^><^N ^;^^ Ut>lW <=^mry) lifers <-,„ llisforicaj n»sToncai lan4 marlo of Cj, Mew Ma\/«n 1 597. Glass. EJL JXIA c^*^ Hi- HISTORICAL LANDMARKS OF CONNECTICUT A FEW NOTES AND MEMORANDA RESPECTING THOSE ALREADY MARKED AND SOME SUGGESTIONS REGARDING OTHERS THAT MAY BE MARKED FOR THE USE OF THE UNITED COMMITTEES ON HISTORICAL LANDMARKS OF CONNECTICUT "What mean ye by these stones?" — Joshua iv, 6. NEW HAVEN: THE TUTTLE, MOREHOUSE & TAYLOR PRESS 1897 - -7 - ,7 ./.•• r REFERENCES. In addition to the references named in the text, the following authority is referred to : Homes of Our Forefathers, b)' . . . . Edward Whitefield. Colonial Houses of New Haven, . . . Susan C. Gower. History of North Haven, Sheldon B. Thorpe. History of Montville, Henry P. Baker. Hinman's Early Settlers. Sanford's History of Connecticut. Dictionary of American Biography, . . , Francis S. Drake. American Additions to Library of Universal Knowledge. Papers and Records of New London County Historical Society. 2 My '08 — 3— To the members of the United Committees on Historical Landmarks in Connecticut, and to others who may be interested : A meeting of the United Committees was held at the house of the Chairman of the Committee of the Sons of the Revolution, on February 12th ult., at which there was a full attendance. The Rev. E. S. Lines, of the Sons of the American Revolu- tion, was called to the chair, and Dr. George J. Holmes, of the Sons of the Revolution, was chosen secretary. Eight organizations were present by their committees. A letter was presented respecting the preservation of Indian names, and another letter calling attention to the march of the French army, under Count Rochambeau, through the State, and asking if some means could not be found for identifying the sites of their encampments. A free and informal discussion was had, and finally an Executive Committee, consisting of the Chair- man of each Committee represented in the United Committees, was appointed to order and direct the work entrusted to the several Committees by their societies. The following constitute this Executive Committee : Henry Baldwin, 260 Crown street, New Haven, Chair- man, Sons of the Revolution. Hon. Jonathan Trumbull, Norwich, sons of .American Revolution. Dr. Charles Samuel Ward, 29 Park street, Bridgeport, ■Society of Colonial Wars. Capt. William S. Wells, 382 Whitney avenue, New Haven, New Haven Colony Historical Society. . , Col. NoRRis OsBORN, 34 Trunxbull street. New Haven, Founders and Patriots. Mrs. Adrian J. MuZZEY, BriStal, Daughters of American Revolution. Mrs. Godfrey Dunscomb, 324 Prospect street, New Haven, Colonial Dames, Prof. Charles C. Stearns, 126 Garden street, Hartford, Vrchaeological Society. Judge Sherman W. Adams, Hartford, Connecticut Historical society. I have hesitated in calling this Committee together for organization until I had enough in hand to form a certain basis for active aggressive work. I did not wish any more waste of time than was needful, and as there has been no money appropriated I wished to save all the expense possible. — 4— The following pages give a fair illustration of the matter that has been received up to this time, and comprises about half of what I have on hand. I would desire that the memo- randa may be carefully looked over, and that additions to the record may be made by all who feel interested to do so. I would remind the Committees that what we have, covers but a small part of the State, and that in some way we ought to visit every town and hamlet, and gather there facts of past history that it is possible to record upon the ground. As I now view it, it seems to me that we have entrusted to us the writing of the State history from the standpoint of " site," and placing memorials where every passer-by can for himself see and learn that which will teach him of the cost and the value of our free institutions of liberty. I feel that the work is one of considerable value, and that if possible we ought to be able to present a completed report by the time the next legislature shall meet in 1899 ; but this cannot be accom- plished unless every one is willing to contribute time and research. I would earnestly ask that those who possess in- formation, papers, letters or any matter that would aid in the development of the work would send the same to me, and which I will gladly acknowledge. HENRY BALDWIN, Chairman of the Executive Committee on Historical Landmarks in Connecticut. New Haven, April 14, 1897. — 5— NEW HAVEN. The State House. The first State House was located on the Green and built in 17 17, not far from the corner of Elm and College streets. Near by it was the jail. In 1763 the " new Brick State House " was erected on the Green a short distance north of Trinity Church, the steps projecting out into Temple street. Part of the first floor was used as a din- ing room and ball room. In May, 1827, the Assembly passed a resolution that it was expedient and necessary to build a new State House for their accommodation at New Haven. Ithiel Town was the architect. The build- ing was 182 feet long in its extreme length, including the buttresses, the main building being 130 feet in length by 90 feet wide. The steps extended 15 feet beyond the buttresses. The columns at either end were seven feet in diameter, and including their capitals 40 feet in height. There were twelve windows on either side, beside those lighting the basement. The plan was similar to the Doric Temple Thesevis, although most persons have supposed it to have been after the Parthenon. It appears to have been an expensive building, and large sums were con- stantl)' spent in repairs. In 1889, after considerable diffi- culty and opposition, the building was removed. The Isaac AUertoii House. S. E. cor. Union and Fair streets. He was one of the Pilgrims. His name stands in the covenant made by the founders of the commonwealth between that of Elder Brewster and Miles Standish. The John Dixwcll House. S. E. cor. of College and Grove streets. The regicide lived here for many years under the assumed name of James Davids, and died here March i8th, 1689, aged 81 years. He was buried back of Center Church, and a monument was erected to his memory by his descendants in 1849. — 6— The Theophilus Eaton House. Elm street. The site is now occupied by "The Jones House," which was built in 1765. Eaton was the first magistrate and Governor of the Colony, and lived here until his death on January 7th, 1658. He was born at Stony Stratford, Bucks, England, and accompanied Dav- enport to New England in 1637, and was one of the founders of New Haven in 1638. The Elbridge Gerry House. S. E. cor. of Temple and Wall streets. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Governor of the State in 1810, and \'ice President of the United States in 1812. Robert Nnvmaiis Barn. The position of the " mighty barn " is uncertain ; a sug- gestion.as to its possible site is connected with the fact that the broad opening to the. original 2d Quarter farming lands, now the entrance to Hillhouse avenue, was opposite to the present barn of Mr. Henry Trowbridge, on Grove street. The " fundamental agreement " which deter- mined the ecclesiastical and civil government of the plantation was made in Mr. Newman's barn, June 4th, 1639. By it the elective franchise was limited to church members, who formally organized the civil state October 25th, 1639, when their magistrates and municipal officers were first chosen. — Proceedings in Cotnmemoration of the Settlement of the Town of New Haven, April 2§th, 1SS8, page 12. Mr. Frederick S. Atwater names Colonial Hall, the home of the New Haven Colony Historical Society, as the site of Mr. Newman's barn. The Roger Sherman House. Built , taken down . He was the only man who signed the four great state papers : The Bill of Rights ; The Articles of Federation ; The Declar- ation of Independence, and the Constitution of the United States. He died here July 23d, 1793. The Nathaniel Turner House. S. E. cor. of Church and Wall streets. Having had expe- rience in the Pequot War, he was entrusted with " the command and ordering of the military affairs." He was lost in the " great shippe " in 1646. — 7— The Wooster House. 282 George street. The house was the property of Major General David Wooster, who was born at Stratford, March 2d, 17 10. He entered the provincial army on the breaking out of war between England and Spain as a Lieutenant. As Captain he participated in Col. Burr's regiment in the attack on Louisburg in 1745. He became Brigadier General during the French war. When peace came he formed a partnership with Aaron Day and resided in the house on George street. He afterwards removed to Wooster street. This house became the property of Michael Baldwin in 1769, and was occupied by his descendants until long after the close of the cen- tury. It was taken down in 1895 to make way for the Zunder School. The Benedict Arnold House. 