The Romance of Norwalk

Daniel Patrick didn’t pay cash for all of his land; he charged some of it, craftily inserting in his deed to the Indians a paragraph that certain articles would be turned over to the redskins “when shipps come.” There was cer¬ tainly no crime in owing part of the purchase price. The only trouble was that when the first of the month came 24 ROMANCE OF NORWALK around and it was time to pay up, Mr. Patrick wasn’t to be found. As a consequence, July i, 1650, the first Norwalk settlers were forced to conclude the installments of Patrick’s purchase by turning over to the Indians, “twoe Indian coates and fowre fathom of wampum.” Two deeds were necessary. The first document represent¬ ing Patrick’s purchase from the Indians was as follows: INDIAN DEED TO CAPTAIN PATRICK “(Of the meadows and uplands, adjoininge, lyinge on the west side of Norwake River). “An agreement betwixt Daniell Patrick and Mahackem, and Naramake and Pemenate Hewnompom indians of Nor¬ wake and Makentouh the said Daniell Patricke hath bought of the sayed three indians, the ground called Sacunyte na- pucke, allso Meeanworth, thirdly Asumsowis, fourthly all the land adjoyninge to the aforementioned, as farr up in the cuntry as an indian can goe in a day, from sun risinge to sun settinge, and twoe islands neere adjoininge to the sayed car- antenayueck, all bounded on the west side with noewanton on the east side to the middle of the River of Norwake, and all trees, meadows, waters and naturell adjuncts thereunto belonginge, for him and his forever; for whith Lands the sayed indians are to receive of the sayed Daniell Patricke, of wampum tenn fathoms, hatchetts three, howes three, when shipps come; sixe glasses, twelfe tobackoe pipes, three knifes, tenn drills, tenn needles; this as full satisfaction, for the afore mentioned lande, and for the peaceable possession of which the aforementioned mahachemill doth promise and undertake to silence all opposers of this purchase, if any should in his time act to witnesse which, on both sides, hands are interchangeably hereunto sett, this 20th of Aprill, 1640. Witnesses, Tobi ffeap John How Marke, Mamechom Marke, Naromake Pomenate, his marke. PURCHASE OF NORWALK 25 The second document, “A Confirmation of Captain Pat¬ rick’s Purchase,” acquitted the settlers of any further obli¬ gation, in the matter of the Patrick purchase, upon pay¬ ment of the coats and the wampum. It was dated July 1, I65O. It will be noted by the foregoing deeds that Norwalk in those days was spelled either Norwalke or Norwake. In various other old records additional spellings may be found as: Northwalk or Norrwake. A common tradition is to the effect that the name Norwalk was derived from the word “north-walk” meaning a day’s walk from the sea into the country to the northern extent of the land purchased from the Norwalk Indians. This is untrue. The name, which in all probability was pronounced “Norruck” like Warwick with the second “w” silent, was in all likelihood, a perver¬ sion of the Indian name, Naromake or Naramake. Nara- make, whose name stands fourth, of the names on the deed, conveying land to Daniel Patrick, was a descendant of a chief of the same name, whose possessions were reduced by conquest to a very small territory. It was not long after Naramake had disposed of his lands to Captain Patrick that he went to Ridgefield and joined the Rampoo Indians. In 1708 he removed to the west and track of him was lost. It was a common habit among the Indians to name their villages after their chiefs and sachems, which habit was evidently observed in the case of Norwalk. Mamachimons, now known as Chimmons Island, and Chashenoes, now known as Cockenoe Island, still retain the names of those Indians, who sold them to the Norwalk settlers, but little changed. TRACES OF INDIANS HERE As far as can be learned from the meager records, the Indian city of Naramake was situated on Belden’s or Wil¬ son’s point, one mile south of the city of South Norwalk. East of the residence and property of the late Mrs. Wilson, who was once a Belden, which property is now occupied by 26 ROMANCE OF NORWALK Frank Clark at Wilson Point, is a plot of land several acres in size, usually known as Platt’s Meadow. Here the Norwalk Indian tribe built its wigwams, reared its children, held its councils. Fragments of stone hatchets, arrow heads and bits of earthenware, evidently laid there by human hands have been found from time to time. East of this is another plot of ground which must have been used by the Indians as the scene of their feasts, for beneath the surface, two to six feet under ground have been found the bones of animals and birds and oyster shells. Mrs. Helena Hill Weed of Wilson Point said that she discovered an oval mound of oyster and clam shells in her back garden, which looked like a grave. She dug a hole six feet deep through the shells but did not reach the bottom. This spot may have been used by the Indians as a feasting ground or it may