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Beers, William A.
liajor Hatiian Gold, of the old town of Fairfield, Ot.
Bridgeport, Go'rm. ,1882.

'N

Gift of
192,/

t>-r^ ¦

MAJOR NATHAN GOLD,

OF THE

Old Town of Fairfield, Conni

A Siiinmary of his Important Public Services
IN' THE-
. ;/ Colony of Connecticut.

Delivered at the Memoriae "-Library, July 8th, 1882, by'
WILLIAM A. -BEERS.

July, 1882.
PRINTED BY request OF CITIZENS OF FAIRFIELD.

MAJOR NATHAN GOLD,

OF THE

Old Town of Fairfield, Conn.

A Summary of his Important Pubhc Services
IN THE
Colony of Connecticut.

Delivered at the M\™orial Library, July 8th, 1882, by
WILLIAM A. BEERS.

July, 1882.
printed by request of citizens of FAIRFIELD.

HUNT It BAXTER,
RAILROAD AND MERCANTILE PRINTERS,
98 JOHN ST., BRIDGEPORT, CONN.

8-

U.F>

NATHAN GOLD.

THERE was an important, but undemonstrative, class of
men in early New England, who were thrown into com
parative obscurity by the more brilliant achievements of contem
poraries, and of whom too little is known in our day. They were
intelligent rather than intelleflual men, who met the problems and
perils of their times, with calm good sense and quiet courage.
They were Puritans whose faith and works went hand in hand.
They were the strength and stamina of the yoting colonies. But
they lived out their orderly, practical lives without performing
any one remarkable deed, or manifesting any marked superiority
that would command a special chapter of history, or a volume of
biography. Successful in governing themselves, their families,
and estates, they gravitated naturally toward the responsible
places of public trust, became reliable Captains, Magistrates, and
Judges, without aspiring to the higher distinftions of office ; and,
although not Governors or Generals, were truly the " Fathers '
of the people. Yet, many such men have not so much as a slab
in the village church-yard for a memorial.
We live in a time of historical inquiry, however; we are
searching in musty archives, and putting together the scanty and
widely dispersed material, to find out who and what just such
men were, and we think no better reason need be given for the
appearance of this paper.
Nathan Gold was the acknowledged first citizen of Fair-

6 NATHAN GOLD.
field, and one of the leading men of the Colony of Connecticut
during the half-century that followed the year 1652. Of his his
tory previous to this year there is no authentic account. One
historian* states that he came from St. Edmondsbury, — promi
nent in England's ecclesiastical annals, and identical with the
Bury St. Edmonds made famous by Dickens, — but gives no date,
and fails to mention whether he came direct to Fairfield after
landing in this country. Another authorityf records that there
were five of the name of Gold, — which, through some unex
plained cause, afterwards became changed to Gould, — who landed
in the vicinity of Boston about the year 1639, one of whom came
from Hants Green, Buckinghamshire County, which well-known
agricultural county also holds Bury St. Edmonds ; and, although
it does not appear what relation they bore to Nathan, we infer
they were of the same family, and were all, no doubt, considerable
farmers or landed proprietors in England. That Nathan was
already a man of importance, though he could not have been
more than twenty-five years of age when he identified himself
with the fortunes of primitive Fairfield, is clearly indicated from
certain entries in the town records. In that venerable volume,
which has attained more than local celebrity as the A Book,X he
is at once registered as Mr. Gold, the prefix Mr. being the reverse
of a cheap honor in those days ; and we gather from the same
authority that he early began to buy and sell large tracts of
woodland and meadows. The settlers also immediately recog
nized him as ,a military leader, and elected him Ensign of their
Train Band. The office of Ensign was one of no mean signifi
cance, and "was so gravely considered," says a chronicler of the
* Hon. T. S. Gold, Hist, of Cornwall.
t Savage's Genealogical Dictionary.
% Vol. I, Old Fairfield Records.