155 Water street. Built by Arnold about 1771. He left it in 1776. Noah Webster bought it in 1798, and he lived here from 1802 until 181 2. James Hunt occupied it later, having bought it for $5,450. It was confiscated by the government after Arnold's treason ; sold to Captain John Prout Sloan in 1782. Arnold bought the land on which the house was built of Sheriff Mansfield, whose daughter he married. The house is now used for the storage of lumber. The Beecher House. 261 George street. Built in 1764 by David Beecher, black- smith and farmer, a descendant of Isaac Beecher, one of the original colonists, who bought the land and built the house, where he resided until his death. The property was held by his descendants until after the close of the century. Lyman Beecher, the father of the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, was born here on October 12th, 1775. It is said that the blacksmith's anvil rested upon the very spot where John Davenport preached his first sermon in New Haven. The Blue Meeting-House Parsonage. 40 Ashmun street. The Separatist Society, afterwards the White Haven Society, erected this house on the propert)' where St. Thomas Protestant Episcopal Church is now standing in Elm street near Orange, as a parsonage for the " Blue Meeting-House." Mr. John Curtis first preached for them and occupied the house. In 175 1 Samuel Bird was chosen pastor, and to him the house was deeded, and he lived here until his death in 1784. In 1768 he was granted by the Society "a dismissal," and he began here a general mercantile business, his study becoming a store. The British despoiled the store and house in the Tryon raid in 1779. Mr. Bird's descendants held it until 1849. The house was then sold for one hun- dred dollars and moved to its present location. Whitfield often lodged here. The Bontecou House. N. E. cor. of Olive and Wooster streets. The Bontecou family were sailors, and carried on an extensive trade in rum, sugar and molasses from the West Indies. The earliest member of the family fled from France in 1694, and made their home in New Haven. This house was built by Captain Peter Bontecou. He was born about 1738, and married Susannah, daughter of Jehial and Mary Thomas, of New Haven, in 1762. When he built in 1770, he provided a cellar under his house large enough to store an entire cargo, and it is suspected that some articles may not have paid the custom house charges. When the Revolutionary war broke out, he was absent on a voyage to the West Indies, and returning he entered the port of New York and was captured by the British, who were in possession. They sent him to the prison ship " Jersey," from which he made his escape through Long Island, but he was attacked with small pox, and died in a tavern at Huntington, in 1779. Very few, if any, of his family are remaining to-day. An Old Coffee House. 247 Church street. This house was at first the home of Joshua Chandler, who was a sympathiser with the British. When the invasion of July 5th, 1779, occurred, he with his family left New Haven with the retreating foe. Jabez Smith occupied the house in 1783 as a coffee house, and it was afterwards also by Jacob Ogden. It then occupied the present site of the Tontine Hotel. About 1820 it was — 9— removed to its present position, and afterwards was the home of the Rev. Leonard Bacon, and where he lived until his death. The Jehiel Forbes House. This is a stone house built by Mr. Forbes in 1767. It is said to be still owned by his descendants. It was occupied by his son Samuel, and later by Betsey Bradley, the daughter of Samuel. It is one of the houses despoiled by the British. The Admiral Foote House. Fair street. On September 12th, 1806, Andrew Hull Foote was born. His father was Samuel Augustus Foote, who died September isth, 1846. His father was the Governor of the- State from 1834-1835. Admiral Foote was an acting midshipman in the navy in 1822, and during the war distinguished himself and became rear admiral. He died at the city of New York from the effects of a wound he had received at Fort Donaldson June 26th, 1863. The Hillhouse House. 83 Grove street. Built by James Abraham Hillhouse in 1762, and lived in it until his death in 1775. After his death it was occupied by his widow until her death in 1822. James Hillhouse, their nephew, spent the early years of his life here. It has since been the " Grove Hall Seminary " for the education of young ladies, and now is used as a boarding house. The Hull House. 283 George, N. W. cor. of College street. Erected about 1760 by Joseph Hull. The land on which it stands has been in the possession of the family for nearly two hun- dred years. The Jones House. It occupies the site of the house of Governor Eaton referred to above. Built in 1765 by Isaac Jones, a great grandson of William Jones and Hannah Eaton, daughter of the Governor. It was occupied by the Jones family until after the year 1800. The Pierpont Hmse. 73 Elm street. The land was deeded by the Town of New Haven to John Pierpont as a portion of his ministerial settlement on September 25th, 1685. It is said that this is the only deed that has ever been given for the property up to the present time. The building was commenced in 1764 and iinished in 1767. The Pinto Hotise. This was the first brick house erected in New Haven. The brick were imported, and the house built by Jacob Pinto in 1745. It is at 535 State street. A Tory Tavern. 87 Elm street. 1772-1776. Nicholas Callahan, a loyalist, here kept a tavern, which became the resort of the tories. In 1781 it was confiscated. In 1791 it was purchased by William McCracken, and sold by him in 1792 to Jonathan Mix, who retained the ownership for many years. The Trowbridge House. 175 Meadow street. Built by Thomas Trowbridge, Jr., in 1684. It is the oldest house standing in New Haven. In 1748 it was in the hands of Stephen Trowbridge. A few years ago it was moved back on the rear of the lot. The Rutherford Trowbridge House. 295 West Water street. It was the second brick house erected in the city, put up by Rutherford Trowbridge in 1774. Captain Rice, a tory, saved this house from being despoiled by the British, being a personal friend of Mr. Trowbridge. The Thomas Trowbridge House. Thomas Trowbridge, a brother of Rutherford, built this house in 1774, and was living in it when the British entered New Haven. He was of those who helped repel the invaders, but was captured by them and imprisoned on the prison ship " Jersey," where he died. The house is on the corner of Christopher street and Columbus avenue. The Noah Webster House. N. W. cor. of Temple and Grove streets. He built this house, where he passed the later years of his life, dying here on May 28th, 1848. The Eli Whitney House. N. W. cor. Elm and Orange streets. The inventor of the cotton gin died here January 8th, 1825. Governor SaltonstalV s House. Near Saltonstall Lake, East Haven. Was built in 1708, soon after he was made Governor. It passed out of the hands of the family in 1775. Gurdon Saltonstall was born at Haverhill, Mass., March 27th, 1666. He grad- uated at Harvard in 1684, ordained a minister at New London November 25th, 1691. He was Governor of Connecticut from 1707 until his death, October ist, 1724. MEMORL\LS IN AND AROUND NEW HAVEN. The First Sabbath, Tablet Commemorating. Inserted on the George street side of the brick building on the N. E. cor. of George and College streets. John Davenport here preached his first sermon under the trees : " 1888 ; The Founders of this Town Landed near this Spot ; Assembled here, For the Worship of God, on their First Sunday, April 26, 1638." The " Bacon " Historical Tablet. Encircling the top and sides of the center window over the center doorway of the Center Church : "Quinnipiack Chosen for Settlement A. D. 1637. Named New Haven A. D. 1640." (The inscription is too long to be all repeated here.) /ohn Dixwell Monument. White marble monument to John Dixwell, the regicide, erected by his descendants in 1847, and enclosed with an iron railing. He lived in New Haven under the name of John Davids, and died at the age of 81 years, March i8th, 1689. Mathew Gilbert Monument. His gravestone is said to be seen outside of the