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 HISTORICAL DISCOURSE, 
 
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 NO 
 
 SEPTEMBER 7, 1859, 
 
 BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF THE SETTLEMENT 
 OF THE TOWN. 
 
 BY DANIEL COIT GIL MAN 
 
 L 1 B It A It I A K OK Y A L K C O I. I. K O K 
 
 SECOND ?:r)iTi(>v, with aimhtioxal notes. 
 
 B O S T O ISr : 
 
 GEO. C . RAND AND AVERY, C 11' Y PRINTERS, 
 
 NO. ■! C O R N H I L L. 
 
 1859. 
 
974.65 
 G42h 
 
HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 
 

 HISTORICAL DISCOURSE, 
 
 1> K L I V K 1! i: 1) I N 
 
 NORWICH, CONNECTICUT, 
 
 SEPTEMBER 7, 1859, 
 
 AT THE 
 
 BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF THE SETTLEMENT 
 OF THE TOWN. 
 
 BY DANIEL COIT OILMAN 
 
 LIBRARIAN Of' V A 1, E COLLEGE. 
 
 SECOND EOITION, WITH ADDITION.VL NOTES. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 GEO. C. RAND AND AVERY, CITY PRINTERS. 
 
 NO. 3 CORNHILL. 
 
 1859. 
 

 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, 
 
 BY DANIEL C. GILMAN, 
 
 in the Clerk's OflBce of the District Court of the District of Connecticut. 
 
HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 
 
 Gentlemen and Ladies, 
 
 Sons and Daughters of Norwich : — 
 
 We are met to review in one brief hour the record 
 of two hundred 3^ears. The task assigned to me, 
 though simple, is not easy, and your sympathy with 
 the theme must excuse the incompleteness of the 
 story I shall tell. The preacher, the orators and the 
 poet appointed to address you, leave me the humbler 
 office of a chronicler; and I therefore make no 
 apology for dwelling chiefly on facts, assured that 
 others w^ill present those poetical, patriotic and re- 
 ligious reflections, which this occasion appropriately 
 calls forth. 
 
 We need to summon on this day of jubilee all 
 our own recollections of the past, and what our 
 ftithers have told us of the days gone by ; we need 
 to gather the fragments of history we have learned 
 from the genealogical tree, the old trunk of letters, 
 the time-worn records of town, society and church, 
 the family Bible and the moss-covered tombstone ; 
 we need to combine all this with what we have 
 
6 
 
 read in the printed page, especially in that of our 
 honored and accomplished historian ; and we must 
 then put forth the utmost powers of our imagina- 
 tion to picture the settlement, the establishment, 
 and the development of a town which we cherish 
 as our home. 
 
 Two hundred years ago, at this golden harvest 
 time, a band of sturdy pioneers, accustomed in their 
 younger days to the comforts of an old and highly 
 civilized country, coming here from the infant set- 
 tlement of Saybrook, had traversed with the rude 
 Indians as their guides, this Ijeautiful Mohegan plain ; 
 they had climbed Wawequa's hill ; had traced the 
 Shetucket and the Yantic, from their confluence in 
 the Pequot, far into the back country ; had admired 
 the waterfalls, never so wild and picturesque as 
 then ; had estimated their power for gristrmills and 
 saw-mills ; had examined the forests, fisheries and 
 soil ; and were ready to return to the other side of 
 the Connecticut, like the spies from beyond the 
 Jordan, having "seen the land, what it was, and the 
 people that dwelt therein, whether they were strong 
 or weak, few or many," and saying with Caleb, 
 " Let us go up at once and possess it." 
 
 This survey of the land of promise, in advance of 
 the colony, is the auspicious event which Ave have 
 chosen to commemorate. But it is not the tune of our 
 earliest acquaintance with what we now call Norwich. 
 
The settlers at New Haven and in Connecticut, as 
 well as the knowing ones in places more remote, 
 were long before familiar with this region as the 
 battle-ground of two powerful tribes of Indians, the 
 Narragansetts and Mohegans. The very plain on 
 which we stand, yielding as the plowshare and the 
 spade upheave the sod, tomahawks and arrow-heads, 
 by scores if not by hundreds, bears witness to this 
 day of those fierce conflicts which once darkened 
 the skies with the arrows of death.* 
 
 Our information of this period is of course meagre, 
 but the history of civilization in Norwich would be 
 indeed deficient, without some reference in its preface 
 to the darker days which went before. 
 
 The Mohegans, from whom our fiithers bought this 
 " nine miles square,"f several score of whose descend- 
 ants are our neighbors to this day, were originally 
 a part of the Pequot tribe, and were of the same 
 race with the Mohicans of the Hudson, the last of 
 whose warriors has been so fitly commemorated by 
 the great novelist of America. It has even been 
 conjectured that the Pequots had immigrated to this 
 eastern part of Connecticut at a period not very 
 much earlier than the time when the white men 
 came here. 
 
 * For many years the writer has received from Mr. Angel Stead wliat 
 he terms "a erop of arrow-heads," . orathered annually in his pardenini; 
 on the plain between the landinjr and up-town. 
 
 f See note A. 
 
To the east of the Pequots and Mohegans, (whose 
 domams before their separation extended over a wide 
 territory ujDon both banks of what is now the river 
 Thames,) were the Narragansetts, around the bay 
 which still perpetuates their name, and toward the 
 west were the Niantics, both tribes of one stock, 
 and both hostile to the Pequots, whose hunting and 
 fishing grounds lay between them. 
 
 Uncas, the chief of the Mohegans when the white 
 men came here, was a descendant, according to his 
 own statement, of the royal Pequot family, and by 
 marrying the daughter of the sachem Sassacus, had 
 allied himself still more closely to the ruling powers. 
 But notwithstanding this, or more likely because of 
 this relation, Uncas rebelled against the chief of the 
 Pequots, and remained in open hostility to his kins- 
 men until they were crushed as a nation a few" years 
 later. The adherents of Uncas, occupying the right 
 bank of the river, appear to have assumed their 
 original designation, the Mohegans, while the follow- 
 ers of Sassacus retained the name of Pequots, and 
 probably their " seat of empire " on the left bank of 
 the stream to which their name was long applied. 
 
 When the English undertook the famous expedi- 
 tion to punish the Pequots for their alleged atroci- 
 ties, Roger Williams succeeded in enlisting the aid 
 of the Narragansetts, and Major Mason that of the 
 Mohegans, so that about this period two naturally 
 
9 
 
 hostile tribes were at peace with one another and 
 united against their common enemy. By the bold 
 expedition which destroyed the Pequot fort m May, 
 1637, the war was concluded, for the foe was almost 
 if not quite exterminated. A threefold treaty was 
 soon afterward signed at Hartford, in which the 
 English, the Narragansetts and the Mohegans were 
 parties. The two Indian tribes were to keep the 
 tomahawk buried, and refer their troubles to the Eng- 
 lish. For a time they observed the letter if not the 
 spirit of the contract, till at length Miantonomoh, the 
 Narragansett chief, and Uncas, the Mohegan, grew 
 jealous of one another. Each strove to enlist the 
 sympathy of the whites; but Uncas was the more 
 successful, and, as a natural consequence, the diffi- 
 culties between the rival sachems increased and open 
 war broke out. 
 
 From the many riunors, traditions and allusions 
 which have come to us from those days, it would 
 require more legal skill than I possess, to deduce 
 "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the 
 truth." But there are a few incidents of this pro- 
 tracted war, the details of which have been so often 
 repeated, that at least they seem authentic, and de- 
 mand from us a passing mention.'^ The first to which 
 I allude is the battle between Uncas and Miantonomoh, 
 on the great plain some two miles south-west of 
 
 * See note B. 
 
10 
 
 where we stand. The Mohegan sachem challenged 
 the leader of his foes to fight him singly, but the 
 challenge was declined, the host of the Narragansetts 
 was soon afterward routed, and their proud chieftain, 
 flying from his pursuers, was taken prisoner on " the 
 Sachem's plain " near the spot where a block of gran- 
 ite, replacing the loose pile of stones which the 
 Indians threw together, still reminds us of his la- 
 mentable fate * 
 
 At a later period, Uncas was besieged in his fort, on 
 the bank of the Thames, nearly opposite Poquetan- 
 nock. His provisions were almost exhausted, and 
 destruction seemed inevitable. Lieut. Thomas Lef- 
 fingwell, and others, who had learned the perilous 
 condition of the Mohegans, secretly brought them the 
 longed-for corn, and so recruited the besieged army 
 that they succeeded in repelling their enemies, and 
 ever afterward remembered with gratitude this timely 
 assistance. There can be little question that such 
 generous relief cemented the friendship of Uncas for 
 the whites, and saved the companions of Leffingwell 
 in after days from many a hostile attack. The rocks 
 where the welcome interview is said to have taken 
 place between the sachem and his friends, are still 
 known as " the chair of Uncas." 
 
 At another time, (perhaps just after the battle on 
 the great plain, to which allusion has been made,) Ave 
 
 * See note C. 
 
11 
 
 are told that the Narragansetts were so pressed by the 
 Mohegans, that either in rash courage, or excessive 
 fear, they pkinged from the lofty cliff at the west of 
 the Yantic falls, and were lost in the abyss. 
 
 But these stirring incidents which tradition perpetu- 
 ates, should be reviewed by the muse of romance, 
 rather than of history. It is probable that we have 
 the facts in outline, though we have the outlines only. 
 Legends enough are extant to celebrate each hill and 
 plain in Norwich. Wawequa's hill, Fort hill, Little 
 Fort hill. Sachem's plain. Trading cove, the Indian 
 burying ground, each has its interesting story. Would 
 that some skillful hand would weave the scattered 
 threads, and do for Norwich what Cooper has so aptly 
 done for another portion of our country ! 
 
 I am forbidden to dwell longer on this period or 
 to dehneate in ftdl the eventful life of Uncas, by the 
 recollection of that interesting discourse which the 
 author of the "Life of Brandt" delivered when the 
 Uncas monument was erected. Besides, the character 
 of the sachem is now very generally appreciated as it 
 deserves. The common opinion is not far from right, 
 that he was about equally removed from the savage 
 and the saint. Cotton Mather denounced him as 
 " an obstinate infidel," although John Mason had said 
 he was "a great friend and did us much service." 
 Each had reason to make his assertion. The truth is, 
 that being naturally a man of decided qualities, both 
 
12 
 
 good and bad, he learned new virtues as well as vices 
 by his intercourse with the English. 
 
 When King Charles the First sent his red-faced, well- 
 beloved cousin, "a Bible, to show him the way to 
 heaven, and a sword, to defend him from his enemies," 
 Uncas valued the latter gift much more than he did 
 the former. But I am happy to bring forward one 
 new fact to show that he was not at all times indiffer- 
 ent to the other present. It has often been stated 
 that Uncas uniformly opposed the introduction of 
 Christianity among the people of his tribe. Within a 
 few days past an original document has been brought 
 to light by Mr. Brevoort, of Brooklyn, which bears 
 important testimony on this interesting question. It 
 is nothing less than a bond in which, under his own 
 signature, the sachem promises to attend the min- 
 istrations of the Rev. Mr. Fitch, whensoever and 
 wheresoever he may choose to appoint. This paper 
 is so remarkable that I shall take the liberty of read- 
 ing it in full. If we can not call it the sachem's creed 
 or confession of faith, it is at least his covenant : — 
 
 Be it known to all men and in special to the AiTthority of The 
 Colony of Conecticott, That I Uncass sachim of the Munheags, 
 now resident in Paniechaug, doe by these presents firmly en- 
 gage and binde my selfe, that I will from time to time and at 
 all times hereafter, in a constant way and manner attend upon 
 M''- James Fitch Minister of Norwich, at all such seasons as he 
 shall appoint for ])reaching to and praying with tlie Indians 
 
i: 
 
 either at ray now residence, or Avheresoever els he shall ap- 
 point for that holy service, and further I doe faithfully promis 
 to Command all my people to attend the same, in a constant 
 way and solemn manner at all such times as shall be sett by 
 the sayd M""- James Fitch minister, alsoe I promis that I will 
 not by any wayes or meanes what soe ever, either i)rivatly or 
 o])enly use any plots or contriveances by words or actions to 
 affright or discourage any of my people or others, from attend- 
 ing the Good Avork aforesayd, upon penalty of suffering the 
 most grevious punishment that can be inflicted upon me, and 
 Lastly I promis to encourage all ray people by all Good wayes 
 and raeanes I can, in the due observance of such directions 
 and instructions, as shall be jn-esented to them by the sayd 
 M''- James Fitch aforesayd, and to the truth hereof this seav- 
 enth day of June in the year one thoussand six hundred 
 seventy and three I have hereunto set my hand or mark. 
 
 Wittnesed by us mark 
 
 John Tallcott, The X of Uncas. 
 Tho : Stanton, Ser. of Uncass. 
 
 Samuell Mason. 
 
 Let us look with charity, my friends, upon this 
 promise, remembering that every man, red face and 
 pale face alike, is accepted " according to that which 
 he hath, and not according to that which he hath not." 
 
 Descendants of Uncas, whose ftithers bade our 
 fathers welcome to their wigwams and their hunt- 
 ing grounds, we welcome you to this our jubilee.'-'' 
 Yet our joy is not without its sorrow when we see 
 
 * A score or two of the Mohegans were seated near the speaker. 
 
14 
 
 that you have lost what we have gained, that your 
 numbers are few, and your sachems gone. Be assured 
 that it is the Great Spirit liimself who has ordered 
 that every race, Uke every man, should act his part 
 and die. But grateful remembrance shall live, and 
 until yonder memorial shaft of granite shall have 
 crumbled to the dust, until our race shall be no more, 
 succeeding generations shall be taught that Uncas was 
 the white man's friend. 
 
 When we turn from the Indian history to that of 
 the English, our information for several years con- 
 tinues to be likewise fragmentary and unsatisfactory. 
 The original records of Saybrook have disappeared, 
 and almost every clue is lost to the circumstances 
 which attended the removal of the colony to the east. 
 The earliest entry on the public records of Norwich 
 is dated December 11th, 1660. The name of Norwich 
 first appears on the colony books at Hartford, so far 
 as I am informed, in October, 1661. The paj^ers of 
 an early date respecting the first church have wholly 
 perished. You therefore can not expect, in this part 
 of the story, that I shall add to your present knowl- 
 edge ; and I can only repeat, in a new form, the items 
 which have been often told before. May we not learn 
 from the losses, of which we are thus made sensible, 
 the importance of securing, for those who come after 
 us, copies of what yet remain — the torn and almost 
 
15 
 
 illegible papers now gradually decaying in the town 
 clerk's office ? 
 
 Most gladly to-day would we summon before us one 
 of the original proprietors who succeeded, in 1C60, to 
 these domains of the Indians, and made Norwich of 
 Mohegan. Were such oiu' privilege, I am sure that 
 with one voice we should call on Major John Mason, 
 renowned at the time of the settlement of this town, 
 as the hero of the Pequot w^ar, and honored as the 
 actual deputy Governor of the colony of Connecticut. 
 Picture him before you now, my hearers ; his manly 
 form unbent by age, his eye undimmed, his active 
 manner still evincing readiness to plan and will to 
 execute ; while his lofty brow and composed counte- 
 nance as clearly indicate the man of prudent counsel. 
 Ask him what you desire to know of his companions 
 in the settlement of Norwich. 
 
 With your own exploits, most Worshipful Governor, 
 we are all familiar. They form a stirring chapter in 
 the history of New England, which we teach in our 
 common schools. We have heard of your bravery, 
 under Fairfax in the old world, over Uncas in the 
 new. We honor your wisdom as a statesman not less 
 than your boldness as a warrior. To-morrow we shall 
 celebrate your fame.* To-day, let us hear of your 
 comrades. Were they men of character? 
 
 * On the (lay followiug this address, a discourse, commemorative of Ma- 
 jor Mason, was pronounced by the Hon. John A. Rockwell. See note D. 
 
16 
 
 Indeed they were, "the Major" would reply, as brave 
 a company as ever trod the wilderness. Nearly all 
 were born in England, and came in early life to this 
 new country. They had landed in various ports, and 
 many of them had resided in Hartford till we formed 
 a colony in the fort at the mouth of Connecticut 
 river. Many others joined us while we were in Say- 
 brook. At length, in the spirit of true pilgrims, 
 having no abiding city, they listened to my story of 
 the beauty of these hills and plains, and the charming 
 valleys extending in every direction, and joined by 
 men of kindred sentiments from New London and else- 
 where, they came with joy into this promised land. 
 They were all puritans, hearty friends of civil and re- 
 ligious liberty ; and more than that, they were honest 
 Christians, fearing God and loving man. They made 
 no high pretensions. Some of them, I know, could 
 boast of pedigrees as good as any in the land; but 
 they counted little upon that. Some of them were of 
 humble origin ; but they were not despised for that. 
 We valued men least for what their fathers were, and 
 most for what themselves were worth. 
 
 And had you not found in Saybrook the freedom 
 which you sought? 
 
 Yes, Saybrook was a good home — I love to remem- 
 ber it. A finer river nowhere flows ; more abundant 
 and better fisheries need not be souorht : and our little 
 
17 
 
 fort, to some of us, at least, was hallowed by many a 
 sacred recollection. But we left because this spot was 
 so much better. I had been a traveler. In boyhood 
 I had seen fair scenes in England ; a youth, I had 
 crossed the channel, and had trod the fertile Nether- 
 lands ; a man, I had traversed New England ; but I 
 had never found a better place for settlement. The 
 rivers, though not large, were sufficient for our trade, 
 and an admirable harbor was not far distant. The 
 back country was productive. Uncas urged us to 
 come, and assured us of his friendship. Saj'brook and 
 Hartford and Windsor were all good, but Norwich was 
 ihc place for a beautiful and tranquil home. 
 
 Did you call this region Norwich before removing 
 here ? 
 
 Yes ; its position on the river reminded some of us 
 of the Norwich which we had known in England, (the 
 same where John Robinson lived,) although we did not 
 expect that the high preeminence in manufactures 
 of that old city would ever be rivaled by the simple 
 homespun of our feeble colony.* 
 
 It was also the early residence, I believe, of the 
 Huntingtons, who joined us in Saybrook. Besides — 
 though this was said more in sport than in earnest — 
 Governor Winthrop's home at the mouth of the 
 Thames had been called New London, and why 
 
 * See note E. 
 
18 
 
 should we not commemorate the second town in 
 England by the designation of New Norwich? 
 
 Will you tell us how you came from Saybrook 
 hither ? 
 
 Having bought a tract of nine miles square and 
 secured it by a formal deed, we surveyed our lands in 
 1659, and left a few men here during the winter. 
 Early in the spring of 1660 our company came in 
 shallops, stopping over night at New London that 
 some of the party might visit the site of the Pequot 
 fort, and enjoy the beautiful prospect from its summit. 
 Next day we sailed up the Thames. As we passed 
 " the chair of Uncas," a company of Mohegans, with the 
 old sachem at their head, joined us, in their birch 
 canoes, and came with us up the cove to the landing- 
 near the falls. On our way thence to the plot chosen 
 for our future homes, we passed near the Indian 
 burying ground. Uncas charged us, I remember, to 
 keep it sacred for ever, and I gave him a promise 
 which 1 hope will never be forgotten. 
 
 How many were with you, Major Mason, in the 
 company ? 
 
 Indeed, we were too busy to count.=^ I believe we 
 
 * See note F. 
 
19 
 
 first divided the land among some five-and-tliirty full 
 grown men, and as most of tliem were married, and 
 had fomilies, we may have been some five or six 
 score in all. But though I can not say how many 
 individuals were in our company, I can tell you 
 almost, if not quite, every name. First, of course, I 
 must mention our worthy pastor, Rev. James Fitch, 
 first in all good words and works. Then I liardly 
 know wdiat order to follow. 
 
 Lieut. Thomas Tracy witnessed wdth me the Indian 
 deed, and afterward held almost all our civil offices. 
 Lieut. Thomas Leffingwell was as brave a soldier as 
 we had, and secured our purchase by the relief he 
 furnished Uncas. Thomas Adgate and Hugh Caulkins 
 w^ere our deacons, ordained as such in Saybrook. 
 Simon Huntington succeeded one of them in that 
 sacred office. His brother, Christopher, who was one 
 of our two earliest selectmen, married Ruth Rockwell, 
 and her eldest son was the first-born boy in Norwich. 
 Old goodman Bradford was a selectman for the west 
 end, and goodman Hyde was always a wise counselor. 
 Thomas Post, poor man, was the most unfortunate of 
 our band, for he lost his wife soon after we came here, 
 the earliest victim death demanded. Then there were 
 the two brothers Backus, Lieut. William and Stephen, 
 excellent men. Baldwin, and goodman Gager, Ensign 
 Waterman, Bliss, and AUyn, and Bingham, and Bow- 
 ers, and Edgerton, were nil original proprietors, and so 
 
20 
 
 was Lieutenant Griswold, one of the most active of our 
 company. Of course we had a Smith, and beside 
 there w^ere Ohnstead, Pease, Howard, Reynolds. Read, 
 and Royce. John Birchard, I mention last, but he 
 was by no means last in the estimation of the colony, 
 being townsman and constable, and the first commis- 
 sioner of the peace. 
 
 We have always been taught, most Worshipful Gov- 
 ernor, to honor the Rev. Mr. Fitch. Let us ask how 
 you esteemed him ? 
 
 If I answer this inquiry, you must let me use 
 strong language. Through an eventful period of 
 twenty-five years he was my friend. I saw him first 
 in Hartford, a mere boy just arrived from England, 
 beginning his studies for the ministry with the Rev. 
 Mr. Hooker. A few years later, he became, as you 
 know, our first pastor at Saybrook, and we were his 
 first church. When we talked of coming here, he 
 said he would go or stay as the major part of the 
 church should decide. We brought him with us. 
 For years our freewill gifts were more than enough 
 for his support, and well did he deserve them. He 
 was deeply concerned that all our enterprises should 
 be begun in the fear of the Lord, and he used to warn 
 us in most solemn words that, a colony by ourselves, 
 we should not neglect in the least, that public and 
 
21 
 
 private worship to which we had been accustomed. 
 They called him once to Hartford, but his only 
 answer was, With whom shall I leave these few sheep 
 in the wilderness ? In learning, wisdom, patience and 
 purity of life, he was a model to us all, — " a burning 
 and a shining light." 
 
 You may know that he married mv daughter, but 
 though 1 called him son, he seemed to be my father. 
 To him I owe it that amid all my varied duties I could 
 never forget, liowever I fulfilled, my responsibilities 
 to the Court on High. Of his power as a preacher 
 you may judge for yourself in the sermons which 
 were printed. That which he preached at the funeral 
 of my own beloved wife, was the most tender and 
 apjDropriate of them all.* 
 
 But if we were to engage in friendly talk with 
 Major Mason upon all the topics of interest which are 
 associated with his name, the lengthening shadows 
 would soon tell us that the day is gone. There are 
 various subjects connected with the original settle- 
 ment, on which we could not expect him to inform 
 us, for he was sixty years of age when the town was 
 organized, and during the twelve years more which 
 were added to his life, he was often called away on 
 business imposed by the general court. So let us 
 
 *See note G. 
 
90 
 
 close the oonversation and return to simple nar- 
 rative. 
 
 Although Norwich, at the outset, was within the 
 jurisdiction of Connecticut, yet its early settlement 
 and history do not indicate the exercise of much con- 
 trol on the part of the General Court. The town 
 sovereignty was undisputed. To be sure, May 20, 
 1659, we find the record that the General Court 
 "haueing considered the petition p^'sented by the 
 inhabitants of Seabrook, doe declare y* they approue 
 and consent to what is desired by y^ jt^^tioners, re- 
 specting Mohegin, p''vided y^ within y^ space of three 
 yeares they doe effect a Plantation in y^ place 
 p''pounded."'=' 
 
 But there is no recognition of Norwich as a town, 
 until October 3, 1661, when the Court orders " y^ sec- 
 retary to write a Letter to Norridge, to send vp a 
 Comittee in May next, invested w"^ full [power] to 
 issue y® affair respecting setling that Plantation Ynd*" 
 this gouerment."-)* 
 
 In 1662-3 (March 11,) it is furthermore voted that 
 " the conveyance of nine miles square made by Onkos 
 w"' other Indians, to Norwich plantation, is ordered 
 to be recorded, with this proviso, that it shal not 
 preiudice any former grant to o"" wor'' gouernor or 
 others," and in May, 1663, "the Court orders that 
 
 *Tniml)ull, Col. Rec. i, 336. fTrunibuU, Col. Reo. i, 374. 
 
23 
 
 those freemen that were presented to the Court in 
 October, from Norwiclge, shall be accepted and sworn 
 by o-" Worp" Deputy Goii'"." === 
 
 In this independent republic of Norwich, every 
 thing appears to have been managed by the whole 
 body politic. We can hardly consider Mr. Fitch as 
 an ecclesiastical head, for he was so thoroughly im- 
 bued with the principles of Congregationalism, that 
 at his ordination in Saybrook, the lay brethren laid 
 hands upon him, although two ministers, Rev. Mr. 
 Hooker and Rev. Mr. Stone, were present. Much less 
 can w^e consider Major Mason as the civil head of the 
 town, for during the early period of the Norwich set- 
 tlement, the nominal Governor, John Winthrop, was 
 absent in England, soliciting a charter for Connecticut, 
 and of course the actual Governor was Major Mason, 
 
 who thus, and otherwise, was so much engrossed with 
 the affairs of the General Court, that he could not even 
 attend to the local duties of a townsman. 
 
 Happy are we, my friends, to-day, at the opening 
 of a third century, that the successor of Mason as the 
 Chief Magistrate of Connecticut, is another citizen of 
 Norwich; happier still are we to know that none 
 could fill that chair more worthily. Since the con- 
 queror of the Pequots was the governor of the state, 
 one other Norwich man has held that honorable 
 
 * Trumbull, Col. Rec. i, 40fi. 
 
24 
 
 post, and he was a signer of the Declaration of In- 
 dependence. 
 
 But although Fitch and Mason were not the rulers, 
 they were certainly the leaders of the infant settle- 
 ment. To them we are chiefly indebted for the plans 
 which shaped the early institutions of the town, and 
 still affect, far more than we usually remember, our 
 social organization. Plymouth may point to Elder 
 Brewster and Miles Standish ; Hartford to Hooker and 
 Haynes ; New Haven to Davenport and Eaton ; it is 
 our privilege to remember that the pastor and the 
 statesman of Norwich were kindred in spirit, and not 
 inferior in power to any of the early worthies of New 
 England. The rude stones which marked the graves 
 of the original settlers buried in this town, have been 
 permitted to perish. Is it not that the loss may incite 
 the present generation to erect a more fitting memo- 
 rial of our foreflithers, and especially of those two men, 
 the representatives of Church and State, the chosen 
 guides of a brotherhood of freemen ? 
 
 You are all aware that the infant colony made 
 choice of what we know as the '' meeting house rocks," 
 as the central point of their settlement. At the foot 
 of this clift' they set apart, for the house of God, land 
 which forms a part of the present " up town green." 
 To this, more land was afterward added, while the 
 other significant buildings of a New England town, the 
 
j:o 
 
 court house, the school house, and the house of enter- 
 tainment, in due time were grouped around it. From 
 this point of departure they projected one road near 
 the banks of the Yantic, up toward what we call 
 " Bean Hill," (sometimes called, on the early records, 
 the "road to Connecticut,") and another toward the 
 cove, which, on account of swamps, was necessarily 
 directed at a greater distance from the river, and 
 passed along in front of the Coit and Lathrop houses. 
 Near the site appropriated to the meeting house, the 
 home lot of Rev. James Fitch was placed, and across 
 the road was the land of Major Mason, on which the 
 old court house now stands. To the east of Mr. Fitch's 
 land, were the home lots of Simon Huntington and 
 Thomas Tracy, and (on the corner) of Christopher 
 Huntino;ton. Tlien, on the road leadino; south, were 
 the home lots of Adgate, Olmstead, Backus, Bliss, 
 Reynolds, and opposite the Bliss lot was that of 
 Thomas Leffingwell. 
 
 Returning to Major Mason's lot on the town plot, 
 Ave find, in succession, between the road leading to 
 Bean Hill and the water, the lands of Waterman, 
 Bingham, John Post, Birchard, Wade, Bowers, Gager, 
 Thomas Post, Edgerton, Backus, Caulkins, Griswold, 
 Allyn, Royce, Baldwin, Tracy, and Pease. Several 
 of these homesteads have never been deeded, and 
 remain in the possession of the original families, 
 although in some such cases the name of the first 
 
26 
 
 proprietor has disappeared. On one home lot, at least, 
 and possibly more, the original name is found to this 
 day. I refer to the homestead of Bliss. Bliss in 1659; 
 Bliss in 1859 ; no l^ad motto for a Norwich home. 
 
