History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

" Whereas, we, Capt. Daniel Patrick and Elizabeth Feake.ihily author- l/eil by her husUuid Ibdiert FiMike, now sick, have resided two ye.o- nl«iut live or six n dim east of the Kew Netherlands, subject to the I-i - States General, who have protested against ut, declaring that the SJiid land lay nilhiii their limib., and that they should not allow any p<-nion to usnrp it against their lawful rights; and whenos, we have cjuaHv persisted In our course during these two years, having lieen well assur. : that hl< Majesty the King of Kngland hail preteudi..l some to this soii and whereas, we undernand nothing theri-of, and rjiiinot any longer pr snnio to remain thus, on oicount Udh of this ^trife, the danger coiif- uncut thereon, and these Ireaihemus and vllhilnous Indians, of whom we have seen so many sorrowful examiiles enough. We therefore In- take ounielves under the protection of tho Noble Lonl States General, GEEENWICII. iCi Hi8 Highness the riince nf Oraiiffi', and thf WV-t Iiuliii Comr«ny, or their Governor General i.f Sew Netherlan.ls, iironii>iiii.' for the future t^i bft faitliful to them, as all honest subjects are bouniltolie; whereunto we bind ourselves by solemn oath and sigiiatni-e, provided we ],<■ pro- tected against our enemies as nini-!i as p.i>silde. and enjiO' henceforth tiie siime privileges that all Patroons nf the New NetherlaTi.ls have obtained agreeably to the Freedoms li;4.', IXlh .if Apiil, in Kort Amsterdam. • DANIKL r.V'IKICK. *' Witnesses, EvERAnnrs TiuoAnDis. Johannes Winki.eman." Gret'uwifh now lnx':iiiit' :i iniiiioi-, with Putrick uml Ffiiks its jiatrixins. IXni.W TROUIiI.E.-:.* I For five or six ye;irs after the first settlement (UUO -4G| the people of ftreenwieh liad iniu'li tremble witli their Indian neiiihl>or;. the iiiilire^-t cause lieiii;: nun, — "cussed fire-water," as tlie sava:.'-e< called it, — bought of the Dutch :it New YcprI;. To bej:in with , (1642), some Dutch traders, a drunken Indian, cheat- ing in a bargain for furs, and a murdered Imlian, all near New York. Next, the killing of two Dutchmen, as an ofiset to the murdered Indian. Next ( February, 1G4:5), by way of retuHation, tlie treacherous and indiscriminate butchery, Ity order of the Dutch (xov- ernor, of more than one hundred sleeping Indians, men, women, and children, who had tied into the city for refuge from the jmrsuit of a band of Jlohawks. Next (summer and tall of !(;4:'.), in revenge f >r such a deed of infamy, a general Indian war, waged by a confederacy of fifteen hundred warriors, up tlie east side of the Hudson, on Long Island, and on the Sound, eastward from New York, as fiir as Stamford, — everywdiere murders, burning buildings, desolation, all the atrocities of savage warfare. Ann Hutchiiisou was among the victims. Says De Forest, "Until the la;t moment the Indian; came to the hou<e in tlieir usual friemlly manner; then the hatchet fell, and the ill-fated woman perished, with seventeen others, in tlie ma-saere. To close the scene, the hor.ses and cattle were driven into the barns the barns were set on fire, and the helpless animals were roasted to death in the fiame-." So great was the devastation and so wid"-ipread the alarm, that the settlements were well-nigh broken up all along the shore from Stamford to New York. Greenwich at that time being umh'r the jurisdiction of New Y'ork, the settlers called on the Dutch Gov- ernor, Keift, for help. Acccn- lingly (.lanaary, 1G44) one hundred and twenty men, in three vessels, were .sent to Greenwich, where their commander wa-; in- formed by Capt. Patrick of a large encampment of the enemy a short distance inland. It was nearly night, but, desiring to surprise tlie Indians, the Dutch at once set off, and marched all night in a mistaken direction without finding the object of tlieir pursuit. Next day the Dutch captain met Patrick; accused him of treachery and of purposely giving false infor- mation, and finally gave him the lie direct. The al- * Contributed by Hon. Myron L. Mason. tcrcation requite 1 in Patrick's deatli. Tlic Dutidi force soon returned to New '^'ork, having succeeded only ill surprising a small Indian village, killing eighteen or twenty men, and taking a few wnmcii and children ]irisiiners. So 111 after, receiving frcdi news of a great body of savages at Greenwich, (Juvernor Keift (I''ebruary, 1(144) dispatched a second expedition in (pic^t of them. The force consisted of one hundred and thirty men, iiiicha- command of Capt. .loliii Underbill, who reached Stamford in the evening an<l in a heavy snow- storm, wdiich detained him tlierO all night. Next day he made a slow march through two feet or more of snow, and alniut eight o'clock in the evening reaehecl the Miaaus Iviver, where he rested two hours till the moon rose. Cro.ssing the river at, or not far above, the present village of Mianus, and ascending the high western bank not lar nin-th of the present main road betweea (ireenwich and Stamford, he had in front of him "Strickland's Plain," lying to the north and lun-thwcst of the present village of Caseob. (.