generally a thousand. There is a Dane load- ing of near two thousand tons. Agriculturists are the most respected in China and it is said the emperor in person holds the plow once a year. Their exports are but a drop in the ocean compared to their internal consumption and I believe the exports of all countries are even ahead ; I mean com- mercial countries. Any difficulty between the foreign vessels and the government of Canton produces a prohibition of inter- course at once until it is settled ; the head officer of Canton has the power that always -brings them to terms. The City of Canton is not far from the City of London in its size ; it is walled in and foreigners are not allowed to go within the wall but are confined to the suburbs. In appear- ance there is no difference between the suburbs and city ; it is all joined together ; the gate that opens to the city is open in the daytime and no guard : in a v;^alk alone I concluded I would keep on till I was told to stop ; I had just got inside the gate when I was told : " No can do Typan ;" no can and no can repeated, when I thought best to return. Many of the Chi- nese about Canton know what is meant by " No can." Typan THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 97 is applied generally to a foreigner and strictly to a supercargo. The streets are narrow and paved witli fiat stone ; the sides of the houses are generally lath and plaster and the rest covered with tile, not elegant but neat. The merchants live in the city, so that we never go to their houses, and I am told that one brother is never introduced to the wife of the other. The street fronting on the river is filled with factories of the differ- ent nations who trade there ; they each hoist their flag in front ; these buildings make an elegant front, being k^^pt clean by whitewash; the ground rent for these buildings is very high. Opposite Canton on the other side of the river are several temples or places of worship. I visited it and was treated with some tea and some small cakes and they expected in return some small present. They looked like a parcel of poor Catholic friars, and though they lived by begging and as though you could not refuse them your mite. It is like all populous countries, there are many beggars. I have seen these poor mor- tals, beggars in the streets of Canton, cut themselves until they were covered with blood to excite my pity and draw a mere trifle from ray purse ; others beat their breasts with a stone ; others follow with a sort of corn-stalk fiddle until somethino- would be given to get rid of them. Small boys running and singing in a very pitiful strain, " Comshaw, Typan, no have chow-chow to-day, Typan ;" that is no have eat to-day, repeated until they got a few cash, wdiich is less than a cent. A poor beggar was sick before our factory; I sent him rice and soup but he could not eat ; I saw he must die : I asked the Com23ra- dore what was to be done with him and asked if he could not be brought into the lower room of the factory ; he said no, if he was and died we should be charged with the murder ; that they all had their masters whose duty it w^as to take care of them. He died there and lay through the day before he was taken off, notwithstanding it appears to be a well regulated police for it is a remarkably quiet city. I believe there are fewer personal quarrels than with any other people ; they talk loud but very seldom fight. 7 98 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE, There are eight Hong merchants that do the large business. A number associate and form a capital, doing their business under a title, saj Ponqua, Chronqua, Howcjue, Consequa, Nurqua, Yonqua ; each of them is the name of the Hong, and as one does the business he goes by that name, which perhaps is his own name or perhaps an assumed one. They are very respectable merchants and are above all little mean tricks, and I presume as honorable as any merchants whatever. It is the law to banish as slaves those who fail : it is therefore not uncommon for others at a hong to give a helping hand, even to several hundred thousand dollars, to the one who may be unfortunate. There are other merchants from whom we buy our China-ware that are very clever and honorable, and some whom we call chow-chow merchants, that deal in everything. With these is the nursery for the Hong, the most respectable being the ones chosen. They are frequently much opposed to going into the Hong, considering it hazardous, and to prevent it do a great business frequently in a very sly manner. Among this class of merchants are the rogues, although there are among them many who ai-e honest and would despise a mean action. It is the practice to purchase the bulk of a cargo from the Hong or Security merchants, but there is no obligation to do it, and we purchase considerable, as we may, out-doors. If we should be cheated in any one of our fine teas, which is not uncommon, by being packed up with sawdust or something as bad, we can send it out next season and receive double ; this is customary, although the man from whom we purchased it may have been deceived also. We believe we have been particular enough not to be cheated much, but perhaps we are under a mistake. The China-ware is brought from the country plain, and painted according to fancy in the city ; they make us pay double price when they put a cypher on it, because they say it must go again into the kiln. They are great copyists, and we have several sets of china to order with the family coat-of-arms. All with whom we traded considerably, when we sailed, made us presents, say gave us Comshaw : my Comshaws are worth three or four hundred dollars, and Capt. Greene's more. This THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 99 is done to get the good-will when we return. Capt. Greene and myself, in compan}- with Richard I. Cleveland and Tongue, a Chinese merchant, have litted out an expedition to the North- west Coast ; it is a cutter sloop of about eighty tons, com- pletely armed with brass carriage guns and commanded by the said Cleveland, who is a Salem, Massachusetts, man, and a most enterprising fellow, who says when he returns to America he intends to do it in a Chinese junk. The vessel and outfits cost us a little rising eighteen thousand dollars, and we have given him a ewHe hianche and to settle with us when he gets through the voyage. This vessel has nade one successful voyage on to the coast, commanded by Capt. Lay, an Englisli- man. It is time I should say something of the religion of these Chinese, l)ut I scarcely know what it is. It is not con- nected with the government, and I believe their ideas on the subject are very various. They worship images which appear to be made agreeable to accidental ideas that may strike the mind, part men or women and part beast perhaps, and some parts indescribable, being like nothing else ; their images are extremely various. They burn incense and call it chin-chin for Joss, — that is an offering to their god. They appear to have an idea of one supreme god, and there is an inferior one for each of themselves ; they appear to think they have a joss apiece. Most of the merchants have a small square hole in the side of their houses where they burn joss-stick and sometimes frankincense, and as they laughingW say " to bring them good luck." They have, like other countries, much superstition. I followed a host of them into one of their temples ; they went on for some time, with a great deal of a])]5arent solemnity, in burning their incense, and when they had all very devotionally kneeled, one, turning around and seeing me, burst into a con- siderable laugh: the others went on undisturbed; I suppose he knew" that I considered it all flummery. Their burning of incense, and manner of kneeling before the image is much like the Roman Catholic. Polygamy is general with the rich, and in describing their 100 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. wives they tell the size of the foot. There is a good deal of parade in a rich man receiving a wife, but none in receiving a concubine. It is more strictly concubinage that is allowed, for I believe the first only is considered strictly a wife ; at least she is the superior. I had an oppoi'tunity of seeing two of their processions when we were there ; they came from the other side of the river for the lady; first there were about twenty mandarins two and two, then a number of musicians playing on their several instruments a jargon of music, then a number of hand-barrows or inferior sedans without the box part, on which was a live hog with roast geese, ducks and other provisions which I was told were given to Joss through the poor, to make marriage propitious ; they went into the city in that way and returned in the same order, leaving behind them what was for Joss and bringing the lady in a very elegant sedan. She was so closely shut up that I could not see her. "When they set her down to take her into the boat, I walked all aronnd it and hoped to get a view of the bride, but could not. I have understood that the parents frequently receive hand- some comshaws for their daughter, but never give anything with them ; they cannot therefore be charged with the mean- ness of marrying for money: at least the men are free from the charge and the women don't appear to have so much as a nega- tive in the business. But we have but a very poor opporttinity of knowing the virtues and vices of this people ; I rather think they are about as good and about as happy as other folks. The emperor is said to be one of the best men in the world, but they are overrun with streets-full of petty mandarins, each of whom it must take a number of laborers to support ; this is one of the evils of their government that we as yet are free from. The head man of Canton has the power of a viceroy and is called the Hoppoo. Besides the manufactures of Great Britain the English ships bring to this market block-tin, lead, areca nut, opium, which is a prohibited article ard smuggled in, but generally landed as well as their women, if any on board, at Macao. No foreign woman is allowed an entrance into China. They use the areca THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 101 nut rolled in the betel leaf with a sort of Chi nam or lime which colors their teeth black ; it is erroneously frequently called the betel nut, on accoimt of the leaf that it is used with. It is not uncommon for their country ships, I mean the Eng- lish country ships, to arrive with a full cargo of areca nuts, rattans and block-tin, from the Straits of Malacca, which they take in their way from Bengal ; the captains of those ships tak- ing perhaps the whole on their own account, for they must have considerable perquisites to support their expenses : it must be a very pleasant command, for they live like princes and are lord of all there. Many of them carry a complete band of music. The most singular article of traffic, to me, in Canton, was their coffins sold publicly in the most public streets. A Chi- nese will often have his coffin in his house for years before his death, and frequently the son will keep the corpse of his father years in his house. The coffin, being dug from a solid log, when closed is so perfectly tight that it cannot be offensive. Their theatres have also been unnoticed ; they erect them publicly in the street, bring a stage across the whole street, and of sufficient height to be entirely out of the way. As to the merit of their plays I can say nothing. The actors appear to perform with spirit, are elegantly dressed, but are pantomimes to- us. As no females are allowed to go on the stage, the males appear in that character, and to represent the foot, which is an interesting part with them, they put on a carved foot on the ankle, endeavoring to hide under their garment the real foot, which being frequently exposed, makes a very ludicrous appearance ; they walk badly on them. Their tumbling, which is exhibited in the same manner, publicly and free of expense, is superior to anything in Europe. Their actors are sent annually by the Emperor from Pekin at his own expense, which is very politic, for it is considered as a very lilieral thing in the Emperor. Their jugglers equal any I ever saw ; they pass in and out of very small covered cups, small toads, Ush and many other things, with unaccountable dexterity, full as much so as they do the small balls with us. 102 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. Ship Neptune, at Sea, June 1st. 1799. ) Lat. 00° 40' S. longitude about 32° W.. near Equator. ^ Dear Brother: My last was off Macao under date of Jan. 8tli, last, and this brings us towards home, about which we begin to feel an anxiety which has been in a considerable degree driven out of our mind. Beside the anxiety to know the fate of our friends, who are dear to us, we are very mucli afraid that our country may be at war with either France or England ; therefore we are afraid of every thing we see. It would come rather hard, after so long a cruise, to lose all, but we must be philosophers if we do, and sailor-like take it cheerfully if we can and go to sea for more. Our sailors, who you know are on shares, now know what it will be when they get in, as the sales in Canton determined for them, provided we arrive safe. A sailor's share is upwards of twelve hundred dollars, and most of them are calculating to turn farmers, which I have noticed is the general calculation for sailors and is the airy castle which they build. I believe with most of our crew their money will do them good, but a few of them will be in a frolic till it is gone. Our boatswain spent two or three hundred dollars in Canton, and would have spent the whole of it, if we had not determined he should not ; but under pretence of clothing himself, he got as much as he could. It cost him about fifty dollars one day in the river to command a San-pan ; he said he was cut out to command, and really was a good officer when sober. He ordered the Chinaman about from one ship to another, d — ing his eyes and calling him all the rascals in the world, which he neither knew oi" cared about, if he got his pay. Every ship he visited he ti-eated the crew to samshew, which is new spirit just from the still, and worse than tafia in the West Indies. He, however, among the rest, calculates to be a farmer. Our blacksmith calculates incorrectly more cor- rect, I believe, for he says he shall get drunk as soon as we get in, and keep so until all is gone. We shall prevent it if possi- ble, for it is the only fault we know of the man. He has been a fine fellow the whole voyage and is a very prudent man in THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 103 everything but drink ; lie says it is the only pleasure he has in the world, and when he is pretty well in for it, he is as happy as any man in it. I pity the man, but admire his honesty. On tlie 8th of January, at 2 P. M. the Grand Ladrone bore N.N.E., distance 1 leagues; latitude of that island 21° 54' K, and longitude 113° 35' E. ; the brig '' Hazard " in our com- pany. Several of our crew were down with the tiux and we hoped they would have immediate relief by getting to sea, but it proved otherwise. On the 14th we lost our old cook, Jack Lloyd Wolsey, a black man, sixty-one years of age, a smart old fellow, who had made one voyage of this sort before with Capt. Greene. On the 5th of March we lost William Riley, aged 22 years; he has left a widow and an uncle in Philadelphia; was an Irishman that shipped with us in Canton. We buried them with decency in the ocean and, as practised with sailors, over the standing part of the fore sheet, after reading the funeral service. On the 8th of xVpril we buried Leverett Grisw^old, our first mate ; w^e launched him from a plank over the quarter-rail, after sewing him up in a blanket with sufficient w^eight at his feet to sink him. He was buried in as respectable a man- ner as was in our power ; he was a very fine man and esteemed highly by all on board ; lie was nearly twenty-four years of age, and had been with Capt. Greene for more than ten years. The disorder is yet on board of us, but more moderate. I am the only man that has not been sick in the cabin. Capt. Greene was very sick for a few days .and at this time is the only one with myself well. We have both officers quite un- well, but not down. It has been a very unpleasant passage. Our sick took off our fresh stock pretty fast ; however, I stand living on salt junk pretty well. Yams l)eing the best vegeta- bles to keep, we have husbanded them along and have a few yet which we cut up and give the crew occasionally to keep off the scurvy. On the 11th of January, at noon, we got soundings on the Markleiield Bank. 14th, at 5 P. M. we saw the Brothers. 15th, at 8 A. M. saw Pulo Sapata ; Pulo in these seas signifies island. 104 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE, One of the crew at tlie arm-chest carelessly set tire to it, M^hich blew up the cartridge boxes and powder horns ; no serious injury. At 2 P. M. of the ITth saw Pulo Condore. 18th, Capt. Swift from the brig came on board, being the first visit since we left Canton, the weather having been rough most of the time. 19th, the brig made a signal for a sail in sight, which proved to be a Chinese junk standing to S.E. 20th, we saw the Islands of Tymoan and of Arona. 21st, we bore away for the mouth of the Straits of Malacca ; we con- cluded to go through these straits as likely to be more free from cruisers, and when we left Canton there was strong talk of war with France. At noon in lat. 1° 21' N., near Pedro Blanco, saw a brig which alarmed us considerably ; we prepared to engage her but she took no notice of us. We anchored in the evening under St. Jolm's in 20 fatlioms. 23d, got under way early with the tide and ancliored again near Barn Island ; a number of small islands around us. Three canoes of Malays came on board and bi-ought lish ; they wanted nothing but dollars in payment. They were about the color of the Sand- wich Islanders, noses rather flat, small feet, short black straight hair, a small narrow cloth around the waist and a handkerchief of English manufacture around their heads. 23d, saw another brig which we did not like the ajjpearance of ; she passed us within about a mile. 25th, a ship passed us showing the Company's colors, which w^ere a blue cross for the union and eleven red and white stripes. We stood along close in with Malacca, which had English colors flying at their fort. It appeared like a small place ; houses looked very white and but one story ; there was one ship, one brig and a lugger lying there. 2Hth, the coast of Sumatra in sight, w^hich we had not seen before. Saw five Malay proas, singularly rigged. 27th, another brig passed us, showing black or dark blue colors. On the 29th, having anchored in the evening and it being very cark, we flred a signal for the brig to anchor. A cow- house fixed in a timber-head forw^ard moved so that it broke it short olf, which proved the bad quality of hickory as to dura- bility, for it was of that wood and had been put in but 18 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. 105 months before by our carpenter and appeared like ^ood wood ; it appeared to be a dry white rot, life gone. On the 30th saw about fifty proas. February 2d, we made the Island of Pen- ang, or as it is now called by the English, Prince of Wales Island, and anchored at dark off that island ; at noon our lati- tude was 4° 50' N. On the 3d at noon, Penang bearing the southern point E. by S. i S. two leagues distant, we observed in lat. 5° 24' N. Wind light ; could not get into the harbor till the morning of the 5th when we anchored near the fort in 7 fathoms, good bottom. In the afternoon Capt. Greene, myself and the doc- tor, with Capt. Swift of the brig, went on shore where we ex- perienced a little of the meanness of some characters. When we were at Canton a Capt. Mackerel, a very gentle- manly man at other gentlemen's quarters, spent a week with us at our factory, and was made perfectly at home ; when he left us he very politely thanked us and begged if we ever came to Penang we would call on him immediately. As we were pleased with him we, saiis ceremonie, went immediately to his house where we soon found we were not as welcome to him as we had been in Canton ; in place of a hearty welcome it was the reception of a coffee-house acquaintance. We left him very soon and went to the tavern and ordered dinner, where he had imj^udence enough to call and breakfast with us next morning. We let it pass over, having rather too much pride to show we noticed it, but we shall never forget it. This was the more extraordinary as we were in one of the most hospi- table countries on earth where we experienced it ; but hos- pitality is what should be received from one and paid to an- other. The ordinary was good but the lodgings bad at the tavern, it not being common to put up at a tavern at all there ; it is merely that there may be a place for an entire stranger to stop at if he prefers it, although, if a gentleman, he would be perfectly welcome at any of the planters. We stopped here to wood and water, being a free port, only paying a trifle for anchorage, and while that was going on we spent our time very pleasantly on shore. A Mr. Laten came to the tavern 106 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEPTUNE. and gave us an invitation to liis honse about three miles in the country, which we accepted. We went on board and towards evening we landed and walked up to his house, about three- fourths of a mile from the landing, through a delightful grove of cocoanut trees and betel -nut trees, perfectly free of under- brush and very level. "We found it and the air around it perfumed with the cinnamon and cloves growing there. I never thought I was in the Garden of Eden before. He had in his garden the cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and all the fruits peculiar to this climate, oranges, pineapples, limes, NEW HAVEN IN 1784. 121 years ; this was the smallest in size of any of the church build- ings mentioned, somewhat less than sixty by forty feet. Besides the Episcopalians there was a score of Sandemanians, the most radical of " New Light " sects, too much so for even Mr. Edwards to tolerate, who had held separate services for u dozen years or more ; for a time they had had two elders or ministers in charge of their simple worship, but these leaders had sympathized (as did others of the flock) too plainly with Tory principles to remain here in the Revohition ; and the remnant that was left had dwindled into insignificance. There were also one or two Jew^ish families, the first of which appeared here in 1772. I have mentioned the chief Ijuildings on the Green. There was, besides, a wooden jail, on College street, near the North end of the present State House, built in 1735, with Stephen Munson, a college graduate, for jailor; but this dilapidated structure was replaced, late in the year 1784, by "a new jail, built just across the street, under the eaves of the college. Adjoining the old jail on the North, and near the street, was a tavern, about opposite the present Old Chapel. Adjacent to the jail on the south was the old County Court House, the upper floor of which had been used also as a State House for many years before the new one was built : in this building, or in a separate building near it, the Hopkins (xrammar School, which was now in a very low condition, was kept by Mr. Richard Woodlmll, a middle-aged man, of competent learning, M^hose career as a college tutor had been interrupted many years before by his conversion to Sandemauianism, and whose attitude in the Eevolution as a non-resistant and loyalist had interfered still further witli his prospects. Besides this, there was a brick school-house on the Elm street side of the Green, north of and older than the Fair Haven meeting-house, and here youth of both sexes were taught. Occupying a good part of the upper Green, which then sloped much more than now from west to east, on the south side and at the back of the Brick meeting-house, was the ancient burial-ground, of irregular shape, which had lately been 122 NEW HAVEN IN 1Y84. inclosed by a rough board fence. This was the only fence on or about the whole Green, the rest being entirely open to the surrounding streets, and the more level lower Green especially being a common thoroughfare for all sorts of travel. The great road from Litchfield and the west, which was the only entrance to town from that quarter, came downi Broadway and Elm street, entered the Green at the College street corner, and ran diagonally to the corner of Church and Chapel. Two hundred and iifty buttonwood and elm trees, set out in 1759 around the Green, were now half grown ; of these I take it that the solitary buttonwood, still standing opposite the First Methodist Church, is a survivor ; the veteran elm at the south- east corner of the Green may be older, and a few others of our oldest elms may be relics of this planting. On the Green itself no trees were standing ; but a single row of elms were placed a year or two later, on the line of Temple street, in front of the State House and the churches. Next in interest to the Green was the College which fronted uj)on it. The building originally named Yale College, which had stood in the front corner of the yard, had recently (as the result of a partial demolition effected by an attack of disorderly students in the winter of 1782-83) been removed; and the three buildings which in 1784 represented the College are all now standing, though greatly transformed. The oldest, Connecticut Hall, or South Middle, built in 1750-51, instead of being the four-storied structure which it is to-day, had but three stories with a gambrel roof, and lodged about one-third of the students ; what is now the AtheuiTeum, built in 1761-63, was of three stories, with steeple and bell, and contained the chapel, library, and apparatus-room ; and in the rear was the new dining-hall, built in 1782, later the chemical laboratory. Besides these there were the President's house, built of wood in 1722, and an elegant mansion for that date, standing a little north of the present College street Church ; and the Professor of Divinity's house, also belonging to the College, on York street, on the ground now appropriated to the Medical School. The President was Dr. Ezra Stiles, one of the most learned NEW HAVEN IN 1784. 123 Americans of his generation, now 56 years of age, having been six years in office ; while the Professor of Divinity, or College pastor, and at the same time lecturer on theological topics, was the E.ev. Samuel Wales, a young man of 36, installed only two years before, and now at the height of his usefulness, his remarkable power as a preacher as yet unaffected by the insid- ious disease which soon ended his career. There were enrolled as students during the current term Nov. 12-Jan. 13), the tirst term of the College year, 260 undergraduates, twenty-five per cent, more than in any other American college ; but the great irregularity of attendance which was then common reduced the number actually present to less than 225. The Junior class was instructed by Tutor Josiah Meigs, and the Sophomores by Tutor Matthew Talcott Russell, while the Freshman class was so unusually large as to be divided under the care of the two youngest tutors, Simeon Baldwin and Henry Channing. The other officers were, James Hillhouse, a young lawyer, treasurer, and Jeremiah Atwater, steward. I have thus named all that can be called public buildings in the town ; certainly there was no bank, — that luxuiy did not come till 1792; no post office, — the infrequent mails were handled in a corner of a small country -store ; no almshouse,— for was it not voted, at the town-meeting in March, 1783, " That the selectmen vendue [that is, farm out at auction] the poor of the town which are now supported by the town so that they may be supported in the cheapest manner ;" no hospital, except the town pest-house on Grapevine Point, for the inocu- lation and treatment of small-pox, then so formidable ; and no public library, though this is less a wonder, since it is also true of New Haven in 1884. Turning to the classes which made up society, besides the professional men already mentioned, there were eight or nine lawyers in active practice ; but the very recent growth of that profession in importance and public favor, and the losses it had suffered through loyalty to the British crown, are shown by the fact that the senior members of the bar were Charles Chauncey 124 NEW HAVEN IN 1784. and Jonathan Inp^ersoll, each only thirty-six years of aeje, while the leader of the profession in brilliancy was Pierpont Edwards, two years younger, whose annual income of $2000 was said a little later to be the largest earned by any lawyer in the State. The medical profession had also eight or nine representa- tives in what became the city, — the leading physician, alike in reputed skill and social status, being Dr. Leverett Hubbard, President of the County Medical Society which was founded this same month, who lived in his new stone dwelling still standing at the junction of George and Meadow streets. Dr. John Spalding, after his removal here in the spring of 1784, was considered tlie leadino; sursreon. As for the business of the city, there was the usual provision for domestic ti'ading common to a place of this size. A statis- tical enumeration gives iifty-six shops, half a dozen of which carried from two or three thousand pounds (sterling) worth of goods, and the rest from £500 to £150 worth. What after- wards became the leading retail house of Broome & Piatt was not removed here from New York till September, 1784 ; Shipman, Drake, Howell, Perit, Helms, Austin, are among the other leading names. There were no local manufactures, — the long course of British rule liad thoroughly stamped out every- thing of that sort ; the utmost that was done was the ordinary spinning and weaving for domestic use, and a little ironwork- ing and papermaking. In one direction, however, there was activity. New Haven, in fultillment of the dream of its founders and of all the early generations, was already of importance as a sea-port ; it had in operation extensive oyster fisheries ; it had its Union Wharf and Long Wharf, though not so long as now ; already, since the announcement of peace, vessels had begun to sail direct for England and Ireland, though the main stay was commerce with the West Indies, so far as they were open to us, in the export of horses, oxen, pork, beef, and lumber, with return cargoes of sugar and molasses. In 1784 thirty -six American vessels, with one British ship and one Danish, are recorded as entering this NEW HAVEN IN 1784. 125 port, while thirtj-three sea-going vessels were owned here, all engaged in foreign and West-India trade, as against forty that were owned just before the war began in 1775 ; at the close of warlike operations in 1781, this number had dwindled to one solitary vessel, so that the return of prosperity had been rapid in this branch ; most of those now owned were built here or in the immediate neighborhood. There was at least one line of packets carrying both passengers and freight to New York weekly during the open season ; and another weekly line run- ning to New London and Norwich. The collector of customs for the United States Government was Jonathan Fitch, a son of Governor Fitch, of Norwalk, and a Yale graduate, who had married early a step-daughter of President Clap and had served for a generation before the war as steward of the college. The central government was also represented by the post- master, Elias Beers, whose office was next the store of his elder brother, Isaac Beers, on the College street side of the corner now occupied by the New Haven House. Post-riders took letters twice (or in severe weather, once) a week to New York, doing a large commission business, to the Ijenefit of their own pockets, by the way. The return mails from New York divided at New Haven, one gohig each week via New London and Providence to Boston, the other taking the inland route to the same destination by Hartford and Springfield, and by each route there was a return mail weekly ; the branching of the post-routes at this point into two eastward routes, as to this day of the railroads, is of course a reminder of the historical position of New Haven as the first settlement on the direct road between New York and Boston, and thus from the first the point to which all travel for New York from the eastward converged. A stage for Hartford and Springfield left here every Wed- nesday ; and another left on Satui-day, which connected at Hartford with one leaving for Boston on Monday morning, which going by the most direct route (Somers, Brookfield, and Worcester) did not reach the journey's end until Thursday 126 NEW HAVEN IN 1784. evening ; the post-riders, however, moved more rapidly than this. The New Haven post-office was the receiving-office for all the inland region not served bj the Hartford, New York, and New London offices ; thus, not only all letters for such near points as Cheshire, Wallingford, and Waterbury, but all for towns as far off as Litchfield and New Milford were left here, to be delivered to any one bound for those parts ; if not soon called for, they were advertised in the New Haven newspaper, and after three months from that date, were sent to the Dead Letter dejiartment of the General post-office at Philadelphia, which was in charge of Ebenezer Hazard, Postmaster General. The i30st-office adjoined Isaac Beers' store ; and this intro-' duces us to what was, after the College, the intellectual center (in a sense) of New Haven. The store was a part of the pro- prietor's house, which was also an inn, and he sold — besides books — general groceries, and the best of gin and brandy. Of books he was, I think, one of the largest direct importers in the United States ; and very remarkable are the lists of his latest acquisitions which he publishes now and then in the weekly newspapers, covering sometimes an entire page. Besides this, there was at least one other general book-store, of less pretensions, that of Daggett and Fitch ; and one specially devoted to school-books, kept by Abel Morse, the teacher of a select school for girls ; Goodrich and Darling, druggists, also dealt in books. The office of Thomas and Samuel Green, who printed the newspaper and sucli pamphlets as the divines and politicians of the neighborhood furnished for publication, was over Elias Shipman's store, which was directly opposite the post-office, on College and Chapel streets, the site of Townsend's Block ; but they, I suppose, sold little but their own publications. The newspaper was the Connecticut Journal., begun by the same publishers in 1767, and continuing under various propri- etors until 1835. It appeared every Wednesday on a sheet of four pages, about fourteen by nine or ten inches in size, and was poorly edited, even for that day ; so that we may not NEW HAVEN IN 1784. 127 wonder that au early evidence of progress in the new city should have been the establishment, in May, 1784, of a second paper, the NeiD Haven Gazette, price eight shillings a year, to edit which Josiah Meigs resigned his College tutorship. In connection with the local publishing business may be mentioned the name of Abel Buell, the ingenious mechanic — at various times in his life, engraver, type-founder, coiner, and goldsmith — who advertises in March, 1784, a map of the United States, the first ever compiled, engraved, and finished by one hand ; and also the name of Amos Doolittle, the earliest copper-plate engraver in America, whose shop for sign-paint- ing and the higher branches of his art was on the present College square, fronting the Green. Passing to the political and social condition of the city, we are to remember that the whole country had just come out of an exhausting war ; and New Haven had suffered her full share, much beyond the most of New England. A sermon just preached by the Kev. Benjamin Trumbull, of North Haven, at the celebration on the news of the Definitive Treaty of Peace, estimates the loss of New Haven in soldiers and seamen on the American side during the war at 210 ; and the loss of property by the raid of the British troops on this town was reckoned at over £30,800, in a depreciated currency. But peace was now secured, and the general sentiment among the leaders of opinion in the town was hopeful of brighter days than ever ; although the town taxes were four- pence on the pound, or nearly two cents on the dollar, double the usual rate before the war, and this high figure was supple- mented moreovei- by state taxes of three shillings and twopence (sixteen cents on the dollar). The fullest picture of our modern daily life is the news- paper ; but for 1784 The Connectiout Journal is a poor help. It is guiltless of anything so direct as an editorial, and almost equally guiltless of contributions from correspondents ; the local editor and the interviewer are alike unknown. In other words, the entire paper is made up of selections from other sheets, of foreign news (usually about ten weeks old), of very 128 NEW HAVEN IN 1784. scanty items from New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and a few other prominent places, and of advertisements. The selections bear largely at this date on the novel situation of the United States, jnst formally acknowledged as independent. They feed the popular interest in subjects whi(;h we know were under discussion elsewhere, such as, preeminently, the approval or non-approval of the so-called Commutation Bill, recently passed by the Congress of the Confederation, for commuting the half-pay for life, previously voted to Revolutionary officers and soldiers, into five years' full pay in one gross sum ; the change was really a shrewd piece of economy for the govern- ment, and yet was most unpopular, especially in New Eng- land ; a convention met at Middletown, in December, 1783, to record Connecticut's dissent from such a creation of a moneyed aristocracy. Another timely subject, of far-reaching consequences, was the question of giving Congress the right to levy moderate import duties on specified articles, for meeting the interest on the public debt ; the principle of Federal government was involved ; approval of the impost meant adhesion to the theory of a strong central government as necessary, while disapproval was a preference for the existing Confederation, alread}" on its downward career to powerlessness and contempt. In these twin disputes, the Connecticut Legislature com- mitted itself to the policy of narrowness and conservatism by resolving in 1783 that the requisitions of Congress were not valid until after the approval of the State ; and in January, 1784, they voted down (69 to 37) the impost recommended by Congress, the New Haven representative voting with the majority. At the next election, however, the people repudi- ated the action of their deputies ; and Pierpont Edwards and James Hillhouse, of New Haven, concurred with the great majority of the new General Assembly in granting Congress the desired authority to raise this slender revenue. The current advertisements show the great confusion of the time in respect to financial standards. Goods are on sale for cash, for bank notes, Morris's notes, Mr. Hillegas' notes. Pick- NEW HAVEN IN 1784. 129 ering's certificates, soldiers' notes, State money, all kinds of lumber, grain, oxen, cows, potash, country produce, etc., etc. Bank notes were the issues of the bank at Philadelphia, the only institution of the kind in the Union ; Morris's notes were the issues of treasury-notes by Robert Morris, superintendent of finance of the United States ; Hillegas was the treasurer of Congress, and Pickering was Quartermaster-General ; soldiers' notes were the interest-bearing certificates entitling the army to their half-pay for life, or to full pay for five years ; and State money meant the outstanding bills of credit or paper money issued in the early years of the war by the State gov- ernment, at convenient denominations, from two pence to two pounds. By cash was meant at that date, before Gouverneur Morris's system of decimal currency (which we now use) had been adopted by Congress, and a mint set up, a miscellaneous foreign coinage, mainly English and Spanish, with a few cop- pers of local origin ; it was through familiarity with the Spanish currency, that the term dollar was already in general use. Socially, the characteristics of l^ew Haven were much the same as throughout l^ew England. The population was still of pure English descent, and a homely familiarity of inter- course prevailed ; while the adventuring spirit of commercial life, traversing the seas, tended to widen views, and the pres- ence of the College was felt as a cultivating influence, bring- ing hither a constant succession of intelligent and famous visitors. The specially cold winter of 1783-1: was not a favor- able season for travel, but President Stiles's diary records the entertainment, among others, of Major General John Sullivan, of New Hampshire, of Mr. Gay, a son of the poet, of Ira Allen, a brother of Ethan Allen, and one of the founders of Vermont, and of John Ledyard, the distinguished traveler. I hav^e not time to dwell on details of the social life of a century ago : if it was not the hurried and feverish life of the present, no more was it the ascetic and constrained life of a century earlier ; there was abundance of gaiety of a simple sort ; and the shojikeepers publish prompt advertisements of 130 NEW HAVEN IN 1T84. the arrival of fresh invoices of " gentlemen and ladies' dancing- gloves for the City Assembly," of " chip-hats of the newest taste," of " new figured, fashionable cotton chintz and calicoes, proper for ladies' winter dress," of " elegant figured shauls," of "ladies tiffany balloon hats,'' and so on ad inJiniUim, — showing that human nature had the same kind of interest then as now. In 1784 for the first time a dancing-master advertised to teach his art here ; he easily secured patronage, but opposi- tion was soon aroused, and an unsuccessful attempt was made to expel him from the town. As one part of their social life, we must remember this as the time when domestic slavery was general in New Haven. The importing of slaves was forbidden since 1774, but the papers have occasional, not fi-e(|uetit advertisements for the sale of likely negi'oes, or it may l)e a family of negroes, in respect to whom " a good title will be given ;" sometimes it is for a term of years (perhaps till the attainment of legal major- ity, when by the will of some former owner freedom was to be given), and sometimes it is noted that, in the lack of ready money, rum and sugar will be taken in part payment. The relations of masters and slaves were in most cases here the best possible; yet sensible men were uneasy under the incon- sistencv of the system, and President Stiles writes in his diary, in December, 1783 : " The constant annual importation of negroes into America and the West Indies is supposed to have been of late years about 60,000. Is it possible to think of this without horror ^" I pass on to the special circumstances which made Xew Haven a city. The origin of the movement it may be difficult to trace Certainly we cannot adopt the earliest date that has been assigned for such an origin ; for that would commit us to the acceptance of a statement by the notoriously inaccurate Samuel Peters, who in giving in his History of Connecticut (1781) the story of the Phantom Ship, wliich sailed from this port in 1647, says that she carried a request for a patent for the colony and for a charter for the city of New Haven ; this part of his tale is a pure fabrication. I NEW HAVEN IN 1T84. 131 The lirst step which I can iix in the genealogy of the charter is a vote in town-meeting, December 9, 1771, in these words: "Whereas a motion was made to the town that this town might have the privileges of a citj, and that proper measures might be taken to obtain the same, it is thereupon Voted that Roger Sherman " [and seventeen others] " be a Committee to take the same into consideration and judge of the motion what is best for the town to do with regard to the same and report thereupon to the town at another town-meeting." This com- mittee never reported, so far as the records show, nor do the public prints of the day refer to the matter. Roger Sherman, the chairman, then fifty years old, and for ten years a resident of New Haven, was already eminent in the regards of his fellow-townsmen, a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and a member of the Governor's Council, or Upper House of the Assembly, though still keeping a small country-store oppo- site the College on Chapel street. Ten years passed without further sign, until in December, 1781, the town was obliged to take cognizance of efforts which had lately been gathering strength, for the creation of new towns from the more distant parts of New Haven. At a town-meeting of this date, a committee was therefore appointed to report a plan for the division of the town into several dis- tinct townships; and this committee reported the same month in favor of setting off the portions which afterwards became Woodbridge, East Haven, and North Haven These towns were not in fact incorporated until after the city of New Haven ; but tlie one movement was a complement of the other. At the close of the Revolution the two most prosperous centers of population in this country were Philadelphia, with nearly 30,000 inhabitants, and New York, with a little under 25,000. Both were cities: New York having received a charter from James IL in 1686, during the spasm of liberal zeal whicli marked the beginning of his reign ; and Philadel- phia having been similarly endowed in 1701 by the proprietor of Pennsylvania, the ardent friend and quondam political mentor of James IL Besides these, I do not recall any other 132 NEW HAVEN IN 1784. incorporated cities in the Union at this date, except Albany, which was chartered at the same time and nnder the same cir- cumstances as New York, but was now of less population than New Haven, and Richmond, incorporated in 1782, but only a small village in point of numbers. The prosperity and size of Philadelphia and New York were, however, objects of emulation ; and there is some evi- dence that it was from an ambition of rivaling their prominence, that a charter was desired for New Haven, This may have been especially in view of the long occupation of New York by the British, and consequent interruption of the previous dependence of our dealers on New York merchants for im- ports from England and for the return of remittances thither ; New York had just been evacuated, and might not the two places begin new careers more on an equality, if New Haven were elevated to the dignity of a city ? To recur to President Stiles' diary, we have this entr}^ on October 20, 1783 : " Sign'd a petition to the Assembly for incorporating New Haven as a city." The Assembly was then holding its regular fall session in New Haven, and so continued until November 1, when it adjourned to meet again in January in a special session, for the purpose of revising the laws of the State. The October session was made memorable by the announcement of Governor Trumbull's determination to retire from public life at the next election, on account of his advanced age (73). The petition referred to by Dr. Stiles is on iile (with 214 signatures) in the State Library. It bases the desired action on the hindrances to an extension of commerce, which " arise for want of a due regulation of the internal police " of the town. Specifically, " it is matter of no small importance that wharves, streets and highways, be commodious for business, and kept continually in good repair ;" and such a result cannot be at- tained, unless the memorialists have a jurisdiction of their own. Hence the petition, that the inhabitants within specified limits " be made a corporation," with power to enact by-laws, and that a Court be constituted for the same jurisdiction. A bill XEW HAVEX IX 1784. 138 brought in in accordance with this petition was passed at the same session by the Upper Honee ; but the Lower House in- sisted that it be referred to the adjourned session for their con- sideration, and it was so referred. On the 21st of November. Dr. Stiles writes : " Examining the Act or Charter proposed for the Citv of New Haven." This interval of examination resulted in making the final draft of the charter quite different in details from that presented in October. The Assemblv was to meet in Xew Haven on Thursday, January 8, 17S4; and on ^Monday, January 5, at a town-meet- ing, with Roger Sherman in the chair, a resolution was passed, "requesting the representatives in the Assembly," who were Ca23tain Henry Daggett and Captain Jesse Ford, " to exert themselves that the Act for incorporating a part of the town be passed with all convenient speed." Owing to unusually bad traveling, the adjourned session did did not open until Tuesday, January 13, The presiding officer of the Upper House was His Excellency Governor Jonathan Trumbull, of Lebanon, who, as was his custom, lodged at the house of President Stiles ; while the Speaker of the Lower House was the Hon. Colonel William Williams, also of Lebanon, well known as a signer of the Declaration of 1776. As usual, all Acts passed by the Assembly are dated as of the first day of the session, and as usual the weekly newspapers give none of the interesting details of legislative proceedings ; so that it is only from the unprinted pages of Dr. Stiles's Lit- erary Diary that we gain the exact knowledge of the day when the charter was finally passed. The next week's Connecticut Journal, however, contains the notification of the first meeting of the city, to be held on February 10 ; and in the Journal of February 4 appears an advertisement by the selectmen of the town, announcing that in accordance with a paragraph in the act of incorporation of the city, an opportunity will be given on Thursday. February 5, for any who are qualified to become freemen of the State, but have not yet taken the freeman's oath, to appear and be admitted, so as to participate in the first city election. 134 NEW HAVEN IN 1784. On the day appointed, Dr. Stiles was among those taking the oath ; and he records that the total number in the city who are qualilied to become freemen, as now certilied by the selectmen, is three hundred and forty-three, of whom fifty-five (about one-sixth) are college graduates ; eighty -two of the three hundred and forty-three (about one-fourth) have not taken the freeman's oath — some being absent, some disabled, some in- different. The full list, which he appends, is of great interest, and might instructively be compared, on the one hand, with the roll of original planters, in 1B40, and on the other hand with the roll of our voters to-day. In 1784 the families most largely represented in the voting population were Austin (a name introduced in the generation after the settlement, not among the first comers) and Trowbridge, the name which has multiplied beyond any other in the original company ; next followed Atwater, Bishop, Hotchkiss, Munson, Bradley, Mix, Thompson, and Townsend. Dr. Stiles further judges that there were about six hundred adult males living within the city limits, showing that nearly every other man was disfranchised, either by the operation of the qualification limiting suffrage to those holding real estate which would yield a rental of £2 jjer annum, or personal estate worth £40, or else disfranchised by their loyalty to Great Britain in the late war. The election of city ofiicers was appointed for February 10 ; and as the General Assembly was still in session, the third story of the State House was the place of meeting. Of the 261 freemen who had qualified, over 250, says Dr. Stiles, at- tended at the opening of the polls, but only 249 votes were recorded on the first ballot, that for mayor ; of these just the number necessary for a choice, 125, were cast for Roger Sher- man, 102 for Deacon Thomas Howell, and 22 for Thomas Darliup;. Mr. Sherman was now in his 68d year, and was unquestion- ably the most distinguished resident of the new city. That he did not carry a larger vote may have l)een due to his personal characteristics ; that natural shyness and reserve of manner NEW HAVEN IN 1784. 135 which some of his juniors mistook for aristocratic hauteur may well have stood in the way of popularity. Moreover, there were undercurrents of feelino^, as we shall see, that would have prevented a cordial uniting on any one. It is an evidence of Mr. Sherman's acknowledged merits that at the time of this election he was absent, in Annapolis, where he had been for a month in attendance as a member of Con- gress, which had migrated southwards, pending the expected establishment of a capital near the falls of the Potomac. Sherman's chief competitor for the mayoralty, Deacon Howell, of the First Church, now in his 65th year, was chosen Senior Alderman, and thus in the Mayor's absence became the active head of the government ; it is remarkable that neither of the two was of old New Haven stock, Sherman being a native of Massachusetts, and Howell's father having immigrated from Long Island. The other aldermen were Samuel Bishop, previously iden- tified with the town-clerk's office for forty years, and brought into wide notoriety at the end of his long life as President Jefferson's appointee to the collectorship of the ])ort ; Deacon David Austin, of the White Haven Church ; and Isaac Beers, the liookseller. The interest in the election of twenty common councilmen, which was not completed till the third day, dwindled so rapidly that the total number of votes for the last places was only about one hundred. At the conclusion of the election (February 12) all the new officials except the absent mayor were sworn in, and the city government was finally organized. Dr. Stiles's valuable diary gives an inside view of the elec- tion, under date of February 18, when he says : " The city poli- tics are founded in an endeavor silently to bring Tories into an equality and supremacy among the Whigs The Episcopalians are all Tories but two, and all qualified on this occasion, though despising Congress government before ; they may perhaps be forty voters. There may be twenty or thirty of Mr. Whittel- sey's meeting added to these. Perhaps one-third of the citi- zens," that is, I suppose, one-third of the 261 who had taken 136 NEW HAVEN IN 1784. the freeman's oath, " may be hearty Tories, one-third Whigs, and one-third indifferent. Mixing all up together, the election has come out, Mayor and two Aldermen, Whigs ; two Aldermen, Tories. Of the Common Council, five Whigs, five flexibles but in heart Whigs, eight Tories. The two Sheriffs," Elias Stil- well and Parsons Clark, " and Treasurer," Hezekiah Salnn, " Whigs; the first Sheriff iirm, the other flexible." From these hints it would appear that the so-called " Tory " element had been concerned in the entire movement for a charter. I may add that at a meeting held on March b, on the motion of Pierpont Edwards, a committee of eight was appointed, '^ to consider of the propriety and expediency of admitting as inhabitants of this town persons who in the course of the late war have adhered to the cause of Great Britain against these United S rates, and are of fair characters, and will be good and useful members of society and faithful citizens of this State." In their report, made the same day, this commit- tee deduced from the independence of the several States and the spirit of peace and philanthropy displayed in the " Recom- mendations " of Congress based on the treaty of peace, that it was in point of law proper to admit such as are above described, but not any who were guilty of unauthorized plundering and murder. As for expediency, they suggested that no nation is truly great unless it is also distinguished for justice and magna- nimity ; and argued that it would be magnanimous to restore these persons, and especially that the commercial future of New Haven made it desirable thus to increase its inhabitants. The report was at once accepted and approved by the town. Such an ardent patriot as Dr. Stiles dismisses the unpalatable theme with this curt entry in his diary : " This day town-meeting voted to re-admit the Tories." The question of the treatment of the loyalists had for months previous been under heated discussion all over the Union ; and not least in New Haven, where the argument was strongly urged that a sound commercial policy dictated the invitation hither of some of the numerous geutlemen of large property and influential connections in business, who had been dislodged NEW HAVEN IN 1784. 137 from their liomes and would gladly begin life anew among a congenial people. Attempts had been made to mould public opinion by newspaper appeals ; and twice or thrice with special ingenuity by printing extracts from letters said to have been received from friends in Europe ; one such, for instance, in the Journal of January 7, represented that Dr. Franklin and Mr. Jay, now abroad for the negotiation of peace, were much hurt at the harsh measures adopted toward loyalists. By such means and by more direct arguments, the way was quietly prepared for a popular amnesty, which was thus voted in March, 1784, just a year after a former town meeting, when the New Haven representatives were solemnly instructed by their constituents " to use their influence with the next General Assembly in an especial manner, to prevent the return of any of those miscre- ants who have deserted their country's cause and joined the enemies of this and the United States of America, during their late contest f ' — a striking instance of rapid conversion. I add before closing a reference to two peculiar provisions of the charter. It was enacted that the mayor's tenure of office should be " during the pleasure of the General Assembly," which was equivalent to a life appointment, and so proved in practice ; for Mayor Sherman retained the position until his death in 1793, when Samuel Bishop succeeded, continuing till his death in 1803 ; the third incumbent, Elizur Goodrich, held office till his resignation in 1822, and his successor, George Hoadly, till his resignation in 1826, when by vote of the city a request was preferred to the Assembly, which resulted in the substitution of an annual election. Another provision of the charter which needs comment is the proclamation; that power is conferred on the city to exchange the upper part of the Green, west of the line of the churches, for other land, for highways, or another green else- where. 1 do not know that any exchange was ever proposed or attempted ; but the insertion in the charter of express authority for the purpose, was perhaps meant to intimate that the city had the State government at its back in asserting authority over the public green, as against the claims preferred 138 NEW HAVEN IN 1784. by the " Proprietors of Common and Undivided Lands in New Haven."* The city government thus organized was immediately put into operation. The example was contagious ; New London asked for and received a city charter at the same session of the legis- lature, and Hartford, Norwich, and Middletown, at the succeed- ing one. It was the era of upbuilding and of preparation — they hardly knew for what ; yet we may doubt if in their proudest dreams the citizens of 1784 anticipated the growth which has come to pass. Certainly we know that public senti- ment had been incredulous, when Dr. Stiles in the last election sermon had announced it " probable that within a century from our independence the sun will shine on fifty millions of inhabi- tants in the United States." But the century has gone by ; and the prophecy has very little exceeded the truth. We can at least learn the lesson, not to underrate the progress which is possible in the century to come, knowing that the present is as full of fruit and of promise as the past, and that the resistless tide of time which sweeps down individuals and generations in its " ceaseless current," only enlarges and deepens the hold of institutions which subserve useful ends and are wisely and justly administered. * As an instance of these claims it may be mentioned that the location of the Fair Haven meeting-house (represented at present by the United Church) on the Green in 1770 was by a vote of the '' Proprietors." CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. By Calvin H. Carter. [Read March 31, 1884.] From a very early period the iniiiiicipality has been the most important element in the political life of Connecticut. If population and size are considered, no State has a greater number or variety of municipal corporations. No State has conferred on them greater powers ; in no State have those powers been more beneficially exercised. Connecticut may properly be called the State of Municipalities. Chronologically, the more important municipalities have been : Towns, Ecclesiastical Societies, School Societies, School Districts, Cities, Boroughs, Villages. In 1781, five of the most important commercial centers of Connecticut were incorporated as cities. Territorially they were smaller than the towns in which they were situated. The municipal powers of the town continued in full force within the limits of the city, the powers granted by charter to the city being additional, and mainly referring to subjects on which the town had no authority to act. The Connecticut city charter was the model after which the borough charter was formed. 140 CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. With the advent of the present century, boroughs began to be estabhshed. It has been said tliat institutions are not made, — they grow. The Connecticut boi-ough is an iUustration of this truth. A growing, prosperous community, a busy manu- facturing or commercial center, wliose future growth can be predicted, where wealth is increasing and culture becoming more influential, sees the want of a municipal organization that has power to remove annoyances, improve external conditions, make life and property safer and the public health more assured, and take charge of various matters with a wise fore- thought for the future, as Avell as to make the present more enjoyable. To some extent boroughs are " Village Improve- ment Societies," having the authority of law to carry out their ideas, and making it impossible for any selfish, ill-natured man to set up his own will against the will of the majority, and so prevent a much needed improvement. Few of the powers granted to boroughs are such as towns can exercise by law. Nearly all the purposes for which boroughs are incorporated relate to subjects over which the town either has no authority or is unwilling to exercise any. The wants of a thriving village community with aspirations for improvement, can not or will not be properW met, under Connecticut law, by town action. Nor ought towns to be subjected to the expense of carrying out all these measures, as they are chiefly for the benefit t)f the people in or near the village centers. To meet these wants thus imperfectly outlined and others that will appear hereafter, the Connecticut borough organiza- tions were created. In Connecticut the means of satisfying a new public want is always found. These boroughs, in their purposes and their form of government and administration, are an outgrowth of the political life of the State, a logical result in her development. For a long period the forms of municipal government in Connecticut were almost exclusively democratic. For more than 200 yeai's a majority of our churches were democratic, and those of the ancient order are so still, the. major vote of the members determining all questions and measures. Meetings CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. 141 of towns and other municipalities were called to decide every important question. Many questions could be finally deter- mined only by the voters in a mass meeting. The administra- tive officers were always disposed to call such a meeting when- ever any question of more than usual importance was to be decided, and in later times, in most of the municipalities, the officers are required by law to call a meeting on the wi'itten request of a certain number of voters. At the present time in the municipalities, the tendency is to abandon the democratic form and to substitute for it the representative, republican form. Towns and school districts are still democratic, but meetings of the freemen of cities, except the annual meeting for the election of officers, are becoming infrequent. The common councils linally decide upon all taxation, public ex- penditures and legislation. The propriety of abolishing the town governments where cities exist, and merging the town administration in that of the city is being seriously considered. At lirst the borough charters conformed to the ancient tradi- tions and usages. They were " fierce democracies." Every by- law, rule or regulation for the government of the borough was passed upon by the freemen of the borough. But in recent years the tendency has been to discontinue direct action of the freemen as a law-making power. The warden and burgesses, called sometimes the " Court of Burgesses," are empowered to enact the by-laws without submitting them to a meeting of the freemen. In some of the boroughs this jjower is absolute. In others, by-laws enacted by the court of burgesses are subject to a disapproval of the freemen in a borough meeting. This meeting must be called for such a purpose within a limited time after the enactment of the by-law by the court of bur- gesses, on a petition for such a meeting In some boroughs the petition of from twenty to forty freemen can compel such a meeting. In others tlie petition must be signed by two bur- gesses as well as a certain number of freemen. A similar want of uniformity appears in other charter pro- visions. In most of the boroughs a legal meeting can be held if the warden or a burgess and the clerk are present. In 142 CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. others the presence of ten, fifteen or forty freemen is necessary to make a legal meeting. Generally the freemen can vote for all the officers to be elected, but in West Haven (7 Private Acts, 558), and "West Stratford (7 Private Acts, iSS), no voter can vote for more than one-half the full number of burgesses, thus insuring a representation of the minority. The principle is carried still further in West Stratford, where the warden does not preside or have a vote in the court of burgesses. This borough re- jected by a large majority an amendment of the charter giving the warden power to preside in the court of burgesses and the right to vote in case of a tie (8 Private Acts, p. 841). In nearly all the boroughs the warden and burgesses can lay out, enlarge or alter highways. But in West Haven, while the warden and burgesses " can alter, widen or enlarge any high- way, street or public walk," the action of the freemen in a borough meeting is required to order the laying out of "new highways, streets or public walks ;" " the extension of any highway, street or public walk ;" " or the discontinuance or exchange of the same for other highways, streets or public walks." (7 Private Acts, p. 559.) In the borough of Fair Haven East the town of New Haven has the "care and management of the streets and sidewalks," from which the borough is entirely relieved. (Special Acts, 1881, p. 272.) Taxes are generally laid by the freemen in a borough meet- ing, but in Litchfield the burgesses lay the taxes without a vote of the freemen. The chief executive officer in Litchfield is a president instead of a warden, as in other boroughs, and he is ex officio a burgess and chairman of the board. (8 Private Acts, p. 239.) The history of the borough of Litchfield is uni(|ue. Two villages only were incorporated in Connecticut, Litchfield (1818), (2 Private Acts, p. 1514,) and Wethersfield (1822), (id., 1517). Neither of them now exists as a village. It ip im possible to affirm that the village of Wethersfield ever existed except in name. If it was organized, which is improbable, it CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. 143 soon died. But the people of Litcliiield accepted their village charter and began work under it with zeal and wisdom. The village charters differed from the borough charters in having fewer subjects for municipal action, and in the mode of their government and administration. By its charter the officers of Litchfield were a president, treasurer and clerk. Authority was also given to appoint a collector of taxes, fire wardens, and other officers necessary to carry the by-laws into effect. In practice these were a bailiff, assistant bailiffs and committees of inspection. The corporation had power also to enact by-laws in relation to side walks, foot paths and shade trees ; to restrain animals from going at large ; to sink wells and place pumps therein ; to compel the inhal)itants to furnish themselves with fire buckets and ladders ; and to prevent fire. Action was taken on all these subjects. Measures for pro- tection against fire were the most important. At that eai'ly day the justice of compelling property owners to pay for the improvements by which they were benefited was recognized. This was accomplished in an indirect way by making an assess- ment of the property for taxation, and the amount of the assessment was to be fixed by the assessors " with reference to the comparative danger of destruction by fire to which such property may be exposed, and also with reference to the bene- fits conferred." (Id., p. 1515.) A fire warden was appointed to take command at fires. All citizens present were to obey his orders, and the penalty for disobedience was $5. Buildings might be demolished to stop fires. It was recommended that " when an alarm of fire shall be given in the night season the inhabitants shall immediately place lights in their fi-ont win- dows." A by-law to restrain animals was passed, and a pound ordered at an expense of $10, for which a tax was laid. In none of the ancient boroughs does so large an expenditure appear for a pound or a tax for its erection. Durint; the administrations of Washing-ton and the elder Adams no place of its size in the country had a greater national reputation than Litchfield. The happy retort to the British 144 CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. minister by Mrs. Wolcott, wife of Oliver "Wolcott, who suc- ceeded Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury, will be remem- bered. The people are proud of their present as well as their past. In 1879 the village was changed to a borough and an in- crease of corporate power was granted. Authority to construct drains and sewers was secured and immediately exercised. Drains were laid with which property owners were compelled to connect, after paying the assessments for benefits. A by-law was passed and enforced entirely prohibiting the keeping of swine within certain limits from May 15 to Oct. 15. No other borough has enacted and enforced so sweeping a by-law on this subject. The test case was against the county commissioners, who persisted, as managers of the jail, in keeping swine within the prohibited limits. After a severe legal controversy the superior court sustained the by law, and the commissioners acquiesced. In Litchfield the people have relied on their legal powers, which they have fearlessly and impartially exercised. The things that have been done were the things most needed, and the result is that Litchfield is one of the most attractive villa- ges in the State. Its population — 452 in 1880 — is the smallest of any borough in the State with one exception, but in wisdom of administration it is exceeded by no municipality in the country. In the early borough charters the subjects of borough action were nearly the same as provided in the charters of the cities. In the first charter, thai of Bridgeport, in 1800, the borough was authorized to enact by-laws on the following subjects, (Conn. Kev. Statutes, 1808, p. 108) : relative to markets and commerce ; streets and highways ; nuisances ; wharves, chan- nels, anchoring and mooring of vessels ; trees planted for shade, ornament, convenience, use, public or private ; the fruit of such trees ; trespasses committed in gardens ; public and pri- vate walks and buildings ; sweeping of chimneys and preserv- ing the borough from injury by fire ; forms of oaths to be taken by the treasurer ; warning meetings of the borough and CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. 145 of the warden and burgesses, and the times and places of hold- ing them ; the mode of taxation as to taxes to be levied in the borough ; the penalties to be incurred by persons elected to office and refusing to serve ; a borough watch ; the burial of the dead ; public lights and lamps ; restraining horses, cattle, sheep, swine and geese from going at large; and to inflict pen- alties for the breach of such by-laws. These provisions were all, with one trivial exception, copied from the city charters. The cities also had power to enact by- laws relative to persons summoned as jurors in the city courts and neglecting to serve; to the qualifications in point of prop- erty of the mayor and aldermen ; and the bonds to be given by the city sheriffs. These provisions were omitted in the borough charters, as the borough had no court, mayor, alder- men or sheriffs There was no property qualification for the warden or l)nrgesses, who were to the borougii what the mayor, aldermen and common councilmen were to the city. The other borough officers were a clerk, treasurer and bailiff. The borough coukl also elect "in legal meeting assembled,"' "hay- wards and all other officers not enumerated in this act, which shall be necessary to carry the by-laws of said borough into execution." (Conn. Rev, Statutes, edition 1808, p. 109.) This was a simple, inexj)ensive, but efficient organization, designed to satisfy the aspirations of the community, and to give to the will of the people the force of law. The borough had power " in legal meeting assembled," to admit to the freedom of the borough, such freemen of the State, inhabitants of the town, but without the limits of the borough, " as hold real estate or are doing regular business in said borough," and to levy taxes on the polls and ratable estate within the limits of the borough. These provisions were copied from the city charters, and also tlie important provision empowering the wardens and l)urgesses to lay out new high- ways, streets and public walks for the use of the borough, to alter those already laid out, to exchange highways for high- ways, and to sell highways for the purpose of purchasing other highways. 10 146 CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. Legal proceedings, legislativ^e as well as judicial, are largely matters of precedent. The form thus adopted for Bridgeport was followed with little change in 1801, in the charter of Stonington, (1 Private Acts, p. 216) ; in 1815, in the charter of Guilford, (id., p. 189) ; in 1820, in the charter of Essex, (id., p. 184). The (leneral Assembly of the State has always shown a willingness to conform to the wishes of a locality in granting corporate powers. In 1820 the borough of Killingwortli was created. Power was given to enact bylaws relative to "the improvement and preservation of the shell and scale fisheries and taking iish," to which, however, the assent of the town of Killingwortli was required; to "improvements made in deep- ening the water in the harbour ;" " schools that may be estab- lished by the borougli ;'' "firing of guns;" and "noise and disturbance in the night season." (Id., p. 197.) As subsequent charters were granted, the people ])rocuring them would iind that some new power was needed. This power being granted and incorporated in the charter became a precedent tliat was copied in cliarters sul)seqiiently ol)tained. Thus the scope of the charters and of action under them became enlarged, and embraced a lai-ger and more important list of subjects. Power was given to pi'event buildings within certain limits being used for trades that were dangerous on account of fire, (id., p. 200) ; to establish reservoirs of water for extinguishing fire, (3 Private Acts, p. 209) ; to construct sewers for draining highways, ponds, and swampy lands wherel)y the public health was endangered, (id., }). 357) ; and at a later period to establish a system of sewerage for the whole borough and to construct the sewers needed, (id., p. 257) ; and to con- struct waterworks for supplying the whole borough with water, (6 Private Acts, p. 293). In I8i6 the charter of Danbury was amended and the im- portant power conferred of assessing the cost of certain improvements upon owners of land specially benefited. (3 Private x\cts, pp. 210-212.) This precedent has been followed in charters and charter amendments since that time, notably CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. 147 for the opening of new streets, the alteration or enlargement of old streets and the construction of sewers. (5 Private Acts, pp. 63, 161, 631, 637; 6 do., pp. 293, 664; 7 do., 74, 168, 558, 685.) Adjoining proprietors of lands can be compelled, at their own expense, to build, maintain and keep in repair side walks and gutters, and to keep the side walks passable and safe in winter by removing snow and ice. In all the early charters there was a section empowering tlie Superior Court for the county in which the borough was located, to repeal any borough ])y-law within eight months after its enactment, if the court, after a hearing, adjudged the by-law to be unreasonable or unjust. (1 Private Acts, pp. 174- 284.) This was copied from the city charters, but tlie power appears to have been rarely, if ever, invoked, and in all the later chartei's and charter revisions it was omitted. Besides the streets, sewers, lire department and water works, which may be regarded as the most important matters of bor- ough action, a very large class of powers that relate to good order and government and the prevention of nuisances has been conferred. The tendency is always in granting charters to copy the provisions of previous charters. The result is that every new provision or power conferred is embodied in almost every subsequent charter. For example, Sec. 48 of the Wal- hngford charter (8 Private Acts, pp. 124-J27), gives a hst of matters in relation to which the court of burgesses is empow- ered to enact by-laws that would seem to embrace everything that could become the subject of borough legislation ; but judg- ing from the past, other necessities will appear and the scope of borough action be still f urtlier enlarged. The charter powers of boroughs are as extensive and varied as the powers given to cities, from which boroughs do not greatly differ except in name and size. A borough is a smaller copy of a city : the number of its officers is smaller and they do not have the high sounding titles of mayor, aldermen and councilmen, the more modest titles of warden and burgesses being used. But muni- cipal business is quite as well done in the borough as in the city, and more economically.. Three important cities of the 148 CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. State were originally boroughs. But attempts to change from the borough to the city have not been uniformly successful. Some boroughs are chartered for special and limited pur- poses and authority is given to act only in a very narrow sphere. The charter of Clifton (1833) gave the borough power to act only on measures to preserve the public liealth, to pro- tect the borough against danger from fire, to enlist fire com- panies, and to purchase fire engines and other fire apparatus. (1 Private Acts, p. 174.) The West Haven charter (1873) at first gave power only to lay out new highways, streets and public walks, to alter, widen and enlarge those already existing, and to compel property owners to construct sidewalks. (7 do., pp. 558, 569.) In 1875 the charter was amended and power was given to enact by-laws to prevent nuisances, (id., p. 901.) This borough was really a '' Village Improvement Societ3^" and nothing more, and this was what the topographical situation of the borough made particularly desirable. The power of action implies no obligation to act. It is simply permissive. Some of the earlier boroughs failed to ex- ercise most of the power they possessed. Clifton never exer- cised any of its powers except possibly to purchase a fire engine. The borough died early and the manner of its deatli is un- known, there being no record of its organization, and no one now living is alile to give an accomit of it. A fire engine was purchased for the borough, but whether b(/ the borough and its authority it is now impossible to determine. Nor is it pos- sible to learn whether the borough was organized or not. But it is certain that the people did not want a borough govern- ment and would have none of it. Twenty-five years afterwards a new borough (Winsted), w4iich became a live, active borough, was chartered for the same territory and the charter of Clifton was rej^ealed, (5 Private Acts, p. 188). The only effective opposition that the boroughs have met has been from the people of the boroughs. Mention has been made of Clifton. Other boroughs were still-born. Humph- reysville was incorporated in 1836, (1 id., p. 193). The first meeting for organization and election of officers was warned CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. 149 according to the charter. As soon as the meeting was organ- ized a motion was immediately made and carried to adjourn sine die, and this was the only meeting the borough held. Branford has had two incorporations and after each a similar result. It was incorporated in 1867 (6 id., p. 291), but failed to organize. The charter was revived in 1883, (Private Acts, 1883. p. 827), but public opinion was so opposed to it that no meeting was warned for organization according to the charter. Sharon was incorporated in 1853, (3 Private Acts, p. 250). A mistake about the boundaries occurred in the charter, which was corrected by the General Assembly of 1854 (Id., p. 255), but a most diligent inquiry fails to find any trace of its organ- ization or existence. Other boroughs, after a few years of sickly existence, have died from inanition. Essex and Worthington are examples. Probably neither of these had at the date of its incorporation a population of over 400. Essex enacted by-laws much like the by-laws of other l)orouglis. Having done thus much the peo- ple rested from their labors, and for six years no borough busi- ness was done except to elect the officers annually and establish a pound. This indifference to borough affairs was interrupted by a meeting of the warden and burgesses two months after an election, at which action was taken to compel officers who had been elected to be sworn and serve " under penalty of being dealt with according to law." Shortly afterwards a borough meeting was held and seven haywards were elected, five of whom were sworn, in addition to seven previously elected at the annual meeting, three of whom were sworn. Probably the by-law to restrain cattle from going at large had been disre- garded and the people desired its enforcement. To this by law there seems to have been no opposition, and a pound was always a borough institution. The only bill that appears on record against the borough is this : "To moving the Borough Pound, erecting the same, nails, etc., included $5.00" During the existence of this borough, 35 years, only one 150 CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. treasurer's report was made. The only other financial reports on record are two reports made by the pound keejjer. The first is this : " Report of the Pound Keeper of the Borough of Essex for the year ending 30 May, 1836 : One Horse Fee, ,^,fo $.50 23 Neat Cattle Fee, 25c. per head 5.75 $6.25 Fee belonging to the Borough Horse .25 23 Neat Cattle.. 