Connecticut Historical Collections

* This was near the foot of the mountain, on the principal road whicli pa.sses through the lowu from Enfield to Statibrd. 70 i51 S O JI F. 1{ S . tn.Ks when clnn?.r wr,s apprc-Iu..uleci. Bin ,i(. pennaiuml scuK-.uc.,. was inn.Ie nni,l I /l.{ wlicn L.lwaid Jvibho, .hinies Pease, Timnil.v Knot, ;„ul Jolui M'Gn-oiv Uii]i I heir aim les joined With Jones, and made a dniable .selilemenl. Soot, alier Several other laimi.e.s became re.idenis in the town, by the names of Hoilon, KiUam Wood. Collins, Citlron, Davis feexton, Parsons, Blood, Purchase, Jioekuood, Fell and Fisjc 1 heir hist pastor was the Rev. Samuel Allis, who wa> ordained in March 17"7 hi 1/dl, the General Court of Massachusetts meuiporaled the society as a imvn*'by the JUtme ol .^;Hi"--rs It is snid to have been thus named at the request of Gov. Belcher, in lioiior ol J^ord bomers, (oi- whom he had a nciuli pect and veneration, ol Connecticut, in 17'19. The fVcst view of Somen-, {central jxirt.) The above is a view of tlie coiitial part of the town, where the two ' principal roads intersect each other at right angles. The principal vil- lage is situated on a street rLiuning east an.l west, and extending about a mile. Ihe building on the exticnie right is ilje IMoihodist church, recently erected: there are perhaps 30 or 10 (hvcHiiig liouses within ball a mile ol this biiihhng: the Congregaln.nal ( lunch is about half a mile to the north. 'J'here are in the village 4 or 5 mercantile stores, and one eslabhshmenf, owned by Ebenezcr Clark, Esq. for the manu- facttire ol_ ladies' straw bonnets, being, it is believed, the only one of the kind in ihe state. At present about 30 hands are employed, and about 100 hats manufactured daily. Part of the material, or straw, of which they are formed, is imported from abroad. iAIr. Clark commen- ced the manulacture of these hats or bonnets about six years since. I lever pu ilhs. 'Phi ly, which •A ol' the fevc llhMl his inwii. Ji bii^an about tlie first kiiess had been immediately preceded ied oil' a number. Thirty six persons bout one in twenty nine of the \\'hole " In Ihe year 1775, a maliMia of Au-ust, and ra^'ed ihrec m, by the scarlet fever and dyseni died tliat year, most of whom d,L-u oi me lever, aoout one m twenty nine of the wh^ number ol inhabilants in the town. It seized its patients wiih jrrcat violence, and 1 quently bron-ht l,(e to a close by the ei-iith dav, and sometimes as eariv as the sixth J rarely hilled ol attaclcm- every per.son m the house where it entered, in its early stages. The people m -eneral were filled with i,Meat consternation. Nurses were procured with great dillichy, and, m soo.e instances, the sick must have sutfered, if recourse had not been had ,o Ic.al eon ,■,„„." '^ The scen.s of distress which operled among he sick and dymg, can be lemembcied by lis who Mere eye witnesses, but can- not be descrdjed." ' Dr. Tninibull s T A F F n n D . r,55 The followiiif; inscription is on Dr. IJackus's nionuniont, in llio jsnnc yard by the Congre^^ational ciiurch. Sacreil to tlic mfiiiory of Rev. Ciiaui.k.s I^ackis, who died Dec. 30lli, IbOj, /I'.lat. 51. As ;i minister of Cliiist, he laitlilully dechiied his counsel, and was wise lu win souls loCJod. As an ecclesiaslical counseiur he uiisskilllnl : and as a thcolo-,'ieal jniMeptor, he was deservedly celebraled. As an llnsbaml, Fallier and Friend, he has tew e(inals, ami iierhaps luj su|)eiiLns. ' He expired, lepealui-^' ihe anijelic son-, Lulce -Jd, llih, Glory lo Gjd in the lii^liest, and on caidi peace, yooil wiU tow aids men. S T A F F O l{ 1) . St,vffoi{T) is divided into two societies, or parislies, StaHord and West Stalibrd. It is l)ouiukul n. by the Alassacluisetts line, \v. by Soniers, s, by l^llini^ton tinil VVillini^ton, and k. by Union. It is about H^ miles in lenj^ah iioin euot to west, and upwards of six in breadtii. The face of the country in StalFord is billy, and in U'cst Slafi;)rd mountainous, aboimding with i)rimiiiv'e rocks. The prevailin^^ soil is a ^M-avelly loam, hard and dry, generally favorable for grass. Ml I I II iTTm I,! riSK ^'^.f^M m. l\or(hivvst view uf Stajjont jMiiicni/ Spring.^ Jlotcl. This town was surveyed in 17IH;aiiil iissr'iilenu'iu was commenced in thcspiingof tlie lullowiiif,' year. The piincipal selilers were twelve in nnmlur. Two of iirem, Robert White and Matthew Thompson, were Ironi Juirope. Samuel and .luhn War- ner were iVom iladley ; l^annjl ami Josiah Cloib^ei, Irom Wolniin: Cornelius Davis, from itaverhijl; Daniel Colburn, from Deilhnm ; John Pasco, iKim Mnlicid ; Josiah' Standish, from I'resion; Joseph Oreut, from Weymouth ; and lienjamm itockwell, from Windsor. 