History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

To the renowned IndiauTfighter, John Mason, and the intrepid and talented Roger Ludlow and the sol- diers who accompanied them on the expedition against the warlike Pequots, is due the honor of having dis- covered this section. These were the first white men Avho set foot upon the soil of Fairfield. The Pequots, after the disa.strous conflagration at Mistiek, fled westward and secreted themselves in a swamp near the present village of Southport, in this town, where they awaited the certain attack of the | English. And they had not long to wait. Mivson | and Ludlow had resolved to utterly exterminate this , tribe, whose ferocity at that time stood without a par- ' ullel in the history of Indian nations. With that dc- I termination which knows no failure, the little band ; of soldiers followed hard upon the retreating form of the red brother. Their location in the dismal, miry swamp was in some respects an advantageous one. It served as a sort of ambush, and tlie miry nature of the place rendered it ahnost imj^wsible for the Kngli-sh to a]>proach. In this dismal place were secreted about eighty Pequot warriors, with their women and chil- dren and about two hundred other Indians, including the Fairfield Indians. The Hon. Gideon H. Hollister says, — " Daogcruiu as It waa, Lieut. Durenp*prt ntshed Into It with his men, eager to encounter tho I'cquuts. Tbu sharji arruws uf the enemy flow frum placcfi timt hid the archers, wouotling the soldiers, who, iu their haste to retreat, only sunk deeper in tho miro. Tho Indians, made hohl by this adventnre, pressed hard upon them, and would havo carried off their 8eal|>s had it not been for tho timely aid of some other Kngli(«hmen who wadod into the swamp, sword iu hand, drove l>ack the IVr|uot8, and drew their disabled frionda from tho mud that bad threatened to swallow them up. "The swamp was now8uiTounded,andQ tikirniish followed that proved so destnictive to tim saviiges that the Fuirfield Indians l«rgged for quar- ter. They said — what was (trobably true — that they were there only by accident and had never done tho Englisli any harm, and that tliey only wished for tlie privilege of withdrawing from tho swamp and leaving tlie Pequots to fight Jt out. " ThouuiB Stitnton, wlio knew their language, was sent into the swamp with instnictious to offer life to all tho Indians who bad shed no Kng< lish blood. " When the sachem of the Fairfield Indians learned the terms pro- posed by Stanton, lie came out of tho swump, followed by little parlies of men, women, and children. Ho and his Indians, lie 8aid, had shed no English bloud. But the Pequot warriors, made up of choice men, and burning with rage against the enemy wlio lia<l dt-stroycil their tribe and driven them from their old haunts, fought with such desperate bravfcr>' that tht! English were glad to confine themselves to the border of the swamp. " There now Hprung up a controversy among tho oflflrors as to tho best mode of annihilating the little handful uf Pequots. Some advised that they should plunge into the swamp and there fight tliem. But tlio ex- periment of Davenport discouraged others from so foolhanly a course. Others suggetitL'd that they should cut down the swamp with the Imtcliets tlioy hiul hntught with them ; others, that they should sur- round it %ith pnlisade.'f. Neither of these propositions w*a8 adopted. They finally bit upon a plan that was more easily executed. They cut down the bushes that grew upon a little neck of firm upland that almost divided the swamp into two parts. Iu this way they so lessened the area occupied by the Pequots that by stationing men twelve feet apart It could all Ije surrouuded by the troops. This was done and the sentinels all statii>nod before nightfall. Thus keeping watrh on thi< iKjrders of tlie morass, wet, cold, and weary, thesjMiers i»jvs-*eil the night underarms. Just before day a dense fog more than shroudetl them in almost total darkness. A friendly mist it proved to the Pequots, for it doubtless saved the lives of many of them. At a favorable moment they nished upon the English. Capt. Patrick's quarters were first attacked, but he drove them back more than once. Tlieir yells, more terrible from the darkness that engulfed the scene of the conflict, were m unearthly auti appalling, the attack was so sudden and so well sustained, that, but foi the timely interference of a party sent by Mason to relievo him, Patrick would doubtless havo been drivon from hts station or cut In pieces. " The siege had by this time given place to a hand-to-hand fight. As Mudon was himself marching up to aid Patrick, tho Pe^iuots rushed uiM>n him from tho thickets. He drove them back with severe