• „"■> °"° v''*^■•".\"■ "^^0^ P) V org ■•^ ^ ' • » -"^A O^ c /^.^-^-,-,.^- o . ^M^^ -K^ «^ .'- /: o '^^ o 3t ^< r ff 1 ' A ^ -.^^ S t lV-^ ^. " o « o -> ,-?> o^ * , , . • .0 V. " ? « W'-/ xy'-f-^--/" \'^'/ V^'/" * ■ .'V •J* .0' <■-. ■"■■ J' . \ .\^ V- \ °<7^.. o > ^j>» i-h- ^ *Vvr^ (O" '•^<^., .>^' ^ ^ X' A- Sketches and Notes on the Life and Times ^'^{aS of Robert Seetey, by Rev* Raymond Hoyt Seetey, D. D. u 'V^'-^CA^ y\Jc,^t^(X\<^ uy^JU ^Az, M^^j^i^., oC -Co^u a^-^t>dva^t^->t^ ,yF y%^ <^e^^<^ //^ * rVV\J2^ C\ZZ^ /T^*^ A"^vrvi/-p. <>^ ^^ jOt,Ar>xju^L^ I .LO^c/.^VtL c^ ^^^;^V.^^ V^^t^r^ ^^^^^AU - — ^/ « '"~?^ ^v^ /V^ w^ S^uMy A-^ /^^^ 1^ ^.L_ j^ -/-^ Raymond Hovt Skeley Sketches and Notes ON THB IjIfe and Times of Robert Seeley, BY REV. RAYMOIVD HOYT SEELEY, T>. I>. AS RBAS BBFORZ: THE MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY. (1) ^A^ TTbrL^/YV'lci^j^t.'Li .- :_., ,-xc^Su?_aiL2JL.» U'O^Tri-c^yCfc d-d- d- w-J^ Raymond Hoyt Seeley was born in Norwalk, Conn., and was a direct descendant of Captain Robert Seeley through the latter's oldest son, Obadiah. He was educated in New York City where he was graduated from New York University, with the highest honors, taking the valedictory in a class in which were Richard Grant White, John Taylor Johnston and other men afterwards eminent in their pro- fessions. Years after this Alma Mater gave him the degree of D. D. From the University he passed to the Union Theological Seminary. During his student life he led the Old Broadway Tabernacle choir. He had a remarkable tenor voice and such was the talent he showed that a New York musical society of- fered to defray the expenses of his musical education abroad, but nothing turned him from his first purpose, to study for the ministry. Dr. Seeley was ordained in Bristol, Conn., in 1842 ; in 1847 he accepted a call from the North Church, Springfield ; in 1857 he became the first pastor of the American Chapel in Paris, France. Dr. Henry M. Field wrote of him "When I saw him in Paris in 1858, I thought him admirably fitted to his position there. Of refined and courteous manners, he was one to command the re- spect and attract the society of his countrymen in the French Capital." When he returned to New England it was to take charge of the North Church, Haverhill, Mass., where he remained its senior pastor, for twenty-five years, until his death. "Dr. Seeley brought to his work a superb physical constitution, a mind rarely endowed by nature, cultivation and extensive travel, an intellect both brilliant and deep united with remarkable wit and unusual conversational powers." — Extract from tJic Haver- hill Press. With a deep interest in public affairs and esjoecially in the welfare of Haverhill, he left a profound impression on the town. During the hours of his funeral services all the stores of the city were closed. Dr. Seeley was twice married ; first to Catherine Cowles of Farmmgton, Conn., the daughter of Major Timothy and Cathe- rine Deming Cowles. His second wife was Frances, daughter of Judge Richard Wayne Stites of Savannah, Ga., and later of Morristown, N. J. and his wife Elizabeth Cooke, a step-daughter of Judge Frederick Wolcott of Litchfield, Conn. I am indebted for the facts here given concerning Robert Seeley to the following works, viz.: 1. Savage's Genealogical Dictionary. 2. Trumbull's History of Connecticut. 3. Bond's History of Watertovvn. 4. Huntington's History of Stamford. 5. Mr. Huntington himself for unpublished facts. 6. Felt's Ecclesiastical History of New England. 7. Palfrey's History of New England. 8. Hollister's History of Connecticut. 9. Farmer's Genealogical Register. 10. Bancroft's History of U. S. 11. Brodhead's History of State of New York. 12. Barber's History of Antiquities of Northern States. 13. DeForest's History of Indians of Connecticut. 14. Records of the New Haven Colony. 15. Records of the Connecticut Colony. 16. Records of the City of New York, Surrogate's Office. 17. Various Town and County and Church Records in Conn., etc. 18. Genealogy of the Cilley Family by J. P. Cilley, Esq., of Mame. 19. Hatfield's History of Elizabeth Town. 20. Correspondence of various members of the Seeley Family. 21. Jenness's History of the Isles of Shoals. 22. Dr. Bacon's Lectures on the F"irst Church in New Haven. 23. Mass. Hist. Collection 111, 143, 153. 24. Bacon's New Haven, p. 315. 25. Histories of Lynn. 26. Underbill's History of Pequot War. 27. Gardner Memoirs. 28. Hinman's History of Connecticut, p. 292. R. H. S. Robert the Pioneer, and His Times. THE relations of Robert to his times will be best understood if we take a glance at the events which preceded and led to the settlement of Watertown, in which he was one of the earliest participants. In March 1628, the Plymouth Company sold to an Associ- ation of six gentlemen in England i a belt of territory stretch- ing from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and extending three miles south of the Charles River and Massachusetts Bay, and three miles north of the most northern portion of the Merrimack River. The Company making the purchase took the title of the "Massachusetts Bay Company" and in a few days made choice of Matthew Cradock of London for its governor.^ A charter from the King, Charles First, was not received till March 4th of the following year, but in June 1628^ a band of immigrants, under the direction of Captain John Endicott, sailed for New England, landed at Salem and took measures for estab- lishing a settlement. 1. The six were Sir Henry Roswell, Sir John Young-, Thomas Southcott, John Hum- phrey, Jolin Endicott and Simon Whitcomb. 2. The charter of this conpany was g^ranted to Sir Henry Rosewell, Sir John Young, Sir Richard Saltonstall, Thotnas Southcott, John Humphrey, John Endicott, Simeon Whit- comb, Isaac Johnson^ Samuel Aldersev, John Vere, Matthew Cradock, George Harwood, Increase Nexvell, Kichard Perry. Richard Bclling-ham. Nathaniel Wright, Samuel Vassel, Theophiliis Eaton. Thomas Gotfe , rhonis Adims. John Brown, Samuel Brown, Thomas Hutchins, William Vassall William Pinchion and George Foxcroite. Those who came to Massachusetts Bay are printed in italics. Bond's History of Wafertowti. 3. Mr. Bancroft says the first detachment of colonists, led by Francis Higginson set sail in May 1629, but he may mean the first company that was forwarded after the patent was granted. 