'I'he first minister, INIr. (iiaham, was settled in IT'.'IJ. There are several minerals in the town, of which iron ore is the most important. Several mines of it have been oiiened. The ore which is principally used is the bog ore, and is of an excellent quality. In 177;>, Mr. John Phelps and others built a blast fiuitace on a large scale. Hol- low ware, cannon, cannon shot, and a great variety of pjitterns lijr nian- ufacturersj and other descriptions of machinery, were cast. In 1790, 55G UNION. • another furnace was erected by INIr. Nathaniel Hyde and company. This, also, is upon au extensive scale. Tiie mineral springs in Stafford have justly acquired considerable celebrity. They are situated upon a stage road, between Hartford uud Boston, six miles from Tolland court house, and '2-1 miles from Hartford. The view show3 the appearance of the hotel, and most of the other buildings connected witii the establishment, as viewed from the stage road which passes by, a few rods to the north. The principal spring rises behind the building nearest the hotel, on the banks of a stream, one of the branches of the Willimantic river. There is another spring a few rods westward. Tlie Indians first made the settlers acquainled wiili the virtues of these springs, when, in ihe year 17111, this part of the coiuury began to be stttled. " It has been llieir practice, time immemorial, to resort to them in the warm season, and plant their wig- wams round them. Tiiey recommended the water as an eye water; but gave, as tiieir own particular reason tor driiiliintr it, that it enlivened their spirits." It is said, thai in 17t)G, these springs were careCully e.vainincd by IJr. "Warren, who then had thuughts oC purchasing the land on which they rise, with a view of establishing himsell' upon it. Subsequent events transformed tiie piiysieian into a soldier, and Dr. Warren tell in the first great struggle of the Itevoluiioii, with the rank of a major general, at the battle of Hunlcer'shill. Dr. Willaid afterwards put Ur. Warren's plan into operation, by building a large hotel lor the reixpiitJii ol jiatienls and others. The establishment is at present owned by Mr. Jasper Hyde, and its furnier reputation is lidly sustained, and it is a place of much resort for the purposes of health or pleasure during the sum- mer season. — " There are two distinct s|)rings, the medical qualities of which are con- sidered as e.ssentially dilleient. (Jne ot them contains a solution of iion, sustained by carbonic acid gas, a portion of marine salt, some eartldy sub-stances, and what has been called natron, or a native alkili. Thisspiing has been known and used for a length of time, and has been pronounced by chemists to be one of the most eflicaciuus chalybeate springs in the United States. The other spring, the medicinal virtues of which were not known till about the year 1810, contains, according to the opinion of Professor Silliman, (who examineil it in that year,) a large portion of hydrogen gas, of sulphur, and a small proportion of iron.'' — " These springs did not ac<)uire uiuch celebrity until about the year 1705, when a case occured calculated to establish and extend their reputation. It was an etfectual cure of a most obstinate cutaneous com- plaint which had completely baliled all medicinal skill, and resisted all other applica- tions. The nubliciiy which was given to this case soon laiscil the re()Ulation of these springs; and a conseciuence of which they iminediatcly became a place ot lesurt of persons alllietcd with various di.->ea.-5cs." UNION. "The settlement of this town begun in 1727. The first and princi- pal settlers were \Villiam McNall, John Lawson, and James Sherrer, from Ireland. The progress of the settlement appears to have been slow, and the town was not incorporated till 1734. It is bounded n. by the Massachusetts line, w. by Stafford, e, by Woodstock, and s. by Ashford. Its length is between five and six miles from north to south, and its breadth averages about the same distance. The central part of the town is about 33 miles northeasterly from Hartford. "The surface of this town is broken, being hilly and rocky, and the soil generally unproductive. IMashapaug pond in this town is a beau- tiful expanse of water, and covers an area of about SOO acres. The population of Union in 1830 was seven hundred and eleven. "This town," says Pease and Niles's Gazetteer, " furnishes a striking example of the inequality and injustice of the principle of representation in this state, and of the prevalence of ilie ' borough system' of England. Union, with a population of 752, and with a list of 17,000 dollars, lias an equal representation with i\e\v Haven, which has a population of more than 7,000, and a list of 133.000 dollars; having more than nine limes the inhabitants of Union, and paying nearly eight times the amount of taxes; and upon a more just principle of taxation, the dif- ference in this respect would be more conspicuous." VERNON Southwestern view of Vernon, [central part.)