 A new division of land was made in April, IGGl ; 
 another in 1663; still another in 1668; and the final 
 division was made in 1740. The present road running 
 near the river, in front of the residence of Hon. John 
 T. Wait, was at first only a foot way, six feet broad, 
 laid out by town order. 
 
 New families soon came to identify their fortunes 
 with those of the prosperous colony, and many names, 
 still held in honor among you, were added to the roll 
 of proprietors. It is interesting to find that the son 
 of Miles Standish, the son of Governor Bradford, the 
 grandchildren of Elder Brew^ster, the niece of Governor 
 Winslow, and still others of pilgrim fame at Plymouth, 
 were early enrolled as inhabitants of Norwich. A 
 little later came the son of the Rev. John Lothropp, 
 pastor of the first congregational church in London, 
 and long a prisoner for his faith. So, too, came the 
 descendants of another martyr, not less famous. Rev. 
 John Rogers, thg precise number of whose children 
 having long l^een disputed l)y the students of the New^ 
 England primer, has at last been determined in chan- 
 cery by our distinguished " cousin," late Chancellor of 
 New York. Bushnell, Rockwell, Knight, Perkins, El- 
 derkin, Roath, Rudd, Flint, and Coit, are among the 
 
27 
 
 other names which may be mentioned as early found 
 in town. 
 
 It is not difficult to imagine the simple occurrences 
 of the first half century, aided by the flicts which come 
 to us on the records of the town. Early encourage- 
 ment was given to the miller, the fuller, the smith, 
 and the ferryman, to pursue their respective occupa- 
 tions, and in 1G80, for the first time, a merchant is 
 spoken of The church had frequent meetings, and at 
 periods not far apart the accepted freemen assembled 
 to deliberate on such important business as the laying 
 out of roads, surveying boundaries, investigating the 
 character of new men who desired to be received as 
 citizens, negotiating with the Indians, electing dele- 
 gates to the general court, or appointing fit incum- 
 bents to the local office of townsmen. Occasionally, 
 Major Mason would come home from a distant journey 
 with interesting stories of the people he had met, or 
 the whole community would be excited by the print- 
 ing: of a sermon bv Mr. Fitch. 
 
 The worthy minister, in addition to his labors as 
 pastor of the church, acted continually as a missionary 
 to the Indians. He mastered their language and 
 preached in it, at times encouraged in his apostolic 
 labors "for the heathen," as he called them, and at 
 other times almost if not quite discouraged. An in- 
 teresting account of his work, written by himself in 
 1674, and addressed to Rev. Daniel Gookin, may be 
 
28 
 
 found in print.* Can any one doubt that the interest 
 in foreign missions for which this town has been noted, 
 was awakened by Mr. Fitch, and has been fostered 
 ever since by the sight of that needy band still taught 
 in the mission chapel at Mohegan ? 
 
 I have already said that the first manuscript records 
 of the church have perished. One curious printed 
 document has lately been discovered, bearing date in 
 1675, which is interesting in its relation to the history 
 of these times. The only complete copy with which I 
 am acquainted, belongs to Mr. George Brinley, of 
 Hartford, who has kindly permitted me to bring it 
 before you. It is an old fashioned duodecimo of 133 
 pages, printed in 1683, bearing on its title page the 
 autographs of Increase Mather and of Mather Byles. 
 It contains three distinct treatises ; the first, " an ex- 
 planation of the solemn advice, recommended by the 
 council in Connecticut colony to the inhabitants in 
 that jurisdiction"; and the third, "a brief discourse 
 proving that the first day of the week is the Christian 
 Sabbath." Both of these are attributed to Mr. Fitch. 
 Appended to the former is " The Covenant, which was 
 solemnly renewed by the church in Norwich, in Con- 
 necticut colony, in New England, March 22, 1675." 
 The volume is introduced by a letter from Increase 
 Mather " to the reader," in which he says that " the 
 reverend and worthy author had no thought of pub- 
 
 * Seethe Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 1st Ser. i. 208. 
 
29 
 
 lishing these brief and nervous discourses until such 
 time as others did importune him thereunto," and pro- 
 ceeds to comment on their scope and character. 
 
 The circumstances wliich attended this " renewal " 
 are worthy of mention. The war with King Philip 
 was then raging. Norwich, though much exposed by 
 its situation on the frontier, had freely contributed 
 more than its quota to the active army ; so freely, 
 indeed, that the general court sent on from Hartford 
 ten men, from New Haven eight, and from Fairfield 
 eight, " to lye in garrison at Norwich," as a guard to 
 the inhabitants. So great was the danger in those 
 days, that the watch in each plantation was ordered, 
 " at least an hour before day, to call up the inhab- 
 itants, who should forthwith rise and arm themselves, 
 march to the fort, and stand guard against any assault 
 of the enemy until the sun be half an hour high in the 
 morning." Under these circumstances, on the 13th of 
 March, 1675, Mr. Fitch addresses the council in Hart- 
 ford.* 
 
 After acknowledging the receipt of a letter from the 
 council, with their order for a fast day, he continues, 
 " blessed be the Lord who hath moved your hearts in 
 so necessarie and seasonable worke. We intend, God 
 willing, to take that very daye, solemnly to renew our 
 covenant in our church state, according to the example 
 in Ezra's time, and as was sometimes practised in 
 
 * Trumbull, Col. Rec. ii, 417. See note H. 
 
30 
 
 Hartford congregation by Mr. Stone, not long after Mr. 
 Hooker's death. If other churches doe not see cause 
 to doe the same, yet wee hope it will not bee offen- 
 sive ; but doe verily conclude if y"" be rule for y* prac- 
 tise, this is a time wherein the Providence of God 
 does in a knocking and terrible manner call for it." 
 The covenant evinces the same spirit, and to some 
 extent it employs the same phrases as this letter. 
 After a general recognition of the displeasure of God, 
 as displayed " by blasting the fruits of the earth and 
 cutting off the lives of many by the sword, laying 
 waste some plantations and threatening ruin to the 
 whole," the covenant is renewed in seven particulars, 
 which may be condensed as follows : 
 
 1. All the males who are eight or nine years of age 
 shall be presented before the Lord in his congregation 
 every Lord's day to be catechised, until they be about 
 thirteen in age. 
 
 2. Those who are about thirteen years of age, both 
 male and female, shall frequent the meetings appoint- 
 ed in private for their instruction, while they continue 
 under family government or until they are received to 
 full communion in the church. 
 
 3. Adults who do not endeavor to take hold of the 
 covenant shall be excommunicated. 
 
 4. Brethren shall be appointed to admonish those 
 parents who are negligent of their children. 
 
 5. The Lord's supper shall be celebrated once in 
 every six weeks. 
 
31 
 
 6. Erring brethren are to be rebuked. 
 
 7. Finally, " seeing we feel by wofiil experience how 
 prone we are soon to forget the works of the Lord, 
 and our own vows; we do agree and determine, that 
 this writing or contents of it, shall be once in every 
 year read in a day of fasting and prayer before the 
 Lord, and his congregation ; and shall leave it with 
 our children, that they do the same in their solemn 
 days of mourning before the Lord, that they may 
 never forget how their fithers, ready to perish in a 
 strange land, and with sore grief and trembling of 
 heart, and yet hope in the tender mercy, and good 
 will of him, who dwelt in the burning bush, did thus 
 solemnly renew their covenant with God : and that 
 our children after us, may not provoke the Lord and 
 be cast off as a degenerate offspring, but may tremble 
 at the commandment of God, and learn to place their 
 hope in him, who although he hath given us a cup of 
 astonishment to drink, yet will display his banner over 
 them, who fear him." 
 
 Such was the spirit of Norwich, in 1G75. 
 
 Who among this audience has not had his enthu- 
 siasm quickened by the glowing tributes of Macaulay 
 to the Puritans, or the eloquent eulogies by Bancroft? 
 But this little volume, a library in itself, shows that 
 your own ancestors were men of the character which 
 these historians describe. "■ In his devotional retire- 
 ment the puritan prayed with convulsions, and groans 
 
32 
 
 and tears. He was half maddened by glorious or 
 terrible allusions. He heard the lyres of angels or 
 the tempting whispers of fiends. * -^ * But 
 when he took his seat in the council or girt on his 
 sword for war, these tempestuous workings of the soul 
 had left no perceptible trace behind them." 
 
 There is abundant reason for asserting that Mr. 
 Fitch and his associates were men of action equal to 
 their piety. In the colonial records, their names ap- 
 pear continually in connection with measures for pro- 
 tecting this portion of the country. The Norwich 
 soldiers were many and brave, and the story of their 
 achievements, during the exciting time of King Philip's 
 war, will always prove that their religion was not alone 
 in repose, their fighting was not without faith. 
 
 At the close of the century, after a ministry in Say- 
 brook of fourteen years, and in Norwich of almost 
 forty years, unbroken by dissension or separation, sup- 
 ported by the grateful sympathy of devout and faith- 
 ful men, Mr. Fitch gave up his pastoral duties, under 
 the infirmity of age and weakness, retired to his chil- 
 dren at Lebanon, and in 1702, at the ripe age of four 
 score years, was gathered to his fathers. The Latin 
 epitaph on his tombstone at Lebanon well indicates 
 his character, and Cotton Mather, in all his affluent 
 use of epithets, could apply to him none truer and 
 more fit than "The Holy and Acute !"=^ 
 
 We may here consider that the first period of Nor- 
 
 * See note G. 
 
wicli history terminates. Forty years had passed, a 
 new generation had entered upon the stage, the 
 fathers were gone. We pass accordingly from the 
 settlement to the development of the town. 
 
 Mr. Fitch had been unal)le to preach regularly for 
 some years before his death, and much difficulty had 
 been experienced in obtaining a successor in the 
 ministry. There w^ere candidates enough — perhaps 
 as many in proportion as in these later days — but the 
 church had been too well served to be readily con- 
 tented with an imtried pastor, and besides, unless I 
 mistake the allusions of the early records, the spirit of 
 pure Congregationalism, fostered by Mr. Fitch, and 
 displayed unmistakably m after tunes, was even then 
 so apparent that a minister, inclined to favor the 
 presbyterian order, might hesitate before accepting 
 the pastoral office in that church. A son of Rev. 
 James Fitch, afterwards distinguished as Rev. Jabez 
 Fitch,* of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, was first sent 
 for and brought home from '' the college," but he did 
 not decide to remain. Mr. Henry Flynt,f another 
 recent graduate of Harvard College, was also invited 
 to become the minister ; and so was Mr. Joseph Coit,J 
 a little younger in college than the two just named ; 
 but they both declined. Mr. Emery and Mr. Morgan 
 were likewise spoken of as candidates. At length, 
 
 * Harvard Coll. 1694. f Harvard Coll. 1693. J Harvard Coll. 1697. 
 
34 
 
 (December 6tli, 1699,) Rev. Jolm Woodward,* of Ded- 
 liam, Mass., was ordained as pastor, and remained in 
 that office for seventeen years. It was dm^ing his 
 ministry in 1708, that the famous Saybrook platform 
 was adopted, and he was a scribe of the synod by 
 which it was drawn up. On returning to Norwich, 
 he naturally desired to have his own church adopt 
 with heartiness this platform, and acknowledge a 
 system of consociation among churches which would 
 render them less independent and more presbyterian 
 than they had previously l)een. 
 
 Mr. Fitch, so early as 1668, had been at the head 
 of a council appointed by the general court, for the 
 regulation of ecclesiastical affairs, which appears to 
 have been pacific in its influence, and to have con- 
 firmed the pure Congregationalism of the day.-|- But 
 the synod of 1708 was very different in its influence, 
 and the Saybrook platform led to unfortunate dis- 
 cussions, both here and elsewhere, between ministers 
 and people. In Norwich, notwithstanding the au- 
 thority of the general court, the wishes of the Gov- 
 ernor, and the influence of the scribe of the synod, the 
 church remained true to the Cambridge platform, and 
 decided to acknowledge no ecclesiastical authority but 
 
 * Harvard Coll., 1693. These were the davs when Connectieiit contrib- 
 uted men and money to the institution at Cambridge. Y.de College was 
 not founded till 1 700. 
 
 t Trumbull, Col. Rec. ii, 84, 109. 
 
OO 
 
 God and their own judgment. I will not iittenipt to 
 go over the details of this unfortunate controversy. 
 It resulted (in 1716) in the withdrawal of Mr. Wood- 
 ward from his connection with the church, and his 
 removal to East Haven, where he lived in retirement 
 till his death in 1716. 
 
 The troubles in the church were healed by calling 
 to the pastoral charge a singularly judicious man, the 
 Rev. Benjamin Lord,'-' a native of Saybrook, who had 
 been a student and tutor in Yale College. He was 
 ordained in this place in 1717. A man of learning 
 and wisdom, as well as devoutness of heart, he suc- 
 ceeded in securing the confidence of all parties to such 
 a degree, that we have his own assurance of his inabili- 
 ity to tell which was most friendly to him. " In his 
 pastoral intercourse," says Dr. Samuel Nott, '' he 
 was an example of dignity, affability, affection, and 
 fidelity." 
 
 During the ministry of Dr. Lord, two religious ex- 
 citements pervaded the community. The first to 
 which allusion is made was caused by the Rogerenes, 
 who originated in New London, and deemed it their 
 special mission to abolish priestcraft and Sunday.^ 
 Their feeble influence in Norwich is worthy only of 
 this passing mention. Not so with "■ the Separates," 
 
 *Yale Coll. 1714. See note I. 
 
 t See Dr. McEwen's Half Century Discourse, New London, 1857, and 
 Miss Caulkins's New London. 
 
36 
 
 who, at a later day, made serious trouble, not in Nor- 
 wich alone, but throughout eastern Connecticut, in 
 the churches of the established order. The general 
 history of this movement has been so often described 
 that I shall only refer to those incidents which are of 
 interest in connection with this town* 
 
 When "the great awakening" of the last century 
 began, Dr. Lord visited Northampton, in 1735, that he 
 might listen to the eloquence of Jonathan Edwards, 
 and be an eye witness of the results which followed 
 his powerful sermons. Upon his return to Norwich, 
 he reported what he had seen and heard, to his people, 
 "on whom," sa^'s Dr. Trumbull, " it had a great effect." 
 An exhortation for the communion service, preserved 
 by one of his descendants, is indorsed, in his own hand- 
 writing, with a record which clearly shows the depth 
 of his own feelings in December, 1735. Five years 
 later, Whitefield began his preaching in New England, 
 and the revival of 1740 followed. Dr. Lord is men- 
 tioned by Trumbullf among " the reverend gentlemen 
 who most favored the work in Connecticut," at this 
 time, " while others opposed it with all their power ;" 
 but he is not included among the four clergymen 
 "who Avere most zealous and laborious in the cause, 
 who took the most pains and spent the most property 
 in the service of their master." He was probably one 
 of the moderate men, really desirous of the advance- 
 
 * See note K. t Hist, ol' Conn, ii, lo7. 
 
37 
 
 ment of religion, who neither approved of the extravii- 
 gance sometimes displayed by Whitefield and often 
 manifested by his indiscreet follower, James Daven- 
 port; while, on the other hand, he heartily rejoiced 
 in the awakening of careless men to a concern for 
 their highest welfare. In his own church he appears 
 to have taken a medium position between those 
 who displayed fanaticism and those who were 
 repelled to the other extreme of coldness and 
 displeasure. Many of the proceedings of the zealous 
 were injudicious, and some of them appear to us 
 irreverent, if not blasphemous. 
 
 The church endeavored to check these irregularities; 
 but those who were censured were only driven to a 
 farther distance. They refused to pay their rates for 
 the regular minister or to attend the services which he 
 conducted. They openly opposed the existing laws 
 of the state, and determined to hold " separate " 
 meetings. We therefore find that not only an eccle- 
 siastical but a civil arm was raised against them. 
 
 As early as 1742, there are indications of this de- 
 termination to interfere with the established church 
 order. The church records of this year have a ref- 
 erence to " the dreadful expressions " made by an ex- 
 cited zealot at a night meeting; and some imprison- 
 ments were made by the civil authorities. 
 
 But it was not until 1745 that the controversy be- 
 tween ''the new lights" and "the old lights" assumed 
 
OQ 
 •JO 
 
 a serious character. A separate meeting was then 
 begun at the house of Hugh Calkins, and attended by 
 several members of the church, male and female. 
 Among the number were Elizabeth Backus, (widow 
 of Samuel,) and her son Isaac, who afterward became 
 a distinguished Baptist minister, and is well known 
 as the author of a history of New England, chiefly 
 devoted to ecclesiastical affairs.* Some of the private 
 papers of Rev. Dr. Lord, wdiich have recently been 
 discovered and are carefully preserved by his suc- 
 cessor, the Rev. Mr. Arms, contain minute details in 
 respect to the action of the church at this time. Not 
 only are the records of the meetings full, but the 
 formal citations of the delinquent members are pre- 
 served with the indorsements of the brethren by whom 
 they were returned. Regular church meetings for 
 purposes of discipline were held at frequent intervals. 
 Every separating brother and sister appears to have 
 been privately warned of his error, and (unless he 
 renounced it) to have been cited to appear before the 
 church. There, in solemn assembly, the reasons of 
 each one's separation were deliberately heard, and a 
 minute of them made. They were afterward, one by 
 one, discussed by the brethren, and a vote taken in 
 respect to their sufficiency. The '^ half-way covenant " 
 was clearly one of the stumbling blocks of the se- 
 ceders. 
 
 * See Hovey's Life of Isaac Baikus, Boston. 1808. 
 
39 
 
 This .sad controversy continued about ten years 
 from 1745, but was most serious during the first two. 
 Several churches were estabUshed, but none of them 
 were long continued. "Most of the members," says 
 Miss Caulkins, "returned to their ancient home and 
 were received with cordiality. Among these was the 
 venerable deacon Griswold. It created considerable 
 emotion in the meeting house, when, for the fii'st time 
 after his secession, his gray locks were seen in the old 
 man's seat." We can now see the cause of these diffi- 
 culties, and the permanent good which came from 
 them. The revival was only the occasion which 
 brought out a hostility long existing to the rigorous 
 exactments of the statutes of the state, in respect to 
 ecclesiastical affairs and the maintenance of the estab- 
 lished order. The repeal, in 1743, of "the act for the 
 relief of sober consciences," and the consequent pro- 
 ceedings of the legislature, intensified this opposition. 
 "At the same time," says Dr. Trumbull, "the severe 
 and extraordinary act of the colony, enforcing the 
 constitution by law, which never was designed and 
 was undoubtedly inconsistent with the right of con- 
 science, gave further ground of disaffection to the 
 constitution, and of separation from the standing 
 churches." 
 
 There can be no doubt that the whole movement 
 of the Separates, while it may be characterized as 
 revolutionary, and perhaps fanatical, led throughout 
 
40 
 
 the state to a recognition of the principles of civil and 
 religious liberty in which we all rejoice. Those who 
 differ from the existing churches now, have all the 
 freedom they desire. That point has been settled 
 for ever. But it should not be supposed that the 
 Separates caused our present freedom ; they were only 
 the occasion, as we have said, of changes in the laws. 
 Such changes would certainly have been made if these 
 exciting movements had not provoked them. The 
 germ lay farther back than the days of the little 
 congregation in the Grover house;* even farther 
 back than the early separation of the Puritans in the 
 days of non-conformity. It was at least as old as 
 Luther. 
 
 Important as these ecclesiastical discussions un- 
 doubtedly were, they did not occupy our fathers to 
 the exclusion of politics and business. 
 
 The development of trade — even commerce with 
 foreign countries, of which " up town " was the em- 
 porium ; the subsequent and consequent growth of 
 Chelsea, or "the landing ;" the difficulties which arose 
 in respect to building a bridge across the cove; the 
 long protracted Mohegan controversy ; the organiza- 
 tion of new ecclesiastical societies ; the beginnings 
 of Bozrah, Lisbon and Franklin ; the manumission of 
 slaves ; the mission of Samson Occum and the Rev. 
 
 * This house, once noted for the Separate meetings which were held in 
 it, still stands on the road to Bean Hill, one of the oldest buildings in town. 
 
41 
 
 Mr. Whitaker to Eno-lancl, in connection with the 
 estabUshment of the Indian school of Dr. Wheelock ; 
 the part which Norwich took in the French war ; the 
 " non-importation agreement ;" the reception of the 
 stam]) act; the famous meeting at Peck's tavern, of 
 which to-morrow (remember "Wilkes and the eighth 
 of September!") will be the anniversary ; and the other 
 exciting events which were a prelude to the war of 
 Independence, are all topics in the unraveling of 
 which an antiquary of the present day would find 
 especial pleasure.* 
 
 It is the period on which the lamp of personal 
 recollection first casts for us a ray of light. Those 
 who are now our " oldest inhabitants," born some 
 ninety years ago, must remember many who were 
 active in political and mercantile affiiirs in the middle 
 of the last century. The time is thus distant enough 
 to charm us with fascinatino; enio;mas, near enouorh 
 to reward with a full revelation, the patient and dili- 
 gent inquirer. As a whole, we may distinguish it as a 
 period of growth, of new and varied jDhases of enter- 
 prise, and of general prosperity, as well as of earnest 
 discussion and decided action in regard to the very 
 foundations of civil liberty. But lest the bell which 
 still announces nine o'clock to the residents of the old 
 town plot — long may the custom last ! — should inter- 
 rupt our story, we must hasten forward to events more 
 
 * See note L. 
 
42 
 
 interesting to a large assembly — the interest which 
 onr fathers took in the American revolution. 
 
 In that important struggle, Connecticut performed a 
 part which can not be too much extolled. Providence 
 had ordered that in the most of her territory, she 
 should be spared the horrors of actual bloodshed. 
 But her labors for the common cause of independence 
 were surpassed by none of the colonies. Her contribu- 
 tions in men and money were beyond those of any of 
 the other states except Massachusetts, and in propor- 
 tion to the number of inhal)itants were larger even 
 than those of the old Bay state. She well deserved 
 the designation of " the provision state," and the name 
 of her noble patriot governor, " Brother Jonathan," 
 has fitly become a sobriquet of the nation. 
 
 The history of Norwich, during the whole period of 
 the American revolution, presents, in many respects, 
 a miniature view of the history of the state and of 
 the country There were several circumstances, 
 moreover, which unitedly gave it an importance 
 equaled by no other town in Connecticut, except, 
 perhaps, the capitals. On tlie bank of a large river, 
 several miles from the sound, it w^ns not exposed, like 
 New London, to the attack of a hostile fleet, nor too 
 far inland, like Lebanon, to be a store place for the 
 army. It was on the highway between Boston and 
 New York, convenient to the residence of Governor 
 Trumbull, surrounded by a productive fjxrming coun- 
 
43 
 
 try, and inhabited by men of wealth, sagacity and 
 patriotism. 
 
 Credit enough has never been bestowed upon our 
 Norwich fathers for the part they took in the w\ar. 
 Hundreds of letters, never printed, some of them hid 
 in garrets for the last half century, have passed under 
 my examination within the past few weeks, and I rise 
 from their perusal amazed at the circumstantial record 
 they present of the diligent exertions and the patriotic 
 sacrifices which were made by the citizens of this town 
 to secure the blessings which, as a nation, we enjoy. 
 
 One family is especially identified with the history 
 of those days — I refer, you anticipate me in supposing 
 that I refer, to the Huntingtons. Foremost among 
 them in the early stages of the war stood General 
 Jabez Huntington, the incidents of Avhose life are 
 worthy of grateful remembrance at this time. A 
 descendant in the fourth generation of deacon Simon 
 Huntington, one of the original proprietors of the 
 town, he added new lustre to a name even then dis- 
 tinguished in the history of Norwich. He was the son 
 of Joshua Huntington, and was born in August, 1719. 
 After graduating at Yale College, in 1741, in company 
 with Governor Livingston, of New Jersey, Rev. Dr. 
 Samuel Hopkins, and other distinguished men, he 
 returned to Norw^ich and entered upon commercial 
 pursuits. The trade of this place, as we shall see in 
 another connection, was then remarkably extended. 
 
44 
 
 and among the successful merchants, none stood 
 higher, and none acquired a handsomer fortune than 
 he. In 1750 he was chosen to represent the town in 
 the general assembly, and for several years afterward 
 he was either a member of the lower house, over 
 which he often presided, or was one of the Assistants. 
 While attending the semi-annual meetings of the legis- 
 lature, he would write home to his son, Joshua Hunt- 
 ington, particular directions in respect to the farm and 
 store, always closing his letters with a devout petition 
 for the blessing of divine providence on all his family. 
 When Governor Fitch, in 1765, presented to his council 
 the stamp act, and proposed that they should adminis- 
 ter to him the oath which would require the execu- 
 tion of that obnoxious measure, Jabez Huntington, 
 and his cousin Hezekiah, the other member from 
 Norwich, voted, with a majority of the council, to do 
 no such thing, and (when four of the councilors pro- 
 ceeded to administer the oath) indignantly left the 
 chamber^' In 1774, he was chosen moderator of the 
 meeting in which Norwich declared itself in fjivor of 
 liberty. When hostilities commenced in 1775, he was 
 appointed one of the committee of safety to aid the 
 governor by counsel when the legislature was not in 
 session, and in this arduous post he remained during 
 most of the war. In December, 1776, he was appoint- 
 ed one of the two major generals of the militia of 
 
 * Stuart's Life of Trumbull. 
 
45 
 
 Connecticut, the rank of which office may best be 
 understood by mentioning that the brigadiers, appoint- 
 ed at the same time, were such distinguished men as 
 Dyer, Wadsworth, Salstonstall, OHver Wolcott, and 
 Gold S. SilUman ; and on the death of his senior, 
 General Wooster, he was appointed, in May, 1777, sole 
 major general, and was authorized, without orders 
 from the governor and council, to call out the militia 
 for the defense of this and neighboring states. Toward 
 the close of the war, his health broke down under the 
 pressure of his losses and labors, and after remaining 
 some years a severe sufferer, he died October 5th, 
 178G, aged 67. In 1741, he had made a public pro- 
 fession of religion, and his whole course in life evinced 
 the sincerity of his faith. 
 
 A large part of the papers of General Jabez Hunt- 
 ington have unfortunately perished. From those 
 which are preserved we are able to see that his corre- 
 spondence was very wide and important. His sons 
 wrote to him by every opportunity, from the various 
 camps in which they were stationed, giving him, wdth 
 the confidence of children, minute details respecting 
 men and measures. His replies were equally frequent. 
 In them all are evinced his patriotic and religious 
 spirit. Washington, Lafayette, Hancock, and other 
 such men, occasionally addressed him, and the influen- 
 tial patriots of his own state — Trumbull, Sherman, 
 Williams, and Samuel Huntington — were in continual 
 correspondence with him. 
 
4G 
 
 The merit of General Huntington does not consist 
 alone in his self-consecration to the cause of American 
 freedom. He was the father of five sons and two 
 daughters, all of whom were early imbued with his 
 own patriotic spirit. It was clear that if he engaged 
 in the opening conflict, his property and theirs would 
 be seriously diminished, and perhaps entirely confis- 
 cated. Chiefly solicitous in regard to their interests, 
 he assembled them, one day, to advise what course 
 should be pursued. He laid before them the great 
 interests at stake, both public and personal. Should 
 the colonial arms be victorious, private prosperity 
 might be sacrificed in the struggle, but American 
 liberty would be secure. Should the British forces 
 triumph, no one could foretell the ignominy and 
 suffering to which, as rebellious subjects, they would 
 certainly be exposed. 
 
 Accustomed, in all his ways, to ask for guidance 
 from above, he called upon his family to bow with him 
 in prayer. We can not doubt that the petitions which 
 arose from that family altar were humble and devout, 
 and that the God of battles listened to his cry. 
 
 At length, having first consulted his wife, he called 
 upon his children in turn, beginning with his eldest, 
 and asked for their opinions. They answered with 
 one voice, daughter and son alike. That voice was for 
 Liberty ! Nobly did their after course redeem the 
 pledge thus sacredly given, to devote both purse and 
 
47 
 
 sword to the interests of their country. Four of the 
 sons, Jedediah, Andrew, Joshua, and Ebenezer, and 
 their brother-in-law. Col. John Chester, soon entered the 
 army — one of the brothers being too young for such 
 service. The other brother-in-law (Rev. Dr. Strong) 
 for a time fulfilled the duties of his sacred office by 
 acting as a chaplain in the army. This band of 
 brothers were found in service from the time of the 
 earliest entrenchments on Bmiker's Hill to the decisive 
 victory on the plains of York town. If the annals of 
 the revolution record the name of any family which 
 contributed more to that great struggle, I have yet to 
 learn it. 
 
 Associated with General Jabez Huntington, in coun- 
 sel and action, were two younger men, bearing the 
 same surname, although belonging to different 
 branches of this wide-spread fiimily. 
 