loss. They did not rt^snme the attack upon tlie man who had recently given Uiem such fearful proofs of his prowess, but turned upon Patrick, broku through his ranks, aud fled. AlHjut sixty of the Potpiot warriors r«-ape<l; twenty lay deml upon the field; one hundred aud eighty were taken prisoners. Most of tho pro|>vrty that this fugitive remnant of tho trilw had attempted to carry with Uicm fell Into tho hands of the English. Hatchets of Htone, beautiful wampnni-belts, iKtIished Ik>ws, and feathorod arrows, with the iiteusils employed Itj' the women in their nido laltonif Itccame at once, as did the women themselves, the property uf the con- querors. Tho caplivea and the booty were divided between Massochn- setts and Connecticut. Some were sent by Massachusetts to tho Wi>0t Indies, and there, aa slaves, dntggcd out a wrelche«l yet brief existoncu. Among the raptlves taken in this battle was tho wife of Monouotto and her ohlblrcu. With muih dignity, she lagged them to save her honor inviolate and losiuirc her life and that of her ofispring. She huil been kind to the giris whohadltceu taken from Wethon«field,and for Uils sho aud her little ones were rccomm ended— not In vain— to tho mercy of tho Governor of Slussachusetts.*' Thus ended the Pequot war, this being the last stand made by the tribe against the allied powers of Massachusetts and Connecticut. The advent of Roger Ludlow was an important epoch in the history of this town. He saw with that intuitive glance characteristic of the man the natural FAIRFIELD. ro advantages of this section, and, comparatively speak- ing, tlie war-wlioop of the conquered Peqiiots had scarcely died away ere the great lawyer and statesman had bade adieu to the comforts and conveniences of liis home at Windsor, and with a few pioneers was thread- ing his way tlirough the "wilderness, anxious to rear civil division of Connecticut. Ludlow settled on the jiremises now occupied by Mrs. .John (lould. IXWAN TREATTE.?. The first treaty with tlie Pecjuonnoeke Indians for hinds in this town was consummated May 11, iG31), ' t^j^A, /c'^U' ^u^ J'j-U^UL '1^'"^ c,/!. \ hy^ ->y^ ^5^3^ <l^^'^/^ Jit^'^yfi' "''vrvv-^ «^-^ ^^ ^.X^i^iit£. cafcn.^,^ '^ ''^J^ ^/uT'yy ^^^ •!■<■ /ii.H^ 'f' y9a-i ^ ,Ajg ^ '-^\ e<- t/r^^-y^Jo^ ^ S^ jpfO'i^' /r^ A ■^t C.^^ fiL^P Ply/ J^"' if E^cs ^ 4h nJlJ', tYUO^ ■■^yttr- their homes on the fertile lands at ITnqowa.* These •were soon after joined by a number from Watertown, Mass., and not much time elapsed ere, under the wise guidance of Ludlow, the little plantation grew into a large town, and has ever since remained an important * Sigaifyiug gojtvther. and ten years later, June 24, 1G49, a second treaty was made for lands extending from the soutliwest bounds of Stratford, six miles along the sea-coast, to the Sasco fields, and six miles north into the country. The quitclaim deed to these lands w;is given March 10, 1G.3G, and JVln'uary 11, I(i01, the Sasco Indians 280 HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. gave a quitclaim deed to the Sasco lands. The boun- daries of these lands were " from the soutlnvest bounds of the land called Unqowa to the northeast bounds of the land called Maximus (Bankside), and straight up into the country si.x miles." The deed to these lands were given in consideration of " thirty coats, 2 yards ai)iece of cloth, and the same in wampum." This was signed by I'onocamus, Min- koe, and James, and witnessed by Wenans and Mana- chem. In deeding these hinds tlie Indians always reserved " the liberty of fishing, hunting, and fowl- ing in any river or stream within the town bounds, only they were not to set traps to the injury of the cattle." The Fairfield planter always pursued a hu- mane and equitable course in dealing with the In- dians, and it was agreed that "tlie Indians should have a certain amount of laud within tlie English bounds set apart to them to plant on for their liveli- hood." In 1668 a tract of land lying along the northern portion of the town was purchased. Tliis was called Northfield. Soon after, a number of small lots were laid out along the coast; extending across tlic town north of these were a tier of jjiisture lots ; north of the pasture lots a half-mile common, and north of the common were laid out the long lots reaching as far north as the present Redding Centre. These " long lots" were about eleven miles in lengtli and a few rods in width. Six hundred and fifty acres were reserved for church purposes, and three hundred and twenty- five as school land. In 1680 a quitclaim deed was executed by the In- dians to all the lands which had been purcha.sed, of which a/a<- simile is given on i>agc 279. THE FAIRFIELD PATEXT. The following is a copy of the patent granted May 25, 1685 :