History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

I The Indians I'ound ill this vicinity by the first 'white settlers called themselves the Paugussets. Their neighbors ujion the east were the Quinnipiacs, of New Haven ; on the west the Uncawas, of Fairfield ; and upon the north the I'otatucks, of Newtown and Woodbury. Their aequaintaiice with the English be- gan in the summer of 11)37, when the latter, uniler command of ('apt, Ma.son and Lieut. Davenport, sur- roundeil Saseo Swamp, in Fairfield, and killed or captured the remnant of the fierce Pequot tribe wlio had taken refuge there. From ]i;\ssages in the early reeords of the colony, it would appear tliat a fine or tribute was imposed upon the Indians of this vicinity fiir having harbored the Pequots. In 1(;.'59 settlements were begun by the English at Stratfiird and at Fairfield. So fiir its known, the planters in every case purchased the land from the Indians, and upon the records of these two towns may still be seen particulars of many such transaetions. The terms "old field," and "old Indian field," fre- quently occurring in these records, are believed to re- fer to land which had been (deared by the Indians for cultivation before the arrival of the wliites. These tracts were large, — a fact that -^vonld indietite that tlie Indians depended to a greater extiiit n|ion agriculture for their sup]iort than has genendly been supposed. The relations between the English and their wild neighbors at this early day are clearly shown by the orders p.assed by the (Jeneral Court, It was forbidden to sell to an Indian, arms, ammunition, or liquor of any kind, or horses, or boats. Sachems were made answerable for the conduct of their tribes. Imlians were forl'iddcn bv law to enter the houses of the set- 66 HISTORY OF FAIKFIKLD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. tiers, or to handle their fire-arms or otlicr weapons, under penally of a fine for disobedience, or retaliation in kind if any loss of life or limb was occasioned by tlu'ir carelessness. It was not allowal)le for more than two or three Indians to come into a .settlement tojrether, and, in any case, they were to leave their weapons be- hind them; and if found prowling around the dwell- ings of the settlers after dark, it was lawful to shoot them. At the same time they were treated, in the main, fairly. Injuries to them in ])erson or property were severely punished, and some attempts to C'liristianize them were made. The General Court passed resolu- tions instructing the Governor and other magistrates to endeavor to convey througii suitable interpreters some knowledge of God and liis word to " those poore lost, naked sonnes of Adam," and ordered that at least hvice in every year a teaching elder and an in- terpreter should go among them and " endeavor to make known to them the counsels of the Lord." John Blackleach, Sr., who kept the ferry over the Housatonic River between Stratford and Milford, deserves honorable mention in this connection. In 1()()9 he petitioned to l)e allowed to make known to tlic Indians, as he should liave opportunity, " some- tliing of tlie knowledge of God." The General Court granted his request, and expressed the hope that the divine blessing might accompany his labors. That at least a portion of them were in the habit of attend- ing cluircli is evident from a vote pa.ssed at an early date in .Stratford forbidding tlie Indians to enter the meeting-h(mse during the prevalence of a contagious disease, — perhaps the smallpox, then raging among them. The colonial records clearly show, however, tliat they were always regarded by the whites as dangerous neighbors. It was early enacted that, to i)revcnt sud- den attacks upon the 8al)ljalli or lecture days, one from each household should come to meetiug fully armed and equip])ed, — a custom which had not en- tirely fallen into disuse in 1(595, when the First Church of this city was gatliered. During the prolonged contest with the Eastern In- dians known as Philip's War, great anxiety was felt througliout the colony. The (iovernor and As.sist- ants, in se.ssion at Hartford, July 1, 1675, caused orders to be sent to all the western ]>lantations to put themselves in a state of defense, and a little later, "from a deeji sense of the eminent danger" im|)end- ing, instructed them to provide places of refuge to which the women and eiiildren and other non-com- batants might repair in ca.se of assault. It was al.so ordered tliat strong guards be stationed in each town from twilight to sunrise, and that all males between the ages of sixteen and seventy, excepting nnigis- trates, ministers, millers, ])hysiciatis, and sclioolmas- ters, should do their share of guard and other military duty. I'atrols were to be .sent out every day to keep open commuoicatiou bettfecn tlie ti.wns, and exposed frontier settlements were broken up for the time and their inhabitants counseled to return to places of greater security. All persons working in the fields were to go and come in companies of not less than six, especially if necessity called them to go more than half a mile from the settlement. In Stratford u vote was passed to prevent false alarms and need- less waste of ammunition. It is dated Augi 8, l(i75, and reads as follows: "Voted: That there shall be no gun shot oft" in the town-jilot, or within the field, or upon the common road to Fairfield, upon any oc- casion whatsoever, except upon defense or occasion against the enemy, under penalty of five shillings for every gun. This order to stand during the present trouble with the Indians." A similar order was issued by the colonial government 8ept. 3, 1675. In the same year Richard Ilnbbell, Sr., of Strat- field, being indebted to the town of Fairfield to the amount of sixteen pounds, the balance due for a tract of land purciiased from the town, was ordered, in lieu of the ca.sh, to turn into the public " maga- zeen" eight hundredweight of lead, to be used in casting bullets. The whole colony was, in fact, phued for a time under martial law ; but, hai)pily, the precautions taken were so successful that even if an outbreak was meditated by the Connecticut Indians, none took place, nor were any of the frontier settlements sacked by the enemy. In 1(559, twenty years after the first settlement, the General Court granted the recpiest of the Indians that Golden Hill might be .set apart for them lus a perma- nent dwelling-place, and in.structed Mr. Canfield, Mr. Fitch, Richard Olmstead, and Nathaniel Ely, of Nor- walk, to lay out eighty acres for them upon said Golden Hill, "beginning at y' foot of y hill where y' Wigwams stood, and so to run upward on tlie hill." As part of the Indians who were removed to the reser- vation were from Fairfield, and as the reservation was wholly in Stratford limits, the committee awarded damages to the latter place as follows : " Fairfield men shall jiay to Stratford, for the SO acres of land that the Indians do possess at IVquannock, twenty pounds, to be paid in beef, pork, wheat, and peas; i barrels of beef, 2 barrels of pork, good and merchantable, which we value at £12, and £8 to be paid in wheat and peas: wheat 4». 6rf. the bushel, peas 'ix. M. the bushel. " May 2, 1660."* Although at present real estate is not very active, eighty acres upon Golden Hill would be consid- ered a bargain at the price specified in this appraisal. The Indians also agreed with Stratford to keei> up a fence, ao that the swine of either party might not "<lamnifye" the growing crops of the other. .\lter the year 1659, when their land was set oil' to them, these Indians were commonly known as the Golden Hill tribe, from the name of their reservation. • Conn. Bcc., I. 335, 348 ; StraUbrd Bee, i. 249, •iiti. BRIDGEPORT. 67 In the suiiinier of ITi'i the sheplu'ril nt' tlir tdwu Hock in Strattord was sot upon by a number of Indians eu- i:age<l in a drunl^en carousal, his face ]iainteil, his liody stamped upon until he was breathless, when he was "buried as deail." The manner in whii-h the charge is made, Iniwever, implies his subseiiuent resus- citation, and it is probable that Xewtown ami New Milford Indians, and not those living upon ( loldcii Hill, were guilty of the outrage. About the same time David Lams infant son of Alexander Lane, of Strat- ford, was thought to have lieen murdered, and two Indians, bearing the euphonious names of Shillings and (/hojis, were tried for the crime liefore the Supe- rior Court at Fairlicld, Aug. oO, !7-<i, but were ac- c|uitteil. An entry upon the Stratford rec(jrds shows that it was finally determineil that the child was acci- dentally drowned.