NATHAN GOLD. 7
period, "that one who was thus appointed devoted a day to fast
ing and prayer," that he might have the judgment and strength
to meet its requirements. The highest military rank in the
colony, indeed, was that of Captain, and held by the noted John
Mason, who, when a year or two after he became Major, "was
regarded as one not to be lightly approached."*
Immediately on his appointment Ensign Gold must have
been busy with the Indian troubles, and in maintaining a vigilant
watch over the movements of his neighbors, the people of New
Netherlands, who were supposed 'to encourage the savage depre
dations. The Dutch traders, it will be remembered, were from
the first a serious obstacle in the way of English civilization in
Connecticut. They claimed to be the "original discoverers of
7"^!? Fresh River," to have bought a large tract of land from the
Pequots, and established a trading house at Hartford as early as
1623, and vowed vengeance against an English company that ten
years later palisaded Windsor, but six miles below the Dutch
fort Good Hope.f There was some show of reason in their claim
of prior discovery and right of occupancy therefore, but which
we cannot stop to consider, except so far as it helps to make clear
the course of our narrative. The Dutch insisted, the English
ignored ; there were bitter and often bloody quarrels ; and the
Dutch question was the subject of numerous conferences, in most
of which Nathan Gold was the Connecticut representative.
It was this "Dutch Question" that led to the memorable
Self-exile of Roger Ludlowe in 1654. From this date and event
Nathan Gold easily takes position as leading man of the settle
ment which, at a Town Court, held June i8th, 1655, he is chosen
to represent at the General Assembly.J
* HoUister, Vol. I.
t See Hutchinson, "Vol. II, p. 435.
X Trumbull's Col. Rec.

8 NATHAN GOLD.
As a pertinent as well as general interest attaches to these
Town Courts, we will briefly speak of them. They were insti
tuted in 1639, sat once in two months and determined all matters
of trespass and debt not exceeding forty shillings, and were the
origin of the peculiar privileges of Connedlicut towns. They
also developed a Probate Court, and, notably, a Particular Court,
vested with grave powers such as our present County Courts
would hardly venture to assume. The treasured documents that
preserve the doings of these old-time jurists are mines of wealth
to the historical student ; and running through those which relate
to ancient Fairfield — like a vein of sterling ore— is a chain of evi
dence to prove that in most of these Courts Nathan Gold was a
thoroughly reliable, though not, like his- predecessor Ludlowe,
an obtrusive and pretentious officer.
At the same Court that nominated him for the Assembly, it
transpired, through the settlement of an estate, that he had mar
ried Martha, the widow of one Edward Harvey, — one of the few
items of a personal nature which the material at our command
reveals concerning him. As we have intimated, neither history
nor tradition furnishes the individual story of his life and char
acter ; and our meagre narrative gathers most of its details, from
this point, by following the actions of the General Assembly, of
which he was an Assistant for thirty-six years.*
At a special session of the Assembly, called May 21st, 1657,
•he was appointed Lieutenant of the first Troop of Horse organ
ized in the Colony. This was in apprehension of a general
Indian war, threatened by the animosity existing between the
Narragansetts, of Long Island, and the tribes dominated by that
uncertain ally of the Colonists, Uncas. It is of interest to recall
of this same Court, that in view of the number of Quakers that
had arrived at Boston, — many of them at once committed to
* Mostly gathered from Trumbull's (Hoadley's) Col. Rec.

