:;j:^gp- -■-'■'^ The English Memoria NewH^yen Colony Historical Society C'.r',,.w: FfP. /H?. .i;;(' :. i » wM^<: iv; ■<^*«s 'm ^A-**'' ^1^ w SfS'/ iJii, m ■ 1^1. ■ S2 ^"* f'i^M;*^ -^-.«-4 ^ 4^ ■W. ',?-.^'^ -5-' PROCEEDINGS at the public open- ing, SEPTEMBER 28th, 1893 of the NEW HAVEN COLONY HISTORICAL SOCIETY BUILDING ERECTED BY HENRY F. ENGLISH AS A MEMORIAL of JAMES E. and CARO- LINE F. ENGLISH PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY PRE66 OF TUTTLE, MOREHOUSE i TAVLOR, NEW HAVEN, CONN. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Prefatory Note, ....... 7 Copy of deed of building site, dated Nov. 14, 1891, . 9 Copy of explanatory agreement, dated Nov. 23, iSgi, . 11 Extract from minutes of diredlors' meeting, Nov. 14, 1S91 13 Minutes of meeting of society, Sept. 28, 1893, ■ • '5 2. Proceedings at the pubuc opening of the new building : Address by the President, ..... 17 Commemorative address by Horace Day, ... 23 Sketch of the history of the society by Thomas R. Trowbridge, ...... 5i 3. List of the executive officers of the society since its foundation, ..... 75 4. List of its present officers, .... 77 5. List of its present members, . . . . 81 . 2014936 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1. The building, exterior view 2. Entrance hall and staircase . 3. North Room — with collections 4. Middle Room — with colleftions 5. Library- 6. Audience room — looking south 7. Memorial tablet 8. Audience room — entrance and balcony 9. Portrait — James Edward English 10. Portrait — Caroline Fowler English Frontispiece opposite page 8 17 23 29 37 45 55 65 73 y^a PREFATORY TDREVIOUS to the eredtion of the present permanent home of the society, the rooms it occupied for its historical and antiquarian collecftions, its meetings for business and its audience chamber were of a temporary charadler. For sev- eral years the southeast room in the third story of the newly completed City Hall with the adjoining fire-proof room, amply sufficed for the accommodation of the society ; but in 1878 the needs of the municipal authorities of city and town compelled their abandonment. A transient refuge was found in the New Haven State House, until this last memorial of the independent colonial existence of New Haven was destroyed. The Insur- ance building on Chapel Street imperfe(5llj- served the purposes of the society until the noble benefaction of Mr. Henry F. English, in uniting a tribute of filial reverence with his inter- est in a public objedl led him, unsolicited, to eredl an edifice every way honorable to himself and admirably adapted to pro- mote the ends for which the society was organized. In its construdlion no pains were spared by the donor in making the building attra<5live in aspedt, convenient in arrangement and graceful in detail. By a fortunate coincidence its location is on the home lot of Robert Newman in whose ' ' mighty barn ' ' the constitution of the New Haven colony was formed in 1639. The building is modeled after the Italian renaissance, some- times called the colonial style, but with such modifications as are made necessary by a climate more rigid than that of south- ern Europe. The plans were prepared by Bruce Price, Esq., of New York, under the general supervision of Prof. Arthur M. Wheeler, of Yale University, both of whom personally superintended the entire construdlion. The first story and trimmings are of Tuckahoe marble and its upper stories of light buff brick combined with terra cotta. The building committee to whom were submitted the sev- eral plans and designs were Simeon E. Baldwin, Thomas R. Trowbridge, James M. Hoppin, I,ynde Harrison and Henry F. English. The lot was purchased in November, 1891 ; ground was broken in April, 1892, and the building completed and pub- licly opened, September, 1893. The entire cost has been borne by Mr. English as follows : Building lot .... $11,000.00 Stru(fture .... 72,270.00 Furniture and fixtures . . 4,930.00 Total $88,200.00 The legal title to the entire property vests in the society. The deed of the land, by diredlion of Mr. English, was made direcflly to the corporation, while the cost of construdtion was paid by the donor as though acfling as an agent for the society. Copies of the deed of the land and an explanatory agreement respecting its use are subjoined : " To all people to ivhom these presents shall come, GREETING : " Know ye that I, William K. Townsend, of the town and county of New Haven, in the State of Connedticut, for the consideration of eleven thousand dollars ($i 1,000), received to my full satisfa(5tion of the New Haven Colony Historical Society, a corporation chartered by the State of Connedticut and located in the town of New Haven, do give, grant, bar- gain, sell and confirm unto the said New Haven Colony His- torical Society, a certain lot of land situated in said New Haven and bordered north on Grove Street fifty (50 feet) ; east in part on land formerly of Henry Trowbridge deceased, and in part on land formerly of Mrs. Emily Billings deceased ; in all one hundred and seventy-two (172 feet) more or less; south on land of heirs of Charles Denison in part, and in part on land of J. Hiller fifty (50 feet) ; and west on land of the grantor one hundred and seventy-two (172) feet more or less ; provided, however, that no building shall ever be eredted on the premises hereby granted within thirty-five (35) feet of the south line of Grove Street, and that said lot shall be used for the eredtion of a building for said society ; and said grantor also conveys to said grantee, its successors and assigns, the right to put and keep windows in any such building which said grantee may eredt on said granted premises, on the west line of said premises, and covenants with said grantee its suc- cessors and assigns that he and his heirs and assigns will never obstru(5l the light and air otherwise coming to such building and windows by eredling or maintaining on so much of the land adjoining the granted premises on the west, as lies south of a line which is parallel with the south line of Grove Street and seventy-five (75) feet distant therefrom, any strudture that shall come nearer than ten (10) feet to the west line of the granted premises. ' ' To have and to hold the above granted and bargained prem- ises with the appurtenances thereof, unto the said grantee, its successors and assigns forever, to its and their proper use and behoof And also I, the said grantor, do for myself, my heirs, executors, and administrators, covenant with the said grantee, its successors and assigns that at and until the ensealing of these presents, I am well seized of the premises as a good inde- , feasible estate in fee simple ; and have good right to bargain and sell the same in manner and form as is above written ; and that the same is free from all incumbrances whatsoever except as above specified and provided. '' And furthermore I, the said grantor, do, by these presents, bind myself and my heirs forever to warrant and defend the above granted and bargained premises to it, the said grantee, its successors and assigns, against all claims and demands whatsoever, except as above specified and provided. " In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 14th day of November, A. D. 1891. W. K. TOWNSEND. [l. s.] Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of Edwin A. Smith. Simeon E. Baldwin. "STATE OF Connecticut, | ^^ New Haven, Nov. 14, 1891. New Haven County, ) " Personally appeared William K. Townsend, the signer and sealer of the foregoing instrument, and acknowledged the same to be his free adl and deed before me, EDWIN A. SMITH, Commissioner of the Superior Court for New Haven County." "The New Haven Colony Historical Society and William K. Townsend covenant and agree as follows in mutual explana- tion of the intent and meaning of the conveyance by him to it dated Nov. 14, 1891 : " I. If the society, its successors or assigns ever open any windows on the west line of its lot within 75 feet of the south line of Grove Street, he and his heirs and assigns are at per- fedl liberty to close them up by building in front of them or any of them at any time or times thereafter. "2. The society, its successors or assigns may place door- steps projedling within 35 feet from the south line of Grove Street, provided the top step or platform does not come higher than five feet, six inches above the grade of the Grove Street sidewalk. ' ' The above covenant on the part of each party is made in consideration of the foregoing covenant on the part of the other party. " In witness whereof William K. Townsend hath set his hand and seal and the New Haven Colony Historical Society hath caused its corporate name and seal to be set by Simeon E. Baldwin, its president, duly authorized, to this instrument and to a duplicate hereof, this 23d day of November, 1891, at New Haven, Connecticut. W. K. TOWNSEND. [l. s.] Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of Samuel H. Fisher, Edwin A. Smith, as to W. K. Townsend. Charles K. Bush, -i as to N. H. C. Hist. Society, Edwin A. Smith, J By S. E. B., President. THE NEW HAVEN COLONY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, By Simeon E. Baldwin, President. bTATu OF Connecticut, •) ^ . ^ SS. New Haven, Nov. 23, 1891. County of New Haven, ) Personally appeared William K. Townsend, signer and sealer of the foregoing instrument and acknowledged the same to be his free a(5l and deed before me. EDWIN A. SMITH, Commissioner of the Superior Court for New Haven County. State of Connecticut, County of New Haven, ^ SS. New Haven, Nov. 24, 1891. Personally appeared Simeon E. Baldwin, President of the New Haven Colony Historical Society, signer and sealer of the foregoing instrument and acknowledged the same to be the free adl and deed of the New Haven Colony Historical Society before me. EDWIN A. SMITH, Comtnissioner of the Superior Court for New Haven County. The adlion of the diredlors of the society at a special meeting called by the president and held on the day of the execution of the deed, Nov. 14, 1891, is shown by the following extradl from their min- utes : ' ' The president announced that the special purpose for which the meeting had been called was to make public a gift just received from Henrj' F. English, Esq., of a building lot on Grove street, and Mr. English's intention to eredl thereon a suitable building for the society. ' ' The announcement was a complete surprise, and after an informal discussion concerning this generous donation, the fol- lowing resolutions offered by Prof. Hoppin were heartily and unanimously adopted. "Whereas, Henr>' F. English, Esq., has presented to this society a valuable building site on Grove street fronting Hill- house Ave., and has signified his willingness to erecfl thereon a suitable building for the use of the society, as a memorial of his father and mother, each of whom was descended from a family long identified with the town of New Haven, ' ' Voted, That this