 One of those to whom 1 refer, was the Hon. Ben- 
 jamin Huntington, (sometimes familiarly known as 
 "Judge Ben,") a native of this town and a graduate 
 of Yale college in the class of 1761. He early entered 
 upon the practice of law in this place, bringing to his 
 chosen profession so much of talent and energy that 
 he soon rose to the foremost rank. For many years 
 he avoided public life, ])ut in 1775 he was appointed 
 one of the council of safety in Connecticut, and his 
 interest in the common cause did not permit him to 
 decline that responsible and arduous post. In 1781 
 
48 
 
 he was chosen to represent the state in the contmental 
 congress, which he did until 1784. He was re-appoint- 
 ed in 1787; and in 1789, when the present form of 
 government was estabhshed, he was one of the repre- 
 sentatives of Connecticut in the first United States 
 congress. As a member of both houses of the state 
 legislature, as judge of the supreme court, and as the 
 first mayor of the city of Norwich, he evinced the 
 same wisdom and public spirit which had ])een dis- 
 played in the councils of the nation. 
 
 A third member of this family, Hon. Samuel Hunt- 
 ington, remotely connected with the two just named, 
 had the rare privilege, as we now esteem it, of sign- 
 ing his name to the declaration of independence. 
 Although born in Windham, he was a descendant 
 of one of the original proprietors of this town, and 
 removed here in 1760, to pursue the practice of law. 
 After representing the town for four years in the 
 general assembly, he was appointed king's attorney, 
 and continued so for several years. In 1774 he 
 was an associate judge of the supreme court. ■ At 
 the opening of the war, he also was appointed one 
 of the council of safety for the state. In 1775, he was 
 chosen a member of the continental congress, which, 
 on the fourth of July, in the following year, declared 
 the colonies free. I have before me the oris-inal letter 
 in which he briefly announces this important transac- 
 tion to his townsman. General Jabez Huntington ; 
 
49 
 
 but there is a still more interesting letter, addressed 
 to the same person, by the honorable William Williams, 
 likewise one of the Signers of the Declaration, from 
 which, as it has never been printed, I quote a few lines, 
 to show the estimate which he placed on the services 
 of his colleague. It is dated Philadelphia, September 
 30th, 1776, and reads as follows : — 
 
 :i: :i: u j|* q^^j, asscmblj rcchosc their Delegates, I 
 hope they will be guided by Wisdom and Prudence. 
 I must say that M"" Sherman, from his early acquaint- 
 ance, his good sense. Judgment, steadiness and 
 inflexible Integrity, has acquired much Respect, and 
 is an exceeding valuable member; and so is M"" Hunt- 
 ington, truly judicious, upright and worthy the Trust 
 In spight of that awful contempt of Religion and 
 Goodness too visible, &c., Integrity and Virtue do and 
 will command Respect. For my part I neither expect 
 nor wish to remain here — the Burden is exceeding 
 great. But in this critical time the acquaintance the 
 others have with the run and connection of afiliirs, is 
 very usefull. It is of very great Importance that 
 whoever attend here should be men of Uprightness 
 and Integrity, inflexibly resolved to pursue and serve 
 the great cause, insensible to motives of ambition, 
 interest and any other applause than that of a good 
 Conscience." * ''' "=' ''' '•= * * 
 
 With such a character, it is not surprising that Mr. 
 Huntington Avas chosen, in 1779, to be the president of 
 
50 
 
 congress, and that he was re-chosen in 1780. After 
 this time he resumed his seat upon the bench in Con- 
 necticut, till he was again sent to congress in 1783. 
 In the next year he was chosen lieutenant governor 
 and appointed chief justice of the state, and two years 
 afterward, on the death of Matthew Griswold, he w^as 
 elected governor, and was annually returned to that 
 honorable post, with singular unanimity, for ten suc- 
 cessive years. He died in office, in 1796. The funeral 
 sermon, which was preached by the Rev. Dr. Strong, 
 bears witness to the sincerity of his character and the 
 uprightness of his life. The history of the country 
 declares the wisdom of his counsel, the excellence of 
 his judgment, and the purity of Jiis unfailing patriot- 
 ism. 
 
 These three men, whose frequent appointment by 
 their fellow citizens to posts of responsibility in peace 
 and war, we have noticed, all members of the Con- 
 necticut council of safety, may fitly be characterized 
 as the counselors whom Norwich furnished to the 
 nation and the state in the trying emergencies of the 
 war of independence. It is certainly remarkable that 
 three of the nine men who constituted that original 
 council of safety Avere residents of Norwich — and 
 each of the three was a Huntington. They are men 
 of whom we may justly be proud ; men to whom the 
 country will for ever be indebted. Precious are the 
 tombs which hold the dust of such patriots — may 
 
51 
 
 they never be suffered to decay ! More precious are 
 the perishable letters and papers in which their hands 
 recorded the history of a nation's birth ; may no future 
 fire dimmish the number, enhancing their price though 
 not lessening their value, like the famous books of the 
 sibyl ! Dearest of all is the reputation they have left 
 for sagacity, prudence, and inflexible integrity, guided 
 in action by a love of liberty, unfailing and unselfish. 
 As the years roll on, may grateful posterity emulate 
 their virtues, while honoring their names ! 
 
 When the actual conflict in arms began at Lexing- 
 ton, it was clear that an army must be raised, and an 
 army maintained. The first was an easy task. Thou- 
 sands of willing men, your own ancestors among them, 
 marched immediately for Bunker's Hill. But where 
 were their arms, their ammunition, their blankets, 
 their food, their means of conveyance, to come from ? 
 On whom should devolve the drudgery of raising 
 supplies for those who were in the field ; of caring 
 for the almost widowed wives and almost orphan 
 children who were left at home ; of raising the funds 
 which then as much as now were the sinews of war ? 
 This was a labor none the less arduous because it was 
 less conspicuous. 
 
 Of the men in Norwich most actively engaged in 
 this difficult service, none deserves more honorable 
 mention than Captain, or as he was afterward called, 
 Colonel Christopher Leffingwell. As I mention his 
 
52 
 
 name, there are many present who will recall his 
 stately and venerable form, his head white with years, 
 the dignified bearing which marked a gentleman of 
 the old school, and the energetic manner which was 
 equally characteristic of a successful man of business. 
 At the time of the war, he w\as in the prime of life, 
 residing in a house still standing near the Leffingwell 
 corner. He had been long engaged in trade and 
 manufactures, several branches of which he was first 
 to introduce. A lineal descendant of Lieutenant 
 Thomas Lefiingwell, and connected by birth and 
 marriage with others of the old established families, 
 he also ranked in property and character, among the 
 foremost citizens of that day. Like almost all his 
 townsmen, he was an early and constant friend of the 
 colonial cause, never stopping to inquire whether this 
 implied hostility to old mother England would aftect 
 injuriously his intended trade. Named by his fellow- 
 citizens, at the famous meeting of June 6th, 1774, as 
 one of the committee of correspondence for the town, 
 the chief labor of that arduous post appears to have 
 fallen upon him. From the papers still preserved with 
 pious care by one of his descendants/-' it is clear that 
 his correspondence was not merely ofiicial, but that 
 his familiar acquaintance with influential men through- 
 out the country, added greatly to his usefulness, in 
 
 *Mrs. AujTustus Kussell Street, of New Haven, to whose valuable collec- 
 tion of autographs T am indebted for many important papers. 
 
53 
 
 those days of embarrassment and doubt. Let me 
 mention some examples, interesting, not only as per- 
 sonal memorials, but as indications of what was in 
 progress here in " the days of seventy-six." 
 
 Five days before the battle of Lexington, we find 
 John Hancock, president of the provincial congress 
 just adjourned, thanking Mr. Leffingwell for the im- 
 portant inteUigence he had communicated; which 
 appears to have been a fidl private letter from 
 England, giving an account of the action of the 
 ministry. The first announcement of the battles of 
 Lexino-ton and Concord was addressed to him, and I 
 hold before you that original document from wdiich, not 
 only the citizens of Norwicli, but Governor Trumbull 
 himself, first heard those alarming tidings. Colonel 
 Jedediah Huntington writes to him, a little later, from 
 the camp at Roxbury, and Joseph Trumbull from the 
 camp at Cambridge, asking for supplies. Whenever 
 New London was threatened by the enemy's fleet, a 
 message w^as sent to Norwich, and more than once 
 Captain Leffingwell and his light infantry went down 
 to the defense of their friends at the river's mouth. 
 " No company appeared so well as the Norwich light 
 infantry, under Captain Leffingwell," says our historian. 
 General Parsons, on his way to Bunker's Hill, June 
 10th, 1775, writes that one of his companies will lodge 
 at Norwich — Captain Leffingwell must provide for 
 
54 
 
 them. In May, 1776, Nicholas Brown, of Providence, 
 sends him muskets to be forwarded to General Wash- 
 ington — relying on "his well known lead in the 
 common cause, to send them as soon as possible." 
 At a later day, load after load of tents is brought 
 him to be forwarded with all expedition to the Com- 
 mander-in-chief 
 
 These are but illustrations of the innumerable calls 
 which were made upon him. Amid them all, he exer- 
 cised a generous hospitality, while his daughters, 
 celebrated as belles, gracefully contributed to the 
 entertainment of the guests. In August, 1776, Colonel 
 Wadsworth introduces to him an English loyalist, who 
 had been advised to leave New York, but who is 
 worthy of respectful and considerate treatment in the 
 rural districts. Titus Hosmer introduces to him, Mr. 
 Timothy D wight — who had been a tutor several years 
 "in our college," (the same who was afterward to be 
 the distinguished president of that institution,) and 
 "who thinks of settling in Norwich for the practice of 
 the law." General Washington, in one of his visits, 
 partakes of the hospitalities of the Leffingwell home, 
 and Governor Trumbull sends his respectful apology 
 that he is unable to meet, at Mr. Leffingwell's, the 
 Commander-in-chief 
 
 Captain Leffingwell was not a man for emergencies 
 merely. In quiet times he was equally energetic and 
 equally serviceable to his native town. To him 
 
belongs the credit of establishing a papei nill at the 
 falls, the first ever built in the state, and one of the 
 first in the country. More than that, his memory 
 shall be ever green among us while the noble arch of 
 elms, whose grateful shade has this morning sheltered 
 our procession, reminds us that when the w^ar was 
 over and the spear became a pruning hook, he planted 
 those sentinels of peace which still protect your homes. 
 Let the city of elms bestow the laurels on Captain 
 James Hillhouse — Norwich shall weave them for 
 Captain Christopher Leifingwell. 
 
 But this honored man is connected in an interesting- 
 way wdth another important event — the capture of 
 Ticonderoga at the beginning of the war. He was one 
 of those sagacious citizens of Connecticut who saw the 
 importance of promptly securing the forts ujion lake 
 Champlain, and who quietly united in sending a 
 committee to Vermont, supplied with the necessary 
 funds, to engage the services of Colonel Ethan Allen 
 and "the green mountain boys" for that hazardous 
 undertaking. A short time ago this little book which 
 I hold before you, and which has long been carefully 
 treasured among the papers of Captain Letfingwell, was 
 placed in my hands. It proves to be an original 
 journal of that expedition, kept by our neighbor Major 
 Edward Mott, of Preston, " chairman of the com- 
 mittee," addressed to Christopher Leffingwell, at whose 
 request the bold officer from across the Shetucket 
 appears to have become the head — perhaps I should 
 
56 
 
 say the plenipotentiary — of this Connecticut embassy 
 to Vermont. The record begins at Preston, April 
 28th, 1775, and closes at Ticonderoga, May 10th. It 
 is too long to read in full on this occasion, but one 
 page is of too much local interest to be withheld.* 
 A native of this town, (whose dishonored name I will 
 not mention in this place.) acting under a commission 
 from Massachusetts, endeavored to supersede Allen in 
 his command, even after the latter had entered the 
 fort "in the name of Jehovah and the continental 
 congress." He insisted that as Allen had no legal 
 orders, he had no right to continue in command. 
 " On which," says Major Mott, " I wrote Colonel Allen 
 his orders as followeth," viz : 
 
 To Colonel Ethan Allen: Sir: — Whereas, agree- 
 able to the power and authority to us given by the 
 colony of Connecticut, we have appointed you to take 
 the command of a party of men and reduce and take 
 possession of the garrison of Ticonderoga and its 
 dependences, and as you are now in possession of the 
 same, you are hereby directed to keep the command 
 of said garrison for the use of the American colonies, 
 till you have further orders from the colony of Con- 
 necticut, or from the continental congress. 
 
 Signed per order of the committee. 
 
 Edward Mott, chairman of committee. 
 
 Ticonderoga, May lOtli, 1775. 
 
 *The entire paper, edited by J. 11. Trumbull, Esq., may be looked for in 
 the eollections of the Conn. Hist. Society, vol. L, soon to be published in 
 Hartford. 
 
57 
 
 So we see that the hero of Ticonderoga was com- 
 missioned by a Preston major, sent out by a Norwich 
 captain, in spite of the protest of a Norwich colonel 
 who acted under the authority of a Massachusetts 
 commission. 
 
 Norwich may furthermore claim the honor of fur- 
 nishing for the army the most distinguished surgeon of 
 the day, Dr. Philip Turner, surgeon general of the 
 eastern department of the army. He was born in 
 1740, the son of Philip Turner, of Scituate, Mass., who 
 removed to Norwich early in life, and married here. 
 The ancestor of the family in this country is Hum- 
 phrey Turner, who came from Essex, England, in 1630, 
 and settled in Scituate, Mass. Dr. Philip Turner 
 studied medicine with the famous Dr. Elislia Tracy, 
 of Norwich, whose eldest daughter he married. He 
 entered the army as early as 1759, and remained in 
 it during the French war, till after the peace of 1763. 
 In March, 1760, he was appointed surgeon's mate in 
 the fourth regiment of Connecticut troops, and in 
 1761, in the first regiment. At Fort Edward, and 
 elsewhere, he saw much service, and early became 
 noted as the most skillful operative surgeon of New 
 England. At the opening of the revolutionary 
 struggle, he was commissioned by Governor Trumbull 
 as physician and surgeon of the troops sent to New 
 York, and at a little later period, on the organization 
 of a medical department in the continental army, he 
 
58 
 
 was named by Congress, surgeon general of the eastern 
 department. On the change in the organization of 
 the department, but one surgeon general was appoint- 
 ed, and Dr. Turner withdrew from active service. 
 
 In 1777 he was appointed director general of the 
 general military hospital, but he did not enter upon 
 the office, which was subsequently given to Dr. 
 Shippen, of Philadelphia. Several years after the war 
 was over, he removed in 1800 to New York, to take 
 charge of the government hospitals, and in 1815 he 
 died in that important post, at the age of 75 years. 
 
 The high reputation which Dr. Turner sustained in 
 the army might be shown by numerous papers of the 
 day, but one of the most interesting is a letter from 
 Colonel Jedediah Huntington to his father. General 
 Jabez Huntington. It was never intended to be made 
 public, but as this assembly may be considered a sort 
 of family meeting, I may, perhaps, be permitted to 
 read it. It is dated at camp Kingsbridge, (near New 
 York,) Oct. 2, 1776, and appears to have been called 
 forth by a consciousness that the appropriation made 
 for the payment of a skillful surgeon was not adequate 
 to his maintenance in the army. I read again from 
 the autograph : 
 
 " HoN° Sir : — I am sorry to find that Doctor Turner 
 has not a sufficient Inducement to continue in the 
 army where he is eminently usefull and necessary ; 
 it is of great Importance to Individuals and Publick 
 
59 
 
 that every Life and Limb should be saved. Doctor 
 Turner is blessed with a natural Insight into Wounds 
 and Dexterity in treating them peculiar to himself. 
 Doctor Morgan is well pleased with him and would 
 retain him in Service if he had it in his Gift to reward 
 him with as much Pay as he knows he has reason to 
 expect. I heartily wish our assembly who attend with 
 Pleasure and without Parsimony to the necessities and 
 Convenience of the army, would provide the Troops 
 with a Physician who is esteemed by us as almost 
 essential to the Service — suppose he saves one Limb, 
 that Avould not be otherways saved, that Limb may 
 save the Publick some Hundreds. You and many 
 others, members of assembly, are well acquainted with 
 Dr. Turner's Character and manner of Living — he is 
 not aspiring after wealth, no one doubts he has Right 
 and in Duty ought to stand for a reasonable Reward 
 of his merits and Services. I wrote you yesterday by 
 the private Post to which refer you and remain with 
 Duty and Respect your affectionate Son. 
 
 "Jed. Huntington." 
 
 As no truer man was living than Colonel Jedediah 
 Huntington, so no tribute could be more honorable 
 than his eulogy of Dr. Turner. 
 
 Some wise writer has remarked that he cared not 
 who made the laws of a nation if he could write the 
 songs. 
 
 When the war of the revolution broke out, there 
 
60 
 
 was resident in Norwich, among other choice spirits, 
 Mr. Nathaniel Niles, now almost equally famous as a 
 political and theological writer, known in early life as 
 Rev. Mr. Niles, (though he was never ordained,) and 
 later as Judge Niles of Vermont. He had graduated 
 at Princeton, in 1766, and studied theology with Rev. 
 Dr. Bellamy. He excelled as a preacher, but was 
 never settled in the ministry, probably on account of 
 his infirm health. Removing to Norwich, he married 
 there a daughter of Mr. Elijah Lathrop, and engaged 
 in manufacturing. He often represented this town in 
 the general assembly, until he removed to Vermont, 
 where he died in 1828, aged 88. 
 
 While living in Norwich he wrote an ode which was 
 set to music, and became as great a favorite among the 
 soldiers of the continental army as the Marseillaise in 
 France. It was composed at his own fireside the very 
 evening of the news of the battle of Bunker's Hill 
 reached Norwich. " I remember," says his son, " in my 
 early youth, hearing an aged negro servant who fol- 
 lowed my father's family to Vermont, repeatedly 
 describe the emotions of the whole family while he 
 read that impromptu production for the first time by 
 candle light." If the young musicians of Norwich 
 wish to see in the faces of older singers, who regulated 
 their notes with the old-fashioned pitch pipe, such a 
 glow of enthusiasm, as pleasant recollections alone call 
 forth, let them ask the question, " Do you remember 
 
61 
 
 the 'American Hero,' an ode which was often sung in 
 the revolutionary army ? " Perhaps it will be their 
 pleasure, as it has been mine, to hear the answer, "I 
 have not sung it for many a year, but I never can 
 forget its stirring melody." It begins, 
 
 Why should vain mortals tremble at the sight of 
 Death and Destruction in the field of battle, 
 Where blood and carnage clothe the gi'ound in crimson, 
 Sounding with death groans? 
 
 The tune was called " Bunker's Hill." ••• 
 
 [Governor Buckingham, the president of the day, 
 here interrupted the speaker and said, — "The first 
 impression on my mind of the battle of Bunker's Hill 
 was made by hearing sung this ode. Perhaps it may 
 produce a similar emotion in the minds of the audi- 
 ence, to that which it did in my own. I should like 
 to have it tried." The choir then sang several stanzas 
 of the ode, with thrilling effect, many of the older 
 persons in the assembly joining with them.] 
 
 But Norwich furnished not only statesmen to plan, 
 surgeons to heal, and poets to inspire the army ; it 
 sent forth gallant soldiers for the sterner service of 
 the camp. To enumerate their services would require 
 a volume. I have already alluded to the efficiency of 
 the four brothers Huntington, who were active in 
 various posts of importance and difficulty, from the 
 
 * See note M. 
 
62 
 
 beginning to the close of the war, and although, at 
 this time, I can not dwell upon their manifold achieve- 
 ments, our country could not if it would, it would not 
 if it could, dispense with the services of any one of 
 these distinguished patriots* 
 
 Jedediah, the eldest, after graduating at Harvard 
 College, in 1763, engaged in business at Norwich until 
 the war broke out. He was one of the earliest to 
 respond to the call for troops, and being already 
 colonel in the Connecticut militia, he marched, in the 
 spring of 1775, to Boston, with his men. During the 
 perilous winter which preceded the evacuation of that 
 city by the British troops, he remained at Roxbury, 
 undergoing the hardships of the camp, while his spirits 
 were op^Dressed by the death of his wife, (a daughter 
 of Governor Trumbull,) who had chosen to accompany 
 him. From that time onward, to the close of the war, 
 we trace him in active service. In 1777, he was 
 appointed brigadier general, the duties of which post 
 he faithfully and honorably discharged. At one time 
 he was an aid of General Washington, and a member 
 of his family ; and throughout life he was honored 
 
 * Just before the delivery of this discourse, the kindness of Mrs. Henry- 
 Strong, and Mrs. Wolcott Huntington, placed in my hands a very large 
 number of letters exchatiged by these members of the Huntington family 
 during the revolutionary war. So much light is thus thrown upon those 
 times, that I withhold from the press, the biographical sketches which I 
 had prepared in this connection, in order that a deliberate perusal of the 
 correspondence may render them more accurate and full. 
 
63 
 
 with the warm friendship of that great man. Many 
 of the letters of General Huntington, written in suc- 
 cession from the camps at Roxburj, New York, 
 Kingsbridge, Peekskill, Valley Forge, West Point, and 
 a number of less important stations are still preserved. 
 Addressed to his father, and father-in-law, his brothers, 
 and brothers-in-law, who were all deeply concerned to 
 hear the army news, they are models of correspond- 
 ence, free and familiar, wdiile, at the same time, 
 accurate and business like. Almost invariably, they 
 close with a devout reference to the Almighty power 
 on whom the issue of the battles would depend. 
 
 Jedediah's brother, Andrew, acted as a commissary, 
 collecting the rich offerings which Norwich and vicinity 
 made for the army, and forwarding them to various 
 posts. 
 
 Joshua, after having been in the active army at 
 Bunker Hill, was appointed to build a frigate for the 
 continental congress. The result of his labors, "The 
 Confederacy," launched in the Thames, not far below 
 the landing, did good service in the infantile navy of 
 the rising republic. 
 
 Ebenezer, the youngest of the four, was a senior in 
 Yale College when the news reached New Haven of 
 the battle of Lexington. He had previously written 
 home for a work not included in the regular course 
 of studies — a handbook of infantry tactics — and now 
 he requested leave of absence. As this permission 
 
64 
 
 was not granted, he left without a dismission, and join- 
 ing a company of vokmteers, marched on to Boston. 
 Rising from one of&ce to another, he remained in 
 the army till the victory of Yorktown, in which he 
 participated* 
 
 I might tell you of Durkee, " the bold Bean Hiller ;" 
 of Tracy, who fell an early victim to the cause of 
 freedom; of Joseph Trumbull, the first commissary 
 general of the United States; of Williams and the 
 Fannings ; of Kingsbury ; of Peters, the hero of 
 Groton ; of Edward Mott, already mentioned in the 
 exploits at Ticonderoga, and his older and more 
 eminent brother Samuel, chief engineer of the north- 
 ern army ; of Nevins, the prompt and faithful carrier 
 of tidings ; of Dyer Manning, the famous drummer ; 
 of John Trumbull, the publisher of " the Norwich 
 Packet;" of Elijah Backus, the armorer at Yantic, 
 whose anchors and guns were of service at sea and 
 on land. Most of these persons were natives of Nor- 
 wich, and all of them residents here during the war. 
 
 I might take you to the navy and tell you of the 
 " Confederacy " and the " Spy ;" of Captain Harding 
 and Captain Niles, the latter of whom is particularly 
 distinguished by a valiant exploit which was of marked 
 importance to the united colonies. The ratification of 
 the treaty with France was sent across the ocean by 
 
 * His portrait was included by Colonel Trumbull in bis celebrated picture 
 of the surrender of Lord Cornwallis. 
 
65 
 
 three separate vessels, and the only one which eluded 
 the vigilance of the English vessels was that of Captain 
 Niles/'' But I forbear, for " the time would fliil me to 
 tell of Gideon and Barak, and of Samson, and of 
 Jephthah, of David also and Samuel, . . . who 
 escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were 
 made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight 
 the armies of the aliens." 
 
 Yet I seem to hear from some before me, the 
 murmur that the speaker mentions a score of officers 
 in the state and army, but he has not spoken of the 
 people, nor what the multitude were about while this 
 struggle was in progress. Let the record answer. 
 The same love of liberty which had been manifested 
 in the days of the stamp act, burst forth again at the 
 opening of the actual revolution. 
 
 On the 1st of June, 1774, the odious Port Ijill — by 
 which Lord North had hoped to starve the people of 
 Boston into submission to the king — began its opera- 
 tion. " Pay for that tea, or be blockaded," was the 
 alternative submitted to the capital of New England. 
 You know the choice of Boston. 
 
 A circular was sent through the country asking 
 countenance from the other colonies, and requesting 
 aid for the Boston poor in danger of actual starvation. 
 On the receipt of this circular in Norwich, a town 
 meeting was called by the selectmen, in a document 
 
 * See note N. 
 
66 
 
 which is an amusing illustration of the caution which 
 was exercised by the conservative men of the day, and 
 also of that sovereignty of the people, so eminently 
 characteristic of a New England town. In a dozen 
 lines the inhabitants are summoned " to take into 
 consideration the melancholy situation of our civil 
 Constitutional Liberties, Rights and Privileges which 
 are Threatened with Destruction by the Enemies of 
 his Majesty's Happy Reign," and in a single line at the 
 close of the call they are also bidden " to take into 
 consideration some memorials for Highway, Praid for 
 in Said Town and also to act upon any Thing Else that 
 may be fairly offered." In more senses than one they 
 were to mend their ways ! 
 
 The meeting was held on the 6th of June, at the 
 town house, and was so crowded that an adjournment 
 was immediately made to the neighboring meeting 
 house. A committee, of which Hon. Samuel Hunt- 
 ington was chairman, was appointed, "to draw up 
 some sentiments proper to be adopted, and resolutions 
 to be come into, in this alarming crisis of affairs 
 Relative to the natural Rights and Privileges of the 
 People." 
 
 On the same day, on receiving the report of the 
 committee, it was " Voted, that we will, to the utmost 
 of our abilities, assert and defend the Liberties and 
 immunities of British America ; and that we will 
 co-operate with our Brethren in this and the other 
 
67 
 
 Colonies, in such reasonable measures as shall in 
 General Congress, or otherwise, be Judged most proper 
 to Relieve us from Burthens we now feel, and secure 
 us from greater evils we fear will follow from the 
 Principles adopted by the British Parliament respect- 
 ing the town of Boston." 
 
 At the same meeting, it was also voted, "that 
 Captain Jedediah Huntington, Christopher Leffingwell, 
 Esq., Doct. Theopliilus Rogers, Capt. William Hubbard 
 and Capt. Joseph Trumbull be a standing Committee 
 for keeping up a Correspondence with the Towns in 
 this and the neighboring Colonies, and that they 
 transmit a copy of these Votes to the Committee of 
 CorresjDondence for the Town of Boston." 
 
 Fortunately, some of the correspondence which this 
 assembly called forth, has recently come to light. 
 The town meeting had hardly adjourned before Jo- 
 seph Trumbull, in the name of the committee, 
 forwarded to Boston the resolutions which had been 
 adopted. " Stand firm," he writes, " in your Lots, and 
 from the apparent Temper of our People, we may 
 assure you of every support in the Power of this Town 
 to afford you in the glorious struggle." A few days 
 later, another letter went forward from Norwich to 
 Boston, proposing material aid, to which Samuel Adams 
 replied, '-that the valuable Donation of the worthy 
 Town of Norwich will be received by this Community 
 with the Warmest Gratitude, and dispos'd of according 
 
68 
 
 to the true Intent of the Generous Donors. * * * 
 The Part which the Town of Norwich takes in this 
 Struggle for American Liberty, is truly noble." 
 
 In August, Captain Christopher Lethngwell, in behalf 
 of the committee, sends forward the first instalment of 
 the donation, " being two hundred and ninety-one 
 sheep, which [we] wish safe to hand," and Joseph 
 Warren, in acknowledging the safe arrival of the 
 welcome flock, remarks that " Mr. Gage " (for so the 
 vicegerent of Great Britain was entitled) '" is aston- 
 ished at the spirit of the people. He forbids their 
 town meetings, and they meet in counties. If he 
 prevents county meetings we must call provincial 
 meetings, and if he forbids these, we trust that our 
 worthy brethren on the continent, and especially of 
 the Town of Norwich, in Connecticut, will lend us 
 their helping arms in time of danger, and will be no 
 less conspicuous for their fortitude than they now are 
 for their generosity."* 
 
 You may smile if I tell you that the record of this 
 transaction is so complete that we even have the 
 drover's account-book of the expense he incurred in 
 going to Boston. At each station he mentions what 
 he received and paid. One entry is — At Col. Israel 
 Putnam's, one mug of flip, gratis. 
 
 In September, 1774, when the rumor reached Nor- 
 wich that the citizens of Boston had been massacred, 
 
 * See note ( ). 
 
