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I637-I887 
 
 Historical Address 
 
 ^•••, 
 
 THE FIRST 
 
 The Life, Character and Public Services of Captain Thomas 
 Munson. ( ^ :^i.'^-^'t.-^ ^ »Vo^2^x»^*o o^'^*^ */*t^ ./vw^,..^ :> 
 
 I have read your Address on Capt. Thomas Munson with interest and 
 pleasure.—/. Hammond Trumhull, LL.D., Pres. Conn. Hist. Soc. 
 
 A full and interesting memoir,— a contribution not only to the history of 
 the Family but also to that of the Colony.— iV. E. Hist, and Gen. Register. 
 
 Wednesday, August 17, 1887. 
 
 NEW HAVEN: 
 
 TUTTLE, MOREHOUSE & TAYLOR, PRINTERS. 
 1887. 
 
siders—iA/S ^J '■'"" 
 
 tv»"- ^y- 
 
I637-I887 
 
 Historical Address 
 
 VVUA/V'^-<^><5V^^ J"~~VVvM/'T-<rW Cv-t^(AM.60<.Aj- 
 
 
 THE FIRST 
 
 MuNSON Family Reunion 
 
 HELD IN THE 
 
 CITY OF NEW HAVEN, 
 
 Wednesday, August 17, 1887. 
 
 NEW HAVEN: 
 
 TUTTLE, MOREHOUSE & TAYLOR, PRINTERS. 
 1887. 
 
CONSPECTUS OF TOPICS IN THE ADDRESS. 
 
 Salutatory, 13 
 
 Our Adam 13 
 
 Indian Situation in 1637, . . 14 
 Colonists' Situation in 1637, . 15 
 
 (Storm Rising), . . . .15 
 Pequot War, .... 16 
 
 (Twilight), 17 
 
 MtinsorCs Transatlantic History, 17 
 Pioneer of Hartford, . . .18 
 Pioneer of New Haven, . , 18 
 
 (Town-Square), . . . .18 
 (Lands), ..... 19 
 
 (A Barn) ig 
 
 Piivate Biography, ... 20 
 
 Official Career and Public 
 
 Services, 22 
 
 Connnittee-man, ... 22 
 
 Appraiser, . . . . .23 
 Inspector, .... 23 
 
 Supervisor, 23 
 
 Determiner, .... 24 
 
 Diplomatist, . . . .25 
 
 Executive, .... 26 
 
 Townsman, ..... 2? 
 (Hopkins Grammar School), . 27 
 
 ("Third Division "), . . .27 
 (Speech on the Bell), . . 27 
 
 (Seating the Meeting-House), . 28 
 Judicial, ..... 29 
 
 Plantation Court, 
 First Jury, .... 
 Court of Appeals, 
 Legislative, .... 
 
 New Haven General Court, 
 Connecticut General Assembly, 
 Military, . . . . . 
 
 Sergeant, ..... 
 
 (Artillery), 
 
 (Troope), .... 
 
 Ensign, . . . , , 
 
 Lieutenant, .... 
 
 (Grand Committee), 
 
 {King Philip's War), 
 
 Captain, . . . . . 
 
 Portrait and Character, 
 
 Posterity of Thomas Munson, 
 
 His son Samuel, 
 
 Grandson Samuel, 
 
 Grandson Thomas, 
 
 Grandson John, 
 
 Grandson Theophilus, 
 
 Grandson Joseph, 
 
 Grandson Stephen, 
 
 Grandson Caleb, 
 
 Migrations, . . . . , 
 
 A Few Names, . 
 
 The Typical Munson, . 
 
 Concluding Generalizations, 
 
 29 
 
 30 
 
 30 
 30 
 30 
 31 
 32 
 33 
 
 36 
 36 
 36 
 40 
 40 
 43 
 43 
 45 
 45 
 46 
 48 
 48 
 48 
 49 
 49 
 50 
 53 
 5+ 
 
er 
 
 HISTORICAL ADDRESS 
 
 BY 
 
 Rev. MYRON A. MUNSON, M. A., 
 
 A great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson of Capt. Thomas Munson. 
 
 I congratulate 3'ou, admirable and esteemed cousins^ 
 upon the dawning of our Quarter-Millennial. Arise we 
 and with reverent hands break the seal and roll away 
 the stone from the mouth of the family sepulchre. 
 
 This day is the resurrection of the name and the 
 fame of our greatest grandsire, Thomas Munson. 
 With him, at his august beck, step forth from their shad- 
 owy habitations in God's-acre sterling sons and delectable 
 daughters by thousands, smiling and glad though serene, 
 to join with voiceless fellowship and silent rejoicings in 
 our commemorative and congratulatory festival. 
 
 Half a thousand minds are eagerly inquiring : What 
 
 was the origin of our venerable originator? He suddenly 
 
 emerges from silence and darkness, — his antecedents as 
 
 mysterious as those of the lightning's flash. He 
 
 Our Adam. ■ , ,- i • ^ i T^ „ 
 
 was never born, — so far as history knows. Do 
 we not conceive of the Adam of the human race as about 
 twenty-five years of age at the moment of his creation ? 
 In a similar manner the Adam of our family, without any 
 antecedents or any nativity, suddenly makes his appear- 
 ance on the stage of life, like a new creation, at the age of 
 twenty-five. This first appearance was at Hartford, by 
 the Indians called Suckiaug, two hundred and fifty years 
 ago last May, and he is already accoutred as a soldier^ 
 
i^ A Hartford and Netv Haven Pioneer. 
 
 about to engage in a war as pregnant with momentous 
 results, it may be, as any which has ever been waged. 
 At that period the region from the Atlantic ocean to 
 the Alleghanies was one vast, solemn forest, — a paradise 
 of war-paths and hunting-grounds. The throne of Indian 
 power was among The Five Nations, of central 
 
 Indian ^ *^ 
 
 Situation Ncw York, — usually called The Mohawks, from 
 that confederate which enjoyed the supremacy. 
 Proud, warlike, vehement, irresistible, their name was a 
 terror to all other red-men. Every spring, two old 
 Mohawk chiefs might have been seen going from village 
 to village through Connecticut, collecting tribute and 
 haughtily issuing orders from the great council at 
 Onondaga. 
 
 The number of Indians who were occup)ang the terri- 
 tory now known as the State of Connecticut has been 
 very diversely estimated at from six or seven to twelve 
 or twenty thousand. These estimates imply from 1200 to 
 4000 warriors. It is conceived that one-half of these may 
 have been Pequots, whose forts and wigwams extended 
 along the Sound some thirty miles. The Thames, on 
 which New London is situated, was then called Pequot 
 river, and one of the two great forts of the nation — the 
 one at which the historic battle occurred— was located 
 eight miles northeast of New London. The Pequots 
 were the most ambitious, the most valiant, the most fierce 
 and the most powerful by far of all the communities east- 
 ward of the Hudson. They were a terror to all the wide- 
 reaching wilderness around them : they were to New 
 England what the Mohawks were to the whole country 
 eastward of the Mississippi. To them, as well as to the 
 Mohawks, the Quinnipiacs of this neighborhood paid 
 tribute. 
 
 Such was the Indian situation in the spring of 1637 : 
 
Situation in idjy. 75 
 
 what was that of the Colonists ? Hartford was two years 
 
 old ; north and south of it, adjoining, were Windsor and 
 
 Wetherslield. Twenty-six miles north was Asfa- 
 
 Colonists' •' ^ 
 
 Situation wam, onc year old ; we know it as Springfield. 
 
 Sixty miles below Hartford, — forty-six as the 
 crow flies, — at the mouth of the river, on the west shore, 
 was Say brook fort, one year old. These five infant settle- 
 ments were the only habitations of white men in all the 
 Connecticut vallc}'. Their neighbors were about a hun- 
 dred miles distant, and mind you these were roadless, 
 wilderness miles. There was no New Haven, Milford, 
 Guilford, Middletown, Waterbury, — but, rather, Ouinni- 
 piac, Wepowaug, Menunkatuc, Mattabesett, Mattatuck. 
 The Bay State had no Westfield, Northfield, Deerfield, 
 Hadley or Northampton, — but, instead, Woronoco, Squak- 
 heag, Pocomptuck, Norwottock and Nonotuck. Accord- 
 ingly when trouble arose with the Pequots the aspect of 
 affairs was extremely serious. The white settlements 
 could muster two hundred and fifty or two hundred and 
 seventy-five men capable of beai-ing arms ; there were 
 5000 Indian braves within easy marching distance of the 
 mouth of the Connecticut. 
 
 Endicott's expedition, calling the Pequots to account 
 for murders, converted that nation into a gigantic hornets' 
 nest. Killing whites became their recreation. Several at 
 
 VVethersfield were assassinated and two girls were 
 ^^'TiT f '^" carried into captivity. The savages, dressed in 
 
 the clothes of the English whom they had mur- 
 dered, would approach the fort at Saybrook with defiant 
 jeers : " Come out and get your clothes again !" and they 
 would mimic and mock the prayers and shrieks and groans 
 of the wretched colonists whom the}- had tortured. Great 
 was the distress of the settlements. A cunning and fero- 
 cious enemy haunted them and hunted them day and night. 
 
i6 A Hartfoj'd and Nezv Haven Pioneer. 
 
 Ninety men, of whom forty-two were furnished by 
 
 Hartford, descended the Connecticut under the leadership 
 
 of Capt. Mason, and sailed eastward past the Pequot 
 
 country to the vicinity of Point Judith : seventy- 
 
 ^w"r°' seven men disembarked among the Narragansetts, 
 
 took up their march westerly, and, at daybreak on 
 
 the 5th of June, surprised one of the hostile forts — a palisade 
 
 on a hill, enclosing about an acre, and embracing seventy 
 
 wigwams. A dog barked — a Pequot yelled, " Owanux ! 
 
 Owanux !" In rushed the lion-like pale-faces and engaged 
 
 in a desultory, heroical warfare. At length, in desperation, 
 
 the commander seized a fire-brand and applied it to the dry 
 
 mats with which one of the rude dwellings was covered. 
 
 Several hundred of the Pequots perished by the musket, 
 
 the sword and the conflagration, and only seven escaped. 
 
