MOV 30 1898
 
 K. G. 
 
 APR 28 1900

 
 CHRONICLES 
 
 NEW HAVEN GREEN 
 
 FROM 1638 TO 1862 
 
 A SERIES OF PAPERS READ BEFORE THE NEW 
 HAVEN COLONY HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 BY 
 
 HENRY T. BLAKE 
 
 NEW HAVEN: 
 THE TUTTLE, MOREHOUSE & TAYLOR PRESS
 
 StacK 
 Annex 
 
 S" 
 
 8-3(0 
 
 I INSCRIBE THIS BOOK TO THE 
 MEMORY OF 
 
 {Tbomas "Kutbcrford 
 
 A LOVER AND BENEFACTOR OF NEW HAVEN GREEN ; 
 
 BY WHOSE LAMENTED DEATH 
 
 THE NEW HAVEN COLONY HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 IS BEREAVED OF AN EFFICIENT PRESIDENT AND A 
 
 DEVOTED AND VALUED MEMBER ; 
 OUR COMMUNITY OF AN UPRIGHT, GENEROUS AND 
 
 HONORED CITIZEN ; 
 
 AND I MYSELF OF A SINCERE AND 
 CHERISHED FRIEND.
 
 PREFATORY. 
 
 The following papers were read before the New Haven 
 Colony Historical Society at different times between 1894 and 
 1898 and are published after being carefully revised and in 
 many parts re-written. Acknowledgment is due to friends 
 who have aided the writer, and especially to Prof. Franklin B. 
 Dexter, Mr. Horace Day and Mr. Thomas R. Trowbridge. 
 
 The maps of the Green contained in this volume are repro- 
 duced for this work from well known maps of New Haven of 
 the periods indicated. "Brown's map of 1724" was copied 
 from the original by President Stiles at a later date. In it the 
 meeting-house is incorrectly placed in the center of the square, 
 and neither the then newly-built Grammar School near the 
 jail, nor the older school-house then used for the English 
 School, is shown, both of which appear in Wadsworth's map 
 of twenty-five years later. "Wadsworth's map of 1748" was 
 made from actual surveys and is doubtless substantially cor- 
 rect. "President Stiles' map of New Haven in 1775" was 
 drawn on a sheet of letter paper and was" consequently too 
 small to be entirely reliable. Curiously enough, President 
 Stiles omits from it, as in Brown's map, both the school- 
 houses, though both were then still in existence and use. 
 The "Doolittle map of 1817" was engraved on copper by Amos 
 Doolittle and first issued by him in 1817. In 1824 he again 
 published it with the requisite alterations and the later date. 
 The plan of the Green in this volume is copied from an imprint 
 of 1817. In this map no liberty pole appears on the Green, 
 and the First Trinity Church and the Blue Meeting-house are
 
 8 PREFATORY. 
 
 both shown as still standing. It also shows a public well on 
 the Green near the corner of Chapel and Temple streets, but 
 none at the corner of Chapel and Church streets, although 
 the latter was dug in 1813 and the pump over it is shown in a 
 contemporary picture. 
 
 Several of the half-tone illustrations in the volume have been 
 taken by permission from Miss Bartlett's charming and beauti- 
 ful book "Historical Sketches of New Haven." The others 
 and also the wood cuts have been obtained from various 
 sources through the courtesy of the owners.
 
 THE 
 
 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN 
 
 FROM 1638 TO 1862. 
 
 I. 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF THE GREEN AS A PUBLIC SQUARE. 
 
 The Green as we see it to-day embraces within its area 
 a fraction over sixteen acres. Its shape is not quite square, 
 there being a difference of twenty feet between its sides 
 on College and Chapel streets and of ten feet between Col- 
 lege and Elm. The average length of its sides is about 
 840 feet and the distance around it a little over two-thirds 
 of a mile. 
 
 It was laid out in June or July, 1638, by John Brockett, 
 "Surveyor," as he is called in the records, at the same time 
 with the other eight squares of the town plot, this central 
 square being reserved as "a market place." There is no 
 formal record of the reservation, but it is designated "the 
 market place" in the earliest reference to it in the records, 
 which is on October 30, 1639, and continuously thereafter; 
 and its uses have always been in accordance with its desig- 
 nation. The sequestration of so large a tract for public 
 use was somewhat remarkable for those times and indicates 
 a wise and liberal forethought in our ancestors. Possibly 
 the example of Boston, from which place they had just 
 come, may have had its influence, yet our forefathers did
 
 10 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 not exactly imitate that example. It was not a "common" 
 that they meant to have in the center of their city; not a 
 mere open field without ownership and without buildings 
 for the public accommodation as a place of pasture and 
 popular gatherings and military parades. Says Rev. Dr. 
 Bacon in his civic oration of May 30, 1879: The Green 
 "was designed not as a park or mere pleasure ground, but 
 as a place for public buildings, for military parades and 
 exercises, for the meeting of buyers and sellers, for the 
 concourse of the people, for all such public uses as were 
 reserved of old by the Forum at Rome and the 'Agora' 
 (called in our English bibles 'the market') at Athens, and 
 in more recent times by the great Square of St. Mark in 
 Venice; or by the 'market place' in many a city of those 
 low countries, with which some of our founders had been 
 familiar before their coming to this New World." It has 
 in fact been put to more uses than Dr. Bacon enumerates, 
 for within its limits six generations educated their children 
 and buried their dead, purposes to which the Forum, the 
 Agora and the market place were not devoted, and which 
 practically complete the range of possible uses of a public 
 nature. Hence New Haven Green has been identified, to a 
 degree that Boston Common has not, with all the important 
 transactions and events connected with the religious, polit- 
 ical and civil life of the surrounding community, and so is 
 richer in historic associations of a local character. 
 
 As the Green was not an imitation of Boston Common, 
 so the Boston appellation never attached to it. In all the 
 various records which have been kept in New Haven I have 
 met with but a single instance where it was called "the 
 common" and that was in a record of the County Court. 
 In two cases connected with the public proclamation of 
 Royal accessions it is dignified as "The Great Square," but 
 with these and perhaps two or three other exceptions, its 
 uniform designation, not only in all local records, but in all 
 contemporary literature, was "the market place" until about 
 1759. Then for the first time (so far as I have yet dis-
 
 DEVELOPMENT AS A PUBLIC SQUARE. 11 
 
 covered) the name "the Green" appears. It is found in an 
 advertisement in the Connecticut Gazette of April 21, 1759, 
 in which Samuel Gilbert announces a house for sale "on the 
 southeast corner of the Green in New Haven." It would 
 seem from this that the name was not unknown at that 
 time, yet it crops out nowhere else for fifteen years. It 
 is next discovered in another advertisement in the Connecti- 
 cut Journal of May 13, 1774, inserted by Joseph Smith, 
 who offers English and India goods at his store, "at the 
 southeast corner of the Green, near the church, in New 
 Haven." This advertisement is repeated in subsequent 
 issues of the paper, yet ptill "the market place" is the only 
 designation elsewhere appearing. 
 
 By 1779 the new appellation must have attained a foot- 
 ing in popular use, for President Daggett, July 26, 1779, 
 in narrating the involuntary walking trip which he took 
 with the British troops after his capture, speaks feelingly 
 of the pleasure with which he finally reached "the Green," 
 and thenceforth we meet with the designation quite fre- 
 quently. After 1783 the term "market place" practically 
 disappears from the public records. The city government, 
 which came into operation in 1784, seemed to regard "the 
 Green" as too rustic an appellation for an aspiring muni- 
 cipality and generally used "the public square" as a more 
 metropolitan term. Occasionally an effort has been made 
 to introduce "the Public Park" as a more dignified title, 
 but the popular choice seems now as firmly fixed as that 
 of the milkmaid in the spelling book with regard to the 
 color of her May-day gown, "green becomes my com- 
 plexion best, and green it shall be." 
 
 Title and Jurisdiction. 
 
 The question, "Who owns the Green?" has, during the 
 past ten years, been more than once the theme of public 
 discussion, and it will be proper to devote in this place a 
 few paragraphs to the subject.
 
 12 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 The tract of land embracing the New Haven plantation 
 was purchased and owned, not by the town as an organiza- 
 tion nor by the whole body of the original colonists, but by 
 the individuals who contributed to the expense of the enter- 
 prise. These were known as "the free planters" and after- 
 wards as "the proprietors." They and their successors in 
 ownership were and remained a class distinct from the 
 political body, the town, and are so recognized in the 
 records. They retained their claim to title in the soil of the 
 market place as well as of other common and undivided 
 lands, but shared with the other members of the body politic 
 the right of admitting new comers and assigning them their 
 places of habitation; also the right of deciding what public 
 buildings should be erected on the market place. The title 
 of the Proprietors to such common and undivided lands 
 has been four times formally recognized and confirmed 
 by the General Assembly of Colony and State. First, in 
 1685, when it issued a patent to the New Haven Proprietors 
 by name. Second, in 1713, when the patent of 1685 was 
 confirmed. Third, in 1810 under the circumstances here- 
 after mentioned. Fourth, in 1875, when a general statute 
 was enacted confirming previous grants to proprietors of 
 common and undivided lands and providing that such lands 
 still remaining should vest in the proprietors as their 
 individual estate. 
 
 The records of the New Haven Proprietors until 1724 
 are intermingled with those of the town. After that date 
 they are kept in separate volumes. They relate to the 
 distribution of common and undivided lands among the sur- 
 viving proprietors and their representatives. By the year 
 1806 most of the lands had been divided and the heirs of 
 the original proprietors were scattered and unknown. 
 Accordingly in that year the proprietors, by a vote which 
 was confirmed by the General Assembly in 1810, transferred 
 all their interests, rights and powers to a permanent self- 
 perpetuating committee of five, known thereafter as "the 
 Proprietors' Committee," and vested such committee with
 
 DEVELOPMENT AS A PUBLIC SQUARE. 13 
 
 power to alienate any lands that might still remain common 
 and undivided with the advice of the Selectmen of the town 
 and for the benefit of the town treasury.* 
 
 It is clear therefore that the legal title to the Green, so 
 far as one can be said to exist, is held by the Proprietors' 
 Committee, f and by virtue of their ownership they claimed 
 and exercised until within a recent period the right to 
 control its management, and gave or withheld permission 
 for the erection of buildings upon it at their discretion. 
 While this right on their part was never disputed by the 
 town or city, it was also exercised on several occasions by 
 one or the other of the latter without opposition by the 
 Proprietors. In the year 1856, however, an act was passed 
 by the State Legislature making void any permission there- 
 after given by the Proprietors' Committee for the erection 
 of any structure on the Green unless it should be ratified 
 by vote of a town meeting. Finally in 1868, by the City 
 Charter granted in that year, the Court of Common Council 
 was vested with the entire management and control of all 
 the public squares of the city, and this provision, which 
 has been continued in the subsequent City Charters, is 
 likely to be permanent. 
 
 It will be observed, however, that the power thus con- 
 ferred on the Common Council over the Green is one to 
 regulate, not to impair the right of "public use for a market 
 place," which was given by its original dedication in 1638, 
 and confirmed by a renewed dedication in 1757. The term 
 "public use for a market place" would probably be dif- 
 ferently construed by the courts at the present day from 
 the sense attached to it by our predecessors, who lived 
 under different social and other conditions. It is not likely 
 for instance that the erection of churches, school-houses or 
 even of a State house on the Green would now be regarded 
 as consistent with its proper public use. When the three 
 churches which stand on it were built however, no such 
 
 * See Note i at the end of this Paper. f See Note 2.
 
 14: CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 doubt had arisen, and as they were placed there by legal 
 authority and without objection they have doubtless 
 acquired the right to remain so long as they continue to 
 be used for their original purpose. The question of their 
 status beyond that period must be left for another genera- 
 tion to settle. 
 
 The Green from 1638 to 1666. 
 
 We will now proceed to trace the development of the 
 Green from its original rude condition to that which it 
 presented in 1862, and to note the changes in its appear- 
 ance which occurred during the intervening period. 
 
 When first staked out in 1638, the market place, so far 
 as it could be separated from the general tract of wood- 
 land composing the town plot, presented itself to the eye 
 as an uneven wooded plain, sloping from west to east, the 
 declivity being considerably steeper on the south side than 
 on the north. At the foot of the slope was a swamp occupy- 
 ing the greater part of what is now the lower Green, and 
 overgrown with alder bushes. A small creek collected in 
 this swamp and flowed southeasterly through the woods 
 for a quarter of a mile until it emptied into a larger stream 
 called East creek about where the Wooster street railroad 
 bridge now stands. Around this tract a few log houses 
 had been erected, and others were going up, but the clear- 
 ings were few and small as yet, for it was only two months 
 after the celebrated sermon under the oak tree April 25, 
 1638. 
 
 For the next year and a half, that is, until October, 1639, 
 the settlers were so fully occupied in building their habi- 
 tations, clearing their lots, and attending to their crops, that 
 they had no time even to establish their civil institutions, 
 and therefore could not act as an organized community in 
 the erection of public buildings and in other works of public 
 improvement. They did find leisure, however, as Dr. 
 Atwater suggests in his history of this period, to hold meet-
 
 DEVELOPMENT AS A PUBLIC SQUARE. 15 
 
 ings for the transaction of business and to maintain order 
 according to Scripture rules by the pretty frequent infliction 
 of penalties upon pretty numerous evil-doers. 
 
 The town government was finally organized October 25, 
 1639, and its first act was to try and convict an Indian 
 named Nepaupuck for murder, which it did with alacrity 
 and despatch. We read in the record of the trial that the 
 culprit was arrested October 26, and set in the stocks. 
 Before that time therefore the stocks and doubtless the 
 whipping post had been erected on the market place; and 
 thus these emblems of Christian civilization were the earliest 
 tokens of its dedication to free institutions and public enjoy- 
 ment. Four days later, that is on October 30, 1639, as 
 the record tersely informs us, "the Indian's head was cut 
 off and pitched upon a pole in the market place," this being 
 the second step in the improvement of the Green and the 
 first attempt to put a cheerful face upon the public pleas- 
 ure grounds. 
 