iron rail- ing in the rear of the Center Church, but showing but a few inches above the ground. He was the Deputy Gov- ernor of the Colony from October 25, 1639 until October, 1643. He died here in 1680. The Judges Cave, West Rock. On Tuesday evening, October i6, 1896, Mr. Horace Day read a paper before the New Haven Colony Historical Society entitled, " Whalley and Goffe." The following day the Society of Colonial Wars unveiled a tablet that had been inserted into one of the boulders on West Rock, and at 4 o'clock Mr. Charles Dudley Warner, of Hartford, delivered, at Colonial Hall, an address before the Society on " The Regicides." Fort IVooster Park Tablet. Bronze tablet unveiled by the General David Humphreys Branch, No. i, of the Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution on July 5th, 1895, the one hun- dred and sixteenth anniversary of the Invasion of New Haven by the British. This location was formerly an Indian burying ground, afterwards called Fort Hill, and later Fort Wooster. The Columbus Monument on IVooster Square. Erected by the Italian residents of the city to commem- orate the " Columbian Year," 1892. The Soldiers' Monument on East Rock. Unveiled and dedicated June 17th, 1887. "The large statue erected on the bluff at New Haven to commemorate the soldiers of that district killed in the war, is not, as one would guess on his approach, Victory with a laurel leaf, but Peace with an olive branch." — Ian Maclaren. Monument to Ex-Mayor Henry G. Lewis. On the bluff at East Rock. The English Memorial. Colonial Hall, the home of the New Haven Colony His- torical Society. Erected by Henry F. English as a memo- rial of James E. and Caroline F. English. The deed of property is dated November 14th, 1891. The building was opened September 28th, 1893. -13- SUGGESTIONS FOR MEMORIALS. The Encanipment of the Pioneers of Ne^ci Haven. Six men under the direction of Joshua Atwater, a mer- chant of Kent, England, encamped near this spot in the winter of 1637-38. The First Burial Ground. The Founders of New Haven are at rest under and around the Center Church. The Tryon Invasion of New Haven. The old cannon captured from the British at the time of the invasion are planted as corner posts : Corner of Temple and Center streets. Union and Fair streets. Court and State streets. The first skirmish took place at the Allingtown Bridge over West River, and another skirmish was had at the Westville Bridge and there was also another stand made at some other point. The Bridge over Mill River near East Rock. It was under this bridge that the regicides secreted them- selves while their pursuers rode over the bridge, and here (I think) the local troops, with the college company, made a stand against the invaders who landed on the East Haven shore on July 5th, 1779. Governor Eaton s Monument. The tablet was taken from the back of the Center Church and placed in the Grove Street Cemetery. It should be restored to its original position. There are suggestions for monuments or statues of noted persons resident or born in New Haven, and also of celebrated occurrences that have happened here. The Franklin Elm. Planted April 17th, 1790, the day of Franklin's death, on the corner of Church and Chapel streets. The Beers Elm. On Grove street near the N. W. cor. of Hillhouse avenue, opposite Colonial Hall. — 14— YALE COLLEGE MEMORIALS. Yale College itself. Organized at Branford. Received its first charter from the Colonial Assembly in 1701, and in the following year Nathaniel Chauncey received the first degree granted. The date of the passage of the charter appears to have been Thursday, October 1 6th, although the official papers have the day of the assembling of the Court, October 9th, 1701. On the nth of November seven of the Trustees of the "College School of Connecticut," held their first meeting at Saybrook (now Old Saybrook.) They voted to fix the college at Saybrook, and elected Abraham Pierson, of Killingworth, as Rector. The first student was Jacob Hemingway, who was the first and only pupil until Sep- tember. "On the last day of September, 1702, eight of the Trus- tees met at Killingworth. At this time they took action to secure the formal conveyance of a small house and land, situated near the middle of the broad plain which extends to the Point in Saybrook, near the old burying-ground, which Mr. Nathaniel Lynde had offered for the use of the school, so long as it remained at Say- brook ; but the donor did not pass over the property until six years later." The first Commencement took place at Rev. Mr. Buck- ingham's residence in Saybrook, September i6th, 1702. The degree of Master of Arts was conferred on five persons. The first building for the college was one story in height, about 80 feet in length. Fifteen Commencements were held at Saybrook. The monument to Major General Hart in the ancient burying-ground at Saybrook Point, is said to be near where the old college building stood. There are a large number of memorials connected with the college in the city : Mary Hartwell Lusk Memorial. The Library Building and Reading Room presented by Simeon Baldwin Chittenden, in 1889, as a memorial to his daughter. —15— The Farnam Gateway. Memorials to Samuel and Elnathan Whitman. Erected in 1895 by Mrs. Ann Whitman Farnam. Pierson Statue. Bronze statue to Abraham Pierson, first president of Yale College. Woolsey Statue. Bronze statue to Theodore Dwight Woolsey, president of Yale College. Silliman Statue. Bronze statue to Benjamin Silliman, professor of Natural Sciences. John Trumbull, the Artist. He was buried in a vault prepared by himself on the Yale Campus, beneath what was once the " Trumbull Gallery," but now used as the Treasury Building. He was born at Lebanon, June 6th, 1756, and was Adjutant General of the Northern Department of the Revolutionary Army, but retired from the army in 1777. He was the painter of the Revolution, and a collection of his works are in the Yale Art School. He died in New York, November loth, 1843. North Haven Memorial Hall. The Memorial Hall stands to commemorate the first two hundred years of the existence of the town. " Looking backward, one would not change its record ; looking forward, there is nothing to fear." • One William Bradley, a reputed ofScer in Cromwell's Army, appears to have been the first settler within the town limits. He located on the west side of "East River" (Quinnipiac), between 1640 and 1650. The First Meeting House at North Haven. Erected in 171 8 at the center of the tract devised by 3Ir. Pierpont, then called " The Market Place," and later on " The Green," and now " Pierpont Park." -i6— HARTFORD MEMORIALS. Wadsworth Mansion. June 29th, 1891, the Sons of the American Revolution unveiled a tablet to commemorate the old Wadsworth Mansion which stood upon the site of the Atheneum Building on Main street. It \vas the scene of hospitalities in colonial times, and afterwards LaFayette, Rochambeau, Chatellux and other French officers were entertained there, some of them several times ; and the patriotism of Colonel Wadsworth deserves recognition. The tablet was unveiled by a descendant of Col. Wadsworth, Gen. Warren and Gen. Putnam. Wadsworth Elm. June 29th, 1894, the sons of the American Revolution placed a tablet upon the Wadsworth Elm to commemorate the first visit of General George Washington to Hartford, while on his way to take command of the Continental Army at Cambridge. Putnam Statue. Erected in Bushnell Park by Judge Joseph Pratt Allyn. The pedestal was furnished by the city of Hartford. The statue is of bronze, heroic size, the work of John Ouincy Adams Ward. Knowlton Statue. Presented and unveiled November 13th, 1895. Presenta- tion b)' Charles Dudley Warner, accepted by Governor Vincent Coffin, and an historical address by P. Henry Woodward. The statue is of bronze, the work of E. S. Woods, of Hartford. It was cast by M. H. Mosman, of Chicopee, Mass. Monument to Dr. Horace Wells. Designed by the sculptor Bartlett to commemorate the discovery of anaesthesia. It was put up by the State and city together at a cost of f 10,000. It had originally a base of wood, but this has been replaced by a pedestal of granite. Brownell Statue. Bronze statue erected in Bushnell Park by Gordon W. Burnham, in memory of the Right Reverend Thomas C. —17— Brownell, Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Connecticut and first president of Trinity College. This statue was removed from its first location, and now stands upon the College campus. The Memorial Arch. To the memory of the soldiers who fell during