^* c^* f^* <^* ^w* 
 
 EASE HANDLE 
 WITH CARE 
 
 University of 
 >nnecticut Libraries 
 
 GAYLORD RG 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2011 with funding from 
 
 Boston Library Consortium IVIember Libraries 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/glastonburyOOcurt 
 
Jom DOUGLAS SEELYE 
 
 i I 
 
Copyright 
 
 The Woman's Club of Glastonbury 
 
 1928 
 
 There have been published 400 copies 
 of this book. 
 
GLASTONBURY 
 
 by 
 Florence Hollister Curtis 
 
 W 
 
 Published by 
 The Woman's Club of Glastonbury 
 
''^ 
 
 h 
 
 Q 
 
 M 
 
 Z^ 
 
 ^^ 
 
 Dp^ 
 
 
 UI . 
 
 E^ 
 
 
 5 CO 
 
 rtUJ 
 
 o 5 
 
 ^S 
 
 w 
 
 00, 
 
 ^ 
 
 o 
 
 ^ 
 
 niH xnoa 
 
Foreword 
 
 We are proud of our ancestors for their love of liberty 
 which has made this a free country. 
 
 We are proud of their courage which led them to 
 face dangers unafraid. 
 
 We are proud of their industry which turned a wilder- 
 ness into a garden spot. 
 
 We are proud of the founders and of all those who 
 "carried on." 
 
 We realize that they toiled and suffered to make this 
 town the beautiful place we now enjoy. 
 
 Let the children of this day become such fine men and 
 women, that if those ancestors could come back, 
 they would be proud of us as their descendants. 
 
Introduction 
 
 Three thousand miles away, across the Atlantic, in the south- 
 western part of England, is the town for which ours was named. 
 It is an old and famous town — was old and famous long before 
 Columbus discovered America. 
 
 It is famous because there was built the first Christian church 
 in Britain. Many believe that it was built by Joseph of Arimathea, 
 who came from Jerusalem in the year 60 A. D. to preach the 
 gospel to the natives of Britain, who were then pagans. 
 
 That little church has been burned and rebuilt more than once, 
 but its ruins stand there now. Beside the little church, there was 
 built a larger one, and a great monastery or abbey in which, for 
 many years, was kept a famous school for boys and young men. 
 St. Patrick of Ireland was once abbot of that school, for in those 
 days all Christian churches were of the Catholic faith. 
 
 It is believed that some of the founders of our town came from 
 near that place, and hoped that their new town, like the old, 
 would become a center of learning. 
 
 The meaning of the word Glastonbury is glistening or shining 
 town. For a long time it was spelled Glastenbury, but in 1870 the 
 town voted to change to the present spelling. 
 
 Before we come to the history of our town of Glastonbury, 
 we must think a little of its surroundings. We know the town lies 
 in the Connecticut valley because we see its streams all flowing 
 towards that river. The name Connecticut, meaning "long river," 
 was given by the Indians, but our ancestors called it "The Great 
 River." It begins in little lakes in the northern part of New 
 Hampshire and flows along the western border of that state, 
 crosses Massachusetts and Connecticut, and reaches Long Island 
 Sound about four hundred miles from its starting place. It is the 
 longest river in New England, and is navigable for river steamers 
 as far as Hartford. 
 
 Each spring rains and melting snows cause it to overflow its 
 banks where it is bordered by lowlands, and when the water sub- 
 sides, a layer of fine soil is left, which gives these lowlands great 
 fertility. Its current, in this state, is not very swift, and for this 
 reason its course is crooked, but it is swift enough to wear away 
 its banks, first on one side, then on the other. 
 
 The earth, thus carried away, is dropped in shallow water 
 farther down the river, thus causing sand-banks, and a bar at 
 its mouth. For this reason, dredges, or mud-diggers, must dig out 
 this soil and keep a channel deep enough for steamers to pass in 
 safety. 
 
State and County 
 
 Our town is only one of a group of twenty-nine which make up 
 the county of Hartford, and this county is one of a group of eight 
 which make the state of Connecticut. This county lies wholly in 
 the valley of the Connecticut, about one-third of it east of the 
 river, and the other two-thirds west of it. 
 
 Hartford county contains two large cities, Hartford and New 
 Britain. 
 
 The city of Hartford is the county seat, and also the capital 
 of the state. It contains many beautiful buildings, some of which 
 are the Capitol, where the Legislature meets and the laws are 
 made, the old State House, and the State Library. 
 
 Glastonbury Township 
 
 Glastonbury is one of the seven towns, of the county, that lie 
 on the east side of the river. It was at first nearly rectangular in 
 shape, but in 1808 the southeast corner was set off to form, with 
 parts of Hebron and Colchester, the small new town of Marlboro. 
 Its width is six miles from north to south and about eight and 
 one-half miles from west to east. 
 
 The town is bounded by East Hartford and Manchester on 
 the north, by Bolton and Hebron on the east, by Marlboro on 
 the southeast, by Portland on the south, and by the Connecticut 
 river and the towns of Wethersfield, Rocky Hill and Cromwell 
 on the west. Glastonbury was originally part of Wethersfield and 
 the early history of Glastonbury is really Wethersfield history. 
 
 The two important streams are Roaring Brook, which rises 
 near its northeast corner, and flows southwest, reaching the river 
 at Nayaug; and Salmon Brook, which also rises in the northeast 
 and flows west, reaching the river at Naubuc, 
 
 Surface 
 
 Lying, as it does, in the Connecticut valley, this town has 
 several hundred acres of very fertile meadow land, much of which 
 is in the northern part. East of these low meadows is higher land 
 largely level and fertile, but in some parts sandy. South of Roar- 
 ing Brook, a range of hills extends from the river towards the 
 northeast. Chestnut Hill, Mesomersic and Town Woods Hill are 
 part of this range. 
 
 These hills, though not high, are much broken, and until late 
 years were mostly covered with woods. In some places are ledges 
 of feldspar and a coarse granite. Nearly all of the southern and 
 eastern part is very uneven, and the soil less fertile than that near 
 the river. 
 
The ledges of solid rock seem to be a part of the earth's stony 
 skeleton, while the loose boulders have been broken off and shoved 
 along by the great ice-sheet that once moved down from the 
 north over all New England. That ice-sheet also heaped up the 
 gravel knolls, and scooped out the "sink holes" seen in the south- 
 ern part of the town. 
 
 In the eastern part of the town. Roaring Brook valley separates 
 two high rough hills, known by their Indian names of Minnechaug 
 and Kongscut. These hills are in Buckingham and the Bucking- 
 ham school is near the foot of the first one. 
 
 About a mile beyond Kongscut is another rocky summit said 
 to be the highest point in the town, having an elevation of 920 
 feet according to Government Survey. Nearby is a small lake 
 called Diamond Pond, from the small red crystals found on its 
 shores. 
 
 There are four reservoirs in the town. One, east of Addison, 
 belongs to the East Hartford Water Company and supplies that 
 town and a part of Glastonbury with running water. Another 
 is east of Hopewell, on Cold Brook, and is connected with the 
 first. Another, which supplies water to South Glastonbury, is on 
 Chestnut Hill. The fourth, in the northeastern part of the town, 
 near the Bolton line, is the property of the Cheney Brothers 
 Company, of Manchester. 
 
 Appearance of the Country 
 
 Let us try to picture to ourselves how the country looked when 
 white men first came here, a wilderness of woods, swamps and 
 tangled underbrush. Instead of broad and fruitful farms, here 
 and there a little clearing, where squaws dug the earth with hoes 
 of shell or stone, and cultivated scanty crops of corn and beans. 
 
 Instead of busy cities and villages, here and there a cluster of 
 wigwams near the edge of the forest. Instead of wide, smooth 
 streets, a few narrow and crooked paths trodden by the Indians' 
 moccasined feet. No craft upon the river, save now and then a 
 solitary fisher in his log canoe. No vehicles of any kind, and no 
 domestic animals, except the dog. No bridges, no busy mills, no 
 fruitful orchards, and no homes. 
 
 In this wilderness, wild animals of many kinds — bear, deer, 
 wolves and smaller animals. In the rivers and lakes, fish in abun- 
 dance. 
 
 Such was the country to which our ancestors came nearly three 
 hundred years ago. 
 
 Indians 
 
 When white people first came into this valley there were, in 
 the town of Wethersfield, several small tribes of Indians, Pyquags 
 and Mattabasetts west of the river and on the east side Hocca- 
 
nums in the north, Nayaugs along Roaring Brook and Wangunks 
 farther south. Each tribe had a different dialect, but could under- 
 stand the others by the help of signs. 
 
 They lived usually near streams and lakes for two reasons: 
 much of their food came from the water and they could travel 
 more easily in their canoes than on foot through the woods. They 
 were out-of-door people, but sheltered themselves in wigwams 
 made of poles covered with bark and the skins of wild animals. 
 Their clothing was of skins and the squaws knew how to make 
 skin moccasins for their feet. 
 
 They hunted wild animals with spears, clubs, and bow and 
 arrows. They caught fish with a hook and line, or in rude nets 
 made of plant fibers. 
 
 The canoes used by the Connecticut Indians were not the 
 dainty birch-bark affairs of the poetry books, but were made 
 from the trunks of large pine or tuHp trees. The shaping of the 
 log into canoe form was done by burning it on one side, then 
 scraping away the charred wood; then again burning and scrap- 
 ing until the right shape was attained. It was a long and slow 
 work. Their war canoes were sometimes large enough to carry 
 twenty men; but for fishing, smaller ones were better. 
 
 The squaws did most of the work, cultivating little fields of 
 corn, beans, pumpkins and squashes. They gathered wild fruits, 
 berries and nuts. When other food was scarce, they ate acorns, 
 roots and even the bark of trees. In a rude way they made sugar 
 from the sap of maple trees. The river Indians were friendly and 
 taught the whites many things about the way to live in the 
 wilderness. Had they been hostile, it is doubtful if our ancestors 
 could have lived through the first two hard winters. 
 
 The sheltered valley, where the village of South Glastonbury 
 now stands, was an Indian resort, and Red Hill was a favorite 
 camping ground. Their arrow heads and other stone implements 
 have been found there, and not many years ago the ashes of their 
 camp-fires could be seen when the farmer's plow turned over the 
 sod. 
 
 Other Indians on the east and west were not so friendly. The 
 Pequots, in the southeastern part of the state, gave the whites 
 much trouble, and finally a war broke out, which resulted in the 
 destruction of that tribe. It is only fair to say that not all white 
 men were just to the Indians. 
 
 Laws were made forbidding the sale of guns to Indians, but 
 they were eager to get them, and unscrupulous white men were 
 willing to sell when they could profit by it. This was the cause 
 of much trouble. 
 
 After the white settlers became numerous, the Indians did not 
 thrive. Game became scarce and they could not adopt the white 
 man's way of living. They could no longer call themselves lords 
 of the soil, and their spirit was broken. 
 
Some became idle and shiftless, and annoyed the white women 
 by hanging around the settlement and begging for cider. It is 
 more than likely that their love for the white men's fire water, 
 as rum was called, hastened their end. 
 
 In 1765, there were only about forty in the town, most of them 
 at Wongunk, where they had a reservation of three hundred acres. 
 
 The last of the tribe, Mary Cushoy, sometimes called Tike, 
 died about 1774. 
 