 While the victorious army was retreating, three hun- 
 dred warriors, dispatched by Sassacus from the other 
 fortress, rapidly approached until they beheld the smoking 
 and smouldering ruins which were the crematory of their 
 brethren ; then stamping and tearing their hair, they rushed 
 down with great fury upon the conquerors. They were 
 promptly repulsed, with a hundred slain and wounded. 
 
 It was in this terrific war, pregnant with inexpressibly 
 momentous consequences, that Thomas Munson made his 
 first appearance, two centuries and a half ago ; and he was 
 preeminently a military man during the forty-eight years 
 which followed. 
 
 You may note, if you please, that our spirited and in- 
 trepid soldier received an allotment in the Soldiers' Field, 
 (on the northern margin of Hartford,) in recognition of 
 his meritorious services in this war, and that he was sub- 
 sequently presented with an additional hundred acres for 
 the same cause.' 
 
 1 " The Soldiers' Field and its Original Proprietors," by F. H. Parker, Esq. 
 
Munsoiis Transatlantic History. ly 
 
 We have recognized that Hartford was two years old 
 
 at the date of the Pequot war ; whether Soldier Munson 
 
 had been there from the beginning, as is most 
 
 (Tvvilisrht.) . . . 
 
 likely, we are not informed. He had probably 
 spent some months or years in the older towns about 
 Massachusetts Bay ; but we lack light upon the subject. 
 Boston, at the time of the war, was seven years old ; 
 Salem, nine ; Plymouth, seventeen. 
 
 Munson' s Transatlantic History. 
 
 In respect to his transatlantic history there is nothing 
 known with positiveness. Traditions have come down, 
 along numerous and widely separated family lines, that 
 he had some kind of connection with Wales ; and it is 
 the only tradition concerning him which has any value 
 whatever. In some way his early history acquired a Welsh 
 tinge. But there is no doubt of his English nationality. 
 The Monson race belonging to the peerage has a known 
 and accepted history of live hundred years ; our Amer- 
 ican history extends back one-half that distance ; the 
 presumption is almost a certainty that our branch is 
 from that ancient trunk. Lord Monson, Aide-de-Camp 
 to the Queen, concluded his fourth letter to me, ii 
 March, 1887, in this graceful way: "With best wishes 
 for the welfare of my Transatlantic Cousins and for the 
 success of your Autumnal gathering." A brother of Lord 
 Monson, Sir Edmund, Her Majesty's Minister to the King 
 of Denmark, wrote from Copenhagen, July 24, 1886: 
 " When I was appointed Attache to the British Legation 
 at Washington, in 1858, my Father, Lord Monson, . . 
 . . . was very anxious to know the subsequent career 
 of the Monsons which had emigrated to America in the 
 
1 8 A Hartford and New Haven Pioneer. 
 
 Seventeenth Century." Sir Edmund observes again : " I 
 have little doubt that our common ancestor was a Dane." 
 
 Turning from things obscure, let us return to what may- 
 be known. Our forefather was born two hundred and 
 seventy-five years ago, somewhere, and two hundred and 
 fifty years ago was a pioneer of Hartford and 
 ^HaHford Participated in the Pequot war ; after the war, he 
 continued to reside in that plantation a little 
 more than two years, apparently,- — having a house-lot com- 
 prising two and one-half acres on the present High street, 
 opposite the head of Walnut : this street was then known as 
 " the highway leading from the Cow-pasture to Mr. Allen's 
 land." There was a house on this ground in February, 
 1640, which was probably built by Munson. Previously 
 to this date he had sold the place to Nath. Kellogge, and 
 he had also sold his portion of the Soldiers' Field. Two 
 parcels of land, on opposite sides of the Connecticut river, 
 had been forfeited by his removal from the plantation. 
 
 In 1639, at the age of twenty-seven, Thomas became a 
 
 pioneer of New Haven, then known as Quinnipiac. The 
 
 settlement was begun the preceding year. The beginners 
 
 had laid out a town-site half a mile square, hav- 
 
 Piotieer 0/ . . , , n i 1 txt 
 
 New Haven, mg its basc, ou thc south, parallel to the West 
 
 Creek, and having its east side parallel with East 
 
 Creek ; both of these arms of the sea were navigable. 
 
 The town-plot was divided into nine equal squares, of 
 
 which the central was called the Market-place, 
 
 Squire") designed for public uses ; it is the famous Green, 
 
 upon which we are now assembled. Each of the 
 
 eight streets was called " the towne streete " — having no 
 
 distinctive name, and at the end of each there was a orate. 
 
 In the Market-place the military forces were drilled, and 
 
 here they assembled when an alarm was sounded. Here 
 
 was the watch-house, the head-quarters of the night- 
 
Nczu Haven Beginnings. ig 
 
 watchmen. Here were the other public buildings, — and 
 especially the public building called the Meeting-house, 
 which was the sanctuary where all worshiped, but also 
 the town-house, court-house, state-house, and, to some 
 extent at least, the arsenal. " The Church of Christ in 
 New Haven," which was the only ecclesiastical organiza- 
 tion within the limits of the present town during the first 
 one hundred and four years of its history, still survives 
 and has opened to us its hospitable doors on this occasion. 
 The " Proprietors " purchased lands from the Indians 
 with a common fund, and there were nine " divisions " of 
 different sections of the so-called common-land, extendina: 
 over a hundred and twenty years.' The amount of land 
 each proprietor received in the distribution was 
 
 (Lands.) 
 
 determined by his investment in the common 
 stock, the number of heads in his family, his official dig- 
 nity, and other considerations. The size of the house-lots 
 in the town-square was similarly determined. To certain 
 settlers who did not contribute to the common stock 
 " small lots " were granted, — most of them along the West 
 Creek, opposite the town-square. Such " planters " also 
 received limited allotments of land in the second " divi- 
 sion," — " layd out beyond the East River betwixt our 
 pastors farme and the Indians wiggwams." 
 
 On the north side of the town-square was the house-lot 
 of Robert Newman, afterwards ruling-elder. That lot, of 
 perhaps two and one-half acres, is now divided by Temple 
 street, whose superb Gothic arch of elms you admired as 
 you were entering this sanctuary. On Mr. New- 
 man's place was a barn, — Cotton Mather calls it 
 "a mighty barn," — which was utilized as a place of civic 
 and religious assembly before the erection of a meeting- 
 house. In that historic barn the constitution of the 
 
 ' Ninth division in 1760. 
 
20 A Hartford and Nezv Haven Pioneer. 
 
 colony was created in June, 1639. It was ordained that 
 those not present' who were to be ''planters," should 
 subscribe this " Fundamental Agreement," as it was called, 
 with their own hand ; and so it comes to pass that we 
 have the autograph of Thomas Munson, which is sixth 
 in a list of forty-eight. 
 
 The first definite date touching Thomas Munson's his- 
 tory as a New Havener is April 3d, 1640, when the court 
 ordered " thatt brother Andrewes and brother Mounson 
 shall veiw the grounds of difference betwixt Mr. Malbon 
 and Thomas Mouleno"" the elder." This appointment was 
 complimentary to "brother Mounson" as a new-comer, 
 and only twenty-eight years of age. 
 
 And now, patient seekers for knowledge, we have some- 
 what tediously worked our way through the fogs and 
 snags and sand-bars of the subject into an open sea where 
 fair sailing rewards us. 
 
 Private Biography. 
 
 The private biography of our ancestor, as known to us, 
 is very brief. 
 
 As early as 1640, he received one of the "small lots" 
 on the south side of George Street, along the West Creek. 
 Eleven years later, intending probably to remove to Dela- 
 ware Bay, he disposed of his lot together with a dwelling- 
 house, barn, shop, hen-house, garden and trees. His 
 residence the next five years is unrevealed. In 1656, he 
 bought the lot on the southeast corner of Elm and Church 
 streets, opposite the Green, where the " Blue Meeting- 
 house " afterwards stood ; just below, on Elm street, were 
 the habitations of Mr. Davenport and Gov. Eaton. 
 
 ' Sixty-three names of those present were inscribed by the secretary. 
 
Private Biography. 21 
 
 Six years later he purchased the place formerl}- owned 
 by Robert Newman on Grove street — no'w bisected by 
 Temple street. This was his home during- the last 
 twenty-three years of his life. His neighbor eastward 
 was Andre wes, the ex-innkeeper ; his neighbors westward 
 were Benjamin Linge and his life-long guest, Col. Dixwell, 
 the regicide. Capt. Munson's home was afterwards 
 owned by his son and three of his grandsons successively ; 
 and in more recent times Noah Webster, the maker of 
 dictionaries, had a residence on that ground. 
 
 Thomas was the father of three children : Elizabeth, the 
 wife of Richard Higginbothom, a tailor, who removed to 
 Elizabethtown, N. J., and thence to Stamford ; Samuel, to 
 whom we shall return later ; and Hannah, who married 
 Joseph Tuttle. 
 
 We know little of the domestic animals Avhich added 
 animation to the home-life of these children ; but there is 
 distinct mention of a dog — not a detestable barking 
 whelp, but an exemplary creature — one that is silent, 
 thoughtful and courageous, and willing to bite — when 
 that is his duty. This worthy fellow's function Avas to 
 discourage stupidity. Accordingly, in 1661, just ten days- 
 before the arrival of Goffe and Whallcy, some ill-natured 
 inhabitant complained of certain " doggs w'"' bite horses 
 as they passe in the streets, to the endangering of their 
 Riders : Sargent Munsons dogg, and Thos. Johnsons 
 dogg, was spoken off." Well — some people are hard to 
 please. Sydney Smith says he once heard a man " speak 
 disrespectfully of the equator." 
 
 Our first father owned lands which he cultivated ; but 
 his trade was that of a carpenter. He and Boykin con- 
 tracted to do a part of the work in building the first 
 meeting-house, — in particular, some woi'k connected with 
 the tower and turret. He and Andrewes built the first 
 
22 A Hartford and New Haven Pioneer. 
 
 bridge over the Quinnipiac. His business was not limited 
 to the New Haven plantation. You should add that his 
 enterprising spirit led him to take a deep practical interest 
 in the project of establishing a colon}' at Delaware Bay. 
 