 During this preliminary year and a half there were no 
 public buildings in existence. It does not appear where the 
 people meanwhile met for business and worship except in 
 one instance; that of June 4, 1639, when the free planters 
 assembled most appropriately in Mr. Newman's barn, in 
 order to form a stable government. But now that the 
 town was organized, action was immediately taken to sup- 
 plement the stocks and whipping post with a meeting- 
 house, and on November 25, 1639, it was ordered that one 
 be erected fifty feet square in the center of the market place. 
 It was built doubtless from timber growing on the square 
 and was completed sufficiently for use during the ensuing 
 summer, that is about July, 1640; and thereafter all public 
 gatherings, civil as well as religious, so long as it stood, 
 were held within its walls. The picture in several histories 
 of New Haven which is generally entitled "the first meet- 
 ing-house in New Haven," but in Dr. Atwater's book more 
 correctly "a meeting-house of the seventeenth century," 
 shows a structure more elaborate and finished than the
 
 16 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 meeting-house of 1638. It more correctly represents the 
 second one, built several years later. The exterior walls of 
 the first meeting-house were of rude plank sawed by hand 
 and were so insecurely constructed that they soon began to 
 spread under the weight of the roof and had to be shored 
 up. Frequent repairs were made after 1651, nevertheless in 
 1660 the meeting-house was reported to be in a dangerous 
 state and the town drummer was ordered "not to beate in 
 the tower, but in the market place, where he can be heard 
 distinkly." In 1662 the tower was taken down. In 1651 
 it was ordered that "the glass windows of the meeting- 
 house be taken out and boards be fitted in for warmth in 
 ye winter, the boards to be removed in summer to let in ye 
 air." As the meeting-house was the place in which not 
 only religious services were held, but all public business 
 transacted, this economical mode of heating the building, 
 however conducive to comfort, must have caused occasional 
 inconvenience. 
 
 The other public buildings on the Green during the 
 early colonial period of New Haven were three in number. 
 There must have been a watch-house before June, 1640, 
 for at that time a nightly watch was established with its 
 quarters in "the watch-house." This building was suffi- 
 ciently commodious to accommodate the corps of watch- 
 men, and had a fire place and chimney. A "prison-house" 
 is also spoken of before 1660 as having "no fire in it," and 
 which therefore could not have been identical with the 
 watch-house. A school-house must also have been built 
 before 1648, for the records show that repairs were made 
 on it in that year. The "prison-house" is shown in Brown's 
 map of 1724 as standing near College street about opposite 
 the present site of Lawrance Hall, and it was then called 
 in the records "the old prison-house." The watch-house 
 presumably stood near it, and it is possible that the small 
 building shown in Brown's map as a wing attached to the 
 Court House of 1718 was the original watch-house, which 
 had been used as a Court House by the County Court
 
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 THE GREEN AS SHOWN IN BROWNS MAP OF NEW HAVEN IN 1724.
 
 DEVELOPMENT AS A PUBLIC SQUARE. 17 
 
 prior to the erection of the new one in 1718. Color is 
 given to this idea by the fact that in Wadsworth's map of 
 1748 this wing is called "the County House" and is shown 
 to have had a chimney. 
 
 Where the first school-house stood has been the subject 
 of various conjectures. One theory has been that it was 
 on the lot now occupied by the City Hall, but this is 
 untenable, as that lot was not devoted to school purposes 
 till 1693. Another suggestion is that it stood on the Green 
 opposite the lot just mentioned. This also is improbable, 
 as that part of the Green was then a swamp and continued 
 to be such for many years later. For reasons which I shall 
 give in another paper I am satisfied that the first school- 
 house stood on the Green near Elm street, a little west of 
 Temple and in the same place where its successor, the 
 brick school-house, was built in 1756. 
 
 For the construction of these public buildings, as well 
 as for private houses and fences, and for firewood and other 
 uses, timber was taken from the market place and the sur- 
 rounding streets; but the work of clearing proceeded slowly, 
 and in 1645 a special order was made by the town that the 
 "market place be forthwith cleared and the wood carried 
 to the watch-house for the use and succor of the watch in 
 cold weather." In 1649 there was still some timber stand- 
 ing and the sergeants were directed "to inquire who hath 
 not wrought in the market place, that they might cut some 
 wood out to furnish more firewood for the watchmen." 
 Grass also began to appear and was protected, for in 
 March, 1654, all men were "desired to take notice that if 
 any cut up any English grass which grows about ye market 
 place, ye streets or other comon to plant in their own 
 ground they must expect to receive due punishment for 
 the same." 
 
 In 1665, the year that New Haven united with Connecti- 
 cut, had we again inspected the market place we should 
 probably have found it and the surrounding streets sub- 
 stantially free from trees. Its surface was irregular, and
 
 18 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 rough with stumps and stones. The declivity on the 
 Chapel street side showed more conspicuously than before 
 the clearing. The swamp toward Church street was prob- 
 ably less marshy than before, and the stream at the south- 
 east corner of the Green must have been provided for in 
 some way; perhaps by draining it through a channel under 
 a bridge. Toward the northern end of the swamp, that is 
 to say, about opposite where the Law Chambers building 
 now stands on Church street, a causeway and footpath 
 had been constructed across it about 1647; principally for 
 the convenience of Mr. Davenport and Gov. Eaton, who 
 lived on opposite sides of Elm street, just below Orange. 
 Some alder bushes probably remained along the edges of 
 the bog. The buildings on the market place were now in 
 open view. There was the rude unpainted meeting-house 
 in the center, shored up by timbers on the outside, its 
 turret removed three years before for safety, and the whole 
 building in danger of collapse. Around it was a small 
 colony of desolate graves, with here and there a headstone 
 or tablet. On the northern side of the square was the 
 school-house, somewhat enlarged and improved from its 
 original construction and regarded with some pride by the 
 community as the first edifice of a future college. Near 
 the top of the slope were two one-story cabins, not far from 
 the present line of College street. These were the watch- 
 house, and the prison-house. In front of the prison were 
 the stocks. In our ignorance of such constructions we 
 might have wondered where was the whipping post. In 
 answer to such an inquiry our attention would probably 
 have been called to the high posts supporting the frame 
 of the stocks, one at each end, and we should have been 
 informed that it was an old and happy invention to unite 
 the two institutions in one, thus saving expense and space, 
 and affording when both were in operation, as they fre- 
 quently were, a combination of entertainments doubly 
 edifying to the public.
 
 DEVELOPMENT AS A PUBLIC SQUARE. 19 
 
 From 1665 to 1700. 
 
 In 1668 the old meeting-house had become too unsafe 
 for further use and a new one was commenced. It was 
 completed November, 1670, and the old one was then 
 sold. The new meeting-house was similar in general 
 appearance to its predecessor, but probably better finished 
 in its appointments, and sufficiently firmly built to support 
 the roof and turret without shoring up. The location was 
 in front of its predecessor, just beyond the easterly side of 
 Temple street. Its belfry was vacant except when occupied 
 by the town drummer, until 1682. Then a vessel having 
 arrived in the harbor the year previous with a bell on 
 board, and the town with a wise precaution, which might 
 well be imitated in modern times, having tested its tone for 
 a year and a half before purchasing, it was finally accepted 
 and "hanged in the turret" as a town bell. In the mean- 
 time (November 27, 1682), Joseph Pardee had been 
 appointed bellringer "to ring ye Bell for ye town's occasion 
 on ye Sabbaths and other meetings as was wont by ye 
 Drum and all soe to ring ye bell at nine of ye clock every 
 night." 
 
 Then began that music of Sabbath bells which has since 
 continued to vibrate over the Green for more than two 
 hundred years, and then began also, by vote of the town, 
 the nine o'clock bell, which was maintained, though per- 
 haps with some intermissions, until about 1836. 
 
 Between 1665 and 1700 there was little change in the 
 appearance of the Green. The meeting-house was en- 
 larged in 1697 and somewhat improved by successive 
 repairs. Some local pride began to be felt in the market 
 place, if we may judge by the occasional outbreaks of 
 public spirit in the town meetings, which expressed 
 itself in votes leveled at invading geese and persistent 
 stink weed. After repeated condemnations, the stink 
 weed seems to have surrendered, but the geese proved 
 too obdurate and too sagacious a foe for our ancestors to
 
 20 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 successfully cope with. There seems to have existed in 
 our forefathers an intolerance of geese, which has consid- 
 erably ameliorated in their descendants. The town records 
 for many years show toward swine, cattle and "horsekind," 
 a system of license, or at least local option, with respect 
 to wandering at large, but nothing is extended to geese 
 but stern prohibition, of which the following vote, passed 
 in town meeting, December 2., 1798, is an illustration: "No 
 goose or gander shall be permitted to go at large within 
 ye limits of the town of New Haven unless such goose or 
 gander shall be well yoked with a yoke at least twelve 
 inches long. And if any goose or gander shall be found 
 going at large as aforesaid without such yoke, such goose 
 or gander shall be liable to be impounded, and ye fee for 
 impounding such goose or gander, if taken damage fesant 
 shall pay five cents and be holden to pay such damage." 
 
 From 1700 to 1784. 
 
 In 1701 New Haven became a co-capital with Hartford, 
 and the General Assembly, which then met twice a year, 
 commenced holding its October sessions here. In 1719 
 the first State House in New Haven was built on the north- 
 west corner of the Green adjoining the County House. 
 Thenceforth the State House was used not only by the 
 Legislature, but the courts and is sometimes called the 
 Court House and sometimes the State House, in con- 
 temporary records. The old jail was also raised one story 
 and enlarged so as to include a prison keeper's house. In 
 1723 a new school-house was built for the Grammar 
 School on the College street side of the Green, having the 
 great advantages of the grave-yard in front and the jail and 
 whipping post immediately contiguous to furnish moral 
 object lessons to the pupils. The old school-house near 
 Elm street remained standing and was used for an English 
 school until 1756, when it was torn down and a brick 
 school-house erected on the same site. When Wads-
 
 DEVELOPMENT AS A PUBLIC SQUARE. 21 
 
 worth's map was made in 1748 this brick school-house had 
 not been built and the old school-house is shown upon it, 
 as also the other public buildings above referred to. The 
 old burial ground had by that time become considerably 
 enlarged and was crowded with tombstones, but was over- 
 grown with weeds and traversed by footpaths, and except 
 when cheered by an occasional funeral presented a dismal 
 and neglected appearance. 
 
 In 1756 the third meeting-house was erected, after- 
 wards known as the "Brick Meeting-house." It was 
 seventy-two feet long and fifty feet wide and stood a little 
 east of the present site of the Center Church, its longest 
 line being north and south, and it had a steeple at its north 
 end. Its east side had an entrance, the steps of which 
 projected into Temple street when that street was after- 
 wards laid out. This meeting-house was erected not like 
 its predecessors, by the town, but by the Church of the 
 First Ecclesiastical Society, a result of doctrinal contro- 
 versies and the formation of new religious societies in 
 consequence. 
 
 About 1759 occurred the first important step in the 
 improvement of the Green by the planting of shade trees. 
 Dr. Dexter, in his paper on New Haven in 1884, refers to 
 it, quoting from an "Essay on Tree Planting," written by 
 Jared Eliot in 1760, which contains the only contemporary 
 account of it so far as I know. He says: "I observed in 
 New Haven they have planted a range of trees all around 
 the market place and secured them from the ravages of 
 beasts. This was an undertaking truly generous and 
 laudable. It is a pity they were not mulberry instead of 
 buttonwood and elm." Dr. Dexter suggests that the 
 large buttonwood tree now standing in Elm street nearly 
 opposite the Methodist church may be a relic of this plant- 
 ing. Probably also, some of the large elms in the row sur- 
 rounding the Green, which are outside of its enclosure, 
 were planted at this time.* 
 
 * See Note 3.
 
 22 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 At the time of the British invasion in 1779, Gen. Garth, 
 it is said, declared that the town was "too pretty to burn." 
 Thus it was perhaps these trees, then half grown, which 
 with the potent assistance of Santa Cruz rum, saved New 
 Haven from the fate of Fairfield and Norwalk. 
 
 In 1763, through the efforts of the New Haven County 
 Bar, a body then as now always full of zeal and public spirit 
 in behalf of improvements when the county pays the bills, 
 a new Court and State House was erected on the Green by 
 the county, the General Assembly subsequently contribu- 
 ting 1,000 therefor, estimated to be about one-third of its 
 cost. This edifice stood on Temple street (not then laid 
 out, however) between the new Brick Meeting-house and 
 the present site of Trinity Church.* Its predecessor, near 
 the corner of College and Elm streets, continued to grace 
 that vicinity for several years. In the meantime it was 
 used for various purposes. Early in the Revolution it was 
 known as "the Town House," where the selectmen had 
 their office. Town meetings, however, were held in the 
 new Court House. From 1767 to 1772 it also contained 
 the printing office of Thomas and Samuel Green, publishers 
 of the Connecticut Journal and Postboy, the paper which 
 after several changes of name is now the Morning Journal 
 and Courier. Later on the building became a shop for 
 metal buttons. It was taken down, as we shall see here- 
 after, between 1780 and 1790. 
 
 In 1769, by permission of the Proprietors, the Fair Haven 
 society erected "a house for public worship on ye south 
 end of the brick school-house" and a little east of the 
 present site of the North Church. It was of wood, painted 
 white, and about as large as the Brick Meeting-house. Its 
 longest line was north and south and its steeple was on 
 the south end. Several pictures in the possession of the 
 society, some of which have been engraved, render the 
 appearance of the three buildings on the Green at this 
 period familiar to all. Before 1775 a rough board fence 
 
 * See Note 4.
 
 DEVELOPMENT AS A PUBLIC SQUARE. 23 
 
 painted red had been constructed around the burying 
 ground. This fence is shown in Stiles' map of 1775 as 
 well as the trees around the square which had been planted 
 in 1759, and the general appearance of the Green is there 
 given as it must have presented itself to the eyes of our 
 British visitors in 1779, when Gen. Garth remarked that 
 the town was too pretty to burn. Considering that the 
 invaders had been so persistently and vigorously opposed 
 on their march, and had been forced thereby to make a 
 long and tiresome journey of several miles under a hot 
 July sun, it is remarkable that they did little if any damage 
 to the public buildings and left the Green in about the 
 same condition as they found it. It is very doubtful 
 whether Coxey's army, if compelled to do the same amount 
 of work, would have shown half the forbearance. 
 
 From 1784 to iSoo. 
 
 In February, 1784, the first City Charter of New Haven 
 went into effect, and from this period dates a new era in the 
 history of the market place or "Green," as it was now com- 
 ing to be generally called. The Charter contained a 
 singular provision, as follows: "And said city shall have 
 power to exchange that part of the Green in said New 
 Haven lying northwesterly of the public buildings (i. e. 
 almost the entire upper Green) for other lands, for high- 
 ways or another Green, and to sell and dispose thereof for 
 that purpose." 
 
