Connecticut Historical Collections

flth March, n-ll-, a committee apiioinieil lo cousnli wuh, some of the neighboring ministers, and wiih their advice appoint a day of lasiing and piaycr, and notify the mhabitanis thereof. Sept. 21, 17-19.— Voted, I hat the llcv. Mr. Marsh have his choice of any pew in the meeting house, for to accouiinodate his lainily to sit in uu ihc Loid's day, and at other times. N E W INI 1 L F ORD. New iMiLFORT), tlie largest town in teniloii;il exlcnl in Conncclicut, is ill the southwestern extremity uf the county. It is bounded n. by Kent, F.. by W^asbinifton, Roxbury ami Soiithbury, s. by Newtown and Brookfield, and w. by New Fairtield and Sherman. It has an avera<.,'e len!,ah of 13 miles, and an avera^^e breadth of (j.h miles, com prising an area of 84 square miles. The townsbii) is hilly and broken, several mountainous ridges extending through it. " The soil is much diversi- fied, and where susceptible of cultivation, it is generally good; but on the whole more distinguished for grain than grass. There are, bowever, large (juantilies of excellent meatlow groiiiul, but the pasturage is, on the whole, not abundant. It is esseiilitilly a fiirming town. Large quantities of grain are annually raised. 'I'ho township is centrally in- lerseclt'd by the llousatonic : two liiaiulies ul" the Ashpctuck, Rocky and Still rivers, with other streams, enter the Housaionic in this town, alFording numerous excellent mill seats. On Second hill, in the eastern part of the town, fiom two to ibree miles from the central village, are inexhaustible quantities of granite of a superior quality. There are also a number of extensive marble quarries in the town. The batting bu- siness is carried on to some extent in Bridgewatcr society. There are 9 bouses of worship in the town, 2 Congregational, 2 Episcopal, 2 Bap- tist, 2 Methodist, and 1 for Friends or (Quakers. ■ The following ancient bistory of the town of New ]\Iilford, is ex- tracted from Rev. Stanley Griswold's sermon, delivered at New j\lil- ford, January lib, 1801, which was by a vote of the town entered on their records. For these extracts, with some additional notes and other valuable information, the author is indebted to the Hon. David S. Boardman, of New ftlilfoid. * "The town of New JMilford was purcbascd of the colony of Con- necticut, by a company of individuals, chiefly belonging to IMilford, in this state: lience the name it received, New IMilford. Tins purchase N K \V M I L F 0 R D . 475 was made in the j-oar 1703, about 93 years ago.* Afterwards an ad- ditional purcliaie was nuuie, which luriDs the northern extremity of (he town, and was called the north purchase. This was made in the }'ear \l-2-2. This town is now, ] believe, the largest in territorial limits of any town in the state, and formerly was somewhat longer than it is at present. A part of it was set off on the south end, west of the river, to help form the town of Brookfield. Another part was set off on the northeast corner, to help form the town of Washington. Still, as it now remains, the longest right line through it from northeast to southwest is not far from 20 miles. f " The first settlement that was made in .this town by civilized ]ieo- ple, was in the year 1707 ; so that New Milford has now been settled about 93 years. At that time a considerable number of the natives inhabited here, of whom there were reckoned about 200 warriors. They dwelt chiefly along the intervale l)y the river, a part of which intervale is to this day called Indian Field ;J and several of their bu- rial grounds are yet to be seen in various parts of the town. , Their graves are of a circular form, and the persons were buried sitting up, as in a natural position, on tlie ground. For some time after the white people came here, an Indian chief or sachem, named JVerauhainaug,\\ had a palace standing near the Great falls, where he resided. On the inner walls of this j)alace, (whicli were of bark with the smooth side inwards,) were pictured every known species of beast, bird, fish and insect, from the largest down to the smallest. This was said to have been done by artists whom a friendly prince at a great distance sent to him for that purpose, as Hiram to Solomon. In this jjalace. the fore- mentioned chief was visited by the Rev. Mr. Boardman, first n):nister of this town, during his last sickness, and at his death. Mr. Boardman })as left in manuscript, a minute and circumstantial account of his labors with the sachem to enlighten him in right Christian doctrines, as also the singular, rude, and abusive behavior of the other natives on the oc- * This tract w^is cnlled fVeanlinngne. The original purchasers and proprietors were lOD in number, '.)'