F , CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY c\yj V^ Cornell University Library I- 104P6 P69 Plainfield bicentennial : a souvenir vol olin 3 1924 028 843 096 DATE DUE JPE^-j-^ tiSfif«««$»IQtii^ P CAYLORD PRINTED IN U.S.A. Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028843096 GEN. JOHN DOUGLASS. From an old painting. Plainfield Bicentennial A SOUVENIR VOLUME — COMPRISING THE — SPEECHES. HISTORICAL PAPERS, POEMS AND GENERAL EXERCISES — AT THE — OBSERVANCE OF THE TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE TOWN OF PLAINFIELD, CONN., AUG. 31st, 1899 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS PUBLISHED BY THE BICENTENNIAL COMMITTEE Press of Thb Bulletin Company, Norwich, Conn,, i8gq. 3i f/UI^ j-/'( PLAINFIELD'S BICENTENNIAL. The project of celebrating the two hundredth anniversary of Plainfield's existence as a town was discussed early in the present year, and in May an informal meeting was held at the Central Village library, and steps were taken towards having the matter introduced in town-meeting. On June 5th the town unanimously voted to have a bicentennial celebration and appointed a general committee of fifteen tO' take the Whole matter in charge, with power to appoint subcommittees. From that date the enterprise was pushed energetically, the co^mmittees working harmoniously and with commendable zeal. This resulted in the celebration on Thurs- day, August 31st, one of the most pleasing and successful occasions Windham County has ever witnessed. The weather was delightful, and all the details were carried out in an excellent manner. From a stand erected for the occasion on the hotel lawn. Governor Lounsbury and stai? reviewed the parade, following which were music and addresses in the order elsewhere given. A notable feature of the celebration was the colonial exhibit in the vestry of the First Church, a rare collection of articles, antique and valuable, from Plainfield and Canterbury. Of the people on 4 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. Plainfield street that day — about seven thousand — a large number visited the exhibition with great interest and pleasure. This cahnoi be reproduced upon these pages, but will long be remembered. The historical papers following were prepared by individual members of the Historical Committee, and with a poem by Rev. John Troland, of Norwich, and the other proceedings at the celebration, are here presented to the citizens and friends of Plainfield by the editors appointed by the town committee. Charles F. Burgess. Henry T. Arnold. Plainfield, Sept. 21, 1899. COMMITTEES. Members of the Town Committee of Fifteen. HON. JOSEPH HUTCHINS, Chairman. FRED T. JOHNSON, Clerk. F. H. TILLINGHAST, Treasurer. Joel M. Hunt, Floyd Cranska, Judge "Waldo Tillinghast, M. A. Llnnell, Charles B. Barber, James L. Gardner, M. D., Henry C. Starkweather, Jerry Doyle, Jason P. Lathrop, A. B. Mathewson, W. H. Browning-, Frank Miller, Rev. John Oldham. Subcommittees. INVITATION AND RECEPTION.— Hon. Joseph Hutchins, Prank H. Tillinghast, Floyd Cranska, Fred T. Johnson, George Torrey. HISTORICAL AND PRINTING.— James L. Gardner, M. D., Rev. S. H. Fellows, Rev. H. T. Arnold, Frank H. .Tillinghast, Charles F. Burgess. COLONIAL EXHIBIT.— Arnold B. Mathewson, Charles E. Barber, Judge "Waldo Tillinghast, Rev. H. T. Arnold, Rev. Elisha Sanderson, Commit- tee of the D. A. R. and the Lucy Webb Hayes Circle, G. A. R. MUSIC— Floyd Cranska, John T. Leach, L. W. Cleveland, E. "W. Mathewson, John B. "Vaughn. Fred "W.» Lester, Norwich, Choral Director. Mrs. "W. "W. Adams, Accompanist. POLICE AND CONSTABULARY.— George R. Bliven, Joel M. Hunt, Charles F. Burgess, S. A. Clarke, George G. Chipman. SPEAKERS' STAND AND SEATING.— H. C. Starkweather, "William Shepard, Jason P. Lathrop, "Walter Kingsley, Henry B. Lester. STREET PARADE.— Joel M. Hunt, Chas. E. Barber, F. H. Edgarton, Marcele Jette, A. H. Mathewson. 6 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. Auxiliary Committees. COLONIAL, EXHIBIT.— Miss Martha S. Baton, Miss Isabella B. Pratt, Lemuel W. Cleveland, Miss Annie L. Tillinghast, Mrs. Luther S. Eaton, Walter Klngsley, Miss Susie Witter, Mrs. Julia M. Andrews, Miss Bertha Sprague, John Gallup, Mrs. Henry Young, Mrs. George Loring, Mrs. W. D. Rouse, Mrs. E. H. Lillibridge, Sessions L. Adams, Miss Bessie Parker, Timothy Parker, Miss Nellie Shepard; Canterbury — Rev. Wilbur Johnson, Miss Lucy Baldwin. PARADE. — Henry Dorrance, Charles O. Dodge, Simon Sullivan, Earl Davis, Miss Martha S. Baton, Miss Annie L. Tillinghast, Plainfleld; S. L. Adams, Miss Emily Torrey, Mrs. Jennie Tillinghast, Central Village; H. N. Wood, Miss Cora N. Wood, Miss Bessie Parker, Wauregan; Irving Taber, Miss Belle Cray, Mrs. Geo. Chipman, Moosup. ORDER OF PARADE. JOEL, M. HUNT, Marshal. AIDES.— Chas. C. Barber, F. H. Edgarton, Marcel Jette, A. H. Mathewson, S. Li. Adams, I. A. Tatier, Joseph Faurnier, Joseph Bodo, Joseph Perecia. GOYERNOB'S ESCORT. Reeves' American Band of Providence. G. A. R., Veteran Division, Geo. R. Bllven, Commander. The parade divisions formed at Moosup and "Wauregan, march- ing to Central Village, arriving at 9.00 a. m. FIRST DIYISION. ' Bicyclists — Ladies and Gentlemen. First, Moosup. Second, Canterbury. Third, Plainfield. Fourth, Central Village. Fifth, Wauregan. SECOND DIVISION. Platoon, Police. Reeves' American Band. St. Jean Baptist Society, "Wauregan. President, Leo Pratte. Vice-President, Lewis Messier. St. Jean Baptist Society, Moosup. Peter Burke, President. Moosup Cornet Band, F. W. Vassar, Leader. St. Louis Society, Moosup. General, Joseph Piche. Adjutant General, Hormidas Couture. Mystic Rose Council, K. of C, Wauregan. Grand Knight, Jerry Doyle. Deputy G. K., Julian Martin. Wauregan Comet Band, John T. Leach, Leader. Atwood Hose Company, Wauregan. Foreman, W. W. Wheatley. First Assistant, P. S. Downer. Second Assistant, J. T. Leach. Hill Hose Company, No. 1, Moosup. Foreman, T. Morrissey. Assistant, G. W. Gifeord. 8 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. THIRD DIVISION. Floats, Barges, Representative of Organizations, Corporate and Private Enterprises. CENTRAL, VILLAGE. Torrey Brothers, Manufacturers. M. S. Nichols, Dentifrice. A. J. Ladd, Printer. Ancient Order United "Worlcmen, Quinebaug Lodge No. 22. Scene — "Charity, Hope and Protection." Protection Lodge No. 19, I. O. O. F. Scene — "David and Jonathan." Unity Encampment No. 21, I. O. O. F. Scene — "Abraham and Isaac." Sarah Rebekah Lodge No. 34, I. O. O. F. Scene— "Rebekah at the Well." WAUREGAN. Wauregan Mill Company. Scene — "A Representation of the Cotton Industry.'" Wauregan "Village. First, "Young America." Second, "A Nosegay, from Grandma's Garden." PLAINFIELD. Plainfield Grange Floats — First, "Log Cabin Scene, 1799." Second, "Uncli^ Sam on John Bull." Third, "The Farmer Feeds Us All.'' J. P. Kingsley & Sons, Merchants. Packerville Float. MOOSUP. Order of the Eastern Star. American Mechanics, :Men and Float. American Woolen Co. Mill. Scene — "An Industrial Representation." Plainfield Journal, The Press. Bodo Brothers, Merchants. A. B. Sprague. Carriages., Goldberg Brothers, Merchants. E. E. Dupuis, Merchant. Henry E. Elliot, Merchant. C. D. Salisbury, Merchant. C. A. Sander- son, Merchant. FOURTH DiriSIOX. Cavalry, Indians, Etc. Review of the procession from the stand on the hotel lawn, by His Excellency, George E. Lounsbury, Governor of the State. March of the parade to Kingsley's store, near the depot, and counter- march, repassing the reviewing stand to the old brick school-house, whera It disbanded. ORDER OF EXERCISES. ELEVEN A. M. Invocation — Rev. Wilbur Johnson, Canterbury. Opening Acidress — Rev. S. H. Fellows, President of the Day. Historical Address — "Plainfleld Beginnings," Miss Ellen D. Larned, Thompson. Selection — Reeves' American Band. Poem — Henry M. "Witter, Worcester, Mass. Read by his granddaughter. Miss Mary Witter Flint. Solo — "The Breaking Waves Dashed High," ----- Brown Mrs. W. W. Adams. Oration — Jiidge Daniel "W. Bond, Waltham, Mass. Selection — Overture, "William Tell," ------- Rossini Reeves' American Band. 1 TO 2— COLLATION. Selections during intermission by Wauregan and Moosup Bands. TWO P. M. Chorus — "Heaven and the Earth Display," - - - - MendelssoJin Address — His Excellency, George E. Lounsbury, Governor of Connecticut. Music— "II Trovature," ---------- Verdi Reeves' American Band. Address— Congressman Charles A. Russell. Chorus— "To Thee, O Country," ------- Ekhlerff Poem — George S. Burleigh, Providence, R. I. Read by his grandniece, Miss Agnes Burleigh Allen. Music, Solo — "Barbara Frletchie," ------ Jules Jordan Mrs. N. G. Ladd. Address — Rev. J. P. Brown, New London. lO PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. Address — Mr. C. E. Tillinghast, New York. Chorus — "Let the Hills and Vales Kesound," Address — Judge E. M. Warner, Putnam. Music — Selection, "Bohemian Girl," - - . Reeves' American Band. Address— Rev. Charles H. Spalding, D. D., Boston. Singing — "America," Chorus, Band and Audience. Richards Balls coy CERT BY AMERICAN BAyD.—o.l5 P. M. D. W. REEVES, Director. 1. March — "Demming," - --------- Reeves To H. C. Demming, Esq., President of Park Commissioners. 2. Overture — "Zampa," ---------- Herold 3. (a) March — "Hands Across the Sea," ------ Sousa (6) Rag Time — "A "Warm Reception," ----- Anthony 4. Medley of Popular Songs, --------- Mackie 5. Tone Picture — "Germans before Paris," - - - - - . - Treniler EVENING CONCERT.— 7.30 P. If. 1. March — "Stars and Stripes," -------- Sousa 2. Overture — "Semeramis," --------- Rossini S. (a) March — "Convention," --------- Reeves (6) Irish Rag Time— "McAlheeney's Cake Walk," - - Balfmore 4. Solo for Comet— By Mr. B. R. Church. 5. Grand Selection — "Tannhauser," - -.-.-. Wagner 6. Solo for Trombone — Mr. C. W. Sparg. 7. (a) American Patrol, --------- Meacham (6) Salvation Army, ----------- Qrth 8. Grand Fantasie— "Lohengrin," ------- Wagner 9. "Star Spangled Banner." HON. JOSEPH HUTCHINS, Chairman of General Commit-tee. REV. S. H. FELLOWS. President of the Day. ADDRESSES. WELCOMING ADDRESS. Rev. S. H. Fellows. Plainfield makes no boast of having been the birthplace of presidents, commodores or generals, or of having occupied a con- spicuous place in the history of the state or nation. She has a right to claim that the granite she has built into her church and academy, indicates the kind of men she has sent out to fill important positions in church and state. We consider ourselves honored to-day in the presence of our governor and his staff, and all others who have kindly accepted our invitation, to join in this celebration, and contribute to its success. In behalf of the citizens of the town and the committee of ar- rangements, I bid you one and all a cordial welcome. As I cannot, like Joshua of old, command the sun to stand still in his course, to lengthen out the day which will, I fear, be too short, pardon me, if I suggest to all who have a part, that they give us the cream of their thoughts, and leave the newspapers to gather up the rest. There are few who have the patience to pore over and attempt to decipher the musty records of the past, still less who have the ability to make these instinct with life ; but both these faculties are the gift of the noted historian of Windham County, whose name is a household word. She has patiently gathered up for us the salient points in the 200 years of the history of this town that we may see its beginnings and its growth. I take pleasure in presenting to you the historian of the day, Miss Ellen D. Larned. If you have your handkerchiefs, give her a good Chautauqua salute. PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. PLAINFIELD BEGINNINGS. Ellen D, Larned. Two hundred years ago this summer, May 31, 1699, the resi- dents of the land both sides of the Quinebaug river, now included in the towns of Plainfield and Canterbury, met together to organize town government. Some thirty families then comprised this Quine- baug plantation, the larger proportion having their homes in the south part of the eastern section, and we may assume that the place of meeting for this purpose was in some rude dwelling not far from this present, pleasant Plainfield street. Rude, I say, for how could it be otherwise. If ever a people had to battle for existence and for every square inch of territory, it was the early settlers of the Quinebaug plantation. This beautiful Quinebaug Country, a tract twelve to fourteen miles square with its broad valleys, rich planting fields and rolling hills on either side, has been the object of envy and dissension as far back as we can penetrate into its history. Its aboriginal inhabitants, spiritless Quinebaugs as they were called, without head chief or tribal organization, were trampled under foot by their stronger neighbors, the warlike Xarragansetts and fiercer Pequots, paying tribute to each by turns. The Xarragansett Moosup gained such a foothold as to affix his name forever to the largest branch of the Quinebaug. AMiite settlers venturing within this stormbelt were driven away by threats of violence, and after English settlement, the conquest of the Pequots, and the withdrawal of the Narragansetts, the "white man's burden" was but slightl)- alleviated. The Quinebaug Country was then claimed and battled over by two of the strongest men in Connecticut, each with his following O'f partisans and fellow claimants. First in the field was John \\'inthrop, son of Gov. John Winthrop of Massachusetts, himself governor of Connecticut, to whom Connecticut is indebted for its first charter, with its wonder- fully broad and gracious privileg-es, a man whose memory we de- light tO' honor. Having founded a colony and set up a saw mill PLAINFIELD BEGINNINGS. 1 3 at Pequot, now New London, he naturally sought to gain adjacent territory, and in 1653 secured a deed of the Quinebaug Country irom certain Indians who exercised temporary authority and claimed right of disposal. The bounds extended from "the Indian planting- ground at Quinebaug, where James his fort is" (now Danielson), on both sides the river that runneth down towards Mohegan, and the plantation upon the sea, and included all the swamps of cedar, pine, spruce and other timber, suitable for the supply of the Winthrop saw mill. The whole tract of country now included in Pliinfield and Canterbury was made over to Winthrop for "a coat" at once donned by the savage chieftain, with "a roll of trucking cloth, two Tolls of red cotton, wampum, stockings, tobacco pipes and tobacco." The General Court under the circumstances could do no less than "allow the Governor his Indian purchase at Quinebaug," with liberty to erect thereon a plantation. The disturbed condition of public affairs delayed settlement till after King Philip's war and the deposition of Sir Edmond Andrus ; and by that time our second claimant had appeared upon the field, the worshipful Major James Fitch of Norwich, a man who by his masterful character and influence over the Indians exercised more power at that date than any man in Connecticut. Uncas, sachem of the Mohegans, laid claim to a vast tract of country by virtue of Pequot descent and conquest, and had given the Quinebaug Coun- try and other tracts to his son Owaneco, who in 1680 made over all his right and title to any and all of his lands and meadows unto his loving friend, James Fitch, Jun., who was made by General Court legal guardian of this drunken and flexible Owaneco. The Win- throp claim was now maintained by Gov. Winthrop's sons, Fitz John and Wait, and both factions essayed to encourage settlement and plantation work. This land embroilment makes it difficult to trace the order of settlement as deeds of land received from either claimant were after- wards set aside. A number of respectable families from Massa- chusetts towns purchased land of the Winthrops and entered upon possession about 1689. Major Fitch is said tO' have been' more careless in the admission of settlers, allowing privateers and even 14 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. some from Rhode Island to gain a footing. All classes alike labored under very great difficulties arising from absolute insecurity of title. Land broken up, crops toilfully raised could be seized and harried off by opposing claimants. Other claims besides those of the honorable governor and worshipful major made confusion more confounded. The same land had been granted to different persons who battled for possession. The early records of New London county courts are filled with complaints of high-handed violence; fences are torn down, bounds obliterated ; youngsters from Norwich seize and carry off corn from the Indians' planting ground ; names still honored in both towns figure in report as clinching with clubs and hatchets; the major himself is arraigned as a "Land Pirate." Your honored townsman, Judge Gallup, reports that his ancestor — one of six brothers concerned in these squabbles — ^was actually driven off into Voluntown as a specially obnoxious "land-grabber." Details of this stormy period may but be left to Carlyle's "wise oblivion." Under the circumstances it could scarce have been otherwise, and enough has been given to show under what great difficulties Plainfield was founded. One gleam of romance illumines this dark picture. Among the settlers are two young brothers from Concord, not included among the belligerents and holding their land on an independent footing. Tradition reports them as coming in advance of others. There were no dime novels in those days, but they may have heard of John Smith and sea-faring adventurers. Other settlers trudged over the old Connecticut path leading from Boston to New York, or followed Indian trails, Greenwich and Nipmuck paths, but these adventurous youth boarded a sloop at Boston which brought them round to Pequot harbor, and there they encountered Indians who told them of goodly land in the Quinebaug's Country and brought them up stream in their canoes until they had passed the ^ Great Bend, Wanungatuck, where they landed and made their home. We cannot vouch for the truth of this picturesque voyage of discovery with all its romantic details, but we know as a positive fact that these two young men from Concord — Isaac and Samuel Shepard — either by sea or land "got there all the same," that they recorded at PLAINFIELD BEGINNINGS. 15 Norwich a deed of land from Owaneco; that their names do not appear among raiders or defenders; that they Hved in peace and harmony with their Indian friends and neighbors; broug'ht their old mother and her second husband to share in their purchase and prosperity; and that old Shepard Hill and a goodly line of descendants bear witness of them unto this day. But for them we should hardly know of the Indians, occupying their old haunts and hunting fields, keeping Black Hill burned over to furnish grazing for deer, bringing gifts of game and fish and acquiring a taste for cider and spirits that carried them off by scores to the ancient Sagamore burying ground. Feared at first by the whites, they soon recognized their harmless character and no Indian disturbances are recorded in Plainfield annals. In other respects our settlers were wholly at disadvantage, debarred, as they forcibly present in their petitions, from regular orderly settlements, no roads but those "trod 'out" as occasion de- manded, no schools, no church privileges, no town officials, and the very delicate question at issue between such prominent men as the Winthrops and Major Fitch made such settlement impossible until this matter of title was thoroughly investigated, and with that the General Court was as yet unable to grapple. Even county priv- ileges were not granted until 1697, when the Quinebaug Country was included in New London County. Still the settlement was growing, for that same year Major Fitch took personal possession of his farm at Peagscomsuck, west side of the river. Other sub- stantial settlers, Adams, Paine, the Clevelands, founded homes west of the river. The Puritan spirit assisted itself in attempts at "law and order" and religious services ; a minister was procured and in May, 1699, a petition was presented the general assembly for town privileges, and a specified committee tO' lay out allotments and arrange a "peaceable, honorable, speedy and righteous laying out of lots and divisions of land and meadows." This petition was signed by fifteen east side settlers, viz., Isaac and Samuel Shepard, John, Edward and Joseph Spalding, Thomas and Timothy Pierce, Richard Pellett, Benjamin Rood, John Fellows, James Ringsbury, Thomas Harris, Matthias Button, Jacob Warren, Nathaniel Jewell. Nine l6 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. others signed who were west side residents : Robert Green, Richard Adams, Samuel and Joseph Cleveland, Obadiah and William John- son, Thomas Brooks. By act of assembly town privileges were granted, provided it did not prejudice any particular person's property. Bounds were ten miles east and west, eight miles north and south, abutting southerly on Norwich and Preston bounds, westerly on Windham, and his honor Gov. Fitz John Winthrop named the town Plainfield, and so after this long period of debate and strife our Plainfield ancestors met together that last day of May, 1699, and organized town govern- ment. It was not a very full or enthusiastic meeting. Major Fitch and his brother land-grabbers were conspicuously absent. .There were breakers ahead, but this handful of men did the best they could. They put in for town clerk a good man, James Deane. We know he was good for he kept the best records of any town clerk in Windham County; well written, well spelt (for the times), full and accurate ; moreover he was a pillar of the church and left by will to his oldest son, James, that precious "great bible" still cherished by western descendants. Jacob Warren, Joseph Spalding, Stephen Hall, William Johnson and Samuel Adams were chosen selectmen ; John Fellows, constable ; Thomas Williams, surveyor. Many things were needful for this new town, but the one thing they thought most needful was a minister, and the only additional vote at this first Plainfield town meeting was : "To give the Rev. I\Ir. Coit a call for one-quarter of a year for ten pounds ; Stephen Hall, Nathaniel Jewell, Joseph Spalding and Thomas \\'illiams tO' gO' and treat with him, receive his answer and return it to the town." Mr. Coit came and preached for the summer, holding service on either side of the Quinebaug by turns, and by autumn affairs were so quieted that all agreed, whether or not their land disputes were settled, they must have a settled orthodox ministry and regular Sabbath worship. Nov. 13, 1699, a meeting was held at which thirty-eight inhabitants signed an agreement to maintain "an able, faithful, orthodox gospel minister, so as that the sure worship of God may l)c at all times upheld and maintained amongst us ;" the townsmen to take special care of his maintenance and accommoda- PLAINFIELD BEGINNINGS. I7 tions. James Fitch heads the list of subscribers to^ this agreement, followed by eleven other west side settlers. Other signatures are tho&e of Thomas Stevens, William Douglas, Henry Walbridge, Daniel Woodward, William Marsh, Joshua Whitney, Tixhall Ens- worth, John Smith, Edward Baldwin, Joseph Parkhurst, John Dean, Samuel Howe, Peter Crary. Jacob Warren was chosen east side collector, Richard Adams west side. Further arrangements were made at the February town meeting, held "at the house of Isaac , Shepard's present aboad," and Mr. Coit was retained in charge. This agreement though made in good faith was found greatly inconvenient. The Quinebogus river was the chief obstacle. This "tedious" and turbulent "stream involved our settlers in a long labarynth of diiificulties." It is hard tO' recognize our tractable and friendly Quinebaug in this fierce and ferocious torrent, not to be paralleled in the colony for depth and untimely freshets. All our residents, whites and Indians, had canoes, and the Shepard brothers rigged up something like a ferry boat for the accommodation of travelers, but the passage to and frO' at certain seasons was extremely difficult and even hazardous, and in 1702, in another formal agree- ment, east and west side settlers agreed tO' join in application to the General Court for the grant of a separate town-ship on the west side. The dividing bound to be the Quinebaug to- the centre of Peagscomsuck Island, thence a straight line to south bound of town. This agreement was signed by twenty-four east side and ten west side inhabitants, with three worthy ministers for witnesses. The joint petition was accepted by the General Court, and the west side incorporated in 1703 is the_ town-ship of Canterbury. Previous to this corporation attempts had been made to settle that still more formidable land dispute. First a committee appointed by the General Court mer at the Peagscomsuck plantation. May 21, J 701, to take testimony, find out and renew the bounds of the Quinebaug Country, purchased by John Winthrop. It was a re- markable gathering. Major General Wait Winthrop was there to represent the claim in behalf of himself and his brother, the present Governor; Tracy, Leffingwell, Bushnell and other Norwich mag- nates, Major Fitch with his following of counsellors and fellow 15 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. claimants, all the residents of both sides the Quinebaug, and all the Indians that could