the Civil War, completed in i8S6. Statues in the State Capitol. Captain Nathan Hale. Governor William A. Buckingham. Trees. The New Charter Oak, planted in 1867, a seedling of the Old Charter Oak of 1647. The Bliss Elm in Bushnell Park. Bushnell Park. A memorial to Bushnell. SUGGESTIONS FOR HARTFORD. Charter Oak Park. The Park was sold at public auction on April 4th, 1896, to Col. Henry Kennedy, for $19,000, a loss it is said of $150,000. Col. Kennedy is a real estate agent at Hartford. He also purchased about the same time some thirty acres of land adjoining. The Park was purchased and used for some years, up to near the time of the sale, as a race track, and was recognized as one of the finest in the country. It is understood that the Society of Colonial Wars has secured the site of the " Charter Oak," and that it pro- poses in some suitable way to mark it. The Charter Oak. "You will probably have heard ere this reaches you, that the venerable Charter Oak, which has defied the blasts of probably more than a thousand winters, has at last yielded to time and the elements, and now lies a huge ruin upon the ground. It was broken ofi" about five feet from the ground, and when one looks upon the stump and sees what a mere shell the trunk was, he wonders that it has stood so long. The hollow in the trunk has contained at one time twenty-seven full grown men. All the bells of the city tolled at sunset last evening, for an hour, in token of grief of our citizens for the loss of this relic of the olden time. I enclose you a leaf I plucked from it yesterday. C. J. H. August 22nd, 1856." M. E. Hist. (Sr= Gen. Reg., Oct., 1836, Vol. X, No. 4, page 356. A seedling of 1847 from the Old Charter Oak has been planted in Bushnell Park, in the triangular plat between the Mulberry and Trumbull Bridges. The Ledyard Elm. It stood on the south side of Arch street, opposite the Lincoln Iron Works. John Ledyard planted it about 1772. It became a very large tree. It was cut down by the Park Commissioners. Ledyard was a peculiar indi- vidual, and planted this tree to commemorate his visit to the spot to see his uncle, Thomas Seymour, the father of Governor Thomas H. Seymour. He was born at Groton, in 1751, and died at Cairo, in Egypt, in 1789. Foremothers Monument. A committee was appointed at the meeting of the Con- necticut Daughters of the American Revolution, at Waterbury, on January 29th, 1897, to consider the feasi- bility of erecting a monument in the capitol grounds, at Hartford, in commemoration of the Foremothers of the D. A. R. Harriet Beecher Stowe. There has already been a movement made for the erection of a memorial to the author of " Uncle Tom's Cabin," in Bushnell Park, and some correspondence had in the pub- lic prints respecting it. The objections urged have, we believe, all been removed, but what progress has been made in regard to the proposed statue we are uninformed. The Old Dutch Fort. Erected at the entrance of the "Little River" into the Connecticut, by the Dutch from New Amsterdam in 1633, at "Suckiag," and which they called "Good-Hope." The First Meeting House. —19— The First House Built at Hartford. John Talcott came from Braintree, Essex County, Eng- land, with the company of the Rev. Thomas Hooker in the Ship " Lion," which sailed June 22d, 1632, and arrived on September i6th. He was a resident of Newton, Mass., but on May ist, 1636, with about 100 others he left that place under the leadership of Mr. Hooker and went through the wilderness to the Connecticut river, where they founded the present city of Hartford. The year before Talcott sent the carpenter Nicholas Clark over to build him a house. The house was erected on the ground where the North Church now stands. Mr. Talcott was for many years styled "the worshipful Mr. John Talcott." The "Second" Centennial of the City of Hartford was celebrated Nov. 3d, 1835. The Thomas Hooker House. The building was two stories high. It stood on School street "on the North side of the high and romantic banks of Mill River." Thomas Hooker was born at Marfield, England, July 7th, 1586 ; he died at Hartford, July 7th, 1647. Houses of William and Richard Butler. These were the original proprietors of Hartford. William's house lot on west side of Front between State and Village streets. Richard's house lot east side of Main street. The Noah Webster House, West Hartford. Birthplace of the great Lexicographer, a descendant of John Webster, one of the early Governors of Connecticut. He was born October i6th, 1758. He died at New Haven, May 28th, 1843. Webster's father sold the house with 81 acres of land in 1792 for $3,000 to Samuel Hurlburt, and in 1852 it remained in the Hurlburt family. The Encampments of the Fre?ich Army. Rochambeau with the first division arrived at Hartford, June 24th, 1 78 1, and remained until the 26th. In 1783 the army broke camp at Compund, October 22d, and halted four days at Hartford. They reached Provi- dence on November nth. On December 1st they resumed their march, the first division entering Boston on the 4th and their artillery, which marched as a separate corps, arriving on the i8th. They left the country in the fleet of M. de Vaudreuil on the 24th December. It is probable that the first encampment was at East Hartford. LITCHFIELD. The Governor Wolcott House. Erected by the first Governor Wolcott about 1753. It stands in the center of the village, and is a fine old house in a good state of preservation. The Gould House. Built by Elisha Sheldon in 1760. He came from Lyme to Litchfield in 1753, and became a prominent man both in town and in the State. His son Elisha was Major of the Connecticut Light Horse in June, 1776, and was made Colonel of the Connecticut Dragoons, December 12th, 1776, and served until the end of the War. Washington while in Litchfield staid at this house. In 1780 General Uriah Tracy purchased the property, and placed its present high roof upon it ; afterwards his son-in-law. Judge Joseph Gould, having become the owner, estab- lished at Litchfield the celebrated Law School. It is now in the hands of Prof. James M. Hoppin, of Yale College. The Judge Reeves House. In this house was established the first Law School in the United States. The house was built in 1774. The Forts at Litchfield. The following letter of Captain John Marsh explains their position. Litchfield June ye i. 1725. To ye Hon'ble John Talcott, Gov'r Sir ; Knowin full well ye interest that you, our lawful governor, doth feel and hath often exprest about our little settlement in the wilderness, I am moved to write to you about our affairs once more. Since I was honored by writing to you about twentie months ago, our four forts or Garrisons have been built, all bvit some mountes for the convenience of Sentinnels. The Garrison at the west our towns men have named fourte Griswold, and the north one fourte Kilburn because of the godly'men who helped build them. The other fourtes one at the south end of the town and on Chestnut Hill. These Garrisons have done our settlers a great deal of good in quieting their fears from the wild Ingins that live in the great woods. But we have been so long preserx^ed by God, from much harm, and we praise his name for it, and take hope for the time to come. Many of our people morne for the old home on the Great River, but we are agreed not to go back. About the moundes at the fourtes. I am entrusted by ye select men to make known to you their desire that the colony shall pa}' them. With many kind wishes the God will preserve you and his Colony for the working out his good pleasure I am most truly JOHN MARSH, Town Clerk Connecticut Quarterly, Vol. II, No. 2, pages 22 j and 224. Joseph Harris Monument. Mr. Joseph Harris, while at work on his farm now called " Harris Plain," was killed by the Indians and scalped, his body was found near a single elm tree in the lot east of the school house, and placed in a primitive coffin of a hollow log, taken to the West burial ground and there interred. Over his remains in 1830 a small monument was erected by voluntary subscription. Connecticut Quarterly, Vol. II, N'o. j, page 22 j. The Calhoun Elms. They stand in front of the residence of J. L. Judd, and are two large trees which were planted there by John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, while he was in Litchfield studying law under Judge Reeves. -22 — TORRINGTON. The first land cleared and cultivated. At a meeting of the proprietors of Torrington, held at Windsor, February lo, 1734, voted Lieut. Roger Naw- berry be a committee, and he is hereby fully