8 In July 1629, Matthew Cradock, the Governor of the Massa- chusetts Bay Company, proposed that its charter and govern- ment should be transferred to those freemen who should them- selves make their residence in New England, and September 1st after serious debate, the proposition was carried by general con- sent of the members of the corporation. In August, Winthrop made an arrangement with Saltonstall, Dudley, Vassall and others, to embark the following spring for New England. In October Winthrop was chosen Governor, Dudley Deputy-Governor with a board of assistants, and large numbers made arrangements to emigrate to the new world. Mr. Bancroft (Hist. 1355) says that the whole number of ships em- ployed during the season of 1630 was seventeen, that they car- ried over not far from fifteen hundred souls, and that "many of them were men of high endowments, large fortunes and the best education ; scholars well versed in all the learning of the times, clergymen who ranked among the most eloquent and pious in the realm." These embarked with Winthrop for their Asylum, bearing with them the charter which was to be the basis of their liberties. On the eighth of April, 1630, the Arbella, the Ambrose and the Talbot sailed from the Isle of Wight, bringing the Governor, the Deputy-Governor, several of the assistants, Rev. George Phillips, Rev. John Wilson and others who afterwards held prom- inent places in the early history of the colony. The Arbella arrived at Salem, June r2th ; the Jewell, June 13th; the Talbot, July 2nd. In one of these eleven vessels which, according to Savage, composed the fleet of Winthrop, came Robert Seeley with his wife Mary and two sons, Obadiah and Nathaniel, but in which one of them is not known as the Arbella is the only one of the vessels of whose passengers a list is pre- served. Nor is it at present known from what part of England Robert emigrated. Families of the name have been known in England for cen- turies, and in different localities, in the counties of Gloucester, Suffolk, Somerset, Lincoln, and such towns as Plymouth, Bristol, Bridgewater and London. We find the the following items on record: Visitation of London, 1568 — Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Richard Sely, married Thomas L, Taylor, Esq., of Lydgate, Suffolk. George Selye — Grace, daughter of John Bramstone, Gent, London. We are indebted to J. P. Cilley, Esq., of Rockland, Me., for the following account of the Cilley family. "In the year 1563 the following petition was addressed to the Lords of Elizabeth's council; "in most lamentable wise showeth unto your honors your humble orator Dorothy Seeley, of the city of Bristol, wife to Thomas Seeley of the Queens Majesty's guard that where her said husband, upon most slanderous, spiteful, malicious and most villainous words spoken against the Queens Majesty's own per- son by a certain subject of the King of Spain, — here not to be uttured, — not being able to suffer the same, did fly upon the same slanderous person and gave him a blow ; so it is, most hon- orable Lords, that hereupon my said husband, no other offence in respect of their religion there committed, was secretly ac- cused to the Inquisition of the Holy House, and so committed to the most vile prison, and there hath remained, now three whole years, in miserable state with cruel torments." We are also indebted to Mr. Cilley for the following : "In the list of captains who accompanied Drake to the West Indies in his famous voyage of 1585-86, I find the name of Thomas Seeley in command of the "Minion," probably a son bred by his mother in deadly hatred of the Spanish race." According to Burke the family was of Norman extraction. (2) 10 Shakespeare has introduced the name in his play of Richard II. In the last act Sir Bennet Seeley is represented as having been beheaded by the followers of Bolingbroke, for his loyalty to Richard. As this monarch was dethroned in 1399 it is probable that Shakespeare had good reason for introducing Sir Bennet in the play, which was written no later than 1597. In 1660 Oliver Ceeley, a merchant at Plymouth, England, was Mayor of the city. He signs his name Ollyver Ceely. In 1607, William Sealy of Bridgewater, county Somerset, Gent, married Joane, daughter of Bulliford of South Molton, Devon, (Statement, with the genealogy of the family for several generations in the Herald's College, London. "Visitation of Somerset 1762.") In the list of marriages of remarkable persons in England printed in the Gentlemen's Magazine for 1800 is the following: Richard Llewellen, Esq., of Westbury on Trim. Co. Gloucester, to the eldest daughter of John Sealy, Esq.^ Coming down to later times, in July, 1847, Mr. Charles Seeley was returned to Parliament from Lincolnshire and his unsuccessful competitor was no less a person than Sir E, B. Lytton. Of the Seeleys in the England of our day, nought needs to be said. In booksell- ing some of them have long been well known while one of them has distinguished himself aS the author of Ecce Homo. But while the birthplace of Robert Seely is, at the time of writing, not known, nor which of the vessels of'Winthrop's fleet brought him across the sea, his course after he landed on these shores is very clearly marked out. Soon after their arrival at Salem, the attention of the new- comers was devoted to the selection of sites for settlements. Winthrop and others explored the bay and its vicinity. Some 1. The various methods of speHing- the name in the foregoing' extracts ■will be noticed. We find it spelled Seeley, Seely, .Sely, Selly, Seelye, Selye, Sillea, Sillia, Sealey, Sealy and the writer of these lines has had his accounts made out by Paris tradesmen as M. Zilet. u preferred Charlestown, others Dorchester, but Winthrop first located at Charlestown, and Saltonstall, Rev. George Phillips and their associates, among whom was Robert Seeley, proceeded four miles up the Charles River and commenced a settlement which at first was called "Sir Richard Saltonstall's plantation" but which the court named Watertown. On taking possession it was necessary first to locate the site of a meetins: house and next the homesteads of the settlers. In this allotment of land, Robert Seeley received a tract of sixteen acres eligibly situated east of Fresh Pond and on the road that was laid out to run parallel with the Charles River, not far from its north bank. As this was one of the largest homestalls al- lotted to any of the planters(Sir Richard Saltonstall's consisting of but sixteen acres,) it establishes two things; that Kobert was, as we have stated, one of the company of explorers and that he was well esteemed by his associates. ^ July 30, 1630, the Watertown Church was formed, and it may be taken for granted that Robert Seeley was one of the forty men who entered into covenant on that occasion, since church membership was a condition of enjoying the privileges of a freeman and he was one of the first of those who registered their names for admission as such.