be mustered of every clan and tribelet — Mohe- gans, Narragansetts, Shetuckets, Ouinebaugs. A Pequot had been exhumed from that defunct tribe. They had even brought down old John Aquatimang from Woodstock, who seventy years before had carried corn to needy Boston settlers. What would we not give for one snap shot of this varied and picturesque assembly. Our timid Quinebaug residents so quailed before the presence of Owaneco that they had to be taken aside before they dared to. give their testimony. After a full examination of all these witnesses, the committee with a long train of guides, Indians and interested spectators proceeded to search for the bounds thus indicated. They- went first toi the point designated as Hyem's fort and the Indian Planting Ground and affixed the northern boundary from Aquid- neck to Uhquanchaug; next to the Little Falls, Lowontuck, about three miles south of Major Fitch's house, which they adjudged to be the south bound of the purchase. Thence on the east and west "to hills, meadows, swamps, plains, rivers and brooks," identifying- and giving Indian names to tliese several points and formally as- signing bounds for this ancient Quinebaug Country. The General Court received the report of committee and allowed a record thereof, and there the matter rested for five years. Finding it impossible under existing circumstances to carry forward that much desired "peaceable, honorable, righteous" settlement of lands and meadows,, and difficHlties, contentions and law suits continually increasing, the General Court was forced again to take the matter in hand and in 1706 with the consent of Gov. Winthrop and iSIajor Fitch appointed six honorable gentlemen as commissioners to inform themselves of the true source of these unhappy differences and endeavor an am- icable compromise, if "the cause of all these actions and suits with the whole of these troubles and vexations be not previously re- moved." In point of fact a compromise ^^'as effected before recep- tion of commissioners' report. The point at issue as to the Indian title was one of great difficulty. In that period when it was so difficult to obtain accurate report and surveys of this new far-off land, it was the policy of the British government not to disturb PLAINFIELD BEGINNINGS. I9 bounds and titles once admitted, especially when influential parties were concerned and large interests at stake; and the fact that Con- necticut government had confirmed both Winthrop purchase and Mohegan claim, made decision in favor of either claimant practically impossible. And so the Winthrops yielded their claim, receiving a thousand acres of land in each town ; and Plainfield was granted a patent confirming to its inhabitants the remainder of her territory. We leave the legal points of this famous land case for our friend, Judg"e Bond, to elucidate. Personally I may say that I do not see how those renegade Narragansetts could convey a legal title to land, which according to one of their own people they did not possess. Roger Williams in 1668 reports that the Narragansetts had for a long time given up their claim toi the Nipmuck Country. Our Indian authority, the late J. Hammond Trumbull, was of opinion that the Winthrop claim was not tenable. You must not be surprised, however, if our judge reverses this verdict. No twO' people are ex- pected to agree upon this Quinebaug land muddle. And as both Great Britain and Connecticut shirked decision, we cannot be ex- pected to settle it. The views of Major Fitch upon this compromise we leave for Canterbury's bicentennial in 1903. With patent in hand Plainfield could now accomplish that long delayed division of lands and meadows. Inhabitants under previous irregular purchases and grants now relinquished their rights to the town, receiving in return a formal allotment, and promise of share in future divisions. Each land holder retained his original home- stead and care was taken to make additional allotments accessible. Our good James Deane gave to- the town his land east side Mill Brook, "hoping that it might tend tO' the speedy and quiet settle- ment of the town, though much to his loss." A similar spirit of accommodation and self-sacrifice was manifest by others. Matthias Button received his hundred acres in twoi parts tO' prevent any hindrance to the setting up a corn mill on Moosup's river. John Gallup, Jun., was granted the lot he now lives on, John Gallup, Sen., "the lot adjoining his son's." William Gallup was allowed a lot, provided "he bring his family tO' it in some reasonable time and there settle with his family." Peter Crary, "provided he do speedily settle 20 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. his family upon it." New inhabitants gained title to all these privileges by paying three pounds money, into the town treasury. The broad valley of the Quinebaug, Plainfield's corn belt, was re- served as a general field, a committee proportioning the enclosing fence to the proprietors. To record these rules and divisions our faithful town clerk was empowered, to provide three suitable books for the town and to make suitable alphabets to them ; one book to record town acts ; one for births, marriages and deaths ; and one to record the laws. Indian disturbances called out attention from the town. In- habitants were forbidden to leave without permission ; guard-houses and scouts were ordered ; equipments and ammunition provided ; Plainfield's first military company was formed in 1707, Thomas Williams, ensign. With all Plainfield's difficulties and obstructions it should be noted that her meeting-house was the first ready for service within Windham Co. territory, six months even in advance of that of Windham. Other improvements were now in progress ; saw and corri mills on Mill Brook and Moosup's nver and ways laid out to them and laws passed restraining cattle and horses from the general field under penalty of five pence a head from the owner of such trespassers. In 1707 the land division was completed — the whole territory exclusive of meadows and General Field being included in five sections called "eighth." The very clear description of these sec- tions and individual allotments enables descendents of these old settlers to identify these home lots in the several divisions. "Snake," "Appletree" and "Half" meadows were laid out in five and one- fourth acres to each proprietor. Fort}- twelve-acre divisions were laid out in the General Field, being the third twelve-acre division within this Field. Interval land was laid out in sixty proportions, each man making his pitch according to his draft. This work being accomplished Plainfield was expected to bear her part of the public charges. The list of estates in 1707 were valued at £1,265; ^^' habitants, fifty ; and John Fellows was sent to represent the town at General Court. A bit of land was now allowed for the encourage- ment of a school, and Lieut. Williams, Joseph Spalding and Dea. PLAINFIELD BEGINNINGS. 21 Douglas enjoined to take care that there be one. Our ever ready- town clerk agreed to take that office for half a year, "for what the county allows, and what parents and masters of children shall agree with me for." In 1709 Plainfield was called to bear her part in the expedition against Canada, sending five men to the field. A grant of twenty acres of land was allowed Thomas Kingsbury, "providentially cast onto Plainfield after long captivity, having lost all that he had by the enemy." It was not till 1711 that the town attained the dignity of a full military company — Thomas Williams, captain; Timothy Pierce, lieut. ; William Douglass, ensign. Tempting rewards were needed to keep certain small enemies from damage. A penny a head for blackbirds and six pence a crow's head was allowed during, the month of May ; two pence for a rattlesnake's tail "with some of the flesh on it." Indians Jeremy and David having killed two wolves "were each allowed ten shillings for the encouragement of such work." Among other needful regulations it was now ordered that "the place which has been improved by the inhabitants for the burial of the dead shall abide and remain for that use," and a con- venient way was staked ont to go unto the same. A place was also designated for especial Indian use — that "Old Sagamore Burying Ground," destined to receive the fading generations of Plainfield's first inhabitants. The road question was then, as now, one of perennial agitation. Reference is made in 1710 to "a new bridge over the Quinebaug,'' built apparently by private enterprise and not of long continuance. Business interests demanded better facilities for transportation. Providence was the most convenient market town. The Rhode Island legislature ordered in 1711 — ^that a highway should be laid out from Providence, through Warwick and West Greenwich to Plainfield. Connecticut was roused to action by representations of the great difficulties and dangers to which travelers were exposed for want of a suitable public road through Plainfield from the centre and south parts of the town to the eastern bound. The selectmen of the town were ordered to lay out the needed roads, continuing the same a mile and a half eastward oi the bounds of the town. PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. William Marsh, John Fellows and Thomas Stevens had charge of the important work. The needful land was given by the owners in consideration of the convenience and necessity, being the nearest and best way to and from Boston, Providence, Narragansett and other places. It was laid out four rods wide throughout and eight rods at certain places for convenience of loaded carts. A miry slough near Daniel Lawrence's was transformed into a good and ■ sufficient causeway by the labor of some of the inhabitants. At the Moosup fordway east of the town a safe and sufficient bridge was constructed at the expense of the colony. The opening of the first regularly laid out road from Providence to Connecticut was a great advantage to the public and a source of profit and pleasant inter- change of. intercourse to Plainfield. The road to Boston through Killingly's rough domain was as yet hardly passable. With land confirmed, schools and military company established, convenient roads laid out and, above all, a suitable meeting-house and acceptable minister, we might hope that Plainfield would enjoy a season of quiet and healthy growth ; but the winds were contrary. The loss of half her territory, however essential to early settlement, was a perpetual grievance. To be reduced from a 12x14 to a 6x8 town-ship was a sore humiliation not to be borne with vacant land lying O'n every side. A number of Plainfield's substantial citizens managed to secure and retain a tract of land on the north, long known as the "Owaneco Purchase." The annexation of this strip, it was pleaded, would be a great convenience, allowing the sons of Plainfield fathers to enjoy the privilege of their own town govern- ment and house of worship. On the south Preston had encroached beyond specified bounds, necessitating complaints and committees. Their great fight, ho-\vever, was for the vacant land eastward, north of the Volunteer's land, but "a small part of it good for improvement, generally a barren pine land," and yet apparently essential to Plain- field's maintenance of public charges and even existence. Still more harrowing was the government's persistence in allow- ing Canterbury to retain that valley land east of the Quinebaug, ac- cording to the solemn agreement made at the time of separation. By an unfortunate blunder the original Act of Assembly made the PLAINFIELD BEGINNINGS. ■ 23 Quinebaug the dividing line between the towns and though the «rror was quickly recognized and rectified Plainfield never ceased to bewail or resent her loss. Plainfield's petitions for enlargement upon these several lines show not only great ingenuity but literary merit. Some wise head, rare there, understood "the art of putting things." Here, a plaintive appeal : — "Unto whom shall the op- pressed apply themselves? In the first place, they sigh, they groan and send up their cry unto the Lord God, who in his holy word •directs in such cases to apply ourselves unto the earthly judges, our rulers and fathers. Thence it is, we, with deepest humility as on our bended knees, lay before you our miserable, deplorable, undone condition ; unless God or our King or your compassionate selves will relieve us." Then, a wheedling argument with reference to that change in the Canterbury bound — "We do look upon it that the grants of our Honorable Court are like the laws of the Medes and Persians, un- alterable, and we dare not entertain such diminutive thoughts of our honorable rulers that they will act like children to^ grant a thing ■one Court and then to take it away the next (if they were able)." But there were wise heads in the General Assembly as well as in Plainfield and with all her pleas and arguments she failed to carry her point. The Owaneco purchase was included within Killingly bounds. The vacant land east, so earnestly desired and sought, was annexed ty Act of Assembly to the Volunteer's land, foirming the north part of Voluntown (now Sterling). This land was given by Con- necticut to her soldiers who had fought in King Philip's war, an old- time substitute for pension list, and it is to. be feared that the land- grabbers got a larger share of it than the soldiers. To' these several failures the town submitted with more or less grumbling, but that land west of the Quinebaug once assigned to her she positively re- fused to yield, laying out divisions and ordering fences at pleasure, while Canterbury retaliated by tearing down fences and carrying off liay and grain. A state of chronic Border Ruffianism existed for many years. The Cedar swamp, which by terms of agreement was left free to 24 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. both towns, became a bone of contention. Major Fitch, Elisha Paine and other prominent Canterbury citizens were indicted for stealing loads of hay and other misdemeanors. Innumerable law- suits were carried on between contending parties. Plainfield's ar- raignment of Canterbury's offences in her final plea before the General Court in 1721 surpassed all her previous efforts in that line, and called out some concessions that modified the situation. In justice to Plainfield we must consider that land-grabbing was the peculiar vice of the age, in point of fact there was nothing else to grab. There was no public treasury to draw upon ; no fat jobs or offices to secure. Then, too, in the nature of the case all their at- tempted grabs and squabblings were open to public view. They could not get the land without petition or overt seizure, nor skip otr to Rhode Island with their loads of grain and cedar rails. We may be confident that we know all the bad things about them and that under the peculiar circumstances they did no worse than others of their generation. These prolonged difficulties interfered with public benefits, and especially with the erection of a second meeting-house as until the land east was assigned to Voluntown, the projected site was intended to accommodate their "poor neighbors." After much dissension the house was ready for occupation in 1720, about half a mile north of the present edifice on Plainfield street. School districts north and south of the meeting-house were set off the same vear, each to order its own schools. John Stoyell had previously conducted a public school for the whole town, the cost to each child being four pence a week beside the public money. In 1721 ^Ir. Walton maintained perambulatory schools in different sections, the town paying him twelve pounds, finding him board and keeping a horse for him. In 1725 three school-houses had been provided. The Quinebaug river still objecting to bridges, in 1722, Samuel Shepard was authorized by Assembly to maintain a ferry over the- same for five years ; fee, four pence for man and horse, he to keep good and suitable vessels for transportation and attend the service. Taverns were allowed to accommodate public travel, the needful town officials kept in service. A special office required in Plainfield PLAINFIELD BEGINNINGS. 2^ for the protection of its general field were "field-drivers," of whom some twenty-odd were appointed toi repair rails and drive ofif intruders. Thus at the date of the incorpo^ration of Windham County in 1726, Plainfield was able to talce a good position among sister towns^ AAfith a goodly number of inhabitants and a rate-list of nearly- £7,000., In any historic retrospect we are always impressed with the limita- tion of our knowledge. We see so little way beneath the siirface. These formal town acts, these public doings, tell so little of the real^ everyday life of the people. One text of scripture tells all that we know of myriads of generations of human beings, "They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded, they married, they were given in marriage." Connecticut's first most faithful historian, Benjamin Trumbull,, took pains to collect personal details and local incidents fro^m every town, and a letter from Plainfield throws additional light upon some of her older settlers. First in position and influence he places Timothy Pierce from Wobum as "greatly useful in his day, executed all military offices as high as colo-nel ; justice of the peace for many years, judge of probate several years, chief judge of the superior court of Windham county and one of the Governors' council, all which offices he executed with such diligence and care as to be un- blamable. He was a father of the town and a promoter of the com- mon welfare of all when he had opportunity, of an extraordinary soul, pious and Christian conversation." His kinsman, Thomas Pierce, was another good citizen, "who was the first married man that died in town." Another useful, prominent citizen was Thomas Williams, first captain of the train- band, justice of peace, town clerk, tavern keeper, who left many children to represent an honored name. The Rev. Joseph Coit is reported as a gentleman of good conversation, an ornament to his profession. Of the first deacons, William Douglas, Jacob Warren, Joshua Whitney, and many other of Plainfield's first settlers, we learn little more than name and service. And yet we know all the same that the whole life of the period was not expressed in land-fights and town-meetings. There were a 26 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. liundred homes scattered throughout this fair Quinebaug Country, ■each with its own family life, its social and neighborhood interests. Of the wives and mothers who ordered these homes, we indeed, catch no ghmpses except by dates of birth, death and marriages. Their voices were not heard in public nor even in church meetings but we may well believe thg,t they bore their share in maintaining these homes and fo.rwarding the grow^th of the town. Of the children growing up in these homes we catch one snap- shot frO'm the town records — we see Joseph Lawrence perched up in the gallery of that new meeting-house — for what? To keep a sharp lookout upon the boys and girls sitting in the rear of the body seats below — the girls on the women's side; the boys on the men's side. And if any of these naughty young people did damage to the meet- ing-house "by opening the windows, or anywise damnifying the glass, and if any (him or her) did profane the Sabbath by laughing or behaving unseemly, he should call him or her by name and so re- prove them therefor." And so we know that these first boys and girls growing up in Plainfield were as bright, merr\" and saucy as these of 1899. And in the very hindmost seat back of the boys and girls sat the negroes — "male negroes behind the boys ; female negroes behind the girls." There were social distinctions in those days. Such worthies as our Reverend minister and Justices Pierce and Williams lived in colonial style and owned slaves for body and house servants. These light-hearted, chatty Africans contrasted oddly with the sur- viving Aborigines — ^those somber Quinebaugs, stalking in single file from house to house, demanding food and cider — wandering Mohe- gans, still claiming rights in woods and streams, adding a picturesque element ; dwelling for months in the hunting season in boats beside the rivers. And there was feasting and frolicing, huskings and trainings in which these young people took a pai't, and much skurrying to and fro over those public roads maintained at such cost and care, and over the Quinebaug in canoe and ferry boat. A constant stream of travel passed through the town from Norwich and New London to Providence and Boston. A brisk trade was carried on with Provi- PLAINFIELD BEGINNINGS. 27 dence, surplus produce finding there a market ; and Plainfield youth finding employment and sometimes wives there. And hard as it was for the townsmen to carry on their own institutions, they were ready to assist in "carrying on the ministry of the Gospel" in that destitute town and in building an orthodox house of worship there. During the early years of settlement we hear no complaint of sickness but between 1720-25, severe epidemics carried away many of the town fathers. With county organization a new generation came upon the stage, sons of the first planters with some older ones still to guide them. After all her contests and difficulties Plainfield was able to take a good position among her sister towns, furnishing a colonel for its regiment, a judge for the bench and probate office and competent assistants for council and assembly. In one brief day it is impossible to give even an abstract of two hundred years' ex- istence. Other phases of its life will be brought to you by others. Enough will come before us to show how heartily we can all join on this commemorative occasion in thankfulness for the past and hope for the future. PLAINFIELD IN 1830. From an old print. 28 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. PLAINFIELD, CONNECTICUT. 1699 Bicentennial Celebration 1899 August 31, 1899. No great event of world-wide fame We celebrate to-day; No proud, historic field can claim The honors that we pa}-. The fact we here commemorate Will scarce detain us long, Or much afford of good or great For eulogy or song. Within this wilderness there came. Two hundred j^ears ago, Some settlers, all of humble name. To lay the forest low. Inspired by no ambitious praise, Averse to blood and strife. They left the scenes of early days To seek a quiet life. To find, perchance, amid these hills, With all their peaceful charms, A safe retreat from worldly ills. Secure from \\'ar's alarms ; With little thought their poor retreat Would be a scene of fanu-. Where eager pilgrim throngs would meet. And bless their humble name. But yet, how often wc observe, In Heaven's eternal plan. That humblest means are made to serve God's purposes to man. POEM BY HENRY M. WITTER. 29 Attracted here a noble race Of men innured to toil, Who braved the hardships of the place And tilled the fertile soil. The early fathers of the town Were of that sturdy stock Which took its prestige and renown From grand old Plymouth Rock. And with them to this wilderness, In manly hearts they bore "The same religious earnestness The pilgrims did of yore. The same grand love of Liberty ; The same respect for Law ; The same broad Christian charity And reverential awe. And, lest this ardor should abate, And faith itself grow cool, They brought those pillars of the State — The Church and Common School. Not yet, of course, those forces raised' To present scope and power. But germs within the seed embraced The bud but not the flower. Yet many a dark and bitter day Of mingled hopes and fears, And many a sorrow marked the way Of those, brave pioneers. Full oft the promised harvest failed And famine pressed them sore, And many a strong man's spirit quailed Which never quailed before. 30 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. But still their faith did not abate, Nor did their ardor cool ; They kept those pillars of the State — Tlie Church and Common School. They built a simple school-house, where They turned the virgin sod ; And near it raised, in faith and prayer, A temple to their God. Who can recall, without a thrill. That place of praise and prayer; The old Stone Church upon the hill. And those who worshipped there? Who can compute the priceless worth. The measure or extent. Of that good influence on the earth, Those earnest followers lent? Who stands unmoved beside the stones Which hold in sacred trust The names of the departed ones WhO' slumber in the dust? These are the lives and memories To which we tribute pay. Theirs are the bloodless victories We celebrate to-day. Henry ]\I. Witter. ORATION BY JUDGE DANIEL W. BOND. 31 ORATION. Judge Daniel W. Bond. Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: We havQ assembled toi celebrate an event which occurred two- hundred years ago; in 1699, some of the people of this locality, then called the Quinebaug Country, applied to the colonial government of Connecticut to be given "the privileges which belong to other towns." Town privileges then consisted in the right of the freemen to vote for colonial officers, to take part in the government of the colony by means of deputies (now called representatives) chosen by the freemen, and in the management of the affairs of the town in town-meetings and by town officers chosen at such meetings. The affairs of a new town then included the granting of allotments of land to the inhabitants, and in all towns, included, besides such matters as are managed by towns now, the right and the duty of providing for religious meetings. While it was important that the people of a new settlement should vote for colonial officers and elect deputies to act with others in the management of the afifairs of the colony, it was still more important that the people should have the power to provide for public improvements and the manage- ment of the affairs of the town by a majority vote of the freemen in town meetings, and to elect the necessary officers of'the town. In some respects town government was more important then than now. The seat of government was at Hartford, only about forty miles away, but the means of communication were such that matters particularly affecting the town could not properly be attended to at Hartford. The local government was, therefore, what had to be depended upon by the people for all that directly affected their common in- terests as well as to some extent their individual protection. An application for town privileges was signed by twenty-two persons — fifteen on the east side of the Quinebaug and seven on the west side. Gov. John Winthrop also^, in a separate application, asked that town privileges be granted. It was stated in the applica- 32 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. tion of the inhabitants that "some thirty famiHes are here." The form of expression leads me to conclude that there were less than thirty houses in the settlement at that time, and probably less than two hundred white inhabitants, with four or five hundred Indians. Wait ^^'inthrop stated, in 1696, that some of the families left on ac- count of the troubles over the land. They asked for a township ten miles square, and one was granted them the same year ten miles east and west and eight miles north and south. It comprised substan- tially all the land now included in the present town of Plainfield and the present town of Canterbury. The white inhabitants were scattered over a considerable portion of this tract. The greater portion of the land, though fertile, was hilly and stony, only a small portion of it was intervale land ; there was quite a tract of plain land on the east and west sides of the river, and it is conjectured that the quantity of such land in the township was Avhat led Gov. Winthrop, in 1700, to give it the name of Plainfield. It seems to have been the first town of that name in this country, but it is not known whether Gov. Winthrop invented the name ■or took it from some name in the old country. Upon an occasion like this, the mind naturally recurs to the situation of the early settlers prior to and at the time of their in- corporation as a town, and considers their trials and prosperity. It has been truly said, "It is a noble faculty of our nature which ■enables us to connect our thoughts, our sympathies, and our hap- piness with what is distant in time and place We live in the past by 'a knowledge of its history By as- cending to an association with our ancestors, by contemplating their example and studying their character, by partaking of their sentiments and imbibing their spirit, by accompanying them in their toils, by sympathizing in their sufTerings and rejoicing in their successes and their triumphs ; we seem to^ belong to their age and to mingle our own existence with theirs. W'e become their contemporaries, live the lives they lived, endure what they en- •dured, and partake in the rewards which they enjoyed." In many respects there is a general similarity in the early Jiistory of all New England towns. It was no holiday excursion ORATION BY JUDGE DANIEL W. BOND. 33 for the early settlers in any locality to leave their homes and their friends, with the uncertainty as to when they should meet again, and go out into an unbroken wilderness, miles from any other settlement, with no roads in the settlement or to any other locality, and attempt, either in large or small numbers, to establish a home and obtain a livelihood. The first settlers in this locality could not step into a telephone office, either at Boiston or Norwich, and call up the Quinebaug Country and arrange for a home. In those days the Indian or real estate agent did not do business over the telephone. The material for the new houses must be obtained at the new settlement, a shelter must be constructed during the summer months to protect them from the cold and storms of winter, and until such shelter was constructed, they must get along as best they could. The children might sleep anywhere and under any cir- -cumstances ; the father might sleep without shelter ot protection, with his hand on his loaded musket, but, as the darkness crept over the little camp, there was no sleep for the tired mother — every rustle among the leaves seemed to her as the stealthy tread of some Indian savage, and after watching through the long night, she was glad when the first dawn of day appeared in the east; perhaps, after such a breakfast was over as could be prepared from their scanty supply of provisions, she might get a little rest while the children were at play and her husband was chopping the trees for their cabin home. It was generally true that there were fish in the streams and game in the woods available for food, but the vege- tables needed must be grown during the first season for their use until the harvest of the succeeding year. Sickness from exposure and hardship must be endured, with only such treatment as some good mother in the settlement could give — poor at the best, under the circumstances, with no houses and but little more than a mere shelter, and without any of the comforts of life as we understand that expression now. It is not easy for those whoi have not lived a pioneer life to imagine or fully describe the hardships of a New England pioneer. While every locality had a similar experience in many respects, 3 34 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. it was generally true that each had its own particular difficulties and obstacles to their comfort and progress, and Plainfield was no ex- ception to this rule. In some localities, there were serious troubles with the Indians, which sometimes deprived them of their crops, and their dwellings, and in a number of instances, of many of the lives of their inhabitants ; some were killed and others were carried away into a captivity, which, to their friends, was harder to endure than the death of the captive would have been. The early settlers of this locality were fortunate in not having to undergo any serious trouble with the Indians; they made some preparation for it and must have lived in constant expectation that some trouble might at any time come upon them. Their settlement was subsequent to. the war with the Pequots, the trouble with the Narragansetts, and. what is known as King Philip's War. During what is known as King William's War with France (1689-1697) there were fears of an attack. It was during this war that there was an alarm of an attack upon Woodstock. The passage through this-.,settlement of the messenger from Woodstock to Norwich, in 1696, and the march of Maj. Fitch with his soldiers and friendly Indians from Norwich to the protection of the Woodstock people, stopping at Maj. Fitch's farm over night, must have created an alarm here, and led to an examination and re-loading of their fire-arms, and in such other preparation of defense as circumstances permitted. There must have been a more serious cause for alarm at the time of Queen Ann's War (1702-1713), during the early part of the year 1703. as the reports of a series of horrors by the French and Indians reached, the settlement : in January, at Berwick, Maine ; in February, at Haverhill, N. H. ; and in March, at Deerfield, J\Iass. Connecticut was called upon for men to defend the frontier towns and for ex- peditions against Canada. The alarm was not allayed by the passage of an order by the general court in October, 1704, that no person shall desert his place without application first made by the inhabitants and allowance obtained from the general courts under a penalty of ten pounds to be used in defending the town, and the forfeiture of his lands. A special assembly was called in. March of that year and the civil and military officers of the re- ORATION BY JUDGE DANIEL W. BOND. 35 spective towns were directed to take especial care of the friendty Indians, to prevent them from being drawn away by the enemy. There were fears in Plainfield that the Quinebaugs might be induced to join the enemy. Every town was required to meet and determine on the maiiner of fortifying the town and defending themselves. A certain number of men in every town were required to be always ready, in summer and winter, with snow-shoes for the winter, to start upon a moment's notice. Towns were required to support guard and watch-houses and scouts in all the exposed parts of the town. Similar preparations were required in Father Rasle's War (1721-1725), during which an attack was made on Northfield, Mass.,. and Connecticut men were sent toi Hampshire County. The greatest trial which the early settlers of Plainfield had to contend with was the uncertainty of their title to the land. It seems as if this was a more serious trouble than any Indian warfare, for in case of troiible with the Indians, not only the Connecticut Colony, but the United Colonies of New England, would have sent men for their protection, and if the difficulty could not be removed in any other way, they would have annihilated the Indians. While lives were not taken by the trouble over the land titles, it prevented immigration to the new settlement, prevented the establishment of such public and other improvements as usually follow a new settle- ment, caused an anxiety on the part of the settlers as to their being able to hold their lands and homes, and in many cases, caused a strife and bitterness among the settlers which seriously interfered with the happiness and prosperity of the settlement. The trouble seems to have been due to the uncertainty about the Indian title to the land and to the conduct of the general court with reference to it: As already stated, there was a tribe of Indians in this locality called the Quinebaugs. After the Pequots came to Eastern Con- necticut, the Quinebaugs were compelled to pay tribute and homage to the Pequots. After the annihilation of the Pequots all the Indian tribes which had been subject to them claimed tO' be restored to their original condition. John Winthrop, Esq., son of Governor John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Colony, settled at Pequot (now- New London), sometime prior to 1648. He was elected governor •36 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. of the colony in 1657. In June, 1659, he signified to the general court his desire for a tract of land at the head of Pocatonock Cove for the furtherance of a plantation at Quinebaug, and the matter being considered by the court, leave was granted him to< purchase 1,500 acres upon the fresh river, together with the royalties and proprietaries of the river, in case it may not be prejudicial to any plantation; he was to take only 150 acres of meadow. A com- mittee was appointed to lay out the land. I have been unable to determine with certainty the time Gov. Winthrop obtained the Indian title to the Quinebaug Country. In a statement dated April, 1696, to Gov. Treat and his assistants, by Wait Winthrop, with reference to the land title at Quinebaug, he states that Allumps gave them possession in due form about thirty years since. He also states that they had denied themselves the settlement of the best land, almost forty years, because they would not spoil so fine a place for a plantation. In a letter from Wait Winthrop to Gov. Winthrop, dated September i, 1701, referring to this same land he says: "Possession has been in us ever since the general deed which was but the giving of the possession of what was conveyed before." In a note of explanation to the "Winthrop Papers," published by the Massachusetts Historical Society, it is stated : "The great tract of land which Gov. Winthrop, Jr., gradually acquired at Quine- baug (1653-1659) proved a troublesome possession to his sons." Dr. Trumbull, in his History of Connecticut, states : "In June, 1659, Gov. Winthrop obtained liberty of the assembly to purchase a large tract of land at Quinebaug. Soon after he made a purchase of Allumps, alias Hyems, and Massashowett, the native proprietors of the lands comprised in the townships of Plainfield and Canter- bury, both sides of the Quinebaug." In Miss Lamed's History of Windham County, a copy of the deed is given, dated November 2, 1653, by which Allumps, otherwise called Hyems, called in the deed "James, Sachem of Quinebaug," conveyed to John Winthrop, his heirs and assigns, all the land on both sides of the Quinebaug River as far north as the falls at Danielson, and as far south as the falls at Jewett City, as far as the said sacliem owned or any of his ORATION BY JUDGE DANIEL W. BOND. 37 men. It also appears that November 25, 1653, Massashowett con- firmed the deed of his brother. It must be borne in mind that in 1659 the Connecticut Colony had no charter. It is claimed that King Charles I. had granted a charter in 165 1 to the Earl of Warwick which was transferred by him to Lord Say and Seel, Lo^rd Brook, Lord Rich and others. In 1639 George Fenwick came over in the interests of the patentees, took possession, and continued the settlement at Say- brook. In 1644 Fenwick transferred to the Co.nnecticut Colony the fort at Saybrook and its appurtenances and the land on the Connecticut River, with a pledge to convey all the land as far as the Narragansett River if it came into his power to- dO' so. In 1661 Gov. Winthrop was sent to England, with a petition from the colony for a charter, which he procured from King Charles II., in 1662, conveying to the Connecticut Colony all the land west of the Narragansett River to the South Sea, so far as it did not interfere with prior grants; it was in form a confirmation of the charter of Charles I. Winthrop continued Governor of the colony until his death in 1676. In 1663 the colony prohibited any person from purchasing land of the Indians without the consent of the general court, except it was purchased for the benefit of the colony or of some town. In 1671 the general court passed an order that "the court doth grant to the Governor liberty to erect a plantation at Quinebaug, allowing the purchase that his Honor hath made of the natives for those lands, .provided it doi not prejudice any plantations already erected." There is an expression in the colonial records in the order granting leave to Gov. Winthrop tO' purchase land at Quine- baug in 1659 which leads to the inference that there were some settlers on the land at that time. It is recorded as follows : "This court doth hereby manifest their acceptance of the inhabitants of Quinebaug under this government if they desire." Dr. Trumbull states that "there was a small number of families on the lands at ■ the time of the purchase, but the planters were few until 1689." If there were any such settlers at that time, all trace and tradition of them are lost. The uncertainty of the Winthrop Indian title arose, first, from 38 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. the relation of Allumps, Massashowett, his brother, and Aguntus, to the Quinebaugs; and second, to the claim of the Mohegans to the same land. 1. Allumps, Massashowett, and Aguntus are said to have been Narragansett Indians, who, for some cause, had been obliged to leave their tribe and they took up their abode with the Quinebaugs, who, at that time, had no resident sachem. (It may be mentioned in this connection that it is supposed by some historians that all the Indians in Eastern Connecticut, except the Pequots, including the Narragansetts, were tribes of one nation). It is said that Aguntus first claimed that Allumps had no right to make the deed to Mr. Winthrop and accused him of selling- land which he did not own ; that he made Allumps, in the presence of Mr. Winthrop, take off a coat which he had received as payment for the deed ; but a quantity of cloth, stockings, wampum, tobacco, and tobacco-pipes, made the situation more clear to this honest Indian and convinced him that Allumps had good right to convey the land, and he joined with Massashowett in the confirmation of Allumps' deed. 2. The Mohegan Indians lived north of the Pequots and are said to have been a branch of that nation. Prior to the Pequot War and until his death iii 1683, Uncas was sachem of the ]\Iohe- gans. No person can fully comprehend the colonial history of Connecticut without understanding the character, relations, and negotiations of the colonists with Uncas. They did not put con- fidence in his friendship ; they tried in various ways to maintain friendly relations with him, and this explains some of their trans- actions with him. Sheldon, a modern writer and learned antiquarian, says of Uncas : "He had great force of character. He was brave, fear- less, daring to rashness ; fond of war and turbulent in peace ; haughty, imperious and often cruel to those under him ; artful and faithless in dealing with the natives, he was hated by them as a traitor to his race. His ambition and avarice as well as his grati- tude for protection, held him ever loyal to the English. He was insolent and aggressive to the tribes arO'Und him, and engaged in war regardless of opposing numbers, believing that the maintain- ance of his power was so essential to the colonists that they would ORATION BY JUDGE DANIEL W. BOND. 39 come to his help in case of disaster. He judged correctly in. this but the commissioners were often placed in embarrassing circum- stances, and they say they feared he might 'draw on mischievous •effects beyond his power to issue.' And so it proved He obtained a power which for more than forty years was a leading element in the affairs of New England. For half that time, Uncas may almost be considered the Arbiter of its destiny." Uncas' mother was the datfghter of the second sachem of the Pequots after that nation came to Connecticut, and he married the ■daughter of Sassacus, the Pequot sachem at the time of the annihilation of the tribe by the forces under Capt. John Mason in 1637, at which time Uncas acted with the English. After the annihilation of the Pequots, Uncas claimed the Pequot lands by inheritance and succession. It was not claimed by Uncas or by anyone for him that he acquired the Quinebaug Country by virtue of any conquest of the Quinebaugs. The Pequots claimed all the land in what is now New London County and the southern two-thirds of Tolland and Windham Counties. In 1640 Uncas made a deed to the governor and magistrates greater savagery of man were ever present foes and constantly lurking enemies. Nature perhaps was more easily overcome than the man, who' in the freedom of his nativity recognized and desired neither enlightenment nor progress. A frontiersman ! We can admire but not fully realize the courage and nerve and sturdy manhood which must clothe the gar- rison on the frontier. The guardsman on the outpost is a character which in all periods of American life has symbolized the genius of American institutions. Sometimes severe ; always watchful. Some- times aggressive; always progressive. Sometimes cleaving the pathway with the sword; always following with the torch of en- lightenment of the church and the school. Thus has stood and marched our frontiersman, who had his early type in the ancestry of Plainfield. Frontiership has constantly been on the move. The outposts have steadily advanced. The world's contest and humanity's con- quest have been battles with the frontier as the skirmish line. Amer- ican civilization has travelled and travelled and the frontier town has moved and moved, ever onward and onward, following the sun until now what was begun on the Danbury and Plainfield line has reached the western point of the sun's setting and is ready tO' rise again with the rising of the sun to subdue and regenerate the un- civilized East in a second cycle of the world's evolution from bar- barism to enlightenment. In 1704 Plainfield was the frontier. In 1899 Manila is the frontier. The beginning of the twentieth century sees the outpost of civilization advanced twelve thousand miles. Can we to-day in celebrating the anniversary of Plainfield regret the progress? Is there any occasion tO' become doleful or uncertain over the spread of the ideas and the purposes which are buttressed on the Plainfield outpost? Wonderful, as with Divine fruition, has grown the civili- zation, the blessing of humanity, which was set up and advanced POEM BY GEORGE SHEPARD BURLEIGH. 6 1 from the frontier line of colonial Connecticut! God speed the further progress ! What might have happened if the Plainfield people had quitted the outposts in 1704 can happen if the United States' men quit the outpost in 1899. Plainfield was not in a "quitting" business two hundred years ago. The United States is not less courageous, not less progressive, not less mindful of duties to civilization than her ancestral towns. TO PLAINFIELD, CONN. On Her Two-Hundredth Anniversary. Two hundred years of storm and calm. In winter's snow and summer's sun. Along thy hills and vales have run The varied notes of nature's psalm. The red men were thy primal flock. Free wanderers of the solemn woods. Who made their ancient solitudes The heaven of their Manitowock. Rude types of their barbaric skill. On intervale and sandy plain Flint axe and arrow points remain, In childhood sought, and treasured still. On yonder hill-side looking down To where the iron "fire-steed" neighs, Began my life and childish lays That grew despite the muses' frown. Behind the stately plough I learned The lore that made thy sturdy sons The elect of freedom's champions. By whom the tyrant's yoke was spurned. I roved thy wooded hills as free As the lithe Indian, and made love To rock and stream and chestnut grove. And there was peace 'twixt thee and me. 62 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. And there is peace in all thy bounds, O land of wood-crowned hill and plain, Of billowy fields of golden grain. And labor with its myriad sounds. The hum of spindles and the roar Of rushing engines fill the air. Once rent by Indian war-whoops where The river laves Wauregan's shore. And looking down your elm-arcades. In fancy ye may see, below. The glittering hosts of Rochambeau, Our struggling nation's gallant aids. With two broad centuries on thy brow, thou whose green hills saw my birth, 1 bless thy children, and the earth. Their foster-nurse of old as now. Not cradles only, but their peers — Low graves, love-haunted, bind me still, Liege-man, to every vale and hill. That even afTection's self endears. In mounds that shield from sun and storm. Thy green "God's Acre" holds in trust A sainted mother's sacred dust, A father's venerated form ; And purer than of orient pearl, An angel's flesh, — resigned \\'ith tears That will not dry for all these years — The earth-robe of our baby girl. Yet other kindred in thy care Have left, anear, their mortal clay ; And haply at no distant day Thy alien son may join them there ! George Shepard Burleigh. REMINISCENCES BY REV. J. P. BROWN. 