 Many arrow-heads, stone axes and other stone tools have been 
 found along the river banks and are now to be seen in museums. 
 But besides these relics of the race, the names they gave to many 
 places have been kept by our people. Some of these follow, with 
 their meaning, as near as we know: 
 
 Connecticut The Long River 
 
 Hoccanum Fishing place 
 
 Naubuc The plains on the east side 
 
 Nayaug Noisy water 
 
 Nipsic Place of water 
 
 (there was once a small lake there, which has since been drained) 
 
 Minnechaug Berry land 
 Kongscut or 
 
 Honksit Goose country 
 
 Mesomersic Great rattlesnake country 
 
 Wassuc Place of paint or between brooks 
 
 Wangunk Bend or corner 
 
 History of Glastonbury 
 
 To understand the history of Glastonbury we must go back to 
 the beginning of Wethersfield, in the year 1633. You will remem- 
 ber that at that time there were many white settlements along 
 the New England coast, from Plymouth north to Maine. 
 
 The Dutch also had a settlement at the mouth of the Hudson 
 river and had sailed up the Connecticut, hoping to occupy that 
 valley. They had even started a trading post at the site of the 
 present city of Hartford. 
 
 The leaders of the Massachusetts colony were very strict Puri- 
 tans. Only church members could become freemen and have a 
 voice in the government. This was not agreeable to some ot the 
 settlers who wanted a more liberal rule. They had heard from the 
 Indians glowing accounts of a fertile valley to the west, which 
 they called Connecticut. An Indian chief had visited Plymouth 
 and Boston, and invited their governors to send white people to 
 settle among them, promising to give them beaver and hemp. 
 These Indians wanted to trade their furs for the white men's 
 goods, and also hoped for their help against other Indian tribes. 
 
 In the fall of 1633, John Oldham and two companions left 
 Watertown, Massachusetts, and came by land to explore the 
 Connecticut valley. They reached a place on the west bank of 
 the river, called Pyquag, meaning "cleared land." The Indians 
 
living there were called by the same name. Some writers claim 
 that Oldham and his companions sowed a field of grain, either 
 rye or wheat. If so, they may be called the first settlers, and 
 Wethersfield may rightly claim to be the oldest town in the state. 
 Then these three brave men tramped back to Watertown, carry- 
 ing the hemp given them by the Indians. 
 
 The next spring they came again, and with them came five or 
 six famiHes who at once proceeded to build cabins and to clear 
 more land. During the same summer a few settlers came to Hart- 
 ford and Windsor, and the three towns were started. 
 
 The next summer more settlers came from Watertown and gave 
 that name to their new settlement. But a hard winter was before 
 them. Their goods, sent by water, had not arrived, their little 
 ships having either been wrecked or driven back by storms. The 
 cold was so intense that by the middle of November the river 
 was frozen over, and by the first of December food was becoming 
 scarce. They bought of the Indians all those poor sons of the 
 forest could spare from their scanty stores. The snow was deep, 
 but the stronger men hunted and trapped wild animals to help 
 keep starvation from their door. They dug down through the 
 snow for acorns and ground nuts hidden in the frozen ground. 
 
 Some started down the river, hoping to meet the ships which 
 they expected. One was found frozen in the ice. They went on 
 board, and, fortunately, a warm rain loosened the ice and they 
 were able to sail the vessel back to Massachusetts bay. 
 
 Driven almost to despair, twelve other men started to wade 
 through the deep snow back to the Massachusetts settlements, 
 in order that there might be more food for those who stayed. 
 One of these fell through the ice and was drowned, but the others, 
 by the help of friendly Indians, were able to reach white settle- 
 ments. This winter was a starving time, as bad as that of the 
 Pilgrims at Plymouth. There by the sea shore the people could 
 always find clams when the tide left the mud flats bare, but there 
 were no clams for our forefathers in that winter. The settlers had 
 brought with them a few cattle, but the poor creatures were 
 suffering and dying from cold and hunger. Those which survived, 
 both men and animals, were near to starvation when the terrible 
 winter was over. At last, when the sun shone out and the April 
 winds melted the snow, new courage came to the hearts of the 
 weary sufferers. 
 
 With the return of mild weather, those who had fled to Massa- 
 chusetts came back, bringing with them other families to make 
 their homes in the fertile valley. This, the summer of 1636, was 
 an eventful one for the three River towns. Hooker and his party 
 of one hundred came through the wilderness from Newtown to 
 Hartford. Others came to Windsor, at first called Dorchester, 
 after the town they had left. 
 
 Some time during the next year, the principal men of the 
 three towns met at Hartford and planned a form of government. 
 
They chose some officers and adopted the present names for the 
 towns. 
 
 The men of Wethersfield also bought from the Indian chief, 
 Sowheag or Sequin, a large tract of land, extending six miles west 
 of the river, three miles east, and six miles from north to south. 
 We do not know how much was paid for the land, but, it is said, 
 as much as would satisfy the chief. This payment was probably 
 not in money but in cloth, iron pots, and things the Indians 
 wanted. Some tracts of land were reserved for their use, and they 
 had, of course, the privilege of hunting and fishing as before. 
 
 We can but feel sorry for those poor ignorant red men, when 
 we think that they sold their native forests and little clearings 
 for such trifling rewards. When it was too late, they saw their 
 mistake and felt that the white men had wronged them. The 
 river Indians were friendly, but in the southeastern part of the 
 state was the tribe of Pequots which was often at war with other 
 tribes, and had killed two white men down the river. 
 
 In the spring of 1637 the settlers were at work in the meadows 
 when they were suddenly attacked by a large band of these 
 Indians, who had come quietly up the river by night in their 
 log canoes. Eight of the settlers were killed, six men and two 
 women, also some cows and two horses. When they went away, 
 they carried with them to New London two girls, daughters of 
 William Swayne. These girls were kindly cared for by the wife 
 of a chief, and some weeks later were rescued by the captain of a 
 Dutch ship and brought to Saybrook, where the English from 
 Massachusetts had built a fort. Captain Gardiner of the fort 
 paid the Dutch for their trouble, and later sent the girls up the 
 river to their home. 
 
 *The same year John Oldham was murdered, while on a trading 
 voyage along Lond Island Sound. These outrages caused the 
 settlers to decide on war against the Pequots. The story of this 
 war, in which men from the three towns took part, can not be 
 told here, but it resulted in the destruction of the Pequots as a 
 tribe. Those who were not killed were either made slaves or 
 scattered among other tribes. 
 
 *In 1636 John Oldham went in his "pinnace" on a trading voyage with the 
 Pequots along the Sound, having for his crew two white boys and two friendly 
 Indians. When sailing near Block Island his little ship was surrounded by 
 Pequot Indians in canoes. They swarmed on board, killed the captain and 
 were loading his goods into their canoes, when Captain Gallup in his shallop 
 came sailing past. He knew Oldham's boat and seeing many Indians on board 
 knew there was trouble, and decided to punish the wrong-doers. Having a 
 good wind, he ran his boat against the other with such force that he nearly 
 upset it, which so frightened the Indians that six of them jumped overboard 
 and were drowned. Then, being a good sailor, he was able to turn his boat and 
 ram the other a second and third time, when more Indians jumped into the 
 sea. Gallup then went on board, found the body of Oldham, and reverently 
 committed it to the sea. Finding himself unable to save the boat on account 
 of the wind, he removed the rigging and goods, leaving the boat to the mercy 
 of the winds and waves. 
 
As the weeks and months went by the settlers were working 
 hard to cut down trees, build their cabins, cultivate their fields, 
 and make comfortable homes in the new land. Each year more 
 people came, some from Massachusetts and others directly from 
 England. 
 
 Two years later the people began to think of their fertile land 
 on the east side of the river. They hired two men, who knew 
 about surveying, to measure the land and set bounds by marking 
 trees or laying heaps of stones. Beginning at the Hartford line 
 (now East Hartford) they measured off strips, running east from 
 the river three miles into the wilderness. These strips varied in 
 width from seven rods to two hundred rods. This made long and 
 narrow farms, but the advantage was that each farm had some 
 fertile land on the river, with fishing privileges, some level up- 
 land, and some rough woodland at the east end. These strips 
 were assigned to the Wethersfield men, probably according to the 
 sums paid in for the original purchase — that is, those who had 
 paid the most, received the widest strips. Clement Chaplin re- 
 ceived the widest, two hundred rods, extending from near trolley 
 station 48 to near Chestnut Hill Avenue. Next to his lot came 
 Mathew Mitchell's, lying between stations 54 or 58. 
 
 These two men did not come to the east side but removed to 
 other settlements and their large tracts of land were divided and 
 sold. Samuel Hale and Rev. T. Stevens took the Chaplin tract, 
 and Graves, Bulkley, Hollister and Rose took the Mitchell tract. 
 
 The names of all who received land in this allotment are given 
 below, beginning at the north: 
 
 I George Wyllis 
 
 12 Samuel Smith 
 
 24 Francis Kilborn 
 
 2 John Darning 
 
 13 Thomas Uffoot 
 
 25 Thomas Coleman 
 
 3 Robert Bates 
 
 1 4 George Hubbard 
 
 26 Jeffrey Ferris 
 
 4 Richard Gildersleeve 
 
 15 George Wyllis 
 
 27 John Whitmore 
 
 5 Joseph Sherman 
 
 16 Robert Rose 
 
 28 John Robbins 
 
 6 Thurston Rayner 
 
 17 John Gibbs 
 
 29 Thomas Wright 
 
 7 Thomas Welles 
 
 18 Nathaniel Foote 
 
 30 Robert Cove 
 
 8 not known 
 
 19 Mr. Parke 
 
 31 James Boosie 
 
 9 not known 
 
 20 Abraham Finch 
 
 32 Leonard Chester 
 
 10 Rev. Henry Smith 
 
 21 John Plum 
 
 23 Clement Chaplin 
 
 II Samuel Sherman 
 
 22 John Thompson 
 
 34 Mathew Mitchell 
 
 Richard Gildersleeve 23 John Edwards 
 
 (copied from "Glastenbury Centenniel," by Chapin.) 
 
 The survey apparently ended near the mouth of Roaring 
 Brook. Farther south were the farms of John Hollister and Rich- 
 ard Treat, acquired, perhaps, by direct purchase from the Indians 
 at an early date. 
 
 For many years the settlements on the east side of the river 
 were known as Naubuc Farms and Nayaug Farms, the latter 
 including all that are now known as South Glastonbury. 
 
 For a few years the owners continued to live in Wethersfield, 
 but as they had leisure, came across the river and cultivated some 
 of their land, after partly clearing it of trees. The Indians had 
 
 13 
 
kept some places clear by burning, every fall, in order to better 
 see their game. 
 
 Anyone who thinks of it can see that it would take time and 
 hard work to make a farm out of a wilderness. At first they had 
 few tools and very few horses or oxen. You do not need to be 
 told that they had nothing like our modern farming tools. 
 Doubtless each man had brought with him from Massachusetts 
 an axe, a hoe and perhaps a spade. I doubt if they even had more 
 than two or three plows in the entire settlement at this date, 1639. 
 
 It is probable that for the first few years they planted corn 
 as the squaws had done, by digging a shallow hole, dropping in 
 the seed, covering it, and later, toiling to keep down the fast- 
 growing weeds. 
 
 As early as 1647 the Wethersfield people had twelve score or 
 two hundred forty head of cattle and hired a herder to care for 
 them. The herder went through the village ringing a bell as a 
 warning for farmers to turn out their cows. When collected, they 
 were all driven to a great unfenced pasture or common, and 
 watched through the day to see that wolves did not carry off 
 calves or lambs. At evening they were all driven back to the 
 settlement. 
 
 At times wolves were so numerous and troublesome that the 
 town paid a bounty for their ears, and at another time did the 
 same for the heads of rattlesnakes, and at last these dangerous 
 animals were either destroyed or driven back to the mountains. 
 