^ This registry was in October, 1630, and on May 18th, 1631, he was one of the twenty-five who first became freemen, among whom were Rev. George Phillip, R. Saltonstall, Jr. and Captain Daniel Patrick.^ 1. This homestall, which was subsenuently sold to Simon Eire, is indicated on Bond's map of ancient Wateitown and ha-^ been easilv located at the present day. Bond ob- serves that few or none of the homestalls allotted to the first planters exceeded sixteen acres, the averaere beina: probably five or six acres. 2. The first church of Watertown was organized Julv 28th. 16')0, and next after that of Salem, is the oldest in the colonv of Massachusetts Bav. It was the onlv church in the town for 66 vears ; and for more than ten years Rev. Geo. Phillips was its pOiStor.— Sondes History of Watertown. . 3. The first recorded transaction of the Governor and assistants after their arrival, having: reference to militarv or defensive measures, was at their second meeting, when provision was made for the support of Captain Daniel Patrick and Captain John Under- bill of Boston. It is probable that for tue first few years Captain Underbill had the training of the soldiers on the south side of Charles River and Captain Patrick those on the north side, viz : those of Charlestown, Watertown, New Town and Medford. In November 1637 they were dischartred from these offices and the company since known as the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company was formed. 12 In 1634 it was agreed "by consent of the freemen, that Robert Seeley and Abram Browne shall measure and lay out all the lots that are granted." This office of surveyor, Robert held, as we shall see, so long as he remained an inhabitant of the town. Early in 1635 the population of Watertown had become so crowded that many began to remove, " either to form new plan- tations or to reside in towns already settled, " and the first considerable movement was the formation of a company which in May 1635 took with them the Rev. John Sherman (who had come from England the year before) and planted a settlement in Connecticut, which they called Watertown but to which the court gave the name of Wethersfield. Robert Seeley was one of this company and in August after his departure from Watertown, at a meeting of the freemen, it was " agreed that Abram Browne shall lay out the Lotts granted by the freemen, deputized to order the town affairs, and Robert Seeley surcease to doe any more business for the town." In other words the office which he had filled was thus legally vacated. But notwithstanding Robert's sale of his homestall and removal to Wethersfield, he continued to hold other property in Watertown so late as 1642. 13 Robert Seeley in Connecticut. SOON after the arrival of the new colony at Pyquang, called by them Watertown and by the court Wethersfield, it became evident that some preparation must be made by them for self-defence. The Pequots who had their headquarters on the banks of the Thames, but who had extended their conquests to the Con- necticut River, and even as far west as Quinnipiac (New Haven) were not well pleased with the appearance of white men in their neighborhood. In 1632 they had provoked a war, which con- tinued a year, between themselves and the Dutch, who had established a trading^ post at^ Sicahogg (Hartford) and probably it was from enmity toward the jDutch that they invited the English of Massachusetts to settle in Connecticut. In 1633 the people of Plymouth sent William Holmes with a small company of men, who established a settlement a few miles above Hartford which they called Winsor. But unfortunately, in his negotiations for the tract, he overlooked or purposely neglected the Pequots who claimed supremacy as conquerors of the original sachems. The irritation thus caused induced them the more readily to engage in acts which alarmed the English settlers and finally led to a war. They first killed one Captain Stone and with him a Captain , Norton, ar 1 the crew of a small vessel in which they had come to the shores of the Connecticut River from Virginia, 14 for trading purposes. The Indians defended the act as justly caused by Captain Stone's evil conduct, and however correct this may have been, the occurrence plainly indicated that the Pequots v/ere in no amiable mood. Such were the circumstances whem the Wethersfield set- tlers arrived at the place of their destination, and they early took measures for the orginization of a military company at the head of which was Sergeant Robert Seeley, whose duty was to drill and train the men and have them in readiness for an emer- gency. In the following year another atrocity was committed by Pequots or by those under their control and by their connivance. Mr, John Oldham, a well known citizen of Dorchester, sailed in the spring of 1636, with a crew of two boys and two Narragansett Indians for the purpose of trading with the Pe- quots. On his return he was treacherously murdered at Block Island. The crime was discovered by a Mr. Gallop, another trader, who surprised the perpetrators of the deed on Mr. Old- ham's own vessel, and then also Mr. Gallop discovered the mutilated remains of the murdered man. The English settlements were aroused by the news of this event, more thoroughly than the Highlands of Scotland by the fiery cross. They saw in this sanguinary deed the treachery and lawlessness of the savages and the precursor of slaughters on a more extensive scale. They therefore determined to act with promptness and severity. Accordingly the Massachusetts au- thorities sent John Endicott, with a force of ninety men, who were first to visit Block Island and avenge the murder of Mr. Oldham, and then proceed to the Pequot country and secure the murderers of Capt. Stone and his crew, with satisfactory assurances that such deeds should not be repeated. In the most important of its objects the expedition was a failure and ended in skirmish- ing and bloodshed on both sides. IS This led the Pequots to seek an alhance with the Narrangan- setts for the purpose of exterminating the English with fire and sword, while the latter resolved to unite their forces and strike the former a blow which should render them incapable of doing much more harm and should also be a warning to all other In- dians against incurring the just vengeance of the whites. Through the exertions of Roger Williams the Pequots failed in their attempts to gain the Narragansetts over to their side ; and early in the spring of 1637 the measures of the English were matured. The colony of Massachusetts mustered one hundred and sixty men under the command of Capts. Stoughton, Trask and Patrick, the latter being sent in advance. The Wetherfield quota may have gone to the field with no little zeal as in April of this same year nine of the settlers had been killed and two young girls carried away captives by the Pequots.