Connecticut Historical Collections

About twenty years since, a sect of reformers, calling themselves Christ-ians, caused considerable excitement in this and some of the ailjoining towns. They had a house of worship in this town, called the Goshen meeting house, (from a neighborhood by that name,) about two miles westerly from the center of the town. They ap- pear to have been rather extravagant in their manner of conducting their meetings : it is stated that they were so noisy as to be heard at the distance of two miles. It is also stated, that in order to luimhie themselves, and become UtcraUy like little children, they have been known to crawl or creep on the floor, roll over one another, &:c. In some instances they would so far neglect their worldly business as to leave their cows unmilked, &ic. A Mr. Smith and Mr. Varnum,* ap- * A correspondent from Hamplon states, that the first Christ-ians czmQ to Hampton in 1816; they were also called Smithites, from one Elias Smith, who appears to have been one of the fonnders of this sect. " Varnum pretended to have special revela- tions from God, that such and such persons must give him some particular article, or a sum of money. In one instance, he went to a man who was then a justice of the peace, and told him thai it was revealed to him, that he mast ^ive him his horse. The justice, thinking this rather a hard requisiiron, as he had already given hrm consider- able in this way, asked if one half would not do, as the horse was a valuable one. Varnum reluctantly consented, on the ground that the revelatron went for the whole ; he however promised the owner of the horse, that he wotild p.iy him back one half its value. Varnum took the horse and went off, but never fulfilled his promise." Var- 54 426 K 1 L L 1 N G L Y . pear to Iiave been tlielr principal preachers-, or leaders. Varnum in- duced some of tlie people, over whom he had great intUience, to move with him to Ohio, and there establish a pure and holy church, and en- joy a kind of Paradise on earth. The people, however, that went with him, were generally miserably disappointed ; Varnum turned Shaker, and advised those over whom he had inlluence to follow his example, which was to some extent followed. KILLINGLY, KiLMNGLY was (Irst settled about the year 1700.* An act was passed in 1708, grantini,' the inhabitants the privileges and immunities of a township, which then included in its limits the town of Thompson. The land was purchased of the colony, and the grant was signed by Gov. .Salstonslall at New Haven, Oct. 13tli, 1709. Among the early settlers, whose descendants inhabit the same spot, were Messrs. Joseph Cady, James Danlelson, Sampson Howe, and Ei)hraim Warren. The first white person buried here, was a female of JNIr. Cady's family, great grandmother to Mr. Nell Alexander, an aged man still living. The precise year of her death is forgotten. Her grave is still to be seen ; but as it always happens in early settlements, the graves of that period were left without any inscription. The old- est date to be found is 1720, and marks the time of burial of an indi- vidual of the same family. The first settlers were all athletic men, and inured to hardships; yet they made but little imi)rovement, on account of the roii},'hness ofthe t-oil and tiie depredations of the Indians. The aborigines of this part of the country, were a brancli of the .\i}/mii</c tribe, who were acknowledged lobe less fierce and warlike than the l^equols: but though the lives of the settlers were not often endangered, yet they sutl'ered great an- noyance from their savage neighbors, who, being deprived of most ol their game by the progress ofthe setlleinenl, thought themseh'es juslilic'd in reci^iiiing the balance in the foim of provisions, whirli the whiles dared not refuse, noiwillisi.iudiiig the daily calls ol' (heir red friends. 'J'hese sons of the forest somel lines traveled in companies of fifty or sixtj', we are credibly informed, and took up iheir quarters at one liouse ! They seldom showed violence to the inmates to obtain admission, yet they often em- ployed artifice with womierful success. For after they had been kept over night, eight or nine more would be found the next morning, whom they had contrived lo conceal with their Puppooses, thus making their inimber ai)parently smaller than it really was, in order to gain admission more readily. While the whiles and Indians in this manner had constant communication, and were on friendly terms with each other, they used to engage in favorite sports, by which ihey tested their comparative