empowered in the name of the proprietors to rent out to Josiah Grant of Litchfield, about four or five acres of land lying in said Torrington which is already broken up, as it lieth bounded south on Litchfield, east on Waterbury river, until such time as said proprietors, by their votes shall see cause to call it in. History of Torrington, page 12. The Fort at Torrington. The building of the fort was a necessity for the safety of the inhabitants. In October, 1744, the town voted thirty- five pounds six shillings and six pence, as one half of the cost of building a fort. It was located near Ebenezer Lyman's dwelling, on the west side of the present road at that place, and was built of chestnut logs split in halves and standing in the ground, rising to the height of about eight feet. The object of the fort was protection to the inhabitants from the ravages of the Indians, especially the raids of the Mohawks, which were made for one only purpose of pillage and destruction. History of Torrington, page 24. The French Camp at Torrington. In the early part of 1781, the French Army passed through Torrington on their way to join Washington's army near New York and encamped on Torrington street. History of Torrington, page 2J4. WINDHAM COUNTY. First House in Windham County. In February, 1675, Joshua, son of Uncas, the Mohegan sachem, by his last will, gave unto Capt. John Mason, James Fitch, and fourteen others, commonly called " Joshua's legatees," the tract containing the towns of Windham, which originally included the present towns —23— of Mansfield and Canterbury, In May, 1686, the main street in Windham was laid out, and fourteen lots for the legatees were surve3'ed. Other roads were made, lots surveyed, and purchases made for settlement within the next two years. Lieut. John Gates in the spring of 1689 dug the first cellar and raised the first English house. He was a Puritan, who served in the wars in England, holding a commission Under Cromwell. When Charles II came to the throne, he fled the country for safety. He landed first in \'irginia, where he got a negro servant, but when advertisements and pursuers were spread through the country to appre- hend the adherents of the Protector, he left Virginia, came to New York, and then to Norwich. Still feeling that he would be more secure in a retired place, he came to Windham, where he erected the first house. His monu- ment is in the burj-ing-ground south of the village. He died at Windham July 16th, 1697. Connecticut Historical Co/lections, pages 44J, 444. Woodstock's First Sermon. Preached to the Roxbury immigrants on their arrival at Woodstock in 1686, from the top of a rock a little way off from the present main street. "Just previous to the Bi-Centennial celebration in 1886 I had chisseled upon the rock the following : 1686— 1886 SACRED EVERMORE My purpose was to have had the further inscription ' From this rock the first sermon was preached after the arrival of the Ro.xbur}' settlers in. 1686,' but my stone-cutter claimed the rock was so very hard he could not undertake the job. I think it would be well to have a tablet bolted to the rock telling the story of the sermon." — Hon. E. H. Bugbee in letter dated March 2gth, i8gj. John Acquittamatig. Tradition relates that Acquittamaug, the Wabbaquasset chieftain, had his wigwam, which was of kingly propor- tions, a little eastward of this rock (noted above). This was the Indian chief who, on hearing that the white people of Boston were starving for the lack of food, hastened hither with his two sons and other Indians, with —24— great sacks on their backs filled with corn, grown on their own fertile hills, for the relief of the white folk of Boston. The good heathen chieftain lived to be upward of an hundred years old, and at that advanced age visited Boston, where he was publicly feasted and entertained by the dignitaries of the colony. Certainly this good Saga- more, heathen though he was, ought to be remembered by your society. Hon. E. H. Biigbce in a letter dated March 2gth, iS^y. The Boston News Letter of July i-8, 1725, has the follow- ing : "Woodstock, June 30. On the 21st instant, died at this place, John Acquittimaug, aged about 114 years, but the Indians say (and he called his own age) 123 years." Eastern Tavern, Plainfield. Built in 1 77 1, and was still standing a few years ago. Washington passed a Sabbath here in 1789. French Army at Plainfield. This was their second encampment after leaving Provi- dence on the 20th of June, 1781. They arrived at Plain- field on the 2 1 St. The "Army was encamped on the plains in the valley below the town, and . . . the officers were quartered among the best families on the village street." — Remembrances of a long life by Mrs. Siurgee (^iSgf), page 82. Johnson House. Probably erected by Squire Howe about 1700. " It is a mile or two from Putnam, old and much dilapidated. Its only distinction is that just previous to the Revolution Deputy Governor Sessions of Rhode Island purchased the property, and occasionally occupied it as a summer residence." Ganibrel Roof House. Putnam Heights. Built in 1774, and said to be still in good preservation. The Old Cady House. East Putnam City. This is the oldest datable house east of the Quinnebaug. Built in 17 19. Its second owner was Deputy Governor Derius Sessions of Rhode Island. It was a place of much resort during the Revolution. Miss Ellen Lamed in letter dated March 22d, i8gj. — 25 — Putnam's Wolf Den. Pomfret. In March, 1895, a bill was introduced into the Connecticut legislature, by Representative Warner, of Windham, which provided for the appropriation of $2,500 for the purchase of a tract of land to be laid out for a public park of fifty acres, the famous Wolf Den being included. On February 21st, 1896, there was organized at the office of Judge Warner " The Putnam Wolf Den Association." W. Grosvenor, President ; Judge E. M. Warner, Secre- tary ; J, H. Carpenter, Treasurer, and an Executive Com- mittee were named, and a vote passed to raise by sub- scription $2,500 to purchase eighty acres of land, including the Putnam Wolf Den. Harris House. Pomfret. Washington staid here while in Pomfret. The date of this visit was Saturday, November 7th, 1789. Washington came from Uxbridge via Thompson, and was accompanied by Major Jackson and Secretary Lear. These gentlemen rode with the President in the state carriage, and a retinue of four servants followed on horseback. The Tavern was kept by a Mr. Grosvenor. Connecticut Quarterly, Vol. II, No. i, page 20, foot note. Daniel's Mills. Pomfret. The mill site on the Quinnebaug had .... changed owners. In 1760 the land between the Quinne- baug and the Mill rivers, with the privilege of the falls, mills, dwelling house, malt house, dye house, and all their appurtenances, was sold by Nathaniel Daniels to Benja- min Cargill, of South Kingston, R. I., a descendant of the Rev. Donald Cargill, of Scotland. Mr. Cargill at once took possession of his purchase, and by his shrewd- ness and good management so improved the business facilities that "Cargill's Mills" soon became a noted place of resort for all the surrounding country, malting, dyeing, and grinding for parts of Pomfret, Woodstock, Killingly and Thompson parish. History of Windham County, Vol. II, page 2. — 26— First Settlers at Quinnatisset. Thompson. The first settler was one Eleazer Spalding, of Woodstock, who without purchase or license took possession of land laid out to Josiah Cotton on the Quinnebaug, and occupied it for many years, in spite of remonstrance and attempted ejection. The first regular dateable settler within the limits of the present Thompson, was Richard Dressier, of Rowley, who, after a year's trial of the new settlement at Mash-a-moguet, purchased of Captain John Chandler in 1707 for ;^i2o, "the place called Nashaway." This name, originall)' designated the point of land between the Quinnebaug and the French rivers, was extended to the land west of this point on which Mr. Dressier settled. The road from Woodstock to Providence passed near his dwelling, which was a little south of the site of the present West Thomp- son village. Richard Dressier married Mary Peabody, of Rowley, in 1708, and their son Jacob, born in 17 10, was the first male white child born within the Thompson territory. In 1708 Richard Dressier sold the "land between the rivers to Sampson Howe, of Roxbury, who took immedi- ate possession, and was at once claimed as a resident of the Killingly, becoming one of its prominent and useful citizens. History of Windham County, Vol. II, page