2.30 2.55 Essex, May 30, 1836. John Griffin, Pound Keeper." The subject of a fire company and engine had en2:aged the attention of tlie people. In 1833 a charter had l)een granted by the Legislature iucorjiorating a fire engine company in the borough, with power to enact by-laws and enforce the same by penalties and to tax themselves. The next year, 1834, a bor- ough meeting, prol)al)ly having in view this charter, under which nothing had l)een done except possibly to organize the company, passed this vote : " That we will not have a fire engine in the Borough of Essex belonging to said Borough." This vote was rescinded in 1835, and it was voted "to locate an engine house," and a tax of 15c. on $100* was laid " to raise money for the purchase of an engine and other necessary ex- penses." These votes were repealed in 1836. * This statement of the rate of this tax is inaccurate, and the same thing is true of the account of all the borough taxes levied prior to 1860. But at this day accuracy on this subject is impossible. Before 1860 assessment lists were made on a percentage of the value of the prop- erty and not on its full value. The percentage was from three to six per cent, of the supposed value and varied with the character of the property and changes made in the law from time to time. Nearly all, and at times, all property was put in at three per cent., and I have therefore calculated the rate of the taxes on a three per cent, basis. If the small valuation in those days of the property for taxation, as com- pared with its then actual value, is considered, I think my conclusions are not greatly inaccurate. The author of the History of the Republic of New Haven (p. 257), overlooked this Connecticut peculiarity. CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. 151 In the warning of the next annual meeting (1837), the sub- ject of the purchase of a lire engine was inserted. The meet- ing took no notice of that subject but voted that the pound keeper, now called the " Key Keeper," be requested to " hand in his report " for the preceding year, and then adjourned to the 4th day of July. At the adjourned meeting the key keeper presented the following : "Report of the Key Keeper of the Borough of Essex for the year ending 30th May, 1837 : One Horse - - - 50c. Fee belonging to Borough - 25c." The meeting adjourned without further action. These two sums for poundage fees amounting to $2.80 are the only moneys that the records show the borough received during its existence. Whether turning the attention of the meeting from the pur- chase of a tire engine, for which the meeting was called, to the report of the key keeper was accidental or intentional, it is now impossible to decide. In any view the result was ludi- crous, and, if intentionally so, shows much shrewdness on the part of the designer of the scheme. One is curious to know how much of humor, how much of satire, and how much of seriousness there was in the proceeding. Although the vote that they would not have an engine was repealed, the people were determined not to tax themselves to procure one. Meanwhile individuals in the borough raised money by subscription and purchased an engine. To make this available and useful other expenditures were necessary, for an engine house, fire buckets and other fire apparatus, but no money could be raised by taxation for these purposes. The warnings of nearly all the borough meetings contained a clause for taking action on these subjects, and at a later time the subject of a fire engine was added, the engine belong- ing to the citizens probably having become useless. Borough meetings were held to consider the subject, committees were appointed, reports made, and no action was taken, or if a 152 CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. vote was passed it was rescinded at the next meeting. Fin- ally, the alternative that boroughs unwilling to lay a tax have frequently accepted, a subscription paper, was ordered, and a committee appointed to circulate it. The commit- tee made no report. The last meeting of the borough was held in 1855. An unattested record shows the election of a warden and two burgesses, and so the borough of Essex died a natural death. Worthington is another extinct borough. In the causes and manner of its death it closely resambles Essex ; so closely, indeed, that a detailed account would seem to be nearly a repetition. The history of Worthington, however, is varied by the laying of two taxes, one of one and a half cents on $100, of which a portion seems to have been collected, and one of three cents on $100, of which no part was collected, although, as an incentive to the collector, a commission of ten per cent, for collecting the tax, was voted. At the next annual meeting a committee was apjjointed to circulate the inevitable subscrip- tion paper for Hre apparatus. It was also voted, "That the fire hooks, ladders or pike-poles shall in no case be used except in case of lire." At the same meeting the officers were elected and most of them sworn. The meeting adjourned sine die., and no subse- quent meeting was held."* These boroughs, Essex and Worthington, contained small agricultural populations, whose wants were few and simple. Taxation had always been small in towns like those where these boroughs were located. Up to the time of the incorpora- tion of these boroughs the rate of the annual town tax had been perhaps one-third what it has been for the past ten years. But the taxation that the boroughs attempted but never col- lected, was so small as to be ludicrous, even when compared * For an opportunity to examine the records of these defunct bor- oughs, I am indebted to the kindness of my friends, Judge Phelps, of Essex, and Mr. Alfred North, of Berlin. I have suggested to them that it would be well to insure the preservation of these records, by deposit- ing them in the State library, or in the library of the Connecticut His- torical Society. C. H. c. CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. 153 with the town taxation of tliose times. Its average was not more than one-tenth of the rate imposed by the towns at that time and perhaps one-thirtieth of the rate at present imposed. Two other ancient boroughs, Southport and Killingworth died after a nominal existence of a few years. Both had the power, nnusnal in borough charters, of enacting by-laws in reference to the shell and scale fisheries within the borough. In Killingworth the assent of the town was required to make such by-laws valid. It is not easy to understand the value of the power with this restriction, as every town on the Sound had power to pass by-laws on the subject of shell fisheries, and the town of Killingworth could i)ass such a by-law without borough action. Perhaps it was thought more energetic action would be had if the borough took the initiative. But this power proved the ruin of the borough. A by-law in reference to taking oysters was passed, to which the town had tried to give an unlimited assent in advance of its passage by the borough. A suit to enforce it was instituted which was car- ried to the Supreme Court of the State, and the borough was defeated on the ground that the town meeting was not legally warned. (Willard vs. Killingworth, 8 Conn. Rep., p. 24T.) This was the death blow of the borough. It died and left no sign. It results that of the sixteen boroughs chartered before 1837, eight have disappeared. Two were never organized, four have died and two have become cities. The eight survivors are nearly all active, efficient municipalities, that are fuliilling the hopes of their projectors and the purposes of their existence, and are using their chartered powers with as much skill, wis- dom and economy as characterize the management of any muni- cipalities in the country. It is a clear case, witli possibly one exception, of survival of the fittest. At the present time (1884) there are in the State twenty one boroughs. In 1880 their population ranged from 263, New- town, to 6,608, Willimantic. Four boroughs are in towns, each of which had in 1880 a population of less than 3,000, while seven towns, that each had a population of over 5,000, 154 CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. contain neither city or borougli. Two towns, New Haven and Norwalk, contain each a city and a borough, the population of the borough of Norwalk being 5,308, and of the city of South Norwalk 3,726. One town, Derby, contains two boroughs. The borough of Danielsonville is composed of portions of two towns. In 1880, 908 of its inhabitants lived in one town, and 2,210 in the other. Bethel, a borougli in the town of the same name, contains small portions of the town of Danbury, which the borough acquired for water works. The germ of the borough organization existed before any borough was incorporated. In 1798, the inhabitants of New- field, then a small village, were authorized to nominate and appoint suitable persons to serve as a tire company. Power was granted " to make by-laws for the regulation of said fire company, and to preserve said village from lire and to enforce said by-laws by penalties." (1 Private Acts, 578). In 1809, all the inhabitants within certain limits in Norwalk were incorporated as the " Norwalk Fire Society." Power was given to enact by laws on the subject of fire similar to those since given to boroughs, and the power also of " assessing the property of the inhabitants within said limits according to its just value, and the degree in which it is exposed." Still later other corporations for the same purpose were in- corporated and power given to lay taxes. Some of those cor- porations were ancestors of the boroughs. Newfield became Bridgeport. The " Norwalk Fire Society " was absorbed in the borough of Norwalk. The " Fair Haven East Associa- tion," became finally merged in the borough of Fair Haven East. In considering the mortality of the boroughs it should be noticed that their legislation was contrary to the ideas and methods previously prevailing among the agricultural popula- tion of Connecticut. Cattle had always been allowed to roam on the highways and commons without restraint. The high- ways had l^een used as depositories for wood, for building and other materials, as well as for rubbish that was too unsightly for the private enclosui*es of the people, even of those days, CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. 155 and which was therefore disposed of by being put on tlie high- way. These practices were generally curtailed by the borough ordinances. By-laws to prevent danger from fire repressed loose practices or carelessness, and even a want of extreme care on the part of householders. People might admit, as a general princii)le, the desirabihty of such care and attention, but when it came to a supervision by borough officers of their domestic habits year after year, with perhaps not a single fire to illus- trate its necessity, they would probably cease to retain an interest in the borough sufficient to tax themselves to continue its existence. Other boroughs have preserved their existence by inaction, attempting nothing for years except the passage of by-laws. The annual election of officers has kept the borough alive, and when, with an increase of refinement and culture, the rise of an aspiration for improvement or the pressure of the wants of an increased population, the necessity for action is felt, it is easy to set the borough machinery in motion, (iuilford, the third borough in the State (1815). always held its annual meet- ings to elect officers and establish that indispensable institution, a borough pound. By-laws were passed in abundance, twenty- eight during the first thirty-four years of the borough, and of these eleven were on the subject of restraining animals from going at large. For thirty-seven years there was no tax and no talk of one. Nor was there any appropriation from the treasury except as one was implied for the repair of pumps on the public square which had been voted. There were in the treasury moneys paid by owners of cows for the privilege of permitting them to run at large. A volunteer fire engine company was formed and its members paid $10 each and pro- cured an engine, which continued the property of the company till 1852, when the borough purchased it and at the same time another engine from the city of New Haven. To pay for these engines the first tax, 13^ cts. on $100, was laid. Since that time two other taxes have been laid, and the total taxation for the sixty-nine years of the borough's life has been 44^ cts. on $100, or less than If mills on $1. More recently streets 156 CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. have been graded and action taken to compel property owners to build side walks. An attempt in its early days to lay a tax to procure a tire engine might have been as fatal to Guilford as similar action was to Essex and Worthington. By attempting no more than the people were prepared for, the borough survived, and in time a life of moderate activity was developed. But generally the rust of inactivity and con- servatism has been more destructive than any j^ositive senti- ment of antagonism. The boroughs have met and overcome active and determined opposition. West Hav^en, already alluded to, was incorporated for the improvement of the streets and public walks, a subject of great importance to the people. Immediately after its organization the borough began this work with energy. At first no objection was made, but the expenses incuri-ed made a tax necessary and as soon as its collection was begun a furious opposition party appeared. A petition was ]3resented to the warden and burgesses calling for a borough meeting for the purpose of preferring a petition to the General Assembly for the repeal of the charter, and in the meantime to suspend the collection of the tax. This petition was signed by a sufficient number of the freemen to make the calling of a borough meet- ing a duty, but the warden and burgesses refused to call a meeting. The petitioners then made application to the courts for a mandamus against the warden and burgesses to compel them to call a meeting. The case was carried to the highest court in the state and finally dismissed on technical grounds. (Peck vs. Booth, 42 Conn. Rep., 271.) Meanwhile an informal meeting of the citizens was held, at which the conduct of the warden and burgesses was denounced by resolution as " un- lawful, despotic and unjustifiable." It was resolved, also, that the organization of the borough had resulted in " reckless ex- penditure," "the creation of a number of oflflces and oflice- holders wholly needless," " an increase in the rates and basis of taxation," " a spirit of extravagance in public improvements entirely unwarranted," "and that the best interests of the inhabitants of the borough demand a repeal of the charter," CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. 157 and it was voted to petition the General Assembly for its repeal. It was claimed that a large majority of the freemen were in favor of repeal The course of the anti-borough people in demanding a legal meeting, and of the borough people in pre- venting it, gives some probability to the claim. The peti- tioners were heard by a committee of the Assembly and were represented by able counsel, but the petition was denied. Since that time the borough has continued its work of im- provement and has become more attractive as a place of resi- dence. In 1862 a similar attempt was made to procure the repeal of the Stonington charter, but for different reasons. In this borough, unfortunately, officers were elected on party grounds. The majority in the borough did not agree with the majority in the State. A petition to the General Assembly asking for the repeal of the charter was circulated by a portion of the political party in the minority in the borough. This aroused the friends of the borough in both parties. A much larger counter-petition, signed by men of both parties, was presented, and the movement for repeal was decisively defeated. No similar attempt has since been made. Stamford, in many respects the model borough of the State, has maintained its existence with unyielding tenacity. In 1879 some charter amendments were needed which the Gen- eral Assembly readily passed. The members from Stamford thought it a favorable opportunity to turn the borough into a city, and without consulting the people secured the passage of the bill in that form. To this the people refused to submit. They appeared at once before the General Assembly and pro- cured an amendment providing for a vote of the people on the acceptance of the act, and when it came to a vote defeated it by a majority of over six to one. But in 1882 a new charter with provisions similar to the city chartei*, but retaining the borough government, was passed and submitted to the jDcople, who accepted it by a similar majority of about six to one. The people know something about cities, their governments, methods and expenses, and prefer the borough. 158 CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. The General Assembly has always been liberal in granting borough charters if no opposition is made by the people inter- ested. Opposition from outsiders is of no avail. When the act incorporating the borough of "Waterbury (1825) was on its passage, it was opposed by the member from Litchfield, who denounced the incorporation of boroughs on general principles as being unnecessary and unwise. Town governments, he said, were good enough for him. At that time Waterbury was represented by a gentleman still living* (1884), who enjoys the distinction- of being the Nestor of Connecticut legislation; in legislative years, the oldest ex-member of the Cieneral As- sembly. He replied to the member from Litchfield that that town contained an incorporated village, noted, among other things, for its wide and beautiful streets, in which the people had much commendal)le ])ride ; that the member for Litchfield lived just outside the village limits where he owned a large, well-stocked dairj' farm ; that his cows could not pasture in the streets of the village as the by-laws prevented it. The house indulged in a hearty laugh at the expense of the member foj- Litchfield and passed the act at once. It will be observed that economy was the most universal feature in borough administration. In municipal, as in indi- vidual matters, parsimony, even niggardliness, is sometimes mistaken for economy. Some of the Connecticut boroughs have not avoided this error. But whether a borough spends much or little, its money is rarely squandered, its expenditures have generally been wise. Of the ancient boroughs, Colchester and Newtown furnish a striking contrast in economic methods. They were incorpo- rated in 1821:. The population of the towns in 1820 was : Colchester -- 2152 Newtown - 2879 At the first meeting of the borough of Newtown, the warden and burgesses, as soon as they were appointed, were directed to hold a meeting forthwith. They immediately reported to =*= Hon. Israel Coe. CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. 159 the borougli meeting a set of by-laws which were passed. These l)y-laws were fewer in number than were usually enact- ed by the ancient boroughs, but they served the purpose of the people, for only two were afterwards passed ; one, to compel persons elected to office, to serve ; the other, to amend the by- laws to restrain cattle from going at large. The later by-law divided the poundage fee equally between the pound keeper, the impounder, and the treasury of the borough. By the former by-law the impounder had one-third and the pound keeper two-thirds of the poundage fee. All the charters re- quired the publication of by-laws in a newspaper before they took effect. The expense of publication furnishes a possible explanation of the enactment of so few by-laws by the Bor- ough of Newtown. The first meeting ordered the printing of the by-laws and adjourned for a short time. At the adjourned meeting it was Voted., " That an attempt be made to raise l)y subscription the expenses which have been made l)y this borough, amount- ing to about eight dollars." " A collector for such subscription " was appointed. At a meeting shortly afterwards a committee reported that "a pound already built could be procured free of rent, and that the probable expense to the borough would be two dol- lars." The report was accepted, the pound established, and authority given to put it in repair at tlie expense of the bor- ough. At tlie second annual meeting a committee was appointed " to examine into the accounts of the borough." The meeting then adjourned for a week. The committee made no report. It was Voted, " That the moneys owing to the borough be paid into the hands of the treasurer and that he open an account with the borough." A collector was appointed. That any moneys were owing the borough at that time except what had been subscribed, is extremely improbable, though it is possible that lines for a violation of the by-laws had been imposed. The only pecuni- 160 CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. ary obligations of the borough were " the expenses which have been made, about eight dollars " (probably for printing the by- laws), and expense of the pound, two dollars. At the same meeting the privilege was voted to the warden " of feeding the highway in front of his dwelling-house during one week, for the sum of yW-" ^ similar vote in favor of another per- son was passed. It was also Voted, " That the warden be empowered to let out for pas- turage any part of the public street within the limits of the borough, for such sum or sums, and for any length of time he may think proper." But it would seem that the borough did not obtain funds sufficient for the payment of its debts by the subscription, even when supplemented by the sale of the pasture in the streets, for in 1827 assessors were appointed "for the purpose of ascertaining the value of propert}^ liable to taxation for pay- ment of borough debts and charges." The assessors did noth- ing and it is now impossible to decide whether the " debts and charges" were ever paid, or how the funds for that purpose, if any, were raised, except as to one item, unless it is assumed that the borough received the price at which it authorized the pasturage in the streets to be sold. Among the proceedings of one meeting it is recorded that " there was 78 cents contrib- uted towards defraying the expenses of the boi-ough and left in the hands of the warden." This is the only money actually shown to have been received by any officer of the borough for its use, for more than fifty years of its existence. During all that time the restraining of animals seemed to be the only object of that existence. Year after year the annual borough meeting was held, the officers elected and a pound established, or a committee appointed to procure one. At one meeting, a committee, previously appointed, reported that they were un- able to procure a pound, and recommended the building of a new one. The borough was thus compelled to choose between economy and its love for a pound, and economy carried the day. The meeting adjourned sine die without action. For fifty years the total expenses of this borough probably CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. 161 did not exceed $20. For different periods, amounting in the aggregate to thirty years, no meetings for the election of offi- cers were held. Finally in 1883, borough officers were elected who favored improvements. The borough voted to procure lire apparatus and to grade and improve the main street, which was done. To defray the expense a tax was laid, notwithstand- ing the opposition of the old borough people, and a large por- tion of it collected. A legal contest as to the remainder is threatened. The first warden of Colchester procured the advertising of the by-laws passed in the first and succeeding years. Nine years afterwards a borough meeting was called " to see if said borough will take any measures to cancel a debt against said borough in favor of John R. Watrous, Esq." (the first warden). The claim being considered, " said meeting moved that they would do something." Accordingly a tax of 1^ cents on $100 was laid " to defray the expenses of the borough." Six months later it was voted to collect only one-half of the tax and if any person has " paid the full amount of the rate bill as first made, one-half is to be refunded to any such Person or Persons." Two years later the attention of a borough meeting was again called to this claim amounting to $12, and it was voted " that the debts of the borough be paid, if there is money enough in the treasury to do it." The claim was finally paid. The first item in the treasurer's account, under date of June 27, 1843, nineteen years after the incorporation, reads : "To paid order to J. R. Watrous, $12.00." In 1844, a second tax, 6|c. on $100, was laid, to extinguish the rights of some individuals in the village green. Since that time at irregular intervals, there have been taxes varying in rate from |c. to 27c. per $100. Sixteen taxes have been laid since the organization of fhe borough and the total amount is $1.63 per $100, or a fraction over 16 mills on $1, for the period of sixty years. This is but little more than the rate of tax in a single year for some of our cities. The money has been used for improving the public parks and streets, purchase 11 162 CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. of a fire engine, engine lioiise and other fire apparatus, laying crosswalks, constructing reservoirs and lighting the streets. These expenditures have proved remunerative. Colchester has become one of the most attractive towns of the State, a place where life is made worth living. The borough was more fortunate tlian almost any other borough in the State, in hav- ing the leadership of a public spirited citizen who pointed out the way to wise improvements and set an example of liberality in contributions, not only of money, but also, of what was of more value to him, his time. As occasion required he tilled almost every borough office from warden to pound keeper ; not because he wanted the offices, but because the offices wanted him, and because he desired the success of the bor- ough, and he thus indicated his estimate of the comparative importance of the State and the municipality in business administration. ^one of the early boroughs during the first years of their existence paid any salaries to their officers. At present the clerk and treasurer of nearly all active boroughs are paid small salaries. A few boroughs now pay a small salary to the bur- gesses, while others pay no salary to either warden or burgesses. Of the latter class, Stamford, wdiose success has been conspicu- ous, is an example. It is difificult to resist the pressure for the establishment of salaries and their increase. In 1863 the warden and burgesses of Winsted passed a resolution : " HeKolved^ In the opinion of this board, that all persons accepting office under the charter of this borough shall con- sider that the time spent in their official capacity is a duty which they owe to the public and ought to l)e cheerfully per- formed without compensation." A borough meeting held shortly afterwards laid the above resolution on the tal)le. In 1864, the three water commission- ers, whose duties had been onerous and responsible, presented bills amounting to $500. These were reduced by the warden and burgesses to $186.30, which was paid. In 1868 a gentle- man, who had been warden for three years, presented a bill of CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. 163 $175 for the three years services as warden, and $50 for serv- ices as building committee, all of which the wardens and bur- gesses refused to pay. But it became evident that salaries would in time be voted, and that they would grow when once established, and a provision was inserted in amendments to the charter in 1869, fixing the salaries of the warden at $50; of each burgess, $5 ; of the clerk, $20 ; of the treasurer, $10, jyer muntm, " and the aforesaid salaries shall be compensation in full for the services of the above named officers during the year for which they are elected." (6 Private Acts, p. 597). In Danbury, in 1859, salaries were hxed at $30 for the warden and $10 each for the clerk and treasurer. They were gradually increased till the warden's salary was $300, the clerk's $100, and the treasurer's $25. An ex-warden pre- sented a bill for $100 for police services during his term as warden. It does not appear that municipal results are any more satisfactory in Danbury than they are in Winsted or Stamford. Although the early charters gave nearly the same powers to all the boroughs as to the enactment of by-laws, there was a great difference as to the amount of their legislation on differ- ent subjects. Many boroughs gave special prominence to a single subject. In Bridgeport, the earliest borough, nearly three-fourths of the legislation was on the subject of lire. There was a fire company and engine in the borough before its incorporation, the company having been incorporated in 1797. One of the first by-laws was " a by-law for preserving the borough from injury by fire and for regulating the fire company." It prescribed tlie duties of the officers and mem- bers of the company at fires and practice drills, and the oath to be taken by one of the officers. Every householder was compelled to provide for use at fires a certain number of leathern fire buckets. All able-bodied male inhabitants, be- tween the ages of 16 and 60, were to assemble on specified days at the engine house with their fire buckets, and be exer- cised in their use. They were also to go to every fire and assist to the best of their ability in extinguishing it under the 164 CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. direction of the warden. No person could carry a brand or coal of tire from one building to another, or to a sailing vessel, except in some close, indestructible, metal receptacle, nor could any person allow a brand or coal of fire to be taken from liis building except in such receptacle. Various other provisions had reference to stove pipes, chimneys and the conduct of fire- men and citizens at tires. Other by-laws on this subject were subsequently enacted. Fire inspectors were to be appointed with power to enter and inspect buildings, to see that the by- laws were observed, and to give directions which the occupants were compelled to follow, particularly in regard to the thorough extinguishing of fires in dwelling houses at night, and to the placing of fenders around stoves and in front of fire places. A failure to put out fire at night was punishable by a fine. Another by-law prohibited carrying into a barn, stable, or hay loft, or into a barn yard or stable yard where there was any hay or straw, a brand or coal of fire, a lighted match, pipe or a cigar, or a lighted lamp or candle, unless the lamp or candle was in a lantern, the door of which was shut and securely fastened. Taxes for expenses incurred for protection against fire were to be assessed on property according to its " exposedness " to fire. Taking ashes from a stove or hearth in a wooden article was prohibited, as was also kindling, keep- ing, or allowing any fire in the open air within 18 feet of a building or vessel.* Some of this legislation has been copied in the by-laws of a few other boroughs ; some of it has been quite generally adopted in the borough by-laws, but much of it seems strange, some of it ludicrous. It is quite possible that some of our legislation will seem equally strange to our grandchildren, 80 years hence. Two things that we have in abundance were totally wanting to the early burghers of Bridgeport. These are friction matches and fire insurance. Before friction matches * For my knowledge of the Bridgeport by-laws, I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Franklin B. Sherwood. With true historic zeal, he has made copies of them from the newspapers in which they were adver- tised when passed. The original record is lost, and it is not known that an official copy exists. C. H. C CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. 165 were made great care was taken not to allow the lire in a house to go out entirely. A tinder-box was the means of re-kindling fire, and its use was tedious and not always successful. Send- ing a child to a neighbor's house with a pair of tongs to bring a live coal, was much easier. The author was in his childhood often sent on such an errand. To regulate this practice and to eliminate its danger, was the occasion of one of these by-laws. The absence of tire insurance prevented the carelessness, even the recklessness, that characterizes modern methods, in these matters. The universal sentiment was that no precaution against fire should be omitted, and this sentiment was embodied in the by-law on that subject. Novj^ insurance induces carelessness or at least a want of vigilance. The question arises, are our ways better or worse than those of our grandfathers 'i If this ques- tion is to be considered in the light of political economy one answer only is possible. The destruction of property by tire is vastly greater than it would be under the ancient regula- tions. Security by fire insurance is an incentive to careless- ness or something worse. An able president of one of the best fire insurance companies in Connecticut endorsed this view, when he said that he was certain he could go before any grand jury in the United States and have the fire insurance system of the country indicted as a common nuisance. The by-laws of Bridgeport in regard to fire were not unpre- cedented. Before the conquest there was a much stronger regulation in two English boroughs. The Domesday book of William the Conqueror informs us that in Shrewsbury, a Saxon borough, the householder was punished for an acci- dental tire. It reads (fol. 252) : " If the house of any burgess should be burned by any cause or happening, without negligence, he shall give to the king, as a forfeiture, forty shillings and to his nearest neighbors, two shillings each." In Chester, another Saxon borough, a similar regulation existed (fol. 262, B) : " If a fire happen in the city, the person at whose house it breaks out, forfeits three Orae of twenty pence in the Ora, and to his nearest neighbors two shillings." 166 CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. No such provisions are found in the regulations of any other borough in Domesday book, or in the general Saxon legisla- tion. The origin of the by-laws of Bridgeport will not be found in Saxon times. Saxon legislation dealt with results ; the by-laws of Bridgeport, with causes. Stonington is the oldest existing borough in the State It was chartered in 1801, six months after Bridgeport. One of the earliest subjects of borough action was the planting of trees at the sides of the principal streets. Already there were a few elms and sycamores planted a long time previously, some of which had attained to an immense size. One was called the " Liberty Tree," because under it the " Sons of Liberty '' had met during the revolutionary war. There measures were con- certed to repel the British naval attacks and to put down the tories. The freemen authorized the purchase and planting along the streets of 300 cherry trees, nearly all of which in a few years were destroyed by the swine and neat cattle roaming in the streets. This brought up the consideration of a by-law to restrain animals from going at large, which at first was vio- lently opposed, and the usual arguments and appeals were pre- sented. Many stormy borough meetings were held before the by-law was jjassed. After its passage the people gradually acquiesced. At first no general code of by-laws was enacted. The people passed by-laws on particular subjects as their necessity appeared. After a small fire in 1825, a by-law was enacted compelling householders to keep fire-buckets, as in other boroughs. De- structive fires in 1836 and 1837 incited the borough to procure two fire engines, to which a steam fire engine has been added within a few years. No action for constructing sidewalks was taken till about 1860. Stamford is now one of the largest, most important and suc- cessful boroughs in the State. Very early it passed a full code of by-laws on the usual subjects, in which more attention was given to streets and the prevention of nuisances on them, than to any thing else. The first by-law provided for the appoint- ment of a pound keeper and five overseers of streets. Their CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. 16Y duty was to "■ see that the streets are kept clean and free from lumber, rubbish and annoyances of every description," and to impound cattle going at large. All persons were prohibited from placing in any street or highway any filth, dead animal, oyster, clam, or '' scollop" shells, or suffering any filth, dead animal or other means of annoyance to remain in any street " between the middle of the same, and his or her possessions." Every inhabitant occupying land bordering on any street was com- pelled " to keep down the weeds between his possessions and the common traveled path opposite thereto." The by-law pro- hibited the sale or use of fire-crackers or similar articles, firing cannon, exploding rockets, throwing fire balls or other burning material, naked bathing, leaving a wagon or other vehicle in the street unattached to a horse or team, except by persons attending church, leaving wood, timber, etc., in the street more than 36 hours, and riding or driving on a sidewalk. Another by-law prohibited burning shavings or any combustible matter, or bonfires in the highways and commons. A later by-law prohibited tethering or baiting any animal on the highway, a practice that had probably sprung up after the first by-law was passed. Although the legislation of Stamford was chiefly on the sub- ject of streets, their good order and cleanliness, there was the usual experience of other boroughs on the common subjects of borough action. The first fire engine was procured by a sub- scription and a vote was passed that no tax should be laid for it. A little later a vote was passed ordering the purchase of a fire engine and a building for housing it, and at the same time a tax of 1^ cts. on $100 was laid " for the purpose of defraying the expense of incorporation, etc." The juxtaposi- tion of the purchase of the fire engine and laying the tax to defray the expenses of the incorporation of the borough, " etc.," is very suspicious. A subscription had been previously made for the purchase of an engine, but it was uncollected. The collection of the subscription and tax was sold to the lowest bidder at $4. The collection of this tax was probably never attempted. The account of the treasurer makes no mention of it. 168 CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. The building for housing the engine was not provided for at that time, but at the annual meeting in 1832, the warden and burgesses were instructed to procure a suitable engine house, and a tax of 3c. on $100 was laid. A collector was appointed and he was voted $4.50 for collecting the tax, which on his declining, was subsequently increased to $10. It does not appear that this tax was ever fully collected. From year to year various votes were passed requiring the collector to pay the tax into the treasury. Finally in 1839, seven years after the tax was laid, the warden was given discretionary power to settle with the collector and his bondsmen, but it does not appear that any settlement was ever made. For the iirst eleven years the borough clerk was also the treasurer and the records during that period are some of the finest borough records in the State. Before retiring he recorded his account as borough ti'easurer. The first item is dated April 12, 1831, " Cash received for a fine, $1." The last item is May 4, 1841, cash paid to his successor. He charges himself with the amount of the tax laid, $72.18. He credits himself March 18, 1841, bal. due from the collector of the tax, $42.18. The Dr. and Cr. side is, each $157.54, for ten years business. For the sake of comparison the expenses of the borough for the year ending May 1, 1882, are here given : Police Department - $886.83 Incidental Expenses. 2,206.30 Cleaning Lamps - 149.36 Fire Department -.. 2,276.55 Hydrants, Setting, etc. 494.55 Gas Co., Lighting 2,412.42 WaterCo 1,500.00 Street Repairs 2,105.30 Gas and Lamps 681.31 Crosswalks. 280.87 Legal Expenses 1,047.12 $14,040.61 The tax laid that year was 3 mills on $1, The people are satisfied with the expenditure and believe that it is honestly, faithfully and wisely made. CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. 169 In the borough of Waterbury no g-eneral code of by-laws was enacted. A by-law " to prevent nuisances in the streets " was passed, but it was of very limited scope, contained excep- tions to its provisions, and two of the burgesses could grant permits to disregard it. Yery little attention was paid to it. The chief and almost tlie only subject of legislation was the restraint of animals from going at large. Yery early a by-law was passed restraining almost all domestic animals, but the extensive exception was made that each head of a family who owned or kept a cow might permit the cow to run at large from May 1 to Dec. 1, having first lodged with the clerk of the borough a description of the cow's natural and artificial marks. This by-law was passed Oct. 11, 1825, and so far as it related to neat cattle was repealed June 8, 1826, so that neat cattle were again free to run at large. There is a suspicion, but no evidence, that this question entered into the next election of borough ofiicers, who for two years had been from among the foremost citizens. The warden was the first citizen of his time in the town. He had been the presiding judge of the County Court and had held other prom- inent public positions. The clerk was a popular and promising young lawyer, who afterwards became the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State. The other borough ofiicers were some of the most influential citizens. At the election a com- plete change in the personnel of the government was made, the only exceptions being one of the seven haj^wards and two of the five street inspectors, who were reelected. Some of the burgesses of the former years and the popular and efficient clerk, were paid the doubtful compliment of an election as hay- wards. Of the character of the newly elected officers, it is unadvisable to say anything. They were not of the class from which persons are usually elected to important offices. In 1634, 250 years ago, a similar cause in Massachusetts, regulations in regard to trespasses by swine on cultivated grounds, occasioned an important constitutional revolution in that colony, as well as a change in the head of the government. John Winthrop, the governor, was displaced. A few years ago 170 CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS, a city election, in a city of 20,000 inhabitants, was carried on the issue of permitting swine to go at large in the streets. If the suspicion in regard to the borough of Waterbury is correct, it is an instance of history repeating itself. But the borough survived all this. At the next election the old clerk was again elected, as was the former warden a few years afterwards, and a class of men as burgesses, similar to the first set. Meanwhile affairs went on in a quiet way. The people met in borough meetings from time to time and busied themselves with passing, amending, and repealing by-laws about neat cattle. Other by-laws of little importance were passed. A vote was passed authorizing the appointment of shepherds to take care of cattle lawfully at large, but there is no record of any appointment. At one time a hayward was elected who magnified his office for the sake of its fees. Cows that had been properly registered, and for which certain small sums had been paid into the treasury, were lawfully at large, and could not be impounded. This hayward would watch for stray cattle near the outer lines of the borough and impound them. It was also charged that he had a confederate who would drive cattle on the highway a short distance into the borough so that he could impound them, and that he divided the fees with the friend. The good sense of the freemen permanently retired him after one year of such service. When the borough had been in existence seven years, appro- priations for various purposes to the amount of $45 were made, No tax was laid till six years later, when the first tax of 3 cents on $100 was laid " to defray the expense of improving the streets." The money, $45, previously appropriated, and that was evidently in the treasury, had been derived from sums paid for cows going at large, and possibly fines imposed for the violation of by-laws, but from the latter source no great amount could have been realized. The rate of the tax seems ludi- crously small when contrasted with the present city tax of $1.50 on $100, just fifty times as large, on a vastly greater assessment list. CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. 171 In 1833 the borough was summoned to answer a petition to the General Assembly praying for the extension of the bor- ough limits over the whole of the first school society, the same territory as the present town. This was an adroit attack on the borough, the only one of the kind that has been found in the State. If the petition had been granted, it would hare been impossible to pass any by-laws, especially on that favorite sub- ject, the restraining of neat cattle. The borough voted to employ a lawyer, the future Chief Justice, to oppose the peti- tion. It is impossible to discover who the petitioners were and whether they lived in the borough or not. Ko such peti- tion is found in the State records of that year. It is presumed that the petition was abandoned and never returned when it was found that the borough would oppose it ; a presumption that is strengthened by the fact that there is no record of any payment to the lawyer for his services. A by-law was passed imposing a fine of $3 for riding or driving on any sidewalk. Compared with other penalties, this was severe and indicated the extent of the practice to be sup- pressed, which was probably induced by the bad condition of the roads at certain seasons of the year. There is no doubt, although no record exists, that the first fire engine was bought by a subscription. A vote was passed to enlist a fire company of 16 men for that engine, and it was subsequently increased to 20 men. In 1843 a new fire com- pany was organized, the members of which were, by a vote of the warden and burgesses, required to pay $3 each, as a condi- tion of membership. The money thus obtained with an addi- tional sum raised by subscription, was used to purchase a new fire engine. After a failure to raise money by subscription to build an engine house, a tax was laid for that purpose, and another in the succeeding year to purchase hose and a hose cart. In 1849, for an estimated expenditure of $1,500 for new en- gines and fire apparatus, a tax of 24 cents on $100 was laid. This was four times as large as any previous borough tax. The collector proved a defaulter as to a portion of the amount col- 172 CONNECTICUT BOKOUGHS. lected, and it became necessary to raise more money. A bor- ough meeting was held and the freemen were not good natured. After several adjournments it was voted that the warden and burgesses "be requested to prepare a by-law to repeal so much of a former vote as authorized " certain expenditures, " unless the money necessary to pay for the same be raised in some other way than by a tax.-' A committee was therefore appointed to raise the amount by subscription. The committee made no report and was probably unsuccessful, for more than two years afterwards a tax of 6 cents on $100 was laid for the same pur- poses. But there was a growing feeling that the borough govern- ment ought to be changed for something more powerful and of a wider scope. The large increase of population had devel- oped new and greater corporate wants. Committees were appointed to contract for street gas lamps ; to examine the sub- ject of " bringing water into the village for use in cases of fire ;" to revise the charter of the borough and present the same to a borough meeting for approval. JSTone of these committees ever reported. But finally at a meeting of citizens — not a borough meeting — it was voted to apply for a city charter, which was done, and so the borough of Waterbury grew into the city of Waterbury, the seventh city of the State, with a population larger than that of any previously incorporated city at its incorporation. The last by-law on the subject of neat cattle was passed in 1849, four years before the demise of the borough. It totally restrained all cattle from running at large, and was the first and only by-law of this sweeping character. It was to be in force one year only and was never renewed. Public interest on this subject had declined. Other subjects had arisen to claim attention, and circumstances had changed. The popu- lation had largely increased and the number of people who kept cows had relatively decreased. The feeling against neat cattle had more ability to assert itself, and there was less pas- ture in the highways as they were improved, and the privilege of pasturing in the streets became less valuable. The town, CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. 173 in 1853, finally passed a by-law restraining neat cattle, action which it would have been impossible to obtain twenty years earlier. Action on this subject in this borough illustrates the pro- gress of public opinion in the State. The legal history of the State shows this : previous to 1796 every man was obliged to fence his land against cattle, which were allowed to run at large. In that year a law was passed enabling towns to re- strain them. It would be difficult to believe that at that early day towns existed where such a regulation could be passed and enforced, but the passage of the law proves that there must have been at least one town, where it was hoped that such a by-law would be enacted. In 1855, the law was entirely changed so that no cattle could run at large unless the town by a by-law permitted it, thus exactly reversing the former law. In 1860 this power of the towns was taken away and no cattle could run at large in the State. A practice then grew up of employing herdsmen or boys to attend them, and it was claimed that the law did not prevent this, as the cattle were not technically at large. In 1863 a law was passed entirely prohibiting this practice. Finally in 1882 it was made a crim- inal offense, for any person " entitled to the custody " of any of the mentioned animals, to permit them -to be at large on any highway or common. These details may seem trivial, but they are not unmeaning. Much of history consists of the relations of the individual to the mass. This is an essential, in fact, the main idea, in all government. The decision of this question by the borough from time to time, was of more real importance to its inhabit- ants, than the decision of the question who should be governor of the State or even president of the United States. The changes that have taken place in the physical appearance of the State since the present century began, indicate a growth in culture and refinement that could alone make possible such changes in the law as have been narrated. Many borough by-laws are copies of by-laws previously passed by other boroughs. Committees to draft by-laws have 174 CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. sometimes been instructed to examine the bj-laws of the other boroughs, or of some borough particularly named. The sub- ject of warning meetings of the freemen and of the wardens and burgesses always requires a by-law. In Bridgeport per- sonal notice of a borough meeting was to be given to each free- man three days, or, " in case of special emergency," two hours previous to the meeting. Guilford, Newtown and Colchester copied this method of warning " in case of special emergency," though the time of the notice was increased, but for ordinary meetings of the freemen, a notice of the meeting placed on the " sign post " a certain number of days previous to the meeting, was the mode adopted. The practice of holding meetings "in case of special emergency " under a personal notice to the free- men, lias with the increase of population, necessarily been abandoned. By-laws prescribing the oaths, powers and duties of various borough officers are similar in many boroughs. But many boroughs had by-laws on special subjects, not usu- ally found in borough legislation. Their enactment is the best evidence of the previous conduct of the people. Danielson- ville prohibited the hitching of a team to a fence, thereby obstructing a sidewalk, or allowing a team to stand on a side- walk. We may judge of the previous extent of the prohibited practice from the fact that an attorney was appointed to en- force the by-law, and 300 copies of it were ordered printed. In Wallingford a person suffering a team to injure a tree standing on the street was to pay such fine as should be assessed by a committee appointed by the borough for that purpose. Winsted prohibited tying horses to trees and allow- ing a team to stand on a walk or crosswalk, or before the door or gate of a dwellinghouse, except to receive or deliver passen- gers. West Haven and West Stratford prohibited the use of bicycles on the sidewalks, and Danbury their use in its main street. Bethel enacted a by-law against flying kites on the streets or sidewalks. Danbury prohibited digging turf in highways except by the owner of the adjoining premises or by his permission. Winsted passed a by-law for the protection of the walls, fences, walks, graves, grave-stones and monu- ments in cemeteries. CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. 175 Many boroughs, after the manner of Stamford, enacted by- laws compelling the property owners to remove rubbish and annoyances from the streets in front of their land. Litchfield has an enactment compelling property owners to remove " un- sightly objects " from their own land, after a notice from the burgesses. Nuisances on private premises affecting health are prohibited in almost all boroughs, but Litchfield is the only borough that extends this provision to objects that are objec- tionable only, as being " unsightly." One borough prohibited dogs from running at large. In another ducks were among the animals restrained. Two bor- oughs prohibited the sale of wood unless measured by a wood inspector. Danbury prohibited the sale of coal unless weighed by the borough weigher. Scales were erected by the borough, a weigher with a salary was appointed and fees for weighing were established. A prosecution was ordered against a party who had persistently violated the by-law. He settled the case by paying $50 into the borough treasury. The weigher pays the fees into the treasury and the result is a yearly and increasing profit to the borough. The reason for this by-law can be easily imagined. Ansonia enacted an extensive by-law to preserve good order. It provided penalties for injuring or defacing public or private buildings, fences or bridges, for pasting bills on the same or on sidewalks without the owner's permission ; disturbing exhibi- tions or concerts by any unnecessary noise or rude, boisterous, or disorderly conduct ; collecting in crowds on the sidewalks, and it contained various other provisions common to other bor- oughs. Many boroughs have passed by-laws compelling certain classes of persons to take a borough license. Auctioneers, peddlers, street venders, keepers of billiard tables and ten-pin alleys, drivers of public hacks and carriages, and proprietors of circuses and other exhibitions, are examples. The attempt to discriminate in the charge for licenses in favor of residents of the borough, is often made. In one year the receipts of Dauielson- ville from these sources were $71.50, and from all other sources 1Y6 CONNECTICUT BOKOUGHS. except money borrowed, $10.10. The expenses of the borough for the same year were nearly $3,000. In Willimantic a bor- ough meeting voted that the warden and burgesses fix a stipu- lated price in money for licenses for shows and exhibitions, and in no case receive complimentary tickets as a part thereof. In 1820, Guilford passed a by-law to prevent trespasses in gardens, fruit yards, etc. The penalty for taking fruit, vege- tables, etc., in the day time was $2.50 ; in the night, $5. It contained the following provision : If the plaintiff makes oath " that there have been such and so many facts committed, as are charged in the declaration, and that he suspects the defend- ant to have committed said trespasses, although the complain- ant or informer may not be able to produce any other evidence thereof than to render it highly probable to the justice before whom the trial is, then, unless the defendant shall acquit him- self, that he did not do or cause to be done the facts that are charged against him, or any of them, the plaintiff, complainer, or informer, shall recover the penalties and damages, with costs." Offences, against which this by-law was enacted, had evi- dently become frequent and were diflScult of detection if com- mitted in the night. The character or reputation of the accused told against him. The by-law fails to state the ground for suspicion. It was probably indefinable, and yet the injured party would have confidence in its correctness, a confidence that the justice would be apt to share. Sixty years ago neither party could testify in a civil cause, nor could the accused in a criminal prosecution. The words " plaintiff, complainer or informer," imply that the case might be regarded as either civil or criminal. But the assumption that a guilty person would hesitate to swear falsely in order to clear himself, is one that few courts in Connecticut would make at the present day. Boroughs have often used their power to enforce the general laws of the State, either by directing their oflicers to enforce such laws, or by the enactment of by-laws for that purpose. Since it has become illegal for cattle to be at large, by-laws have been enacted on that subject by some boroughs, while CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. 17Y others have simply given notice that the State haw would be enforced or have directed their officers to enforce it. Sabbath breaking, profane cursing or swearing, revelling, brawling, quarreling, drunkenness, are other examples. While a prohib- itory law was on the statute book, but practically a dead letter in the larger places, many boroughs attempted its partial or total enforcement. Some boroughs, having such a power in their charters, passed by-laws to compel the closing of saloons on Sunday and during certain hours of the night. The warden and burgesses of Winsted appointed a committee to " visit the liquor saloons and request the proprietors to stop selling," and passed a vote that people who "persist in selling" will be noti- fied that they will be " dealt with in a legal manner." Subse- quently, when the license law was in force, an offender was fined $60 on six prosecutions with costs, $19.80, and in default of payment was committed to jail for 120 days. His case was then brought before the warden and burgesses, and they voted " on account of the state of his health," that he be released on paying one fine and the costs, and giving his note for $50 on six months time, and agreeing in writing " that he will never in any particular violate any of the by-laws or ordinances of the borough hereafter, and promise also to recall his applica- tion for a license for the sale of spirituous liquors."'^ West Stratford took action to suppress truancy by enforcing the " truant law," and cooperated with the authorities of the city of Bridgeport in suppressing Sabbath breaking near the boundary line between the city and borough. In Wallingford the warden and burgesses voted " That all barbers' shops in the borough be closed on Sunday under penalty of the law," but shortly afterwards " in compliance with the petition of seventy- five citizens," this vote, " passed at the request of the barbers," was rescinded. A petition of the barbers in Shelton for simi- * The Court of Burgesses had no authority for this action. It was without legal warrant. The State Attorney of the higher courts could order the discharge of the prisoner on his giving a note for the amount of fines and costs. The justice who convicted the prisoner had no authority to order his discharge, though this has sometimes been done. 12 178 CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS, lar action was disregarded. But comparatively little borough action is of this character. Outside of the by-laws a large amount of business is done upon which the people substantially agree. Many boroughs have constructed water- works. Wherever they have been established a vote of the freemen has been taken and the vote in favor was very large ; sometimes almost unanimous. In Bethel this is the main feature of borough administration. The cost of the water-works, as represented by the indebted- ness, was $27,000. The water rents, which are moderate, pay the interest and all expenses of administration and repair. No charge is made for water for borough use, and the fire hydrants are erected at the expense of the water fund. There is a sur- plus revenue of about $1,000 annually. In Ansonia, Stamford and Greenwich private water companies have introduced water and the boroughs have paid for its use for fire purposes. In Willimantic a line of pipe was laid through an important locality and a contract made with a manufacturing corporation for the use of its pumps to force water through the pipes. The expense was paid by an assessment on property benefitted. Kecently this borough has voted to establish water-works and to issue bonds to the amount of $200,000 for the purpose. In Danielsonville the principal part of the borough expenditure is for the fire department and for reservoirs or cisterns to supply water for fire purposes. A borough has no power that is not granted by the charter. Action that is not afiirmatively sanctioned by the charter is illegal and void. But there are few boroughs that have not, though infrequently, overstepped their chartered powers. OfEering rewards for the detection and punishment of criminals is the most common instance. Rewards have been offered varying in amounts from $5 to $500. Some of the crimes the borough officers were anxious to punish were mutilating street signs, breaking street lamps, breaking flag stones in side walks, breach of the borough pound, destroying trees. Sabbath-break- ing, keeping open saloons on Sunday, assault on a female, burg- lary, incendiarism, homicide. Even Essex, that would lay no CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. 179 tax for any purpose, authorized the offering of a " suitable reward for the detection of any person who shall break open the borough pound." Danielsonville offered rewards of $50 for the detection and conviction of any one committing " a mali- cious act of any kind," $50 in case of homicide and $200 in case of incendiary fire. Two adjoining boroughs combined to em- ploy detectives to secure incendiaries. Few rewards have been claimed. It is the payment, not the offer of a reward that a taxpayer would object to, and upon which he could procure an injunction. Other illegal appropriations and payments have been made. Danielsonville voted to take action to have the State courts held in the borough. A tax was laid for the payment of agents who were employed. An attempt to rescind the tax at a subsequent meeting failed, the vote for rescinding being five and the opposing vote seven. Wallingford made an attempt to secure by legislative action, the stoppage in the borough of the midday express train on the ]N". Y., ]SI. H. & H. R. R. Both these attempts failed but the bills were paid and no objection was made. In Birmingham a borough meeting appropriated $150 for a new liberty pole on the green, and a subsequent meeting ordered payment of the bills that amounted to $190, but the payment was stopped by an injunction. This action was in- cited by personal and partizan as well as economical motives. There is little doubt, however, that a majority of the freemen were at last opposed to the payment of the bills. The meet- ings that made the appropriation and ordered payment were managed mainly by the warden and his employees. A much larger borough meeting, subsequently held, refused to employ counsel to resist the injunction. Twenty-five years afterwards a borough meeting appropriated $350 for a new liberty pole, the old one having been destroyed. There have been other illegal acts not involving the expendi- ture of money. Stafford Springs appointed tythingmen, but as the duties of their office would only bring them in contact with unruly boys, their appointment was probably as effective as though legally made. 180 CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. If we conskler the extensive and varied powers that are con- ferred by the charters, the diversity of legislative and business action, and the fact that action is occasionally instituted for which there is no warrant in the charter and which can only be consummated by a general acquiescence, we may safely assert that the amount of litigation caused by boroughs is very small. There have been hundreds of assessments of damages and benefits for laying out or altering streets and for other objects, and the chartei's give a right of appeal to the superior court for a reassessment, but very few appeals are made, although there have been few assessments, perhaps none, in which the parties were perfectly satisfied. Borough action is rarely attacked. When a borough begins to improve its streets by widening or otherwise changing them, a vote is frequently passed requesting a man to move his fence to conform to the new arrangement. His compliance takes the form of acquies- cence in a public wish rather than obeying a public order. As the borough progresses and feels its legal strength, it ceases to make requests and issues orders. Law suits against boroughs are infrequent. The most com- mon, perhaps, are for injuries caused by defective streets or sidewalks, and these are generally settled before a trial if the borough is really liable. The charters sometimes contain a provision that the just and reasonable charges and expenses in- curred in procuring the charter shall be defrayed by the borough. There were no such charges incurred by many of the early boroughs. Printing the charter for the use of the General Assembl}^ was not required as at present, and the ser- vices of an attorney or agent were not needed. The members from the town took charge of it and were able to secure its passage. Now, legislative action is regarded as a profitable field for the exercise of legal talent, and it is thought that no private act of any kind ought to be passed unless agents or attorneys are employed to promote its passage. A bill for such services was presented to Stafford Springs. It does not appear that any one employed the attorneys, or that there was any necessity for their services, and it is certain that no one CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. 181 could bind the borough, which then had no existence. Pay- ment was refused and a suit to compel payment was brought. A borough meeting voted to pay it and passed the following vote, introduced by one of the most influential citizens : — " That in ordering the payment we in no respect recognize, acknowledge or allow the justness, legality or collectibility of said bill, but order its payment, believing it cheaper and better for the people knowingly to submit to the extortion of an in- significant sum of money, than to enter into a contest which will tend but to the disruption of the peace of our community, and the opening up of a disgraceful quarrel the end of which no person can foresee." In 1869 the reservoir of the Danl)ury water-works gave way and caused loss of life and a great destruction of property. Able counsel advised the borough that it was not liable, but the borough procured the passage of an act authorizing it to settle, adjust and pay the damages, and provided for the ap- pointment of a commissioner to fix the amounts if the parties could not agree. Under the act nearly $27,000 was paid to 123 parties, in amounts ranging from $5 to $4,500. These are examples of the methods used to avoid litigation. The ques- tion as to the wisdom of these methods is submitted to the judgment of the reader. Borough action is not always consistent with itself, and there is often too much g;-ound for the charge of favoritism. Many boroughs establish fire limits within which it is unlawful to build wooden buildings or to enlarge existing buildings by a wooden addition, " except by permission of the warden and burgesses."' In some boroughs such permission is almost inva- riably granted on request. In others the petitions are granted or denied with no apparent reason for such diverse action. The suspicion exists that influential persons can procure such per- mission that is denied to persons of less consequence. In Ansonia an addition made to a barn by a prominent citizen was allowed to remain " provided the owner pay $100 into the treasury." Within a month a vote was passed releasing him from the payment. In another case the warden was ordered to 182 CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. put an injunction on the erection of a wood building, and at the next meeting of the warden and burgesses the warden was authorized to grant a permit to complete the building. In Birmingham a well had been dug in the sidewalk and the proprietor had moved out his fence and brought the well within the enclosure. This was an illegal encroachment, a nuisance. The subject was " considered '' by the warden and burgesses and it was voted " that the warden give notice to to forthwith remove the encroachment which is deemed a nuisance." Two weeks afterwards the annual borough meeting was held. The warden, in a written report, referred to nuisances by encroachments on the streets and called on the citizens to decide whether they should be suppressed or not^ He said, " if public officers are at every step to be found fault with and not to be sustained because individual interests are to suffer by the execution of the law, then I would advise that the whole code of laws be rescinded and the borough charter again referred to our legislature for revocation." He announced that he had allowed the use of his name as a candidate for re election, and assured the freemen that if elected and the burgesses should appoint him committee on nuisances, " he should proceed without fear or favor to execute the law and enforce the penalties." The meeting unanimously passed a resolution sustaining the sentiments of the warden's report, and asserting that it was the duty of the Avarden and burgesses to insist upon the mainten- ance, by the citizens, of the borough laws, and then re-elected the warden. The burgesses at once appointed the warden committee on nuisances. The subject of the encroachment above referred to was fully discussed, and it was voted "" that the whole matter be left with the warden to carry out the law," but at the next meeting of the warden and burgesses it was voted "that no present action be taken in regard to " the encroachment. Xo other action was ever taken by the borough authorities and the encroachment remained for more than twenty years. CONNECTICUT BOROUGHS. 183 But it cannot be said that this personal influence on official action is peculiar to boroughs. It exists in all governments, especially in all popular governments, and it will exist until public opinion shall demand, in official action, a disregard of personal influences. There is no difference in kind between favoritism in a court of burgesses, and a legislative yielding to the influence of a state lobby, which is the bane of American legislation. It will be seen that elasticity is a feature in borough admin- istration. Boroughs that were chartered mth the expectation of restraining cattle, suppressing nuisances, passing fire laws, and perhaps procuring a fire engine, and of doing little more, have so enlarged their purposes as to change, within their limits, all the conditions of living. The towns are like iron castings, any number of which, and all substantially alike, can be made from the same pattern; the boroughs are as unlike as the machines that the artizan constructs to produce his varied wares. At the present tim.e there is an almost infinite diver- sity in the charters, as well as in the ordinances and other forms of borough action. But the will of the people of the borough has been the basis of legislative action, and the result shows the capacity of the people of Connecticut for improve- ment in municipal government. THE FAMILY OF NATHANIEL EATON, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASS. By Daniel C/ Eaton. [Read April 32, 1884.] Three of the persons bearing the name of Eaton who came to New England within the first twenty years of its settlement were the brothers Theophilus, Samuel and Nathaniel. Their father was the Rev. Richard Eaton, for some years vicar of the parish of Great Budworth, in Cheshire, as was his father, also named Richard, before him. Two abstracts of the will of the second Richard have been received, one by Professor Dexter from the late Col. Chester, and one taken afterwards by Miss Anwyl. Col. Chester's abstract was published, with some notes on the family, by Professor Dexter, in the New England His- torical and Genealogical Register for January, 1884. Each copy contains a few items omitted in the other. Putting the two together, the amended abstract reads thus : — "I, Richard Eaton, Clerk, etc.; will dated 11th July and signed 12th July, 1616, proved 14th January, 1616-1 Y, by Theophilus Eaton. My two houses called Pow House and the Poos House, in Over Whettley, co. Chester, and a piece of land which I lately bought of John Eaton, of Sandyway, and all ray other lands, I give to my wife Elisabeth for her life. 186 THE FAMILY OF NATHANIEL EATON. Other lands, etc., in Over Wheatley to be sold and the money to be divided amongst my children, Elisabeth, Hannah, John, Samuel, Thomas, ffrancis, Nathaniell and Jonathan, equally. To my son Theophilus said two houses after my vsrife's death, and I make him my sole Executor, he to pay my said three daughters their portions at marriage. Witnesses, Matthew Hiller, Joseph Denman, Thomas ffeatherstone." ^Prerogati'oe Court of Canterhury^ Weldon, 8.] The history of the sons John, Thomas, Francis and Jonathan is unknown. Theophilus, Samuel and Nathaniel came to Bos- ton in 1637, and their history is well known. Theophilus was the first Governor of New Haven Colony, where he was greatly venerated, and where he died January 7, 1657-8. One son of the Governor, named Samuel, graduated at Harvard College in 1649, married Mrs. Mabel Haynes November 17, 1654, and died with his wife in July of the next year. The only surviving son of the Governor was Theophilus, who re- turned to the old country after his father's death, lived for some time in Dublin, and is supposed to have died there un- married. His daughter Mary became the second wife of Val- entine Hill, of Boston, about 1646, had two sons, John, baptized August 22, 1647, and Nathaniel, born March 31, 1660. Yalentine Hill removed to Dover, and died there in 1662. Savage says his widow perhaps married John Lovering, of Dover, and next Ezekiel Knight, of Wells. John Lovering was drowned in 1668 or '69, leaving, says Savage, several young children. I have made no attempt to trace the descent of the Hills or the Loverings, nor do I know whether the family of the name of Lovering now living about Boston is of this race or not. Hannah Eaton, the Governor's younger daughter, married, in London, July 4, 1659, William Jones. The Joneses came to New Haven the next year, where Mr. Jones became Deputy Governor. They had several children, sons and daughters, and were followed by a numerous poster- ity. The Jones family has always had an honorable position THE FAMILY OF NATHANIEL EATON. 187 among the old families of Connecticut, and will doubtless hold it for generations to come. Rev. Samuel Eaton came to New Haven, but returned to England in 1640, had a living, as Savage informs us, " at Duckenheld, co. Chester, until the great ejection, and died at the neighboring parish of Denton, January 9, 1665 or ^66, aged 68." Savage says that he probably had a wife, but no cliildren. Nathaniel Eaton, as Professor Dexter tells us, was born about 1609, and educated under Dr. William Ames at Francker in the IN etherlands. Governor Winthrop gives some account of him in pages 308-313 of the first volume of his history, and says, " he had been sometimes initiated among the Jesuits." In 1637 he was made the teacher or master of the College at Cambridge, then called Newtown, and he continued in that charge till the fall of 1639, during which time John Harvard bequeathed his library to the College, and the General Court ordered that the College at Cambridge shall be called Harvard College. Mr. Savage, therefore, very properly called him " the first head of Harvard College, but not dignified with the title of President." More may be read about him in Paige's History of Cambridge, and also in volume ix., pp. 269- 271 of the Historical and Genealogical Register. Paige quotes from Cotton Mather {Magnalia, vol. 2, p. 10), in relation to his character and conduct. The story is not pleasant to recall. He was bi-ought before the Court, tried, and punished by fine and by being " debarred teaching children within our jurisdic- tion." Pending trial before the church also, he went away to Virginia, and eventually returned to England. His wife and all but one of his children took passage for Virginia, but the vessel in which they sailed was never afterwards heard from. This sole surviving child was Benoni Eaton, born about 1639. Benoni was left to the care of the church in Cambridge, and grew up under the special protection of Deacon Thomas Chisholm. The church-records mention him once or twice during his childhood, and he appears to have been bred to the trade of a maltster. He was a member of the train-band, and 188 THE FAMILY OF NATHANIEL EATON. a single man in 1664. Deacon Chisliolm died Angust 18, 1671, and bequeathed a field to Beuoni, who was by this time married and the father of one or two children. His wife's christian name was Rebecca; her family is not known. He died December 20, 1690, aged 51 years. His widow married John Hastings September 28, 1691. Savage mentions four children of Benoni and Rebecca, and Paige doubtfully adds a fifth. The five, arranged in probable order of birth are : 1. Nathaniel, born about 1667, died 22 February, 1690-91, aged 24. 2. Rebecca, born, perhaps, about 1670, married John Bunker, 28 April, 1690. 3. Anne, born 7 September, 1672, died 5 October, 1673. 4. Theophihis, born 20 September, 1674, died, according to Savage, the same day with his older brother, 22 Feb- ruary, 1690-91. 5. Ursula, born, perhaps, several years after the others, mar- ried Jacob Parker, of Boston, 29 April, 1708. She is omitted by Savage, and mentioned with a " perhaps " by Paige, who also does not seem positive about Na- thaniel and Rebecca. To these five I venture to add a sixth, whom I refer to this family for reasons which will presently appear. 6. Samuel, who was probably the Samuel Eaton chosen to serve as Sealer of Leather, in Boston, in 1716 and in 1723, and as overseer of the poor in 1722. He was married in Boston to Ruth Fairfield, grand-daughter of Daniel Fairfield, 23 July, 1702. Daniel Fairfield's will is dated 16 June, 1708 ; his lega- tees were his wife Ruth, and his grand -daughters Ruth Eaton and Mary Fairfield ; his executors were his wife and Samuel Eaton. After his wife's decease the estate was to be divided into three parts, one part to each of three persons, his son Daniel (then at sea), his grandchild Ruth Eaton and his grand- child Mary Fairfield. In a codicil dated 20 October, 1709, he gave to each of three children of his daughter Elizabeth THE FAMILY OF NATHANIEL EATON. 189 Ooddard, 15 shillings " to buy each of you a ring to remember me by." Samuel Eaton rendered the account of his executor- ship 18 August, 1718 ; his associate executrix was then de- ceased. The lirst day of June, 1717, Samuel Eaton, cord- wainer, of Boston, as surviving executor of Daniel Fairfield, sold to Jacob Parker, of Boston, mason, for £135, a house and land near the mill pond, and on the same day Jacob Parker and wife Ursula reconveyed the same estate to Samuel Eaton. This transaction makes it pretty clear that Samuel Eaton and Ursula Parker were of the same familj^ But a much stronger e^adence appears in the selection of names given to the chil- dren of Samuel and Ruth. These children were : 1. Mary, born 1 May, 1704. 2. Pebecca, born 14 December, 1705, baptized at the Old South Church 2yd of same month. She married Nathaniel Goodwin at Boston, 22 September 1724. 3. Ruth, born 2 November, 1707, married Samuel Ellis at Boston, 5 January, 1728. 4. Benoni, born 7 August, 1712. 5. Anna, born 6 August, 1715. 6. Samuel, born 20 May, 1718, baptized 25tli of same month. 