NATHAN GOLD, 9
gaol, — was passed the act: "That no Town should entertain any
Quakers, Ranters, Adamites, or any such like notorious heret
ics." The Court likewise busied itself with the prevailing con
troversies of the Churches, that so nearly affected the whole
Commonwealth, and in regard to which Mather says in his Mag-
nalia: " From the fire of Church altars there issued thunderings,
and lightnings, and earthquakes throughout the Colony." Of
the councils and committees appointed at this and similar courts,
Lieutenant Gold was a leading member. In 1660 we find it
recorded thit he was "delegated with two others to hear and
determine a serious difference between the people of Norwalk
and the, Indians," respecting the ownership of a large tract of
land — such disputes being frequent from the fact that the Colo
nists never knew when the price paid for lands bought of the
aboriginal owners was the final one.
As the year 1660 was crowded with events of vital import to
all the Colonies in America, Dutch and F"rench, as well as Eng
lish, and was one which nearly concerns our narrative, let us
glance at a page of familiar history. Briefly, then, it was the
year of the Restoration, when the princely but rather profligate
Charles II. assumed what he doubtless believed to be his divine
right. Few Connecticut historians have failed to remark that no
official notice was taken of this event by the General Assembly
in session when the news arrived of its occurrence. The cause
of this apparent apathy on the part of these sage councillors may
be looked for in the fact that Governor W^inthrop, Deputy Mason,
and such cautious Assistants as Nathan Gold waited for further
developments before hailing the royal successor of the great
Commoner. Cromwell had been their champion, their staunch
friend, their protector in a double sense. He had permitted, in
fact, encouraged, them to work out their problems of government
pretty much in their own way ; it was possible that Charles might

10 NATHAN GOLD.
be a little more self-asserting and exacting. Indeed, Cromwell
had been too busy at home to pay much attention to his pilgrim
children in New England, while Charles, meeting an unusual
epoch of peace, might employ some of his leisure in looking
after his American interests. He was extravagant, his treasury
was depleted, his followers asking reward, his courtiers impecu
nious and demanding new sources of revenue, and the now grow
ing Colonies could not long hope to escape his notice or the
cupidity of his Court. The Restoration, therefore, that brought
tranquility to England boded trouble to Connecticut. But, though
her freemen thought much, they acted not at all in the matter
until their next General Assembly convened, March 14th, 1661,
when, having concluded to anticipate the possible good-will of
their new sovereign, — "to make friends of the mammon of un
righteousness," so to speak, — they drew up a testimonial to
Charles, which embraced a full, and som.ewhat tender, avowal of
their allegiance.
With characteristic thrift, too, they utilized the occasion to
apply for a new and distinct charter for the Cclcny cf Connecti
cut ; and, recognizing that ready money was as all-powerful in
royal as colonial enterprise, they appropriated ^500 to prosecute
their application with vigor.
Not the least prominent among the nineteen gentlemen,
whose previous reputation in the Mother Country and high
standing in the Colony fitted them for the honor of signing this
notable document, was Nathan Gold; and when, the petition
being granted, the charter was joyously received and publicly
read on the 9th of October, 1662, we may well believe he re
ceived a warm tribute of thanks from the people of Fairfield for
his share in obtaining a new and enlarged lease of land and lib
erty. VVe think the Colonists, now that this charter was pro
claimed "theirs and their heirs fcrever," realized that the work

NATHAN GOLD. ii
of laying the foundations of civil government in the wilderness
had not been in vain, though they had "builded better than they
knew." Hitherto, dominated by peculiar religious notions (which,
however, had kept their communities compact and well regulated)
and struggling for very existence, such broad privileges as the
charter assured and indicated, such hopes as it awakened, had
never lighted up their somewhat dismal lives. They could now
safely begin to build a substantial structure : a practically free
and independent State was more than a possibility — a possibility,
we venture to remark in passing, that never entered into the pro
phetic visions of Oliver Cromwell, notwithstanding that a promi
nent writer recently urged that the great Puritan was a projector
of States, and should have a statue at our National Capitol.
But the rejoicing that attended the receipt of the charter was
not without its shadow. There were those who shook their head?
at the diplomacy used by Winthrop, Mason, Gold, and the other
Assistants. New Haven was especially indignant that her fair
territory had been included in the sweeping circle scribed by this
broad instrument ; Governor Stuy vesant protested against a boun
dary line that narrowed the limits of New Netherlands ; and the
" Dutch Question " experienced a revival that kept the troopers
of Lieutenant Gold more zealously alert than ever. Far more
serious complications arose, and our Connecticut fathers had
reason to make fresh application of the scriptural injunction,
"Put not thy faith in Princes." Charles, in a succeeding patent
issued to the Duke of York, included not only New Haven and
New Netherlands, but a considerable portion lately granted Con
necticut. The ship that brought the new patent was one of a
fleet. Fort Amsterdam was besieged; brave old Stuyvesant,
yielding to overwhelming odds, stumped out with the historic
iremark, "I would much rather be carried out dead;" the Dutch

