Connecticut Historical Collections

t The house which stands on the east side of the Episcopal church in East Haven, was built on the foundations of this house. G U I 1. F O 11 D . 209 GUILFORD. The Tnclian name for Guilford was Mtnunhadic. It is an ancient town, its settlement having commenced in 1639, the year after that in New Haven. "The principal planters were Meniy \Vhiifield, Robert Kitcher, William Leet, Samuel JJ)esborouL5h, ^Vil^lum Chittenden, John Risho[), and John Cassinge. The lands in Milford and Guilford, as well as in New Haven, were purchased by the principal men, in trust for all the inliahitants of the respective towns. LCvery planter, after paying his proportional part of tlie expenses, arising from laying out and settling the plantation, drew a lot or lots of land, in proportion to the money or estate which he had expended in the general purchase, and to the number of heads in his family. These principal men were judges in the respective towns, composing a court, to judge between man and man, divide inheritances and punish offenses according to the written word, until a body of laws should be established. Tlie pur- chasers of Guilford agreed with the Indians, that they should move off the lands which they had purchased. According to the agreement they soon all removed from the plantation. Tlie nuniber ot' the fu'st free l)lanters appears to have been about forty."* The following extract is from a history of Guilford, by Rev. Thomas Rug'des, in the -lih vol. of the Massachusetts Historical Collections. CO " II Cully apiH-ni-i ilial the piircli;ise from llie iialivi's was full, clt^ar, ami sati^factol■y: That the puiclia>c was niadu lur, and the [lurcliaseis acted in behalf of, the plaiiteis as well as theiiiseh'es; That ail divisiuiks of the puicliased land were made to the re.s- peciive planieis, in an e.vact prupurtion to the .sums they advanced in the purcha>in_;,' and seltlinjr ni ihe town : And ihai (he Imlians, inhaljiimg the (own, were to, ami ae- eordiii,^l> dhl i.inuve from .said lamL Where ihey wenf to i.s m-l ceriam : Tlie iia- diliun IS, thai tin v reuiuved to the wewlward, where tSranfurd and F.a.st Haven nuw are : So ihai iliere is noi une of llie oi ii,'iijal Jndiau-- belcinf,Mnf,' lo ilie louiiship. Fioiu Ai^ieomoelc oi I-a-,t river to Tu.xi^.^h()a,:,', (a puiii C0IiliJuuu^ lo f-'ast LJnillord meel- inq: liinise,) wa-i imrehased of Unea.s, saeheiu of the Molie^'an In(lian>.: lioni which it appears that the il.i.-l i iver wa,^ the we-tcrii limits of Unca.s's jiu l^dleU.m. The re- in,iinin:,' p.irl oiihi; lown, to 1 1 uiimoiiasset river, Mr. Fenwich, of Sayhroolc, ^ave to llie town on thi> condiliun, thai the planteis should accoinmudaie Mr. Whiifield I who was his pariiciilar friend) with land in the town, agreeable to his miml. There were some small purchases made of particular Indians, within the liiuils of the lown.-<liip, who claimed a right lo particular parts. " As soon as the purchase was completed, the. planters removed from New Haven, though it was almost winter, and settled them.-^elves at Guillbid. [low the planters coniiucled themselves until the year IGI3, docs not ap|)ear upon record ; only this, the lands were ielt in the hands of their si.\ puii;ha^eis, to whom ihe lii<liaiis gave the deed, as Iruslees, until a church should be gathered, into who^e hands ihey might commit the fee of ilie lam.!, to be pioperly divided amongst the |ilanlers. And \iliile they remained in this unsettled state, they cho^e four of the principal planters, to W'hom they gave the full e.xerci:^e ol'all civil power Ibr administering justice, and pre- serving the peace among the planters; whose j'ower was also to continue till the cliureh appeared in Ibim, when their power was to end. " As, therefore, so miieh depended on this, as soon as their w iklerness slate would admit, they did, in the month of Ajiril, 1U13, form themselves into a congregational cliuich, into whose hands llie purchasers of the land, and the persons invested with civil power, did actually, in a ibrmal manner, in writing, resign all their rights and authority unto the chui'cli gathered on ihatday. Presently alter this, the jdaniers, who were chielly church members, made regular divisions of all the lands, accord- ing to their respective shares, agreeably to their original covenant, and accoiding lo Dr. Trumbull. 