7. Ursula, baptized 27 August, 1721. After 1723, no mention of the father has as yet been found at Boston, and it is jjossible that he removed to some place still unknown. The occurrence of the names Rebecca, Benoni and Ursula, among his children, removes all reasonable doubt that he was a son of Benoni and Rebecca Eaton of Cambridge. Here it is proper to observe that Savage says that The- ophilus, son of Benoni, died 22 Feb., 1691, the same day with his brother Nathaniel. The coincidence of the deaths of the brothers on the same day is remarkable, and Paige does not mention the death of Theophilus. Indeed, Mr. Wm, L. Eaton, of Concord, a most careful investigator, assures me that the death of Theophilus is not recorded at Cambridge. It is then possible that he lived to have children, and we may ask 190 THE FAMILY OF NATHANIEL EATON. fclie question whether he was not the father of a certain Nathaniel Eaton, chosen to serve as clerk of the market in Boston, in 1TL9-20, a man of whom no other mention has been found, but who might well have been the father of another Nathaniel Eaton of Boston, a leather-dresser, who married (1st) Mercy Trott, 26 Aug., 1743, and (2d) Sarah Day, 5 Jan., 174:7. None of the known Nathaniels of the Reading families could possibly have been this man. Of his first marriage was born Nathaniel, 24 July, 1744, who lived in Roxbury, but removed to Lancaster, and whose descendants are known. Of the second marriage was born James, baptized 18 Dec, 1748, who died in infancy. The father died 1749-50. But as this line of descent is wholly conjectural, it is not worth while to pur- sue it any farther in the present paper. I will merely note that one of the younger sons of Nathaniel of Lancaster, was named Theophilus, for a supposed ancestor. To return to the family of Samuel and Ruth : Nathaniel Goodwin, who married their daughter Rebecca, removed to Middletown, Connecticut, about 1735, and entered upon the books at that place his marriage in Boston to Rebecca Eaton, and the birth of three children there, as well as of five younger children at Middletown. At Middletown is recorded the marriage of Samuel Eaton to Deborah Markham, 25 June, 1746. While there is no positive proof that this Samuel was the son of Samuel and Ruth, it may be observed that Samuel, born in 1718, was of fair mar- riageable age in 1746, that his sister was living in Middletown, and that a pretty thorough knowledge of the Eatons, who were living in Connecticut at that time, shows no other Samuel who could have been the husband of Deborah Markham. Samuel and Deborah Eaton removed from Middletown to Enfield about 1748. They had two or three children. 1. Samuel, born at Middletown, 7 June, 1747. 2. Deborah, born at Enfield, 80 June, 1749. ' 3. (?) Oliver, died at Enfield, 29 March, 1762. THE FAMILY OF NATHANIEL EATON. 191 The father probably lived until about 1Y90, soon after which date his son dropped the affix of " Jr., " which he had pre- viously used. Samuel Eaton, born in 1747, lived all his life at Enfield. He married Mary Tiffany at Enfield, 30 July, 1765. Their children were : 1. Mary, born 26 [or 28] July, 1766. 2. Samuel, born 9 Apr., 1768. 3. Sybil, born 22 Nov., 1769. 4. Ruth (an ancestral name), born 17 Oct., 1771. 5. Lovisa, born 24 Aug., 1774. 6. Roxana, twin-sister to Lovisa. 7. Ebenezer, born 4 June, 1776. 8. Elisha, born 1778. About 1798, the father with his children, Ruth and Elisha, and probably also Roxana, joined the community of Shakers at Enfield, and in that community they died, the father, 28 March, 1817, Ruth, 3 Sept., 1829, Roxana, 3 May, 1853, and Elisha, 1 Nov., 1842. Mary, Lovisa and Ebenezer perhaps died in childhood, as no more mention is found of them. The son, Samuel, born in 1768, refused to join the Com- munity, though urged to do so by his father with some of the severity so characteristic of his supposed ancestor, Nathaniel, and went away from his native town and his relatives, never to return to them. He made his way to the State of New York, and enlisting in the regular army, was stationed in and about New York City for several years. After his term of service had expired, he worked for some time on a farm in Dutchess County. About the year 1807 he went to western New York and took up some land in the town of Boston, Erie County, on what was then called the "Holland Purchase." Two or three years later he sold out and bought a farm in the adjoining town of Concord, where he continued to reside until his death, 4 June, 1841. Of Benoni, the son of the first Samuel, born at Boston in 192 THE FAMILY OF NATHANIEL EATON. 1712, nothing is known beyond the date of his birth. It may be that later studies will reveal his subsequent history and pos- sibly discover a living posterity. "While the identity of Samuel Eaton of Middletown, with the son of Samuel and Kuth, remains only a plausible con- jecture, it cannot be affirmed that JSTathaniel Eaton of Cam- bridge has living descendants in the male line, and this paper is offered in the hoj)e that facts, yet to be discovered, may either confirm the pedigree here suggested, or else clearly dis- prove it. N. B. — This paper, as read, gave some account of the children and grandchildren of Capt. Samuel Eaton, most of whom have settled in the Northwestern States ; but these details are not printed, as the Society does not publish genealogical matter of so recent a date. cV YOUNG MAN'S JOURNAL OF A HUNDEED YEARS AGO. [Read Oct. 20th, 1884, by Simeon E. Baldwin.] It is not the least important work of a society like this to gather materials for future use by other hands, — to preserve that of which history is made. The historian of the present day spends less time than his great predecessors in the records of battles and sieges, of the doings of courts and the contests of diplomacy. It is perhaps his highest aim to paint in vivid, colors the social conditions of the community with which he has to deal, the character of its institutions, the spirit of its life, the principles that govern the common acts of the common people, and the influences brought to bear upon them from the side of education and the higher civilization of the age. In pursuing inquiries like these in regard to the times of a by-gone generation, we find no sources of information quite so fresh as their familiar correspondence and journals. Pepys' Diary, Cicero's or Walpole's letters bring us straight into the midst of the events to which they refer, and we mingle at will in the society of London or of Kome, like a spirit-guest, seeing but unseen. 13 194 YOUNG man's journal of 100 YEARS AGO. Such an introduction to the scenes of the past is best accom- plished when it is least intended. The letters, or the diary, written with some thought of future fame, tell a tale less trustworthy than those which neither merit nor expect ever to meet the public eye. It is from one of these humbler memorials that I read you a few exti'acts to-night, the journal of a young man, not a New Havener, though a recent graduate of Yale College, who was earning his support by teaching, and who writes sometimes here, sometimes at Albany, and sometimes by the tavern-fire on a vacation trip. On August 5, 1782, the first date upon the yellow and faded pages, he leaves New Haven with a friend, just out of college like himself, to take charge of the Albany Academy. It was the last year of the Revolutionary War. New York city was in the possession of the British forces, but hostilities in the northern part of the State had virtually ceased. The two young men, and I will give the name of neither, drove, says our journalist, " thro' Waterbury, where we heard the agreeable news of the arrival of the French fleet of 13 sail in Chesapeake. Dr. Wood, of Danbury, favoured us with the intelligence. We saw Litchfield the next morning; found it a pretty, well-situated town ; land very good, and farmers wealthy. Breakfast at Mr. Sherman's, of Goshen. After breakfast, were favoured with the presence of the most angelic form in a female that ever I saw. The features of her face were regular and well formed; her skin like the paper on which I write, animated with a little of the vermilion. Her lips, which it would be a feast for an emperor to kiss, displayed the taste of the divine architect who formed them, in a more lively manner than words can express, or the most celebi-ated painter display; and without the thoughts of flattery, if any- thing performed by mortals is inimitable, it was the dressing of her hair. It covered her cushion as a plate of the most beautiful enamel frosted with silver. Nor were the flowing. ringlets, that innocently played upon her heavenly neck, less beautiful. Her — " Stop," says my Dulcinea; "forbear your praises or I'll be jealous." Very possibly, had tlie fair maiden known that the young gentleman from Yale was already provided with a Dulcinea, she would not have foregone breakfast to dazzle him witli the YOUJNG MANS JOURNAL OF 100 YEARS AGO. 195 cliarms of powdered liair and curling ringlets, unless, indeed, she conld have seen still farther into the future, and known that she was to figure as an unknown ])eauty of a past age in the grave precincts of an historical society. His first Sunday at Albany opens thus : " Sabbath 11th. The first thing I saw from my window was the butchers killing sheep, and boys driving their hoops, and soon after the wagons were rattling. This at once led me to a thought upon virtue and mt)rality, which as far as it comes to my share I am determined to maintain, and, as I see myself exposed to temptations and surrounded by examples of this kind, will endeavour to double my vigilance in my virtue's defence. Went to worship in the Dutch church, but contrary to our expectation, the Dominie preached and performed the whole service in Dutch, to our no great edification. In the afternoon, the Dominie favoured us with a very good sermon in English upon tempta. tion, and at 5 o'clock heard Mr. Catlin preach a most insipid discourse from the grain of corn that died." "Friday 16th. Dined with Gen. Ten Broeck, in company with Esq. Gansevoort, the recorder, Dominie Westerlo, Col. Livingston, Messrs. Stephen and Kilian Rensallear. A grander table I never saw spread. Much i)oliteness and ease were manifest and the whole circle appeared to enjoy themselves happily. Drank for toasts: 1. The day (vis. 16th of Aug.) being the anniversary of the glorious victory at Bennington, and the day on which we received the news of the pacific measures of Europe. 2. Absent friends. 3. Washington. 4. United States. 5. A speedy and honourable peace. Left the table about 3 o'clock." "Sabbath 18th. In the forenoon remained at home. In the after- noon went to the High-Dutch church in expectation of an English ser- nion, but was disappointed. Was much entertained with organs, which I now heard for the first time. Think it a great addition to the beauty and grandeiu- of church music." "Sept. 10th, Saturday. This eve, which I observe the more as it precedes the pleasures of Commencement at New Haven, which I am not only deprived the pleasure of enjoying, but was almost obliged to do the duty of a watch in this detested city, was warned, but for 2/6 procured a substitute. Was invited to a funeral; attended, but not a Dutch corpse. Many persons were collected. The corpse preceded, borne of 10 persons, who were not relieved, tho' we went to some dis- tance. The gentlemen fell in by twos in procession, but not a single lady, tho' it was a female corpse. The whole returned in the order 196 YOUNG man's JOUENAL of 100 YEARS AGO. they went, & took their glass of wine witli the mourners, agreeable to the universal custom of the place, which I understand is drank in pro- poi'tion to the character & fortune of the dead." "Sept. 29th, Sabbath. Went to church in the forenoon .... It is also Election-day for the Aldermen & officers of the city. Accordingly they repaired for the purpose to the City Hall, soon after church." "October 5th. — Dined at the Dominie Westerlo's. Had a very good dinner; but great many disagreeable Latin proverbs, ^vhich he is very fond of exhibiting with all the airs of pedantry & not without reflec- tions. . . . He is fond of their European education & seems to desjiise ours. He certainly transgresses the rules of politeness by introducing so much of his Latin upon every occasion, especially as he knows that, from his manner of pronunciation, it cannot be clearly intelligible, & consequently must be disagreeable to those he converses with. And it appears to me that he does it from a principle which Chesterfield con- demns, i. e. to make othei's appear as diminutive as possible to them- selves, that they may entertain an exalted idea of his superior learning. He even exercised his pedantry (to call it by no Avorse name) to attempt to examine me in the Greek Testament, which I took the liberty to refuse, & was not a little out of temper & could perceive I was not alone. He then mentioned that the word was nfipaipoc. u-ithout seam, which I did not look vii)on, for tho" I knew I could construe that, yet I knew also there were many others which I could not, especially as he was curious in the Themes. Nor again would I submit to an examina- tion from any man upon such an occasion & before such company. But I find that this is his pretty general practice, and, upon my word, it is some comfort to me that others understand him no better than I do. Am determined, however, to scour up what little I know of the mathematics, rhetoric, history, &c., that, if I'm attacked again with his Latin balls, I may return the fire with triangles, tropes, hyperboles, &c., which I understand he is not much acquainted with." "Nov. 28th. Have just had the operation of inoculation performed upon me by Dr. Stringer. He performs it with a great deal of ease. . . . This is also the day appointed by Congress to be observed as a day of Thanksgiving* .... It gives me but little pain that my health would not permit me to enjoy the usual externals of a Thanksgiving Day, since the customs are so very different from those to which I have been accustomed in New England. "Tis true it in some measure puts a * The appointment was made by a special Act of Congress passed Oct. 11, 1782, in which they " recommend it to the inhabitants of these States, in general, to observe, and reuuest the several States to interpose their authority in appointing and com- manding the observation of Thursday, the twenty-eighth day of November next as a day of solemn thanksgiving to God for all his mercies ; and they do further recom- mend to all ranks to testifly their gratitude to God for his goodness by a cheerful obedience to his laws, and by promoting, each in his station, and by his influence the pi-actice of true and undetiled religion, which is the great foundation of public prosperity and national happiness."— Joi( Dials of Congrcst!, vol. vii, p. 491. YOUNG man's JOUENAL OF IOC YEAES AGO. 197 stop to their business, & on that account seems a damp to their spirits. To be sure none of that lively joy which is there so conspicuous & seems to animate the countenance of all we meet, is visible here. They have no extraordinary dinner, nor in their cookery do they at a'll deviate from the usual custom of each day, & I could wish that I had reason to think that what is wanting in external show, was replaced in the superior devotion and sincerity of their service, for they have two meetings in the day; in the afternoon a charity sermon." The treatment for an inoculated patient seemed to consist in maintaining a low condition of tlie system, and keeping a good deal in the open air, even when suffering from considerable pain. Eleven days brought out a few pocks, and on the following morning he writes that he "felt almost free from pain ; walked toAvard the Market and received the congratulations of all who knew me. Alderman Rennsalaer asked me to his house. I went. His 8 children full, & just turning. After dinner, took tea at the Mayor's. Their little child almost covered with the pock, but recovering." Another week restored him to j^erfect health, and he writes that he feels himself "much relieved from a most heavy, disagreeable load, which must attend anyone who has not had the small-pox, when in such a place as this.' " Dec. 30. It snowed for the first time this season. ... The circum- stances of Albany are such that no place is more affected with the want of snow. They depend entirely upon this for their wood, grain, trade & almost every convenience of life & much of its pleasures. The people had long wished for it, & to be sure the joy was manifest upon every countenance, upon its falling, & the frozen paths seemed warmed with life and action." " 1783, Feb. 34. Had the curiosity to attend a Dutch funeral,— the remains of Col. Van Renslear a man, rich, old, & universally beloved. He lived on the other side of the river from town, but the whole city & 14 or li) miles round were invited ; and also all Claverac, as they were his tenants. The ice was gone, so we were obliged to ferry, but yet there were many present. The house in every room had as many as could sit with convenience, & servants at the doors to direct people according to their appearance. No ladies were present. The procession began about 3 o'clock. The corpse preceded, upon a coach, converted into a hearse by taking off the box, &c. The horses were white, but covered witli black cloth, and the coachman all in black. Next fol- lowed 10 persons with scarfs of white, the mourners without scarfs, 198 YOUNG man's journal of 100 YKA.RS AGO. and then the ministers and doctors with. After these the people who attended walked in a Jong train bj- pairs. All were invited to return to the house and take a glass of wine. Tables were set in every room of a very large house, with bottles of wine, glasses, pipes, & tobacco, with candles ready lighted & servants, witli each a white napkin round their arm, stood ready to replace anything that was wanted. The wine was pretty good, & I'm sure many drank of it very freely. Their merriment was apparent. In a word, the whole scene had rather the appearance of a jovial meeting, than the tender sympathetic feelings of a humane condolence. There was no prayer, & the conversation was upon news, horse-jockeying, & other indiflferent subjects. I'm sure I did not hear a word adapted to the occasion or a house of mourning, & in reality the appearance is rather of joy & feasting. I stayed near an hour and left many behind. Crossed in a boat with one as beastly drunk as was possible in so short a time. I saw another nearly as bad, & doubt not there were several in the same situation, as many of the lower kind go i^urposely with that design." "March 10. Went to Mr. Graham's chamber and took a glass of bitters at noon, agreeable to invitation. There were several young gentlemen, upon the business of forming a dance." It was arranged for tlie loth, when lie writes : "I went. Found the circle smaller than I expected, but agreeable. In general the gentlemen had provided partners for the eve, as is usual. There were several, however, that had not, I among the rest, so I was introduced to a Miss Nancy De Poister, & obtained her for my partner. . . . There was a sleigh provided for the use of the company. Each took this, and went for his partner. They were introduced with little ceremony, excei^t by the managers to those gentlemen who were not acquainted with them. No dancing till they all came in. A lottery was then made, & the ladies drew for their number in the dance. The ball was opened, with a minuet, & a country-dance immediately called. They succeeded each other till supper, which was a good one, but plain. A few cotillions were then danced, with one or tAvo reels, & the whole closed with a set of country-dances. Broke up about 3 o'clock, & each retired with his partner." "March 36. Heard the glorious news of a general peace among the belligerent powers of Europe and America. It was brought by express into Albany. The people by the crier were desired to meet at the City Hall immediately. The letters were read and 3 cheers universally given. Other demonstrations of joy were suspended till official ac- counts should come to hand. No i)lace on the continent, which is so far from tlie enemy, is so immediately affected as this : shut out from any sea-port ; trade, their dependence, entirely stagnated, & the most affluent families reduced to poverty. It does one good to see the general joy, which sparkles in the eyes, enlivens the countenance, YOUNG man's journal OF 100 YEARS AGO, 199 animates the feelings of all, especially the unhappy who could say, Nos patriam fugimus.^^ '• March 31. Was invited to spend the evening with a sociable circle to celebrate the Peace and Independence of America. We met at Kinear's. Was agreeably entertained till after supper, when we were called to sit round the table and drink. A President was immediately proposed, & Mr. A. Lansing seated in the chair. He requested absolute powers. I opposed it, & had two to second me ; for I knew the conse- quence of such authority, & I was determined not to disgrace myself by liquor, which I had often disapproved in others. The vote went against me, & the event soon proved my fears to be true. If any refused to drink what he was ordered, a funnel was introduced, and some of the company ordered to oblige him to it ; nor might any leave the room without leave. I was careful not to offend against order, so that some were merry before I had drunk much. I was determined to drink as much as I could well bear, without opposition : then to place my foot immoveable. I had drunk several beakers, and was deter- mined to oppose the next, but ^vas prevented by one before me, who was ordered to drink 2 large beakers of grog after the egg ^Junch we had been drinking. He took one and refused the other. The President ordered compulsory measures. The company was divided & the sitting ended in a happy tumult. Several Ciceronian harangues were made by the lively spirit of what we had drunk. I was with the minor party in opposition. I plead that the design of a sociable meeting was the hapjuness of the circle, which could not be increased by such scenes of debauchery : & the occasion of this meeting was to celebrate the freedom & Independence of the United States ; that there was, there- fore, an inconsistency in introducing the idea of absolute power ; & much to that effect. I came home without being tipsy."' "April 7. Took tea with Dr. Stringer. Heard of the paper war in Connecticut respecting Yale College, & the next day procured some of the papers which contained them. Found they were writ with much plainness, & a good deal of elegance.'' "April 31. The first thing observed this day was the method of exhibiting the mirth of this holiday, which is the next succeeding Easter, or in Dutch called Pause. It is this. The Saturday before, every family boils a basket of eggs, colouring them in a curious manner. They are boiled very hard, & each of the family takes several, goes among his intimates, challenging them to butts. The eggs are struck together, & the one that is broken given to the one who breaks it. There is much merriment in it, but mostly practiced among children. At 9 o'clock the citizens were called to the City Hall to hear the Proclamation of the Governor, concerning a Peace and cessation of hostilities, & a vast concourse crowded together, gave three general cheers, & ijroceeded to the chui'ch, where we had a very good sermon for the occasion by Dominie Westerlo from Psalms 8 to 14. 200 YOUNG man's journal of 100 YKAKS AGO. 22d. Met with the citizens about 10 o'clock at the City Hall. Had a long procession from that to the hill, preceded by the Common Coun- cil, cannon and bells constantly contributing their aid to enliven the position. A long table was provided, the liquor ready, and 18 toasts were given with a huzza and 13 cannon to each. This took up most of the forenoon. We retired to dinner, returned in the afternoon, repeated our toasts over a cup of wine : satisfied my appetite with seeing, in- stead of eating, the roasted ox. In the beginning of the evening, fire was put to a large pile of pine wood, prepared for the purpose, round a pole with a large barrel of tar on the top. It made a beautiful appear- ance. We had no proper fireworks of powder. Some were drunk ; many were merry : and all were hapjDy. The city was illuminated till 11 o'clock & appeared very beautiful, during which the streets were crowded with people of every kind & sex. The gentlemen of the city, in genei'al, spent the night & following day in debaucheiy & carouse ; so that 'twas almost thought a duty inseparable from a true whig and patriot to make himself a convert to the de- pravity of their taste and practice. I was strongly solicited to join in this peculiar method of demonstrating joy, but found means to evade it." " 24th. Thursday evening was at an elegant ball, made to crown our festivities. It consisted of about 30 couples, 4 or 5 of which did not dance, so that we stood upon the floor 13 in a set ; were elegantly dressed, made a brilliant appearance, & all were happy." "Friday. Took tea at Mr. A. Lansing's as my partner was out, con- trary to my reasonable expectations. On my return she was in the stoop & made many apologies, insisted on my taking tea on the morrow. I did not promise, nor did I go." " Sabbath, 27th. Dominie Westerlo gave his audience a very good discourse from Luke 1 : 74 & 75. Took the occasion to give a severe reprimand to those persons who had exceeded the bounds of a jiroper rejoicing. After tea, Major Sill came in. We went to Dr. Smith's & spent the remainder of the afternoon in singing of Psalm tunes, ac- cording to the custom of New England." The Dutch element in Albany society was still strong in much of its original freshness. We have seen that part of their chnrcli service was conducted in the Dutch language. It appears tliat it was also used at times, in ordinary society, and our young friend seems to have taken umbrage at it. •' April 4. \Vas a few^ nights since in a circle of mixed company. Walked to the Pasture, & sat on the stoops, &c ; during the whole of which scarce a subject could be inti'oduced, without some of their dis- agreeable Douts Sprauter. They knew I understood none of it : that YOUXG man's journal OF 100 YEARS AGO. 201 it therefore broke the chain of conversation, & of course, it would be diflBcult for me to sustain my part of it. I had frequently given gentle hints. I was determined now to give a loitd one. I introduced a short discourse with a friend in Latin, ended with Visne ambulare? — answer, Etiam, Domine. With that we left them. I've not been into their company since : am happy to hear it has been a matter of some speculation. Various constructions were put upon it ; some commending it, others pretending an affront,— just as I wished and expected." June lincls liim back in Kew Haven, revisiting college scenes, and a pic-nic excursion was got up among the joung people. " June 4. 3 o'clock was appointed the time for meeting. I spent all the time to this, in attentive visits : joined the circle at Lieut. Beers'. A sprinkling of rain prevented our going soon, yet the time passed very merrily, till 'twas thought convenient to walk into the quarter. 'Twas on a plain of about a mile, most beautiful walking. The cool clouds made it more so. Boys were provided to take along the baskets, &c. Fires were made and tea-kettles on, when we got to the place, which was at the end of the lane, terminating with a very steep side-hill, proper for the lover's leap. Below, an extensive meadow & a beautiful river. In short both nature, art, & company vied with each other to make the individual happy. We took tea, danced to the flute, & enjoyed a most happy scene of rural felicitj' till dusk. Returned and crowned the whole with a pretty dance at Deacon Ball's." The next winter finds him established as a tutor in the college. "Dec. 17. Wednesday was Quarter-day of the Senior class. A bril- liant assembly attended. After the exercises, I had several of them to my chambers, till evening, when I attended the ball, which was made on the occasion. The time passed agreeably. . . We retired a little after 11 o'clock." "2.5th. Christmas. Went to church. Mr. Leming preached. W"as very cold. Got no Christmas supper, but in the evening had a bril- liant ball, the first of a regular Assembly, which was lately established by subscription." "1784. Jan. 5. Attendance upon the Assembly again. It was brought forward one week upon the occasion that the Gen. Assembly & a Lodge of Masons would be in town upon the usual time. It was held at Mr. Lathrop's. His dancing room is hardly so convenient as that of Dr. Northrop's, but the drawing-rooms have no comparison : they are all better. A fire was made beforehand in each. They were warm. The 202 YOUNG man's journal of 100 YEARS AGO. ladies, as they came in, after laying aside their cloaks, &c., were all conducted into one of tlieni till the gentlemen drew numbers for them- selves and the ladies they conducted. A master of ceremonies was then chosen for the night, viz., Mr. Edwards. He then called 13 couj^le upon the floor, dividing the whole into 3 sets. My number was 2, and Mrs. Powel for a partner. The supper was provided by Mr. Mix, & a vei y good one, & the singular decency which was observed thro' the whole added to the pleasui-e and the beauty of the scene." . "15. Read a curious histoiy of Connecticut, written & printed in England : Peters, the reputed author. The singularity of tlie perform- ance, tho' void of much event, made (it) entertaining." " 26. Walked with Mr. Fitch to the ship which lay frozen up in the harbour. She was three miles from town. We went on the ice. The hands were attempting to cut her out. She was bound for Ireland." " Feb. 5. Was made a freeman of the State of Connecticut and city of New Haven." " Feb. 10. Tuesday, 10, was appointed by the Assembly to choose the city officers of our corporation. We met at the statehouse & made choice of Mr. Meigs as our clerk, & the Hon. Roger Sherman was chosen Mayor. Deacons Howel, Bishoj), Austin, & Mr. Beers were elected aldermen, & in the two following days were chosen and quali- fied the twenty Common Councillors & two sheriffs & treasurer, as ap- pointed by charter. The method was by balloting, which made it very slow." A dangerous experiment seems no^v to have been made by the managers of tlie Assembly. Thej voted to have no supper, and came near being deserted for it bj their company. " Feb. 19. As I was coming into town, was stopped by Mr. Clark, a manager with me of the Assembly. He told me that some of the young company had used their influence to foment as much difficulty in the subscribers of the Assembly as was possible ; that a number, to about 20, had drawn off & agi-eed upon a dance & supper at Ford's ; that they had made the omission of suppers, agreed on by the mana- gers, the basis of their proceedings, &c. I walked about town a little, among my friends. Found all was uproar and party. Soon saw Mr. Hillhouse, who was pleased to give me an invitation to the ball of the seceders. Gave him my mind pretty fully and openly. They pretty soon found they Avere in disagreeable circumstances, & about 4 o'clock agreed to pay Ford for his prepai-ation & attend the regular Assembly. They were accordingly all 2)resent, except Lieut. Daggett, Messrs. Hill- house and Whitney. We called the gentlemen to a room by themselves & found by vote that they approved of the doings of the managers. We had a very agreeable Assembly, & by appointment I acted as master of ceremonies. Escorted Miss Chloe Sherman and Miss Polly Gould. Drew for partner Miss Betsey Stiles." YOUNG man's journal OF 100 YEARS AGO. 203 " March 10. Was the Quarter-day of the Junior Class of the college. The exercises were very clever & humorous. A large collection of both sexes attended. I took tea at Esq. Sherman's & escorted Miss Rebecca to the ball, which was attended at the State House. Tarried & was agreeably entertained till 13 o'clock." " Saturday, March 14. Received a handsome, superfine cloth coat, as a present from my class. It Avas a valuable, handsome, & well-timed present, & of course I was animated with those lively feelings which gave me a pleasure in expressing my gratitude for the honour of the compliment & the value of the thing." "March 19. After much difficulty in procuring a couple of horses, Mr. Russell* and I set out to ride for exercise ; objects, of course, health & pleasure. Made ourselves merry on the road to North Haven. Stopped at a tavern about 4 miles out. Called for egg- punch. Could get none We renewed our applications, after several fruitless attempts, at a neighboring private house, where after much persuasion & a few compliments, we obtained the promise of punch. The good lady undertook to make it. She beat the yolk and white of her two eggs, which indeed were all she had, in a foot glass with a tea-spoon. Her sugar was answerable in quality and quantity. Our mortification was that we could not laugh. We drank our punch & I came home veiy unwell. Was better the next day." "April 1. Attended the Assembly with my usual partner. Thro' a mistake Mr. Ogden & I claimed one partner in the dance— Miss Lord. He would not submit to a new lottery. 'Twas left with the master of ceremonies. He decided in my favor. It almost occasioned a chal- lenge." "April 4. Attended to the grave the remains of the amiable & the virtuous Miss Polly Comstock. She was the niece & favorite of Dr. Beardsley, who brought her up with the care & attention of a parent. On her coffin was written the following sentiment. ' Youth sweetness & sensibility were her own, but they could not save her.' A great concourse of people attended, & I as one of the bearers. We accompanied the mourners back, & instead of the Dutch custom, had a dish of tea." A hospital was at tliis time established a short distance from to^^ni, apparently for those who had been inoculated with the small pox, and in whom it assumed a virulent form. * A fellow tutor. 204 YOUNG man's journal of 100 YEARS AGO. "May 1. . . In the morning, rode to the Hospital. But the Rev. Mr. Bird afforded a spectacle shocking to humanity ; — his whole body cov- ered with the protuberances of the confluent eruption, now returning inward. We could see him tlu'o' the window. He began to look black &, 'twas said, to mortify, so that there was no prospect of a recovery. A certain Mr. Crane appeared but little better. Both of them died a few days after." "August. Some time in August, made a party to the ordination of my friend Mr. Stebbins at Stratford. I took Miss Sherman into my carriage for a partner. Two others were in company with us. We were a little too late, the town crowded with company, & the meeting- house before we were dressed, was full. We were put to much diffi- culty to obtain a seat, till Mr. Lockwood politely made room for my partner. We dined at Esq. Brooks' & closed the day with a very good ball." "Sept. 8 was Commencement. . . The exhibitions of the evening before Commencement were very entertaining altho' not perfectly scholastic. Tlie procession was, as usual, of those who were immediately con- nected with College. A salutatory oration, a dispute, dialogue of the humorous kind, a syllogistic dispute, & an English oration composed the exercises of the bachelors. An English oration on the Rise, Progress, & Effect of Commerce, delivered by myself, and a valedictory oration by Mr. Channing. were the only exercises of the masters. The pomp of conferring the degrees made up the deficiency. The business of the day was closed with a ball in the Court-house, for which I was one of the managers & helped to distribute near 800 tickets, from which near 500 attended, to be sure by far the greatest collection I ever saw for such an occasion. Numbers were drawn by the gentlemen to near 200. No pleasure could be taken from the dance ; all was the beautiful sight of such an elegant & blooming col- lection." Still another ball took place, the next evening, and two days later, he writes : "Saturday, Sept. 11. Came to a conclusion of a long proposed plan of travelling Eastward with Mr. Russell. We communicated it to the President. It met with liis approbation. He politely offered us letters of introduction to his friends, & went immediately to w^riting & pre- paring a diploma for the French Consul Genei'al in Boston, La Tombe." This gentleman had received the degree of LL.D. from tlie College the year before. YOUNG man's JOUENAL OF 100 YEARS AGO. 205 They were off, on horseback, the same afternoon, and visited about among friends for a few days, not starting on their real joiu-ney until Sept. 22. Under that date, he writes : "Sept. 22. . . I proposed that our conversation be scientific ; for in- stance that on the road to our first stage, grammar be the subject ; rhetoric, logic, geography be eacli in their tvirn another. Mr. Russell liked the proposal in part. He would have the circle of sciences be a part of our conversation, but not when riding, as he thought the obser- vations made on the soil, landscapes & situations of the country would be more instructing. I agreed with him that when anything uncom- mon presented itself, it would ; but that a route thro' the woods in general afl'orded but little entertainment of that kind. We altercated the matter for some time & finally agreed that the first stage should be entirely upon the country, the next on grammar, interspersed as the circumstances allowed. A comparison should then be made." Nothing further is heard, in the diary, of tlieir proj)osed literary discussions, and I fear that they came to an untimely end. Their course took them through Newport (wliere they found a number of people from Carolina who had come tliere for their health), and then to Providence, Here, Oct. 2, they "took tea with Gov. Sessions. The time we spent with him was very inspiring. He gave us a historic account of the rise & finances of Providence College. It seems it was set on foot by Dr. Stiles thro' his zeal for academic & catholic literature ; but his plan was overruled by the superior number of the Baptists." At Cambridge, they were hospitably received by "Mr. Hale, a very accomplished & polite tutor. We dined with the circle. Found the manners of their hall much similar to our own, ex- cept the custom of wearing hats. We took wine at Mr. Hale's. At- tended the lecture of Professor Williams. Neither the delivery or the matter exceeded my expectations. He led us into the philosophy cham- ber, where we viewed their elegant paintings, & into the apparatus room, which certainly was exceedingly elegant, costly, various, & useful ; then into the museum & room replete with a gi'eat variety of the curiosities of art & nature. The library was distinct from these. The apartment was elegant. The distribution discovered great taste & the number of volumes is about 11,000, most of them elegantly bound, lettered, & gilt." 206 YOUNG man's journal of 100 YEARS AGO, The next day, on their way to Portsmouth, they "dined among the rocks & shoemakers' shops of Lynn. Went into one of the shops (of which there are 150) to see the manufactory." Marblehead was the next point, where, he says, " they are famous for the curing of cod. The people are savage in their nature & education ; are very poor in general, amazingly prolific, & exceed all places in the habit of begging. One can hardly ride tln-o' the town without being accosted in that way by one half the old women & children in it." A ronnd of visiting at Salem, Newburyport, and Ports- mouth, made their time fly fast for the next week. On their return, they stop again at Cambridge. "13th. Attended morning prayers: took breakfast in the hall. Spent a part of tlie forenoon witli Professor Wigglesworth & dined with the President (Dr. Willard.) The table was very elegantly furnished, with a rich variety. The tutors of Harvard were with us. Conversa- tion was not very lively, but on general subjects. The President is very reserved, has not the ease of manners which is visible in Dr. Stiles, yet there is a dignity in his deportment & a sensible look. He is a worthy man & President. After taking leave of him, & smoking a pipe with the tutors, we took our leave of the circle & set out for Boston by the way of Charlestown. Saw the celebrated Bunker Hill & the vestiges of the unhappy town of Charlestown : yet it was surpris- ingly rebuilt." "Boston, Thursday, Oct. 14. . . We took a view of the State- house & market, & attended the usual weekly lecture. The Sermon was by Mr. Akely. I did not like him in any respect. After we came out, we stood as usual, and conversed with many of the clergy." Mr. Akely was pastor of the " Old South." " Oct. 15. Dined with Mr. Guild. Dr. Dexter & several other gentle- men honoured the table, which was graced with the presence of his very amiable partner, who presided and served up the rich variety in a very handsome manner. A general ringing of the bells of Boston called us from table & announced the approach of the Marquis LaFayette. The main street was crowded with spectators, who were all anxious to repeat the applause of their country & renew the honours due to so distinguished (a) son of Liberty. The company of cadets preceded on foot ; then the Marquis & Gen. Knox, between two other gentlemen of distinction. The Consul LaTombe & several French & American officers followed in carriages, or on horses, with many gentlemen of the town. YOUNG man's journal OF 100 YEARS AGO. 207 I stood near the stump of the liberty-tree, once so famous. As soon as the Marquis came near that spot, almost sacred to Liberty, he was welcomed by three general cheers,— sounds which carried with them the gratitude of those who uttered them. A numerous crowd followed him to his lodgings in State Street, received his thanks from the walk over the door, repeated the huzzas & dispersed. I really felt emotions which were peculiarly animating, let the cause be what it would." I will only add one more extract from tlie jonrnal for 1784_5. The College Corporation had apparently determined, under the lead of President Stiles, on making; the final examin- ation at graduation more strict. It was conducted by a num- ber of gentlemen, appointed for the i)nrpose, and not instruct- ors in the College. Under date of July IS, 1785, he writes, "Attended the examination of the candidates for degrees & after a long & particular examination of the 71 who offered, Buckley, Forgue, Hull, & Tomlinson were suspended to a second examination by a ma- jority of the 16 examiners who attended the whole. The others I had the honour to present to the President. "Sept. 1. Attended all day upon a close examination of the sus- pended candidates. Found them all deficient & after much delibera- tion, agreed not to recommend them from merit : but, it being a new thing & of course requiring caution, we desired the President to rec- ommend them to the corporation to have degrees speciali gratia, the day after Commencement. The thing laboured much with Corporation, but was finally voted." "14. After the fatigue of examining the Classes & the candidates for admission into College, we are this day to celebrate the anniversary Commencement of this year. The usual fire-works & other parade preceded and attended it. The academic procession moved about 10 o'clock. Prayer by President preceded the exercises, which were begun by Mr. Pitkin, Salutatory oration, Mr. S. Perkins, Greek ora- tion. Messrs. Newton, Bidwell, Rossiter, & Wadsworth, disputed this question : Are the Moral Dispositions of Mankind infiuenced — And here abruptly ends the last leaf of the old diary. Per- haps some musty scrap-book in the College library, or on the shelves of some antiquarian, might tell us what it was that might or might not influence the moral dispositions of man- kind in 1785, in the opinion of the Commencement disputants. 208 YOUNG man's journal of 100 YEARS AGO. The glance tlirougli these ancient pages, wliich we have taken this evening, shows one intinence to liave been pretty manifest, which the century tliat lias since j^ast has done much to repress. I mean, of course, social drinking on almost every occasion. The public balls, as a recognized part of all College festivi- ties, would have seemed strange, thirty years ago, to those of us whose memory reaches back so far ; but since the War they have become again familiar. We have not yet begun to revive the ordination ball, but perhaps the adherents of what the newspapers call the " old theology " may bring them back also in another generation. The College tutor of 1784, I am inclined to think, was a little gayer, and perhaps, in the community around him, a rather greater character, than his successors of to-day. The students were younger then than now, and few of them of an age to make very attractive companions to young ladies who were fairly in society. The tutors were but about the age of the present Senior, and, on the other hand, there were no Professors to overawe or overshadow them, save the grave incumbent of the chair of divinity. I dare say that the College tutor of 1884 knows more and teaches more than his predecessors of another age, but I doubt if his life be on the whole a pleasanter or happier one. NEW HAVEN'S ADVENTURE ON THE DELAWARE/BAY. By Rev. Epher Whitaker, D.D. [Read December 3, 1884.] PiEEPONT Neck is the topographical name of the most south- western part of Fairfiekl township, Cnmberland county, ]^ew Jersey. This name is one of the indications of the early intercourse of New Haven with the Delaware Bay, and of the settlement of some of the New Haven people upon its shores. It may be regarded also as a memorial of that faithful man who performed the duties of the pastoral office for the First Church of New Haven from A. D. 1684 to 1714. Pierpont Neck has the Delaware Bay for its western bound- ary. In the rear of it, on the east, its boundary is Back Creek, which was formerly called the Tweed, the present name of one of its affluents. Along its southeastern border are the tide- waters of Back Creek Cove, which curves inward from the Delaware Bay to the depth of half a circle. The Neck termin- ates at its southern point where the shore Hues of the Cove and the Bay unite. This Cove and the Creek whose w^aters run into it with each ebb of the tide, afford a safe and ample harbor for vessels larger than the ships which generally navigated the Atlantic ocean in the early years of New Haven's commercial enter- prises ; and the business of obtaining the fur produced by the 14 210 NEW haven's adventure on DELAWARE BAY. fur-bearing animals of this Neck was the chief employment and livelihood of more than one man so recently as fifty years ago. The place was at that time mainly a range for large herds of cattle ; and their wanderings over it, and pasturing upon its luxuriant grasses, scarcely left a trace of their presence. Its shores and ponds were the homes of innumerable water-fowl. It was one of the sports of the speaker's boyhood, in company with other boys, and with each returning spring-time, to fill his basket again and again with the treasures of their nests. ]^o envious discrimination was made between ducks, willets, herons, telltales, and other tattlers, rails, godwits, and their numerous congeners. As the streams and ponds of the town- ship swarmed with fish, and its marshes and meadows with water-fowl, no longer ago than the first half of the present century, so its uplands, in the less cultivated parts, abounded in game. Now and then a black bruin, wandering from his proper habitat in the Bear Swamp just beyond the township line, gave opportunity for a chase in which the farmers' boys delighted, while many small bears of the raccoon species, and foxes, opossums, rabbits and large squirrels made hunting lively and joyous with cry of hounds and crack of guns and rifles. The general prevalence of this kind of sport may be inferred from the fact, that when the speaker was ten years old, he received from his father as a present a handsome fowhng- piece. The boys deemed it a beauty. It had the first percus- sion lock brouglit into the neighborhood ; and with it, before he was eleven years old, he deemed himself a good shot, witliin the range of two hundred feet, the distance from street to street in New York city. The sports of the rod were not wanting, and some of the people drew their livelihood from the water of the bay and its afiluents. The greater part of the people of the township, however, throughout all generations of its history, have been workers of the soil, though a considerable part have gathered theii* means of support from the water, which is near at hand ; for the shores of the Delaware Bay and one of its tributaries, the NEW haven's adventure ON DELAWARE BAY. 211 Cohansey river, extends along the western and northern boundaries of the townsliip. On the south of the Cohansey, and in the centre of the northern side of the township, is New England Town. This has been for two centuries the head and heart of the township. The name indicates that the early settlers were not all of them New Haven men. Indeed, regard for Connecticut men from Fairfield caused the people to accept the name of Fair- field for their township when it was organized by an act of the Provincial Legislature. Their readiness to welcome all their fellow Puritans from New England is shown in the name which they gave, early in their history, to the centre of their settlement, which was also the place of their Meeting House for the public worship of God, and other important interests and transactions of the people. This centre of the settlement and place of the Meeting House, they called New England Town. The church which they organized, celebrated its Bi-centen- nial Anniversary four years since, in its large and substantial Meeting House, which was built of stone quarried in the town- ship, and erected during the stress of the war of the Revolu- tion in the year 1780. It is of course well known to all who are familiar with the early history of New Haven, that it was the purpose and the policy of its founders to make the centre of theii- common- wealth an emporium of trade and a seat of ocean commerce. Accordingly they began their commercial enterprises, in vari- ous places, almost as soon as they landed at Quinnipiack ; and as speedily as possible, they made subordinate settlements that might be sources of trade and wealth for the merchants at the seat of the supreme jurisdiction. They set up their stations farther west than any other of the Puritan colonies, and stretching beyond their own centre towards the Dutch at Man- hattan. It was not difficult to unite under one jurisdiction subordinate towns both eastward and westward of the centre, along the shores of the Sound or North Sea ; and within two years, the officers of the jurisdiction had also purchased land 212 NEW haven's adventure on DELAWARE BAY. and made a settlement on tlie slioi'e of Peconic Bay. Indeed, they saw this Peconic Bay settlement prosper and strengthen to so great a degree within these two years, that the organiza- tion of the chnrch was made at Southold on the 21st of Octo- ber in 1640, only fourteen months after the formation of the First Church of Xew Haven and of the First Church of Mil- ford. The First Church of Southold is the oldest church on Long Island, as the town of Southold is the oldest town there. The New Haven people, being thus well established along the Sound, and having taken possession of their chosen and advantageous site on the beautiful Peconic, and seeing the settlement and church there well organized, and the way fully opened for the trade of the Bay and its tributaries, they now undertook to acquire a more remote and ample territory, with the commerce which it could not fail to yield. With reference to the activity of Great Britain, France and Germany, in the present year, for the acquisition of foreign trade and territory, the remark has been made that " the strug- gle now is for the possession of the world." But the men of Western Europe are no more eager to-day for the acquisition of more territory than their ancestors were two hundred and fifty years ago. The founders of New Haven were alert and adventurous for more trade and more territorial possessions. They knew that the furs brought down the many rivers flowing into the Dela- ware Bay were exceedingly valuable. To gain possession of these sources of prosperity was an object highly important to the intelligent merchants and others who had ventured their wealth, their homes, and possibly their lives in their attempt to make New Haven the seat of great and gainful commercial acti^aty. It was worthy of their enterprise and ambition to become the owners of the land on the eastern side of the Dela- ware Bay. This body of water with the main stream that flows into it was generally called at that time the South River. Accordingh", in 1641, the next year after the successful set- tlement of Southold on the Peconic Bay, a beginning was made with a view to an expedition to be fitted out for the NEW haven's adventure ON DELAWARE BAY. 213 Delaware. It is referred to in the record of " a General Court held at New Haven the 30th of the Gtli. Mon: 1641," in these terms : "Whereas there was a purchase made by some p'ticular p'sons of sundry plantatio'S in Delaware Bay, att their own charge, for the advancm' of publique good as in a way of trade, so allso for the settling of churches and plantations in those pts, in combination with this. And thereupon it was propounded to the General Court w'her planta- tions should be settled in Delaware Bay, in combinati(3 w'h this towne, yea or nay, and vpon consideratio and debate itt w^as assented unto by the Court, and exp' ssed by holding vp of hands. So far as Captaine Turner hath refference to the civill state and im- ployed tlierein, p'vided thatt his place be supply ed in his absence, the Court hath given free liberty to him to goe to Delaware Bay for his owne advantage and the publique good in settling the affayres therof. Itt is ordered thatt those to whome the affaires of the towne is comitted shall dispose of all the affayres of Delaware Bay, according to the intent of the agreem' for combinatio w'h this towne in settling plantations and admitting planters to sitt down there." See Records of the Colony and Plantation of New Haven, from 1638 to 1649. Pp. 56, 57. In due time the adventurers sailed in the vessel of Captain George Lamherton, who was in some respects the chief man of the company, and who subsequently commanded " the great ship," whose fate is the sadly profound mystery of New Haven's early history. The company included a considerable number of reputable and adventurous men. It would seem that Captain Nathaniel Turner was expected to be the ruling spirit in the undertaking and the new colony. For the New Haven General Court, as we have already seen, gave him leave to go to the South Eiver or Delaware Bay, and to reside there for his own advantage and the public good in settling the affairs thereof. From our present point of ^dew, it does not seem at all strange, that the expedition was not prosperous. Both Swed- ish settlers and Dutch traders were already on the shores of the Bay. They had in their possession who knows how many points of the law, as well as of the territory ( They were in possession of many points certainly. They were unHke the 214 NEW haven's adventure on DELAWARE BAY. Puritans, in nationality and language, as well as in religious associations and aims ; and tliey desired no such competitors in trade with the Indians as the English were sure to become, should they gain a settlement. The Swedes therefore not only excited the Indians against them, but they als© seized Captain Lamberton, imposed a fine upon him, and put him into prison. This harsh treatment of the chief man of the venture did not, however, intimidate Captain Turner, nor change his pur- pose. All the courage of mankind is not developed in war; and there is no more of it in these days than disclosed itself in former , times. Capt. Turner persevered in his undertaking. He set up his trading posts, with a view to permanent settle- ment. His skill and his courage enabled him to hold his ground for a time. Land was purchased of the Indians, stores were collected for barter with them, and purchases were made. The trade was well and fairly opened. But the settlement had not become firmly established, well organized and strong, when, in 1643, the Dutch authorities at Manhattan sent two armed vessels, commanded by Captain Johnson Van Ilpendam, to drive out the Kew Haven settlers utterly from the Bay. The latter were compelled to surrender to the Dutch, who took possession of their property, burnt their store-houses, and merely permitted the English to take their movable goods with them on their compulsory return to New Haven. The chief settlement of the New Haven people was near the mouth of the river wliicli the Indians called Assamhocking, and the Dutch called Varcken's Kill. It is the place which John Fen wick made the centre of his colony in 1675, and which he named Salem ; and by this name it has been known for more than two centuries past. The name of the settlement has been given to the stream on whose southern bank it was made ; but while the settlement has grown to be the city of Salem, the river has lost its former name of dignity, and has become known as Salem Creek. The New Haven settlers were probably driven utterly away from this place and stream. But they had made posts and found a lodgment at other points, to which some of them seem NEW haven's adventure ON DELAWARE BAY. 215 to have clung with tlie utmost tenacity. The trade and the territory were not abandoned. On the contrary, Captain Lam- berton and others subsequently repeated their voyages to the Delaware. Three different expeditions M^ere litted out sooner or later to gain possession of that region. The adventurers resolutely maintained the trade to the best of their ability, and o-ave no sign of relinquishing their claim and right to the terri- tory which they had purchased. On the contrary, they in- duced the New Haven members in the Congress of the United Colonies of New England, at the very next session, which was held in Boston, in 1643, to report to this powerful body the injuries done to the New Haven settlers by order of the Dutch authorities at Manhattan. And it is worthy of special remark that at a General Court of Elections held at New Haven, October 20, 1013, Captain Turner and Mr. Lamberton were chosen Deputies for the Court of Combination, that is, Members or Commissioners of the Congress of the United Colonies. The case which the New Haven Commissioners presented, justly claimed the con- sideration of this Supreme Congress, charged with the respon- sible duty of maintaining the rights and promoting the welfare of all New England, and so the Commissioners of the United Colonies of New England, in Congress assembled, gave heed to the representation of the injuries suffered by their most Southern Colony. They adopted measures to redress the wrongs which had been done by the Swedes and the Dutch on the men of New Haven along the Delaware. They authorized Captain Lamberton to proceed to the Delaware on this impor- tant business. He was intrusted with full power to make a determination of the case with the Swedes who had injured him. The New Haven claim to its Delaware Bay territory was maintained until the Dutch government at Manhattan was completely abolished, on the 8th of September, 1601, when the Duke of York's Deputy-Governor, Col. Eichard Nicholls, made the conquest which it had been obvious for years was sooner or later inevitable. 216 NEW haven's ADVENTUEE on DELAWARE BAY. Tliis cliaiige of government and extinguishment of the Dutch authority ; other important events of the time ; the alteration and readjustment of governmental boundaries ; and manifold results of the transforming activities of the period, combined to put an end to New Haven's territorial interests on the shores of the South River. But even these important and far-i'eaching operations and events did not effectually and ut- terly obliterate the traces of New Haven in that region. There is no sufficient reason to believe that all the New Haven men permanently withdrew from that quarter. They did not all utterly abandon their purposes at any time. Doubtless some of them clung to the soil before the English conquest, as the Swedes and the Dutch did after that transaction. As there are townships and villages there, like Elsinborough and Swedes- borough, whose early settlers were mainly Swedes, so there are townships and villages there, like Fairfield and Cape May, whose early settlers were mainly New Haven and New England Puritans. The lapse of years from 1643 to 1664 was not a long period for those times. Twenty-one years soon pass away even in the present generation when our age is so crowded with important transactions and events. During this brief period, the original purposes of the New Haven men were for the most part held in abeyance. But when the new government was set up by the authority of the Duke of York, the prospect brightened. The New Haven men who had visited the Bay, and knew the region, and desired to settle there, could now hope for English protection and the advantages of English liberty and law. Especially those of them who had continued to reside in the country, though doubtless few in number and somewhat scat- tered here and there among the Swedes, now found the way open for their attainment of greater advantages. The readi- ness and cordiality with which the Swedes associated themselves with the Enghsh who came with Fenwick a few years later, may indicate that there had been among them previously a considerable New Haven and New England element. NEW haven's adventure ON DELAWARE BAY. 217 William Penn sailed up tlie Delaware to his province of Pennsylvania in 1682, seven years after Fenwick and his fellow countrymen had settled on the eastern side of the Bay. Penn soon afterwards wrote of the Swedes in these terms : " I must needs commend their respect to authority and kind behaviour to the English. They do not degenerate from their old friendship between both kingdoms. As they are a people physical and strong of body, so have they fine children, and almost every house is full ; it is rare to find one of them without three or four boys and as many girls ; some of them have six, seven and eight sons, and I must do them the justice to say I see few young men more sober and industrious.'" This attractive picture of a virtuous, healthful and prosper- ous people, makes it evident, that some New Haven Puritans could have lived neighbors to them or even among them in the preceding years. The truth is, that in those early times, Eng- hsh and Swedes and Indians in "West Jersey lived to a con- siderable degree in neighborly relations, and even intermar- ried. It is not always possible to trace the descent of the blood of each nationality ; but in many cases it is undoubtedly and even conspicuously present. The government of the New Haven Jurisdiction had now become indissolubly united with the government of Connecti- cut under the charter which Winthrop obtained from the second Charles. This governmental union made it all the more easy for other New England men, and especially Connec- ticut men, to unite with any of the surviving original colonists from New Haven, or their descendants on the Delaware. The change in the name of the civil authority from New Haven to Connecticut could not fail to be effective in many ways. Even in the case of the most willing and cordial marriage, there is sometimes the reluctant merging of the name of one of the parties ; and this union of Connecticut and New Haven was at the time none too affectionate, nor extremely satisfactory to the chief men whose supreme jurisdiction and name were to be done away by the new civil order. But their reluctance did not permanently obstruct the operations of the Winthrop charter. Its effect was manifest even among those who had 218 NEW haven's ADVENTUEE on DELAWARE BAY. removed into tlie territory covered by the grant of tlie king to his brother James, the Dnke of York. The settlers on the Dehiware ceased to be called New Haven men, and soon be- came known to their neighbors as Connecticut men ; and espe- cially as settlers from the east end of Long Island and from Stamford, Fairfield, and other parts of Connect! cnt, were very early among them, and efficient in promoting the new enter- prise and founding a Puritan town. Thus the region lying east and north of Pierpont JSTeck became known as a Connecticut settlement, and when the township was incorporated by the General Assembly, in 1697, it was enacted, by the Governor, Council, and Representatives, with about as much knowledge and judgment as often appears in giving titles to statutes and in the naming of civil corpora- tions, that the tract of land in Cohansey, purchased by several people, lately inhabitants of Fairfield in New England, be erected into a township and be called Fairfield. At the Bi-centennial Anniversary of the First Presbyterian Church of Fairfield, in September, 1880, the Hon. Lucius Q. C. Elmer, formerly the Representative of the First District of New Jersey in the Congress of the United States and lately one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, the Historian of Cumberland County, presided at the commemora- tive celebration ; and in his opening remarks, he said that " the people thus incorjiorated were remote from the seat of govern- ment of the State and from Salem, the county seat, with which they had no means of intercourse except by long horseback rides through the wilderness or by water in open boats ; and, no doubt, for many years governed themselves after the man- ner of their forefathers in New England, by a union of Church and State. Ordinances were passed at town meetings, which had the force of laws, as late as 1756." "Some of the settlers removed at an early date over to Greenwich, others to Hope- well and Deerfield, and became the founders of two others Presbyterian Churches." Each of these three new settlements soon became an organ- ized township. NEW haven's ADVENTUKE ON DELAWARE BAY. 219 Judge Elmer adds : '^ the influence of these Puritan fore- fathers was long felt in the county, to the great benefit of the community, and still exists." The earliest Puritan inhabitants probably ventured upon their New Haven title to their homes, and seem to have lived some time without any thorough organization in church or civil state. But the purchase of land by the Fairfleld people and their settlement in the place, made it both desirable and practicable to effect a complete organization. There can be no doubt that the church was the earlier organ- ization, though the precise date of its formation is unknown. It determined that the time for the celebration of its history, during the two preceding centuries, should be the 29tli of September, 1880. There is no hst of its early members nor even of its first oflicers. Its earliest records were consumed and lost by the burning down of its pastor's dwelling some seventy years after its organization. The first man who minis- tered to it in the gospel during its early history, and became prominent, was the Kev. Thomas Bridge. He came from England in his youth. His native place was Hackney, -now within the northern part of London, and the year of his birth was probably 1657. He belonged to a family of property and consideration, and having crossed the ocean to America in his boyhood, he obtained the best education possible in this country at that time, and was graduated at Harvard College. He became not only a man of learning, but also of wealth and piety, and of manifold experiences and wide observation. For after his graduation at Harvard in 1075, he began his course as a merchant, and went on business to England. There he became a minister of the word of God. He returned to Bos- ton, in 1082, with testimonials, as to his ministerial character and qualifications, from the Kev. Dr. John Owen and other eminent di\anes. He sailed, soon after his return to Boston, from that port to the West Indies. He preached successively in Jamaica, New Providence, and Bermuda. He obtained, in 1692, from the West Jersey Society of England, the right to a thousand acres of their land wherever he should please to 220 NEW haven's adventure on DELAWARE BAY. take up tlie same. He selected a tract about five miles from the Meeting House in New England Town. It is now tlie northeastern part of the city of Bridgeton, including East Lake and the Indian Fields beyond it. This was surveyed to him in 1697, the same year that the West Jersey Assembly authorized the organization of Fairfield township without any territorial boundaries. He had also another surve}^ bounded by the Cohansey River and one of its aifiuents, and lying about three miles from the Meeting House, between it and his other tract. He probably continued for more than ten years, and not so many as fifteen years, to be the pastor of the First Church of Christ in Fairfield, or in Cohansey, as the place was often and earlier called. He returned to Boston, and was there installed one of the pastors of the First Church, May 10, 1705. He published several of his sermons, and was eminent for integrity, diligence, modesty, and moderation. He died while he was the pastor of the First Church of Boston, Sept. 26, 1715, aged 58 years. He was succeeded in Fairfield by the Rev. Joseph Smith, who came from New England blood of the first quality, and his wife, Esther Parsons, belonged to one of the best families of Massachusetts. He was born at Hadley in 1674. graduated at Harvard in 1695 ; one of his classmates being Jedediah Andrews, who became in 1698, the first pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia. Mr. Smith was or- dained pastor of the Fairfield Church, May 10, 1709, the year after the church joined the Presbytery. He returned to New England in a few years, and his subsequent history is well known, as his whole life was honorable. The next pastor was a Welshman, Howell ap Howell, the family name of his worthy descendants in Fairfield and else- where is now Powell. The Rev. Mr. Andrews preached the sermon when the Presbytery installed him, October 14, 1715. He died early in his pastorate. He was succeeded in 1724 by the Rev. Noyes Parris. Mr. Parris was a son of the Rev. Samuel Parris, the pastor of Danvers, then a part of Salem, Massachusetts. He was born NEW haven's adventure ON DELAWARE BAY. 221 in 1692. In that year two cliildren in his father's family com- plained of being tortured by a witch, and the sad history of the Salem witchcraft followed. It was not the best time and place and conditions in which to be born, and the noon of liis life was no brighter than the morning. He was graduated at Harvard College in 1721, and subsequently preached in Fair- field for a few years after 1724 ; and then such charges were made against him as constrained him to return irregularly to New England. The first minister who was the pastor of the place long enough to make any great and permanent impression on the people, and to identify then- interests with his own, was the Kev. Daniel Elmer. He was born of honorable ancestry in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1690, and was graduated at Yale Colleo-e in 1713. He taught a classical school and married Margaret Parsons at West Springfield, Massachusetts. Subse- quently he preached during several years at Westborough in the same State. He removed to Fairfield with his wife and five children, probably in 1727, and he became the settled pastor of the church in 1 729. As early as the previous year the Cohansey field of these Puritan Presbyterians was divided, and a church was organized on the north side of the river at Greenwich, where there had been a Baptist church for a gen- eration. The Presl)yterian church ol)tained a minister who had been educated in New Haven, the Kev. Ebenezer Gould. He was graduated at Yale College in 1723. He continued to be the pastor of Greenwich eleven years, and then removed to Southold, the New Haven town on Long Island, and became the pastor of the Cutchogue church, where he remained eight years, and then returned to Connecticut. Cohansey, as the whole valley of the river was called, was greatly disturbed, soon after Mr. Gould's removal, by the visits of an Episcopal clergyman, the Kev. George Whitefield ; but the Kev. Daniel Elmer's ministry had been so efiicient that the dis- tractions in his congregation caused by Whitefield were not permanent. In the midst of the trouble, al)out 1745, he built a new dwelling, near the church edifice, having previously 222 NEW haven's adventure on DELAWARE BAY. obtained a legal title for his farm, wliicli he had purchased eighteen years before, at the beginning of his ministry in the place. He had his survey so made that he could, and did, give the church also a valid title for the burpng ground, including the site of the meeting house. This deed was made June 9, 174T, to Ebenezer Westcott, Deacon ; Captain John Ogden, Deacon ; William Bradford, Ephraim Dayton, Jeremiah Buck, Lieutenant ; Edward Lummis, Lieutenant ; David Ogden, En- sign ; Matthew Parvin, Benjamin Davis, Thomas Bateman, Thomas Hari-is, Jun., Nathaniel Whitaker, Ebenezer Bower, James Rose, Stephen Clark, Thomas Whitaker, John Garret- son, Thomas Ogden, and Daniel Bateman. They were a com- mittee chosen by the Church of Christ in Fairfield to receive the Release or Quit-claim Deed from the pastor. Though the church had been organized more than half a century and had been connected with the Presbytery about forty years ; yet it was still the Church of Christ, and its officers were manifestly the pastor and the deacons only. Mr. Elmer died January 14, 1755. His grave is in the old burying ground, on the left bank of the Cohansey, near the site of the first meeting house. The inscription on his tomb- stone is ecclesiastically significant. It does not speak of him as the late pastor of the Presbyterian Church, but of the Church of Christ in Fairfield. It thus indicates that the church originally belonged not to our present order of Church and State, nor to the old order of State-Church, but to the earlv New En2:land order of Church-State. It was a Town Churcli, or rather Fairfield was a Church-of-Cln-ist Town. Mr. Elmer's new dwelling was burnt to the ground about the time of his death, ten years only after it was built, and with it all the previous records of the church perished. Mr. Thomas Ogden was appointed to visit Connecticut and get a minister from the old home to succeed Mr. Elmer. The Rev. Dr. Francis Alison of Philadelphia commended him to the Rev. Dr. Ezra Stiles, President of Yale College ; but no suitable minister could be found in Connecticut who would take the place. Happily the fit person was found nearer at NEW haven's adventure ON DELAWARE BAY. 223 hand, William Kainsay, a Pennsylvanian, who was born in 1732, and 2;radnated at the College of New Jersey in 1754. After he had received his call to Fairfield, in March, 1756, lie went to Connecticut for licensure, and the Association of the Eastern District of Fairfield County licensed him to preach the gospel. He then joined the JSTew Side Presbytery of Abington, and by this body he was ordained and installed, Dec. 1, 1756, Somewhat more than one year later, the Presbyterian Reunion of the last century took place, and he then became a member of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, to which the church be- longed. He was a man of great purity and force of character, and of sujDerior genius and eloquence. In 1758, he married a daughter of one of his chief parishioners. The congregation then bought an excellent farm of one hundred and fifty acres for his use. He cultivated this farm, prepared the bright boys of the congregation for college, performed his pastoral duties well, filled his pulpit admirably, and poured over the town a flood of spiritual and intellectual life. The wholesome and intense religious devotion of the people produced great intel- lectual energy and activity. Sometimes forty or fifty persons a year were added to the full communion of the church. In the midst of this tide of prosperity, Mr. Ramsay died, Nov. 5, 1771, in the thirty-ninth year of his age. His widow subse- quently married the Rev. Dr. Robert Smith of Pennsylvania, the father of the Rev. Samuel Stanhope Smith, D.D., LL.D., successively President of Hampden Sidney College, Virginia, and of the College of New Jersey ; and also the father of the Rev. Dr. John Blair Smith, successively President of Hampden Sidney College, Virginia, and of Union College, New York. The latter succeeded the Rev. Dr. George Duffield and pre- ceded the Rev. Dr. Archibald Alexander . and the Rev. Dr. Thomas Brainerd, as pastor of the Third Presbyterian Church ^ of Philadelphia. After the death of her second husband, Mrs. Smith returned to her native place, where she died at the age of sixty-three years, and was buried by the grave of her first husband in the old burying ground of Fairfield. 224: NEW haven's adventure on DELAWARE BAY. Mr. Kamsay's patriotism supported tlie country in the trying times of the conquest of New France, a period of transition and preparation scarcely less important than the years of the war for Indej^endence ; for in those campaigns, New Jersey, like Connecticut, put into the army in two years more than one-fourth of her arms-bearing men ; and the people also paid taxes that would now be deemed utterly intolerable. Mr. Ramsay's successor was the Eev. William Hollingshead, whose English ancestors settled in New Jersey ; but he was born in Philadelphia, graduated at the University of Pennsyl- vania, and ordained the pastor of Fairfield July 27, PrT?>, when he was twenty-five years of age. A few months later, he mar- ried the only daughter of John and Jane Harrison McCalla, whose home was on the other side of the Cohansey. Soon after, a new meeting house was necessary for the future com- fort and growth of the congregation and the township. The old one, which had been standing more than half a century, was taken down in 1775, and the pulpit and benches were set in the sliade of an oak near by, and this was the place of the public worship in fair weather. But the congregation did not sing : " The groves were God's first temples." They made preparations to erect a proper building, and on a new site. The hallowed associations of the old place, even though sanctified by the graves of their parents, they made subordinate to the prosperity and welfare of the people and of posterity. The good of the congregation, which included all the citizens of the township, required that the church-edifice should stand on the main road which had now been opened through the centre of the township. Accordingly a new site, including several acres, was bought; and it was determined, that the structure to be raised should be substantial, built of such materials, of such size, in such style, and with such work- manship, as to be appropriate to its purpose, and worthy of the worshipers within its walls. It may be remarked, that those walls are as firm and sound to-day as they were a hundred years ago. But the stones were scarcely quarried and brought NEW HAVEN S ADVENTURE ON DELAWARE BAY, 225 upon the ground when the storm of war burst from the clouds which had been growing darker for years. No hill permitted the enterprise to go forward until the British force was mainly transferred to the southern part of the country early in 1780. Then it was resolved to arise and build, even in the troublous times. Many hearts were ardent and many hands were active in the work. Providence greatly favored the design ; for no rain fell from the time the foundations were laid on the first day of May until the walls were up and the roof covered the rafters in the middle of June. The speaker well remembers with what admiration, in his boyhood, he heard a description of this achievement, from the hps of one of the chief men of the town, who, in his early manhood, wi'ought in the work from the foundation to the roof -tree. Mr. Hollingshead preached the first sermon in the new house, September 7, 1780, from these words : "What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ." The people now gave themselves to the 2:)romotion of their spiritual welfare, and the result was, that more than one hundred persons were the next year admitted to the full membership of the church. The pew-rents each year, amoimt- ing to a hundred pounds, were equal to the value of a good hundred-acre farm. Three years after the new edifice was built, the church was incorporated, by a special act of the State Legislature, and en- tered tliis new stage of its history in the same year that the independence of the United States was acknowledged by the treaty of peace with Great Britain. The records of its trustees for the last hundred years are complete. They include the names of two hundred and five men who have held seats at the Board. In the year of its incorporation, the church lost the pastoral care of the Eev. Mr. Hollingshead, who accepted a call to the charge of the Independent Chm-ch of Charleston, South Caro- lina, the principal church in the chief southern capital. This call was first made the preceding year and was now urgently repeated. The Eev. Dr. HoUingshead, dm-mg his later min- is 226 NEW haven's adventure on DELAWARE BAY. istrj, which continued until 1815, two years before his death, held a prominent place in Charleston, as the Rev. Thomas Bridge had done in Boston after his removal from Fairfield and dm'ing the last years of his life. He published a memoir of his brother-in-law, the Rev. Dr. Daniel McCalla, and edited and published two volumes of his brother-in-law's sermons. This brother-in-law had been a candidate in Fairfield immedi- ately preceding the candidacy and call of Mr. Hollingshead. By far the most remarkable of the pastors who have been the strength and the joy of Fairfield, was the Rev. Dr. Holl- ingshead's immediate successor. This was the Rev. Ethan Osborn. His father was one of the Osborn family of East- hampton. Long Island; but removed thence, and became a citizen of Litchfield, Connecticut, where Ethan was born in 1Y58. The son entered Dartmouth College in due time ; but left it, with other students, to serve in the ranks of the revolu- tionary army in 1776. After the attainment of Independence and peace, he returned to the college, finished the course, and was graduated in 1784. He then studied for the ministry two years with the Rev. Dr. Yaill of Hadlpne, Connecticut, his cousin, and was licensed by the South Association of Hartford County at Middletown, June 6th, 1786. He preached for the next two years in several places in Connecticut and New York, but declined the calls which he received to become a pastor. He went to Fairfield as a candidate in the autumn of 1788, and became the pastor of the church, December 3d, 1789. He continued in the full discharge of ministerial duties for fifty- six years, and resigned his pastoral charge in 181-1, when he was eighty-six years of age. He continued, however, to preach and to perform other ministerial offices until he had exceeded ninety-two years of age. The speaker's last visit to this saintly man was on tlie 21st of Septeml)er, 1857, when he was in his one hundredth year. There was no abatement of his habitual cheerfulness. He related new incidents of his service in the army during the war for Independence, and told with great glee, and for the first time to his visitors at least, some exceed- ingly amusing experiences of his college days. When his NEW haven's adventure ON DELAWARE BAY. 22Y visitors took leave, he accompanied them down the path across the lawn from his dwelling to the street, and stood nncovered by the carriage nntil they drove away. He ceased to breathe three months and twenty days before his life filled a century. The singular goodness, wisdom, simplicity, diligence, continu- ance and fruitfulness of his career have few parallels in the annals of the American pulpit. He wrote little for the press and only a few of his sermons have been printed. His suc- cessor was the Rev. Dr. Beriah B. Hotchkiss, whose graceful and accurate pen wrote a little volume with the title : " The Pastor of the Old Stone ChurchP An earnest but unsuccess- ful effort has been made for the last four years to purchase a copy of that memoir. The owners will not sell. If this is not fame, it is an indication of reverence and affection. The Rev. Ethan Osborn and all his predecessors in the pas- torate of Fairfield were farmers, and he and nearly or quite all his predecessors taught the classic languages to prepare their choice young men for college. They were the intellectual leaders as well as the religious guides of their people. It would be interesting to discover all the fruits of their toil, and to mark the course of the superior men which that small tow^l has produced. For the whole township, during the first hundred and fifty years of its history, never contained so many as four hundred famihes at any one time. For a century past it has been an unceasingly swarming hive. It is only within the last twenty years that its population has exceeded three thousand persons. The population now is nearer three thou- sand than four thousand souls. Yet here is a long roll of the names of noble men, beheved to be natives or sons of natives of that town, who have very worthily filled many 23laces of im- portance, usefulness, responsibility and honor among theii' fellow men. Among them are these thirty-one ministers of the gospel, nearly all of whom were born in that Puritan town- ship durmg the pastorate of the Rev. Ethan Osborn : 228 NEW haven's adventure on DELAWARE BAY, Ethan Osborn Bennett. James Clark Burt, Jr. Nathaniel Clark Burt, D.D. Jeremiah Nixon Diaraent. Joseph Fithian Garrison, D.D. William N. Githens. Daniel Burt Harris. John Napier Husted. Dickerson Moore. Joseph Moore. Benjamin Ogden. Ephraim Ogden. Isaac Ambrose Ogden. Thomas Spencer Ogden. Robert Osborn. Benjamin Parvin. Hiram Parvin. George Pierson, M.D. Daniel Stratton, D.D. James Stratton. Henry Westcott. John Bunyan Westcott. Lorenzo Westcott. Robert Raikes Westcott. Daniel Whi taker. Epher Whitaker, D.D. Ethan Osborn Whitaker. William Force Whitaker. Francis Marion Wood. This list is far from being complete. One of these ministers died while filling the chair of a Professorship of Theology, and one is now a Professor in the Protestant Episcopal Seminary of Philadelphia. Twelve at least of the thirty-one are or have been Home Missionaries at the front. One died a Foreign Missionary in Burmah. One died a Foreign Missionary in West Africa. One was compelled by ill health to return home from his work as a Foreign Missionary in Micronesia, He is now a Home Missionary in Kansas. One barely came home to die from his Foreign Missionary work in South America. The fifth of the Foreign Missionaries is now in the work. More than half of these ministers of the Gospel have been mission- aries, and one-sixth of the whole have been Foreign Mis- sionaries. Several of them have won some reputation in the field of literature. But no disproportion of the town's eminent men have entered the Christian ministry. Two of its natives and citi- zens have been Senators of the United States : Jonathan Elmer, M.D. Ephraim Bateman, M.D. Seven natives or sons of natives, living in Fairfield or the adjoining towns, have been members of Congress in the House of Representatives : NEW haven's adventure ON DELAWARE BAY. 229 Jonathan Elmer, M.D, James Giles Hampton. Gen. Ebenezer Elmer, M.D. Charles Brown. Ephraim Bateman, M.D. John Thompson Nixon. Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus Elmer. Two have been Judges of the Supreme Court of New Jersey : Daniel Elmer. Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus Elmer, One is the Judge of the United States Court for the District of New Jersey : John Thompson Nixon. The town furnished the Kevohitionary army with at least three colonels, Potter, Newcomb and Seeley, two nuxjors, a surgeon, and several captains. It also furnished to the same army a General Medical Inspector. One of its citizens has hlled the office of Adjutant General of the State, and held an independent command as Brigadier General in the war of 1812-1-1 against Great Britain. His son has been Attorney General of the State, One of its citizens has been New Jersey's Secretary of State, and one of his sons has been Surveyor General of Florida, and another of his sons Governor of Florida and Senator of the United States from that State. The little town has afforded the county nine sheriff's as well as four clerks, and four surrogates of the county. Ten of its citizens have been Senators of the State, and three of these have been Presidents of the Senate. Its medical practitioners of native birth have been eminently skillful, intelligent and prominent in public affairs. They have given to the country two Senators of the United States, a gen- eral of the army of 1812, a General Medical Inspector of the Revolutionary army, an Adjutant General of the State, a Sur- geon of the Revolutionary army, and one or more to the Union army in the war against the great Rebellion, as well as an emi- nent professor in one of the great medical colleges of Phila- delphia. 230 NEW haven's adventure on DELAWARE BAY, This rural town of New Haven and Connecticut origin lias given to the Pliiladelpliia Bar some of its best lawyers, and to the commercial and industrial life of that city a perpetual stream of young men who have l)ecome great merchants and manufacturers. It has conferred the same benefit in not a few instances upon New York, Cincinnati and New Orleans. It has well performed its part in the work of education. Several of its sons have been classical teachers. Two have been university professors. Two have been called to the responsible position of college presidents. One of these, the Hon. Newton Bateman, LL.D., President of Knox College, filled for many years the high office of Superintendent of Pub- lic Instruction for the State of Illinois. In view of the harvest which has sprung from the planting of the Puritans on the shore of the South Kiver, it may be deemed that some good results have come from New Haven's adventure on the Delaware Bay, however it may have failed of some objects for which it was projected. It is not the first instance which history presents, wherein ends rough-hewn by human hands have been divinely shaped for the accomplish- ment of noble deeds of beneficence. Let no man repress the adventurous spirit which animated the breast of Captain Tur- ner. The counsel of infinite wisdom will guide every generous and heroic enterprise and endeavor to the best end. It will be our honor if we faithfully do our part in making provision for the weKare of posterity, and if we therein equal the prescience, wisdom, courage and Christian devotion of the far-seeing, reso- lute, adventurous and faithful Puritan forefathers. PERSONAL REMINISCENCES REYOLUTIOI^ARY WAR, BY THE LATE THOMAS 'PAII^TER, Of West Haven, [Edited by Henry Howe, and read by him January 26 and February 9, 1885.] ; West Hayen sits in beauty by the sea. It is one of the pleasant villages on the Con- necticiit shore of Long Island Sound, on that level plateau of land which bounds the south- western part of the har- bor of New Haven, three miles from the city, and originally was a part of the town. Through this village the red-coated British soldiery marched on the invasion of New Haven, Monday morning July 5th, 1779. After landins:, the officers took breakfast at the village tavern on the site of the post-office block and paraded their men on the green, prior to resuming their long line of march. The sun poured down upon them with intense power, the opposi- tion was galling, and when they got possession of New Haven, 232 REMINISCENCES OF THOMAS PAINTER. tliej found it abounding in stores of Santa Cruz rum. So as the story goes, tliey sweated, swore, fouglit and got dreadfully drunk on that memorable day. The streets of West Haven are arched with noble elms and on one, Main street, about two hundred yards easterly from the village green and grave yard, stands an old house, upon the chimney of which is painted " 1095," the date of its erection. It is no^v known as the Collins Homestead, it being the resi- dence of Mr. D. C. Collins, photographer. The rooms in the house are large but low between joists ; the floors and ceilings only about seven . feet apart. Enough timber is m it to make two or three modern dwellings. The chimney, occupying the center of the main building, is huge. It is of stone, nine by twelve feet, and takes enough space for a bachelor's bed room. The two dates 1760 and 184Y mark two events in the history of this veneral)le structure, the first the birth therein of Thomas Painter and the second that of his death ; the interval between, 87 years. His ancestors built it and his descendants enjoy it. Thomas Painter in his day was one of the leaders in his parish. He was a large stalwart man, filled varied oflices as Selectman, Deacon in the Congregational Church and Justice of the Peace, which last named position fixed upon him per- manently the honorable title of "Squu-e" by which he both " went" and returned. He was an excellent citizen ; his neigh- bors said, " Square as a die," and he was. After the Kevolutionary war he engaged in commerce and navigation from the port of I^ew Haven, mainly with the West Indies, and thus acquired a large estate for his own com- fort in his last days and the consolation of his heirs on theii* ending. When advanced in years he wrote for the benefit of his family, the story of his life, from which we learn that when quite a lad he lost his parents and was brought up by his uncle Jesse Stevens, with whom he learned shoemakmg and farming. The Stevens residence w^as the large red house now standing on Elm street near the western verge of the village, at the point REMINISCENCES OF THOMAS PAINTER. 233 where the raih'oad trains from Kew York, after whisking around a curve, enter the place on its tangent. At the outbreak of the Kevohition, Painter, then a lad of 15, enlisted as a soldier ; his place of service. New York and vicinity. He was there when the Declaration of Independence was made, and describes the pulling down, at that period, of the equestrian statue of King George, which he witnessed ; it stood on Bowling Green at the foot of Broadway. He says : " The statue of the King, being placed on a stone pillar and about twelve feet high and completely covered with gold leaf, which made it painful for the eye to look upon when the sun shone bright, but, not- withstanding all this beautiful brightness, the assembled multitude soon tumbled his majesty from his proud eminence to the ground and that of his horse, which being ]irincipally composed of lead, was soon con- verted into bullets to be returned back as a present to his more obedient, more faithful, more loyal subjects." Painter remained with the army but a few months. In December he returned to AVest Haven and went to work shoe- making and farming with his uncle Stevens. He says : " Thoroughly sick of a soldier's life I determined if I went into the war again to have my furniture conveyed without having it slung at my back." So the next summer he tried his fortune privateering, going on board the sloop Polly, 12 guns, Capt. Roberts, commander, and then in succession on board the "Fairiield," the armed schooner "Mifflin," and the brig "Ocean," of IS guns and in all without any noteworthy inci- dents. After this he shipped in a privateering whale boat on Long Island Sound, Elisha Elderkin, commander. Who Elisha Elderkin was is a mystery, only we do know that through his leadership he at once came to grief. It is probable that it was an ancestor of Elisha that figured in the famous Windham frog pond story as related in Peters' veracious history of Connecti- cut, at the time of the old Frencli and Indian w^ar, wherein the inhabitants, frightened from their midnight slumbers, on rushing out in their night clothes were met by the army of invading frogs, who demanded an interview with their leading citizens to treat for a surrender, calHng out in frog mtonatious 234 REMINISCENCES OF THOMAS PAINTER. . " Colonel Dyer ! Colonel Dyer ! Elderkin too ! Elderkin too ! " The narrative of Painter's war experiences from his whale boat venture with Elderkin, as written by himself, occupies the remainder of this article. The simplicity of his story is amus- ing, and while reading it we can almost fancy we hear his voice talking it to us, the voice of a man " square as a die," and who returned as he " went " by the title of " Squire." " On first going out with Capt. Elderkin we went down to Montauk Pt. hoping to fall in with some English merchantmen bound into New- port, then in possession of the British, but not meeting with any we steered to the western part of the Sound, and when off Norwalk Island one pleasant calm morning in June, we fell in with 3 or 4 other armed whale boats and also a small schooner with some swivels mounted on the combings of the hatchways. There being in sight a sloop becalmed close in shore under Long Island, about half way between Huntington Bay & Oyster Bay, some one proposed to go over and take that sloop and tow her across the Sound. No sooner said than it was agreed to by all hands, and we were quick at our oars going for the sloop, not- withstanding there were several ships of war lying in Oyster Bay in plain sight preparing and manning their boats to oppose us. Nothing daunted, over Ave went, captured the sloop and took her in tow, after putting three men from each boat aboard her to fight the boats that were coming after us. There were some swivels on board the sloop and we made free use of them. The boats coming after us were 18 in number and i^robably not less than 130 men. Notwithstanding their superiority we beat them off on the first attack, and had got the sloop almost over to the mainland when they rallied and came up a second time right alongside of the slooi:), when the whale boats cut their tow lines and made their escape, leaving those of us who were on board to be taken. Our enemies carried us into Huntington Bay and put us safely on board His Majesty's ship the Fourye, of 28 guns. Thus ended our whale boat cruise after a Scotch prize, and a more foolhardy transac- tion is not to be found on record. As soon as we were on board this ship, they threatened to hang us at the yard-arm, but finally sent us to New York on a sloop, from which we were put on board the "Good Hope," a new prison ship lying at the mouth of North river abreast of the ferry way to Powles Hook (now Jersey City). After remaining here a few days, reflecting on my situation, con- sidering that I had never had the small-pox, that most likely it would soon be on board, and the chance of escape being extremely bad on account of our being whale-boatmen (the worst kind of privateers), it EEMINISCENCES OF THOMAS PAINTER. 235 therefore seemed to me that some way of escape must be contrived, but how, was very difficult to determine, as at night we were barred down under deck with a guard and sentinels on deck, and only two of us allowed to come up through a small hatchway at a time. At length the thought came to me, that if I could in any way make peace with the sentinels, two of us might possibly make our escape by taking two oars from the forecastle, swim to the boat which was moored to the buoy of the ship's anchor at slack tide, and at the first of the flood let her drop clear of the shipping with the tide, and then get up the river or over to the Jersey shore. I revealed the plan to Capt. Elderkin, my boat-commander (the only person on board with whom I was acquainted). My idea was, that as we drew a small allowance of rum daily, we should save it until we had a junk bottle full, with which we could make the sentinels so happy that we could be enabled thereby to make our escape. We thereupon saved our allowance of rum until our bottle was full, and then waited with great impatience until we thought a favorable time had arrived. We then took our bottle and tin cup, and gained admission on deck, filled our cup with plenty of rum and very little water, invited the sentinels to partake with us, which they readily accepted, and repeated their drinks until they became so happy as to wholly neglect their duty, and suffered the other prisoners to come on deck without any restraint, which caused much noise and confusion. Some were about making their escape by swimming to the shore. Seeing all this unthought of occurrence, and having lost my companion (Capt. Elderkin) in the crowd and bustle, I began to think that my chance of escape was lost, as I expected every moment the whole guard would be up from below and a general alarm be made; and as I could never expect another opportunity, I was determined to get overboard into the river and then sink or swim; so I ran forward by the forecastle to get down the cable, and found one of the prisoners just going down into the water. I told him that after he had got into the water I would hand him an oar, bring another with me, and we would take the boat at the buoy. He accordingly took the oar and set out for the boat, but could not stem the tide, and drifted up the river. I therefore in my hurry very foolishly and carelessly neglected to take another oar, and came very near by that neglect losing my life; for I made haste down the cable and swam after him: immediately after the guard was on deck and gave the alarm and caught some of the prisoners part way down the cable, some in the water and some elsewhere, it being too dark to discover those in the water. Capt. Elderkin swam to the New York shore, remained there a few days, and was then discovered and returned to the prison-ship, so that I think none got away excepting myself. Soon after I got into the water I caught a draft of salt water in my mouth, which almost strangled me, and while trying to get clear of 236 REMINISCENCES OF THOMAS PAINTER. that, I caught another, which really seem as though it would finish me off, and put an end to my bodily sufferings, as my feet had got to hanging almost straight down, and I found myself in a drowning state; yet, strange as it may seem, I would not call to the ship for help. At w^hat seemed the last moment of mj life I thought of the oar I had given the man with me, and called to him. He handed it to me imme- diately, by which means my life was preserved. After this we swam up the river and among the shipping, to try and get a boat. While he was looking at one ship I was looking at another. As I was unsuccess- ful in my search, I paddled along after him, but on overtaking him at a ship, I found they were taking him on board. I listened to hear whether they gave him comforting words, as I thought if they did I would apply also. But I could hear nothing which would justify me in giving myself up; so I drifted along up the river, sometimes swim- ming for the Jersey shore, then thinking the tide might turn before I got over, and carry me down into the bay, I would swim for the New York side, being in a state of suspense and wholly undetermined what to do. At length I made up my mind to swim for the New, York shore, which I did, and landed a little above the park, where the City Hall and Court House now stand and which was then called the Bowery. After landing I buried the oar in the sand, thinking that I might possibly want it again. I then crept up the bank of the river and laid myself down by the side of an old breastwork which had been built by our people, and partially covered myself with bushes, clods, etc., to keep off the mosquitoes. I got but little sleep, and sjient most of the remaining night in laying plans to effect my escape. I ought before to have stated, that we left the prison-ship at about 10 o'clock in the even- ing, which was quite too early for our safety. But we had got rather impatient and the tide seemed to serve at that time; but it much in- creased the risk of our escape. As mentioned above, I laid many plans: one was to go through the city to East river and look up some of my old neighbors wlio were refugees and had joined the British, and petition them for assistance; but, as I was destitute of clothes and almost naked, it seemed almost certain that I should be taken up immediately, so that my only hope seemed to be in keeping entirely out of sight. I concluded, therefore, to take up my abode in the Bowery the next day (which was the Sabbath and such a one as I had never seen before or since), and at night go down to the river, dig up my oar and swim off among the shipiiing and try again to get a boat. So at daybreak, after the morning-gun had been fired, I started into the Bowery to look for a safe place for the day. What I term the Bowery was a large tract of land — a sort of cow-pasture, lying on the North river side, with here and there a clump of bushes and brambles. At tlijs time there were scarcely any buildings west of the park, where REMINISCENCES OF THOMAS PAINTER. 237 the Court House now stands, nor on the North river side were there any to nearly down to the Battery, nor any wharf, unless it was the ferry wliarf . After setting out to find a safe retreat for the day, and searching about for some time, I found a tine strip of ground covered with grass and following a footpath winding among the buslies, I found at its termination a large bramble bush, which I thought would afford a safe retreat. I therefore made a passage into this thicket by cutting the brambles close to the ground, and crawling therein made me a bed on the leaves. I lay very quietly until afternoon, when I heard some persons in conversation approaching me. I soon discovered that it was a gentleman and lady who had made choice of my retreat for their amusement. They took a seat on the grass close to my feet, conversing on various subjects, which, for a person in my situation, was not very interesting. Now my chance for escape seemed very small; for I thought it almost impossible for them not to discover me; but there was no way but to lie still and wait the event. At length, the gentleman happening to turn his eye to where my my feet lay discovered them. After peeking a little closer he said to the lady, " There is a boy lying in the bushes." This seemed rather to discompose her ladyship; but he still continued peeking and peekmg, and finally sung out, " Yo ho ! Yo ho ! " but I lay motionless, making no answer. He then turned to the lady and said, <' By Gr—d, I believe he is dead;" upon which they both retired, and to my great joy I saw the last of them. After they were gone, for fear they might return with a reinforcement, I scrambled out and found a new retreat, in which I remained quietly until night, and then went down to the river. But the wind being fresh from the south-west, and considerable sea, I became discouraged and went back and lay down in my resting-place of the night before, without having tasted food or drink since leaving the ship and then only prisoners' allowance. This night was spent in trying to contrive some new plan of escape, and I finally concluded to try and get up the island to Harlem and swim over Harlem creek to the mainland, as I thought if I could only set foot on the main, ten feet away from the bayonet point, I sliould be happy. So after wearing away the second night, at the firing of the morning gun I steered up the island, keeping in the woods, of which at tliis time there was considerable on the North river side. I worked along for some time undiscovered until I began to meet with soldiers' encamp- ments, the British army having just returned from Philadelphia and encamped on York island. This entirely frustrated my plan and I was obliged to look for a safe retreat for the day. I therefore got near the North river and found a thicket of woods and bushes with a small high hill in the midst of them covered with thick brushwood. On the top of this hill I took up my abode for the day, not knowing which way to turn ; only hoping that I might discover some kind of water-craft come along and land so that I 238 EEMINISCENCES OF THOMAS PAINTER. might obtain it and get over to the Jersey side. I still felt determined to make my escape or die in the attempt. The day passed away and no pleasing prospect, only when two men came near my lodgement mowing and I had some hopes of obtaining their dinners by stealth, but was disappointed. When night came I stored myself away in one of their hay cocks and notwithstanding my awful situation I had a comfort- able night's rest. On awaking rather late next morning I sj^read the hay pretty thoroughly and retreated to my hiding place for the day. Here I seemed tolerably safe from my enemies. But oh ! hunger and thirst, they would find me, and it seemed as though I must perish from starva- tion, having had no food since leaving the ship. I had a long summer's day in tlie month of July before me, which was diligently employed in thinking of my present situation, my willingness to meet death and whether I was prepared to meet my Judge in peace. This long day finally drew to a close and, night coming on, I lay down on the ground to rest the 4th night with a few boughs of the trees for a covering. Most of this night was spent trying to contrive some new mode of escape, until the morning gun announced the approach of day, the svm appeared and mankind went to their several occupations and employments. But oh ! miserable employment for me, to think of my empty stomach, my pinched up frame and gloomy prospects. Then to look at the distance to the Jersey shore, the yawning gulf between liberty and me, and to think of gaining it by swimming, I hoped some other way of escape would be provided but, as the day passed away and no prospect of relief, I began to blame myself for not having made the attempt before, as I had now been without food such a length of time that my strength must be nearly gone, insomuch that there would be but little hope of reaching the Jersey shore. I became impatient for night to come on that I might make the trial. The place where I lay is a little below a spot of highland on the Jersey shore and about opposite Hoboken. On and near the highland, which was within the enemy's lines, a number of British soldiers were encamped cutting wood, and in the course of the day a party of Ameri- can troops came down, fired on them, drove them off and then returned to their own lines. The day being now far spent I began to get myself in readiness for my dangerous undertaking, by looking to God for assistance and protection and by committing myself wholly to liis care and keeping, and by mustering up all my remaining strength and courage. Of the latter however there was not much need, as I was so determined to make my escape or die in the attempt that I was totally devoid of fear. Half an hour after sunset I crept into the river and set my face for the Jersey shore. After swimming out a little way into the river I could see and hear a number of men just below me, that I supposed were the enemy's guard. I now thought I had been too anxious and REMINISCENCES OF THOMAS PAINTER. 239 set out too soon, but, providentially they did not discover me, or if they did doubtless thought me nothing more than a seal, so I pursued my course moderately and steadily for the other side. I passed near one vessel lying at anchor, but, supposed them to be enemies so kept on my way until, as I should judge, between two and three o'clock to my unspeakable joy I found bottom with my feet. I scrambled up but found I could not stand, having been so long in the water that my strength was almost entirely exhausted. However, I managed to creep up the bank where I, joyful and thank- ful to my Great Preserver, spent the remainder of the night listening to hear if any of the enemy's guard were near. At length the morning appeared, and a pleasant one to me to find myself safe on this side of the flood and that my strength (notwithstanding my long fast) had returned in such abundance that I felt as though I could leap any fence whatever if necessary, that I feared not the face of clay let it come in what shape it would, or the musket ball either. I now mounted the hill and took a last look at the little city of New York, the shipping and especially at the prison ship from which I had escaped. I then shaped my course as near as I could judge north-west, thinking that would carry me soonest out of the enemy's lines, and set out on a qviick pace through the woods and bushes, endeavoring to avoid the roads and highways. After travelling some distance I came to a high spot of land where I could see the river and salt marsh that puts up beyond, west of Powles Hook, and runs bowing round as it appeared to me to the northeast, and that I concluded was the extent of the enemy's lines, so I went on at a quick pace for the marsh, intending to swim the river. I soon arrived at a thicket of bushes which lay alongside of this meadow and went into the swamp immediately, feeling determined to go through. After proceeding some way in this thicket I found that the briars and scratch-grass had wounded my feet to such a degree that I was obliged to stop and try to get back, which I did after much diffi- culty. After getting out of this horrid place I kept round to the north- east, by the side of the swamp and upland, looking for a place to approach the meadow. At length I came to a place where a narrow length of land put out into the salt meadow, apparently nearly across it, with a building at the end, which might be a tide-mill, and a dwelling house about half way to it. I thought I would go to the farthest build- ing and if it was a mill I might go over the river on the dam. So I walked along very slowly towards the house and at the same time heard a drum beat a little back, and keeping a steady look at the house I observed that the people would come to the door, stand and look apparently at me for a moment, and then turn about and run in. Then others would come and do the same. At this I began to be very sus- picious that trouble was brewing for me as I did not like to be so much noticed. I therefore immediately went down to the river and swam across to the opposite bank in the salt meadow. 240 REMINISCENCES OF THOMAS PAINTER. By this time there were quite a number collected down on the side of the river which I had just left, but I bid them defiance and went pretty lively over a large tract of salt meadow into the woods. After having travelled some way across the fields and thinking that I Avas now most probably out of the enemy's lines and that this river was the boundary, I felt very desirous to make some inquiry, having seen no person until now since leaving the prison ship, except the gentleman and lady above mentioned and the two men mowing hay. At length as I was travelling across the fields I saw a negro going apparently to his work. I noticed the course he was taking and fol- lowed him intending to make the necessary inquiries and if he appeared disposed to do me harm, to just knock him down and stiffen him sufficiently for me to make my escape. Accordingly I came up to him and inquired where the British lines were ? and where the American troops were ? He said that the British were over the river which I had just crossed and that the Americans were down the day before and drove off the wood-cutters and that " There was no danger here, Massa." What he said about wood-cutters I knew to be true as I saw and heard it on the opposite side of the river. We then parted, the negro pursued his course, and I steered for the nearest road I could find, for it was the first time I had wished for a road since leaving the prison ship. Now for the moment my happiness appeard to be complete and I hastened my steps, thinkmg what comfort I should now take in having my liberty and once more to walk the highway in perfect safety. But before I had enjoyed much of this anticipated comfort, all at once I began to feel my feet and legs to be very sore and when I looked at them I found they were much cut with briars and scratch-grass. My strength also began to fail me and make my back smart by the blisters which had been made by the sun, as my clothing was little more than the collar and shoulder straps of my frock and the waistband of my trousers, the whale boat having carried off all my clothes except what was on my back at the time of our capture. After gaining the highway I travelled on but a little distance, before I seemed to be gone in every part and was obliged to lie down by the fence, and it seemed as though I never could get to a house, although there were a number in sight, and no great distance off. So I tried to get along by walking a little way, then lying down to try and gain strength, and then walking again, etc. At length I saw three men cradling grain in a field near by, and feel- ing as though I was perfectly safe I got over the fence and went immediately to them, and found them to be a Dvitchman and two sons. I addressed the father and begged assistance as I was in a perishing condition. He at once looked at me with a stern and unfriendly look and demanded to know where I came from. I said I had been a prisoner in New York and had run away from the prison ship, from which I had REMINISCENCES OF THOMAS PAINTEE. 241 escaped by swimming ashore in New York and then swimming across North river, by which means I had got as far as here. He then hung his cradle on his arm, and advanced toward me, and as appeared to me with a much more angry countenance than before, said "I do not beHeve a word that you say;" then demanded again where I came from, with a severe caution to " tell the truth." I very soon after my first speaking to him began to be frightened and was very careful to retreat fast enough to keep out of reach of his scythe. I found as my fright increased by the appearance of danger that my strength and activity increased also, so that I felt no more of my late weakness and sores but perfectly able for almost any contest be it ever so formidable, and fully determined never to be taken alive. I therefore kept on the retreat toward the road from whence I came and got almost to the fence when all at once the old gentleman altered liis tone and language and as I then thought even his looks and said " That lie was my friend and would give me all the assistance I wanted. " This he said with almost tears in his eyes and yet with all he could say and do, I could not get rid of the fright he had given me. He said that at first he was afraid of me and thought I might be a spy from the enemy and that I came with this story only to deceive and ensnare him ; for if he ti'eated me kindly it might serve an excuse for the British who were his neighbors to come and strip him of every thing he had. But he was now satisfied that I was no spy, and I need not be afraid of him as he was my friend. He finally persuaded me to take some of his drink whieli I think was beer, and then urged me to go to his house and get some food. I asked him which his hovise was? He pointed right toward the enemy's lines and I refused to go that way. He then said that he would go with me over to a spot of high ground, and point me out the way to his son's house, where I could call and give his name and they would assist me. So we walked on together, and on the way he got some strips of bark, and tried to tie up some of the holes in my frock and to cover the blisters which the sun had made, and began again to try and persuade me to go over with him to liis house. At length he prevailed on me, though very unwillingly. On our way he asked me if I could talk Dutch ? I told him I could not. As soon as we got to the house he and his wife began to jabber away in Dutch at a great rate. This again made me more fearful that I might soon see the enemy enter the door. The old gentleman said that he would only give me to eat suppaum ( or hasty pudding, in English ), as I had been so long without food, that he thought it would kill me to eat hearty food. This, I presume was correct, as it was as much as I could do to bear up under that suppaum. After I had finished my meal, he gave me a shirt, waistcoat and trousers. I went out into his garden, took off my collar and waist band (which although small I believe contained some inhabitants), threw 16 242 REMINISCENCES OF THOMAS PAINTER. them away and put on my new suit. He then tied me up some bread and cheese in a handkei-chief to carry in my hand, to bite at by the way, for he said I had better not call by the way any moi-e than was absolutely necessary, as there was an abundance of Tories, horse-thieves, etc., about, and I should be in great danger of being taken up and carried back. All this frightened me to such a degree that my strength returned. He then gave me two dollars in money and offered me a horse and a boy to carry me on to his son's house. This I refused, for strange as it may api:)Gar after all this kindness, I could not get entirely clear of the fright he had first given me, and felt very anxious to be on my way so as to get a little farther from the enemy's lines. I therefore px'oceeded on as fast as possible and did not forget to call at his son's, where I got some more food and a line to the next Justice of the Peace, for a pass, and recommendation for charity in the way of food. I then proceeded on my way, obtained my pass, keeping to the highway with a substantial hickory cane or club for my staff, and meaning to use it if seriously interfered with. Several people in the course of the afternoon inquired where I came from, but my answers would be but little, choosing to keep steadily along, till towards night when I fell in with two men who seemed very inquisitive. One in particular appeared to be chief spokesman and kept nearest me while the other kej^t a little in the rear. The one nearest me wanted to know from whence I came and where I was going. At length I gave him my whole history, where I was from, how I had been taken, how I escaped, where I was going etc., and that I wanted to get to the American guard as quick as possible. He said he was going that way and that he would accompany me, but that the best way was to go across lots. Accordingly we got over the fence, and went a little way, when (there being no path) I told him that as my feet were so sore I had rather keep to the road, so I turned about and again took to the highway. He observed that as I was a stranger he would be my companion round. This how- ever did not please me as I had much rather be alone, for then I felt safe, and especially as I began to have some suspicion of him and his companion. After gaining the highway we walked on together, the stranger at my left hand and my staff in my left hand, his companion keeping a little way in the rear. We had not gone far when the one nearest me asked for my staff, on my refusal he told me he must take me up, that I must go no farther, and catching a stake out of the fence as handily as though it had been jjut there for the occasion, he ordered me to stop or he would knock me down, his companion singing out all the time " Knock him down, Knock him down. " In such a situation there was no time to be lost and I set off at full speed, they both after me one crying out " .Stop, or I'll knock you down," and the other, "Knock him down. Knock him down." I did not run long before I found I had left them far in the rear, and being on a high REMINISCENCES OF THOMAS PAINTER. 243 spot of land, I looked ahead where there was a large spacious valley with a thicket or swamp in the middle of it and beyond a large tract of woods. To this swamp I now directed my course, thinking that I would pass directly through it and spend the night in the woods beyond. Accordingly I entered the swamp but soon found it necessary to stop to take breath and rest ; after resting I pursued my way through, and on coming out on the other side found a strip of clearer land. I then thought it possible that my pursuei-s might go round the swamjD while I was resting as they could plainly see where I went and so waylay me on my coming out. I therefore crept out very carefully, looking each way to see if I could discover them. At length I saw them standing by the edge of the swamp, listening. I immediately turned about, went back and out of the swamp at the same place I had entered, and so traveled on and arrived at the American Guard that night, where I tarried till next morning and then set out and travelled on to the north toward King's Ferry (as I think it was called) where I crossed the North river, and then went on unmolested until I arrived at home or at my Uncle Stevens, as I had no other home. My friends on my arrival appeared almost as much surprised as if one had risen from the dead, as they knew of my capture and supposed my escape to be next to impossible. In all my way after leaving the American Guard I was fully supplied with food by the charity of the people along the road. Sometimes I would eat two or three times before noon : as the people would see me on the road, or see me from their houses and on inquiring who I was, where from, etc., would immediately invite me into the house to eat and to drink, so that I never begged at all. Having money in my pocket I would call at the tavern when neces- sary for what I wanted, and before I had finished my meal they would inquire out my history, and this would satisfy them so that they would not take any pay, so that I never spent any of the money which my good friend the Dutchman gave me, except what I paid for my ferriage at Stratford over the Housatonic ferry. This Dutch friend's name was Oliver Boutz, and this friend I have much wanted to see ever since, and have many times contemplated a journey on purpose, although I cannot now at this long period, more than fifty years, expect ever to see in this world, as he has probably long ere this been in his grave. Yet I do ho^je he is now in possession of a far more peaceful mansion than the one in which he so kindly entertained me while in this world. After getting safely home from this hazardous cruise, and having some time for reflection, I took a retrospective view of my past life and employments, particularly privateering, in which I had been consider- ably engaged. After recollecting how boats had gone from the priva- teer to which I belonged, and boarded and plundered neutral vessels under false colors and other outrageous acts, I came to the conclusion 244 REMINISCENCES OF THOMAS PAINTER. that privateering was nothing better than highway robbery under pro- tection of law, and that forcibly taking the property of peaceable unof- fending citizens and squandering it, as is usually done by such men, is worse than loss to the whole community, and cannot be justified from a moral point of view; and as I had in a degree escaped the effects of such a calling, I determined to give it uj) and follow the sea in the merchant service, and only to act on the defensive if any use was to be made of weapons. It now occurred to me that I had not had the small-pox and I thought it best to have it by inoculation, and there being at that time no place near home I set off alone to Killingworth, where I supposed there was a pock-house on Duck Island, but when I got there I found the house had lately been burned by the refugees. But a new house had been erected for the same purpose back in the woods, and it was nearly completed. Dr. Ely, who was the physician, took me into his own house and inocvilated me, together with another young man who had come for the same purpose. I told the doctor that unless I had more pock than some, I should not feel at all satisfied as to my security from the disease. He looked at me with a smiling coun- tenance and said, " He would venture to insure that I should be satisfied on that point." We staid at his house until we began to have the symptoms and then went into the hos^wtal with an old lady for our nurse. The first symptom which I felt was a sore throat, and this continued very severe throughout the whole time, my mouth and throat being full of pock and also my wliole body, especially my face, which was so full and swollen that I could not see. At this time I was considerably Avorried by the doctor asking me every time he came in whether I was satisfied that I should have pock enough. The other j^oung man had only two or three, and they so small as hardly to be seen. If I had no more ai^pearance of small-pox I should not have felt satisfied at all, for but a little while before some of my neighbors, who had been inocvilated and went through a sort of process pronounced safe by the doctor, came home and in a few days were taken down with the small-pox in the natiu'al way, and came very near dying. But I had now got safely through and Avas glad I had it so hard. I set out for home and arrived safely at my Uncle Stevens', where I remained at work with him some time. At length, although I had become sick of a soldier's life, yet as there was a company of artillery raised in New Haven under the command of Capt. Phineas Bradley, which was to be stationed in and abovit New Haven for the defense of the town, and thinking that this would be rather easier than it had been in some former campaigns, I enlisted about March 1st, 1779, and remained in the service about eight months. My place of service was in my native village (West Haven), under the immediate command of Lieut. Azil Kimberly, the company being in KEMINISCENGES OF THOMAS PAINTER. 245 three divisions, one on the East Haven side of the harbor, one on the West Haven side, and the other in New Haven. Wliile I was serving in this company, the' enemy made a visit to New Haven and landed on the •• Old Field " shore. The night they came it happened to be my turn of duty on guard at the house then owned by Deacon Josiah f latt, now the property and residence of Mr. Wilmot. Not far from midnight we had news that a large fleet of the enemy's ships were in the Sound, and it was thought they were destined for New Haven. Soon myself and some others of the guard extended our walk down to Clark's Point. After staying there some time (it being a star-light night) we discovered the fleet standing in to the eastward, close into the shore, with a light breeze of wind. AVe followed them along to the eastward, watching their manoeuvres till they came to anchor off the '' Old Field" shore a little before day. I then hastened up to my Uncle Stevens to inform them of the pending danger, but they were extremely incredulous and not willing or disposed to believe there was much danger, as they had so often anchored along shore, causing frequent and unnecessary alarm. I told them they must be up very soon and get their breakfast if they meant to have it at home in peace, and I advised them to pack up and hide some of their valuables and handy articles of clothing, for fear of the worst, as I intended to try to save what little clothing I had, which I tied up in a bundle, car- ried out and buried. I then mustered up what ammunition I had, crossed over to the other street, and with three others obtained permission from our officer to go down and watch the enemy's landing. We then went to the " Old Field" shore, where we watched till the sun rose, when a gun was fired from the commodore's ship, as a signal for landing. Instantly a string of boats was seen dropping astern of every transport ship, fvill of soldiers and pulling directly for the shore about the middle of " Old Field." It was near high water and a full tide, so the boats could come plump up to the beach. As soon as they came within point blank shot we fired into them and continued the fire until they began to land within a few yards of us, when I thought it was time either to retreat, resign or beg for quarter, rather than run the risk of crossing the open fields under the shower of shot which I knew must soon follow us. And I should have preferred the latter and gone to prison, but I well knew that after I had been so foolish and imprudent as to fire into an army of men huddled into their boats, without any possibility of answering any other purpose than killing and wounding a few, I should be immediately cut to pieces, and perhaps deservedly so. There was, therefore, no alternative but to run, so I instantly started across the field at the height of my speed and the bullets after me like a shower of hail which seemed to prostrate all the grass around me, but, fortunately, I escaped unhurt, and retreated to another good stand on the " Rock pasture" and awaited the approach 246 EEMINISCENCES OF THOMAS PAINTER. of the flank guard. Then I would fire a few shots and retreat to another ambush, then fire a few more and again retreat, and so continued to do until I had got nearly up to the Milford turnpike, where Adjutant Campbell of the enemy was killed and left behind. By this time the main body of the enemy, which kept the main road, had passed on through Allingtown on their way to Tlrompson's bridge (now Westville) on the Derby road. Our people had got some cannon on the east side of the Allingtown bridge in order to rake the causeway (if necessary), but it being supposed by the enemy that the bridge was blown up (which was attempted) the enemy took the upper route to the Derby road. The company to wiiich I belonged having passed into New Haven and up to Neck bridge, out to Cedar Hill, I thought it best not to attempt to join them, but return to West Haven. The enemy staid over night in New Haven, doing much damage by plundering, but early next day they crossed over to East Haven, burnt one or two houses, marched down to Morris' Cove, burnt his house, embarked and then proceeded westward. They landed at Fairfield and Norwalli, burnt both places and then returned to New York. On the first day of their landing in West Haven we lost Jedutha Thompson, who was one of our company. He was killed in New Haven at the corner of York and George streets, the southwest corner of the original town square. I served in this company till the latter part of October, 1779. I then obtained my discharge, took my pack on my back, in company with my neighbor Ebenezer Thompson, and travelled off to the eastward to look for a likely substantial sailing vessel to get a voyage in, as there were none in New Haven at that time. We travelled as far as New London and from there to Providence, but found none that suited us. Then we went to Newburyport, where we entered on board the brig Marquis (Seth Thomas, one of our old neighbors, commander), and soon sailed, bound for St. Point Peter, in the island of Gaudaloupe. We arrived safe, discharged our cargo, loaded for home and sailed in company with two letters of marque ships bound for Newburyport. We undertook to beat up the passage between Grantere and Mariga- lanta, in order to come to the windward of the islands, thinking that to be the most safe and free from privateers. But the ships, being dull sailers, could not beat up, and therefore bore away for the leeward pas- sage, and we in order to have the benefit of their protection kept them company. We ran down and came through Porto Eico and San Domingo. When we got on the American coast we left our convoy and experi- enced the cold and memorable winter of 1780. But, by coming through the leeward passage we were well on the western shore, which was finally the whole means of our ever getting in, for in about the latitude of 31° we took the wind at northwest and with it extreme cold. The wind stood between west, northwest and west the whole time until we got in, except about twelve hours when it hauled around to the east. REMINISCENCES OF THOMAS PAINTER. 247 In about 26 days after getting on the coast, in the month of February, we made the land not far from the Penobscot, and taking the wind at about north worked along shore and arrived most joyfully at our de- sired haven, Newburyjiort, where for two weeks I took full one year's comfort over my landlord Greenleaf's fireside. When I entered on board the brig I was a raw hand, and having never before sailed on a merchant vessel and knowing nothing of sea- manship I made no agreement as to wages, excepting that I was to receive what I was worth. On settlement, however, they paid me as much as any one on board. After getting recruited we again took our packs on our backs and returned home, this being the month of March. The snow was then about even with the tops of the fences everywhere, and all the harbors closed with very thick ice. This has up to this time, 1836, been con- sidered by all those who saw and felt the severity of it as the most severe winter within the memory of man. After being at home some time I entered on board the letter of marque brig "Firebrand,"' of ten guns, Amaziah Jocelyn, commander, belonging to New Haven, and sailed bound for Frangois Cape, in the island of San Domingo or Hispaniola. Arrived safe, and on our return voyage we sailed in company with a fleet of French men of war and merchantmen of about 100 sail. We parted with them a little south of Bermuda, their course being too easterly for us, and arrived safely in New Haven, but I soon entered on board the same vessel and sailed bound for Grenada. While going down the Sound and out through the Race in the night (the British fleet was lying in Gardiner's Bay), and having got out by Montauk Point near daylight, we discovered an enemy's frigate just ahead and partly under the lee. We immediately hove about to the northward with a wind at northwest and found that our vessel could look up for the east end of Fisher's Island. At the same time the frigate hove about also, which kept her close under our own lee and prevented us from running into Stonington. We therefore had it tack and tack, with our enemy within point blank shot of us, until we could weather the west end of Fisher's Island, and so escaped into New London. There we lay until an opportunity ofi'ered for us to slip out quietly in the night, which we did and made our passage safe to Grenada. In sailing for home we stood to the northward for the Porto Rico pas- sage, but through some carelessness we ran by the passage, and down the island of St. Domingo for three successive days, lying to by night. At length finding our mistake (and a sad one too), we hauled our wind and went to beating back, looking for the passage, which took 22 days. This made us very short of provisions and water and we were put on short allowance of both, but having a good passage from there home we made out to live, although we had our last ijrovioions in the cooking 248 EEMINISCENCES OF THOMAS PAINTEE. when we were in the Race, off New London. We arrived safely and joyfully in the harbor of New Haven and saluted the inhabitants with two broadsides. After remaining at home working with my Uncle Stevens a short time, I engaged for a voyage on board the sloop "Rising Sun," in the capacity of mate, Wm. Punchard, Master, and bound for the West Indies. We proceeded safely until we were near the islands, when we fell in with the British sloop of war " Regulator," which captured and carried us into Tortula. There being no prison ship in this place, we were not confined, and I remained on board to assist in discharging the cargo, by which means I contrived to save a part of my adventure, as that was not in the invoice of cargo. They gave me liberty to go whei'e I pleased, and I soon got a passage over to St. Croix and from there to New Haven, on board the sloop Patty, Major Lines, commander. At this time the American flag was not allowed to be hoisted in a Danish port. After Capt. Lines had completed his business we got under way for home, and the captain being a high liberty man, as was also John Connors, who lived at the northwest point of the bay at West End, and Capt. Lines feeling jiretty rich and merry, as soon as he got out to the point hoisted the American Stars and Stripes and fired a salute to honor his friend Connor. A Danish frigate was lying in the harbor at W^est End, so her barge was soon manned and came out after us, when Capt. Lines hailed her and ordered her to "keep off." But they came on after us, when several swivels were fired into her from our vessel. She then tacked and went back. I expected if there should be a breeze that the frigate would be out after us, and if taken we should probably be hanged for firing on the king's boat. But, fortu- nately, there was a light breeze, by which means we made our escape. This, however, was a great damage to Captain Lines, as he never dared to go to that port again. We arrived in safety at New Haven, and after some time a friend of Capt. Punchard procured him another fine new sloop built at the same place as the other. We had two small carriage guns and about a dozen muskets, and when we were loading at the New Haven wharf there were two brigs, the "Hetty," Capt. David Phipps, and the "Eunice," Capt. Ebenezer Peck, both well armed, and several other vessels fitting away, calculating to keep company down the Sound at least. Our sloop was lying on the west side of the pier and nearly ready for sea. One afternoon, the captain being on shore, it came into my head (I knew not why, as I had no fear of the enemy) to get up the muskets, rub the rust off the locks, put flints in them, load every one and lay them side by side on the bundles of hay which were stored on the quarter deck. Then 1 covered them up with tarpaulin and when I Avent below set a watch to look out for the cajitain, should he come off. After going below and turning in I tried to sleep but could not, and therefore lay sleepless until about midnight, when I heard one of the REMINISCENCES OF THOMAS PAINTER. 249 raw hands singing out in an uncouth manner ' ' A-ho ! The boat ! O Ho !" I at first thought he was doing this to amuse himself and to learn how to hail ; but I soon became tired of the noise and thought perhaps there might be a boat coming off to some of the vessels, and if so they ought to answer, it being war time. I therefore immediately sprang upon the quarter deck and looked toward the wliarf , and saw as it appeared to me a small boat with her head toward us lying entirely still. I unme- diately hailed, but received no answer, so I hailed again, Init no answer. I then removed the tarpaulin, took up a musket and fired at them, threw that down and up with another and so kept on firing, which I could do very fast. I soon got an answer, " Don't fire ! Don't fire ! for we are friends." I replied, "If you are friends you had better be off, for we want no friends here at this time of night." They immediately laid their boat round down the harbor and sprang upon their oars. I then discovered that it was a large whale boat full of men. By this time the people on board the brig " Hetty," which lay on the east side of the pier, mustered out and discovered another boat east of the pier, and they got one of their bow guns rigged out and fired after them as they rowed down the harbor. This occurrence was not thought much of at that time ; as for myself, I thought that they might be trad- ing boats to Long Island, as there was a great deal of that business done at that time ; but sometime after the war I was on a voyage to the West Indies and had a man with me named Dyer Cook who belonged in New Haven, but had been with the refugees at Lloyd's Neck most of the Revolutionary War. I heard him relating his adventures during the war : among the rest he related this very cruise of his in the whale boats and their reception, almost exactly as I have stated above. After this I conversed with him about it and he told me who was in the boat, and that they had been secreted in or near New Haven several days waiting for the vessels to complete their loading, and that when they left the shore they were offered a large price for a share of the prize money, and that it was only owing to the cowardice of their captain that they did not take us. In this he was correct, for had they not stopped to hear the raw hand hail, they might have stepped on board and taken charge before I should have been on deck to make an alarm. They could have then walked across the pier and stepped on board the brig "Hetty" and taken quiet possession, as their people who were on board were aU below; then cut the cables, and with a fair wind and tide have sailed directly and easily for Lloyd's Neck. So that it seems very certain that we escaped only in consequence of my cleaning the muskets and being unable to sleep when I went below. After we had completed our preparations for the voyage we sailed in company with the other vessels for a few days and then separated, arriving safe at the island of St. Kitts, and after our business was fin- ished sailed for home. I had got along so far by this time that I thought I might safely 250 REMINISCENCES OF THOMAS PAINTER. reckon up what I should make by the voyage, which I did, and enjoyed my next watch very much in prospect of the profits, but the next morning my prospects were gloomy enough, for as soon as it was cleverly light we made a ship to windward not far off, which gave us chase. We immediately crowded on all sail, with a fresh breeze, and went to lightening our sloop by heaving the salt overboard. She appeared to gain upon us, a very little, but, this little in the course of a whole day amounted to considerable, so much so that it brought her up with us before night ; she proved to be his Majesty's ship the Albion of 28 guns. We were taken on board and had a new ship for our money with a berth in the cable tier. The next day we were mustered on the quarterdeck and our baggage overhauled. I had from 30 to 40 dollars worth of dry goods and notions ; but, the Captain very kindly told me to keep it, and to take good care that the sailors did not steal it from me. I expected as soon as we got into New York to be placed on board the prison ship and then I should stand in need of a little money. I therefore sold out about all of my knick-knacks to the sailors. After a few days we came to anchor at Sandy Hook. The wind coming out at N. W. a heavy gale the ship dragged her anchors and it appeared as though we should drift ashore. I began to hope I should escape the prison ship, but they kept paying out cable and letting go anchors till she brought up and rode out the gale. The next day we went up to New York, anchored in the East river and remained on board all night, expecting to take our station next morning on board the Old Jersey prison ship which was lying in the Wallabout. In the morning we rowed up the East river and when we came up abreast of the high bluff on Long Island side (as it was) the Old Jersey prison ship was in sight, also the boat from the ship burying the dead (who had died that night on board of her) in the sand-bank. This bluff is I suppose now nearly gone, as I have heard that many of the bones have been collected and buried. We were soon alongside of the Old Jersey, and safely lodged on board where I found two of my old neighbors Benjamin and Joseph Smith. This for the moment revived my drooping spirits, and brought to mind the old saying " Misery loves company." I, however, had their company but a little while, as they were soon sent off in a cartel and exchanged. There now being no opportunity of escape, having a little money, and being assigned a place in the gun room (a place assigned to masters and mates) I became in a measure satisfied. The British gave us good provisions, only prisoner's allowance was rather scant. They cleaned the ship often and tried to accomodate when they could safely do so, but it is impossible where such a number of men are confined to keep them clean and healthy. As I was walking one day on the upper deck, after a fall of snow, I received a snow -ball on the side of my neck. I looked around but saw REMINISCENCES OF THOMAS PAINTER. 251 no one engaged in snow-balling, therefore I took this as an insult : be- sides it was quite inconvenient as it filled my neck with snow slush and put me out of humor, so much so that I determined to continue walking and receive their snow-balls until I could find them out and chastise them. So I continued my walk and the snow-balls continued to come. At last I cast my eye up to the forecastle where some of the prisoners were walking, and just then one of them had come into view with his hand behind him. As he did not choose to throw while I was looking, he turned round and like a little boy forgot to shift his hand, and by this means showed me his snow-ball. I pursued him into the fore- castle, keeping my eyes steadfastly upon him through the crowd until I came up with him, and without a word gave him one blow and another which sent him down into the galley among the cooks. I then went my way and saw no more of him until some time after, when sitting in the gun room, a person with an Irish brogue came and asked me if I had not struck him. I told him I had struck somebody; he replied that " it was me," and he wanted satisfaction. I told him to take it as soon as he pleased. He said this was no place and wanted me to go out between decks ; like a foolish booby I did so, and Capt. Ward Atwater (like another fool) followed me out to see fair play. When I got out between decks he had his shirt nearly off, and as this appeared to be the fashion I undertook to get mine off, and while doing this received several blows. After I was clear of my shirt I received no blows, but warded them off and returned them with double interest, until my antagonist disappeared among the crowd. On looking round I saw several others stripping and thought it best to make my escape and not undertake to fight a whole privateer's crew. I therefore crept through the crowd into the gun room, sliowing no marks of the contest, as the blows given me were received on my head. Capt. Ward Atwater fared considerably worse and got considerably bruised. This is the only time I ever engaged in a fist fight and I never could have done it more foolishly. I remained on board the floating prison about two months without any prospect of escape, but unexpectedly Mr. Elias Shipman made his appearance on board and said that he had come down hoping to get some of us paroled, that he had some encouragement and we should hear from him again in a few days. Now hope, joy and fear were all at once greatly excited, and I anxiously kept a lookout for every boat which came in sight, trembling for fear of the result of his exertions. At length Mr. Shipman appeared with permission to take out four, and my name was among the number. We went over to the city to the proper office and obtained our paroles, with liberty to return home by way of Long Island. I then went into the city and bought some cloth for a suit of clothes with the money which I had left. Then crossed the ferry to Brooklyn and travelled down the island to Lloyd's Neck, where I found plenty of my old neighbors who were refugees. Here I 252 REMINISCENCES OF THOMAS PAINTER. was very kindly entertained for several days waiting an opportunity to get on the Connecticut side. At length I found a passage and arrived safe once more at my native village, and although yet a prisoner, on my parole of honor, bound to return when called for, which I meant punct- ually to fulfill, even if I must again go on board the Old Jersey prison ship. Of this, liowever, there was no necessity, as news of peace arrived in the spring, when all prisoners were set at liberty after a sanguinary war of about seven years. At the commencement of this war I was fifteen years of age, and at sixteen (as soon as they would take me for a soldier) I entered and con- tinued in it either by land or sea a considerable part of the time while it lasted, as will be seen by the preceding narrative, and when I review the dangers thi'ough which I have passed, and the hardships, being a prisoner three times in the course of the Revolutionary War, and the risks which I have run. especially that in making my escape from the prison ship, I am astonished that I am alive. And it must always remain a complete mystery to me how I could have strength to swim the North River after having been without food from three to fovir days, and then, after I had got over and rested, to feel more strong and active than ever before in my life ; but my unalterable determination was to make my escape at all hazards, and being divested of all fear, I suppose, added much to my strength ; when I look back and think over these past events and transactions, they appear more like dreams than realities, and I should almost doubt the truth of my own narrative had there not been such an abundance of living testimony at the time and for many years after ; but, after all I have said of my own exertions, yet I have only to say that I ascribe my miraculous preservation through all the dangers of life to the kind care and protection of my Heavenly Father, who when my earthly parents were taken from me, preserved me through all the perils and dangers of a long life, with uninterrupted health even to old age. And methinks that my present wish is that my short remaining time may be spent more in His service than it has ever yet been." YALE GRADUATES Westeei^ Massacji-usetts. By Rev. Alpheus C. Hodges. [Read November 16, 1885, and May 5, 1886.] When preparing for the celebration of the centennial of a cliurcli in Western Massachnsetts which occurred recently, having occasion to consider the work of its first pastor, I learned that though nearly all the people who settled the town came from Eastern Massachusetts, the minister came from Connecticut, and graduated, not at Harvard, the Massachusetts college, but at Yale, its rival for the Connecticut valley. Looking at the early history of many neighboring towns, I saw that the same thing had taken place in them to an extent which required explanation. Why was it that these Massachu- setts people, whose predecessors had been led by Harvard graduates, turned at once to Yale for their leaders as soon as Yale was ready to furnish them ? Doubtless one reason may be that Western Massachusetts is a little nearer to New Haven than to Cambridge, and naturally would look to the nearest college for its supply of learned graduates. Another reason may be found in that characteristic energy and vigor which has led Yale men to reach out for the new communities from that day to the present. As a recent speaker at an Alumni dinner described it, the Yale spirit is brotherhood, lifting up the weak and oppressed, and is therein in harmony with the peculiar genius of American institutions. President Chapin 254 YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. has shown in his article on " Yale the Mother of Colleges," (Yale Book, vol. i., pp. 411-414) that inflnences continnallj have radiated from Yale in every direction, making her as a mother of colleges the most f ruitfnl of all ; and that of the eighty colleges in this conntry to which she has given presi- dents or professors, nearly all are marked by her characteristics, which are thorough scholarship and positive i-eligions influ- ences. No collegiate institution in this country has attained so national a character nor merited so well the appellation of " the national university" as this New Haven school of learning. The beginning of its broad influence is seen from almost the very first of its course as an educational force, in its reaching out at once, especially under Elisha Williams, its President, or Hector, as then called, from 1Y25 to 1739, to possess and develop this newly opened Western Massachusetts. But there is still anotlier reason for its wonderful popularity in this region, from the founding of the college until the time that the local colleges, Dartmouth, Williams and Amherst were established. It is found in the relation which the college bore in those early years to the fundamental religious princi- ples advocated in the New Haven colony and welcomed throughout this region. Only a brief outline of the discussion of this relation will be expected here. The New Haven colony was organized upon a basis exclusively religious. It differed from the other three contemporary colonies, Plymouth, Massachusetts and Connecticut, in making the provision that only church members could be citizens, a fundamental article in its constitution. Palfrey says of its colonists that they studied for a year the best way to organize, and their studying consisted in private meetings for narrating religious experi- ences, in which they prayed together and " conferred to their mutual edification." (Vol. i., p. 530, quoting from N. H. Col. Pec, 15,) John Davenport, their pastor for the first thirty years, led them in founding a state which should be Christian in the strict sense of the word. (Yale Book, vol. i., p. 3.) To his idea of a Christian state a Christian college was essential, and in this idea he was supported by his people. President YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. 255 Dwiglit (in liis Travels, vol. i., pp. 200-1) makes this clear, as follows : " Of tlie serious design of the ISTew Haven colonists to establish a college, the following document, copied from the records of Guilford, furnishes decisive evidence. 'At a Gen- eral Court held at Guilford, June 28th, A. D. 1652, Yoted, The matter about a College at New Haven was thought to be too great a charge for us, of this jurisdiction, to undergo, alone ; especially considering the unsettled state of ISTew-Haven town ; being publicly declared from the deliberate judgment of the most understanding men to be a place of no comfortable sub- sistence for the present inhabitants there. But if Connecticut do join, the planters are generally willing to bear their just proportions for the erecting and maintaining of a College there. However, they desire thanks to Mr. Goodyear, for his kind proffer to the setting forward of such a work.' "Whether i\\Q found atiori mentioned above would be con- sidered as such in the legal sense, may be doulited ; that it was the beginning of this Seminary is certain, and from this period the inhabitants of every description, particularly men of educa- tion and influence, embarked in tlie design with zeal." For its establishment Davenport continued to labor with the New Haven colonists, but probably without any encourage- ment from the Connecticut colonists, until the compulsory union of the two colonies. By that union the peculiar religious character of the New Haven colony, wnth its requirement of regeneration before membership in the church, was merged in the then prevalent State-Church system. Thereupon, sorely disappointed at the failure of his plan for New Haven, he accepted an invitation in 1668 to the pastorate of the First Church in Boston, " there to champion the cause of orthodoxy against the half-way covenant." (Atwater, History of New Haven, p. 10.) Yale College was founded at a time when, throughout the other colonies, and to some extent in the New Haven colony, lax views regarding the qualifications for church membership and ecclesiastical order had been adopted by synods and toler- ated, if not fully accepted, by the churches. Instead of main- 256 YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. taining tliat each single cluircli or society of Christians pos- sessed within itself full ecclesiastical authority, as John Robin- son had taught, and that only regenerate persons could be members of the church, the churches had been at great pains by their synods and discussions to establish tlie right of uncon- verted, " half-way covenanters," to a voice in all cliurch action, and had accepted the decisions of the synods of IfJoT and l(>f)2 enforced by the respective General Courts, whicli tended to establish tliese ))erversive innovations. If there was any rem- nant of the original purity of doctrine and life, evidently we are to look for it at New Haven ; for there tlie opposition to all this flood of cnvjr had l)een most strenuous and prolonged. And it is especially noteworthy that in spite of the religious coldness which prevailed elsewhere throughout New England, so that a spiritual conversion had become an almost unheard of occurrence, the foundations of this collegiate school were laid firm and deep for religious culture. The ineradicable love of learning which Davenj^ort had planted in the hearts of the people of New Haven was fully equalled by their unquencha- ble loyalty to the true principles of Congregationalism whicli he had faithfully instilled. His views were embodied in the constitution of the college. At the first meeting of its trustees, in 17(>1, in their first act they stated that their ''object is identical with the great object for which the iirst colonists came to this country, — to pi'opa- gatc the liefoniied Pi'otestant religion in the ])urity of its order and worship.'" They then express the opinion that tlie chief and most ])i-obable expedient of securing this object is the lib- eral education of suitable youth. They a])j>relien(led danger from other systems of divinity than that ap])ointed by the trustees, and re; to (tov. AViiitlirup in 1666, said: "the most of tlie cliurches in this jurisdiction are professedly against this new way, both in jiidgnient and prac- tice, upon gospel grounds." lie quotes New Haven, Milford, Stratford, Branford, Guilford, Norwalk and Stamford as being thus steadfast. The first advocates and su])])orters of the col- lege were mainly from these towns, and thej gave to its consti- tution the religious characteristics which its graduates displayed. This was particularly true of many wlio came to western Mas- sachusetts. Their work in tliis region was a most remai-kable continuation and successful development for New England and for the whole land of the fundamental principles in religion for which the New Haven colonists had long contended. The ex- tension of these same princi])les into the foreign missionary enterprises that took root in this regi(»n is ,an added proof of the correctness of those scriptural ideas, following which the New Haven founders builded better than they knew, laying broad foundations for the edification of the whole world. From these circumstances it resulted that the Yale of the earliest years was principally a theological institute. Not only w^ere resident graduates at all times preparing for the ministry at its altars of learning and religion, but the undergraduate course was shaped with reference to the same work. In 1T42- 43 the studies recommended for Senior year were ethics and divinity. (Dexter, Yale Biographies, p. T2-I-. Yale Book, vol. i., p. 25 and vol. ii., p. 16.) All the students were not expected necessarily to become pastors of (churches, but all were trained for intelligent (Christian service and able defence of the Scrip- tures. Kecitations every week in the Latin catecliism and cases of conscience, daily reading and instruction in the Scrip- tures, repeating sermons from memory u])on the Sabbath, and other similar training designed ^' to ])romote the power and purity of religion," established the character of the education here given. Those wdio were preparing for the calling of pat- riotic lawnen received the same faithful religious ti-aining with their classmates who had specially in view the gospel ministry, the leading profession of those days. The chief design of the 17 258 YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. school was religions culture, first for the students and tlirongli them for the churches. During the first ten years, of 38 grad- uates, 29 became ministers. During the next decade, of 57, 35 became ministers. In the third decade, of 141, 56 became ministers. In the fourth decade, of 179, 71 became ministers. In the fifth decade, of 219, 95 became ministers. The whole number of graduates down to 1814 was 3,4:10, of whom 941 became ministers. (See Dwight's Travels, vol. i., p. 213.) While it is hereby made evident that the religious expectations of the founders were largely fulfilled, in a general way, yet it is to the ministers and other graduates who during the above- named period settled in Old Hampshire and Berkshire that we shall look for special characteristics imparted by the pecu- liar conditions under which the college was founded, and by its particular relation to the colony in being the outgrowth of the religious convictions and purposes cherished in New Haven, but for the most part neglected in the rest of New England. The work of the college, through its instruction and the influ- ence of its graduates, was^le to revive in some degree the principles of Congregationalism, which the early colonists of New Haven had made most prominent, especially the one prin- ciple which lay at the foundation of all the rest, that regenera- tion must be the test of church membership. The fact that this work found its most favorable opportunity and congenial field in western Massachusetts seems to offer a suificient expla- nation of the predominance of Yale graduates in this region?) In the same line with this conclusion is the observation of Prof. B. B. Edwards, referring to Old Hampshire : "• No county in the State has uniformly exhibited a more firm adherence to order and good government, or a higher respect for learning and religion." (Quarterly Register, vol. x., p. 264.) To the substance of the a])Ove remark Pres. Dwight adds the follow- ing : " Upon the whole, few tracts in this county furnish a more desirable residence, or exhil)it a happier state of society, than the County of Hampshire." (Travels, vol. ii., p. 269.) " A superior spirit of personal independence is cherished." " The inhabitants are better educated, and more orderly, than YALE GRADUATES IN" WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. 