 None of the settlers were living on the east side of the river 
 until after 1640, but about that time Matthew Mitchell, driven 
 from Saybrook by Indian raids, brought cattle to Nayaug to 
 pasture near Red Hill. He probably had a herder who may have 
 built a "cave-cellar" in the hillside, or have lived in a wigwam 
 like the Indians. 
 
 Before 1651 one house had been built in "Noag" by John 
 Hollister, on land now owned by Theodore Pratt. It is probable 
 that some had been built at Naubuc. In 1653 several families 
 were living on the east side, and in that year they petitioned the 
 General Court to be allowed to form a separate military company 
 and to hold their "trainings" or drills on their own side. In those 
 days all young men were required to drill several times a year in 
 order to know how to act as soldiers, if called upon. This petition 
 was granted and was the first step in the separation from the 
 mother town. 
 
 Years went by, with the people working hard to improve their 
 farms and build better houses. Roads had to be made, and bridges 
 built. The country road, or Main Street, was laid out from the 
 East Hartford line to Roaring Brook in 1676, probably following 
 an Indian trail, for the most part. This road cut through all the 
 three mile farms, and to compensate the owners for the six rods 
 taken, they were allowed twenty rods additional at the east end 
 of their lots. 
 
 14 
 
Three years before this, in 1673, a second purchase had been 
 made from the Indians, of a five mile strip lying east of the three 
 mile farms. This large tract was bought of Turramugus, son of 
 Sowheag, and other heirs of that chief, for the sum of £24 
 English money, $120, which would now have a purchasing power 
 of many times that amount. 
 
 At the end of the three mile lots they laid out another road 
 from north to south. This old "three mile road" was not a straight 
 north and south road, but followed in a general way the windings 
 of the river. Some parts of it are still in use, as the Wickam Road, 
 in the northern part of the town, and that from Walker's Corner, 
 south over Matson Hill to the Portland line. The central part 
 crossing Town Woods has been abandoned. 
 
 East of this road a tract one mile in width was reserved for a 
 Common, where all of the inhabitants could pasture their stock. 
 Later this tract was called "The Town Woods." Beyond the 
 Common was about four miles of wild land, comprising what we 
 now call Buckingham. 
 
 When the little settlements on the east side were about forty 
 years old, they began to think of setting up housekeeping for 
 themselves. The mother town gave her consent, and in May, 
 1690, the General Court granted the petition that the east side 
 be a separate town when they should have a church and a good 
 orthodox minister settled- among them; and that this new town 
 should be called Glastonbury (or Glassenbury as then spelled). 
 
 Two years later they had called their minister and had held 
 their first town-meeting, at which they chose as Townsmen or 
 Selectmen, Ephraim Goodrich, Joseph Hill and Eleazer Kimberly, 
 the last named being also Town Clerk. 
 
 The next year the church was finished and the minister, 
 Reverend Timothy Stevens, installed. Glastonbury was finally 
 separated from Wethersfi.eld and carried on its own town gov- 
 ernment, sending one representative to the General Court or 
 Legislature, as we now call it. Since 1701 it has sent two. The first 
 representative was Eleazer Kimberly, the same man who was 
 Town Clerk and one of the Townsmen. His name should stand 
 high on the roll of Founders. 
 
 Years went by and the town grew in wealth and population, 
 but not rapidly. In 1692 there were thirty-four families in the 
 town, and by 1757 there were one hundred ninety-one. The people 
 were pushing eastward and improving the wild land beyond the 
 Common. From time to time the town gave wild land to the 
 inhabitants, at one time as much as one hundred acres each. As 
 families increased, sons grew up, married, and wanted homes of 
 their own. Some went west in search of better land, but others 
 went into the eastern part of the home town. By 1737 there were 
 enough people in the East Farms to want a church of their own, 
 as told elsewhere. 
 
 15 
 
In 1747 the southeast part of the town was set off to form, 
 with parts of Hebron and Colchester, the parish of Marlboro, 
 which later became a town. 
 
 As early as 1701 people from outside the town had gone upon 
 the Common and taken possession of some parts without purchase 
 or permission. These people were driven away and their fences 
 thrown down, which seems rather unkind as there was so much 
 wild land in the eastern part of the town. Later, in 1757, to avoid 
 further trouble of that kind, the Common was divided and granted 
 to the inhabitants of the town. 
 
 We come now to a critical period in the history of the country 
 and of the town. For years the feeling had been growing that it 
 was not just that the colonies should be taxed to support the 
 English government in which they had no voice. The people of 
 the Massachusetts colony began to resist the laws they thought 
 unjust. They refused to buy English goods, or to obey the Stamp 
 Act. Glastonbury was in sympathy with these rebels, as England 
 called them. 
 
 In 1770 and again in 1774 the town passed resolutions offering 
 sympathy and help to their sister colony. They appointed a com- 
 mittee to see that every able-bodied man had a good gun, and 
 to buy powder and bullet moulds. (People sometimes melted their 
 pewter spoons and dishes to make bullets.) 
 
 Meanwhile the different colonies had sent men to Philadelphia 
 to form a Continental Congress to take charge of the government. 
 This congress voted to raise an army, and appointed Washington 
 as Commander-in-Chief. This army was called the Continental 
 Army, while the soldiers of each separate colony were called Militia. 
 
 The news of the battle of Lexington reached Glastonbury 
 Sunday, by courier on horseback. The ministers in both churches 
 gave out the news from the pulpits, and dismissed the people. 
 Immediately there was great excitement, and many spent the 
 rest of the day in fixing guns, moulding bullets and packing 
 knapsacks. On Monday they gathered at North Street, and under 
 command of Captain Elizur Hubbard started on their march to 
 Boston. 
 
 In 1777 a law was made that every freeman should take the 
 oath of fidelity to the state and country. Most of the men of 
 this town took this oath, but we are told that two refused, and 
 were banished to Eastbury. 
 
 *It was a long and tedious war, often very discouraging to 
 our people. Those who took part in it suffered great hardships. 
 Most of the fighting was in summer, but in the cold winters, the 
 
 Owing to the scarcity of provisions and the difficulty of obtaining board in 
 New Haven during the Revolution, the Junior and Sophomore classes of Yale 
 College were sent to Glastonbury and boarded among the inhabitants. Their 
 headquarters were the home of Wm. Welles, Esq., whose brother, Jonathan 
 Welles, had been a tutor in the college. The house is now standing and is 
 the home of Mr. Timothy Dickinson. 
 
 16 
 
This white -oak tree stands on the New London Turnpike in 
 East Glastonbury, on land owned in the Buck family for three 
 generations, being now owned by John H. Buck. Its circum- 
 ference is 1 8 feet 9 inches at the ground. 
 
 The legend has come down for generations that when the 
 American soldiers in the War of 18 12 marched to New London, 
 thev halted here and used the tree for target practice. 
 
 This tree has been estimated to be between 300 and 400 
 years old. 
 
Ancient map of Glastonbury taken from Chapin's Glastenbury 
 Ce?2tennial, published in 1853, giving Indian names of localities, 
 and showing former course of Salmon River through the meadows, 
 joining Sturgeon River, now known as Roaring Brook, and flow- 
 ing into the Connecticut River above Nayaug. It now enters the 
 river at Naubuc. 
 
 THE TALCOTT HOUSE, 1699. 
 
 This house was built in 1692 by Deacon Benjamin Talcott, on 
 site now occupied by home of Alfred E. Hollister, and was the 
 first house built after incorporation of the town. Located op- 
 posite High School. 
 
This house was built by the town in 1699 for the Rev. Timothy 
 Stevens and was the second house to be built after the town's 
 incorporation. It is still standing, owned by the estate of 
 Albert W. Moseley, and is located on east side of Main Street, 
 three-tenths of a mile south of Hubbard Street. 
 
 '^%,^ T 
 '"m^ 
 
 f'fh\ 
 
 XW\ 
 
 wfw- 
 
 
 the hollister house, 1675. 
 Oldest House in Town 
 The Hollister House, built 1675, by John Hollister, showing 
 overhang and brackets with scroll work at corners called a 
 "corbel." Enlarged and improved, it is now owned and occupied 
 by James B. Killam. Located in Nayaug, west of Roaring 
 Brook Bridge. 
 
r -4. 
 
 \ '' 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 Talcott House 
 
 From a drawing made, in 1828, by Laurilla Smith, one of the 
 Smith sisters. 
 
Continental soldiers shivered in their tents or huts, without suf- 
 ficient food or clothing. In the militia the men served a few 
 months, then went home to care for their farms and families; 
 then perhaps were called to serve again the next season. At home 
 the women and children, with the men too old to serve as soldiers, 
 worked hard to carry on their little farms, raise food for them- 
 selves, and spin and weave wool and flax for their clothing. Even 
 the grandmothers were busy day and night making and mending 
 clothing and knitting mittens and socks for the soldiers in the 
 cold camps. 
 
 Dr. Chapin says, in his history of Glastonbury, that in this 
 War for Independence, one hundred twenty-seven men of the 
 town served in the militia, twenty-four in the Continental Army, 
 and that thirty-two lost their lives.* Goslee, in the County 
 History, says that these numbers should be much larger. Peace 
 came at last and great must have been the rejoicing. 
 
 No battles have been fought on our soil, but the sons of Glaston- 
 bury have borne their share of the wars in other parts of the 
 
 *Names of men who served in the Revolution. Those in italics were in the 
 Continental Army, the others in the militia. Those who lost their lives in the 
 service have their names starred. 
 
 Andrews, David 
 
 Andrews, John 
 
 Andrews, Joseph 
 *Andrews, Solomon 
 
 Benton, Josiah 
 *Bidwell, Joseph 
 
 Bidwell, Thomas 
 
 Bidwell, Samuel 
 
 Brooks, David 
 *Brooks, Elizur 
 *Brooks, Elijah 
 
 Brooks, Josiah 
 
 Canada, David 
 
 Case, John 
 
 Churchill, Jesse 
 
 Cole, David 
 
 Colebert, Robert 
 
 Conley, John 
 
 Crary, Richard 
 *Cunningham, Dennis 
 
 Dealing, Samuel 
 *Doane, Seth 
 
 Eddy, John 
 
 Foster, Peter 
 
 Fox, Abraham 
 *Fox, Asa 
 
 Fox, David 
 
 Fox, Hosea 
 *Fox, John 
 
 Fox, Jeduthan 
 
 Fox, Lemuel 
 
 Fox, Russel 
 
 Fox, Simeon 
 Freeman, Samson 
 Freeman, Sifax 
 Gains, John 
 *Gains, Levi 
 Goodale, Asa 
 Goodrich, George 
 Goodrich, Isaac 
 Goodrich, Israel 
 Goodrich, Roswell 
 
 HoUister, Ens. Thomas 
 House, Benjamin 
 House, Samuel 
 Howe, John, Jr. 
 Howard, Benjamin 
 Hubbard, Aaron 
 Hubbard, David 
 *Hubbard, Elijah 
 Hubbard, Capt. Elizur 
 Hubbard, Josiah 
 
 Goodrich, Lieut. Stephen Hunter, Benjamin 
 Grover, Lieut. Phinhehas Huxford, John 
 
 Hale, Benjamin, Jr. 
 