12 NATHAN GOLD.
power in America was swept away — and, let us own it, with ques
tionable justice.
Connecticut was seriously alarmed for her sovereignty. Her
freemen were hastily summoned to Hartford, and the General
Assembly voted "to appoint a committee of great ability to meet
and confer with the royal commissioners delegated by the Duke
of York." The first named on this committee was Nathan Gold.
A propitiatory present of five hundred bushels of corn opened
negotiations, which were wisely conducted on the part of the
"committee of great ability," and concluded by an agreement
which guaranteed, with slight alteration, the former charter.
Thus did the Connecticut fathers mark out those State lines
which so pleasantly encompass their descendants to-day.
At the General Court, held at Hartford, May 12th, 1670, we
find Fairfield's Representative registered on the roll as "The
Worshipful Captain Nathan Gold." Its records also show that
he with Mr. Jehu and Mr. John Burr were granted liberty to
purchase from the Indians the tract known as Weantenock (New
Milford) and some adjoining territory. In this year Captain Gold
was considered "the richest inhabitant of Fairfield,"* and doubt
less his private affairs demanded constant supervision. Never
theless, we find him ever busy for his country. In June, of this
year, news being received that the King had declared war against
the States General, the Colonists prepared for defence against
the Dutch, whose fleet presentiy appeared off Sandy Hook, and
he is instructed " to enlist forty-four additional troopers." The
Dutch landed their forces, took possession again of New Nether
lands, and hoisted their flag in triumph over Fort Amsterdam.
Governor Winthrop called a special Assembly, which ordered
that "five hundred dragoons be fitted for service forthwith; and
the quota of Fairfield County, comprising one hundred and
* Savage's Genealogical Dictionary.

NATHAN GOLD. jj
twenty men, was placed under command of Major Nathan Gold."
It does not appear, however, that the Connecticut troops made
any serious demonstration in the King's favor ; they were, doubt
less, most intent upon guarding their own immediate borders,
defending their own particular rights. In fact, the Dutch rule —
a very orderly one, by the way — was of the briefest. Peace was
shortiy declared between England and the States General, and
the invading fleet sailed for more congenial harbors.
But Connecticut was not left long to till lands, and build
churches and colleges in peace; she was, in 1675, confronted with
a war in savage earnest. The red hand of King Philip was at
her throat. Major Gold found his office no sinecure. He was,
on the 5th of August, "ordered to proportion the troops of Fair
field County, and the troops thus proportioned to meet at the
Meeting-houses on Monday morning next by the sun an hour
high;" and was further instructed "to take special care that the
soldiers be fully accoutered with clothing, arms, and horses, and
that ten hatchets be provided for ten soldiers to wear at their sides
instead of swords." A brief abstract of the orders to the sentries
or pickets of the Major's command, at this time, will, we think,
have a certain freshness. " The charge given to the watch is, that
in his Ma"®' name they faythfuUy attend by watching and stand
ing in such places where they may best discover danger of an
enemie, or of fire, which they are to give notice thereof by cry
ing Fire! Fire! or Arme! Arme! they are also to examine all
such persons as they meet unseasonably, command them to stand!
twice, and the third time to command them to stand upon their
perill! ! but if they will not stand, but oppose them or fly from
them, they may shoot at them, but to shoot low;, unless they judge
him to be an enemie, and then they are to shoot as directiy at
them as may be."
Not even tradition offers a thread by which we may follow

