Connecticut Historical Collections

" The train bands of Hartford assendjled, and as the tradition is, while Captain ^Vads\vorth, the senior ollicer, was walking in front of the companies, and exeicising the soldiers, Colonel Fletcher ordered his commission and instructions to be read. Captain Wadsworth instantly commanfled, " ]?eat the diums;" and there was such a roarini; of them that nothinj^r el>;e could be heard. Colonel Fletcher commanded silence. But no sooner had Bayard made an attempt to read ai^'ain, than Wads- worth commands, " ]3rum, drum, 1 say." The druumiers unilerslood their business, and instantly beat up with all the art and life of which they were masters. " Silence, silence," says the Colonel. No sooner was there a pause, than Wadsworth speaks with great earnestness, "Drum, drum, I say ;" and luiiilni,^ to his excellency, said, " If I am interruiited aii;ain I will make the sun shine throuij;h you in a tnoineni." lie spoke with such enerify m his voice and meaniui; in liis countenance, that no further attempts were niarle to read or enlist men. Such num- bers of people collected tocjcther, and their spirits appeared so high, that the governor and his suite judged it expedient, soon to leave the town and return to New York."| Gen. Winllnop having arrived in f^ngland, presented the petition to bis majesty. " liis majesty's attorney anrl solicitor-general gave their opinion in favor of Conncclicut's comuianding the militia ; and on the 19th of A[)ril, IG'Jl, his ninjosty in council detonuincd according to the report they IkuI made." As it was a time of war with the French, the quota of CcjuiK.ilicut was (i\cd at <mi(} hmidred and t\*cuiv men, to be at the coimnand of Gov. I'Mclchcr (huing the war ; the jest of the militia, as usual, under the CJovernor of Connecticut. Until the session in October, l()iJ8, the General Asscnddy consisted of but one house, and the magistrates and deputies appear to have acted together. But at this time it was enacted that the Assembly should consist of two houses. The governor, or in his absence, the deputy governor, and magistrates, composed the u|)per house. The lower house consisted of deputies, now usually called representatives, from the several towns in the colony. This house was authorized to choose a speakei" to preside. From this time no public act could be passed into a law, but by the consent of both houses. In 1701, it was enacted that the October session of the Assembly shoidd be annually held in New Haven. Previous to this time, and ever since the union of the colonies, the Assembly had convened, both in May and October, at Hartford. About this time, for the maintenance of good morals, and the sup- pression of vicious and disorderly practices, the Assembly " ordered, that a sober and religious man be appointed, by the county court in Colonel Bayard'a letter on tile. + TrumbLiU's History of Connecticut. XO O U T L I N K H 1 S 'J' O II y . each of the counties, to be an attorney for lier majesty to prosecute al! criminal oftenders." At this period tlio colony was in a critical situa- tion. It was in danger, and put to a great expense on account of the war with France ; it was also continually harassed by the demands of Dudley, Governor of Massachusetts, and of L.ord Cornbury, Governor of iScw Yoik and the Jerseys, for men and money, as they pretended, for the defense of their respective governments. Dudley, it appears, wished to unite all New England under his own government. If this could be ellected, it seems Cornbury expected to have the government of the southern colonies. These men, having a powerful party at court, would have probably succeeded in their plans liad it not been for ■ the efTorts of Sir Henry Ashurst, who was an agent for Connecticut, and a firm friend to the rights of the colonies. The expedition for the reduction of the Fiench in Canada, in 1709, was the occasion of the first emission of |)aper money in Connecticut. In this expedition Connecticut was obliged to laise 350 men, who were placed under the command of Col. \Vhlting, of which ninety perished in this disastrous campaign. On tlie 8lh of June, 1700, at a sj)ecial Assembly, it was enacted, "That to assist in the expedition, for want of money otherwise to carry it on, there be forthwith imprinted a certain number of bills of credit, on the colony, in suitable sums, from two shillings to five pounds, which, in the whole, shall amount to the sum of 8,000 pounds, and no more." It was enacted that the bills should be issued from the treasury as money, but should be received in payments at one shilling on the pound better than money. One halfoidy was to be signed and issued at first, and llie other was to remain unsigned