 Hale, Elisha 
 *Hale, Capt. Jonathan 
 *Hale, Jonathan, 2nd 
 
 Hale, Newport 
 
 Hale, William 
 
 Hale, Timothy, Jr. 
 *Hayard, Benjamin 
 
 Hildreth, William 
 *HilI, Benjamin 
 ; Hill, Daniel 
 
 Holden, John 
 
 Hollister, Aaron 
 
 Hollister, Amos 
 
 Hollister, David 
 
 Hollister, Elijah 
 
 Hollister, Serg't Israel 
 
 Hollister, Josiah 
 
 Hollister, John 
 
 Hollister, Roswell 
 
 Hollister, Joseph 
 
 Kimberly, Thomas 
 
 *Lamb, Joseph 
 Loomis, Josiah 
 
 *Loveland, Asa 
 Loveland, Elisha 
 
 *Loveland, Gad 
 
 *Loveland, Jonathan 
 
 *Loveland, Joel 
 Loveland, Lot, Jr. 
 Loveland, Levi 
 Loveland, Thomas 
 Matson, Thomas 
 McDowell, Ens. 
 McLean, James 
 
 *Miller, John, Jr. 
 Miles, Daniel 
 Moseley, Syphax 
 
 *Morley, John 
 Morley, Thomas 
 Nedan, Anthony 
 
 (Continued on next page.) 
 
 17 
 
country. Before this town was separated from Wethersneld, a 
 short but bitter war with the Pequots, described in an earlier 
 chapter, resulted in the breaking up of that tribe. 
 
 King Philip's War was fought in Massachusetts and Rhode 
 Island, but Wethersfield men went to help defend Massachusetts 
 towns. i\t that time the poeple lived in constant fear of Indian 
 raids. A large part of the village of Wethersfield was surrounded 
 by a palisade, and orders given that the goods, grain and in- 
 habitants outside should be taken within. Other houses were 
 fortified by making doors, windows and walls of double strength. 
 Even in Glastonbury the old Talcott house opposite the High 
 School was surrounded by a stockade. 
 
 In the last French and Indian war Glastonbury men, with 
 others, were sent to the West Indies, and there suffered terribly 
 from tropical fevers. Many lost their lives. 
 
 We must pass by the Second War for Independence (1812), 
 the Mexican war, the short wars with Indians in the south and 
 
 (Continued from preceding page) 
 
 Nickerson, Francis 
 
 Nye, David 
 
 Nye, Melatiah 
 
 Noulding, Samuel 
 
 Olcott, Isaac 
 
 Pease, Serg't Peter 
 *Pratt, Samuel 
 
 Quarn, John (Indian) 
 
 Scott, Moses 
 
 Scott, Joseph 
 *Shipman, Reuben 
 
 Shipman, Stephen, Jr. 
 
 Simbo, Prince 
 *Smith, Asaph 
 
 Smith, Elisha 
 
 Smith, Richard 
 *Smith, William 
 
 Smithas, William 
 
 Stevens, Epaphras 
 
 *Stevens, Jonathan 
 Stevens, Timothy 
 Stevens, Thomas 
 Stocking, George 
 Stocking, George, Jr. 
 Stratton, Samuel 
 
 *Strickland, Jonathan 
 Strickland, Stephen 
 Talcott, Abraham 
 Talcott, George 
 Talcott, Oliver 
 
 *Tallmadge, William 
 Taylor, Azariah 
 
 *Taylor, Asahel 
 Taylor, David 
 Tennent, Caleb 
 
 *Treat, Isaac 
 
 *Treat, John 
 
 Temple, Joseph 
 *Tryon, Benjamin, Jr. 
 Try on, Ezra 
 Tryon, Isaac 
 Tryon, Thomas 
 Tubbs, Lemuel 
 Warren, John 
 Weaver, Jonathan 
 Webster, 'Joshua 
 Welles, Capt. Samuel 
 Welles, Samuel, Jr. 
 Welles, Thaddeus 
 Wickham, John 
 Woodbridge, Col. Howel 
 Woodruff, Martin 
 Wright, Daniel 
 Wyres, Eli as 
 Wyar, James 
 
 Treat, Jonathan 
 
 Of the total, 152, 24 were in the Continental Army. In all, 32 lost their 
 lives. 
 
 Names of men who signed the petition for the incorporation of the town of 
 Glastonbury and may be considered the founders of the town. The original 
 spelling is followed. 
 
 epherime goodridg 
 Joseph Smith 
 John harinton 
 Thomas bruer 
 ebenezer hall (Hale) 
 John Strickland 
 John hall (Hale) 
 william hous 
 
 samuell hall, sen'r (Hale) 
 patrack stearne 
 Richard Treatt, sener 
 Thomas Treatt 
 
 Richard Smith 
 John holister 
 Jonathan Smith 
 Samuel hall, Jr. (Hale) 
 Samuel Smith 
 John hubbord 
 Joseph hills 
 John Kilbornn 
 Samuel welles 
 Thomas hall, (Hale) 
 Richard Treat, Jr. 
 william wickham 
 
 These lists are copied from Chapin's "Glastenbury Centennial." 
 
west and speak shortly of the Civil War (1861-1865). Glaston- 
 bury sent three hundred eighteen men to that war for three 
 years, and seventy-two for shorter terms. Of these, thirty-two 
 lost their lives during the war. At the close of the Civil War the 
 nation was saddened by the assassination of the great and good 
 president, Abraham Lincoln. The Soldiers' Monument, standing 
 at the center of the Green or Park, was given by Mrs. Mercy 
 Turner Barber as a memorial of her husband. Captain Barber 
 of Manchester, and of all her townsmen who served in the Civil 
 War. This memorial was dedicated May 30, 1913. 
 
 In 1898 the short Spanish war occurred, and in 19 17 the World 
 War, which, we hope, can be called the last. 
 
 Within a few years the United States Government has placed 
 marble head-stones to mark the graves of the soldiers of the 
 Revolution. 
 
 The Woman's Auxiliary of the American Loyal Legion has 
 placed upon the Green a granite boulder holding a bronze tablet, 
 on which are engraved the names of those who served in the 
 World War. This was dedicated in 1923. 
 
 Farms 
 
 When the settlers had built their cabins and fenced in their 
 gardens, the next big task before them was to clear away the 
 trees and brush on all sides, to leave no near hiding-place for 
 Indians. 
 
 The big fire-places consumed many cords of wood, sometimes 
 as many as sixty cords in a year. When a large tree was felled, 
 the limbs and branches were used for fire-wood, but the trunks, 
 if straight enough, were either hewn by the axe, or sawed into 
 beams, planks or boards for building houses, barns, or small 
 ships. The first sawing was done over a saw-pit where one man 
 in the pit and another above, pulled and pushed a large saw up 
 and down through the log. Or the log was raised on trestles high 
 enough for a man to stand beneath. Later saw-mills were built 
 and water-power made to drive the saw. 
 
 The first mill in this town was built in 1657, near Addison. 
 This gives reason to think that after that date fewer log houses 
 were built, and that the church of 1693 was a frame building. 
 The town encouraged the building of saw-mills by giving many 
 acres of woodland to the man who would erect a mill. Before 
 many years all the important streams in town were busy turning 
 saw-mills. 
 
 One was built on Roaring Brook in Wassuc, in 171 2, but 
 probably before that date there was one east of the bridge in 
 Nayaug, and later another east of Main Street on the road to 
 Cotton Hollow. All these old mills have been abandoned, and 
 portable steam or gas saw-mills do the little sawing now needed. 
 
 19 
 
In some places so eager were the farmers to clear away the 
 forests, that the logs, too large for fire-wood, were piled in great 
 heaps and burned. 
 
 Later these logs were used to make charcoal. They were sawed 
 and split, then piled on end around a center post, until a circular 
 mound as large, but not so high, as a small house was made. 
 This contained many cords of wood. This mound was then 
 covered with turf, dirt and last of all dust, to keep out the air. 
 A cavity was left near the base in which to start the fire and 
 another at the top, to serve as a chimney. When the fire was 
 started, it must be watched day and night to see that it did not 
 burn too fast. The watcher usually had a little hut near by, where 
 he could sleep at odd hours. About two weeks were needed for 
 the burning or charring, and meanwhile the great mound settled 
 lower and lower. Then, at the right time, the charcoal was drawn 
 out with an iron rake and watched lest it should blaze up and 
 consume itself. This charcoal was sold to blacksmiths and other 
 workers in iron. Now other fuels have taken its place, and that 
 industry has passed away. 
 
 Nearly every man worked on the land, even ministers and 
 doctors who had their small farms and worked on them. At the 
 same time nearly every farmer had another trade at which he 
 worked during the winter months. As there were at first no stores, 
 and no factories, things they needed must be made by the farmers 
 themselves in their homes or small shops. One called a cobbler 
 made and mended shoes and boots. Another had a small forge 
 and hammered out on his anvil, nails, hinges and latches for the 
 settlers' homes as well as shoes for his horse. 
 
 Another called a cabinet-maker, who had learned his trade in 
 England, made chairs, bedsteads and bureaus, as well as coffins. 
 As many household utensils were made of wood, the cooper's 
 trade was important. He made barrels, pails, tubs and firkins 
 for butter and other things. Some tanned hides to make leather — 
 they were called tanners. Others made the leather into saddles. 
 They were called saddlers. These are a few of the trades needed 
 in every settlement. 
 
 As for years there were no roads except bridle-paths, like the 
 Indian trails, all travel was on foot, on horse-back or by canoe. 
 One horse had to carry at least two, a man on a saddle, his wife 
 behind him on a pillion or cushion, and perhaps a child in front 
 of the father, or a baby in his mother's arms. When roads were 
 made, the first wheeled vehicles were ox-carts, in which chairs 
 were placed for women and children. Traveling in this slow way 
 in winter, it was necessary to take with them hot bricks or stones, 
 unless they had a little foot-stove, on which to warm their 
 numbed feet. 
 
Old Houses of Glastonbury 
 
 When, where and by whom, was built the first house in Glaston- 
 bury, remains a mystery that perhaps can never be solved. 
 
 In 1639 and 40, the part of Wethersfield lying east of the river 
 was surveyed and laid out in farms varying in width from seven 
 to two hundred rods, but all extending east from the river "three 
 large miles" into the wilderness. These farms were assigned to 
 thirty-four Wethersfield residents in proportion, probably, to 
 their position, and the amount contributed to the original pur- 
 chase from the Indians. 
 
 Stiles, in his History of Wethersfield, says that at that time no 
 white man was living east of the river south of Springfield, but 
 that Matthew Mitchell had brought cattle from Saybrook to 
 pasture at "Noag" where he probably had a keeper for them. 
 If so, it is also probable that there was a "cave-cellar" built in 
 the bank at Red Hill for his shelter. Stiles also says that in 1649 
 Thomas Edwards was living east of the river and was probably 
 the first settler. 
 
 *It is certain that in 1651 John Hollister had a house and other 
 buildings at Nayaug and in that year Josiah Gilbert became his 
 tenant and remained so until 1663. This house stood near the 
 river on the farm now owned by Theodore Pratt, a lineal descend- 
 ant. About the same time Richard Treat, John Hollister's brother- 
 in-law, built on the adjoining farm, in the rear of the present 
 Nayaug school house. Tradition had long held that these were 
 the first two houses in Glastonbury, but the writer is inclined to 
 think that this tradition applies to the southern part of the 
 town, and that the bona fide first house was at Naubuc, that 
 section being so much nearer the protection of the mother settle- 
 ment west of the river. 
 
 The first dwellings built by the early settlers of this and other 
 Connecticut towns were either log houses or cave-cellars similar 
 to the western dug-out. A shallow pit was dug in a hillside, the 
 sides lined with stone to the height of about seven feet, the front 
 closed by logs, and the whole roofed over by small logs, or thatch 
 
 *This story is told of John Hollister, the first of the name in America. He 
 lived in Wethersfield, but used to come across the river to cultivate corn on 
 his farm at "Noag," as he spelled it. One day, while at work there, an Indian 
 came to him and said, in his Indian lingo, "Me big Indian — You big pale 
 face. We have fight. — See who best man," or words to that effect. Now Mr. 
 Hollister was a shrewd man, and knew that Indians, although they could run 
 like deers, were not so strong as white men in their arms and backs. Those 
 muscles had not been toughtened by swinging an axe or hoe. They made the 
 squaws do their work. He did not want to hurt the Indian and so make an 
 enemy of him. They began to wrestle and he simply tried to tire the Indian 
 out without throwing him. When the Indian began to get out of breath, they 
 rested awhile, then began again. 
 