society accepts these generous and unso- licited gifts with its warmest acknowledgment of the public spirit and spontaneous liberality which prompted them, and is especially glad of the assurance thus afforded that the memory of Governor English whose name is so honorablj' connedled with the history of Connedlicut and whose interest in the society, of which he was at the time of his decease the vice- president, was alwaj'S constant and deep, will be kept fresh in the hearts of his fellow townsmen for all succeeding genera- tions, not only by what he did for East Rock Park, but for what his son has now done in his name to place upon a perma- nent foundation the promotion of historical research and local patriotism in the ancient limits of New Haven Colony. ' ' Voted, That an engrossed copy of the foregoing resolutions, attested by the president and secretary, be communicated to Mr. English. ' ' Voted, That a committee of five consisting of the president, secretary and three other direcflors, be appointed as representa- tives of the society in respedl to the new building and to re- port to the board their conclusions and recommendations for its approval, from time to time as may be necessary. ' ' The first meeting of the society in the new build- ing was held at 8.00 P. M. on Sept. 28th, 1893. The following are the secretary's minutes of the proceed- ings on this occasion. Meeting of the Society on September 28th, i8gj. The building now occupied by the New Haven Colony Historical Society was dedicated and formally opened on the evening of Thursday, September 29th. A large audience was present, numbering about 460 persons : among the number were delegates from man}' kindred societies in dififerent sedtions of the country. The rooms were brilliantly lighted and handsomely deco- rated with flowers, \'ines, etc. The New Haven orchestra furnished music for the occasion. The hall was crowded during the literary exercises. These consisted of prayer by the Rev. Newman Smj'th, D.D., an address by the president, Judge Simeon E- Baldwin, an ora- tion upon the life of Hon. James E. English, by Horace Day, Esq., and a paper by the secretary, Thomas R. Trowbridge, entitled the History of the New Haven Colonj^ Historical Society. At the close of the regular exercises. President Baldwin called for remarks from General Francis A. Walker, LL-D., president of the American Statistical Association, and also from Prof. H. B. Adams, secretarj- of the American Historical Association, and representing the historical sec5lion of Johns Hopkins University, Judge Harden, delegate from the Georgia Historical Society, and Hon. Charles A. Reed, the delegate of the Old Colon)' Historical Society of Massachusetts. The dedicatory meeting was then closed and all were invited to the diredlors' room where a collation was provided. After- wards the rooms of the society on the lower floor were opened to the guests of the evening and members of the society, who inspedled the various colledtions, library and portrait gallery. All expressed great satisfadlion that the society had such a noble building, and were pronounced in their appreciation of the liberality and public spirit of the donor. Attest : THOMAS R. TROWBRIDGE, Secretary. i6 ADDRESS SIMEON E. BALDWIN President of the Society AT THE OPENING OF THE NEW BUILDING September 28th, 1893 T CONGRATULATE the society on its entrance, to-night, into a home of its own ; built on the spot which of all others is fullest of historic interest to us ; for here was the site of Robert Newman's bam, where were laid the memorable foundations of the little plantation, out of which grew the ancient colony of New Haven, whose name we perpetuate. Nor are we less fortunate in the year and month in which we celebrate this auspicious occasion. It was just two hundred and fifty 3^ears ago, in Sep- tember, 1643, that the articles of confederation were finally consummated under which the Colony of New Haven joined on equal terms with those of Massa- chusetts Ba}^, Plymouth and Conne(5licut, in consti- tuting, to endure, they hoped, forever, the first American union, — the " United Colonies of New England." The modesty of the generous giver, to whom we owe this noble edifice and fitly chosen site, has made him unwilling to take any public part in the exer- cises of this evening. In the same frank spirit of love for New Haven ; of reverence for the institu- tions which have made her what she is ; of respedl for the past ; of hope that its merits may be seen, its errors avoided by posterity, the better for the work we are doing ; of attachment to ties of ancestry ; of recognition of what one generation owes to another, as they pass on in their endless train ; which has led him to this adl of unasked munificence, I accept, in your behalf, this splendid gift. We receive it with especial satisfacflion from the hands of a fellow citizen, and fellow member ; of one who bears a name long known and honored here, and who makes this building a memorial of his nearest kindred, in the generation just passed away. The kindly face and voice of Governor English were familiar at the meetings of this society, of which, during his later years, he served as vice- president. I well remember the vivid and spirited reminiscences he once gave us at our rooms in the old State House (which he had helped to build), of the New Haven of his boyhood. His public life will be the subject of remark to-night by another who knew him well, but let me be pardoned for saying that he was, before all, a type of the kind of charadler that New Haven and New England are proud to claim, as peculiarly their own ; of the man who makes the most of his surroundings, who reaps prosperity from a rugged soil ; who j oins honesty to thrift ; who loves liberality as he scorns extravagance ; who knows that there is no station in life, however lowly, or however high, that cannot be filled with dignity ; no reward of life which cannot be gained by industry, integrity, good sense, and good morals. In the great families of European lands, the insig- nia, the records, the portraits, the heir-looms, of past generations are preserved in some ancient castle or chateau^ under the care of an hereditary representa- tive of the line, whom the laws of descent have made rather their custodian than their owner. The nature of American institutions forbids the creation here of such centers of family history. How many are there in this audience who live in a house in which their grandfather dwelt before them ? With every break in the line of succession comes a division, a separa- tion, a sudden severance of the last ties that had bound some absent child to the old home. All this is part of the price we pay for a condition of society founded on equality, and rejoicing in the common inheritance of a vast territory into which all were invited to enter and possess the land. But because of this, there is no country where the place of the historical society is so great, its mission so high, as on American soil. In their colledlions must the archives of our families be sought and established. There is no one in this hall, however he may seem favored by fortune, who would not be more sure that some prized relic of his ancestors would be preserved, to be seen and known by his descendants in the third and fourth generation, were it deposited here this night, than if kept in his own possession. " Men may come and men may go," but these massive walls, this society, which has already outlived almost all its original founders, these colleAions that speak to all the history of three centuries, will remain. If there is in any institution of human hands an element of perpetuity, that institution is the corpora- tion chartered by the State to cherish the memory of what past generations have said and done, for good or ill. We have no theory to defend, which new dis- coveries may overthrow ; no dodlrine to inculcate, which wiser times may pronounce false ; no object to advance which posterity may deem antiquated or vain. Be the methods, the institutions, the actions, of one century good or bad, they are alike and must always be alike worthy of commemoration at the hands of impartial history. During the last week, as tbe first fruits of this new building, with the security which it affords against loss or injury, there has come here, to find its fitting home, one of the most treasured relics of New England — the silver tankard of her greatest metaphysician, Jonathan Edwards, the gift to him of his Northampton parish- ioners. From father to son, it has descended through five generations, in each of which there was a Jonathan Edwards, and we receive it in accordance with the wish of the last of the line, into whose hands it came, the late Dr. Jonathan Edwards of this city. I look to see by such accessions our colleAions, already of priceless value, grow steadily from year to year. I would have this building the common home- center of New Haven, and of all the towns, whose initials mark our seal, that made up the ancient col- ony. I hope our roll of membership, from two hun- dred and fifty, which it now contains, may come to number five hundred or a thousand names. I hope, and I expect, that a career of prosperity and useful- ness will open for this society, in these stately halls, such as it has never yet attained : and in your behalf I pledge it to make them the center of such a gener- ous cultivation of historical research and local patri- otism that they will be a fit memorial of the names in whose honor their walls were reared by a loving son, a public-spirited citizen. i . luXnuUi^.