14 NATHAN GOLD.
the individual actions of the Major; but we know that, in times
crowded with perils, he was ever called when perils were thickest,
and rose from rank to rank "for his good services," as the
Colonial Records simply but significantly testify. Although no
one brilliant act, no dash, nothing that appeals vividly to the
imagination is recorded of him, we may be sure the Colony had
no more efficient soldier to grapple with that remarkable warrior,
King Philip. He was carried to no dizzy hights by a military
genius; perhaps he could not be called a hero, but he fell into no
abyss of error through ill-timed gallantry; he brought to each
duty a steady purpose and heroic endurance. And these sterling
qualities marked every campaign of his life : in every field he was
as true as steel, as good as gold. No doubt he was all " Puritan,"
but he was also every inch a man, and ready to back up his con
victions with his life; and when the subtle analyst of New Eng
land history inclines to fling the stale sarcasm of " intolerance'' at
the class that Nathan Gold represent by such a phrase as: "the
Puritan clasped his iron-bound Bible with one hand and burned
witches with the other," the irony would be more effective, at least,
if it also pointed out a set of men less intolerant with themselves,
freer with their own lives.
But analysis is apart from our purpose, and with a brief re
mark in this connection, we pass on: — although we do not go so
far as to say "the world was sifted" to obtain the pioneers of New
England civilization, we firmly believe they were the right men in
the right place.
That the Major was as reliable in defense of Church as of
State duly appears from the minutes of the General Court, held
October, 1679, when it was voted that: "in answer to a peti
tion from Rev. Thomas Hanford and thirty others of Norwalk, in
regard to obstacles and differences in settiing their Church, Major
Nathan Gold and Mr. James Bishop be appointed to repair to

NATHAN GOLD. 15
Norwalk and afford their best help and assistance to these good
people; and in case some other way be not agreed, that the Com
mittee of Norwalk, or any three of them, go on building the
meeting-house upon the place called Hoyt's Hill, as had been
previously appointed by Maj. Gold and Maj. Treat."
Our narrative now reaches the "usurpation," as it was proba-
blj called, of Sir Edmund Andros, in regard to which the Con
necticut Assembly was ominously silent, and through which Major
Gold was discreet and effective— qualities Andros soon appre
ciated and respected. Coming- through Andros from the Lords
of the Council at Whitehall, a letter was received and read at the
General Assembly, at Hartford, May, 1680, the subject matter of
which was a serious complaint against Major Nathan Gold. It
appears that one "John Wampus claimed to be the heir of Sachem
Romanock, and entitied to these tracts of land where ye town of
Fairfield, in ye Colony of Connecticut, is tuilt, which by evill
practices of Major Nathan Gold, he f Wampus) is not only kept
out of his just rights, but was imprisoned when he demanded
possession of his estates." William Hill was then Recorder of Fair
field, and a Royal Solicitor demanded of him the evidence of
ownership in the case, which were refused—" either them or copies
of them without the advice of Major Gold." The SoHcitor then
sereved Mr. Hill with a warrant under the Royal Seal, and began
to survey the tract in question; and Mr. Hill in turn served him
with a " stay of proceedings " under the simple cffcial wafer of the
Fairfield Town Court, which bade the Solicitor " not to stretch
any line within the township." The matter was carried to the
General Court, which, under date of July 25th, decreed its wiHing-
ness " to declare allowance of all lawful acts, but to suffer strang
ers to draw lines within the townships without the consent of the
towns" was a precedent not to be established. In fact, the claim
of Wampus rested on no better grounds than the prevalent Indian