65 REMINISCENCES OF TWENTY-TWO YEARS' RESIDENCE IN PLAINFIELD. Rev. J. P. Brown. I want at the opening of my remarks to drop a word of caution to my hearers. My bald head and white whiskers may suggest the thought that something rich in historic memories will be brought to your notice in this brief address. But you will allow me tOi say that in my best days I did not excel in this line of study, and it seems that the few bright thoughts that I once cherished have all faded out with my whiskers or gone ofif with my hair, but if any can be found way back in the cells of memory, though they have lost their brilliancy by the wear of time, I will do what I can to bring them out. I came to this honored town that had an enviable reputation at the time extending beyond its own limits, beyond the limits of the county in which it was located, beyond the limits of the state even,, in 1849. This desirable reputation was largely due tO' her honored seat of learning, and to the distinguished men and women whoi did so much to sustain it. You will see that in some sense I was a forty-niner. While many of my friends were starting for the Pacific coasts, some across the isthmus, others around the cape, charmed by the almost fabulous reports that came to them concern- ing rich mines that ofifered wealth to the early comer, I came to this town with little prospect of worldly gain, certainly with no golden dreams ; but my coming was more to me, whatever it might have been to others, than the fortunes of the most successful adventurers of that day. While attention has been called tO' the Academy on this classic hill, it may be well to say here and now, without an attempt to give an3^hing like a history of the institution, that her influence was ap- parent in all this section. There was an air of culture and refine- ment in these homes and places of business that indicated that good work had been done along the lines of education. I have within a few blocks of my residence, more than one, and out of the state know another, who now close upon eighty years of age, were in 64 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. this school when in their teens. They carry with them now marks of their early training after more than six decades. It was my good fortune while here to be on the board of educa- tion, and some of the time acting visitor in the schools, and while in this service I learned more of the characteristics of childhood and youth than from all other sources put together. Children are creatures of imitation. We sometimes say, "young men follow young men," and this is no more true of young men than of chil- dren. If the tendency of the majority is in the right, the minority will imitate that majority, with few exceptions ; but if the tendency of the majority is in the wrong the minority will imitate the majority in the wrong. Here is a pleasant little illustration that tame to my notice while acting visitor in the schools of this town, which though somewhat amusing, may not be entirely irrelevant in this case. On entering one of the more rural schools in the summer on my official visits, I found, if my memory is correct, that every scholar, with one exception, was there with uncovered feet. This one forming the exception, was a beautiful little girl from a home of cultivated taste and refinement. Her dainty feet were not allowed to touch the soil over which she walked, but in this instance, the custom which prevailed in that school was stronger, for the time being, than her careful home training. Feeling that there was an incon- gruity here that should not exist, she quietly, and unobserved, re- moved the covering from her feet that she might be in harmony with her schoolmates. It was not in good form, as we now say, in that school to have shoes on the feet of scholars. This shows how hard it is to breast prevailing custom — to be out of fashion, if you please — as well as the importance of cultivating a correct taste in dress, and a proper regard for tlie habits of life. Weddings. This is a feature of my subject that will have to be touched lightly. More than two- hundred couples were joined in wedlock — most of them in happy wedlock I am pleased to say — by me, while on this field. Some of them are here to-day. They, their children, and grandchildren, are a source of pleasure to me. I am happy to REMINISCENCES BY REV. J. P. BROWN. 65 know that so many of them are worthy citizens and that some of them are in important and responsible positions and are filling them with honor to themselves and to their friends. The times have changed somewhat along this line of action as well as in almost all others since I came on tO' this field. The pre- liminary movements towards matrimony may be the same now as then, possibly. Who can tell? The uninitiated certainly know nothing about it, and I question the ability of anyone whO' has passed the ordeal successfully to write out an order that co'uld be followed by a novice. The parties have met somehow and soimewhere, apart from all others, and after some small talk — "beating around the bush" — they in some way reach the important question, and that Which has caused so much trepidation is settled. The next thing in order is on other hands. The doting parents of the bride-elect must now furnish an entertainment, more or less elaiborate, to which a few, choice friends of the parties are invited, and then the fact of the engagement is announced, but, of course, not the steps by which this happy conclusion was reached. "Coming events now cast their shadow before them." But when I began my ministry here nothing of this kind was known. When the preliminaries had all been at- tended to by the interested parties, in secret session, the fact was made known to the pastor, who, as required by law, announced that fact from the pulpit. In many cases nothing was known of the affair, out of the immediate families, till it was "Published" — often to the great surprise and merriment of the young people. Did this legal custom have a tendency to^ increase cohgregations ? Has the abolishment of it had anything to do with diminished church at- tendance? Who will answer? In speaking of publishing marriage intentions you will allow me to give an item of my experience in this matter. The law re- quired that all publishments of this kind should be read in a religious meeting, and all meetings opened by prayer were called religious. In such meetings,, however small, a publishment might be read and thus meet all the requirements of the law. It seemed that a couple had applied to a gentleman of the legal profession to be united in wedlock, but the parties had not been published. It was evident 5 66 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. from some cause, that never came to my knowledge, that the party- were anxious that the rite should receive immediate attention. But how could the question of publishment be settled? There was no religious meeting in session, nor would there be till the coming Sabbath. In order tO' meet the emergency, the legal gentleman joined by one of our leading business men came to my door with the request that a prayer meeting be inaugurated at once in my parlor, at the close of which the publishment might be read. But who would come to such a meeting? I had never seen them in a prayer meeting. They replied that they were sufficient to make the audience, but would take no part in the service. I, with a mental protest, went through the farce, at the close of which I read the publishment and gave a certificate, and they retired, after saying it was right — that it answered the requirements of the law. I then knew what they thought of. the matter, but the question with me was what does the Lord think of such mummery? I received as a fee one dollar for my first wedding, and then walked three miles to the office of the town clerk to have it recorded and paid a nine-pence, or twelve and half cents for the service. Do not think they were all like this. Politics. I was never a politician, according to the general use of that term. I was well up in my thirties when made an elector, when I cast my first vote, and then it was reluctantly done. Indeed it was not a very common sight tO' see a clergyman at the polls. In the early history of our country it might have been different ; if so, the custom had then fallen into disuse. The calling was considered too high, if not tooi sacred, to enter the political arena. But the time had now come when great moral questions had been thrust into politics and then the whole thing was changed. The minister could no longer be non-committal without being recreant to his high calling. From the early fifties to 1865 there were no "soft places" in the North for clergymen, nor was there any chief captain, as in Paul's case, fearing lest they should be pulled in pieces, to command the soldiers to take them to a place of safety. Tlie passage of the REMINISCENCES BY REV. J. P. BROWN. 67 "Fugitive Slave Bill" by Congress, the decision of the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott case, and the repeal of the Missouri Com- promise, had thrown all the free states intO' the wildest frenzy. Not even the bombardment of Sumter coiild essentially increase the excitement that had existed at an earlier date. 'Ministers whirled from their positions, as if caught in a cyclone, allowed themselves to say what in their calmer moments would have been considered profane. And what made the matter still more alarming was the demand made for this, by the leading men in our churches on one side, and the bitter opposition to it on the other. This was more particularly true during the decade immediately preceding the open- ing of the Civil War. This was a period of great anxiety toi every American citizen, but to none more than to the clergymen then in active life. From the very nature of his calling, he was under the necessity of speaking often to the people, when they were in their most critical moods. One living now who was not then upon the stage of action can have no conception of the state of the public mind at that time. 'The people were religious, not to^ say pious, beyond measure. On one side they would say to the minister, this is the cause of God ; we are engaged in a holy crusade, and if you do not join us in the struggle — join us publicly — you lose the op- portunity of your life, and what is more, you prove false tO' your profession. If they did not say this in soi many words to him, they would say it in public places, knowing that their sayings would come to his ears. On the other hand, his people looking at the same question, from another point of observation, would become suddenly unusually religious too, and be deeply pained at the thought of their beloved pastor's coming down from the work to which he had been set apart by the imposition of holy hands to enter the arena of politics. These pious souls were scandalized when churches were opened for political crowds and pulpits were used for the discussion of the burning questions of the day. Thus you see that ministers were suspended between these two' . con- tending forces. It is a wonder that any of them escaped destruction while in the storm of shot and shell of those perilous times. In some way I came out of the fiery contest unharmed and was 68 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. honored by this good old town at the very close of the war in 1865 with a seat in the Legislature of this state. I never knew why. I might speak of my visits in these homes in times of afflictions ; of the more than five hundred funerals attended in these families, and of the wonderful works of grace seen on this field, but time will not permit. I will therefore close by expressing the hope that the sons and daughters of those honored fathers and mothers, whose memory we so tenderly cherish, may prove themselves worthy of their noble ancestry. ADDRESS. C. E. TiLLINGHAST. Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, Citizens of Grand Old Plainfield: I thank you for this kind introduction and cordial reception. I accept it as a compliment to the name I bear and which you have been pleased to honor* so highly during a large portion of the time since the township's organization, rather than as personal to myself. I need not assure you I am delighted to be honored as your guest to-day, for next to a blue-eyed, blue-grass Nightingale of Yankee extraction, I always did give my whole heart to governors, congressmen, judges and clergymen. The Tillinghast family con- sider all clergymen near relatives, with an extra shake for Baptists. My father — God bless his memory — was a Baptist clergyman, with a heart and sympathy that yearned to grasp the human race in his arms and present them spotless before his Maker. He had a brother John and a son Jared, both clergymen, and we have descended through seven generations, many of whom were minis- ters, from Elder Pardon Tillinghast, the first, who came from the south of England, near Brighton, and settled with Roger Williams in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1656, being forty-three years prior •Judge Waldo Tillinghast ; Fred W. TillinKhast, Probate Clerk ; Frank H. Tillinghast, Esq., Hon. Caleb Tillinghast. C. E. T. ADDRESS BY C. E. TILLINGHAST. 69 to the organization of this town. As some of you may be aware Elder Pardon built the first Baptist Church in the United States and gave it by deed to his congregation, which is still the First Baptist Church of Providence. He also built the first wharf in that city, being a merchant as well as a preacher. He now sleeps in the rear of the church with a suitable monument to mark his resting place. Although I have only visited Plainfield occasionally during the last thirty years, I am one of its true and loyal admirers, and have abundant reasons for my admiration. I was born and edu- cated here and count among the very best friends I ever had some of your most estimable citizens with whom I could always find a welcome and a home. My first visit to Plainfield was to attend a birthday party held in my honor at my father's house on Shepherd Hill, located across the street near where Gen. Atwood's house now stands. Old Dr. Burgess was master of ceremonies, and Hon. Caleb Tillinghast, and your honorable judge of probate were among the guests. I was dressed in the only bran-new birthday suit I remember ever having had, and although very young I succeeded in attracting attention and making myself heard, notwithstanding the prophecies that I was tongue-tied. Wauregan was not built until years after, and there were only four houses on Shepherd Hill at that time. I will briefly refer to a few incidents of my early life that we may be able to draw a comparison with the present, and thus discover what remarkable progress the town has made. The first home I remember was near Glen Falls, the old Backus place, which included an old-time saw and grist mill and which the poet has most minutely described in the "Old Oaken Bucket," as all who remember the place will recoignize. "How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood When fond recollection recalls them to view; The orchard, the meadow, the deep tangled wildwood. And every loved spot my infancy knew; The wide-spreading- pond and the mill that stood by it, The bridge, and the rock where the cataract fell; The home of the loved ones, the elm that stood nigh it, The old oaken bucket that hung in the well." 70 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. All were there, the deep tangled wildwood, the mill, the bridge, the rock and the cataract, the old oaken bucket, well-curb, old- fashioned well-sweep and all. Wheeled vehicles were not common at that time, and the farmers brought grain to market on horse- back, rye which was cut with a sickle and threshed by hand. Hay was cut with a hand-scythe and" gathered with a hand-rake, not even a grain cradle or a drag-rake having been invented, so far as I am aware. Much of the wearing apparel was made from home-spun and home-woven wool or flax ; boots and shoes were also largely home-made. /The first school I attended was at the old Goshen school- house; the seats and writing desks running around three sides of the room ; the larger boys and girls pivoting themselves upon the bench as they turned to write and cypher and back again to read and spell. My first teacher was required to teach the entire list from Ker Be Ce to "Readin'," " 'Ritin' " and " 'Rithmetic," and also to make the goose-quill pens for writing .purposes, the scholars furnishing their own quills and home-made ink and copy-books. I completed my "college" course at the old academy on yonder hill under Professor Lucian Burleigh. Among the foremost of those who attended at the same time was one of your distinguished speakers, now Rev. Chas. C. Spaulding, of Boston. Your chair- man of committee on speakers, Hon. Joseph Hutchins, was one of the leading, reliable citizens of the town then, as now. From the corner where he lives to the depot there was not a single habitation. The population of the town was less than one-half what it is to-day. You will thus see what rapid changes and material advancement Plainfield has made during my short life. It has been well said that "he who causes two blades of grass to grow where only one grew before" is a public benefactor. What shall be said then of our patient, brave and able forefathers and foremothers who converted this township from a wilderness, the lurking place of savages and wild beasts, under circumstances as related by your able historian, into the joyous homes, perfumed gardens, and fruitful fields we now behold, who planted the orchards and shade trees, erected the churches and schools, the ADDRESS BY C. E. TILLINGHAST. 71 busy mills and manufactories, and, better than all, seeded its broad acres with conscience and with God. "All power and pelf that ends in self, Is naught but vanity: They crown themselves with immortelles Who serve humanity." We meet to-day to re-crown the several generations who so well laid the foundation and perseveringly developed this township's prosperity and happiness, and thus rendered a most important and lasting service to humanity for all time. "They did what they had to do, and builded better than they knew." Most have been car- ried by loving hands and tearful hearts to their final rest beneath the solemn pines and weeping willows-^not dead, for to live in the bearts of those we leave behind is not to die. The result of their toil and efiforts remains as a permanent inheritance to you ; and Avho shall measure the sum of human happiness thus bequeathed to generations yet unborn? Heroes every one^ — "verily peace hath "her victories more renowned than war." The casual reader of general history would conclude that the leader of great armies was the only hero, and the magnitude of his fame dependent upon the multitude of devastated cities, ruined homes, agonized mothers, despairing wives, homeless orphans and bleaching skeletons, chargeable to- his account — how extensive the zone of fire and pillage and tears and blood he could leave as an inheritance to mankind, "the monument of his glo^ry." Behold these majestic elms* — giant Sentinels of the town, guarding alike from summer's scorching ray and winter's chilling blast — ^the storm king's fury and tornado's wrath — ancient Patriarchs with arms extended in perpetual benediction, invoking heaven's richest blessings ; every branch and twig and leaf an uplifting, ele- vating inspiration, ever wooing mortals to a higher and better life. Who would not consider that the author of a single one of *Plainfield is noted for the numerous large, fine elms, skirting each side of the street for a con- siderable distance, the boughs intermingling overhead, shutting out the sun and forming a complete arch. The boughs of the largest extend 63 feet, either way from the trunk being nearly 8K rods ■across or about i-iz of a mile around the extreme ends. The trunk is i8 feet in circumference. C. E. T. 72 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. these has rendered a better service to humanity than the renowned home-wrecker of Lodi, and Austerlitz and Waterloo, and prefer it as a monument to such a record, notwithstanding all that has been said of the latter in song and story? I am glad to believe that our own Grant and Dewey are among the last great military heroes the world will know, and fittingly so, because both battled for the rights of the oppressed and defenceless, and even those they vanquished are victors, as all are who are vanquished by the right. Already the Archangel of Arbi- tration hovers above every throne and every earthly potentate, and soon, with uplifted hand by virtue of the power and authority of a community of nations, and in the name of the God of justice, mercy and peace, shall declare that might is no longer the measure of right, that the divine authority of kings is with a limitation, as the interests of the weakest shall be protected equally with the strong, that the arbitrament of an international tribunal of justice shall succeed the arbitrament of the sword, and war be- tween nations forever cease from the earth. Then shall the dove of peace nest in every household, a perpetual assurance to mother, wife and child that their loved ones shall no longer be sacrificed upon the gory field of battle, but henceforth shall be dedicated to the peacable pursuits of prosperity and happiness. If the cause of arbitration shall fail to fully accomplish the desired end, wireless telegraphy and high explosives added to the present implements of destruction will unquestionably do so; as it will mean annihilation tO' attack any considerable well-equipped force. The heroes of the future then will of necessity be those of peace,, and a more crying need or greater opportunity for them to dis- tinguish themselves never before existed, especially for young men. Wireless telegraphy, the substitution of aluminum in great measure for iron and steel, and electricity for steam, in turn perhaps to be succeeded Ijy compressed and liquefied air; horseless vehicles and farm implements, and the thousand improvements attendant upon them, furnish an opportunity for victories of peace never before pre- sented. The same is triie in national problems, which are quite as. ADDRESS BY HON. E. M. WARNER. 73; difficult and important as any that confronted our ancestors. I refer to international arbitration, the Panama Canal, the control of Cuba, Porto Rico and the Philippines, the race question of the South, the reconciliation of labor and capital, the money question, the ratio^ that should be maintained being at least sixteen heroes to one block- head. As you stand upon the threshold of the third century of your township's organization, do not fail to remember That eternal vigilance is the price of safety ; That the ballot bo'X is the ark of the covenant to be guarded well and neglected never ; That the home is the unit and bulwark of our liberty ; That the white lilies of family affection and neighborly kindness,, which grow around the hearthstone and sickbed, are century plants, which blossom not once in a hundred years only, but every hour of every day of every year throughout all the centuries ; That true friendship to God and man is a fountain of joy, a river of pure delight which shall flow on forever. ADDRESS. Hon. K. M. Warner. Mr. President J Ladies and -Gentlemen. ■ I am reminded, by my position at the end of the program,, of the old colored parson who was called upon tO' invoke Divine blessing on the "orator of the day." There were four of them, and be exhausted most of his adjectives on the first two, had few left for the third, and none at all for the fourth "orator of de day." Absolutely at a loss what to ask for him, he finally burst out with "de Lord hab mercy on his soul." I do not mean by this story that you or I need commisseration, for, surely, the day so far has been onie of unalloyed pleasure. Nobly have your bicentennial committee performed the duties assigned them. A splendid parade, exhibiting all flie varied industries and 74 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. interests of the town — a most masterly, or rather womanly, review of the early days by Miss Larned — a judicial and profound con- sideration of the legal aspects of the same period by Judge Bond — poetry and prose have beguiled the hours — Congressman Russell has advanced the frontier of these United States to its proper posi- tion — and Brother Brown has told us how the old lawyer induced him to prevent a clandestine marriage, by holding a prayer-meeting, publishing the bans and marrying the couple in orthodox fashion — the chorus have given us splendid music, and Reeves' famous band, only a little lower than the angels, have opened the gates of heaven and given us a foretaste of celestial music. My residence in this town covers a period of twelve years, and I shall always look back upon those years, and their varied ex- periences, with the greatest pleasure. Some of the best friends I have ever had lived and now live in this town. What is the thought of the hour? Poor, indeed, is that people who have no memorial days. Birthdays of towns, as well as birth- days of individuals, are honored, because of the goodness of the life. Washington's natal day will be increasingly honored centuries after he is gathered to his fathers. Nobody knows or cares when Benedict Arnold was born or when he was buried. Christmas will never cease to bring joy and kindliness to the world as the birthday of the Divine man. We don't hear much of the celebration of the birthday of Judas or Pilate. This town was founded on the church and school-house. The iirst vote or one of the first votes of tlie town was to hire a minister and the churches and school-houses have stood together, witnesses of the devotion and intelligence of this people from that day to this. You have as a town a noble record in the ^^"ar of the Revolution •and the War of the Rebellion and in the late war. Patriotic on all occasions. The record of the past is made up. The books are closed. Two centuries is a long period, and the years are full of events of great interest. To-day is not like other days. None of us will be ■quite the same to-morrow as we are now. These celebrations are ADDRESS BY HON. E. M. WARNER. 