 In order to account for this section in the charter, it 
 has been suggested that it was inserted on account of some 
 friction between the town and the proprietors, and as a 
 warning to the proprietors not to further assert ownership 
 in or jurisdiction over the Green. But I find no evidence 
 of any such friction having existed, and the provisions of 
 the section do not appear adapted to protect the Green 
 from alienation, but the contrary. It seems to me rather 
 to indicate that the habit of using the upper portion of
 
 24: CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 the Green for building purposes had lessened the public 
 appreciation of its value as an open pleasure ground, and 
 had suggested its use as a piece of merchandise to make 
 bargains with. 
 
 However this may be, the authority given by the State 
 to the city to sell land which belonged to neither, and 
 which had for one hundred and fifty years been used as 
 a market place in accordance with its original dedication, 
 was certainly extraordinary and of course totally invalid. 
 Happily if any disposition existed to make such sale it 
 never showed itself afterwards. 
 
 There were men at that time in New Haven, like Hill- 
 house and Austin, who not only understood the value of 
 the public square, but were about to awaken a new pride 
 and public spirit in its preservation and improvement. The 
 first steps in that improvement began immediately. In 
 the summer of 1784 the old jail was moved bodily off the 
 Green to the opposite side of College street. Probably the 
 ancient State House and still more ancient County House 
 were demolished about the same time, as we hear no more 
 about them. Their next neighbor, the dilapidated Gram- 
 mar School-house (built in 1723) appears to have survived 
 a few years longer, according to the recollection of the late 
 President Day. On September 22 of the same year, the 
 thoroughfare across the Green in front of the public build- 
 ings was extended through to Grove street and the whole 
 named Temple street. On the same day the other streets 
 of the city received for the first time their present names. 
 
 In April, 1785, the Common Council granted permission 
 " to erect a market house by private subscription on Chapel 
 street at the southeast corner of the Green." As the Green 
 was then unfenced and its boundaries indistinguishably 
 merged in the surrounding streets, this market-house may 
 have encroached on its area. As there were already two 
 market-houses in the City (one at the end of Church street 
 and the other in Chapel street over the Creek) this one was 
 probably little used, and in June, 1790, the Common Coun-
 
 FIRST COUPI-HO 
 
 a 1 1 tjj 
 
 ^LQJ 
 
 BUILT 1868 
 
 JO 8URROUCMS 
 
 eg 
 
 THK GREEN AS SHOWN IN WADSWORTH's MAP OF NEW HAVEN IN 1748.
 
 DEVELOPMENT AS A PUBLIC SQUARE. 25 
 
 cil was considering the expediency of purchasing it for a 
 work-house. It was removed sometime before 1800 and 
 sold for a cooper shop.* 
 
 It may be worth while at this place to refer to a state- 
 ment which has been repeatedly published, to the effect that 
 at one period "there was on the Green, near the Elm and 
 Church street corners, a pen for swine." I have been 
 unable to find any authority for this statement and do not 
 believe that there is any truth in the tradition. Cattle were 
 pastured on the Green till August, 1821, at which time the 
 Common Council appointed a committee "to confer with 
 the contractors for the field and pasturage of the eastern 
 section of the public square in regard to rescinding the 
 contract and to rescind the same on such terms as they 
 think best." In 1827 the Committee on Care of the Public 
 Square was directed " to prevent horses and cattle from 
 feeding thereon." 
 
 Prior to 1800 the Green was entirely uninclosed and in 
 consequence was used as a common thoroughfare for all 
 sorts of travel. The great road from Litchfield and the 
 west, which was the only entrance to town from that quarter, 
 entered the Green at the corner of College and Elm streets 
 and ran diagonally across it to Thaddeus Beecher's tavern 
 at the corner of Chapel and Church streets. To prevent 
 such encroachments a city meeting in April, 1784, with 
 commendable public spirit, voted that "the southeast part of 
 the Green might be enclosed by any number of gentlemen 
 who should agree to defray the expense thereof in such 
 manner as to exclude passengers, footmen excepted." 
 After waiting fourteen years for some one to accept this 
 generous offer another city meeting in 1798 enlarged it by 
 granting permission "to rail in both sections of the Green 
 without expense to the city under the direction of James 
 Hillhouse, David Austin and Isaac Beers, Esqrs." Even 
 this liberality seemed not to be appreciated, for in the follow- 
 ing year, 1799, the city again raised its bid by giving con- 
 
 * See Note 5.
 
 26 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 sent that the "Green or Public Square might be levelled and 
 the upper and lower portions railed in and water courses 
 made for carrying off the water under the direction of Pier- 
 pont Edwards, James Hillhouse and Isaac Beers, provided 
 it could be done without expense to the city." Stimulated 
 at last by such unexampled munificence, a subscription 
 paper was started and $2,000 raised, and in the following 
 year, 1800, the first fence around the Green was an accom- 
 plished fact. It was of wood, having squared and pointed 
 posts and an upper and lower rail which were also 
 squared. It stood till 1846, when it was succeeded by the 
 present fence, the old one being removed to Milford.* 
 How much levelling and grading was done does not appear, 
 but the surface of the Green remained quite uneven for 
 many years later, and the eastern side was more or less 
 boggy in wet weather until after 1820. I am informed by 
 T. R. Trowbridge that his father gathered the iris there as 
 late as 1821. These improvements resulted in greatly 
 increasing the grass crops on the Green, so that in 1801 
 and for several years thereafter the city annually voted to 
 sell them, "and to use the avails in the improvement of the 
 public square." Thus the new century opened auspiciously 
 with an awakened pride and interest in the Green and a 
 growing public spirit for its protection and improvement. 
 Dr. Manassas Cutler, in his account of a visit to New 
 Haven in 1787, says that the trees which had been set out 
 in 1759 around the Green, were then large and added much 
 to its beauty. He also says that a row across the center 
 had then been very lately set out, "in a line with the State 
 House, two large meeting-houses and the Grammar school- 
 house." This row along Temple street was the first row 
 of trees planted inside the Green and was the precursor 
 of the more extensive tree-planting between that date and 
 1796 by Mr. Hillhouse and Mr. Austin. f The story has 
 been so often told that it need not be here repeated. Most 
 of the planting at that time was in the lower Green. Mr. 
 
 * See Note 6. f See Note 7.
 
 DEVELOPMENT AS A PUBLIC SQUARE. 27 
 
 Hillhouse is said to have planted a row on the upper Green 
 in 1808, probably near College street, some of which were 
 removed when the Methodist Church and the last State 
 House were built. This section remained, however, nearly 
 bare of trees (the old burial ground occupied a considerable 
 portion of it till 1821) until 1839, when 150 maples and 
 elms were set out upon it by order of the Common Council. 
 
 From 1800 to 1862. 
 
 After the opening of the Grove Street cemetery in 1797, 
 burials on the Green were gradually discontinued. The 
 last was that of Mrs. Martha Whittlesey in 1812. The 
 first disturbance of the graves took place in 1813, when 
 the trenches were dug for the foundations of the present 
 Center Church. This church was the first to be erected 
 of the three now on the Green, but the last in the order 
 of permissions granted for such erections. The first per- 
 mission was given to Trinity Society at a town meeting 
 on the fourth Monday of December, 1812, and the third 
 was to the First Ecclesiastical Society at the same town 
 meeting in the following terms: "Voted, to license the First 
 Ecclesiastical Society to build a new brick meeting-house 
 and to extend the walls as far westward as their convenience 
 may require; provided this license do not vary the rights 
 of individuals." As it was to stand partly on ground 
 occupied by its predecessor, the old brick meeting-house, 
 the latter was demolished before the present church was 
 built. The new edifice was finished in 1814. 
 
 In 1814 the Fair Haven meeting-house was taken down 
 and the present North Church erected. Trinity Church 
 was also going up in the same year and both were com- 
 pleted in 1815. The tower of Trinity was originally of 
 wood with a square top, having a pinnacle at each corner. 
 Says Dr. Dwight in his account of New Haven: "The 
 Episcopal church is a Gothic building, the only correct 
 specimen it is believed in the United States." The archi-
 
 28 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 tect of both Trinity and Center Churches was Ithiel Towne, 
 and it must be conceded that both are commendable monu- 
 ments to his professional ability and good taste. The 
 North Church is hardly less creditable as an architectural 
 achievement, it having been designed by a shoemaker, 
 Ebenezer Johnson, a member of the United Society. 
 
 In 1821, there having been no interment in the old burial 
 ground on the Green since 1812, the fence around it was 
 removed by direction of a city meeting, the ground graded, 
 and the monuments removed to the Grove Street Cemetery. 
 
 In the same year the Methodist Society commenced 
 building a large brick church on the northwest corner of 
 the Green under a permission granted by the town the year 
 previous. Many worthy members of the society feared 
 that the edifice, plain as it was, savored too much of 
 worldly display, and it is said that at the laying of the cor- 
 ner-stone the officiating elder, in deference to these doubts, 
 prayed fervently that if the proposed structure was not in 
 accordance with the divine will the four winds of heaven 
 might be sent to level it with the ground. Confident, how- 
 ever, that no such purpose was in contemplation, the devout 
 congregation placed over the door a tablet bearing these 
 words of faith and gratitude: "Hitherto hath the Lord 
 helped us." Hardly had the walls risen to the proper 
 height when the celebrated gale of September, 1821, 
 swooped down upon them and laid them flat as the walls 
 of Jericho. 
 
 Happily and wisely, however, the society refused to 
 regard this result as an answer to prayer and reconstructed 
 their fallen sanctuary. Nevertheless they strictly enjoined 
 the incautious elder from further invocations and with more 
 fidelity to faith than fact replaced the grateful tablet. 
 The church was completed in 1822, a plain, square brick 
 building, entirely devoid of any architectural adornment. 
 It remained till 1848. In that year the society decided to 
 build a new church, and a city meeting, influenced by the 
 sentiment then beginning to prevail that the Green should
 
 FIRST METHODIST CHURCH. 
 Built 1821 Removed 1848.
 
 DEVELOPMENT AS A PUBLIC SQUARE. 29 
 
 be kept free from obstructions, appropriated $5,000 toward 
 the purchase of the site now occupied by the society on 
 the corner of Elm and College streets. About the same 
 sum was raised by private efforts and the old building was 
 taken down in the latter part of the year. 
 
 In 1828 the building of a new State and Court House 
 on the Green near College street having been commenced, 
 that of 1763 was dismantled the material being used, in 
 part, in the construction of the new building. As the new 
 State House was not ready for occupancy by the courts 
 till January, 1831, their sessions were held in the meantime 
 in the basement of the Methodist Church; on the very spot 
 where the courts were held in earlier time for nearly one 
 hundred years, that is from 1665 to 1763. The General 
 Assembly occupied the new State House in May, 1830, 
 although it was then unfinished. The erection of this State 
 House involved the raising of the ground at its north end 
 so as to form a hill about twelve feet in height, and this 
 became in after years a famous coasting place for boys, 
 known as the State House hill. The building was another 
 monument to the genius of the architect, Mr. Ithiel Towne. 
 While we cannot deeply deplore its departure after its use- 
 fulness was ended, we must all admire its merits and respect 
 its memory. 
 
 In 1839, as already stated, by vote of the Common Coun- 
 cil, 150 maples and elms, principally maples, were set out 
 on the public square. The maples were preferred at that 
 time on account of the liability of elms to be ravaged by 
 the measuring worm, or canker worm as it was generally 
 called. This worm has appeared at intervals since 1750, 
 but the first serious experience of them within the present 
 century occurred in 1838. Other visitations followed at 
 frequent intervals down to 1850 and later, though in a 
 modified degree. Prior to 1846 for several years before 
 the middle of June the trees on the Green were stripped as 
 bare as in the depths of winter. The fence, which was of 
 wood, painted white, was so covered with worms as to
 
 30 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 appear entirely black. The walks were literally carpeted 
 with them, and the air was full of their squirming forms 
 descending from the barren branches. Many schemes were 
 proposed for their extermination, but none were successful 
 until the plan was adopted of surrounding the trunk of 
 every tree in the fall of the year with large tin troughs 
 filled with oil. This device was used quite generally, but 
 the troughs were expensive and the oil was blown by the 
 wind over the sidewalks and the clothes of passers- 
 by. A smaller trough was then used, made of sheet lead, 
 and these were placed upon the elms almost universally 
 throughout the city, being kept in order and supplied 
 with oil by annual contract. These remedies, continuously 
 applied for several years, greatly diminished the pest, and 
 of late the last of the lead troughs have disappeared. A 
 band of cloth or paper coated with tar or printer's ink is 
 now regarded as a sufficient protection. 
 
 The first paved walk on the Green was the present brick 
 walk in front of the churches, which was laid in 1840 by 
 the three religious societies jointly with the city. The 
 societies laid the portions which were directly in front of 
 their respective houses of worship and the city did the rest 
 of the work. This walk has not been repaired between 
 the churches since that date, and its present condition after 
 more than fifty years of service speaks well for the dura- 
 bility and economy of brick sidewalks. In 1852 a flag walk 
 was laid from the south steps of the State House to the 
 brick walk in front of the churches. These were the only 
 paved walks on the Green in 1862. 
 
 In 1846 the wooden fence of 1800, which had been a 
 frequent source of expense for repairs, and had now become 
 dilapidated, was removed and the present stone and iron 
 fence put up in its place. The cost, which was $6,850, was 
 defrayed by an appropriation from the city treasury. Aid 
 was requested from the State as one of the occupants of 
 the Green, but was not extended. In f848 occurred the 
 improvement already alluded to, the removal of the
 
 DEVELOPMENT AS A PUBLIC SQUARE. 31 
 
 Methodist Church from the Green. In 1849 the Dixwell 
 monument was erected in the rear of the Center Church, 
 and in March, 1850, it was accepted by the city with a 
 pledge of protection. 
 
 In 1855 the Green was first lighted by gas. 
 
 In 1850 the United Society, by permission of the Pro- 
 prietors' Committee, built an addition of about six feet on 
 the rear of their church edifice. 
 
 To prevent the repetition of such permissions the State 
 Legislature, in 1856, passed a law making them invalid 
 unless first ratified and approved by the town at a meeting 
 specially called for that purpose. This enactment, followed 
 as it was by provisions in subsequent City Charters, 
 whereby the management of the Green was vested in the 
 city government, brought to a final end all exercise of juris- 
 diction over it by the Proprietors' Committee. 
 