.) of whom were purchasers of whole rights, and 10 of half rights: 24 shillings was the purchase of a whole, and IC shillings of a half right. No individual had originally more than one riy'ht. The first division of land was granted in December, 1700, and was a home lot of 7 and a half acres and 10 acres for pasture. Tiie 2d division was in May, 1712, of two lots of '10 acres each upon a right; ten other divisions were granted before 17G0. New Milford first sent representatives to the General Assemiily iu 172,'j. It was the second town settled in the county. Woudbury was the first. t About 18 miles. t On the west bank of the river, opposite the village. II He was so considerable a personage as to liave reserved, as his hunting ground, a considerable part of the present society of New Preston, wliich always, until the in- corporation of the town of Washington, of which ii is a part, was called Rnumaug, after the original proprietor, dropping for convenience sake, the prefix vc. I jiave often seen the grave o( this chief in the Indian burying ground, at no gieat distance from his place of residence ; distinguished, however, only by its more ample dimen- sions, from the surrounding graves, out of many of which large trees are now gi-(jwing. There is a similar burving ground on the west side of the river, opposite to and in sight of our village, (New Milford,) on the bluff, bounding the Indian field, so called, and contiguous to Fort Hill, the site of the last Indian fortress known to have e.xistcd in this town. , / 476 N r w M 1 1, F o n D . casion ; from whence it appears that few or none of those people, (the sachem excepted,) were dispQsed at that lime to emhrace Cyhristluiiity : and so far as those people in this town and its neiyhhorhood were ever converted to the Clirisiian religion, it was a consideiable time after- wards, by the Moravian missionaries. Count J^//ic:c7u/o/y himself came to tliis town and preached here. After the conversion of the natives by the Moravians, they quitted their settlements here on religious ac- counts, and removed to Bethlem, in Pennsylvania, where the brethren of that communion chiefly resided. But finding it very unhealthy for ihem there, and a large number dying, the remnant removed back again, where they have lived and gradually dwindled ever since,* The natives had stmdry fortresses, or military stations, in and al)out this town, to guard against attacks from distant tribes. Some spots in the town bear an J\lou!itc(in,\ ^i-c. " It has been saiil that nil the tribes along by lliis river, (Vum its source to ihe sea, were in striel alliance and fiiendbliip; and iliat liy means of certain sounds made oa their guarding heij^his, an alaini might bespread in the space of three liours, through tiie whole line uf tribes, a disiance of near -JOl) miles. The natives were generally very liiendly, and serviceable to the lust settlers of this town, by defending them from iKi^tile attacks, and by supplying lliem with such provisions as they could furnish. They hail several reserves ul land made for Iheir accommodation in and aboui the town, as lor a considerable lime the Indian fuld, so called, the place once called Rau- maijg, (from the name ol' the sachem before niciiiioned,) now in the parish of New Presioii ; the Great J'aU.<, which they reserved for the fisiiing of lampreys ; and la.->ily, the place uhere they now reside, called Scaiacook. The two former they sold many years since, the two latter they still own. But their number has ever been diminish- ing since the neighborhood of the white people, and at this time they are reduced to a mere hindl'ul. So much for the natives. " The first white settler who came to this town was John Noble, from VVestfield, state of Massachusetts, who came here in the year 1707. He brought with him at first one of his daughters, then about eight years old. He first built him a hut under wliat is called Fort hill, but afterwards removed and pitched here, in the present center of the town. His house here was for some lime the last house on this side of Albany, ami Gen. Nicholson once lodged in it, in the wars un- der the reign of Queen Anne. It deserves to be mentioned, to the credit of the natives, that Mr. Noble once left his litthi daiighier here, 8 years old, alone with them, for the space of three or four weeks, while he was necessarily absent from the town, and on his return he found she had been well treated, and taken exceedingly good care of.