^ COMMEMORATIVE ADDRESS Delivered September 2Sth, 1893 BY HORACE DAY, THE FIRST SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY ^HE NEW HAVEN COLONY, whose name this society bears, ceased to exist as an independent civil and political organization nearly two hundred and thirty years ago. For a single quarter of a century New Haven, without authority derived from charter grant and without the recognition of any superior earthly power, exercised the highest func- tions of sovereignty. Its founders acquired the soil from its native occupants as being the only legitimate owners, organized their state, ena6led laws, impris- oned, fined and whipped evil doers and beheaded and hung malefactors. The New Haven colony was for a few years the solitary instance of an absolutely inde- pendent state on the American continent. The neighboring colony of Connedlicut might seem an exception, but when its foundations were laid, they were laid as being within the chartered limits of Massachusetts, while its subsequent claims to territorial rights rested upon a questionable pur- chase of a grant, vague and ill defined, to John Hamp- den, Pym and others, at the mouth of Connedlicut River. Brief as was the independent existence of the New- Haven colony it survived long enough to stamp its influence for generations upon our homes and to fur- nish the first precedent for much of the legislation which has made us a free, independent and self- governing people. At its earliest beginning, it proceeded with slow and tentative steps and only gradually developed itself into what it soon became, the one theocracy in the entire Protestant world. When for the first time the soil of New Haven was trod by the feet of Englishmen is unknown. In the first settlement of civilized men in a country of sav- ages, the trapper and the hunter, the tramp and the scamp, commonly take precedence of the adlual settler. The restraints and orderly industries of civilized communities are felt to be irksome by men who find their highest enjoyment in an untrammeled, wander- ing life, in pursuit of beaver or deer. Those to whom the sheriff or constable are an offense, accept a life of vagabondage as their only safety. Such men whether reputable or disreputable have their place in the planting of new colonies. These pio- neers of civilization become familiar with the habits, manners and language of the original population, and serve in a rude way as interpreters and interme- diaries between the civilized and savage man. For more than twentj^ years before the settlement of New Haven, the traders of the Dutch West India Com- pany, visiting the coasts of Long Island Sound in search of pelts and furs, furnished a sufficient induce- ment to adventurers of this class of different nation- alities, to make their temporary habitation among the natives. Whether Thomas Stanton and John Clark in this waj^ became acquainted with the lan- guage of the Quinnipiac tribe or not, thej' had become sufficient adepts in its use to adl as interpreters when the issue of the war with the formidable Pequots opened the way for the settlement of New Haven. The authentic history of New Haven begins with this war, which was not an outbreak of savage rage, but was designed by the natives to be a war of exter- mination. The gradual encroachment of colonists first at Plymouth and then in Massachusetts Bay, had within the year been brought home to them by the settlement of Windsor, Hartford and Wethersfield, and more than all by the eredlion of a fort at Say- brook. The new comers had almost nothing in com- mon with themselves. In their speech, their dress, their habits and their mode of living there was noth- ing in common. The Indian view of the matter, many years later, was thus expressed in response to an offer from one of the colonies, to educate some of the Indian youth : " Several of our young people were formerly brought up in the Northern provinces ; they were instructed in all your sciences, but when they came back to us they were bad runners, ignorant of every means of living in woods, unable to bear either cold or hunger, knew neither how to build a cabin, take a deer or kill an enemy, spoke our language imperfeftly, and were therefore neither fit for hunters, warriors nor counsellors. They were totally good for nothing." On the part of the English, the war was waged not for purposes of chastisement, but for the utter destrudlion of the warlike tribe. Driven from their burning fort, and abandoning their dead, the Indians forced their panic stricken way for more than sev- enty miles throiigh narrow paths known only to themselves, fording rivers and streams and crossing treacherous morasses, till they found a temporary- refuge in a swamp in Fairfield. The vidlorious Eng- lish pursued the fleeing enemy, stopping long enough at Guilford to decapitate one or more of the captured sachems, then pressed on to New Haven where a few more of the Pequots were killed. The war ceased when that Fairfield swamp witnessed the extindlion of the Pequots as a power seriously to be dreaded. Among those who were conspicuous in the war with the Pequots were Captain Nathaniel Turner, soon afterwards the first military commander, and Lieutenant Robert Seeley, the first marshal of New Haven. Doubtless there were many in the com- mand who made known on their return to Connedl- icut and Massachusetts, the attracflions for settle- ment presented by the country through which their weary march had led them. Soon after the close of the war, as the Indian tribes of Stratford and Fair- field had taken part with the Pequots, these towns were settled from Connedlicut as being conquered territory, and were from the first a part of that colony, while the lands of Milford, New Haven, Branford, Guilford and Greenwich were acquired either bj^ gift or purchase. Neither Momaugin nor Ansantawa nor the other sachems of the New Haven settlements took any part in the war. Previous to the purchase of New Haven from the Quinnipiac sachem, Governor Eaton had visited the place and noted its fitness for the commercial com- munity it was intended to found, as well as the nat- ural features of the country, as furnishing facilities for defense against Indian hostilities. Tradition says that Oyster Point was originally seledled as the town site, having a large water front easily de- fended. The absence of springs and the necessity for digging deep wells led to the abandonment of this projedl and to the selecftion of the present site. Two small streams known then as the East and West Creeks, nearly at right angles to each other, the first following the line of the Northampton railroad and the other parallel with George street were seledled as the base lines of the streets whose regularity adds so much to the beauty of our city. The winter of 1637-8 was a bitterly cold one. Through those dreary months, six men, under the diredlion of Joshua Atwater, did what they could to prepare the way for the coming colonists. Some tents were probably brought with them. The bark wigwams of the Indians may have been suggestive. Excavations in the high banks of the West Creek, roughly covered with sod, were doubtless the cellars to which such frequent reference is made in our earlier records. Edward Wigglesworth, a native of Hedon in Yorkshire, whose memorial stone, marked " E. W." in the rear of the Center Church, is some- times mistaken for that of Edward Whalley the regi- cide, had this experience as recorded by his son : " We dwelt in a cellar partly under ground covered with earth, the first winter. I remember that one great rain broke in upon us and drenched me so in my bed, being asleep, that I fell sick upon it." Early in the spring of 1638, a small vessel rounded what we know as Lighthouse Point, and entered into our harbor between shallow shores lined on the right nearly to the water's edge with massive oaks, and with savins and other evergreens on its left. The two rocky eminences, which had given to the place the Dutch name of Rodenburg, were as con- spicuous then as they are to-day. The plain itself was partly hidden by forest trees and partly by shrub oaks, the latter indicating the sites of aban- doned Indian planting grounds. As the emigrants looked over the future home of themselves and their posterity they must have felt how uncertain that future was. Theirs was to be no temporary occu- pancy. They had left their ancestral homes forever. They had burned their bridges behind them. For better or worse they had come to stay. A new life was before them, but a life shrouded in uncertainties. The leaders of the compan}' as they looked over the landscape must have exulted in the thought that here at last was the spot where away from star cham- bers and privy councils, from cathedral pomp and lordly bishops, the kingdom of God on earth, was anew to be set up, and the gospel in its simplicity to be proclaimed to a chosen people. Others on whom rested the more mundane convic- tion that there was a life here to be considered as well as a life to come, must have looked with curious eyes for the indication of whatever seemed encouraging in the way of their various industries ; the farmers as to the apparent quality of the land ; the tanners as to the abundance of astringent barks ; those who followed the sea to the presence of shoals, the height of the tides, the depth of water and the safety of the haven as against the storms of the New England coast. A few of military training, who might have seen service in the Low Countries or under Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, would naturally look for its fitness for defense against the wiles of savage ene- mies. The wives, the mothers and the children may have thought more of the privations awaiting them in their new home, and of the possibility of the toma- hawk and the scalping knife. Tradition says that although the colonists entered the harbor on Friday, such was the reludlance, not wholly unknown in our own time, to begin an enterprise of importance on a day associated with the crucifixion of our Savior, that the landing was deferred till the next day. That Saturday must have been to them a busy one. Removing their household efiFe<5ls from the ship, making necessar}'- provision of fuel, food, water and bedding could have left them little leisure before the setting sun indi- cated the approach of the day of sacred rest. The first observance of a Christian Sunday in New Haven would naturally be marked with the hushed solem- nity of the Puritan's Sabbath. Unfortunately few details have come down to us of this day's doings except that the Rev. John Davenport, late vicar of St. Stephen's in Coleman st., London, preached under a great oak tree, at the comer of George and College streets, on the temptations of the wilderness. Ten years later, when the unfortunate ship in which so much of the wealth and so many of the lead- ing men of New Haven met their unknown fate, possibly the greatest loss to posterity was the loss of the sermons and other manuscripts of the preacher then on their way for publication in London. No record whatever exists of what was done by the colonists for more than a year after their arrival. except the record of a formal agreement with Momau- gin, sachem of the Quinnipiacs for the surrender of his land, made in November, 1638, and with Monto- wese, another sachem, in December of the same year extending the New Haven territory about ten miles north of the Momaugin grant, and eight tniles easterly and five miles westerly from the Ouinnipiac River. To the latter conveyance is appended the renunciation of three men, apparently Indian traders, named Robert Cogswell, Roger Knap, and James Love, of all right and title to any part of the land ceded by Montowese. The consideration to Momaugin for the surrender of his land is thus expressed in the conveyance : " Remembering and acknowledging the heavy taxes and eminent dangers which they lately felt and feared from the Pequots, Mohawks and other Indians, in regard of which they durst not stay in their country, but were forced to fly and to seek shelter under the English at Connedlicut, and observing the safety and ease that other Indians enjoy near the English, of which benefit they have had a comfortable taste already since the English began to plant and build at Quinnipiac, which with all