 Though, as a recent writer remarks, " there was a 
 woful shrinkage of estate in those days," though there 
 were pervasive business disasters and impoverishing wars, 
 and though our public-spirited forefather was consumingly 
 devoted to civic and military service, yet, beginning as 
 we suppose empty-handed, he came to be numbered with 
 the wealthy. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to say that this man worshiped 
 and served the Almighty Lord, and was for some forty- 
 five years, a member of the church which assembles under 
 this roof. His burial, in 1685, was on the Green, a few 
 yards from this spot, where Joanna his wife had been 
 interred seven years previously. The grave-stones of 
 both may be seen in the old cemetery. 
 
 OFFICIAL CAREER AND PUBLIC SERVICES. 
 
 Turn we now, Mr. President and worthy kinsmen, to 
 the official career and the public services of Thomas 
 Munson. We give attention to a number of points in his 
 wide and rich experience as a committee-man, and then 
 take up the honorable story of his executive, judicial, 
 legislative and military career. 
 
 Committee-vian. 
 
 The term committee (pardon this parenthesis) ordi- 
 narily indicates a number of men who are appointed by a 
 larger body to examine into some particular matter or 
 
Official Career. 2j 
 
 manage some specific affair ; this one thing done, it ceases. 
 Its limitation is a peculiarity. 
 
 Munson was appointed by government to appraise 
 property ; I have noted ten estates of which he 
 
 Appraiser. ■ t r ^ i r 
 
 was an appraiser. In 1670 he was member of a 
 colonial committee " to set an appraisement upon the land 
 belonging to the several plantations." 
 
 He was often appointed (with others) to " view " objects 
 and conditions. Thus he viewed ' the " way to the 
 Plaines " where a highway was to be located ; he viewed" 
 
 the Quinnipiac to select a site for a bridge ; he 
 
 Inspector. 
 
 inspected ^ the equipment of the cavalry ; he 
 inspected the West Bridge ' and the historic Neck Bridge' 
 which, four years later, afforded refuge to Goffe and 
 Whallev when nearly overtaken by King Charles's emis- 
 saries ; he inspected the condition of the first meeting- 
 house eight times within twenty-one years," — the last 
 time using his influence decisively, it would appear, in 
 favor of building a new house instead of multiplying 
 repairs upon the old. At an uncertain date, " The Townes 
 men Agreed to goe to all the Inhabitance [of the] Towne 
 and farmes to see how the children are educate in reading 
 
 the word of God : Lievtenant Munson and J Chidsey 
 
 for the square of the Towne," etc. 
 
 Munson was appointed (with others) to supervise work 
 
 for the public : to fence vacant lots ; ^ to construct a chest 
 
 in the meeting-house " to putt the pikes in to keepe them 
 
 from warping ;" * " to mend y® ladder " by which 
 
 Supervisor. . r i i- • >> 
 
 a sentinel on " dayes 01 publique meeting went 
 up to take his stand upon the meeting-house ; * to provide 
 a suitable building for " a Colony Schoole (for teaching of 
 
 ' 1642. ^ 1646. •'■ Alone ; 1656. ■* 1656. ' 1651 and 1657. 
 ' ^ 1647, 1648 — Jan. and Juh', 1659, 1662 — Apr. and Aug., 1665, 1668. 
 ' 1641. * 1645- ^ 1649. 
 
2^ A Hartford and Nezv Haven Pioneer. 
 
 latine, Greeke, & Hebrew) ;" ' to execute an order " that 
 the market place be forth-with cleared & the wood carryed 
 to the watch-howse & there piled for the vse & succour of 
 the watch in cold weather.'" In 1658 a scheme six years 
 old had become so interesting that Thomas Munson and 
 three others were chosen to consider whether " ye beavour 
 pond brooke can be brought to the Towne, that the mill 
 might be set up here ;" this committee reported to another 
 plenipotentiary committee of which Munson was a mem- 
 ber, and the bold work was undertaken. In the records 
 there is an abstract of a speech upon this subject by our 
 ancestor, in which he specifies "the great dam," " y® great 
 trench," and the " pen-stocke " of which there is mention 
 twenty years later. 
 
 This man, who was so rich in the faculty of judgment, 
 
 was a member of committees to make final determinations. 
 
 In two or more cases he was chosen as arbiter.^ He was 
 
 selected (with others) to lay out roads, as " the 
 
 Determiner. , . , , ,,, ,, ^ i r- 
 
 highway from Woodbury to rawgasuck [1. e. 
 Derby] to the most convenient place for a ferry ;" * 
 and also the conspicuous East Haven thoroughfare, 
 agreeably to this record under date of 1677: " Capt. 
 Munson informed y® Towne, that himselfe Capt. Rosewell 
 & John Cooper seneor who was appointed by y® Towne 
 had now stated out and settled a highway from y^ ferry 
 unto y^ farmes at y® iron works." He was chosen to 
 establish the boundaries of towns. Thus, in 1671, the 
 General Court " appoints L"* Thomas Munson to runn the 
 depth of the bownds of Brandford and Guilford to the 
 northwards, according to their grant." In 1674 the Lieu- 
 tenant assisted in establishing the " diuideing bownds " 
 between New Haven and Branford ; and in 1675 he was 
 on a committee "to see to the settlement of both the 
 
 ' 1660. - 1645. 3 J5^g_ \t<-,i,. ^ 1675. 
 
Committee-man. 
 
 25 
 
 bownds and distribution of lands" in the new plantation 
 of Derby. In 1679 "The Town did appoint Mr. W"' 
 Jones, Tho : Munson cS: John Cooper seneor theyer 
 comittee to state out y^ Indians Land on y^ east side." 
 Our judicious ancestor served on committees whose 
 duties were diplomatic, — as, e. g., to persuade W"^ 
 Andrewes " not to give up keeping the ordinarie ; " ' to 
 treat with Fowler concerning the sale of his 
 
 Diplomatist. 
 
 Hiterest m the mill ; ' to treat with Christopher 
 Todd concerning " y^ removeall of y® mills on this side 
 nearer y*^ rocke & soe to make y'" breast mills ;" ' " to treat 
 with the Indians about some matters of complaint, as, 
 planting wdiere they ought not," " killing of hoggs, and 
 stealing pease ;" ^ and again, pending the inquiry " whether 
 a village might be settled neare the black Rock "—a not- 
 able promontory on the east side of the harbor and at the 
 north end of The Cove — the site of a fort in the Revolu- 
 tionary days, — " Brother Andrewes and Bro : Munson 
 were desired to Treat with the Indians about the ex- 
 change of some Land." ^ One other item : w-ithin two or 
 three years after the English founded New^ Haven, some 
 of the colonists purchased large tracts of land on both 
 sides of the Delaware ; but the hostility of the Sw^edes 
 and the Dutch spoiled their attempts at trade and settle- 
 ment. In 1654 there was a revival of the Delaw^are move- 
 ment, and a committee was constituted, including Munson, 
 "to whom," says the record, " any that are willing to goe 
 may rapaire to be taken notice of." Early in the next 
 year, between fifty and sixty men had found leaders of 
 nerve and enterprise in Munson and Cooper, and attempted 
 very resolutely to establish plantations at Delaware Bay, 
 with a view to erecting eventually a separate common- 
 
 ' 1648. * 1658. 3 j5^j_ 4 i(j5^ 5 i55o. 
 
26 A Hartford and Nezv Haven Pioneer. 
 
 wealth. The records of the General Court for 1655 con- 
 tain the petition of the adventurers, with the conclusion, 
 namely : " The Court returned, That having read and 
 considered .... some propositions presented by 
 Thomas Munson and John Cooper, of New Haven, in the 
 name and behalfe of sundrie persons of this jurisdiction 
 and elsewhere, appearing as undertaker for the first plant- 
 ing of Delaware, .... they are willing .... 
 to grant libertie to one or both of those magistrates men- 
 tioned to goe alonge with them And they 
 
 purpose when God shall so enlarge the English planta- 
 tions in Delaware as that they shall grow the greater part 
 of the jurisdiction .... the gouernor may be one 
 yeare in one part and the next yeare in another," &c. 
 Samuel Eaton, Francis Newman and Stephen Goodyear 
 were disposed to have a hand in this high enterprise ; but 
 it was presently reported that three ships had " come to 
 the Sweeds," difficulties loomed up formidably, and the 
 great and superb project took its place with the splendid 
 visions of Dante and Milton. 
 
 Executive. 
 
 It is time to direct attention to our pioneer's record as 
 an executive officer, elected for lengthened periods of 
 service. The modest though at that time important and 
 respectable position of viewer of fences ' need not detain 
 us. Our Lieutenant was made plantation-commissary 
 when that office was created at the beginning of King 
 Philip's war.^ He was chosen treasurer of the town for 
 the unexpired term of Benjamin Linge.' Three years he 
 was elected lister or assessor.' He served as Townsman 
 
 ' 1641, 1644, 1660, 1663, 1667. "^ 1675. ^ 1669. * 1649, 1668, 1678. 
 
Executive Officer : Tozv)isuiaii. 2y 
 
 thirteen years,' first in 1656 and last in 1683 ; four 
 
 Townsman. i i i r i i 
 
 years he was at the head 01 the board. It de- 
 volved upon him and his associates to take a census of the 
 Ouinnipiac Indians and of the acres of land allotted to 
 them ; ' to change the location of the ferry to " the Red 
 Rocke ;" ^ to encourage the erection of a village for the 
 inhabitants at Stony River and South End (East Haven);* 
 to resurrect and revivify the Hopkins Grammar School ^ 
 
 — the Captain, as chief of the Townsmen, making 
 
 (Hopkins ^ ^ 
 
 Grammar a speccli and Deput)"-Governor Jones following ; 
 
 School.) . . 
 
 to consider whether health requires that burials 
 upon The Green should cease," — though it was yet one 
 hundred and thirty-eight years before the place of burial 
 was changed;' to consider, again, whether the burying- 
 place — " about 20 rod square " — ought not to " be fenced 
 about and kept in a comely manner," — but the matter had 
 hindrance until 1690, when an order was issued that the 
 place of burial " be fencd with a stone wall ... in 
 Ovall fforme." 
 
 i\s a townsman Capt. Munson was desired ' (with others) ' 
 to revise the report of a former committee on the third 
 
 division of common-land, "and allsoe to endeavor 
 DivJk)n!-') to purchase of y'^ Indians such lands as are yet 
 
 unpurchased." This division took place in 1680; 
 the first and second had occurred in 1640. 
 
