History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

St. John, Matthias, and Matthew Sension probably cmifrriitcfl from Hiintinjrdon, England. It seems that Matthias came to Norwallc a short time previous to the arrival of Matthew. It is conjectured that the St. Johns of Norwalk wore descendant.s of Attorncy- (Jeneral St. John, who married a relative of Oliver Cromwell and followed his fortunes during his reign. The only ground for the conjecture is the fact that the attorney was of the same name. When the brothers settled in America is not known, though it is believed they jireceded Nicholas Sension, aged thirteen, who sailed from London, April, 1()35, in the "Elizabeth and Ann Roger," Cooper, master, under the protection of Jo. Whitney, who came in tlie same ship with his five children, aged respectively eleven, nine, eight, six, and one, all of whom brought with them a certificate that they were " no subsedy" men. Matthias' name is among the original settlers of ' the town, and March 5, Ifio", he was one of them " to make a sufficient wolf-pett." Matthias, Savage thinks, was a myth ; but he was in Dorchester in IfiSi) and a juryman at Hartford in 1043 and 11)44. Otherwise tlie brothers were not prominent in public aftairs. Several of the Webb family emigrated to this country in the early part of the sixteenth century. Richard embarked for Virginia from Gravcsend, Eng- land, in the " Primrose," July, 1635. He was of the number of more than one hundred who took the oaths of " Allegeance and Supremacie," and " fetch off by Mr. Secretary Windebanks' warrant." Pro- bably tlie men were political rebels, and were obliged to take a special oath to the home government. He is reputed to have been living at Cambridge in 1632. The date of his departure from England disproves that he was in the country in that year. His name appears in the records as juryman at Hartford in 1643 and 1644, and selectman in 1643 ami 1644. About this time he wa.s fined for not apjicaring at the appointed hour for the sitting of the court. In 1640 he was one of the executors of the will of James Olmstead, and was deputy from Norwalk fourteen times, from 16r)3 to 167i>. When or how Thomas Seamer, or Seymore, came to the colonies, or his origin in the old country, is not now known. There is a good reason for tlie prevalent opinion that he was a French refugee who escaped into England, and soon thereafter emigrated to North America and was a member of tlie Hartford colony, as it appears that Richard, a brother, was lo- caU>d there in 1639 to 1646 at least. In 16!M) he pos- sessed an estate set in tlie list at one hundred and eighty-four pounds. He was never honored by his fellow-townsmen with responsible official positions. CHAPTER L. NORWALK (Continued). UNPUBLISHED TRADITIONAL FACTS IN THE UIS- TOKY OF NORWALK.« TriHlitions— Hcininisccnces— One Iliintlrcd Ycare .\eo— Tlio Burning of Norwalk— The Indian City of Nuninmkc ami its Foundoni— rampaB- kcsliank— Incidents of tlie Revolution— The Norwalk Indians— Indian Cemeteries— Tho Cannibals of Norwalk. Til}-; first white emigrants to New England, though educated under despotic laws in the Old World, in the New adopted a system of town organizations, simple, pure, and natural, relative to property, edu- cation, and equal rights. Those town republics sowed the seed which brought forth republican government on this continent. Their codes of laws are the votes found upon the records of those ancient towns, and framed to maintain the peace and union of those local republics, and to preserve the "liberty of civil affiiirs." The first ancestors of Norwalk established one of those republics in this town in 1651. The tourist, to fully appreciate the scenery of this lo- cality, should sail down Long Island Sound and tra- verse the range of hills stretching from the Rocks, north, to the country "butted on the sea" south. These outlooks are the most picturesque in Connecti- cut. The first emigrants to Norwalk, in their journey- ings hither, pa.sscd through the interior of the coun- try, to avoid crossing the numerous deep rivers which empty into the Sound. From the rocks north of France Street they first beheld the land of their adoption, and were delighted with its hills and vales and running brooks. On the night of their arrival the company ate and .slei)t beneath their shadows. At early morn they i)roceedcd southward to take pos- session of the rude log houses built by the few pio- neers who had preceded them. The early emigrants were not without some culture. The old town records show that every man of them could write well, and they had legislative, executive, and judicial capacity, and the ability to organize the town's finances and to marshal the people into " training-bauds" for the com- mon defense. Three classes of emigrants from England settled in this town. The first were nonconformists; the sec- ond, "subsidy men;" the third, tliose who were dis- tasteful to the ruling powers, and who were transported as rebels or left England under a.