lb NA THAN GOLD.
idea that a sale of land was nothing more than temporary consent
to a joint occupancy; and, like many other claims endorsed by
Andross, was valueless except to arouse differences between Royal
and Colonial authorities. Sir Edmund, with many good qualities,
was arbitrary and frequently stretched his power beyond the
point of justice as well as forbearance. He, however, did not push
the Wampus claim, being evidently impressed with the fairness
and firmness of Major Gold, who he thereafter treats with marked
courtesy; and when, in May, 1684, the Assembly appointed the
Major with Mr. Jehu Burr "a commission to lay out the boundary
line between the Connecticut Colony and the Province of New
York" a correspondence is on record in which he is most respect
fully, even affectionately, addressed by Sir Edmund.* Indeed,
Fairfield's first citizen commanded universal respect, and was the
chosen vehicle of important and delicate missions by all parties,
as we have seen and as will hereafter appear. In 1685 he is ap
pointed "to give the thanks of the Court to Rev. Mr. Wakeman,
of the Church of Christ in Fairfield, for his great pains in preach
ing the election sermon" at the General Court, at Hartford, May
14th. The text was from Jer, vi, 8th: "Be thou instructed, O
Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee, lest I make thee deso
late, a land not inhabited." Copies of this sermon are now very
rare ; there are but two known to exist, one in the library of Yale
College, and another in the noted collection of the late George
Brinley, Esq.
At the next Assembly he is entrusted with a highly respon
sible mission. He is appointed, with two others, as is recorded,
" to goe to New Yorke, so soon as God gives you opportunity, to
salute and congratulate the Hon. Gov. Thomas Dougan, of H.
R. H., the Duke York's territories in America. As to your treat
ing and concluding with him about the bounds of that territory
"' See Hoadley's Records, and O'Callighans Doc. His. N. Y.

NATHAN GOLD. i-j
and this Colony, you shall accede his demands, * * * but
get him to take up with as little as may be.'' There was also
prepared at this Court an address to the King, in connection with
the notable Rye House Plot. This address is so suggestive, that
we give the following extract: "Although these letters come
from us not trimmed with quaintnesses of language, but in a
plaine habbit, according to the maner of a poore wildernesse
people, who studdy realities and not flatteries ; in the words of
truth and sobernesse as becometh loyall subjects, we have sayd,
we doe and will say, God save the King. And, whereas, we have
been informed of some horrible complotments against your Ma
jesty, we abhor and detest the same."* The Assembly of May,
1687, was conspicuous for its masterly inactivity in ignoring the
demands of Sir Edmund Andros upon Connefticut to give up
her charter, which inactivity resulted, as was intended, in the
preservation of that historic instrument. Major Gold was, in
addition to other offices, at this time Judge of Pleas for the
County, — a fa6l which Andros pretended to be ignorant of, when
in November he sends to the Major, by "John Perry, the Post,"
•a commission under the Duke of York's seal for this position.
Andros took especial delight in ignoring distindtions and rights
that were not immediately conferred by himself, and it is related
of him that when the Colonists pointed to certain claims which
he disregarded, he would say, with a grim pleasantry, befitting
the simile, that "their tenures were valueless, and their Indian
deeds no better than the scratch of a bear's paw." Yet he treats
Major Gold, as we have seen, with great personal deference, and
in 1688 writes him another official, but very courteous, letter.
The Major had been granted a neck of land, consisting of thir
teen hundred acres, in the region, now Danbury, which he was
laying out at the time, when a band of Indians fell upon North-
• Colonial Records.

i8 NATHAN GOLD.
field, killing ten settlers ; and Sir Edmund dispatches a warmly-
worded letter, urging him to pursue and bring to justice the
murderers.* The year 1689 opened most auspiciously for the Colonists.
News had come of the abdication of James II., and the accension
of King William III. and Queen Mary to the throne. They
were staunch Protestants, and the Colonists, believing the accen
sion a Divine interposition, hailed it with delight. The "usur
pation " of Andros was ended ; he had been sent back to England ;
Connecticut and Massachusetts had resumed their former gov
ernments. But affairs at New York were in confusion. The
aristocratic portion of her people insisted that, as no royal proc
lamation had been received, the Andros rule was still in force ;
while the masses, or the democratic portion, somewhat violently
declared allegiance to the new sovereign, called meetings of safety,
and appointed Captain Jacob Leisler provisional Governor. A
special session of the Assembly was called in May, and Major
Gold and Captain Fitch were despatched to New York in hot
haste to look after Connecticut interests. They carried with them
the first news of William and Mary's proclamation. Leisler at,
once ordered it to be proclaimed from the ramparts of the Fort
and from the City Hall by sound of the trumpet.
In the following June Major Gold writes an official letter to
Captain Leisler, the original of which we believe is in the archives
of the New York Historical Society, and the substance of which
— a salient feature of this paper — is as follows :
To Captaine Leisler and ye rest of ye Cafts active in takeing and se
curing ye Fort in this citty of N. Torke for his Ma'tres service :
Whereas, You were pleased to send unto our Colony of Connec
ticut for need and assistance, as might be, * * * we were appointed
* See Hoadley's Appendix.