 The call to public meetings — religious, military and 
 civic — during forty-three years, was by a drum beaten in 
 the turret on the meeting-house, and often about some of 
 
 the streets. The drummer was instructed " to 
 'tiTBeiLr observe r winde c^c beat so that y'= whole towne 
 
 '1656, 1657, 1658, 1662, 1663 (First), 1668, 1675, 1676 (First), 1677,1678 
 (First), 1681, 1682, 16S3 (First). Tliis otfice was known later as that of select- 
 man. - 16S2. 3 1668. ■• 1679. ^ 1677. 
 
 ^ 1659. ' 1797: stones removed, 1S21. ^ 1678. 
 
28 A Hartford and New Haven Pioneer. 
 
 may heare." In i68r, more than two centuries ago, a 
 bell was brought into the harbor, — of which the public 
 records take notice as follows : " Capt. Thomas Munson 
 on of y*" townsmen declared y® occasion of this meeting 
 was to Considder y^ buysines of y*" bell for y® Townes 
 use which was spoken of the last Towne meeting (which 
 meeting was in April last) at which y** Townsmen were 
 desyred to Considder y*" matter how y^ bell might suit 
 y^ Townes occasions and to veiw y® Terrett of y* meet- 
 ing house, and to make returne to y** Towne of the3'er 
 apprehensions in y^ Case : Now they had veiwed the s"* 
 Terrett and doe judg y"" place may be fitted to hang it in 
 for y'^ use of 3'^ Towne, and allsoe being informed that y^ 
 owner of y® bell had sent to have it brought to ye Bay ' 
 in Joseph Allsups vessell, and that y*" sayd Joseph had 
 undertaken that y*" Bell should yet stay untill another 
 returne, and it having Lyen soe long it would not be han- 
 som for y« Town to put it of, and therefore it wer neces- 
 sary that now y*" Towne would Considder whether they 
 will have it or not and how to raise y" pay for it which 
 will bee fourteen pound in money." It was voted that 
 the bell be purchased, and that the townsmen have it 
 properly hanged for use. 
 
 In 1678 our Captain had a hand ex officio in the delicate 
 task of seating the Meeting-house. The men were to 
 occupy one side of the house and the women the other, 
 while the assignment of places to individuals was to have 
 ,^ . , respect to civic dignity, militarv rank, age, 
 
 (Seating the ^ & J ' - ' o 
 
 Meeting- wealth, social value, and so on. Mr. Jones 
 
 House. 
 
 reported that the committee had finished seating 
 the men " and had begun y® seating of women but found 
 some dificulty in that matter." Ah yes, — that beautiful 
 absence of " dificulty " in the seating of men ! The 
 
 ' Massachusetts. 
 
Judicial. 2C) 
 
 report alleged some " want of Roome," with reference to 
 which " Divers des3a-ed that y*" women might be seated 
 as farr as seats would reach ;" but it was cautiously 
 replied "that y*^ comittee had some reasons that were not 
 meet to mention at this time." The ex-Deputy-Governor, 
 who had risked his neck to defend Goffe and Whalley 
 against Charles II., was mindful that a bird of the air 
 would repeat every word of the discussion to the Hannahs 
 and Elizabeths and Temperances ; and the Tow^nsman and 
 Soldier who had faced Pequots, hostile New Yorkers 
 under x\ndross, the embattled Dutch, and the terrible 
 conspiracy under King Philip, could not forget that every 
 whisper in the meeting would be telephoned to the " pink 
 and white tyrants " named Joanna and Rebecca and 
 Charity and Prudence ; and Jones and Munson resolved 
 upon a masterly discretion. 
 
 Judicial. 
 
 We pass now to Thomas Munson's judicial career. 
 
 At the age of fifty-one he was elected to the Plantation 
 
 Court, a tribunal which was convened monthly '' to hear 
 
 and determine inferiour causes," — if " Civill," "in valew 
 
 not exceeding twenty Pounds ;" if " Criminall," 
 
 Plantation , ., io-> t-i^ 
 
 Court. " when the punishment by bcnpture 1-ight, ex- 
 ceeds not stocking, and whipping," or " when 
 the fine exceeds not five Pounds." The " fitt and able 
 men" chosen for this service are styled "the ordinar}^ 
 judges." Those elected in 1662 were " Mr. John Daven- 
 port, Jun., Leiftenant John Nash, Ensigne Thomas Mun- 
 son, and James Bishop." They were all twice re-elected, 
 and they held office until Charles II. united the New 
 Haven and Connecticut colonies. 
 
^Q . A Hartford and Neiv Have)i Pioneer. 
 
 It was not until after the Union that trial by jury was 
 instituted. Lieut. Munson was a member of the first jury 
 
 impanelled at New Haven,' and he was its fore- 
 First Jury. 
 
 man. This was in October. He was also fore- 
 man of the juries in January and February following. 
 
 In 1666 the Lieutenant was designated as supernu- 
 merary Commissioner, to perform duty as a member of 
 the monthly court, in a contingency. 
 
 Again, our pioneer was a member for man)^ j^ears of the 
 
 supreme Court of Appeals, in that period, to wit, the 
 
 General Court for the Jurisdiction, — at first that of New 
 
 Haven colon}^ and after the Union, that of Con- 
 
 courtof necticut. One of the six general functions of 
 
 Appeals. '^ 
 
 this high court, in the New Haven colony, was 
 thus stated : " To hear and determine all causes, whether 
 Civil or Criminall, w'^h by appeal or complaint shall be 
 orderly brought unto them, either from any inferior 
 Court, or from any of the Plantations." In Connecticut 
 colony a similar custom was in force." 
 
 Legislative. 
 
 Let vis now advance to contemplate Munson's career as 
 a legislator. 
 
 In 1662 and 1663 he was elected "third man " or substi- 
 tute deputy for four sessions of the General Court of New 
 Haven colony, and at the third session he had occasion to 
 take his seat and act. In 1664 he was elected 
 
 New Haven 
 
 General dcputy for two scssious of the same body. The 
 
 next year, — it will be remembered that there was 
 
 a great deal of contention between the colonies in regard 
 
 to a union, — Connecticut invited New Haven to send 
 
 deputies to a General Assembly to be holden on the 15th 
 
 1 1665. 2 1683. 
 
As a Legislator. ji 
 
 of March. " After much debate," says the record, " it 
 was thought best to send," and Lieut. Thomas Munson 
 and John Cooper were chosen to represent the community. 
 That meeting of the Assembly was "put by," and a sum- 
 mons to another for April 20th being issued, " the former 
 deputies declaring themselves not willing to goe," there 
 was a new choice, though a minority objected to sending. 
 There is no doubt that the unwritten history connected 
 with these events would be very entertaining if we could 
 recover it. Lieut. Munson was chosen " third man " for 
 the October session of 1665, and he was elected to the 
 same situation in 1668 and 1684. 
 
 In 1666 he was elected deputy to the General Assembly, 
 
 and he served in this capacity twenty-four sessions, a very 
 
 impressive testimony to the extraordinary esteem 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 General in which liis legislative qualifications were held. 
 It appears, therefore, that he represented New 
 Haven in the colonial legislatures twenty-seven sessions. 
 He was in the Assembly nineteen consecutive sessions, 
 with one exception during King Philip's war when he was 
 engrossed with military duties. The town was represented 
 by two persons each session. During thirteen years, 1669- 
 1682, there were fifty-six individual elections of deputies, 
 twenty-three of which fell to Munson and thirty-three to 
 seven other men, — the former being elected more times 
 than any three of his competitors, — while in every instance 
 except one he was at the head of the delegation, — evinc- 
 ing his easy preeminence among the sterling citizens who 
 filled this office in his time. 
 
 Be it observed that legislation in the age of Pioneer 
 Munson was something else than atomizing rose-water. 
 It was the mighty task of sagacious statesmen. Not theirs 
 the vocation to conserve and administer a ready-made 
 
 ' 1669-167S. 
 
j2 A Hartford and Neiv Haven Pioneer. 
 
 system. They had need to be colossal inventors in the 
 sphere of government, for they were founders of new, 
 unique, exemplary institutions. Liberty regulated by law 
 was the beneficent object to be attained. To originate 
 and elaborate a fabric of self-government — an expression 
 of intelligence, wisdom and virtue, and to be maintained 
 by intelligence, wisdom and virtue, — this, conducted in 
 allegiance to the divine government, was the sublime task 
 assumed by the colonial legislators. And this work, you 
 should remark, might not be done at leisure, but amidst 
 diversions and embarrassments springing from other un- 
 friendly and often hostile communities, — the aborigines, 
 the English and again the Dutch of New York, the Rhode 
 Islanders, and we may as well add, (softly,) the English 
 Crown. 
 
 Military. 
 
 There remains to be considered the military career of 
 our versatile and indefatigable forefather. 
 
 A few explanations may be premised. The earlier mus- 
 ket ' was a match-lock ; " four fathom of match " was the 
 allowance for each, and those performing guard-duty dur- 
 ing the time of meeting on the Lord's-Days, were to " have 
 their matches lighted." These muskets gave way grad- 
 ually to flint-locks ; five or six good flints fitted to each of 
 these were the allowance. Pikes fourteen feet long were 
 used by the infantry, and half-pikes, ten feet long, were 
 used by " dragoones," i. e., soldiers trained to perform 
 duty either as infantry or cavalr)^ One in five was pro- 
 vided with this weapon.' The artillery were also drilled 
 in its use. Every family was to furnish itself with a coat 
 
 ^ 1643. 2 In Connecticut Colon}', 1666. 
 
As n Soldier. jj 
 
 of canvas " quilted with cotton woole," to serve as a 
 " defence against Indian arrowes." The inspection of 
 arms took place "at the meeting-house."' 
 