 After they had wrestled for some time, the red man was satisfied to stop 
 without throwing the pale face. Then they both sat down on a log and smoked 
 the "peace-pipe," and never had any trouble afterwards. 
 
of some kind. These were for temporary occupation only, except 
 by the very poor. Log houses were more permanent and must 
 have prevailed even after saw-mills were established. Two or 
 three generations of wilderness life taught the later pioneers of 
 the west and south to build warm, comfortable and not inartistic 
 houses of logs, which stood for decades. 
 
 The first church in Wethersfield, built soon after 1641, was of 
 logs, "underdaubed with clay," and strange as it seems, it had 
 a bell. The love of things English was deep in those first settlers. 
 In 1647 this church was clapboarded and had previously been 
 wainscoted. 
 
 Years later, a son of the first minister wrote of it, "Ye first 
 meeting-house was solid, mayde to withstand ye wicked on- 
 saults of ye Red Skins. Its foundations were laide in ye feare 
 of ye Lord, but its walls were truly laide in ye feare of ye Indians." 
 
 These chimneys of these early houses were logs laid up "cob- 
 house" fashion and covered, inside and out, with clay in which 
 hay was used as a binder. Or, four posts were set up for corners 
 and the sides filled with smaller sticks and all covered with clay. 
 This fashion of building made hot fires a danger, and an officer 
 called the chimney-viewer was required to examine all chimneys 
 once in six months. Later, stone, laid up in clay, was used instead 
 of timber, making a solid and massive structure. 
 
 Although log houses were in use for many years, it is certain 
 that the well-to-do began to build frame houses at an early date. 
 The typical house of this period was of two rooms on a floor with 
 an immense chimney between. In front of the chimney was an 
 entry from which stairs led to a second story like the first. The 
 floor of the second story was supported by a great beam crossing 
 the center of each room from wall to chimney, parallel with the 
 front. Such a beam was called the "summer" or "summer-tree," 
 and was sometimes sheathed with planed boards, but often left 
 as finished by the hewer's axe. (It should be understood that 
 this word "summer" is derived from the French word, "sommier" 
 meaning a pack-horse, and was given to the great central beam 
 because it carried the floor above it.) The frame was of oak, 
 though less often of pine. Floors, also, were also sometimes of 
 oak. The foundation and cellar walls were of stone and clay, but 
 the cellar extended under the north half of the house only. 
 Brick and lime for mortar were not to be had at first. The walls 
 of these early houses were not sheathed, but the spaces between 
 the studs were filled with clay mixed with hay, making them 
 somewhat warmer. A Welles house, which stood where the 
 Connecticut Company now stores its lumber, had the walls on 
 one room lined with brick, making it Indian-proof. The exterior 
 walls were covered with wide clapboards, and the roof, which 
 was of steep pitch, with hand-riven shingles. (The shingles of 
 the first church of Farmington lasted for more than one hundred 
 years.) 
 
In many early houses the second story overhung the first by 
 several inches, and sometimes the overhang was ornamented by 
 brackets or pendants, with scroll work at the corners called a 
 "corbel." No reason is known for this overhang except that it 
 helped to shed rain. This feature of house walls gradually dis- 
 appeared but can still be seen in some old houses. 
 
 The interior of these houses was sometimes ceiled, but some- 
 times left unfinished. The great chimney and the heavy frame 
 with its covering, seemed to exhaust the family resources, so 
 that the interior finishing and furnishing were entailed on the 
 next generation. As wealth and family increased, such a house 
 was sometimes enlarged by extending the rear roof down to the 
 level of the first story, thus making room for a kitchen, with a 
 pantry at one end and a bedroom at the other. Sometimes the 
 roof was even extended beyond these to cover two or three shed 
 rooms. This plan had the disadvantage of leaving the kitchen 
 without windows. Such a house was called a "Lean-to" (pro- 
 nounced "linter") house, or in some places as "Salt-box" house, 
 from its resemblance to the box holding salt, which hung in the 
 fire-place — its cover sloped both ways in order to shed the soot 
 washed down by the rains. 
 
 It is said that one reason for this style of house was the desire 
 to escape a special tax levied on houses of full two stories. It is 
 certain that it was the prevailing style up to the time of the 
 Revolution although at the same time gambrel-roofed houses 
 were built. 
 
 O. W. Holmes, the poet, born under a gambrel roof, immortal- 
 ized it in these lines: 
 
 "Gambrel! Gambrel! let me beg 
 
 You'll look at a horse's hinder legs: 
 
 First great ankle above the hoof — 
 
 That's the gambrel! — hence gambrel roof." 
 
 This style seems to have held its own to the present day. 
 
 As years went by, a few people of wealth, abandoning the 
 central chimney, built a full two story house with a chimney at 
 each end, and a wide central hall. The Miller house, and the 
 brick house near station 45, are examples of this style and were 
 doubtless, when new, about the finest in town. In this period, 
 the "summer," or great central beam, disappeared, or was made 
 of the same depth as the joists, and so concealed by the plaster. 
 
 The two-chimney house did not prevail largely in this town. 
 Most builders retained the great central chimney, but abandon- 
 ing the long rear roof, built on the same ground plan a two-story 
 house and added a low lean-to with roof joining the main wall 
 below the second story windows. This plan gave more room and 
 better light on the second floor. Dozens of them may be counted 
 along Main Street, between Roaring Brook and Hartford, all 
 of them having a central door and nine front windows. They are 
 spoken of as colonial houses, but doubtless many of them were 
 
 23 
 
built after the colonies became states. This style seems to have 
 been almost universal during the half century following the 
 Revolution. Some of these front doors were quite handsome, 
 having a fan light above and narrow side-lights, with usually a 
 brass or iron knocker. Otherwise they were severely plain on the 
 exterior — verandas, porches and bay-windows being later accre- 
 tions. 
 
 The interior was sometimes nicely finished — especially the two 
 front rooms which were wainscoted and provided with mantels 
 and corner cupboards. The kitchen had a great fire-place and 
 the other rooms, smaller ones. At one side of the great fire-place 
 was the bake-oven and beneath it a cavity for the storing of 
 dry wood. As the chimney narrowed above the first floor, the 
 space was utilized for chimney cupboards, where were stored 
 articles that must be protected against frost. By the side of the 
 fire-place stood the shovel and tongs, the warming-pan, foot- 
 stove, and bellows for starting the fire in the morning. At each 
 end of the fire-place a stone seat was sometimes built in. Fire- 
 dogs or andirons stood in the center on which the wood was 
 laid. In building fires, the back-log was laid on the hearth behind 
 the irons and a fore-stick across them, around and over which 
 was piled the lighter and dryer materials. The back-log was 
 supposed to last all day and provide a mass of coals, which being 
 banked at night would keep until morning, when they were 
 raked forward and a new back-log supplied, with a fore-stick and 
 other materials. If for any reason the fire did not keep, it was a 
 serious matter. A boy must hurry to the nearest neighbor and 
 borrow a kettle full of coals, or the tedious process of getting a 
 spark with flint and tinder must be resorted to. This was, of 
 course, before the days of matches (1829). The bake-oven was 
 heated but once a week, unless for special occasions. A great fire 
 was built on the oven floor, using the best of wood. When it was 
 entirely burned down to coals, these were drawn out and the oven 
 swept clean of ashes; then it was filled with bread and pies pre- 
 viously prepared. If the family was large, the oven might be 
 filled a second time; and last of all, a great dish of beans was put 
 in and left to bake slowly all night. Sometimes the brown bread 
 was baked in the same manner. 
 
 Special mention must be made of a few of the earlier houses. 
 Dr. Chapin, in his "Glastonbury for 200 years," mentions the 
 first four houses built in the town after its incorporation in 1692. 
 The first was built by Deacon Benjamin Talcott on the site now 
 occupied by the home of Alfred HoUister, opposite the High 
 School. It was of two stories, built of heavy oak timbers, and, as 
 settlers had not outgrown their fears of the Indians, it was 
 stockaded and designed as a place of refuge for women and 
 children. It stood for one hundred fifty years and was torn down 
 in 1 85 1 by Jared Talcott to make room for the present structure. 
 An old wood-cut shows it as a rectangular house with a handsome 
 
 24 
 
front door and hooded windows. A long extension in the rear of 
 the present house was an addition to the original structure. In 
 1727 the same Deacon Talcott built for his son Samuel the old 
 lean-to house, which was torn down in 191 2 to make room for 
 the Williams' Memorial. In this house was the famous wallpaper, 
 said to be the first brought into town. Thirty years later, this 
 Samuel Talcott built for his son Samuel a similar house in East 
 Glastonbury, now standing and owned by Edward Thompson. 
 In this house was born Mary Talcott who became the grand- 
 mother of Admiral Dewey. Later it passed into the hands of the 
 MacLean family and was the home of the Revolutionary soldier, 
 James MacLean, who, when held prisoner on board a British 
 ship, near the West Indies, escaped by swimming in the shadow 
 of the vessel to the shore. Thence he secured passage to Charles- 
 ton, South Carolina, and from there walked home, a walk of 
 about six hundred miles. Then he promptly re-enlisted. 
 
 The second house mentioned by Dr. Chapin was that built by 
 the town for the Reverend Timothy Stevens, the first minister. 
 In 1694, the town voted to build him a "girt dwelling-house 
 20 ft. X 40 ft., with a good stack of chimney, Mr. S. to furnish 
 glass and nails." Apparently it was not built until several years 
 later, or after 1699. It is standing now, owned by the estate of 
 A. Moseley and occupied by Mr. Herbert Shipman and family. 
 It is of the gambrel roof type and "the good stack of chimney," 
 built of stone and clay, has been replaced by brick and mortar 
 chimneys. Why it was built so far from the church, which stood 
 on the Green, is not known. 
 
 The third house, Chapin says, was in Nayaug, but does not 
 m.ention the builder. The fourth was in East Glastonbury and 
 was built by Gideon Hollister. This was a lean-to house and stood 
 on high land to the northwest of Wassuc Cemetery or quite near 
 the fork in the New London Turnpike. Chapin says it was with- 
 out tenon or mortice, but all timbers were half-lapped. It stood 
 until about 1870. 
 
 Another very old house, built about 1719 or before, was the 
 Benton house, which stood on the east side of Main Street, nearly 
 opposite the Congregational church. In this house was a great 
 fire-place having stone seats at each end. During a thunder 
 storm, on August 29, 1719, Mary Hale was sitting on one of these 
 seats and was instantly killed by a brick from the chimney top, 
 which was struck by lightning. Her epitaph in the northwest 
 corner of the Green Cemetery reads, "Here lies one whose life's 
 threads were cut asunder; She was struck dead by a clap of 
 thunder." 
 
 Another old lean-to house, of uncertain date, is now standing 
 in East Glastonbury, lately owned by William Chamberlin, but 
 formerly known as the Latimer house. It is situated near the 
 foot of Kongscut mountain on the road to Hebron, and is said to 
 have been built as a tavern, but the bar has disappeared. Other- 
 
 25 
 
wise it is little changed from its original state. In its lonely posi- 
 tion, with the mountain for a background, it looks a picturesque 
 relic of the seventeenth century. 
 