259 in most other parts even of JSTew England. There is no tract of the same size, in which learning is more, or more uniformly, encouraged ; or where sobriety or decorum is more generally demanded or exhibited. Steadiness of character ; softness of manners ; a disposition to read ; respect for the laws and magis- trates ; a strong sense of liberty, blended with an equally strong sense of the indispensable importance of energetic government ; are all extensively predominant in this region." " In economy, hospitality and charity, they are inferior to those of no other tract." "The mtention of settling in these villages is not merely to acquire property ; but to sustain the relations, per- form the duties, and contribute to the enjoyments of life." " A more than common proportion of men, liberally and po- litely educated, reside in the towns of this valley ; and the pleasures of intellectual and refined society are here enjoyed to a considerable extent." " Life here is seen in all its pleasing rm-al forms ; and in these forms it is seen with uncommon ad- vantage." (Travels, vol. ii., pp. 333-337.) The region thus described afforded to Yale graduates from the very beginning an attractive field of labor into which they entered heartily, and from which their influence has extendecl powerfully in every direction. Through their descendants and many others who have received training and direction from them, the public and private sentiments and actions of many individuals and communities throughout our nation have been influenced according to various methods and in different de- grees which it would be exceedingly interesting and instructive to trace out and describe. To this essay belongs the simpler task of presenting results more directly connected with this region. By " Old Hampshire " is meant the three counties of the Connecticut valley in Massachusetts, Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin, dm-ing the time that they were one under the name of Hampshire. President Dwight, having visited this valley frequently, said in his " Travels " : " This noble country, after having existed as a fine Doric column of industry, good order, morals, learning and religion in Massachusetts for more 260 YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. than a eentiiry, was l)y an unwise legislature broken into three parts. Of its ruins were formed Franklin on the north, Hampshire in the middle, and Hampden on the south, each of them extending through the original breadth of the county of Hampshire." Strictly speaking, Berkshire should be counted a part of the original Hampshire, its separation taking place in 1761, while Hampshire was incorporated in 1662. The erec- tion of the three counties above mentioned took place in 1811-12. Coming now to consider the work of Yale graduates indi- vidually in the region covered by Old Hampshire and Berk- shire, from its settlement down to 1800, we find that of its 180 pastors Yale trained 87 and Harvard 12, including 11 who were settled previous to 1700. Considering the many advantages which Harvard possessed by prior occupation and superior age and resources, this seems a very large proportion for Yale. It is still more remarkable when we recall that the people who settled these Hampshire towns came principally from Eastern Massachusetts and Khode Island, with a few from Connecticut. Eeserving the Berkshire pastors for separate consideration, we find among the pastors received here from the " Young Yale " of those days the following : (taken mainly from the lists of Prof. B. B. Edwards in the Quarterly Kegister, vol. x., pp. 260, 379, with frecpient use of Holland's History of Western Massa- chusetts and other works as specified.) At Ashfield, Jacob Sherwin, first pastor, ministering here eleven years, and the earliest preacher also at the neighboring towns of Hawley and Buckland. As the first settled minister has greatest opportunities for influencing the subsequent char- acter of the community, it is interesting to watch for traces of his teaching and example in the growing church. During its first seventy-five years at least seventeen persons born here became ministers, to the honor of God and, in some degree, the praise of the early pastorate. At Belchertown, Justus Forward was pastor for fifty-eight years, and led the people through the Kevolutionary War to be true to themselves and their country. He showed good schol- arship and a faithful character. YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. 261 At Beniardston, John Norton the first pastor remained fonr years, and Job Wright twenty-one years. Mr. ISTorton after- wards became chaplain at Massachusetts fort, in Adams, was captured by the Indians, and wrote an account of his captiyity which was pubhshed. Mr. Wright cuhiyated liabits of study, was a firm friend of liberty, and " exemplified the doctrines of the Bible in a high degree of perfection." (See Packard, History of Churches and ]Ministers in Franklin Co., Mass., p. 34.) At Blandford, Joseph Badger was pastor for thirteen years, going from there in 1800 as the first missionary to the Western Keserye, Ohio. At Buckland, Josiali Spalding was the first pastor, continu- ing there more than twenty-eight years. He published a book entitled '' Uniyersalism confounds and destroys itself," which was adopted as an authority at Andover Seminary. He was one of the best men, and one of the best ministers in the county, and his memory is still held in great love and rever- ence. (See Holland, West. Mass., ii., p. 325.) During his pastorate one of the purest, highest, and most important in- fluences of the time took its rise in the birth, early training, conversion, and first educational and missionary efliorts of Mary Lyon. At Charlemont, Jonathan Leavitt the first pastor continued eighteen years. He published in 1801 a book entitled " The 'New Covenant and the Church's Duty." He was the ancestor of a numerous family, among whom are many eminent in pro- fessional life. At Chesterfield, Benjamin Mills the first pastor continued ten years in that ofiice. He was chairman of the town com- mittee of safety during the Eevolution and one of the first delegates to the provincial Congress. Timothy Allen was pastor eleven years. He published at difi^erent times several discourses and other pamphlets on religious doctrines. (Hol- land, ii., 187.) At Cummington, James Briggs the first pastor served the church forty-six years. Of the many distinguished men who 262 YALE GRADUATES IX WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. have come from this town a large nmnber received their early training under his ministry, among them being Hon. Luther Bradish, eminent in politics and president of the American Bible Society; Thomas Snell, D.D., a leader in temperance and slavery reform ; William Cullen Bryant, the poet ; The- ophilus Packard, D.D., the historian, and Hon. Henry L. Dawes. At Deertield, Jonathan Ashley was pastor forty-eight years and John Taylor nineteen years. Mr. Ashley was a man of vigorous mind, and excelled in biblical knowledge, A large number of natives of this town have received a liberal educa- tion, among them Richard Hildreth, the historian, President Hitchcock of Amherst, and Bishop Williams of Connecticut. At Easthampton, Payson Williston, the first pastor, re- mained forty-four years. He was greatly loved and venerated. Of more than twenty college graduates from this town who felt his influence, at least half became ministers. His son Samuel was the founder of Williston Seminary, and the Williston professorships in Amherst College. Two other sons have been distinguished for philanthropy. At Gran])y, Simon Backus, the iirst pastor, continued twenty-two years, and Elijali Gridley, forty-six years. One secret of the latter's long pastorate and of the remarkable prosperity of the church in Granby to the present time, is given in this description of him : " His acquaintance with human nature was profound and extensive. His energy and decision of character were prompt and efficient. In discipline, his church was seldom the scene of discord and dissension." (Conn. Yalley History, vol. i., p. 54-7.) At Granville, Moses Tuttle, the first pastor, continued seven years. He married the daughter of Pev. Timothy Edwards, of whom her father told him, in answer to his inquiry why he would not be able to live with her, " grace may live where you cannot." His home was comfortless. Jedediah Smith was pastor for twenty-six years, and Timothy M. Cooley, D.D., fifty-nine years. The latter was blessed with seven revivals during his pastorate. Among others who came under the YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. 263 influence of these pastors were Oliver Phelps, a member of the Governor's Council, also one of the purchasers from the State of Massachusetts, of the large tract in Western N'ew York,, known as the " Phelps and Gorham purchase," and previously a commissary in Granville for the Revolutionary army, receiv- ing high praise from Washington for his efficiency ; Hon. Isaac C. Bates, (Yale 1802), who, in his printed speeches has left beautiful specimens of composition and forensic discus- sion ; Hon. Timothy Rose, the founder of a colony in Ohio, which ranks high for enterprise and moral excellence ; and Lemuel Haynes, a negru, who was brought up by one of the deacons, and afterwards became nationally famous as " the great colored preacher." At Greenfield, Roger ISTewton was pastor for fifty-six years. He was prudent, courteous and amiable, a faithful and useful minister. Among the persons afterwards eminent who were his parishioners in early life are William Coleman, first editor of the ]N^ew York Evening Post, and George Ripley, of the New York Tribune. At Greenwich, Pelatiah Webster was the "first pastor, re- maining six years. At Hadley, Samuel Hopkins, D.D., was pastor fifty-six years, succeeding Chester Williams, who was pastor there twelve years. Many sons of Hadley have held prominent positions, among them being Worthington Smith, D.D., Par- sons Cooke, D.D., Gen. Joseph Hooker and Bishop F. D. Huntington. At Hatfield, Timothy Woodbridge was pastor thirty-eight years, and Joseph Lyman, D.D., fifty-six years. The latter was an original member of the American Board of Commis- sioners for Foreign Missions, and its president. Of him it was said that " the foundation of his character was religious integ- rity." He was an ardent patriot in the Revolution, and a man of much infiuence and abihty. He had great power in govern- ing other minds. He was a " master-builder, whose influence for good is to be understood, not by one generation, but in the more enduring influences of an interminable future." 264 YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. (Sprague's Annals, ii., p. 15.) By ]iini largely M'ere set in motion the inflnences which led Oliver Smith to perpetuate his name in the charities to which he gave his large estate ; and Sophia Smith in later years to establish Smith Academy in Ilattield, and Smith College in Korthampton, intending the latter to be the most advanced school in tlie world for the education of girls. At Heath, Joseph Strong was the first pastor, remaining thirteen years. In the first fifty years the town produced six- teen college graduates, and school teachers in remarkable abundance. At Holland, Ezra Reeve, the first pastor, continued fifty- three years. The church record declares that he " possessed a great degree of Christian character, and was eminently a peace maker." (Hist, of Conn. Yalley, ii., p. IKH.) At Longmeadow, Tiichard S. Storrs was pastor for thirty- four years, with much profit to his people and reputation to himself. He was a man of generous disposition and great ability, and was beloved and lionored. His ])osterity have not sufl^ered his name to diminish. At ]\[onson, Abishai Sabin. the first pastor, remained nine years, and Jesse Ives thirty-two years. Under both rich spir- itual blessings were bestowed. The latter went as chaplain in the Revolutionary ai'uiy for six months and a year at a time, upon different occasions. The people made grants of money and provisions for the army, which must have cost great self- denial. (Holland, West. Mass., vol. ii., p. 93.) At Montague, Judah Nash, the first pastor, remained fifty- two years. He is described as free from superstitious bigotry ; ready in the Scriptures, which he studied diligently ; and pecu- liarly noteworthy in administering reproof without giving oifence. (Packard, Churches and Ministers of Franklin Co., pp. 2(12, 2()3.) At Northampton, Jonathan Edwards was pastor for thirty years, John Hooker for twenty-three years, and Solomon Wil- liams for fifty-six years. To the eminent genius and piety of Mr. Edwards, his religious and philosophical works are an enduring monument. He was a most successful minister l)y YALE GRADUATES IN WESTER!^ MASSACHUSETTS. 265 whatever Scriptural text lie is judged, lie was the associate while living of the most eminent American ministers and Christians, and among his correspondents were many of the greatest men abroad, especially in Scotland. Pres. G. F. Ma- goun says of him : " lie was the first American to command by his arguments and opinions the attention of Protestant Christendom, lie is still first in the extent to which he com- mands it. He gave America that rank in the religious world which Washington gave it in patriotic statesmansliip and Franklin in philosophy. He took at once the place among thinkers which on the other continent is yielded to Bacon, and the rank in sanctity which is awarded to Fenelon," The British Quarterly Review sums up its judgment upon his works as follows : " We are not aware tliat any other human compositions exhibit, in the same degree as his, the love of truth, mental indeiDendence, grasp of intellect, po^ver of con- centrating all his strength on a difficult inquiry, reverence for God, calm self-possession, superiority to all polemical unfair- ness, benevolent regard for the highest interests of man, keen analysis of arguments, and the irresistible force of ratiocina- tion." (Cong. Quarterly, 1869, pp. 265, 266.) Under his pas- torate the church at Northampton became the most prominent in jSTew England, if not in the world. John Hooker, his suc- cessor, was learned, faithful, of " uncommon suavity of temper and the most engaging manners." Solomon WilKams was highly esteemed during his long pastorate for liis Scriptural sermons, many of which were published, and for his zeal in promoting education. At Northfield, Benjamin Doolittle, the first pastor, con- tinued thirty years, and John Hul)l)ard forty-four years. The latter's epitaph is as follows : "A man he was to all the people dear ; And passing rich with eighty pounds a year. Remote from towns he ran his godly race, Nor ever changed, or wished to change his place. In duty faithful, prompt at every call. He watched and wept, he iirayed and felt for all ; He tried each art, imijroved each dull delay, Allured to brighter worlds, and led the way." 266 YALE GHADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS, At Plaiiiiield, Moses Hallock, the lirst pastor, remained fifty- five years. He possessed a wide popularity as a manager and an educator. In a private school which he taught, he educated upwards of three hundred young men, of whom 132 entered college, and fifty became ministers. Among them were Wil- liam Cullen Bryant, the poet, James Richards, Jonas King, Pliny Fisk, Levi Parsons and William Richards, foreign mis- sionaries. Through his persevering efforts in this quiet country town, there went forth from it a constantly increasing influence upon the cause of Christian missions. Few are the country ministers who have exercised such power in the world. At Shelburne, Robert Hubbard, the first pastor, remained fifteen years, and Jesse Townsend seven years. The twenty- two college graduates from this town give proof of its appre- ciation of learning, and the missionaries Fidelia Fisk and Pliny Fisk, who early gave themselves to the foreign work, bear wit- ness to the lofty standard of the piety inculcated here. At Southampton, Jonathan Judd, the first pastor, remained sixty years. He settled with his people in this wilderness, shared their dangers of Indian warfare ; gave his blessing to their sons who went forth in 1756 to win an empire from France ; and in the stormy times of the Revolution his patriotic words nerved the departing soldiers to deeds of valor. He saw and sliared the sacrifices made for the grand old principles of human freedom. His faith and the faith of the fathers stiU lives among these hills and lovely valleys ; the generations have come and gone, but the gospel lives in the hearts of the chil- dren as it lived in the hearts of the fathers. (See Hist, of Conn. Yalley, vol. i., p. 309.) Of the forty-six college gradu- ates during the first century, many of whom came under his personal influence, thirty-six became ministers, among them beins: Prof. B. B. Edwards, of Andover. The towTi has also been noted for the number of minister's wives it has supplied. At South Hadley, John Woodbridge was pastor thirty-nine years. His son, as colonel of a regiment of "• Minute-men," was promptly on hand after the Lexington opening, and did good service in the Revolution. The patriotism of the town YALE GRADUATES IX WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS, 267 was outspoken and tliorongh. Its love of education and the advantao-es it offered were sufficient to secure the establishment there of the Mt. Holyoke Female Seminary. Among those advantages the chief in Miss Lyon's esteem is said to have been that only one church existed in the place. This happy state of united religious activity may be traced directly to the long and harmonious pastorates like that of Mr. Woodbridge. At Southwick, Abel Forward, the first minister, served for thirteen years, showing himself to be faithful and of excellent character. Isaac Clinton, pastor nineteen years, was noted as the author of a valuable treatise on baptism, and for the fac- ulty of making money from a small salary. The chief result of their labors in this town is doubtless found in the success, and in many instances the eminence, attained in tlie west by those who received their early training here. The same is true to a great extent in all these towns. At Springfield, Jolm McKinstry was pastor of the Chicopee parish sixty -one years. During his pastorate increasing atten- tion was given to education. Under his wise leadership the town grew in attractiveness as a place of residence, and a home of manufacturers, until it became strong enough to require separation from Springfield and incorporation. He was an able scholar, a sound theologian, and a man of exemplary piety. At Sunderland, Joseph Willard, the first pastor, remained only three years ; then pushing farther north for missionary work in the newer settlements, he was killed by the Indians. Joseph Ashley, pastor fifty years, was " sound in judgment, exemplary in life.'" Twelve college graduates have come from this town, seven of them becoming ministers. At Tolland, Roger Harrison was tlie first pastor, and re- mained twenty-four years. He was postmaster, town clerk, representative in the legislature for several terms, and filled various town offices of importance. Rev. Gordon Hall, the missionary, was born in his parish, made profession of religion during his ministrations, and commenced with him his prepara- tion for college. Gamaliel S. Olds, the eminent scholar and divine, and John E. Mills, for several years Mayor of Montreal, came also under his influence. 268 YALE GEADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. At Ware, Reuben Moss was pastor sixteen years. He was a man of inchistry and ability, and exerted a strong influence in the forwarding of religious and educational affairs. At Warwick, Samuel Reed was pastor thirty-three years. He did much to purge the town :^rom the spiritual and tem- poral disorders which were sadly prevalent in the early part (jf his ministry. At Westfield, N"ehemiah Bull was pastor thirteen years, and Xoah Atwater twenty-one years. During Mr. Bull's ministry, a mission to the Housatonic Indians was commenced, which he, as the nearest pastor, superintended, in company with Mr. Wil- liams of Deerfield. He introduced Mr. Sargent, and baptized the first Indian conyert. Mr. Atwater always kept twenty ser- mons ahead, and wrote papers on astronomical and meteoro- logical subjects. He also ke^^t a rain-guage and thermometer, and received a premium for an essay on the cankerworm in 1793. Thus he cherished the scientific spirit. At Westhampton, Enoch Hale was the first pastor, serving for fifty-seven years, during which he exerted a very great influence for good. Of thirty-four college graduates from the town, twenty became ministers, among them Justin Edwards, formerly President of Andover Seminary. After the forma- tion of the Massachusetts General Association he was for many years its secretary. ]N"ot being satisfied with the educational methods formerly prevalent, he prepared a spelling-book con- taining pleasing lessons and stories, which was very popular with the children. The bright, cheerful literature of modern school-books is the development of his idea. At West Springfield, Samuel Hopkins was pastor for thirty- five years, and Joseph Lathrop for sixty-three years. Mr. Hopkins wrote the first history of the Stockbridge Indians ever published. The title describes it : " Historical Memoirs, relat- ing to the Housatonnuck Indians ; or an account of the methods used for the propagation of the gospel among that heathenish tribe, under the ministry of the Rev. John Sergeant, with the character of that worthy missionary, and an address to the peo- ple of this country." He was a wise and faithful minister, YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. 269 ever ready to enlarge his sjmpatliies and increase Lis efforts when he conld. Mr. Latlirop was one of the most remarkahle divines that ever lived in the Connecticut valley. During his remarkably long pastoi'ate he wrote more than hve thousand sermons, of which seven octavo volumes have been published. He was chosen in 1792 a FelloAV of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The next year he was elected professor of divinity in Yale College, but declined. To an intellect of the first order, with great theological knowledge, he joined remark- able wisdom and a charming cheerfulness of temper. He was a popular preacher, and his sermons have been highly esteemed both in this country and in Europe. At Feeding Hills, Silvanus Griswold was jDastor nineteen years. The liberal agreement was made that he would baptize by immersion those who desired it, and they should receive the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper at his hands. At Williamsburg, the first pastor was Amos Butler, who lived after his settlement only four years. He '' sustained the ministerial character with uncommon dignity and usefulness." (Epitaph in Holland's West. Mass., vol. ii., p. 299.) The pastorate of Joseph Strong, lasting twenty-two years, was '' crowned with remarkable success." (Epitaph.) From these brief sketches it appears that in many places the first and most influential pastorates were occupied by Yale graduates ; and that in a remarkably large number of instances their term of service covered many years, enabling them to exercise to the full the power of their sacred office. Old Hampshire county was long the banner county of the state in its rehgious and educational history. Statistics show that down to 1832 it exceeded any other county in the proportion both of its college students and its church members. The numl:)er of its students in college was twice as many as the average in the state, and seventeen times as many as the average of the whole United States at that time. It is dis- tinguished for the number and character of higher educational institutions, and for the quality and high standard of piety which prevails throughout its churches. 270 YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. To tlie evidence afforded of the iniluence of New Haven ideas in this region by the number of ministerial graduates who came here from Yale, let us add some considei-ations drawn from the character of the work that they accomplished. The greatest event in the religious life of these churches was the revival of 1740, and the central figure in that movement was Jonathan Edwards, "the most eminent graduate of the college and the greatest theologian of his century." (Dexter, Yale Biographies, p. 218.) He preached against the "wrong notions and ways in religion" which he found prevalent, especially in connection with the " Half-way Covenant." By bj'inging into prominence the need of true Christian experience in every member of the church, he conferred a lasting benefit upon all evangelical churches. That principle furnishes the kev to much of his work. About it controversy wa^ed subse- quently for years, until nearly every Congregational Church in New England either adopted it or became Unitarian. (The Great Awakening, p. 411.) Dr. Hopkins says that Edwards had scruples on this point at the time of his ordination ; that at length his doubts increased, and the result was a full convic- tion that it was wrong to receive as members those who gave no evidence of being Christians. At the foundation of this logical development lay that thorough training in faithful investigation and that unswerving loyalty to biblical truth which characterized his Alma Mater. Joined with these col- legiate influences were others, received during his residence in New Haven. For the last two years of his college com-se, the two years of post-graduate theological study, and his two years' service as tutor, during part of which he was the acting rector of the college, gave such opportunity for the knowledge of the sentiments of his New Haven friends as opened the way for their exercising a molding and even controlling influence upon his subsequent views. In his essay upon the " Quahfications for Church Memliership" he declares that the more he has investigated the subject for himseK, the more confirmed he has become in the opinions he held at first regarding the necessity of a change of heart before admission to the sacred privileges YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. 271 of that position. The venerable Stoddard, whom he describes as the most eminent divine in ISTew England, had used his great influence to spread the doctrine that the Lord's Supper is a converting ordinance, to which all persons of good moral life must be admitted. It needed a training such as Edwards received at New Haven from the maintainers of the pure doc- trines of Congregationalism to prepare him for the long and thorough discussion of that great fundamental question which he was called upon to carry through in behalf of the churches. President Dwight said of him : " His subjects are the most important in the universe ; and his discussions are the clearest, the ablest, and the most decisive elucidations of them which the world has ever seen. He has elicited from the Scriptures truths which have escaped other men ; has illustrated them by arguments which were never before discovered ; and has shown their dependence, connection and importance, with a compre- hensiveness of view, which elsewhere will l)e sought for in vam." (Travels, vol. iv., p. 325.) These great abilities were exercised wholly for the overthrow of error and the spread of Scriptural views throughout the churches of l^ew England and in all the world as he had opportunity. By his learning, wis- dom and fidelity to the truth, he was instrumental in rescuing Congregationalism from spiritual death and greatly increasing the attainments of Christians in knowledge and holiness. But our praise of him does not stop here, nor did the influence of the j^ew Haven ideas cease with the establishment of the doc- trine that true piety is essential to church life. For it was along the line of those cardinal principles which, as we have seen, were faithfully and jealously guarded at New Haven, that those searching sermons were preached which led to the wonderful re\dval of 1735, and the still more wonderful "■ Great Awakening" of 1740. In this age, when we have become familiar with revivals of religion, it is difficult to imagine the condition of things in the Christian church when revivals were wholly unknown. For not only had there been a steady de- clension of spiritual Hfe for the preceding generation or longer, but the prevailing ignorance of the very nature and possibiHty 272 YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS, of a revival of religion was so great, that Edwards' narrative of tlie " snrprising conversions" aroused the churches throughout this land and all lands. Though for many years that revival, including the period 1735-44, was alone, the only one of its kind, yet it undoubtedly prepared the way for the widesj)read repetition of its blessed exjjeriences towards the close of the century and in subsequent years. The re\aval of 1740 was ex- tended by the labors of Whitetield and others so that it reached all the colonies. By its methods and results two parties were developed, the '' old lights," who conservatively held aloof from its later excesses and unwise liberties incidentally connected with it ; and the " new lights," who appreciated the powerful influence for good it had exerted and strove to continue its work. For a time the President and many of the graduates of Yale College were in the former party, but by 1753 the princi- ples of the latter party, which had been most ably advocated by Edwards, prevailed at New Haven. It is noteworthy that the triumph of Edwards' principles with the President and corporation of the college took the form of a re-affirmation of the basis upon which it had been founded. They declared it to be their duty to carry on the principal design of the founders, which was to educate and train up youth for the ministry in accordance wit]i the doctrine, discipline and mode of worship upheld by their predecessors and practiced by them- selves. Advancing still farther, they required every college officer publicly to consent and adhere to the doctrinal standards then considered evangelical, and to renounce all doctrines and princi])les contrary thereto. (See Yale Book, vol. i., p. 82.) The personal influence of Edwards may not have been the chief means that accomplished this result-, but it is directly connected with his great work at Northampton. In the mean time his sympathies had been enlisted in another direction. The con- nection may easily be traced between his friendship for David Brainerd and the two events by which he is most widely remembered at the present day ; his call to concerted prayer in behalf of missions, and his presidency of the College of New Jersey. On account of some extravagant utterances by itin- YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. 273 erant preachers in 'New Haven, the college trustees had voted, " that if any student of this college shall directly or indirectly say, that the Rector, either of the Trustees or Tutors are hypo- crites, carnal or unconverted men, he shall for the first offence make a public confession in the Hall, and for the second offence be expelled." (Dexter, Yale Biographies, pp. 662, 663.) Not long after, Brainerd, then in his Junior year, after an unusually pathetic prayer by Tutor Whittelsey, said to one of his friends who asked him what he thought of Mr. Whittelsev, " He has no more grace than this chair." This was heard by a freshman who was outside the room, though he heard no name mentioned. He told a woman in the town, and she informed the Rector. He requii-ed Brainerd to make a puljlic confession before the whole college in the hall ; but Brainerd, feeling unjustly treated in the use made of his private conversation, did not comply. For this, and for having gone once to the " sepa- rate meeting " at JSTew Haven, which also had been forbidden by the Rector, he was expelled. (See Memoirs of Brainerd, by Jonathan Edwards, Sherwood's edition, pp. 18, 19.) In May, 1742, he offered an ample apology to the Rector, which was not accepted. (Dexter, Yale Biographies, p. 698.) Again, Sept. 14, 1743, the day on which he should have taken his degree with his class, he offered in writing a full apology to the Rector and Trustees. Rev. Jonathan Edwards, Rev. Jona- than Dickinson (Yale, 1706) of ElizabethtoM^n, New Jersey, and Rev. Aaron Burr (Yale, 1735) of Newark, New Jersey, with other friends, interceded for him, but the only condition granted was that he might receive his degree after spending another year at the college. This he could not do, being then engaged as a missionary to the Indians in New Jersey and Pennsvl- vania, under the commission of a Scotch Presbyterian Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge. Partly for reasons of locality, and partly because of this harsh treatment of Brainerd, the College of New Jersey was organized soon after. Dickin- son was its first president. Burr its second, and Edwards its third. Brainerd, now in popular estimation, notwithstanding this youthful indiscretion, ranks among the greatest of Ameri- 18 274 " TALE GRADUATES JN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS, can saints (Yale Book, vol. i, p. 69). His career was very brief. His excessive labors and the liardsliip he endured broke down his health. He entered into rest Oct. 9, IT-tT, in the thirtieth year of his age. His great work was the priceless example of his piety, zeal and self-devotion. Herein since the days of the apostles, none have surpassed him. The story of his life as told by Edwards has been a potent force in the modern missionary era. (See SchafE-Herzog, vol. i., p. 320.) His life was an inspiration to Edwards, not only in the advo- cacy of the purest and loftiest piety, but in the missionary zeal which led him to the Stockl)ridge Indians afterwards, and. in the year preceding Brainerd's illness and death at Northamp- ton, to summon the whole Christian world to prayer for missions. His tract on " Union in Prayer "" urged Christians to agree and unite in extraordinary prayer '■'• for the revival of religion and the advancement of Christ's kingdom on earth, pursuant to scripture promises and prophecies concerning the last time.'' It was widely circulated and produced so profound an impression as to have " marked a turning point in modern history." Brainerd's expressions of wonder and amazement that a similar proposal which had been sent over from Scotland in 1744, awakened so little response among ministers and people, and his intense desires for the conversion of the heathen, seem to have inspired and incited Edwards to write his powerful appeal. It may not be so easy in the case of any other one graduate as it is in the case of Edwards to make out and establish as a fact the direct and powerful influence of New Haven ideas exercised through Yale College. But when a large number of persons in very different circumstances who have had a similar training show one or more characteristics which they possess in connnon, we must attribute that which they have in common largely to their training. Among the Yale graduates under consideration, there is abundant evidence that the ideas above referred to left their impress upon very many. In religion they were impelled to something more than mere profession ; they revealed the visible life of obedience to the Saviour. In YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. 275 scholarship they were not satisfied with having gone throno-h a curricuhnn of stndy ; the standard was faithful and thorongh work as a training for the labors of life. In both these partic- ulars the records of many of these graduates testify to the excellence of the discipline received. Many a graduate's pul)lic life was marked by such scrupulous fidelity to the truth, and such diligence in his profession, as to give him honorable distinction among his contemporaries. Against all mere super- stition and quackery, whether in theology, medicine, teaching or law, the Yale men of those early days set their faces like flints, and, in these counties at least, with success. Glory is due to Yale College from this region for the superstitions abrogated, the errors refuted, the shams exposed and the loftier standards of thought and action erected in unnumbered instances by its graduates. Through all the other j)rofessions and occupations went the forming influences of the settled pastors during those early days. In many cases the pastor was also the physician, or the teacher, or the lawyer, or all combined. A conspicuous instance of pastor, physician, lawyer, histo- rian, is found in the town of Northfleld. As its name may imply, it was for a long period during the Indian wars the northern outpost of the Connecticut valley. Forts west in Coleraine, Heath, Rowe and ]S"orth Adams, and north in Win- chester and Rutland made Northfield the strategic point of chief importance as a rallying center for men and a depot of stores. The settlers needed a physician at hand for many emergencies. Especially in the arduous toils of their defence against the attacks of the Indians, leading them off into the wild forest in winter, to ford bridgeless streams and chmb mountains slippery with ice and blocked up with snow, there was more danger than romance. Many a wound must be dressed and healed during the year, many a sufferer be relieved by a physician's care. Mr. Benjamin Doolittle (Yale, 1716), being a regularly edu- cated physician and surgeon as weU as a theologian, was well adapted for this field. He was fm-nished with medical books 276 YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. and instruments, and kept a supply of drugs. His own towns- men, and the inhabitants of the new settlements as they were made, above Korthfield, and the garrisons at Fort Dummer, the Ashuelots and Winchester, depended on his services. In the battles and skirmishes of the "old French war," the wounded were usually brought to him for treatment. At his prime, his medical practice had a very wide range, extending south to Springfield. Up to that date, good physicians were scarce in Old Hamp- shire. In 1665, George Filer was allowed by 'the court to practice as " chirurgeon " in Northampton. But he remained only a short time and there was no other surgeon in that town till 1730. (So says the History of Northlield, by Temple and Sheldon, which is the authority for Mr. Doolittle's times.) John Westcar settled in Hadley in 1666, and for ten years eked out a scanty support by selling aqtia vitae to the Indians and others, selling it as medicine, four gallons at a dose ; for which the town fathers called him to account. After his death Hadley had no physician for 52 years. Dr. Thomas Hastings was in Hatfield at the time of King Philip's war, but derived his main support from teaching. Deerfield had no educated physician till 1740. These were the principal settlements be- tween Northfield and Springfield, and Parson Doolittle had calls upon his medical skill from all this region. Another feature of the times may bring out the contrast between the educated physician and what he superseded. Most of the medical practice in those early days was in the hands of females. The wife of William Miller was the only physician in Northfield during the first two settlements. She also on occasion acted as surgeon, and was regarded as skillful. Rhoda Wright had a good reputation as doctor, and after her marriage to Asa Childs was the practising physician of Deerfield for many years. These practitioners, and the mothers in their families, depended mainly on simples and specifics. Certain stimulating and cathartic roots and herbs, which had prompt action, together with poultices and plasters, composed their stock of medicine. With the good constitutions of men and YALE GRADUATES IN" WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. 277 women of that time, these were eli'ectual in common aihnents. Fevers and other miasmatic diseases, when epidemic, were usually fatal. A few years later another treatment was practiced in North- tield by Ebenezer Field, a somewhat noted "• medicine man. " He had great faith in the oil and galls of the rattlesnake. He used to go late in autumn, before they denned for the winter, and early in spring, before they scattered for the summer, to hunt these reptiles. The oil was applied outwardly,, and was considered a sovereign remedy for rheumatism. The gall was a specific for fever. It was mixed with powdered chalk and made into pills. These pills became an article of regular traffic, were kept on sale by dealers in drugs, and were often prescribed by physicians. Under these circumstances Rev. Mr. Doolittle's superior skill and knowledge as a physician and surgeon were in great demand for many years. But in 1736 his parish began to be disaffected. Some thought that his extensive and very lucrative practice was interfering with his ministerial duties. He also differed from some of his leading church members on points of doctrine, but his refusal to leave oft" practising was the chief cause of complaint. This refusal was emphatic and decided. " He would not lay l)y doctoring and chirurgery under -tOO pounds a year. " Besides being pastor and physician, he acted as Northfield's lawyer or attorney on several occasions. Once a petition from him with others secured from the General Court a second grant of forty-six pounds to replace a like sum due to the Northfield families for war expenses, which had been collected by their agent, and then taken by the Indians, with the scalp and life of the unfortunate messenger on his way home from Boston. On another occasion Mr. Doolittle, in behalf of tlie town, sent a petition to the General Court, representing their present exposed condition, and praying that they may be allowed some swivel guns and amnmnition from the Province, to be placed in their forts as a protection against the Indian enemy. The services which he rendered in these and like })olitical eft'orts, 278 YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. and in tlie wars as a surgeon, were of the greatest public and private benetit. His death occurred in 1749. He had kept a record of the leading events of the Indian wars in his vicinity, from the beginning to Aug. 2, 1748. This was published, with some small additions, in 1750, and constitutes the principal historical authority for those events. Coming down the valley to Springfield, we find a Yale graduate in Dr. Chauncey Brewer, of the class of 1762. It is re- lated of him that he often ofiiciated for his pastor when the latter was disabled or absent. He was a very attentive reader of the Scriptures. Dr. Moses Gunn (Yale, 1748), settled at Montague and took a deep interest in town ailairs. He attended all the revolution- ary conventions, and evidently draughted many if not all, the resolutions and their accompanying documents, which appear upon the town records. Seth Coleman (Yale, 1765), studied medicine with Dr. E. Hubbard of New Haven, Conn., commenced practice in Amherst, and continued there nearly fifty years. Dr. John Van Horn of West Springfield (Yale, 1749), practiced there nearly sixty years. He had the reputation of being a well educated and skillful physician for the times in which he lived. He was a scholarh^ man, and considerably given to literary pursuits. Dr. Israel Ashley (Yale, 1730), settled in Westfield. Jon- athan Edwards said of him in 1751, "a very serious, pious man, and very active and discerning in the management of aifairs." Dexter, in Yale Graduates, p. 404, says : " He joined as surgeon one of the Massachusetts regiments in the expedition against Ticonderoga in 1758," and died that year at Stillwater in Saratoga County. Dr. Samuel Mather, (Yale, 1726), was the first regular physician in Northampton, where he practiced for about fifty years. He also served as selectman of the town for twelve or fourteen terms, and as Justice of the Peace from April, 1754. So says Prof. Dexter, at page 330. The work of teaching; comes next before us. Says Dr. YALE GEADUATES IK WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. 279 Holland : " Tlirongli the lirst 150 years or more of tlie educa- tional history of Western Massachusetts, much instruction was given by ministers. " During that period and chieily by those faithful leaders, education was widely diffused anu)ng the masses. Great reliance was placed on efhcient family govern- ment and instruction. The General Court in 1642 ordered the Selectmen of every town to have a " vigilant eye over their brethren and neighbors, to see lirst, that none of them shall suffer so much barbarism in any of their families as not to endeavor to teach by themselves or others, their children and apprentices so much learning as to enable them to read perfectly the English tongue, and knowledge of the capital laws, upon a penalty of twenty shillings for each neglect therein : also that all masters of families do, once a week at least, catechise their chiklren and servants in the grounds and principles of religion. " Five years later it was ordered that •' every town having fifty families must maintain suitable public schools. " Certain towns in these counties for years after their incorporation raised no tax except for the minister's salary. For instance. Ware was settled in 1730, but no money appears to have been raised for any other purpose than for preaching until 17()2. In these towns the minister himself was sometimes the school teacher, very often the catechist, and frecpiently maintained a private school where nearly all stages of education might be in progress. Certainly it needed a learned ministry in those days if ever, and the training given at Yale was every way adapted to the times, and well appreciated by the people. Rev. Reuben Moss, (Yale, 1787,) pastor at Ware for sixteen years, was particular in his attention to the district schools. '' At the time of his settle ment they were in a low and disorderly state, but they very soon became much improved through his attention and influence. By liis effort in this department of his labors, he was instru- mental in preparing a large numl)er of young men to engage in the instruction of schools in this and neighl)oring towns. The tone of moral feeling and the standard of education were greatly raised among the people." (History of Conn. Yalley, ii., 369.) 280 YALE GRADUATES IN WESTER-N MASSACHUSETTS. Bj way of parenthesis we may observe that, previous to the Eevolution, male teachers ahnost exchisively were employed. It is only within the last half centnry, or since the labors of Mary Lyon and others began to make an impression on public sentiment, that females have been employed to take charge of winter schools in Western Massachusetts. The opinion for- merly prevailed that they were incompetent to teach older pu- pils ; and a young lady was considered well educated if she could read. It is said that few of our Puritan mothers could write their names, and that the wives of many distinguished men when required to sign deeds, or other legal documents, could only " make their mark." But public sentiment and gen- eral practice are reversed, offering to girls no longer the lowest but the highest educational advantages. By this great change, a new element, controlling vast interests in human society, is becoming developed, which may be destined to exercise an in- fluence on the character of this people such as has never l)een witnessed in any nation on the globe. We note with pleasure that the master-teacher to whose eiforts and pleadings for tlie cause of female education its iirst successes were mainly due, and who thi'ough Mt. Holyoke Seminary raised up for the world a rich supply of well-qualified female teachers — that Mary Lyon was brought uj) under the sound training of the first minister of Buckland, Kev. Josiah Spalding, (Yale, 1778), receiving from him that strong religious teaching which she always made the most prominent element in her own system of instruction. In Hadley there was founded an academy which deserves notice. Three years before the settlement of that town, Ed- ward Hopkins, previously resident at Hartford and Governor of Connecticut colony, died in Londctn. By his will he gave a certain j^ortion of his estate to trustees who should so disj)ose of it as to encourage learning in New England. President Dwiglit says of this bequest, (Travels, vol. i,, p. 2(H>) : *■' About two thousand pounds sterling, ])lainly intended for Yale College by the Hon. Edward Hopkins, once Governor of Connecticut, fell, through a series of accidents, partly into the YALE GRADUATES- IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. 281 hands of her sister seiniiiary, and partly into tlie hands of trnstees of tliree Grammar Schools : one at New Haven ; one at Hart- ford ; and one at Hadlej in Massachusetts."" Gov. Hopkins was son-in-law of Gov. Eaton, the particular friend of Mr. Davenport, and an original purchaser of l*Tew Haven ; and a comparison of the words of his will with those of a letter which he TVTote the preceding year to Mr. Davenport, leaves no reasonable doubt that his design was that indicated above. (Dwiglit in Travels, vol. i., p. 352). The trustees gave four hundred pounds to establish the Hopkins Grammar School at Hartford, now a department of the High School. The rest they divided equally between the towns of New Haven and Hadley. The New Haven Hopkins Grammar School was duly established in 166-i. Of the portion given by the trustees to Hadley, three hundred pounds were invested in building a ''corn mill'' which the Indians burnt in 1667; the remainder was expended for land. With other gifts made about that time for the proposed academy, the total land endowment became about one hundred acres. The donor strictly required that the school founded by aid of his legacy should j^repare pupils for college. Tuition of this grade was at that time above the needs of the people of Hadley, in their opinion, and many at- tempts were made to divert the funds toward the support of an ordinary English school. To these inharmonious discussions in part, it may have been due that two hundred and fifty pounds more, which became available as part of the legacy of Gov. Hopkins upon the death of his widow who survived him many years, were secured in London by an agent of the cor- poration of Harvard College. In 181:0, according to President Quincy, these funds amounted to nearly $30,000. The contest at Hadley over the character of the proposed academy lasted many years and for a time damaged its prosjiects. All efforts to subsitute the common English brandies failed, and tlie Hopkins Classical Academy was almost the only public school in the old parish of Hadley for more than a century. Dr. Hubl)ard of Platfield, traces to the infiuence of this institution for higher education, the founding of Amherst and Smith col- leges and other like institutions in that vicinity. 282 YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. To such a preparatory scliool recent college graduates would look for employment. In the list of teachers from 1701 to 1736, we find Nathaniel Chauucey, (Yale, 1702), Daniel Board- man, (Yale, 1709), ]!^atlianiel Mather, (Yale, 1715), Stephen Steel, (Yale, 1718), Hezekiah Kilbourn, (Yale, 1720), Daniel Dwight, (Yale, 1721). Other teachers from 1666 to 1760, were graduates of Harvard. In 1816 it was merged in Hopkins Academy. In Old Hampshire County, Harvard graduates and Harvard influence did not always make room for the " Young Yale " of those days. A diiferent state of things existed in Berkshire, or that part of Old Hampshire which l)ecame Berkshire County in 1761. When Hampshire County was incorporated in 1662, it contained only Springfield, Northampton and Hadley. As Dr. Holland says, it was a colony by itself. " The settlements were iilanted in the wilderness, and the waste of woods that lay between them and the seat of authority of the Massachu- setts Bay Colony, was liardly less to l)e dreaded, or easier of passage, than the waste of waters that interposed between the Bay and the mother country. Its interests have been devel- oped by themselves. Its institutions, habits and customs have sprung out of its own peculiar wants, circumstances and spu-it." A similar statement may be made reffardine; Berkshire in 1761. It contained as incorporated towns only Shefiield, Stockbridge, New Marlboro, and Egremont, with 2:)lantations in the present towns of Pittsfield, Lanesboro, Williams- town, Tyringham, Sandisfield and Becket. The pastors and teachers who settled in this new country and grew with the people, had therefore unusual advantages for impressing their own characteristics upon the whole region. Here the in- fluence of Yale far outweighed that of any and all other in- stitutions, down to the establishment of Williams College. In the very constitution of Berkshire society are iml)edded imper- ishable marks of the Yale training received by its early leaders. The physical confirmation of the region seemed to shut it off from the rest of the world during the stage and horseback era, facilitating free development of its characteristics with little YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. 283 outside interference. President Hopkins, at the Berkshire jubilee, Aug. 22, 1844, after dwelling eloquently upon these circumstances, said : " It is in connexion with such physical conditions and such scenery as this, aided hy our Kew Eng- land institutions, that there has sprung up a race of men of whom we are justly proud It is perhaps remarkable, that, secluded as this country has been, the three American writers most widely celebrated in their several departments, have lived and written here. It was in the deep cpiiet of these scenes, that the profoundest treatise of our greatest metaphys- ical writer was produced. It was here that the powers of our truest poet, one who in his own line of poetry has not Ijeen excelled since the world stood, became known and came to their maturity. And here are still entwined, greener by time, the home affections of one whose social qualities have given her a place as eminent in the hearts of her friends, as her jDOwer and grace of style, and her universal sympathy with all that is human, have given her, as an author in the public estimation." After speaking of the " able divines" and their " wide and holy influence," and declaring that " nowhere has the standard of ministerial acquirement and character been higher," he pro- ceeds : " Here, too, there has been a spirit of benevolence most diffusive, and unrestricted by a regard to sect. It is well known that if means are needed to carry on the great cause of education, or of benevolence generally, there is no place to which men come with the same confidence and the same suc- cess, as to New England. It is chiefly among her hills that those streams arise that flow over the west, and over heathen lands, to make glad the city of our God. In this respect, so far as I have the means of comparison, this county hath whereof to glory, though not before God. The Berkshire and Columbia* Missionary Societv was formed Eeb. 21, 1798, and so far as I know, was the iirst missionary society formed in New England, if not in this country. The Connecticut society was formed in June of the same year, and the Massachusetts society in May of the year following. The formation of these * Representing Berkshire County, Mass., and Columbia County, N. Y. 284: YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. societies so near the same time, shows that the spring had come over the land ; Init the fact that this was formed iirst shows tliat Berkshire w^as among the earliest and most sunny spots. This was a Home Missionary Society ; and when it is remem- bered that here was formed the iirst Foreign Missionary So- ciety, and I may add the first Agricultural Society, it will be seen that important movements have originated among us. This may seem more immediately to concern those who have remained in the county, but I am speaking of the results of those influences under which we have been nurtured." This magnificent tribute from one of the greatest men of his generation liids us honor the men and the training whence those influences came. Of the thirty-eight pastors settled in Berkshire previous to 1800, Yale furnished twenty-six, among whom were the following: Samuel Todd, Adams; Ebenezer Martin and Zadok Hunn, Becket ; Eliphalet Steele, Egremont ; S. Hopkins, D.D., and Isaac Foster, Great Barrington ; Daniel Collins, Lanesborough ; Samuel Munson and S. Shepard, D.D., Lenox ; Thomas Strong, John Stevens and J. Catlin, D.D., New Marlboro; Job Swift, D.I)., and David Perry, Kicli- mond ; Eleazar Storrs, Sandisfield ; J. Hubbard, John Keep and Ephraim Judson, Sheffield ; John Sergeant, . Jonathan Edwards and Stephen West, Stockl>ridge ; Adonijah Bid well, Tyringham ; Whitman Welch and Seth Swift, Williamstown ; and David Avery, Windsor. For the substance of this list we are indebted to the researches of the late Prof. B. B. Edwards, published in the Quarterly Eegister, vol. vii., pp. 31, if. The most important of these churches was the one at Stockbridge. It commenced its existence as a mission station among the Stockbridge Indians, in 1734, wlien Sheffield was the only incorporated town. Konkapot, one of the chief men among the Housatonic Indians, resident at Stockbridge, held a cap- tain's commission under the British Crown. Being a man of unusual shrewdness and intelligence, he desired Christian instruction for himself and his people. Rev. Samuel Hopkins, of West Springfield, (Yale, 1718), and Rev. Dr. Stephen Wil- liams, of Longmeadow, wei-e requested by the commissioners YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. 285 at Boston of tlie Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts to visit the Indians personally, and ascertain their needs and wishes. They did so, and made a report, which resulted in sending Rev. John Sergeant, (Yale, 1729,) to visit them in Octol)er, 1734. Since graduating, he had been a tutor at Yale College, which means that he took a class in 1731 and remained their sole instructor in the studies of their col- lege course until their graduation. He is said to have been one of the most successful tutors in the early history of the college. At the same time he was studying theology. His call to the mission work came before he was through with his class. He had long prayed for such an opening, and the state of his mind when his prayers were answered ^Droves his sin- cerity. He wrote in his diary : "I was sensible that I must not only lose a great many agreeable amusements of life, espe- cially in leaving my business at college, which was the most agreeable to me that could be, but also expose myself to many fatigues or hardships, and I knew not to what dangers ; yet I was so far from being unwilling, that I was rather desirous to improve what abilities I had in such an undertaking. Indeed, I should be ashamed to own myself a ('/r/'i.s-tiax, or even a man, and yet utterly refuse doing what lay in my power to cultivate humanity, and to promote the salvation of souls." (More of his diary is given, with the above, in "• Stockbridge," p. -11, by Miss Electa F. Jones.) On the 31st of August, 1735, he was ordained to this work at Deeriield, where Gov. Belcher had made an appointment to meet some Indian tribes about that time for treaty purposes. The ordination took place on the Sabbath in the presence of the congregation usually worship- ing there ; of the Governor and a large committee of l)oth houses of the legislature ; of the Indians collected from several tribes, and of some of the Housatonic Indians, who sat by themselves, and formally received Mr. Sergeant as their mis- sionary. (Field's History of Berkshire, p. 250.) This is be- lieved to have been the first Yale graduate ordained to foreign missionary work. Dr. Field says of him : " Few persons have been as greatly beloved in life and lamented in death as this 286 YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. servant of God, His talents, natnral and acquired, were superior, liis temper sweet, his manners engaging, and his pietv ardent and persevering." By the close of the first year about forty had been baptized, heathen customs were renounced, and a stand had been taken by tlie Indians for total abstinence from liquor far beyond what was then usual among nominal Christians. By 1749 a school was established with fifty-five scholars, and the whole number of Indians at the mission was over four hundred. That year Mr. Sergeant died. The glimpses which we have of his character and work suggest much that remains unrecorded by the historian regarding the quality and value of the training then given by Yale College and the permanent nature of the influence exerted by its graduates. Rev. Jonathan Edwards took up this work in 1751, preach- ing to the Indians in their own language and to the white set- tlers who had begun to come. At the close of his ministry in 1758 the Indians had decreased to forty-two families and the whites numbered eighteen families. Rev. Gideon Hawley (Yale, 1749), taught in 1752, and preached somewhat to the Indians. So the church founded here was clearly a missionary church, and was trained into the best elements of character that M^ere produced by the Yale College of that generation. From this church have gone forth eight missionaries to tlie home and foreign fields. Upon the removal of Pres. Edwards to Prince- ton College, Rev. Stephen West (Yale, 1755), was ordained pastor at Stockbridge in 1759. For several years he preached to the Indians on Sabbath morning by an interj^reter, and to the English residents in the afternoon. But as it was very difficult to obtain a suital)le interpreter, and the English soon increased so as to require all his services, he relinquished the care of the Indians to Mr. John Sergeant, son of the former missionary, who gave his life to them. Dr. West, after reading Edwards' works while in his min- istry, was brought to a deep conviction of sin, confessing that as a pastor he had neglected his own soul. The Lord soon gave him, as Dr. Field expresses it, " a good hope through YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. 287 grace." The reality and greatness of this change at once appeared in the solemnity, fervency and pungency of his preaching, and in the hnniility and goodness of his life. For thirty-live or forty years he was occupied with preparing a suc- cession of young men for the ministry. In preaching, he dwelt principally upon the doctrines of grace, the richness and excellence of which he had experienced in his own soul. During his ministry he taught much of the time by exposi- tions, passing three times through the JSTew Testament and expounding it verse by verse with- a propriety, acuteness and vigor, according to a competent critic, of which this country had seen no parallel. Through his reading the Bible in the original, superintending a theological class of young men and another of young women, and answering the many questions of students in divinity, he became '' mighty in the Scriptures," and was able beyond almost any other man at that time to unfold the meaning of the Holy Spirit. For many of the last years of his life he read the Bible more than all other books combined. His greatest excellence, however, was in winning souls for Christ. His preaching, soon after his conversion above referred to, began to have power. Settling in Stock- bridge while some of the southern, most of the middle and nearly all the northern parts of Berkshire were a wilderness, he had an extended opportunity for iniiuencing the views of new settlers. He helped form many of the churches, recom- mending to them the orthodox confessions of faith which they adopted. The intluence of the pastors of these new churches, being wisely directed by the preparatory training which many of them received from Dr. West, after graduating at Yale, was widespread and powerful for good. During his lifetime the churches of Berkshire increased from four to thirty. At the founding of Williams College in 1793, he was chosen one of the Trustees. He was also chosen Vice-President of the col- lege. He died in 1819, and was succeeded by Rev. David D. Field (Yale, 1802), the historian of Berkshire County and the father of a famous family, including Cyrus W., David Dudley, Stephen M. and Henry M. Field, and a daughter who married Rev. Josiah Brewer, missionarv to Greece. 288 YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. At Stockbridge three professional schools have been well patronized : the " school of the prophets," conducted bj Rev. Dr. West, the law school tanght by Judge Sedgwick, and the medical school established by Dr. Erastus Sergeant, an honorary alumnus of Yale in ITS-t. The latter was the beginning of the Berkshire Medical Institute, for many years part of Williams College, though located at Pittstield upon its removal from Stockbridge. Rev. Jonathan Hubbard (Yale, 17:24:), was settled at Sheffield in 1735, and remained twenty-nine years until his death. His faith was orthodox, and his preaching plain, judicious and instructive. He was succeeded by Rev. John Keep (Yale 17(59), who died after thirteen years' service. He was eminent as a preacher, being declared by Dr. West to be the best pulpit speaker he ever heard. When Dr. Wales was elected Professor of Divinity at Yale College in 1782, the other candidates were JS^athan Strong and John Keep. Great Barrington had for its pastor from 17-13 to 1769 Dr. Hopkins (Yule, 1711), the author of the system called " Hopkin- tonian." He was greatly esteemed by his brethren in the min- istry for his knowledge of Scriptures, his piety and his good sense. Lanesborough's first pastor was Rev. Daniel Collins (Yale, 17(50), who ministered to them from 1761 to 1822. He had an extended and happy infiuence in forming the manners and habits of the people. Sound in judgment, his counsel was often sought in cases of difficulty. He possessed good sense, dignified manners and exemj)lary piety ; was affable, hospitable and benevolent, and greatly beloved and esteemed in all the relations of life. Of the nine trustees appointed in 1785 to carry out tlie will of Elisha Williams and establish a Free School in Williams- town, seven were Yale graduates. The school was opened in 1791, with Ebenezer Fitch (Yale, 1777), President. He had been a Yale tutor. , The school was chartered as a college in 1793, and three trustees added, of whom two were Yale gradu- ates. Thus the college where foreign missions were started YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. 289 under the memorable haystack, nurtured in room prayer- meetings, and developed with an unmatched lidelity to duty, derived its spirit and character most largely from the graduates of the ISTew Haven theological college, who clustered about it and fostered it with unfailing love. The intellectual and spiritual life of the whole county was thoroughly permeated with elements from this college. The labor of love for the Indians bore fruit in the rearing of many educated men who shared in the ecclesiastical, the civil and the military concerns of the times. The Indians, moreover, were hereby allied to their benefactors and gave efficient aid in the Eevolutionary war, both directly and in the security afforded to the neighboring white inliabitants against the hostile incur- sions of other tribes of Indians. In the endeavor to develop and establish the Christian character among these Indians, there were also developed here more richly than in other com- munities of that generation the peculiar glories of a vio-orous, aggressive and powerful Christianity. Furthermore, Eev. William Allen, of Pittstield, stated as his belief in 1817 or thereabouts, that "in the little territory of Berkshire, tifty miles by twenty, there have lived ministers who have produced more books on metaphysical theolo^v than have l)een produced l)y all the other metaphysical writers on ,this western continent," referring to the writings of Di-. Hop- kins, of the two Edwards', of Dr. West, and of Dr. Griffin, and of Henry P. Tappan. Few connnunities, if any, of that time exercised a wider and more varied intiuence for g-ood upon the world at large than this. The freedom of thought and discussion upon the highest themes which prevailed here, led the way to freedom of action when the time arrived for independence, and manifested forth that spirit which has largely characterized Yale College from the beginning : '' ]^ul- lius addictus jurare in verba magistri." On the 6th day of July, 1774, a congress of de23uties of the several towns in this county convened at Stockbridge. John Ashley (Yale, 1758) was chosen President, and Theodore Sedg- wick (Yale, 1765) was Secretary. Sixty delegates were in. 19 290 YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. attendance, including apparently all the other Yale graduates in the vicinity. Among much other business transacted, a covenant was agreed upon and recommended to be signed by the people of the county. By its terms they solemnly cove- nanted and engaged with each other " not to import, purchase or consume any goods, wares or manufactures arriving in America from Great Britain, until their charter and constitu- tional rights should be restored : to observe the most strict obedience to all constitutional laws and authority ; to j)romote peace, love and unanimity among each other ; to take the most prudent care for the raising of sheep and for the manufactur- ing: of all such clothes as shall be most necessary and useful ; and also for the raising of Hax and the manufacturing of linen." '' If any persons should refuse to sign the covenant, or having sio-ned should not keep it, to treat them with all the neglect they should justly deserve, particularly by omitting all commer- cial dealings with them." (For fuller details see Field's History of Berkshire, pp. 114-118). The flavor of a modern "■ boycott " in this proposal is less noticeable than the intense and self-de- nying patriotism of these resolutions. Vigorous actions fol- lowed. Two regiments were raised ; Lexington battle was fought April 18, 1775. IS^ews of it reached Berkshire on the 20tli about noon, and the next morning at sunrise the regiment of Col. John Patterson (Yale, 1762) was on its way to Cam-, bridge, completely equipped in arms and generally in uniform. Another Yale graduate. Col. Mark Hopkins, (Yale, 1758), the son-in-law of the missionary Sergeant and the grandfather of Pres. Hopkins of Williams College, and an able lawyer, as were also these other leaders, engaged earnestly in the defense of his country. He died at White Plains, N. Y., Oct. 26, 1776. Theodore Sedgwick above mentioned, was a noted man among many, the flrst and greatest in a brilliant galaxy. Soon after the adoption of tlie State Constitution he was one of a council who procured a decision, giving a construction to that instrument which abolished slavery in Massachusetts. In the winter of 1787 he, with all other Yale graduates in that region so far as ascertained, strenuously opposed the Shay's rebellion. YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS 291 From the time of his appointment to the bench (in 1800) the conduct of the conrt toward the bar underwent an entire revo- lution, and the former causes of complaint soon disappeared. He was supposed to have induced this important change. Judge Sedgwick had the reputation of being a good lawyer, and a gentleman in every meaning of that term. (See Sulli- van's Public Men of the Revolution, p. 141). In 1788 he was a leading advocate for the adoption of the Constitution of the United States in the State Convention ; and also was a member of the legislature and Speaker of the House of Representatives. From 1789 until his death in 1812, he was with scarcely any interruption, either a representative or a Senator in Congress, or a judge of tlie State Supreme Court. An exceedhigly dramatic incident is narrated of liim, to the effect that he rode alone to a body of fifty rebellious soldiers during the Shay's insurrection, and by his presence and his word of command, put them all to ignominious fiight. In earlier tunes the jurisdiction of Hampshire's courts and the practice of its lawyers extended over western Massachusetts. Among the leaders at the profession and practice of law we find Josiah Dwight (Yale, 1736) of Westfield, for eighteen years a judge of the county court of common pleas. He was said to be the richest man in the county at th§ time of his death. Another was John Worthington (Yale, 1740), who studied the- ology, and preached occasionally until he settled in Springfield as a lawyer in 17-14. He early became prominent, filling the oflices of High Sheriff and King's Attorney for the county, and being deputy often to the General Court. He was one of tlie most distinguished and noteworthy men who ever lived in Springfield, of great influence in the town, and of wide practice in his profession. Governor Hutchinson's flattering offer to make liim Attorney General in 1769 made him '' lean to toryism." Though he had long been honored and revered, he suffered the humiliation of being forced inside a ring of whigs in the open air, in his own town, and there made to kneel and ask forgiveness for his lack of patriotism. (Holland, West. Mass., vol. ii., pp. 135, 136). 292 YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. The town of Wortliington takes its name from liim. He and two others were chosen to divide the original parish of Kensing- ton. By his prudent and persuasive eft'orts to quiet their con- tentions he recommended himself so much to the inhabitants that they petitioned the legislature to call the second parish by his name. He also built for the settlers a church and a grist mill. (Holland, West. Mass., ii., 303. Dwight Travels, vol. ii.. p. 53.) One of Mr. Worthington's law students was Simeon Strung, (Yale, 1756). In early life he devoted himself to preaching the Gospel. Being compelled by pulmonary affections to change, he studied law. He became one of the first advocates of his time. For many years he was engaged in ahnost every mipor- tant cause in Hampshire and in many in Worcester and Berk- shire. Pres. Dwight says of him : " probably no instance can be remembered, in which he ever uttered a sentence, to display himself, or unnecessarily to give pain to others." In his knowl- edge of theology he was excelled by few men. He loved the Bible and studied it intensely tlirough his life. He seems to have determined on nothing, and to have done nothing, which he had not well considered, and brought for trial to the evangeli- cal standard of rectitude. On his integrity, all who knew him relied without a suspicion. His sense of the importance of truth, justice and benevolence was controlling, and acquired him the highest esteem. (Travels, vol. ii., pp. 361-363). His son, Simeon Strong, Jr. (Yale, 1786), read law with him, and settling first at Conway, afterwards removed to Amherst and was one of the leading citizens. Eleazar Porter (Yale, 1748), settled at Hadley and became one of its foremost men. He was judge of Court of Com- mon Pleas for twenty years. Joseph Hawley (Yale, 1712), studied theology and served as chaplain in the Louisburg expedition in 1716. He settled in Northampton as a lawyer in 1719. The next year Jonathan Edwards was dismissed from his pastorate, and Mr. Hawley, though his own cousin, was a principal leader and chief spokes- man in bringing this about. Ten years later he wrote a re- YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. 293 markal)le confession of liis fanlt in this eonrse, thereby proving his loyalty to the principles of heart-religion advocated by Edwards, and exemplifying that noble manhood which it has been the crowning glory of Yale to aid in developing among her sons. It is so complete a vindication of Mr. Edwards and so strongly conlirms the position advocated in this article, that the essential portions will be given here. First published in a weekly newspaper in Boston, May 19th, 1760, it is now taken from the first American edition of Edwards' works, vol. i., p]>. 74-81. " To the Rev. Mr. Hall of Sutton. "Northampton. May 9. 1760. "Rev. Sir : i<* * * * And in the first place, Sir. I apprehended that, with the church and people of Northampton, I sinned and erred exceedingly in consenting and laboring that there should be so early a dismission of Mr. Edwards from his pastoral relation to us, even upon the supposition that he was really in a mistake in the disputed point : Not only because the dispute was upon matters so very disputable in themselves, and at the greatest remove from fundamental, but because Mr. Edwards so long had approved himself a most faithful and painful pastor to the said church. He also changed his sentiments in that point, wholly from a tender regard to what appeared to him to be truth : and had made known his sentiments with great moderation, and upon great delibera- tion, against all worldly motives, from mere fidelity to his great Master, and tender regard to the souls of his flock, as we had the highest reason to judge. These considerations now seem to me sufficient; and would (if we had been of a right spirit) have greatly endeared him to his people, and made us to the last degree reluctant to part witli him. and disjjosed us to the exercise of the greatest candor, gentleness and moderation. How much of the reverse wherof api^eared in us, I need not tell you, Sir. who were an eye witness of our temper and conduct. " And although it does not become me to pronounce decisively on a point so disputable as was then in dispute ; yet I beg leave to say, that I really apprehend that it is of the highest moment to the body of this chui'ch, and to me in particular, most solicitously to enquire, whither like the Pharisees and lawyers in John Baptist's time, we did not reject the counsel of God against ovirselves, in rejecting Mr. Edwards, and his doctrine, which was the ground of his dismission. And I humbly conceive that it highly imports us all of this church, most seriously and impartially to examine what that most worthy and able divine published, ahout that time, in support of the same, whereby he being dead yet speaketh. But there were three things, Sir, especially in my own par- 294 YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. ticular conduct before the first council, which have been justly matter of great grief and much trouble to me almost ever since, viz. " In the first place, I confess, Sir. that I acted very immodestly and abusively to you, as well as injuriously to the church and myself, when with much zeal and unbecoming assurance, I moved the council that they would interpose to silence and stop you in an address you were making one morning to the people, wherein you were, if I do not forget, briefly exhorting them to a tender remembrance of the former affection and harmony that had long subsisted between them and their Rev. Pastor, and the great comfort and profit which thay apprehended that they had received from his ministry ; for which. Sir, I heartily ask your forgiveness ; and I think, that we ought, instead of opposing an exhorta- tion of that nature, to have received it with all thankfulness. "Another particular of mj^ conduct before that council, which I now apprehend was criminal, and was owing to the want of that tender afl'ec- tion and reverend respect and esteem for Mr. Edwards, which he liad highly merited of me, was my strenuously opposing the adjournment of the matters submitted to that council, for about two months ; for which I declare myself unfgignedly sorry; and I with shame remember, that I did it in a peremptory, decisive, vehement, and very immodest manner. " But, Sir, the most criminal part of my conduct at that time, that I am conscious of, was my exhibiting to that council a set of arguments in writing, the drift whereof was to prove the reasonableness and neces- sity of Mr. Edwards' dismission, in case no accommodation was tlien effected with mutual consent; which writing, by clear implication, contained some severe, uncharitable, and if I remember right, groundless and slanderous imputations on Mr. Edwards, expressed in bitter lan- guage. And although the original draft thereof was not done by me, yet I foolishly and simply consented to copy it : and as agent for the church, to read it, and deliver it to the council ; which I could never have done, if I had not a wicked relish for perverse things : Which conduct of mine I confess was very sinful, and highly provoking to God ; for which I am ashamed, confounded, and have nothing to answer. "As to the church's remonstrance, as it is was called, which their committee preferred to the last of the said councils, (to all which I was consenting, and in the composing whereof I was very active, as also in bringing the church to their vote upon it ;) I would, in the first place, only observe, that I do not remember anything, in that small part of it which was plainly expressive of the expediency of Mr. Edwards' re-settle- ment here as pastor to a part of the church, which was very exception- able. But as to all the residue, which was much the greatest part therof (and I am not certain that any part was wholly free) it was every wliere interlarded with imchristian bitterness, sarcastical, and unmannerly insinuations. It contained divers direct, grievous and criminal charges and allegations against Mr. Edwards, which I have since good reason to YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. 