Connecticut Historical Collections

" i'leasant Valley" contains the first six cotton factories enumerated in the list. The villages are all in sight of each other, and make a beautiful view from the top of Chesnut hill. Dayville is a thriving little village. It is attractive for its neat ap- pearance, and for a bridge composed of two finely constructed stone arches, each 25 feet broad and twelve feet high. Danielsonville is an important village at the junction of the Quinne- baug and Five Mile rivers, 3 miles east of Brooklyn, 25 miles north of Norwich city, 43 miles east of Hartford, and 37 miles south of Worcester. The following view shows the appearance of Danielsonville as it is entered from the west, upon the Brooklyn road. The four story build- ing with a steeple, is the Danielsonville cotton factory, containing 1,800 spindles ; between this building and the observer, the bridge over the Quinnebaug is seen. As regards natural resources, Killingly abounds in them. Breack- neck hill, a considerable eminence between the While Stone brook and Five Mile river, bears on its elevated surface numerous quarries of free stone. These quarries rise above the general surface, presenting ah- K IL.L1 NG LY. 433 fVcsteni view of iJanielsonville, KilUtigli/. nipt, and in some cases lofty precipices to the east, and gentle slopes to the west. The stone is of a hi^h order. It is obtained in slabs of almost every dimension, and is nearly perfectly even in structure, pre- senting, if any, at least very slight inequalities. It is very hard, and therefore little liable to break in removing it from the quarry. It has a uniform color, approaching to white. As the slabs of this rock lie in an inclined position, they can be detached with the most perfect facil- ity. There are other kinds of slate rock in Killingly, which have the appearance of granite, but are (juiie soft, and conseipicntly more easily wrought for the purpose of building. The latter kind lies most abun- dant about Kilhngly pond. There is still another kind of slate rock sit- uated at the south piuish. Its composition is granular (piariz, and it possesses a color nearly or entirely white. It is a very valuable stone for walks, inasmuch as it is quite soft and yielding. It is obtained in slabs, but is mostly below the general surface of the ground, and is not so regular in its structure as the other kinds mentioned. When the Norwich and Worcester rail road shall have been completed, these stones will become a source of gain to the owners, who could easily transport them to New York. Under present circumstances, however, being at the distance of 2-2 miles from Piovidence, which is the near- est seaport, the profit of traffic in this article is inconsiderable, and con- sequently but few stones have been taken away. jMashentuck hill next deserves mention. It is a considerable emi- nence, comprising a circuit of two or three miles, terminating in an ab- rupt steep at the southern extremity of "Pleasant Valley," and "bear- ing on its back" a rich bed of porcelain clay, which has been pro- nounced by competent judges to equal the best French or Chinese clay. The feldspar, too, accompanies it in a solid form, and is abundant. It was discovered while digging a well. For a few feet below the surface of the ground, the clay was mixed somewhat with vegetable matter ; 434 P L A I N F I E L D . but at the depth of 10 feet it became perfectly white and pure. In fine, it became, in the yrnphic language of those who dug the well, "like lard!" The well was dug twcniyfcti larlher, when the project of ))erfurating the whole bed was abandoned. The clay was then care- fully exainine(f^ and found perfectly free from grit. The sides of the well presented to the eye alternate layers of clay and feldspar. The latter substance had a brilliant appearance like ice. PLAIN FIELD. " In June, 1659, Gov. Winthrop obtained liberty of the Assembly, to purchase a large tract at Quinnebaug. Soon after, he made a pur- chase of Allups, alias Ilyemps, and Mashaushawit, the native proprie- tors of the lands comprisisd in the townships of Plainfield and Canter- bury, lying on both sides of Quinnebaug river. There was a small number of families on the lands at the time of the purchase, but the planters were few until the year 1689, when a number of people, chiefly from Massachusetts, made a purchase of the heirs ol Gov. Win- throp, and began seiilements in the norihern part of the tract. At their session in May, 101)9, the General Assembly vested the inhabitants with town privileges. The next year it. was named Flainfield."* Plainfield is bounded n. by Killingly, E. by Sterling, w. by Canter- bury, and s. by Griswold and Voluntown. It is about 8 miles long from north to south, and about 5 wide. The eastern section of the town is rough and broken, being hilly and stony. The hills are considerably elevated and eoniiiuious, forming ridges, extending in a northerly and southerly direction. The western section is an extensive plain, the surface being level, and the soil a light sandy loam, which is cultivated with facility, being fertile and well adapted lo a grain culture. When this town was first settled !))