 In the southern part of the town near Grindle Brook is a good 
 specimen of this type of house, though not so large nor so old 
 as the others mentioned. It was built in 1787 by Samuel Stratton, 
 whose daughter Mehitable was born there soon after its com- 
 pletion, and lived there till after the century mark, dying in her 
 son's house in East Haddam at the age of 105. This is the only 
 house of the lean-to type known by the writer to have been built 
 after the Revolution. 
 
 The Hollister-Kellam house in Nayaug, west of Roaring Brook 
 bridge, is doubtless the oldest house in town now standing. It is 
 said to have been built in 1675 by John Hollister, who inherited 
 the "Noag farms" from his father. Lieutenant John of Wethers- 
 field, who built the house in the meadow before referred to. 
 
 For the reason that the meadow was subject to overflow by the 
 "Great River," the son removed to a dryer spot and placed his 
 hearth-stone above high-water mark and near good water power, 
 which his family in later times utilized for milling purposes. 
 
 This house was of the type of the first Talcott house mentioned 
 — a plain rectangular house of four rooms, two below and two 
 above. About one hundred forty years ago, it was enlarged and 
 improved by Captain Roswell HolHster who added the lean-to, 
 the fine panelling in the two front rooms, and a second flue to 
 the chimney. The second flue had connected with it the oven for 
 baking and on the second floor an oven for smoking meat. The 
 present owner, James B. Kellam, has also improved the house. 
 
 A charming example of early houses is that owned by William 
 Connel, a gambrel-roofed house on the Treat farm, on Tryon 
 Street. 
 
 Food 
 
 In the very early days all food had to be grown on the farms 
 or obtained from the forests and streams. Bear and deer were 
 hunted for meat and for their skins. Smaller animals were caught 
 in traps and birds in snares. Some writers mention wild turkeys, 
 but it is doubtful if they were so numerous here as they were 
 farther south. Wild geese, ducks and other water fowl were 
 abundant. Several kinds of fish could be caught in the river. 
 Shad were so plentiful that they brought only a few pence each, 
 and salmon, which have now disappeared, were almost given 
 away. Farmers bought quantities of these fish and preserved them 
 in brine for future use. 
 
 Every thrifty housewife thought she must have in the cellar 
 a barrel of salt pork and another of beef. Hams hung in the smoke- 
 house and ropes of sausages in the cold attic. Tallow from beeves 
 
 26 
 
was used for candles and waste fat was saved for soap, which was 
 made by boiling it in lye from wood ashes. 
 
 *Orchards of apple and cherry trees were soon planted, but 
 years passed before they bore fruit. 
 
 The Indians taught the first settlers how to raise corn and how 
 to pound it in a stone mortar. (Later the whites used a wooden 
 mortar and later still, built corn mills for grinding it.) They also 
 taught their ways of using corn in making hominy, hoe-cake, 
 ash-cake and boiling the green corn with beans to make succo- 
 tash. They used the fine meal with rye flour to make their bread, 
 using two parts of meal to one of flour, for wheat flour was a 
 luxury and must be saved for special occasions or for the sick. 
 
 Pumpkins and squashes were raised and cut into strips and 
 dried for winter use. Stewed and made into a sauce, they formed 
 an important part of the diet. Children of the present day would 
 think themselves badly treated if they had for supper only a 
 piece of corn-bread and a dish of pumpkin sauce. Usually there 
 was food enough, but it was very plain and of little variety. 
 
 Potatoes were not introduced until 1720, and then some 
 thought the seed-balls on the tops were to be eaten, but said 
 they "didn't much care for them." Wild fruits and berries were 
 gathered eagerly when growing near the clearings. Chestnuts 
 grew wild on the hills and hickory nuts in the meadows, as now. 
 
 Clothing 
 
 Our great-grandfathers took a lesson from the Indians and 
 used the skins of animals for a part of their clothing. Bear and 
 deer skins were made into coats and other garments, while the 
 skins of raccoons and squirrels were used for caps and mittens. 
 The larger skins were also used for blankets and rugs. 
 
 Nearly everything the women and children had for clothing 
 was made from materials grown on the farm. Most farmers kept 
 a few sheep and in early summer the wool was sheared, or clipped, 
 from their backs, was washed and carded or combed into soft, 
 fleecy rolls. The big wheel was brought into the kitchen, and 
 mother and girls took turns in spinning these rolls into thread 
 which later was woven into cloth or blankets. Three of the 
 threads were twisted together for yarn, out of which socks and 
 mittens were knit. 
 
 Sometimes women went out to spin for their neighbors, and 
 were called "spinsters." As they were usually single women, that 
 word came to mean an unmarried woman past her girlhood. 
 
 *From the will of John Hollister of Wethersfield, dated 1665, "I give to my 
 eldest son, John Hollister, my whole farms at Noag . . . and do require him 
 to give to his mother during her life-time twenty bushels of apples and two 
 barrels of cider, provided ye orchards do thrive and prosper" — which shows 
 that our ancestors started apple orchards at an early date. 
 
 . 27 
 
Every girl was taught to spin, but not every family owned a 
 loom on which the weaving could be done, so that was put out 
 to be done by some man or woman who owned a loom and had 
 learned the weaver's trade. This "home-spun" cloth must then 
 be fulled, dyed, and pressed before it was fit to be made into 
 clothing. Very soon small shops were built where this heavy 
 work was done by men and boys. At last when the cloth was 
 ready, mother and daughters got busy with scissors, needle and 
 thread, cut, fitted and stitched by hand the garments needed 
 by the family. There were no sewing machines in those days. 
 
 This home-spun cloth was very strong, and coats and dresses 
 were handed down from one to another as the family grew. 
 
 These wool garments were for winter wear, but linen was used 
 for summer. Cotton cloth had to be imported, and was dear until 
 Eli Whitney invented the cotton-gin. Flax was raised by some 
 farmers, but the process of preparing it was a long and tiresome 
 one. When it had been rotted, broken, swingled, hatcheled and 
 carded, it was called tow, and spun on the "little wheel;" after 
 which it was woven and whitened by lying on the grass in the 
 sunshine. 
 
 The finest of this linen was used for table cloths, bed sheets and 
 for best clothing. A coarser kind was used for work dresses, and 
 a still coarser kind was thought suitable for boy's shirts. The poor 
 boys knew better. They hated those new linen shirts, for the 
 tiny bits of bark from the outer husk of the flax scratched their 
 bare shoulders unmercifully. But after a number of washings, 
 those same shirts became quite comfortable. A very coarse linen, 
 called tow-cloth, was used for bed-ticks or for grain sacks. These 
 ticks, when filled with straw or hay, were their summer mattresses 
 but in winter they were glad to sleep on feather beds. 
 
 Shoes, too, were made at home. If the goodman of the house 
 could not make them, the village cobbler came once or twice 
 a year, measured the feet and made up shoes for the family. If 
 the father's fine Sunday boots were past their usefulness, the 
 tops were cut off and made into shoes for the boys; and they had 
 to last a long time. 
 
 Churches 
 
 In the early days church and town were one, or perhaps we 
 should say that the church was controlled by the town. (By 
 church is meant sometimes the building and sometimes the 
 religious society. If used to mean society, the building was then 
 called the meeting-house.) 
 
 Wethersfield people had a meeting-house built of logs, about 
 1640, but we think the meeting-house built by Glastonbury, 
 in 1693, was a frame building, as a saw-mill had been built in 
 1657 and sawed lumber could be had. 
 
 28 
 
Samuel Smith and John Hubbard had given ten acres of land 
 for a church and cemetery, and there the church was built, near 
 where the Town Hall now stands. It was doubtless a small and 
 plain building, without a chimney, for churches were not warmed 
 until years later. (Women and children carried little foot-stoves 
 to keep their feet warm.) This plain little building stood until 
 1734 when it was burned to the ground. The next year a larger 
 church was built, and to favor the people of Nayaug, it was 
 placed farther south, on the west side of the country road, just 
 north of the present home of William H. Carrier, and stood one- 
 half on the highway. This church stood for one hundred years, 
 when, in 1836, the parish was divided and two churches were 
 built, one farther north, and the other in South Glastonbury. 
 This last one is still standing. The north church was burned in 
 1867, but was soon rebuilt on the same spot. 
 
 At this time the eastern part of the town was becoming settled. 
 There were good farms in the valleys and saw-mills on the 
 streams. By 1730 there were enough settlers in the East Farms 
 to wish to have a church in their section. The town gave its per- 
 mission and the East Farms was made a separate parish under 
 the name of Eastbury. A small church was built near the center 
 of the parish, opposite the old cemetery, about a mile beyond the 
 present village of East Glastonbury. There was no house near it, 
 and as the land was not the best, few cared to cultivate it. In 
 1806, about half a century later, that little church was sold and 
 a new one built in Buckingham. The present church is the second 
 built on that spot. (It should be understood that the Eastbury 
 parish and church came nearly a century before that of South 
 Glastonbury.) 
 
 There was no Methodist church in town until 1796 when a 
 society was formed in Wassuc and for several years held meet- 
 ings in homes of members; but in 18 10 a small church was built 
 north of the Wassuc school house. The old red house, now stand- 
 ing on the west side of the road, was, for many years, the home 
 of Father Stocking, who was one of the founders and chief sup- 
 porters of that church. He was also the preacher for some years. 
 In 1847 that church was taken down and a new one built in the 
 village of East Glastonbury, which was burned about fifty years 
 ago, and the one now standing was built. 
 
 In 1828 the little brick church on High Street was built by a 
 Methodist society but has not been used for several years. It 
 has now become a library. In 1806 the first Episcopal church was 
 built on the lot in front of the Old Church Cemetery; but in 1837 
 their parish was divided. St. Luke's was built in South Glaston- 
 bury, and later St. James' in the northern part of the town. 
 St. James' was partly destroyed by fire about twenty-five years 
 ago, but was soon rebuilt. The Old Church building was taken 
 down, moved south and set up opposite the present home of 
 
 29 
 
Mr. L. W. Howe. It was used for an Academy for many years, 
 and later as a Grange Hall. 
 
 About twenty years ago a German Lutheran church was built 
 on Grove Street, but in 1925 was sold to a Polish society and a 
 new church built on Griswold Street. 
 
 In 1878 St. Augustine's, the first Roman Catholic church in 
 town, was built on a beautiful location overlooking the village 
 of South Glastonbury. In 1903 St. Paul's was built on Naubuc 
 Avenue. 
 
 Schools 
 
 *In the very early days fathers and mothers taught their 
 children in the evenings by the light of pine splinters stuck in 
 the cracks of their log houses. Later when cows had increased, 
 and tallow could be had, tallow candles gave them a better light. 
 
 Sometimes a few families would unite and hire a tutor to teach 
 the children in the home of a family which had a spare room. In 
 1 701 the first public school was started and Robert Poog was 
 hired to teach at a salary of £2 per month, himself and horse 
 to be kept. 
 
 In 1708 there was a school at Nayaug or South Glastonbury 
 and in 1714 one was started at East Farms. This was a "Dame 
 School" when the people could not afford to hire a man. It is 
 recorded of one "dame" that she taught the children to "read 
 and to sew and to go home without lingering by the brook." 
 
 Children from six to twelve years of age were expected, not 
 required, to go to school, and to pay one-half the tuition — the 
 town paid the other half. Boys must pay whether they went 
 to school or not. Parents were required to furnish wood, one load 
 for each scholar. If a man was too slow about bringing wood, 
 his boys had to sit in the coldest corner. Even after a public 
 school had been established, it was, in some cases, kept in a 
 spare room of a private house, for which the town paid rent. 
 
 In 1792, an Academy was opened on the Green and for years 
 was a flourishing school, but unfortunately fire made an end of it. 
 