27 210 GUILFORD. Iheir expenses and number in each family, (servants excepted.) But their divisions o( land were under two restrictions: Fiisi, that no one should put into stock more than £r)Ol), without liberty: And, 2. That no person should sell or alien, in any manner, or purchase the share, or any part thcreol', allotted to another, without express liberty from the community. The last article was sti icily observed, which proved highly beneficial to the town, by preventing persons engrossing too much land; and sundry persons who presumed to violate this agreement were punisheii by fines and whipping. As this jilaiiiaiion was connected with iVew Haven, the inhabitants carefully adhered to tlie^ agreement made in Mr. Newman's barn, in all their affairs, religious and civil. " The jilauiers, finding civil government absolutely necessary for their subsistence, eslalilishrd a systein, as nearly as they could, conformed to the grants from the lords Sav and Broolc to Mr. Eaton and company. Their form of government was some- thing singular. Like that at New Haven, it was a pure aristocracy, yet modeled and exercised in a peculiar way. They had one mafristrate, who was Mr. Samuel Desbo- rt)w, allowed them as a part of New Haven colony, of which he was one of the assist- ants and council, who was their head, and invested with the whole executive and ju- dicial power. But the planters were allowed to choose, annually, tliree or four depu- ties to sit with liim, in judging and awarding punishments in all civil causes, in courts held by him, called General Courts. The inhabitants were divided into classes, or orders, by ihe names of freemen and planters. 1'he freemen consisted of all the church members who partook of the sacrament, and no others were admitterl. They were all under oath agreeably to their plan of government. Out of this number were those deputies, and all public officers, chosen; and by them was managed all public business that was vvas regarded either interesting or honoral)le. Tlie second class in- cluded all the inhabitants of the town, who composed their tnwn-meetings, .which were stvled, einphatically, General Courts. It is however required, that they should be of age, (twenty one years,) and have a certain estate, to qualify them to act in said meetings. In these town meetings, or general courts, all divisiuns of land were lim- ited and established, and all the bye r)r peculiar laws, for the well ordering the planta- tion, were made And, in general, all tran.sgressions of the town laws, relating to the buying or selling land, were punished, and fines and stripes were imposed and execu- ted, according to the nature of the offense, by the judgment of the said judicial court. Besides these general assemblies of the planters, and the said magistraics' court, they appointed paiticular courts for the administration of justice, much like our justices' courts at present. These were held (piarterly through the year. The magistrate presided in these courts, and deputies were annually chosen to sit in council with him, in these courts also, by the freemen, l.ike New Haven, tliev had no juries in any trial; their deputies, in some measure, supjtlied that defect. From this court lay ap- peals, in allowed ca.ses, to the court of assistants nt New Haven. The said Mr. Sam- uel Desboirnv was the first magistrate who held the courts. In general, their judge- ment was final and decisive. Town ofiicers were annually chosen, viz. marshals, "a secretary, surveyors of highways, &c. much in the jiresent manner. Military order and discipline were soon established, and waich and ward were kept, dav and night, under a very strict charge; and the punishmenls lurdefanlis, in Ihisduty, were very severe and exactly executed. Many of the hiutses were foriilied with palisadoes, set deep in the ground. And a guaid of soldiers, under a projier ollicer, was appointed every sabbath, in time of public worship, that no enemy might surprise Ihem, and this was continued manyyeais. All the laws, orders, and regulations were entered at large upon the town records. " The Rev. Mr. Henry Whitfield, who led forth this little flock into the wilderness, was their lirst pastor and minister. He had been episcopally ordained in England. No mention is made on record, or by tradition, of any ordination of him here. As Ihe members of his church came with him, and were his cure in England, gathering the church here seems to have been only matter of form, arising from place and local distance, on their removal; but he exercised his ministerial autluuily in the same manner, and by the same authority, he had done in England. Neither minister, church, or people, were ever dissenters or separater.s from the church of England, only bv local remove from the realm. The minister and church were as truly such in Guilford as in England; All Avhich rights, powers, and privileges remain to this day; and to depart from its communion, from any pleas of the professors of the church of England, are unreasonable, and without good foundatidn. Like the church in New Haven, they required a relation of experiences of members on their admission info the church. " Mr. Whitfield, their pastor, was a well bred gentleman, a good scholar, a great divine, and an excellent pieacher. He was jiroperly the father of the plantation. H"; loved his flock tenderly, and was extremely Icjved by them. He was possessed of a large estate, and by far the richest of any of the planters; all of which he laid out GUILFORD. 21 1