 The "trained band," mentioned as early as April, 1640, 
 included every male from sixteen to sixty years of age," 
 and comprised at first four squadrons, with four sergeants. 
 Each man was equipped with a gun and a sword.' There 
 were at least six " traynings " every 3'ear. The "watch" 
 was set by a sergeant "one hour after sunset,"' and each 
 of three pairs patrolled by turns. An alarm was sounded ' 
 by a discharge of arms, with a cry of " Fire ! fire !" or 
 " Arme ! arme !" according to the nature of the danger ; 
 the beating of the drum was added. One-fourth of the 
 " trayned band " ' (and in times of special peril, all ") were 
 to come to public worship " with their amies Compleat ;" 
 others, six only exempted, " are to bring their swords." " 
 While one sentinel stood on the meeting-house, another 
 stood at the door, and two patrols walked the streets.^ 
 
 In August, 1642, " bro : Mounson " was chosen Sergeant 
 
 of the " Trayned Band," an office ranking perhaps with 
 
 that of major in our late war. For nineteen years he is 
 
 called by this title, and very busy years they 
 
 Sergeant. ■' _ _ - _ "^ "^ - 
 
 must have been, \n\\\\ the trainings, the setting of 
 night-watches, and attending to the guard on days of pub- 
 lic meetings, and to the armed contingent among the 
 worshipers, — to which were added special proceedings at 
 frequent periods when dangers threatened. That his 
 services as an officer were appreciated is evinced by a 
 record under date of Sept. 10, 1649: "The Gouerner 
 Informed the Court that Sarjant Munson is aboute goeing 
 To Connecticote, to staye this winter : therefore the Court 
 
 ' 1649. ' 1644. ^ 1644" * 1648. ^ 1640. ° 1644. ' June, 1644. 
 * 1640. * 1653. 
 
 3 
 
j^ A Hartford and Nezv Haven Pioneer. 
 
 maye Consider whether it be safe for y^ towne to lett him 
 goe : . . . the Court thought it not fitt that he should 
 now goe : but desired the Gouerner to Informe them at 
 Connecticote whom it Concernes, that it is not his neglect : 
 but the Towne hinders him for publique respects." 
 
 At some court,' there was complaint of the Sergeant's 
 " neglecting to give out the bills . . in season, . . 
 whereby the watch could not be full one night." A fine 
 of 6^ : 8*^ : was ordered ; but it was subsequently remitted. 
 He was once'' complained of for "taking away 3 hands 
 fro™ traynings to goe fetch hay," Some one had broken a 
 promise to attend to it " while he was gonn to Moheigen." 
 The motive was imperious, — it was the only chance, even 
 with the help of " Canowes," — but " he was fyned 2/8 each 
 person." Again'' he was accused of taking some men 
 from the company "upon A trayning day," and "said he 
 would Answer it." He replied that "the thing was not 
 True." The Pastor's " sellar " was to be "stoned," and 
 he desired the Sergeant to " gitt helpe & Come & under- 
 sett the house," on a certain day. " That will be training 
 day," replied the officer. But Mr. Davenport said, " lett 
 him gett men and he would freely paye the fine if the 
 towne required it." The Sergeant alleged, moreover, 
 that " he came not at the Company that morning." After 
 some testimony was offered, " The Court told Sarient 
 Munson that it seemed there was some mistake in the buis- 
 enes." These proceedings were in the " Particular Court." 
 In the General Court, a month later,^ the Governor called 
 on any who could establish the charge against the officer, 
 " to speake ; if not that then he ma}^ be Cleared & men be 
 more wary how they expresse themselves : but none spake 
 to Charge him but rather To Cleare him & so it was past 
 by." A malcontent charged the Sergeant with " partial- 
 
 ' 1649. 5 1646. 3 j6^8. 4 j54g_ 
 
As a So/dicr 
 
 35 
 
 litie " ' in omitting- to present the names of some members 
 of his squadron who had come late to public worship and 
 of others who " brought not their Amies." As a result 
 of the examination, the accuser " was Tould he had not 
 Carried it well : he should not have lett it passe till he 
 was Complained of himselfe, and then in his distemper 
 declare it : . . . but he said he was sorry for it : Ser- 
 iant Munson was told y' the Court Judged hime faithful 
 in his Trust." 
 
 In 1654, His Highness, Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector 
 of England, Scotland and Ireland, desired the New Eng- 
 land colonies to unite in an expedition against the " Dutch 
 on Hudsons River," in reinforcement of his warfare against 
 Holland. The New Haven colony raised a force, of 
 which Munson was chosen first Sergeant ; but before the 
 levy g^ot under way, news came that peace had been 
 concluded. 
 
 When an " Artillar}" Compan}- " was organized in 1645, 
 
 our Sergeant was constituted a sergeant of that company, 
 
 though without vacating his office in the Trained 
 
 (Artillery.) . , . . 
 
 Band. He appears to have retanied his connec- 
 tion with the artillery three years. Of the six " great 
 guns " mentioned, three were located near the Meeting-- 
 house and three at the water-side.'^ 
 
 When a small Troope was raised in 1656, Thomas Mun- 
 son was one of those who volunteered for that 
 form of service. The organization existed seven 
 years. 
 
 In [661 Sergeant Munson, with some misgiving, accepted 
 the office of Ensign or color-bearer. After two years he 
 desired to be released from the position, alleging his insuf- 
 ficiency, "especially in windy weather." At the 
 end of the third year, complaint was made that 
 
 ' 1648. "^ How early, the writer cannot sa)-. 
 
j6 A Hartford and Nciv Haven Pioneer. 
 
 the colors did not appear in the company. The Ensign 
 reminded the public of his resignation, whereupon a word 
 of reproof was murmured and the Ensign was immediately 
 promoted to the office of Lieutenant/ 
 
 This office was perhaps equivalent in rank to that of 
 
 colonel in our late war. Munson served as Lieutenant 
 
 twelve years. In 1673, while England and Holland were 
 
 at war, the Dutch re-captured New York from 
 
 Lieutenant. . , _, 
 
 the English. Connecticut colony took alarm, 
 and appointed a " Grand Committee " for defence, with 
 full power to commission officers, and to press men, horses, 
 
 ships, arms, ammunition and provisions, and, in a 
 
 (Grand ^ _ _ ^ 
 
 Committee.) word, to dircct military proceedings in the best 
 way they can. Munson was a member of this 
 committee. It was ordered, moreover, that 500 dragoons 
 be raised, and that if any forces should be sent out of New 
 Haven County for the relief of another county, Munson 
 should be Lieutenant of the same. Four days later the 
 Grand Committee order that each dragoon have a horse, 
 a sword, a musket, and a half-pike, and that Munson be 
 Lieutenant of those raised in New Haven County. Three 
 months and a half later,"" the General Court resolves to 
 send forth forces, by sea and land, against New York, and 
 institutes " a standing Councell of Warr " with full power, 
 and of this Council the Lieutenant was a member. Some 
 forces sailed to the east end of Long Island and expelled 
 the enemy from that region ; but the " eminent dangers of 
 warr " were mainly averted until peace was proclaimed. 
 We come now to the period of King Philip's war, just 
 one hundred years before the war of the Revolution. We 
 .^^ have only an occasional glimpse of Lieut. Mun- 
 pkiiifs son's movements in this gloomy and horrid con- 
 
 ' 1664. ' Nov. 26, 1673. 
 
King Philip's War. jj 
 
 test with the barbarians ; for the records are too meagre 
 and indefinite. 
 
 July 2nd, 1675, a public meeting was "suddenly" called 
 on receiving news that Philip, " a bloody man," had as- 
 saulted "seacunck" and " swansy " in Plymouth colony, 
 while there had also been disturbance " in the Narro- 
 gancett Country." Some houses had been burned, about 
 thirty English slain, and Philip's savages were " engageing 
 the Indians rownd about by sending locks of some English 
 they haue slayne, from one place to another." The col- 
 ony immediately took up arms. The forces raised at New 
 Haven and other towns on the shore marched towards 
 New London and Stonington. Our Lieutenant was of 
 this army. 
 
 But the march was interrupted at Sa3^brook fort by 
 tidings of the approach of another foe. The odious 
 Andross, recently appointed governor of New York, was 
 behaving in his office like a great, saucy, conscienceless 
 boy whose chief ambition was to act the bully. He 
 claimed and protested that his government extended to 
 the Connecticut river. His bad spirit and his threatening 
 messages made the Connecticut colony suspicious of him, 
 even when, as on this occasion, he loudly professed the 
 most innocent and benevolent intentions. With three 
 vessels and a military force he arrived off Saybrook, July 
 8th, — alleging that his purpose was to defend the English 
 colonists from the hostile savages ; but a memorandum of 
 his, found in the Secretary's Office fourteen years later, 
 acknowledged that he went to the mouth of the Connect- 
 icut to take possession by surprise, " but was prevented 
 by the opposition of two companies of men then lodged 
 there ready to go out against the Indians." The proceed- 
 ings of Andross in asserting his claims, and of the soldier- 
 colonists in denying and combating them, were uncom- 
 
J 8 A Hartford and Nezv Haven Pioneer. 
 
 monly picturesque. After five or six days Andross set 
 sail, and Capt. Bull Avas instructed, July i6th, " to leaue 
 Lnt. Munson to comand at Saybrooke w*^ some forces for 
 the security of that place," while he himself should march 
 '■'■ with as many forces as can be spared," towards New 
 London and Stonington, to secure the frontier against the 
 Indians. 
 
 In August the Indians on the Connecticut, above North- 
 ampton, began to evince hostility ; in the latter part of 
 the month, the Norwottogs at Hadley assaulted the plan- 
 tations there. Major Treat marched from Connecticut 
 with an army, August 31st, his route to Northampton 
 being via Westfield. 
 
 September 19th, the following commission was issued 
 to our gallant ancestor : 
 
 " To Thomas Munson, L"*. 
 
 " These are in his Ma"** Name to will and require you 
 to take under your conduct the forces that now com from 
 the County of New Haven ; and them you are forthwith 
 to lead up, to Norwottock, and from thence up the River 
 to our army, with whom you are to joyne in the defence 
 of those plantations up the River ; and 3^ou are to kill and 
 destroy all such Indian enemies as shall assault you or the 
 sayd plantations," etc. Norwottock (now Hadley) was 
 the headquarters of the colonial army. There was a fort 
 in the bend of the river at that point. Already Northfield 
 and Deerfield had fallen before the enemy, and " the flower 
 of Essex " had been massacred at Bloody Brook. • 
 
 We can seldom individualize our ancestor amidst the 
 smoke, the confusion, the multiform obscuration of Philip's 
 war. Fifteen days later, the Agawams, under Sachem 
 Wequogan, hitherto friendly, received two hundred and 
 seventy of Philip's Indians, designing the next day 
 
Leads Forces into Massachusetts. jg 
 
 October 5th, to burn Springfield. Toto, a Windsor 
 Indian, discovered their secret, and during the night the 
 news was sent by a swift horseman to Springfield and 
 thence to Westfield and Hadley. The inhabitants of the 
 doomed town betook themselves to the garrisons, and 
 the six hundred warriors burned thirty-three houses and 
 twenty-five barns and the mill. Treat's army, of which 
 Munson's command formed a part, was at Westfield when 
 Toto's disclosure was brought to that point, and it imme- 
 diately marched for Springfield. Hubbard, in his Indian 
 Wars, observes : " No doubt the whole town had been 
 totally destroyed, but that a Report of the Plot being 
 carried about over night, Major Treat came from West- 
 field time enough in a Manner for the Rescue, but wanting 
 Boats to transport his Men, could not do so much Good 
 as he desired." "He arrived there," however, says an 
 eminent student of colonial history,' " in time to save the 
 lives of the inhabitants, and a part of the town from the 
 flames." 
 