G9 
 
 a company of nearly five hundred men marched imme- 
 diately, (although it was a Sabbath morning,) lo carry 
 relief. Colonel Diirkee commanded them. 
 
 In the same month, a meethig of delegates from 
 New London and Windham counties was convened 
 in Norwich. William Williams and Jonathan Trum- 
 bull were there from Lebanon ; Colonel Salstonstall 
 and Mr. Shaw, from New London; Mr. Mc Curdy, from 
 Lyme ; Dr. Perkins, from Plainfield ; Colonel Israel 
 Putnam, from Pomfret, and other such men, to the 
 number of forty delegates. Their address to the 
 general assembly of Connecticut, breathes forth the 
 free spirit of the town in which they were gathered. 
 
 Through the anxious winter which followed, many 
 were the discussions, at the fire-side and in the shop, 
 which involved the most important principles of civil 
 government. Dark clouds were gathering. Early in 
 the next spring, the town committee of correspondence 
 appointed some fifty gentlemen of influence and 
 wealth, "to solicit the further Charitable Contributions 
 of the Humane and Sympathizing Inhabitants of the 
 Town, for Ptelieving and alleviating the Distresses of 
 the Poor of that Devoted Town [Boston] and make 
 return of their doings and collectings, at a meeting of 
 the s'^ Genllemen and others to be holden at the Court 
 House in this Town on the third Tuesday of April 
 next." 
 
 The very day appointed for this second meeting was 
 the eve of the battle of Lexinuton. 
 
70 
 
 So beg-an the revolution in Norwich. " Well beo;un 
 is half clone," says the proverb. Not so said our 
 fathers. They foresaw a long and arduous war, and 
 they prepared to meet it. Resolutions and correspond- 
 ence were indeed important, but only to prepare the 
 way for more significant demonstrations. As Lexing- 
 ton found Norwich ready, so Bunker's Hill bore 
 witness to the promptness with which the town re- 
 sponded to the earliest call for troops. As an illustra- 
 tion, I may mention that one evening Colonel Joshua 
 Huntington received a commission, and before dawn 
 the next morning sixty brave men had been enlisted 
 by him, so popular was he, and so patriotic they. The 
 same spirit continued throughout the war. Over and 
 over again were contributions made for the army. 
 " The gifts of Norwich to its soldiers," writes a distin- 
 guished officer from the memorable camp at Valley 
 Forge, " are cheering indeed." 
 
 General Jabez Huntington gave up his fortune to 
 the colony, permitting even the leaden weights by 
 which his windows hung to be cast into bullets; and 
 his generous example was imitated by others, each 
 being liberal in proportion to his means. 
 
 Let me read to you the summary which Miss 
 Caulkius gives.''' Speaking of the earlier j^eriods of 
 the contest, she says, " the town's quota of soldiers was 
 always quickly raised, and the necessary supplies fur- 
 nished with promptness and liberality. The requisi- 
 
 * History of Norwich, page 235. 
 
71 
 
 tions of the governor were responded to from no 
 quarter with more cheerfulness and alacrity. In Sep- 
 teral)er, 1777, when extraordinary exertions were 
 made, in many parts of New England, to procure 
 tents, canteens, and clothing for the army, many 
 householders in Norwich voluntarily gave up to the 
 committee of the town, all they could spare from their 
 ow^n family stock, either as donations, or, where that 
 could not be afforded, at a very low rate. The ministers 
 of all the churches, on thanksgiving day, exhorted the 
 people to remember the poor soldiers and their families. 
 
 " In January, 1778, a general contribution was made 
 through the town for the army. The ladies, with 
 great industry, assembled to make garments, and bring 
 in their gifts. The whole value of the collection was 
 placed at a low estimate at £1,400 — [continental 
 money, probably ; real value, uncertain.] 
 
 "Cash, £258; pork, cheese, wheat, rye, sugar, corn, 
 rice, flax, and wood in considerable quantities ; 386 
 pair of stockings, 227 do. of shoes, 118 shirts, 78 
 jackets, 48 pair overalls, 15 do. breeches, 208 do. 
 mittens, 11 buff caps, 9 coats, 12 rifle frocks, and 19 
 handkerchiefs. 
 
 " Every year while the war continued, persons were 
 appointed by the town to provide for the soldiers and 
 their families at the town expense ; but much also was 
 raised by voluntary contributions." 
 
 So you see that the people were as ready as their 
 
/li 
 
 leaders, to vote, to fight, and to pay for the main- 
 tenance of the principles at stake. 
 
 When at last the Avar was over, the sufferings of 
 these brave patriots were not ended. They had 
 bought the freedom, not of the town nor of the state 
 
 o 
 
 only, but of the continent. But they had bought it 
 at the sacrifice of time, and labor, and health, and 
 prosperity. The old families were many of them sadly 
 depressed in financial circumstances. New men came 
 into town enterprising and unembarrassed — business 
 revived and the community prospered. But in this 
 period of prosperity, in this hour of jubilee, let 
 gratitude and honor be unsparingly bestowed on the 
 memory of those who pledged for us " their lives, 
 their fortunes, and their sacred honor." 
 
 The stor}^ of these days is long : but the half 
 remains untold. Norwich was a store house, where 
 grain, molasses, tents, blankets and other necessaries, 
 were kept in readiness for the army; a magazine, 
 whence powder and ball were issued on demand ; 
 a city of refuge, to which shrewd tories like Dr. 
 Church could be sent for confinement, with no fear 
 of their escape ; a council chamber, where the gov- 
 ernor and committee of safety could conveniently 
 assemble ; an armor}^, where Backus could cast the 
 needed iron; a navy yard, where Joshua Huntington 
 could build a frigate for the continental congress ; 
 a port, from which armed vessels of the government, 
 
7o 
 
 to say nothing of privateers, could conveniently sail, 
 and which the continental army, under Washington, 
 could select as " the most favorable place for taking 
 the boats," between Boston and New York ; a camp 
 where the troops of various generals could be safely 
 quartered, among them those of the brave Lafayette, 
 (the anniversary of whose birth occurred but yes- 
 terday — let us hold it in honorable remembrance;) 
 a treasury, the drafts on which were never dishon- 
 ored ; a mount of sacrifice, from which the incense 
 of devout petition to the Lord of Hosts continually 
 arose. 
 
 A grateful task awaits the writer, who shall under- 
 take to prepare a volume on "Norwich in the Eevo- 
 lution." The town that can point to its citizens, 
 active as counsellors, as surgeons, as commissaries, 
 as soldiers, as ship builders, as store keepers, as gun 
 makers, and not least honorable, as song writers for 
 the cause of civil independence, may glory in her 
 sons ; and thouo-h her hills be rouo;h and her rivers 
 small, it will always be an honor to claim Norwich 
 as a home. 
 
 The close of the war was followed by a period 
 of great activity and prosperity. The trade which, 
 in 1760, had been so extensive and profitable, and 
 which had been sadly interrupted by the troubles 
 of the country, now rapidly regained its former 
 character, and the success which, some thirty years 
 
 10 
 
74 
 
 before had crowned commercial skill, was equaled 
 and surpassed. The wharves at the landing and the 
 spacious warehouses up-town alike bore evidence of 
 energy and thrift ; but " the scepter had departed 
 from Israel." Chelsea soon eclipsed the old town 
 plot, and the record of 1795, drawn up for the pur- 
 pose of securing a post office at the landing, reports 
 that of the shipping then belonging to Norw^ich, only 
 210 tons were owned in the old parish, and the 
 remainder, 4,102 tons, were owned in the port. 
 
 Breed, Ripley, Lathrop, Howland, Perkins, Mum- 
 ford, Spalding, Leffingwell, Rogers, Huntington, Hyde, 
 Hubbard, Coit, Griswold, Bill, Trumbull, Dewitt, 
 Kinne, Williams, Dunham, Fitch, Eels, Marvin, Brown, 
 Thomas, Carpenter, were among the most active of 
 the citizens of Norwich, about 1800. Nor should 
 the spiritual labors of the Rev. Dr. Strong, in the 
 first church, be unmentioned at this time, whose 
 honored ministry extended over a period of sixty- 
 seven years ; nor those of the excellent Mr. Tyler, 
 for fifty-four years the rector of Christ Church; nor 
 those of Mr. King, pastor of the church in Chelsea 
 nearly a quarter of a century.* 
 
 But these names are those of your fiithers and 
 grandfathers; men who are well remembered by 
 many in this audience. It w^ould be presumptuous 
 for me to dwell upon these times in the presence 
 
 * See note P. 
 
75 
 
 of those whose own recollections extend through 
 the last fifty years, and who received from the lips 
 of those who were influential at the close of the 
 previous half century, the history of their deeds. I 
 should delight to speak of the growth of the town 
 since 1800, of the rise of manufactures, of the in- 
 tluence of steam upon our trade and locomotion, of 
 the settlements at Greeneville and the Falls, as well 
 as at Yantic and Bozrahville, and other places where 
 the busy whirl of the spindle is heard ; of the pros- 
 perity which marks the religious and educational 
 institutions of the town ; of the influence which the 
 sons of Norwich are exerting in different important 
 posts at home and {ibroad ; and of the number of 
 ministers of the gospel, of public officers high in 
 rank, of college graduates, of successful merchants, 
 of ingenious mechanics, who received their early 
 training here/'' But the historical investigations of 
 Miss Caulkins, the genealogies of Chancellor Wal- 
 Avortli and others, the commemorative discourses 
 preached last Sunday, by the several clergymen of 
 the town, and the papers which skillful hands are 
 preparing in respect to the physicians, the lawyers, 
 the press, and the schools of Norwich, forbid me 
 to enter upon any of these inviting themes, f 
 Among all the transactions of this period, there is 
 none which succeeding generations will regard with 
 
 * See note Q t See note R. 
 
76 
 
 more gratitude and honor, than the foundation of 
 yonder institution of learning, The Free Academy, in 
 which the best instruction is freely open to all* 
 
 The connection between Norwich and the various 
 colleges of the country, it has given me especial 
 pleasure to trace through the whole history of the 
 town. There is a list before me which is intended 
 to include the names of all graduates who were 
 born within the limits of " the nine miles square," or 
 whose paternal residence was here during their col- 
 lege course. It begins, as we should expect it to 
 begin, with the son of the first minister, and it 
 closes, as it ought to close, with scholars from the 
 Free Academy. The whole list contains two hundred 
 names, three-fourths of whom are graduates of Yale 
 College. It includes five college presidents — Fitch, 
 Backus, Nott, Haskell and Wentworth; twenty other 
 officers of colleges ; f four senators of the United 
 States — Tracy, Lanman, Huntington and Foster ; 
 fourteen representatives in congress ; nearly seventy 
 clergymen of different denominations, fourteen of 
 whom are doctors in divinity ; beside judges, lawyers, 
 physicians, merchants, and teachers of eminence, to 
 tell whose names would be to repeat the catalogue. 
 
 One fact only is to be regretted, as we scrutinize 
 the list. It does not increase as the years roll on, 
 
 * See note S. 
 
 t Iiu'luding three elected professors, who did not accept. 
 
in proportion to the increase in the population of 
 the town. Can it l^e that the boys of the present 
 day regard an education as less important to them 
 than it was to their fathers? 
 
 Norwich has not only sent students to college ; 
 four institutions at least — Williams, Hamilton, Water- 
 ville, and Columbian — niay claim as their founders 
 natives of this place. 
 
 Yale College is even more indebted to NorAvich. 
 Before it was chartered by the State, Major James 
 Fitch (another son of Reverend James) gave to the 
 new collegiate school a farm of 637 acres of land, 
 and offered the glass and nails for a house. The 
 following is his proposal : '•"' 
 
 " Maj."" Fitch's Generosity proposed 1701." 
 
 In that it hath pleased y*" Lord our God as a 
 token for Good To us and children after us to put 
 it into the hearts of his faithfull ministers to take 
 soe great paines, and be at soe considerable charge 
 for setting up of a Coledgeat Schoole amongst us 
 and now for farther promoating, of this God pleas- 
 ing worke I humbly freely and heartily offer, on 
 demand to provid glass for a house and if people 
 doe not come up to offer wdiat is reasonable and 
 needfull, that I w^ill then provid nails of all sorts : 
 to be used in building a house and hall : 21y I give 
 a farme, 637 Acrs of land and wdien I come home 
 I will send ye draft and laying out to Mr. Dan^ 
 
 * Copied from the original document in the Treasurer's office, Yale 
 College. 
 
78 
 
 Taylor that he may make such a Deed proper in 
 such a case the farme I vakie at 150£ I will allsoe 
 take some pains to put it in a way of yearely profitt 
 3()£ charge I hope will bring 20<£ p yeare in a lit- 
 tle time. James Fitch. 
 
 Newhaven Octobi" IG 1701. 
 
 It was this noble gift which insured at that time 
 the establishment of the now venerable institution. 
 Not many years after, Dr. Daniel Lathrop, beside a 
 large donation to the public school of his native 
 place, gave £500 to the college, without limitations; 
 and within the memory of most of those now pres- 
 ent, Dr. Alfred E. Perkins, impressed with the 
 thought that " a true university in these days is a 
 collection of books," gave a fund of $10,000 to the 
 college library in New Haven, thus perpetuating his 
 name in grateful remembrance, and exerting an in- 
 fluence which will increase till the college and the 
 country are no more. These three citizens of Nor- 
 wich, " to the manor born," have thus given to Yale 
 College the largest donations which, at each success- 
 ive time, its treasury had received from any indi- 
 vidual ; and their example has been followed by 
 many others, giving in proportion to their means. 
 One name, which 1 do not venture to mention in 
 this presence, will be commemorated at future 
 celebrations as a benefactor of the higher educational 
 institutions, beyond any one of all the liberal donors 
 to whom reference has l)een made. 
 
I am compelled to draw these sketches to a close ; 
 but enough, I trust, has already been said to show 
 that the history of the town is a record of patient 
 enterprise, unfailing patriotism, and religious faith, 
 that we may well be proud of our ancestry and 
 birth-place, and well be thankful to the God of our 
 fathers for his increasing blessings. 
 
 If there be one in this assembly who inquires 
 the use of this protracted story, let me assure him 
 that Ijy the joyful recital of our fathers' virtues we 
 incite ourselves and our children to like exploits 
 of valor and trust. Some of us, now and then, 
 have heard Connecticut decried ! Be assured that 
 it is only ignorance and jealousy which assail her 
 past reputation, while it is a knowledge of her true 
 character which will strengthen the affection of her 
 sons and weaken the power of unjust critics. What 
 you know to be true of Norwich, is true, in some 
 degree, of all Connecticut. A State which has 
 Haynes, and Winthrop, and Eaton, and Mason, as 
 its civil founders; Hooker, and Davenport, and Fitch, 
 as its religious pillars ; Trumbull, and Sherman, and 
 Williams, and Silliman, and Huntington, as its lead- 
 ers in the struggle for civil liberty, should never 
 fail of the filial reverence, the honest pride, the 
 faithful and willing service of every son. 
 
 In conclusion, let us remember and rejoice that 
 the foundations of our native town were laid with 
 
80 
 
 forethought by brave, intelhgent and religious men ; 
 that the right to the soil was acquired hy purchase, 
 and the former owners conciliated as perpetual 
 friends ; that our fathers were free from intolerance 
 and bigotry, and were ready to argue or to fight in 
 defense of civil and religious liberty ; that they were 
 industrious on the farm and enterprising in busi- 
 ness; that they preserved the golden mean between 
 conservatism and radicalism, being loyal to the king 
 till endurance ceased to be a virtue, and then heart- 
 ily devoted to the independence of America ; that 
 in the great conflict of the revolution, they sacri- 
 ficed their fortunes and exposed their lives, with a 
 spirit of patriotism rarely equaled and never sur- 
 passed ; and that their intelligence, thrift and virtue 
 have secured to their children, under the blessing of 
 Providence, prosperity and happiness at home, rep- 
 utation, honor and influence abroad. 
 
 Long live the town of Norwich ! and when the 
 last of us shall lie beneath the sod, when the deeds 
 of the present shall furnish the materials of history, 
 may it be the lot of a future chronicler, scanning 
 the memorials of our day, to record with truth that 
 we were worthy of the precious heritage which we 
 now enjoy. 
 
NOTES. 
 
 N () T K A . 
 
 INDIAN DEED OF NORWICH. 
 
 The following is a copy of the deed as recorded in Hartford. The 
 original document is not known to be in existence : 
 
 DEED. 
 
 Know All men that Onkos, Owaneco and Attawanliood, feachems of 
 Monlieag, have bargained, sold and passed over, and doe by these pres- 
 ents, bargain, sell and pass over unto the Towne and Inhabitants of Nor- 
 wich, nine miles square of lands, lying and being at Monheag and the 
 parties thereunto adjoining with all ponds, rivers, woods, quames, mines, 
 with all Royalties, privileges and appurtenances thereunto belonging, to 
 them the sayd Inhabitants of Norwich, their heirs and successors forever, 
 the sayd lands are to be bounded as followeth, viz., to the southward, o;i 
 the west side [of ] the Great River commonly called Monheag River, the 
 line is to begin at the Brooke falling into the head of the Trading Cove, 
 and soe to run west norwest seven miles ; fi-om thence the line is to run 
 nor-noreast nine miles ; and on the East side the foresayd River to the 
 southward, the line is to joyne with London Bounds as it is now hiyed 
 out, and soe to run east Two miles from the foresayd River, and no from 
 thence the line is to run nor-noreast nine miles, and from thence to Run 
 nor-norwest nine miles to meet with the western line. In consideration 
 whereof the sd Onkos, Owaneco, and Attawanliood doe ackiiowlodg to 
 have received of the parties aforesayd, the full [and just] sum of seventy 
 pounds, and doe promise and engage ourselves, heirs and suceessours to 
 waiTant the sayd Bargain and sale to the aforesayd parties, their heirs 
 and suceessours and them to defend from all claims or molestation fi'om 
 
82 
 
 any whatsoever. In witness whereof wee have hereunto set our hands 
 this sixth day of June Anno 1659. 
 
 Onkas. his r\r) niarke. 
 
 OwANEKO, his rr^ niarke. 
 
 .V 
 
 Attawanhood, his X'^X niarke. 
 Witness hereunto, John Mason, Thomas Tracy. 
 
 Transcribed out of y" origanell and examined and recorded this 20th 
 of August. 1603, }/ me John Allyn, Sec''y. 
 
 N O T E B . 
 
 EAKLY INDIAN HISTOKY. 
 
 Dr. Trumbull, in his History of Connecticut, (i, 132) quotes "a 
 manuscript of Mr. Hyde, of Norwich," as his authority, in part, for the 
 account of the battles of Uncas and Miantonomoh. Col. Stone, (Uncas 
 and Miantonomoh) refers to the same paper as "a traditionary letter 
 written by Jiei\ Richard Hyde in 1769." Miss Caulkins rightly refers 
 to the author (Hist. Norwich, p. 20) as " Kichard Hyde, esq., a gentle- 
 man who throughout his life was in the habit of frequent intercourse with 
 the Mohegans, and whose house was one of the favorite resorts of wan- 
 derers from that tribe." 
 
 The letter to which these and other writers refer has lately been found 
 among the Trumbull mauscripts of Yale College. It reads as follows : — 
 
 Sir: Please to Except of the Following to be Communicated with what 
 you have already Rec* by the Hand of Reverf Mr. Lord Relative to the 
 Tribe of the Mohegen Indians If you think the same maybe worth Notice : 
 the following Facts being Communicated to me from some of the antient 
 Fathers of this Town who were Contempory with Uncas the grand Saga- 
 more or Sachem of s'' Tribe, (viz) that Before the Settlement of s* Norwich 
 the sachem of y" Narragansit Tribe Had a Personel Quarilwith Uncass and 
 Proclamed warr witli the IMohegs : and Marched with an army of Nine Hun- 
 dred Fighting Men equipt with Bows and arrows and hatclietts : Uncas he 
 Informed by Spies of their March towards his Seat : Uncas Called liis War- 
 riors together about Six Hundred Stout hardy Men Light of foot and Skill* 
 In the use of y° Bow and upon a Conference Uncas Told his Men that it 
 wou'' Not Do to Lett y" Narrigansitts Come to their Town but they must go 
 and meet them : accordinirlv thev marched & about three INIiles on a Larse 
 
83 
 
 Plain the armys Meet & both Halted within Bow Shot: a Parly was 
 Sounded & [ ] Uncas Proposed a Conference with the Narrigansitt 
 
 Sachem who agreed & being Meet Uncas Saith to his Anemy Words to this 
 Effect, you have Got a Number of Brave men Avith you & So have I: and 
 it a Pitty that Such Brave men Sho'' be Killd for a Quaril Between you 
 and I only Come Like a Man as you Portend to be and we will fight it out 
 If you Kill me my men Shall be yours but if I Kill you your men Shall be 
 mine : upon which y® Narrigansit Sachem Reply*! ujy men Came to fight & 
 they shall fight (when having before told his Men: that if: his Enemy 
 Sho'i Refuse to fight him he wou'^ Fall Down : and then they ware to Dis- 
 charde their artillry on Them & Forse Right on them as Fast as they could, 
 and : uncas falling Down as he Proposed his men Sent a large Shower of 
 arrows at them & fell Right on Like Lyons and Put y^ Narrigansetts to 
 flight The Mohegs Killing a Number on the Spot : and Pursued the rest 
 Driving Some Down Ledges of Rocks those of uncas' men most forward Pass- 
 ing by the Narrigansitt Sachem Twight him back to give uncas opportunity 
 to take him himself and in the Pursuit at a Place Now Call** Sachems Plain 
 uncas took him by the Shoulder he then Sett Down (Noing Uncas) uncas 
 then Gave a hoop & his men Return"! ^q Jj^jq ^Qf] [^ ^ Councel then Held 
 twas Concluded by them that Uncas with a Gard Sho*! Carry s'^ Sachem to 
 Hartford to the Governor and Magistrats (it being before y® Charter) & 
 advise what they Sho'' Do with him : and being Carrid to Hartford and 
 Presented to ye Governor &c : he ye s'^ uncas was told by them yt as there 
 was No war with ye English and Narrigansits it was not Proper for them to 
 Intermedle in the affair and advised him to take his own way accordingly they 
 Brote S"! Narrigansitt Sachem Back to the Same Spot of Ground where he 
 was took : where Uncas Kill"! him and Cut out a Large Piece of his Shoulder 
 Rosted & Eat it; & s'^ uncas Said it was the Sweetest meel he Ever 
 Eat : it made him have Strong Hart then they Bury him and made a Pillar 
 which I have Seen but a few years Since : and Such Regard hath ye Eng- 
 lish had for s*! Uncas & Tribe who ware always fast Friend : that when 
 s'' Uncas & Tribe ware attacked by a Potent Enemy & Block<! up in their 
 fort on a hill by the Side the great River and almost Starved to Death : 
 Lieu'. Tho*: Leffingwell Capt Benj Brewster of s^^ Norwich and others Se- 
 cretly Carred them Provision in the Night Seasons, upon which the Enimy 
 Raised the Seige : upon which s^^ Uncas Gave Sundrie Donations of Land 
 & : Continued to be a fast Friend to y** English to the time of his Death & 
 Some years afterward & Before y*^ Narrigansitt warr in y'^ year 1675 : Uncas 
 being thin chief the Narrigansitt Sachem Sent an Imbasador with a Large 
 Present of Wampam to Ingage Uncas and his Tribe to Joyn with him to 
 Distroy ye English Egle Eyed uncas having Reed : the Message & Presents : 
 Returnd for answer Go to your Master & Tell him : that I will go to Nor- 
 wich & advise with Major John Mason and Mr Fitch If they advise me to 
 
84 
 
 Joyn your Master I will and In the war that hapned Soon after S^^ Tribe 
 assisted ye English against them till they ware Subdued. 
 
 Norwich October D'.l' 1769 
 
 EiCH° Hide. 
 To the Rev^ Benj Trumble 
 at New Haven. 
 
 NOTE C. 
 
 1. SITE OF MIANTONOMOH'S CAPTURE. 
 
 The plain near Greeneville, where Miantonomoh was captured, has 
 long been known as "the Sachem's Plain." Tradition long asserted 
 that this was not only the site of his capture, but also of his execution 
 and burial. Miss Caulkins defended this opinion in her History of Nor- 
 wich, and so did the late Professor Kingsley of Yale College, in an arti- 
 cle in the New Englander, vol. i., p. 226. Hon. James Savage, the 
 learned editor of Winthrop's New England, has disputed the tradition 
 with great force (Savage's Winthrop, vol. ii., p. 162). Miss Caulkins 
 has acknowledged a change in her own opinions in a note, from which I 
 am permitted in this place to quote. 
 
 " Of all the legends and traditions connected with our country, I have 
 been most reluctant to relinquish that which placed the grave of Mianto- 
 nomoh on Sachem's Plain. It was pleasant to think that we knew 
 where the chieftain lay, and that we had it in our power to make some 
 amends, as it were, for the unjust sentence of our fathers, by heaping 
 honors upon his tomb. But it seems to be a plain question at issue be- 
 tween authentic cotemporary records and traditions first committed to 
 writing in 1769, which was 126 years after the event. As a votary of 
 history, therefore, I cannot hesitate to place myself upon this side of his- 
 toric truth, at the same time sadly remembering that the remains of the 
 murdered Sachem were left in some unknown place, and in all probability 
 with no friendly turf or tumulus to cover them, a prey to vultures and 
 beasts of the forest." 
 
 "The Sachem's plain, however, the place of his capture, is still the 
 place where he is to be honored and mourned." 
 
 The supposed site of Miantonomoh's capture, was once marked by a 
 pile of loose stones. These having disappeared, a few years ago a 
 
85 
 
 memorial block was erected, under circumstances thus alluded to by Col. 
 Stone : 
 
 " On the anniversary of American Independence, in 1S41, tlie inliab- 
 itants of the neighboring village of Greeneville paraded upon tlie plain, 
 and erected on the spot where the chieftain fell and was buried, a neat 
 granite monument, bearing the simple and appropriate inscription in cap- 
 itals : MIANTONOJIOH. 1643. 
 
 " The monument consists of a single oblong block of stone, about eight 
 feet by five, and perhaps five in thickness — resting upon a little mound 
 raised for that purpose. An address was delivered on the occasion, l)y 
 Mr. Wm. C. Gilman, of Norwich." 
 
 2. MIANTINoMOH — OR MIANTONNOMY? 
 
 The pronunciation of the name of the Narragansett Sachem has called 
 forth the following note from J. H. Trumbull, Esq., of Hartford, which 
 we quote from the Historical Magazine, July, 1858. New York : 
 C. B. Richardson. 
 
 " There is sufficient authority for accenting the penultimate syllable of 
 this name, but I can discover none for marking the vowel of that syllable 
 as long, nor for the pronunciation which this marking indicates. A care- 
 ful collation of the various forms in which the name was presented by 
 early writers, leads to the conclusion that 3Ie-dnto-n6ni'^ more nearly 
 expresses the original sound — the stress falling on the consonant of the 
 penult, and the short vowel having no determinate character, o, i, and e 
 having all been employed by contemporary writers to represent it. 
 
 " Callender (1739) adopts the form Miantonomy, and says that ' in all 
 the manuscripts ' the name is spelled Myantonomy, or Miantonome, or 
 Miantonomu, and ' is so pronounced by the people, who take the sound 
 by tradition, and not from the books, with the accent on the last syllable 
 but one.' (R. I. Hist. Coll. iv. 57). President Stiles, in 1761, marked 
 the pronunciation, Meantinome, on the authority of Francis Willet, Esq. , 
 of Narragansett (MS. Itinerary) . These are the earliest authorities I have 
 met with, for the accent. Neither of them authorizes the use of the 
 long vowel. A comparison of the following early forms of the name 
 wiU show that the vowel of the penult can hardly be represented by a 
 long 0, and y more nearly than oh indicates the sound of the last 
 syllable. 
 
 " In the earliest deeds to Coddington and Roger Williams (as recorded) , 
 
86 
 
 we have Miantunnomw and Miantunnom/. In others, from Roger 
 Williams, Miantonom/, Miantounomi, Miantonome, Miantenomy. On 
 the Connecticut records (i. 32), the name first appears in 1639, 
 as Antinemo ; on those of Massachusetts (ii. 23, 27), as Mean- 
 tonomo, and Meantonoma/*, in 1642. The MS. Records of the Com- 
 missioners of the U. Colonies for 1643 and 1644, present not less than 
 eight foi'ms of the name — Maantonnno, Meantom'moe, Meantinom/e, 
 Meantinomie, Meantinome, Maantinomie, IMiantonemoe, and IMeanton/- 
 mie. The 'Relation of the Indian Plot' (1642) has Maantonemo. 
 John Stanton, an accomplished interpreter, wi'ites in 1678, Meantinomy. 
 To these mio-ht be added some eight or ten other variations, from old 
 
 Co ' 
 
 writers, and twice or three times as many from modem authors. Mr. 
 Potter, in his history of Narragansett (R. I. Hist. Coll. iii. 172) gives 
 ' Meantonomy or Miantonmio (accented on the penultimate).' Mr. 
 Savage in the notes and index to Winthrop, writes Miantunnomoh, ad- 
 hering to the same form in the text, except in one instance, where it is 
 Miantonomoh. Dr. Holmes, in the Annals, adopted this latter form : 
 Dr. Trumbull (Hist, of Conn.), Meantonmioh. 
 