IJ4.. Jacobs' Tavern. East Thompson. "Half Way House" between Boston and Hartford. Washington on his tour in 1789 speaks of breakfasting at "one Jacobs." Chargoggagoggmanchogaggogg Pond. In the towns of Thompson and Webster, Mass. It is said to be 60 miles in circumference, if followed in all its indentations. It is studied with islands, and was consid- ered the paradise of the Nipmucks and their women. There fish and game were in abundance, and there, they believed, were the enchanted islands and Elysian Fields, the abode of the departed souls and the residence of the Great Spirit. Connecticut Historical Collections, page 442. —27— Trinity Church. Brooklyn. Built through the efforts of Godfrey Malbone in 1771. It was called " Malbone's Church. Rev. John Tyler, who was the church missionary at Norwich, oflBci- ated at the opening of the new edifice on April 12th, 1771. It is memorable as the first dedication service held in Windham County. General Putnam's Monument. In the grave yard at Brooklyn. The inscription was written by President Dwight of Yale College. This Monument is erected to the memory of tlie Honor- able Israel Putnam, Esq., Major General in the Armies of the United States of America ; who was born at Salem, in the Province of Massachusetts, on the 7th day of Janu- ary, 1718 ; and died at Brooklyn, in the State of Connec- ticut on the 19th day of May, A. D. 1790. Passenger, if thou art a Soldier, go not away till thovi hast dropped a tear over the dust of a Hero, who, ever tenderly attentive to the lives and happiness of his men, dared to lead where any one dared to follow. If thou art a Patriot, remem- ber with gratitude how much thou and thy country owe to the disinterested and galent exertions of the Patriot who sleeps beneath this marble. If thou art honest, generous and worthy man render a sincere and cheerful tribute of respect to a man whose generosity was singu- lar ; whose honesty was proverbial ; and who with slender education, with small advantages, and without friends raised himself to universal esteem, and to offices of emi- nent distinction, by personal worth, and diligent service of a useful life. Colonel Godfrey Malbone Monument. Brooklyn. The inscription was written by John Bowers of Newport, R. I. Sacred be this marble to the memory of Godfrey Malbone, who was born at Newport, R. I., September 3rd 1724 and died at his Seat in this town November 12th 1785. Uncom- mon natural Abilities, improved and embellished by an Education at the University of Oxford, a truly amiable disposition, an inflexible integrity of Heart, the most frank Sincerity in Conversation, a Disdain of every Species of Hypocricy and Dissimulation, joined to man- —28 — ners perfectly easy and engaging, nobly marked his character and rendered him a real Blessing to all around him. That he was a friend of Religion this Church of which he was the Founder testifies : as do all indeed who knew him that he practiced every virtue requisite to adorn and dignify Human Life. The First Patent issued to a woman in the United States. Mrs. Mary Kies of South Killingly invented " a new and useful improvement in weaving straw with silk or thread" for which she asked and obtained a patent in May, 1809, being the first patent ever Issued to any woman in the United States. Mrs. President Madison expressed her gratification by a very complimentary note to Mrs. Kies. The Old Stone House Factory. Built in 1814 about a mile southeast from Killingly Hill. It is now known as "Daniel's Mills," having passed into the hands of the Daniels afterwards. Its first occupant was David Howe. It was burned down early in the war. It is now a picturesque ruin covered with ivy, filled up with trees, and a waterfall pouring through the arch. It is fast falling to pieces. Miss Ellen D. Larned, in letter dated March 2 2d, i8gj. NEW LONDON. The Union School. Here Nathan Hale taught. It was a red house, " now opposite the Otis House, but then on the site of the Crocker House." Rev. Ed7vard W. Bacon. The Avery Homestead. The first meeting-house. The first worship was in a barn, but it was not thought decent to continue this longer than absolutely needful, so on December, 1652, ^14 were set aside for the meetinghouse, which was built on the lofty ridge where now stands the Bulkelej' School, just north of the grave yard. In 1684 " The Watch Tower in the Wilderness " was found too small, and it was sold to Captain Avery for $6. He moved it across the river to Poquonnoc, where a century later it was used as a house —29— of worship by Elder Parks Avery, leader of the Separatists. With numerous additions it was the family homestead of the Avery family until it was burned July 21st, 1894. A beautiful monument, erected by the Avery Memorial Association, .... marks the site. Connecticut Quarterly, No. /, of iSpj, page 17. Winthrop Mansion and Mill. Mill built in 1650 by John Winthrop, the house by John Sill Winthrop, a descendant, in 1750, on an elevated site surrounded with trees. The General Burbeck House. Erected in 1735. Purchased by General Burbeck in 1815. He was born at Boston, June 8th, 1754, and was an artillery officer in the Revolution, and became a Brigadier General in the War of 181 2. He died at New London, October 2d, 1848. The house is now known as No. 32 Main street. In front are four elm trees known as the "Four Sisters," planted in 181 2 by James Baxter, and named after his four daughters, Catharine, Sophia, Sarah and Johanna. The Selden House. "The Red Lion," now No. 59 Main street. It was occu- pied by Captain Nathaniel Coit, the grandfather of the late R. N. Belden. In 1756 Washington, at that time "24 years of age, spent a night here both on going and on returning from Boston. He had with him two officers and three colored servants. At the most earnest solicita- tion of Molly Coit, the house was spared at the time of the Arnold invasion, because her father was laying sick there then. The Mather Byles House. Built in 1758 by Mather Byles, who was a grandson of Increase Mather. He was the pastor of the First Congre- gational Church until 1768, in which year he conveyed the house to Dr. Moffatt, the English Collector of the Customs. The Hempstead House. One of the few houses spared at the destruction of New London by Arnold. It was erected in 1643 by Joshua Hempstead. — 30— The Fox Tavern. Now No. 49 Main street. The house was built before the Revolution, but the date is uncertain. Ezekiel Fox gave the name and the character to the place. It had a swinging sign with a representation of a fox grasping for a bunch of grapes. Mr. Fox died in 1844 at the age of 88 years. 77/1? Winthrop Montcment. The site was chosen with peculiar fitness, for he named the ridge " Meeting-house Hill," within as tone's throw of the tomb he built. The laying of the corner-stone was also the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the city. The ceremony was set for ten o'clock on May 6th, 1896. The Masonic ceremonies were under the direction of Grand Master Welsh of Connecticut. The school boys sang tributes to Winthrop by the direct inheritor of the first meeting-house, the pastor, Rev. Mr. Blake. Mr. A. H. Chappell, president of the Board of Trade, introduced Mr. Lawrence, the donor of the monument, as the gift of his brother, the late Francis W. Lawrence, and himself, to the memory of their father, Joseph Lawrence, and the soldiers and sailors of New London. Mayor Johnston accepted the gift, and then General Hawley delivered an oration. Groton Monument. Erected by the State of Connecticut to commemorate those who fell in the massacre at Fort Griswold on Sep- tember 6th, 1781, when the British under the command of the traitor Benedict Arnold burned New London and Groton. Groton Monument House. Adjacent to the monument grounds. The house was restored and occupied by Anna Warner Bailey Chapter, D. A. R., and opened on the 113th anniversary of the battle. The Avery House. Built in 1770 by Elder Park Avery for his son Ebenezer. It was used as a hospital for the wounded of the battle of Groton Heights. —31— SAYBROOK. 