until it should be found necessary to put it into circulation. Taxes were imposed for the calling in of one half of it within the term of one year, and the other at the expi- ration of two years. The number of inhabilauls in Conncclieui in the year 1713, was about 17,000. There weio four LuunliLS, (llaiiloiil, Auw London, New Haven and i'airfield,) and lliiily eight taxable towns, who sent forty delegates to the Assembly. Tlie militia consisted of a regiment to each county, and amounted to nearly 4,000 etlectlve men. At this time the shipping in the colony consisted of two small brigs and twenty sloops ; the number of seamen did not exceed one hundred and twenty. There was but a single clotliier in the colon}', " and the most he could do was to full the cloth which was made ; most of the cloth manufac- tured was worn without shearing or pressing." The trade was very limited. The only articles directly exported to Great Britain were tur- pentine, pitch, tar, and fur. The principal trade was with Boston, New York, and the West Indies. To the two former places they traded in the produce of the colony : wheat, rye, barley, Indian corn, peas, pork, beef, and fat cattle. To the West Indies the merchants exported horses, staves, hoops, pork, beef and cattle, in return they received rum, sugar, molasses, cotton wool, bills of exchange, and sometimes small sums of money. O U T L I N E H I S T O R Y . ■' 27 The General Assembly met twice in a year, but their sessions did not generally exceed ten days. The annual expense of the two ses- sions was about 1,600 dollars. The salary of the oovernor was about 800, and that of the deputy goveinor 200 dollai's. The whole expense of government did not probably exceed 3,500 dollars. This amount was usually below the salary annually allowed to a royal governor in the colonies. Alihough the colony had been able to maintain their charter privile- ges against the intrigues of Dudley, Conibury, and other enemies, yet they were under many appreliensions that their chartered privileges would be taken from them. There were strong ])arties in England, and some in the colonics, who were unfiiendly to the charter govern- ments— deeming them loo imlcpendriu of the crown and government of Great IJritain. In addition to these circumstances, a decision in England in regard to one of the laws of the colony respecting intestate estates, created much alarm. John Winthrop, Esq. son of the last Governor Winihrop, became disaffected towards the government ; he conceived that liis family had been injured, and that his ancestors 'had not been rewarded according to the public services which they had ren- dered to the colony. He had been engaged in a long controversy with Thomas Lynchmere, Esq. The court oi' probate, as^he imagined, had niadc an unjust and illegal settlement of his i)aterna| estate m favor of iiis sister, l\Irs. Lynchmere ; he therefore, after going through the courts of the colony, in which he was unable to obtain redress, appealed to his majesty. Upon hearing the case in England, the law of Connecticut was adjudged repugnant to English law, as not securing the lands to male lieirs aiul admitting daughteis to a share in the paternal estate, which the Englisli laws did not warrant. In .Inly, 17;;J8, the colony received a letter from their agent, .lercmiah Dmnmer, Esq. declarin'g that their law a'spetting the settlement of intestate estates was "nujf and void." The [legislature, deeming that tiie consequences of annulling ibis law would bo disastrous to the internal peace of the colonv, determined to sjiare no pains or expense in order to prevent it. They employed another agent, Jonathan ]3elcher, Esq. afterwards Governor of JMassa- chusetts, to assist agent Dummer in his defense of the colony, and in pleading for the continuance of the law respecting intestate estates. These agents conducted the affairs of the colony with such wisdom and success that the charier was preserved and the law retained. In the expedition of the New England colonies against Louisburg, in 1745, Connecticut furnished upwards of 1000 men. For the en- couragement of the men to enlist, the Assembly voted a bounty of ten pounds to each soldier who should furnish himself with arms, knapsack and blanket ; and three pounds to every soldier who should not be able to arm himself. Five hundred men were divided into eight comjianies, and Roger -Wolcott, Esq. lieutenant governor, was appointed the com- mander. At the time of the siege, 200 men were sent on in addition, by (Jonnecticut, and after tlie reduction of Louisburg, the colony pro- vided 350 men to keep garrison during the winter. A sloop was also furnished, manned with 100 men. 28 . O U T I. 1 N E II I S T O 11 y .