295 suppose, were all founded on jealous and uncharitable mistakes, and so wei-e really gross slanders : also many heavy and reproachful charges upon divers of Mr. Edwards' adherents, and some severe censures of them all Indiscriminately ; all of which, if not wholly false and ground- less, yet were altogether unnecessary, and therefore highly criminal. Indeed I am fully convinced, that the whole of that composure, except the small part thereof above mentioned, was totally unchristian, a scan- dalous, abusive, injurious libel, against Mr. Edwards and his particular friends, especially the former, and highly provoking and detestable in the sight of God ; for which I am heartily sorry and ashamed : and pray I may remember it with deep abasement and penitence all my days. Nor do I now think that the church's conduct in refusing to appear, and attend before that council to support the charges and allegations in the said remonstrance against Mr. Edwards and the said brethren, which they demanded, was ever vindicated by all the subtle answers that were given to the said demand ; nor do I think that our conduct in that instance was capable of a defence. For it appears to me, that by mak- ing such charges against them before the said council, we necessarily so far gave that council jurisdiction ; and I own with sorrow and regret, that I zealously endeavored that the church should perseveringly refuse to appear before the said council for the purpose aforesaid ; which I humbly pray God to forgive. •' Another part of my conduct, Sir, of which I have long repented, and for which I hereby declare my hearty sorrow, was my obstinate opposition to the last council's having any conference with the church ; which the said council earnestly and repeatedly moved for. and which the church as you know, finally denied. I think it discovered a great deal of pride and vain sufficiency in the church, and showed them to be very opinionative, especially the chief sticklers, one of whom I was, and think it was running a most presiimptuous risk, and acting the part of proud scorners, for us to refuse hearing, and candidly and seriously considering what that council could say or oppose to us ; among whom there were divers, justly in great reputation for grace and wisdom. •'And I humbly apprehend that it greatly concerns the church of Northampton most seriously to examine, whether the many hard speeches, spoken by many particular members against their former pastor, some of which the church really countenanced, (and especially those spoken by the church as a body, in that most vile ' remonstrance,') are not so odious and ungodly, as to be utterly incapable of defence ; whether the said church were not guilty of a great sin in being so will- ing and disposed, for so slight a cause, to jiart with so faithful and godly a minister as Mr. Edwards was : and wliether ever God will hold us guiltless till we cry to hira for Christ's sake to pardon and save us from that judgment which such ungodly deeds deserve. And I most 296 YALE GEADUATKS IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. heartily wish and pray that the town and church of Northampton would seriously and carefully examine whether they have not abundant cause to judge that they are now lying under great guilt in the sight of God ; and whether those of lis who were concerned in that most awful contention w^ith Mr. Edwards, can ever more reasonably expect God's favor and blessing, till our eyes are opened, and we become thoroughly convinced that we have greatly provoked the Most High, and have been injurious to one of the best of men ; and until we shall be thoroughly convinced that we have dreadfully persecuted Christ, by persecuting and vexing that just man and servant of Christ ; until we shall be hvimble as in the dust on account of it, and till we openly, in full terms, and without baulking the ma>tter, confess the same before the ■world, and most humbly and earnestly seek forgiveness of God, and do what we can to honor the memory of Mr. Edwards, and clear it of all the aspersions which we unjustly cast upon him : since God has been pleased to put it beyond our power to ask his forgiveness. ********* "I conclude this long letter by heartily desiring your prayers, that my repentance of my sins above-mentioned may be unfeigned and genuine, and such as God in infinite mei'cy, for Christ's sake, ^vill acce])t ; and I beg leave to subscribe myself. Sir, your real, though very unworthy friend, and obed't. servant. Joseph Hawley." Such was Mr. Ilawlej's knowledge of political liistory, and of the principles of free government, that, dnring the disputes between Great Britain and the Colonies, he was regarded as standing among the foremost in al)ility and influence of the ad- vocates of American liberty. In the House of Representatives his distinguished patriotism and bold and manly eloquence gave him a commanding position. It was his misfortune to be sub- ject to flts of melancholy from which he with difhculty was aroused. On one occasion a friend found him greatly de- j)ressed over the prospect of British triumph, which would bring certain death upon the leaders of the American cause. " Well, never mind," said his friend, '' they will not harm you, for you are not as prominent as some forty others." " Sir," replied Hawley, losing all his depression instantly, " I would have you know that I am among the first three." During the first twenty -five years of his professional life he enjoyed a very extensive practice, and was justly eminent foi" fidelity and inteuTitv. For (»ver tliirtv vears, witli few inter- YALE GEADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. 297 ruptions, lie was a representative to the General Court. As such he was usually a member of all important committees, and was regarded as the pillar of the party of resistance to Great Britain for Western Massachusetts. Professor Dexter has recorded of him that, while in the Legislature, no vote on any public measure either was. or could have been carried without his consent. This almost unexampled influence was owing, not only to his great talents, but still more perhaps to his high-minded, unsullied, unimpeachable integrity. He was, along with Sedgwick, a very vigorous opponent of the Shay's insurrection, publishing for about a year a paper edited by him- self for the suppression of that outbreak, Timothy Dwight (Yale, 1744), was Register of Probate and Judge of the County Court of Common Pleas at Northampton. He was remarkable for his conscientiousness. As the Revolu- tion approached, he was unwilling to transgress the oath of fealty to the crown which he had taken on assuming the office of judge. He undertook, therefore, to solve his political doubts, and at the same time to gratify his love of adventure, by investing largely in the enterprise of a colony on the Mis- sissippi. In the spring of 1776 he set out for Natchez. After a very arduous journey and a wearing experience there, he died in the wilderness, near Natchez, aged only 51. He married Mary, third daughter of President Jonathan Edwards, a lady of great mental ability and force of character. Their eldest son, Timothy Dwight, became President of Yale College in 1795, and their grandson, Theodore Dwight Woolsey, became President in 1846; and it may be added, that, since the reading of this Article, their great-grandson, Timothy Dwight, has succeeded to that high office. The law practice in the county before 1743 is said to have been incorrect, and imperfect knowledge of legal princij^les to have prevailed. The very great advance made about that time is attributed to three Yale graduates, who for many years were the leaders at the Hampshire bar : Phinehas Lyman of Suf- field, John Worthington and Joseph Hawley. The two latter procured the adoption of a rule requiring three years' study before a recommendation for admission to the bar could be given. They each had many pupils who became distinguished. 298 YALE GRADUATES IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. Both were men in whose honesty and fairness those wlio knew them intimately would place unbounded confidence. Other Yale graduates who followed those that have heen mentioned, hardly less distinguished for their loyalty to the principles and training imparted at the college, offer tempting opportunities for prolonging this labor of love. But upon the evidences presented we may rest satisfied that the remarkable success of its early life as displayed by its graduates in Western Massachusetts fulfilled in some degree the purposes of its founders. Let us strive and pray that the purity and power of its training may increase with every succeeding generation. BRANFORD ANNALS, 1700—1800. By Rev, Elijah C. Baldwin. [Read April 7, 1886.] Beanford, at the opening of the year 1700, l»egan to show signs of rapid growth. Rev. Samuel Rnssell, the minister, was at" the height of his infinence. On May 13, 1697, he preached the Election sermon at Hartford. The spacious house in which he lived was built in 1690, and stood just south of the present Branford burying-ground, and remained till fifty years ago. He, and his wife Abigail, daughter of Rev. John Whiting, had nine children, seven sons and two daughters. Mr. Russell combined with his pastoral duties extensive farming opera- tions. He was also connected with other citizens in building and running a saw mill. The town had given liim 300 acres of land as a settlement, and in later years added gifts of sev- eral hundred acres more. He also had the use and improve- ment of the Society lands at Indian Xeck and elsewhere. His name appears very often on the town records as purchasing, selling and exchanging property. He is also active in edu- cational and ecclesiastical interests within and outside of Branford. His connection with the early years of Yale Col- lege history is now well understood. 300 BKANFOED ANNALS. He was one of tlie members of that Synod whicli agreed upon tlie Sayhrool' Platform^ tliat ecclesiastical compact, or rule of procedure, destined to be the occasion of much discus- sion and trouble in the churches for many years. He and sev- eral in his church, as Edward Barker, Gov. Saltonstall, Madam Saltonstall and others, gave considerable sums of money to the College when it was removed to New Haven. At the opening of this period Gov. Gurdon Saltonstall had become interested in Branford and began to reside there. Mr. William Rosewell had introduced the business of ship-building and trading with foreign countries, which continued and devel- oped to respectable proportions during the whole centuiy and beyond. The Iron Works at the outlet of Lake Saltonstall had led to business in the western border of the town of con- siderable importance. Much good ship-timber was found on the hill-sides of Bran- ford. " Pipe staves " were cut and were in great demand for the foreign trade. The town liad to regulate the cutting of these to save too wanton destruction of the forests. Increasing population made new divisions of land necessary. The section now comprised in North Branford, including the society of Northford, was apportioned in the fourth division. The fifth division, embracing the present Stony Creek section, was soon after made. Larger and more substantial houses were erected by the new settlers, some of whom were possessed of considerable property. This was especially true of the Bartholomews, Maltbies, Johnsons, Wilfords, Guys, Stents, Goulds, Bakers, Barnses and Blackstones. The new meeting-house built for Mr. Russell stood about in front of the present Town Hall, facing southwest. The main highway was south of the Green. The meeting-house being soon too full for all to find accommodation, three galleries were put in during the year 1706. Mr. Russell was, as yet, the honored minister of the entire population of the place. The Green was then of irregular surface, having abrupt hills and hollows in various j^arts, with great rock boulders here and there. One such boulder, the size of an ordinary BRANFORD ANNALS. 301 house, stood about in front of the present Congregational Church. Behind the present Episcopal Church was a sandy cone called " Baldwin's hill," from the fact that Dea. George Baldwin had a blacksmith shop close by it. The Baptist Church stands where a hill called " whipping-post hill " pre- viously stood. It was leveled to make a foundation for that church building. The name resulted from its use for the pub- lic stocks and whipping-post, once in vogue for punishing crimes. The late Capt. James Blackstone informed the writer that it devolved upon him as constable to inflict the last public whipping that was recpiired at the post on tliat liill. Standing about the Green were a number of "" Sabbath-day " houses, built where the owners could get the town's consent to locate them. These afforded places of rest and refreshment, especially to families coming to meeting from distant parts of the society. Men, women and children came, three, six and even eight miles, on foot or on horse-back, over wretched roads, to attend all-day services, in which usually were two sermons, each over an hour long, besides prayers, hymns and Scripture expositions. Numerous other such houses were there before, but John Barnes, Stephen Foote, Daniel Barker, John Frisbie and Edward Frisbie, of the northern part of the town, erected theirs between 1703 and 170T. Two resident physicians are heard of soon after 1700, Dr. Isaac Bartholomew, a son of William Bartholomew the mil- ler, and Dr. Richard Gould, who came from England. Dr. Bartholomew, after a number of years removed to Middle- town, then to Cheshire. Dr. Gould had a son William, who soon aids his father in the profession and succeeds him. The son. Dr. William Gould, had a son WilHam, who also aids and succeeds him. This second William was the father of Judge James Gould, of Litchfield Law School fame, and Mrs. Judge Boger M. Sherman of Fairfield. This honored family contin- ued to furnish physicians for Branford, till the death of Dr. Orchard Gould, within the recollection of persons now liv- ing. The Goulds were large land-holders, and though no male descendent of the name remains in Branford, since the 302 ■ BRANFORD ANNALS. death of Elias Gould a few years ago, quite a farm is still owned by the family at " Hopyard Plain " and " Pave Street." In tlie boundary questions which came up with New Haven connected with the Iron Works village near Lake Saltonstall, beginning about 16C0, and continuing fifteen years, Mr. Thomas Trowbridge of New Haven, was of great service to Branford. An old receipt found with the records is of inter- est here. New Haven, Nov. 22, 1710. Received of the town of Branford ujjon the account of my Father Trowbridge, the sum of seven pounds, fovirteen shillings in pay, being in full of all my Father's account with Branford Town. Thomas Trowbridge. Mr. Nathaniel Johnson, a merchant, was prominent in Bran- ford then, as land-holder, ship-builder and trader. He built a famous large house, near where the late Peggy Fowler died, west of the present stone bridge on the road to Indian Neck. It was burned seventy- five years ago, with all the extensive barns near it, making a memorable fire. The Johnsons con- tinued a wealthy family in Branford to recent date. John Guy and Orchard Guy, appeared now, purchasing much prop- erty in Branford. They were associated with the Johnsons in business and by intermarriages for a long time. Their houses were near the Kev. Mr. Russell's ; Orchard's on the south side of the road below tlie Green, near Chas. Wilford's present residence. John Guy bought the Eleazer Stent property which extended across the present Montewese street near the Roman Catholic Church. The Guys have descendents who are prominent business men in Meriden and elsewhere. The Stents extended their possessions more to the northern por- tions of Branford, to " Brushy Plain " and " Bare Plain," where considerable of the same property is yet held by the family. Samuel Stent, son of the first Eleazer Stent, made liberal do- nations to the church and town. These gifts still remain in val- uable pieces of " Communion " furniture, the " Stent lot " and " Stent Lecture Fund." The last two are for the use of the BRANFORD ANNALS. 303 pastor of the Congregational Cliurcli. A tombstone in the old graveyard lias this inscription : " Lt. Samuel Stent, Nov. 12, 173(), age 59. For it was God's will that on that hill I should no longer stay." A considerable sum left by him to the town for the care of the poor, seems to have been lost during the excitements and extraordinary expenditures of the Revolu- tionary War. Soon after 1700, John Blackstone, a mariner, "came to Branford from Rhode Island, with his wife Rebecca." He be- gan to buy land near the present Blackstoneville and continued from year to year until he was one of the largest land-holders in the town. He was undoubtedly the grandson of Rev. Wil- liam Blackstone, the first owner and settler of Boston, Mass., who afterwards sold out and built a home at " Study Hill," near the Rhode Island border, six miles from Providence. Tradition relates that the marriage of John and Rebecca was not agreeable to their friends, so the young people resolved to inake a new home for themselves in Connecticut. The greater probabiHty is that becoming acquainted with the sea captains of Branford, he was led thus to the place, then growing attrac- tive to good families, by its superior society no less than by its enlarged business. His family has been closely identified with all the important interests of Branford for one hundred and sixty years. It has also sent out honored branches to other places. Much of his original purchase of land is still owned by the family. The relationship to the eminent Sir William Blackstone of England is made somewhat probable by the strik- ing likeness of members of the Branford family to the great " legal light," as shown in extant portraits of him. The cor- respondence was peculiarly marked in the late Capt. James Blackstone. The Hoadley, Maltbie, Rose, Foote and Harrison families present so many names that were prominently identihed with the church, town and lousiness during this period, time fails me to speak individually of them. The Frisbies, Ponds, Plants, Butlers, Palmers, Goodriches, Linsleys, Barkers, Rogerses, Todds, Parishes, Pages, Tylers, Bradleys, Howds, Towners, 304 BRANFORD ANNALS. Beaches and Baldwins were more or less numerous and promi- nent. The minister's children grew up to be both a credit and comfort to the parents. John, Samuel, Daniel and Ebenezer graduated at Yale College. John married Miss Sarah Trow- bridge of New Haven, and continued to reside at Branford, prosperous, useful and honored. His daughter Rebekah mar- ried Ezekiel Hayes. Samuel was the first pastor of the chm-ch at North Guilford (Cohabit). Daniel was settled at Newport, E.. I. Ebenezer was ordained and settled at Stonington. The older daughter Ahigail married Rev. Joseph Moss of Der- by ; and after his death became the wife of Rev. Samuel Cook. Mary married Benjamin Fenn of Milford, a graduate of Yale College. After his death she became the wife of Mr. Archibald McNiel of Milford. He came to Branford with her, and soon engaged in building houses, buying and selling property quite actively. He built the ancient house still standing at Mill Plain, on the Guilford road near the bridge, long kno-wai as the " Beach " house. It was purchased by Andrew Beach, the first Beach who came to Branford, from Stratford in 1737, Oct. 10. Jonathan and Ithiel Russell married and lived at Branford. All the sons but one left families which are still numerously represented m Branford and elsewhere. The growth of population in the north part of the town soon suggested the idea of a second society and minister to accommodate all. A road was laid out in 1712, twenty rods wide, from the present road at the Lock Works, directly north over "Brushy Plain" and " Loyd Hill's Hill" to " Bare Plain " and thence north-westerly to North Branford center. An older road went from " Hopyard Plain," where Deacon Samuel Rose and Deacon George Baldwin lived, for some miles to the north. By 1715 the north farmers ask for separate preaching. The town puts them off. In 1717 they petition the General Court for relief. This pressure induces the town, that fall, to vote liberty to the people at •' Libbies Hill " to have a minister for four months. " Libbies Hill " is just north of the center of Nortli Branford. The name comes from an Indian sachem BKANFORD ANXALS. 305 wlio once lived there near a spring of water which still bears the same title. The first services were held at the house of Daniel (afterwards Deacon) Page. His residence was near the sum- mit of •' Libbies Hill." The town named a committee to fix bounds for the new society. They ran the line from "■ Rose's meadow,'" on the extreme east, westward, over "• Rattle Snake Rocks," '^ Sawmill," '^ Long Hill " and '^ Cedar Swamp." All were not quite satisfied with this first line, so it was changed a little the next year. The " North Farmers " had a minister more months each succeeding year until Sept. 27th, 1722, they ask to have one permanently settled. The town then voted to "■ set up another Society, purchase a farm for the minister, build a Meeting House" and a home for the pastor. The projjrietors select two hundred acres for parsonage lands at " Todd's lot," on the east side of Great hill " for the new society." They also buy more or rather set apart more land for the old society, to counter-balance what they do for the new one. Dec. 30th, 1723, the liorth farmers press their request again, asking for a change of bounds. It was voted that " if they will sit down contented with their former bounds then the town will go equal shares with them in building and perfecting a meeting- house within those same bounds, of 40 feet in length and 30 feet in breadth." The petitioners to whom this answer was given, were Jona- than Butler, David Barker, John Harrison, Benjamin Linsley and Samuel Harrison. By 1725, things have so far advanced that the house was un- der way, located a few feet from the present North Branford church. Rev. Samuel Russell went up and ofliered prayer at the erection of the frame. (An accident occurred by the fall- ing of a heavy upright timber, but no one was seriously hurt). The windows of the new structure w^ere numerous, diamond shaped, but small. The floor of the audience room was a few inches lower than the door sill, which was not unfrequently the cause of some amusing if not serious falls, persons stepping suddenly down and pitching headlong into the room. The pul- pit was high, and galleries also high went around three sides of 20 306 BRANFORD ANNALS. the room. Al)ove the pulpit was a square roof-like structure for a sounding board. In after years bats had nests there, and it was no uncommon thing for a bat to get loose during a service and go scooting through the house to the manifest discomfort of many in the congregation. Rev. Jonathan Merrick, from Springfield, Mass., just gradu- ated at Yale College, became their minister. He was ordained in 1726. He married Jerusha Minor, of Stonington, and spent the rest of his life with his people, dying in 1772. He was mostly disabled by a' shock of paralysis in 1769. His last pub- lic act was to preside as Moderator of a church meeting held to arrange for the ordination of his successor, the Rev. Samuel Eells. Mr. Merrick was a man of large, commanding stature. He served as one of the Corporation of Yale College from 1763 to 1769. Rev. Timothy Stone taught school for a while in North Branford after his graduation from Yale College. He relates this incident. '' I had a refractory boy in my school whom I punished. His father was displeased about it and took pains to show his displeasure by keeping the child from school. The worthy minister sent for the father, who dared not neglect the summons, Mr. Merrick then reprimanded him with much severity, saying ' You teach rebellion in Mr. Stone's school. It shall not be so ; I will have you know that I will put my foot on your neck. This rebellious spirit shall not l)e tolerated.' The rebuke was quietly submitted to and had its desired effect.' ' The large farm left by Mr. Merrick remained in possession of his descendants until quite recently ; it is now owned by Mr. George Ford, and lies along the main road from the brow of the hill half a mile west and south of North Branford Center. On Jan. 14th, 1726, the records of the old Society began to be kept separately from the town records. Jonathan Russell, the sixth child of the pastor, was the first clerk of the Society. The town now began to regulate the gathering of " bayber- ries," which were a valuable product of small bushes — small stickv balls useful in making wax. This wax was in brisk demand for commerce, as it entered into the manufacture of several useful articles, especially blacking and salves. It con- BRANFORD ANNALS. 307 tinned an article of trade over one hnndred years. A fine of ten shillings was exacted for gathering the berries on the high- ways and common before Sept. 15. About the same time various improvements were provided for along the Branford river and harljor ; wells and wharves were wanted at a number of different points from the mouth of the river up as far as the Mill Plain bridges. Samuel Barker was permitted to build wharf, ware-house, etc., on a piece of sedge land purchased of Joseph Foote. He, Samuel Frisbie, Jr., and others were granted the use of the well at " Dutch House," and the right to dig another for use of all near "• Whitehead's lot." Roads were also opened to these various points on the river and har- bor, to connect more directly with the town and with New Haven. Captain Parish said that during most of this eio-h- teenth century there was more navigation and more business done in Branford than in New Haven. Imported West India goods were often carried from Branford to ]^ew Haven. There were large store-houses at Dutch House, Landfare's Cove, Page's Point, Hobart's wharf, Plantsville, and other places for receiving, storing and shipping goods. Wheat, rve, corn, flax and flax-seed, were shipped away in large quantities. Later, juniper berries were gathered and sent away. Still later quite a trade was had with Maine, carrying dried apples etc., bringing back fish and pine lumber. The soil in the north part of Branford produced fine crops of -wheat down to the period of the Revolutionary war. Soon after forming the new church at the '' ]N"orth Farms " Rev. Mr. Russell failed in health. Feb. 26, 1728, the Society agreed, by a full vote, that as often as Mr. Russell shall be so indisposed as not to come forth on the Sabbath, Deacon George Baldwin is empowered to procure a minister at the charge of the Society, as there may be occasion. Sept. 9th, 1729, they voted to hire as a school-teacher one who could also be helpful in the ministry, as occasion required. They decide to have either Mr. Benjamin Pierpont of Kew Haven, or Mr. Richard Treat of Milford. Next year they hire Mr, Samuel Sherman of New Haven. But for some reason Mr. Russell objects to 308 BRANFORD ANNALS. him. This creates feeling, since many seemed miicli interested in him. June ITth, 1730, the Society apply to the pastor to see how much he will allow from his salary toward supplying the pulpit, and to ask that the Society may have their own choice in the person to be selected. They have this answer : "June 30th, 1730. My good neighbors and friends: I perceive, by your committee, that liave been with me, that you are desirous of endeavors toward settling another minister, that may be pas- tor to this church while I Hve, and become your sole pastor when I am gone. I pray God direct and guide you in that great affair, and as for me, I shall not at all inteiTupt your free choice; and you shall find me so far from crowding any man upon you, whom you don't Uke, that I will not be in opposition to your free choice, if it should so happen that your choice should not fall where I should have pitched, was it in my power to choose. And so for my support the little time I have to live among you, I am not much concerned about it. I only say this about it. that I incline yet to hold the improvement of the "half acres" at Indian Neck, during my life; and will now relinquish to the Society the meadow in the "Mill quarter," and the land and meadow at "Scotch cap." I conclude you will not think it unreasonable to find me firewood while I live. As for yearly salary for my support, you may do just as God may incline your hearts. I leave it wholly with you, depending not on an arm of flesh, but on the Living God, for my daily bread, and all other necessaries of life: and am not at all afraid but that He who feeds the young ravens when they cry, will provide for my support. I am yours in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Samuel Russell." At a meeting of the Society the same day, this letter was read, its proposals accepted, and it was voted Mr. Kussell should be paid thirty pounds in bills of credit annually, on or by the last day of March. Mr. Isaac Foote, Lieut. Howd, and Ensign Harrison, were directed to return to the pastor the Society's grateful acceptance of his plan and the vote. They also chose a committee to treat with Mr. Samuel Sher- man to supply a while ; if unable to secure him, then to get some one else. In Septeml)er they vote on Mr. Sherman. Forty-six are for and twenty-four are against him. They then ask the New Haven Association to advise them. The Associa- tion declines. By Mr. Russell's advice they hold a day of BRANFORD ANNALS. 309 fasting and prayer. October 28tli, Mr. Sherman gets fiftj- seven votes in favor, but lie refuses to accept. In December, fifty-five vote for him, but tliirteen are still opposed. He answers thus : "Branford, Dec. 21st, A. D. 1730. Gentlemen of the South Society: Accoi-ding to your request, and according, I believe, to the desires of some of you, I have sent you ansAver. First, having taken wliat advice I think proper in this aif air, of those proper to advise, I don't see it my way (neither duty obliging me), to undertake the work of the ministry amongst you under the many difficult circumstances that may attend my so doing; neither upon probation, nor settlement this winter, which was what you would be resolved in; and now, hoping you will forgive what has been amiss in me, as I am free to forgive those reflections cast upon me, so I remain your friend and weU wisher, always bearing your difficult case even at heart. Samuel Sherman." Some were now in favor of trying another man, but more were not. Jan. 25th, 1731, the Town or Society had a meeting, at which the North Society put in a claim for school lands. A vote also was taken to advise with some neighboring pastors about their own divisions. Messrs. Hemingway of East Haven, Noyes of N"ew Haven, Arnold of West Haven, and Stiles of jSTorth Haven, met at Branford, Feb. 2d, 1731. In their advice they show that Mr. Russell had relinquished all right to direct, and they should seek Mr. Sherman again. Failing there, they might secure Mr. Benjamin Pierpont of JSTew Haven, Mr. Daniel Brewer, Jr., of Springfield, or Mr. Richard Treat of Milford. Being, therefore, applied to again, Mr. Sherman says : "New Haven, Feb. 9th, 1731. Dear Friends: I have not been, neither at present am I, a little concerned about your affairs. I would willingly improve all measures likely to secure God's glory, and your comfort. What little time I have had I have imjjroved in advising with the ministers, not only those of the council, bvit elsewhere, and also my best friends, from whom I meet with little encouragement to venture amongst you, considering the great opposi- tion, and the increase of it, which my coming is not likely to put a stop to : and, therefore, once, at least, without multiplying words, I must declare that I cannot see my way clear, and so would not any longer crowd myself upon you as before, but noAv give you my answer in the 310 BRANFORD ANNALS. negative, hoping hereby my friends will continue such, and my enemies become my friends. I am your hearty friend, who wish you direction from above in this time of your difficulties. Samuel Sherman." This seems decisive, vet in May they vote on him again. His opponents do not yield, however. A week or two later in June, 1731, Rev. Samuel Russell, the aged pastor, died. At once all the people's differences seem to be quieted. They hold their pastor's memory in tender recollection. According to the customs of the period, various pastors of the association, preach in their old friend's pulpit. No doubt Mr. Russell's sons are at home considerably and sup- ply for the church. At any rate no movements are made for a permanent pastor during the year. Late in the summer of 1732, Mr. Philemon Robbins, a son of Nathaniel Robbins of Charlesto^^•n, Mass., and grandson of Rev. Nathaniel Robbins, who came from Scotland in l(i7C>, ^asits New Haven. He was a recent graduate of Harvard College. He came with a friend to attend commencement, and as they jokingly said '' to see the Wooden College." How iitly their expression applied to the peculiar structm-e which served Yale College in its first years at New Haven, Professor Dexter has already shown. While Mr. Robbins was here on his visit, a man came from Branford to secure a preacher or some one who might be a suitable candidate. Hearing in some way of the young man, he invites him to go home with him. Mr. Robbins consents, preaches, and so favorable an impres- sion is made, that on Sept. 18th, he is asked to preach four Sabbaths more. The good impression continues. On Octo- ber 9th, the Society give him a call. They offer 400 pounds as a settlement to be paid in two years ; .130 pounds for salary for each of the first four years, and after that 140 pounds a year and his fire-wood. They agree to pay the salary by July 1st each year, and if the currency should change they promise to make his salary good. It is evident there is great unanim- ity and general interest. BRANFORD ANNALS. 311 On Dec. 2Tth, there was a meeting- at wliich Mr. liobljins' acceptance was read as follows : " To the Church and people of Christ in Branford : grace, mercy and peace be multiplied. Bretliren and dearly beloved in our Lord Jesus Christ, my heart's desire and prayer to God is that you may be hap- pily settled : and whereas it has pleased Almighty God to unite your hearts to me, inasmuch that you have unanimously given me an invi- tation to settle with you in the great and important work of the Gospel ministry, I have thought deliberately and impartially thereupon ; and I know not that I have been wanting to use all proper methods whereby to be determined, viz : in consulting the will of heaven, my own incli- nations, as also advising w4th superior gentlemen of the ministerial order ; and upon the whole my determination is, in the fear of God, to accept your call ; trusting in your continuous affections and prayers, and relying upon the spirit and grace of God for assistance to so great a work ; that I may be enabled to dischare a good conscience by my fidelity towards souls in this place ; earnestly praying, as also desmng an interest in your prayers with me, that the Great Sheperd of the sheep would make me the happy instrument of convincing and converting sinners in this place and building up saints in faith and holiness, that God's blessing maybe upon us and his glorious kingdom advanced by us. Amen. From your friend and servant in the Lord, Philemon Robbins. Branford, Dec. 27, 1732." ^ The ordination is lixed for Wednesday, Feb. 7, 1733. They in vite Rev. Messrs. Andrews, Chaiincey, Hemingway, Whittlesey, ]S"oyes, Russell, Stiles, Arnold, Rnggles and Merrick, with a messenger from each clinrch. Capt. Russell, Dea. Rose and Isaac Foote are chosen committee to provide entertainment and manage for the Society. They also order that no negro servant shall be permitted to enter the meeting house on or- dination day, probably because the room will all be wanted for white folks. The provision will be better appreciated when we remember that of 1600 in the population of Bran- ford then, 130 were negroes, A fast is observed to prepare for the event. The ordination came off as follows, Mr. Robbins himself making the record. " The Eev. Mr. Samuel Whittlesey of Wallingford made the first prayer and preached the sermon from Ezekiel iii. 17, 18, 19. Then the Rev. 312 BRANFORD ANNALS. Mr. Jacob Hemingway of East Haven, made a prayer and gave me the charge. Then the Rev. Mr. Samuel Russell of Cohabit (North Guil- ford), made a prayer. Then the Rev. Mr. Isaac Stiles of North Haven gave me the right hand of fellowship. Then I named the Psalm, 118th Psalm, 4th part, and gave the blessing." The next month the Society granted Kberty to Mr. Robbnis to bnild a pew on the west side of the pnlpit stairs at the So- ciety's charges. Capt. Rosewell Saltonstall (son of the Qor- ernor), was given hberty to build a pew between Mr. Robbins' and the west corner of the house at his own charge. The negro seats were moved to a place over the gallery stairs, ISTegro slaves were often held by the more wealthy families at this time. Mr. Robbins had one a little later. They were generally treated kindly, and often received into church mem- bership with other persons. In 1738, John Goodsell trades fourteen acres of land on " Mulliner's hill " to Deborah Chid- sey, for a negro girl. Mr. Robl)ins was as yet unmarried, but is looking forward to securing a home. That hrst year he obtains a house-lot on '' Pig lane," a street that ran across Montewese street by the present Catholic church. Dec. 2-1, 1736, he was married to Miss Hannah Foote, daughter of Isaac and Rebecca Foote of Branford. The people then help their pastor to l)uild the house which is still standing, perhaps the second oldest house now in the town. There the minister spent the rest of his life, and there nine children were born to him. In that period of frugal li\'ing, it was a home of retined taste, superior culture and happiness. His wife became famous for household vir- tues and gentle hospitalities. Mr. Samuel Baker, who about the same time bought the " Cherry Hill " property and built the old house still there, a few rods below the more stately, modern structure erected by Gen. Schuyler Hamilton and now owned by Mr. Jolm W. ]^iehols, made Mr. Bobbins substantial presents of land and other things. Around the lire-places in his own house were specimens of the quaint tiles fashionable then, Imt possible only to the more wealthy people. j\Ir. Baker had an eye to BRANFOED ANNALS. 313 beauty of situation and outlook when locating Lis liome. He was an English gentleman of taste, and sought to reproduce in this land the circumstances of an English country Squire. The western part of Branford now was becoming most valua- ble. Business and social life w^ere centering there. The Sal- tonstalls, Bakers, Johnsons, Bradleys, Plants, Morrises and others had built and were building there. There was a mill at the outlet of Lake Saltonstall of some imjjortance. Roads were made to " Short Beach," " Double Beach " and " Land- fare's Cove " from the main road over the hills. One that en- tered on the west and south side of the hills was long ago given up. It was much used wdien imported goods were car- ried from Branford storehouses to jSTew Haven merchants. ISTearly every family at this period did considerable weaving of cloth. All cloth needed for clothing, bedding, etc., was woven at home, at looms in or near the house. Fulling mills were set up wherever a little water power could be had. These were contrivances for fulling and cleansing cloth by means of j)estle8 or stampers, which alternately fall into and rise from troughs where the cloth is put with fuller's earth or other cleansing materials. Judging by tlie number of privileges asked for and granted, for putting up fulling mills at different places in the town, there must have been much Hax raised and cloth woven in Bjanford. Several such mills were built along " Canoe Brook " and elsewhere in the western half of the town while the families just named were prominent there. The Tylers, Palmers and Monroes built houses just west of the present green. Two are standing yet. One was owned and occupied for over fifty years by the Rev, Timothy P. Gillett, who served the Branford church from 1808 to 1860, Bezaleel Tyler sold the place to Solomon Palmer, who prepared and gathered frames for houses and barns. But July 30th, 1734, Ephraim Parish bought land and frames and completed the buildings. He lived and died there. His son Ephraim also lived and died there, Russell Parish, his son, lived and kept "tavern" there for many years ; then sold to Rev, T. P, Gillett, In the open common on the south the " horse guards " always gathered for 31-i BRANFORD ANNALS. drill on " training days " of the olden times. The " infantry " were further east on the other slope of the hill, when they stood for inspection. The Rev. Mr. Russell's sons John and Jonathan were among the captains. By 1738 the meeting house huilt for Mr. Russell's congrega- tion is too small for Mr. Robhins' people, though the " North farmers" are by themselyes. Oct. 11th, 1738, they vote to build a new house west of the old one, 64 feet long by 44 feet wide with 24 feet posts. Forty years since the old house was built, had brought great changes in the circumstances and tastes of the people. They must have a meeting house to correspond with tlie improved conditions of things. When in 174(», they actualW go on to build they have their meeting house posts 26 feet long. When it is done by the winter of 1743-4, Capt. John Russell, Isaac Harrison, Deacon Samuel Rose, Capt. JSTathaniel Harrison and William Goodrich are appointed a committee to seat the new house, that is. to decide where people shall sit in it ; and they are directed to have regard to age, dignity, etc., in the matter. They also vote to pull the old house do\^m and sell it, all but the glass. The next month the committee reported the sale made and 60 " pounds " realized for the old stuff. This meeting house stood in front of the present brick house on Branford green, and served the u^s of the church for worship until 1843. It had no steeple or bell till the last of the century. These and the clock were procured by selling trees from the Society's lands, making and selhng salt at Indian Neck, and various sub- scriptions. Mr. Ezekiel Hayes had his blacksmith shop on the north side of the green nearly across the road from the old church. There, with his helpers he diligently wrought axes, scythes, etc. A little east a few years later he erected the brick house known as " Totoket Hotel," making the brick himself in the hollow just north. So large and so costly a structure there prompted his neighbors to call it *■' Hayes' Folly." He also sought water-power and wind-power for grinding the tools he made, getting the town's consent to put up wind-mills BRANFOED ANNALS. 315 and water-wheels in varions places. Jolin Todd is given liberty to erect tan-vats at Cannoe brook near Blatcliley's bill and Kose's swamp. These places were along the brook near where the present Cherry hill road crosses it. Cannoe brook has been continually vexed for two hundred years, with varions efforts to nse its waters for mechanical purposes. The same may be said of Branford river, from a little below its source among the To- toket mountains to the tide waters at Mill Plain. Stony river, starting from the well known " Paug Pond " where the cor- ners of North Branford, Guilford, Durham and Wallingford meet, runs through the whole of North Branford, supplying sev- eral mills and manufactories with considerable power. For a hundred and fifty years this river has been the means of filling the village of Northford with the busy hum of industry. Within ten years after Mr. Bobbins was settled there was a desire for still another church in Branford, and tliis time in the extreme northern section. The people mo^dng in tlie matter were mostly in that town, but several families from Walling- ford and Guilford joined them. Worship was held in Isaac Ingraham's house as early as 174-1:. There is a record like this : " Voted that we will have a meeting this summer upon the Sabbath Day." Merriman Monson, Samuel Bartholomew and Samuel Goodsell were ministerial committee. Isaac Foot was to time the Psalm and Elnathan Tyler to help him. In IT-IB the first meeting house was built, fifty feet long and forty feet wide. Edward Parker of Cheshire was procured to frame tlie house. Capt. Aaron Cook, Lieut. Philip Pond and Samuel Bartholomew were a committee on buildings. Peter Tyler, John Taintor, Abraham Bartholomew, Josiali Rogers, Abel Monson and Joseph Linsley were to get the timber. They each sub- scribe what they will do toward furnishing shingles and clap- boards. As for such as they hire to work on the house they agree to give four shillings a day to them that will work faith- fully and keep themselves. Among the subscribers are Samuel Hotchkiss, Benjamin Howd, Josiah Talmage, John Page, Ben- jamin Frisbie, John Baldwin, Benjamin Maltbie and Jonathan Parmelee. The church was finally organized June 13, 1750, 316 BRANFORD ANNALS. M'ith 19 members, all males. The next month 23 were added by letter, all females but one, mostl_y the wives of the men who first united. Rev. Warham Williams was ordained the pastor on the same day the church was formed. He was the grandson of Rev. John Williams of Deerfield, Mass., who was captured and carried to Canada by the Indians in 1704. Mr. Williams was son of Rev. Stephen Williams of Long Meadow, Mass. His mother was Abigail Davenport. He graduated at Yale College in 1745, and married Ann Hall, daughter of the Rev. Samuel Hall of Cheshire. He had 12 children, and was pastor of the Northford church 38 years. He was for a number of years a member of the corporation of Yale College. Northford has furnished more liberally educated men and women for various professions than any other place of equal size in the whole state. Mr. Williams was succeeded by the Rev. Matthew Noyes, who was also a member of Yale Corpora- tion and said to be the richest minister in Connecticut. The encouragement both these men gave to education served to bring about the result already alluded to. Large numbers of useful teachers of ehurch music have been furnished by this village, as well as doctors, clergymen, lawyers, teachers, and wives of the same. It was from this portion of Branford that the father of Miss Lucinda Foote originated, who after examina- tion was given a certificate by the president that she was fully prepared to enter Yale College, had the rules allowed the admission of ladies. Slie continued the college studies under the direction of the ofiicers for several years, obtaining as much discipline as any graduate. She afterwards married Dr. Thomas Cornwall of Cheshire, and became the honored mother of ten children ; her superior mental culture in no respect interfering with her efliciency as wife, mother and housekeeper. Rev. Warham Williams was in 1770 chosen Secretary of Yale College. His sons Jonathan Law Williams and William Augustus Williams graduated at Yale College. His daughter Anna was successively the wife of three ministers. First of Rev. Jason Atwater, then of Rev. Lynde Huntington, then of Rev. Joseph Barker. She outlived them all, and at last, when BRANFOKD ANNALS. 317 dead, was buried beside the first two in Branford cemetery. Tbey were successively pastors at Branford after Mr. Eobbins. Six others of his sons and daughters were respectably educated and married. Messrs. Eobbins, Williams and JSToyes were accustomed to instruct young men and women in their homes. They all fitted a number for college and practical life. Anions: jSTorthford men thus started on careers of usefulness may be named Rev. Erastus Maltbie, for nearly fifty years a Congregational pastor at Taunton, Mass. ; Rev. John Maltby, for twenty-five years pastor in Bangor, Maine ; Rev. Loammi Ives Hoadley, a prominent Congregational minister for nearly fifty years ; Rev. John Foote, the second minister of Cheshire Congregational Church ; Rev. Eli Smith, for many years a devoted missionary in Syria ; Rev. Lent S. Hough ; Rev. James H. Linsley ; Rev. B. St. John Page ; Dr. Jared Linsley ; Dr. Benjamin F. Harrison ; Dr. D. S. Tyler, and others. Deacon Smith, father of Eli, was a shoemaker. He took apprentices, and where they gave evidences of piety and fair talents, encouraged them to seek a college education. Living some distance from meeting he was yet very regular in attendance. His large wagon, filled every Sabbath by his numerous family of children and apprentices, went so uniformly to the House of God, it came to be dubbed " Dea. Smith's piety cart." In the earlier years of Northford history there were many Indians and negroes residing in this part of Branford. During the French and Indian wars most of them enlisted as soldiers in various expeditions, and few ever returned. Later, during the "War of Revolution, Col. William Douglass located his family in Northford. There and in the vicinity he enlisted over five hundred men. From that place, in June, 1Y76, he led this regiment, called the " leather caps," to join Washing- ton's army at Kew York. They were given the first place in the Connecticut line and ever proved a terror to the enemy. They were most actively engaged in the battles of Long Island, Harlem, White Plains, Phillip's Manor and New York. Death, wounds, thirst and exposure so diminished their numbers, that after three battles, of 503 only 224 were reported as fit for 318 BRADFORD ANNALS. duty. Col. Douglass returned to ISTortliford to die, May 28tli, 1777, and was there l)uried. Col. Return Jonathan Meigs then took command. Col. Douglass gave both life and property to his country. He furnished the guns and other arms for his men, and the expense was never refunded by the government. He was a Christian patriot, infusing his own children and others with the same spirit. His son William, when a boy eleven years of age, was sent on horseback from Plainfield to Groton, a distance of thirty miles, to bear dispatches to Col. Ledyard, a day or two before the landing of the British and the terrible massacre at Fort Griswold. Young Douglass promptly and fearlessly per- formed the feat, on the way to and fro swimming his horse across the Thames River above New London. A brave thing for such a child in that rough country and those exciting times. Events in the religious world were taking j^lace during the first years of Rev. Philemon Robbins' ministry, which ere long brought great trouble to him and his people. There had been a considerable period of spiritual deadness in the churches. The "half-Avay covenant'' arrangement prevailed. By this, many persons giving no visible evidences of renewed hearts were admitted to nearly all church pri\aleges. In Scotland, Ens-land and America alike, there was now a waking up from spiritual indifference. Great revivals were going on under the earnest preaching of Jonathan Edwards, George Whiteiield and others. The story of " The Great Awakening" possesses a thrilling interest. Quite a number of Congregational pastors joined in the movements newly inaugurated. Many of the churches had extra meetings and called in outside aid in preach- ing. The older ministers were more conservative. Whitefield had been generally received on his first tour through Connecti- cut. But his severe strictures upon worldly and unspiritual pas- tors had aroused much opposition to him and his measures. On his second course a large number of churches were closed against him. Yet multitudes of the people were eager to hear him preach. He therefore spoke to large congregations in the open air from the steps of churches or private houses in many towns. BKANFORD AN:N'ALS. 319 Some revivalists wlio followed in his wake and imitated his measures, with exaggerations, added to the disturbances. All favoring the new movement were called " new lights." The Xew Haven Association was especially opposed to the " new lights." In the latter part of 17-11, a conncil was held at Gnil- ford, where it was voted : " That for a minister to enter into another minister's parish, and preach or administer the Seals of the Covenant, without the consent of, or in opposition to the settled minister of the parish, is disorderly. Notwithstanding, if a considerable number of people in the parish are desirous to hear another minister preach, provided the same be ortho- dox and sound in the Faith, and not notoriously faulty in censuring other persons, or guilty of any other scandal, we think it ordinarily advisable for the minister of the parish to gratify them by giving his consent upon their suitable application to him for it, unless neighboring ministers should advise against it." Xot satisfied with this, they went to the General Assembly and got a law that : ' ' If any minister or ministers, contrary to the true intent and mean- ing of this act, shall presume to preach in any parish, not under his immediate care and charge, the minister of the parish where he shall so offend, or the civil authority, or any of the committee of said parish, shall give information thereof, in meeting under their hands to the clerk of the society or parish where such offending minister doth be- long, which clerk shall receive such information and lodge and keep the same on file in his office, and no assistant or justice of the peace in this colony, shall sign any warrant for collecting any minister's rate, without first receiving a certificate from the clerk of the society or parish where such rate is to be collected, that no such information as is above mentioned hath been received by him or lodged in his office.'' Under the workings of this act several of the worthy minis- ters were driven from the Consociation and Association and some dismissed. Kev. Mr. Humphreys of Derby, having con- sented to officiate at a Baptist meeting, was expelled. Rev. Timothy Allen of West Haven, was also expelled. He had been heard to say, " That the reading of the Scriptures, with- out the Spirit's aid, will no more convert a sinner, than reading an old almanack." Lee of Salisbury, Leavenworth of Water- bury, and Todd of Northbury, were also put out for similar 320 BRANFORD ANNALS. reasons. The Association resolved that Mr. Robbins' turn should come next. He was regarded as a " new light," because he was earnest, had some extra meetings for prayer, invited in revivalists, and led his chm'ch in inviting Mr. Whitefield. He was, however, naturally of a remarkably mild and benevolent spirit, reprobating all extravagances. When the celebrated Davenport was about to preacli for him and on the way tp the meeting-house broke out in loud and boisterous singing, Mr. Robbins reproved him at once for being so regardless of Christian decorum. But he induced liis church to join the request from Scotland for spe- cial and continued prayer for a revival of religion, and to vote that he, witli the consent of the deacons, might invite any or- dained or licensed preacher to officiate ; and did not join the movements against the brethren already condemned. In the early part of Dec, 1741, Mr. Robbins was invited to preach for the Baptists at Wallingford. Mr. John Merriman had been their minister for several years. They were within the bounds of the Rev. Samuel Whittlesey's parish. But by the advice of Governor Talcott, the Wallingford Society had not required any taxes from them for a number of years. There was a good degree of spiritual quickening among them and they invited Mr. Whittlesey to jjreach for them in some extra ser^aces during the week, but he refused. They then applied to Mr. Robbins. He received the following letter : " To Mr. Robbins, Branford. Sir : — After suitable respects to yourself, this note is to inform you that Mr. Bellamy has been with us at Wallingford, and i^reached in our Baptist Society to very good satisfaction and success on several persons both of our people, and also those of your denomination, with wliom we desire to join heartily in the internals of religion, though we can't in form ; so that it seems to be the desire of both denominations here, that yourself would oblige us with a sermon or two as soon as you can after the next week ; and please to send me when. This is also my de- sire for the good of souls and the glory of God. Sir, yours in good affection. John Merriman, Elder. WaUingford, Dec. 23, 1741." BRANFORD ANNALS. 321 Mr. Robbing accepted the invitation, and agreed to go on Jannary 6, 1742. Tlie day before he was to preach, he was handed a note from two of the members of tlie Cono-reji-ational Chnreh of Walhngford, requesting liini not to preach for tlie Bap- tists ; also a note signed by Rev. Messrs. Hemingway and Stiles to the same effect. But he saw no reason why he should break his engagement. There were many reasons why he should keep it. He did go and preached twice to large congrega- tions. He and the pastor also talked with many who were concerned for their souls. He had every token of being on the Lord's business. God greatly blessed his visit to the church which invited him. But at once many enemies were united against him. Immediately movements were made by the Rev. Samuel Whittlesey, in which others joined, that kept the Association, Consociation, Branford and other churches in a tm-moil for seven or eight years. The history of them is found in the church and Society records, in the New Haven Consociation and Association records, and especially in two pamphlets, now very rare. One is Mr. Robbins' "ISTarra- tive," and the other is the " Defence " of the Consociation and As- sociation. The last, as I ascertained by papers in the posses- sion of the late Prof. William C. Fowler, was the work mainly of the Rev. Nathaniel Chauncey of Durham. A¥e are con- strained to feel that Mr, Robbins bore himself through it all with Christian humility and forbearance. He soon quieted the lirst movements by a meeting with the iive brethren or mem- bers of his society who had been induced to make the com- plaint. But this was not what his opponents wanted. New complaints with additions were made from time to time, and nothing Mr. Robbins could say would satisfy. He asked the uneasy members of his church if they would not get from his Association just what would satisfy them. They came back saying : " We can get nothing definite, only we are told, ' If you can get hold of Mr. Robbins, catch hold !' " He was annoyed in his good name, being kept under a cloud of distrust and false charges for many years. He was injured in his circumstances, being deprived of much of his lawful 21 322 BRADFORD ANNALS. income, besides being subjected to expense and great anxiety in defending himself. No one could ever deny that lie was an able, faithful and successful laborer in every good cause. Though smarting under the sense of wrongs long persisted in, he eno-a^ed in no measures of retaliation, but M^aited for God to vindicate him. He lived to enjoy great favor in his own and other churches of the state. His trouble came from the unfraternal conduct of other min- isters. They planted and secretly fostered the little dissatisfac- tion among his own people. He could scarcely ever get hold of what was alleged against him, until the false report had gone abroad and done its mischief. He showed a readiness to own he had made a mistake in preaching at Wallingf ord, under the circumstances, and asked forgiveness for it, but would never own that he had done a moral wrong. This they demanded ; and because he stood like Huss before the Council at Constance and Luther before the Diet at Worms, "■ convince me wrong by the Word of God and I will retract, and not till then," they deposed him. But several of his brethren never consented to the deposition, and were always willing to exchange with him. He was linally cited to appear before Consociation, charged with teaching : " That infants were lost ; that certain dead persons were in hell ; that those who disapproved the late re- ligious stir were guilty of unpardonable sin ; that the Bible has no promise, and no direction how men should come to Christ ; that it is as easy for persons to know when they are converted, as it is to know noon-day light from mid-night dark- ness ; that it is a sign of a hypocrite not to know one's conver- sion ; that God could easier convert the seat a man sits on than a moral man ; that tliere were some sinners that Christ never died for ; that unconverted persons have no right to praise God." They complain of his bitter, censorious spirit, his excessive zeal and personal pride. Most of these charges he easily showed to be false, and the others gross exaggerations of harmless ex- pressions. In his defense, he showed that he did not know the BRANFORD ANNALS. 323 result of the Guilford Council, not l)eing present. He broke the rule ignorantly. Moreover it was claimed bj him and his church that they had never by any chui'ch action authorized or accepted the Saybrook Platform. The great body of his church stood iirmly l»y him through it all. Oct. 21st, 1745, at a full meeting of the Society the follow- ing vote was passed, 52 in favor, 15 against : "i. Tliat this Society is of opinion that what our pastor has offered to the Association of New Haven County, relating to his preaching to the Baptists in Walliugford, is sufficient. 2. That the Society desire the Rev. Mr. Robbins to continue in the ministi-y among us notwithstanding his preaching to the Baptists, and what the Consociation of New Haven Coimty liave done thereon. 3. That we desire tlie Rev. Consociation and Association not to send any councils or committees among us unless the Society desii-e it. Jf.. That a particular people have right to choose tlieir own minister, and no ecclesiastical authority has right to impose one ujion them with- out their vote and consent : so no authority has right to censure, suspend or depose a minister regularly ordained without the vote and consent of his people. 5. That we cannot submit to the acts or conclusions of any councils respecting the ministry among us, that are made without the vote and consent of this society." At a church meeting held the same year a week or two later, Nov. -ttli, the Church passed the following vote : " 1. That we renounce the Saybrook'platform and cannot receive it as a rule of government and discipline in this church. 2. That we declare this church to be a Congregational church. 3. That we receive the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament as the only perfect rule and platform of church government and discii)line. J^. That though we receive the Scriptures as the only perfect rules, yet as we know of no human composure that comes nearer to the Scrip- tures in matters of church government and discipline than the Cam- bridge platform, so we approve of that for substance, and take it for our platform, agreeably to the word of God. 5. That we are not hereby straightened in our charity, but are free to hold commujiion, not only with Congregational churches, and church members that are in good standing, but with those called Presbyterian and also with those under the Saybrook platform regimen." 324 BRANFORD ANNALS. Voted also, "That in testimony of our respect to other churches, and freeness to commune with them, we are wilHng that our Rev. pastor should exchange labors with ordained ministers in New Haven County, or invite any of them to preach with us, as opportunity presents." JS^otwitlistaiidin^ these votes tliey are still labored with, yet June 16th, 1746, they vote to abide by their former action, and to make it more emphatic subscribe their names to it, 78 in all. 28 dissent, Nov. 2d, 1747, the thing comes uj) again, but they refuse to hear the doings of Consociation read, and reiter- ate even more emphatically, the former assertions of indepen- dence of outside control, and satisfaction with their pastor, and intention to support and assist him. The Consociation got the General Assembly to appoint a committee to see to it. But nothing more was ever done. The whole thing died out. Church and pastor were gradually fel- lowshipped as before. Mr. Robbins was of medium height, inclined to corpulency. He was distinguished for activity and readiness of mind, for quick, retentive memory, for taste rather than for profound in- vestigations. He had a strong and pleasant voice, free and en- gaging manners and Itreathed much of natural benevolence of spirit. He preached from short notes and had a ready com- mand of language in ex tempore speaking. He was happy in his family, his children living, several of them, to iill honorable positions. Chandler and Ammi both graduated at Yale College. Chandler was ordained at Plymouth, Mass., in 1760, spending his life there in one of the largest parishes of New England. Ammi first entered Nassau College, because of his father's accpiaintance and friendship with President Burr. He died however, and Ammi came to Yale. The Sophomores claimed to be indignant at his joining their class. Robbins made tliem an entertainment where good cheer prevailed and all was thereafter smooth. He and Chand- ler both studied theology with Dr. Bellamy of Bethlem. Ammi was ordained first minister at Norfolk, Conn. Some of his grandchildi'en are the Battells of Norfolk, well known as benefactors of Yale College and other worthy interests. BRAN FORD ANNALS. 325 One daughter of Rev. Philemon Robbins married Rev. John Keep of Suffield, another married the Rev. Peter Starr of War- ren, another Dr. Wilham Gould of Manchester. Mrs. Hannah Bobbins died June 16th, 1776, aged 64. Her death occurred on the Sabbath, her husband being with her, while her son the Rev. Ammi was preaching for his father. On Oct. 21st, 1778, Mr. Robbins married Jane Mills, widow of Rev. John Mills of Kent and mother of Samuel J. Mills of Torringford and grand- mother of Samuel J. Mills of Missionary fame. Mr. Robbins died August 12, 1781. The Sabbath before, he preached with unusual power, closing his sermon with the words "glory! glory !" The next day, after dinner, he sat in his arm chair, smok- ing- as usual. His wife having left the room for a short time, re- turned to find him apparently asleep, but was unable to arouse him. A physician was quickly called who said at once : "It is death ! without a pang." For some years he had occasional sick turns. The coming on of the War of Revolution greatly interested him and unset- tled all business. His sons and sons-in-law go into the army as chaplains, surgeons, etc. Times are hard. The Society arranges to supply the pulpit when he is ill and he gives up a part of his salary to enable them to pay the supplies and be- cause of the scarcity of money. The progress of history has fully vindicated Mr. Robbins and his church. This worthy man's grave is well marked by a sub- stantial monument, within one hundred feet of the spot where the Yale College organizers met in the Rev. Mr. Kussell's par- lor. The great-grandchildren of Mr. Kobbins have arranged that their ancestor's grave at Branford shall be kept green in all future years. " Time often heals all wounds : Time Tindicates all wrongs." The same year and month that Mr. Robbins died, Eev. Jason Atwater, who was born in Hamden, May 5th, 1759, graduated at Yale College. He was the son of Jacob and Miriam (Ives) Atwater. He was called to Branford, and ordained March 10, 326 BRANFOED ANNALS. 178-1, and married Anna Williams. With some assistance from the people, he built the house where Eliza Rogers now lives. He only served the people eleven years, dying June 10th, 1794. At Mr. Atwater's settlement there was quite a division of feel- ing. A bare majority settled him. The feeling against him grew. The minority tr}^ to get excused from paying taxes. This was not allowed, unless they joined some other society. There was really no other society then. This occurred March 7th, 1784, just after Mr. Atwater's settlement had been decided ujjon. They therefore form a society, and fifty-four persons give notice to the First Congregational Society that they have joined with the Episcopal Society, Dec. 11th, 1784. There were, without doubt, persons in Branford soon after 1700, who would have preferred Episcopal services, but we learn of no movement made until 1749. Then the troubles over Mr. Rob- bins' case led to a movement toward another church. A town record says : " 1749, first Monday in December, On the re- quest of Nathaniel Johnson and John Wilford, in behalf of the members or professors of the Church of England in this town, for a committee to ascertain and lay out a suitable piece of land in some of the high-ways in said town for them to set up and build a Church on," a committee was chosen. But the movement was not followed up. In 1750, Dec. 24, the Society voted, " to grant liberty to professors of the Church of Eng- land (as they call themselves) to meet in the Meeting House on the 25th of December, which they call Christmas." They also vote to give seats to Church of England people, in their house, and 1762, March 2d, vote to give seats to the famihes even of such as are not willing to i3ay the usual taxes. All efforts for a separate church subsided until Mr. Atwater was called. The town then votes them liberty to build on the spot formerly chosen, viz : " School House Hill." On June 2d, 1784, the Episcopal people have a meeting at the house of Capt. John Russell. Rev. Bela Hul)bard, who seemed to direct their efforts, was present. Ebenezer Linsley was chosen Moderator, and William Monro, Clerk. Capt. Samuel Russell and Eben- ezer Linsley were chosen as committee to provide a house of BRANFORD ANNALS. 327 worship. At the next meeting, live days later, Abraham Ho- bart and George Bartlett, from Guilford, are present and pro- pose that Branford and Guilford shall have the same minister. Aug. 4th, 1784, they have another meeting, and vote to secure Kev. Ashbel Baldwin of Litchfield,- for minister of both towns, each place to pay forty pounds. Eev. James Sayre came and opened the church Nov. 28th, 1784. Ebenezer Linsley and Capt. Samuel Eussell are chosen wardens. Capt. John Eus- sell, Obed Linsley, Thomas Frisbie, John Kogers, Jr., Papil- lian Barker, Capt. Ebenezer Barker and Edward Barker are chosen vestrymen. The new Society has a meeting Dec. 28th, 1784, at which it is voted to build a church on " Baldwin's Hill,'' instead of by the side of '^ School House Hollow." They went forward, dif- ferent persons giving timber and other materials. Timber was provided for a spire, but it was never built. Sometime in 1785, April, the town grants them pei-mission to get and Imrn oyster shells to make lime for the church. After the first impulse the enthusiasm declined, and for a long time progress was slow. Mr. Baldwin was with them more or less. He was the son of Isaac Baldwin, Esq., and was born at Litchfield, March 7th, 1757. He graduated at Yale College in 1776, and then went into the army for a few years. He married Clarissa, the daughter of Mr. Samuel Johnson of Guilford. She was grand-niece of Kev. Dr. Johnson of Strat- ford. Bishop Seabury ordained him Deacon, Aug. 3d, 1785, and Priest, Sept. 18tli, same year. He was a small sized man and slightly lame. He had a loud, clear voice, and was a good speaker and debater. He was long a member of the standing committee of the diocese. He was of agreeable manners and abounded in anecdotes. He died at Kochester, N. Y., aged 89. The Branford Episcopal Church had a Mr. Hull for a year, then the Eev. Edward Blakely, after that Dr. Munson, Mr. Pardy, Mr. Miles, then Mr. Baldwin again, whose services fill out the century for them. A year after Mr. Atwater's death the Congregational Church calls and settles Kev. Lynde Huntington, Oct. 28th, 1795. He 328 BRANFOED ANNALS. was from Lebanon, Conn., the son of Oliver and Anna (Lynde) Huntington. He married tlie widow of his predecessor, June 15th, 1796. His early ministry was full of promise, but a lin- gering disease soon set in and terminated his labors Sept. 19th, 1804. Ko town in New Haven County was more important during the War of Independence than Branford. Her citizens proved very j^atriotic. There were a few royalists who were some- what troublesome. But most of her people were self-sacrificing in a special degree in sustaining the Federal cause. No town surpassed her in furnishing men and means. Most of her able- bodied men were in the army in some capacity, responding promptly to every call. We have already spoken of Col. Wil- liam Douglass and his regiment. Eev. Samuel Eells, who was settled at the North Parish, March 8th, 1769, was very patriotic. When Washington was near New York he sent for help from Connecticut in 1777. This sudden call came to North Branford while the people were at worship. Mr. Eells stoj^ped and read the notice from the pulpit and invited all to adjourn to the green. There a company was at once formed under the lead of Lieut. Samuel Baldwin. He waived his place as caj^tain and Mr. Eells was chosen. His commission dated from Jan. 1-1, 1777. The company had sixty men. Mr. Eells was a man of much native humor and vivacity and a welcome guest at every fireside. He interested children very much. He was a large, heavy man and fond of good cheer. He occasionally went to Indian Neck fishing. On one trip his carriage in a narrow part of the road ran upon a projecting rock. The vehicle was broken, and he thrown out with so much force as to sj^rain a limb. As the people gathered to help him up he could not resist the impulse to joke, saying : " Well, my friends, you find me the biggest eel you ever caught." That rock, now nearly all cut away, is known as " Eells reef " to this day. April 23d, 1808, Mr. Eells died. Coast guards were needed and were kept night and day along the shore at Stony Creek, Indian Neck, Town Neck and Bran- BRANFORD ANNALS. 329 ford Point. At the approach of the enemy two reports of a cannon were to call out all the people to repel invasion. Ex- presses were kept in readiness to hasten to the remote parts of the t( »wn with alarming news. When iS'ew Haven was invaded patriots from Branford were qnickly on hand to help. A com- pany of her men were in the battle at Milford Hill. Goodrich and Baldwin of her men were killed and several wounded. The attack on the east side of Xew Haven harljor was repelled by the Branford home guard mostly. At that time a new brig, •• The New Defence," was at Branford wharf nearly ready to -ail against the enemy. At the first alarm the guns of this vessel were taken out and hurried over the hills to East Haven. There mounted, and vigorously used and well supported by brave minute men with their muskets, the invaders were com- pelled to hasten their retreat. One of the reports made by British oflicers speaks of the great force and "great guns" encountered in that direction. There is an old record showing that Mason Hobait was paid five pounds for carting two can- non to East Haven from the brig " Xew Defence," July 5th, 1779. That day large numbers of Xew Haven people fled to the northern part of Branford, and were kindly entertained by the good people there. As evidence of the spirit felt by Branford men. we speak of Sergt. Munson, who was captured at Montreal and kept two years. On his exchange he was told, " You have seen enough, you will never fight us again." " I will fight you the first opportim^ity I" was his reply. I have sought to confine these annals within the eighteenth century ; touching so much upon church matters because they occupied so important a place in the town's history during this period. THE CAPTIVES OF THE AMISTAD By Simeon E. Baldwin. [Read May 17, 1886J. The most famous case ever tried in Connecticut was that of the Amistad. None ever awakened a wider interest or a deeper feeling. There is sometliini!; e divided between Spain and Portugal, l)ut on appeal, the greater j^art of the proceedings were disapproved, including the lottery. Chief Justice Mar- shall delivered the opinion of the Supreme Court, and declared that the slave-trade had always been recognized as not unlaw- ful by the law of nations, though it was prohibited by Act of Congress to Americans ; but that while the Spanish and Portuguese claims for restitution were valid, each of those governments was bound to make out by satisfactory evidence which of the negroes belonged to its subjects. This was known as the case of The Antelope* and though decided by a Court equally divided in opinion upon some of the questions, was recognized from the first as the great obstacle in the road of the Ainisiad captives to liberty. It was relied on by the counsel for the claimants in the trial in Connecticut, and it was felt that the final struggle at Washing- ton would* depend greatly on the manner in which this precedent might be treated. In the argument before the Supreme Court, Mr. Adams was to act as the senior counsel for the captives, and he snatched every moment he could spare from his Congressional engagements, to bestow on the pre- paration for their defence. One day, he is moving the Supreme Court to order copies of more of the Connecticut proceedings to be sent up to Washington; on another he is in conference with the British minister ; on another delving into the dusty files of the Court for the original papers, on which the decision of the Antelope was reached. The formal brief for the argument, stating the various legal points and authorities, was wholly prepared by Mr. Baldwin, though signed by both. The District Attorney of the United States for the District of Columbia, at this time, was Francis S. Key, the author of the Star Spangled Bmmer. Mr. Adams met him in the * 10 Wheaton's Reports, 66; 12 id. 546. THE CAPTIVES OF THE AMISTAD, 353 Supreme Court room, shortly before the case was readied, and fell into a conversation about it, of wliicli his diary contains this note : * " He said he was afraid there was not any chance for the poor creatures ; that the case of the Aiiteloj^e was precisely in point against them. He had argued that case for the freedom of the negroes, but it had been overruled. Yet it would never do to send them back to Cuba. The best thing that could be done, was to make up a purse, and pay for them, and then send them back to Africa. I said we hoped to prove that the case of the Antelope wovild not be conclusive in its bearing upon our clients ; but he continued very positive that it would. I went, therefore, into the Supreme Court library room, and took out the volume of Wheaton's Reports con- taining the case of the Antelope. I read as much of it as I could, and longed to comment upon it as I could ; but I have neither time nor head for it — nothing but heart." As the day drew near for the final argument, Mr. Adams writes in his diary (Dec. 12th 1840), that he began to prepare for it "with deep anguish of heart, and a painful search of means to defeat and expose the abominable conspiracy, Executive and Judicial, of this Government, against the lives of these Avretched men. How shall the facts be brought out? How shall it be possible to comment upon them, with becoming temper— with 'calmness, with moderation, with firmness, with address, to avoid being silenced, and to escape the imminent danger of giving the adversary the advantage in the argument by overheated zeal ? Of all the dangers befoi-e me, that of losing my self-possession is the most formidable. I am yet unable to prepare the outline of the argument, which I must be ready to offer the second week in January. Let me not forget my duty." f He was not the only person who was anxious about the character of his coming argument. His power of invective was well known, and friends of the navy officers who had seized the vessel began to fear that his denunciations might fall upon them. On Jan. 9th, 1840, he writes : :j: " Miss Margaret Monroe Stuart, came in— a maiden lady, who in the compass of half an hour, uttered in one continued stream, more good words than I could record in three months. Her sister is the wife of * Memoirs, x., 396. f Memoirs, x., 373. J lb., 393. 23 354 THE CAPTIVES OF THE AMISTAD. Captain Gedney, who is here very sick, and, she fears, not very sound in mind. She came to entreat me that in arguing the Amistad case before the Supreme Court, I would not bear hard upon Caj)tain Gedney, for she fears it might kill him, and she is sure it would kill her sister. I assured her that I would have all due consideration for the condition of Captain Gedney." Wlien the Africans heard that the argument in the Suj)reme Court was about to come on, tliey determined to write a letter to Mr. Adams, and Ka-le a bright boy of eleven who had picked up more English tlian the older ones, was selected as the scribe. The following was the result, written with no aid from white men : " New Haven, Jan. 4, 1841. Dear Friend Mr. Adams : I want to write a letter to you because you love Mendi people, and you talk to the grand court. We want to tell you one thing. Jose Ruiz say we born in Havana, he tell lie. W^e stay in Havana 10 days and 10 nights, we stay no more. We ail born in Mendi— we no under- stand the Spanish language. Mendi people been in America 17 moons. We talk American langviage little, not very good ; we wi-ite every day ; we write plenty letters ; we read most all time ; we read all Matthew, and Mark, and Luke, and John, and plenty of little books. We love books very much. We want you you to ask the Court what we have done wrong. What for Americans keep us in prison. Some people say Mendi people crazy ; Mendi people dolt, because we no talk America language. Merica people no talk Mendi language ; Merica people dolt? They tell bad things about Mendi people, and we no understand. Some men say Mendi people very happy because they laugh and have plenty to eat. Mr. Pendleton * come, and Mendi people all look sorry because they think about Mendi land and friends we no see now. Mr. Pendleton say Mendi people angry ; white men afraid of Mendi people. The Mendi people no look sorry again — that why we laugh. But Mendi people feel sorry ; O, we can't tell how sorry. Some people say, Mendi people no got souls. Why we feel bad, we got no souls ? We want to be free very much. Dear friend Mr. Adams, you have children, you have friends, you love them, you feel very sorry if Mendi people come and carry them all to Africa. We feel bad for our friends, and our friends all feel bad for vis. Americans no take us in ship. We on shore and Americans tell us slave ship catch us. They say we make you free. If they make us free they tell true, if they no make us free they tell lie. If America people give us free we glad, if they no give us free we sorry— we sorry *The jailer. THE CAPTIVES OF THE AMISTAI). 355 foi- Mendi people little, we sorry for America people great deal, because God punish liars. We want you to tell court that Mendi people no want to go back to Havana, we no want to be killed. Dear friend, we want you to know how we feel. Mendi people think, think, think. Nobody know what he think ; teacher he know, we tell him some. Mendi people have got souls. We think we knoio God punish us if we tell lie. We never tell lie ; we speak truth. What for Mendi people afraid? Because they got souls. Cook say he kill, he eat Mendi people — we afraid — we kill cook; then captain kill one man with knife, and cut Mendi people plenty. We never kill captain, he no kill us. If Court ask who brought Mendi people to America? We bring ourselves. Ceci hold the rudder. All we want is make us free. Your friend, Ka-le."* It was agreed by tlie counsel for the Africans to present first a motion to dismiss the apj^eal, on the ground that the United States had no riglit to take it, for want of any legal interest in the result. This was to have been argued on Jan. 16, but Judge Story was absent, and Chief Justice Taney an- nomiced that the Court had deemed it advisable to postpone its consideration for a few daj^s until his arrival, as the matter was an important one and should be heard by all the Judges. Mr. Adams was glad of the delay, for, he writes :f " I was not half prepared, and went to the Court with a heavy heart, full of undigested thought, sure of the justice of my cause, and deeply desponding of my ability to sustain it. " During this interval, the British Minister on the suggestion of Mr. Adams X addressed a note to the Secretary of State, stating that his government had reason to know that the Amistad negroes were illegally imported into Cuba on a Portuguese slaver, and, on account of the fact that Spain renounced the slave-trade for a valuable consideration, given by Great Britain, the Queen took a peculiar " interest in the fate of these unfortunate Africans, who are known to have been illegally and feloniously reduced to slavery by sulijects of Spain." He therefore expressed the hope that the Prasident wbuld find * From the Emancipator, for Mar. 25, 1841. f Memoirs, x., 399. X Memoirs, x., 400. 