have been a grave. On both sides of Valley Road, many pits filled with shells have been found and there has been evidence in recent years to support the theory that the road slopes were used as burying grounds. Eight or nine years ago, two Indian graves containing Indian skeletons, were discovered when laborers were digging gravel banks on the property of Zelda Sears, author, Woodland and Valley roads, Wilson Point. It was necessary to call the local medical examiner, the late Dr. Samuel H. Huntington, before the bones could be removed. Three years ago, in 1926, when a tank was being sunk for an oil burning furnace on the property of Mrs. Carrie Wrenn, mother of Charles Wrenn, artist, on Old Orchard ave., Wilson Point, three Indian skeletons were discovered. The workmen didn’t know into what they had put their shovels, and before they could be stopped, they had badly mutilated the skeletons and piled the bones of the two late chiefs on the ridge beside the trench where they were dig¬ ging. The third skeleton was not disturbed. This, an almost perfect specimen, was found carefully placed in a pit, almost circular in shape. Clam and oyster shells in several thicknesses lined the floor of the grave, banked the skeleton PURCHASE OF NORWALK 27 on all sides and covered it completely so that the corpse must have been practically encased in shells. Mrs. Wrenn had the two disturbed skeletons carefully reburied on the side of the terrace. She said that had they not been so damaged, she would have sent them up to Yale University for study. Sometime later, when Mrs. Wrenn was digging in her garden, preparatory to planting flowers and bushes, she struck another grave full of shells but did not disturb it. The Wilson Point resident has named her home Indian Orchard in honor of the memory of the red-skins who once enjoyed a happy home on the Point. To the south of the camping place of the Indians, at Wil¬ son Point, was a plot of land, on the sunny slope, evidently used by them as tilling ground for beans, corn, potatoes and the like. Midway between the Indian city of Naramake, Wil¬ son Point, and Five Mile Landing, Rowayton, was an inlet or arm of the sound, now known as the Cove, Wilson Point Cove. The shore road touches the head of it just south of the Thomas school. This inlet and the stream which empties into it was known by the Indians as the Pampaskeshank. Later the inhabitants called it the Hoof and Horn Creek. The first white settlers called this stream Rooten Brook, Rooten (or Roaten), being the name given to the territory bordering upon it on the west. It is now generally called Roton brook. The course is due north from Ely’s Neck or avenue to Bouton Lane or street. Two smaller villages of Naramakes at one time stood on the west banks of the Pampaskeshank, in the vicinity of the Hungarian settlement near the Polish church, between the railroad and Highland ave., west of the Standard Oil tanks. Ruins have been found there. It is thought that perhaps these villages were used only as defense posts of the main Indian city, for neither feasting nor burial places have been discovered there. The Naramakes were probably members of the great Mohegan nation, who fled here from the Hud¬ son river and Long Island to escape the Dutch in the early 1640’s. The Mackems, the Mahackems, Matowacks, Swa- 28 ROMANCE OF NORWALK noys or Makentons, other clans found in the country lying between Norwalk and New York city, were also inde¬ pendent units of the same nation. Numerous skeletons of Naramake Indians were discovered by the early settlers and they were all found placed in the same position, with the heads elevated and faces turned to the east. In such man¬ ner the Mohegans and Pequots were said to have buried their dead. Other facts point to the probability that the Norwalk Indians situated on Wilson Point and on the Pampaskeshank banks at least, were Mohegans: Because many of the skeletons found were over seven feet long, big and broad shouldered, as were the Mohegans. Because superior wrought tools and implements, similar to those used by the Five Nations, have been found in the graves at Wilson Point. To no great extent were any Indian remains found in what is now the center of Norwalk. The burying grounds seem to have been Belden’s or Wilson Point, Barren Marsh bank, Indian Field and Saugatuck. The Indian Field to which reference is made, is said by some to have been out Fort Point way, behind the present factory of the Crofut and Knapp Co. Others maintain that it was situated in the north¬ ern part of Norwalk, beyond the end of Newtown ave., out Chestnut hill way. There may have been two so-called “In¬ dian Fields.” 1 According to Hurd, the principal Indian village in the center of Norwalk, lay west of Meadow St. Indian skeletons found in and near the center of Norwalk were quite differ¬ ent from those unearthed on Belden’s or Wilson Point, giv¬ ing rise to the belief that perhaps the center of Norwalk Indians were of Narragansett origin.