 Later an Academy was opened in South Glastonbury in a 
 building north of Mr. Alfred Pratt's house. Here Noah Webster 
 of dictionary fame taught at one time, and Elihu Burritt at 
 another. fThis building was burned about 1825. The eastern 
 
 *The hill on the east side of Colchester Avenue, not far from Glastonbury 
 center, was covered with pine trees in the early days of the town's history. 
 There the first settlers went to gather pine knots and splinters which they 
 used for candles — which accounts for the name. 
 
 tAn interesting story is told of the bell which hung in the old Academy in 
 South Glastonbury. In those days many small ships were built on the river 
 banks at "Log Landing," which was south of the mouth of Roaring Brook 
 and at "Pratt's Ferry," near Naubuc. They were schooners, sloops and even 
 brigs. These ships made voyages to the West Indies carrying lumber, beef, 
 
 30 
 
part of the town had an Academy on North Street for some years 
 and attracted pupils from Bolton and Manchester. 
 
 Sometimes private schools were taught for a few months during 
 the winter season. For several years an excellent school was 
 taught by Miss Jennie Pratt, at the corner of Main and High 
 Streets, in South Glastonbury. 
 
 In 1869 an Academy was built in Glastonbury and for some 
 years tuition was charged. Later three public-spirited citizens, 
 James B. Williams,* William S. Williams and Mrs. John Welles, 
 gave some thousands of dollars to endow this school and make 
 it free. Later it was accepted by the town and became a part of 
 the public school system. A few years since, this building was 
 moved and a fine brick building erected for the use of the High 
 School. 
 
 The town had eighteen school districts which have been con- 
 solidated and are under town management. Besides the High 
 School there are twelve schools of lower grade, only two of the 
 twelve being one room schools. The number of teachers is forty- 
 four, and there are about twelve hundred pupils. 
 
 There are two libraries in this town; one in Glastonbury, 
 founded about 1894, and one in South Glastonbury, started in 
 1927, for which the building was provided by Mr. and Mrs. 
 Harvey Thompson. 
 
 pork, potatoes and onions. A Glastonbury man was captain of a ship which 
 had made such a voyage and was returning. Some time after leaving the 
 island, he was startled to hear from the depths of his ship the tolling of a 
 strange bell. He proceeded to inquire into the matter and found that some of 
 his unruly crew had been ashore and had stolen a plantation bell, brought it 
 aboard and hidden it in the hold. The captain could not well turn back to 
 return the bell so it was brought home and given to the Academy. There, 
 instead of calling black slaves to labor, it began to call white children to study. 
 But its adventures were not over. One day, when school was in session as 
 usual, a boy who had just left the room returned, walked quietly to his seat 
 and sat down; but soon leaned over and softly whispered something to his 
 neighbor. This second boy, not so timid as the first, jumped to his feet and 
 shouted, "The school house is afire!" Sure enough, it was, but by great effort 
 this fire was extinguished. At a later date, a second fire in the night com- 
 pletely destroyed the building. The beautiful sweet-toned bell, which was of 
 Spanish make and contained considerable silver, fell and was broken to 
 fragments. The people gathered up the pieces and stored them in a neighbor's 
 attic, hoping that sometime they might be recast. Time went on and nothing 
 was done about it until it was nearly forgotten. Finally a house-wife, who 
 perhaps had not heard the history of the bell, sold the metal as junk. Then the 
 villagers awoke to a sense of their carelessness and indignation prevailed; 
 but it was too late. That was the end of the bell, as far as we know. 
 
 *The fine brick building near the High School, known as The Williams Me- 
 morial Building, was given by the heirs of James B. Williams and his son, 
 David W. Williams, as a monument to those two generous hearted men. It 
 was dedicated in December, 1914. 
 
 31 
 
Manufacturing 
 
 One hundred years ago most of the streams in the town were 
 busy turning the wheels of one or more little shops or mills. Some 
 were saw-mills, some carding-mills or clothiers' shops, and in 
 others wooden-ware of different kinds was made. In one little shop 
 near Wassuc school house glass was made, and in another, guns 
 were made and repaired. 
 
 On North Street, the Hurlburt family had a shop where felt 
 hats were made by machiney invented by one of the family. Felt 
 hats were also made at Nayaug by one of the Hollister family. 
 
 As time went on, and conditions changed, most of these little 
 shops were given up, while some of the clothing shops grew into 
 factories, as was the case at Addison and Hopewell. 
 
 At the present time most of the factories are in the northern 
 part of the town. At Addison, on Salmon Brook, "The Glaston- 
 bury Knitting Company" makes the best of men's knit under- 
 wear. These mills, founded about 1822, were called the Eagle 
 Mills and made woolen goods. They now employ about two 
 hundred fifty people. On the same stream is a paper mill owned by 
 Frank Clark, where binders board, the paper used in making the 
 covers of books, is made. At Naubuc, the Williams Brothers 
 Manufacturing Company employ about one hundred seventy 
 people in making cutlery and silver-ware. This factory was started 
 by the Curtis family about 1846, and the little settlement which 
 grew up around it was long known as Curtisville. 
 
 South of this factory is the paper mill owned by A. B. Goodrich, 
 where binders board is made. East of Main Street and near the 
 state road. The J. B. Williams Company has large factories 
 which turn out quantities of shaving and toilet soap, and a variety 
 of other toilet articles. The two brothers, James B. and William S. 
 Williams, began this business about 1850, which has since had 
 such a remarkable growth. The shaving soap made here is known 
 and sold over nearly all of the civilized world. About two hundred 
 people are kept busy here. 
 
 East of this factory is the tannery owned by Roser and Son, 
 where saddle leather is made from pig-skins. This tannery was 
 operated for many years by Edwin Hubbard and Isaac Broad- 
 head, and is said to be the only one in the United States which is 
 devoted solely to the tanning of pig-skins. David Hubbard 
 operated another tannery on the same stream. 
 
 In East Glastonbury, on Roaring Brook, is a woolen factory, 
 founded about 1840 by the Roaring Brook Manufacturing Com- 
 pany and managed by William Sparks. Later it passed into the 
 hands of Edwin Crosby and Sereno Hubbard, and is now owned 
 by the Angus Park Manufacturing Company. Heavy woolen 
 goods are made and about one hundr-ed fifty men and women are 
 employed. 
 
 32 
 
About two miles lower down on this stream was once a forge 
 where bar-iron was made from iron ore. This iron work blackened 
 both the workers and the buildings; and the little hamlet came to 
 be called "Smut." This name has clung to it to the present time. 
 Later, a cotton mill was built there and cotton sheeting made for 
 many years. Later still, it was bought by J. W. Purtill and 
 operated as a paper mill until it was burned. 
 
 A mile below this mill was another forge where Jedediah Post 
 and George Pratt made anchors for many years. That business 
 was abandoned when sailing vessels on the river went out of use. 
 
 The descendants of Thomas Hollister, called the "Weaver," 
 who died in 1741, carried on the clothing business in little shops 
 on Roaring Brook in Nayaug, for several generations. There was 
 the clothiers' shop, the dye house, the fulling-mill and carding- 
 mill. These shops were given up in 1836, when Horatio Hollister, 
 with others, built the mill at Hopewell and began there the mak- 
 ing of woolen goods in a larger way. Hopewell factory is now 
 known as The Glazier Manufacturing Company, and employs 
 one hundred sixty-five people. 
 
 At the Nayaug site, L. W. Howe now has a mill for the grinding 
 of feldspar, which is used in the glazing of bath tubs, sinks and 
 kitchen utensils. 
 
 At the time of the Revolution, powder was made in Cotton 
 Hollow, but in 1777 the mill was destroyed by an explosion which 
 killed six men, four from one family, named Stocking. About 
 1800, a brick mill was built there, and later a large six story stone 
 mill and a massive stone dam were added to the plant, and for 
 many years quantities of cotton sheeting were made. For some 
 reason the business failed and these mills also were turned into 
 paper mills, by J. W. Purtill. A few years ago the brick mill 
 was burned, and the great stone mill is now a gaunt ruin, roofless, 
 floorless, and windowless. 
 
 It may be news to the young people of this age that in former 
 times many ships were built on the river banks in this town. Not 
 large ships nor steamships, but sailing vessels, such as sloops, 
 brigs, and schooners. At Pratt's Ferry, near Naubuc, was a ship- 
 yard where the Welleses, Sellews and Gaineses built such ships 
 for river and coasting trade. The site of that old ship-yard is now 
 at the bottom of the river. 
 
 *At Log-Landing, in Nayaug, was another ship-yard where the 
 
 *Captain Roswell Hollister built for his son, Elijah, a fine brig, designed to 
 be a model boat, and a swift sailer. In this fine new boat named Nestor, the. 
 young man as captain sailed away for the sunny south. That brig sailed out 
 of the river and was never seen afterwards. 
 
 Months later the wreckage of a ship was picked up on the coast of a southern 
 state, and one of the pieces bore the name Nestor. All on board had perished 
 in the wreck. 
 
 A large copper spike saved from that wreckage is now in the possession of 
 Mr. Fred Pratt, a great-grandson of the builder. 
 
 The writer remembers hearing an old resident say that, when a small boy, 
 
 33 . 
 
Welleses and Hollisters carried on that business. It is said that 
 Captain Roswell Hollister during his long life, 1763-1842, built 
 there "one hundred sail of vessels." The last built there was a 
 barge built by Deacon Martin Hollister in 1870. 
 
 These ships made voyages to our southern cities or to the West 
 Indies, carrying lumber, beef, pork, potatoes, onions and other 
 products of New England; and bringing back sugar, molasses, 
 rum, and various products of warm climates. 
 
 A white-sailed sloop, slowly taking up or down the river, and 
 looking sometimes as if sailing on the green meadows, was a 
 beautiful sight, no longer seen. 
 
 At the present time, 1927, agriculture and manufacturing are 
 the leading industries. Much tobacco is raised, also hay and fruits 
 — apples, peaches and berries. Italian-Americans have been 
 quite successful as fruit growers. Dairying is carried on, but not 
 on a large scale. 
 
 ^Quarrying of granite is practised in the eastern part of the 
 town. Welles Strickland operates a quarry in Buckingham, em- 
 ploying about fifteen men. The stone is marketed in Hartford, 
 where it is used for building and street curbing. Feldspar is 
 quarried in the southern part of the town. There is now no ship- 
 building nor lumbering in town, and very little shad-fishing, 
 which was once a profitable business. 
 
 The town is reached from Hartford by an electric road, and 
 during 1928, the Main Street is to be paved with concrete. 
 
 Government 
 
 We all know that our country is not a monarchy, governed by 
 a king or a queen; our government is a democracy, which means 
 that the people govern themselves. Abraham Lincoln called it a 
 "government of the people, by the people, for the people." 
 
 The town is a little democracy, the state a larger one, and the 
 United States a very great one. Once a year, in October, and some- 
 times oftener, the people of the town come together in a town 
 meeting to choose their officers, and attend to other matters which 
 concern them. Every man and woman who is twenty-one or over, 
 a citizen of the United States, and a legal resident of the town, 
 can obtain the privilege of voting in this meeting. 
 
 The principal officers chosen are, three Selectmen, a Town 
 Clerk, a Treasurer, (the last two are chosen for two years) 
 
 living in the Captain's family, he had seen on the floor of the parlor a pile 
 of ten thousand Mexican silver dollars, the price received for a schooner sold 
 in the south — all that "Black Ross" could bring in a wheelbarrow from Log- 
 Landing. The house mentioned was the old Hollister house now owned by 
 James B. Kellam, and Log-Landing was reached by the lane beyond his 
 garden. 
 