^ On Wednesday, May 20th, the Connecticut quota, consist- ing of ninety men, forty from Hartford, thirty from Winsor, and eighteen from Wethersfield, all under the command of Captain John Mason and Lieut. Robert Seeley- and accompanied by the Sachem Uncas and seventy-five friendly Indians embarked at Hartford and slowly proceeded down the river. On Monday they arrived at the Saybrook Fort where they were welcomed by Capt. Gardner, the Commandant, and remained until the follow- ing Thursday. Here learning that Capt. John Underbill would join them with nineteen men, they sent back twenty of the origi- nal force to guard the plantations. The expedition had been ordered to proceed to Pequot Har- bor and make a direct attack upon the enemy. But Mason i. No vessel could pass up or down the river without a guard, the Pequots torturing those who fell into their hands, cutting deep gashes in the flesh and putting live embers into the wounds. — Barber. 2. Records of Genl. Court at Hartford p. 1. is tlie following minute : "It is ordered that there shall be an offensive war against the Pequots, and that there shall be ninety men levied out of the three plantations, Hartford, Wethersfield and Winsor. under the command of Capt. Joe Mason and in case of death or sickness under the command of Kobeit Seeley, Lieut. 16 learned that the Indians had sixteen guns with ammunition at the Harbor, and would be prepared to receive their assailants with greatly superior numbers; and therefore he proposed to go to Narragansett and thence attack the foe in the rear. Conse- quently until Thursday, the 25th of May, the time was occupied in making preparations for the onset. That evening a despatch was received from Capt. Patrick that he had fulfilled a certain mission at Block Island, was now at the plantation of Roger Williams, and requested Capt. Mason to wait till he with his forty men should join the assailing force. But as he did not state when they might expect him, they thought it neither prudent nor expedient to tarry. Accordingly that same night, they bivouacked at Porter's Rocks; and about two hours before day on Friday, May 26th, they started in the moonlight for a march of about two miles to the nearest of the two Pequot forts. The one to be attacked was on the summit of a hill and the evening previous had received a re- inforcement of one hundred and fifty men from the other fort. Before commencing the ascent, the English force was di- vided, Underbill, with one party, was directed to make an attack on the southern side while Mason, with Seeley, and the remam- der of the men, marched directly on the main, or northern, entrance. They moved forward in silence and were within a rod of the fort when the barking of a dog gave the alarm, and one of the Pequots shouted "Owanux! Owanux! Englishmen, Englishmen! " and the Indians were thoroughly aroused. At the same moment the English rushed forward and fired through the pallisade and Mason threw himself over the brush and rubbish which obstructed the passageway into the fort. He was instantly followed by Lieutenant Seeley, who tore away the obstructions and entered with sixteen men. A pell-mell conflict 17 ensued in which the Indians fired from the interior of their wigf- warns, and the EngHsh in the streets fought with the bravery of men who knew that on their success rested the fate of their altars and firesides, the fate of their families and even of their race on this side of the Atlantic. But, while many of the Indians were killed and wounded, they were greatly superior in numbers, and Mason's men were wounded, scattered and confused, so that it began to be doubtful which way victory would turn. It was a moment of supreme importance. The Indians would give no quarter to their assailants nor to those whose battle the assail- ants were fighting. Mason's experienced eye took in the situation and he shouted " We must burn them ! " and, rushing into a wigwam, seized a firebrand, and threw it among the inflammable materials of the encampment. The flames rapidly spread. Underbill had just gained an entrance, after encounter- ing a determined resistance and kindled his side of the fort with powder. He withdrew his men. Mason had done the same, and they formed a line about the burning fortress. The Indians fought with the fierceness of despair. But in a little more than an hour they all perished, in the flames of the fort, under the fire of their assailants, or by the arrows and toma- hawks of the Narragansetts, who seem to have drawn near as the fortunes of the day were decided. Thus between four and five hundred Indians were destroyed. Seven only were taken prisoners and seven escaped. Of the English two were killed and twenty wounded. In short it was a tremendous slaughter and well illustrative of the horrors of war. The bloody conflict ended, the victors were in anxious doubt as to what course they should pursue ; their vessels not having arrived from Narragansett. But at the end of an hour the little fleet was seen entering the Pequot Harbor and at the same time Sassacus with a body of three hundred warriors from the other (3) 18 fort was beheld rapidly approaching. The English took up their twenty wounded men, to bear whom required the services of all but forty of their comrades, and placing fourteen as a rearguard, they marched for the boats, followed by the Indians. When the latter reached the ruins of their late fortress, the sight horrified and almost crazed them. They stamped and tore their hair, and howled in rage and despair. Then they rushed on the English as if to annihilate them at a blow. But the further loss of a hundred