356 THE CAPTIVES OF THE AMISTAD. himself empowered to take such measures as would secure to the prisoners " the possession of their liberty, to which, with- out doubt, thej are by law entitled." After several postponements the hearing was reached, at last, on Saturday, February 20, 1841. The motion to dis- miss the appeal, and the merits of the appeal were to be dis- cussed together, and, the Attorney General, Mr. Gilpin of Pennsylyania, who had succeeded to Mr. Grundy of Tennessee, opened the argument. He ^yas to close on Monday, and Mr. Adams spent Sunday evening in his last preparations. " Of all that I have written," he says in his diary, " nine-tenths are waste paper," - and, on Monday, he writes again : " I walked to the Capitol with a thoroughly bewildered mind — so bewildered as to leave rae nothing but fervent prayer that presence of mind may not utterly fail me, at the trial I am about to go through." The Attorney General made a calm and logical argument, starting from the position that the ship's papers were conclusive as to the point that the negroes were lawfnlly held as slaves. If slaves, then they were property, and, as such, Spain had a right to demand their restitution, and our government but did its duty in endeavoring to enforce it, as we had done in the case of the Antelojye. He spoke for five hours. Mr. Baldwin followed, in what Mr. Adams describes as " a sound and eloquent, but exceedingly mild and modest argu- ment."t His clients, he said, were contending for freedom and for life, with two powerful governments arrayed against them. Was ours to become a party to proceedings for the enslavement of human beings cast upon our shores, and found in the condition of freemen, within the territorial limits of a free and sovereign State :* The United States had brought this appeal on the ground that these men were the property of Spanish subjects, and had been demanded by Spain. But the Spanish minister was no party to the appeal, and in one of his official notes to the State Department had expressly declared that the legation of Spain did not demand the delivery * Memoirs, x., 429. f Memoirs, x. 429. THE CAPTIVES OF THE AMISTAD. 357 of slaves, but of assassins. These prisoners have been gnilty of no crime. Cinqne, the master-spirit who guided them, had a single object in view. That ol\ject was — not piracy or robbery — but the deliverance of himself and his companions in suffering from unlawful bondage. They owed no allegiance to Spain. Their object was to free themselves from the fetters that bound them, in order that they might return to their kindred and their home. A review of the legal points followed, and he closed with an allusion to the high considerations of national honor which had brought with him to their l)ar that illustrious citizen, who " after enjoying the highest honors that this or any other country can bestow, deems it a still higher object of his ambi- tion to appear before this tribunal to plead the cause of helpless strangers, who have been thro^\T^i by Providence upon the hospitality of this nation, and at the same time, in the name and I trust as the representative of the American people, to vindicate the honor of our country and the claims of humanity and justice." Monday and Tuesday were thus occupied, much to the relief of Mr. Adams, to whom every moment gained for further preparation was precious. On Tuesday morning, he writes in his diary : " With increasing agitation of mind, now little short of agony, I rode in a hack to the Capitol, taking with me, in confused order, a number of books, which I may have occasion to use. The very skeleton of my argument is not yet put together.* His interest in the cause was intense, and he said more than once, that if he should be in any way instrumental in rescuing these people, he should consider it the greatest event in his life. On Wednesday morning, February -24:, the " old man eloquent " rose to address the Court. In his own words : "I had been deeply distressed and agitated till the luoment when I rose ; and then my spirit did not sink within me. With grateful heart for aid frora above, though in humiliation for the weakness incident to * Memoirs, x. 429. 358 THE CAPTIVES OF THE AMISTAD. the limits of my powers, I spoke four hours and a half, with sufficient method and order to witness little flagging of attention by the Judges or the auditory."* He did not hesitate to make a direct attack upon the expir- ing Administration, and declare tliat its conrse had been governed not by any sense of justice, but by sympathy for Spanish slave-traders. And what, lie said, had been the demand of the Spanish minister ? That the President of the United States should first turn man-robber ; rescue these forty Africans from the custody of the Court ; next turn jailer and keep them in his close custody to prevent their escape ; and lastly turn catch-poll and convey them to the Havana to appease the public vengeance of the African slave-traders of the barracoons. The Court adjourned for the day in the middle of his argument, and on re-convening the next morning there was a vacant chair among the Judges. Mr, Justice Barbour of Virginia, had died during the night, with no premonition of danger, the fatal stroke Ijeing not improbably due to the excite- ment incident to the great cause, for the Judges had remained in the conference-room until a very late hour. An adjourn- ment for the week followed, and it was not till March 1st, that Mr. Adams resumed his argument. He was still unsparing in his denunciation of the course of the Executive ; to which he said, he was driven l)y his refusal to withdraw *the appeal, notwithstanding a personal solicitation to do so which he had himself descended to make. Had the President ventured to give the order recommended by the Attorney General for the delivery of the captives to the Spanish minister, the people of Connecticut never would and never ought to have suffered it to be executed on their soil, but by main force. The warrant he did issue to put them on board the Gmmpics, assumed a power that no President had ever assumed before, one wliicli it was questionable if the most despotic government of Europe possessed. Such a power would put the personal freedom of any citizen of the United States at the disposition of executive * Memoirs, x. 431. THE CAPTIVES OF THE AMISTAD. 359 discretion, caprice, or tyranny. It was tlie servile snbmission of an American President to tlie insolent dictation of a foreign minister. The President mnst have been profoundly ignorant of the self-evident truth that the right of personal liberty is individual, that to every one that right is his own ; for had he known it, he would have been guilty of willful and corrupt perjury to his official oath. It was a lawless and tyrannical order, and issued in cold-blooded cruelty, for the commanding officer of the Gmmjnis had warned those who sent him on this errand, that his vessel was too small to carry so large a cargo of human flesh. The warrant, though absolute on its face, was made conditional on the judgment to be pro- nounced, by instructions to the District Attorney, thus " letting 1 dare not, wait upon I would." But the Attorney had encouraged the Secretary of State with soothing hopes " that the decree of the Judge, ordering the Africans to servitude' and death in Cuba, w^ould be as pliant to the vengeful thirst of the barracoon slave-traders, as that of Herod was in olden times to the demand of his dancing daughter for the head of John the Baptist in a charger." Thus far Mr. Adams had taken the part of an orator, rather than of a lawyer, but he now made a very thorough and clear review of the case of The Antelope^ and put the various rulings of the Court in the best light for his clients, of which they were susceptible. He closed w^ith remarking sadly that a generation had passed away since the last time he had stood at that bar. Every Judge then upon the bench had passed away. His contemporaries at the bar had gone with them. One of the Judges l)efore wdiom as arbiters of life and death, he had begun this very argument, was no longer among them. He, himself, was tliere for the last time, and could say, as he took his seat : " Hid ccestus, artemque repono.'"' The counsel for Lieut. Gedney were ready to follow him, in support of their claim for salvage, but the Court declined to liear any discussion as to that, until the question of jurisdiction, on the motion to dismiss, was disposed of. The Attorney 360 THE CAPTIVES OF THE AMISTAD. General therefore closed the case, on March 2d, occupying the entire day, as Mr, Adams says, in "reviewing, with great moderation of manner, chiefly Mr. Baldwin's argnment, and very slightly noticing mine." * In the official report of the case, the arguments of the Attorney General and Mr. Baldwin are given at great length, bnt it is stated that, as no minute of that hy Mr. Adams was furnished by him, none could be given, and that " as many of the points presented by Mr, Adams, in the discussion of the cause were not considered by the Court essential to its decision ; and were not taken notice of in the opinion of the Court, delivered by Mi-. Justice Story, the necessary omission of the argument is submitted to with less regret." f The decision was announced early in the following week. It declared that the ship's papers of the A^nifitad were only jpriina facie evidence that the negroes were slaves, and had been amply overborne by testimony to the contrary. It also held that the Spanish treaty did not affect citizens of other governments, nor prevent kidnapped Africans from asserting and defending their liberty in any court. They were not, it was held, within the meaning of the statute of 1819, as to transporting negroes illegally brought here back to Africa, and must therefore '"be declared free, and be dismissed from the custody of the Court, and go without day." A brief note, written from the Court room to Mr. Baldwin, on Friday noon, March 9th, announced that " The decision of the Supreme Court in the case of the Amistad has this moment been delivered by Judge Story. The captives are free," and was signed : "Yours in great haste and great joy, J. Q. Adams." Three years were still to elapse before the first telegraph line was established, and the J^ew York newspapers outran the mails, bringing the glad news to New Haven on March lltli. * Memoirs, x., 437. + The United States vs. The Amistad, 15 Peters' Reports, 518, 566. THE CAPTIVES OF THE AMISTAD. 861 Tlie negroes had by this time, on acconnt of the demohtion of the old jail, been taken to more roomj quarters in Westville, and the Marshal without waiting for the official mandate, drove out immediately to tell them of the result. " The big Court," he said, " say you all free : no slaves. Here it is in this paper — read it." Cinque rephed for the rest, "Me glad; me thank the American men," and told Ka-le to read it out aloud, but still looked as if he were in rather a doubting mind, saying "■ Paper lie sometimes." Yery soon, however, all misgivings were dispelled by the arrival of Mr. Ludlow and another faithful friend, Amos Townsend, and they all knelt down together to thank God for their final deliverance. Freedom had come, but it was a barren gift. They were separated from their homes by the distance of half the glol)e, and in a State where they might be pitied, but were certainly not wanted. Two of the party had died in our jail. The Amistad, in which they had sailed to our shores, as masters, had been taken from them and sold with her cargo, pending the appeal, for the benefit of her original owners, and to pay the salvage claims. " Tell the American people," one of them said, " that we very, very, very much want to go to our home." * Mr. Bakhvin wrote to Mr. Adams in regard to the uncertain- ties of their future, and the following was his reply. " Roger S. Baldwin, Esqr., New Haven : AVashington, IT March, 1841. My dear Sir : Your obHging and very acceptable favour of tlie 12th inst. is before me. You observe tliat the inquiry is frequently made, what shall be done with the late captives of the Amistad, now that by the Supreme tribunal of the land they have been de- clared free f Doubtless the benevolent friends of human nature and sup- porters of human rights who with a spirit worthy of guardian * American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Reporter, Extra, Dec, 1840, p. 12. 362 THE CAPTIVES OF THE AMISTAD. angels, messengers from the tlirone of God, at tlie moment of tlieir deepest calamity came to tlieir aid and rescued them from the hand of lawless power, will yet not desert them in their mitigated but still distressed and helpless condition. They will still feel it to be tlieii- duty to cause them to be conveyed to their native land. But should the costs and charges necessai-ily incidental to that oi:)eration be borne by them? Certainly not. Is not the Government of the United States bound in honor and in justice to perform it 'i The Decree of the District and Circuit Courts so ordained. The Decree of the Supreme Court pronounces thevafree, and if free 7iow, surely free when found by Lieutenant Gedney in possession of their vessel and cargo, the lawful spoils of their vanquisjied enemies and oppressors, and affording them ample means of completing the law^ful vov- age uj)on which they were then bound to their homes. The Supreme Court of the United States has pronounced them free — but the executive and judicial authorities of this country have forcibly seized their persons and tlieir property, have kept their persons eighteen months in prison, have taken from them tlieir property, including the vessel, without which they could not accomplish their voyage, and now turn them adrift in a strange land, where they cannot subsist without as- sistance, and whence they cannot depart for their own country but by aid of the same charitable liands which first were ex- tended for their relief. I suppose ^^'ith their freedom they may in this country earn their subsistence by their labor, but their desire to return to their own homes is reasonable and just, and the Government of the United States having by its fnilitary, executive and judicial authorities deprived them of the means of accomplishing that purpose, is bound in the forum of conscience to send them home at its own charge. I am not sure that it would not be bound in the same forum to indemnify them hberally for eighteen months of false imprisonment. I would suggest to their friends, the j^ropriety of addressing a memorial to the President of the United States, representing the facts, and requesting that a vessel of the United States may THE CAPTIVES OF THE AMISTAD. 363 be autliorized to take and convey them to Sierra Leone or to some point on the coast of Africa whence thev may be safely condncted to their own native soil. And if the President should think this would transcend his authority, a memorial to Con- gress might call upon the Legislative Department to confer the authority and provide the means of accomplishing this act of justice. It would be a suitable and proper atonement for the desecra- tion of our navy, in the projected expedition of the Gramfus. Limiediately after the opinion and decree of the Supreme Court were delivered, 1 applied for a mandate to the Marshal of the District of Connecticut to discharge forthwith all his pris- oners of the Amistad. Judge Thompson, who was about returning immediately to New York, assm-ed me that he would issue himself the order, and have it executed himself witli delay. I have caused the opinion and decree of the Supreme Court to be pubhshed in the National Intelligencer. I am, with great respect, dear Sir, Your friend and serv't, J, Q. Adams." The "Amistad Committee " wrote to Mr. Baldwin, on April 15th, to congratulate him on the successful termination of the cause. " The complete and final victory," they said, " which has crowned the case, in the face of so many taunting predictions of enemies, and desponding fears of friends, is the best attesta- tion to the wisdom and fidelity with which it has been con- ducted. And as the laboring oar has been chiefiy in your hands, and the main responsibility of the case has rested on your shoulders, and we doubt not has weighed heavily on your mind for many long months, we feel that the happy issue is to be ascribed, under favor of a kind Providence, in a very great degree to your skillful and able efforts." The committee resolved not to relinquish their labors until the Africans had been safely restored to their native land. ]^ew appeals for subscriptions were made, and a party of the 364 THE CAPTIVES OF THE AMISTAD, captives was taken about tlie country for exliil)ition, accompa- nied by some one who was able to tell their story for them, and urge their cause upon the sympathies of the public. The rest were sent uj) to Farmington for employment and instruction. In a few months the necessary funds were secured, and in 1842 the survivors found themselves again in their oym coun- try, accompanied by two Christian missionaries. The first sug- gestion was that they should be sent back in this way under the auspices of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and the Amistad committee offered what funds they had collected to the Board for this purpose, provided they would make it an anti-slavery mission. The offer was not made with the approbation of the extreme abolitionists, who would have nothing to do with a society which accepted contri butions from slave-holders. " How,'' said the Emancipator^^ " would the peojjle of Mendi receive a mission supported by the sale of negroes in Virginia — -provided the wJtole Htory were told ? The very idea of such a mission would make fiends lauo-h." The Board declined the propositi on, f and the Amistad com- mittee thereupon went forward on its own responsibility in establishing the " Mendi Mission," which still exists as an im- portant center of Christian civilization. In 1846, its mainte- nance was assumed by the American Missionary Association, a society formed by the union of four prior missionary organ- izations, of which the Amistad committee was one. Cinque, on his return, relapsed into savagery Init finally set- tled down into the j)osition of interpreter of the mission station, where he died, about 1 879. Margroo (or Sarah), one of the girls, became a teacher at the mission school, and was the last survivor of the whole company. The services at Cinque's funeral were conducted by the Rev. Albert President Miller, a graduate of Fisk University of the class of 1878, who, after a tei-m of missionary service in Africa, came to this city in 1883 to be the pastor of the TemjDle Street Congregational Society. The Secretary of State had offered to surrender Antonio to * Issue of April 15, 1841. f Life of Arthur Tappaii, p. 321. THE CAPTIVES OF THE AMISTAD. 365 the Spanish legation, immediately after tlie decision of the Dis- trict Court in 1840, As, however, the District Attorney sug- gested that his testimony would be important for use against the Africans, should the appeal of the United States be success- ful, he Avas allowed to remain in jail until the final judgment of the Supreme Court. When informed of it, he still professed his desire to return to slavery, but just as our government was about to turn him over to the Spanish authorities, he slipped away to New York and placed himself in the hands of Lewis Tappan, who soon put him beyond the chances of recapture. On May 29, 1841, the Chevalier de Argaiz addressed to our State Department a formal demand for indemnity for the losses to the owners of the Aiiihtad and her cargo, and for an assur- ance that the forced and illegal " course given to this affair " by the government of the Union, should " never serve as a prece- dent in analogous cases which may occur." Daniel Webster was now the Secretary of State, and he at once sent a clerk to Mr. Adams for advice as to his rej^ly. The latter writes, in his diary. May 31, 1811, " I gave him Mr. Baldwin's argument in the case of the Amistad^ and desired him to advise Mr. Webster not on this occasion to truckle to Spain."* The matter was laid before President Tyler, and in the fol- lowing September a reply was made, taking the ground that the decision of the Supreme Court was conclusive on the Exe- cutive, and declining to accede to any of the demands of the Spanish minister. The latter rejoined that he had " received express orders from his government to protest in the most sol- emn and formal manner against all that has been done by the courts of the United States in the case of the schooner A) nist ad.'''' Mr. Webster returned to this, on June 21, 1842, a lengthy dis- patch, in which plainer language was used than that of his for- mer communication, and Montez and Ruiz were described as persons who '' had held in unjust and cruel confinement certain negroes who, it appeared on the trial, were as free as tliem- selves."f Spain again expressed her dissatisfaction with these * Memoirs x. 470. ■t- Webster's Diplomatic and Oflicial Papers, 355. 366 THE CAPTIVES OF THE AMISTAD. views in language of rather a threatening character, and the President communicated all the correspondence to the House of Rei^resentatives,* with a recommendation that the amount of the salvage allowed to the officers of the WasMngtmi should be refunded, as a proof of our good faith. The Committee on Foreign Affaii-s reported on the matter, April 10, 1844. The decisions of our courts, they said, were erroneous. "A lawless combination, insisting that these blacks were guilty of no offence, resisted their being punished or tried in this country, or their extradition for trial and punishment in Cuba."t . . . "Zealots, with the help of the press, re- sisted the course of justice, and resolved to free the negro malefactors at all hazards. Moral force and intimidation (too significant of the physical violence to be the last resort, should justice be done), were put in operation to awe the courts, and rescue the slaves from their control. If they had been white, the due course of law would have been undisturbed. But the fanatical denunciation of negro slavery, which latterly passed over from England to America, created these blacks heroes and martyrs, surrounded them with irresistible succor, and your committee own with humiliation, set all law and its administration at defiance." Dr. Madden's testimony was de- nounced as the bold fabrication of a salaried spy. " "We are ac- customed," the report continued, " to regard the Spanish inqui- sition as the worst possible dispensation of injustice. But what will be said of American justice when large bodies of men combine, and not only with impunity but applause and tran- scendent success, prostrate treaties, annul acts of Congress, intimidate courts of justice, seize and imprison parties litigant before them, steal their adjudged property, and by fictitious contrivances of proof, overthrow all law to set free murderers, robbers and pirates ? " They then analyzed the evidence and findings on which the judgments were jjronounced, and com- mented with great severity on a discrepancy of a year which they had discovered in the "judicial chronology " in regard to * By his messages of Feb. 27, 1842, and January 24, 1844. t Reports of Committees, 1st Sess., 28th Congress, vol. ii.. No. 426. THE CAPTIVES OF THE AMISTAD. ■ 36T tlie time tlie negroes Lad been in Cnba. XJnhickily, however, this mistake was their own, as they had assnmed the capture by the Washington to have been made in Angnst, 1840, when it really was in Angust, 1839, a gross error, the exposure of which greatly discredited their conclusions. They recommended an appropriation of $70,000 to indemnify the owners of the Ami- stad and her cargo, and Charles J. Ingersoll of Pennsylvania, their chairman, moved that ten thousand copies of the report be printed for public distribution. Joshua R. Giddings made the single speech which was neces- sary to defeat the measure.* It is indexed in the Congressional G/ohe, as " Eemarlcs on the subject of paying for the negro pirates on the schooner Amistad.'''' Mr. Adams had prepared himself to follow Mr. Giddings, but the report was laid on the table so promptly that he had no opportunity to give his views to the public, except through the newspapers. He wrote of it in his diary : "A baser and more profligate misapplication of pul)lic money was never made than that proposed by this bill ; and seven years in a penitentiary- cell would be a strictly just retribution for the report."t A year later, he published, in an address to his constituents, the speech which he had intended to deliver in the House,— a biting attack upon the committee, whom he charged with throw- ing before the public a " putrid mass of slander," and a report "thick-sown" with "false and spurious principles of interna- tional law." The Spanish minister, encouraged by some allusions to the matter in President Tyler's annual message, had meanwhile (on Dec. 4, 1844) again brought the matter to the attention of our Department of State, of which John C. Calhoun was now the head, in a dispatch in which he dwelt on the "gratuitously cruel persecutions against inoffensive subjects of her Catholic Majesty, of which an example fortunately rare in the annals of civilized nations, has been exhibited in the confiscation of the Amistad, its sale, and the arbitrary confinement, in public * Cong. Globe, 1st Sess., 28th Congr., appendix, p. 500. t Mem. xii. 186. 868 THE CAPTIVES OF THE AMISTAD. prisons, of the two respectable S^janiards, escaped from tlie murderous dagger of the negroes, who had inflicted a violent death on the captain and crew of that ill-starred vessel," He commended Mr. Ingersoll's report very warmly, as giving " most estimable proofs of noble frankness and of an intrepid love for truth." This was followed up, after President Polk's accession to office, by another letter (of Jan, 29, 1846), to Mr. Buchanan as Secretary of State, and both these communications were then brought to the attention of Congress. They were referred by the House, to the committee on Foreign Affairs of which Mr. Ingersoll was still chairman, and they renewed their former report,* on June 24, 1846, but without effect, the measure only receiving about forty votes. In his next message, the President recommended an appro- priation for the benefit of the Amistad claimants, as a measure required both by good policy and faithful compliance with our treaty obligations. Before this recommendation was acted upon, in February, 1848, Mr. Adams' long term of service in the House of Representatives, beginning in 1831, came to a sudden close. He died at his post, in the Capitol, sinking to rest with these words on his lips : " This is the last of earth ; I am content." At the close of the session, an appropriation of $50,000 to be paid to the Spanish government in settlement of its claims, was carried in the Senate, but defeated in the House. Among the senators voting in the negative was Roger S. Baldwin of Connecticut, one of the new members, who had recently taken his seat, and the leading speech against the proposition in the House was by the late John A. Rockwell of Norwich. Another bill for the same purpose was favorably reported to the Senate in 1851, and again in 1852. Gov. Seward of New York, who had entered the Senate in 1849, opposed its adop- tion, and it was not acted upon during the session. The annual message of President Pierce in 1853, revived the * Report No. 753, House of Representatives, 29tli Congress, 1st Ses- sion. THE CAPTIVES OF THE AMISTAD. 369 subject, and advised an appropriation. Mr. Giddings again took the floor against it, and again with success. The next administration, that of President Buchanan, a few years later, still urged this measure upon Congress, and it was discussed for the last time in both Houses. The Senate committee on Foreign Affairs reported in favor of an appropriation, a minoritv report however, being submitted by Gov. Seward. The bill went to a second reading, but no farther, and the latest trace of it is found in the unfinished lousiness that went over, at the close of the first session of the thirty-fifth Congress, May 20th, 1858. So ended the last chapter in the history of the Amistad. ISTew questions had arisen to occupy the public mind. The discussions that shook the councils of the nation in 1859 and 1860, were not as to whether slave-traders should be paid for the escape of their living cargoes, but first whether the whole system of society out of which the slave-trade sprang was not a false one, and then whether those who so believed, if a majority of the American people, should be suffered to exercise the powers of government at Washington. I will not allude to the history of the last quarter of a cen- tm-y farther than to say that the United States is not the only land that has grown freer since that Summer -day in 1831) when the captives of the Amistad were blown upon our shores. At the Milan Conference of the Association for the Reform and Codification of the Law of Nations, held in 1883, resolu- tions were adopted that "every clause in any international treaty, which binds a State to give up slaves who have come within its territory, is invalid witJi regard to international law," and that " wh,ere the extradition of an accused person who was a slave in the country seeking for his extradition is requested, such extradition should only be accorded, if the extradition of a free man would be accorded in the same case."* Copies of these resolutions were communicated to the Spanish govern- ment, among others, and on May 17, 1884, a response was sent from tlie Colonial office at Madrid, approving their declara- * Report of Conference of 1888, -p. ] 18. 34 370 THE CAPTIVES OF THE AMISTAD. tions, and stating that tliey " are in no way an innovation in Spain, whose ancient laws have always recognized as free the slave who enters the territory (including her own) of a nation where slavery does not exist, or who seeks refnge on hoard a ship helonging to such a nation." In liis argument hefore the Supreme Court, Mr. Baldwin had asserted that " The United States, as a nation^ is to be regarded as a free State." If this position was questionable then, it was assured twenty years later, and it is pleasant to see that another twenty years has brought Spain herself into the same rank, and hears her mmistry disowni the claim on which their predecessors so stoutly founded their demand for the restoration of the captives of the Arahtad. THE TRADING-HOUSE Q]^ THE PAUGASSE^. / By Rev. William G. Andeews, D.D. V [Read October 18tli. 1886. J The great historian, Diedrick Knickerbocker, in the twelfth chapter of his f ourtli book, describes certain soldiers as " worn out with constant campaigning," at abont the year 1646. Nevertheless, some of those same soldiers are at this moment drawn up in line of battle, and vigorons enough to l)e not only reviewed but interviewed, a far more trying experience. For the " standing army " wdiich our historian celebrates, being the one commanded at this period by William Kieft, Governor (or Du-ector) of New Netherland, consisted of " the four and twenty letters of the alphabet." These warriors were arrayed, as we learn, in ''bad Latin, worse Enghsh, and hideous Dutch." The particular battalion which we are about to inspect and in- terrogate (along with that led out against it), originally wore the dress in Mdiich the troops of Julius Caesar still threaten the peace of studious youth at the Hopkins Grammar School. But it now wears an English uniform, and as that must have been manufactured at New Haven, it is no fault of Director Kieft if it- is worse than the Latin, and it probably is not. On the third of August, 1646 (new styie), Kieft wrote as fol- lows, in words quoted before you seven years ago, by our pre- sent presiding officer :* " To thee, Theophilus Eaton, Gou-'nor of the place by us called the Bed Hills in New Netherland, (but by the English called New Haven)." These words indi- * New Haven Hist. Soe. Papers, iii. 273. 372 TBE TRADING HOUSE ON THE PAUGASSET. cate the general ground of controversy between the English and the Dutch colonists. For Kieft's Kew Netherland stretched far beyond the Red Hills, and even the Red Island (called Rhode Island by Yankees sj^eaking bad Dntcli), to New Holland, or Cape Cod.* But the Director had lighted on a new grievance. " Because you & yours," he proceeds, " have of late determined to fasten yoiir foote neere Mauritius Ryver in this Province, & there not onely to disturbe our trade of noe man hitherto questioned, & to drawe it to y 'selves but utterly to destroy it, we are compelled again to ptest & by these p^'sents we doe ptest against y"," etc. Governor Eaton replied, under date of August 12, (old style): "We know no such Ryv""," (as the Mauritius), " neither can we conceave what Ryu"" y" intend by that name, unlesse it be that w'^h the English have long & still doe call Hudson's Ryu""." Denying all intrusion, past or present, he adds : " It is true we have lately upon Paugaset Ryu"", w4i falls into the sea in the midst of these English plantacons, built a small house within o"" owne lymitts, many miles, nay leagues from the Monhattoes, from yo"^ trading house and from any part of Hudson's Ryu'', * * * nor did we build there till we had first purchased a due tytle from the true proprietors."f Governor Eaton undoubtedly believed, and was right in be- lieving, that Kieft's complaint related to this establishment on the Paugasset. But the river Paugasset is hardly more familiar to us than the IMauritius was to Eaton. Accordingly the site of the trading-house has been placed at a variety of points by careful historical students. Mr. Savage, the editor of Winthrop's Journal, puts it at Derby ;:{: the historian Hildreth, " high up the Housatonic, near a hundred miles in the interior," or about the present site of Stoekbridge ;§ Dr. O'Callaghan, the early editor of the colonial documents of New York, at Springfield.|| * New York Hist. Coll., New Series, i. 274, 292, etc. New Haven Hist. Soc. Papers, iii. 443. f Hazard's Hist. Coll. of State Papers, ii. 55-6. New Haven Col. Rec., i. 265-6, and note. X Winthrop's History of Neiv England, Savage's ed. , ii. 328, (modern paging). § History of the U. S. (N. Y. 1880), i. 434. II Docs. rel. to Col. Hist, of N. Y., i. 284, note. THE TRADING HOL'SE ON THE PAUGASSKT. 373 As recently 1881 the opinion has been expressed that Kieft's letter probably refers to Springiield and Eaton's to Derby.* I do not hope to deal exhaustively with the question as to the true locality, and my apology for offering the society a probably incomplete recital of the facts must be that for years an account has been looked for at the hands of a gentleman who is of all men best fitted to prepare it, but who has thus far been occupied with more important tasks, and that I am assured that such an account as I can give will now be accepted, for lack of a better. And although what I believe to be the correct answer was not long ago made public, there is ample room for an orderly state- ment of the evidence, and the archives of the society ought to contain something like a summary of what is known with regard to the matter. Our first business is to get as much information as we can out of what the governor of New Netherland and the governor of New Haven said to each other, in order to avoid reaching conclusions in conflict with what they must have known. Be- ginning with Kieft's letter, we find him complaining of some recent enterprise of the New Haven people which seriously threatened the Dutch trade with Indians living in the region bordering on the IMauritius, or Pludson, ri\'er. This river was often called Mauritius by the Dutch, in honor of their great captain and stadtholder. Prince Maurice of Orange, son of William the Silent,f as was the island, still known by his name, in the Indian ocean. Now, as far as a mere approach to the Hudson was concerned, the English had advanced westward along the coast to Eippowams, or Stamford, in 161:1, five years earlier. And Kieft's complaint of a fresh aggression, upon a trade before unmolested, suggests a subsequent movement to- wards the Hudson at some point farther north. The principal trade of New Amsterdam was with the tril)es on the upper Hudson, and had it been possible to divert that permanently to New Elaven the Dutcli would have l)een almost ruined. In fact New Amsterdam was almost ruined already by wars with the * N. Y. Col. Hist, (as last ref.), xiii. 21, note. t Doc. Hist. ofN. F., iii. "27 ; Hildreth's U. S., i. 137. 374 THE TRADING HOUSE ON THE PAUGASSET. native.^, for wliicli Kieft himself was largely responsible. The Indians for a Inindred miles above the mouth of the river had never been very friendly, and the trade "■ of noe man (questioned " had been vei*y vigorously questioned a year or two before by those just north of the Highlands. Peace had been made in August, 1645, but the Dutch hold on much of the trade was j)recarious, and Kieft must at this time have been particularly jealous of English competition.* His protest, then, makes it probable that the new line of connnunication opened by New Haven led northwest, in the dii'ection of some point as far north as the Highlands. Turning to Eaton's letter, his adnussion that '' a small house" had been l)uilt " lately upon Paugaset Piver," reminds us that in 1642 two residents of New Haven were " excused fro watch- ing for the present because of their iraploymt att Pawgasett."f Paugasset was the Indian name of Derby, and one of the his- torians of that town tells us that tliese men were employed " on what is now Birmingham Point.":}: As no permanent settlement, apparently, was made here for a nund)er of years,§ it is probable that the place was first occupied for purposes of trade, and the theory of Mr. Savage and others that the trad- ing-house mentioned by Governor Eaton was at the junction of the Housatonic and the Naugatuck looks plausible. But the establishment at Paugasset was in 1646 at least four years old, or half as old as New Haven itself, and would scarcely have been referred to either by Kieft or Eaton as recent, while it is unlikely that Irving's '' William the Testy " would have borne even an imaginary wrong in silence for four years. Derby, more- over, is much farther from the Hudson than Stamford, and is not far enouffh inland to have had much more effect on the Dutch trade than the coast towns of Milford and Stratford, ten miles below. And as Eaton merely says that the trading-house was on the river Paugasset, he leaves us free to look beyond Derby. * Ruttenber's Ind. Tribes of midson's Ri'Her, 63-4, 94, 111, 118, 120 ; Hildreth's U. S., i. 423-4, 431. • t New Haven Col. Rec. , i. 74. tOrcuWs Ind. of West. Conn., 16, 107. § N. H. Col. Rec, i. 77, 148, etc. THE TRADING-HOUSE ON THE PAUGASSET. 375 The river in question iniglit, as far as tlie name defines it, be either the Housatonic or the N"augatuck. The latter was appar- ently sometimes called Paugasset,* and Mr. Brodhead, the his- torian of New York, supposes that such is the case here.f But the Housatonic was generally meant when this appellation was used,:}: and Eaton's statement that the river " falls into the sea" applies in strictness only to the Housatonic. It was known by half a dozen different names during the colonial period. And a glance at the map will show that a movement up this stream from Derby would have had a north-westerly direction to a point in the lower part of Kent, where it almost touches the New York line. Governor Eaton's description of the post as '' within o'' owne lymitts" open a wide field for conjecture. He could hardly mean the limits of the New Haven jurisdiction, for since the colony had neither charter nor patent, its Ijoundaries were de- fined only by the successive purchases made from the natives, and the site of the trading-house was not within the jurisdic- tion until after it had been bought. The limits spoken of must be those of what the writer calls " these English planta- cons," including the New Haven towns east of the mouth of the Housatonic, and the Connecticut towns west of it. He may have had in mind either the boundaries named in the New England patent of 1620, to which he appealed a year later,§ or those of the so-called " Warwick patent " of 1632, which em- braced the territories of both New Haven and Connect- icut. To the north the settlers might, in their commercial ventures, have paused at the Massachusetts line, if they knew where it was. But to the west, as far as this phrase of Eaton's guides us, we are free to look for them at Chicago, or on the northern shores of the Great Salt Lake, or on the coast of California. But we are already confined to the Housatonic, which we observe, finally, does its best to uphold Governor Eaton in placing the trading-house '' many miles, nay leagues," * Derby Records, i. 39 (MSS). t Brodhead's Hist, of the State of Netv York, i. 428. t N. H. Col, Rec, ii. 222. § X. H. Col. Rec., i. 508. 376 THE TRADING HOUSE ON THE PAUGASSET. from the Hudson. Even at Kent the distance between the two streams a little exceeds twenty miles, and Eaton may easily have supposed that it was everywhere greater. When Kieft affirmed vaguely that Kew Haven traders had come "neere Mauritius Ryver" he probably depended on information of doubtful accuracy, derived from the natives. Combining the evidence supplied by our two primary authorities we have grounds for thinking it likely that the post in question was on the Housatonic somewhere between Derby and the southern boundary of Massachusetts. But there are other contemporary references to this New Haven enterprise in both Dutch and English documents. Gi\-ing the Dutcli the j)riority as the aggrieved parties, we have, first, a letter from the directors of the AVest India Company in Hol- land. It was written near the close of the ^-ear 1646, and was addressed to Peter Stuyvesant, who had already superseded Kieft. The writers urge the breaking up the obnoxious estab- lishment by the use of all means which would not involve war, and they speak of it as situated " 10 leagues from Fort Orange," or Albany. If this estimate could be trusted it would require us to look for the trading-house in the reo-ion in which Hikb'eth places it, near the headwaters of the Housatonic, in Berkshire county. But it is not trusted by the editor of the volume which contains the document, for he thmks Springfield, 102 miles from Albany by rail, the probable site of the post,* We need not hesitate, therefore, on the score of distance, to con- tinue our- search within the limits of Connecticut, only looking as far north as other evidence permits. In dealing with all such estimates at this period, we have to make allowance both for imperfect knowledge of geography and for the temptation to which that fact would expose the parties concerned, to make their guesses favor their own interests. In the year 164-7 several letters passed between Stuyvesant and the 'New Haven authorities. In one of them the former indignantly denies a charge spoken of by Eaton that he (Stuy- vesant), had threatened to destroy the trading-house, f That * N. Y. Col. Hist., xiii. 21 and note. \ N. H. Col Rec, i. 511, 521. THE TRADING-HOUSE ON THE PAUGASSET. Sl7 such an attempt should have been thought of by anybody in- creases the improbability that Derliy, ten miles from Kew Haven, and within reach of prompt relief, was the locality which we are looking for. About two years later, or in 1649, we find a statement ap- pearing in substantially the same form in two or three Dutch documents. As made in a " Remonstrance " addressed to the home goverimient in the name of " the People of New Neth- erland,"" it is to the effect that " the English of N^ew Haven have a trading post situate to the east or southeast of Mag- dalen island, at no greater distance than six leagues from the North river." The island is described as about seventy miles above Fort Amsterdam, and the sole design of the English is declared to be " to attract or wholly destroy the enth-e trade of the North river."* Magdalen island is in fact ninety-nine miles from the railway station in Forty-second street, New lork, and therefore more than a hundred miles from Fort Amster- dam, at the Bowlmg Green.f It lies half a mile below Tivoli, in the upper part of Duchess county, and the village of Mad- alin, near by, perpetuates the name, with a variation. This serious inaccuracy witli regard to the length of a line within the Dutch territories, relieves us from the necessity of looking for the trading-house at a point within " six leagues" (or eigh- teen miles), from the Hudson, which we evidently could not find on the Housatonic. We ought, however, to prosecute our search as near as may be to the westernmost bend of that river. And this we are encouraged to do by finding that in two years the distance of the post from Albany has consider- ably increased. The Directors in Holland made it ten leagues, or thirty miles, but Magdalen island is itself more than forty miles south of Albany, and a point due east, near the Connec- ticut boundary, would be still farther. The writer of the Re- monstrance, however, was not sure whether the true direction was east or southeast, and it is not difiicult to show that it was * N. Y. Col. Hist., i. 284; cf. N. Y. Hist. Coll., New ser., i. 274; O'Callaghan's Hist, of 'New Netherland, i. 375. t Letter from Rev. G. L. Piatt ; N. Y. Hist. Coll., New ser., i. 464-5. 378 THE TRADING-HOUSE ON THE PAUGASSET. probably the latter. Magdalen island lies near the southern limits of the Mohicans of the upper Hudson. These Indians seem to have been less unfriendly to the Dutch than those below them on the east bank of the river, especially than those between their territories and the Highlands.* The latter, hav- ing taken an active part in the recent hostilities, would have been much inclined at that time to welcome English oifers of trade. If a trading-house were established on the Housatonic where they could reach it most easily, it must have been south- east from Mao;dalen island, while the Mohicans near that island would be among the hrst to hear of it, and would probably be the iirst from whom the Dutch boats moving up the river would get the information. The mention of the island as the j3oint from which the direction was reckoned is thus naturally accounted for, and accepting the alternative which the writer of the Remonstrance leaves open to us, of southeast instead of east, we are guided down the Housatonic from the Massachu- setts line, towards some point readily accessible to the Indians of centr*al and southern Duchess. The indications thus far are not defiiiite enough to enable us to fix the place, but as I^ew Haven itself lies southeast of Magdalen island, we may as well bear in mind that a line connecting these two points would cross the Housatonic in the present town of Kent, and run nearly parallel to its course through Xew Milford. Contemporary evidence of English origin within my knowl- edge is less abundant, but rather more definite. Less than a month after the date of Eaton's letter, or on the 9th of Septem- ber, 16-16 (old style), the Commissioners of the United Colo- nies (Washington Irving's '' Great Amphictyonic Council of the Pilgrims "), met at Kew Haven. Governor Eaton pre- sided, and his correspondence with Director Kieft was laid be- fore them. They approved, as might have been expected, of Eaton's course, and so informed Kieft. A few words of the latter' s reply to the Commissioners are worth repeating, partly because they show how formidable a competitor New Haven seemed to New Amsterdam, but chiefly because they display a * Inds. of Hud. Riv., 41 ; Moravian authorities. THE TRADING-HOUSE ON THE PaUGASSET. 379 modesty seldom exhibited of late. " We received," lie writes, " such an anfswere to om- Protest from the inlial)etaiits of Newhaveii as we expected, the eagle alwaies despiseth the Bee- tle fly."* This tribute from the ruler of the island of Manhat- tan, however, gratifies us more than it instructs us ; it supplies no information about that secluded nest of the eagle which had enraged the beetle. But new light, some of it undoubtedly imparted at this meeting of the Commissioners, comes to us from the opposite direction, as light is in the habit of doing, namely from Boston. Governor Winthrop was not one of the Commissioners in 1646, but he must have known of their pro- ceedings from John Endecott and Herbert Pelham, who repre- sented Massachusetts. He had also, apparently in advance of the meeting, the benefit of a letter from Director Kieft, set- ting forth his grievances. In the " History of New England," the matter is twice spoken of. The first time Winthrop writes : " The merchants of New Haven had purchased some land of the Indians aljout thirty miles to the northwest of them upon Pautucket river, and had set uj) a trading-house. The Dutch governour made a protest against it, and sent it to Mr. Eaton, claiming the place to be theirs, and witliin ten Dutch miles of Fort Orange." The last statement, it may be ob- served, was not made in Kieft's letter to Eaton, but probably had been made to Winthrop. In his second reference to the subject, Winthrop says that the trading-house was "upon a small river some thirty miles up into the country, and some fifty miles from Fort Orange. "f The name Pautucket, which the Massachusetts governor gives to the river, is supposed by his editor, Mr. Savage, to be written by mistake for Pequusset, or Pegusset. This is plausi- ble, since Eaton calls the stream Paugasset. But Dr. J. H. Trumbull gives us another Indian word as " the equivalent " of Pautucket, and one much more readily transformed into it, if it were caught by sound, namely, Potatuck.:|: And Potatuck * Hazard's State Papers, ii. 54-7. 68-9. jHist. ofN. E., ii. 328, 388. X Lid. Names in Conn., 56. 380 THE TRADING-HOUSE ON THE PAUGASSET. was a name long in use for tlie lower Housatonic,* and likely to be so nsed by Wintbrop's informants. On tbis point tben, tbe two governors are in agreement ; tbeir river is tbe Housa- tonic. Tbe distance of tbe post from Fort Orange, as first given, " ten Dutcb miles," corresponds to tbe " ten leagues " of tbe letter from Holland, at the close of 1646, one Dutcb mile being equal to tbree Englisb, or to one league. Tbe addition of twenty miles in tbe second reference, barmonizes more nearly witb tbe Dutcb estimate of 16-1:9. But if AVintbrop is rigbt in putting tbe trading-bouse " about tbirty miles " from ]S^ew Haven, even fifty miles is too little for its distance from Al- bany, wbicb is more tban one bundred miles from New Haven, as tbe crow files. And we may safely assume tbe substantial correctness of tbe first statement, since on tbis point AVintbrop's ultimate autbority must bave been tbe ]S^ew Haven mercbants, wbo knew very well wbere tbeir ti-ading-bouse was. We now know, too, tbat it lay to tbe nortbwest, and remembering tbat by tbe old post-road it is tbirty-six miles from ]^ew Haven to New Milford, we find ourselves led from tbis side into tbe same region to wbicb we made our way, more doubtfully, from Magdalen island. Anotber point wbicb lias to be considered is tbe possibility of a serious inroad upon tbe trade of tbe Hudson from any local- ity on tbe Housatonic. And bere tbe records of tbe same meeting indirectly belp us. Tbe Commissioners, we are told, "'tbougbt fit to examine Wotcbibrok, a Potatuke Indian," wbo bad accused tbe great Connecticut sacbem, Sequasson, of biring bim to murder some one of tbree Hartford magistrates, two of wbom were now among bis examiners. AVben tbe murder bad been committed be and Sequasson were to take refuge witb tbe Mobawks, '' but on tbe way wben tbey came to tbe Wampog Indians be sbould give it out tbat Unkas bad bired bim " and so bring tbe wratb of tbe Englisb upon tbeir famous Mobegan ally, wbo was Sequasson's enemy.f Mr. DeForest calls Wotcb- *Cothren's Ancient Woodbury, i. 11 ; .V. H. Col. Rec, ii. 491 ; Ind. Names in Conn., 56. t Hazard State Papers, ii. 61. THE TRADING-HOL^'SE ON THE PAUGASSET. 381 ibrok "a liar and a villain,"* and this description appears to be entirely accurate. But it is quite possible, and is often ad- vantageous, for a liar to tell the truth incidentally, and all that concerns us is what he, as a Potatuck, says about the Wampogs. The Indians known to the settlers as Potatucks were those of the Potatuck, or Housatonic, valley, above Derby, and at a later date those especially of the present Southbury and New- to^vn.f For those between Derby and the sea other names were in use among the English, and AVotchibrok's original res- idence may be supposed to have lain to the northwest of New Haven, thoug-h his field of usefulness was evidently a wide one. The Potatucks, however, were closely connected with the in- habitants of other villages along the river, and it has been in- ferred from the evidence of deeds that they were the principal tribe of the region,:]: and even that the name belonged to all the Indians of the Housatonic valley as far as the Massachusetts line. The European habit of designating the natives by the particular localities which they occupied undoubtedly creates an appearance of tribal distinctions where none existed. But Potatuck itself was one of these local names, and we may more reasonably infer that the Indians of the lower Housatonic were united in a common organization, however loose, under some other name than Potatuck. And who were the " Wampog Indians "? Their territory was to be traversed in a flight from Hartford to the Mohawk country, west of Albany. Flight in a direct line would there- fore have taken the fugitives through Western Massachusetts. But AYampogs are assumed in Wotchibrok's story to have been in communication with the English, to whom they are expected to repeat his slander of Uncas, and we naturally look for them farther south. It is natm-al, too, to suppose that Wotchibrok would have represented himself, when going into exile, as tak- ing his own kinsmen on the way, and by avoiding Farmington he could have easily reached them unobserved. At what pre- * Indians of Conn.. 222. i Ind. Names in Conn., 56 : Anc. Woodbury. XAnc. Woodbury, i. 86: Inds. of West. Conn., 101, 198. 382 THE TRADING-HOUSE ON THE PAUGASSET. cise point on the Hoiisatonic they lived we can only guess, but tlie Potatuck territories certainly extended, afterwards, many miles above Southbury. At all events, the Wampogs, being kno^\Ti to the English, probably lived not far from the western liorder of Connecticut, Now a hundred years later we find the Moravian missiona- ries describing nearly all the converts in the Housatonic valley, from Southbury, or " Potatik," to Kent, as Wampanos, or Wampanoags. Those living in the upper part of Duchess county, on the other hand, are almost invariably styled Mohi- cans.* The Moravians are excellent authority as to the names which the natives applied to themselves, and we may be tolera- bly sure that before the middle of the last century those whom they found on the Housatonic generally called themselves Wampanoags. It is a legitimate inference that their ancestors had done the same, and that we have in Wampog merely an English variation of the native tribal name. In that case our Potatuck friend was himself a Wampanoag, and in hastening through the Wampog territory, he was paying a Hying visit to his own people. But the name Wampanoag, or Wampano, is identical with that which the Dutch pronounced Wappinger, and which was their name for the Indians established south of the Mohicans, especially those of central and southern Duchess.f The two tribes appear together in our records, as Wabingas and Morhi- canders.:}: The former name survives in Wappinger's creek, emptying into the Hudson a few miles below Poughkeepsie ; in Wappinger's Falls, a village on this stream ; and in the town- ship of Wappinger, formed some years since from the north- western part of Fishkill. The original word, meaning East- landers, had a far wider application, § l)ut its specific use in J^ew York, as the name of the Duchess county Indians, is what now * Bishop de Schweinitz, Life of Zeisbergea, 117, note; Memorials of Morav. Ch., i. 144-53 ; Moravians in N. Y. and Conn., 9, 73, 159, 164-6. cf. Loskiel and Heckewelder. f Ind. Tribes of Hudson River, 370-1. :}: Conn. Col. Bee, ii. 506, note. g N. Y. Hist. Coll., New Series, i. 206, 294-5. THE TRADING-HOUSE ON THE PAUGASSET. 383 concerns us. And from that fact, together with otliers which have been stated, we may fairly infer that the Potatncks were essentially one with a tribe which extended to the Hudson, and that the trading-house, being within their territories on the Housatonic, would sensibly affect the trade of the Dutch on their own river. Dismissing contemporary documents, we find otlier indica- tions, most of them belonging to the seventeenth century, which point to hal)itual intercourse between the Indians of the Housatonic and the Hudson, and which guide us more or less clearly towards a particular locality. In 1683, as I infer, and no doubt much earlier, a trail led from the mouth of Fishkill creek, just above the Highlands, to the Housatonic. Its course eastward from Whaley pond, the source of the creek, is not stated by my authority,* but as far as I can judge from the map, the shortest line from the pond to the river, a line twelve or fourteen miles in length, would meet the river in the lower part of New Milford. This evidence is a little indefinite, but it certainly strengthens the probability that a trading-post in that neighborhood would soon have been visited by Wappingers from the Hudson. The proofs which Indian deeds often furnish of intercourse and relationship between scattered native communities could not be abundant in the present case. We are told tliat '' there is but one perfect transfer title on record " for lands owned by the Wappingers along the Hudson.f This deed, given in 1683, and conveying to Francis Rombout and Gulian Yerplanck the territory lying between Fishkill and Wappinger's creeks, and extending nearly half-way to the Housatonic, does, I think, furnish one item of evidence not without value. Among the signers appears an Indian called Peapightapieuw, whom it is hard not to identify with Papetoppe, the sachem whose name heads the list of grantors in the first deed given, about twenty years later, or in 1702, to the settlers of New Milford.:}; It is * Hon. J. J. Monell, Washington's Headquarters, etc., 72. f Ind. Tribes of Hudson Biver, 84. X Brinckerhoflf's Hist, of Fishkill, 52-3 ; Orcutt's Hist, of New Milford and Bridgewater, 6-7. 384 THE TRADING- HOUSE OX THE PAUG ASSET. as natural that a Wappinger, or Wampano, of the Housatonic, should be concerned in granting lands which lay within fifteen or sixteen miles of his wigwam, as that various Potatuck sachems should sign, as they do, deeds together conveying half the Housatonic valley. This signature, therefore, may fairly take its place among the minor proofs of relationship between the native proprietors of New Milford and Fishkill. But the repeated references in the Dutch accounts of the trading-house, to Fort Orange, suggest that the English had estabhshed themselves at some locality in communication with that important post, though certainly farther from it than the Dutch imagined. Interference in that quarter would have been a much more serious matter than interference in the territories of the unfriendly Wappingers, and a Xew Haven enterprise looking in that direction would explain the assertion of the Dutch that their whole trade on the Hudson was threatened. It is therefore desirable to find, if we can, some traces of a con- nection between the Indians of the Housatonic and the north- west. It is not difficult to find them both in the New York records and in our own, at the period to which we are now obhged to limit our investigation, forty or fifty years later than that of the Kieft-Eaton correspondence. In 1689 an order was issued at Albany for enlisting as scouts certain Indians evidently living on the Hudson, and along with them those also of " AVawyachtenok." * The diligent and careful author of "The Indian Tribes of Hudson's Kiver," speaks somewhat doubtfully of this locality, though he finds the name, with a slight variation, applied in 1702 to a tract between Poughkeepsie and " Westenholks creek," a Dutch ren- dering of Housatonic.f Wherever it was, its native occupants were evidently regarded by the authorities at Albany as within their iurisdiction. We must remember, however, that aside from differences about the boundary line, an Indian tribe, or clan, might easily have held lands on both sides of it. But we can *N. Y. Doc. Hist., ii. 93. find. Tribes of Huds. Rii:, 85 and note, 86. See Sauthier's Map, JV. Y. Doc. Hist., i. THE TRADING-HOUSE ON THE PAUGASSET. 385 get into closer quarters with these Indians of Wawyaclitenok, and strengthen the proof of their relations with the north-west. From a deed given in 1685 for the eastern part of the Living- ston manor, it appears that the southern line of the tract therein granted, crossed, somewhere to the west of Salisbury, a path evidently leading south-east, and described as ""ye Path y^ goes to wawyachtonock.'"* The existence of this path, or trail, of course implies a good deal of Indian travel between the points which it connected, and if its general direction was the same with that which it followed where we meet it, those points could have lain, respectively, on the upper Hudson, probably opposite Albany, and on the Ilousatonic, at a consideral)le distance below Salisbury, It would, however, be hard to iix the lower terminus of a trail so vaguely described, did we not know of a place somewhat east of south from its intersection with the manor line, and having a name much more like Wawyachtonock than Wampog is like Wappinger, namely Weantinock. This form of the word (which appears sub- stantially in a deed of 1704, recorded at Albany ),f is familiar to most of us as the Indian name of Kew Milford. Any doubt that may be felt about the identification of Wawyachtonock and Weantinock can be important only as it affects the proof of intercourse between Weantinock and Albany. And the records, as well as the traditions, of Con- necticut, furnished independent proof of such intercourse, which, again, makes the identilication more probable. Thus, in 1688 we hear of " a Wyantinack Indian" as lately come from Albany with important news.:}: In 1707 the Indians of ''' Pow- tatuck" and " Owiantonuck" (a variation of the name found several times), were suspected of intending to join the French,§ which presupposes communication with Indians farther north than Albany, probably those of Schaghticoke. The proofs of a migration from Schaghticoke to the neighborhood of Weanti- nock at about the same period, I have not now time to *N. Y. Doc. Hist., iii. 619, 620, 624. \ Ind. Deeds and Warrants of Survey, i. 123-5. {3ISS.) X Conn. Col. Bee., iii. 438-9. § Conn. Col. Rec, v. 18. 25 386 THE TRADING-HOUSK ON THE PAUGASSET. present, and they were laid before the society a number of years ago. This movement, which I suppose to have finally resulted in the settlement of Scatacook in Kent, also suggests previous intercourse between Weantinock and the region north of Albany. And, iinally, the well known tradition which represents the royal wigwam of Waramaug, the last sachem of Weantinock, as decorated by Indian artists coming from a great distance to the north,* points in the same direction. If these " artists" were of Schaghticoke, above Albany, they are likely to have been Narragansetts, since Schaghticoke was settled, after King Philip's war, by fugitives from New Eng- land, who were largely I*^arragansetts, led, I believe, by Pessa- cus, the brother of Miantinomoh.f The members of that tribe were famous for their skill in the arts,:}: and the Moravians found some of them long afterwards on the IIousatonic.§ All these indications, it is true, belong to a period a genera- tion or more after the date of the trading-house, and the earliest mention which I have found of Indians as actually resident at "Weantinock is of 1675, | twenty-six years later than the latest mention of the post (1649). But this is far enough from prov- ing that AVeantinock was not inhabited in 16-16, and, as we shall see presently, there is good reason for believing that one point in the territory was regularly visited, if not permanently occupied, from time immemorial. And not only these later indications, but those furnished by contemporary documents, point uniformly to, or towards, Weantinock, or New Milford, the later ones as the place where the trading-house ought to have been,' in order to open trade with the Indians of New Netherland, the earlier ones as the place where it actually was. The conclusion tliat the New Haven merchants had established themselves at Weantinock in 161:6 is almost irresistible, but we have not yet found a positive statement to that effect. And as the winding course of the Housatonic through New Milford * Trumbull's Hist, of Conn., ii. 83; Orcutt's Inds. of West. Conn., 116-7. \Conn. Col. Rec, ii. 336, 348, 401, 439, 472, 541 and note ; 2V; F. Col. Hist., iv. 748-5, 903, 994, 996-8. See also N. Y. Col. MSS., xli. 62. X Inds. of Conn., 64. § Life of Zeisberger, 117, note. II Conn. Col. Rec, ii. 369. THE TRADING-HOUSE UN THE FAUGASSET, 387 covers many miles, it is wortli while to strengthen our conclu- sion, if possible, by looking for some point within the limits of the township l)etter snited tlian others for Indian traffic. Now the word Weantinock is translated by Dr. J. II. Trnm- bnll, onr highest anthority on sucli a question, " where the water whirls," though he gives an alternative rendering. He says that, "tlie name seems to have belonged to the basin at the foot of the Great Falls," and himself applies it to " the so. part of New Milford, on both sides of the Housatonic river."* The historian of New Milford, however, is positive that the real Weantinock lay on the west bank of the river, " opposite the village of New Milford," and two or three miles about the falls. Dr. Trumbull's second translation of the word is used to support this view\ f In either case the locality about the falls was embraced within the Weantinock territory. It was, moreover, an important point. Whether or not it were called Weantinock, it was certainly called Metichawon, a word which means, according to Dr. Trumbull, " an ' obstruction ' or ' turning back,' " and was given to the place because the falls checked the progress of the iish, on their way up the river. ;{: The result of this was to make the basin below, in the words of Dr. Benjamin Trumbull, the historian of Connecticut, " one of the best lishing-places .... in the colony."§ How highly the Indians valued it appears from the fact that they retained to the very last their title to the land about it and their rights in the tisherie8.| It is almost certain that they had always resorted to it, and altogether probable that a village had existed there from a period indefinitely remote.^ Warau- maug's painted palace certainly stood there, and it w^ould seem that he must in that way have acquired the name by which he figm-es in history, since Waraumaug means "good fishing place."** And the Potatucks, among whom he was a sachem in early life, and with whom his people were essentially one derived the name by which they were known to the settlers from *rad. Names in Conn., 80. j Inds. of West. Conn., 101-2. t Ind. Names in Conn., 29. g Hist, of Conn., ii. 88. II Inds. of Conn., 397, etc. iy Inds. of West. Conn., 108. ** Ind. Names in Conn., 85-6. 888 THE trading-hou.se on the paugasset. the same locality. Potatuck means "the coimtry about the falls," and they were the "Falls Indians."* From an early date, therefore, this point must have been a sort of " business centre" for the region occupied by the Wappingers of the Housatonic, and a place to which their kinsmen and allies to the west and north would often make their way. And so it would have seemed to English merchants admirably fitted to be a centre of trade for them. And it would have had another obvious and powerful recommendation in the fact they could not get any farther; here they reached what was for them the head of navigation. Of course canoes, which could be carried over a portage, might go many miles beyond, and there is water enough even in our day to permit the use of a small steam-boat above the falls. But boats large enough to be of much value in the fur-trade would have had to stop below the rapids, which extend for some distance south of the falls. That larger craft than canoes or skiffs might then have ascended as far as this, though they could not do so now, is made probable by a state- ment of i)r. Dwight — better known as the first President Dwight. He says, writing early in the present century (1811), that " boats have in various instances, proceeded during the spring freshets, from the foot of the great falls in ISTew Mil- ford, to Derby," adding that " a series of locks might render this navigation safe and convenient at all times. "f In 1616, when the forests of the interior were untouched, the current was doubtless fuller and more even than it was seventy-five years ago, and it is fair to infer that there was often an easy passage from Paugasset to Metichawon for boats which could not have been carried around the falls. We can imagine, no doubt, that had the inducements been suflicient, other trading- houses might ultimately have been built higher up the Housa- tonic, but when the first venture was to be made above Derby, as an experiment, the basin or cove below the 'New Milford falls was on every ground the best place for the experiment. On the * l7id. Names in Conn., 80 ; Inds. of West. Conn., 105. f DwighVs Travels, iii. 396. THE TRADING-HOUSE ON THE PAUGASSET. 389 nortli side of the basin the Enghsh explorers woukl liave seen the river rushing towards them through a narrow opening in a high wall of rock, at the point since known as the Lover's Leap. Here was a natural gateway, before which they might have felt like pausing, even had they known nothing of the small cataract at the head of the gorge which the stream has cut through the mountain. Immediately l)elow the basin, close to the eastern shore, lies one of the long, narrow islands com- mon in the Housatonic, and likely enough to commeiid itself to cautious traders, deahng witli savages, far in the wilderness, as an eligible spot for traffic and storage. The channel on the east afforded at least a slight protection, while if they were compelled to abandon both the post and their boats, it was not wide enough to prevent their escape to the side of the river nearest home. It is evident that this locality satisties tlie conditions of dis- tance and direction supplied by the contemporary evidence which Ave have examined, as far as those conditions will bear criticism. We should not say of the ISTew Milford falls that they are, in Director Kieft's words, '' neere Mauritius river." But in a straight line, measured on the map, they are as near to the river as to New Haven, or about thirty miles. Kieft could not have known the precise distance, and if the trading- house really drew trade from the Hudson, it was near enough to be complained of. The Dutch estimate of 1649, "six leagues from the North river," is considerably less than thirty miles, but their language shows that they too were ignorant of the exact position of the post. And it is fair to them to re- member that a line running very nearly southeast from Mag- dalen island, their point of departure, would cross the Housa- tonic but little more than twenty miles east of the Hudson. On the other hand. Governor Eaton's statement, meant as a contradiction of Kieft's, that the post was " many miles, nay leagues " from the Hudson, applies fairly well to the site at New Milford. Thirty miles might be called "many," and very likely Eaton supposed the distance greater than that. It is possible that he did not intend to say that the leagues were 390 THE TRADING-HOUSE ON THE PAUGASSET. " manv," and certain that he conld not have intended to say that they were very many, since New Haven itself is less than twenty leagues due east from the Hudson. And finally, the conditions of distance and direction which we get by combin- ing the statements of Eaton and Winthrop, to the effect that the trading-house was about thirty miles northwest from New Haven on the Housatonic, are perfectly satisfied by placing it at the falls, and are (piite incompatible with any site very far from them. Summing up briefly all the evidence thus far presented, we find that in the year 1646, the New Haven merchants were be- lieved by the Dutch to have opened communication with the Indians of the Hudson, and were known to the English to have established a trading-post at a point on the Housatonic which must have been in the neighborhood of New Milford ; that the Dutch, three years later, had information which led them to think that the post might lie somewhere in the same region ; that the Indians of that district apparently belonged to a tribe wliose territories extended to the Hudson, and prob- ably in 16-i6, and certainly a generation later, were in commu- nication with the natives on that river, both to the west and to the northwest ; that, finally, a particular locality on the Housa- tonic, in New Milford, a little below the great falls, must have been much resorted to by the natives, at all periods, and was the highest point on the river which could be readily reached by English boats from below. To these indications I have now to add a wholly independent proof, supplied by the town-records of Stratford.* It is practi- cally contemporary, since it is of a date only twenty-five years later than that of the Kieft-Eaton correspondence, when many, both Englishmen and Indians, who remembered the circum- stances, must have been living. The document in question is also on record at Hartford,t and is referred to in the second printed volume of the Connecticut colonial records.:}: In a * Stratford Records, ii. 466, (MSS.). \Col. Rec. of Lands, i. 421, (MSS.). t Col. Rec, ii. 313 note. See also Housatonic Bay (New Milford), June 21, (?) 1879. THE TRADING-HOUSli ON THE PAUGASSKT. 391 paper wliich I read before the society in December, 1876, its bearing- on the matter now in hand was briefly noticed. The only similar nse which I haye seen made of it in print is to be fonnd in two yolnmes published in 1882 by the Rey. Samuel Orcutt, who has written extensiyely upon the local history of Western Connecticut. In one of them Mr. Orcutt prints the greater part of the document,* and in the other he speaks of it in connection with the New Hayen tradino:-liouse.t FoUowino- my own transcript, made at Stratford, I And that on the !25th of April, 1671, certain Indians conyeyed a large tract of land " unto Ilenery Tomlinson of Stratford." Seyeral of the e:ran- tors and others signing the deed are elsewhere described as Potatucks, and aj^pear as granting land in the region above Derby. :|: The tract sold to Tomlinson stretched for seven miles along "the great river of Oantenock." The "great river" can only be the Housatonic, often so styled in colonial times, while Oantenock indicates the part of the river which was meant. Weantenock is not unfrequently sj^elled with an initial " O," and Dr. Benjamin Trumbull says that in his day this was the more general method. § Other variations are almost innu- merable. As if to remove any possible doubt on this score, we learn that " Scantemaug of Wyantenuck" complained of the sale not long afterwards. The locality seems farther deiined by a deed in the same volume, dated a few weeks later (June 1, 1671), and given by two Indians, one of whom appears long after- wards as of Potatuck. The second deed conveys a tract which I suppose to have extended from the Shepaug river westward through Bridgewater and Brookfield, the towns bordering New Milford on the south-east and south. The Tomlinson purchase is referred to in a rather puzzling way, but was undoubtedly just above, and would therefore have terminated to the south, not far from the present southern line of New Milford. That * Hist, of New Milford and Bridgewater, 16. t Inds. of West. Conn. , 105-7. X Anc. Woodbury, i. 34-26, (Pocono and Coslioshamock) ; Derby Records, (MSS.). § Hist, of Conn., ii. 82, note. 892 THE TRADING-HOUSE OX THE PAUGASSET. ' it did ill fact embrace a considerable part of New Milford appears from tlie litigation wliicli occurred about forty years later between the settlers of that town and a claimant whose title rested on the Indian grant to Tomlinson, N'ow this grant opens with the conveyance to Tomlinson of an island three miles from the lower bonndary of his purchase. The island which has been mentioned as lying below the falls is between two and three miles due north from the Brookfield line. The island sold to Tomlinson is described, linally. as the one " where Mr. Goodyear had an tradeing house.'' We have found what we were looking for at the precise point towards which our study of the evidence has guided us. In fact the discovery would closely resemble that of the planet Neptune by mathematical reast)ning, but for the single cu-cum- stance that the discoverer's studies began with the Stratford deed, so that he supposed himself to know where the trading- house was beft)re he seriously set about learning where it ought to have been. But it is a comfort to find a tiling in the right place, and helps to convince the skeptical that it is the right thing. The reference to Mr. Goodyear hardly needs to be accounted for in a paper read before this body. Stephen Goodyear is known to us all as the Deputy-Governor of New Haven from the or- ganization of the jurisdiction in 1643 until just before his death in England in 1658. But for his absence from the colony he would undoul)tedly have succeeded Eaton as chief magistrate.* Our associate, Mr. Atwater, the historian of the colony, says of him that he was " interested in every enterprise which promised to l)e advantageous to Xew Haven." f He was concerned, in 1654, if not earlier, in the undertaking which was begun at Paugasset in 1642. and which may have led to the advance up the river to the Weantinock territory. :|; Whether he owned the trading house, or merely re])resented New Haven in the matter, it was almost equally natural that it should be spoken * History of the Col. of New Haven, 324. \Hist. of Col. of N. H, 415-16. XX. H Col. Rec, ii. 77. THE TRADING HOUSE ON THE PAUGASSET. 393 of as liis, and natural, too, tliat an officer of the jurisdiction, like Eaton, should speak of it as theirs. From a document preserved in Hartford, and printed by Mr. Orcutt in his " His- tory of New Milford and Bridgewater," it appears that the island continued to bear Goodyear's name, at least as late as 1706."=^ I do not learn that it has done so in recent times, un- less the old usage has been revived by Mr. Orcutt himself. It also interests us to find that Stephen Goodyear was one of the Commissioners of the United Colonies in 1646, so that Win- throp's information about the proceedings of the New Haven merchants was of the l)est. How long the trading-house was used I have not learned. The Dutch are authority for the statement that it was main- tained in 1649, while in 1671, the date of the Stratford deed, it must have been abandoned, and the site relinquished to the In- dians, for a considerable time. The fact that it seems to have been known to the natives only as Mr. Goodyear's, suggests that the abandonment took place before his death in 1658, and the silence of the New Haven records on the subject jnakes it prob- able that it was given up still earlier. We can hardly suppose that it was permanently successful. The Indians living near the Hudson would lind it more convenient to sell their peltry to the Dutch, and some of the latter certainly offered inducements, in the sale of firearms, in which the English were unwilling to compete with them.f The early connnercial ventures of New Haven were generally unfortunate, and after 1656, as our secre- tary, Mr. Trowbridge, tells us, it seemed " little else than a col- ony of discouraged farmers.":}: The great disaster of the loss of Lamberton's ship occurred in the very year in which the trading- house is first heard of. Such trafiic as was kept up with the In- dians on the Housatonic could be well enough conducted at Paugasset, and it is quite likely that in 1654, when Goodyear's name first appears in connection with that place, his more northern establishment had already been transferred thither. The way in which the facts which have been recited illustrate *Hist.N. 31., etc., 15. f Brodhead's Hist, of N. Y., i. 212; N. Y. Col. Hist., i. 151. XN. H. Hist. Soc. Pap., iii. 96. 394 THE TRADING-HOUSE ON THE PAUGASSET. early political conditions, among both natives and colonists, de- serves a moment's attention in closing. The effect apparently produced on the Hudson by the extension of traffic up the Housatonic, gives some su^^port to the opinion that at the date of settlement one large tribe occupied, after a fashion, the whole territory between the two rivers, below the northern part of Duchess county. Some have extended its range as far east as the Connecticut.