thankfullness they now acknowledge, they freely give up all right, title and interest to all their lands, only desiring to receive from the English planters such a portion of ground as might be sufficient for them to plant in." The twelve coats of English trucking cloth, the alchemy spoons, the hatchets and hoes and knives, the porringers, scissors, etc., they received from the Bnglish planters were no part of the purchase money, but are distindlly stated as given of their own accord, and as is expressed, " by way of free and thankful retri- bution." The grant of Montowese is likewise declared to be a free gift, and eleven coats of trucking cloth, and one coat for himself, made after the English manner, are mentioned as being also given by way of thankful retribution. Nothing appears to show that Montowese put on special airs from being the solitary Indian who could boast of an English made garment, nor the fadl that fewer porringers and spoons and hoes and hatchets had been given him lay heavily on his mind. A possible explanation of this restridled liber- ality may be found in an implication in the subse- quent controversy between ConneAicut and New Haven, that Montowese had given away land which did not belong to him. With the exception of these grants, the recorded history of New Haven begins more than a year after its settlement. The intervening months must have been fully occupied in eredling dwellings, clearing land, planting and harvesting crops and providing for the many necessities of a new plantation. The fourth day of June, 1639, '^^"^.s a memorable day for New Haven. The entire male population left their several occupations and wended their way towards " a mighty barn " on the home lot of Robert Newman, the lot upon which we are now assembled, full of dis- course in respedl to the momentous question they were about to decide, the question whether the fran- chises of freemen should be limited to those who were in church fellowship or should be common to all free planters. Limitations upou political suffrage are common in all governments. Moral charadler, the possession of property, length of residence, educational fitness are among these restrictions. What the restridlions should be under the circumstances in which the New Haven colonists were placed was the question they met to decide. Familiar as we now are with the routine of constitution-making, it was to our fore- fathers almost an unknown art. But scarce any- where in the entire history of the organization of states, is there a more conspicuous instance of calm deliberation, of perfect fairness and of a lofty sense of responsibility to posterity than was witnessed on this spot two centuries and a half ago. After solemn prayer for guidance, and a proper provision for re- cording the entire transadlion, Mr. John Davenport propounded, in the language of the record, " divers queries to them publicly, praying tliem to consider seriously in the presence and fear of God the weight of the business they met about, and not to be rash or slight in giving their votes to things they understood not, but to digest fully and thoroughly what should be propounded to them and without respedl to men, as they should be satisfied and persuaded in their own minds, to give their answers in such sort, as they would be willing they should stand upon record for posterity." Five written questions prepared by Mr. Davenport were successively presented by him, to each of which unanimous assent was given by the uplifted hand; then, when recorded by the secretary they were read a second time, and a second time unanimously approved. The first question was whether the Scriptures hold forth a perfect rule of do6lrine and duty, equally obligatory as a rule for civil government as for the government of the church. The second question was whether the entire body of planters there assembled felt themselves bound by the plantation covenant they had made immediately after their landing, that in all things pertaining to the gathering of a church and to the choice of magistrates and ofiicers, thej' would all be ordered by those rules which the Scriptures hold forth. The third question, or rather request, was that all who wished to become free planters and proposed to seek admission to the church so soon as God shall fit them thereto, should hold up their hands twice, which was done. The fourth query was whether they held themselves bound to establish such civil order as might best secure the purity and peace of the church. Before this question was put to vote, " Mr. Davenport declared unto them, by the Scriptures, what kind of persons might best be trusted with matters of govern- ment, seeing that they were free to cast themselves into that mould and form • of commonwealth, which appeared the best for them in reference to securing of the pure and peaceful enjoyment of all Christ's ordi- nances in the church." He then sat down evidently expelling some expression of dissent, and praying the company freely to consider whether they would have it voted at this time or not. After some space of silence and none opposing, it was voted. The fifth question being in substance whether none but those in church fellowship shall become free burgesses and be entrusted with the power of choosing magistrates and officers, making and repealing laws, etc., was agreed to, no one openly objedling. After these votes had been taken and recorded, one man, probably Rev. Samuel Eaton who had been impris- oned in London for non-conformity, objedled, " that 36 free planters ought not to give this power out of their hands, but resume it if things were not properly managed." After declining to give his reasons for his dissent, as he had allowed the vote to pass with- out objedlion, it was put to vote a second time and passed as unanimously as at first. At the same meeting, twelve of the leading men were chosen, from whom seven were sele6led as the foundation of the church organization. These seven constituted the entire government of the plantation for the next four months. The court thus established met for the first time late in 06lober, when all former power or trust for managing public affairs was abrogated. Nine others, who in the inter^-al had been received into the church and added to the original seven, proceeded to the elec- tion of their magistrates and other officers. It was further reaffirmed at this court that the word of God shall be the onl}' rule to be attended unto in ordering the affairs of government in this plantation. In organizing the ci\dl state, nothing was said about the rights of free bom Englishmen, nothing about Magna Charta. No reference whatever was made to the com- mon law, the canon law, nor to the enadlments of English statute law. Entire libraries of precedents were thrown overboard, and the one all-sufficient substitute for the accumulated political and legal learning of centuries was iiencefortti in New Haven to be found in a black letter volume as ordinarily printed, about nine inches long, seven inches broad and two and a half inches thick, commonly known as the Geneva Bible. In the midst of its ornamented title page, were engraved these words from the book of Joshua, " This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein, for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." So significant are the accompanying verses of the same chapter that, omitting their primary reference to another people, they may be read as singularly ex- pressive of the trust and hopes of our forefathers : " Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou and all this people unto the land which I do give to them. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread up- on, that have I given unto you from the wilderness ; even unto the great river and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your coast. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee, I will not fail thee nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage, for unto this 38 people shalt thou divide for an inheritance, the land which I sware unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses thy servant commanded thee. Tvirn not from it to the right hand, nor to the left that thou mayst pros- per whithersoever thou goest. Have not I commanded thee ? Be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." The broad ocean was the Jordan of our fathers, this wilderness was their Canaan and these promises were made to them as a chosen people. Whether their solemn covenants and agreements were to prove a mere paper constitution or whether the magistrates were prepared to exercise the highest fundtions of government was immediately put to the test. The day next succeeding the first meeting of the court, an Indian, with a deer's head hung over his shoulder was arrested, charged with the murder of Abraham Finch on Connecfticut River. The next day he nearly escaped. A third day was devoted to the testimony of witnesses. The fourth day he was found guilty as accessory to several murders. What should be done with him must have led to much deliberation and some serious doubts. To take the life of a human being was to exercise the highest authority known to human law. But New Haven, in the eye of English law was nothing more than a community of squatters. It had no legal existence whatever, and to execute their prisoner might be regarded as murder, aggre- vated by the treason implied in such an exercise of judicial authority. The necessities of the case, the law of England itself, and the Mosaic law equally decided that " whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed." The next day, the head of the murderer was placed on a log and cut off by Robert Seeley the marshal, and then erected on a pole in the green. This in brief is the story of the way in which government in New Haven was inaugurated. Its colonial life for the next quarter of a century, enlarged as the original settlement was, by the succes- sive addition -of Milford, Branford, Guilford, Southold on Long Island and Stamford to its confederacy, can- not here be told. It was largely a history of disappoint- ments. The diminished supply of skins and furs, the comparative poverty of its soil, its lessening trade, the loss of its great ship with its burden of wealth and worth, its danger incurred from heroic fidelity to the outlawed regicides, internal dissensions, the treachery or half-heartedness of friends, the malignity of enemies and the final collapse of their scheme of government so dear to them, through its enforced union with Connecticut, seemed at the time to justify the bitter complaint of Davenport that " Christ's in- terest in New Haven Colony was miserably lost." Call back for a moment from the shadowy past, that disheartened old man. Most of his earl}?