 In 1862 the building now known as the City Hall was 
 completed. It stands on the site of the County House and 
 jail which had been erected on Church street in 1801. 
 With this event and the subsequent removal to it of the 
 courts and of such public offices as still lingered on the 
 Green, this review may suitably close. It would hardly 
 be complete, however, without a reference to some of the 
 fixtures and appurtenances of the Green, which have been 
 long identified with it, and each of which has a separate 
 history. These are the stocks and the whipping post, the 
 sign post, the liberty pole, the bells and the pumps. 
 
 The Stocks and the Whipping Post. 
 
 The stocks deserve our first attention because, as we have 
 seen, they were among the earliest if not the earliest append- 
 ages of the market place. They doubtless always stood in 
 front of the guard-house or jail, so long as that remained 
 on the Green, in the place where they are shown in Wads- 
 worth's map of 1748. Whether they followed their old 
 neighbor in its migration across the street in 1784, does 
 not appear. They were a recognized institution, however,
 
 32 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 until after 1805, for the revision of the State laws of 
 that year contains an enactment requiring stocks to be set 
 up in every town. By the revision of 1808 it appears that 
 drunkards were then set in the stocks, and perjury was 
 punished by placing the offender in the pillory and nailing 
 his ears. The "Revised Statutes" of 1821 make no men- 
 tion of pillory or stocks, so that both institutions had 
 become obsolete by that time, and the picturesque old 
 stocks were not long in disappearing from the Greeji. 
 
 As to the whipping post, it was always regarded with 
 especial honor by our forefathers as one of the pillars of 
 social order, yet there is no record, map or picture from 
 which we can be sure that it had a separate existence and 
 location. The map of 1748 shows the stocks with a high 
 post at each side, and as it is well known that the stocks 
 and whipping post were sometimes combined, it is possible 
 that that convenient and appropriate arrangement origi- 
 nally prevailed in New Haven. I am informed by persons 
 who recollect the latest whipping post, that it was then 
 identical with the sign post, and this also may have been 
 an early custom. Confirmation of this latter idea is found 
 in a vote of the town, passed in 1683, to establish " a sing 
 post" near the meeting-house; notices having been previ- 
 ously posted on the meeting-house door. "A sign post" 
 was clearly intended by the vote, but it is quite likely that 
 it was also designed to do duty in the other capacity, and a 
 compromise spelling may have been adopted to express the 
 compound use. 
 
 After the State House of 1763 was erected this "sing 
 post," or sign post, was placed in front of it on the opposite 
 side of Temple street, and there remained until removed 
 to its present location near the corner of Chapel and 
 Church streets.* Whipping ceased to be a legal penalty 
 in 1825, and there are several persons living who remem- 
 ber the last case of its application in New Haven. The 
 
 * When this was written the post stood on the edge of the sidewalk. It 
 has since been moved inside the Green.
 
 .g 
 61 JK 
 
 n 
 
 3 yli- 
 
 4g 
 
 :"> 
 
 THE GREEN AS SHOWN IN PRESIDENT STILES' MAP OF NEW HAVEN IN 1775.
 
 DEVELOPMENT AS A PUBLIC SQUARE. 33 
 
 name of the culprit who enjoyed the high honor of closing 
 the record is also known, and although it is now withheld 
 from considerations of delicacy it will be cheerfully imparted 
 to any society that may be organized, based on this form 
 of ancestral distinction. 
 
 It was at the sign post that contracts for the care of the 
 town poor were annually sold to the lowest bidder and 
 here also took place many sheriff's sales. It was at the sign 
 post that Lois Tritton, who is still living, and her mother 
 were sold as slaves in 1825, the last sale of a slave in New 
 Haven, if not in Connecticut. The original papers of this 
 transaction are in the possession of ex-Gov. Ingersoll and 
 show that its purpose was to give the women their freedom. 
 The sale was by the sheriff under an execution issued on a 
 former judgment against their owner; these human goods 
 and chattels having been levied on to satisfy the execution. 
 The sheriff's return is dated March 10, 1825, and recites 
 that on the 8th of March, 1825, by virtue of the execution, 
 he sold Lucy and Lois Tritton, as the property of the 
 defendant, to Anthony P. Sanford for $10. A deed of 
 manumission from Mr. Sanford accompanies the docu- 
 ments. 
 
 The Liberty Pole. 
 
 When the first liberty pole was erected on the Green, is 
 an interesting question which is, however, involved in 
 much obscurity. That it was erected during or just pre- 
 ceding the Revolutionary period, seems probable from the 
 patriotic appellation which is traditionally identified with 
 it. Prior to 1775 Sons of Liberty were erecting liberty 
 poles and planting liberty trees throughout New England. 
 The Connecticut Journal of September I, 1774, mentions 
 one just set up in Wallingford, but after much search I 
 can find no reference in any contemporary newspaper 
 to such action in New Haven. John Adams, in his diary 
 under date of August, 1774, tells of passing through New 
 Haven on his way to attend the first meeting of the Con- 
 
 3
 
 34 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 tinental Congress. He says he was received with great 
 parade, firing of cannon and ringing of bells. His com- 
 placency over the supposed personal compliment was some- 
 what dampened by the explanation by his landlord, Mr. 
 Beers, who told him that it had been suddenly got up "in 
 order to divert the populace from erecting a liberty pole." 
 It would appear, however, that the populace were not long 
 diverted, for a letter written October 24, 1774, by Hon. 
 Jared Ingersoll, then in Philadelphia, to his brother in 
 New Haven, contained this inquiry: "Pray tell me where- 
 abouts on the Green the liberty pole stands." The records 
 of the First Ecclesiastical Society of West Haven under 
 date of November 23, 1774, refer to "the extraordinary 
 doings the last week of the liberty pole men of New Haven." 
 I am informed also that an aged former resident of this 
 city, C. S. Davis, remembers having heard his grandmother 
 speak of going in pre-revolutionary days to the liberty 
 pole on the Green and "smashing her crockery against it." 
 The crockery thus recklessly sacrificed on the symbol of 
 freedom was probably her tea pot, and the time would be 
 about 1774 or 1775. It would appear from these facts 
 that a liberty pole stood on the Green during 1775, but 
 how long it remained there I am not able to say. It would 
 hardly have survived the British invasion of 1779, when 
 the enemy occupied the ground around it for many hours. 
 President Stiles, in his diary, gives an elaborate account of 
 the rejoicing at the advent of peace in 1783, and describes 
 an elegant silk national flag, prepared by the ladies, which 
 he says was displayed at sunrise with a salute of thirteen 
 cannons and "appeared well"; from which it might be 
 inferred that there was a flagstaff to display it on. There 
 is no mention of the flag nor the flagstaff afterwards, how- 
 ever, and although the anniversary of Independence was 
 celebrated quite regularly (though not every year) from 
 1780 to 1825, there is nowhere any reference to a liberty 
 pole and flag as a feature on such occasions. There are 
 also many pictures and maps of the Green during this
 
 DEVELOPMENT AS A PUBLIC SQUARE. 35 
 
 period, and in none of them is there shown any flagstaff 
 upon it. Nevertheless it is probable that one existed most 
 of the time, for the records of the Governor's Foot Guard, 
 under date of April 14, 1814, contains an order for the 
 company, in case of an alarm from the enemy, then in the 
 Sound, to assemble "at the flagstaff on the lower Green." 
 The city came into existence in 1784, and nothing 
 appears in its records indicating any municipal charge or 
 connection with Fourth of July celebrations until June 7, 
 1825. On that day the annual city meeting appropriated 
 $100 for celebrating "the next anniversary of our national 
 independence by salutes and the ringing of the bells of the 
 city churches." It also passed the following vote: 
 "Resolved, That the city will assume the expense of the 
 maintenance of the flagstaff on the public square, and of 
 the flag to be placed thereon." Probably up to this time 
 the flagstaff had been a town institution, and it is certain 
 that the city had not previously owned a flag. The Daily 
 Herald newspaper, referring to the vote just mentioned, 
 says: "It will surprise our neighbor cities to learn that this 
 city of 10,000 inhabitants has never owned a national 
 flag." In the following year (1826) the annual city meet- 
 ing voted as follows: "Resolved, That on each anniversary 
 of national Independence, the flag shall be displayed and 
 the national salute fired between sunrise and sunset under 
 the direction of the Mayor." One hundred dollars was 
 then appropriated for the succeeding Fourth of July and 
 ever since that date a similar appropriation has been 
 annually made, with perhaps one or two exceptions. 
 
 Bells on the Green. 
 
 The important functions which have been performed by 
 bells on the Green for over two hundred years in summon- 
 ing to religious, civil, and political gatherings, in voicing 
 public sentiment whether of joy or grief, as the heralds of 
 alarm when danger was pending, and in maintaining a uni- 
 form time for the community when clocks and watches 
 were few, entitle them to a prominent notice in this review.
 
 36 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 The first bell on the Green was purchased from the 
 skipper of a vessel in the harbor and was kept for several 
 months on trial. In 1685 it was ordered sent to England 
 "to be made bigger." A substitute seems to have been 
 brought from Boston and used for a while. In May, 1688, 
 "it was left with ye townsmen to take care about ye bell 
 to procure one suitable for ye place and to sell ye Old bell, 
 small guns or muskets belonging to ye town toward ye 
 payment for a good bell." As nothing further appears 
 about the bell in the records, it is to be presumed that 
 the one thus purchased proved satisfactory. This bell was 
 still in use in 1763, as the only public bell of the town, 
 and was then owned jointly by the two Congregational 
 societies. In that year the First Society having bought a 
 new bell, proposals were made to purchase the old bell for 
 use in the State House. The society voted to sell its half 
 of the bell and also agreed if the White Haven Society 
 would sell the other half "the said White Haven Society 
 shall have, as usual, the benefit and advantage of this 
 society's present bell at funerals, etc., and of this society's 
 expense in ringing the same on Lord's day, evenings, etc." 
 Two years later, that is to say, on November I, 1765, the 
 day the stamp act went into operation, this old bell, then 
 hanging in the turret of the State House, joined with the 
 new one in the brick meeting-house and the college bell 
 in a mournful chorus, which is described in the Connecticut 
 Gazette of that date as follows: "This morning three bells 
 in this town, which are neighbors, began to toll here and 
 still continue tolling and saluting each other at suitable 
 intervals. They seem to speak the word No vem ber 
 in the most melancholy tone imaginable." 
 
 Six months later, however, on Monday, May 19, 1766, 
 the same bells rang out a joyful jubilee over the repeal of 
 the obnoxious enactment, and the Green resounded all 
 day with the noise of small arms and cannon and was alive 
 all night with bonfires and dances. The old bell of 1688 
 continued to summon the courts and all public meetings
 
 DEVELOPMENT AS A PUBLIC SQUARE. 37 
 
 which were held in the Court House until that building 
 was taken down in 1828. It was then stored for awhile 
 under the steps of the new edifice, and was captured there 
 one night by some roystering students, who carried it to 
 the tower of the Lyceum building on the campus, and 
 dropped it thence upon the stone step below, to its irretriev- 
 able ruin. 
 
 An important service of the bell which hung in the old 
 meeting-house and its lineal successors was to ring the 
 curfew at nine o'clock in the evening. This nine o'clock 
 bell was commenced as soon as the bell was purchased in 
 1682, but appears to have been discontinued before 1750, 
 as the First Ecclesiastical Society voted in that year "to 
 cause the meeting-house bell to be rung constantly at nine 
 o'clock." By 1825 the society had tired of the burden and 
 in December of that year the town voted "to assume the 
 expense of causing a bell to be rung in the morning, at 
 noon and at nine o'clock in the evening, under the direc- 
 tion of the selectmen." 
 
 Mr. Barber states in his "Antiquities of New Haven" 
 that "for several years the White Haven Church bell rang 
 at 6 A. M. in the summer and at 7 A. M. in the winter. 
 Trinity bell rang at noon and Center Church bell at 9 
 p. M." By "Center Church" he probably means the Old 
 Brick meeting-house, and the period he refers to must 
 have been between 1793, when the first bell was put into 
 Trinity (then on Church street, south of Chapel), and 1814, 
 when the White Haven meeting-house was taken down. 
 It appears from the records of Trinity Parish that in 1793 
 the over-zealous sexton of Trinity commenced ringing a 
 nine o'clock curfew with his new bell on Saturday nights in 
 order to supply its customary omission on that evening as 
 a part of the Puritan Sabbath. After the second ringing 
 his performances were stopped by vote of the Vestry. 
 
 There were no railroad trains to catch in those days and 
 uniformity in time throughout the community was more 
 important than absolute exactness, so that the nine o'clock
 
 38 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 bell was universally availed of to set the family clocks by. 
 The bell ringer's office was therefore regarded as a responsi- 
 ble one and its incumbent took pride in the faithful per- 
 formance of his duties; so much so that having on one 
 occasion erroneously rung the bell at ten o'clock he was 
 careful on the next evening to ring it at eight, in order 
 to have the time correct on the average. At some time 
 between 1830 and 1840, on account of the liability to mis- 
 take the curfew for a fire alarm, the custom was discon- 
 tinued. Funeral bells were tolled as lately as 1832. Two 
 years prior to that time, the Medical Society had presented 
 a petition to the Common Council praying for their dis- 
 continuance, but it seems to have been overlooked or dis- 
 regarded, for in 1832 that body appointed the bell ringers 
 as usual and fixed their compensation at fifty cents a 
 funeral. The usage was, however, declining and ceased 
 shortly afterwards. 
 
 Closely connected with the subject of bells is that of the 
 town clock, which formerly occupied the tower of the Cen- 
 ter Church. It appears to have been placed there on trial 
 by its maker, Eli Terry of Plymouth, prior to 1826, and 
 in that year the city voted to buy it for $250. While in 
 the Center Church it developed some eccentricities, such 
 as striking continuously for hours together and then, as if 
 exhausted by such excesses, going on a long strike of a 
 less active nature. On May, 1855, it grew so tired of hold- 
 ing up its weights that it dropped one or more of them 
 through two floors into the church organ. After the City 
 Hall was built in 1861 it was transferred to that building, 
 but its conduct there was not entirely exemplary and after 
 numerous efforts for its reform it was removed to its pres- 
 ent quarters over the High School, where it seems to have 
 somewhat improved in its deportment.* 
 
 * See Note 8.
 
 DEVELOPMENT AS A PUBLIC SQUARE. 39 
 
 The City Wells on the Green. 
 