strength and agility. In this respect the whites were in no degree inferior lo the red men. The savage is capable of enduring great hardships, but his strength is not great in proportion to his power of endurance. Indeed in most of the contests, the well clad and civilized European showed himself far superior to the almost naked and wild American, even in respect to bodily vigor. As an example we introduce only the two following circumstances. Mr. Cady, soon after his arrival, was one day mowing brush at the foot of Mashen- Inck hill, wlien an Indian came from an adjoining wood, and expiessed an earnest desire to try the skill of a white man at wrestling. Cady, without hesitating, dropped num induced his followers, both male and female, old and young, to make a full con- fession of all their sins in public, without regard to any of the generally received opinions of propriety or decency. * For the following account of Killingly, its history, traditions, ic. the author is indebted to Asa G. Ale.xander, A. B. of East Killingly. KILLINGLY. 4Q7 his sythe and grappled with liis savage friend, who struggled long and hnrd to throw hinr down. But the former knowine: that by a display of strength and skill he might lender the Indians less prone to hostility, was determined not to be worsted in this en- counter: he made a desperate effort, and finally succeeded in flinging his antagonist. But unexpectedly the head of the Indian struck upon the sharp ptunis of the stubs of the brush just mown, which, on account of the violence of the fall, perforated the skull and killed him instantly. Subsequently to this, in 1720, Mr. Jacob Spalding, who had emigra- ted in 1715 with the first settlers to the south parish, had a similar ad- venture. The particulars are related by his descendants of the fourth generation as follows : "Jacob one day purciiased of an Indian a deer skin, for which he paid him a teiinr bill. The latter, somewhat intoxicated, forgot soon alter that he had received it, and asked for the money a second time. Jacob of course paid no atteniion to such an un- ■warrantable demand, and the Indian went away muuering revenge. The next day while shingling a barn, Jacob saw him returning with two companions. He leaped from the roof, met them, and was again asked to pay the price of the deer skin. He refused to comply, till one of the company, who appeared to be the sachem of his tribe, said he had come to see 'fair play,' aiul avowed it to be honorable for two Indians to contend with one white man. Jacob therefore imagined he would have a rather dif- ficult task to accomplish, but plucking up courage, he exerted himself to the utmost, and on the very first encounter, laidtkem bulk upon the ground and gave them a 'sound drubbing.' The other, who was looking on, was not.at all disposed to assist his brethren, and gave them no other encouragement than ' Poor dogs, poor dogs! me hope he kill you both!!' However, Jacob after ' pounding them' a short lime, suffered them to escape. But the next day he saw them coming again, and the individual who imagined himself his creditor, bearing a rifle, which he was in the act of loading. Bnt in thrusting his hand into his pocket to find the ball, he drew out the identical bill which he had received two days before! Conscience-struck, he said to Jacob, who was coming to meet him, ' Me believe now, Jacob, you paid me de tenor bill!' After this confession, Jacob addressed the person who had come to see 'fair play.' 'You,' said he, 'that liave come to see fair play, what do you advi.se us to do with him?' ' Tie him to de tree and whip him," was the reply, which was done accordingly. And liere a circumstance occurred, which shows to what extent the Indians carried tlieir principle of honor. The individual in (luesiion, after this humiliating treatment, be- came so dejected that he fled from his tribe, and was never heard of afterwards." Many of these Indians embraced Christianity, and became partially civilized. The celebrated Sampson Occum, of the Mohegan tribe, jireached among thetn a few times, l^ut the continual wars they had with other tribes, made it impossible to persuade them all to conform to the precepts of the Gos})el. As already intimated, the aborigines of this quarter were less fierce and warlike than the Pequots ; yet the settlers were not entirely unprotected in case of any sudden emergency, which had some influence in keeping their savage neighbors at peace. Two forts were built at the north parish, and another at Danielsonville, the ruins of which latter are still visible.