^ associates are gone, Eaton in his grave. His fellow laborer Hook, at rest in that London sepulcher of dissent in Bunhill Fields ; Goodyear's body buried in England, no one knows where ; the bones of some of the best and bravest of the first colonists lying in the ocean's depth among the wreckage of that phantom ship whose fate time has failed to reveal ; and what is left to crown the end of that heroic life but the sorrowful lament that all is lost but truth. His work in New Haven was done and he had done with New Haven. As he prepares to turn his back upon the colony for which he had adventured so much, what a record his life must have seemed to him. His boyish remembrance of the powder plot, his school days at Coventry where dissent was strong, his university life with its more than earnest contentions, his early clerical days, his persecution for non-conformity, his fugitive life in Holland, the elation of the days of the commonwealth buried in the grave of Cromwell ; his ideal American life at an end, with a profligate king on the throne with Nell Gwynne behind it ; what a record at the end of seventy years to look back npon. But the New Haven of Davenport's day is not the New Haven of 1893. Imagine this despondent patri- arch passing down our streets from this center of his aspirations for a new heaven and a new earth, and told that on this home lot of Robert Newman was the home of a man whose di(?tiouary of the English lan- guage is known the world over to all who read or speak the English tongue ; that on the home lot of Ezekiel Cheever, the first school master of New Haven, was the home of one of his eminent successors in the First Church of New Haven, the very type and embodiment of a courage and fidelity to duty akin to his own, superadded to a broad catholicity which two centuries of Puritanism had developed ; finding on the home lot of Gov. Eaton, the dwelling of an inventor, the product of whose genius in contribiiting to the clothing of the world is seen in countries most civi- lized and lands most barbarous ; catching a glimpse of that marvelous medium of travel and traffic, pulsating its rush to distant cities in fewer hours than once exhausted days in accomplishing ; bewildered by the assurance that through the complication of wires above his head, messages are sent to the remotest parts of the civilized world in less time than it takes to write an ordinary letter ; confused by the sight of cars in rapid motion, apparently with nothing to draw them ; then crossing the green with its array of churches very unlike that unpainted tvirreted building, fifty feet square, the scene of his own ministry, possi- bly with a pang at the sight of Gothic windows suggesting that the prelacy from which he had fled away might have made a lodgment here, and entering the edifice standing at the center of the town plot, and taking up one of its books of sacred song, reads in its index the names of those whose verse are thought best to express christian sentiment, and finds there the names of cardinals of the Church of Rome, bishops of the Anglican church, Presbyterians, Baptists, Quakers, together with the names of many communions of which he had never heard ; leaving the edifice in mute wonder and passing up to that row of buildings, more than covering with their frontage the entire square, and learning that they are the strudlures of a great university, bearing the name of a little boy of ten or twelve years old, whom he remem- bers, the grandson of the contentious wife of the gov- ernor, and turning in utter confusion towards the place he had left, casts his eye over the buildings of the scientific school of the university, and finds that they are devoted not to critical and physical studies that constituted the university life of his day but to instrudlion in eledlricity, biology, kinematics, thermo- dynamics, histology and a multitude of other sciences 43 of whose names even he is ignorant. Puzzled, con- founded and awestruck, he turns toward this beau- tiful hall, and finds his amazement completed when assured that the graceful strudlure a little distance before him is a church of the Romish faith, whose ministry is of the order of St. Dominic, and that priests who revere the memory of Ignatius Loyola elevate the host and pray in an unknown tongue within hearing distance of the place where the Puri- tans of New Haven organized their theocratic state. Would it be strange if this representative of a remote generation, should beg to be taken back from a life he cannot understand to the quiet of his Boston grave. It is a trite reflec^tion, humiliating enough to dogma- tists of all kinds that the wisdom of one generation is often the folly of the next, and that opinions current in one epoch are either ridiculed or forgotten in another. Yet that which constitutes the essential life of a people abides. Redlitude and truth, fidelity to duty, unselfish devotion to the public welfare, service and sacrifice of all kinds belong to every age. In a contrast of this nature, posterity can judge more ^visely than we, whether the days in which we live are better than the days of those who have gone before us. The 25th day of April, A. D. 2138, mil be a memor- able day in New Haven. Five hundred years of the life of this community will then have passed away. No human wisdom can foresee what that day will wit- ness. Controverted opinions settled, intelledlual and moral culture assuming new forms, fresh discoveries made of the relations of the forces of nature may show that the men of to-day were as little capable of com- prehending this future progress as the men of 1638 could comprehend what we now see to have been accomplished. As this society then meets, it may be hoped in this building, not indeed in the beauty of its youth, but venerable in years, its time-worn walls hidden in liv- ing green, and looks around this hall adorned it may be with the portraiture or other memorials of some who are present here to-night, and reads on that once polished tablet, then dimmed indeed but not effaced : In commemoration of James Edward English and OF HIS WIFE, Caroline Augusta English, by their SON Henry Fowler English, and should some one ask, why this beautiful building was eredled, it might be a sufiEcient answer to say, that a son had thought that in this way he might unite the reverence due to the memory of his parents with a noble contribution to a public objedl. But New Haven, Connedlicut, and the United States also owe a debt of gratitude to the memory of Gov. English which it would dishonor us not to discharge. The name of English is identified with the first settlement of New England. Thomas English is recorded as as one of the company who signed the covenant made in the cabin of the Mayflower. What his connedlion was with those of the name found in the list of the settlers of Salem, is unknown. The readers of Whittier's poems, may recall the lines, in which the atrocities of the witchcraft delusion are portrayed in the case of Philip English, the wealthiest inhabitant of Salem. The imperfedl records of the town leave it uncertain whether he was akin to Clement English, also of Salem, one of whose sons, Benjamin English made his home in New Haven. The circumstance that brought him here was probably connedled with his marriage with Rebecca Brown, a grandchild of one of the first settlers of this colony. His son, Benja- min, was the father of that Benjamin English, who was murdered by a British soldier when New Haven was temporarily held by General Tryon during the War of the Revolution. His grandson, James English, the father of the Governor, was a master mechanic, much respedled for his integrity and public spirit. His mother, Nancy Griswold, of a family whicli has given two governors to Conne6licut, was noted for her singular sagacity. Of their nine children, James, the fourth, was bom March 13, 1S12. There seems to have been nothing precocious about him in his boyhood. No stories are related by his con- temporaries of anything indicative of the career he was to run. He seems to have been an obedient child, good-natured, averse to contention and likely to grow up a respected and useful citizen and nothing more. His early experience of life was not one calcu- lated to awaken roseate anticipations of the future. At the early age of 11 years, listening to an inquiry where a good boy could be found to drive the cows and do the small chores of a Bethlehem farm, he succeeded in persuading his parents reludlantly to yield to his importunity, and permit him to make trial of a farmer's life. In this way Mr. English began his first essay in the task in which he was afterwards so successful, of taking care of himself. At the age of fifteen, after two years spent in school, he was appren- ticed to Mr. Atwater Treat, a man universally re- spedled by all who knew him, to learn the trade of a carpenter and joiner, with whom he remained to the age of twenty-one. Some indications were apparent during these years that there was the making of more than an ordinary man in young English. There were few other apprentices in New Haven so much held up as a model of what young men should be. Skillful in his trade, correal in all his habits, studious in lines connedled with his business, and especially so in mak- ing architedlural plans and designs, he spent no time as a journeyman, but became at once a contractor and builder. At that time New Haven was a town mainly of wooden dwellings, plain in construAion and unomamented in detail. The large house at the south-east corner of Wooster Square, designed and built by him, was the first departure in wooden dwell- ings from the stereotyped pattern of single or double houses that are now being superseded by multitudes of tasteful residences which seem to have nearly exhausted the resources of the architect's skill. With no other ambition than that of doing well whatever he did, he exchanged his business of a builder in a few years for local trade. The lumber firm of English & Welch, composed of himself and the late Harmanus M. Welch, after- wards state senator, mayor of New Haven and presi- dent of the First National Bank, soon acquired a deserved reputation for enterprise and integrity. Their subsequent participation in the purchase of an embarrassed corporation employed in the manufacflure of clocks and their success in developing what soon became the largest fa6lory of the kind in the world established their claim to a wide and general public confidence. It is a pleasant refledlion that this edifice and the hall on the college campus which bears the name of Welch are fitting tributes by their sons to the memory of English & Welch whose early business life was no more promising than that of many among us who are now by sagacity, integrity and thrift, laying the foundations of their future fortunes. During these years Mr. English filled various municipal offices, having gained the reputation among his fellow citizens of being a self reliant man, sound in mind, discriminating in judgment, never carried away with novelties, inflexible in his opinions, and habitually distrustful of theorists, adventurers and