NATHAN GOLD.

'9

by ye General Assembly with speed to come to this citty. And, whereas,
we are ordered to receive a full account of your motions, we find to our
amazement ye truth of what we have heard, viz : Ye Fort much out of
repair ; more of ye great gunns not fit for service ; of ye Powder, that of
fifty barrells but one good, and ye rest -would not slinge a bullet half over
ye river. And also that Capt. Nicholson, late Lieut. Gov'r, having left
ye Fort and hasted away to Singeronis, about seven leagues from Yorke,
to Coll. Dougan, and to other parts and some popeishly affected, we
must doe you that justice to owne your good service to God, and unto
our gracious soverain Lord King William, and service done for your
Country in ye preservation of ye Protestant religion."
The letter, written in the quaint manner of the day and with
characteristic shrewd sense, goes on to instruct Leisler to main
tain his position, and, assuring him of co-operation, further en
joins "That no Papist be suffered to come into ye Fort; let not ye warning be
soon forgotten by you — wherein ye turretts of ye Fort were fired in three
places under ye roofs where lay your Ammunition, soe hellishly wicked
and cruell, a papisticall design to have destroyed you, and us, and ye
Fort, and ye town, it made our flesh to tremble." —
With further advice about the " Papists," and assurances that
" We from our Colony shall'be ready to afford you helpe and assistance,
according to our ability and your necessity,"
The letter concludes with the injunction to
" Patiently waite, dispose orders and commands of yours and our most
gracious, never equalled, commended, and admired King William, ye
very best this lower world knows, whom God preserve to long to Reign,
Soe prays,
Nathan Gold.
James Fitch..
In ye Fort of N. Yorke, \
June 26th, Anno 1689. >

20 NATHAN GOLD.
Connecticut agreed to furnish ten men to assist in garrison
ing the fort, which were sent by the Major early in July, and they
remained there until October.
The following year Leisler and the Connecticut Commission
ers organized an expedition against the Indians of the Canada
Border, a band of whom had fallen at midnight upon the people
of Schenectady and consummated the memorable slaughter there
of men, women, and children. Major Nathan Gold, with his
Dragoons, accompanied the Connecticut troops that immediately
marched to the Canada Border. The expedition was under com
mand of General Fitz John Winthrop ; the accounts of it form
one of the most distressing episodes of Connecticut history ; it
was entirely unsuccessful. We have vainly searched available
authorities to discover what part Major Nathan Gold took in the
disastrous campaign. But if any record exists we are confident
that it would corroborate what we have before stated, and what
we again emphasize : it could be none other than that of a wise and
brave officer who commanded his men with calm judgment, who
met, or drove, or retreated from the enemy with equal coolness.
Meanwhile Leisler, of whom we must now briefly speak, was
denounced by his enemies to the King as a usurper, and he was
arraigned before a Royal (and presumably packed) Court at
New York. He was convicted of treason, and, midst the protes
tations of the populace, was executed in City Hall Park. The
people, who regarded him as their friend and a martyr, gathered
about the body with mingled manifestations of grief and anger ;
and some of them, weeping bitterly, cut locks of hair from the
head of their dead hero. He was followed to his grave — in the
garden of his home near the site of Tammany Hall — by a sorrow
ing multitude. Thus perished the last of the Dutch Governors,
and thus finally ended the " Dutch Question " that had agitated
Connecticut since its first English settlement.