 *The stone from which the Wadsworth Atheneum was built was quarried in 
 Buckingham from a small quarry not far from the church. 
 
 34 
 
a Collector, several Assessors and a Town School Committee. 
 
 The Selectmen attend to the work needed to be done for the 
 town, such as repairing roads, building bridges, taking care of the 
 poor, and many other things. The Assessors prepare the tax lists, 
 the Collector receives the taxes and passes them over to the 
 Treasurer, whose business it is to take care of the money and out 
 of it pay the town's expenses, when authorized to do so. 
 
 The Town Clerk keeps the record of births, deaths and mar- 
 riages; makes out licenses of many kinds, records deeds when 
 land or houses are sold. All these things are written down in 
 great books and kept in a fire-proof vault. You will see that the 
 Town Clerk is an important officer, and a busy one. 
 
 The Town School Committee had control of the schools of the 
 town, and, to help in that work employs a Superintendent, whose 
 business it is to hire teachers, and have the oversight of all schools 
 in the town. 
 
 Glastonbury had its first post office in 1806 in Welles' Tavern, 
 now the home of Mr. Robert Chapman. The postmaster was 
 Joseph Welles. South Glastonbury was happy to have one in 1825. 
 It was kept in Squire Merrick's office, which stood where the High 
 Street School now stands. 
 
 Some years ago there were seven post offices in town, but three 
 of them have been closed, Hopewell, Naubuc and Buckingham, 
 leaving four at present — Glastonbury, South Glastonbury, 
 East Glastonbury and Addison. Rural carriers now deliver the 
 mail in those sections. 
 
 Before there was a post office in town, papers and letters were 
 brought from the Hartford office once or twice a week by a post- 
 rider. Father Stocking, founder of the Methodist Church in East 
 Glastonbury, was, in early life, the post-rider from Hartford to 
 Say brook, for twenty-five years; and during that time travelled 
 one hundred fifty thousand miles and crossed the Connecticut 
 River eight thousand, five hundred times. 
 
 In those days postage was m.uch higher than now and letters 
 were very few. Newspapers were published only once a week. 
 
 Glastonbury has an area of 35,116 acres. 
 
 In 1920 its population was 5,592. 
 
 In 1924, the number of children between the ages of four and 
 sixteen was 1,500. 
 
 Slavery 
 
 Young and old of the present day may find it hard to believe 
 that in our good town, negro men and women were once held as 
 slaves.* It came about in this way. In the early days there was 
 much work to do and few could be hired as servants. The settlers 
 
 *Foot note on next page. 
 
 35 
 
tried Indian servants, but they loved the freedom of the woods too 
 well to be good helpers in gardens or kitchens. 
 
 Young men, in England, who wanted to come to America 
 would sometimes sell themselves for a certain number of years, 
 in order to pay for their passage across the sea. These were called 
 "bond servants," but there were not enough of them and they 
 freed themselves as soon as possible. The planters then found 
 that they could get negroes (who made good servants) from the 
 West Indies. They were generally well treated and lived in the 
 same house with the whites. In the old first church, one corner, 
 raised a little above the rest of the floor, was set apart for slaves. 
 It is probable that only the well-to-do families had these colored 
 slaves. 
 
 t After a time people began to think it was wrong to buy or sell 
 human beings, and they were gradually made free. In 1840, 
 there were only seventeen slaves in the state, and in 1848, the law 
 set them free. 
 
 Witchcraft 
 
 We are proud that our town never had any witchcraft trials; 
 but since in the early days nearly everybody believed in witch- 
 craft, it is not surprising that our ancestors, while living in 
 Wethersfield, took part in two such trials. About 1660, Mary 
 Johnson was accused of being a witch, that is, of being in partner- 
 ship with the Evil One, and was sentenced to be whipped. 
 
 In 1670, Katherine Harrison was accused (perhaps because 
 she knew more than some of her neighbors). She was tried and 
 convicted, but the General Court refused to have her hung. They 
 told her that for the sake of peace she had better move out of 
 Wethersfield, which she did. 
 
 When our ancestors were living in England, nearly every one, 
 even ministers and judges, believed in witchcraft, and they knew 
 that many men and women were hung because they were believed 
 to be witches. "What was witchcraft?" you may ask. It is not 
 easy to explain, but it seems that many people believed that a 
 person could make a contract with Satan, and by his help could 
 
 *To the honor of Glastonbury women it should be remembered that the first' 
 anti-slavery petition ever sent to Congress was written by Mrs. Hannah Smith 
 and signed by forty women of Glastonbury, including herself and her five 
 daughters. It was presented to Congress by ex-president John Quincy Adams. 
 
 fFreed slaves and other free negroes built themselves little cabins all along 
 the road over Chestnut Hill, which thus acquired the name of "Nigger Lane." 
 At one time there were as many as sixty such cabins, the cellars of which 
 can still be seen in some places, but the inhabitants have removed or died 
 long since. 
 
 The colored people now in town are later comers from the southern states. 
 
 36 
 
fly through the air unseen, and could hurt and torment another 
 without going near him. If a child or an animal was suddenly 
 taken sick, they would say it was the work of witches. Almost 
 anything they could not understand was laid to witchcraft. The 
 people who were accused of being witches were usually friendless 
 old women, who could not defend themselves, and were frightened 
 into saying that perhaps they were witches; and so were whipped 
 or hung. People laugh at such beliefs now, because we have be- 
 come more enlightened, but it was pretty serious three hundred 
 years ago. 
 
 Famous People 
 
 On the list of people of this town who have become famous, the 
 Honorable Gideon Welles* stands at the head. He was born in 
 Glastonbury, but was living in Hartford and editing the Times 
 when Abraham Lincoln called him to his cabinet as Secretary of 
 the Navy. He filled that office very successfully through the Civil 
 War and was a close friend of the great president. 
 
 Honorable John R. Buck, a native of East Glastonbury, was a 
 member of Congress in 1881 and 1885. Honorable Sidney Dean 
 was a native of Glastonbury and spent his early life here but was 
 sent to Congress from the eastern part of the state, where he was 
 then living, in 1853 and 1857. 
 
 Julia Smith and her sister became famous in the days when 
 woman suffrage was a burning question. Their story is too long 
 to be told here. As they were not allowed to vote, they refused to 
 pay taxes. Their speeches and writings helped to hasten the time 
 when women were allowed to vote. After Julia Smith had reached 
 the age of fifty years, she taught herself Greek and Hebrew and 
 translated the entire Bible into the English language. 
 
 The Honorable Eleazer Kimberly, the first representative to 
 the General Court, the first Town Clerk, also Secretary for the 
 Colony, perhaps should have stood first on the list. 
 
 J. H. Hale should be remembered as the man who proved that 
 peaches could be raised in this town in a large way. He was the 
 first to plant large orchards of peaches and later of apples. He 
 also had very large orchards in Georgia. As a lecturer and writer 
 on fruit growing, he was popular, and made the name of his 
 native town familiar to thousands. He, with other public spirited 
 men of the town, planned and carried out the beautiful exhibition 
 of Glastonbury products, on the Green, in October, 1913. The 
 Town Hall was filled with specimens of antique furniture, 
 
 *0n May 2, 1782, Samuel Welles, Jr., father of the Honorable Gideon Welles, 
 was married to Ann Hale, daughter of Gideon Hale. The first carriage ever 
 owned in town was used to carry the bridal couple from the Hale home to 
 the Welles home, and was escorted by sixty couples on horseback, each horse 
 carrying two. 
 
 37 
 
ancient household articles, and needlework and art exhibits. One 
 tent was filled with an exhibit of fruit and vegetables, and 
 another with the products of the various factories. Perhaps the 
 most beautiful of all was the folk dancing of the school children. 
 This celebration has gone into history as "Glastonbury Day." 
 
 The large orchards planted by Mr. Hale and his brother are 
 now managed by the present members of his family. 
 
 Recreations 
 
 *In this little book the writer has had much to say of the 
 dangers and hardships of the early days of our town; but one 
 must not think that life in those times was always hard and 
 gloomy. There was much work, but it was not "all work and no 
 play." There were some bright spots, especially after fear of the 
 Indians had been removed. Children had their sports and games 
 as now. They played "London Bridge," "Ring around Rosy," 
 and "Prisoner's Base," as children do now, and as their grand- 
 mothers did in the English lanes long years before. 
 
 The older people, too, had their merrymakings along with their 
 work. They were very neighborly, and if one had a heavy job of 
 work, the neighbors made a "bee," all coming together and giving 
 their help. Plenty to eat and drink was provided, and enjoyed 
 when the work was done. Raising the frame of a house or barn 
 always called for such a "bee." Husking corn or paring apples for 
 drying often were made the occasion for a "bee," ending in a 
 merry frolic. 
 
 *The old oak tree, which stood near the home of Mr. Harry Miller and which 
 has lately been removed by order of the Highway Commission, was formerly 
 used as a whipping-post — according to tradition. Mrs. Miller has found by 
 counting the rings, that the tree was about two hundred years old. There are 
 now but few of the primeval oaks still standing — one in the Hale district, 
 which was called a "great oak"in the original survey of "The Country Road" 
 — another in Nayaug near the corner of Tryon Street and Pease Lane, and 
 a third in Wassuc opposite the home of Mrs. Mary Brainard. It is a tradition 
 that under this tree Washington once rested while on a journey from Hartford 
 to New London. 
 
 The last public whipping was done about 1840 at a tree on the Hopewell 
 road, east of St. Augustine's church on the opposite side of the road. The offense 
 was chicken stealing on a liberal scale. Mr. Samuel Hollister, the officer who 
 wielded the lash, is known to have had a kind heart, so probably the victim 
 was not damaged beyond repair. 
 
 The stocks were also used in most towns, and probably in Glastonbury. 
 Little can be learned of these semi-barbarous instruments of torture, as later 
 generations have not been proud of the record. 
 
 38 
 
Important Events — Review 
 
 1633 First white men visited Pyquag or Wethersfield. 
 
 1634 Several families arrived from Watertown, Massachusetts. 
 
 1635 Larger number arrived from Watertown. 
 
 1 636 Bought land of Indian Chief Sequin-Sowheag. 
 
 1636 With men from Hartford and Windsor formed the General 
 Court. 
 
 1637 Indian Massacre in Wethersfield meadow. 
 1639-1640 Survey of lands on East Side. 
 1641-1650 Settlers' building houses on East Side. 
 1653 Separate Military Company formed. 
 
 1673 Purchase of five-mile tract east of three-mile farms. 
 1676 Country Road or Main Street laid out. 
 1689 Petitioned General Court to be made a separate town. 
 Granted in 1690 on conditions completed in 1693. 
 
 1692 First Town Meeting held. 
 
 1693 First Church completed and Rev. Timothy Stevens 
 
 installed as minister. 
 1701 First public school opened. 
 1708 First school in Nayaug — South Glastonbury. 
 1714 School at East Farms. 
 1736 Church built at East Farms — Eastbury. 
 1775-1783 War of Revolution. 
 1806 First Post Office in Glastonbury. 
 1 839-1 840 Town Hall built. 
 1853 Celebration of second centennial. 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 In preparing this little book, the writer has made use of: 
 Stiles' "History of Wethersfield" 
 Chapin's "Glastenbury Centennial" 
 
 W. S. Goslee's paper in the "Memorial History of Hartford County" 
 Hollister's "History of Connecticut" 
 Clark's "History of Connecticut" 
 Mrs. Earle's "Customs and Fashions of Old New England" 
 
 39 
 
The Club wishes to acknowledge its indebtedness 
 to all those who have contributed so generously of 
 time and material to make this book a success. 
 
University of 
 Connecticut 
 
 Libraries