 It remains only to speak of the public wells and pumps 
 which have been at different times established on the 
 Green. These wells have been four in number and of them 
 only one survives, the one on the corner of Chapel and 
 Church streets. It was dug in 1813 and the present pump 
 and canopy were placed over it in 1878. The oldest pub- 
 lic well was located near College street, near the site of the 
 ancient jail, and was probably originally connected with 
 that institution. It is still remembered by many of our 
 citizens. The water was not considered good or whole- 
 some, and the well was closed between 1840 and 1850. 
 
 After the city was organized, protection from fire was 
 one of its most urgent necessities, and numerous public 
 wells were opened in various localities. In 1797 a well 
 and pump were established on the lower Green at the 
 corner of Chapel and Temple streets. In 1819 another 
 well and pump were placed on the corner of Elm and Tem- 
 ple streets. Both these wells were generally dry and the 
 pumps constantly out of order. The care and expense of 
 the public wells gave great trouble to the Common Council, 
 and were the subject of numberless votes in that body. 
 But the introduction of water from Lake Whitney, January 
 i, 1862, brought such matters to a happy close, and 
 brought also a new era in the health, comfort, safety and 
 progress of the city. 
 
 This important event, the introduction of water, marks 
 almost as distinct an era in the history of New Haven as 
 the completion of the City Hall during the same year did 
 in the history of the Green. Since that period it has been 
 passing from the character of the rural New England town 
 to that of a large and cosmopolitan city. Where isolated 
 dwellings stood thirty years ago, long rows of compact 
 blocks now line the streets. Foreign faces and foreign 
 costumes swarm along the sidewalks. Cobwebs of electric 
 wires darken the sky, and electric cars fly to and fro 
 through the formerly quiet thoroughfares. But amid all
 
 40 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 the changes in its surroundings, the ancient Green as it rests 
 tranquilly under its venerable trees, watched over by the 
 prim and old-fashioned churches, those relics of a by-gone 
 time when religion was a public institution, seems sleeping 
 in the shadows of the past, and dreaming of old or shall we 
 rather say young New Haven. As the city grows more 
 dense and thronged around it, its use as a convenient spot 
 for public buildings can no longer be thought of, but its 
 priceless value as a breathing and resting and gathering 
 place for the people becomes constantly more conspicuous. 
 May it be guarded from enroachment in the future more 
 jealously than in the past; and may our successors in its 
 care of every race and lineage protect its soil, and cherish 
 its traditions with that affectionate veneration which is the 
 heritage and the test of every true son and daughter of New 
 Haven!
 
 1 
 
 F 
 
 D- 
 
 ^i tit 
 lYr ?I* 
 
 t T r i i ;s 
 ? T 5 t ?, 
 T ? t T t;t 
 T A T t J ! i 
 
 I T 
 
 i 
 
 
 1*15 f ? t r i ; j 
 
 ftlfftTftl, 
 
 * t i ? 7 f 1 ft; 
 
 *ii^ 
 
 THE GREEN AS SHOWN IN DOOLITTLE'S MAP OF NEW HAVEN IN l8iy.
 
 NOTES TO PAPER No. I. 
 
 NOTE i (page 13). 
 
 The Proprietors' Committee is still in existence and since 1810 has 
 made several grants of land, generally for the purpose of clearing 
 titles otherwise doubtful. Its latest action was on February 4th, 1896, 
 when it granted to the Town of New Haven the last remaining tract 
 of Proprietary land, comprising the southern face and slope of West 
 Rock, for the purposes of a Public Park. Thus the work of the 
 Proprietors ends as it began, with devoting a plot of ground to the 
 park system of New Haven. 
 
 NOTE 2 (page 13). 
 
 See opinion of Corporation Counsel Ely on this point rendered to 
 the Common Council in September, 1896, in accordance with the view 
 here presented. 
 
 NOTE 3 (page 21). 
 
 The first elm tree planting of which we have any information was 
 in 1686 in front of the dwelling house of Rev. James Pierpont, which 
 stood about where Temple street enters Elm. Two trees were set 
 out there by William Cooper as a gift to Mr. Pierpont and one of them 
 was still standing, almost in the middle of Elm street, in front of the 
 Bristol residence until cut down in 1840. The large elm on the corner 
 of Church and Chapel streets known as "The Franklin Elm," because 
 set out on the day that Franklin died (April 17, 1790), was planted 
 by "Jerry Allen" at request of Thaddeus Beecher, who kept a tavern 
 where the Exchange building stands. 
 
 NOTE 4 (page 22). 
 
 Dr. Bacon says that a crown surmounted the cupola of the State 
 House until 1807. On the other hand, Mr. Barber says there was 
 no cupola until "early in this century." Mr. Barber is certainly incor- 
 rect and Dr. Bacon possibly so as respects the continuance of the 
 royal symbol so long after the Revolution. 
 
 NOTE 5 (page 25). 
 
 This is the statement made by Judge Simeon Baldwin in a city 
 meeting held September 26, 1843, to consider the disposition of the 
 old market house in Chapel street. Mr. Barber says the building was 
 removed to George street at about the time when the Green fence was 
 erected. As the Market House on George street is shown on Stiles' 
 map of 1775, Judge Baldwin's statement is the most likely to be correct. 
 
 NOTE 6 (page 26). 
 
 This fence enclosed both sections of the Green separately, as is 
 plainly shown in a painting of the Green made soon after its erection. 
 It would appear however, that when the three present churches were
 
 42 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 built in 1814, the fence on the west side of Temple street must have 
 been taken down. 
 
 In September, 1821, the Common Council appropriated $40 "to make 
 a suitable fence on the east side of the west section of the Public 
 Square with a raised walk inside the fence provided the United Society 
 and the Episcopal Society consent to apply the railing around their 
 several buildings with a view to effect the same; and the First Society 
 provide posts equal in value to the post and railing to be used in 
 front of their meeting-house; on these conditions the fence to be put 
 up in October, 1821." From this it would appear that the North 
 Church and Trinity were both surrounded by fences until 1821. 
 
 NOTE 7 (page 26). 
 
 The Rev. David Austin is said to have planted the inner rows of 
 elms on the east and west sides of the lower Green. He also cooper- 
 ated with Hillhouse in other city improvements to the detriment, it 
 would appear, of his own financial condition. In 1803 a -'city meeting 
 appointed "a committee to examine and adjust the account of Mr. 
 David Austin as expended in railing and ornamenting the Green and 
 make report whether anything, and if so what sum, is legally or 
 equitably due to him from the city on account of moneys so expended." 
 No report from this committee appears in the records. Mr. Austin 
 afterwards removed to Texas and founded the City of Austin in that 
 State. 
 
 NOTE 8 (page 38). 
 
 Mr. Eli Terry, the maker of the Center Church clock, was a pioneer 
 in clock manufacturing in this country and a man of genius. His son, 
 Mr. John Terry, furnishes the following information respecting this 
 clock, which contained several novel features. The train or time- 
 keeping works was placed in the lower part of the tower far below 
 the dials in order to avoid vibration and also the effect of wind and 
 snow upon the hands. The hands were moved by a separate weight 
 which was released by means of a detent every two and a half minutes, 
 the hands remaining stationary during the interval, then jumping the 
 necessary space. When the clock was first placed in the tower two of 
 its dials showed mean solar time and two of them apparent solar time, 
 but this arrangement causing confusion, he caused the clock to run 
 on mean time only. The College clock, however, was run on apparent 
 time and thus there was a continuous difference between the two 
 clocks, sometimes amounting to several minutes. The consequence 
 was great public inconvenience and private exasperation, and a spirited 
 controversy in the newspapers between the advocates of the two differ- 
 ent systems. In the end the College authorities yielded and caused 
 their clock to conform to mean solar time, to the great relief of the 
 entire community. Mr. Terry also states that in 1811, on a signal from 
 the Observatory of the College, a heavy gun was fired at noon for 
 several months in order to give the people the exact time to make 
 their noon marks.
 
 II. 
 
 THE GREEN AS A POLITICAL AND Civic FORUM. 
 
 Since the Green was first set apart in 1638 as a market 
 place, it has been under the jurisdiction of nine distinct 
 governments. First, the temporary or provisional govern- 
 ment agreed upon by the settlers soon after their landing 
 and which they called "The Plantation Covenant," lasting 
 till October 25, 1639. Second, that created for the town 
 by the so-called "Fundamental! agreement" and after- 
 wards extended over the Colony of New Haven, under 
 which the church wielded all political power. Third, after 
 1665, the government established by the Connecticut 
 charter, democratic in its principles, which continued until 
 1818 and was then succeeded (fourth) by that which still 
 exists under the present Connecticut Constitution. In 
 1781 the fifth in our enumeration was set in operation a 
 city government, more or less modified since by occasional 
 amendments. 
 
 Co-existing with all these and above them all have been 
 the imperial and national governments successively, which 
 have been four in number. The royal government of Great 
 Britain under Charles I. and his monarchical successors, 
 being the sixth in our list, interrupted for a time by the 
 English Commonwealth, which is seventh; eighth, the 
 United States government under the Confederation, and 
 ninth, since 1788, the present national government under 
 the Federal Constitution. Under all these different alle- 
 giances and arising out of them all, the Green has been 
 at successive periods the arena of public demonstrations, 
 actions, or incidents of a political character, the most 
 important of which, occurring between 1638 and 1862, it 
 will be the province of this paper to review in order.
 
 44 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 Of the first provisional government, its officers and its 
 doings, no records appear to have been kept. So far as 
 respects the market place, we only know that it set up 
 the stocks and the whipping post there, pursuant to the 
 covenant "to be ordered by those rules which the Scripture 
 holds forth." It continued for a year and six months, 
 when it was superseded by the civil order, whose founda- 
 tions had been laid in Mr. Newman's barn June 6, 1639, 
 but which was not actually set in operation till October 25 
 of the same year. 
 
 The First Organized Government. 
 
 The basis of this system was a social compact pure and 
 simple, called "the Fundamentall agreement," which every 
 planter and new-comer was required to sign. Under this 
 agreement the state did not come into existence until after 
 the organization of a church. Seven men, now generally 
 referred to as the "seven pillars," were first selected to form 
 this church, and to admit into it such persons as they con- 
 sidered worthy of membership. The church thus created 
 proceeded to organize the state, none but its own members 
 being allowed to be electors, or qualified to hold office. 
 All existing offices held under the Plantation Covenant 
 were formally abolished by the new body politic, and magis- 
 trates for the town were immediately elected. It was 
 further agreed that all officers should be elected yearly in 
 October and that "the Word of God shall be the only rule 
 to be attended to in ordering the affayres of government in 
 this Plantation." 
 
 The first official act of the new government was an exer- 
 cise of the highest power of civil society, that over human 
 life. An Indian named Nepaupuck had been arrested 
 several days previously charged with murder, and had been 
 waiting more or less patiently in the stocks until a state 
 could be organized to punish him for a crime committed 
 against itself, some months before its own existence. This
 
 AS A POLITICAL AND CIVIC FORUM. 45 
 
 little preliminary having been arranged, he had no reason 
 to complain of further inattention. Three days later he 
 had been tried and convicted and his head was adorning 
 the market place as an object lesson to encourage his 
 aboriginal brethren in the ways of peace and pleasantness. 
 It is possible that the execution also took place on the 
 Green, though the record does not so state. If so, it was 
 an exception to the general rule, as all subsequent execu- 
 tions (at least by hanging) appear to have been had in the 
 outskirts of the town. Only one other case of decapitation 
 in New Haven is recorded, and that was applied to another 
 Indian for murder in 1646. 
 
 The government and the courts having been thus 
 inaugurated and found to work to everybody's satisfaction, 
 the next step was to erect a meeting-house; meaning there- 
 by, a place for all public gatherings. This rude structure 
 occupied the center of the market place until succeeded by 
 a larger and firmer one in 1670. In it and in its successor 
 till 1719 were held not merely religious services but all town 
 meetings and other meetings of a public nature which 
 required a room of some dimensions. 
 
 Once a month or oftener, if occasion required, the gen- 
 eral town meeting for local business, or as it was called, 
 "the generall court," was held there. At these meetings 
 not only the electors or "free burgesses" could vote but 
 also "free planters," i. e., owners of land and property who 
 were not church members, and therefore not electors. 
 Attendance upon them was compulsory for both classes on 
 penalty of fine for absence without excuse. The annual 
 and other elections for magistrates were also held in the 
 meeting-house, but at these only the free burgesses were 
 required to be present. 
 
 It is a curious circumstance that the present name of the 
 town was not adopted nor apparently ever thought of until 
 more than two years after its settlement. Up to that time 
 the plantation had been stigmatized by a barbarous com- 
 bination of linguals, palatals and gutterals spelled in at least
 
 46 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 thirty different ways,* each more unpronounceable than 
 the rest, which in the course of two centuries has been 
 civilized into "Quinnipiac." The community tired its jaws 
 and rasped its vocal organs over these conflicting aboriginal 
 cognomens until September i, 1640, when a town meeting, 
 in evident desperation, cut the gordian knot by curtly vot- 
 ing, "This town now called New Haven." None of the 
 early settlers, so far as known, came from New Haven in 
 England and the reason for selecting this name is unex- 
 plained. A contemporary document informs us that "Lon- 
 don" was talked of and was rejected "only least it should 
 seem too high." This cautious self-restraint suggests that 
 possibly "New Heaven" may have been under consideration 
 and that it was modified into "New Haven" from motives 
 of modest forbearance. It is certain that the pious founders 
 of our city fully believed that it was destined to be an 
 earthly Zion. It is said that Mr. Davenport was a Second 
 Adventist, who looked for the personal reign of Christ on 
 earth, in which case what place more likely than this saintly 
 locality to be chosen for his capital? It must be confessed, 
 however, that as things have turned out "New Heaven" 
 would have seemed a trifle "too high" and that a near 
 approach to it like that which was adopted is more exactly 
 appropriate. 
 
 By 1651 the frequent town meetings with compulsory 
 attendance had become burdensome, and in September of 
 that year it was voted to entrust the ordinary affairs of the 
 town to the supervision of nine persons, then called 
 "townsmen," but more lately "selectmen," who were 
 required to regulate their action by the advice and approval 
 of the town meetings. The townsmen, however, soon 
 acquired the habit of conducting all the town business, 
 including its finances, on their own responsibility, and 
 ultimately absorbed its entire management. Their thirst 
 for power was perhaps stimulated by the fact that they 
 originally held their meetings at the ordinary or tavern, 
 
 * See Note i at the end of this Paper.
 