 " It will be observed that, in all the early variations, the only constant 
 vowel is the a of the second syllable, whence I infer that it was strongly 
 accented ; that the accented vowel of the penult was represented (often 
 by the same writer) by e, i, or o, indifferently, and therefore not likely 
 to have had the marked sound of o long ; and that the final syllable was 
 varied as a, e, ie, ce, i, o, oh, ah, u, and y, and is hardly to be represented 
 by the modern form oh, as the equivalent of b. 
 
 " The name was perhaps compounded of waantam, or wauontam, a 
 wise man, a counsellor, and numwoe {numau) full with the definite ar- 
 ticle m' prefixed — 'The one who is full of wisdom,' or counsel. If 
 this derivation be correct, the penultimate vowel was necessarily short." 
 
 3. UNO AS. 
 
 A gi'anite obelisk, bearing the simple inscription Uncas, was erected 
 in Norwich, on the grave of the Mohegan chieftain, July 4, 1842. Col. 
 William L. Stone, of New York, delivered an address at that time, 
 which was printed in a pocket volume, entitled " Uncas and Mianto- 
 nomoh," (New York, 1842, 18mo.) This discourse, and the notes 
 appended to it, contain many interesting and important facts relating 
 to the Indian history of Norwich. A newspaper sheet which was pub- 
 
^i 
 
 lished on the same occasion, entitled " The Uncas Monument," gives 
 the inscriptions on the monuments in the Sacliem's hurying ground, and 
 many other details, which would otherwise have perished, it is probable, 
 before this time. " The Mohegan Extra," is the name of another broad 
 sheet sold at jNIohegan, when an effort was made by means of a Ladies' 
 Fair, to raise the funds for repairing the Mohegan chapel. 
 
 In addition to Colonel Stone's discourse on Uncas, the valuable 
 " History of the Indians of Connecticut," by J. W. DeForest, P]sq., of 
 New Haven, should be read by those who are interested in this early 
 period of our history. 
 
 The original letter or obligation of Uncas, quoted in the Address, is in 
 the possession of J. Carson Brevoort, Esq., of Brooklyn, N. Y., who 
 has kindly permitted it to be printed here. Rev. Dr. J. Waddington, of 
 London, first called my attention to this remarkable paper, and made a 
 facsimile copy of it, which was shown at the celebration. 
 
 4. PRESENT CONDITION OF THE MOHEGANS. 
 
 At the last session of the Connecticut legislature, (May, 1859,) a 
 committee, (Messrs. B. M. Gay, H. C. Deming and J. Halsey,) was 
 appointed to inquire into the condition of the Mohegans, and report to 
 the legislature whether a sale of their reserved lands would be expedient. 
 
 From the facts then elicited, it appears that there are now in the tribe 
 1 one hundred and two persons, though all of them are not of pure Indian 
 blood. A considerable portion of the reservation made in 1790 to the 
 tribe, by the State, and distributed among the families then living, has 
 reverted to the tribe in common. It was proposed that this common 
 land should be sold for the benefit of the tribe, but the legislature refused 
 to gi-ant the power, and a committee consisting of Gov. Buckingham, 
 Senator Foster and Hon. J. A. Hovey, was appointed to inquire what 
 course should be pursued, and report to the next legislature. 
 
 Divine service is regularly maintained in the chapel at Mohegan, and 
 a Sabbath School is kept up chiefly by the efforts of Gen. Wm. Williams. 
 
 NOTE D. 
 
 THE NAME NOR^VICH. 
 
 It will be remembered that in the Indian deed of June 6, 1659, the 
 settlers in Mohegan are spoken of as tlie " inhabitants of Norwich." It 
 
88 
 
 seems probable that the name was selected because to some of the inhab 
 itants, the site of the new town suggested the old. In Miss Caulkins's 
 History the Huntingtons are said to have come from Norwich, but I 
 have found no earlier authority for this statement than a letter of Rev. 
 Joseph Huntington, D. D., of Coventry, (who died in 1794,) which 
 is printed without date in Eev. D. Huntington's " Memories, etc., of an 
 Octogenary," Cambridge, 1857. Those who are interested in the con- 
 nection of old England with New England, may be glad to see the fol- 
 lowing extract from Blomfield's Hist, of Norwich, where, (after speaking 
 of the attempt of some to find " Norivicus in the name of Ordovices, a 
 people far enough distant from hence,") he says we owe the rise of the 
 city as well as its name to the Saxons, " North-wic, signifying no more 
 than a northern situation, on a unnding river ; and because they usu- 
 ally placed castles at such situations, the word ivic indeed was used for 
 a castle, so that Norwich may signify the northern castle at the rvinding 
 of the river, it being north of the ancient station at Castor.'''' 
 
 With this may be compared the following passage from the " Beauties 
 of England and Wales," (vol. xi., p. 113. London, 1810.) "The 
 city chiefly occupies the top and sides of a gentle hill ; which runs par- 
 allel with the river Wensum on its western side, and terminates at a 
 sudden bend of it. At this turn, and near that termination, a castle, or 
 military station, appears to been established at an early period ; and as 
 the people congregated around it for personal security, or private advan- 
 tage, they gradually formed, and augmented the town 
 
 Of Norwich, in its present state, it has been said that it stands upon 
 more ground, comparatively with its population, than any city in the 
 kingdom, the buildings being generally interspersed with gardens, which 
 latter circumstance has given rise to its appellation of a ' city in an 
 orchard.'' The shape or plan is irregular, approachmg that of a cor- 
 nucopia, or bent cone." 
 
 We may presume that the Shetucket, running into the Thames, seemed 
 to correspond to the Wensum, and that the rocky battlements of Wawe- 
 qua's hill, (Savin hill, or Academy hill,) "on its western side," "at 
 a sudden bend of it," suggested the castle — North-wic. 
 
 For an account of Norwich, England, at a period not very remote 
 from the settlement of Norwich, Conn., the reader is referred to Macau- 
 lay's history of England, vol. i., chap. 3. 
 
 In reference to the pronunciation of the name, one of the reporters at 
 the recent celebration, (N. Y. Times, Sept. 9,) made the following 
 
89 
 
 amusing observation : — " All are welcome to come and attend the cele- 
 bration, but there is a ' shil)boleth ' liy which the veritable descendants 
 of the town can infallibly be recognized, if the connnittee of arrangements 
 are at all in doubt as to whether applicants are entitled to their hospi- 
 talities. Only entrap the doubtful individual into pronouncing the word 
 Norwich, and the mystery is solved. If he says Norridge, as though 
 he came within a single letter of saying porridge, the fact is demonstrated 
 that he is to the manor born, but let him be so unlucky as to tack on the 
 ' wich ' to the first syllable, and he is at once voted a foreigner." 
 
 NOTE E . 
 
 MAJOR JOHN MASON. 
 
 The main events in the life of Mason may be easily derived from any 
 history of New England or Connecticut. His biography was written by 
 Rev. George E. Ellis, D. D., now professor in the divinity school at 
 Cambridge, in 1844, and was published in the third volume of the second 
 series of Sparks's American Biography. To that elaborate memoir, and 
 the interesting address of Mr. Rockwell, the reader is referred for an 
 account of "the Miles Standish of Connecticut." 
 
 So long ago as the beginning of the last century, the fame of Mason 
 was extolled in verse, by Roger Wolcott, afterward governor of Con- 
 necticut, in a volume entitled " Poetical Meditations, being the Improve- 
 ment of some vacant hours." (New London, printed and sold by T. 
 (ireen. 1725. 18mo.) A complete copy of this rare poem is in the 
 college library at New Haven. A copy was lately offered for sale in 
 London, at £7 17s 6d. 
 
 NOTE F. 
 
 THE ORIGINAL PROPRIETORS OF NORWICH. 
 
 On account of the imperfection of the early records of the town, much 
 difficulty has been experienced m making a complete list of the early 
 settlers of Norwich. The following list was given in Miss Caulkins's 
 Norwich history. "This makes," she remarks, "the number of settlers 
 
90 
 
 thirty-eigbt, though it has Ijeen generally supposed that but thu-ty-five 
 signed the town purchase." 
 
 Rev. James Fitch, 
 Major John Mason, 
 Lievit. Thomas Tracy, 
 Lieut. Thos. Leffingwell, 
 John Pease, 
 John Tracy, 
 John Baldwin, 
 Jonathan Royce, 
 Robert Allyn, 
 Francis Griswold, 
 Nehemiah Smith, 
 Thomas Howard, 
 John Calkins, 
 Hugh Calkins, 
 Ensign William Backus, 
 Richard Egerton, 
 Thomas Post, 
 John Grager, 
 Samuel Hide, 
 
 William Hide, 
 Morgan Bowers, 
 Robert Wade, 
 John Birchard, 
 John Post, 
 Thomas Bingham, 
 Thomas Waterman, 
 Stephen Giffords, 
 John Bradford, 
 Christopher Huntington, 
 Simon Huntington, 
 Thomas Adgate, 
 John Olmstead, 
 Stephen Backus, 
 Thomas Bliss, 
 John Reynolds, 
 Josiah Reed, 
 [Richard Wallis,] 
 
 [Richard Hendys.] 
 
 Rev. E. B. Huntington, of Stamford, who planned to write the history 
 of the town, and who published some of the preliminary chapters in the 
 Norwich Spectator, 1844, prepared a list of the proprietors in 1659, 
 which differs slightly from that above given. 
 
 NOTE G. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF REV. JAMES FITCH, 
 
 THE FIRST MINISTER IX NORWICH. 
 
 Rev. James Fitch, the first minister in Norwich, was a native of 
 Rocking, a small town near Braintree in Essex Co., England, fomous 
 chiefly for its woolen manufactures, the "Booking" of our shops. He 
 was born Dec. 24, 1622, but nothing now appears in respect to his pa- 
 rentage. 
 
 At the age of sixteen years, in 1638, he removed to New England, 
 landing, it has been conjectured, at New Haven. He took up his abode 
 in Hartford, and there for seven years pursued a course of study under 
 
91 
 
 the guidance of those learned and godly men, Rev. Thomas Hooker and 
 Rev. Samuel Stone. These two clergymen, who came to America in 
 1633, had been scholars in Emanuel College, Cambridge, and had re- 
 ceived Episcopal ordination in England. Both were persecuted for their 
 non-conformity, and Hooker was originally driven to Holland, where he 
 was the intimate friend of Dr. Ames, the celebrated author of the Me- 
 dulla Theologian.! Wliile living in England, Hooker maintained in his 
 own hired house near Chelmsford,* a school of which John Eliot, who 
 afterwards became known as " the apostle of the Indians, " was usher. 
 It may be that Fitch, the boy of Rocking, then first came under the in- 
 fluence of that most remarkable man whose zeal in laboring for the abo- 
 rigines of New England he was afterward to emulate. There can hardly 
 be a question that he was a friend of Hooker's in England, and that as 
 soon as his youth would allow he hastened to join his former counsellor 
 in the wilderness of Connecticut. Under the instruction of two such 
 men as the first ministers of Hartford, continued during the period now 
 appropriated to collegiate and theological education, it is not strange that 
 Fitch became a thorough scholar and a hearty Christian, meriting the 
 epithets which have been quoted from the Magnalia,t " the Holy and 
 Acute." 
 
 In 1646, Mr. Fitch became the pastor of a church in Saybrook. Two 
 clergymen. Rev. John Higginson and Rev. Thomas Peters, had before 
 ministered to the little company who gathered round the fort which Win- 
 throp built and Mason commanded at the mouth of the Connecticut ; but 
 a meeting-house was not erected, nor a religious society organized until 
 Mr. Fitch was called to the pastoral ofiiee. Dr. Trumbull states that 
 although Hooker and Stone were present at the ordination of Fitch, the 
 laying on of hands was by the brethren. 
 
 For fourteen years the ministry thus commenced was continued with- 
 out interruption. In 1660, the greater part of his people ]-emoved with 
 him to Norwich, where he continued to be their pastor, until near the 
 close of the centuiy the infirmities of age compelled him to rest. Not 
 long afterward he removed to Lebanon, where he died in 1702, at the 
 age of eighty, having been for fifty-four years the minister, in Saybrook 
 and Norwich, of the same religious congregation. 
 
 That care for the Indians i which led him to master their language, hold 
 
 * Mather's Magnalia, iii., 59. 
 
 t Magnalia, iii., 200. 
 
 t V. Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., First Sec. i., 208. 
 
92 
 
 religious meetings for their benefit, relieve the temporal wants which their 
 vices brought upon them, and even to give three hundred acres of good 
 land from his own estate to those who were persecuted for their faith, 
 evinces his apostolic zeal as a missionary of the Cross. 
 
 All the allusions to his labors in the records of the General Com-t, 
 the letters and sermons from his own pen which have come down to us, 
 and the traditions of the church and town alike testify to his industry, 
 ability, and faithfulness as the minister of a church of Christ and as the 
 leader in a newly-founded commonwealth. 
 
 His tomb-stone, which is still standing in Lebanon, bears the following 
 inscription : — 
 
 REMEMBER ETERNITY. 
 
 IN HOC SEPULCRO DEPOSITS SUNT RELIQUI^ 
 
 VIRI VERB REVERENDI D : lACOBI FITCH : NATUS 
 
 FUIT APUD ROCKING IN COMITATU ESSEXI^ IN ANGLIA 
 
 ANNO DOMINI 1622 DECEMB'' 24 " QUI POSTQUAM 
 
 LINGUIS LITBRATIS OPTIME INSTRUCTUS FUISSET 
 
 IN NOVANGLIAM VENIT ^TAT. 16 ET DEINDE VITAM 
 
 DEGIT HARTFORDI^ PER SEPTENNIUM SUB INSTITU- 
 
 -TIONE VIRORUM CELEBERIMORUM D : HOOKER ET D : STONE 
 
 POSTEA MUNERE PASTORALI FUNCTUS EST APUD SAY- 
 
 -BROOK PER ANNOS 14 ILLINC CUM ECCLESI^ MAIORI 
 
 PARTE NORVICUM MIGRAVIT ET IBI CETEROS VIT^ 
 
 ANNOS TRANSBGIT IN OPERE EVANGELICO IN SEN- 
 
 -ECTUTE VERO PR^ CORPORIS INFIRMITATE NBCBS- 
 
 -SARIO CESSABAT AB OPERE PUBLICO : TANDEMQUE 
 
 RECESSIT LIBERIS APUD LEBANON UBI SBMIANNO 
 
 FERE EXACTO OBDORMIVIT IN lESU ANNO 1702 
 
 NOVBb" 18 ETAT 80 VIR, IN6ENII ACUMINE, 
 
 PONDBRE JUDICII, PRUDENTIA, CHARITATE, SANCTIS 
 
 LABORIBUS, ET OMNIMODA VIT^ SANCTITATE PERIT- 
 
 lAQUOQUB ET VI CONCIONANDI NULLI SECUNDUS. ^^^ 
 
 Mr. Fitch was twice married. By his first wife, Abigail, daughter of 
 Rev. Henry Whitefield, first minister of Guilford, " a gentleman of good 
 extraction by his birth, " he had four daughters and two sons, James, 
 (the benefactor in 1701 of Yale College) and Samuel. 
 
 By his second wife, Priscilla, daughter of Major John Mason, he had 
 
I 
 
 93 
 
 one daughter and seven sons, Daniel, John, Jeremiah, Jabez (the min- 
 ister of Portsmouth, N.H.,) Nathaniel, Josiah, and Eleazar. 
 The following writings of Mr. Fitch have appeared in print : 
 
 1. A sennon on the death of Anne, wife of Major Mason, preached 
 in 1672. (A copy of this sermon is preserved in the Pastor's Library 
 of the First Church in Norwich.) 
 
 2. An Election sermon preached in 1674, entitled " An holy connec- 
 tion between Jehovah's being a Wall of Fire to his people and the glory 
 in the midst thereof." Cambridge, 1674. 20 pp. 4°. (A copy of 
 this sermon, with the title page unfoi'tunately gone, is in the College 
 Library at New Haven.) 
 
 3. An Explanation of the solemn advice recommended by the council 
 in Connecticut colony to the inhabitants in that Jurisdiction, Respecting 
 the Reformation of those Evils which have been the Procuring Cause of 
 the late Judgments upon New England. Boston, 1683. 18". 
 
 4. The covenant Which was Solemnly renewed by the Church in 
 Norwich, in Connecticut Colony in New England, March 22, 1675. 
 (See note H., p. 94.) 
 
 5. A brief Discourse, Proving that the First Day of the Week is the 
 Christian Sabbath ; Wherein also the Objections of the Anti-Christian 
 Sabbatarians of late risen up in Connecticut Colony, are refuted. 
 
 (The three wi'itings last named are in one volume, as previously 
 stated, a copy of which is owned by Geo. Brinley, Esq., of Hartford.) 
 
 In addition to the above-mentioned publications, made in the life-time 
 of Mr. Fitch, several of his letters have been recently printed, to wit : 
 
 1. A Letter to D. Gookin, on the efforts made to Christianize the 
 Mohegans, dated Nov. 20, 1674. (Mass. Hist. Soc. Collections. First 
 series, i. 208.) 
 
 2. Letter to the WorshipfuU Mr. AUyne, at Hartford, July, 1675, 
 asking aid in resisting King Philip's army. (Trumbull's Col. Records 
 of Conn., ii. 336.) 
 
 3. Part of a letter to the council in Hartford, dated noon, March 13, 
 1675-6. (Ibid., ii. 417.) 
 
 4. Letter to the WorshipfuU Capt. John Allyne at Hartford, dated 
 29th May, 1676, expressing a willingness "to go forth with the armie." 
 (Ibid., ii. 447.) 
 
 5. Letter to the General Court, dated May 4, 1678, respecting 
 Uncas and the surrenderers. (Ibid, ii. 592.) 
 
 6. Letter to Capt. John Allyne, May 5, 1678, enclosing the letter 
 last mentioned. (Ibid, ii. 591.) 
 
94 
 
 NOTE H. 
 
 The Covenant which was solemnly renewed by the Church in 
 
 Norwich in Connecticut Colony in New England, March 
 
 22, 1675. 
 
 In this Calamitous Year 1675, the year of Jacob's trouble in the 
 Wilderness, in which the Lord doth scourge New England by the Out- 
 rage of the Heathen; a year never to be forgotten. 
 
 And we who are in Church state, being called by our Pious Rulers, 
 with other Congregations in this Colony, and in Conscience of our duty 
 moved to seek the Lord by Fasting and Prayer : and having considered 
 the Particulars contained in the Writing sent from our Rulers to the 
 several Churches in this Colony, and which we ought to keep in Record 
 for succeeding Generations, in which they do advertise us of those sins, 
 for which the fierce wrath of the Holy One of Israel is poured out upon 
 New England ; first by Blastings of the Fruits of the Earth, but in this 
 year by cutting off the Lives of many by the Sword, and laying wast 
 some Plantations, and threatening ruine to the whole. 
 
 Although to wonderment we have been hitherto preserved in the midst 
 of the Heathen, yea, somewhat by means of some Heathen; but we 
 feeling in this day of the Lords searching our Jerusalem as with a 
 Candle, we cannot clear ourselves (though through Grace) both we and 
 ours have been preserved from those many gross acts of Profaneness, 
 and Drunkenness, Uncleanness, and such lilvc Scandals specified in that 
 Writing, and do desire humbly to be thankful for some progress of Con- 
 verting Work in some of the rising Generation among us : But while we 
 do behold many unconverted Souls in this destroying year, and the same 
 sins working in us the causes of them, as in others; and a great degree 
 of dangerous neglects of that which ought to be for the prevention of 
 Apostacie, and that the departings of the Glory of God from a People are 
 by little and little, and not total at once : We do see cause to judge and 
 east down ourselves at the Footstool of the Lord, being covered with 
 shame. And seeing true repentance doth not end only in confession, 
 but is restless for Reformation, and solemn Covenanting with our God is 
 a means (through his Grace) in order to Reformation, as we find in the 
 10th of Ezra, and other Holy Scriptures and pious Examples : We do 
 therefore this Day Solemny Covenant to Endeavor uprightly by depend- 
 ance upon the Grace of God in Christ Jesus our only Saviour. 
 
 First, That our Children shall be brought up in the Acbnonition of 
 
95 
 
 the Lord, as in our Families, so in pul)lick ; that all the Males who are 
 eight or nine years of age, shall be presented before the Lord in his 
 Congregation every Lords Day to be Catechised, until they be about 
 thirteen years in age. 
 
 Secondly, That those who are about thirteen years in age, both Males 
 and Females, shall frequent the meeting appointed in private for their 
 instruction, and to accustome them timely to the exercise of Church Dis- 
 cipline, and these to continue belonging to this meeting, so long as they 
 abide under Family Government of parents or others, or until they are 
 come to the enjoynient of full communion with the Church. 
 
 Thirdly, Tliat those who are grown up, so as that they are in that 
 respect, left to be at their own dispose, shall be required to take hold of 
 the Covenant of their Fathers holding forth qualifications suitable for 
 that solemn duty, or at least that they hold forth a conscientious endeavor 
 in the use of means to prepare for the same ; and if they be negligent 
 they shall be admonished of their sin ; aixl if obstinate they shall be cut 
 off from the Congregation of the Lord by that Dreadful Ordinance of 
 Excommunication . 
 
 Fourthly, Whereas the indulgence of Parents in bearing with the evil 
 Behaviours of their children, their disobedience, iinmannerly gestures, 
 prodigality, and vain and unseemly Fashions, or other things not becom- 
 ing those who are given to the Lord, 'is too manifest, and we are prone 
 through fear or favour, or not observance to neglect admonishing such, 
 the Church doth appoint some Brethren to take notice of such children, 
 and timely, meekly, wisely, and faithfully to admonish them, and their 
 Parents, as the matter shall require, and if private means doth not 
 prevail, then to manage the complaint orderly in other steps. 
 
 Fifthly, Whereas the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, the Seal of 
 Communion, ought often to be celebrated ; for the prevention of neglect 
 we do determine (God granting opportunity) that we will be in the use 
 of that ordinance once in every six weeks. 
 
 Sixthly, Whereas it is too often seen, that many, through fear, or 
 fiivour, or sense of inability, do behave themselves to their Brethren, as 
 if they were not concerned in that great Duty of Admonishing their 
 Brother for offensive behaviours, unless it be in cases wherein they 
 themselves suffer wrong, and hence love decayeth, and offences abound, 
 and Christ's Government, in works denied : We do solemny promise, 
 that we will in any way wise rebuke, and not suffer sin to rest upon our 
 Brother, but deal faithfully according to Christs Order. 
 
96 
 
 And seeing we feel by woeful Experience how prone we are soon to 
 forget the works of the Lord, and our own Vows ; we do agi'ee and 
 determme, that this Writing or Contents of it, shall be once in e very- 
 Year read in a Day of Fasting and Prayer before the Lord, and his 
 Congregation ; and shall leave it with our Children, that they do the 
 same in their solemn dayes of mourning before the Lord, that they may 
 never forget how their Fathers ready to perish in a strange Land, and 
 with sore grief and trembling of heart, and yet hope in the tender mercy, 
 and good will of him, who dwelt in the burning Bush, did thus solemnly 
 renew their Covenant with Grod : And that our Children after us, may 
 not provoke the Lord and be cast off as a degenerate Offspring, but may 
 tremble at the Connnandment of God, and learn to place their hope in 
 hmi, who although he hath given us a Cup of Astonishment to drink, 
 yet will display his Banner over them, who fear him. 
 
 NOTE I. 
 
 REV. JOHN WOODWAED (the second Pastor in Norwich). 
 
 Rev. John Woodward, a native of Dedham, Mass., was graduated at 
 Harvard College in 1693 ; was ordained at Norwich, Dee. 6, 1699; was 
 married in 1703 to Mrs. Sarah Bowell, on which occasion " houseing and 
 lands ' ' were liberally provided for him by the town ; was dismissed in 
 consequence of a controversy in his church respecting the Saybrook Plat- 
 form, Sept. 13, 1716, after which he ceased to preach, and retired to a 
 farm which he owned in East Haven, where he spent the rest of his life, 
 and died in 1746. (Sprague's Annals, vol. 1.) 
 
 REV. BENJAMIN LORD, D.D.. (the third Pastor in Norwich). 
 
 Rev. Benjamin Lord, eldest child of Benjamin and Elizabeth Lord, 
 was born at Saybrook in the year 1693. He graduated at Yale College 
 in 1714, and was two years, from 1815 to 1817, a tutor in the same in- 
 stitution, during which time he studied theology. In the early part of 
 1716 he was preaching as a candidate in Norwich, and was ordained over 
 the church in that place, Nov. 20, 1717. He was an early friend of re- 
 vivals of religion, of which one occurred as early as 1721. He was 
 chosen a member of the corporation of Yale College in 1740, and held 
 the place till 1772. In 1774, his alma mater conferred on him the de- 
 gree of Doctor of Divinity. In 1767 he preached his half century ser- 
 
mon. tlion 74 years of at^e. In 1781 he preached his (Uth anniversary 
 sermon. In his 87th year he lost his eye-sight, but continued to preach 
 till within six weeks of his death, which occurred March ^, 1784, at 
 the age of 90. (Sprague's Annals, vol. i.) 
 
 NOT 1^: K . 
 
 T H K SEPARATES 
 
 Those who are interested in the Separate movement of eastern Con- 
 necticut, are referred to an admirable article in regard to it, by Rev. R. 
 C. Learned, of Berlin, in the New Euglander, vol. xi.,p. 195, 1853, — 
 and to Rev. F. Denison's Notes on the Baptists in Norwich, Conn., Dr. 
 Trumbull's Hist. (vol. ii., p. 168 et seq.,) Bacon's Hist. Discourses at 
 New Haven, Hovey's Life of Isaac Backus, and Tracy's Great Awaken- 
 
 NOTE L. 
 
 THIRTY YEARS BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 I am unable to expand, as I hoped to do, the allusion to events which 
 preceded the American Revolution. Many of them are 8})oken of in 
 Miss Caulkins's History, to which the reader is especially referred for an 
 entertaining account of the meeting at Peck's Tavern. In the recent 
 and interesting Memoir of (lovernor Trumbull, by Hon. I. W. Stuart,-* 
 of Hartford, will be found an accMjunt of the memorable Mohegan Con- 
 troversy which so long engrossed the attention of the Colony. The life 
 of Samson Occum, the Mohegan preacher, will be found in Dr. Sprague's 
 Annals, and also an account of the Ind'an Charity School which was 
 established Ijy Dr. Wheelock. Upon several other points I have col- 
 lected original documents which may hereafter be published. 
 
 NOTE M. 
 
 A sketch of Mr. N. Niles will be found in Dr. Sprague's Annals, 
 vol. i., p. 716, and another, less extended, in Duyckinck's Cyclopedia of 
 American Literature, vol. i., p. 440. 
 
98 
 
 The words of his famous ode are as follows : 
 
 Why should vain mortals tremble at the sight 
 Of death and destruction in the field of battle, 
 Where blood and carnage clothe the ground in crimson, 
 Sounding with death groans ? 
 
 Death will invade us by the means appointed, 
 And we must all bow to the king of terrors ; 
 Nor am I anxious, if I am prepai-ed. 
 
 What shape he comes in. 
 
 Infinite Goodness teaches us submission. 
 Bids us be quiet under all his dealings; 
 Never repining, but for ever praising 
 God our Creator. 
 
 Well may we praise Him ; all His ways are perfect ; 
 Though a resplendence infinitely glowing. 
 Dazzles in glory on the sight of mortals, 
 
 Struck blind by luster ! 
 
 Good is Jehovah in bestowing sunshine; 
 Nor less his goodness in the storm and thunder : 
 Mercies and judgments both proceed from kindness — 
 Infinite kindness ! 
 
 Oh, then exult, that God forever reigneth ! 
 Clouds which around Him hinder our perception, 
 Bind us the stronger to exalt his name, and 
 Shout louder praises ! 
 
 Then to the wisdom of my Lord and Master, 
 I will commit all that I have or wish for: 
 Sweetly as babes sleep will I give up my life up 
 When call'd to yield it. 
 
 Now Mars, I dare thee, clad in smoky pillars. 
 Bursting from bomb-shells, roaring from the cannon, 
 Rattling in grape shot, like a storm of hail stones, 
 Tortui-ing iEtlier! 
 