speculators. Previous to his entry into a broader public life, there was nothing to indicate any special fitness for such duties. On the contrary his early education had been limited ; he had never been conspicuous in local politics, and indeed a natural hesitancy in his speech would seem to have incapacitated him for distin6lion in positions that ordinarily call for fluency of utter- ance. His record as a legislator, both in the house and in the senate of Connecticut was that of a man possessed of unusual financial ability. There is no evidence either in his youth or early manhood, that Mr. English had any ambition beyond doing whatever he did, well, securing the respedl of the community, and attaining such local honors as are awarded to business men of sound judgment and un- sullied charadler. He once said to a friend that his early ambition was to make money honestly, then to make safe what he had acquired, but to do both in such a way as never to forfeit the respeA of his townsmen. For many years his reputation had been chiefly a local and commercial one. In business circles, both at home and in places remote, his intelligent enterprise Avas acknowledged, but no one anticipated the influence he was soon to exert in the decision of a question upon which was centered the welfare of millions for ages to come. The time of his entrance into the broader public life at Washington was marked with an inten- sity of political feeling unknown in the previous history of the republic. African slavery in America was almost as old as the country itself. One by one the Northern states had rid themselves of the institution, partly from a moral sense of its injustice, partly from the convidlion among thoughtful men that slavery and free institutions could not permanently exist side by side and largely from tlie fa6l that the labor of African bondsmen was not snited to the rigorous climate of the north. '&^ Rice, cotton and tobacco, the leading produ6ls of the Sonth were crops in the cultivation of which the rudest industry returned bountiful harvests which had made the South not only rich, but had developed a tone of society more and more alien to the habits and ways of thinking common in the free states. It had long been foreseen that a confli6l of some kind, sooner or later, was inevitable. The ablest states- men in the country honestly held confli6ling opinions as to the nature and obligations of the compa6l to which all had sworn allegiance. Bven the most learned divines widely diifered in their views of the moral nature of the relation between master and slave. This is not an occasion on which to review the events which led to a frightful civil war but which are now making us more and more one homogeneous people with a common pride under a common flag. In 1861 Mr. English was eledled to the 37th Congress. His position was an anomalous one. He was one of the few democratic members from any of the states who were known to be thorough-going war democrats. With him the Union was to be preserved and handed down to posterity at any and all sacrifice. Never, even during the darkest hours of the couflidl, did he doubt as to its final issue. So well was this uuder- stood at Washington, that President Lincoln said to a well known citizen of New Haven that he relied with absolute confidence on Mr. English. No one in Con- gress saw earlier or more clearly than he, that the real issue was the question of slavery. His vote for emancipation in the Districft of Columbia was a sig- nificant indication of what his fiiture course would be. No four lines in human language were ever fraught with consequences so momentous, as these words that are to stand forever in the Constitution of the United States : " Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the person shall have been duly convidled shall exist within the United States or any place subje6l to their jurisdic- tion." So slow was even the party of the administra- tion to see that the utter extindlion of slavery was the only condition on which a Union worth the saving could be preserved, that at its first introdudlion the member who offered the amendment requested Mr. English not to vote in its favor as it was certain to be defeated. At this interview Mr. English requested that the President be assured that his vote might be counted on whenever the amendment should be pressed. Its final enadlment was not due wholly to the party of the administration. While an overwhelming majority was in its favor it needed the support of a few war democrats to secure the two thirds vote neces- sary for its passage. When the name of James E. English was called, his very audible " yes " was wel- comed with plaudits from the crowded galleries. A few daj'^s after he asked of a New Haven friend what was said of his vote by his Connedlicut friends, and added that he knew he was politically dead, but that day had been the happiest day of his life. In times when so many, entrusted with legislative or administrative authority, find it to be consistent with their notions of integrity and honor to unite their personal interests with their official adls, it is due to the memory of Gov. English to put it on record that his entire salary as a member of Congress was expended in aiding soldiers who had become sick or disabled in the war. Neither did he avail himself of his anoma- lous position as an uncompromising war democrat to profit by his knowledge of the intended financial pol- icy of the government. Had he done so, he might quietl)^ and without public scandal have made for him- self a second fortune, but it was with him a matter of self-gratulation that he left his ofiicial service in Washington none the richer for having preferred the public welfare to his private interests. Had Mr. English followed the didlates of part}' instead of the conclusions of his judgment, he would at the time liave escaped much abuse, but he would never have become the governor of the State nor its representative in the senate of the United States. His vote on the thirteenth amendment will hand down his name to posterity as a sagacious and honest states- man, who with a few party associates helped to pre- serve the Union, to emancipate more than three million of slaves, and prevent the possibility of a servile war. The remoter consequences of his a<5l are yet in the future. Generations to come may see as we cannot see that the emancipation of the slave was not the whole end secured by the policy of freedom ; that the deliverance of the noblest men of the South from the necessity of defending an institution at war with the spirit of the age, and utterly out of harmony with republican institutions, was even a more important emancipation than that of the enslaved. We, at the north have our share, in this progress to universal freedom. By it, we have been emancipated from servility to foreign opinions and have been released from the bondage of a base subservience to criticisms which are the outgrowth of political and social institu- tions hostile to our own. In the stress of what at one time appeared to be a hopeless struggle for the perpetuity of the Union, we looked for expressions of sympathy at least, from that great country, across the water, to which we are indebted for the heritage of whatever is ennobling in the history of the strifes for free institutions, but we looked in vain. With some noble exceptions, the statesmen, the scholars, the bar, the bench, and the press viewed with an averted eye our contest for freedom, and yielded up the control of public senti- ment to the ship builders, the cotton brokers, and other representatives of commercial interest ; apparently justifying the bitter taunt of Napoleon that England was a nation of shop-keepers. Our truest friends were found among the Manchester cotton weavers and the other operatives in the fadtories of that great nation. Is it too much to say that the emancipation both of the North and South from these hostile influences has left a restored Union at liberty to work out the great problems of republican freedom? The official life of Governor English terminated with the close of his senatorial term. For the remain- der of his days he went in and out among us as a man of the people, full of sympathy with the dail}' life of New Haven, bearing his full share in whatever could contribute to its financial or manufadluring prosperity. Two classes of minds have contributed to the prog- ress of society. At one time, the influence of specu- 55 lative thought has lifted a nation's life from sluggish inadlivity into a marvellous intelle(5lual and moral development. At other times, pradlical sagacity in discovering the relation of material forces to the wel- fare of man has been the chief fadlor in the progress of society. Governor English belonged to the latter class. While abstract thought and general ideas were not a conspicuous part of his mental furniture, he never failed to appreciate the worth of that intelledlual culture which is developed through scholarly lines. His noble donation to the law library of one of the schools of the university, his liberal gift to its theo- logical department, though his associations were with a different communion, sufficiently indicate how broad were his sympathies and how free from the narrow- ness that sometimes charadlerizes what are called self- made men. His donations to churches, to the hospital, and to innumerable charities bear witness to his unostentatious liberality. When in the ages to come, strangers shall visit New Haven, and among all that is worth the seeing shall ascend the steep incline of East Rock Park, and look out upon a landscape made up of the dwellings of a populous and prosperous city, the buildings of a 56 great university, suburban residences indicative of opulence and taste, the distant glories of mountains and valleys and gracefully winding streams, and the question is asked to whose liberality New Haven is indebted, for a park whose natural beauty is scarcely paralleled in the whole world, the answer will be, to James E. English and Henry Famam, whose names are forever associated with the transformation of these once rude heights and wild wood paths into scenes of taste and elegance and sublime beauty. When in those future times, fountains and statues, beds of flowers and graceful shrubbery shall adorn the entire park ; when a broad driveway from the foot of this first park shall conne6l it with that sec- ond park historically associated with the exile of the soldier who headed the cavalry at the decisive battle of Dunbar and who was the custodian of the monarch of England on his slow march to his doom ; and when from the foot of the second mountain park, avenues shall lead through the western watershed park to the land below which nature seems to have formed for a cemetery worthy of a metropolitan city, then it may be seen that the munificence of these two men set the example of a liberality which, accom- panied by what the park