NATHAN GOLD. 21
Major Gold had now attained a ripe old age, but his vener
able figure still honored the General Assembly. In May, of the
following year, .he is appointed to tender the thanks of the Court
to Rev. James Pierrepont who had preached the election sermon.
At two succeeding Courts his wisdom and experience are called
in to audit the financial accounts of the Colony. He is also asked
to accept considerable awards which were voted for "his extra
good services." The veteran continues still another year to meet
the duties of a robust manhood, wearing his robes of office with the
unaffected dignity of one whose nobiHty is inherent — not neces
sarily inherited by a descent that dates back to "that wavering
horizon where history loses itself in fable." One historian implies,
indeed, that hfe was entitled to whatever honor attaches to an an
cestry of knights and gentlemen of England; but be that as it
may, his entire public record is free from the least hint ot sell-
- asserting superiority. Like his Puritan associates, he did not
scorn to work with his own hands ; the same Scripture that bade
him serve the Lord, enjoined diligence in business ; the Bible
was the authority by which he squared life and measured its
honors ; he had turned his back upon pride of birth when he
came to the wilderr.ess; he had come to share the-fortunes of
Connecticut when, as the historian says: "the grim present was
lowering upon him with all its sharp and angular features — In
dians, wild beasts, famine, cold, the diseases that lurk along the
borders of new settlements, the French, the Dutch, the devil, and
all other calamities ; and he had borne the burdens and shared
the achievements of struggling New England undismayed by re
verses, unelated by success, with no prouder consciousness than
having done his simple duty."
But he had new passed that fixed Hmit when man's labor is
in vain, and might be said to be borrowing the strength some
times allotted to fourscore. Yet, in his zeal and well preserved

22 NATHAN GOLD.
mental and physical forces, he was still "serving with diligence,"
—he could "die with harness on his back." The time was near
at hand, however, when the Scriptural epigram that marked the
tomb of an honored descendant a century later : " I have said
ye were gods, but ye shall all die like men," was to have striking
illustration in the community of which, for ififty years, he had
been First Citizen. The roll-call of the freemen at the Assembly
of 1694, met with no response when, amid a solemn hush, it told
off the name of Nathan Gold.
In the fulness of years and earthly honors, quietly at his
hotae in Faijfield, with children of the third generation near by
to receive the patriarchal blessing, he is permitted to look hope
fully, and in peace, toward a place in the Assembly of Heaven.
His mantle fell on worthy shoulders. His son Nathan suc
ceeded to the sire's position in the town and in the Colonial
Council, and was, for fifteen years, Lieutenant-Governor of Con
necticut. His grandson Abraham, attained rank and honor, and
bravely met death at the battle of Ridgefield during the Revolu
tion. Other descendants have carried the sterling name into
foremost places of our Army, our Colleges, our Legislature. And
one, the Hon. John Gould, who seemed to reproduce in his per
son the dignity and worth of the first citizen of Fairfield two
centuries ago, only recentiy was gathered to his fathers after hav
ing "gained golden opinions from all sorts of people."
There lies before us as we write the concluding words of this
rapid sketch, a little manuscript, written with remarkable neat
ness, by Rev. Joseph Webb, nearly two hundred years ago. Il:s
heading is: "Two sermons occasioned by the death of Major
Nathan Gold, one of the pious magistrates of Connecticut Colony,
who deceased at his own house, in Fairfield, the fourth of March,,
1694." The text of the first sermon is from 2nd Kings, xiii, 14:
"Now Elisha was fallen sick of the sickness whereof he died,

NATHAN GOLD. 23
and Joash the King of Israel came down unto him and wept
over his face and said, O my father, my father, the chariot
of Israel and the horsemen thereof." The opening words of the
second sermon are Mr. Webb's own; and are: "Pious and holy
men in a public capacity are the fathers, the glory and strength,
stay and defence of the people.'-' Strange to say, there is not a
word in either of these that refers directly to the deceased : not
one reference to his home life, or individual life as parent, friend,
or neighbor. The allusions and applications are general and of
a spiritual character. But we must infer from the good preacher's
text, and from the fact that he did not think it necessary to men
tion a name or refer to a life so familiar, that a profound sorrow
had fallen on the people of olden Fairfield, and they had come
with one consent to "weep over the face" of him who had been
their "glory and strength, stay and defense, their father."

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