77^1? Lady Fenwick Monument. She was the wife of Col. Fenwick (Lady Anne Bolder, or Butler). She died in 1648. During the summer of 1639 Col. Fenwick, in charge of two ships, arrived at the mouth of the Connecticut, accompanied by several gentle- men, who brought with them a number of servants and laborers to aid in the further building up of Saybrook. This colony was entirely distinct from either New Haven or Connecticut, and administered its own affairs until 1644, when it was purchased by Connecticut, the sale being ratified by the General Court on February 4th, 1645- Hart Monument. Erected to the memory of Major General William Hart, at Saybrook Point, near the site of the first building used by Yale College. General Hart was the son of the Rev. William Hart, of Saybrook, and was born June 24th, 1746, and died August 29th, 181 7. Saybrook Fort. Erected by Governor John Winthrop in 1635. There is no monument marking its site. Yale College. The first building was eighty feet long and one story high. Fifteen commencements were held at Saybrook. There is nothing to mark its site. NEW LONDON COUNTY. Miantonomo Monument. Near Greenville. In 1841 William C. Gillman and his associates invited Judge Shipman to go to " Sachem's Plain " and point out the spot where "the great pile ot stones heaped up by the Narragansetts marked the grave of their chieftain." On the 4th of July a company of women, boys and girls of the "Cold Water Army" assembled when the monument was first exhibited, addresses were made, and Thomas Sterry Hunt, a Norwich School Boy, poured a bucket full of water over the granite block. —32— hidian Burying Ground. Essex. An aboriginal settlement once existed at Ayer's Point, and along the shore from there to Potapaug Point about the year 1636. These Indians were either Pequots or some akin to them. They gave, it is said, to the English the right to the river and the bordering lands. Within a month or so Indian remains have been dis- covered vipon these lands : arrows, pestles, axes and other implements, and a skeleton in a sitting posture. Pettipaug Point. An attack was made by the British, on April 8th, 1814, in two launches under the command of Lieutenant Coote, and four barges and a force of perhaps 300 men. When the landing was made the people were utterly unprepared to receive them, and could offer but little resistance. Twenty-two vessels were destroyed, and considerable other property, entailing a loss of $160,000. Some forces was collected to prevent their return to the Heet, but the night following was very dark and they escaped with the loss of only a few men killed or wounded. Lorenzo Do7v House. Montville. Lorenzo Dow was born at Coventry, Octo- ber i6th, 1777. He married Peggy Miller, September 3d, 1804. She died at Hebron, January 6th, 1820. He after- wards married, at Montville, Lucy Dolbeare, daughter of George B. Dolbeare, and settled at Montville, where he became a farmer. He was perhaps one of the most noted itinerant evangelists that has ever preached in our countr}-. There is hardl)' a town or even hamlet existing at the time he lived that he did not visit and preach. He crossed the ocean several times and preached in Ireland. He died at Alexandria, Va., February 2d, 1834. His wife died October 26th, 1863. The Samson Occom House. Montville. About half a mile north of the Mohegan Chapel. Samson Occom was a Mohegan Indian, born about 1723. He became a Christian at the age of 18 and studied under the Rev. Dr. Wheelock. He was ordained, August 29th, 1757, and was employed as a missionary among the Six Nations. In 1786 with the Muhheakanock Indians he moved to New York, and was the first minister at Brothertown. He died July 1792. —33— Uncas Monument. There is a claim before the present Legislature in behalf of the Mohegan Indians for certain lands in Norwich in the vicinity of the Uncas Monument. There are no Mohegan Indians of more than half blood; they ceased to be wards of the State about twenty years ago, and placed themselves on the same footing as other citizens. I thinJi the claim rather weak, though I have not investi- gated it. Ifon. Jonathan Tniinbun, of Norwich, in letter dated March glh, iSgy. Monument to John Mason, Hero of the Peijuot War. He was born in England about 1600. He served in the Netherlands under Sir Thomas Fairfax. He was one of first settlers at Dorchester, Mass., being one of the com- pany of Mr. Warham in 1630. He moved to Windsor in 1635 and took part in the founding of the new colony. The Pequot Indians or Pequods, an Algonquin tribe originally a part of the Hudson River Mohegans (it is thought), occupied a tract of land near the Niantic River, and with their principal fort at Mystic. They made themselves troublesome to the English. Endicot and Gardner led expeditions against them, and they retaliated by an attack on Wethersfield, in April, 1637. In May of that year Capt. John Mason, on the orders of the General Court that met at Hartford, led a party of 90 men with the Rev. Mr. Stone as chaplain, and Uncas with a num- ber of his Indians, for an attack upon their stronghold at Mystic. The attack was successful, the -Pequots were driven out and their stronghold destroyed. Another stand was made at the Sisco Swamp, near Fairfield, and here the tribe was practically annihilated. Major Mason moved to Saybrook, and then to Norwich, where he died, January 30th, 1672, at the age of 73 years. He left three sons, Samuel, John, Daniel. The monu- ment is supposed to be over his remains, but there is no certainty of the fact. The Huntington House. Supposed to have been built about 200 years ago by Christopher Huntington. Five generations of Hunting- tons have been born here, but now the property is in the hands of other people. —34— LEBANON. Governor Trumbull' s Residence. Jonathan Trumbull was the only one of the royal gover- nors who embraced the cause of the colonies, and to his energy and efficiency very much of the success of the war must be accredited. This house, it is supposed, was bviilt about 1730 by the father of Governor Trumbull. In 1882 it was owned by the heirs of Daniel Mason. Under this roof has been lodged Washington, LaFayette, Dr. Frank- lin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Gen. Israel Putnam, and many others. Jonathan Truinbull' s Tomb. The tomb of Gov. Trumbull is at Lebanon, and there too are buried his sons Joseph, First Commissary General of the Continental Army, Jonathan, Governor of Con- necticut, and the first Governor's son-in-law, William Williams, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Inscriptions of course mark the graves, and the tombs are kept in order from the income of a fund held in trust by our society (Sons of the American Revolution), and contributed by members of the Trumbull famih'. Hon. Jonathan Trumbull, of N'orwicli, in letter dated March gth, iSgj. Jonathan Trumbull's War Office. June 17th, 1896, the Sons of the American Revolution unveiled a tablet of bronze in the " Old War Office." General Samuel E. Merwin, of New Haven, gave the address. In the afternoon an address of welcome was given by Hon. Isaac Gillett, and responded to by Jonathan Trum- bull, President of the S. A. R. The tablet was unveiled by Mrs. E. B. Avery, of Lebanon. An address followed by the Rev. Richard H. Nelson of Norwich. The tablet is a parallelogram 22 X 36 inches and cost $400. The inscription is : 1775 LEBANON WAR OFFICE 1783. During the War of the Revolution, Governor Trumbull and the Council of Safety held more than eleven hundred meetings in this building, and here also came many dis- —35— tinguished officers of the Continental Army and French allies. Their monument is more enduring than bronze. Erected by the Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, 1896. The scroll at the left of this inscription bears the names of "Trumbull, Griswold, Dyer, Jabez, Samuel, and Benjamin Huntington, Williams, Wales, Elderkin and West, the members of the original Council of Safet}-, appointed by the Assembly in 1777. On the scroll at the right are the names of the Colonial officers who are believed to have met in the " War office." These are Washington, Putnam, Knox, Parsons, Huntington, Spen- cer, LaFayette, Rochambeau, Chastellux and de Lauzun. Connecticut Quarterly, Vol. II, No. 3, page jo6. The property was purchased by the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and repaired at a cost of $1,200. The French at lebanon. Lauzun's legion was obliged, owing to want of provis- ions, to part with his cavalry, which was sent with the horses of the artillery and of the baggage into the for- ests of Connecticut, eighty miles from Newport. The government of that province had had barracks erected at Lebanon to lodge her militia. There it was that the Duke de Lauzun had to establish his winter quarters. He started on November the loth, not without regret at leaving Newport, and especially the Hunter familv, among whom he had been received and treated as a relation. . . . The 15th he stopped with his hussars at Windham