 Up the bleak Heavens let the spreading flames rise. 
 Breaking like vEtna through the smoking columns, 
 Low'ring like Egypt o'er the falling city. 
 Wantonly burnt down. 
 
 While all their heai'ts quick palpitate for havoc. 
 Let slip your blood-hounds, nam'd the British lions : 
 Dauntless as death-stares, nimble as the whirlwind. 
 Dreadful as demons ! 
 
99 
 
 Let oceans waft on all your floating castles, 
 Frauiiht with destruction liorrible to nature; 
 Then, witli your sails fiU'd by a storm of vengeance 
 Rear down to battle ! 
 
 From the dire caverns made by ghostly miners. 
 Let the explosion, di-eadful as volcanoes, 
 Heave the broad town, with all its wealth and people, 
 Quick to destruction ! 
 
 Still shall the banner of the King of Heaven 
 Never advance where I 'm afraid to follow : 
 While that precedes me, with an open bosom, 
 Wai; I defy thee ! 
 
 Fame and dear freedom lure me on to battle, 
 While a fell despot, grimmer than a death's head, 
 Stings me with serpents, fiercer than Medusa's, 
 To the encounter. 
 
 Life for my country and the cause of freedom. 
 Is but a trifle for a worm to part with : 
 And if preserved in so great a contest. 
 Life is redoubled. 
 
 NOTE N. 
 
 CAPTAIN EGBERT NILES. 
 
 In 1856, through the instrumentality of Hon. L. F. S. Foster, U. S. 
 Senator, a recognition of the services of Captain Robert Niles was made 
 by Congress, in a liljeral appropriation to his surviving daughter. The 
 petition on which this appropriation was made, and the remarks of Mr. 
 Foster in advocating the claim, (Dec. 24, 1855, April 25, 1856,) will 
 be found in the Congressional Globe, first session 34th Congress. The 
 first speech of Mr. Foster presents so complete a survey of the patriotic 
 services of Captain Niles, that I re-print it entire. 
 
 Remarks of Mr. Foster, of Connecticut, in the Senate, Dec. 24:, 1855, 
 on the Revolutionary Services of Capt. Niles. 
 
 " I ask leave to present the petition of Hannah F. Niles of Norwich, 
 in the State of Connecticut. The petition sets forth ■ substantially that 
 the petitioner is the sole surviving daughter and child of the late Cap- 
 tain Robert Niles, of Norwich, in Connecticut, now deceased, and his 
 
100 
 
 sole he'r at law ; that prior to the war of the Kevolution the father of 
 the petlt'oner, Captain Niles, was engaged in the merchant service as 
 a shipmaster, and had acquired so high a reputation in his profession, 
 that immediately after the breaking out of the war in the spring of 1775, 
 Colonel Mott, the chief officer of engineers at Fort George, Ticonderoga, 
 made a request to Grovernor Trumbull, then Grovernor of the colony of 
 Connecticut, that Captain Niles might be ordered to that post with a 
 view of his taking command of one of the armed vessels on the lake — a 
 very important service connected with the defense and protection of that 
 post ; that subsequently, in the same year, in the fall of 1775, Captain 
 Niles was commissioned in the service of the Colonies, and ordered to 
 the command of the schooner Spy, an armed vessel belonging to the 
 colony of Connecticut, and ordered to cruise on the coast of the colony 
 for its protection, under a commission signed by Jonathan Trumbull, 
 then Governor of the colony — a name closely associated with the name 
 of George Washington, and with the history of our Revolution. The 
 commission thus signed by him, and dated August 7th, 1775, is ap- 
 pended to the petition. 
 
 "The petitioner further represents that in April, 1776, Captain Niles 
 was ordered with his vessel to join the fleet of Admiral Hopkins, cruis- 
 ing in the service and under the authority of the Government of the 
 United States; that during the years 1776 and 1777 Captain Niles con- 
 tinued in the command of the S[)y and of another vessel called the Dol- 
 pliin, and while in the command of these vessels performed very impor- 
 tant services by capturing varloxis prizes on tlie coast, which he brought 
 into port, and which were applied for the service of the country and the 
 army, then destitute and in great v/ant ; that he was also engaged in 
 the transportation of provisions and stores for the army at different 
 points along the coast between New England and Virginia ; that in the 
 month of June, 1778, Captain Niles was employed by the Government 
 of the United States to carry out an official copy of the ratification of 
 the treaty then recently made lietween the United States and France ; 
 that he successfully performed this service, and carried the treaty from 
 the United States to France, and delivered it to Dr Franklin, then our 
 resident Minister at Paris ; and he returned home to his country and 
 made report of his voyage and services to the proper authorities. This 
 is a brief statement of the services set forth in the petition l)y Miss 
 Niles. They are set forth, Mr. President, without any ostentation or 
 display. She asks at the hands of the Senate that some compensation 
 
101 
 
 may be made to lier for these services of her father. I may say a word 
 in addition to the facts thus detailed in the petition. Captain Niles died 
 in the year 1818, and died in extreme poverty. He never received any- 
 thing from the Grovernment except the depreciated pay with whicli the 
 Crovernment then attempted to discharge its del)ts, unless the single sum 
 of fifty dollars, which was paid a short time previous to his death, under 
 one of the acts of Congress which had then recently been passed. He 
 died before any other payment under the law became due. The services 
 which he rendered, and which are thus imperfectly and briefly detailed 
 in the petition, were of a most important character, not as briUiant, it is 
 true, as some that were rendered ; but the carrying out and delivery 
 of the treaty between our Government and France must certainly be 
 reckoned as among the most important services which could then be ren- 
 dered. Our Government at that time considered it a matter of so much 
 importance, that there were three several copies of the treaty dispatched 
 by three different vessels. Captain Niles was the only man of the three 
 who succeeded in crossing the ocean and in delivering the treaty; both 
 ^^Ijie other vessels were captured by the enemy. Captain ■Niles succeeded 
 in landing at Brest, in twenty-seven days after he sailed from the harbor 
 of Stonington, in Connecticut, running the gauntlet through the Eng- 
 lish fleet off Brest, where he was chased for a long time by two English 
 frigates ; but he landed in safety. He found the French fleet waiting for 
 the copy of the ratification of the treaty, in order to sail for this coun- 
 try, and immediately after he landed that fleet sailed, and succor came 
 to our shores." 
 
 Mr. Foster closed his remarks with a reference to the character of the 
 petitioner. At a later day the prayer of the petition was granted. 
 
 NOTE 0. 
 
 THE OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION IN NORWICH. 
 
 The following documents are sufiiciently explained in the text. They 
 form, connectedly, a good illustration of the state of feeling which 
 was prevalent in Eastern Connecticut at the opening of the war of 
 Independence. 
 
 CALL FOR A TOWN MEETING. 
 
 (The original is iu the possession of Mr. Win. C. Oilman, Now Vorlc.) 
 The Inhabitants of the Town of Norwioh by Law Qualified to Vote in 
 Town Meeting are hereby AVarned to IVfeet at the Town house in Said 
 
102 
 
 Norwich on the first Monday of June Next at two of the Clock In the 
 Afternoon to take into Consideration the Melancholly Situation of our Civil 
 Constitutional Liberties Rights and Privileges which are Threatened with 
 Destruction by the Enemies of his Majesty's Happy Reign & Government 
 over the American Colonies and to Do Whatsoever Shall be thought 
 Expedient to Manifest our Loyalty to the King and faithful Endeavours to 
 Promote the Hearty Affection which Every Good Subject hath for the 
 General Good of the British Empire which is In the Most Happy Condition 
 when Every Individual Is Secure In the possession of his Person, Family, 
 Property & Privileges under the Paternal Protection of a Most Gracious & 
 Pious Prince, as also to take Into Consideration some IVIemorlals for High- 
 way, Praid for hi Said Town and also to Act any Thing Else that may be 
 fairly offered. 
 
 Samuel Tracy, 
 
 Benj. Huntington, Select 
 
 Barnabas Huntington, ] Men. 
 
 Elijah Brewster, 
 Norwich, May 30*, 1774. 
 
 KRCORD OF THE TOWN MEETING, JUNE 6, 1774. 
 (From the Town Records.) 
 
 At a very full meeting of the Inhabitants of the Town of Norwich, legally 
 warned and convened in the Town house, In said Norwich, on the 6"> day 
 of June, A. D. 1774, the Honorable Jabez Huntington, Esqr., JNIoderator, 
 
 Voted, That this meeting be adjourned to the meeting house, and there 
 immediately opened, that more convenient room may be had for the num- 
 ber of the people now assemljled. The meeting was opened at the meeting 
 house accordingly, where the following resolves were passed almost unani- 
 mously : 
 
 Voted, That Samuel Huntington, Esq., Mr. Isaac Tracy, Capt. Jedediah 
 Huntington, Christopher Leffingwell, Esq., Elisha Fitch, Esq., Simon 
 Tracy, Jun., Esq., Capt. Joseph Trumbull, Benj. Huntington, Esq., and 
 Capt. Zabdiel Rogers, be a committee to draw up some sentiments proper 
 to be adopted and resolutions to be come into in this alarming crisis of 
 affairs. Relative to the Natural Rights & Privileges of the People, and to 
 lay the same before this Ineeting. 
 
 On the same day, on receiving the report of the Committee — 
 
 Voted, That we will, to the utmost of our abilities, assert & defend the 
 Liberties and immunities of British America ; and that we will Co-operate 
 with our Brethren in this and the other Colonies in such reasonable meas- 
 ures as shall in General Congress, or otherwise, be judged most proper to 
 Relieve us from Burthens we now feel, and secure us from greater evils we 
 fear will follow from the Principles adopted by the British Parliament, 
 Respecting the town of Boston. 
 
103 
 
 Voted, That Capt. Jedediah IInntin;iton, Christoplier Lefllngwell, Esq., 
 Doct. Tlioopliiliis Ro<ri'rs, Capt. "William Hubbard, and Cajrt. J()S('])li Trum- 
 bull, be a standing Committee for keeping up a Correspondence with the 
 Towns in this and the neighboring Colonies, and that they transrfiit a Copy 
 of these Votes to the Committee of Correspondence for the Town of Boston. 
 
 LETTER FROM THE NORWICH COMMITTEE OF CORRESPONDENCE TO 
 
 THE BOSTON COMMITTEE. 
 
 (The autograph is in Mrs. A. R. Street's possession.) 
 
 Norwich, G* June, 1774. 
 Gext^ : Your Letter of the IS"* ult. addressed to Chris' Leffingwell 
 Esq"" has been this day communicated to this Town, in a very full meeting 
 & tlie Contents of it seriously attended to and canvassed ; whereupon they 
 came to the Votes, — an authentick Copy of which, we here Inclose you 
 according to order. 
 
 We most Sensibly feel for the Sufferings of the Town of Boston, & con- 
 sider ourselves as deeply Interested therein, as we doubt not the Idea of 
 Administration is, to adopt the old Latin Maxim d'unde et impera. You are 
 the first to be Sacrificed, we must follow in our turn. You are called 
 by Providence to stand foremost, In the Contests for those Liberties where- 
 with God and Nature have made us free. Stand firm therefore In your 
 Lots, and from the Apparent Temper of our People, we may assure yoii 
 of every Support in the Power of this Town to afford you in the glorious 
 Struggle. The firmness of the Town of Boston heretofore Exerted, leaves 
 us no room to doubt It, at this alarming Crisis. Surely it never was more 
 needed, than on the present trying Occasion. 
 
 "VVe are with great Truth and Regard, Gentlemen, your Sympathizing 
 Friends & Countrymen. Signed by order and on behalf of the 
 Committee of Correspondence for the Town of Norwich. 
 
 Jos. Tkumbull. 
 
 FROM SAMUEL ADAMS, OF BOSTON, TO THE NORWICH COMMITTEE OF 
 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 (From the original in possession of Mrs. A. R. Street.) 
 
 Boston, July 11, 1774. 
 Gentlemen : Your obliging Letter directed to the Committee of Cor- 
 respondence for the Town of Boston, came just now to my hand ; and as 
 the Gentleman who brought it is in haste to retui'n, I take the liberty 
 to writing you my OAvn Sentiments in Answer, not doubting but they are 
 concurrent with those of my Brethren. I can venture to assure you 
 that the valuable Donation of the worthy Town of Norwich will be 
 received by this Community with the Warmest Gratitude & dispos'd of 
 according to the true Intent of the Generous Donors. The Liberality of 
 the Sister Colonies will I trust support and Comfort the Inhabitants 
 
104 
 
 under the Pressure of enormous Power, and enable them to endure 
 Affliction with that Dignity, which becomes tliose who are called to suffer 
 in the Cause of Liberty and Truth. The Manner of transmitting the 
 Donation Avill be left to your Discretion ; and that it may be conducted 
 according to the Inclination of the Town, I beg leave to propose, that it 
 be directed to some one Gentleman [say William Phillips Esq'' ] to be 
 dispos'd of '■\for the Emploi/ment or Relief of such Inhabitants of the Town 
 of Boston as may become Sufferers by means of an act of the British Par- 
 liament called the Boston Port bill, at the Discretion of the Overseers of 
 the Poor of said Town joyn'd with a Committee appointed to consider of 
 Ways and Means for the Employment of such Poor." The Part which 
 the Town of Norwich takes in this Struggle for American Liberty is 
 truly noble ; and this Town rcjoyces with you in the Harmony Modera- 
 tion & Vigor which prevails throughout the United Colonies. 
 
 You may rely upon it that there is no Foundation for the Report 
 that " the Opposition gains ground upon us." The Emissaries of a 
 Party, which is now reduced to a very small number of men, a Great 
 Part of whom are in Reality Expectants from & in Connection with the 
 Revenue, are daily going out with such idle Stories ; but whoever reads 
 the Accounts of the Proceedings of the Town Meetings, which I can 
 assure you have been truly stated in the News Pajiers under the hand 
 of the Town Clerk, will see that no Credit is due to such Reports. 
 
 I shall lay your Letter before the Committee of Correspondence who 
 willwrite to you pr. first opportunity. In the mean time I am in Sincerity, 
 Your obliged Friend & Fellow Countryman, 
 
 Sam^ Adams. 
 
 Jed" Huntington, \ 
 
 Chris" Leffingwell, > Escff- 
 
 Theoph. Rogers, J 
 
 REPLY OF C. LEFFINGWELL, ESQ., TO THE FOREGOING LETTER OF 
 SAMUEL ADAMS. 
 
 (From the Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll. Fourth Scries. Vol. IV., page 45.) 
 
 Norwich, August, 1774. 
 Gentlemen: We received your kind favor of 11th ult., subscribed by 
 S. Adams, in your behalf, in answer to ours, respecting the small dona- 
 tion proposed by the inhabitants of this Town, for the employment or 
 relief of such inhabitants of the Town of Boston as may become sufferers 
 by means of the Boston Port Bill, part of which we now forward you 
 per Messrs. Bishop, Call, Leffingwell and Bishop, being two hundred and 
 ninety-one sheep, which [we] wish safe to hand. What other collections 
 may be made, shall forward hereafter. We should be glad to know, as 
 nearly as may be, the true state of aff"airs with you, (especially) if any 
 thing materially different from what we see published in the weekly jiapers ; 
 
105 
 
 anil tliat yon would write us per return of tlio jrontlcnicn wlio drive tlie 
 sheep. 
 
 We are, with niueh esteem, Gentlemen, your assured friends and iellow- 
 countrymen, in behalf of the Committee, 
 
 CiiRisTO. Leffingwkll. 
 
 To Wm. Phillips, Esq., merchant, Boston. 
 
 LETTER FROM JOSEPH WARREN, OF BOSTON, 
 
 ACKNOWLEDGING THE RECEPTION OF 21)1 SHEEP, SENT BY NORWICH TO THE RELIEF OF BOSTON. 
 
 (The original is in the possession of Mrs. A. R. Street.) 
 
 Boston, August 27th, 1774. 
 Gentlemen : Your letter, with the two hundi-ed and ninety-one sheep, 
 were received safely, and met with a very heai'ty welcome. We have good 
 reason to think that our oppressors begin to see their mistake, and that they 
 will ere long find that Americans are not to be fritted or wheedled out of 
 their rights. The arm of a tyrant is never supported by justice, and there- 
 fore must fall. Mr. Gage is executing the late Acts of Parliament, in their 
 several branches, to the best of his ability. He is furnished with a council, 
 who will be careful (as their existence depends on the will of his master) to 
 study his inclination, and to act every thing in conformity to his pleasure. 
 We do n't expect justice from them, and have no hopes that they will be 
 guided by the laws of equity, or the dictates of conscience. Certainly men 
 who will serve such an administration as the present, and suffer themselves 
 to be promoted at the expense of the charter of their country, must be 
 destitute of every idea of right, and ready instruments to introduce abject 
 slavery. Mr. Gage may issue his precepts, and his council may sanctify 
 them, his juries may give verdicts, and an unconstitutional and venal bench 
 may pass judgments, but what will this avail, unless the people will acquiesce 
 in them? If the people think them unconstitutional, of what importance 
 are their determinations ? Salus populi sttprema lex esto, is a precious old 
 maxim. The ministry have forgot it, but the people are determined to 
 remember it. 
 
 We consider a suspension of trade through the continent with Great 
 Britain, Ireland and the West Indies, as the gi'and machine that will 
 deliver us. If this should fail, we must then have recourse to the last resort. 
 As yet, we have been preserved from action with the soldiery, and we shall 
 endeavor to avoid it, until we see that it is necessary, and a settled plan is 
 fixed on for that purpose. The late Acts of Parliament are such gross 
 infringements on us, that our consciences forbid us to submit to them. We 
 think it is better to put up with some inconvenience, and pursue with 
 patience the plan of commercial opposition, as it will be more for the honor 
 and interest of the continent, as well as more consistent with the principle 
 of humanity and religion. 
 
100 
 
 Mr. Gage finds himself very unequal to the task that is set him, and is at 
 a loss for measures. He sees and is astonished at the spirit of the people. 
 He forbids their town meetings, and they meet in counties. If he prevents 
 county meetings, Ave must call provincial meetings, and, if he forbids these, 
 we trust that our worthy brethren on the continent, and especially of the 
 Town of Norwich, in Connecticut, will lend us their heli)ing arms in time of 
 danger, and will be no less conspicuous for their fortitude than they now 
 are for tlieir generosity. 
 
 We have nothing important to inform you of besides what you see in the 
 public pajjers. Should any thing worthy your notice take place, we shall 
 gladly communicate it to you. 
 We are. Gentlemen, 
 
 Your grateful friends and humble servants, 
 
 .^r order the Committee 
 
 Joseph Warren, >• ,- t>. ,• 
 
 ) ot Donations. 
 
 To the Gentlemen, the Committee of the 
 Town of Norwich. 
 
 CIRCULAR TO THE CITIZENS OF NORWICH. 
 (From the original autograph in Mrs. Street's collection.) 
 The Committee of Correspondence for the Town of Norwich in Compli- 
 ance witli the Recommendation of the House of Representatives, of this 
 Colony convened at New Haven in March inst. ; — & taking into our Serious 
 consideration, the Distressed Condition of the Industrious Poor of the 
 Suffering Town of Boston of the Continued operation of the Cruel Act of 
 Parliament, blocking up their Port ; — also being Informed of the great 
 probability of the Spread of the Small Pox in s'* Town, in addition to their 
 other distresses — Do most earnestly recomend it to and desire the Gentle- 
 men whose Names are underwritten, to Sollicit, the further Charitable 
 Contributions of the Humane, & Sympathizing Inhabitants of the Town, for 
 Relieving & Alleviating the Distresses of the Poor of that Devoted Town; — 
 & make return of their doings & collectings, at a meeting of the s** Gentle- 
 men & others to be holden at the Court House in this Town on the third 
 Tuesday of April next — when a Plan will be settled for i-eceiving & 
 transmitting .such Collections to Boston. Norwich, March 30*, 17 75. 
 
 We are, Gentlemen, 
 
 Yom- & the Publit-'s Ilum'^i^ Serv** . 
 
 Jed. Huntington, "] 
 
 Christ'' Leffingwell, 
 
 Theoph. Rogers, , 
 
 T rn I Corresnondence. 
 
 Jos. luUMliULL, ' 
 
 W"> Hubbard, J 
 
 [The above is addressed to about fifty Norwich citizens.] 
 
 Committee of 
 
107 
 
 ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE liATTIJO OF I-EXINGTON. 
 
 (From !i manuscript iii Mrs. Street's collection, aildrosscd to Christopher EefTni^wcll, 
 and endorsed " First Alarm, April, 1775.") 
 
 Watkutown, Wednesday INlorning, iiuar 10 o'Clock. 
 
 To all the Friends of Anieriean Liberty. Be it known that this Mo'rning 
 before breake of Day a Brigade consisting of about 1000 or 1200 Men 
 landed at Phip's Farm at Canil)ridge anil niarehed to Le.xijigton where they 
 found a Company of our Colony JNIilitia in Arms, upon whom they fired 
 without any Provocation and killed G j\Ien and wounded 4 others. By an 
 Express from Boston this Moment, we hnd another Brigade are now upon 
 their March from Boston suposed to be about 1000. The bearer Mr. Israel 
 Bissell is charged to alarm the County quite to Connecticut and all Persons 
 are desired to furnish him with Fresh Horses as they may be needed. 1 
 have spoken with several Persons who have seen the Dead and Wounded. 
 Pray let the Delegates from this Colony to Connecticut see this they know 
 J. Palmkr, one of the Committee of S y. 
 
 Col. Foster of Brookfield, one of the Delegates. A True Coppy taken 
 from the original, p' Order of Conunittee of Correspondence for Worcester. 
 Attest. Nathan Balding T. Clerk. 
 
 Worcester, April y* 19"*, 1775. 
 
 Brooklyne, Thursday, 11 o'Clock. the above is a true Coppy as rec'' 
 Here p"^ E.xpress forwarded from Worcester. 
 
 Test. (Signed) Daniel Tyler, Jr. 
 
 (Ke-print of the " Norwich Packet" Extra.) 
 INTERESTING INTELLIGENCE. 
 
 Norwich, April 22, 1775, 10 o'Clock, P. M. 
 
 Potior visa est Periculosa Libertas quieto servitio. — Sallust. 
 
 Yesterday Morning, the following was brought by an Express, to Col. 
 Jedediah Huntington, of this Town, Dated at Pomfret on [Thursday] the 
 20th Inst., 3 o'clock, P. M. 
 
 Sir : I am this Moment informed, by an Express from Woodstock, taken 
 from the Mouth of the Express that arrived there, 2 o'Clock this Afternoon, 
 that the Contest between the first Brigade that marched to Concord, was 
 still continuing this Morning, at the Town of Lexington, to which said 
 Brigade had retreated. That another Brigade, said to be the second, 
 mentioned in the Letter of this morning, had landed with a Quantity of 
 Artillery, at the Place where the first Troops did ; the Provincials were 
 determined to prevent the two Brigades from joining their Strength, if 
 possible, and remain still in tlie greatest need of Succoiu's. 
 
 N. B. The Regulars, when at Concord, burnt the Court-House, took two 
 Pieces of Cannon, which they rendered Useless, and began to take up 
 
108 
 
 Coneonl Bridge, on which Capt. , who with many, on both Sides, were 
 
 killed, then made an Attack upon the King's Troops, on which they 
 
 retreated to Lexington. 
 
 In haste, I am. Sir, 
 
 Your humble Servant, 
 
 Ebenezer Williams. 
 To Col. Obadiah Johnson, Canterbury. 
 
 P. S. Mr. Mc. Farling, of Plainfield, merchant, has just now returned 
 from Boston, by Way of Providence, who conversed with an Express from 
 Lexington, who farther informs, that about 4000 of our People had sui*- 
 rounded the first Brigade above-mentioned, who were on a hill in Lexing- 
 ton ; that the Action Continued, and that there were about 50 of our People 
 killed and 150 of the Regulars, as near as they could determine, when the 
 Express came away. 
 
 NoRAVicii, April 22. 
 
 This evening, a little after 7 o'Clock, Mr. David Nevins, who Yesterday 
 Forenoon, went Express, from this Town, to obtain Intelligence, returned 
 from Providence, with the following important Advices. 
 
 On Wednesday Evening last. Advice was received here from Boston — 
 that a Detachment of the King's Troops had fired upon and killed a Num- 
 ber of the Inhabitants of Lexington, about Twelve Miles from Boston ; in 
 Consequence of which an Engagement had happened. 
 
 Upon receiving this alarming Intelligence, the Inhabitants of Providence 
 immediately assembled the Officers of the Independent Com^janies and 
 Militia, with a Number of Gentlemen of the Town, had a meeting, and two 
 Expresses were dispatched for Lexington to obtain authentic Accounts 
 while others were sent to different parts of this Colony and Connecticut. 
 
 The Expresses that went to Lexington returned Yesterday Morning, and 
 relate in Substance the following. 
 
 [Here follows a more extended account.] 
 
 NOTE P 
 
 The work of Rev. Dr. Sprague of Albany, " The Annals of the 
 American Pulpit," six volumes of which have already been printed, 
 contains biographical sketches of several distinguished clergymen who 
 were born in Norwich, as well as of those who were settled at different 
 times over the several churches of this place. To that gi-eat thesaurus, 
 which will ever remain a monument to the industry, thoroughness, and 
 discrimination of the author, the reader is referred for more particulars 
 than can possibly be given in this place. Tlie following sketches are 
 
TOO 
 
 cuudcusod from tliat work, except that of llev. Mr. Tyler, which is 
 re-printed entire : — 
 
 REV. JOSEPH STRONG, D. D. 
 
 Rev. Joseph Strong, a younger brother of Nathan Strong, T>. 1)., of 
 Hartford, was son of llev. Nathan Strong of Coventry. He was gradu- 
 ated at Yale College in 1772 ; and was settled as colleague of Rev. Dr. 
 Lord, March 18, 1778. His wife was Mary, daughter of Hon. Jabez 
 Huntington. He died Dec. 18, 1834, aged 81, in the 57th year of his 
 ministry. He received the degree of D. D. from the College of New 
 Jersey in 1807 ; and was a member of the corporation of Yale College 
 from 1808 till 1826. (Sprague's Annals, vol. 1.) 
 
 REV. WALTER KING. 
 
 Rev. AValter King, a native of Wilbraham, Mass., graduated at Yale 
 College in 1782, and was ordained pastor of the churah in Chelsea, 
 May 24, 1787, and was dismissed in August, 1811. Be was afterward 
 settled in Williamstown, Mass., where he died of apoplexy, Dec. 4, 
 1815, aged 57. (Sprague's Annals, vol. 1.) 
 
 REV. ALFRED MITCHELL. 
 
 Rev. Alfred Mitchell, youngest son of Hon. Stephen M. Mitchell, chief 
 justice of Connecticut, was born in Wethersfield, May 22, 1790. His 
 mother was Hannah, daughter of Donald Grant, from whom his son, 
 Donald Gr. Mitchell, the distinguished author, derived his name. He 
 was graduated at Yale College in 1809. He commenced the study of 
 theology with Rev. Dr. Ebenezer Porter ; and on his appointment as 
 professor at Andover Theological Institution, went with him to that insti- 
 tution. He preached for a short tune in Bridgewatev, Mass. ; and after 
 supplying the pulpit in Norwich for six months, received a unanimous 
 invitation to become the pastor, and was ordained in October, 1814. 
 After a successful ministry of 17 years, he died Dec. 19, 1831, in his 
 42d year. He married, in 1814, Lucretia, daughter of Nathaniel S. 
 Woodbridge of Salem, Ct. (Sprague's Annals, vol. 1.) 
 
 REV. JOHN TYLER. 
 
 Rev. John Tyler was a native of Wallingford, Conn., and was gi-aduated 
 at Yale College in 1765. He was educated a Congregat^pnalist, but having 
 embraced the doctrines of the Church of England, prepared for Holy 
 
110 
 
 Orders, under the care of Dr. Johnson, at Stratford. In 1768 he went 
 to England to receive ordination, with a view to becoming Rector of Christ 
 Church, Chelsea, Norwich, Conn. ; and having accomplished this object, 
 he returned the next year, and entered on the duties of his office. For 
 three years, during the Revolution, — owing to the popular excitement 
 which prevailed against Episcopacy in New England, it lieing regarded as 
 almost synonymous with Toryism, — Mr. Tyler's church was closed, and, 
 from April, 1776, to April, 1779, not an entry was made on its Records. 
 He, however, during this time, held divine service in his own house, and 
 was never molested in the performance of it. At one time, he was afraid 
 to drink the water of his own well. And yet he was regarded as a man 
 of great benevolence and liberality. As an evidence of the kindly feel- 
 ing which both he and his church maintained towards their Congrega- 
 tional neighbors, it may be mentioned that when the Congregationalists, 
 in 1794, lost their place of worship by fire, the Episcopalians at once 
 proffered them the use of theirs, on the following condition: — "The 
 Rev. John Tyler, our present pastor, to perform divine service one half 
 the day on each Sabbath, and the Rev. Walter King, pastor of said 
 Presbyterian congregation, to perform divine service on the other half of 
 said Sabbath, alternately performing on the first part of the day." The 
 offer was gratefully accepted, and this amicable arrangement continued 
 for three months. Mr. Tyler died January 20, 1823, in the eighty-first 
 year of his age. He published a sermon at the opening of Trinity 
 Church, in Pomfret, 1771, and a sermon preached at Norwich, on the 
 Continental Thanksgiving, 1795. 
 