 Five days after the Lieutenant was commissioned to 
 conduct the New Haven County dragoons to the seat of 
 war, the town of New Haven appointed a committee, 
 including Munson, "to erect -some fortification at the 
 meeting-house," and, if deemed best, elsewhere. After 
 the burning of Springfield, it was ordered, agreeably to 
 the suggestion of the committee, that some houses be 
 fortified, that at the four angles of the town-square 
 superior fortifications be erected, and that there be a 
 line of pallisadoes all about the town-square ; each inhab- 
 itant was reqiured to build four rods of this stockade. 
 It was also ordered that all brush and underwood within 
 half a mile of the pallisadoes be cut down and cleared 
 away, that the shelter they afforded might not assist 
 
 ' J. Hammond Trumbull, LL.D. 
 
^0 A Hartford and New Haven Pioneer. 
 
 the Indians " to creep in a skulking manner neare y^ 
 Towne.'" 
 
 It should be minded that Munson was a Townsman dur- 
 ing these dark and bloody years, and thus most intimately 
 related to all local proceedings connected with the war. 
 
 February 25th, 1676, Lieut. Munson was " appoynted 
 
 Captain of N. Haven County souldiers, and commissioned 
 
 accordinarlv-" This was as high rank as had been 
 
 Captain. ° -^ '^ 
 
 attained by any citizen of New Haven, (about 
 equivalent to general in our time,) and it remained the 
 highest for seven or eight years longer." May 15th, the 
 General Court, in view of the strength of the enemy and 
 the outrages they were committing, instituted " a standing 
 army " of which " Capt" Tho : Munson was chosen Capf 
 for N. Haven County." 
 
 Portrait ajid Character. 
 
 We have now sampled the acts and events in Captain 
 Munson's life as fully as our limitations permit. Is not his 
 career a panoi"ama which his posterit}- may contemplate 
 with just pleasure and rational pride ? James I., Charles 
 I., Cromwell, Charles II., were the British sovereigns in 
 his day : what favorite was elevated to a barony, an earl- 
 dom or a dukedom, who was so rich in manly worth, 
 whose essential nobility shone with so much lustre, 
 whose public services were so various, so valuable and 
 so monumental? Let every heart admire him, every lip 
 
 ' The next March — " It was ordered that noe person shall plant any Indian 
 corne within two rod of the stockaded line ;" and, also, " y^ noe Indian bee 
 sufferred to com into 3-'^' Towne to see the fortifications or take notis of any 
 of our actings and motions." 
 
 ' 1683. 
 
His Looks, Traits, Footprints. ^i 
 
 praise him, every son and daughter emulate his resplend- 
 ent example. 
 
 O that we had a portrait of him ! Well, I will paint 
 one reflecting my conception of him. A light-complex- 
 i.oned man, with blue eyes and brown hair ; his nose 
 straight and prominent ; in person, larger and taller than 
 the average man, probabl}' ; erect, methodical, prompt 
 and dignified, as became his soldierl}^ profession ; courtlv, 
 as became his judicial and legislative associations. 
 
 Passing from the outward appearance, — he was a man 
 of irrepressible aspiration ; he was a man of superior 
 intelligence, — and his fine autograph indicates cultivation ; 
 he was a man of leonine courage ; a man of tireless 
 energy ; a man whose judgment was preeminent, — the 
 solitaire of his faculties ; a man whose versatility was 
 wonderful, — perhaps not less exceptional than his judg- 
 ment ; his integrity, so far as appears, was whiteness and 
 brightness ; and, in fine, his place was on the side of the 
 All-wise and the All-holy. 
 
 What remains ? This beautiful, historic Green is fretted 
 with our worthy's footsteps as multitudinously as the 
 aisles of autumnal forests with fallen leaves. Hundreds 
 of times he walked hither with stately step to the monthly 
 courts and the general courts for the plantation and the 
 jurisdiction ; hundreds of times has he come with martial 
 step to attend train-band, artillery and cavalry exercises ; 
 1500 times has he marched hither at evening to set the 
 nightly watch ; 4000 times has he come over this ground, 
 with a semi-devout aspect, to attend the Wednesday 
 lecture ; 9000 times he has walked reverently, yet with 
 something of soldierly energy, precision and stateliness 
 in his gait, to the public worship on the Lord's-days. I 
 cannot estimate his visits to this Green at fewer than 
 40,000. 
 
/f.2 A Hartford and Nciv Haven Pioneer. 
 
 His monument ? New Haven is his monument, and 
 Connecticut is his monument. There is not a stone in the 
 foundations of this enchanting town which his hand has 
 not touched, adjusted, embellished. Turn which way you 
 will, go which way you will, you have only to brush off 
 the dust and rub off the lichens to find " MuNSON fecit:' 
 
 But you, my dear kinsmen, are the living monument of 
 Thomas Munson. It may be said with candor and 
 sobriety that the descendants of this man exhibit a very 
 high average of ability, uprightness, thrift and respect- 
 ability. And you have made his name creditably known 
 in your several residences from Hudson's Bay to the Gulf 
 of Mexico and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Aye, 
 more : here and there across the nation you have caused 
 his name to be inscribed in characters which are truly 
 monumental, as in the case of Munson Street and Munson 
 Park in this city ; Munson's Hill in Virginia — covered with 
 history six fathoms deep ; Munson Hill — a post-village in 
 Ohio ; .Munsonville in New Hampshire, Munsonville in 
 New York, Munson's Station in Pennsylvania, the town- 
 ship of Munson in Illinois, and the township of Munson 
 in Nebraska. 
 
 As we pass in grand review before the Captain, he will 
 certainly contemplate very many and very much with 
 approbation and applause ; but no member of the proces- 
 sion will have merit enough, I had almost said half enough 
 merit, to entitle him to measure arms with our greatest 
 soldier and ablest civilian, Thomas the First. 
 
His Son Saimicl. /f.^ 
 
 POSTERITY OF THOMAS MUNSON. 
 
 The scope of this discourse includes a few glimpses of 
 Thomas Munson's posterity. 
 
 His only son Samviel was by trade a shoemaker, with 
 
 which that of a tanner was probably combined. He also 
 
 owned and cultivated farming lands. His militar}^ rank 
 
 was that of Ensign. Early in 1670 he joined with 
 
 His Son John Mosse, John Brockitt, Nathaniel Merriman, 
 
 Samuel. -' 
 
 and twenty-two other New Haveners, in the 
 founding of Wallingford, ten miles north-north-easterly. 
 He was nearly twenty-seven, the age at which his father 
 settled in New Haven. His daughter and eldest son had 
 been born before his removal ; the next five sons were 
 born during the eleven years of his residence in Walling- 
 ford, notwithstanding which the elder three were born in 
 New Haven, and only Joseph and Stephen in Wallingford ; 
 Caleb, and two younger sons who have no posterity, were 
 born after the return to New Haven in 1681. Ens. Samuel, 
 if we may trust the records, was the first schoolmaster 
 at Wallingford ; ' he was for a time the public drummer; 
 his i-esidence during the early years was the place of 
 public worship, for which some compensation was ren- 
 dered. He was on the important committee to determine 
 the rules for the allotment of the lands," which were at 
 first all common. At the age of thirty he was elected one 
 of the Townsmen, and he was chosen to the same office 
 the following }■ ear and also the last two years he was in 
 Wallingford.' One year he was chosen leather-sealer,* 
 another treasurer,' two years auditor," two years recorder 
 of lands,' and five years assessor.' In 1681, at the age of 
 
 ' 1679. '^ 1672. 3 i6y3_ i67^_ i63o, i6Sr. ■* 167S. ^ 1680. ^ 1676? 
 1679. '' 1679, 1681. * 1677-16S1. 
 
^^ A Hartford and New Haven Pioneer. 
 
 thirty-eight, he was chosen recorder, assessor and towns- 
 man, indicating that had he remained in Wallingford he 
 would have been employed very extensively in public 
 service. The first year of Philip's war, he was commis- 
 sioned Ensign of the Wallingford Trained Band ; next 
 month the colonial Council appointed him and another 
 " to sign bills ;" and in March following, he and another 
 wrote a letter to the Council in respect to " garrison- 
 houses, and watches and wardes." In 1679 "The Towne 
 made Choyce of En Sam'^ Munson & Eliasaph Preston to 
 goe up to the Hon'^ Gourner ... to inquire y® Reason 
 why they are deprived of Comission maiestraycy among 
 them." After his return to New Haven, he was chosen 
 fence-viewer,* constable," and assessor ; ^ and during five 
 years, probably ten, beginning with 1683, he and his 
 brother-in-law, Joseph Tuttle, were elected searchers and 
 sealers of leather. For one year, and apparently longer — 
 not unlikely three years, our Ensign was Rector of the 
 Hopkins Grammar School. He died ^ before he was fifty, 
 surviving his father less than eight years. (The Captain's 
 age was seventy-three.) We may well lament the prema- 
 ture decease of our second ancestor, whose promise and 
 whose performance also had been so admirable. Let it be 
 distinctly recognized, cousins, recognized with veneration, 
 that Ensign Samuel was the common ancestor of all the 
 descendants of Capt. Thomas who bear the Munson name. 
 
 We are now to glance at the footprints of seven sons of 
 the Ensign^ — grandsons of the Captain. Thomas, John, 
 Theophilus and Stephen dwelt in New Haven ; Samuel, 
 Joseph and Caleb in Wallingford. It may be remarked 
 
 ' 1686. ■ "■ 1692. 3 1692. 
 