Siberia alone, if we may believe Lauzun, can be compared to Lebanon, which consisted of but a few cabins scattered through immense forests. He was obliged to remain there until January nth, 1781. The French in America, Vol. I, pages 128 and I2g. In Lebanon, the site of the oven where the cooking for the French troops was done, is determined by excavations made last summer, revealing the foundations. The " barracks lot," so called, is located with reasonable cer- tainty. Hon. Jonathan Trumbull, in letter dated Nonuich. March gth, i8gj. -36- THE INDIANS. At the meeting of the United Committees, the subject of preserving the old Indian names was considered. It comes within the province of the work of our committees. DeForest mentions the following tribes as occupying or roaming over the State of Connecticut : Pequot, Quinni- piac, Tunxis, Hammonesset, Podunks, Mohawks, Paugussets, Wepawaugs, Potatucks, Nehautoes, Nepmucks. There ap- pear to be 36 towns that have Indian names, 6 lakes, 13 rivers, 7 ponds, besides the mountains and hills, which are not enu- merated on the back of the maps. The Pequot Indians alone up to this time have been noted by the Committee ; doubtless there are some remains that will call to remembrance the other tribes. De Forest says (page 58) : "The territory claimed by the Pequots, as their own peculiar dwelling place, may be esti- mated at thirty miles in length by fifteen or twenty miles in breadth, or about five hundred square miles." " From the Niantic river, on the west, their forts and wigwams extended along the rude stony hills of New London County to Weca- paug, ten miles east of the Paucatuc river, which divides Connecticut from Rhode Island. They reached back, also, to a considerable distance from the seashore, their northernmost community, afterwards known as the Mohegans, residing on the banks of the Thames, ten or twelve miles from the Sound. Their sachems were Tamaquashad, the first mentioned. Muck- quant-do-was, who lived at a place called Awcumbucks, Woipequand, who became sachem on the death of his father, (Meek-un-ump, who married Oweneco the father of Uncas, was his daughter). Woipequand married a daughter of Wekousen, chief sachem of the Narragansetts, and when he died, was succeeded by his son Wopigwooit, who had a son Sassacus, who was the most famous of the Pequot sachems. Uncas, the son of Oweneco, married in 1626 a daughter of Sassacus, and because one of the most remarkable characters in the history of the Indian tribes of the State. Uncas died in 1683 or 1684, but the exact time appears to be wanting ; he is supposed to have been about 80 years old. His wigwam was upon a commanding site three-quarters of a mile south- east of the Mohegan chapel, on what is now called Uncas -37- Hill. The land where the house stood is now or was lately owned by Captain Jerome W. Williams, having been con- veyed in 1858 to N. B. Bradford, Esq., by the overseer of the tribe, Dr. S. C. Maynard, by a decree of the Superior Court, upon the petition of the members of the tribe then holding the land. Oweneco, a son of Uncas, commanded a party of Mohegans in an expedition with Captain Dennison and Avery against the Narragansetts. Peqiiot attack on Wethersfield. A horseman who was riding near Wethersfield, discovered a body of Indians approaching the place with apparent designs of making an attack ; he rode to the place and notified some women whom he saw, but they failed to appreciate the warning. The savages attacked the place suddenly ; the women attempted to escape, three were however captured ; two were girls and permitted them- selves to be carried away without resistance, but the other fought so hard that the Indians dashed her brains out, they killed two other women and six men, destroyed twenty cows, injured considerable property besides. Porter s Rocks. These "two large rocks" .... "are situated about two miles northeast of the spot where stood the Pequot fort, and half a mile north of a village in Stonington, called 'Head of Mystic.'" De Forest's History of the Connecticut Indians, page I2g. This place is said to be the site of the camp of Mason and his party on the night before the attack on the Pequot stronghold at Mystic. The attack and victory at Mystic. The assault was made at early morning, Mason leading one party to the northeast side, and Captain Underbill another party toward the other entrance. When within a rod of the Fort a dog barked and an Indian called out, " Owanux ! Owanux ! " (Englishmen ! Englishmen !) They opened fire through the palisadoes and came to the entrance, which was blocked up with bushes breast high. Mason climbed over these and made an entrance. Lieut. Seeley pulled the bushes out of the way and the party -38- gained an entrance. It was a hand to hand fight, the Indians fleeing to shelter and firing upon them therefrom. Mason now said, "We must burn them," and going into a wigwam, he brought out a firebrand and set fire to the mats with which they were covered. There was consider- able wind, and the fire spread rapidly from wigwam to wigwam. The Indians were now in great terror ; they attempted to fly, many running into the flames and perish- ing there. Capt. Underbill went to the entrance on the southwest side, where they made a pause. Mr. Hedge attempted to enter the gate, where he was opposed by an Indian, but he was killed by a Sergeant Davis, and Mr. Hedge and some others got into the Fort, bvit the smoke and flames were so violent that they were driven out by them. In little more than an hour the impregnable Fort was destroyed and six or seven hundred killed. There were seven taken prisoners and seven escaped. All the Indian allies except Odkos (Uncas) deserted. This action was on Friday, May 26th, 1637. Mason's Brief History of the Pcqiiot War. Exterinination of the Pequots. Thursday, July 13th, 1637. The Indians had secreted themselves in a swamp, where Fairfield now stands, in Connecticut ; when some of the rangers who were in pursuit of them discovering their lurking place, rushed in upon them, in defiance of their arrows and the hazzard of being swallowed up in the swamp. After a fruitless parley, the Indians refusing to come to terms, the soldiers were ordered to cut through the swamp with their swords in order to hem them in, till they were begirt in a narrow space and remained all night sorely galled by the fire of their besiegers. Taking advantage of the dense fog, some of the stoutest made their escape, leaving the rest to the mercy of their conquerors. They were discovered in the morning sitting in crowds, sullenly refusing to ask for their lives, and were shot by the dozens or cut to pieces. The male children which were taken were sent to the Bermudas, and the females distributed to the Eng- lish towns. This overthrow of a great and powerful nation, cast a terror upon the arms of the colonists, which brought other tribes to a lasting peace. Every Day Book, Munse/I, page 2^4. —39— The Pequot Swamp was, until 1835, a natural curiosity of the town. It was so named from the famous swamp fight between the New Englanders and the Pequots, which will ever make it remarkable in the annals of local history. The rise of ground in its center, which had the appearance of an artificial mound, was a natural hill. It was for a long time supposed to be the work of the Indians, and filled with their graves ; but when Pequot avenue wa s opened in 1835, it became necessary to make a passage through it. This was done by tunneling through the center, as the ground was frozen hard. Most of the men of the place were sea captains, who employed their leisure hours in the winter in making this excavation. They found but one Indian skeleton, and to their surprise dis- covered, by the different strata of earth, that the supposed mound was a natural hill. The open hill for many years formed walls on either side of the road, which are now leveled, so that only a faint vestige of the hill is seen. This historic swamp lies northwest of the residence of Hon. Jonathan Godfrey, of Southport, and only a few rods west of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Rail- road, which crosses Pequot avenue. History of Fairfield (Mrs. ScJicnck), page 7. Fort Hill, near Thompson. Said to have been the site of a fort of the Nipmuck Indians. Quinnatisset, one of the chiefs, had a splendid wigwam near where the present Congregational Church in Thompson stands. The foundations of the fort it is still possible to trace. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS nriL Jiiiiiiii 0014 111 8122