Connecticut Historical Collections

During the first ten years after their settlement, the inhabitants were deprived from hearing the gospel regularly preached. In 1689, the Rev. Jeremiah Peck, senr. of Greenwich, was unanimously invited by the residents to settle with them in the ministry ; and as inducements, they voted him the house and lot which they had already provided for a minister, a propriety of £150, and the full benefit of all the divisions which had been granted therein. A salary of £60 per annum was also voted him, fifty of which was to be paid in provisions and ten in wood. INIr. Peck accepted the call, anil coniiiuiod his ofilcial duties until a short period before his death, which occuned in June, 1699, at the age of 77 years. Mr. John Jones ofilciated for a short time during his decline, and subsequently IMr. John Reed preaclied occasionally — was invited to settle, but declined. In the latter part of the year 1699, Mr. John Southmayd, of IMiddletown, was invited to take charge of the congregation, but on account of the Indian disturbances at this pe- riod, and tlie deranged condition of the town, he was not ordained until May, 1705. At tlie time of the settlement of Mr. Peck, the number- of families was thirty, and about one hundred and fifty inhabitants, 7 of whom (males) were members of the church. The number of mem- bers had now increased to 12, but the number of inhabitants remained about the same. The salary granted to Mr. Southmayd was £60 a year, fifiy payable in provisions and ten in wood, at the following rates; wheat 5s., rye 3s., corn '2s. 6d. ])er bushel, and pork 3d. per pound ; Avlth this pioviso, that those who })aid in money should have a deduc- tion of one third — this reducing the salary to £40. Rev. Mark Leav- enworth, succeeded Mr. Southmayd. He was ordained in 1740, and died in 1797, at the age of 86 years, and in the 58th year of his minis- try. When the simplicity of manners which prevailed at that period is taken into consideration, the gloomy circumstances of the country, and the number and abilities of the inhabitants, the salaries of the two first clergymen in Walerbury were much larger than those paid at the pres- ent day. The first house for jjublic worship erected in Waterbury, stood upon the site recently occupied !)y the Congregational meeting house. It was a small building, and continued without gallery or glazing until 1716, when the siun of £15 was appropriated for its completion. The con- gregation assembled there until 1726, when tlie town voted to build a new house, 50 feet by 40. Lieut. John Hopkins, Sergt. John Scovil, Isaac Bronson, deacon Thomas Hickox, and Thomas Clark, were ap- W A T K K B U R Y . 263 pointed a committee to superintenii its erection. This was indeed a great undertaking ; for tradition says that at the time the house was commenced, all the inhabitants of the town, men, women and children, might have been seated upon its sills. By extraordinary exertions funds were raised by donations, contributions, he. so that the house was in such a state of forwardness that the congregation were seated in 17'29 — the gallery was finished the following year, which completed an object so dear to the hearts of our worthy forefathers. Liberal grants in lands were from time to time made by the State's committee, in conjunction with the original proprietors of the town, to provide for the preaching of the gospel and the establishment and main- tenance of elementary schools, amply adequate, it is believed, had iho property been discreetly managed by their descendants, to have defray- ed to this day the salaries of the ministers, and the expenses of the common schools throughout the town. But after the town was cut u[) into different societies,* a diversity of interests was created ; the lands were mostly sold, the payments became the sources of wearisome liti- gation, and a change of times, added to occasional bankruptcies of debtors, swallowed up the avails, thereby defeating the praiseworthy in- tentions of our ancestors. As an example of the solicitude entertained by the original settlers upon the subject of education, and which like- wise lays open their embarrassed circumstances, the town, in 1698, " Votcd^ to set uj) a school four months or more, and the committee ai'e to endeavor to get a schoolmaster to teach writing as well as reading." Until the peace with the French and Indians in 1713, the dwellings of the inhabitants were restricted to the town center ; the men going into the meadows and places adjacent to labor during the day, and re- turning to their families at night. The menacing attitude of the Indians kept the settlement in a perpetual stale of alarm. Two or more of the citizens were ordered by the government of the State to act in rotation daily, as scouts to make discoveries and prevent surprise. Sentinels were also placed ui)on the high grounds in the vicinity to watch for the safety of the people. About the