 AS A POLITICAL AND CIVIC FORUM. 47 
 
 and under these circumstances it is not surprising to learn 
 that in 1675 they were complained of in town meeting for 
 immoderate indulgence in liquors at the expense of the 
 town. With virtuous indignation, the Selectmen defiantly 
 replied that during the past year they had spent 30 shillings 
 of the town's money in liquor; that they intended to spend 
 as much more in the next, and that if the town would not 
 pay the score they would pay it themselves. This appalling 
 threat completely paralyzed the meeting. The incipient 
 law and order investigation was promptly suppressed, and 
 the old board was triumphantly re-elected. A precedent 
 having been thus established, doubtless all succeeding 
 boards of selectmen have spent at least thirty shillings of 
 the town's money annually in festive libation, though the 
 fact has not been of later years so easily discoverable in 
 their accounts. 
 
 Having now seen the town government fully developed 
 into working order, let us briefly review some of the princi- 
 pal transactions and events of a civil and political nature 
 which have occurred on the market place, beginning with 
 the period of New Haven's independency from 1639 to 
 1665. ^ 
 
 The First Civil and Criminal Code. 
 
 The provisional government terminated, as we have seen, 
 October 25, 1639. In 1643 New Haven joined the Con- 
 federacy of the United Colonies of New England, consist- 
 ing of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut and New 
 Haven, the object being mutual support against the Indians 
 and the Dutch. The Confederacy lasted for more than 
 twenty years, during which time its delegates met annually, 
 and at the different colonies successively. These meetings, 
 when in New Haven, were in the meeting-house, the first 
 one being in 1646, when among other business Uncas the 
 Indian Sachem was questioned by the convention with 
 regard to some of his misdoings. When New Haven
 
 48 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 Colony joined the Confederacy it consisted of New Haven, 
 Stamford and Southold, on Long Island, but was immedi- 
 ately afterwards enlarged by the accession of Milford and 
 Guilford, which up to that time had been independent 
 plantations, and which were not admitted until after they 
 had adopted the Fundamental agreement, whereby church 
 members only were allowed to vote or hold office. In 
 1644 the General Court of the Colony assembled in New 
 Haven Meeting-house, voted that the "judicial laws of God 
 as they were delivered to Moses and expounded in other 
 parts of Scripture, so far as they were not typical or cere- 
 monial nor had exclusive reference to Canaan, should be 
 the civil and criminal code of the Colony, till the same 
 be branched out into particulars hereafter." 
 
 This adoption of the laws of Moses as the civil and crimi- 
 nal code of the Colony has been sometimes referred to as 
 if it were peculiar to New Haven Colony, but such is not 
 the case. Massachusetts Bay also followed Mosaic law, 
 not only with regard to crimes and punishments but in 
 other matters also, as in the rules of inheritance. Dr. 
 Bacon has suggested that the laws of Moses were preferred 
 to those of England at that period as being more demo- 
 cratic and humane. Another reason probably was that 
 there was but one treatise on the English law then in 
 existence, and the book was scarce, costly and probably 
 unobtainable on this side the ocean. The laws of Moses, 
 on the other hand, as expounded in Scripture, were familiar 
 to everybody and in everybody's possession. The code 
 thus established proved exceedingly elastic and convenient, 
 especially as interpreted and applied by Gov. Eaton, who 
 was judge, jury and prosecuting officer all combined, in his 
 little court room on the market place. Under it cognizance 
 was taken, not merely of misdemeanors and offenses against 
 morality, but of every neighborhood scandal or gossip, 
 disrespectful criticisms of the magistrates, or of Mr. Daven- 
 port's sermons, all of which were clearly shown, by citation 
 of chapter and verse, to be contrary to the laws of God as
 
 AS A POLITICAL AND CIVIC FORUM. 49 
 
 delivered to Moses and expounded in other parts of Scrip- 
 ture. Nevertheless, it soon began to appear that a branch- 
 ing out into particulars was necessary, and by 1655 a 
 published code of the Colony laws was called for. This was 
 prepared by Gov. Eaton and adopted in 1656, and every 
 provision was fortified by marginal reference to Scripture 
 authority. Thus the statute requiring beer casks to be of 
 London standard is supported by Deut. xxv, 15, and Micah 
 vi, 10, and the law that every militiaman shall have a good 
 and serviceable gun with shot bag, powder and bullets, is 
 shown to be derived from Judges v, 8, I Sam. xiii, 19, 22, 
 and Luke xxii, 36. In this code heretics, who had already 
 begun to trouble Israel, were not forgotten. The ordi- 
 nance against them expressly disclaims any right to control 
 conscientious belief, and merely forbids the "going about 
 to subvert or destroy the Christian faith and religion" by 
 the inculcation "of any dangerous errors or heresy, with a 
 view to seduce others thereunto." Two years later, in 
 1658, some months after Gov. Eaton's death, Humphrey 
 Norton, a Quaker, was brought to New Haven under this 
 law, charged with pernicious activity in "testifying," or 
 preaching in public, the doctrine of his sect. On his trial 
 in the little court house on the market place portions of 
 his writings were read, "wherein," as the record declares, 
 "were severall horrible errors and reproaches if not more." 
 Mr. Davenport refuted these direful doctrines in a sermon 
 before a great concourse of people, "the said Humphrey 
 making much hinderance of Mr. Davenport and using a 
 boisterous, bold manner." Subsequently Norton carried 
 his discourtesy so far as to attempt to reply, but was quickly 
 checked and was forthwith whipped, branded and banished 
 in order to make it clear to all that Mr. Davenport had had 
 the best of the argument. Only one other whipping took 
 place under this law, but four persons complained of were 
 admonished and dismissed the Colony.
 
 50 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 The Only Trial for Witchcraft. 
 
 Gov. Eaton's code also contained a law against witch- 
 craft of course, as did the laws of every civilized country 
 at that time. It was copied from Exodus xxii, 18, and 
 was therefore unquestionably one of the laws of God as 
 delivered by Moses. Only one trial for witchcraft was ever 
 held in New Haven, and that was begun in 1653 before 
 Eaton's Code was adopted. The defendant was an old 
 lady of extreme unpopularity on account of her acrid dis- 
 position and disagreeable manners, named Mrs. Goodman, 
 and she in fact started the investigation herself by com- 
 plaining that Rev. Mr. Hooke and several other neighbors 
 had charged her with being a witch. The result was a 
 complete turning of the tables on Mrs. Goodman, who was 
 called upon to explain many suspicious circumstances by 
 which the alleged slander was caused. Rev. Mr. Hooke 
 declared that his boy had been sick in a very strange man- 
 ner and he suspected Mrs. Goodman's agency in it, the 
 more especially because she had an unaccountable way of 
 always knowing what had been done at secret church 
 meetings. The record recites an important piece of testi- 
 mony as follows: 
 
 "Time, Mr. Hooke's Indian, said in church meeting she 
 would go out and come in again, and tell them what was 
 done at meeting. Time asking her who told, she answered 
 plainly she would not tell. Then Time said, 'did not ye 
 Devill tell you?' 
 
 "Time also said she heard her one time talking to her- 
 self e and she said, 'who talk you too?' She said, To you.' 
 Time said, 'You talke to ye Devill;' but she made nothing 
 of it." 
 
 Other evidence equally conclusive is also recited in the 
 record. "Another thing suspitious is that she could tell 
 Mrs. Atwater had figgs in her pocket when she saw none 
 of them; to that she answered she smelt them, and could 
 smell figgs if she came in the room nere them that had 
 them; yet at this time Mrs. Atwater had figgs in her pocket
 
 AS A POLITICAL AND CIVIC FORUM. 51 
 
 and came neere her yet she smelt them not." Betty 
 Brewster had had some words with Mrs. Goodman on one 
 occasion, and "that night Betty was in a most miserable 
 case, hearing a most dreadful noise which put her in a great 
 feare and trembling and in ye morning she looked as one 
 yt had bine allmost dead." "Goodwife Thorp complained 
 that Mrs. Goodman came to her house to buy chickens; 
 she said she had none to sell; Mrs. Goodman said 'will you 
 give them all?' So she went away and quickly after one 
 chicken died and she opened it and it was consumed inside 
 to water and wormes, and divers others of them droped and 
 now they are missing and it is likely dead and she never 
 saw either hen or chicken that was so consumed within 
 with wormes." The investigation continued at intervals 
 for about two years, Mrs. Goodman being in jail a part of 
 the time, until October 15, 1655, when Rev. Mr. Hooke 
 brought important additional evidence. Mrs. Goodman 
 had been to his house "to beg some beare and being offered 
 some that had been standing refused it and would hav some 
 newly drawne, which she had, yet went away in a mutter- 
 ing, discontented manner, and after this, though that night 
 the beare was good and fresh, yet the next morning was 
 hot, soure and ill-tasted, yea, so hott as the barrell was 
 warme on the outside and when they opened the bung it 
 steemed forth; they brewed againe and it was also, and so 
 continued foure or five times one after another." The 
 alarming prospect of sour beer in every household brought 
 the magistrates to a prompt decision. The Court "declared 
 unto her that though the evidence is not sufficient as yet 
 to take away her life yet the suspitions are cleare and many, 
 and that she must forbeare from going from house to house 
 to give offense and carry it orderly in the family where she 
 is; which if she does not she will cause the Court to commit 
 her to prison againe and that she doe now presently upon 
 her freedom give security for her good behavior in the sum 
 of 50 pounds." The security was given and poor old dis- 
 agreeable, unpopular Mrs. Goodman was permitted to dwell
 
 52 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 undisturbed in the family of Thomas Johnson, where she 
 continued till her death five years later. Commenting on 
 this case Dr. Bacon truly says, "Under almost any other 
 jurisdiction of that age this woman, instead of dying in her 
 bed, would have died upon the gallows or been burned 
 alive." Certainly there is nothing in the deliberate and 
 protracted manner of conducting this, the only witchcraft 
 trial ever had in New Haven, nor in its final result, to make 
 us ashamed of our early magistrates, or which reflects upon 
 their judicial integrity. 
 
 Early Political Dissensions. 
 
 While the judicial department of the government was 
 thus upholding the morals, manners and orthodoxy of the 
 Commonwealth, the political experience of the Colony was 
 not entirely serene. The feature of its constitution by 
 which church members alone could be either electors or 
 magistrates, produced an unsettled and discontented state 
 of public feeling, especially in the outlying towns where 
 the personal influence of Gov. Eaton and Mr. Davenport 
 was not so dominant as in New Haven. Before many 
 years these towns came to be in a chronic state of rebellion 
 and from time to time leaders of the malcontents were 
 brought before the Court at New Haven, charged with 
 sedition, refusal to pay taxes, and contempt of authority. 
 Even in New Haven the governing saints soon found 
 growing up around them a powerful party of dissatisfied 
 sinners, who constituted then as ever since a large and 
 respectable part of the population. It was in vain that 
 they were invited to obtain civil privileges by joining the 
 church. Either the remedy seemed worse than the disease 
 or the sinners were not bad enough to avail themselves of 
 it; and the example of Connecticut close by, in which politi- 
 cal rights had no connection with church membership, was 
 an ever-present stimulus to the growing discontent. 
 When therefore it was known in 1662 that a royal charter
 
 AS A POLITICAL AND CIVIC FORUM. 53 
 
 had been sent to Connecticut which confirmed its demo- 
 cratic institutions and laws and extended its jurisdiction 
 over New Haven, the entire population of New Haven 
 Colony outside of the church party were urgent for the 
 union. By the latter, however, it was bitterly opposed and 
 every effort put forth to avert it, and the debates on this 
 subject at the town meetings kept the rude little meeting- 
 house warm from 1662 to 1665. It was manifest, however, 
 from the start, that the conservatives were doomed to 
 defeat, and when the other towns of New Haven Colony 
 began to take the oath of allegiance to Connecticut and to 
 elect magistrates under its authority, it was useless to pro- 
 long the contest. With many groans and under a formal 
 protest that it submitted from necessity only, the town 
 voted January 13, 1665, to accept the union provided by 
 the Connecticut charter. The fabric of the political Zion 
 was saved by this abandonment from the disruption which 
 had already commenced. Nevertheless its fall was a bitter 
 disappointment to its surviving founders. Mr. Davenport 
 especially felt it as a fatal blow to his life-long work and 
 hopes, and in 1668, declaring that the cause of Christ in 
 New Haven was miserably lost, exiled himself to Boston, 
 where he died in the following year. 
 
 Commercial Disappointments. 
 
 The failure of their political system was not the only 
 disappointment which tried the souls of New Haven's 
 founders and furnished agitating topics of discussion at its 
 town meetings. Before 1650, it had become evident that 
 their project of creating a commercial emporium here was 
 blasted, and various disasters had discouraged their hearts 
 and exhausted their resources. In 1641 an attempt had 
 been made to establish a trading colony on the banks of 
 the Delaware Bay, lands having been purchased for the 
 purpose, which included the present site of the city of 
 Philadelphia. This was 40 years before Penn obtained his
 
 54 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 grant, and had the enterprise succeeded a removal of the 
 whole population thither would probably have ensued. 
 But the settlement was broken up by the Swedes and 
 Dutch, and a pestilence, and when the project was renewed 
 in 1650, the expedition was stopped at Manhattan by the 
 Dutch governor, its property confiscated, and its members 
 imprisoned. New Haven appealed to the New England 
 Confederation to support it in resisting Dutch violence and 
 the Confederation voted to do so. England was then at 
 war with Holland. Manhattan was defenseless and could 
 easily have been taken. Cromwell sent ships to Boston to 
 assist. An army of 800 men was raised and ready to march, 
 but Massachusetts, although her delegates had voted for 
 the war, refused to act. During the delay caused by her 
 breach of faith, peace was proclaimed in Europe, and New 
 Haven had lost the opportunity to annex New York and 
 Philadelphia to her suburbs. Doubtless the air over the 
 market place was blue about this time with remarks uncom- 
 plimentary to Massachusetts, and the magistrates addressed 
 a letter to her authorities full of reproach for having broken 
 the Confederation; with allusions to Jabin, King of Canaan, 
 the Gibeonites, Adonibezek and other reprehensible charac- 
 ters which were evidently intended to make their erring 
 sister feel extremely uncomfortable. 
 