>n the western liorder of this plain, half a mile distant, he could sec the lights of the " long-sought-for Petuqua- pacn," — a village containing "more than a hnndrecl j)crmanent huts," partially protected by jialisades, with nuiuerous outside wigwams, the whole village Iviug under a low wooded rise of ground, which sh.d- tered it from the northwest winds. The savage i had warning of the approach of their enemies, and were prepared to give them a warm reception. Only the warriors held the village, the women and children having lieen sent to a place of safety. Spa;-e is wanting for a full descriiition of the mid- night battle, which was long and (lcsp<-rately fought. The undisciplined valor of the reil man, with his bow and tomahawk, was no match for the musket, the bay- onet, the broadsword, in the hands of the whites. The savages finally betook themselves to their fortified dwellings, but not till nearly two hundred of their number had fallen. ^Vithin their rude defenses they fuuglit obstinately, till the terrible lesson taught to the Pequots a few years before recurred to Uiiderhill's mind, and the fearfid order, " llnrii \m did:" rang through the midnight air. The huts were built of bark and other light materials, and took fire as readily, almo.st, as tinder. In a very few minutes tlie whole village wa< in flames, and its wild and tortured ten- ants were yelling and howling in the agonies of de- spair and death. Such as darted <iut of the inclosure were mercilessly shot down by the soldiers who sur- rounded the village; and of the whole body of war- rairs wdio were gathered at the spot not more than eight or ten, at most, are supposed to have escaped. The Dutch passed the night on the fiehl they had so signally wcni, "warmed and cheered" by the fires which suffocated and roasted their enemies. The morning revealed a horrid sight. More than six hundred — some authors say more than one thousand- dead Sinawoys lay bathed in blood over an area whoso 368 HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. circumference must have Ik .n i nii^i.li nMy less than one mile. TllK E.4ULIE.ST SETTLERS. Daniel Patrick was a fighting Englisliman from Mas.sacliusctts ; he liafi bravely seconded Jliuson in the Pequot war and iu the great swamp-fight in Fair- field. He Avas sliot dead in Greenwich in 1644 by a Dutch ofliccr into whose face he sj)at on being called a liar. He Ava.s liigh-tein]M'red and reckless, scarcely fearing God or man, and indefatigable in promoting the interests of the settlement lie planted. It is be- lieved that no descendant of his is now living in Greenwich. During 1640, Capt. Jolin Underbill settled on the Patrirk and Feaks' purchase, where he lived till his restless nature led him to New York in 1644, and finally to Killingworth, where he died in 1672. A warrior also, he was wounded at the burning out of the Pequots, in which engagement he was with Mason ; he fought and defeated the Sinawoy warriors in a hard-fought battle; and, like Patrick, he had turned liis back on Massachusetts on account of her Puritanic restraints.* Jetferc Ferris was an early settler, wliose descen- dants now abound in " Old Greenwich." Several Dutchmen were among the first comers, and one of them, Cornelius Labden, left iiis name to a ninety- foot i)rccipice, now known as Labden's Rock, over which he is said to have plunged on horseback ratlier than be taken jirisoner by some pursuing savages. Among the first settlers also were the following: Robert Hcusted, Andrew Messenger, John Winkel- man, Angell Heusted, Richard AVilliams, Evcrardus Rogardus. The prophetess, Ann Hutchinson, spurned by Mas- .sachusetts, lived secluded in Greenwich forests till a band of Indians hunted up and murdered both her- self and family in 164.3. The numerous Jleads, Heustcds, Pecks, Lockwoods, et alii, now residing in firecnwich are representatives of its early people. Such Dutch settlers as escaped the wrath of the savages soon gravitated, under political stress, to New York, with their families, and few, if any of them, are now represented among the jieople of Greenwich. Up to 166.') the little settlement, now under the jurisrlii'tion of the New Netherlands, showed no marked signs of activity. Among the few who came in 16.')6 were the ancestors of the Hubbards, the .Studwells, and the Hobbys. Peter Disbrow, John Coe, and Thomas Studwell settled about this time, and Jetrerc Ferris returned from Fairfield, whither he had gone when the town was ceiled to the Dutch. John Mead and John Hobby settled in 16(i(l. This year the settlement numbered about twenty adult males. From this time on the settlement increased with • III' tiiul nlM> U'en U'urer of <Ii9]iatr)icji to t^^upon Klizittcth, couR- ilcliUal fM.>r^-niil to lllo Eurl of I^'tt'WtiT, (iovunior of tbo Dover colony' in Ni'W lliiiiii>tililrr, i-lf. marvelous rapidity, and not much time elapsed ere