75 times of reckoning. Every anniversary is a slice oi the day of judgment. What will posterity say of us 200 years from now? The old frontiersman of early Plainfield knew how to fight and was eager for the fray. You have heard from our honored gover- nor, of the power and grandeur of towns ; the majesty of the people exercising governmental rights in town meeting assembled. Well, how is it? Do you send men to Hartford, who know their duty and can do it, or are they wheedled and managed by the experienced member who has been there before? Just so long as the country towns send men to Hartford, simply because their section or district of the town thinks it is their "turn," without regard tO' personal qualification of the candidate, just so long will the country town fail to have its proper influence in the Legislature. In the matter of improved roads I know you are in the front rank. I doubt if there is another town in the county with as fine roads as you have, and I know your schools are equal to the best. There is another matter. My wife tells me I'm not here to lay down the law, but to praise you. Probably she is right. She usually is. But I must say to you that of all the questions which will demand your attention none begins to be of the personal importance, to you and your homes, of the "Drink" question. You have, however, always kept the town on the no license side, and I predict you will not change the record this year. Early Plainfield maintained itself by the integrity and courage •of the individual citizen. Do as they did. "Think and decide for yourself." So shall the future be secure. I will not detain you further, for I know you are eager to hear the next "orator of the ■day," and I will say, with due deference to all, who have preceded me, and also to myself, you will now be permitted to listen to the best speech of the day. 76 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. ADDRESS. Rev. C. H. Spalding, D. D. Two hundred years is a very respectable bit of history. Eight generations ago one of my ancestors was active in beginning the history we are this day celebrating. No town in the wide world wears such a halo around it, to me, as "Beautiful Plainfield." The scenes of my childhood are among the most beautiful pictures ever hung in the chambers of memory. The over-arching elms of this street always impressed my fancy like a vast cathedral, and with as great sacredness, too. How naturally we are all affected by the institutions and personages which gave tone and shape to our earliest ideas : often these are the mould in which our whole life is run. When I read Hood's striking couplet, "I am farther away from Heaven now Than when I was a boy," I think of my days of play and pleasure here. But I have no sympathy with that other lamentation, "I remember, I remember the house where I was born. The window where the sun came creeping in at morn, It did not come a wink too soon, nor bring- too long a day. But now I often wish the night had borne my breath away." I did not look at Westminstei" Abbey with a greater reverence than I always look at this old stone church. Its old interior with the high pulpit to which the minister ascended by circular stairs, with the square, high-backed pews, is a thing of tender recollection to me. Very few of the congregations of that time are among the living to enter its portals now. I stand at this parting of the ways, and the song of the "Ferryman" comes to me. "Take, O boatman, thrice thy fee. For spirits twain have crossed with me." Plainfield may have no tradition like the "Frogs of Windham," no fascinating story like "Putnam and the wolf den," but it has its ADDRESS BY REV. C. H. SPALDING, D. D. 77 iinwritten idyls of noble men and women in all the walks of life. In the autobiography of Dr. John G. Paton, the great missionary, -he says, "The only aristocracy worth anything is the aristocracy •of brains and character. The people of my village were keen de- baters in all matters of church and state. On the way to the smithy or to the kiln, in knots on the green, and coming from the kirk, the great questions which were shaking the outside world were fought over again with amazing passion and a bright intelligence." When I read that sentence, O what a burst of memory rolled in xipon me, a memory of dear old Plainfield! The first political shibboleth I ever remember was "Tippe- •canoe and Tyler, Too !" The old Plainfield Glee Club, with Harry Wilson as a leader, has sung more politics into my life than has ■come into it through all the open avenues of later years. To my •childish fancy this was the town which made and unmade presidents. I used to imagine that Windham County was the arch upon v^hich rested the fabric of the republic, and the keystone in that arch was Plainfield. Celia Thaxter says she used to look out from her light- house home on Appledore Island and see the main land, and ask -her little brother if he "supposed the land so near them was as big ■as Appledore." I am looking at Plainfield to-day through the ■eyes of childhood, and instead of making me feel less like a man it makes me feel more like a man. The orator of the day, who was my schoolmate in the academy and whom it is my pleasure to greet in Boston day by day. Judge Bond, who has sO' faithfully drawn the picture of our earlier histO'ry, knows well whereof he speaks -in the personages he cites and the principles for which they stood. Prof. George Shepard, D. D., for so many years the president of Bangor Theological Seminary, has left his exalted and enduring impression upon the religious thought of the century just closing. It was a pride to his tqwnspeople to have him come home occasional- ly and preach in the old church. In literature the name of William H. Burleigh is written on the scroll of eminence. In the heroic ■chapter of anti-slavery reform, whose annals are so brilliant with notable achievements, no two figures stand out with more unique -and conspicuous purpose and power than our own Charles and 78 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. George Burleigh. We felt the tingle of just pride in our veins when Connecticut made Hon. David Gallup Lieut. Governor, who dignified his official life with rare good sense and practical virtues. It was my pleasure a year ago to be passing a quiet Sunday at Baden-Baden. At our hotel was a group of people, and one of the ladies, I was told, was the wife of our United States Consul at Amsterdam. Before the day closed I was introduced to her, and it was our mutual pleasure to find that we were both from Plainfield, and that her husband was G. I. Corey, a boy of this town. Thus Strange and happy are the coincidences of foreign travel ! Rev. Andrew Dunning was the first minister I remember, and his beautiful bearing and pulpit attitude are an ineffaceable portrait on my heart. To my teacher, Lucian Burleigh, I owe^ a debt of gratitude which I should be recreant not to pay this day. When I read Elizabeth Stuart Phelps' charming book, "The Madonna of the Tubs," I thought of old Aunt Pendar, the quiet and faithful, the patient and gentle negro washerwoman and nurse, whose house was on the lonely hillside to the northeast of our village, and among others of notability and renown, it does my heart good to mention her, and I know some of you will say. Amen. I could not miss this day. It will sanctify the shorter period of my pilgrimage yet to run. I stand with you trembling between the "Pleasures of Memory" and the "Pleasures of Hope." -0 I— X o HISTORICAL PAPER BY REV. S. H. FELLOWS. AGRICULTURAL, INDUSTRIAL AND EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OF PLAINFIELD— A GLIMPSE AT THE PAST AND PRESENT. n Rev. S. H. Fellows. Agricultural. It is difficult at this day to determine what could have attracted the early settlers of Plainfield. They could not have considered it an El Dorado for farming. Its surface is diversified with stones, swamps and sand, though there is some good land along the margin •oi its streams. The plains — from which probably the township took its name:— being less heavily wooded than the more elevated portions, might have seemed to offer the quickest returns for their labor. The- early settlers were men who were not afraid of work, and they ex- pected to wring their support from the sod "in the sweat of their face." After providing a temporary shelter for their families, they bent all their energies to securing a crop of corn for which this, section was famous under Indian cultivation. They well knew that they must depend almost wholly upon themselves for their support, for there were no markets within, reach and no money with which to buy. With such rude imple- ments as they brought with them, such as the axe and hoe, the plow and scythe, they must raise their own provisions, make their own clothes, and live as best they could upon what was within their reach. Life in such a , new country is a struggle for existence, and under such conditions we can well believe in the theory of "the. survival of th'e strongest." Few grew rich among them, yet there were none who expected to live on the hard earned pittance of their neighbors. To-day one of the foremost granges of Co'nnecti- cut, is that of Plainfield, No. 140, instituted February 16, 1894. Its charter member list comprised 51 names, which has been grad- ually increased. The farmers early turned their attention to- wool growing and •8o PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. Stock raising as affording an easier way of getting a living than by the cultivatioii of the sod. Tliere were no markets and so little inducement to raise more than sufficient for the support of their ■own families. Roads were but tracks from one point to another, bridges were unknown, and it was not always possible to ford the streams. The spirit of emigration if not of adventure, possessed these early settlers, and they soon began to seek homes in the southern and western parts of the state; in Vermont, and especially in far distant New York, reports of whose rich land had reached their €ars. It was thought possible at one time to make the Quinebaug River navigable from Danielson's falls to Norwich, and the General Assembly was petitioned for authority to operate a lottery to raise the necessary funds ; but the request was not granted and the scheme was abandoned. Industrial. In 1768 a weekly stage coach was run from Providence to Norwich through this town, and a house for the accommodation of travelers was built upon the green, and communication with the ■outside world stimulated a spirit of enterprise and improvement. Stores were opened in the latter part of the century, and an apothecary's shop ; also a hat manufactory was started, a post office was secured, the third in Windham County. Fishing in the Quine- baug was protected by town enactment, which prevented the use of the water privileges, but this restriction was afterward removed. Small mills for grinding com and sawing lumber were early built, but for years the extensive water power of the town was unused. Early in this century small manufacturing interests began to develop, and from this change in the business of the town, dates its rapid and healthy growth and prosperity. About 1807 several manufacturing companies embarked in the work of cotton spinning thus utilizing the power of its streams. The American Cotton Manufacturing Company composed of Thomas Rhodes, of Providence, and others living out of town, HISTORICAL PAPER BY REV. S. H. FELLOWS. 8l secured a "privilege" on Quandank River. The Plainfield Union Manufacturing Company was organized for the purpose of carrying on the manufacture of cotton and bought valuable privileges and land in Mooisup. This company was co^mposed of men in Providence, Newport, Plainfield and Sterling, and commenced work in 1809, and others soon after. The Andrtis factory began operations in 181 1, at Packersville. Woolen factories were set in operation, and carding machines and fulling mills were run in Kennedy Village. The War of 1812 caused much depression in business, and several companies were obliged to suspend operations. The Central Manufacturing Company in 1827, passed intO' the hands of Richard and Arnold Fenner and Holden Borden. In 1826 the woolen manufactory of Joseph Eaton fell intO' the hands of a Rhode Island Quaker, Wm. Almy, and a new factory building with improved machinery was built and soon one of the largest woolen manufactories of Connecticut was under full headway. , Joseph Gladding started another factory soon after on Moosup river, which with enlargement and improvements has for many years been owned and run for the manufacture of thread, by Floyd Cranska. The original of the Union mills in Moosup, which was for many years a carding factory, was built about 1805 and afterward enlarged twice. . This mill continued with varying success till about 1875, when it was bought by D. L. Aldrich and S. G. Gray, who commenced operations in 1879. Additions were made in 1880, 1881 and 1882. In 1883 the old mill was torn down and a new one built, and within the last few years, under the control of the Aldrich Brothers, ex- tensive additions have been made, till at present it is one of the largest and most prosperous cotton manufactories of the town. The old wooden mill of the Central Manufacturing Compiany, of Central Village, was built about 1790, and a grist mill about the same time ; these have only recently been torn down. 6 82 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. Allen Harris and Arnold Fenner build the upper brick mill in 1828, and the lower one in 1845. In 1 88 1 this property was bought by J. Leavens' sons, who gave it the name of the Kirk mills. For the last two years the ma- chinery has been idle. In 1856 a woolen mill was built in what was known as Almy- ville, and was run till it was burned in 1875. The property was bought by Aldrich & Milner, and a stone mill was built which has received several additions. Since the death of Mr. Aldrich the property has been controlled by Mr. Milner, and in 1891 the Glen Falls worsted mill was built for the manufacture of the finest worsted yarns. The property has within a few months passed into the control of a syndicate. About 1850 Mr. A. D. Lockwood bought a privilege on the Quinebaug river near the Brooklyn bridge in the northwest corner of the town, and in 1853 a company was formed, which obtained a charter from the Legislature under the corporate name of "Wauregan Mills," taking the old Indian name, which means "Pleasant Valley." In 1853 and 1854 a dam was thrown across the river, a build- ing 250 feet in length was erected, and the manufacture of cotton cloth was commenced. In 1858 the length of the mill was doubled. In 1868 and 1869 another building 500 feet in length was built on the opposite side of the ditch, and the two connected in the middle by a building 250 feet in length, making a total length of 1,250 feet, four and five stories in height. This mill was for a time one of the largest manufactories in Connecticut. Except for a few days at a time to make needed repairs, this mill has been con- tinuously in active operation. It was under the management of I\Ir. J. S. Atwood from its beginning till his death in 1885 ; since that time, under that of his sons, J. A. «& J. W. Atwood. The first number of the Plainfield Journal appeared September 3, 1881, as a six-column folio, published by Charles F. Burgess. The plant has prospered, and the paper, now comprising ten pages. HISTORICAL PAPER BY REV. S. H. FELLOWS. 83 has grown steadily in circulation and influence, and is published from the Masonic building, Moosup. 'A beautiful souvenir volume of the town of Plainfield was issued from the Journal office in 1895, comprising historical, descriptive and biographical sketches, and nearly two hundred fine illustrations, making a book of great value and one that will long be highly prized. Educational. Early in the histo'ry of the town the attention of the people was turned to the matter of education. In 1707 public provision was made for the instruction of the children, when it was ordered, "That part of the country land be allowed for the encouragement of a school," and Lorin Williams, Joseph Spaulding and (Dea.) William Douglas were directed "to take care that there be one." A year later the town voted "to send to Mr. James Deane to come and be their school-master," and he agreed tO' undertake it for six months, for what he could make out of it. He did not probably find it a very lucrative position. In 1716 John Watson was "improved," tO' keep school, what- ever that might mean, and the deacons and selectmen were to order the school and receive the money. It was next ordered that a school should be kept in three places ; that a place be provided for the school-master to be quartered at, and a house suitable for the school ; the expense to be borne by the inhabitants of the section ; the same school-master to go from one place to another. In 1717 and 1718 several persons in the middle of the town employed John Stoyell to instruct their children for a year, and the town made this a public school, and ordered the school money to be delivered to these persons, and that each child should be charged four pence a week besides. In 1719 Henry Wake was school-master, receiving for his serv- ices his "diet" and five pounds. In 1 72 1 Mr. Walton was employed to maintain perambulatory 84 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. schools, in the different neighborhoods, the town paying him twelve pounds, finding board and keeping a horse for him. In 1720 the town was divided into school districts, north and south of the meeting-house, each to order its own schools. , In 1722 the first school-house was ordered built forty or fifty rods from the meeting-house, and in 1725 two others were ordered built. In 1740 ten shillings a week was deemed a reasonable recom- pense for the master's "diet" and horse keeping. In 1769 a committee was appointed to lay out school districts, and the town was divided into ten districts. The people were not yet satisfied with the opportunities which their children enjoyed; and in 1770 an association was formed "For the purpose of providing improved facilities for the more complete education of the youth of the vicinity." They erected a brick building, procured teachers of a higher grade, and established a more thorough system of instruction in common English branches, but were unable to organize a classical department. A legacy being left them by Isaac Coit, Esq., the interest of which was to be applied for the maintenance of a Latin or grammar school, in 1778 a classical department was organized and Mr. Ebenezer Pemberton of Newport, a gentleman of high scholarship and accomplishments, was employed as teacher. His reputation and the favorable location of the school in those troublous times, attracted a large number of pupils from other places, even from Providence, New London and New York. In 1784 "the ti-ustees of the Academick school in Plainfield," were incorporated and for more than half a century this academy maintained its place at the fore-front of the academies of New England, and until the advent of high schools in many places caused it to decline. Many men of national reputation who have held high places in church and state, received their preparation for college in this old academy, and a still larger number of teachers were here fitted for their responsible positions. Plainfield academy was the third incorporated school in Con- HISTORICAL PAPER BY REV. S. H. FELLOWS. 85 necticut. The first two were Union in New London, and Staples in Weston. The following are some of the by-laws of the academy, which in these days would be called tyrannical : "That no scholar shall go to the tavern for purpose of enter- tainment without leave from his father, guardian or rector. "No scholar from abroad and boarding in any family, shall remove to any other family unless so directed by his or hfer parents, or guardian, or with liberty from the rector. "No scholar shall keep a gun, or go on a shooting party, or ride out, or leave town, or absent himself from the school without leave from the rector. "No scholar shall purchase anything at any store on credit, without a written order from parent, or guardian, or leave from the rector. "No scholar shall appear in the academy, or in public, in ex- travagant, slovenly, or indecent dress. "No immoral, indecent, or profane language, or improper con- duct, shall be allowed in any scholar, at any time; but all such breaches of good morals shall be exemplarily punished. "No scholar shall be allowed to stroll the street, or fields on Sunday, but it shall be required of everyone tO' attend on public worship, and to behave with becoming dignity and propriety. "No member of the academy shall attend a dancing school in the town during the time he is a member of the academy." There were no- changes in the boundaries of the twelve districts into which the town was divided for a number of years ; the out- lying districts decreasing in the number of scholars, while the num- ber at the centers increased. The first union of districts was that of Central Village and Kennedy, approved by the board November 26, 1873. April ID, 1881, the board approved the plan of the school-house in Moosup, a district formed by the coinsolidation of Almyville, Moosup (or Union) and Goshen. Plainfield has always been liberal in the appropriation of money for the education of her children, and her schools have compared 86 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. favorably with those of other towns having- a similar grade of scholars. A vote for the town management of schools was carried at the last annual town meeting in October, 1898, and the town will com- mence her third century abreast of the times, prepared not only to sustain her reputation, but to keep pace with modem ideas for the best practical education of all the children within her borders. SKETCH OF MEMBERS OF THE BAR AND OF THE MEDICAL PROFESSION, WITH LISTS OF SOME ELECTED OFFICERS. James L. Gardner, M. D. Great changes have come to the former lands of the Nipmuck Indians, Gov. John Winthrop bought two hundred fifty years ago of Allumps and Massashowett, and which twenty-five or thirty years after, Owaneco, the Mohegan, sold to Capt. James Fitch. And meantime great strides of progress have been made in the medical profession and in the legal. The narrow Indian trail is no more followed, but the macadam road has taken its place; for the pony express and the sailing packet, the lawyer and the doctor, now have the fast mail, the telephone, and even wireless telegraphy. The old-time doctor was a potent factor in making this part of the country what it is to-day. He stood wdth the lawyer and the statesman for freedom and liberty, ah\-a}-s at his post of duty in war and in peace, ready to relieve human suffering and prolong human life. On battle-field and ship, Plainfield has ever been represented with ability by her surgeons. \\'hen the river too ran high it was Dr. Joseph Williams and Judge Timothy Pierce who petitioned the assembly. May 9, 1728, for a bridge over the Quinebaug. This, however, did not prevent the drowning of Nathaniel Kinne in the flood of 1807, when the ferryboat, still running, was swamped there. The doctors were bus}' in those early years; for about 1728 a dis- HISTORICAL PAPER BY JAMES L. GARDNER, M. D. 87 tressing sickness came upon the people of the town with great mortality. Twenty persons died in a few months. The Indians too were dying off, partly from bad habits and partly from the effect of the white man's fire-water. Owaneco himself followed his cups closely and died in 1715. Dr. Joseph Williams, one of the early doctors of Plainfield, ■died in 1752. He owned real, estate and his will was probated that year before Judge Avery. Dr. James Girauld, of Central Village, afhrms, in 1769, to the miraculous cure, through faith and prayer, of Mercy Wheeler, who had been a sufferer from nervous prostration for many months. During the revolution the sick and wounded were sent home and cared for by physicians and kind women who volunteered as nurses. The town did nobly, though its population in 1775 was •only — whites, 1,479; blacks, 83; the grand list being £14,216 i6s. Dr. Josiah Fuller was surgeon of the cavalry regiment. Drs. Adams and Lord enlisted as surgeons. In Col. Arnold's regiment we find Dr. John Spalding as surgeon with Rev; John Fuller as chaplain, his successor in the First Church in Plainfield, Rev. Joel Benedict, D.D., being chaplain of the Twenty-first regiment ; and in the Eighth infantry with Lieut. Douglass (afterwards General Douglass), we find Dr. Elisha Perkins as surgeon. Dr. Perkins was a most es- teemed physician. He was one of the first trustees of Plainfield Academy. His electric tractors spread his fame throughout the world. They were at first a success and thousands were sold. He ■discovered an anti-septic preparation for the prevention of disease, liis daughter, Mrs. Merwin, having died of yellow fever at. Phila- •delphia. He went to New York to test his preventative medicine and for four weeks faithfully nursed the fever stricken patients, but fell a martyr to his convictions and in the cause of humanity. He ■died in New York in 1799. Dr. Perkins was undo^ubtedly one Oif the first to experiment with yellow fever preventatives. Alone and single handed he thought out the problem, the same that army sur- geons and bacteriological students are now struggling with a century later, and struck the keynote of germ theories and modern aseptics. Connecticut and New York can both deservedly pay homage tO' his' 88 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. name. When there was an opportuniftr togjjf e a number of Quaker children a higher education, Dr^Hp^^^^Green assisted by his brother, IV. Benjamin Green, opened a school on Black HilL Among the graduates from this institution of learning were Susan Anthony, Phebe Jackson, Samuel S. Toby, and Elisha Dyer who became governor of Rhode Island. The physicians were of help in other ways. In 1775 Samuel Putnam wrote Governor Trumbull, "another cargo of tea, nothing but a non-consumption agreement can save America." The tea tax and other hardships inflicted by the Crown put the colonists in no friendly mood towards Great Britain. Tea was a contraband article with the patriots, and so when Betsey Devotion, daughter of Rev. James Cogswell, D. D., of Scotland, in the Quinebaug Country, died with fever, and the parents worn with watching and nursing, were advised to take a cup of tea as ''a soothing stimulus," they did so to their peril. Many tories had already been treated to a coat of tar and feathers for selling tea and for similar deeds. i\Ir. Cogswell disavowed any allegiance toi the Crown and asserted his sympathy with the sons of freedom, and the physicians certified that the tea was "taken as a medical prescription." This saved him, though some women re- quired a confession and apology from the pulpit and threatened to print his misdemeanor in the Norwich Packet and New London Gazette. Dr. Josiah Fuller had an extensive practice in Plainfield, about 1811. He and John Lester o\\ned and profited by herding large flocks of sheep in Plainfield. Df. Pierce practiced medicine in Plainfield about 1826. He afterwards moved to Westerly, R. I. Dr. Morey Burgess was a prominent physician in IMoosup from 1816 to 1856. His two sons, Horace and Frank, both studied for the medical profession and became practitioners. Dr. William Henry Cogswell had an extensive practice in Plain- field for about fifty }'ears. He was born in Griswold, December 3, 1798. Educated at Plainfield Academy, he taught a few years, and then studied for his profession with Dr. JosiaJi Fuller and at New Haven, where he graduated in 1823 as doctor of medicine. He HISTORICAL PAPER BY JAMES L. GARDNER, M. D. 89. became president of the Medical Association of Connecticut and a member of the Board of M. V. at the Retreat for the Insane at Hartford. He rendered valuable professional aid to the federal government in the Civil War. He died November 22, 1876. Dr. William A. Lewis, born in West Greenwich, R. I., August 25, 1829, studied medicine with Dr. Nathan S. Pike, of Sterling- Hill, and took lectures at the Harvard medical school, where he graduated in 1851. After practicing in Sterling, he came to this; town in 1862 and practiced in Moosup to the time of his death, April 20, 1895; Dr. Horace E. Balcom, of Windham, Ct., came to Plainiield: about 1870, and was in practice with Dr. Burgess for a few years.. He then went to Central Village where he opened an office in the brick house now used as a parsonage. He was surgeon of a Con- necticut regiment in the Civil War. He died at the age of 42 years. Dr. Charles Henry Rogers, born in Pomfret, Ct,, February 6, 1818, was the oldest medical practitioner in Plainfield at the time of his death. May 23, 1897. He entered Yale College in 1840,. graduated in 1844, 3-iid took his medical degree from Yale, in 1847.. He began practice in West Woodstock, and came tO' Central Village- in 1856. He volunteered as assistant surgeon in the army in 1861, but because of failing health remained in service but one year. Ons his return home he resumed practice in Central Village. The Windham County medical society met in Canterbury,, October i, 1786. Dr. Waldo of Pomfret, was clerk, the same who- spoke at the funeral of General Putnam and eulogized the patriot. Semi-annual meetings were continued till 1791, when the county- society was formally organized. The State medical society was. instituted in 1792. The following physicians are at present practicing in Plainfield : W., W. Adams, Charles N. Allen, Emery H. Davis, A. Fontaine, James L. Gardner, Samuel P. Ladd. The following dentists are in town : H. Dryhurst, M. S.. Nichols, Dwight Tracy. The druggists are C. H. Lewis, Dr. William H. Sargent, J. W. Tuckerman. 