commissioners are now doing, will give the City of Elms the right to regard itself as emphatically in all America the City of Parks. In his personal cliaradleristics Gov. English was a genuine man, absolutely free from the arrogance and assumption which marks a mean nature elevated to stations of prominence. When he became the chief magistrate of Connecticut, and when he represented his constituency in the House of Representatives and his native state in the Senate at Washington, he was as unassuming in his intercourse with the humblest of his fellow citizens as when he wielded the carpenter's adz and pushed the joiner's plane. In his make-up there was no part of a cockade governor. He put on no airs. He never made any display of superiority toward men less distinguished than himself. His earnest advocacy of what he believed to be true and right was never weakened by pretence. Few men of New Haven have been more familiar with its early and later history than Governor English. His pride in the town absolutely knew no limits. His interest in the objedls of this society was mani- fested in his frequent presence and his participation in its meetings by narrating his reminiscences of the New Haven of his earlier days. In his later years, his elastic step and manly pres- ence seemed the promise of a long life. Unex- pedledly the end came ; and James E. English, carpen- ter, trader, manufadlurer, legislator, governor of the 58 State, senator of the United States, patriot, states- man and public benefaftor passed away. His life is his eulogy. What he was in his outer life has been briefly told. What he was in his domestic life of indulgent tenderness, is sacred in the remembrance of those to whom he was most endeared. It may seem ungracious that nothing is said of him through whose liberality this admirable provision for preserving the memory of those who have gone before us has been eredled. It ought not, however, to be thought a disregard of his own injundlion to say, that among the commandments of the Decalogue, in that book which the founders of the New Haven colony adopted as the rule and guide of their lives, there is special significance attached to the command " Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee ; " not necessarily length of days as measured by the statistics of longevity but that more prolonged life which finds its limit only when the grateful recol- ledlion of generations to come shall cease. A SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF THE NEW HAVEN COLONY HISTORICAL SOCIETY Read Sept. zSth, 1892 THOMAS R. TROWBRIDGE, Secretary of the Society 'npO our honored townsman, Mr. Horace Day, we give the credit of originating this New Haven Colony Historical Society. It was Mr. Day who issued invitations to many of the representative men of the cit}' to meet at the house of the late William A. Reynolds, to organize a historical societ}^ The place of meeting was well chosen, as the house stood on a portion of the cellar walls upon which, as early as 1639, rested the man- sion of the first minister of the New Haven colony ; almost diredlly opposite stood the house of the first governor, Theophilus Eaton, — the house " of twenty- foure fire places and rich Turkey hangings." 61 At that meeting, in the autumn of 1862, a memo- rial was prepared, which on 0(5lober 6th of the same year was presented to the common council ; stating the objedts of a historical society, and the benefits which the town and city would derive from it, aud also requesting the cooperation of the town and city in the work, and that a suitable room be given to the proposed society, in the city hall. The memorial was signed by many of our citizens, few of whom are now living. The mayor, Mr. H. M. Welch, with the aldermen, met on October nth, 1862, aud unanimously granted the petition, assigning them the room and fire proof vault on the third floor of the city hall now occu- pied by the city engineer. With the usual New Haven caution, it was voted that the town or city be at no expense in fixing up the rooms. They were used by the society till its removal to the State House, in 1878. On the 27th of the same month, most of the pro- moters of the society again met at the Reynolds house, and appointed a committee, consisting of Leonard Bacon, Henry White, Horace Day, Fred- erick Croswell and Henry Bronson, to prepare a plan of organization and to call a meeting of citizens, to whom such plan should be submitted for approval. 63 The committee performed its work, and in response to its call for a public meeting about thirty of our citizens met at the office of the mayor, on the even- ing of November 14th, 1862. Of the gentlemen who attended that meeting but five are now living, Dr. Henry Bronson, Horace Day, Hon. Charles R. Ingersoll, Judge John C. Hollister, Gov. Luzon B. Morris, and William E. Sanford. The constitution of the New Haven Colony His- torical Society was then read by the secretary, Mr. Horace Day. For the benefit of those who have never heard it, I will repeat this original constitution of the society : "Article I. This association shall be known as the New Haven Colony Historical Society. Article II. The objedl of this society shall be to colledl and preserve such books, pamphlets, newspapers, broadsides, maps, plans, charts, paintings, engravings, lithographs and other pidlorial representations, manuscripts, autograph letters, curiosities and antiquities of every kind, as may be connedled with or may illustrate the local history of the towns included within the limits of the ancient New Haven Colony ; to pre- serve such traditions as now exist only in the memories of aged persons ; to encourage historical and antiquarian investi- gation, and to disseminate historical information. Article III. The president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer, and an advisory committee of not less than ten 63 members, shall be annually chosen on the last Monday of November. Article IV. These officers shall together constitute a board of diredlors, who shall have charge of the colledlions made by the society, shall provide regulations for their safety and proper use, and shall prepare business for the regular meetings of the society. Article V. Any person may become a life member of the society by paj^ment of twenty-five dollars, or an annual mem- ber by the payment of one dollar. Article VI. The mayor of the city of New Haven, the pres- ident of Yale College, and the town clerk of New Haven shall be ex-officio members of the advisory committee, and the alder- men of the city, and the selectmen of the town of New Haven shall be ex-officio members of the society. Article VII. The societj^ shall hold its meetings on the last Monday of each alternate month, and at such other times as the diredlors may appoint. Article VIII. The colledlions made by the society .shall never be broken up bj' sale nor by division among its members, nor shall they ever be removed from New Haven, nor shall any article be exchanged or disposed of except b}' unanimous vote of the diredlors or by the consent of the donors." On the 29th of December, a series of by-laws were recommended by the committee and unani- mously adopted. Througli the winter there seems to have been but little done regarding the welfare of the society, as it was necessary to wait for a meeting of the General Assembly of the State. On the 30th of March, 1863, on motion of Judge Wm. W. Boardman, the officers of the society were requested to take measures for obtaining a charter for the society from the legis- lature of the State. Henry White, Esq. and Charles R. Ingersoll, Esq. were appointed a committee for this purpose, and presented afterwards the charter as granted by the Assembly. At the annual meeting held on November 30th, 1863, it was unanimously adopted, and the society then became authorized to transadl business. On the 28th of November, 1864, the organization was complete, and the following gentlemen were elecfted officers of the society : president, Henry White ; vice-president, E. Edwards Beardsley ; sec- retary, Horace Day ; treasurer, Nathan Peck ; cura- tor, John T. Collis. The direcftors were Leonard Bacon, Thomas R. Trowbridge, Henry Bronson, Elial T. Foote, Charles L. English, Charles R. Ingersoll, James M. Woodward, William A. Rey- nolds, Samuel Punderson, Henry C. Kingsley, Elisha E. Cleaveland, John W. Barber, Henry Button, Nathaniel A. Bacon. Of the officers first eledled, 6s Governor Ingersoll, Dr. Bronson* and Mr. Day are now alone living. A seal was ordered for the society, and a design made by L. S. Punderson was adopted and has since been used by us. On it is the date of settlement, in a wreath of laurel — 1638 — and around the outer edge are the initial letters of the six towns which com- prised the New Haven colony, — New Haven, Mil- ford, Branford, Guilford, Stratford and Southold. Shortly afterwards, the society occupied the rooms which had been assigned them by the city, and con- tributions of portraits, books, furniture, pottery, engravings, and various historical articles were sent to the curator by friends of the work, and in a short time our rooms presented a very interesting collec- tion of articles. Several gentlemen were appointed a committee to invite their fellow townsmen to become members of the society, and so great was the interest shown that in a few weeks 220 of our citizens had become members, besides some 20 who had joined as life members. Papers were read on historical subjedls, as soon as the society was installed in the new rooms. Among * while these pages are passing through the press the newspapers an- nounce the death of Dr. Bronson at the advanced age of eighty-nine years and ten months. His gifts, made during his life, to Yale University and other public institutions in New Haven, amounted to more than one hun- dred thousand dollars. 