 In 1654 another attempt was made to revive the 
 Delaware enterprise with a view to removal. It was 
 discussed in town meetings for three or four years, but 
 the discouragement was so great that it fell through at 
 last, and the last hope of founding a commercial city was 
 abandoned. The original colonists were growing old, and 
 had sunk nearly all their capital. Besides the heavy losses 
 on the Delaware, the "Great Shippe" of 100 tons built and 
 freighted with a supreme effort in 1646 had been swallowed 
 up, sending back no sign of its fate but the phantom which 
 two years later mocked their straining eyes for a moment 
 and then "vanished in a smoaky cloud." So strongly were 
 the minds of the whole community bent on removal that
 
 AS A POLITICAL AND CIVIC FORUM. 55 
 
 not only Delaware Bay was considered, but subsequently a 
 proposal received from Oliver Cromwell, then Lord Pro- 
 tector, to provide them a location in Jamaica. This 
 proposition was earnestly debated in successive town meet- 
 ings, with strong inclination to accept it; but after long 
 consideration was given up, largely because the people were 
 too poor and dispirited to make the change. It had now 
 become evident that New Haven must mainly depend for 
 its subsistence on the hard and meager returns of agricul- 
 ture, and the people settled down with such resignation as 
 they could to the necessity of the situation. 
 
 Arrival of the Regicides. 
 
 In the summer of 1660, it was known in New Haven that 
 the English Commonwealth had come to an end and that a 
 king was again on the throne. The situation of the New 
 England Colonies as notorious sympathizers with the 
 rebellion was critical, and not long afterwards, to com- 
 plicate their anxieties, the regicides, Goffe and Whalley, 
 landed at Boston, fleeing for their lives to the only part 
 of the world where they could hope for safety. From 
 Boston they came to New Haven in March, 1661, followed 
 in May by officers with a warrant for their arrest. The 
 story of their concealment here, the bold appeal of Mr. 
 Davenport "to hide the outcast and bewray not him that 
 wandereth," the conference in the court room of the market 
 place between the baffled pursuers and the magistrates, the 
 fidelity and daring of the whole community in behalf of the 
 refugees, which ensured their final escape, all these will 
 never be forgotten, as forming an episode of lasting honor 
 in the history of New Haven. In fact, Massachusetts was 
 alarmed at the possible consequences to New England and 
 remonstrated with New Haven concerning its conduct. 
 It is probable that the authorities here also became some- 
 what uneasy, and thought it best to cover up their action 
 by an effusive demonstration of loyalty. Accordingly three
 
 56 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 months later, i. e., August 22, 1661, at nine o'clock in the 
 morning, pursuant to a vote by the town the day before, 
 although it was more than a year after the news of the 
 Restoration had been received, the troops were drawn up 
 in front of the meeting-house and proclamation was publicly 
 made, that "we do acknowledge his Royal Highness, 
 Charles the Second, King of England, Scotland, and 
 Ireland, to be our sovereign Lord and King, and that we 
 do acknowledge ourselves the inhabitants of this Colony to 
 be his majesties loyall and faithful subjects." Then with 
 the cry "God save the King" to the beating of drums and 
 a royal salute from the guns of the soldiers, the ceremony 
 ended. 
 
 It was at this juncture that John Winthrop reached 
 Hartford, bringing a royal charter for Connecticut which 
 confirmed and established its existing government and 
 privileges and extended its jurisdiction so as to embrace 
 the colony of New Haven. Nothing could have been 
 more opportune or fortunate for New Haven, since by this 
 arrangement she would not only be at once relieved from 
 all further danger on account of her contumacy in the 
 matter of the regicides, but would secure legal recognition 
 and protection as a body politic; while without a charter 
 she would be liable to treatment as an outlaw. These 
 obvious considerations and the clear necessity of the case 
 were of themselves a conclusive argument in favor of union 
 with Connecticut, apart from the internal dissensions of the 
 colony already adverted to. The change, however, 
 brought about was a happy one. Government by the 
 saints had proved a total failure, and the lesson was taught, 
 if not permanently learned, that that political creed which 
 begins and ends with supporting only men of the best 
 character for office without regard to their views of govern- 
 mental policy, is a defective one, whether embodied in a 
 state constitution or in the practice of the "independent" 
 voter.
 
 AS A POLITICAL AND CIVIC FORUM. 57 
 
 Under the Connecticut Charter. 
 
 After the union had become an accomplished fact, that is 
 to say, after 1665, the political atmosphere of the market 
 place became more tranquil. The County Court, newly 
 established by the laws of Connecticut, with judge and jury, 
 concerned itself with legal offenders only and ceased to be 
 a wash-house for all the dirty linen of the community. The 
 town government was undisturbed and there were plenty 
 of subjects for discussion in the town meetings. In 1675 
 the dark cloud of King Philip's war overshadowed all New 
 England, and New Haven had its share of the excitement. 
 The alarm was so great that it was voted to surround the 
 town with a palisade, and the work, by the arduous labor of 
 a year, was accomplished. The meeting-house was forti- 
 fied and all persons was ordered to bring their arms with 
 them to the Sunday services. The neighboring Indians 
 were placed under surveillance; the nightly watch, which 
 had fallen into disuse, was re-established, and troops were 
 raised and drilled in the market place and marched forth 
 from it to join the united army of New England for service 
 in the field. 
 
 Ten years after the close of Philip's war there were 
 gatherings in the market place to discuss new political 
 events of ominous importance. James II., the worst of 
 the Stuarts, and an old enemy of New England, had come 
 to the throne, and a royal envoy, Sir Edmond Andross, had 
 already arrived in Boston with instructions to cancel all the 
 New England charters and to rule the colonies as their 
 governor under sole authority of the king. In October, 
 1687, Andross reached Hartford on this mission, and 
 though thwarted in his attempt to get possession of the 
 Connecticut charter, he abrogated its authority and assumed 
 governmental powers. Not many days afterwards New 
 Haven was thrown into a flurry of excitement by his arrival 
 in person. Here he spent Sunday and attended service in 
 the meeting-house, where it is said he was welcomed with
 
 58 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 sacred music in which the following hymn was expressively 
 rendered, each line being given out separately and sung 
 by the whole congregation: 
 
 Why dost thou tyrant boast abroad 
 
 Thy wicked works to praise? 
 Dost thou not know there is a God, 
 
 Whose mercies last always? 
 
 Why doth thy mind yet still devise 
 ' Such wicked wiles to warp? 
 
 Thy tongue untrue in forging lies 
 Is like a razor sharp. 
 
 Thou dost delight in fraud and guile 
 
 In mischief, blood and wrong. 
 Thy lips have learned the flatt'ring style 
 
 O, false deceitful tongue! 
 
 It is also reported that the Governor criticised this 
 particular praise service as containing a somewhat objec- 
 tionable mixture of religion and politics. If so, he was 
 probably the first but certainly not the last person who has 
 made a similar remark after attending divine worship in 
 that ancient meeting-house or one of its successors. 
 
 Under the reign of Andross the General Assembly of 
 Connecticut was abolished, and all laws were sent from 
 Boston to be publicly read. Happily this condition of 
 affairs did not last long. On the 3d of May, 1689, a town 
 meeting was called hurriedly and the joyful announcement 
 made that a revolution had occurred in England, James 
 II. was an exile and Andross was in prison at Boston. The 
 charter government was at once re-established and a month 
 later William and Mary were proclaimed in the market 
 place. There was no delay this time, and no lack of 
 enthusiasm. 
 
 During the hundred years which elapsed between the 
 union with Connecticut and the excitement which culmi- 
 nated in the Revolutionary war, the political events which 
 occurred on the Green were not for the most part very 
 stirring. They consisted chiefly of the town and colony 
 elections and of the town meetings for local business. In
 
 AS A POLITICAL AND CIVIC FORUM. 59 
 
 these there were many discussions concerning school and 
 college affairs, which belong more properly to the educa- 
 tional history of the Green; and others with reference to 
 the settlement and support of ministers, which are con- 
 nected with its religious history. The most important 
 changes in the civil and governmental machinery took 
 place in 1701. 
 
 In that year Justices of the Peace were first elected, and 
 Justice Courts established, and the court system was farther 
 enlarged by the establishment of the Superior Court. 
 Strange to say, all this paraphernalia of courts and even 
 the existence of a flourishing jail failed to develop a County 
 Bar, or even for many years a single professional lawyer; 
 a circumstance which may possibly explain the prevalent 
 tranquility in politics and activity in religion. In the 
 same year, 1701, New Haven became a co-capital with 
 Hartford and the October sessions of the General Assembly 
 began to be held here, the May session being held in 
 Hartford. There being no State House until 1719, the 
 meeting-house on the market place was used until that date 
 for the lower and larger branch. The Council, which con- 
 sisted of only twelve persons, held its sessions sometimes 
 at Mr. Miles' tavern, and at least once (in 1717) in the 
 newly erected College Hall. 
 
 Royal Accessions Proclaimed, 
 
 It may be that the loyal people of New Haven celebrated 
 the accession of Queen Anne to the throne in 1702, but no 
 memorandum to that effect appears on the town records. 
 
 News of Queen Anne's death and of the accession of 
 George I. was received in October, 1714, and on the 4th 
 of that month, by order of the General Assembly, proclama- 
 tion was made of these events with appropriate ceremony. 
 "Minute guns were fired during the forenoon in honor of 
 the departed sovereign," and in the afternoon her successor 
 was proclaimed at the head of the regiment, which was 
 drawn up under arms "in the Great Square before the
 
 60 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 Court House."* Every soldier was furnished with half a 
 pound of powder to make a racket with, and with "wine 
 and biskitt" in unlimited quantities. In the evening there 
 were illuminations, but from apprehensions as to the stimu- 
 lating effects of "the biskett" bonfires were strictly for- 
 bidden. 
 
 In 1727 another change of sovereigns called forth a 
 specially brilliant demonstration. It was in October, and 
 the General Assembly, then in session here, resolved to do 
 loyal honor to the occasion. It was accordingly ordered 
 "that his Majesty King George the Second be proclaimed 
 at New Haven Wednesday, October 4th." Also that "the 
 troop of the County of New Haven, five of the eldest foot 
 companies in the town of New Haven and two foot com- 
 panies from Milford attend the proclamation," and that "a 
 treat of 30 pounds be made for their refreshment." Also 
 "that a quarter of a pound of powder be furnished for each 
 centinel and sufficient powder for discharging three of the 
 Great Guns." Candles were ordered for illuminating the 
 State House and the Sheriff was specially enjoined "to 
 bring to the same place a barrel of good wine at the 
 expense of the County for refreshment of ye Assembly." 
 A later entry records that the orders were carried out both 
 in the letter and the spirit; that not only the Governor 
 and Council and Assembly but also the Reverend Trus- 
 tees of Yale College and the clergy were on hand to 
 dispose of the barrel of wine; and a great concourse of 
 people being present, all the officials "took the oath of 
 allegiance and the solemn declaration against Popery, 
 according to the Act of Parliament." 
 
 The last event of this kind which occurred on the market 
 place was that in honor of George III., the repudiation of 
 whose rule 25 years later has been the cause of more cele- 
 brations upon its surface than any other event in our 
 history. The account of the ceremony in the Connecticut 
 
 * As the first Court House was not built until 1719, the building here 
 meant must have been the meeting-house where the General Assembly or 
 " General Court" was holding its session.
 
 AS A POLITICAL AND CIVIC FORUM. 61 
 
 Gazette is quite elaborate. The day was January- 22, 1761, 
 and we are told that "notwithstanding the severity of the 
 season, a great concourse of people, with two troops of 
 horse and four companies of foot, convened with great 
 alacrity" at noon on "the great square before the Town 
 House, (i. e., the State House of 1719, near the corner of 
 Elm and College streets.)" The Governor read a lengthy 
 proclamation reciting the death of "George II. of blessed 
 and glorious memory," and "acknowledging with one full 
 voice and consent of heart all faith and constant obedience 
 with all hearty and humble affection to our only lawful and 
 rightful liege lord, George III.," giving a full list of his 
 titles and concluding with the formula, "God save the 
 King." The proclamation, it is added, "was subscribed by 
 his honor the Governor, the Deputy Governor and the 
 gentlemen of the Council and many other gentlemen of a 
 civil, military and ecclesiastical character, and was followed 
 by three general huzzas and a royal salute of 21 cannons." 
 After which the Governor and other persons of distinction 
 proceeded to Mr. Beers' tavern, where, before the com- 
 pany separated, we are assured that many "loyal healths 
 were drunk" but what or who else the narrator does not 
 inform us. 
 
 Approach of the Revolution. 
 
 Two years after this loyal demonstration the political at- 
 mosphere of the market place was being stirred by currents 
 which blew in quite a different direction. The interference 
 by Great Britain with the commercial and manufacturing 
 pursuits of the Colonies was already arousing a spirit of 
 resistance and stimulating a disposition to protect and 
 encourage home industries, a disposition which seems at 
 the present day to have not entirely died out. 
 
 In February, 1763, a town meeting adopted resolutions 
 recommending the non-importation from abroad of such 
 goods and articles as could be produced in the colonies 
 and the refusal to purchase them if imported. In 1765
 
 62 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 the excitement was increased by the Stamp Act, and numer- 
 ous town meetings, held sometimes in the State House 
 and sometimes in the Brick Meeting-house, denounced it 
 and voted to disobey it. The courts were requested to dis- 
 regard its requirements entirely, at the risk of having their 
 proceedings declared invalid, and protection was promised 
 to the officials if they would do so. The tolling of the 
 bells on the Green on the day the act took effect has 
 been described in a previous paper, and also the jubilation 
 which six months afterwards greeted the news of its repeal. 
 In 1768 other non-importation agreements were adopted 
 in public meeting, and when in 1770 the New York 
 merchants repudiated them, the merchants of New Haven 
 assembled at the State House and voted to boycott New 
 York by transferring their trade to Boston and Philadelphia. 
 Later in the year a convention of delegates from Connecti- 
 cut towns met in the State House and voted to modify the 
 list of contraband articles so far as to permit, among other 
 things, the importation of powder and shot. 
 
 In May, 1774, the British government having closed the 
 port of Boston as a punishment for the destruction of tea, 
 a town meeting appointed a Committee of Correspondence 
 to confer with the other colonies for the protection of 
 American liberties and rights. On the 2Oth of June follow- 
 ing, the town passed a resolution in favor of a general 
 annual Congress of all the American Colonies. A later 
 meeting voted to transmit aid to the suffering town of 
 Boston and directed the selectmen to buy powder and build 
 a powder-house. It was this powder and the key of this 
 powder-house which Benedict Arnold and the New Haven 
 Foot Guards, after the battle of Lexington, demanded 
 from the not unwilling selectmen assembled in the town 
 house. 
 