90 ■ PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. Among the earlier students at Plainfield Academy were Rev. Parker Adams, Capt. Francis Allen, Rev. Jason Allen, Hon. Sylvanus Backus, Hon. E. A. Bradford, LL. D., Nicholas Brown, Rinaldo Burleigh, Judge John P. Cushman, Hon. Nathan F. Dixon, U. S. S., Hon. Joseph Eaton, Adam Frink, Gov. James Hamilton, Judge Samuel Hubbard, LL. D., Gen. Jedidiah Johnson, Prof. James L. Kingsley, William Kinne, Judge James Lanman, Dr. Morgan, Rev. Elijah Parish, D. D., John Pellet, Henry Perkins, Rev. John D. Perkins, Prof. Geo. Shepard, D. D., John Shepard, Samuel 'Stephens, Alexander Stephens, M. D., LL. D., Hon. Henry R. Storrs, M. C., George Sumner, M. D., Rev. Stephen H. Tyng, D. D., Hon. Wilkins Updyke, Hon. Henry Wheaton, Walter Wheaton, M. D., Hon. Thomas W. Williams, Gen. William Williams, Col. Increase I. Wilson, John Witter. Young ladies also were educated at this academy. Among the more prominent were Miss Catherine Putnam, granddaughter of General Putnam; Miss Nancy Allen, afterwards wife of Hon. Thomas W. Williams of New London; Miss Harriet Brown, of Providence, R. L, afterwards the wife of Commodore Morris, XJ. S. N. ; the Misses Lester of Preston, ^Nliss Betsy Sheldon. The first rectors of the academy were Ebenezer Pemberton, LL. D., afterwards principal of Phillips Academy at Andover, Mass. ; Miles Merwin, Hon. Timothy Pitkin; Hon. Calvin Goddard, who a;fterwards practiced law in Plainfield ; Hon. Sylvanus Backus, Rev. Lynde Huntington; Rev. Eliphalet Nott, D. D., afterwards presi- dent of Union College, New York ; Dr. Benjamin Allen, Dr. •Zechariah Eddy. The early lawyers in Plainfield had considerable practice from the land deals and complications. Tlie nearest high court was the Court of Common Pleas of New London County. There Major Eitch and Gov. Winthrop often met to have decision on some land dispute. While Major Fitch and Winthrop Were grasping lands and deeds, The faithful, old-time doctor. Was tending human needs. HISTORICAL PAPER BY JAMES L. GARDNER, M. D. 91 The following persons appear to have come and bought land of Fitch and Winthrop in the Quinebaug Country (1690) : Philip Bump, Matthias Button and James Kingsbury from Haverhill ; Peter Crery, James and John Dean, Wm. Marsh and Edward Yeomans, and sons of Capt. John Gallup from Stonington ; Wm. Douglass from New London ; John Fellows and Ebenezer Harris from Ipswich ; Nathaniel Jewell, Isaac and Samuel Shepard, and Isaac Wheeler from Concord ; Joseph Parkhurst, Betijamin, Edward and Joseph Spalding, and Jacob Warren from Chelmsford ; Timothy and Thomas Pierce from Woburn ; Thomas Williams from Stow. In the summer of 1695 some representative men of that time were haled to court. Benn Spalding, Thomas Brooks, Obediah Johnson, John Smith, and Daniel Edwards were fined ids. and costs of ye court for cartin' aw'ay hay from ye land of Major Fitch. John Hancock, signer of the Declaration of Independence and Governor of Massachusetts, bought land on the east bank of the Quinebaug, the deed being recorded in 1786 by Wm. Robinson, town clerk. A list of the Town Clerks is here given : James Dean 1695. John Dunlap 1839. Jacob Warren, 1697. Geo. Cady, ........ 1843. James Dean, 1712. Nathaniel Medbery 1849. John Hall 1721. Joseph C. Spalding 1852. Timothy Pierce, 1725. John J. Penrose, 1853. Ezekiel Pierce 1748. Reuben Weaver, 2nd, .... 1853. John Peirce, 1755. Joseph C. Spalding 1854. Ezekiel Pierce '. . . 1756. Nathaniel Medbery 1855. William Robinson 1771. Reuben Weaver, 2nd 1856. Squire Cady, 1805. Joseph C. Spalding, 1858. William Robinson, 1806. Nathaniel Medbery, .... 1859. Squire Cady, 1807. Lyman Spaulding 1860. T. Hinckley 1817. John S. French 1863. Squire Cady 1821. Reuben Weaver, 1875. F. B. Johnson, 1835. *Sessions Ij. Adams, .... 1886. Geo. Cady 1837. Timothy Pierce, of Plainfield, was the first judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Windham County, first held at Windham, *Mr. Adams also holds ofSce as Town Treasurer and Registrar. 92 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. June 26, 1726. The first lawyer in Plainfield was William Dixon, of Voluntown, who engaged in practice in 1790. He was justice of the peace in 1806, as were Anthony Bradford, John Douglass, Joshua Dunlap, Calvin Goddard, Ephraim Wheeler. David Gallup, afterwards Lieut. Governor, was probate judge for 25 years. He was a native of Plainfield, and a descendant of the earlier families of that name in the Quinebaug Country. A list of Probate Judges, District of Plainfield, is here given : Timothy Peirce, John Crery, . . Jabez Fitch, John Felch, . . John Douglass, James Gordon, Rufus Adams, . Sessions Lester, Ebenezer Young, 1747—1748. Joseph Eaton 1829—1845. 1748—1759. David Gallup 1845—1870. 1759—1783. Jeremiah Starkweather, 1870—1871. 1783—1784. Waldo Tillinghast, . . . 1871—1872. 1784—1795. Chas. Hinckley 1872—1874. 1795—1812. Walter Palmer, .... 1874—1875. 1812—1819. John S. French, .... 1875—1876. 1819—1821. Walter Palmer (July to Dec), 1876. 1821—1829. Walcio Tillinghast 1877. Judge Tillinghast, born in Killingly, June lo, 1833, is the oldest in service of any office holder in town. John Alpin is mentioned as a lawyer who moved to Plainfield from Providence, where he had made a fortune. Ebenezer Fitch went from the schools here to Yale and became the first president of Williams College. Hezekiah Spaulding, another of Plainfield's sons, moved tO' Maine and became a member of the bar and of the bench in that state. Asa Spaulding went to Norwich and practiced law ; others have gone forth from the town in the law and other professions. In 1765 Elisha Paine, son of the famous Separatist, practiced law in Plainfield. His father had been thrust into \Mndham jail for conscience sake, with Benajali Douglass, tried and sentenced by- Justice Huntington for "exhorting and preaching." About 1790 Rufus Adams, Asa Backus, Moses Cleveland, and Wm. Pitt Cleveland were admitted to the bar and practiced in Plainfield. Joseph Eaton and Job Monroe were practicing in 1809. In 1830 Lawyer Francis B. Johnson had an ofifice in Plainfield where it still is standing on Main street on the land of Benjamin A. HISTORICAL PAPER BY JAMES L. GARDNER, M. D. 93 "Walker. Preceding him Ira Case, admitted tO' bar of Windham County, had practiced in Plainfield. William Dyer, of Canterbury, born October 25, 1802, studied ^t Plainfield Academy and with Hon. Calvin Goddard, and also with Lawyer Frost, and began practice in Central Village, in 1831. He served in the Legislature as representative and was chairman of the judiciary committee. He died in 1875. Under him Judge Daniel W. Bond, of Canterbury, studied law, having been educated at Plainfield Academy. Lawyer Bond entered intoi practice in Massachusetts. He is now judge of the superior court for Eastern Massachusetts, residing at Waltham in that state, but came back to Plainfield to deliver the bicentennial oration. John J. Penrose, born in New York, December, 1822, studied law with Gov. Chauncy Cleveland, and was admitted tO' the bar in 1843. After practicing two years in Hampton he came to Central Village, and continued in practice there till his health caused him to relinquish all business cares in 1892. He died in New York, July 29, 1899, and was buried in Central Village. Edgar M. Warner, now judge of the city court in Putnam, Tvas a practicing attorney in Plainfield from 1875 to 1885. The first town-meeting in Plainfield was held May 31, 1699, and the following men were chosen selectmen : Jacob Warren, Joseph Spalding, Stephen Hall, William Johnson, Samuel Adams ; Town Clerk [or recorder], James Dean; Constable, John Fellows; ■Surveyor, Thos. Williams. The present board of selectmen of Plainfield is comprised of three Republicans and two Democrats, the latter elected under the law of minority representation. Their names are as follows : S. A. Clark, George G. Chipman, Albert E. Shoales, Daniel F. Green, Charles H. Gray. The town has been represented in the Legislature as follows : Senators from Plainfield. ■Judge Joseph Eaton, . . . 1840—1. *Judge David Gallup, . . 1889. Dr. Mowry Burgess, . . 1844. Dr. William A. Lewis, . 1880—1. -Archibald Fry, . . . . 1853. Joseph Hutchins, . . . . 1887—8. X)r. Wm. H. Cogswell, . . 1860. Edwin Milner 1892. ♦Speaker of House, 1866 ; President pro tern., of Senate, 1869 ; Lieut. Governor, 1879. 94 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. Representatives from Plainfield. Compiled by George S. Goddard, of Hartford. 1708 — May, Jno. Fellows. Oct., John Fellows, Jacob Warren. 1709— May, John Fellows. June, Thomas Williams. Oct., Thomas Williams. 1710 — May, Thomas Williams. Aug., Thomas Williams. Oct., Jacob Warren. 1711 — May, Thomas Williams, John Smith. June, Thomas Will- iams. Oct., Joshua Whitney. 1712 — May, Joseph Spalding-, Joseph Fellows. Oct., Joshua Whit- ney (absent), John Smith (absent.) 1713— May, Capt. Thomas Williams, John Smith. Oct., Joseph Parkhurst, John Crary. 1714 — May, Joseph Parkhurst, John Smith. Oct., John Fellowes, John Crary. 1715 — May, Joshua Whitney, John Smith. Oct., Capt. Thomas Williams, John Smith. 1716— May, Capt, Thomas Williams, John Smith. Oct., Capt. Thomas Williams, John Smith. 1717— May, Capt. Thomas Williams, Joshua Whitney. Oct., John Fellowes, Lt. Timothy Peirce. 1718— May, Lt. Timothy Peirce, John Fellows, Oct., Timothy Peirce, Joseph Fellows. 1719— May, Lt. Timothy Peirce, John Fellows. Oct., Lt. Timothy Peirce, John Hall. 1720— May, Timothy Peirce, John Fellows. Oct., Timo. Peirce, Eph. Kingsbury. 1721— May, Timo. Peirce, John Fel- lows. Oct., Timo. Pierce, Eph. Kingsbury. 1722— May, Timo. Peirce, Danll. Lawrence. Oct., Lt. Timo. Pierce, Danll. Lawrence. 1723— May, Lt. Timo. Pierce, Danll. Lawrence. Oct., Capt. Timo. Pierce, Ephraim Wheeler. 1724— May, Capt. Timo. Peirce, John Crery. Oct., John Crery, Wm. Marsh. 1725— May, Capt. Timo. Peirce, Tho.. Stephens. Oct., Capt. Timo. Pierce, John Fellows. 1726— May, Capt. Timo. Peirce, Danll. Lawrence. Oct., Capt. Timo^ Peirce, Edwd. Spaulding. 1727— May, Capt. Timo. Peirce, Eplu Kingsbury. Oct., Capt. Timo. Pierce, Daniel Lawrance. 1728— May, Capt. Timo. Pierce, Eph. Kingsbury. Oct., John Crery^ Joseph Williams. 1729 — May, Danll. Lawrence, Joseph Lawrence. Oct., John Creery, William Dean. 1730 — May, John Crery, Thomas. Stephens. Oct., Daniel Law- rence, William Marsh. 1731— May, John Crerey, William Marsh. Oct., Ephraim Kings- bury, Daniel Lawrence. 1732— May, Ephm. Kingsbury, Davii Whitney. Oct., John Creerey^ Ephraim Kingsbury. 1733- Feb. 15, John Creerey, Eph- raim Kingsbury. May, John Creery, W^illiam Marsh. Oct. Ephraim Kingsbury, Daniel Lai\-rence. 1734 — Maj', Ephraim Kingsburj', Will- iam Marsh. Oct., Bphraimi Kingsbury, Saml. Spaulding., 1735 — May, Ephraim Kingsbury, Will- iam Marsh. , Oct., Ephraim. Kingsbury, Joseph W^arren. 1736— May, Ephraim Kingsbury, Will- Marsh. Oct., Ephraim Kings- burj-. William Marsh. 1737— May, William Marsh, Thomas-. Peirce. Oct., John Creery, Daniel Lawrence. 1738— May, William Marsh, Thomas Stephens. Oct., Ephraim. Kingsbury, Thomas Stephens. 1739 — May. Thomas Stephens, Isaac Shepard. Oct., Thomas Ste- phens, John Douglass. 1740— May, Thomas Stephens, Thom- as Pierce. July 8, Thomas. Stephens, Thomas Pierce. Oct., William Marsh, Thomas- Stephens. Nov., Wllliami Marsh, Thomas Stephens. HISTORICAL PAPER BY JAMES L. GARDNER, M. D. 95 1741 — May, Thomas Stephens, John Douglass. Oct., Ephraini Kingsbury, Capt. Danl. Law- rence. 1742 — May, Capt. Thomas Stephens, William Majsh. Oct., Capt. Thomas Stephens, John Doug- lass. 1743— May, Capt. Thomas Stephens, William Marsh. Oct., Capt. Thomas Stephens, Thomas Pierce. 1744r— May, John Crary, Capt. Thom- as Stephens. Oct., William Marsh, Joseph Parkhirst. 1745— Feb. 26, William Marsh, Joseph Parkhirst. Mar. 14, William Marsh, Joseph Parkhirst, May, William Marsh, Joseph Parkhirst. July 2, William Marsh, Joseph Parkhirst. Aug. 16, W^illiam Marsh, Jo- seph Parkhirst. Oct., John ' Crary, William Marsh. 1746 — May, John Crery, William Marsh. June 19, William Marsh. Oct., John Creerey, Benjamin Wheeler. 1747 — Jan. 28, John Carery, Benja. "WTieeler. May, John Crarey, William Marsh. Oct., John Creerey, Benja. Wheeler. 174S — May, Capt. John Crerey, Capt. Thomas Stephens. Oct., John Crarey, Ezekiel Pierce. 1749 — May, John Crery, Benjamin W^heeler. 175() — May, John Creary, Benjamin Wheeler. Oct., Jonathan Dean, Ezekiel Pierce. 1751 — May, Benjamin Wheeler, Jon- athan Dean. Oct., Capt. Ben- jamin Wheeler, Ezekiel Pierce. 1752— May, Capt. Benja, Wheeler, Ezekiel Pierce. Oct., Capt. Benjamin Wheeler, Francis Dean. 1753— May, Capt. Benjn. Wheeler, Ezekiel Pierce. Oct., Jona- than Dean, James Bradford. 1754— May, Capt. John Douglass, Capt. Thos. Stevens. Oct., Capt. John Douglass, Thomas Pierce. 1755 — Jan. S, Capt. John Douglas^ Thomas Pierce. Mar. 13, Capt. John Douglass, Thomas Pierce. May, Capt. Benjamin Wheeler, Capt. John Douglas. Aug. 27, Benjamin Wheeler, Capt. John Douglass. Oct., Capt. Thomas Stevens, Capt, Benjamin Wheeler. 1756— Jan. 21, Capt. Thomas Stephens, Capt. Benjamin Wheeler. Feb. 12, Capt. Thomas Stev- ens, Capt. Benjamin Wheeler. Mar. 17, Capt. Thomas Stev- ens, Capt. Benjamin Wheeler. May, James pradford, Capt. Benja. Wheeler. Sept. 8, James Bradfoird. Oct., Thom- as Pierce, Capt. Thomas Stevens. 1757— Jan. 20, Thomas Pierce, Capt, Thomas Stevens. Feb. 9,, Thomas Pierce, Capt. Thomas Stevens. May, Thomas Pierce, James Bradford. Oct., Capt. Ezekiel Pierce, Capt. Isaac Colt. 1758 — Mar. 8, Capt. Ezekiel Pierce, Capt. Isaac Colt. May, Capt. Ezekiel Pierce, Capt. Isaac Colt. Oct., James Bradford, Capt. Isaac Coit. 1759— Feb. 7, Capt. Isaac Coit. Mar, 8, James Bradford, Capt. Is-> aac Colt. May, Major Eze- kiel Pierce, Capt. Benjamin Wheeler. Oct., Major Ezekiel Pierce, Capt. Thomas Ste- phens. 1760 — Mar. 13, Major Ezekiel Pierce, Capt. Thomas Stephens. May, Capt. Benjamin Wheeler, Capt. Thomas Stevens. Oct., Capt. Thomas Stevens, Capt. Benjamin Wheeler. 1761— March 26, Capt. Thomas Stev- ens. May, Capt. Benjamin Wheeler, Thomas Gates. Oct., Capt. Benjamin Wheeler, Capt. Thomas Stevens. 1762— Mar. 4, May, Capt. Thomas Stevens, Capt. John Douglas. Oct., Capt. John Douglas, James Bradford. 1763— May, Capt. Isaac Coit, Capt, John Douglas. Oct., Capt. John Douglass, Capt. Isaac Coit. •96 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. 1764— Mar. 8, Capt. John Douglass, Capt. Isaac Coit. May, Maj. Ezekiel Pierce, Capt. James Bradford. Oct., Capt. James Bradford, Capt. Isaac Coit. 176fi — May, Capt. James Bradford, Capt. Isaac Coit. Sept. 19, Oct., Majr. Ezekiel Pierce, Elisha Payne. 1766— May, Elisha Payne, Majr. Eze- kiel Pierce. Oct., Elisha Payne, Majr. Ezekiel Pierce. 1767— Jan. 29, Majr. Ezekiel Pierce, May, Elisha Payne, Maj. Eze- kiel Pierce. Oct., Maj. Eze- kiel Pierce, Elisha Payne. 1768— May, Elisha Payne, Majr. Eze- kiel Pierce. Oct., Capt. John Douglas, Hezh. Spalding. T.769 — Jan. 5, Capt. John Douglas, Hezh. Spalding. May, Capt. Benjamin Douglass, Andrew Backus. Oct., Capt. John Douglass, Gideon Welles. 1770 — May, Capt. John Douglass, John Pierce. Oct., Capt. John Douglass, John Pierce. 1771 — May, Capt. John Douglass, John Pierce. Oct., Capt. John Douglas, John Pierce. T.772 — May, Capt. John Douglas, Jesse Spaulding. Oct., Capt. John Douglass, Capt. Isaac Coit. 1773— May, Capt. John Douglass, Capt. Isaac Coit. Oct., Capt. JohnDouglas, Jesse Spalding. 1774 — Jan. 12, Capt. John Douglas. May, Capt. Isaac Colt, Capt. James Bradford. Oct., Capt. Isaac Coit, Majr. John Doug- las. 1775— Mar. 2, Capt. Isaac Coit, Colo. John Douglas. Apr. 26, Capt. Isaac Coit, Capt. John Doug- lass. May, Capt. James Brad- ford, "William Robinson. Oct., William Robinson, Joshua Dunlap. Dec. 14, Joshua Dunlap. 1776 — May, Capt. Andrew Backus, Joshua Dunlap. Oct., Elisha Perkins, Joshua Dunlap. 1777— May, Capt. James Bradford, Capt. Andrew Backus. Oct., Capt. James Bradford, Joseph Shepard. 1778— May, Capt. John Cady, William Robinson. Oct., Gen'l John Douglas, John Cady. 1779 — May, Joseph Shepard, Elisha Perkins. Oct., Majr. Andrew Backus, Isaac Knight. 1780 — May, Capt. Ab'm. Waterman, John Pierce. Oct., Gen'l John Douglas, Doct. Elisha Per- kins. 1781 — May, Capt. John Douglass, Abrajiam Sheppard. Oct., Capt. James Bradford, Majr. Andrew Backus. 1782 — May, Gen'l John Douglas, Capt. William Dixon. Oct., Samuel Fox, Capt. William Dixon. 1783 — May, Gen'l John Douglass, Majr. Andrew Backus. Oct., Gen'l John Douglass, Capt. James Bradford. 1784— May, Gen'l John Douglas, Eb- enezer Eaton. Oct., Joseph Shepard, Capt. Joshua Dun- lap. 1785 — May, Majr. Andrew Backus, Capt. Joshua Dunlap. Oct., Capt. Joshua Dunlap, Capt. W^illiam Dixon. 1786 — May, Capt. Joshua Dunlap, Joseph Shepard. Oct., Gen'l John Douglas, Stephen Hall, Jr. 1787 — May, Gen'l John Douglas, Joseph Shepard. Oct., Eph- raim "Wheeler, Anthony Brad- ford. 1788 — May, Joseph Shepard, Ephraim W^heeler. Oct., Capt. Stephen Hall, Capt. Ebenezer Eaton. 1789— May, Gen'l John Douglas, Capt. Stephen Hall, Jr. Oct., Jos- eph Shepard, Capt. "tt^illiam Dixon. 1790 — May, Gen'l James Gordon, Joseph Shepard. Oct., Jona- than Hammet, Ebenezep Eaton. 1791 — May, Josiah Shepard, John Douglas. Oct., Joseph Shep- ard, Ebenezer Eaton. 1792 — May, Joseph Shepard, John Pierce. Oct., James Bradford, Ebenezer Eaton. 1793 — May, William Pierce, Timothy Lester. Oct., Jona. Hammet, William Pierce. 1794— May, William Pierce, Jona- Hammett. Oct., Joshua Dun- lap, William Pierce. HISTORICAL PAPER BY JAMES L. GARDNER, M. D. 97 1795 — May, 'William Pierce, Phineas Pierce. Oct., Stephen Hall, Jr., Calvin Goddard. 1796— May, Stephen Hall, Jr., Joshua Dunlap. Oct., Joshua Dun- lap, William Dixson. 1797 — May, William Dixon, Bphraim Wheeler. Oct., Calvin God- dard, Stephen Hall. 1798— May, Calvin Goddard, Stephen Hall, Jr. Oct., Calvin God- dard, Anthony Bradford. 1799— May, Calvin Goddard, Anthony Bradford. Oct., Joshua Dun- lap, William Dixson. ISOO — May, Calvin Goddard, Joshua Dunlap. Oct., Joshua Dunlap, Calvin Goddard. 1801 — May, Calvin Goddard, Joshua Dunlap. Oct., Joshua Dunlap, William Dixson. 1802— May, Anthony Bradford, Eph- raim W^heeler. Oct., Joshua Dunlap, Joseph Baton. 1803 — May, Joseph Shepard, Joseph Eaton. Oct., Jonathan Ham- mil, Joseph Eaton. ISOi— May, William Pierce, L,uther Smith. Oct., John Lester, Jer'h Kinsman. 1805 — May, John Lester, Jeremiah Kinsman. Oct., Calvin God- dard, Joseph Eaton. 1806 — May, Anthony Bradford, Joseph Eaton. Oct., Anthony Brad- ford, William Wheeler. 1807— May, Calvin Goddard, John Doug-lass, Jr. Oct., William Harris, John Gallup. 180S — May, John Gallup, Sessions .Lester. Oct., Sessions Lester, Aaron Crary. 1809— May, Anthony Bradford, Ben- jamin Bacon. Oct., Joseph Eaton, Timothy Parkes. 1810 — May, Joseph Eaton, Benjamin Bacon. Oct., John Gallup, Tim. Parkhurst. 1811 — May, Sessions Lester, Luther Smith. Oct., William Hall, Elias Parkhurst. 1812 — May, Joseph Baton, Anthony Bradford. Oct., Joseph Baton, Anthony Bradford. 1813— May, .Joseph Eaton, Anthony Bradford. Oct., Joseph Baton, Benjamin Bacon. 7 1814 — May, Joseph Eaton, John Dun- lap. Oct., Siah Puller, Ed- ward Clarke. 1815— May, Siah Fuller, Joseph Baton, Oct., John Douglass, Sessions Lester. 1816 — May, John Lester, Levi Robin- son. Oct., Philip Kinyon, Job Angell. 1817 — May, John Lester, Lemuel Woodward. Oct., Sessions Lester, Philip Kenyon. 1818 — May, Sessions Lester, Oliver ■ Coates. Oct., Oliver Coates, Brastus Lester. 1819 — May, Brastus Lester, Vincent Hinkley. 1820 — Sessions Lester, Aaron Crary. 1821 — John Dunlap, Joseph Eaton. 1822 — Joseph Eaton, Sessions Lester. 1823 — John Dunlap, Isaac Knight. 1824 — Sessions Lester, Isaac Knight. 1825 — Sessions Lester, William Kinne. 1826 — Joseph Eaton, John Dunlap. 1827 — Jeremiah Kinsma.n, Erastus Lester. 1828 — Jonathan Goff, Joseph Baton. 1829 — Mowry Burgess, Vincent Hinkley. 1830 — Joseph S. Gladding, Jonathan Goff. 1831— Joseph S. Gladding, Wm. H. Cogswell. 1832— Lovell Cady, Amos Witter. 1833 — Henry Angell, Joseph Eaton. 1834 — Jonathan Goff, Isaac Knight. 1835 — Amos Witter, Brastus Lester. 1836 — Francis B. Johnson, Jonathan Goff. 1837 — Sessions Lester, Benjamin Bacon. 1838— Arnold Fenner, Nathaniel French. 1839— Luther Smith, William Dyer. 1840 — Arnold Fenner, Elisha L. Puller. 1841 — David Gallup, Cornell Monroe. 1842— Daniel Hill, Samuel Crary. 1843 — John Gardner, James Miller. 1844— Jonathan Goff, Joseph C. Spaulding. 1845 — Joseph Hutchins, George Ken- yon. 1846— George Cady, Mowry B. Spald- ing. ' 1847 — Amos Witter, Jr., Andrew C. Lester. 98 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. 1848 — Augustus Prior, John S. French. 1849— Amos Witter, Jr., Elijah W. Curtis. 1850— David Gallup, Sanford Boyden. 1851— Hezekiah French, Caleb P. Wilson. 1852— Elisha L. Fuller, Samuel Humes. 1853— Albert Gordon, Thomas J. Gates. 1854— William B. Ames, William Kenyon. 1855— W. C. Marple, Simon W. Miller. 1856— Archibald Fry, Frank S. Bur- 1857— Job H. Cutter, Samuel D. Millett. 1858 — Joseph Hutchins, Jr., Henry Ij. Wilson. 1859— Darius Wood, Elisha P. Hale. 1860— William Shepard, Caleb TIU- inghast. 1861- Charles Hinckley, Caleb Ben- nett. 1862— J. S. Atwood, David Gallup. 1863— David Gallup, J. M. Shepard. 1864— Jos. H. Gladding, David Gallup. 1865— David Gallup, J. P. Brown. 1866— David Gallup, Albert Austin. 1867— Prank S. Burgess, Arnold Fen- ner. 1868— J. S. Atwood, Math. Olin. 1869— Isaac K. Cutler, David Geer. 1870— Henry S. Newton, John D. Rood. 1871— John L. Chapman, William S. Babcock. 1872 — Asher R. Herrlck, Jr., Ephraim Browning. 1873— William A. Lewis, E. A. Atkins. 1874— H. C. Starkweather, Elisha P. Hale. 1875— Joseph Hutchins, George A. Rouse. 1S76— Albert C. Greene, Gurdon Cady. 1877— David Gallup, Richard H- Ward. 1878— Reuben Weaver, Silenus H. Fellows. 1879 — ^Walter Palmer, Merrill A. Ladd. 1880— George Lorlng, John S.French. 1881— William S. Simmons, Roswell Ensworth. 1882 — Henry F. Newton, Havilah. M. Prior. 1883— Albert B. Sprague, Willis D. Rouse. 