 Mrs. Sigourney writes thus concerning him : — " He was an interesting 
 preacher; his voice sweet and solemn, and his eloquence persuasive. 
 The benevolence of his heart was manifested in daily acts of courtesy 
 and charity to those around him. He studied medicine in order to benefit 
 the poor, and to find out remedies for some of those peculiar diseases to 
 
 which no common specifics seemed to apply During the 
 
 latter years of his life, he was so infirm as to need assistance in the per- 
 formance of his functions." (Sprague's Annals, vol. 5.) 
 
 Want of space alone prevents us from making in this connection, 
 several other biographical notices of the ministers of Norwich. 
 
NOTE Q. 
 
 LIST OF COLLEGE GRADUATES. 
 
 Tlie following list is intended to include the names of those graduates 
 in the various colleges of the country whose birthplace or whose home at 
 the time of their college course, was within the Ijounds of old Norwich. 
 
 Special acknowledgment is due to Chaiicellur Walworth, Dr. A. Wood- 
 ward, Rev. E. B. Huntington and C. J. Iloadly, Esq., for aid in pre- 
 paring the list. 
 
 IL\HVARD. 
 
 Ycarofj^ad. Vrnr of deatli. 
 
 1694 Rev. Jabez Fitch, Tutor and Fellow of Harvard College. . . 1740 
 1763 Hon. Jedediah Huntington, Brigadier General in the army of 
 
 the Revolution 1818 
 
 1827 Right Rev. Alfred Lee, D. D., Bishop of Delaware 
 
 1843 Elisha Winslow Tracy 
 
 Rev. Eliphalet Birchard 1854 
 
 1850 (LL.B.) AVilliam Bond 
 
 Total — 6. 
 
 YALE. 
 
 1718 Joseph Backus 
 
 1721 William Hyde 1738 
 
 Rev. William Gager 1739 
 
 1724 Rev. Simon Backus 1746 
 
 1725 James Calking 1756 
 
 1727 Dr. Joseph Perkins . 1794 
 
 1733 Dr. Daniel Lathrop 1782 
 
 Daniel Huntington 1753 
 
 1735 Benajah Bushnell 
 
 1738 Dr. Ehsha Tracy 1783 
 
 1741 Hon. Jabez Huntington, Major General in the army of the 
 
 Revolution 1786 
 
 Simon Huntington 1801 
 
 1743 Dr. Joshua Lathrop 1807 
 
 1744 Hezekiah Huntington 1747 
 
 Samuel Tracy 1802 
 
 1749 Rev. Elijah Lathrop 1797 
 
 1753 Joseph Lord 1762 
 
 1754 Rev. Joseph Lathrop, D. D., elected Professor of Divinity 
 
 in Yale College 1820 
 
112 
 
 Yearofgrad. Year of death. 
 
 1757 Gurdon Huntington 1767 
 
 1759 Rev. Simon Backus 1823 
 
 1760 Elijah Abel 1809 
 
 1761 Hon. Benjamin Huntington, LL.D., Mayor of Norwich, 
 
 M. C, Judge of Superior Court of Connecticut, Fellow 
 
 of Yale College 1800 
 
 1763 Rev. Ebenezer ]}aldwin. Tutor in Yale College 1776 
 
 Sanford Kingsbury 1833 
 
 1765 Rev. Aaron Kinne 1824 
 
 1767 Jonathan Kingsbury 1833 
 
 1768 Hon. John M'Clarren Breed, Mayor of Norwich 1798 
 
 Dr. Thomas Huntington 1835 
 
 1769 Rev. Charles Backus, D.D., elected Professor of Divinity 
 
 in Yale College 1803 
 
 1771 Abiel Cheny 1771 
 
 ? John Hart 1828 
 
 1774 Peabody Clement 1820 
 
 1775 Hon. Ebenezer Huntington, M. C, Colonel in the army of 
 
 the Revolution, afterward Brigadier General 1834 
 
 1776 Dr. Eliphaz Perkins • 1828 
 
 Rev. Simeon Hyde 1783 
 
 1777 Elijah Backus 1811 
 
 John Barker, M. D 1813 
 
 Rev. Ebenezer Fitch, D. D., Tutor ui Yale College, first 
 
 President of Williams College 1833 
 
 Daniel Tracy 1782 
 
 1778 Shubael Breed 1840 
 
 Hon. Uriah Tracy, M. C, United States Senator 1807 
 
 1781 Simeon Breed 1822 
 
 Hon. Simeo i Baldwin, Tutor in Yale College, M. C, Judge 
 
 of Sr|)er'nr < 'ourt of Connecticut 1851 
 
 1782 Hon. John Lovett, M. C 1818 
 
 1784 Jabez Huntington 1848 
 
 1785 William Hubbard 1789 
 
 Hon. Samuel K antington. Chief Justice and Governor of 
 
 Ohio 1817 
 
 Benjamin Perkins 1841 
 
 1786 Rev. Jonathan Ellis 
 
113 
 
 Ycarofgrad. Year of death. 
 
 Hon. John Kini^sbury, Judge of the (bounty Court, Con- 
 necticut 1 844 
 
 William Leffingwell 1834 
 
 Hon. Elias Perkins, M. C, Fellow Yale College 1845 
 
 1787 Rev. Azel Backus, D.D., first President of Hamilton College. 1816 
 
 Matthew Backus 1807 
 
 Gurdon Lathrop 1828 
 
 Daniel Lathrop 1825 
 
 Elijah Perkins, M. D 1806 
 
 1788 Hon. James Lanman, Mayor of Norwich, United States 
 
 Senator, Judge of Superior Court, Connecticut . 1841 
 
 Charles Lathrop 1831 
 
 Rev. Lynde Huntington 1804 
 
 1789 Hon. Uri Tracy, M. C 1838 
 
 1790 Hon. Joseph Kirkland, M. C 1844 
 
 1791 Erastus Huntington 1846 
 
 Rev. Elijah Waterman 1825 
 
 1794 Benjamin D. Perkins 1810 
 
 1795 Rev. David Smith, D. D., Fellow of Yale College 
 
 Thomas Tracy 1806 
 
 1798 Joseph Williams 
 
 1800 Joseph Howland 1827 
 
 1801 John W. Perit 1845 
 
 1802 Pelatiah Perit, President of the Chamber of Commerce, N. Y. 
 Rev. Daniel Haskell, President of Vermont University. . 1848 
 
 1803 Rev. m Hyde 1856 
 
 Rev. John Hyde 1848 
 
 1804 Rev. Joshua Huntingion 1819 
 
 1805 Walter King 
 
 1806 Dr. John Hazen 1843 
 
 Henry Strong, LL. D., Tutor in Yale College 1852 
 
 Hon. Jabez W Huntington, M. C, Judge of Superior 
 
 Court, Connecticut, United States Senator 1847 
 
 Hon. Phineas L. Tracy, M. C 
 
 1807 Rev. Daniel Huntington 1858 
 
 1808 Charles Griswold, Judge of Probate Court 1839 
 
 Henry W. Rogers 1819 
 
 John B. Murdock 1815 
 
 25 
 
114 
 
 Year of grad. Year of death. 
 
 1812 Samuel C. Morgan 
 
 1813 Charles Perkins 1856 
 
 1814 Charles B. Gocldard 
 
 Jedediah Huntmgton 
 
 Charles J. Lanman, Mayor of Norwich 
 
 1815 Kev. Elijah Hartshorn 1840 
 
 1816 Rev. William Nevins, D. D 1835 
 
 1817 Hon. Rufus P. Spalding, Judge of Superior Court, Ohio. . 
 David N. Lord 
 
 1818 Rev. Thomas L. Shipman 
 
 George Spalding 1858 
 
 1819 Rev. James Abel 
 
 Joshua Coit 
 
 Elijah Bishop, M. D 
 
 1820 George C. Goddard 
 
 1821 William Lester 
 
 1822 William Lathrop 1825 
 
 George B. Ripley, Judge of Probate Court 1858 
 
 Benjamin B. Coit, M. D 
 
 Andrew M. Fanning 1829 
 
 Hon. John A. Rockwell, Judge of the County Court, M.C., 
 
 Fellow of Yale College 
 
 1823 Joseph Ripley 
 
 1824 John T. Adams, Judge of Probate Court 
 
 Rev. Richard F. Cleveland 1853 
 
 1825 Daniel T. Coit, M. D 
 
 Oliver E. Huntington 
 
 1827 Alfred J. Perkins 
 
 1828 Levi H. Goddard 
 
 Peter L. Huntington 1832 
 
 Francis Porter 1829 
 
 1830 Alfred E. Perkins, M. D 1834 
 
 1833 Joshua Smith 
 
 1834 Billings P. Learned 
 
 1835 Charles A. Gager, Tutor in Yale College 1841 
 
 1836 George M. Brown 
 
 1837 William Coit 
 
 1839 Charles H. Porter 1841 
 
 1840 John Breed Dwight, Tutor in Yale College 1843 
 
115 
 
 Year of grad. Year of death 
 
 1841 Donald G. Mitchell, United States Consul, Venice 
 
 Rev. John C. Downer 
 
 1843 Ilev. John Avery 
 
 Rev. Edward W. Oilman, Tutor in Yale College 
 
 Gardiner Greene, LL. B 
 
 Rev. Daniel W. Havens 
 
 John M. Huntington 
 
 Frederick M. Lathrop 
 
 George A. Meech 
 
 Rev. Robert P. Stanton 
 
 1845 George C. Hill 
 
 1846 Rev. Joseph W. Backus, Tutor in Yale College 
 
 Rev. Henry Case 
 
 James M. B. Dwight, Tutor in Yale College 
 
 Archibald Kennedy 
 
 1847 Rev. James T. Hyde, Tutor in Yale College 
 
 1848 Rev. William Aitchison, Tutor in Yale College, Missionary 
 
 in China 1859 
 
 Rev. Elias B. HiUard 
 
 David S. Mowiy 1848 
 
 Nathaniel Shipman 
 
 Edwin Tyler , 
 
 Rev. G. Buckingham Willcox 
 
 1849 Rev. Timothy Dwight, Tutor and Professor of Sacred Lit- 
 
 erature in Yale College 
 
 John Rockwell, Assistant United States Coast Survey. . . . 
 
 1850 Daniel E. Willes 
 
 1852 Daniel C. Gilman, Librarian of Yale College 
 
 1853 Rev. William Frederick Arms 
 
 Henry R. Bond 
 
 Edward Harland 
 
 Samuel A. L. L. Post 
 
 1854 John W. Hooker, M. D 
 
 1855 Calvin G. Child 
 
 John W. Harmar 
 
 John H. Piatt 
 
 Giles Potter 
 
 Alfred P. Rockwell, Phil. B 
 
116 
 
 Yearofgrad. Year of death. 
 
 1855 Patrick H. Woodward 
 
 1856 George P. Barker 
 
 1857 Henry S. Huntington 
 
 Bela P. Learned 
 
 1858 Samuel H. Lee 
 
 1859 Edward S. Hinckley 
 
 Asher H. Wilcox 
 
 Total — 165. 
 
 UNDERGRADUATES NOW IN COLLEGE. 
 
 1860 Henry L. Johnson .... 
 
 1861 James N. Hyde 
 
 1862 Charles Woolsey Coit 
 
 George Coit Ripley 
 
 1863 Charles J. Arms 
 
 Henry E. Cooley 
 
 John H. Peck 
 
 Edmund A. Ware 
 
 COLUMBIA. 
 
 1834 B. S. Huntington 
 
 PRINCETON. 
 
 1759 Rev. John Hunting-ton 1766 
 
 1763 Rev. John Lathrop, D. D., Fellow of Harvard College. . 1816 
 
 1765 Rev. Samuel Kirkland, Missionary to the Oneidas 1808 
 
 1770 Stephen Tracy 1822 
 
 Rev. Nathan Perkins, D. D 
 
 Total — 5. 
 
 DARTMOUTH. 
 
 1779 Ashur Hatch 1826 
 
 1783 Henry Huntington 1846 
 
 1786 Rev. Asahel Huntington 1813 
 
 1785 Rev. Alvan Hyde, D. D., Vice-Pres. of Williams College. 1833 
 
 1788 Rev. Oliver Ayers 1832 
 
 1854 Hiram B. Crosby 
 
 William C. Robinson 
 
 1855 B. Sci. J. Adams Robinson 
 
 Total— 8. 
 
 MIDDLEBURY. 
 
 1809 Bela Edgerton 
 
117 
 
 Year of grad. Year of death. 
 
 1819 Rev. Beriah Creen, Professor of Sacred Literature in West- 
 ern Reserve College 
 
 WILLIAMS. 
 
 1813 Eev. Lavius Hyde 
 
 BKOWN. 
 
 1823 George D. Prentice 
 
 1828 Hon. La Fayette S. Foster, LL. D., Mayor of Norwich, 
 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives, Connecticut, 
 United States Senator 
 
 Total — 2. 
 
 WESLEYAN. 
 
 1834 Rev. Erastus Wentworth, D. D., President of McKendi-ee 
 College and Professor in Dickinson College, now Mis- 
 sionary in China 
 
 TRINITY. 
 
 1830 Rev. James A. Bolles, D. D 
 
 1881 Rev. Thomas H. Vail, D. D 
 
 1836 Rev. Zebadiah H. Mansfield 1858 
 
 1841 Hon. Thomas L. Harris, M. C 1858 
 
 1845 Rev. John A. Paddock 
 
 1848 Rev. Benjamin H. Paddock, elected Professor in Trinity 
 College 
 
 1850 Rev. Francis H. Bushnell 
 
 Lewis S. Paddock, M. D 
 
 1851 George D. Sargeant 
 
 1853 E. Winslow Williams 
 
 Rev. Alfred L. Brewer 
 
 Total — 11. 
 
 UNDERGRADUATES NOW IN COLLEGE. 
 
 C. H. W. Stocking 
 
 Newton Perkins 
 
 AMHERST. 
 
 1824 Rev. Beaufort Ladd 
 
 1827 Rev. Stephen Johnson, Missionary in Siam 
 
 1828 Thomas Burnham 1845 
 
 1829 Rev. WilUam A. Hyde 
 
118 
 
 Year of grad. Year of death. 
 
 1832 Hon. Natban Belcher, M. C 1841 
 
 1837 Hon. Andrew C. Lippitt, Mayor of New London 
 
 1841 Rev. Alexander Yerrington 
 
 1849 Rev. William R. Palmer 
 
 1856 Cyrus H. Pendleton 
 
 1857 Rev. John E. Elliott 
 
 Total— 10. 
 
 UNION. 
 
 1808 Rev. Samuel Nott 
 
 1810 John McCurdy 
 
 1822 Rev. Stephen T. Nott 
 
 1834 Rev. Albert T. Chester, D.B 
 
 1838 Samuel H. Austin 
 
 1843 Anson Gr. Chester 
 
 Total — 6. 
 
 HONORARY GRADUATES NOT INCLUDED IN THE PREVIOUS LIST. 
 
 Rev. Isaac Backus, A.M., (Brown, 1797) 1806 
 
 Rev. Thomas Baldwin, D. D., (Union, 1804) Fellow Brown 
 
 University 1825 
 
 Thomas Steny Hunt, A.M., (Harvard, 1854) Doctor of Science, 
 (Quebec, 1858) F.R. S., Lond. ; Professor of Chemistry, 
 Laval Univ., Quebec; Mineralogist and Chemist to the 
 Greologieal Survey of Canada ; Chevalier of the Legion 
 of Honor, France 
 
 Rev. Elijah B. Huntington, A.M., (Yale, 1851) 
 
 Rev. Eliphalet Nott, A. M., (Brown, 1795) D. D., (New Jer- 
 sey, 1805) LL.D. (Brown, 1828) Pres. of Union College. 
 
 Benjamin Rogers, M. D., (Yale, 1845) 1859 
 
 Philemon Tracy, M. D., (Yale, 1817) 1837 
 
 Hon. John T. Wait, A. M., (Trhiity, 1851) 
 
 Hon. Reuben Hyde Walworth, LL. D., (Princeton, 1835; 
 Yale, 1839; Harvard, 1848.) M. C, Chancellor of the 
 State of New York 
 
 Ashbel Woodward, M. D., (Yale, 1855) Pres. Med. Soc. of 
 
 Conn 
 
 Total— 10. 
 
119 
 
 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, NATIVES OF OLD NORWICH. 
 
 When in Congress. From what State. 
 
 1776-84 Connecticut Samuel Huntington. 
 
 1780-84 1 
 
 1787-88 >- " Benjamin Huntington. 
 
 1789-91 ) 
 
 1793-96 " Uriah Tracy. 
 
 1801-03 " Elias Perkins. 
 
 1803-05 " Simeon Eaklwin. 
 
 1803-07 New Hampsliire David Hough. 
 
 1 805-07 New York Uri Tracy. 
 
 1Q1'^ -in I ■ Connecticut Ebenezer Huntinjrton. 
 
 181/ -19) ^ 
 
 -. 'q-. '-, -. >- New York John Lovett. 
 
 1819 Michigan William Woodbridge. 
 
 1819-25 New York Alliert H. Tracy. 
 
 1821-23 " Joseph Kirkland. 
 
 1821-23 " Reuben H. Walworth. 
 
 1825-29 Pennsylvania Charles Miner. 
 
 1827-33 New York Phineas L. Tracy. 
 
 1829-34 Connecticut Jabez W. Huntington. 
 
 1833-37 Pennsylvania Andrew Beaumont. 
 
 1833-37 New York Abel Huntington. 
 
 1847-49 Connecticut John A. Rockwell. 
 
 1849-58 Illinois Thomas L. Harris. 
 
 1853-55 Connecticut Nathan Belcher. 
 
 1857-59 New York Erastus Corning. 
 
 Total — 22. 
 
 UNITED STATES SENATORS, NATIVES OF OLD NORWICH. 
 
 When Senator. From what State, 
 
 1796-97 Connecticut Uriah Tracy. 
 
 1819-25 " James Lanman. 
 
 1840-47 " Jabez W. Huntington. 
 
 1841-47 Michigan William Woodbridge. 
 
 1855 Connecticut La Payette S. Foster. 
 
 Total — 5. 
 
120 
 
 NOTE R. 
 
 NORWICH GENEALOGIES. 
 
 Chancellor Walworth has for some three or four years been engaged in 
 preparing a very extended genealogical history of the descendants, in the 
 female as well as in the male lines, of the first William Hyde of Norwich ; 
 embracing very extensive branches of the Post, Abell, Hough, Rudd, 
 Lord, Griswold, Huntington, Lee, Sill, Jewett, Hubbard, Ely, Elliott, 
 Denison, Rogers, Hillhouse, Tracy, Manwaring, Edgerton, Raymond, 
 Collins, Richards, Wait, Metcalf, Selden, Waterman, Marvin, Mather, 
 Sterling, Baldwin, GifFord, Woodbridge, Parsons, Wadhams, Backus, 
 Grifiin, Pierpont, Dorr, and other families of Connecticut, whose de- 
 scendants are now scattered and intermingled with other families through- 
 out the United States. 
 
 Mr. F. P. Tracy, now of San Francisco, has in preparation a genealogy 
 of the descendants of Lieutenant Thomas Tracy. Before the plan for the 
 recent celebration was announced, he had proposed that a meeting of 
 the Tracy family should be held in Norwich at some time during the 
 present year. Rev. E. B. Huntington, of Stamford, Conn., is compiling 
 a genealogy of the Huntingtons, to which will be added a report of the 
 late meeting of that family, in Norwich. Rev. A. Steele, of Washington, 
 has published a life of Elder Brewster, the ancestor of the Norwich family, 
 which was called forth by a meeting of the Brewster family in Norwich, 
 and was published under the patronage of James Brewster, Esq. , of 
 New Haven. Other Norwich genealogies are in progress, of which I 
 am not authorized to speak. 
 
 Dr. Ashbel Woodward, of Franklin, President of the Connecticut 
 Medical Society, has been investigating the history of the medical profes- 
 sion in New London county. The early publication of his researches is 
 greatly to be desired. 
 
 NOTE S. 
 
 THE FREE ACADEMY. 
 
 The Norwich Free Academy was incorporated in May, 1854, having 
 been endowed to the amount of about $100,000, by the gifts of a few 
 generous citizens of Norwich, three of whose subscriptions were for 
 $12,500 each. Of the whole amount raised, $50,000 was reserved as a 
 
121 
 
 fluid for the maintenance of the scliool, and with the icniainder a lot was 
 secnrcd, and a nol)le school edifice erected. The academy offers free 
 instruction in the higlier branches of study, to all the youth of Norwich, 
 who are disposed to avail themselves of its advantages. The original 
 donors and incorporators of the institution were the following : — E. Hub- 
 bard, W. P. Greene, W. A. Buckingham, W. Williams, H. B. Norton, 
 J. Breed, C. B. Rogers, W. W. Coit, J. L. Greene, D. Tyler, S. C. 
 Morgan, I. M. Buckingham, L. F. S. Foster, D. Smith, J. F. Slater, 
 C. Osgood, E. Williams, L. Blackstone, J. A. Rockwell, L. Ballou, 
 C. J. Stedman, J. P. Gulliver, C. N. Farnam, E. (). Abljott, C. Tracy, 
 A. H. Abiy, L. W. Carroll, J. Spalding, S. W. Meech, J. S. Webb, 
 H. Thomas, C. C. Brand, C. Johnson, E. Learned, E. Edwards, 
 A. J. Currier. Joseph Otis, the fmnder of "the Otis library," was an 
 original donor to the academy, but died before the incorporation. The 
 donors since the incorporation are as follows : — C. A. Converse, A. W. 
 Prentice, T. P. Norton, W. M. Converse, H. Bill, G. Perkins, J. M. 
 Huntington, J. H. Adams, J. N. Perkins. 
 
 A fund of $5,000, besides other gifts to the amount of $2,000, has 
 been set apart by Mrs. Harriet Peck Williams, for the establishment of 
 the Peck library. 
 
 On the day of the bi-centennial celeliration, Mrs. W. P. Greene pre- 
 sented to the academy a lot of land and a house (valued at $8,000) for 
 the residence of the principal of the institvition. 
 
 The foundation of the academy is due to the suggestion, as well as to 
 the persevering efforts of Rev. John P. Gulliver, whose privilege it was 
 to inaugurate the institution, (Oct. 21, 1856,) by an address, in which, 
 according to a vote of the tnistees, a history was given of schools and 
 education in Norwich, and the designs of the founders of the academy 
 were set forth for the information of the public, and the guidance of those 
 who shall be entrusted with its future management. This address, and 
 other papers pertaining to the Free Academy, may be found in Barnard's 
 Journal of Education, vol. 2, p. 665, 1856, and vol. 3, p. 191, 1857. 
 The whole number of pupils from 1856 to 1859 has been 153, 68 boys 
 and 85 girls. Mr. Elbridge Smith has lieen Princi])al since the opening. 
 
 The establishment of this institution is one of the most honorable 
 events in the history of the town, whether we regard the munificence of 
 the donors, or the wisdom of their plans, or the successful administra- 
 tion of such an important trust. 
 
 16 
 
122 
 NOTE T. 
 
 NATHAN TISDALE. 
 
 Many of the Norwich boys, at the close of the last century, went to 
 school to JMaster Tisdale in Lebanon. The following sketch of his life 
 has been prepared by Mr. Daniel Hebard : — 
 
 Nathan Tisdale, born at Lebanon, Conn., on the 19th of September, 
 A. J). 1732, was the son of Ebenezer Tisdale, who was the fifth in 
 descent from John Tisdale of Duxbury, Mass., afterwards of Tai;nton, 
 who was the progenitor of all of the name in New England. His father 
 was a blacksmith — a skillful artisan and a sterling patriot, as is evinced 
 by his having been a friend of and counselor with Gov. J. Trumbull. 
 Of his mother, unfortunately we have no record. At the age of sixteen, 
 in common with many of the young men of his native town, Nathan 
 entered Harvard College, and graduated there the following year, 1749, 
 at the early age of seventeen. Among his classmates and acquaintance 
 were Robert Treat Paine and John Adams, by the latter of whom 
 he is said to have been called a better scholar than himself He 
 took a position in his eighteenth year at the head of the school in the 
 " Old Brick School-house " at Lebanon, established mainly through the 
 efforts of the venerable Dr. Williams, and destined under his charge to 
 send forth many of the brightest ornaments to the state, the pulpit, and 
 the bar. There he commenced the training of such men as Hon. Jere- 
 miah Mason, Col. John Trumbull, the " Young Governor Trumbull," 
 Dr. Wheelock, second president of Dartmouth College, Rev. Dr. Lyman 
 of Hatfield, Judge Baldwin, Gen. Eb. Hunting-ton, etc., — by whom 
 he was held in affectionate remembrance. So celebrated was this 
 school that pupils came from the West Indies, and if tradition may be 
 believed, from ?ii)ie out of thirteen colonies at one time. In certain cases 
 his certificate of fitness was accepted in lieu of an examination for admis- 
 sion to Yale College. Mr. Tisdale was a strict and severe disciplinarian, 
 allowing nothing to interfere with the business of the school, yet gained 
 the reverence and respect of his pupils, amounting often to warm affec- 
 tion. He was known by the honorable title of " Master." Quite late 
 in life he married the widow of Capt. John Porter, who had four children, 
 and yet continued in charge of the school until the fall or winter of 1786, 
 when broken health, the wants of his family, and pecuniary embarrass- 
 ments, induced him at once to petition the proprietors of the school for 
 relief, and to resign his charge. Scorning under other circumstances to 
 
123 
 
 have solicited aid, he refers with glowing pride, which half commands the 
 favor he sues for, to his long and meritorious services, in these words : 
 
 " In this business, gentlemen, I have continiu^d nearly the space of 
 forty years, with almost uninterrupted application to the duties of my 
 charge. ... I have educated a large nund)cr of youth wlio have 
 done an honor to this school, who have gone forth into the world and have 
 become bright ornaments to society. I have now s})ent the prime of life, 
 the flower of my days, in this service ; but I have acquired no fortune — 
 and perhaps I may say that I have been more profitable to the community 
 than to myself." 
 
 The sum asked was £26 18s., the balance due from him to the pro- 
 prietors, on account of rents collected on children of non-proprietors, liut 
 " by a small majority vote," it was determined to defer the disposition 
 of the sum " until another meeting." Thus, in lack of health, the want 
 of means pressing heavily upon him, this good, this great man — whose 
 learnino; had enriched, whose wisdom omided, whose virtue had been a 
 model for youth during more than a third of a century — sadly yielded 
 his post of honor, and with the closing year passed away from his labors 
 to his reward. He died on January 5th, A. D. 1787, in the fifty-sixth 
 year of his age, and lies in the ancient burying-ground at Lebanon. 
 
CONCLUDING NOTE 
 
 An account of the " Bi-Centennial celebration" in Norwich, Sept. 7 and 8, 
 1859, has been compiled and published by Mr. John W. Stedman, in a vol- 
 ume entitled " The Norwich Jubilee," (300 pp. 8vo, Norwich, 1859.) The 
 discourses delivered upon that occasion by E,t. Kev. A. Lee, Bishop of Del- 
 aware, Hon. J. A. Rockwell, of Norwich, and Donald G. Mitchell, Esq., of 
 New Haven, the poem of A. G. Chester, Esq., of Rochester, and also the 
 address, which is here re-printed, will be found in that work. 
 
 In this second edition of the Historical Discourse (intended for private dis- 
 tribution), the notes have been expanded so as to include some original doc- 
 uments which had never previously seen the light. 
 
 In addition to the acknowledgments which have been made in the preced- 
 ing pages, I desire to express the thanks which I owe to J. Hammond Trum- 
 bull, Esq., of Hartford, the learned editor of the Colonial Records of Con- 
 necticut, for the aid which he has generously rendered in the preparation 
 and revision of the foregoing address, and to Edward C. Herrick, Esq., Treas- 
 urer of Yale College, for his frequent and valuable suggestions. 
 
 I cannot refrain from saying that the interest which I feel in the history of 
 Norwich is inherited. While it is pleasant for me to trace, on my mother's 
 side, a descent from several of the original settlers of the town, my father's 
 enthusiasm in historical inquiries is associated with my earliest recollections, 
 and has constantly assisted my recent investigations. 
 