of their number put an end to the attempt, and the English proceeded to the shore, where they were received with a welcome by Patrick and his men, who had come from Naragan- sett in the vessels. The wounded were then placed on board and with them thirty-five others who sailed for Saybrook, while Mason with twenty men and Patrick with forty marched across the country to the fort at Saybrook. Arriving toward evening they received an enthusiastic welcome from Lieut. Gardiner and the garrison at the fort. Thus under Captain Mason, Captain Underbill and Lieut. Seeley was undertaken this desperate expedition to Mis- tick Fort where three hundred Indians were killed, the fort burned and several prisoners taken. The terrible disaster they had encountered induced the Pequots to leave the territory they had inhabited ; and the main body, headed by their chief sachem, Sassacus, and Monototto, another chieftain, travelled westward till they reached and took refuge in an extensive swamp in Unquowa, subsequently called Fairfield. They were followed and on the 13th of July this same year (1637) they were discovered by Mr. Ludlow and Captain Mason. Orders were given to surround the swamp, and an interpreter was sent to them with the assurance that their lives should be spared if they would surrender and be at peace. The offer was accepted by the Indians of the vicinity who had entered 19 the swamp with them, and by the Pequot women and children. But the Pequot warriors refused and poured a volley of arrows on Mr. Thomas Staunton, the interpreter, who had approached them with an olive branch. It was therefore useless to parley, the day was fast waning and the command to make the assault was given. The besiegers cut their way through with their swords, and the wretched Pequots who had betaken themselves to one quar- ter of the swamp, were closely hemmed in on all sides, while a deadly fire was directed upon them and kept up through the night. It appeared in the morning that only twenty or thirty had escaped. This event took place, it will be perceived, about eighteen days after the destruction of the fort at Mystic ; and none of the accounts state that Seeley was among the assailants on this oc- casion yet, as a second company was raised and placed under his command as Captain, ten or twelve days after the Mystic fight, the inference is just that he was with Mason in this affair. At the close of the Pequot war Captain, or as he was still called. Lieutenant Seeley withdrew from Wethersfield and was one of those who, led by John Davenport, Pastor, and by Theo- philus Eaton (who for twenty years in succession was elected their Governor) held their first meeting April 18th, 1638, under a branching oak, and entered into covenant, by which the New Haven Colony was formed, and its first form of government was constituted and established. (Bancroft, Vol. I, 403.) Subsequently the free planters of the colony felt the need of a more perfect form of government and June 4th, 1639, they came together and held a constituent assembly in Robert New- man's barn. Twenty three, among whom was Robert Seeley, were enrolled on the list of freemen of the court of New Haven, having previously been enrolled as members of Davenport's 20 church. They subsequently reaffirmed (as did Stamford and other plantations) the principle, that civil offices should be held by none but church members. As one of the original planters of the colony, Captain Seeley shared in the division of the lands and in 1639 became a member of the General Court. As such he was appointed on various committees, was commissioned to confer, on behalf of the colony, with the neighboring Sachems ; and being active in the transaction of public business, his name thenceforward frequently appears on the Colonial Records. Mr. Huntington (Historian of Stam- ford) writes, " when in 1641 Robert Seeley was appointed Sheriff (a very honorable office in the days of the English settlers) his family is reported as consisting of four persons, himself, wife and two sons, and the social standing of the family in 1646 was indicated by the seats they occupied in church in accordance with the order of the General Court. By the arrangement, the family occupied the fourth of the middle seats, with only three seats ranking higher and forty-three lower." He was engaged in various business enterprises, was interested in a tannery, and judging from the notices of him which appear in the Colonial Records, he was an active, enter- prising and useful citizen, careful in his business affairs, looking well to his own interests and moderately prosperous. In 1 640 — a year or two after his removal from Wethersfield — he presented certain claims on that town, which were settled by arbitration and he received a hundred and fifty bushels of corn and twenty shillings in cash, which latter article, we may infer, was somewhat scarce in the settlement at that time. He seems to have had a commendable foresight in making use of his advantages and his right to share in the division of lands among the original settlers. We have seen that in Water- town he received one of the largest and most eligible homesteads. 21 In New Haven a homestall lot in the village and other lands v^ere allotted to him. In 1649 his name appears in the Records as a proprietor of house and lands in Stamford and as Stamford was purchased in 1640 of the two Sachem proprietors for New Haven, the lands above spoken of were doubtless received by him as his share in the division that was made among the pur- chasers. It also appears that he was possessed of lands in Strat- ford, for in 1663 the General Court adjudged that, in considera- tion of twenty-five pounds paid to him by the town of Stratford, he should make over to said township all his right and title to lands within its boundaries, whether his right had been acquired from the town or from the Indians or in any other way. In those early days when the modes of communication were difficult and tedious, the relations between the several New England settlements were carefully maintained and there was need for this close intimacy in the exposure of each settlement to hostile incursions of Indians, of the Dutch or of both together. The difficulty between the Dutch and the English settlers, which came so often near to bloody outbreaks, arose from the conflicting territorial claims of the parties. Hendrick Hudson was in the service of the States-General of Holland when in 1614 he touched at the various points on these shores and especially when he discovered the river that bears his name, the island of Manhadoes and the surrounding territory. The Dutch therefore held that the sovereignty of all these regions pertained to themselves by right of discovery. On the contrary the English claimed that as to the right of discovery they had the priority, because John Cabot was in the service of Henry VII when in 1497, he discovered the continent ; while Captain John Smith had done more than discover — he had com- menced the foundations of a settlement in New England in the same year that Hudson barely touched or gazed upon its shores. 