-*sumed names. Half the first colonists of the town were of the fir.st ; the re- mainder—excepting Richard Webb, who was carried on shipboard, " fetched ofl'by Secretary Windcbank's warrants" — were of the second. Though nearly all the early settlers of Norwalk em- barked from England, yet they were not all of Aiiglo- Sa.xon blood, .\fter the revocation of the Edict of Nantes thousands of the best people of France fledjlo • Contributed by W. S. Benton, Esq. J NORWALK. 495 England, ami the govorniiK'nt riTiivc<l tlu'ni with open iirnis and eneouragcd their emigration to her colonies in North Anieriea. Our tir.st ancestors were aliout eijually divided between the (niul and 8axon, all of whom were inil)ned witli the 8axon ideas of eivil and religious liberty and an enlightened view of justice. The ani-ient records of the town dn not show a single instance of sjiecial or class legislation. Their every act was based upon the broadest principles of a government by and for the peo]jle. If tlie cdmmon land was to be ajiportioned. or the cattle to roam in the common fields, or the wheat-fields to l)e guarded or fenced, the rights of the jioorest persons were as sacredly protected as tho.se of Governor Kitcli (U' the i wealthiest man in the plantation. Our ancestors, in i their ditficulties with Fairfield and Stamford, instead cif an armed defense, instructed their deputies to the (ieneral Court to come to a "loving and neighborly issue and agreement," and, if not accepted, then the cases were to be taken into the court. There nuiy be powers that object to this sort of diplonuicy because of its puritanical la' scriptural origin. REMINISCENCES. The first wdiite settlers of Norwalk located on the plain east of the river, near Old Fort Point, upon which they reared log houses and a block-house, or fort, for common defense. Our ancestors were often summoned from their labors in the fields to disperse the Indians, whose only object, ap]»arently, was to purloin the Indian jjuddings which the women were making. The savages found within the purchases made in 1640 and KioO were only reniinints of tribes which once inhabited the country around and east of the Connecticut River, and probably other localities. They had been overj)owered and driven from the graves of their ancestors by other more numerous and more warlike tribes, porti(Uis of whom had taken up their abode about Korwalk Kivcr, and whom the first settlers named the Xorwalk Indians. On this point we are not left entirely to tradition. That the Indians, probably less than a hundred, who lived here were from various tribes is evident I'rom the facts that many of their implements found in the Old Indian Field were made of various kinds of .stone, none of which are to be ("ound within the limits of the town, that the rude earthen bowls found in some of their graves were made of red clay, and that their modes of burial were diverse. The early colonists Inid not been very successful in bringing the aborigines into their views of govern- ment previous to the settlement of the town. lint the members of the Norwalk colony, many of whom had been in the country from sixteen to thirty years, had i learned much of the Indian character. As time passed they more fully comprehended the principle of liberty which they had manfully battled for in the Old World, and this mailc them more successful than othrrs had been in their ell'orts to civilize the Indians. Our ancestors partook of the uneasiness rife among the colonists in IGtiO, and appealed to the (u-neral Court to settle their " difierences." They also dis- ciplined the militia and a])|ioiMled Thomas I'itcli to watidi the Indians; and that is about all there was of it, ibr the Norwalk Indians, tliough at times troulde- sinne, were never warlike. We have searched the ancient records, and have not found an instance of a Norwalk Indian's injuring any of the white inhabit- ants. Nor is there any evidence that they were in the direful swamp-fight in 1(177 as enemies, though there is indirect testimony that some of them acc(jm- jianied those who enlisted for that service from this tow 1 1 . The early fathers brought with tlicm all the .Vnglo- 8axo]i traits of energy, iierseverance, industry, patriot- ism, an<l indomitable will, controlled by the fear of God. Their mission was [leace and good-will lo all men ; they warred oidy when necessity re(piired. Their policy towanls the red man was the same as that pursued by VV'illiam I'enn. They first tauglit them to plow and plant and reap the fruits of their laboi', and made it an otfense even to trespass upon their grounds. Then they taught them wlio that Great Si)irit was wliom their fathers had ignorantly worshiped.