 ^ Between Dec. 26, 1692, when he was elected constable, and March 2, 
 1693, when the inventor)' of his estate was dated. 
 
His Grandsons Samuel and Thomas. ^5 
 
 that all these brothers, whatever their trades or other 
 employments, had ample possessions in land. 
 
 1. Samuel, of Wallingford, Town Clerk and Recorder 
 thirty-nine years.' I have examined several thousand 
 pages in his handwriting. In conveyances his vocation is 
 
 said to be that of " Planter." His military title, 
 
 Grandson j-j^^ ^j^.^^ ^f j^-^ f^^tj-^^j- ^^.^^g EusigU. Hc SCrVCd 
 Samuel. c> 
 
 as treasurer, auditor, school-committee, four 
 years, lister, four years, and selectman, six years. He 
 was also chosen to six minor offices, involving thirteen 
 years of service. There is record of )'et another public 
 appointment, in September, 1704: "The town chose 
 Samuell Monson to look after the yong people at the 
 lore eand of the meting house." His age at death was 
 seventy-two. 
 
 2. Thomas, of New Haven. He was fourteen years 
 old at the death of the Captain, and was the only grand- 
 child who participated in the distribution of the old 
 
 gentleman's estate. This partiality was most 
 ThTmir likely out of respect to his name. To him were 
 
 given his grandfather's "amies & amunition," 
 his tools, a colt, " 6 acres of land in the . . . Governors 
 quarter, & y* parcell of meadow lying att the red banke," 
 with some other things. According to the designation in 
 deeds, Thomas was by vocation a " husbandman." He 
 was chosen to a minor office at the age of twenty, and to 
 another three years later, to which he was three times 
 re-elected ; but his official career was inconspicuous. At 
 the age of twenty -eight* he sold his place, the homestead 
 of his father and grandfather, on Grove and Temple 
 streets, to his brother John, and then or presently re- 
 moved to lands on the First and Second Brooks, and on 
 Sacket's Brook. This farm, lying on the west side of the 
 
 ' 1711-1740. ' 1709. 
 
^6 A Hartford and Neiv Haven Pioneer. 
 
 Quinnipiac, was a landmark much employed in describing- 
 places in that region, Thomas bought three and one-half 
 acres, bounded easterly on Sacket's brook, of Jonathan 
 Edwards, that renowned metaphysician and divine whom 
 Robert Hall declared to be " the greatest of the sons of 
 men." In 1716, when the project of locating Yale College 
 in New Haven was under contemplation, a number of 
 citizens thought to encourage the enterprise by donating 
 forty acres of land to its treasury ; Thomas gave two acres 
 and Theophilus one. This " Colledge lott" was "about 
 half a mile Northerly of Thomas Munsons," and a Walling- 
 ford record describes Munson as " of Newhaven north 
 village." There are indications in some of his convey- 
 ances that Thomas was a humorous man. He lived to 
 the age of seventy-five. 
 
 3. Capt. John, of New Haven, who, taken all in all — his 
 
 versatility, the variety of his activities and achievements, 
 
 and the number, value and eminence of his public services 
 
 being regarded, — possibly excels any other de- 
 
 Grandson g(^gi-i(;[aj^^ q{ Thomas Muusou. In documents, for 
 
 John. ' 
 
 twenty years, he is called a " maultster " or 
 *' malster ;" and from 1722, a "miller." In 1716, during 
 the reign of George I., he bought a new corn-mill, located 
 on Beaver-Pond Brook ; at a later period it had a bolting 
 department. Ten years later, he and others built a saw- 
 mill " upon the West River above Sperrys farme ;" he 
 owned at least a quarter interest. Nine years later, 
 he bought a one-third interest in Todd's mill, a lineal 
 descendant of the first mill in New Haven ; it was on Mill 
 river, opposite Mill-Rock, and at this period, a " Bake- 
 house " was a part of the property. When he became a 
 miller, he sold his place on Grove and Temple streets 
 to Theophilus, and resided eastward of the West-Rock, 
 where his business was. He had a " malt-house " there 
 
His Grandson John. ^y 
 
 also. Ill 1712, he obtained a grant of land for a wharf. 
 He was key-keeper, grand-juror, constable, two years, 
 collector, two years, leather-sealer, six years, assessor, two 
 years, Townsman, nine years, Deputy to the General 
 Assembly, ten sessions. At the age of thirty-six ' he had 
 won the title of Captain, and from that date for more than 
 ten years he was annually elected Moderator for all the 
 town meetings of the year. This fact has a unique and 
 brilliant look. Capt. John was chosen the first Steward of 
 Yale College, an office which he filled three years.'' The 
 first attempt to establish regular communication between 
 New Haven and Hartford was in 17 17, when the General 
 Assepibly gave Capt. John the exclusive right of trans- 
 porting persons and goods between the two places for 
 seven years. This franchise was granted in consideration 
 ■of his having been at " the cost and charge to set up a 
 waggon to pass and transport passengers and goods." 
 " On the first Monday of every month, excepting Decem- 
 ber, January, February, and March," he was to " set forth 
 with the said waggon from New Haven, and with all 
 convenient despatch drive up to Hartford, and thence in 
 the same week return to New Haven." There was a fine 
 of forty shillings for infringing on Munson's privilege. 
 This stage is believed to have run at intervals of two 
 weeks, — doing better than the statute required. It re- 
 mains to add that John Munson was a Deacon of the First 
 Church ; we do not know the limits of his term of service, 
 but he was in office in October, 1742, and December, 1748. 
 The last record which mentions him as living is February 
 6, 1749; he was then seventy-six years of age. 
 
 4. Capt. Theophilus, of New^ Haven, whose prominence 
 among the seven brothers was next to that of John. His 
 
 ' 1709. * 1718-1721. 
 
jl_8 A Hartford and Nezv Haven 'Pioneer. 
 
 dealings in real-estate were extensive, and he was decidedly 
 
 successful in acquiring property. By trade he 
 
 Grandson ^^^^ ^ a locksmith." Hc held four minor offices by 
 
 Theophilus. 
 
 fifteen elections. He was also constable, collector 
 and treasurer, tithingman, three years, lister, three years, 
 and thirty-three times at least he was elected sealer of 
 weights and measures. He was Townsman eight years, and 
 Deputy to the General Assembly three sessions. In 1 712 he 
 was on a town-committee to assist in laying out the undi- 
 vided land, and nine years later was on another committee 
 to prepare plans for the sixth division. He and five others, 
 in 1 71 7, were granted an area of "the flats " eight rods wide, 
 " beginning at the end of the highway leading down by Cap^ 
 Prouts to the water side : provided that the sd Grantees 
 build a wharfe forty Rods long . . and twenty foots wide 
 . . . within eight years." We. note as a. curiosity that the 
 price of five acres purchased by Theophilus, in 1708, was a 
 "neagro woman Called Hagur," together with five pounds, 
 twelve shillings. This prosperous man resided forty-five 
 years on College street, at the corner of Wall, where Prest. 
 Dwight resides, and he died at the age of seventy -two. 
 
 5. Ens. Joseph, of Wallingford, — by trade a " joyner." 
 He occupied two inferior offices by six elections. He was 
 
 also grand-juror, an assessor three years, and a 
 
 Grandson t^ . xt- -i -liii 
 
 Joseph. lownsmanm 1713. His residence is located by 
 a record made in 1716: "The lower end of the 
 town ' begins at Joseph Munsons." He was only fifty-two 
 years old when he died. 
 
 6. Sergt. Stephen, of New Haven, — by trade a " lock- 
 smith " and also " gunn smith." He was chosen to three 
 minor offices by eigliteen elections ; he was also constable, 
 
 collector, two years, assessor, two years, and a 
 ^irhen" Townsman in 1731 and 1733. It is in evidence 
 
 ' Village. 
 
Theophiliis, Joseph, Stephen, Caleb. ^p 
 
 that he had a " Negro man " whom he sold. You may 
 recall the thought of Mr. Everett : " The faults of our 
 fathers were the faults of the age in which they lived ; 
 their virtues were their own." And we do well to ruminate 
 on a remark of Coleridge, to wit: "A dwarf sees far- 
 ther than the giant when he has the giant's shoulder to 
 mount on." Sergt. Stephen's home for sixty-six years 
 was at the northwest corner of Grove and State streets. 
 He died at the age of eighty-nine. He had been blind 
 for some years. 
 
 7. Caleb, of Wallingford, — by trade a " weaver." He 
 was chosen grand-juror, tithingman, school-com- 
 ^caleb"" mittee, and in 1743 first Selectman. At the end 
 of the year the citizens " Voted that they would 
 except the Select Mens Account Read to them in General 
 without hearing the Particulars or having au}^ further 
 examination." This is a novel record, and highly compli- 
 mentary to Caleb. The board was re-elected, with our 
 relative at the head of it. This seventh son of the Ensign 
 died at the age of eighty-three. 
 
 The last survivor of these seven brothers died one hun- 
 dred and nineteen years ago, seven years before the Revo- 
 lutionary war. The four who lived in this town were all 
 members of the church which worships in this house ; the 
 early records of the Wallingford church are not extant. 
 
 We are nearly at the end of our tether. 
 
 In the next generation, the fourth, Solomon removed 
 
 to New Jersey and Ephraim to Massachusetts. In the fifth, 
 
 Obadiah the Second removed to Pennsylvania, Timoth}- 
 
 and Caleb to Vermont, Dr. Austin, Joseph and 
 
 Migrations. 
 
 Benjamin to New York, Hermon to Ohio, and 
 Cornelius to the British army. In the sixth generation 
 the migrations from Connecticut were numerous. 
 
JO A Hartford and Neiv Haven Pioneer. 
 
 A letter from Munson's Hill, Va., has the following : 
 " I have heard my grandfather say that he had heard his 
 father' say that he knew New^ Haven when more than half 
 the signs on business-houses bore the name of Munson." 
 This ancient witness was forty-one ^^ears old when the 
 battle of Bunker Hill was fought. 
 
 A Few Names. 
 