22 The English also held that actual occupation was necessary to complete a title to the wilderness and they held their several territories by this higher right as well as by Royal grants and patents and charters. Moreover, the English settlers held them- selves ready to vindicate their claims, when necessary, by the sword. Soon after Stamford began to be settled, Captain Under- bill and Captain Patrick came thither and finally Underbill established his residence at Greenwich. In 1643 war broke out between the Indians and the Dutch. As generous foes the English did not hesitate to render assist- ance, and when the Dutch sought the aid of Captain Underbill, he took command of their troops and such men as he could muster. The Dutch also appealed for help to the New Haven colony. The latter magnanimously responded, and sent Captain Seeley at the head of a force with which he was to co-operate with Captain Underbill. The war lasted two years and while it was yet in progress and when England was in the midst of a civil war, the Indians began to be very uneasy, and exhibited in Virginia, in western Connecticut and in Rhode Island, such treachery and savage ferocity, that the whites became thoroughly alarmed and were convinced that the Indians were engaged in a general conspiracy for the purpose of exterminating their civilized neighbors. Even Roger Williams was constrained to warn the Commissioners of the Colonies that an Indian war was impend- ing. In these circumstances the General Court of New Haven purchased of Col. George Fenwick, sole proprietor, the township of Saybrook, the fort with its appurtenances and all the lands lying on the river. The purchase took place in December and forthwith the court ordered the fort to be put in repair and properly garrisoned. The precautions taken by the whites seem to have broken up 23 the conspiracy; but thenceforth when difficulties arose with the Indians or Dutch the fortification at Saybrook received immedi- ate attention. The year 1646 brought peace and quiet, and Robert Seeley took the occasion to seek from the General Court permission to visit England. As he held an office at the time, it seems to have been contrary to custom, but the request was granted as a special favor. Hovv^ever he does not appear to have made the visit; and his change of purpose may have been caused by the movements of the Dutch Governor, Kieft, who about this time laid claim to New Haven and the entire sea coast for his principals in Hol- land and for the States General. The attempt to enforce such a claim would have brought on a general war and, in such an exi- gency. Captain Seeley was not the man to leave the post of duty, not even to satisfy what must have been a yearning desire of his heart to visit Old England and the friends there left behind, when, sixteen years before, he went into exile. His non-departure was also probably urged by his fellow citizens, and an interesting transaction strikingly testifies of their esteem for him and for his services. Among the arrangements made by him for leaving home he had sold his house and two acres of land out of his first division to one Jacob Bassett; and whether as an inducement for him to defer his intended journey or as a testimonial of their appreciation of his patriotic self-sacrifice they presented him with another house. It is stated on the records of the General Court that the Governor himself proposed that the citizens should purchase for Lieut. Seeley the house of Robert Bassett. (Robert Seeley twice received a commission as Captain but is often referred to by his title of Lieutenant.) Beyond question his services were highly prized by his neighbors and these same services were valuable without doubt. As Marshal of the Colony, as commander of the local militia, as 24 a member of the Committees of the General Court, as a Com- mittee especially appointed to negotiate with Indian Sachems, as an arbitrator appointed by the Court in many cases, as a wise counsellor, as an efficient public servant, indefatigable in pro- moting the public weal, and as a brave soldier, endurmg with readiness the fearful hardships of that early warfare, fearless in face of danger, able to command and willing to obey, — he was truly an excellent citizen, well deserving all the confidence and esteem in which he was held by all who knew him, and next to those of the Governor and minister his name was justly one of the most conspicuous among the New Haven colonists during the entire period of his residence among them. In 1647 Peter Stuyvesant arrived in New Amsterdam expect- ing his authority as Governor of the New Netherlands to extend from Cape Cod to the shores of Delaware Bay. So unfavorable were the circumstances in which he found himself that his admistration almost from first to last was characterized by disputes concerning territory with the English and other settlers, by conflicts with the Indians and even by sus- picions of being united with the Indians in conspiracy against the New England colonists. In 1648 there was sharp and warlike correspondence be- tween the Governor and the Commissioners of the New Haven Colony, As usual when war began to be apprehended the ser- vices of Robert Seeley were called into requisition and he was appointed Captain of the soldiery of the colony. The year following, in 1649, he was in Stamford; but whether in a military capacity or on private business is not known. Possibly both military matters and private affairs may have received his attention, since the skies were not entirely free from warlike appearances, and also his elder son, Obadiah, was then a citizen of the place. 