* The sort of unity which existed was con- sistent with much freedom of local and individual action, and the confederate clans of various Indian nations might have used our national motto, E plunhus unum. Bishop de Schweinitz, of the Moravian church, feels warranted in saying that " the race which came to establish upon our continent the great republic which we have lived to see, found a faint tyjje of it amid the children of the primeval forests."f The Indian polit- ical system, like our own, was federal. The facts presented also exhibit the extreme difficulty which the most conscientious and peaceable men experienced in ad- justing the territorial claims of the two European nations which had settled on the Connecticut coast and along the Hudson. In Professor Dexter's valuable paper on " New Netherland and I^ew England," printed in the third volume of the society's publications, the Dutch claim, in virtue of settlement, to "the Hudson and the region directly contiguous," is conceded. On the other hand, the right of the English to occupy " the Con- necticut valley and coast" is maintained.:}: But what is to l)e said of the Housatonic valley ? The mouth was in English territory, as Eaton alleged in his reply to Kieft, but its course takes it very near the boundary between Connecticut and New York, as afterwards agreed upon, and one of its affluents lies chiefly beyond the boundary, while nobody then knew just where its course might take it. The English post at Weantinock was indeed far within the line which Stuyvesant seems to have accepted in 1650,§ but if it was close enough to the Hudson to * Ind. Tribes of Hudson's River, 83-3; hids. of Conn,, 83. f Life of Zeisberger, 76. X N. H. Hist. Soc. Papers, iii. 467. § N. H. Hist. Soc. Papers, iii. 273-4, 460. THE TRADING-HOUSE ON THE PAUGASSET, 395 impair the value of tliat stream, as respected the only use which the Dutch then made of it, for Indian trade, the latter might say with some show of reason that it had been placed unfairly upon territory essential to their own enjoyment of their posses- sions. I am fortimately qualified to render a just decision in this delicate matter. Under the well-known laws of heredity, not only a man's character, but his opinions, are settled by his an- cestors, and as mine happened to be on opposite sides in the controversy, I find myself in this case, as in many others, in entire agreement with both parties. KoTE. — It is an interesting fact that the connection now about to be made (December, 1887) between the Derby and the New England railroads, over a branch of the Housatonic railroad from ISTewtown, will reopen the line of communication described in the foregoing paper. From New Haven to the point of connection in the Housatonic valley, the route is sub- stantially the same, while the New England road, from Whaley pond to its terminus on the Hudson, must very nearly follow the line of the old Indian trail along Fishkill Creek. The Housatonic railroad, also, by its northern connections, is now to bring New Haven into nearer relations with Albany, over a route not differing much from the other Indian trail from " Wawyachtenok." Making all allowance for changed condi- tions, we may not unfairly speak of the " Derby extension " as the resumption of an enterprise begun more than 240 years ago. The Historical Society has the pleasure of indicating a bond of sympathy between the business men of 1887 and those of 1646. THE PAST AETD FUTUEE OF THIS SOCIETY; Being the Annual Address of the President for the year 1886. / [Delivered Nov. 39, 1886, by Simeon E. Baldwin] In fulfillment of the duty imposed by our constitution on the President upon this anniversary, I ask your attention, this evening, to a brief review of the present condition of the so- ciety, and of its record in the past. The year that closes to-night has been one to us of marked prosperity. With enlarged rooms, and steadily growing collections, this society has continued in uninterrupted course to promote among om- citizens those sentiments of local patriotism and at- tachment, and that interest in the soil on which we live, which the character of our institutions makes of the first importance, because they are the best guardians of free government. No standing army of a million men is needed on this vast territory covered by the United States, to keep the peace or uphold public authority. The tax-ridden peoples of Em-ope, where every tenth man, almost, is a soldier in actual service, find it hard to understand how we are able to rely on a citizen militia. It is not only because we are free. It is because we know what freedom cost ; how it was won ; how it has grown 398 THE PAST AND FUTURE OF THIS SOCIETY. and broadened. It is because we feel that we are the lieirs of great men who have gone before ns ; because we love to keep their memories green ; to tell onr children of their great achievements ; to maintain their bright examples before our own eyes, as a daily pattern of true living and high thinking. Our methods of government may not be the same as Theophi- lus Eaton's, but they can spring from no higher spirit of patri- otic devotion. Our lines of religious thought may not be the same as those of John Davenport, but they may well be con- secrated by the study of his hfe, given to the development of a great ideal. Our theories of education may not be those of Master Cheever or Rector Pierson, but there is no teacher of men that may not gain inspiration as he thinks of their strug- gles through long years of inigged difficulty, to keep the flames of learning alive in the wilderness of a new world. This looking to the past for what is worthy of remembrance, and drawing from it its best lessons for the present and the future, is the high mission of this society. Planted in this chief city of our State, under the shadow of the venerable mii- versity which has done so much to promote the growth of American scholarship, we have a position of no little responsi- bility. Our feet, as we stand to-night on New Haven Green, are over the graves of the earliest settlers on these shores. Here was their modest church, and spreading churchyard. Here on one side rose the town house or State house, and on the other the Grammar School. Here for now nearly two centu- ries and a half has been the center of our municipal life. In this historic building, whose noble proportions and stately cham- bers, still give the best idea of the massive simplicity of Greek architecture to be found in New England, here I say, ten years ago sat for the last time the legishiture, that was the rep- resentative of the sovereignty of the old New Haven Colony. If the forms of government have departed from these halls forever, it is the more important that they should stand to cherish the sentiments and recollections of patriotism, on which governments rest. It is the more important that we should bring together here the memorials of other days — the musket THE PAST AND FUTURE OF THIS SOCIETY. 399 of the Revolution — the battle scenes that paint the victories of Hull — the sword of the great admiral* who could cut his way past Chinese barriers, or Mississippi forts — the letters of Washington, and Franklin and Trumbull — all things that tell how Hberty has been won and must be defended. And as we look around these walls to-night, we mav well con- gratulate ourselves on the work of our first quarter of a cen- turv. The hrst volume of our Transactions gives the brief story of our organization in 1862. A memorial was presented to the Court of Common Council in October of that year, asking that a room in the new City Hall, then just completed, be de- voted to the purposes of an historical association ; and the re- quest was promptly granted. Among the signers of this paper are many honored names of those who are no longer with us. Mayor Galpin, with his courtly air of native dignity ; Judge Croswell, one of those centers about whom men like to gather ; Judge Foster, with his ringing voice and open heart ; Governor Tyler, the keen- sighted man of business, vigilant to protect every public inter- est committed to his charge ; — these were some of the men to whom this institution owed its origin. Others of them we are glad and proud to count with us still. The list of the signers was headed by himf who was then and is now the senior partner of our oldest shipping-house, one who seems to have stopped growing old liimseK, who served us many years as vice-president, and whose modesty alone prevented us from making him our president two years ago. I could go through the other names, and you would recognize in them those who have been and are leaders in the public life of ]^ew Haven. They laid their foundations wqII. It was not long before the rooms in the third story of the City Hall, dedicated to the use of this society, were full of objects of interest and value. * Admiral Foote of New Haven. f Thomas Rutherford Trowbridge, who died after a brief illness, May 26, 1887. 400 THE PAST AND FUTURE OF THIS SOCIETY. T)r. Edward H. Leffingwell, was for many years its faithful and intelligent curator, and only surrendered liis trust when grow- ing infirmities made it impossible longer to continue his daily task, remunerated only by the gratitude of his associates. We were glad to hear the other night from one of his near kins- men,* and to find that uncle and nephew shared the same high appreciation of the work that is being done here, and of its possible and natural results. Then came the abandonment of New Haven as a capital city, and the cession to her of this State House by Act of the Legis- lature. The Court of Common Council placed these apartments at our disposal, more accessible and ample than our original chamber, and rich in historic reminiscence. Two rooms were at first enough ; then we required a third ; and now a fourth and fifth have been filled with the memorials of the past. These spacious halls have acquired for many a New Haven family something of the charm of the old family home. That may have l)een broken up in the natural course of events. The children scatter, the grandparents die ; the old house is sold. What has become of that old portrait that once hung in the front parlor ; then was sent off by the next generation to the spare bed-room ; and very possibly at last dangled from a peg in the garret'^ What has become of the grandfather's old arm- chair, of the last pieces of the Canton china tea-set, of the sampler worked by a great-grandmother whose very name is hardly remembered ? Here is the place for things like these, and here they are com- ing in steady stream. Many is the descendant of a New Haven stock who will return to the City of Elms in future years and in future centuries, and find in these rooms the only remaining memorials of his ancestry. If any one of us Welshes to preserve a family portrait, or a family letter, or commission, or diploma, for his descendants to look upon in the third and fourth genera- tion, his safest way is to place it here. They may be rich and live in the splendor of great cities and foreign capitals ; they * Captain Douglas Leffingwell, who read a paper on the True Aim of our American Historical Societies. THE PAST AND FUTURE OF THIS SOCIETY. 401 may be poor, without a roof to call their own ; in either case they would be equally welcome in this place, and would find awaiting them whatever may have been entrusted to this Society. Our charter is perpetual ; our work is one that will * be never done ; our aims are such as will always interest the thoughtful and intelligent, to the end of time. If any organization of men has in it the elements of perpetu- ity, it is the public society, sheltered but not supported by the State, which has for its purpose to preserve forever for the benefit of all the history of all. The vicissitudes of war and conquest have often scattered the glories of national museums and galleries through other lands. The possessions of a govern- ment pass to the conqueror. Its archives may be thrown into the flames by an invading army. Such has been even our own history. The century now closing has not only seen Napoleon fill the Louvre with the spoils of half the capitals of Europe ; it has seen the public buildings of Washington sacked and burned by British soldiery. The soil of New Haven has felt the tread of a hostile army in the past ; it may feel it again ; but modern international law gives to the collections of societies like these an immunity from ravage and dispersion that it does not always accord to those of the State itself. I have spoken as if there were no doubt of the permanence of this Society, and I think that there can be none. The time may come when, like similar institutions in larger cities, it wiU have a building of its own, more commodious even than this. The time may come when these rooms may be imperatively needed for other municipal uses. The time may come even (though I believe it never will), when a city government will be found ready to pull down this historic edifice, whose very name is a priceless heritage of the past, in order to build another public building on its site, or on some other site, at the cost to the tax-payer of a quarter of a million. But this Society has a longer life before it than any structure men have built or can build. It has a place in the community and a hold upon its interests and affections, which nothing can destroy, until the spirit of liberty and patriotism is destroyed. 26 402 THE PAST AND FUTURE OF THIS SOCIETY. So long as these endure, supported as they always must be by a reverence for the past, and- a proud hope for the future, we may rely upon it that our organization will be maintained, our collec- tions preserved and augmented, our work of commemoration and publication carried on. "We must not forget on this occasion that during the year we have lost one of the few whom the Society has distinguished with the rank of honorary member. Erastus Brooks, to whose voice you listened here some three or four years ago, died at a good old age on Thursday last. He was a marked example of self-won success. Earning enough as a compositor in a printing office to pay his way for a time as a student at Brown University, he soon felt able to step from the case to the editor's table, and again from the control of a village newspaper in Maine rose to that of one of the great New York daihes. Such a business career would leave most men little time and less inclination to pursue any special line of study or research, but Mr. Brooks threw himself into the field of historical investigation and political economy with energy and patience. There are many who have differed from him in respect to his conclusions, but there are none who knew him that will not be ready to acknowledge his persever- ing industry in whatever he undertook, and his willingness to undertake whatever he might think it belonged to him to do. And now let me close with a single suggestion. On April 25th, 1838, was celebrated, with appropriate cere- monies, the completion of two centuries of the history of New Haven. The two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of its foimdation will occur on April 25th, 1888. It should be com- memorated in some fitting way by her citizens. The record of the brief but striking story of the little colony, and of the rise of this busy city, and the development here of the principles of independent municipal government has been published this year in a volume which many of you have seen, under the fit- THE PAST AND FUTURE OF THIS SOCIETY. 403 ting title of the History of tlie Republic of New Haven.* It is a record of steady growth, of honorable enterprise, of fair deal- ing, of solid success. We have a right to be proud of our home, and ]^ew Haven ought not to complete the first quarter of her first one thousand years, without some public recogni- tion of the auspicious day. I would suggest then that this Society take such action dur- ing the year now opening as may call the attention of the town government and of the community to this coming anniversary, and so help to secure its honorable observance. * By Dr. Charles H. Levermore. INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD, ERECTED PRIOR TO 1800. The first burials in Guilford were around the church on the town green. Such of the tombstones set up there as now exist, have been removed to new cemeteries in different quarters of the town. These pages include copies of all legiljle inscriptions prior to 1800, on tombstones now standing in any part of Guilford. The arrangement of the names is alphabetical, with the partial exception that parents and minor children are grouped together under the father's name. The burial ground in which each stone is to be found, is indicated between brackets at the head of the inscription. A few come from family burial-places. Those marked \_N'orth Guilford^ are from the cemetery there, near the churches. The annotations are numbered according to the inscriptions to which they refer. The following is a list of the principal burial-places re- ferred to : ALDERBROOK CEMETERY. LEETE'S ISLAND CEMETERY. MOOSE HILL CEMETERY. NORTH GUILFORD CEMETERY. RIVERSIDE CEMETERY. WEST CEMETERY. 406 INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. In annotating the inscriptions, the Publication Committee have made free use of Smith's History of Guilford, Dexter' s Biographies of Yale Graduates lYOl-1745, the Baldwin Gene- alogy, the Chittenden Family Memorial, the Leete Family Memorial, and Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit. The copies from the grave-stones were made by Mr. Elias B. Bates of Guilford, under the direction of a special committee of the Society, consisting of Rev. Wm. G. Andrews, D.D., and Mr. Frank L, Hotchkiss. \^North Guil/oid.} Damaris y" Daughter of Seth & Eli fabeth Al vord died Octo^ 27*'» 1743 in y« 4* Year of her Age. [Riverside Cerneteiy^ A. B. [ IVesl Cemetery.^ W. B. [North Guilford.'] In Memory of Lucy Late Wife of Michael Baldwin who Departed this Life June 12th, 1758 Aged 37 Years 2M&2D Farewei Dear Friend how doleful is the Sound How vaft my Stroke which leaves a Bleeding wo und. (Foot-stone.) Lucy Baldwin Tho thou haft lovly ben t'me I'll blefs my God that took away. 3 This stone is about four inches high, apparently a foot-stone, and is very near No. 204. * Michael Baldwin, son of Ensign Timothy, and grandson of Samuel Bald- win, was born in Guilford April 2, 1719, and died in 1787 in New Haven, where he removed before the Revolution. Lucy, his first wife, was daughter of William and Ruth (Strong) Dudley of Guilford. Among their children were Hon. Abraham Baldwin (Yale College 1772), President of the Univer- sity of Georgia, member of the Continental Congress, 1785-8, of the Consti- tutional Convention, 1787, of the U. S. House of Representatives, 17S9-1799, and of the U. S. Senate 1799-1807; and Ruth, born in 1756. the wife of Hon. Joel Barlow, the poet and diplomatist. By his second wife, Theodora Wol- cott, he was father of Hon. Henry Baldwin, LL.D. (Yale College I797). a representative in Congress, 1817-22, and an Associate Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court from 1S29 till his death in 1844. INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. 407 5 [A'ori/i Giiilford.l § [North Guilford.] Lucy Dau'tr Mary of Michael Daughter of & Lucy Enfign Timothy Baldwin & M" Bathshua died May 2d Baldwin 1760 Aged 2 Year wanting died May 4 1739 Aged 20 Days. 9 Timc died N 1753 In Y« In Silen For our So Frien 2 days. 6 [N'ortk Guilford.'l Ruth Daught% Michael & Lucy Baldwin died March 16 AD 1755 Aged 4 Years & i day Under this Stone lies a dear one who was a pleafent Flower Whofe Duft God keeps whilft that untill y" R'ifein-^ hour, [fhe fleeps [North Guilford.} [r Mr thy Abraham ov'" 2'^' died June 11^'' his 32"^ 1754 In his 22* ;ar. Year. ce here we lye Cut down as [at noon day God saw best We fhou'd no [longer ftay ds don't grieve Nor yet Re- Then will our Lord with Sove ^ word [pine his own Dear Children Raife For ' tis to God you live & must to . . . Teach them high to Glorify God refign. with Songs of Endlefs Praife. The above were Son's of E NsiGx Timothy & Mrs Bathsua Baldwin. 7 [North Guilford.l [Foot-stone.] In Memory Mr of Enfign Timothy Timothy Baldwin Baldwin who died Augft 4">. Junior. 1757, In his 67th Year. 1753 Hark' from y" tombs a doleful found My Friends attend the cry ones Ye living, come View the Ground 10 [North Gil! I f Of d.] Seth Where you muft fhortly lie. . Son of Mr. ■" Timothy Baldwin was son of Samuel and grandson of Nathaniel Bald- win of Fairfield. ® Mrs. Baihsheba Baldwin was daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Taintor ) Stone; born Aug. 10, 1695, died July 20, 1776. * Timothy Baldwin, Jr. was born Oct. 29, 1721. His wife was Sarah Morse. He was grandson of Samuel Baldwin. 408 INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. Timothy Advanc'd age we fee. Baldwin Is nothing to eternity. jun' Dec'^, & 14 Sarah his Wife died [Riverside Cemetery.^ Octo^ is"' 1756 M-- Aged 4 Years Benja.min I M & 2 Days. 15 Bartlet. 11 INorth Guilford?^ [North Gtiilford.] Timothy, In Memory of Mr. the Son of M"' Daniel Bartlet Timothy* & M''" who died June 15th Olive Baldwin J769 In his 83d died Nov'' 12*^ Year. 1774 Aged I Year 2 Months & 8 Days. 16 [Xorth Guilford.] 12 {North Guilford?^ Auis y'' Daugh A Son Still Born April ig"' 1790. Children of Seth died Jan"-?' 17"' 1793 Aged 20 Days. M"' Timothy* ter of M"' Dan iel & Ann Bar tlit Died Febu'>, II* 1736/7 In ye ^0 ye-jr of her Age. 13 [JVor/k Guilford :\ In Memory of 17 [North Guilford.] M'' Lemuel M''^ Elisabet" Here lies Interr'd Barnes, Barnes, y« Body of Mr who died who died George Bartlet Sep'' 9''' 1797, Nov'^ iS*'' 1798, Who Deceafd fept^ in the 85"' Year in the 80"' Year yf jgth A D. 1766, In of his Age. of her Age. ye 6gtii Year of his Age. 1§ [North Guilford.] In Memory of James died Abel died Cleora Phil* May 30"' 1795, March 7*'' 1796, died March 7"' Aged 6 Hours, Aged I Hour. 1796 Aged 19 Hours. " Timothy Baldwin was born Sept. 6, 1750, and died Mar. 25, 1818. His wife was Olive Norton, born Mar. 2, 1750, died Mar. 6, 1805. ''^ The rest of the face of this stone has crumbled away. The children were those of Timothy and Olive Baldwin. '^ Son of Daniel and Sarah (Meigs), of Guilford. " Son of Daniel and Concurrence (Crane), and half-brother of No. 15; born Feb. 7, 1698. INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. 409 Children of M' Daniel & M" Lucretia Bartlet. Here lies three infant Babes, Who fcarce beheld the light, Cold death with his refiftlefs dart Has fnatch'd them from our fight. (The rest cannot be read.) 19 30 21 22 \Norlh Guilford.^ Nathael Son of Mr John & Mrs Lois Bartlet died Auguft i8th 1769 Aged 4 Years & 3 Months. \^Riverside Cevietery. Here lies y'^ Body of Mrs Sarah y wife of Mr Caleb Benten Who Deed Febr y** I?"" 1745/6 Aged 29 Years \_Rive7-side Cemetery^ In Memory of Mrs Thankfull Wife of Mr Caleb Bentun July 17 1757 *and died in her 41ft Year. {^Norih Gttilford.'] In Memory of Lieu' Ebenezer Benton & Mrs. Esther his Wife, he died Feb' n"' 1776', in his 76th. Year. She died May i6th. 1778; in her Both, Year. 23 24 [Noftk Guilford.} Belah Son of Lieu', Eben & M" Esther Bentun died November 13 1753 In his 20th Year. \^Nor(h Gailford.\ in Memory of M"" Eliakim Bentun who Deceafed Decern'^ 10* J755 In his 24''' Year. 25 \North Guilford?^ In Memory of M'' Elihu Benton, who died Feb'y 14* J 798, Aged 64 Years. Children attend this foiemn call, Here view my fleeping duft, Confin'd within thefe narrow walls Till God fhall raise the juft. *' The inscription becomes hardly legible at this point. She was dau. o Wni. Chittenden; married Oct. 13, 1751. 410 INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. 26 [Noilh Guilford^ In Memory of M" Sarah wife of M"' Elihu Benton, who died Aug'* 22<' 1796, Aged 56 Years. Joyful I lay this body down And leave this lifelefs clay, Without a figh without a groan, I wing my flight away. 31 \North Guilford.'] In Memory of M"'^ Rachel wife of M'' Timothy Benton, who died July 3'' J7S4 in the 38*'' Year of her Age. 32 \Riverside Cemetery.] In Memory of 27 \North Guilford.] Sarah Daut'r of Mr. Elihu and Mrs Sarah Mr Beriah' Bishop who died Nov'r 25 J756 In his 33d Year. TDt?'\t'X'/~^m Ht^j^ Sept'r I in her 9 «t J772 "> Year. 33 \^Riverside Cemetery^ In Memory of 2§ S^Alderbrook Cemetery^ Mrs Lucy Wife of Mr. Beriah c'*- In Men Hubbard Son of Ambrofe & lory of Ambrofe Son of Ambrofe & Mary Benton Bishop who died Nov 5th.* Mary Benton who died Sep' who died June 34 \_Riverside Cemetery^ 6"' 1789. 29 1797. In Memory of Mr. David Bishop who departed 29 \^North 6 "id I ford.] In In this life Aug 20 Memory of Memory of J773 in the 77th Mrs Efiher Mr Jofeph Year of his age. Benton who Benton who died Sept'r 19*'' J752 In 35 died Sept'r 29*'' J752 In [Riverside Cemetery.] her 56th Year. his 52ond Year. In Memory of Mrs Deborah Relict of Mr. 30 S^Riverside Coneioy.] In Mei nory of David Bishop M" Kathai ine wife of who died Feb^ M-- Lot Benton nth J775 in the 81 who died J uly 2'' 1799 Year of her -E. 57 Years. Age. ^^ riie rest of this stone is hidden in the ground. INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN^ GUILFORD. 411 36 37 3§ 39 40 [J?iverside Ce/tietery.^ In Memory of M"" David Bishop who died June 25"" J792 in the 64* Year of his Age. Blefsed are the dead that die in the Lord. [Riverside Ce»iete>y.^ Andrea Dau'tr of Mr David & Mrs Ardray Bifhop died March 28th J757 Aged 13 Months. [Riverside Cevietery.'\ Margery Dau'tr of Mr David & Mrs Ardray Bifhop died Sept* 21 J764 in the 4*'' Year of her age. [Riverside Cemetery.^ David Son of Mr David and Mrs DEiiORAH Bishop died May 17"^ 1778 Aged (The rest is buried.) [Riverside Cemeiery.] David Son of Mr David and Mrs Deborah Bishop died Aug'* ao*"* J782 Aged I Year. 41 [Alderbrook Ceweiery.^ Jonathan Son of Mr Jonathan & Mrs Huldah Bishop died Dec' 23'* 1787 Aged A Days. 42 [ATor/A Gui//ord.] Here in Death we lie Conceal'd Waiting the appointed hour When Chrift y" Judge fhall be reveal'd To magnify his power. In Memory of Mr Sam'l & M" Hannah Bifhop Hannah Bifhop was born July 20 J6g6 & died Feb 24*'' J766 In her 71 Year. Samuel Bifhop was born 25 Mar J6g6 & died Nov iC"" J771 In his 76th. 43 [IVori/i Guilford.} In Memory of M'^ Samuel Bifhop who Died July 4 AD J792: in the 70 Year of his Age. In Memory of M" Hannah wife of M"' Samuel Bifhop who Died Feb''>' 25, 1782 in the 45 Year of her Age. 44 [iVorth Guilford.\ In Memory of M" Thankful Bifhop ^' Samuel Bishop was one of the first settlers in North Guilford. 412 INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. who Died Aug 4 AD 1794 in the 57 Year of her Age. 45 [Rh'erside Ce//iefe;y.] M' Abraham Bradley Born Maj' y" J3*'' J674 Died April y 20"" J72J Aged 46"' year jj™" & Q days. 46 [Riverside Cemetery.] HERE LYE H Y*- BODY OF lEAN BRADLEY Y^' WIFE OF ABRAHAM BRADLEY WHO DESESED OCTOB-^ Y" 30 J778 IN Y« 4j YEAR OF HER AGE. 47 [Norlh Guilford.] In Memory of M''" Sarah Bray Confort of the Rev'"* Thomas W. Bray, who died April J4"' J7q9. in her 50"' Year. Tis debt makes death a foe. Then follow Chrift and all is paid. His death your peace enfures: Think on the grave where he was laid, And calm decend to yours. 4§ 49 \_Alderbrook Cemetery^ In Memory of M""^ Dorothy Breed the amiable Confort of Capi Gershem Breed of Norwich who left this World in hopes of a better Sept"' 3*^ A.D. 1777 in the 48"^ year of her Age. . \A Iderbrook Cemetery^ In Memory of Dea" Tho' Burgis Efq. who Deceafed the 14"' of June 1799 in the 62'"' Year of his Age. Blefsed are the Dead that die in the Lord. ^^ Son of Stephen and Hannah (Smith), of Guilford. Left widow (2d wife), Abigail, dau. of Andrew and Elizabeth (Jordan) Leete, who next m. Ebenezer Stone, and d. Apr. 16, 1767, aged 84. ^' Rev. Thos. Wells Bray, A.M. was pastor of the Third (North Guilford) Church. He was born in Branford, Conn., Sept. 22, 1738, the son of John and Lydia (Hoadley), was graduated at Yale College in 1765, and died in April, 1808. His wife was daughter of Wm. J. Robinson, of Guilford. ^"^ Daughter of Patrick McLaren, of Middletown, Conn., and of Dorothy, daughter of Dea. Joseph Otis, of New London. She was born Sept. 25, 1728, and died at Branford, on the return journey from a visit to a sick son in college at New Haven. Gershom Breed was born Nov. 15, 1715, tenth child of John and Mercy (Palmer) Breed, of Stonington, and great-grandson of Allen Breed who came to America about 1630, and settled in Lynn, Mass. He had a shipping-store at Chelsea, in Norwich, was Captain of militia in 1774, and died Jan. 5, 1777. Mrs. Breed was the granddaughter of Rev. John McLaren, minister of the Tolbooth Church in St. Giles' Cathedral, Edin- burgh, and was the great-grandmother of President Timothy Dwight of Yale University. ^' Thomas Burgess was a deacon of the First Church from 1794 till his death. INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. 413 50 \^Alderbrook Cemetery.^ In Memory of M" Hannah wile of M'' Thom^ Burges who Died Jul)' 26 AD J795 in the 83'' Year of her age. 53 51 \^IVo?ih Guilford.^ Here Lieih the Body of Mr^ Hannah y" Wife M'- Eiias Cadwell Who died Deem"" y^ lo"" J744 Aged Years. 52 {N'orih Guil/ord.] In Memory of M'' Joseph | M" Bathsheba Chidsey who died May 19*'' J790 in the ...8"' Year of his Age. Chidsey who died Sepf 2,^^ J792 in the 76* Year of her Age. Be humble mortals, learn your doom; To this cold bed, you all muft come. [North Guilford.] In Memor3' of 2 children of Mr. Joseph & Mrs. Bathsheba Chidsey, viz Samuel who died Nov", 30"" J760. in his 17"' Year. And alfo Sarah who died Feb'' 13"' J764 in her i6th Year. 54 [North Gtalford.] In Memory of M'' Daniel Chittenden who died May 18"' J781 in the 82'' Year of his Age. 55 [North Gmlford.l In Memory of M" Abigail wife of M"" Daniel Chittenden who died Aug' j*'' J782 Aged 78 Years. The laft enemy that fhall be deftroyed is deaths. 56 [North Guilford.] In Memory of M'^ Deborah wife of M'' Jared Chittenpen who died April 26"' J792 in the 55"» Year of her Age. ^^ Joseph Chidsey, the son of Joseph and Sarah, and born Aug. 8, 1710, came to North Guilford from East Haven. ^■* The Chittenden family in Guilford has been a large one, and is de- scended from William Chittenden, one of the six original purchasers of the town site in 1639, coming from the parish of Marden, near Cranbrook, Kent, where he was baptized in March, 1594. Daniel Chittenden was son of Joseph and Mary (Kimberley) Chittenden, and a great-grandson of William Chitten- den, the first emigrant. '"^ Mrs. Chittenden was Abigail Downs of New Haven. ^^ Jared Chittenden died Feb. 12, 1824, aged 89. Mrs. Chittenden was Deborah Stone, daughter of Joseph and Hannah (Hodgkiss) Stone of Guil- ford. 414 INSCKIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. 57 5§ 59 60 [Aldeibrook Cemetery.^ Eliab Son of AP A bra ham & Mis Marcy • Chittenden died Au'ft 29th J756 aged 2 Year & 5 Months \^Alderb)ook Ceme/ery.^ Sarah Dau'f of Mr. Abra'm & Ms Mercy Chite NDEN died Aug 30 J769 in her loth Year. [Riverside Cfntetery.'] In Memor)' of Mr JosiAH Chittenden who died Aug't 28th J759 In his 82d Year. [Riverside Cemeteiy.^ Here lies the Body of M'^'^ Hannah y" Wi 61 62 63 fe of Mr Jofiah Chittenden WHo died Jul y 30"^ J744 in j.e 55th Year of her Age. [Riverside Ce7!ietery/\ Here lyeth the Bod)' of Jofiah Chittenden Son of Jofiah Chittenden Who Died Auguft j.e jith 1.729* [Alderbrook Cemetery^ In Memory of Mr MiELS Chittnden who died Dec i5«'' 175 In his 22d Year. [Riverside Cemetery?^ In Memory of M''" Rhoda ~ Wife of M-- Joseph Chittenden who died May y" jft A. D. J772 In the 50"" year of her Age. " Abraham Chittenden died Jul)' 19, 1810, aged 87. Mrs. Chittenden was a daughter of Thomas and Mercy (Wright) Burges, and died Feb. 24, 1801, aged 81. *^ Josiah Chittenden was son of Thomas and grandson of William, the first emigrant, and lived and died on the original homestead of his grandfather, (Eastern half.) ^" Mrs. Chittenden was a daughter of John and Elizabeth Sherman of Woodbury. 61* What follows is buried in the earth. This Josiah Chittenden was born May 21, 1710. *'^ Miles Chittenden was a son of Gideon and Abigail (Bishop) Chittenden, and died in 1755. ^^ Joseph Chittenden was born Nov. 4, 1727, and died Jan. 8, 1793, aged 65. His (second) wife, Rhoda, was a daughter of Nathaniel and Abigail (Stone) Bishop. INSCHIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD, 415 64 [Nort/i G/ti/fon/.] In Memorj- of Simeon Chittenden Efq"' who died fuddenly, April the I2t>' J789 in the 75"' Year of his Age. An exemplary profeffor in the Church of Chrift more then 50 Years, 27 of which to acceptance in the Office of Deacon. We are more than conquerers through him that loved us. When thou my Lord and righteofnefs Shall come, in majefty fevere; Raif'd from the dead and nigh to thee, Then how complete fhall I appear. 65 [iVort/t Gui/fon/.] In Memory of M" Submit wife of Simeon Chittenden Efq'' who Died April 15 AD 1796 uEtatis 84 Year. Sta)', paffenger, furvey this Age Through fhifting fcenes the world our ftage We pafs the time decre'd above He lives the moft who moft in grace Advances till he meets the imbrace Of endlefs life & endlefs love. 66 {North Guilford.'] H. J. S. Abel ©.ittenden, Son of Simeon Chittenden Efq' and Submit his Wife, He was, for two Years before his Death a Student at Yale College; departed this Life, Sept. ift, J770 ^Etat Suse 20. Juft as his parents hail'd the happy Day, When ripning joys fhould all their cares repay; Juft as his own fond hopes & Wifh afpir'd, [are fired To reach thofe Deeds with which bright Minds Death fnatc'd him hence & Virtue Youth & Bloom, With thofe fair Hopes were buried in the Tomb. 67 [North Guilford.] In Memory of two Sons of Si.meom Chittenden Efq' & Submit his wife, viz. Josiah who died at Sheffield on his return from Crown pont Dec' 10*'' J759. in his 21ft Year. And alfo David who died 24th J776 March J776 A\ 22. As ripning youth to manhood juft ad- vanf'd By future fcenes their Parents' hopes [enhanc'd God calls them hence: thrice his cor- [rection given Demands fubmiffion to the will of [Heaven. " Dea. Simeon Chittenden was a son of Josiah and a great-grandson of William, the first emigrant. He was the grandfather of Hon. Simeon B. Chittenden (A. M. Yale University, 1871) of Brooklyn, a Representative in Congress from 1874 to 1881. «5 Dau. of John and Mary (Norton) Scranton, b. June 18, 1712. 416 INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. 6§ \_No)th Guilford^ Shem S of M"^ Simeon Chittenden Efq' died June 6 AD 1794 Aged 68. 69 \^North Guilford.\ JosiAH Son of M' Simeon & M" Sarah Chittenden died Sept''' 23'' J78J Aged 7 Years. ro \^North Guilford.] Simeon J" Ruth died March y died Jan''> 4"' J782 / I s"' J 786 Aged 6 Months. J" Aged j Year. fffffff fffffff Children of M'' Simeon & M" Sarah Chittenden. 71 [Leeie's Island.] In Memorj' of M'' William Chittenden who died Janu'y J4"' J786 in the 80'** Year of his Age. 73 74 75 72 \^Alderbrook Ce7)ieiery.'\ Sam'l Caldwell Son of 76 George & Catey Cleveland died Sept. 8 .T795. M I Year 7 months. [North Guilfoi-d.] In Memory of Mrs Hannah Coan Wife of Mr. Peter Coan, who after a painful life fell afleep 30lh March J776 in her 68th Year. [North Guilford^ William Son of Mr Peter & Mrs Hannah Coan died June y« 28*"^ J748 Aged 16 months. [North Guilford:] Elifha Son of Mr Peter & Mrs Hanna Coan died Nov'r 12 J759 in his 20 Year. [North Guilford.] In Memory of M"' John Coan, who died Oct''- j8't'^ J795, in the 66'*'' Year ol his Age. ®® Shem was a slave of Simeon Chittenden (64), beside whom he was buried. ^^ Simeon Chittenden, father of Josiah and son of Dea. Simeon, was b. Apr. 13, 1742, m. Sarah, dau. of Selah and Rachel (Stone) Dudley, b. Dec. 3, 1746, and d Sept. 22, 1812. His wife d. Mar. 12, 1841, aged 94. '^ Son of William, and great-grandson of the first William. ''^ Her maiden name was Davis. ''^ Son of No. 73, born Dec, 1729; married Mabel, dau. of No. 64, born Nov. 5, 1737. INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. 41^ 77 iNorth Guilford?^ In Memory of M" Mabel wife of M"" John Coan who died May 2'^ J787 in the 50*'' Year of her Age. Beneath the earth, in silent shades, Fearlefs these limbs we lay, When faith in Chrift looks [through the vale And sees a brighter day. y§ 'iNorth Guilford.^ Henritte Daughf of M-- John & M" Hannah Coan Died Sep'' 24 AD 1795 ^E I Year 3 months. T9 \North Ginlford.'] In Memory of Cap Daniel Collens who died Octo^"' 8*"^ J751 in his sift Year end Here lies a friend who did int ^ this zion up to Rear [breath But cruel Death did flop his & would no longer fpare. §0 §1 {North Guilford.'] Demetrius y*^ Son of m'' Daniel & m" Lois Collins died Janu'y y« js*'' J74J/2 Aged 6 Weeks. [Riverside Cemetery.'] In Memory of HANNAH wife of Darius Collins who died Oct so''' 1799 aged 56. §2 [North Guilford.] Beneaht this Monument, lie eniomb'd, the remains of Mifs. Laura, Daughter of the Rev. Mr. Daniel and Mrs Sarah Collins of Lanesborough: who on a journey in purfuit of health died fuddenly of a violent hectick complaint June 14 AD. 1789; in y** 18, )'ear of her age. ■"^ Daniel Collins was one of the first settlers in North Guilford; born June 13, 1701, son of John, Jr., and Ann (Leete), of Guilford, and bro. of Rev. Timothy, the first minister of Litchfield. He married Lois Cornwall, March 15. 1725- ®- Rev. Daniel Collins, A.M., son of No. 79, was graduated at Yale Col- lege in 1760, and died in 1822; his wife was Sarah, dau. of Moses Lyman, of Goshen. 27 418 INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. Laura, adieu, till that important da}-, (dayl When Gabriel's trump fhall wake the flub'ring Then from the prifon of the tomb releaft, May we mount up to meet the heavenly hoft: And join the raptur'd choir, in chearful fong, To found the triumph of our heavenly king. r On wings of ardor, fly into his ams, And feaft our ravifh'd fouls on all his charms. S3 §4 §5 §6 {^North Guilford.] In Memory of Nathan Collins who died March 23d J760 in his 27th Year. [ West Cemetery.^ In Memory of g Cap* Pitman Collen who died Febry 23'* J791 in the 65"^ Year of his Age. [ West Cemetery?^ In Memory of Mrs Lydia late wife of CaPt. Pitman Collen.s, who Departed this life May 13"" J772 in her 44th Year. [Morth Guilford.'] In Memory of Mrs. Rachel Wife of Mr. 87 §8 89 John Collens who died 23'' Novr J760 In her 64th Year. yN'orth Guilford.^ In Memory of Cap. WILLIAM COLLENS who departed this life April I2th J775 in the 48th Year of his age . At his Left hand lie four of his Sons who never faw the light the firft was born March 27th. J770, the 2d July gth. J771. the 3d Dec. 3d, J772 & iaft Dec 5th. J774- [Riverside Cemetery^ T. D. [.Vorth Guilford:] In Memory of M"" SiNEUS Dibble who died Ocf 13*'' J797, in the 60"' Year of his Age. 8« John Collins was one of the early settlers in North Guilford, born Feb. 23. 1697, bro. of No. 79; married Rachel, dau. of Caleb and Hannah Mix, of New Haven, born Dec. 15, 1697. INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. 419 90 {^North Guilford.] In Memory of M" Anne Dobel Wife of Cap' John Dobel Departed this Life August y® 23"* A-D J767 In her 36"' Year. who Liv^ Belov'i And died Lamented. 91 {IVorth Guilford.'] In Memory of M''^ Abigail Late wife of M' Jared Dudley who died Nov"' s'l^ J782 in the 27"^ Year of her Age. At her right Hand lies Russel her Son he died Dec"" 9''' Aged 6 Weeks & 6 [Days. Beneath this ftone death's prifoner lies, The ftone fhall move, the prifoner rife, When Jefus with almighty word. Calls his dead faints to meets their [Lord. 92 [,Vorih Guilford.] In Memory of 2 children of M"" Jared & M" An Payne Dudley na Dudley Wi- Died Nov""" ig"" 11"> C. Died Aged ( 1792 Nov°'' 14"' J792 V — ' ^E 6 years, 10 mo 4 years nths & 24 days. and 28 Days. Passengers, survey our Age Engrav' upon this moldring pas^ Vew what is Exchang'd away For bloomingYouth these beds of clay, 93 94 95 96 97 [North Guilford.] In Memory of M" Asenath wife of M"" Selah Dudley who died Aug* r4"> .1782 Aged 36 Years. The memory of the juft Shall blossom in the'duft. [Riverside Cemetery.] Bill Son of Mr. John & Mrs. Tryphena Dudley died April 17"' 1753 Aged 6 Months. [Riverside Cemetery.] Trj'phena Daughter of Mr John & Mr^ Tryphena Dudley died Augft JO 1754 in her b^'^ Month. [Riverside Cemetery. Timothy Son of Mr John & Mr^ Tryphena Dudley died 4 March J767 in his 17 Year. [North Guilford:] In Memory of M"" Luther Dudley, ^' Jared, son of Jared and Mary (Chittenden) Dudley, born June 29, 1757, married Abigail Russel. 420 INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. Who left his native fhore on the 2(f^ of Sept'^ J799, on a voyage to the Pacific Ocean: and was loft on the 3'' Day; having juft entered the 2i' Year of his Age. Adieu my friends, my parents dear, The heaving figh, the falling tear Will nought avail; by God's decree 1 flumber in the roaring fea! Then humbly bow, and kifs the rod, Adore and love a fovereign God; And let your fixt endeavour be To fit for death, and follow me. (Foot-stone.) M-- Luther Dudley J799- 9§ 99 100 [Aldo-brook Cemeterv.] Nathani^ Jun Son of M'- Nathani' & M" Mary Dudley Died Sep f^ 1795 In the 18*'' year of his Age. [Norlk Guilford?^ In Memory of Oliver Dudley Efq"' who died May 20'^' J781 in the 70"' Year of his Age. ^North Guilford^ In Memory of M" Elisabeth wife of Oliver Dudley Efq' who died March is*'' J787 in the 80'^ Year of her Age. 101 [North Guilford.'] Cilbon y® Son of mr. Oliver Dudley Who died June y' 9 J73/40 in y" 4 ... of his Age. 102 [North Guilford.'] In Memory of Mifs Rachel Dudley, daughter of M"' Selah, & M" AsENATH Dudley, She died July 13*'' J799 in the 25"" Year of her Age. When blooming youth isfnatch'd away By death's refiftlefs hand. Our hearts the mournful tribute pay, Which pity doth demand. While pity prompts the rifing figh O may this truth imprefsed With awful power, I too muft die. Sink deep in every breft. 103 [North Guilford.] In Memory of Dec'n William Dudley who died Febry 28"' J761 In his 78th Year. 104 [North Guilford^ In Memory of M" Rebekah Relict of the late Cap* William Dudle'' who died Feb'y 9*'' J782, Aged 92 Years. This truth how certain; when this Life is o'er, Saints die to live, and live to die no more. INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. 421 105 106 107 lOS \^North Guilford^ Here Lies y* Body of m" Ruth y« Wife of Capt William midley Who died Sept'. y« J8'\ J743 in y^ 57 Year of her Age. \_North Guilford^ Lois Dudley y** Daughter of Cap' William & m'^ Ruth Dudley died OctC y« 7*'' J743 in y^ 2ift Year of her Age. \_Noiih Guilford?^ Ruth y'= Dau- ghter of Cap\ William & Mrs Ruth Dudley Dec'd June ye 30th j^45 Aged 12 Years. \_North Guilford.^ Sarah y" Daughter of Cap' William & m" Ruth Dudley died Ocf y* 7'*' J 743 in y" 14*'' Year of her Age. 109 110 \^North Guilford^ Submit Dudley Daugh'' of Cap' William Dudley Dyed April y« i6* J733 In the 2o"' Year of her age. \North Guilford^^ William Dudley fon of Cap' William Dudley Dyed March y^ 27 1733 In y® 16"" )'ear of his Age. Ill [North Giiil/oid:] In Memory of Deacon Selah Dudley who Departed this Life October 14"' .AD 1797 in the 84"" Year of his age. Such the Scenes our life difpiays Swiftly fleet our rapid days The hour that Rolls forever on Tells us our Years muft soon be gone. 113 [North Guilford.] In Memory of Mrs. Rachel Wife of Dec'n Selah Dudley who died Feb'r 14"' J768 In her 44"^ Year. 422 INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. 113 114 115 [Riverside Cetii€tery.\ This Plain Stone is Erected to the memory Col John Elliott Son of the Rev' Jared Elliott of Killingsworth who left this vale of tears March the g"' 1797 A^.T 64 Years. [Riverside Cemetery^ Young Elliott Son of John & Experience Elliott died Nov"' 3'' 1774 ^T 17 months. [Riverside Cemetery^ This Plaine Stone is Erected to the memory Mind well the wife of Jofeph Elliott died June 12*'' 1794 yET 25 Years. 110 [Aldt-rbi 00k Cemetery^ In Memory of Willys Elliot who Decef'' Sep' 20*'' 1777 Aged 47 Years. 117 [Riverside Cetfietery.^ ACHSAH Dau'' of Mr. Ifaac & Mrs. Lucy Evarts died Sep' 9 J777 in her 8"> Year. (Foot-stone.) Achfah Evarts. 118 [Riverside Cemetery^ L. F. 119 [iVorth Guilford.'] Hannah y" Daughter of Mr. John & mr^ Hannah Earn am died Nov'r 25"" 1747 aged ic months & 3 weeks. "^ Col. Elliott was a representative in the General Assembly in 1767, 1770 1787, 1789-1793 and 1796. He was a great-grandson of Rev. John Eliot, the author of the Indian Bible. His father, Rev. Jared Eliot, A.M., was gradu- ated at Yale College in 1706, and was a Fellow of that institution from 1730 until his decease in 1763. He was a member of the Royal Society of London, and a corresponding member of the London Society of Arts. Col. Elliott's mother was Hannah, daughter of Samuel Smithson who came to Guilford from England about the beginning of the iSth century. Col. Elliott married Experience, daughter of Robert Hempsted, of Southold, L. I., who died March 22, 1807, aged 65. "^ Joseph E., son of No. 113, born Apr. 13, 1767, died Jan. 11, 1829, mar- ried Mindwell, dau. of Obadiah Spencer, of Guilford. "® The Wyllys name came into the Eliot family by the marriage of Rev. Joseph Eliot, A.M., of Guilford (who died in 1694) Mary Wyllys of Hartford. She was the daughter of Hon. Samuel Wyllys (Harv. 1653), who was a son of Governor Wyllys of Connecticut, and Ruth Haynes Wyllys, his wife, who was a daughter of Governor Haj'nes of Connecticut. Wyllys E., son of Abial (bro. of Rev. Jared) and Mary (Leete), was born Feb. 9. 1731, and married Abigail, dau. of Col. Andrew VVard, and widow of Dr. Giles Hull; she next married Samuel Parmalee. INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. 423 120 121 122 123 124 INorth Gtiilford.] Ruth y* Daugh ter of m'' John & Hannah Far nam Died nove'" y* S*"" J735 In y" 6^'^ Year of her Age. \^IVorlh Guilford.^ In Memory of Mr Samuel Fitch who died Nov'' 5 J763 In his 69*'' Year. [North Guilford^ In Memory of Mr*^ Mary Wife of Mr Samuel Fitch who died De" 2* J750 in her 51ft Year. \_North Guilford:] Luci Fitch y" Daugh*'' of M'' Samuel & Mary Fitch Who Dyed Dec*"' y" 24 J736 in ye ^th year of her Age. [North Guilford.] Martha Fitch the Daughter of M-' Samuel & Ma ry Fitch Who Died Dg^br y 20 J 736 in y 2'' year of her Age. 125 [North Guilford.] Sybil Fitch y Daugh ter of M' Samuel & Mary Fitch Who Died March y« 25 J731 in y 5"' year of her As;e. 126 [North Guilford.] In Memory of Mrs Sarah Relict of Mr Thomas Fitch of Wethers field who died July 2'i J746 in her 92 Year. 127 [Family RIonument in the Foote family burial-place. Nut Plains.] Martha Foote Died Sep'' 23'' 1793 J& 18. Andrew W. Foote Died Sep"- 29"' 1793 M 18. William H. Foote Died Ocf 7"' 1793 ^"E i6. Andrew Ward Died Jany lo^'^ 1799 ^71. Diana Ward Died Feb 7*'' 1798 M 65. Eli Foote Died Sep'- 8"' J792 vE 45. 12' Son of No. 126. '■-^ Dau. of Samuel Boardman, of W.; born March S, 1655; 2d wife of Thomas, son of Samuel and Mary, of Hartford. '-■' Several inscriptions of later date than iSoo are also cut on this stone. Eli, son of Daniel and Margaret (Parsons) Foote, of Colchester, born Oct. 30, 1747, married Roxana, dau. of Gen. Andrew Ward ; the first three are their children. Andrew, son of Capt. Andrew, Jr., and Elizabeth (Fowler) Ward, born Nov. 19, 1727, married Diana, dau. of Lieut. Daniel Hubbard, of G. 424 INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. 12§ 29 130 131 \_Alderbrook Cemetery.^ Ha''vy Son of Abijah & Wealthy Fofdick died Sept 8''' 1796 Aged 2 Years & 10 months. [^Riverside Cemete)y.\ Here Lies Intered y'' Body of Mr John Fofdick who died Feb'ry ye 7th J 746/7 Aged 53 Years. \Riverside Cemetery. In Memory of Mrs. Jane, Relict of Mr. John Forsdick who died Sept'r 28th. J769 in her 71ft Year. \_Alderhrook Cemeterv^ In Memory of Mrs Hannah Wife of Mr. John Fofdick who died Oct lOlh 1762 in the 67th Year of her age. 132 133 134 135 136 \Riverside Cemetery^ In Memory of Marcy Fofdic"^ who died April 18"' 1750 Aged 20 Years. \^Riverside Cenietery^ Here lies the Body of Sam uel Fofdick who died Sep 25 J751 in his 28"' Year. [ West Cemetery.^ Here lyeth the Bod}' of Abraham Fowler Esq who dyed decemb"' y" 5"= J720 in y^ 69*'' Year of his Age. [ West Cemetery.^ In Memory of Enf° Abraham Fowler, who died Sept' 30"' 1779 in the 55th Year of his Age. [ West Cemetery.^ In Memory of Elifabeth wife of Ens" Abraham Fowler who Died May 27 ^^^ Son of Samuel and Mercy (Picket), of New London; born Feb. i, 1694. ^^ Capt. Abraham Fowler was a representative in the General Assembly in 1697, and most of the subsequent sessions down to 1712, when he was chosen as Assistant; he was born Aug. 19, 1652, son of John and Mary (Hubbard); married, Aug. 23, 1677, Elizabeth, dau. of George Bartlett. INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD, 425 AD 1794 Relict of Mr in the 62 Year Abram Fowler of her Age. who died March 143 5*'' 1770 In her 76 137 [ l-Fi-si Cemetery.] In Memory of Year. {^North Guilford:] M'' Abraham FowLEK who died Octob'' Isaac the Son of M'' Ebenezer & M" 17*'' 1777 in his.* Dezire Fowler died July 6"' J774 in the 17"' Year of his Age. 13§ [Norlh Guilford.'] He lik e a flower is cut down. Beuiah Dau'tr Death nipt him in his prime: of Mr Ebe"'- That we mite fe the vanity, Fowler jun'r & And fhortnefs of our time. Defire his Our youthful age to be compar'd Wife died Unto I flower in June Sepf 27th In the morning it fhines frefh & fair J75J in her And's dead before tis noon. 6th Year. 143 139 [ West Cemetery.] {^North Guilford.] Caleb James Fowler the Son of M"" 1723- Ebenezer, & M" Dezire Fowler 140 [iVort/i Guilford:] died March 16"^ In Memory of Mr J775 Aged i2 Daniel Fowler, Years. who departed this Life Dec'' 20 J776 in the 92'' Year of his age. 144 [North Guilford.] In Memory of M"' John Fowler, 141 [ West Cemetery:] who died In Memory of July 12"" J796, in the Mrs Elizabeth S" Year of his Age. i3i« What follows is undecipherable. '^' Son of No. 134. '*" Son of No. 134. 426 INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. 145 {North Guilford?^ In Memory of M'"'* Abigail, wife of M"^ John Fowler, who died Ma}- 20"' J772, in the 66"' Year of her Age. 146 {^North Guilford.'] In Memory of Mr Joseph Fowler who died Dec'' 8th J769 In his 80th Year. 147 [Nor/k Guilford.] In'Memory of 2 Sons of Mr Daniel & M'^ Rachel Fowler viz; LEVI, who died at N" 4 Octo' 10, J758, in his J7ti^ Year; & HUBBARD, who died 7th Octo"" J772, in his 24th Year. Not modeft Youth with Pleafing profpects crown'd, And ev'ry lovely virtue bloming round. Could fave thefe Youths from fix'd unerring fate Nor call one moment from their deftin'd ftate. 14§ [A'orl/i Guilford.] In Memory of M'-*' Lois wife of Ebenezer Fowler J' who Died June 17"' AD: 1791: in the 32"'' Year of her Age. Behold and fee, you that pafs by; As you are now, fo once was I: As I am now, fo muftyou bee: Prepare for Death and follow me. 149 150 151 152 [North Guilford:] In Memory of M'^ Lucretia wife of M'' David Fowler who Died May 26 AD J796 in y"* 65 Year of her age. [N^orth Guilford:] In Memory of M"' Melzar Fowler who died Feb'-^' 25*' J786 in the 49"' Year of his Age. [North Guilford:] In Memory of M""* Molly wife of Enf" Calei; Fowler wlio died Jan.^- js'i- J7S7 in the 27"' Year of his Age. [North Guilford?] Still I Born Son Born Daught' Born Nov'' 2'i I April 28"' J795- I J79J- Children of M"' Oliver and M"'^ Lucy Fowler. 153 [North Guilford.] Robert Sherma" Son of M"' Natha" & M" Sarah Fowler died Ocf g*'' J790 Aged 3 Months. '** One of the first settlers in North Guilford; son of John, Jr., and Ann (Johnson). INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. 427 154 [Alderbiook Cemetery.^ In Memory of M" Sarah Fowler, ihe Amiable Confort of the Rev' M'' Amof Fowler who departed thif Life June 30"^ Annodomine J789 In the 63' year of her age. Them also which fleep in Jefuf will God bring with him. Apoftle paui. 15§ 155 156 157 [North Guilford^ Here lies y'' Body of Mr Samuel Fowler jun"' who died Sept'- r 14"" J746 In y'^ 50*'' Year of his Age. [North Guilford.} In Memory of M'' Samuel Fowler, who died Oct'"' 23'' J7g9 in the 48* Year of his Age. [North Guilford.] Simeon Son of Mr jofiah & Mrs. Mary Fowler died July 24"' j754 Aged 40 Years. 159 160 161 [North Guilford.'] In Memory of Mr. TiMcrriiY Fowler who Departed this Life April gth. J761 In his 36th Year. [North Guilford.] In Memory of Mrs. Anne Wife of Mr. Timothy Fowler who died July 23'^ J760 In her 35 Year. At her left Hand lies her Son Aug uftus who died Octo'', 19 J760 Ag' 3 Months & 15 Day'*, [North Guilford.] Timothy Son of Mr Timothy Ann Fowler died Feb 22d J768 in his 14 Year. [A^orth Guilford.] In Memory of Mr. Thomas Fowler who died Dec. 2d. J770 in his 25th. Year. '" Rev. Amos Fowler, A.M., was born in Guilford, Feb. 8, 1728, son of Daniel and Grace (Barrow), graduated at Yale College in 1753, and ordained as a colleague of Rev. Thomas Ruggles over the First Church in Guilford. June 3, 1758, and continued in the pastorate until his death Feb. 10. 1800, at the age of 72. He married Sarah, dau. of Rev. John Hart, of East Guilford, and widow of Henry Hill, of G.; and secondly, Lucy, dau. of Joseph Evarts, of G. 428 INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. 162 iNorth Guilford?^ In Memory of John Fofdick fon M'^ John & M" Ruth Fyler, who Died Aug* 23"^ AD 1792 Aged 9 Years II months & 23 days. I was a pleafant flower Death fnatch'd me from )^our arms That you may fee the vanity Of all thefe earthly charms. 163 YNorth Gtiil/ord.'\ In Memory of M'' Joseph Fyler, who died April j6* J799 Aged 74 Years. 164 [North Guil/ord.] In Memory of M" Lucy wife of M' Joseph Fyler, who died July 2'i J79S, in the 72^' Year of her Age. All ye living that pafs me by, Remember you like me muft die. 165 [North Guilford.'] Jerxjsha Daughter of Mr Jofeph & Mrs Lucy Fyler died Jan. 3" J754 In her 3'^ Year. 166 [A^orth Guilford.'] In Memory of Mr Samuel Fyler who died May 25 J763 In his 67th Year. 167 [North Guilford.] In Memory of M' Samuel Filer Junior who died Aug^' 23'' J752 In his 32'' Year. 16§ [Alder brook Cemetery^ Elizabeth Daug"' of y« Re''' Mr Hezekiah Gold of Stra tford died Augft 13"' J758 In her 12th Year. 169 [Private burying ground of the Goldsmith family at Moose Hill.] In Memory of Deborah, wife of John Goldsmith died Sep' 26"^ 1795 Aged 60 Years. 170 [North Guilford.] Here Lieth y"" Body of ... . Beniamen: y'' Son of John & Mahe TebLegoold Wh '«« Rev, Hezekiah Gold, A.M.. son of Dep. Gov. Nathan Gold, of Fairfield, graduated at Harvard College in 1719, and died in 1761; he married Mary, dau. of Rev. Thomas Ruggles, Sr., of Guilford. INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. 429 171 172 173 174 Died March yo 12 J735 In y* 5 year of his Age. \^North Guilford.^ Here Lies y" Body of Mrs Elifabei'' y" Relect of Mr Benjamin Gould who Dec'd Sept'r 30"' J745 in y« 82 Year of her Age. l^North Guilford^ Here lies y" Body of Liu' Thomas Gould who Dec'' June y^ 17"^ J746 Aged 57 Years. Since it fo plainly dolh [apear we were not made for to flay here [ut dela^ O therefore then witho prepare for y"^ Judgm ent Day. Surviving friends come vieu my tomb; And be prepar'd when death doih come: To fome of you it may be nigh You may be next that here muft lie. 175 176 {^North Guilford?^ In Memory of Mrs Mary Gould Relict of Lieue' Thomas Gould who died May 9th J776 in her 86th Year. 177 \_North Gttilford.] In Memory of M'' Abraham Grave, who died July 22'' J794 in the 58*'^ Year of his Age. 17§ [North Gtiilford.\ In Memory of M"' Daniel Grave who died Sepf J2"' J782 in the 78"' Year of his Age. [North Guilford.] In Memory of Mrs. Elifabeth Wife of Mr. Daniel Grave who died Auguft 10"' J751 in her 42"^ Year. [North Guilford.] Daniel Son of Mr Daniel & Mrs Elifabeth Grave died Augft 7lh J75I in his i6ih Year. [North Gtiilford:] Elifabeth Dau'^ of Mr Daniel & Mrs Elifabeth Grave died Augft 23d J75r in her loth Year. 430 179 INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. \_North Ginlford.] Eunice Dau'tr of Mr Daniel & Mr^ Eiifabeth Grave died June IS*"" J75I In her 3d Year. 1§0 [iVorth Guilford.'] Thankful Dau"" of Mr. Daniel & Mrs. Eiifabeth Grave died Au 14* J75J in her 9"' Year. 1§I [iVorth Guilford.] In Memor}- of Mrs Margaret Relict of Mr. Jofeph Grave who died Febry g"' J763 Aged about 90 Years. 1§2 [IVorth Guilford.] In Memory of Deacon Roiiert Griffin; who died Dec'' 6"' J796, in the ^^th Year of his Age. The Memory of the Juft is blefsed. 1§3 [North Guilford^ In Memory of M" Sarah confort of 1S4 1§5 1§6 Deacon Robert Griffin who died March ■2<^'^^ 1786, Aged 64 Years. [Leete's Island.] This Monument is Erected to the Memory Of Thakful Griffing Wife of Timothy Griffing who Died Nov 2^ 1793 In the 36*'' Year of her age. [Nut Plains Cemetery^ Julia, Daughter of Tho' Grifwold Jun'' & Mina Grifwold died April lo"" 1794 in the 4 Year of her age. [Nut Plains Cemetery.] Sarah Daughter of M' Miles & M" Ruth Griswoid died Oct' J5*'' J780 in the 7''' Year of her age. 187 [Alderbrook Cemetery^ c'''" In Memory of M' Thomas '*' Joseph G., son of lohn and Elizabeth (Stilwell), of G. '82 Son of Robert and Susanna, of Southold, L. I. '*■* Dau. of Wm. and Sarah (Stevens) Chittenden; b. Nov. 16, 1757; married, Jan. 21, 1776, son of Jasper and Mindwell (Stone) Griffing. 186 Miles G. married, ist, Sarah, dau. of Samuel Chittenden; 2d, Ruth Bartlett. INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. 431 1§9 190 191 Griswold who died Jan^ JJ' J 784 in the 76"' Year of his Age. 192 1§§ [Riverside Cemetery.^ D. H. J759- [N'orth Guilford.^ Elisabeth Daughter of Enfn Dan', & M''" Joanna Hall died March 15 J752 in her 3 month. [North Guilford.'] Eunice Daughter of Ensign Daniel & M" Joanna Hall died Sep'- 27''' J753 In Her 4'i> Month. [North Guilford.'] Mar)f Dau ghter of mr. Daniel and mrs. Joan Hall died Octor J7 J743 Aged 6 weeks. 193 195 196 [Moose Hill Cemetery.] In Memory of M'" Hilan Hall who departed this Life June i6th AD 1781 in the 78*'' year of his Age. [ IVest Cemetery.] Here lies y" Body of Mr Nath Hall who died July y* 29ti> J748 in ye 55th Year of his age. 194 [ ^Vesl Cemetery.] Rebekah Hall 1767. [Moose Hill Cemetery.] In Memory of Captain Stephen Hall who died April 25"' A.D. 1783, in the 44''' Year of His Age. [Moose Hill Cemetery.] In Memory of Deacon Thomas Hall who died Feb''>' J^' J753 in His 8P' Year. i»5 Father of Eber Hall, one of the twenty sons of Guilford who fell in the Revolutionary War. 432 INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. 197 198 199 200 [North Guilford.'] Here lies y* Body of Enf" William hall Who Dyed April y** lo J758 in y' 56 year of his Age. [Alderbrook Cemetery.] In Memory of M' Ebenezer Hart who died June i8"> J78J in the 24th Year of his Age. Nathaniel Hill Efq who Departed this Life Nov y« 16"' A.D. J77J In ye ggth year of his Age He was for some years Juftice of y" Quorum Ju'^ge of y Probates in which Offices He Continued till Removed by Death. [A Iderhrook Cemetery.] Hayward AGED 13 . . .... I70I. [Alderbrook Cemetery^ In Memory of M' Henry Hil'- who died July J7'i' J75I Aged 37 Years. 201 [Riverside Cemetery.] In Memory of The Memory of the Juft Is Blefsed. 202 [Nort/i Guilford.] Abel Son of Mr Dan.i' Hoadley Late of Branford Dec"* died Auguft 4"' J74 • • 203 [A Iderbrook Cemetery^ In Memory of Mrs Mary Hoo KER Relict of James Hooker Efqr who died Octob'r s"' J753 In her 83d Year. '8' One of the first settlers in North Guilford; born Jan. 15, 1683, son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Johnson). '"* Mortally wounded in defending Leete's Island from an incursion by British soldiers and Tory refugees, on June 18, 1781: see Barber's Conn. Hist. Coll. 219. He was born Oct. 3, 1757, son of Thomas and Concurrence (Bartlett). ^i" Son of Col. Samuel Hill, a Judge of the County Court, and of the Guil- ford Probate Court from 1740 till his death in 1752. Nathaniel Hill was a representative in the General Assembly most of the time from 1761 till his death, and Town Clerk from 1752 till his death. '•"•^ James Hooker, son of Rev. Samuel Hooker (Harv. 1653), came to Guil- ford ffom Farmington about 1700, and was Judge of Probate for 20 years, and representative in the General Assembly at nineteen Sessions. He died in 1740. Mrs. Hooker was a daughter of Wm. Leete, Jr , and a great-grand- daughter of Gov. Wm. Leete. INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. 433 204 {Alderbtook Cemetery.'] 20s [^Riverside Cemetery!] HERE LIETH y« In Memory of BODY OF Mr Obedience wife of WILLIAM HOOKER John Hotchkiss: SOxN OF JAMES died May 28"' 1797 HOOKER ESQ in the 66"' Year DIED MARCH 20"- of her age. A. D. J723.4 AGED 21 YEARS. 209 [ Riverside Cemetery.] 205 l^N'ut Plains Cemetery.'] Bede Dan"' of Mr John & Mrs In Memory of M'' Obedience Hotchkiss Ebenezer Hotchkin died Aug'. 26"" J7S4 who Died Jul}' 24 In her 18"' Year. AD 1794 in the 74 Year of his Age 210 \_Riverside Cemetery^ Bleffed are the Dead that die in the Lord. Sarah Dau'i" of Mr John & Mrs Obedience Hotc hkiss died Dec"' 206 [IViit Plains Cemetery.] 4 1776 in her 7th In Year. Memory of M" Jerusha HODGKIN the Wife of M>- Ebnezer Hodgkin who departed this Life May 29*'^ 1790 in the 69^'^ Year of her age. 211 {^Riverside Cemetery.] IN MEMORY of Leiu'. Daniel Hubbard died Septem'- y« 28"^ J75J aged 54 years. Sweet is the memor}' of the Juft [Foot-stone.] Whilst dying Natutre sleeps in duft. Daniel Hubbard 212 J75J. [Piverside Cemetery.] In Memory of 207 {^Riverside Cemetery^ John Hotchkiss In Memory of who died Ocf 30*'' Mr. Daniel Hubbard J799 in the 68th who departed this life on Year of his age. the 5th of April J765 in his *** Son of No. 203, born Oct. 16, 1702; graduated at Yale College, 1723. '"^ This name is spelt Hodgkin in the next inscription. John Hodgkin from Essex, England, was one of the early settlers, taking the oath of fidelity in 1654. 434 INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. Yea 34th Year to receive the Crown of righteous- nefs which the Lord the righteous Judge fhall give to all that love his appearing. Bleffed are the dead that die in the Lord. 213 214 215 \_North Guil/ord.] In Memor)' of Lieu*. John Hubbard who died March 25"^ J78J, in the sS"" Year of his Age. {North Guilford.l In Memory of Mrs Zarvia Wife of Mr. John Hubbard who died Jan 3*^ J769 In her 53d Year. {North Guilford.] In Memory of M" Anne wife of Lieu' John Hubbard who died March g"" J783 in the 63'' Year of her Age. 216 217 21s 219 {Riverside Cemetery.] HERE LIETH y" BODY OF DEACON SAMUEL JOHNSON WHO DECEASED MAY 8"^ J727 AGED 54 YEARS. {North Guilford.] Edmund, son of Mr Abraham and Mrs Thankful KiMBERLER, died March 15th J772, aged 9 months & 25 days. {North Guilford.] In Memory of Selah Lee who died Jan' 5th J757 In his 20th Year. • {Leete's Island.] In Memory of M"' Abigail Leete who Died June 2^ Anno Domini J792 In the 85"^ year of her Age. 213 Son of John and Patience (Chittenden), born July 31, 1723; married, first, Zerviah Stone. 2'« Dea. Johnson had cloth-dressing works on West River, and was the father of Rev Samuel Johnson, D.D., President of Kings College, New York (now Columbia College) and grandfather of Hon. Wm. Samuel John- son LL D D.C.L., a delegate to Congress 1784-7. a member of the Consti- tutional Convention of 1787, U. S. Senator, 1789-91. and President of Colum- bia College 1787-1800. ,. ., , r *u u 2" This name should be spelled " Kimberly ; Abraham, son of Abraham and Mary (Shearman), married Thankful Chittenden, dau. of No. 54. 2'9 Sister of No. 220; born Sept. 13, 1707; unmarried. INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. 435 220 221 222 \^Le^tes Island.^ In Memor}' of Deacon Daniel Leete who died Oct. y« jft A D J772 In y® 63" year of his age. [Leete s Island^ In Memory of M" Rhoda Wife of Deacon Daniel Leete Who died Dec"' the 23'' J769 In the 51ft Year of her Age. (Foot-stone.) Mrs Rhoda Leete J769. \^Leeie's Is land. \ In Memory of M" Abigail the Widow of Dea'^" Pelatiah Leete who died Oct*"^ the 22'' J769 In the 92' Year of her age. 223 224 225 226 (Foot-stone.) M" Abigail Leete 1769. [Leete' s Island.^ In Memory of Dea" Pelatiah Leete who died May 28*'' J786 in the 74"' Year of his Age. (Foot-stone.) Dea" Pelatiah Leete J786. [Leete's Island!] Here lyeth the body of Mrs Lydia Leete late wife of Mr Pelatiah Leete who died Auguft 13 J772 in the 54th Year of her Age. [Leete' s Island.] Eber the Son of M'' Pelatiah And M" Lydia "" Son of No. 222, born Oct. 14, 1709; married Rhoda, dau. of Caleb and Sarah (Meigs) Stone. "^ Dea. Leete, son of John and Mary (Chittenden) was b. March 26, 1681, and d. Oct. 13, 1768. He was a representative in the General Assembly at 9 sessions between 1726 and 1740. His wife was dau. of Abraham and Eliza- beth (Bartlett) Fowler. "^"^^ Known as Pelatiah, 2d; son of No. 222, born March 7, 1713; dea. of Fourth Church, from 1773 till his death; married Lydia, dau. of Dea. Samuel and Mindwell (Meigs) Cruttenden, born March 14, 1719. 436 INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. Leete who died Oct'*" the aa"! J769 In the jS"* Year of his age. 22^ [Leete s Island.^ Nathan the Son of M"" Pelatiah & M" Lydia Leete who* 22s l^Leete's Island^ Noah the Son of IVf Pelatiah & M" Lydia Leete who died Oct'"' the 2jft J769 In the 22,'^ Year of his Age. 230 [IVorih Guilford^ In Memory of Mrs Elizabeth LOPER who died March 38*'' Year of her Age. 231 YlVorth Guilford^ In Memory of M"' Samuel Loper, who died April 1^ J799, Aged 58 Years. 232 \North Gailford.] 229 [By the roadside at Leete s Ls/and.] In Memory of Mr. Simeon Leete who was shot by the Enemy at Leete's Ifland the iSti' & died the 19"' Day of June J78J in the 29"' Year of his Age. On a Friend'y vifit, Doct. Daniel Lyman, died Sept. 28, 1795; in the 27 year of his age. In his profefsion very judicious and [ufeful. His early death is greatly lamented. Thus vain our profpects, vain our [years, We meet to mingle groans and tears. And bid the painful lafl farewell. 233 [A^ort/t Guit/ord.] Laughton y" Son of Mr "'* The rest of the inscription is buried in the earth. He died Nov. i, 1769, aged 7 years. 2*9 This interesting stone stands in the road at Leete's Island, a few rods south from the post-office and a third of a furlong south of the school house, in front of land of Calvin Leete. Simeon Leete was a son of No. 224, and fell in the skirmish described in note 198. He was born Apr. 14, 1753, and married Zerviah, dau. of Thomas and Bethiah Norton. "* Son of Col. Moses and Ruth (Collins), of Goshen, Conn.; b. June 11, 1769; married Sarah, dau. of Rev. Thomas W. Bray (No. 47). INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. 437 Patrick & Ml' who died Mary Mackean Dec*"^ 24 J786 died Ma\^ y" i6 In the 77"' Year J 748 aged 2 of his Age. Years & 7 month'. 237 [ATorl/i Guilford.] 234 {Riverside Ceweiery.] In Memory of HERE Mrs Mary Relict of LIETH Mr Charles Norton THE BODY OF who died M^- THOMAS Sepf 25"' J793 in MAYCOCK WHO dec^ the 78"> Year of APRIL 18 1707. her Age. IN Y" 71 YEAR 23§ OF HIS AGE. [N'orth Guilford.'] Gideon Son 235 \^A Iderbrook Cemeiery.] of Mr. Charls HERE & Mr' Rebec LYETK THE cab Norton BODY OF died Octob\ DEACON JOHN MEIGS 6th J756 in WHO DECESED his I2th Year. NOVEMBER THE 9 239 1713 AND IN THE 73 YEAR OF HIS AGE. [Leele's Island.] Here lies the Body of M'' Thomas Norton Who dec"*" 236 [JVor//i Guil/ord.] Sepf y" 22 J740 In Memory of In y'^ 66 Year of Mr Charles Norton his age. ^^ Thomas Meacock of Milford settled in Guilford in 1660. In 1686 he was one of the four planters named in the Indian deed of the western part of the plantation. In 1695 and 1696 he was a representative in the General Court. His name is also spelled " Maycock " in the Indian deed. He was born in 1636, and this is the oldest tombstone remaining in the town. His wife Lettice survived him. Most of his property was left to his kins- man, Samuel Smithson, of Brayfield, Northamptonshire, England. -25 Son of John Meigs, who came to Guilford from New Haven in 1654-5. but removed to Killingworth in 1668, where he died in 1672. Dea. John Meigs, Jr. returned to Guilford soon afterwards, and was one of the twelve original grantees named in the town charter granted by the General Court of Connecticut in 1685. He was a deacon of the First Church from 1696 till his death. Born Feb. 29, 1642; married March 7, 1666, Sarah, dau. of Wm. Wilcoxson, of Stratford. ■3' Son of John and Hannah (Stone) Norton; b. March 4, 1675: m. Rachel, dau. of Comfort and Marah (Weld) Starr, of Middletown. 438 INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. 40 241 242 343 244 INorlh Giiilford.\ Here lyeth the Body of M>- Thoma' Ofborn Who Dyed Juney*" 2°'i J733 Aged 50 Years. {^North Guilford.] In Memory of Mr Nathanae! Parks who died Dec^ 18"' J764 In his 88th Year. [N'or/h Guilford.] In Memory of Mrs Abigail Parks Wife of Mr Nath' Parks who died Feb'ry 2ift 1760 Age 81 Years. [North Guilford.] In Memory of Mrs. Rachel, late wife of Mr. David Parks, who died Febr'y SS"" J771. her 26*"^ Year. Life how fhort, Eterity how long. [North Guilford.] Ruel y** Son of mr Admia & mrs Rebeka 245 247 248 Parks died Auf't y" J2" J738 aged 8 months. [North Guilford: In Memory of M' Abraham Parmele who died Sep' 29"' J752 In his 67ft Year. 246 [Nut Plains Cemetefy.] In Memory of M' John Parmele who died Jan'J' 12"" J799, in the 80*'' Year of his Age. [A^ut /'la ins Cemetery^] In Memor}' of Mrs Jane wife of Mr John Parmele who died July 2-d.] Mix Son of Mr Silas & Mrs Leah Parmele died 20 March J766 Aged 10 Days. ''^ One of the first settlers of North Guilford, where he removed from East Guilford; son of Edward. INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. 439 249 250 251 252 [A^orM Guilford.] Rachel Daugh'' of Mr. Silas & Mrs. Leah Parmele died May 5th J760 in her 3d Year. [A Iderbrook Cemetery !\ Sarah Daughter of . . . . Samuel & . . . Sarah Parmele was born Dec'', firft J768 & died Sept^ i6th J769. \^A Iderbrook Cemeie?y.'\ In Memory of M'' William Parmele who died March is"' 1799. 75 Years. \^A/oose Hill Cemetery!\ In Memory of Jofhua, Son of Ens Jofhua & Mrs Dofethea Pendle ton who died Deer, ift 1750 in his 23'' Year. 253 [Alderh7-ook Cemetery!] In Memory of Joseph Pynchon Efq who died Nov 25*'' J794 Aged 58 Years. 254 [A Iderbrook Cemetery.] Poll)' Daughter of Jofeph and Sarah Pynchon died Nov"" 1777 Aged 10 Years. 355 [^Alderbrook Cemetery^ In Memory of William Son of Jofeph & Sarah Pynchon who dyed 22 Aiiguft J773 aged 5 months. 256 \^A Iderbrook Cemeieiy.] In Memory of Docf^ Thomas R. Pynchon who died Sepf 10"' 1796 Aged 36 Years, alfo of Rebecca his wife who died Ocf 11*'' 1794 Aged 32 Years. and Mina Monimia their Daughter who died Auguft 2rd 1796 Aged 4 Years and 6 months. ««3 Joseph Pynchon. A.M., was born in Springfield, Mass., Oct. 30, 1737, son of CoL Wm. and Katharine (Brewer, of S.); graduated at Yale College in 1757, and was a representative in the General Assembly in 1768 and 1769. He married Sarah, dau. of Rev. Thomas Ruggles, Jr. 25« Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, son of No. 253, was educated as a physician and surgeon at New York and Philadelphia and was one of the early mem- bers of the New Haven County Medical Society and the Connecticut Medi- cal Society, being a Fellow of the latter at the time of his death. 440 INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. 257 [A Iderbrook Cemetery^ Timothy & Mrs Sarah wife of Docf Mary Rosseter Tho>* R. Pynchon died Sep'"' 20"^ J796, died Sepf i?"" 1795 Aged 10 Years. Aged 19 Years. 263 [A Iderbrook Cemetery.] 35§ ^Riverside Cetneie)-y^ Abraham In Memory of Son of Mr Mrs Sarah Nathan & Robinfon who Mrs Sarah Departed this Roffeter. Life June 24"' J750 in her 64 Year. 264 [Alderbrook Cemetery:] Bathsheba Rosseter. 259 \Riverside Cemetery?^ In Memory of Samuel Robinson 265 [North Guilford.] - who departed this Benjamin Son of Life March 6th J776 Lieu* Timothy & in his 81ft Year. Mrs Mary Rosseter died Ocf 3J^' J787 Aged 3 Years 260 [Riversidf Ce»teteiy.^ 2 Months & jj Days. ELIZABETH Wife of Parents & friends come fee my Grave SAMUEL ROBINSON And learn that you muft die; Died Mar. i, 1797, For life doth wafte & foon will end .E. 58. And you with me muft lie. 261 [North Guilford.'] Lydia Daugh* of Dea Joel & M" Phebe Rofe. Died July 5"' AD J788: JE. 16 days. 266 [North Guilford.] In Memor)- of Mr Benjamin Rosseter, who departed this life, Sept'"' 27"^ J796, Aged 80 Years. Death conquer's all as one: 262 [North Guilford:\ His force we can't withftand: Abigail The aged and the young; daughter of Cap'' Muft yield to hi^ command. ^'' A representative in the General Assembly in 1738, 1744. 7, 1752, 3 1755-8. 1762, 3. -*' Dea. Rose died Mar. 27, 1831, aged 91. '®' The rest of the stone is sunken in the ground. INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. 441 267 \^N'orth Guilford^ Benjamin Son of Mr Benjamin & Mrs Sarah Roffeter died July 5 J764 Aged I Year 7 M 16 D. 26§ \_North Guilford^ In Memory of M" Jerusha Ros= SETER Daughter of M"" Theophilus & TER M" Abigail Rosse. died SEp.' y" jg*'' A.D. J769, In y" 38"' year of her Age. The hoary head — the youth in beau- [ties bloom Heavens awful mandate fummons to [the tomb. Yet will that pow'r which lays all [nations low Raife them again, to endlefs blifs or [woe.* 270 \^A Iderbrook Cemetery.^ Here lyeth the Body of Josia'' Rossetter. Es'qr, who decea^', the 30 day of January 1715 aged about* 269 [North Guilford.] John, Son of Cap'' Timothy and M" Mary Rosseter, died Oct'"' 8"' J799, in his 12"" Year. Stop here and ponder, ye who travel [by- In earths cold bofom foon you all [muft lie — 271 \_A Iderbrook Cemetery.'] Here lyeth the boby of m' sarah y« wife of m"" lofiah ROSseter who dec=' march y** 30 I7tI aged about 58 years. 272 [A Iderbrook Cemetery.] In Memory of Enf Nathaniel Roffetter who died October ye 4* J751 In his 62 Year. '^^^ Dau. of No. 277. »«»* Undecipherable from here; stone broken and letters untraceable. -■">* The residue of the inscription is buried in the ground. Josiah Kossiter son of Dr. Bryan Rossiter who removed to Guilford from Windsor and d. 1672, was one of the four grantees in the Indian deed of the western part ot the plantation, given in i636, and the second person named as grantee in the Colony patent to the town given in 1685. He was Town Clerk for 30 years, a representative in the General Assembly, 1689, 1690, 1694 to 1700, a justice of the Peace from 169S to 1701, and an assistant from 1701 to 1711. He married Sarah, dau. of Samuel Sherman, of Stratford. '" Son of No. 270; b. Nov. 10, 1689. 442 INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. 273 [Alderbrook Cemetery. \ In Memor)' of Mrs. ANNA ROSSETER Relict of Mr. NATHANi; ROSSETER who died April 2oth J776 in her 84ih Year. M' Theophilus RossETER Afq. who departed this Life April y« cf^ A:D J77J In yo 76"" year of His Age. . . Actions of the ^uft 274 \_Alde7-brook Ceme/ery.J In Memory of Mr. Nathanal RossETER who died 2iff Nov J769 In his 55"' Year. At his left hand lies his Dau'"" Lucy who died Aug 21''' J756 In her g"> Month. Smell Sweet And Blofsom In the Duft. 27§ {North Gitil/ord.] In Memory of M''= Abigail Rosseter, Late widow of Theophilus Rosseter Efq'^ who died Jan'y 25"" J790 in the Set*" Year of her Age. [AMe/irooi Ce»/e/ery.] In Memory of M"' Noah RoSSETTER who died Febr gth jyg^ In his 52"^ Year. 275 279 [Ah'rth Guilford.'] In Memory of two Sons of Capt William & M" Submit Rosseter, William the jft died Oct'' 17"" J772 Aged 5 Days. 276 \Alderbrook Cemetery^ Sidney N. Rofseter Son of Nathan«i & Sally Rofseter died Sept' 6«' J797 Aged 16 months. WiLLiAM the 2"^ died Jam> 2<* J791 in the J4"' Year of his Age. 2§0 [Alder brook Cemetery.'] In Memory of Dec" Nathanie' 277 {^North Guilford?^ In Memory of Ruggles Efq"" who died Oct 16 AD J794 in His 82- . . HOMAS RUGGLES AGED ABOUT 32 YEARS DIED JULY ye 2ytli J 7 O 6 2§4 [Aldej'brook Cemetery.'] Rebecca Daughter of 2S6 y<' Reu^ M"- Tho' Ruggles Dyed June 11"' 1712 Aged 12 Days. [Alderbrook Cemetery.] Here lyeth y* Body of M" Sarah Rug gles Daughter of y Reu'' M--- Thomas Ruggles Dyed March y" 22"'> I72>^ Aged about 23 Years. [Alderbrook Cemetery.] In Memory of M'^ Mary Ruggles Relect of the Late Rev M'' Thomas Ruggles who Dec' December J7 J742 in the 7i«'- Year of her age. 2§7 [Alderbrook Cemetery!] In Memory of the Judicious Learned Pious & Rev'> Thomas Ruggles Senior Paftor of the Firft Church in this Town ~ 581* The rest of the inscription is sunken in the ground. Mrs. Ann or Anna Ruggles, wife of Dr. Nathaniel, was dau. of Capt. John Bartlett, and d. in 1773- ''ss Dau. of Rev. Moses Fiske (Harv. College, 1662). Rev. Thos. Ruggles. b. Mar. 10, 1671, son of Samuel and Ann (Bright) of Roxbury, Mass., was graduated at Harvard in 1690, ordained over the First Church in 1695. and died in the same pastorate, June i. 1728. He was Fellow of Yale College from 1710 till his decease. '^^ Second wife of Rev. Thos. Ruggles, Sr. -SI Son of Rev. Thos. Ruggles, Sr. (see 283); was graduated at Yale Col- lege in 1723, succeeded his father in the pastorate of the First Church in 1729. and died in that charge. He was a Fellow of Yale College from 1746 till his decease. Author of a History of Guilford, printed in vol. 5 of the 2d series of the Historical Magazine (April, 1869). 444 INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD. One of the Fellows of the Corporation of Yale College. Departed this Life Nov y" 20"' A. D. J770 Aged 66 years. When life begun deaths fummons come And haften'd us away. 291 2§§ \Aldeibrook Cemetery.^ In Memory of M" Rebecca the Virtuous Confort of the Rever'' M"" Thomas Ruggles who died Febr>' jy J760 in y"^ 46"^ Year of her Age. 289 \Alderbrook Cemetery^ In Memory of Mary y'^ Daughter of y" Rev"* Thomas Ruggles & Rebecca his Wife who was Born Decem'' ye 22 J737 & died Augft y" JO J756 iNorlh Guilford.'] James Son of M' Ebenezer and M'« Abigail Russell died Nov"" 2^ J7g2 Aged J Year 9 Months and J4 Days. One day he was a blooming flower. The next with ficknefs was diftreft, The third death call'd him by his [powe' To meet a God that know's what's [beft. 290 [Morlh Guilford.] A Son Born A Daughter and died Born and died April 3IJ785 July9"'j786. Children of M'' Ebenezer & M" Abigail Russell In filence here we I3' On Earth we might not ftay 292 [Norlk Guilford.], Here Lies intered y" Remai"' of y« Rev'd & Pious Mr Sam'll Ruffel y** firft Paftor of y^ Church in this place who Departed this Life . . . J9"' J74 . . y<' 5 . . of his . . ge . . d . . 22 of his Ministry 293 [North Guilford.] In Memory of Mr', Dorothy Relict of y" Late Rev'd Mr. Samuel ■■'** Dau. of Rev. John Hart of East Guilford, the first graduate of Yale Col- lege (1703) and his wife Rebecca Hubbard of Boston, dau. of John Hubbard. '^'^ This stone is badly broken. Over the grave is a large flat stone, and four red-stone pillars upon it, supporting the tablet, near the center of which is a square piece of slate bearing the inscription. Mr. Russell was b. Sept. 28, 1693, son of Rev. Samuel Russell (Harv. 1681), and his wife Abigail, dau. of Rev. John Whiting (Harv. 1653), of Hartford; was graduated at Yale Col- lege in 17x2, and pastor of the North Guilford Church from 1725 till his decease, Jan. 19, 1745-6. ^'^ Dau. of Samuel and Elizabeth Smithson. INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES IN GUILFORD, 445 RussEL Dec'd who died May ift J755 Aged 57 Years. 294 INotth Guilford.'] HERE LYETH A DAUGHTER OF M-- SAMl-- & M^' DOROTHY RUS- SEL STIL'- BORN JAN y 26 J730. 295 {North Guilford:] In Memory of M' Samuel Russel who died Feb''>' 2^ J790, in the 5jth Year of his Age. My Saviour fhall my life reftore, And raife me from my dark abode, My flefh and foul fhall part no more, But dwell forever near my GoD. 29§ 299 300 296 [Norlh Guilford?^ Samuel Son of Mr Samu'I & Mrs Debo rah Russell died April 26 J757 Aged 3 Years 4 Mo & 6 Days. 297 \North Guilford?^ In Memory of a Son of Mr. Samuel & Mrs Deborah Rus- 301 -SELL who was born & died Ocf 27 J763 M 13 Hou' [Riverside Cemetery^] here Lies y" body of M" Abigail Scovel wife of M"" John Scovel Departed this Life Auguft y'' 23 205. Hastings, Dr. Thos., 276. Hawley, Joseph, 297. Hawley, Rev. Jos., 292. Hayes, Ezekiel, 314. Hodges, Rev. A. C, Paper on Yale Graduates in Western Massachusetts, 253. HoUingshead, Rev. Wm., 224. Hong Mercliants, 98. Hooker, Rev. John, 264. Hopkins, Gov. Edward, 280. Hopkins, Col. Mark, 290. Hopkins, Rev. Samuel, 263. 268. Hopkins Grammar School, old site of, 121. 398. Housatonic River, original Indian name, 391. Howe, Henry, Editor of Th. Painter's Diary, 331. Howell, Howell ap, 220. Hubbard, Rev. John, 265. Hubbard, Rev. Jonathan, 288. Hubbard, Rev. Robert, 266. Huntington, Rev. Lynde, 327. Ingersoll, Ralph I., argument in Amistad case, 340. Inoculation, 196, 203, 244. Isle of May, 10. Ives, Rev. Jesse, 264. Jason Islands, 14. Johnson, Nathaniel, 302. Jones, James, 23. Juan Fernandez Islands. 47. Judd, Rev. Jonathan, 266. Ka-le, letter to John Quincy Adams, 354. Kiefr. Gov., letters to Gov. Eaton, 371. INDEX. 455 La Fayette, Boston visit of, 207. La Plata River, 41. Ladrones, 90. Laraberton, Capt. Geo., 213. Lathrop, Rev. Jos., 268. Leavitt, Rev. Jonathan, 261. Leverich, Joseph, 27. Levermore, C. H., History of New Haven by, 402. Line, Crossing the, 7. Lyman, Rev. Jos., 263. Lyman, Phinehas, 297. Lynn, 200. Macao roads, 83. Marblehead. 206. Massachubetts, Tale Graduates in West- ern, 253. Mather, Dr. Sam'l, 278. McKinstry, Rev. John, 267. Mendi mission, 364. Milford Hill, Battle of, 329. Merrick, Rev. Jonathan, 306. Miller, Rev. Albert P., 364. Miller, Mrs. Wm., 276. MUls, Rev. Benj., 261. Moss, Rev. Reuben. 268, 279. Nash, Rev. Judah, 204. Neptune, Voyage of, 1. New Brick Church, 119. New Haven, City of, in 1784, 117; his- tory of Republic of, 402 ; 250th year of town of, 402. New Haven Gazette, The, 127. New Haven Colony Historical Society, Past and Future of. 397. New York City, appearance iu 1780, 236. Newton, Rev. Roger, 263. North Branford Society, 305. Northford, 315, 6. Norton, Rev. John, 261. Oantenock River, 391. Old Hampshire County, 258. Osborn, Rev. Ethan, 226. Owyhee Island, 53. Painter, Thos., Diary of, 231. Parris, Rev. N., 220. Patagonians, 41. Patterson, Col. John, 290. Paugasset River, Trading-house on, 371. Pause festival, 199. Penang, 105. Peters' History of Connecticut, 202. Pierpont Neck, 209. Port Desire, 22. Port Kgmont. 29. Porter, p;ieazar, 292. Prison Ship, 250. Privateering, Revolutionary, 234. Prout House, 5. Quarter-day, 203. Ramsay, Rev. Wm., 223. Rebatter, Peter, 26. Reed, Rev. Sam'l, 268. Reeve, Rev. Ezra, 264. Riley, Wm., 103. Revolutionary War, Painter's Reminis- cences of, 231 ; celebration of peace, 198. Rosewell, Wm.. 300. Rosseau, Sebastian, 39. Robbins, Rev. Philemon, 310. Russell, Rev. Sam'l, 299, 310. Sabbath-day houses, 301. Sabin, Rev. Abishai, 264. Saltonstall, Gov. Gurdon, 300. Saltonstall Iron Works, 300, Saltonstall, Mill at Lake, 313. Sandwich Islands, 53. Saybrook Platform, renounced, 323. Sealing. History of American, 3. Sears, King, Grave of, 88. Sedgwick, Theodore, 289, 290. Sergeant, Dr. Rrastus, 288. Sergeant, Rev. John, 285. Sherman, Roger, 134. Sherman, Rev. Samuel, 308, 9. Sherwin, Rev. Jacob, 288. Shipman, Elias, 251. Slaves in New Haven, 130. Smith, Rev. Jedediah, 262. Smith, Rev. Jos., 220. South Pacific, Voyage to, 1. 456 ^V INDEX. Southhold, 212. Spalding, Eev. Josiah, 261. St. Ambrose Island, 51. St. Jago, 12. Stamford, borough of, 166. Staples, Seth P., argument in the Amis- tad case, 339. State House, of 1761, 119. State House, use of, by the Society, 401. States Harbor, 3, 27. Stockbridge, Congress of 1774, 289. Stone, Rev. Timothy, 306. Storrs, Rev. R. S., 264. Strong, Rev. Jos., 264. Strong, Simeon, 292. Strong, Simeon, Jr , 292. Stuyvesant, Gov., Letters to New Haven from, 376. Sunday observance, 1 95. Swan Islaud, 3. Teas, 95. .Tenian Island, 80. Thanksgiving Day, appointed by Con- gress, 196. The Albion, 250. The Alexander, 112. The Amistad, 33 1 . The Betsey, 24. The Captain Hathaway, 10. The Eliza, 10. The Firebrand, 247. The Fourye, 234. The Friends, 25. The Eunice, 248. The Garland, 25, 27. The Harlequin, 13, The Hatty, 41, 248. The Lady Haley, 3, 27. The Lydia, 25. The Olive Branch, 25. The Patty, 248. The Rising Sun, 248. Theatres, Chinese, 101. Tombstones, Inscriptions on, in Guilford, 405. Tories, 135. Townsend, Ebenezer, Jr., Diary of, 1. Townsend, Rev. -Jesse, 266. Trading-house on the Paugasset River, 371. Tritton, Wm,, 26. Trowbridge, Thos. R., 379. Trowbridge, Thos. R., Jr., Preface by, to Diary of E. Townsend, Jr., 1 . Turner, Capt. Nathaniel, 213, Tuttle, Rev. Moses. 262. Tyler, Morris, 399. Van Horn, Dr. John, 278. Wampog Indians, 381. Wawyachtonock, 385. Weantinock, 385. Webster, Rev. Pelatiah, 263. West, Rev. Stephen, 286. West Haven, description of, 231. West Haven, borough organization. 142, West Point, 29. Westcar, Rev. Jolin, 276. Whigs, 135. Whitaker, Rev. Dr. Epher, Paper on Delaware Bay Adventure, 209. White Haven Society, 120. Willard, President, of Harvard, 206. Willard, Rev. Jos., 267. Williams, Rev. Solomon, 264. Williams, Rev. Warham, 316. Williston, Rev. Payson, 262. Woodhull, Richard, 121. Woodbridge, Rev. John, 266. Woodbridge, Rev. Timothy, 263. Woodward. Capt. Roswell, 3. Worth, Capt, Barzillai, 27, Worthington, John, 291, 297, Wright, Rev, Job, 261, Wright, Rhoda, 276. Yale College, Buildings in 1784, 122; Commencement Day, 204: paper con- troversies in 1782, 199; religious character of, originally, 256. Yale Graduates in Western Massachu- setts, 253, Yorkshire quarter, 118. Young, John, 56.