■ the whiles, these plains were free from timber, and admitted of immediate cidtivation. From the great quan- tities of corn raiseil here, this |)Iace was called the Ei(i/2^t of the sur- rounding settlements. There is at present considerable manudicturing business carried on in this town, princijially coiton and woolen lactories, the most of which are in the little manufacturing villages called Union- ville and Centerville, situated on Moosup river, a fine mill stream which discharges its waters into the Quinnebaug. There are four houses of worship in the town, 2 for Baptists, 1 for Congregationalists, and 1 for Friends or Quakers. The Indians were numerous at the time the town was first settled, amounting to 400 or 500. They continued for many years with the English, living in the most friendly manner. "The Gospel (says Dr. Trumbull) hath had by far the most happy effect upon the Quinnebaug or Plainfield Indians, of any in Connecticut. They ever lived peacea- bly with the English, and about the year 1745, in tlie time of the great Dr. Trumbull. P L A I N F I E L I) . 4[il awakening and reformation in New England, they became greatly af- fected with the truths of the Gosiiel, professed Christianity, and gave the strongest evitJetice of a real conversion to God. They were filled with the knowledge of salvation, and expressed it to admiration. They were entirely reformed as to the manner of their living. They became temperate^and ahstained from drinking to excess, which it had before been fonnd utterly impossibU; toelFect by any other means. They held religious meetings, and munbers of them fortned into church state, and had the sacraments administered to them." I Vest cm view of riaiiiJ'uUL The above is a representation of the Congregational church. Plain- field Academy, and some of the adjacent buildings, as seen from the burying ground, about half a mile westward from the church. Plain- field Academy (seen eastward from the church in the engraving) is one of the most respectable institutions of the kind in the state. It was in- cor|)orated in 17S3. The higher brandies of education are taught, and there are generally 3 or 4 instructors attached to the institution. The Academy stands on a commanding eminence, from which there is a fine and extensive prospect in almost every direction. This place is 41 miles east from Hartford, 30 west from Providence, 15 from Norwich, and 8 from Brooklyn. It is said that the first settlers located them- selves on the banks of a small stream, about 80 rods west of the Con- gregational church, and also on Black Hill,* situated between two and three miles to the northwest, near the Quinncbaug. A remarkable instance of healing took place in this town in 1743, in the case of Mrs. Mercy IVheclcr. The account was drawn up by the Rev. Benjamin Lord, A. JM., evidently with a great deal of care find * So called (it is saitl) from ils black appear.ince at the fust settlement of the town : the Indians were accustomed to burn it over every yeur, in order to make good pastur- age for deer. 436 p 1. A I N F I K r, n accuracy. The pamphlet contains the deposition of the physician (Dr. James Giraukl) and a number of respectable people, given under oath, certifying to the fact of her immediate healing. At the time, it was considered as an evident interposition of divine providence. Mrs. Wheeler was favored with good health till her twentieth year, in 17i*6, when she was seized with ti nervous fever, and was reduced to almost unexampled weakness of body, so that for about five years she could not turn her head on her pillow ; her speech failed, and her sight was very much impaired. After this she recovered in some little degree, though for sixteen years she was not able to lift up a foot to take a step. The account states, " that her ankle bones were exceedingly loose and separate, by reason of the long and great relaxation of the nerves and tendons, that she could in no wise lilt them up and use them, as per- sons are want to do, that yet have no strength to walk without help : yea, so loose and separate were they, that a string must sometimes he used about her feet and ankles, to keep her feet in any proper i)ositioii, as she lay in the bed. And also, her knee bones were so weak and loose, that after she was able to turn herself in bed, she sometimes put them out in doing this." I\Irs. Wheeler being of a pious disposition of mind, a sermon, at her retjuest, was occasionally preached at her la- ther's house. It was on one of these occasions, (.May i23th, 17'l.j,) that she experienced her great deliverance. i\Ir. Lord was the minis- ter who preached the sermon at the time she was healed. The ac- count states : —