25 In 1652, while England and Holland were at war, rumors were rife in the colonies that the Dutch under Governor Stuy- vesant, and the Indians were plotting the extermination of the English settlers. The report was declared to be wholly a fabri- cation by Governor Stuyvesant, and was probably false, but the Indians so persistently asserted its truthfulness that the Com- missioners of the colonies of New Haven and Connecticut were convinced that Stuyvesant was guilty. War, therefore, would have been declared if the Massachusetts Commissioner, Simon Bradstreet, had not opposed it. Complaint was thereupon made to Cromwell against this colony, as refusing to fulfil its public obligations. Cromwell disapproved of the course taken by the recusants and sent two ships with munitions of war to Boston, for the purpose of carrying on war against Stuyvesant and his supposed Indian allies. With the ships came Major Sedgwick and Captain Leverett who were to command the eight hundred troops to be raised by the colonists for operations against the foe. Five hundred men were to be enlisted within the limits of Massachusetts, of the remainder two hundred were raised by Connecticut and one hundred and thirty-three by New Haven. Captain Seeley was placed in command of the New Haven quota. Meanwhile two minor operations claimed attention. It was resolved to seize the Dutch trading post at Hartford and the troops under Captain Seeley took part in the enterprise, which was achieved on March 6th, 1654. Also when the Indians under Ninegret had committed outrages on the Indians at Montauk, L. I. Captain Seeley was sent with a small number of men to the fort at Saybrook to co-operate with Captain Mason in protecting the Long Islanders. But these proceedings were brought to a sudden cessation by the proclamation of peace between England and Holland. Several years of quiet now intervened and though (4) 26 a man of war, Captain Seeley must have found very great enjoy- ment in the quiet and comfort of home, in the society of his neighbors and in fulfilHng the duties which devolved on him in connection with the various offices to which he was elected by the well deserved partiality of his fellow-citizens. Among other things which marked this interval was a great sorrow which befell him in the decease of his oldest son Obadiah, of Stamford, which event took place in the year 1657. In 1652 the General Court voted to pay Robert Seeley fifteen pounds out of the public treasury, but whether this was "back pay" or whether it was due for the fulfilment of other public duties does not appear. At the same session of the Court, it was voted to put the County House at Saybrook in repair, Capt. Seeley to reside in it, and to have a care for the ammunition. (Judging from what I have been able to learn this "County House" so called was erected by Col. Fenwick, as a residence for himself, when he first settled at Saybrook, and it also seems to have been located within the walls of the fortification, as a precaution against the Indians.) Doubtless he was the more ready to enter into this arrange- ment as his family consisted of himself and his wife only. His two sons had long since married and settled, Obadiah, the elder, in Stamford, and Nathaniel, the younger, in Fairfield. Obadiah had now been dead five years. In 1663 the General Court appointed Robert Seeley Com- missioner for the town of Huntington, Long Island, and he took the oath of office in Court. In 1664 he was appointed Chief Military Officer in that town and he was also to have the training of its soldiery. In addition he was chosen a member of the House of Deputies of the General Court ; and in fulfilment of the duties thus devolv- ing upon him, maintained those habits of industry and public 27 usefulness which had characterized his entire career from the time when he united with his fellow immigrants in laying the foundations of VVatertown. Soon after the accession of Charles II to the throne a pro- posal was originated for incorporating, under royal sanction, the colony of New Haven with that of Connecticut. As the laws and customs of the two colonies differed in some fundamental respects, some of the inhabitants of the former began to fear lest their liberties might be abridged and took up their residence with the settlers on Long Island. Very soon the minds of these and of others of the same colony were turned to the lands across the bay from Manhattan Island, on the Jersey shore, and the advan- tages they offered for settlements under the protection of the Dutch. As early as February 15th, 1660 John Strickland wrote from Huntington, L. I. on behalf of himself and others who had been his neighbors at New Haven, and made an application to Governor Stuyvesant and his council to " settle upon that place on the main land which is called Arther Cull."^ Negotiations were in progress during a long time as the contracting parties could not agree as to terms and it was not until 1664 when the Dutch Governor surrendered to the English troops under the Duke of York, that the new enterprise was finally commenced. On Friday, August 19, 1664, Col. Richard Nichols, formerly groom of the bedchamber to the Duke of York, in command of some English vessels of war, anchored in the bay of New Am- sterdam and demanded a surrender of the town. Stuyvesant at first stoutly refused but after some reflection he yielded and on the 27th of August his administration and with it the Dutch 1. (Dr. Hattield says that this is a corruption of the words Achter Kol which signified lehind the Bay.") i. e. u ' ' ' '' ' --1---1- 1 j- - - nt . „„ the estuary which separates Behind the Bay.") i. e. upon that portion of New Jersey which borders upon Newark and h separates Staten Island from the main shore. 