 Yale College Library, Dectmba\ 1859. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Abbott, K. ()., lU'I. 
 
 Abel, Elijah, 11,' ; — Jaincis, IH ; other 
 reft'i-fiicc, rjo. 
 
 Atlamn, .lohii, IL",';— J. H., 1'Jl ; — John 
 F., 114 ; — Samuel, reply to the Norwich 
 Proposal of aid to Boston, (57 ; the let- 
 ter itself yiven, 103 et seq. 
 
 Adgate, Thomas, 19, :io, 90. 
 
 Aitchison, Wni., 115. 
 
 Allen, Col. Ethan, commission of, from 
 Edward Mott, Oli. 
 
 AUyu, Robert, 19, u'5, 8:i, 90. 
 
 Almy, A. II., 121. 
 
 Ames, Dr., 91. 
 
 Arms, Charles J., 110 ; — Wni. Fred., 115. 
 
 Attawanhood, 81,S'i. 
 
 Arms, Kev. H. P., 38. 
 
 Austin, Samuel H., 118. 
 
 Avery, Kev. John, 115. 
 
 Awakening', the great, .3(5. 
 
 Ayers, Oliver, IKi. 
 
 Backus, name mentioned, 19, L'5, 38, 04, 72, 
 70,90,97,111,112,115, 118, 120 ; — Azel, 
 112; — Charles, 112; — Elijah, 04, li2; 
 
 — Elizabeth, 38 ; — Isaac, 38, 97 ; — Isaac, 
 118;— Joseph W., 115 ; — Joseph, 111 ; 
 
 — Mathew, 112;— Samuel, 38; — Si- 
 mon, 12; — Simon, HI ; — Stephen, 19, 
 90; — William, 19, 90. 
 
 Bacon's Hist. Disc, 97. 
 
 Balding-, Xatlian, 107. 
 
 Baldwin, 25, 90, 112, 119, 118, 120, 122; 
 
 — Ebenezer, 112 ; — John, 25, 90 ; 
 
 — Simeon, 112, 119, 122 ; — Thomas, 118. 
 Ballon, L., 121. 
 
 Bancroft, Geo., 31. 
 
 Barker, .John, 112 ; — George p., no. 
 
 Barnard's .Journal of Education, 121. 
 
 Beiuiniout, Andrew, 119. 
 
 Belcher, Xathan, 118, 119. 
 
 Bellamy, Dr., 00. 
 
 Bill, 74; — II., 121. 
 
 Bingham, Thomas, 19, 25, 90. 
 
 Birchard, Eliaphalet, 111 ; — John, 20, 25, 
 
 90. 
 Bishop, 104 ; — Elijah, 114. 
 Bissell, Israel, 107. 
 Blaekstone, D., 121. 
 Bliss, Thomas, 19, 25, 90. 
 Bolles, .lames A., 117. 
 Bond, Henry U., 115 ; — William, 111. 
 Bozrah, formed from Norwich, 40. 
 Bowers, Morgan, 19, 25, 90. 
 Bradford, John, 19, 90 ; — Gov., 20. 
 Brand, C. C, 121. 
 Breed, 74, 112, 121 ; — J., 121 ; — John 
 
 M'Clarren, 112 ; — Simeon, 112 ; — Shu- 
 
 bael, 112. 
 Brevoort, J. C, 12, 87. 
 Brewer, Alfred L., 117. 
 Brewster, Capt. Benjamin, 83 ; — Elder, 24, 
 
 20, 120 ; — Elijah, 102 ; — James, 120. 
 Brlnley, George, 28, 93. 
 
 " Brother .Jonatlian," 42. 
 
 Brown, George M., 114 ; — NMcholas, sends 
 muskets to Col. Christopher Leffing- 
 well, 54, 74. 
 
 Buckingliam, I. M., 121 ;— Gov. W. A., 23, 
 01, 78,87, 121. 
 
 Burnliam, T., 117. 
 
 Bushnell, 20 ; — Bcnajah, 111 ; — Francis 
 II., 117. 
 
 Byles, Mather, 28. 
 
 Call, 104. 
 
 Calking, James, 111. 
 
 Calkins, Hugh, " Sei)aratc " meeting held 
 at house of, 38 ; See Caulkins. 
 
 Carpenter, 74. 
 
 Carrol, D. W., 121. 
 
 Case, Henry, 115. 
 
 Caulkins, Miss F. M., historian of Nor- 
 wich, (), 35, .39, 70, 75, 82, 84, 88, 89, 97 ; 
 John, 25, 90 ; — Hugh, 19, 'M. 
 
 Chelsea, 40. 
 
 Cheny, Abiel, 112. 
 
 Chester, A. T., 118 ; — Anson G., 118, 124; 
 John, 47. 
 
 Child, Calvin G., 115. 
 
 Church, Dr. 72. 
 
 Church, earliest records of, 28 ; early cov- 
 enant, 28, W et seq. ; great awakening- 
 in the, 30 ; See Fitch, Ministers, &c. 
 
 Clement, Peabodv, 1 12. 
 
 Cleveland, Richard F., 114. 
 
 Coddington, 85. 
 
 Colt, 20, 33, 74, 114, 110, 121 ; — Benjamin 
 B., 114; — Charles, 110; — Daniel T., 114 ; 
 — .Joseph, 33; — Joshua, 114; — Clias. 
 W., 121. 
 
 College graduates from Norwich, List of, 
 111 et seq. ; Officers of, 70. 
 
 Collins, 120. 
 
 Congregationalism, spirit of, 33 ct seq. 
 
 " Confederacy " ship, 03. 
 
 Congress, members' of from Norwich, 119. 
 
 Converse, C. A., 121 ; — W. M., 121. 
 
 Cooley, Henry E., 110. 
 
 Corning, Krastiis, 119. 
 
 Covenant, Cluucli, solemnly renewed, 28 
 et seq., 94; ' Half AVay,' 38. 
 
 Crosby, Hiram B., 110. 
 
 Currier, A. J., 121. 
 
 Davenport, Rev. J., 24, 79. 
 
 DeForest, J. W., 87. 
 
 Deming, H. E., 87. 
 
 Denison, 120 ; — Rev. F., 97. 
 
 Dcwitt, 74. 
 
 Dorr, 120. 
 
 Downer, John C, 115. 
 
 Dunham, 74. 
 
 Durkee, (H, 09. 
 
 Dwight, James M. B., 115 ; —John Breed, 
 114 ; — Pres. Timothy, 54 ; — Prof. Tim- 
 othy, 115. 
 Dyer, 45. 
 Eaton, Gov., 7, 24, 79. 
 
126 
 
 Edgerton, Bela, llfi ;— Richard, 19, 25, 90 ; 
 general reference to, 120. 
 
 Edwards, E., 121 ; — Rev. Jonathan, 36. 
 
 Eels, 74. 
 
 Elderkiu, 2G. 
 
 Eliot, John, 91. 
 
 Elliott, 120; — John E., 118. 
 
 Ellis, Jonathan, 112 ; — Rev. Geo. E., Life 
 of J. Mason, 89. 
 
 Emery, 33. 
 
 Fanning-, Andrew M., 11-t ; general refer- 
 ence to, 04. 
 
 Farnam, C. N., 121. 
 
 Fast day, mentioned, 29. 
 
 Fitch, Ebenezer, 7(>, 112 ; — Elisha, 102; 
 
 — Rev. Jabez, 33, HI ; — Maj. James, 
 gift to Yale College from, 77 et seq. ; 
 
 — Rev. James, Biographical notice of, 
 90 ; Epitaph, 92 ; Sermons and letters 
 printed, 93 ; Character of, 19, 20 ; Con- 
 gregationalism of, 34; Interest in In- 
 dians, 28 ; Uncas's promise to, 12, 13 ; 
 Allusions to, 12, 13, 19, 20, 25, 27, 28, 29, 
 .32, 33, 34, 74, 76, 77, 79, 83, 90, et seq. 
 
 Flint, 26. 
 
 Flynt, Henry, invited to succeed Rev. 
 
 James Fitch, 33. 
 Foster, Col., 107 ; L. F. S., 76, 87 ; Speech 
 
 in behalf of R. Niles, 99; Place of grad- 
 uation of, 117, 119, 121. 
 Friiuklin formed from Norwich, 4. 
 Free Academy, foundation of, 7(5, 120. 
 Gage, 68, 105. 
 Gager, Cliarles A., 114; — John, 19,25, 90 ; 
 
 William, 111. 
 Gay, 15. M., 87. 
 
 Genealogies of Norwich Families, 120. 
 Gilford, Stephen, 90 ; mentioned, 120. 
 Gilman, D. C, 115 ; — Edward W., 115 ; — 
 
 Wm. C.,S5, 101, 124. 
 Goddard, Charles B., 114; — George C, 
 
 114; — Levi H., 114. 
 Gookin, Rev. Daniel, 27, 93. 
 Governors of Connecticut, from Norwich, 
 
 23. 
 Grant, Donald, 109. 
 Green, Beriah, 117. 
 Greene, J. L., 121 ;— Gardiner, 115 ; — W. 
 
 P., 121. 
 Griffin, 120. 
 Griswold, Charles, 113; — deacon, return 
 
 to the Church, 39 ; — Francis, 20, 25, 39, 
 
 50, 74, 90 ; — Mathew, 50. 
 Grover House, 40. 
 Gulliver, Rev. J. P., 121. 
 Halsoy, T., 87. 
 Hancock, John, 53. 
 Harding, Capt., 64. 
 Harland, Edward, 115. 
 Harmar, John W., 115. 
 Harris, Thomas L., 117, 119. 
 Hart, John, 112. 
 Hartshorn, Elijah, 114. 
 Haskell, D., 76, 113. 
 Hatch, Ashur, 116. 
 Havens, Daniel W., 115. 
 Haynes, Gov., 79. 
 Hazen, John, 113. 
 Hebard, Daniel, 122. 
 Hendys, Richard, 90. 
 Higginson, Rev. John, 91. 
 Hill, George C, 115. 
 Hillard, Elias B., 115. 
 Hillhouse, James, 55, 120. 
 Hinckley, Edward S., 116. 
 Hoadly, C. J., 111. 
 Home lots of early settlers, 25. 
 
 Hooker, John W., 115 ; — Rev. Thomas, 
 20, 23, 30, 79, 91. 
 
 Hopkins, Samuel, 43. 
 
 Hosmer, Titus, 54. 
 
 Hough, David, 119, 120. 
 
 Hovey, T. A., 87. 
 
 Howard, Thomas, 20, 90. 
 
 Howlaud, J., 113 ; family mentioned, 74. 
 
 Hubbard, Capt. Wm., 67, 74, 103, 100, 112, 
 120;— R., 121. 
 
 Hunt, Thomas Sterry, 118. 
 
 Huntington, 17, 19, 25, 43, 44, 45, 47, 48, 50, 
 53, 58, 62, 03, 06, 67, 70, 72, 74, 70, 79, 90, 
 102, 103, KM, 107, 111, 112, 11.3, 114, 115, 
 116, 118, 119, 120; — Abel, 119 ; — An- 
 drew, 47, 03; — Asahel, 116; — Barna- 
 bas, 102 ; — Benjamin, 47 et seq., 102, 112, 
 119 ; — B. S., 116 ; — Christopher, 19, 25, 
 90 ; — Daniel, 111 ; — Daniel, 113 ; — 
 Ebenezer, 47, 63, 112, 119, 122 ; — Rev. 
 Elijah B., 90, 111, 118, 120 ; — Erastus, 
 113;— Gurdon, 112; — Henry S., 116; 
 Henry, 116 ;— Hezekiah, 44, 111 ; — Ja- 
 bez, 112; — Gen. Jabez, birth and pa- 
 rentage of, 43 ; general account of, 47, 
 48, 58, 59, 63 ; gives up his fortune to the 
 colonial cause, 70, 102, 109, 111 ; — Jabez 
 W., 119, 113 ; — Jedediah, 47, 53, 58, 62, 
 67,102,103, IW, 107, 111, 114; — John, 
 
 110 ; — John M., 115, 121 ; — Joshua, 43, 
 47, 03, 72, 113, 122;— Lynde, 113; — 
 Oliver E., 114 ; — Peter L., 114 ; — Sam- 
 uel, 25 ; appointed one of a committee 
 to " draw up some sentiments proper to 
 the present crisis," 102 ; signs the Dec- 
 laration of Indciicndrnce, 48, 49 ; elected 
 Governor, 5o ; dcatli, 50, 66, 112, 119 ; 
 
 — Simon ordained deacon, 19, 25, 43, 90, 
 111; — Thomas, 112; — Mrs. Wolcott, 
 62 ; services of the family in the revo- 
 lution, 43. 
 
 Hyde, Alvan, 116; — Eli, 113; — Good- 
 man, 19 ; — .James N., 110 ; — James T., 
 115 ; — John, 113 ; — Lavius, 117 ; — 
 Richard, note to Rev. Benj. Trum- 
 bull, with account of battle between 
 Uncas and Miantonomah, 82 et seq. ; — 
 Samuel, 90 ; — Simeon, 112 ; — William, 
 90, 111, 120; — William A., 117. 
 
 Indian History, Early, 2 — 14, 82 et seq. 
 
 Indians' deed of Norwich, 81 et seq. ; — 
 Fitcli's labors among, 27 — 28 ; — Whee- 
 lock's school for, 41. 
 
 Jewett, 120. 
 
 Johnson, Dr., 109 ; — Col. Obadiah, 108 ; 
 
 — Stephen, 117 ; H. L., 110. 
 Kennedv, Ar('hil)ald, 115. 
 
 King, l{c\ . Walter, Pastor in Chelsea, 74 ; 
 biograidiical account of, 109, 110, 113. 
 
 Kiugslniry, John, 113; — Jonathan, 112 ; 
 Sanford, 112 ; other reference to the 
 name, 64. ^ 
 
 Kingslcy, Prof. J. F., 84. 
 
 Kinne, Aaron, 112 ; general reference, 74. 
 
 Kirkland, Joseph, 113, 119 ; — Samuel, 116. 
 
 Knight, 26. 
 
 Ladd, Beaufort, 117. 
 
 Lafavette, 73. 
 
 Land, divisions of, 24 — 26. 
 
 Lanman, Charles J., 114; — James, 113, 
 119 ; general reference, 76. 
 
 Lathrop, Charles, 113;— Dr. Daniel, do- 
 nations of, 78, 111; — Daniel, 113; — 
 Elijah, 60, HI ; — Frederick M., 115; — 
 Gurdon, 113 ; — Joseph, 111 ; — Joslma, 
 
 111 ; — John, 116 ; — William, 114 ; gen- 
 eral reference, 60, 74, 78. See Lothrop. 
 
127 
 
 Learned, Hela I'., llC);— Hillin-js P., 114 ; 
 
 — E., I'^l ; — Kev. K. C, article on " Sep- 
 
 Lee, Alfred",' ill, 124 ; — Samuel H., 110; 
 other {general reTerenee, 120. 
 
 Leffnif^well, 10, HI, 25, 43, 51, 52, 55, 07, OS, 
 74, 102, lo:!, 1(14, li:}; — Christopher, 51, 
 55, 07, CS, 102, lo:! ; reply to Adam's let- 
 ter, 104 et scq. ; — Tlionias, 10, 19, 25, 52, 
 8.1, 90 ; — William, ll:i. 
 
 Lester, AVilliam, 114. 
 
 Lexing-ton, announcement of the battle of, 
 107. 
 
 Lippitt, Andrew C, 118. 
 
 I^isbon, formed from Norwich, 40. 
 
 Livingstone, Gov., 4.i. 
 
 Lord, Kev. Benjamin, succeeds Kev. John 
 Woodward, 35 et seq. ; biographic ac- 
 count of, 90 et seq., 109 ; — David X., 114 ; 
 
 — Josejili, 111. 
 Lothrop, Kev. .Tohn, 20. 
 Lovett, John, 112, 119. 
 layman, Kev. Dr., 122. 
 Manning, Dyer, 04. 
 Mansfield, Zebadiah H., 117. 
 Manwaring, 120. 
 
 Marvin, 74, 120. 
 
 Mather, Cotton, 11, .32; — Increase, 28; 
 
 name mentioned, 120. 
 Mason, Maj. John, S, 11, 13, 15, 23, 79, 82, 
 
 83, 89, 90, 92, 122 ; — Samuel. 13. 
 McCurdy, John, 118; name mentioned, 09. 
 McFarling, lOS. 
 
 Meech, Geo. A., 115 ; — S. W., 121. 
 Merchants, first spoken of, 27. 
 Metcalf, 120. 
 Miantonomoh, battle between Uucas and, 
 
 9 ; fuller account of, 82 et seq. ; or- 
 thography of the name : site of capture, 
 
 &c., 84 et seq. 
 Miner, Charles, 119. 
 Ministers, See Fitch, Woodward, Lord, 
 
 King, Mitchell, Strong, Tyler, &c. 
 Mitchell, Kev. A., biographic account of, 
 
 109 ; — Donald G., 109, 1 15, 124 ; — Stephen 
 
 M., 109. 
 Mohegans originally Pequots, 7 ; address 
 
 to, 13 ; present condition of, 87. See 
 
 Uncas. 
 Morgan, .33, .59 ; — Samuel C, 114, 121. 
 Mott, 3Iaj., Edward, diary of expedition 
 
 to Ticonderoga, 55, 50, (H ; — Samuel, 
 
 04, 100. 
 Mo wry. David S., 115. 
 Mumford, 74. 
 Murdock, John B., 11.3. 
 Narragansetts, 8 et seq. ; 82 et seq. 
 Nevins, David, (H, 108 ; — William, 114. 
 " New Lights and Old Lights," 37. 
 Niantics, 8. 
 Niles, Nathaniel, ode by, alluded to, 00 ; 
 
 quoted, 98 ;' other references to, 01, 02 ; 
 
 — Kobert, 04; Mr. Foster's speech in 
 the Senate in behalf of, 99 et seq. 
 
 Norton, H. B., 121 ; — F. P., 121. 
 
 Norwich, survey of, ; earliest records of, 
 14 ; reasons for the name, 17, 87 et seq. ; 
 first boy born in, 19 ; recognized by 
 general court, 22 ; guarded, 2.'< ; history 
 of settlement terminates, 32 — 3.3 ; action 
 upon the " Separatists," .38 et seq. ; pat- 
 riotism of citizens of, in American Kev- 
 olution, 42 et seq. ; action in regard to 
 Port Bill, 0,5 — OS ; action on hearing of 
 massacre at Boston, 08 ; account of sup- 
 plies for soldiers, 70 — 72 ; recovery of 
 trade after the war, 7.3 — 74 ; the last fifty 
 years, 75 ; founding of Free Academy, 
 
 70, 120 et seq. ; list of gradates from, 70 et 
 HI et seq.; colleges founded hy men of, 
 77 ; history of original proprietors, 89 ; 
 genealogies, 120; Norwich (Eng.), SM. 
 Nott, Eliphalcf, lis; — .Samuel, 35, 70, 118; 
 
 — Stephen T., lis. 
 
 Occuni, Samson, mission to England, 40, 97. 
 
 Olnistead, .lohn, 20, 25, 90. 
 
 Oncas, sec I'ncas. 
 
 Original l'roi)rictors, sec Settlers. 
 
 Osgood, ('., 121. 
 
 Otis, Joseph, 121. 
 
 Owaneko, S2. 
 
 Paddock, John A., 117; — Benjamin II., 
 117;— Lewis S., 117. 
 
 Paine, K. T., 122. 
 
 Parsons, Gen., 53, 120. 
 
 Palmer, J., announces battle of Lexing- 
 ton, 107;— \Vm. K., 118. 
 
 Pease, .John, 20, 25, 90. 
 
 Peck, .lohn II., 110. 
 
 Pendleton, Cyrus II., 118. 
 
 Pequots, 7, et seq. 
 
 Perkins, 20, 09, 74, 78, 111, 112, 113, 114, 
 110, 117, 119 ; — Dr. Alfred E., 78, 114; 
 
 — Benjamin, 112; — Benjamin D., 113; 
 
 — Charles, 114; — Elias, 113, 119; — 
 Charles, 119; — Elijah, 113;— Eliphaz, 
 112; — George, 121 ; — J. N., 121 ; — Dr. 
 Joseph, 111 ; — Nathan, 110; — Newton, 
 117. 
 
 Peril, John AV., 113 ; — Pelatiah, 11.3. 
 
 Peters, 04 ; — Thomas, 91. 
 
 Phillijjs, Wm., 104, 105. 
 
 Piatt, John H., 11.5. 
 
 Pierpont, 120. 
 
 Porter, Charles IL, 114 ;— Ebenezer, 109 ; 
 
 — Francis, 114 ; — John, 122. 
 
 Post, John, 25, 90 ; — Samuel A. L. L., 115 ; 
 
 — Thomas, 19, 25, 90 ; — general refer- 
 ence to, 120. 
 
 Potter, Giles, 115. 
 
 Prentice, A. W., 121 ; — George D., 117. 
 
 President of Colleges from Norwich, 70. 
 
 Proprietors, original. See Settlers. 
 
 I'uritans, spirit of, 31. 
 
 Putnam, Col. Israel, 08, 09. 
 
 Kavmoiid, 120. 
 
 Kead, .losiah, 20, >M. 
 
 Kevolution, American, in Norwich, 4: 
 
 seq. ; documents concerning, 101 et se* 
 Reynolds, John, 20, 25, 90. 
 Ki])ley, George Coit, 110;— George B., 
 
 1 14 ; — Joseph, 114 ; — family mentioned, 
 
 74. 
 Richards, 120. 
 Koath, 20. 
 Robinson, John, 17; — J. Adams, 110; — 
 
 Wm. C, 110. 
 Rockwell, Alfred P., 115; —.Tohn, 115; 
 
 John A., 15, 89, 114, 119, 124;— name 
 
 mentioned, 15, 19, 20. 
 " i:i.gerriios,"35. 
 Rogers, I'.cnijamin, 118; — C. B., 121;- 
 
 Henry W., 113; — John, 20; — Dr. 
 
 Theophilus, 07, 103, 104 ; — Zabdiel, 102 ; 
 
 — name mentioned, 74, 120. 
 Royce, Jonathan, 25, 25, 90. 
 Rudd, 20, 120. 
 Saltonstall, 45, 09. 
 Sargeant, George D., 117. 
 Sassaeus, 8. 
 
 Savage, Hon. .Tames, 84, SO. 
 
 Say brook, parent of the Norwich colony, 
 10 — 18 ; — Platform how received in Nor- 
 wich, .34. 
 
 Selden, 120. 
 
 Senators, V. S. from Norwich, 70, 119. 
 
 2et / 
 
 seq^ 
 
128 
 
 " Separates," 35 ot seq. ; — refuse to pay 
 church rates, 37 ; " hiilf way covenant, " 
 one of their stumbliiii;- lilixks, 38; re- 
 turn to church, 39 ; result of tlie move- 
 ment, 30-40 ; reference to accounts of, 97. 
 
 Settlers, origmal, character of, Ki ; re- 
 moval to Norwich, IS ; number of, 19 ; 
 home lots of, 25 ; names of, 89 et seq. 
 
 Shaw, 09. 
 
 Sherman, 45, 49, 79. 
 
 Siiipman, Nathaniel, 115 ; — Tliomas L., 
 114. 
 
 Shippeu, Dr., 58. 
 
 Sigourney, Mrs. L. H., 110. 
 
 Sill, 120. 
 
 Silliman, Gold S., 45, 79. 
 
 Slater, J. F., 121. 
 
 Slaves, manumission of, alluded to, 40. 
 
 Smith, D., 121 ; — David, 113 ; — Blbridg-e, 
 121 ; — Joshua, 114 ; — Nehemiah, 20, 90. 
 
 Spalding, 74 ; — J., 121 ; — George, 114; — 
 Kufus P., 114. 
 
 Sprague, Kcv. Dr., 90, 97, lOS, 110. 
 
 StaiKlish, INIiles, advent of son of to Nor- 
 wicli oolonv, 2(). 
 
 Stanton, Joliu, 80 ; — Robert P., 115; — 
 Thomas, 13. 
 
 Stead, A., 7. 
 
 Stedman, C. J., 121. 
 
 Steele, A., 120. 
 
 Sterling, 120. 
 
 Stiles, Pres., 85. 
 
 Stocking, C. H. W., 117. 
 
 Stone, Samuel, 23, .30, 91 ; — Wm. I.., SO. 
 
 Street, Mrs. A. K., 52, 103, 105, et seq. 
 
 Strong, Joseph, 47, 50, 74, 109 ; — Mrs. 
 Henry, 02 ; — Henry, 113; — Nathan, 109. 
 
 Stuart, I. W., Life of Trumbull, 44, 97. 
 
 Tallcott, John, 13. 
 
 Thirty years before the Revolution, 97. 
 
 Thomas, H., 121 ; — general reference, 74. 
 
 Tisdale, Ebenezer, 122 ; — .John, 122 ; — 
 Nathan, biographic notice of, 122 et seq. 
 
 Tracy, 19, 25, 57, (H, 70, 90, 102, 112, 113, 
 110, 118, 119, 120 ; — Albert H. 119 ; — C, 
 121; — Dr. Elisha, 57 ; — 111 ; — Elisha 
 Winslow, 111;— F. P., 120 ; — Daniel, 
 lio . _ Isaac, 102 ; — John, 90 ; — Phile- 
 mon, 118; — Phincas L., 113, 119; — 
 Samuel, 111; — Samuel, 102; — Simon 
 Jr., 102 ; — Stephen, 110 ; — Thomas, 
 113;— Thomas, 19, 25, 82, 90, 120; — 
 Uri, 113, 119;— Uriah, 112, 119; general 
 reference to, 120. 
 
 Trumbull, Gov., 45, 53,54, 02, 04, 67, 60, 74, 
 
 79, S4, 100, 102, 103, 122 ; — John, 04, 122 ; 
 Joseph, 53, 04, 67, 102 ; letter to Hoston 
 committee, about aid, 103; J. Hamiiiouil, 
 22,23,29, 34, 50, 85, 93; Dr. Benjamin, 
 .30, 39, 82, 84. 
 
 Turner, Dr. Philip, surgeon general, 57. 
 
 Tyler, D., 121 ; — Daniel, 107 et seq. ; — 
 Edwin, 115 ; — Rev. J., 74; biograpliic 
 account of, 109 et seq. 
 
 Uncas, 82 et seq. ; binds himself to attend 
 christian worship, 12 ; — cannibalism of, 
 83; chair of, 10; character of, 11 ; mon- 
 ument to, 80 et seq. ; signature to deed 
 of Norwich, 82. 
 
 Vail, Thos. H., 117. 
 
 Wade, Robert, 25, 90. 
 
 "W'Mdilington, Dr. J., 87. 
 
 Wailhanis, 120. 
 
 Wadsworth, 44, 45. 
 
 Wait, John T., 20, 118, 120. 
 
 Wallis, Richard, 90. 
 
 Walworth, R. H., 20, 75, 111, 118, 119, 120. 
 
 Ware, Edmund A., 110. 
 
 Warren Joseph, letter from, acknowledg- 
 ing- sheep from Norwich, OS, 105. 
 
 Waterman, Elijah, 113 ; — general ref- 
 erence to, 120 ; — Thomas, 19, 25, 90. 
 
 Webb, J. S., 121. 
 
 Wentworth, Erastus, 117 ; — general ref- 
 erence to, 70. 
 
 Wheclock, Dr. Indian school of, 41, 97, 
 122. 
 
 Whitofield, George, .30 ; — Henry, 92. 
 
 Whitaker, 41. 
 
 Wilcox, Asher H., 110 ; — Willcox, G. 
 Uiickingham, 115. 
 
 Willes, D. E., 115. 
 
 Willet Francis, 85, 
 
 Williams, 8, 25, 49, (M, 00, 74, 79, 83, 86, 108, 
 113, 117, 121 ;— E., 121;— E. Winslow, 
 117 ; — Ebenezer, 108 ; — Harriet Peck, 
 121 ; — Joseph, 113 ; — Roger, 8, 85, 80 ; 
 — William, 49, 09; — Gen. Wm., 87, 121. 
 
 Winthrop, 23, 79. 
 
 Winslow, Gov., 26. 
 
 AVolcott, Oliver, 45 ; — Roger, SO. 
 
 Woodbridge, Lucretia, 100 ; — Nathaniel 
 S., 100; — William, 110;— general ref- 
 erence to, 120. 
 
 Woodward, Dr. Ashbel, 111, 118, 120;- 
 Rev. John, successor to Rev. James 
 Fitch, 34 ; resignation of, 35 ; biographic 
 account of, 0(i ; — Patrick H., 116. 
 
 AVoostcr, General, death of, 45. 
 
 Yerrington, Alexander, 118. 
 
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