1884 — David Emerson, Edward E. Hill. 1885 — Philip Mathewson, Joseph. Hutchins. 1886 — James M. Wilcox, Walter L. Palmer. 1887— TIdwin Milner, Edward G. Bugbee. 1889 — Sessions L. Adams, Milton J. Kingsley. 1891— Edwin Milner, George T. San- ger. 1893— Frank H. Tlllinghast, George T. Sanger. 1895 — Amasa B. Taber, Lucius B. Morgan. 1897— Charles E. Barber, Walter Kingsley. 1899— John W^. Atwood, Moses A. Linnell. THE CHURCHES OF PLAINFIELD. Rev. Henry T. Arnold. The ecclesiastical history of the town of Plainfield is the history of the organized religious effort of the Church of Christ within its bounds. The history of religion here has been written, not with pen and ink, but by the Spirit of God upon the hearts of the many good men and women who have lived in the town. It lies behind' the ecclesiastical history in which it has found more or less imperfect o X c o (3 d o =s • <: m Q IS I- -§ y >• THE CHURCHES OF PLAINFIELD. 99 expression. The records of church life are sometimes meagre, if not altogether wanting, and are devoted to matters which are often of little account for the historian. It is possible, however, to follow the course of ecclesiastical history from the origin of the town; to see the early settlers assembling in the house of worship, the centre of their common life; to witness the forming of a second church towards the close of the first half century and after about twenty- five years its union with the old church ; to note the forming of a third church about the end of the century ; and to greet the other churches of the town as they have come forward and taken their place within the present century. The First Qiurch of Christ in Plainfield, then Quinebaug plan- tations, was organized January 3, 1705. The people of the town, which included Canterbury and Plainfield, had held religious serv- ices from time to time since the first settlers came, about 1650, some- times meeting on the east of the Quinebaug, sometimes on the west. There were few families — about thirty — and not all of them were religious; but at the first town-meeting. May 31, 1699, provision was made for the regular ministration of the gospel, while as yet there was no church and no meeting-house. It was then voted "to give Rev. Mr. Coat a call for one-quarter of a year for ten pounds." He accepted the invitation, and remained to see a meet- ing-house built and a church organized and he served as its pastor for a period of forty-nine years. The spirit and purpose of the set- tlers will be seen in an agreement, which was adopted by them at a meeting held November 13, 1699, and was signe'd by 37 names, many of which are still borne here by their descendents : "Whereas we, the inhabitants living on the east and west sides of Quinebaug river, did last May petition the General Court of this colony that we might be according to^ law incorporate and have town powers and privileges granted to us, the which the General Court were pleased to grant unto us, and now that we might rightly and truly improve the loyal and reasonable privileges granted to us, so that it may be for the honor and glory of the Lord our God and for the good and comfort of us and our children's children, we, the subscribers, do by these presents formally oblige ourselves, our 100 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, to maintain an able, faithful, orthodox gospel minister, so that the same worship of God may be at all times upheld and maintained amongst us, and, as to the way of raising this and all other just and necessary town charges, that it be done justly and equally according to each one's just proportion, in such a way and manner as the major part of us, the subscribers, agree on, or according to the law of the colony — always provided that a suitable and honorable maintenance be taken care of for the minister. "We do' agree that a suitable allotment and accommodations be laid out for the minister that God in his holy providence shall settle among us ; that there shall be an allotment or accommoda- tions laid out in some suitable place to be and remain for the minister forever. "Though duty to God and the wholesome laws of the colony would oblige to a thorough care in the education of our children, yet it being found by experience that there is some too great re- missness in parents and others, and also difficulty in sending so re- mote one from another, but that we might be truly endeavoring to do in this matter as God shall enable, we do agree that the townsmen do yearly take special care in this matter. "In testimony of the premises, witness our hands, November 13, 1699. "James Fitch. Joseph Spalding. Stephen Hall. Thomas Stephens. Nathaniel Jewell. ^^'illiam Douglass. Thomas Williams. Thomas Pierce. Jacob Warren. Henry ^^'albridge. John Spalding. Obadiah Johnson. Robert Green. Josiah Cleveland. Matthias Button. Samuel Adams. Thomas Brooks. Tixhall Ensworth. Benjamin Rood. Isaac Shepard. James Deane. Samuel Shepard. Daniel \A'ood\vard. John Fellows. Richard Adams. John Smith. William Marsh. Edward Baldwin. Joshua Whitney. Joseph Parkhurst. William Johnson. John Deane. Benjamin Spalding. Samuel Howe. James Kingsbury. Peter Crary." Samuel Cleveland. THE CHURCHES OF PLAINFIELD. lOI A meeting-house was build in 1702 on the top of Black Hill; and after seven years of what we should call frontier life, guards being placed of a Sunday about the meeting-house to protect the people from a sudden attack of the Indians, the house was "finished," and every householder in town was required to give tO' the widow Samans "one peck of Indian com a year in consideration for her to sweep the meeting-house ; so long as she doth it, the corn tO' be carried to her." Meantime, in 1705, the church had begun its existence which now for nearly 200 years has been as a pillar and ground of the truth in this town. Tliere were ten members when the church was organized, January 3, 1705; there are now eighty- four. In the history of the First Church of Qirist in Plainfield there have been times of depression and seasons of revival and steady progress. In 1820 seventy-one persons were received into the church and several years have marked the admission of a score or more. With the gift to other churches and other places of many valued members, the first church has never been very large. , A progress of the church in doctrinal statements may be traced from the Saybrook platform of 1708 of the Established Colonial Church to the creed of 1768, in accord with the older and more Con- gregational Cambridge platform as advocated by the Separatists, and then to the 22 articles of the creed of 181 1, and the 13 articles of 1833, and, finally, in the present simple and comprehensive confes- sion in accord with Congregational standards. In 1720 the church moved from Black Hill tO' a more central position on the turnpike, "a few miles north of the house where Blodget dwells," says the record, "by the country road that goes from north toi south end of the town." Blodget dwelt where Henry Dorrance now lives. But that church, after 60 years of use, became old and was abandoned, services being temporarily held in the brick school-house on the corner near Evergreen cemetery. In 1784, December 22, the very year in which the academy was chartered in the noble pursuit of learning, the church entered into a new meeting-house half a mile south of the former, built by free contributions, and used during the ministry of Rev. Joel Benedict, D. D. This building was blown down in the September gale of 1815 on the 23d day of the I02 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. month. But at once a beautiful stone church was built by the society and completed early in 1819, upon the same spot, that generations to come might there worship the God of their fathers. It has this year been enriched with an elegant organ, the gift of Charles W. and Isabella B. Pratt, in memory of their mother, Mrs. Sarah B. Pratt. The venerable old place called the Wing house, built in 1720, or soon after, was the parsonage occupied by Dr. Bene- dict, who was a learned divine, an able teacher and beloved pastor. The present pastor's home, a short distant south of the church, was made into a parsonage in 1867. To this has now been joined a hand- some library building, opened July i, 1899, a memorial of Dr. Benedict, on whose stone, in the old burying ground not far away may be read the words, "The good man needs no eulogy; his memorial is in heaven." He left certain books for the use of the pastor and the church. These have been largely augmented by the gift of the late Prof. William Kinne of this place and church, who gave to its representatives, both his library and the building in which the books are placed, together with a fund for maintaining the library in time to come. Among these books is the Hebrew Bible of Samson Occom, the famous Indian preacher, thus linking together the early history of the Colony in which the Indians played so important a part and received so eagerly from the mis- sionary, the gospel of salvation, and our present life when we may take from the shelves of a fine library the Bible of Occom, or with the antiquary may trace out the old stones in yonder Indian burying ground. The pastors of the church have been : Joseph Coit, 1699-1748 ; David Rowland, 1748-1761 ; John Fuller, 1769-1777; Joel Benedict, 1784-1816; Orrin Fowler, 1820-1831 ; Samuel Rockwell, 1832-1841 ; Andrew Dunning, 1842-1847; Plenry Robinson, 1847-1856; William A. Benedict, 1857-1863; Joshua L. IMaynard, 1864-1865; James D. Moore, 1867-1868; William Phipps, 1869-1876; Asher H. Wilcox, 1876-1883; Abram J. Quick, 1883-1887; Henry T. Arnold, 1887 to the present time. By the laws of the Colony every citizen, with few exceptions, was bound to pay taxes for the support of the church, and it was THE CHURCHES OF PLAINFIELD. I03 largely through the controversies of the Separatists or Dissenters, that such taxation was finally abolished. The Separatists, who were branded as New Lights, were partly the fruit of the religious awakening of 1741, and subsequent years, and partly the promoters of religious excitement and revival as well as the advocates of the earlier Congregational order. Their preachers or evangelists, going from church to church, became unacceptable to many of "the churches and tOi the government of the Colony, and were often ■excluded from the pulpits. The result was that new churches were formed. There sprang up in Plainfield a Separate Church, organ- ized in 1746. They ordained one of their own number, Thomas Stephens, as their first pastor, and built a meeting-house, the foun- dations of which may still be seen in a strawberry patch on the right on the Corey Bridge road, a little north of the railroad ■crossing, near the home now occupied by James S. Miller, not far from Evergreen cemetery. Probably the house referred tO' is the oldest in town. Alexander Miller succeeded as pastor about 1758. Their numbers grew until the greater part of the people of the town favored their views. In 1760 two ecclesiastical societies were authorized, the old one to have two-thirds of the yearly rate, the Separate to have one-third. But in 1766 they returned to the old church near Blodget's with new light for all, and in 1769 the parish tax was abolished, and all were united in the First Church. The First Baptist Church in Plainfield was organized October 16, 1792. The original articles of faith are similar to those of the Congregational Church, excepting article 10, which relates to im- mersion. These were signed by the nineteen members : John Burgess. Luranah Surges. Josiah Corey. Leuranah Moredock. George Moredock. Dorcas Burges. Ezra Bennet. Bathsheba Price. William Lewen. Triphenah Shepard. John Miller. Susanna Hall. Robert Taylor. Alice Hall. Nathan Burges. Peggy Warren. William Pierce. Elisabeth Brown. Gideon Burges. 104 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. The first pastor was Nathaniel Cole, pastor from 1792 to 1833, a period of 41 years. He was the contemporary of Dr. Benedict, for nearly a quarter of a century. For six years the chwrch seem to have met at Pond Hill school-house, and it is not till September. 1798, that a church meeting at the meeting-house is recorded. That historic structure was on the corner west of the pond, on the Corey Bridge road near John Smith's, and came to be known as Elder Cole's meeting-house, a place of many precious associations in Christian experience. After the lapse of thirty or forty years we find the people sometimes meeting at Elder Cole's house, or with one of the brethren, or at Pond Hill school-house. But September 7, 1840, it was voted, "that the meetings on the Sabbath be held at the meeting-house in Union Village the ensuing year. That waa just south of what is now Moosup, in a neighborhood called Union. The church was the old Separate meeting-house moved from the corner near Evergreen cemetery, and known as the South meeting- house, or the Union meeting-house, and sometimes called Union Factory meeting-house. A new and commodious house of wor- ship, the present meeting-house, on the street west of the river waa dedicated, January 5, 1843, notwithstanding the fact that at a church meeting held at Pond Hill school-house, June 18. 1840, it was voted "That this church is hereby dissolved." The church had been re-organized as the Union Plainfield Baptist Church. In 1867 the house was raised up and a vestry was put under it ; and in 1882, after further improvements, it was re-dedicated to the serv- ice of God. The church has grown in numbers to about 200, and in usefulness. During the pastorate of 22 years of Rev. J. P. Brown, one of the speakers at the bicentennial, 305 persons were added to the church. The pastors have been Nathaniel Cole, C. S.. Weaver, Chester Tilden, Tliomas Barber, John Read, Jamea Smither, Frederick Carlton, J. P. Brown, G. F. Raymond, M. J,. Gofif, F. B. Joy, C. B. Rockwell, L. ^^'. Frink, J. N. Shipman. Robert rogrum, George Kinr.e, S. W. Delzell, and at present,, Elisha Sanderson. In the early history of the town there were one or twa Quakers, or friends, wlio were released from the ecclesiastical tax. THE CHURCHES OF PLAINFIELD. 105 by reason of a certificate of membership from a society of their own order. About 1807 a number of Quakers came into town^ among them enterprising men engaged in manufacturing. They longed for the quiet meeting to which they were accustomed, and soon after 1805 organized a Society of Friends, and built a meet- ing-house on Black Hill, near the top, on the road leading to^ Lucius B. Morgan's. With the passage of time and its changes, the building, brown with age, with its quaint hopper roof, has dis- appeared, and nothing remains but the old gate to tell of the good people who once went up to that hallowed spot. No one presided over them after the manner of the assemblies of other people;; "Christ only," in the language of William Penn, "being their pres- ident, as he was pleased to appear in life and wisdom tO' anyone or more of them." The Methodist Episcopal Church in Plainfield began its history in 1825, when it was included in the Norwich circuit, though, before 1800, preachers were sent here and occasional services were- held. At first, the church met in the old Separate meeting-house on the comer near Evergreen cemetery for occasional services under the joint pastorate of Benjamin Hazelton and Onesiphorus Robbins. The first class was formed June 16, 1826, by Benjamin Hazelton. In 1829 the church was united to the Thompson circuit. Three years later there were 13 members. There are now about 150. After the great revival of 1842 the church gave up to Danielson- ville 65 members, the beginning of a large church there. That same year they purchased of the Separatists, or their successors,. the old meeting-house which had been removed to Union Village. A new church was built in 1871, a little further up the river and was dedicated, February i, 1872, during the pastorate of Rev. Lewis E. Dunham. A few years after, in 1877, a commodious parsonage was built adjacent to the church. The occasional de- pression in business in Mooisup has affected the life of the church.. But seasons of refreshing from the Lord have frequently been en- joyed, and in 1875, during a powerful revival, 87 joined the class. In 1832, when Plainfield circuit was formed, there were 23 in the class. The pastors of the church have been numerous since the Io6 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. time of Hazelton and Robbins. It was under the pastorate of Rev. A. B. Wheeler that the first meeting-house was bought, March 24, 1842, the old Separate church. The new church, at present occupied, was dedicated a few weeks before the close of the pastorate of Mr. Dunham. Subsequent pastors have been : E. M. Anthony, W. W. Ellis, George W. Hunt, E. J. Ayers, R. D. Dyson, F. A. Crafts, John McVay, George H. Butler, Edward P. Phraener, Frederick C. Baker, and John Oldham, now pastor. The Packerville Baptist Church was organized in October, 1828, with 21 members, and Rev. Levi Kneeland was ordained pastor. During his pastorate of about six years the church re- ceived 316 members. The people were ready for a church. Daniel Packer, who had settled in the place in 1825 and was engaged in manufacturing, greatly promoted the cause of religion. In the summer of 1829 a suitable meeting-house was built, a fine lot for •church buildings and a cemetery having been given by Joseph Farnum. Mr. Packer also built a good parsonage and before his death gave the property to the church. His son, Elisha Packer, lias been a friend and helper to the church. In 1875 a fine chapel was built near the meeting-house. An interesting account of the ■church is to be found in the Plainfield Souvenir, written by Rev. A. A. Robinson, who has ministered to the church for the past twelve years, a venerable and beloved pastor. The pastors have been : Tubal Wakefield, Martin Byrne, Daniel D. Lyon, Silas Hall, John B. Guild, Alfred Gates, John Paine, Percival Mathew- son, George B. Northrup, Warren N. Walden, O. B. Rawsoo, J. F. Temple, A. A. Robinson. In June, 1865, the church ordained as an evangelist, Lucian Burleigh, a life-long school-master, and for a time preceptor of Plainfield Academy. The Central Village Congregational Church was organized, April 15, 1846, the North Plainfield Ecclesiastical Society having been formed in 1845. Forty-five persons were dismissed from the first church to constitute the new plant. These people had for sometime been meeting- in the old brick school-house, a little south of the village, but were preparing a hottse of their own, and dedi- cated their church in January, 1846, Rev. Orrin Fowler, then of THE CHURCHES OF PLAINFIELD. I07 Fall River, Mass., coming to preach the sermon. The church has walked in fellowship with the old church from which it sprung and has proved itself a planting of the Lord. In 1896 it observed the semi-centennial anniversary under the pastorate of Rev. C. M Lord, who has given a graphic account of the church in a pamph- let devoted to the anniversary occasion. 'The pastors of the ■church, which now numbers abo-ut 80 members, have been Jared O. Knapp, James Bates, William E. Barrett, George Hall Paul Couch, George Huntington, J. R. Barnes, J. D. Moore, G. J Tillotson, John Avery, John Matrsland, W. B. Clark, Asher H Wilcox, Dighton Moses, George H. Morss, Orlando M. Lord Henry C. Crane. The Congregational Church in Wauregan was organized June 17, 1856. For two or three years meetings for prayer had been held from house to house, and a Sabbath school had been formed in 1854, which has met continuously since that hopeful beginning. A hall was built in 1855 for public worship, the first sermon being preached by Rev. G. J. Tillotson, of Brooklyn, Conn., and January i, 1856, Rev. Charles L. Ayer was engaged by the Wau- regan Mills to minister statedly to the people. At the organiza- tion of the church there were 10 members. The sermon was preached by Rev. George Somle, of Hampton, from the text, i Tim. ^ :i5, "The church of the living God." The church in Wauregan, the Pleasant Valley of the Indians, has grown to about 76 members. The way in which God has led his people there is told in valuable historic discourses preached by the present pastor, Silenus H. Fellows, in the centennial year of our land and on occasion of the 25th and the 38th anniversary of the church. In 1872 the Wauregan Company appropriated $10,000 for a church building. Tlie corner stone was laid May 10, 1873, and the beautiful church was dedicated, January 29, 1874, Rev. Daniel Merriman preaching the sermon from Acts 4 132. About five years agO' a handsome parsonage was built near the church. In a place where the popula- tion is continually changing, this church has exerted a most bene- iicent influence. The pastors have been: C. L. Ayer, 1856-1858; Io8 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. E. F. Brooks, 1858-1859; S. H. Fellows, December 19, 1859 to the present. The Roman Catholic Church in Moosup, All Hallows Church,, was formed in 1859. In common with other manufacturing towns, of Eastern Connecticut, the passage of years has brought tO' the town of Plainfield a steady and rapid increase in its Catholic popula- tion. The first Catholic residents of whom there are any record were two Irish families who settled in Almyville where the old mill was built about sixty years ago. Their mumber was slowly in- creased by the coming of others, until about 1840, when the first mass was said in a dwelling house at Almyville by a priest who' had come from Worcester for that purpose : occasional services were held during the following years. In 1859 the Bishop of the Dio- cese commissioned the Rev. Michael McCabe, of Danielsonville^ to found a pennanent parish at INIoosup. Land was at once purchased, a church was built and in the spring of i860 was dedi- cated to the service of God. The first resident pastor was the Rev. P. B. Daley, who then had within his jurisdiction not only the town of Plainfield, but also Sterling and other neighboring towns. In 1870 the number of Catholics had so increased in the Waure- gan section of the town that a church \\as built in that village in West Wauregan, in Brookl3'n. It was attended from the ]\Ioosup Church until 1889, when it was made an independent parish. The old parochial residence at Moosup was destroyed by fire in Alay, 1893, and the present handsome residence was erected in its stead. The number of Catholics has grown from the thirty who- attended the first service to about 2,700 souls, 1.500 at Moosup, and 1,200 at Wauregan. The church has prospered, says the Rev. Father Broderick, both spiritually and materially ; the old church- has been renovated, the grounds beautified, and additional land bought in the rear of the church ; and this spring a fine tract of ten acres was bought on the Danielson road to be used for ceme- tery purposes. The Catholics of Plainfield look forward to- the time when a new and larger edifice shall replace the present in- adequate structure. The Wauregan mission improved and beautified its church building during Father Creedon's pastorate, at Moosup, and since it became an independent parish, a parochial residence has been built, a good water supply put in, a new cemetery opened and THE CHURCHES OF PLAINFIELD. I09 "the entire property of Sacred Heart Church improved. The history ■of CathoHcity in Wauregan has been given in the Plainfield Sou- venir by Rev. A. O'Keefe. Since the organization of the Moosup Church, the following ■clergymen have had successive charge of the parish : P. B. Daley, J. J. McCabe, James Quinn, F. Belanger, J. F. Quinn, D. Des- mond, P. M. Kennedy, J. A. Creedon, J. H. Broderick, the present "incumbent to ■whom this sketch is largely due. Rev. A. O'Keefe was the first resident pastor of the Wauregan parish, and continues in that office, his pastorate dating from May 20, 1889. Thus these churches have taken their place and part in the history of the town, each worshipping God after its own order, and all striving iot one and the same thing — the promotion of the kingdom of God, which is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. The ninety-twoi or more pastors named here who have tended these several flocks under the one Shepherd, have most of them passed to their account, but their work continues and the churches •continue. Amcwag them were men eminent for devoted piety and sound scholarship. The history of Plainfield Academy, which is yet to be" written, records their frequent services as rectors and "teachers, their unwearied efforts in the cause of education, and their just pride in the noble influence of that school to which every speaker and every paper here has made reference. The military histoi-y of the town recounts the services of thesa pastors in times of peril and of war, and tells us that some of them went to the field of bloody strife, to the sick and the wounded, bearing the message of co^mfort and salvation. The following have been named as ministers raised up in Plain- field, but doubtless there are others : Thomas Stephens. John D. Perkins. Josiah Whitney, D. D. George Perkins. Josiah Spalding. Richard H. Benedict. Elijah Parish, D.D. Evan M. Jdhnson. Alfred Johnson. George Shepard, D. D. Jonathan Kinne. Edward J. Fuller. Thomas Andros. Lucian Burieigh. William F. Rowland. Cyrus Marsh. Ariel Parish. 