28 sovereignty on these shores came to an end. The month follow- ing (September 26) a petition for liberty to purchase and settle the land on the Achter Kol was forwarded to Governor Nichols from Jamaica, L. I., by six of the English residents, who seem to have acted in full harmony with those who had presented peti- tions of a similar nature to Governor Stuyvesant. Governor Nichols gave his consent on the 30th of August of the same month, the land was forthwith purchased from the Indians, and a deed from them was signed October 28th and approved by the Governor in December and by his grant the title to the land was conferred on several gentlemen, their associ- ates, heirs, administrators, and assigns, for the purpose of settle- ing plantations on the territory and for the benefit of the settlers. Thus the settlement of Elizabethtown, New Jersey was undertaken by well known New Englanders and ground for the plantation was broken as early as November, 1664. We need not be surprised to learn that Robert Seeley was drawn to this new enterprise in which so many of his acquaint- ances were interested. John Strickland, who wrote the first letter to Governor Stuyvesant, asking permission to establish a settlement on the Achter Kol, was one of his fellow planters and fellow church members at Watertown and was subsequently associated with him at Wethersfield and Fairfield. Among the six patentees of the new settlement were the two Dentons (Daniel and Nathaniel) sons of the minister. With John Foster and Luke Watson he had been associated in the affairs of Fairfield ; with John Ogden in those of Stamford ; with Thomas Benedict he had been a fellow townsman at Huntington. More than forty of the original planters had been united with him in founding one or more of the townships of Watertown, Wethersfield, New Haven, Fairfield, Stamford and Huntington, L. I., or in manag- ing their affairs. With many of them he had borne arms and 29 had been their leader in some bloody battles. It was natural therefore, that he should unite with them in their new and promising undertaking. Accordingly, at the close of the year 1664, he withdrew from his appointments and engagements at Huntington, put an end to the pleasant relations he had so long enjoyed as an honor- ed citizen of New Haven and early m 1665 we find him among the planters of the new township on the Achter Kol. We learn from Denton (quoted by Hatfield) that it was agreed and understood by the Associates from the beginning, that the lands which had been purchased by them "should be divided in proportion to the money paid for the property : to wit, into first lot, second lot and third lot rights, — the second lot to be double, and the third lot treble what was apportioned to those called first lot rights." We learn further that (Hatfield) of the eighty settlers, twenty-one had third-lot rights ; twenty-six second-lot rights and thirty-three had first-lot rights and of the twenty-one whose payments entitled them to third-lot rights was Robert Seeley. His town lot accordingly was one of the largest. It consisted of six acres and was bounded on the north by the lot of Rev. Jere- miah Peck (the first pastor of the church in Elizabethtown) west by Mill Creek, east by the highway and south by " the Parson's House Lott." But it is not probable that Robert Seeley ever resided in Elizabethtown, there being at first no building of any kind on his premises and after his withdrawal from Huntington, he seems to have lived for the remainder of his days in the city to which Governor Nichols gave the name of New York. But his resi- dence here was not of long duration. On the 19th of October, 1 667, ten years after the decease of his son Obadiah,his busy, adven- turesome and eventful career came to its close, and judging from 30 the relations he sustained throughout life to the Church of God and the esteem in which he was held by his fellow citizens, we may believe that, like the calm and peaceful flow of a river into the ocean, when rocks and rapids are left behind, so his career, marked as it had been by exile and wanderings, by frontier hard- ships and by fearful experiences of battle and of blood, at last found quiet and rest in that blessed land which is never disturbed by the noise of warriors, by the sight of garments rolled in blood or by the presence of human hatred. Dr. Hatfield, in his valuable History of Elizabethtown, makes two statements concerning Robert Seeley which are erroneous, as will easily be shown. First, relying upon the au- thority of Savage, he gives October 19, 1668 as the date of Rob- ert's decease. Whereas, in the year 1667 the General Court of New Haven granted certain abatements to his widozv. Dr. Hatfield also states that "in December 1666 he married Nancy Walker at New York." Dr. Hatfield's death prevented the investigation of his authority for this statement but mean- while we have abundant evidence that after his decease letters of administration were granted to his widow, Mary, by the prop- er authorities, at the Surrogates office in the City of New York. Below will be found an exact copy of this document ; and with it we close this sketch of the progenitors of the Seeleys in this country. " Whereas Captain Robert Seeley, late of this city, died intestate, Mary, his relict and widow, did at the last general court of Assize held upon the seventeenth of this month, sue for letters of administration of the goods and estate heretofore be- longing unto the same Robert Seeley, her husband. Whereupon the Court did adjudge that letters of administration should be granted accordingly and she, having given sufficient security for the performance of what in such cases is by law required, and 31 returned the particulars thereof into this office. These are to certify that the said Mary, the relict and widow of Robert Seeley aforesaid, is admitted and confirmed to all intents and purposes, administratrix of the whole estate, together with all the goods and chattels of what nature and kind so ever, heretofore belong- ing, or in any way appertaining unto the aforesaid Robert Seeley, deceased, and the said Mary hath hereby full power and lawful authority to enter into possession of the premises and to demand and sue for and recover, receive and dispose of all or any part of the estate of said Robert Seeley, her husband, deceased, in such manner as administrators by the laws of this government are allowed to do. Sealed with the seal of the office of records, dated in New York, the 19th day of October, in the 20th year of His Majesty's reign, A. D., 1668. (Book number I, entitled Wills and Administrations, 1665—1683, New York City.)" /r rD58 tiS stiles' printery, haverhill, mass. 0^ ^o. V ' • o * 'O >/ r,^ "^^ V 6 .....J 0*0 2^: >^ ^0' 4 o^ 0^ ♦'*<>* ^,> v^ ■.•*: •1°^ r :m/K^ %.A^ ■^ "'-•' v^"^ * b %/ ;:i^\ \,/ :'^M~ %,.* /|, v> .^-. * » "-rf" -^^ ^ 0^ .' ^o o ^^•^^ / ^y ^^ %^^^^/ '?^ °o f\' ^^\K. ^* .^ V ■■<:> '^ :f^^^^ ^^' r- 'o V A * '"-y <£. .0' &r'^ '^..^^ -^t. .0 -Z^- o 7)- 77 o 't- ■.^^ o . * V o ■^^ •o'^' ^0- V^*--^ . * » 0^ ■-■■^'' ^.' .3 o • o .0 % p »>*> ,•^^ ^^ I a 'A- n < O. t> « o .0' '^j. ^.A" 1 • •7^ f^ 'o . . * A <^. ^, ".^^f^JI^^ ^' -^^ •^i '^ (. O > "T -^C OOBBS BROS. LiaiiAiiT aiNDiNa ^, ""MAR 81 '^^. "^' AU( ST. AUGUSTINE .' _^^]\ FLA. •>*> :^ v^^ ^'^'^^. LIBRARY OF CONGF?ESS 021 392 118 6 iii