 Among deceased Munsons who have been notably prom- 
 inent in business were Capt. Joseph, merchant, and Dr. 
 ^neas, Jr., merchant and banker of New Haven ; Reuben, 
 a manufacturer of combs in New York City, and Israel, a 
 merchant of Boston, who " was a distinguished benefactor 
 of humane and literary institutions." Alfred, of Utica, 
 was the first manufacturer of buhr mill-stones in this 
 country ; he engaged widely in transportation enterprises ; 
 he invested extensively and profitably in the coal-fields of 
 Pennsylvania, — and became a millionaire. Norman C, of 
 Boston, deserves, by the boldness of his undertakings and 
 the greatness of his achievements, to stand at the head of 
 our business-men. His record in the construction of rail- 
 roads is an astonishment, while the filling of the Back Bay 
 region at Boston was the greatest contract ever executed 
 in Massachusetts. The equipment for the work embraced 
 twenty-five miles of track, fourteen locomotives, two hun- 
 dred and twenty -five cars and two steam excavators. For 
 seventeen years he ran his trains and excavators night 
 and day, most of the time. He became a millionaire by 
 this contract. 
 
 A good number of our race have been educated in col- 
 leges. Yale has graduated twenty-one of our blood and 
 name ; sixteen took the academic covirse, and five a profes- 
 
 ' Timothy. 
 
Doctor Eneas Munsoii. 5/ 
 
 sional. Among our divines was Samuel, the missic)nary, 
 who laid down his life while on a tour of incjuir}^ among 
 the cannibals of Sumatra. The ministers in our own age, 
 include three college-presidents, several men with the title 
 of D. D., and other doctors of divinity unfurnished with 
 the title. There are lawyers and judges on the roll of the 
 family ; one of them has been attorney-general of the 
 United States and minister to England. But the Munson 
 profession for four generations has been that of medicine. 
 And the numerous catalogue is of respectable quality. 
 Eneas the First, whom the elders designate as "old Dr. 
 Munson," was probabl}- our most distinguished profes- 
 sional man. He practiced medicine seventy years. When 
 the medical department of Yale College was instituted, in 
 18 1 3, he was chosen professor of materia medica and 
 botany. " It is undoubtedly true," says Dr. Bronson, who 
 is rather fond of disparagement, " it is undoubtedly true 
 that in the matter of professional learning and scientific 
 information, he ranked with the eminent men of his coun- 
 try." " Dr. Munson was a pioneer," says Dr. Ives, " in 
 the science of Botany ;" he was " unrivalled in his knowl- 
 edge of indigenous materia medica, and in materia medica 
 generally probably his superior was not to be found in 
 Europe. . . . To Dr. Munson," he continues, "the 
 faculty of this country were more indebted for the intro- 
 duction of new articles and valuable modes of practice 
 than to any other individual." . . . He "studied 
 Chemistry with zeal and made many chemical experi- 
 ments." For a time " he was looked upon as a master of 
 the science, and no one in the vicinity was as well ac- 
 quainted with Mineralogy. . . . He was looked up to 
 by all his medical brethren on all subjects relating to 
 Chemistry and Pharmacy." Thus far Prof. Ives. Prof. 
 Silliman, sen., was accustomed, in his earlier lectures, to 
 
^2 A Hartford and Netv Haven Pioneer. 
 
 speak of Dr. Munson with deference. He was above the 
 average size, erect and dignified. Seven sessions he was 
 deputy to the General Court. Dr. Eneas has been much 
 celebrated as a wit and humorist. A great number of his 
 brilliant explosives are still extant. You might perhaps 
 search history in vain to find another so eminent in the 
 gravest pursuits who said and did so many things which 
 were supremely amusing. He was gathered to his fathers 
 in 1826. 
 
 That a great number, a very surprising number, of our 
 ancestors participated in the Revolutionary war is an 
 embellishment of our name. Nearly all espoused the 
 patriot-cause, though a very few remained loyal to the 
 Crown. Some of the latter migrated to Canada. Major 
 William Munson, of this city, shall be a sample of our 
 noblemen in that great era. His youngest daughter, at 
 the age of ninety-five, participates in our festivities to-day. 
 Major William, who was a first cousin of Benedict 
 Arnold's first wife, was a lieutenant — from November, 
 1775 — in Arnold's expedition to Quebec. There is extant 
 an " Accompt " of the baggage lost by our officer " att 
 the Retreat from Quebeck the 6th of May 1776." He 
 was in command at Dobbs Ferry when Andre was exe- 
 cuted as a spy. He was discharged in 1783. His resi- 
 dence in this city was on the northeast corner of State 
 and Fair streets. At the time of the British Invasion, in 
 July, 1779, the house was deserted, Mrs. Munson having 
 gone to Wallingford. Her mother, Mrs. John Hall, who 
 lived directly opposite, on the corner of Fair and Fleet 
 streets, went over to the Major's, Monday afternoon, July 
 5th, to see if there were any valuables which should be 
 made secure. While she was on the steps a British officer 
 came along, drew his sword, with which she feared he was 
 about to cut her throat, clipped a string of gold beads 
 
Major Williaiii Mjiiison. 5j 
 
 from her neck, and then — gallant gentleman that he was — 
 took the silver bnckles from her shoes. The next morn- 
 ing, presumably, as the fleet sailed away, an eighteen- 
 pound shot, after perforating the Sabin house, passed 
 under the sill of a window at which Mrs. Munson usually 
 sat when sewing. The ball crossed the room and struck 
 the back of the caj)acious fireplace, when its force was 
 spent. It was conceived to have come five miles.' The 
 Major had the ball replaced where it struck and fastened 
 there. Our venerable cousin, Mrs. Grace Munson 
 Wheeler, has many times seen her father, when visitors 
 were present, take up the tongs and brush the soot from 
 the ball, to show it to them. That historic missile I now 
 hold in m}' hand. For thirty-three years our veteran was 
 a Surveyor of the Customs, — his first commission bearing 
 the autograph of both Washington and Jefferson. When 
 LaFayette visited New Haven, more than forty years after 
 the war," he promptly recognized the Major and embraced 
 him. The latter's grand-daughter, who is present with us, 
 was then a school-girl, and she remembers going to the 
 Franklin House and stealing an opportunity to touch the 
 illustrious Frenchman's coat. Munson's certificate as a 
 member of the Society of the Cincinnati was signed by 
 Washinpfton. 
 
 The Typical MiDison. 
 
 Shall I now portray the average, the representative, the 
 typical Munson? You reply something about a conun- 
 drum. But conundrums are sometimes solved. 
 
 He is of rather light complexion, with eyes having some 
 degree of blueness, and hair brownish or of some related 
 shade ; his nose is rather prominent, and prett}' straight, — 
 
 ' Probably not. - 1824. 
 
5^ A Hartford and Nezv Haven Pioneer. 
 
 this, by the way, is his most characteristic feature ; in 
 person he is seldom small, though his height, weight and 
 form are most varied and uncertain, — not unfrequently 
 tall, yet frequently not tall, but, as he ripens in years, 
 exhibiting aldermanic prosperity in the equatorial regions ;. 
 a vigorous animal, enduring a great deal of hard work 
 and surviving a good deal of abuse, — ^nd dying at the age 
 of seventy-three. 
 
 The typical Munson has individuality — is more like 
 himself than like anybody else, — has withal a habit of 
 thinking and of respecting his own views ; he has a liberal 
 allotment of will-power ; he is unsatisfied unless occupying 
 a plane above that occupied by the majority of his fellow- 
 mortals, yet is not ambitious to soar to dizzy heights ; he 
 is intelligent and well-informed ; he devotes himself assid- 
 uously to his vocation ; he is provident, not lavish, — 
 spending and giving with fidelity for worthy purposes, 
 and most likely on occasions of highest worthiness, giving 
 bountifully ; he is decidedly practical — with little ideality, 
 — is neither poet nor artist, nor visionary in practical 
 affairs ; he is conservative, not in haste to exchange the 
 tried for the untried, — ^yet is he sometimes inventive and 
 adventurous ; he has a strain of humor and playfulness in 
 his composition ; he is an upright man and a religious 
 man — loyal to the Son of God and to the great First 
 Cause. 
 
 Concluding Generalisations. 
 
 Of riffraff bearing our label there is extremely, infinites- 
 imally little. Our people are respectable farmers, excel- 
 lent mechanics, thriving store-keepers, sagacious mer- 
 chants, enterprising and prosperous manufacturers, — and 
 they are evermore desired by their fellow-citizens to 
 
Concluding Generalizations. 55 
 
 accept of public trusts. Those who become scholars are 
 scholarly, and our professional men are a credit to our 
 name. Even the Munson artist has been seen, though a 
 rara avis. French, author of Aj-t and Artists in Connecticut, 
 says of Lucius, born 1796 : " As a portrait painter he not 
 only gave good promise for the future, but had already 
 accomplished much. His pictures show good taste, and 
 skill in drawing. He was a careful student, and his work 
 was free and bold." He died at Turk's Island in his 
 twenty-seventh year. We have also, in the author of 
 Woman in Sacred Song, a cousin who is an accomplished 
 composer of music, as well as a mellifluous singer. 
 
 In politics, an immense majority of our people are 
 Republican ; yet the cream of the Democratic party is 
 Munsonian. In religion, the first four or five generations 
 were Congregationalists, perhaps to a man ; now, besides 
 Congregationalists, we have very many Methodists, a con- 
 siderable number of Episcopalians, some Baptists, some 
 Universalists, a few Presbyterians, and others. 
 
 We justly recognize, my kinsmen, that there is nothing 
 in our make-up for goslings like Oscar Wilde to take hold 
 of, nothing for the "Salvation Army," nothing for social- 
 istic disorganizers, nothing for religionless materialists ; 
 and that we go to the almshouse only for beneficence, and 
 to the criminal court only to act as judge, jury, witness to 
 the truth, or advocate of the cause that is just. 
 
 We none of us, my favorites, represent Thomas Munson 
 with au}^ completeness and accurac}' ; the primitive type 
 has been modified by seven, or eight, or nine marriages ; 
 and it has been modified also by the general changes 
 which have affected society — changes in light, in belief, in 
 customs, in institutions, in material conditions ; and it 
 makes one's heart stand still to think of the further modifi- 
 cations which may take place in the next two hundred 
 

 S6 
 
 A Hartford and Nczv Haven Pioneer. 
 
 and fifty years. But let every Munson have the clear 
 conviction that he has an ideal in Captain Thomas which 
 is worthy of his daily contemplation, and let him have the 
 wisdom to find inspiration and guidance and cheer in our 
 first father's great and bright example. 
 
 ^^U^^Vo 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 014 111608 3 •