110 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. PLAINFIELD'S MILITARY RECORD. Charles P. Burgess and Frank H. Tillinghast. In the stirring series of events which have marked the growth and advancement of New England, the town of Plainfield has, during her two hundred years of existence, well and honorably borne her part. Of the early struggles and conflicts with the aborigines the records partake largely of tradition, and even when we come to later times and more authentic sources of informa- tion only a passing glance can be given at the principal events in the limited space allotted to this chapter. In the Indian War of 1704 the inhabitants of Plainfield bravely souglit to. defend their homes, and pains were taken to keep favor with the friendly Quinebaugs. A train band was formed with Tfaos. Williams for ensign and Samuel Howe for sergeant, and guard-houses arid scouts were maintained, equipped, and supplied with ammunition. Guards were stationed about the meeting-hcnise on Sunday and watch-houses were maintained in exposed parts of the town. In 1756 certain French prisoners of war were billeted upon the town. These were some of the neutral inhabi- tants of Acadia who had been torn from their homes and native country after the conquest of Nova Scotia by the English and were now distributed among the towns of New England. Forty- three of these unhappy Acadians were assigned to Windham Coun- ty, but Plainfield was the only town that officially and publicly made provisions for them. In 1769 Timothy Pierce, of Plainfield, is named as among the "heroic fort}-" adventurous Yankees who descended upon the "Pennymites" at Wyoming. Among Plainfield men, prominent in the French and Indian War, were Ezekiel Pierce, Benjamin Lee and Isaac Coit, who was given the rank of captain. The latter led a volunteer com- pany from Windham County directly after the capture of Fort William Henry by Montcalm. Captain Israel Putnarri's second company was largely made up of Plainfield men. In the great struggle of the American Revolution, Plainfield PLAINFIELD S MILITARY RECORD. Ill was a prominent and honored participant. A brigade training at Plainfield in 1773 is especially memorable for inciting the first spark of military enthusiasm in Nathaniel Greene, whoi after- wards won high rank among revolutionary commanders. On the passage of the Boston Port Bill, in June, 1774, the people were aflame with indignation, and sympathetic words for the suffering inhabitants of Boston were followed by helpful gifts, Plainfield sending her flocks of fine sheep and appointing a committee to receive subscriptions for the common cause. In 1775, April 19th, the historic Lexington alarm found the- people of this town in a way prepared and they needed but little- stimulus to move to the relief of Boston. The contribution of Plainfield for the first alarm consisted of 54 men, under Captain Andrew Backus, Ensign Abraham Shepard and Joshua Bottom; many of the men who went out on the first alarm were mustered into the Third regiment, of which 'Israel. Putnam was colonel. Associations were formed in many places throughout the colonies under the title of Sons of Liberty, and such an associatioa was formed at Plainfield. Beacon lights, on many of the lofty hills, served as signals by which they communicated with each other. On the evening of June 6th, the beacon light on Shepard's. hill was seen streaming heavenward, a signal for the Sons of Liberty to assemble at Simon Shepard's residence, their headquar- ters, located where the Plainfield almshouse now stands. On the following day a horseman drove up to the assembly- headquarters at breakneck speed. The man, says J. S. McGregor,, in his "Reminiscences of Ancient Plainfield," was greatly exhausted, and was taken from his horse and carried into the house. The- dispatch was directed to John McGregor and read as follows : "Boston, June 6th, 1775. "Captain John McGregor, "Dear Sir:— "Forward your men to Boston as soon as possible. They^ will be needed soon. "Your Friend, "Israel Putnam." J 1 2 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. The following night was a sleepless one for Plainfield, and early the next morning the Sons of Liberty left home and wound their way over hills and through valleys until they reached Boston. On the 9th this little band of patriots filed into one of the redoubts where Putnam was waiting to receive them. On the 17th they took an active part in the battle of Bunker Hill and some of these men served until Washington disbanded his ■army. The old sword which Capt. John McGregor had presented to him by the Sons of Liberty is in possession of J. S. McGregor. Upon the first authorized call for troops the Sixth regiment, Col. Parson's, recruited from New London, Hartford and Middle- sex Counties. The sixth company of this regiment was formed from Plainfield. Captain, Waterman Clifts ; First Lieutenant, Wm. Edwards; Second Lieutenant, John McGregor; Ensign, Nathaniel Morgan; five sergeants, four corporals, eighty-one privates, one drummer, two fifers. This company remained on duty at New Lon- don until June 17th, when it was ordered by the Governor's Council, to Boston Camps, where it took post at Roxbury and remained until •expiration of term of service, December loth, 1775. We find the following Plainfield men : In Tenth Continentals, First Lieutenant John McGregor and Ensign Lemuel Clifts ; in Seventeenth Continentals, Ensign Anthony Bradford ; in Twen- tieth Continentals, Col. Durkee and Capt. \\'ills Clifts. In the Eighth regiment, of which Jedidiah Huntington, of Nor- wich, was colonel, John Douglass, of Plainfield, was lieutenant colo- nel, and was also captain of the second company. In June, 1777, he was promoted to- general, which position he held, being on active duty during the war. In the Third and Fourth regiments. Continental Line, we find the following Plainfield men : \Mlls Clift, major Third regiment ; Fourth regiment. Captain John McGregor, commissioned January 1st, 1777; retired January 1st, 1781. The latter regiment was recruited mainly from Windham and New London Counties. It went into camp at Peekskill in the spring PLAINFIELD S MILITARY RECORD. 1 13 of 1777, engaged in the battle of Germantown, and wintered at Valley Forge, '77-'78. In the formation of the Third and Fourth regiments, in 1781, this town was represented by Major Wills Clift, Capt. Simon Spald- ing, and Capt. Lemuel Clifts, whose company helped form a bat- talion and was attached to Lafayette Light division at the siege of Yorktown. In the famous Connecticut Cincinnati Society, Capt. Simon Spalding was the only original member from this town. The system of enrollment throughout the war was very imper- fect, but there is every reason to believe that the town of Plainfield fulfilled every requisition. Of fifteen hundred men raised by Con- necticut, in May, 1780, for the Southern Campaign, Plainfield furnished sixteen. It was resolved at the special session of the Legislature, in April, 1775, that three thousand stand of arms be procured for the colony of the following dimensions, to wit : "The length of the barrel three feet and ten inches ; the diameter of the bore from inside tO' inside three-quarters of an inch ; the length of the bayonet fourteen inches, the length of the socket four inches and one-quarter, that the barrels be of suitable thickness with iron ramrods and a spring in the lowest loop to secure the ramrods ; a good substantial lock and a good stock well mounted with brass and marked with the name or initial letters of the makers' name." Col. Records, Vol. XIV., p. 420. At the May session, the rations of the troops was fixed as follows : "Three-fourths of a pound of pork or one pound of beef; one pound of bread or flour; three pints of beer tO' each man per day; beef to be fresh two days in a week ; also a half pint of rice or a pint of Indian meal ; six ounces of butter and three pints of peas or beans each man per week. Soldiers on fatigue duty were to be allowed one gill of rum each per day and at no other time. Milk, candles, soap, molasses, vinegar, coffee, chocolate, sugar, tobacco and vegetables in season, were to be provided, subject tO' the order of general and field officers." The ranks of officers in 1775 was distinguished by different 114 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. colored ribbons, which they were directed to wear. Troops were generally without uniform. The regimental colors, in 1775, of the Sixth regiment, was azure; Eighth regiment, orange. In the regular army — War of 1812 — Square Cady and Stephen Bennett went from this town. Mr. Bennett's widow living on Black Hill is still a pensioner of this war. Her husband entered the war at 19 years of age; was drafted into the service at first and after- wards went as a substitute for Emerson Kinne. Martin Herrick and Leonard Pickett also were engaged in this war, from Plain- field, with many others, whose names are difficult to obtain. In the Mexican War, in 1846, the following Plainfield men went out in the regular army: Silas Bailey, John H. Roadman, Nelson Viall, Justus K. Watson, Nathan Weaver and William H. Whitford. In the Third company. Second regiment, George Middleton was captain and Elkanah Eaton first lieutenant. In the Civil War this town bore her part of the burden nobly and well. Space does not permit us to go further into details than to give the following names of Plainfield men who sacrificed the comforts of home in the hour of their country's need : SECOND REGIMENT, CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS. INFANTRY. Rifle Co. A— Charles Wheatley. THIRD REGIMENT, CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS, INFANTRY. Co. D — Ambrose, B. Rice. FIRST SQUADRON, CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS, CAVALRY. Co. A— William Card, Henry S. Tllllnghast. FIRST REGIMENT, CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS, CAVALRY. Co. A — Corporals: Henry Lester, James Case. Private: Chas. K. Har- graves. Co. D — Sergeant: Edwin A. Atkins. Co. E — Corporal: Washington J. Gadbols. Co. H — Nicholas Bolselle, Lawrence Gilich. Co. I — Sergeant: Francis J. Perkins. Quartermaster Sergeant: Andrew R. Tracy. Co. K— Wallace L. Slater. FIRST LIGHT BATTERY, CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS. Private: Welcome E. Watson. PLAINFIELD S MILITARY RECORD. II5 FIRST REGIMENT, CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS, HEAVY ARTILLERY. Co. A— John Branan. Co. D— Sergeant: Henry Hall. Musician: Chas. A. Potter. Privates: Luther L. Denison, Chas. West. Co. E — Henry C. Mathewson, Joseph Medbury. Co. P— Jeremiah Sullivan. Co. G — Henry Burlingame, Wm. H. Burlingame, Samuel H. Donovan, Patrick Mulgrove, Edward Sweet, Calvin A. Bowers. Co. I— George Gardner. Co. K— James Panning, Prank Potter, Henry E. Rouse. FIFTH REGIMENT, CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS, INFANTRY. Co. B — Eleazer Bordaux. Co. C— Peter Farrell, Hugh McGahey, Wm. McLaughlin. Co. E — Edwin C. Hargraves. Corporals: Edward Keene, Daniel H. Matteson. Co. G — Musician: John H. Scranton. Privates: Lucius Place, Samuel Place, Henry Arnt. Co. H — Musician: John H. Bennett. Privates: Henry Kochler, W^illiam Holt, Benjamin A. Hyde, Perry A. Hyde, Henry Stafford, James H. McCaffrey, Henry J. Parkhurst, George A. Rouse, Alonzo Pierce, Bapnum S. Rouse, Frank Sweiked, Albert Stafford, Hiram Sweet, Geo. E. Weaver, John Young, 1st, John Young, 2d. Co. I — Henry Lester. Co. K — Sergeant: Henry E. Holloway. Privates: Lorenzo Church, Henry Fitzgerald. SIXTH REGIMENT, CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS, INFANTRY. Co. A — Musician: Albert Kenyon. First Sergeant: Patrick Dlllin. Hugh McChlne, Hugh McChine, Jr., James Mycue, John Reynolds, Michael O'Brien. Co. B — John Munroe. SEVENTH REGIMENT, CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS, INFANTRY. Co. H — George Shay, John Sullivan, Daniel Sullivan, Daniel Shay, Miles Shay. Co. K— Daniel J. Phillips. EIGHTH REGIMENT, CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS, INFANTRY. Co. A — Ellas F. Wilson. Co. C. — Wm. Montgomery. Co. F — Captain: Elijah Y. Smith. Second Lieutenant: Jeremiah M. Shepard. Sergeants: Wm. S. Simmons, Albert Austin, George A. Rouse, Joseph D. Lewis. Cor- porals: Frank Trask, Samuel Lewis, Fred K. Stanton, Edgar G. Tillottson. Privates: George M. Dean, Baraett Duffey, George Fisk, John Foley, Michael Fenton, David H. Kennedy, George W. Cook, William W. Clark, Henry McDaniels, Wm. Moffitt, Asil Mann, John O'Neil, Adelbert Perkins, Jeremiah Pierce, Chas. A. Potter, Horace G. Rouse, Davenport Simmons, Abraham Tillottson, George H. Young, Gilbert T. Perkins. Co. I— Reuben S. Matterson. ELEVENTH REGIMENT, CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS, INFANTRY. Field and Staff— Colonel : Randall H. Rice. Quartermaster: Albert Austin. Assistant Surgeon: Charles H. Rogers. Co. B— Second Lieutenant: Il6 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. Albert Austin. Co. C— Sergeant: Waldo F. Raynsford. Co. D— Corporal: Lyman W. Armstrong. Privates: Adford Bates, Henry Button, Wm. H. Cole, John Peckham, Stephen Peckham. Co. F— Russel C. Andrews, Henry N. Collins, David Tillottson. Co. G— Captains: Wm. J. Hyde, Randall H. Rice. Sergeants: John H. Irish, Alfred West. Co. G — Corporals: William Ames, Chas. A. Douglass, Welcome Montgomery, Chas. Newton, Richard B. Nickerson, Frederick A. Read. Privates: Calvin A. Bowen, William H. Cole, James Conners, Erastus Dean, Barnett Duffey, Willis A. Hall, Henry Hemmick, George H. Heflin, John Hilton, Albert H. Kennedy, John McBay, Daniel Millikin, Thomas Mullan, Isaac B. Simmons, Emery H. Tyler. Co. H— Davis Battey, John Ferguson. Co. I— George T. Barnsted. TWELFTH REGIMENT, CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS, INFANTRY. Co. A — Corporal: John Burdick. Co. D — Wm. Campbell, Jared F. Weaver. Co. H — Patrick Rogers. Co. K — Corporals: W^m. Harney, 2d, Wm. Harney, 1st. THIRTEENTH REGIMENT, CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS, INFANTRY. Co. E — Sergeants: Stephen R. Peavey, Manchester Fuller, Wm. F. Roberts, Fernandez H. Tyler, Thomas Wilde. FOURTEENTH REGIMENT, CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS, INFANTRY. Co. A — Henry Brown, Frederick Tanner. Co. E — Corporal; Sanford Bugbee. Co. F — Jeremiah Sullivan. EIGHTEENTH REGIMENT, CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS, INFANTRY. Co. B— Sergeant: William A. Trask. Privates: Chas. Campbell, Hugh McLaughlin, William H. Pike, Adelbert Trask, James' "Watson. Co. D — Mitchell Bradley. Co. F — Russel M. Brown. Co. I — Corporals: Livi C. Bliss, Henry Frink, Wm. H. Bliss, Miner Robbins, Solomon Stanton. Co. K — Sergeants: Reuben TV. Scott, Walter S. Young, Jerome B. Cahoone, James L. Adams. Corporals: Oliver W. Champlin, Charles Reynolds. Musician: Daniel Pray. Co. K— Privates: John Hughes, Denison P. Jordon, Wm. H. H. Leavens, Reuben A. Pike, John Pike, Wm W. Sweet, Albert D. Trask, George R. Hall, William J. Hyde, Michael Hopkins, Albert F. Shepardson, James A. Taylor, Edward Brady. TWENTIETH REGIMENT, CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS, INFANTRY. Co. F — James Kelley. PLAINFIELD S MILITARY RECORD. II7 TWENTY-FIRST REGIMENT, CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS, INFANTRY. Field and Staff — First Assistant Surgeon: Lewis B. Dixon. Non-Com- ■missioned Staff — Principal Musicians: Albert B. Scranton, Elijah J, Scran ton. Co. E — Alexander Bliss, Georire B. Bliss. Co. H — Captain: •Oecrge W. Shepard. CO'. I — Second Lieutenant: George Walker. Privates: Kobert H. Rood, Charles T. Green, Prank Hawkins. Co. K — Captain: Jeremiah M. Shepard. First Lieutenant: John F. French. Second Lieu- tenants: Harry L. Wilson, John L. Shepard. Sergeants: Henry S. Call, A.gustus Shepardson, George W. Shepard, William P. Walker. Corporals: Rufus S. Dixon, George Preston, Willis D. Rouse, Jam.es K. Watson, John A. Wells. Musicians: Albert B. Scranton, Elijah J. Scranton. Privates: Christopher Lyon, Thomas Maryott, Adam Thatcher, Edward G. Bennett, Lucius H. Bushnell, Chas. C. Card, Chas. H. Chapman, Wm. H. Cole, Daniel Danforth, Aaron W. Eldredge, John W. Fisk, John M. Freeman, James Galvin, James Ireland, Erastus Kinne, George Leary, Andrew Morraty, Henry F. Newton, Benjamin Nye, James W. Phillips, Ephraim Pickett, William Pickett, Nehemiah Potter, John P. Rix, Edwin G. Shepard- son, Amos Shippee, Reuben Spalding, Benjamin Starkweather, Wllcott Strong, Edward Swbet, Nathaniel P. Thompson, Clovis Wakefield, Isaac "Whitaker, Zachariah Whitehead, George E. Young. TWENTY-SIXTH REGIMENT, CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS, INFANTRY. Co. G — Albert J. Burlingame. TWENTY-NINTH (COLORED) REGIMENT. Co. A— Henry McKeney. Co. H— "Wm. H. Brown, 1st. Co. I— Joseph P, Brown. PLAINFIELD MEN IN REGULAR ARMY. Lawton N. Brown, U. S. Signal Corps. William C. Poster, Eighth -Infantry, U. S. A. THE FOLLOWING MEN FROM THIS TOWN ENLISTED IN OTHER STATES: Tenth Rhode Island, Light Battery— William Al'my, Alphonso Bennett, Henry A. Boss, Elijah D. Collins, James Crook, James Curran, Michael J. Pagan, Patrick Kelley, Francis Perkins, Oliver A. Potter. First Rhode Island, Light Artillery. Battery A— Henry P. Clark. Fourth Rhode Island, Artillery. Co. A— Daniel H. Cobb. First Rhode Island, Light Artillery. Co. B— Michael Kean. Co. E— Edward McCaffrey. Co. C— Frank E. Montgomery, Henry A. Prestcjn. Third Rhode Island, Heavy Artillery— Joseph R. Hall. First Rhode Island, Cavalry. Co. F — Russel Madison. Fourth Rhode Island, Infantry. Co. A — Samuel Ames, Benjamin Jordon. "Co. D — James Riguey. First Rhode Island, Infantry. Co. Gr — Justus K. Watson. Twelfth Rhode Island, Infantry. Co. A — Alexander Cole. Co. H— Aaron W. Eldrich. Co. K — Edward Macomber. Il8 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. IN THE AMERICAN-SPANISH WAR Plainfleld was represented in Co. F, Third Regiment, C. N. G.— Captain: Wm. H. Hamilton, of Danielson. Corporals: Louis F. Roberts, Samuel N. Fring, John Lofgren, John E. Dillon. Privates: Adolph Boivin, George- Burke, Fred J. Dargnault, Medas Gregaire, Francis Johnson, George May- nard, George McDonald, Albert H. Morse, Felix Ohben, Napoleon Roberts^ Gurdon F. Tracy, John Wood, James Monohan, Patrick Monohan. James B. Kilborn Post, G. A. R., was organized at Central Village, March 4, 1886, with thirty members. The Post was named after James B. Kilborn, who served in the Third Connecticut regi- ment, and re-enlisted in the Eighth Connecticut; was wounded at the battle of Antietam; was promoted to lieutenant of Co. E and was killed in the attack on Fort Harrison, September 29, 1864. He resided in Wauregan, in 1859 and i860, but enlisted at Hartford. One object for which the Post was organized was to secure more general observance of Memorial Day, and each year the com- rades have visited all the cemeteries of the town, accompanied by a band of music and often assisted by the Sabbath schools, Sons of Veterans, and organizations of the town. The closing exercises have been held in rotation at Central Village, Plainfield and Moosup, and the attendance upon these occasions has been large. At the first meeting in May, 1887, they were presented with a beautiful silk banner, the Stars and Stripes on one side and the Post flag on the other. The donors were : Hon. Joseph Hutchins, Hon. Edwin Milner, J. Arthur Atwood, Commander Qias B. Wheatley. In the spring of 1890 another beautiful banner was presented to them by the citizens of the town, through Mr. Ernest L. French. A part of the work of the Post has been to assist the families of comrades in destitute circumstances and to secure headstones for unmarked graves, and to give aid to widows and the fatherless, in their hour of need. The following comrades have served as commanders : George R. Bliven, 1886 and 1891 ; Chas. B. \Mieatley, 1887 and 1888; George Torrey, 1889; James Pellett, 1890; Wm. S. Simmons, 1892; H. C. Torrey, 1893 a-"d 1894; William Deane, 1895. THE CHARTER OF PLAINFIELD ACADEMY. 1 19 THE CHARTER OF PLAINFIELD ACADEMY. "At a General Assembly of the Government and Company ol the State of Connecticut in America holden at Hartford on the second Thursday of May Anno Dom 1784. "UPON THE MEMORIAL of Gen'l John Douglass, Ebenezer Pemberton, William Dixon, and Elisha Perkins, Esq'rs, Mr. Joseph Eaton, and Mr. Samuel Fax, and other Proprietors of the New School in Plainfield, shewing to this Assembly that they have at ^reat expense erected three valuable buildings in Plainfield, in the County of Windham for the use of said School and for the Promo- tion of Learning in said Plainfield in its various branches. "Praying that they may be established and made a body Cor- porate and Politick and be known in Law as p'r Memorial on File. "RESOLVED by this Assembly, that Mr. Ebenezer Pember- ton, Gen'l John Douglass, Major Andrew Backus, Elisha Perkins, Esq'r, Mr. William Robinson, Mr. Samuel Fox, Capt. Joshua Dun- lap, Mr. Ebenezer Eaton, & Mr. Hezekiah Spalding all of Plain- field, and such other Persons as the Proprietors of s'd school shall elect, not exceeding thirteen in the whole, be, and they are hereby appointed, constituted, and declared, to be a body Corporate, and Politick, by the name of the Trustees of the Academick School in Plainfield. "And by that name they and their Successors in said Corpora- tion shall forever be persons known and capable in Law to acquire and receive by all Lawful ways and means and tO' hold', occupy, and possess all kinds of estate both Real and Personal. "And to dispose of the same by Deed or other proper Convey- ance for the use of said School, provided the Rents and Profits of such estate shall not exceed five hundred pounds Lawful money p'r annum in the whole at any time. "And said Corporation shall by the name aforesaid be capable in Law of sueing or being sued, and to plead or be impleaded, in any Court of Law or equity as a body Corporate, to all intents and I20 PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. purposes, and shall from time to time oversee, conduct, manage,, and direct the affairs and Interest of said School, and make and establish all necessary orders. Laws, and regulations, for the Gov- ernment thereof, and to alter the same at discretion. "Provided that no such Laws and regulations shall be incon- sistant with the Laws of this state, nor with the rights of Yale College. "And said Corporation may and shall from time to time by their major vote appoint a Clerk, Treasurer, and other officers and Instructors, proper for conducting the affairs of said Corporation,, and for the Government of said School. "And in case of the death or removal of any member, or mem- bers of said Corporation, the surviving, or remaining members^ may elect others to supply the vacancies. "Provided always that seven of s'd Corporation shall be resident Freeholders in Plainfield. And no Person shall act as a member of said Corporation untill he hath taken the oath of fidelity to this or some one of the United States. And any seven of said Corpora- tion shall be a Quorum with full power to transact any business- proper to said Corporation, the whole being notified. "And said Corporation may have a common seal, of such de- vice as they shall adopt, and may alter the same at pleasure. "And all officers and persons appointed or employed in any office or trust by or under said Corporation shall be accountable to their, Constituants for their doings in such office and may be superceeded or displaced at discretion. "A true Copy of Record, "Examin'd "Piv George \\'vllvs, Secret." POEM BY JOHN TROLAND. PLAINFIELD'S BICENTENNIAL. August 31, 1899; Two hundred years ! What queries, starting hence, Traverse the bound where memory's verge grows dim ; As when, betimes, from some proud eminence The eye would pierce beyond horizon's rim ! What vision comes to us from that dim age? What answering message from that pilgrim band? — We read not all of it froim history's page — We see it in the works they wrought and planned. Here came they, — not as prowling victors come A fabled El Dorado's wealth to find, But, loving freedom, here to found a home And gain the greater conquests of the mind. Not flowering meads, with fruits on every side, That pampered ease might paint or fain possess, Open on their gaze, but tarn and forest wide, With rock-strewn vistas in a wilderness. A wilderness wherein no manna fell At prophet's word, nor bright shechinah's flame Flashed on the way, but in their hearts full well They knew, the Hand that led them was the same. Anon, the forest yielded to their toil ; The rocky hillsides and primeval mould Beneath their stroke became productive soil, And flowed with milk and honey, as of old. Prodigious powers evolved from frugal fare! Those stalwart sires and sons, — well-nourished, all — Ready with axe to lay a forest bare Or quick to muster at the Country's call. PLAINFIELD BICENTENNIAL. Matrons and maids — whose virtues stood the test- Throve mid the hardships of that ruder time, Endured the stress of new-made homes and blest Them with the comforts of a faith sublime. It meets not, that a race new-born — new-bred — That reaps the vantage over which they toiled. Withholding praise, should toss its loftier head Or grasp reluctant with its hand unsoiled. Nay, nay ! with deeper pride, from hearts elate. Full tribute to the past we yield, and pray, Such grace be shed forever on our state As made old Plainfield what it is to-day ! John Troland. FINIS.