Connecticut Historical Collections

tract upon which the river was encroacliing, found after a while some of liis land appearing on tlie opj>osiie side of ihe river, and accordingly laid claim to it. His claim was disputed, as he never owned land on t/int side of the river. It was a long lime before this case was decided. There appeared some dillicnlty in making the jury who sat on the case understand the merits of the question. Mr. Ingcrsoll, a relative of the Ingersoll family in New Haven, was the counsel (Muployed by iMr. But- ler. He illustrated the case, by supposing that IMr. H. had built a cas- tle on the land in question. Although tin.' ground on which it stood might be overtlovved, yet still it was his castle, and also the groimd on which it stood, and he had a right to his property wherever he could find it. The case was finally decided in accordance with these views. — The ancient fort referred to by the letter/", stood at the south end of the gar- den belonging to Frederick Buller, Esq, ; some of the foundation stones are still reuiaining. In April, 1G37, a party of I'ecjuots "waylaid the ))eo|)le at Welhersfield, as ihey were gcving into the ti(;l(!s to labor, and killed six men and I luce women. 'J\vo maids were taken ca[)live. Besides this ihey killed twenty cows, and did other damage to the in- habitants." Tiie place where these two young women were taken cap- tive was about '10 rods east of Mr. liuller's house : one of the young wo- men tliat were taken was of the name of Swain. — It will be ])erccived that a place on the iliagram, on the Hartford road, is designated by the word " F'olly." A S(nall stream here passes the road, which has wash- ed down a considerable depth into the clayey soil. This is commonly called " JVttliersfitld Folhj ;'''' it is believed, however, the projier term would be " f'Vcthersfitld JVisdom.'" It was occasioned by draining a large tract of land (now valuable, which extended up a considerable dis- tance towards Hartford,) of water accumulated by the melting of snow and ice, and rains, which rendered it of little or no value. This place has long been celebrated for the great quantities of onions which are raised here annually, and exported to \arious parts of the United Slates and the West Indies. The cuhivalinp of this root re- quires hut a small |)ortion of land, ami the labor is iirincipally pcrforr;ied by females. The State Prison of Connecticut was erected in this town in 1826, and the prisoners from Newgate Piison in Cranhy were removed here the next year. This building is situated on the south margin of the Cove, wd)ich sets back from Connecticut river, at the north end of Welh- ersfield village. The buildings of the prison form very neaily a quad- rangle ; on the south side of which stands the building which is more properly the Prison. The apartments of the warden are situated in the east end of this building; the center surrounds the block of cells, 4 stories high, in uiiich the male prisoners are locked up. This hall or center, is 154 feet long, '13 feet wide, and 30 feet high ; the number of cells or night rooms is 'JOO. 'I'he west end is used as the female de- partment, (superadded in 1330,) containing cells, rooms for labor, kitchen and apartments for the (natron. The east, north, and west sides of this quadrangle, are formed by a wall i20 feet high. "Within this yard are situated two ranges of shops; one on the east side, and one upon the W E T II E U S F I E L D . 115 State Prison, at TVethcrsfield. west, in wliicli the convicts perform their daily labor. The passage into the prison is through the warden's apartment, into the guard room, thence into the hall surrounding the cells, thence into the yard. This is the only passage, except through a large gate on the north side of the yard. Rocky Hill, (formerly Stepney,) the south parish of Wethersfield, lies on a collection of hills, which are a continuation of the Middletown range : one of these eminences, Rocky Hill, has given name to the pa- rish. It has a pleasant little village, on an elevated situation, seven miles from Hartford, with a landing at some distance, where considera- ble commerce and ship building were formerly carried on. Newington, the 2d society in Wethersfield, was formerly called Cow plain. The village is pleasantly situated in a fertile valley, west of Ce- llar mountain ; the central part is (J miles from Hartford, and 4 froin Wethersfield village. The iidiabitants (about 650 in number) are chiefly engaged in agriculture, and are distinguished for their general intelligence, and attachment to the institutions of morality and religion. There are two houses of public worship: 1 Congregational and 1 iNIeth- odist. Newington was settled about 140 years since, by five men from Wethersfield, three of whom were of the name of And;ews, who erect- ed their house near the center of the place. The two others were ot the names of Sled and Huun. Sled built his house where the Academy now stands, and Hunn located himself in the north part of the place. One of the Andrews built his house a few rods south of the Congrega- tional church. This house was used for some 'time as a fort, around which they built a high wall or fence to defend it frotn the Indians. Here they all lodged at night, with their guns in their hands. The In- dians were very nunierous, and lived principally around a pond in the center of the place, from which they obtained an abundance of fish. Here was a little city or village of wigwams. These Indians were ever friends to the whiles; Sequin was their sachem: they were subject to the sachem at Middletown.— The Rev. Elisha Williams was ordained 116 W E T II E R S r I E L D , the first minister in October, 1722, who removed in 1726, hein,!Z chosen Rector of Yale CoHej^e. He was succeeded by the Rev. Simon Back- us, who died at Cape Breton in 17-15, beini; a cliaphiin in tlie army in that expedition. — The followini,' pleasant and unusnal circnmsiance is said to liave taken place in I\e\vin;^ton, many years since. jMr. A ■ of this place, who was a very religions and consciemious man, married for a wife one of the most ill naiured and troublesome women which could be found in the vicinity. This occasioned universal surprise wherever he was known, and one of his neighbors ventured to ask hinri the reasons which governed his choice. Mr. A re))lied, that hav- ing had but little or no trouble in the world, he was fearful of becoming too much attached to things of time and sense. And he thought by expe- riencing some afflictions, he should become n)ore weaned bom the world, and that he married such a woman as he thought would accomplish the object. The best part of the story is, that the wife, hearing of the rea- sons why he married her, was much onbnded, and out of rtvc^igc, be- came one of the most pleasant and duiifid wives in the town, declaring that she was not going to be made a ^^rtt/j horse, to carry her husband lo heaven. ii| M, mm kM mmm JVebb House, in fVcihersficUl. The above is a view of the '' ^Vebb House,'' formerly so called. It is now occupird by Martin Welles, Esq. It is situated a few rods south of the Contrregalional cinirch, in the central part of the village of Weth- ersficld, and is distinguished as the house wliere Gen. Washington made his quarters while in ^Vetbersfield, durins: the council of general ofTicerii of the American and French armies. Within its walls, it is believed that the plan was matured, which resulted in the capture of Cornwallis at Yorktown, and the establishment of American independence. The following account of the blnndy tragedy of the luurder of the Beadle family in this town, is annexed to a sermon preached by the WETHEHS FIELD. 117 Rev. John IMarsli in Wethersfield, Dec. 13th 1782, at the funeral of 'Mrs. Beadle and her children. ^' A letter from a gentleman in Wethersfield to his friend, conlaininj^ a narrative of the life of William Beadle, (so far as it is known,) and ihe piiriicular.', of the mas- sacre of himself and Family."