year 1707, a small party of Indians made a descent from the north to make reprisals from the English. As- cending a high hill opposite ]Mount Taylor to make discoveries, they espied one Jonathan Scott and his two sons in Handcock's IMeadow. The old gentleman was seated under an oak tree near the bank of the river, eating his dinner, his sons a little distance from him. The In- dians approached the whole imperceived, and took IMr. Scott by sur- prise ; the boys got oiF out of the way. But by threatening the life of the father unless he recalled his sons, he reluctantly obeyed, when they were all three secured and taken to Canada. IMr. Scott and his eldest son, Jonathan, were afterwards redeemed and returned home ; but the youngest became attached to the Indians and refused to return. To prevent Mr. Scott from escaping or offering resistance, they took off his right thumb. Another attack was made by the Indians, in 1710, * The socieiy uT Westbiny (now 'VVatertouii) was made a separate .suciely iifllT^l) ; Norllibury (now J ymoulli) in 1740; Middlebury, aboiU 17'JO. ' / 264 W A T E R B u n V . upon the inhabitants of AVaterhiu-y and Simsbury, in which an inhabit- ant of the former by the name of llolt, was killeil on Mount Toby, and several people of the latter. As early as April, 1700, the town \oteJ ,to fortify Ensiijn Timothy Stanley's hoase, which stood a little west ol the academy ; men and boys, with teams — all who were able to work, to go about it the next day. And in June, 1707, the town, considering the troubles and fears arising from the liostile disposition of the enemy, agreed to lay aside cutting bushes till after Michaelmas, and go aboni finishing and repairing the forts. In 1703, the State gave the town £ 15 towards aiding in the construction of forts ; and the town agreed to build three forts, two at the expense of the State, and one at its own. The houses of Lieut. Timothy Stanley, John Hopkins and INIr. South- mayd were desij^nated for that purpose. They were accordingly forti- fied by stockades, or timbers set up endwise firmly in the ground, with- an opening for a gate, to pass and repass. Frail as was this defense to any enemy but a savage, the inliabitants for years were glad to avail themselves of the nightly protection which these feeble fortifications afforded. These perpetual troubles, and the necessity of a constant system of military discipline, made our forefathers a martial people, and even the humblest of military honors were held in high estima- tion. The highest military dignitary known among them, was that ol lieutenant; but great ileference was paid to sergeants — hence the early records abound witli titles of that grade. Their descendants may smile at the simplicity of their ancestors, but the same circumstances combin- ed would probably produce precisely the same effects upon their own minds. In times of war, danger and distress, honors are awarded by the people to those whom they think possess ability and integrity, and honors which are conferred with such motives, carry with them some- thing more than empty names. The drum was then an important in- strument; it sounded the alarm in time of danger; it summoned the inhabitants to the fortified houses at night, and roused them from their slumbirs in the morning. It also gave the signal for firing the woods to increase the food for the cattle, and to call the inhabitants to their de- votions upon the Sabbath. Besides the Indian wars, and the ordinary difficulties which attend all new settlements, the inhabitants were visited by two calamities du- ring the first thirty five years, unparalleled in the subsequent history of the town. In February, 1691, the alluvial lands bordering upon the Naugatuc, upon which was their chief dependence, were almost ruined by a Hood. The river, by rains and melting of the snows, rose to a prodigious height, far beyond any instance of the kind since known, washing away the soil in many places, and covering the remainder with gravel and stones to a degree whicli rendered it unfit for inmie- diaie use. The weather had been previously warm, the frost came out of the ground, leaving the arable part an easy prey to the raging cle- ment. This imtovvard misfortune had so depressing an eflect upon the inliabitants that many were discouraged, and abandoned their posses- sions forever. The consequence was, that in 1709, the population va- ried but little from that of 1691, eighteen years before. The Wads- W A T E R li u n Y . 2G5 worth manuscript says, that in 1694 " Watcrbury was a small town, though very compact. It contained twenty five faaiilies." In October, 1712, the town was visited by a great and mortal sickness, which raged without abatement, until September, 1713. During its prevalence, the number of well persons was insuflicient to provide foiand attend the sick, and to bury the dead. About thirty individuals died of the fever, and this out of a population of about two hundred.