66 them were articles by Judge Croswell, Dr. Beardsley, Dr. Bacon, Dr. Cleaveland, Thomas R. Trowbridge, Henry White, Prof. Palmer, Dr. Bronson, et al. There have been on an average about eight papers read yearly before the society, by members and friends of the same. Four volumes have been pub- lished, and the material is ready for the fifth. For abiding places we have had several. Our first home was in the Room No. 17, Cit}^ Hall, where we remained until early in 1878, when the need of the city for better accommodations for city work made it necessary for new quarters to be found for the society. A committee was appointed to secure a suitable place, and after some weeks' work decided to accept the offer of the city government, tendered by the mayor, Hon. Hobart B. Bigelow, of the rooms (two in number) on the southwest corner of the old State House, which had a short time previously been abandoned to the city by the State. Some five hun- dred dollars were expended in fitting up the two rooms, and a committee appointed to purchase car- pets, shades, etc. Shortly afterwards our effedls were removed to the new quarters, and the members of the society felicitated themselves upon at last hav- ing a permanent home and a resting place for years to come. 67 Hardly were we domiciled in our new home before propositions were made and articles appeared in our daily press, recommending the removal of the State House. In a short time a memorial was presented to the court of common council, praying that orders be given for the demolition of the building, and the State House fight began in earnest. One of our members, at the first municipal election, was eledled a member of the city government, with a view of watching the popular feeling regarding the State House. He spent three years in the business, — watching, obstrudling, memorializing, raising com- mittees, etc. I fear the tedious debates on bath houses, crosswalks, sewers, etc. did not interest the historical member as they should have done. Bills were introduced pro and con^ committee after com- mittee was appointed to view the building, which was pronounced by some to be in danger of immediate falling down, by others to be as firm as the eternal hills. In a morning paper of the time, a memorial was published, begging the mayor to rail the building off, so that the children playing about it need not be killed by its falling walls. The same day, more than a hundred children were invited to play in and around the strudlure and regaled with ice cream and cake. The war raged through the sessions of 1881, 1882, 1883 and 1884, and it seemed as if the State House 68 question was the important one before the coun- cil. It is only fair to say that the friends of the society were generally vidlorious ; at least, they prevented for several years the demolition of the building. After our vidlories, as we had no funds to expend for banquets, etc., we celebrated each new success by extending our quarters. When the verdidl of the council was given in our favor, we quietly annexed another room, and as we entered into the State House war with two rooms and came out with six, we have always thought that we were the vidlors. At last, in the city election of 1S84, a vote was taken whether to destroy or save the building. A hand- some majority in favor of allowing the building to stand gave its friends assurance of restful possession and proper repairs. But no ; the iconoclasts were up and at it again. In the vote to preserve the State House, nothing was said about repairing the same, so there was another outbreak of war. After another long series of debates, committees, architects' reports, etc., the council, by a majority vote, ordered the removal of the building. The officers of the society at once obtained an injun6lion at the suit of several of our largest tax payers, and immediate removal was prevented. 69 In due time the injundlion was removed,* and though, by appealing to the courts, the building could have been preserved, perhaps for years, still the society, seeing that public opinion had in a measure changed, and unwilling to defy the senti- ment, withdrew its opposition, and quietly removed all of its belongings to Room 24 in the Insurance Building, where we felt about the same sense of iso- lation that Noah must have felt on Ararat. The State House was soon a memory, and now we all rejoice in its removal, since it has brought to us such great good fortune. Some two years ago, we were invited to occupy the galleries of the Public Library, and immediately went to work and prepared our books and articles for removal thither. To our surprise, just as we were ready to move, notice was sent us to await the adlion of the council, which finally decided not to admit us to the library. That news well nigh discouraged us. We not only feared the loss of interest in the society by the public, but were grieved to see a spirit of " giving up " show itself among some of our friends ; some even proposing to wind up the society and present our property to the Hartford society. * The suit is reported as Whitney, et al., vs. City of New Haven, 58 Connedlicut Reports, p. 450. While in this depressed state of affairs, one of our citizens (I may say one of our old town-born citi- zens), bade us worry no longer about a home, saying that he would present us such a building as the society might choose, to be situated wherever they eleAed. The palatial edifice in which we are now gathered is the gift which was promised us, and as we dedicate it to-day, we feel sure that generations still to come will thank Henry F. English for his noble and permanent testimonial. The colledlions of this society are both numerous and valuable. Among the choicest of our treasures are : the silver snuff box of the regicide, John Dixwell, whose grave is behind the Center Church ; President Stiles' map of the city of New Haven ; the original sign of Benedidl Arnold, as a druggist, his mortar used in business, his day-book, and also his army medicine chest ; a model of the first trestle bridge built in the world ; the original prints of the battles of Bunker Hill, Concord, and Lexington, engraved and colored by Amos Doolittle ; the ship " Constitution " which was found floating in the British channel in 1783, and brought to this port by a New Haven ship-master ; an iron brank, which in the early days of our colony was placed on the heads of scolding women ; the first map of the United States, called " the Grand Display of the United States ; " the crucifix which belonged to an early Roman Catholic priest in the city ; a series of four oil paintings, illustrating the sea fight between the " Constitution " and " Guerriere " ; the portmanteau which Commodore Hiill was using on the cruise when he fought the battle ; a pair of pistols used by Gen. Jackson at the battle of New Orleans. These are a few of the valuable relics, which kindred socie- ties might be glad to possess. Our colledlion of historical portraits and engravings is of great value, and through the interest and kindness of our citizens is increasing constantly.''' Our library is of more value and importance than most of us imagine. Many of our books and pam- phlets are rare and unique. Among them is the History of Georgia, of which less than one hundred copies were printed. Our copy was presented by Madame De Renne of Savannah, to our secretary, who in turn gave it to the society. The one hun- dred copies were published by Madame De Renne, at an expense of $8,000. Our library numbers fully * since the foregoing was written, we have received from Mr. A. C. Hendrick, late Chief of the New Haven Fire Department, his entire col- ledlion of articles, 200 in all, relating to the history of the department. It is a most interesting contribution and we thank him for it. From Mrs. Marion C. E. Dunscomb we have received a silver tankard, once the property of President Jonathan Edwards, and marked with the initials of his wife, Sarah Pierpont of New Haven. 3,6oo books of value, besides which we have about 6,000 pamphlets, chap-books and broadsides, and many ancient manuscripts. Among the latter is part of the original draft of Dr. Stiles' History of the Judges ; letters of John Dixwell ; and Chief Jus- tice Church's notes on the constitutional convention of 1818. The files of newspapers are of especial value, and are very often consulted by antiquarians and others. They were of great use to many who were searching for matter to substantiate claims under the French Spoliation A61. Parties came to our rooms to con- sult their columns from Philadelphia, Baltimore, and other cities. This society should have a membership of fully one thousand of our citizens. We need the help and cooperation of our friends to keep the society up to the place which it deserves, and we cordially invite all to assist us in this noble work. 73 WST OF THE EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY SINCE ITS FOUNDATION PRESIDENT. Henry White, M. A., - - - - 1862101873 Rev. E. Edwards Beardsley, D.D., LL.D., - 1873 to 1884 Hon. Simeon E. Baldwin, L,L,.D., - - 1884 VICE-PRESIDENT. Rev. E. Edwards Beardsley, D.D., LL.D., - 1862 to 1873 Thomas R. Trowbridge, - - - 1873 to 1883 Hon. Simeon E. Baldwin, LL.D., - - 1883 to 1884 Hon. James E. English, M.A., - - 1884 to 1890 Eh Whitney, M.A., - - - - 1890 SECRETARY. Horace Day, M.A., Rev. Chauncey Goodrich, M.A., Daniel C. Oilman, I,L,.D., Franklin B. Dexter, M.A., - Rev. William G. Andrews, D.D., Thomas R. Trowbridge, 1862 to 1865 1865 to 1867 1867 to 1872 1872 to 1873 1873 to 1883 1883 75 TREASURER. William S. Charnley, - - - - 1862 to 1863 Nathan Peck, - - - - - 1863 to 1883 Robert Peck, A. B., - - - - 1883 to 1888 Charles S. Leete, - - - - 1888 to 1893 Dwight E. Bowers, A. B., Lly.B., - - 1893 LIBRARIAN. John T. Collis, M.A., - - - 1863 to 1871 Edward H. Leffingwell, M.D., - - 1871 to 1881 Henry Trowbridge, Jr., A.B., - - 1881 to 1883 George D. Watrous, D.C.Iy., - - - 1883 to 1884 George Sherman, M. A., - - - 1884 to 1887 Dwight E. Bowers, A. B., IvIv.B., - - 1887 CURATOR. John T. Collis, M.A., - - - - 1863 to 1871 Edward H. I,effingwell, M.D., - - 1871 to 1881 Henry Trowbridge, Jr., A. B., - - 1881 to 1883 George D. Watrous, D.C.Iv., - - - 1883 to 1884 George Sherman, M. A., - - - 1884 to 1887 Dwight E. Bowers, A.B., IvI^.B., - - 1887 to 1891 George H. lyarned, - - - - 1 891 to 1892 Katharine H. Trowbridge, - - . 1892 LIST OF OFFICERS, 1893-94 PRESIDENT. Hon. Simeon E. Baldwin, LL.D. VICE-PRESIDENT. Eli Whitney, M.A. SECRETARY. Thomas R. Trowbridge. TREASURER. DwiGHT E. Bowers, A.B., LL.B. BOARD OF DIRECTORS. Rev. Timothy Dwight, D.D., LL.D., President of Yale University, ex-officio. Hon. J. B. Sargent, Mayor of the City of New Haven, ex-qfficio. Frederick H. Brethauer, Town Clerk of New Haven, ex-officio. Hon. Charles R. Ingersoll, LL.D. Rev. James M. Hoppin, Lly.B., D.D. Frank E. Hotchkiss. Charles H. Townsheud. George Petrie. James G. English. T. Attwater Barnes. Hon. Caleb B. Bowers. Hon. lyynde Harrison, LL-B. Henry ly. Hotchkiss. Ellsworth I. Foote. Edwin H. English. Hon. Edward E. Bradley. James M. B. Dwight, M.A., LL.B. Charles L. Baldwin. George A. Root. Henry F. English, EL-B. Andrew h- Kidston. Prof. George B. Adams, Ph.D. Prof. Arthur M. Wheeler, M.A. Nathan H. Sanford. Prof. Charles H. Smith, M.A. Edward C. Beecher. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. Simeon E. Baldwin. Thomas R. Trowbridge, ex-officio. Caleb B. Bowers. Edward E. Bradley. Arthur M. Wheeler. PUBLICATION COMMITTEE. Simeon E. Baldwin. James M. Hoppin. Thomas R. Trowbridge. Eynde Harrison. Henry F. English. 78 ladies' auxiliary committee. Mrs. James M. Hoppin. Mrs. Evelyn McC. Salisbury. Mrs. Wm. D. Whitney. Mrs. Thomas R. Trowbridge. Mrs. C. B. Bowers. Mrs. Wm. H. Carmalt. Miss Elizabeth Hotchkiss. Mrs. Henry F. English. LIBRARIAN. Dwight E. Bowers, A.B., LI,.B. CURATOR AND ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN. Miss Katharine H. Trowbridge. N. B. — The coUedlions of the society on the lower floor of its building, No. 144 Grove street, are open to public inspe