 We may imagine the popular excitement on the Green 
 when the news of the battle of Bunker Hill reached town, 
 and the admiring crowds there when, a few days later, 
 Gen. Washington and staff arrived, on their way to
 
 AS A POLITICAL AND CIVIC FORUM. 63 
 
 Cambridge, to take command of the American army. 
 They stayed at Mr. Beers' tavern, where the New Haven 
 House now stands, and "early next morning," as the news- 
 paper informs us, "they set out for the Provincial Camp 
 near Boston attended by great numbers of the inhabitants 
 of the town. They were escorted out of town by a 
 company of young gentlemen belonging to the Seminary 
 in this place, who made a handsome appearance and whose 
 expertness in the military exercises gained them the appro- 
 bation of the generals." Probably nearly as much interest 
 was felt at least in social circles when in December of the 
 same year "the lady of his Excellency, Gen. Washington, 
 and the lady of the Adjt. Gen. Gates arrived in town from 
 Virginia, being on their way to Cambridge." In the follow- 
 ing April, 1776, the British having been meantime expelled 
 from Boston, Gen. and Mrs. Washington were again in 
 New Haven on their way to the seat of war in New York. 
 
 During the Revolution. 
 
 My limits will not permit detailed reference to the 
 numerous meetings, official and popular, which were held 
 on the Green in the course of the Revolution, relating to its 
 progress and the share of New Haven therein. Fortifica- 
 tions, beacons and alarms were provided for, also the 
 raising, equipment and supplies of troops and the care of 
 their families. Strange to say, the Declaration of Independ- 
 ence does not seem to have awakened any public demon- 
 stration, and it does not appear to have been officially 
 proclaimed or even promulgated, unless from the pulpits. 
 It is referred to in the newspapers in no other way than as 
 a part of the current news of the day, without display or 
 comment,* and we do not know that a single gun was fired 
 or a single cheer raised on the Green in honor of the 
 nation's birth. At the October session of the Legislature, 
 however, held in New Haven, that body passed an act in 
 
 * See Note 2.
 
 64 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 recognition of the new order of things. This act declared 
 the charter of Charles II. to be the civil constitution of the 
 ,tatc, under the sole authority of the people thereof, 
 independent of any prince or king whatever, and that 1 
 republic is and shall forever remain a free, sovereign and 
 independent state by the name of the State of Connecticut^ 
 Exit "our only rightful and lawful liege lord, George III., 
 to whom in 1761 we pledged all faith and constant obedi- 
 ence with all hearty and humble affection." 
 
 In January, 1778, an important convention of delegate; 
 from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Con- 
 necticut, New York and Pennsylvania, assembled at New 
 Haven, called by Congress in the vain hope of bolstering up 
 the commercial value of the depreciating Continental 
 currency by resolutions regulating prices. They met in 
 the State House and were in session about two weeks. A 
 report was adopted fixing prices for nearly all the neces- 
 saries of life including "a bole of toddy" and "mug of flip." 
 The high charges for liquor at this time seems to have 
 been a source of much public anxiety. In 1779 it was 
 voted by a town meeting that "the town disapproves of a 
 greater price for good West India rum than 32 dollars a 
 gallon at retail and will treat with proper contempt all who 
 sell for more or refuse trade." To prevent any mistake 
 as to the meaning of this vote a committee was appointed 
 "to report the sense of the meeting to Capt. Elisha Forbes." 
 In May, 1778, Gen. Benedict Arnold, who had in 
 September previous distinguished himself at the battle of 
 Saratoga, and in the capture of Burgc-yne, arrived in town 
 and was received with public honors. In conspicuous 
 contrast with this demonstration was one in October, 1780, 
 with reference to the same individual after his treason. 
 On that occasion a procession was the principal feature, 
 in which an effigy of Arnold was carried, seated on a 
 platform; a figure of the devil was behind him shaking a 
 purse of money in one hand and holding in the other a 
 pitchfork, while a transparency in front illustrated his trea-
 
 AS A POLITICAL AND CIVIC FORUM. 65 
 
 sonable act. Following the platform were numerous 
 prominent citizens and military officers, who paraded with 
 it through the principal streets and then burned the images 
 on the Green in a public bonfire. 
 
 In 1781 the town made amends for its neglect to celebrate 
 the Declaration of Independence by a great public rejoicing 
 over the defeat of Cornwallis. We learn from the Con- 
 necticut Journal that "a numerous assembly convened at the 
 Brick Meeting-house, where the audience was highly enter- 
 tained with an animating, pathetic and ingenious oration 
 delivered by one of the tutors, and a triumphant hymn 
 sung by the students. The clergy and a number of 
 other gentlemen dined in the State House. In the 
 evening the State House, College and all houses around 
 the market place were beautifully illuminated. The 
 whole was conducted with the greatest regularity, 
 good nature, festivity and joy." Still more exuberant were 
 the joyful demonstrations in 1783 which celebrated the 
 Treaty of Peace and the acknowledgment by Great Britain 
 of the independence of the United States. "The day was 
 ushered in by a discharge of thirteen cannons paraded on 
 the Green for that purpose under elegant silk colors, with 
 the coat of arms of the United States most ingeniously 
 represented thereon, which was generously contributed 
 upon the occasion by the ladies of the town." At nine 
 o'clock a great multitude crowded the Brick Church, where 
 there were services with anthems, and singing by all the 
 choirs in concert, and "a very ingenious oration spoken by 
 Tutor Goodrich." Dr. Stiles records in his diary: "I 
 prayed a thanksgiving prayer of XL minutes." In the 
 afternoon a dinner was had at the coffee house with thirteen 
 patriotic toasts responded to by cannon, and in the even- 
 ing fireworks, rockets, etc., and a bonfire on the Green. 
 We are also assured that a most pacific disposition and 
 heartfelt joy was universally conspicuous and most emphati- 
 cally expressed by the features of every countenance." 
 As a fitting sequence to this happy event, early in the follow-
 
 66 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 ing year a town meeting voted to bury the bloody shirt 
 with respect to resident tories, and thus the Revolutionary 
 War so far as New Haven was concerned was brought to 
 a final and satisfactory end. 
 
 Under the First City Charter. 
 
 The year 1784 began a new era in New Haven's political 
 relations, through the organization of a city government, 
 which took place at the State House, February n, 1784. 
 At this meeting the city charter was accepted and Roger 
 Sherman chosen Mayor with no limitation to his term of 
 office except the pleasure of the General Assembly.* In 
 1791 Mr. Sherman was chosen a United States Senator, 
 and he continued to hold both offices until his death in 
 
 1793- 
 
 Scarcely had the wheels of city government begun to 
 revolve when the discovery was made of an important 
 omission in the charter. No powers had been granted to 
 extend to illustrious visitors "the freedom of the city," and 
 this vital defect had to be remedied by a special act of the 
 Legislature. When thus authorized to act, a city meeting 
 immediately bestowed "the freedom of the city" upon Hon. 
 William Michael St. John de Creve Coeur, Consul General 
 to his most Christian Majesty for the State of Connecticut, 
 New Jersey and New York, and also upon his children and 
 "his wife Mehitabel." The lady, whose name suggests 
 New England origin, was the only dame, colonial or other, 
 who was ever thus honored in New Haven. Whatever 
 regrets we may feel on this account, we shall probably agree 
 that the practice of granting the freedom of the city to 
 children, if it became general, might have its disadvantages. 
 In the following year the fountain of honor was again 
 opened for the benefit of several titled Frenchmen, not so 
 fortunate as to possess American wives, after which it sud- 
 denly dried up.f In fact, it was soon found that comers 
 
 * See Note 3. f See Note 4.
 
 AS A POLITICAL AND CIVIC FORUM. 67 
 
 from foreign shores had no trouble in securing the full 
 freedom of the city without any special effort to aid them 
 on the part of the municipal authorities. 
 
 It is proper to state that the municipal hospitality was 
 not exclusively aristocratic in its scope. In 1784 a city 
 meeting held in the State House appointed a committee 
 to welcome and assist all strangers coming to reside in 
 New Haven, to furnish them with all necessary informa- 
 tion "and to cultivate their acquaintance so that their 
 residence may be rendered as agreeable and eligible as 
 possible." The population of the city was then about 
 3,500 and doubtless the large increase which has since 
 occurred has been principally due to the enthusiastic way 
 in which these cordial sentiments toward "interlopers" have 
 always been carried out by our town-born citizens. 
 
 Like the Declaration of Independence, that other great 
 event, the adoption of the present United States Constitu- 
 tion in 1787, seems to have attracted little attention com- 
 mensurate with its importance. The town appointed dele- 
 gates to the State Convention which was called to act upon 
 its ratification and instructed them to approve it, but no 
 other notice appears in the public records. Two years 
 later, in October, 1789, an interesting occurrence, partly 
 political in its nature, enlivened the Green, the visit of 
 President Washington on his tour through New England. 
 The local press, for once, gives full particulars of this 
 occasion. The Legislature was in session and took suitable 
 action for the President's reception, with an escort, salutes, 
 and an inevitable address. The Congregational ministers 
 were also out in force with another address of congratula- 
 tion and eulogy. The President, who travelled in his own 
 carriage, arrived on Saturday afternoon and staid over 
 Sunday, attending service in the morning at Trinity Church, 
 which then stood on Church street near Chapel, and in 
 the afternoon at the Blue Meeting-house on the corner of 
 Elm and Church streets. At the latter service a great 
 congregation attended, expecting a specially grand dis-
 
 68 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 course in honor of the occasion. To their great chagrin 
 the pastor, Rev. Dr. Edwards, gave out the text, "Train up 
 a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will 
 not depart from it," and added, "In speaking from these 
 words I direct my remarks principally to the children in the 
 galleries." On the President's return he spent another 
 night in New Haven, but there was no public demonstra- 
 tion. 
 
 As already stated, the city government was organized in 
 the State House then standing on Temple street. In this 
 building all city meetings were held till 1805, and generally 
 thereafter till 1828, when for three years, until the new State 
 House was completed, they were held in the basement of 
 the Methodist Church near the corner of Elm and College 
 streets; thereafter until 1880 or later they were held in the 
 basement of the new State House. The Common Council 
 held its sessions in the State House till 1803, then for two 
 years in private offices and dwelling-houses. After 1805 
 it occupied a room in the County House, then recently 
 built where the County Court House now stands. 
 
 In 1794 the Chamber of Commerce was organized in 
 the State House. This institution, though long dormant, 
 is now doing good work for New Haven and promises to 
 be an important agency in its future prosperity. 
 
 National Politics in Town and City Meetings. 
 
 For many years after the new national government 
 went into operation the town and city meetings were 
 in the habit (now carefully avoided) of passing resolu- 
 tions and voting addresses to the President, Congress 
 and other political bodies on the subject of national 
 affairs. In 1793 President Washington was assured in five 
 long resolutions that his policy of neutrality was warmly 
 approved and that "the people of the town would exert 
 themselves to promote a conduct friendly and impartial 
 towards the nations of Europe." In April, 1796, a city
 
 AS A' POLITICAL AND CIVIC FORUM. 69 
 
 meeting voted an address to the House of Representatives 
 in Congress deprecating any action hostile to Jay's treaty 
 with Great Britain, which had then been recently ratified. 
 In 1801 the administration of John Adams was enthusias- 
 tically applauded and in succeeding years that of Jefferson 
 was vigorously and continuously assailed. The transcend- 
 ent virtues of that statesman were not generally appre- 
 ciated in New Haven till a much later date, and the resolu- 
 tions which were frequently adopted in town meetings con- 
 cerning him did not at all resemble the eulogistic allusions 
 of a Monticello Club in 1892. 
 
 In 1808, 78 vessels being then shut up in New Haven 
 harbor by the "Dambargo," and the commercial prosperity 
 of the town apparently in its last gasp, a lengthy memorial 
 of protest was adopted in town meeting addressed to 
 President Jefferson, to which the President returned an 
 unsatisfactory reply. The town responded in the following 
 January, 1809, with some still more vehement resolutions, 
 declaring the embargo to be unconstitutional, hinting at 
 open resistance and calling on the Governor and Legisla- 
 ture to meet and take measures for the protection of its 
 rights. The embargo was raised in 1809, but other meas- 
 ures followed almost equally obnoxious which aroused 
 repeated complaints. The last memorial in 1814 repre- 
 sented New Haven as "already reduced to poverty and 
 wretchedness." Relief came at last with peace in 1815, 
 but the commercial interests of New Haven did not recover 
 from the blows they had received and its career as a 
 manufacturing town practically dates from this period. 
 
 Great was the rejoicing on the Green when the news of 
 peace arrived. Bells rang, cannons were fired, small boys 
 chalked "peace" on doors and fences, and it is hinted by 
 Mr. Trowbridge that "most of the rum which had weath- 
 ered the gales of non-intercourse, the embargo act and the 
 blockade was consumed on the joyful night of February 
 13, 1815." A week later most of the citizens who were 
 sufficiently sober, "repaired to the new Brick Meeting-
 
 70 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 house (the present Center Church) to hold a Thanksgiving 
 service, where discourses were delivered by Dr. Dwight 
 and Messrs. Merwin and Taylor." 
 
 It must not be supposed that there were no oratorical or 
 other political displays on the Green during Jefferson's 
 and Madison's administrations, except from their federalist 
 opponents. A small contingent of democrats, with Abraham 
 Bishop for their spokesman and leader, made nearly as 
 much noise in Fourth of July orations, public banquets in 
 the State House and other opportunities as the federalists, 
 who held the town and state offices, and who constituted 
 the great body of the people. By 1816, the little faction had 
 combined with itself all the elements of popular discontent 
 especially with respect to religious grievances, and under 
 the name of the Toleration Party was able in 1817 to carry 
 the State and the Legislature. The immediate result of 
 the Toleration triumph was the State Constitution of 1818, 
 which swept away some ancient abuses and brought about 
 in time a nearly equal balance of the two political parties 
 in the State. Henceforth town and city meetings bestowed 
 little attention on general politics, except in the annual 
 elections. 
 
 Under the new Constitution, the sessions of the Legis- 
 lature became annual and were held in Hartford and New 
 Haven alternately. On May 31, 1820, New Haven Green 
 for the first time in its history beheld the annual pageant 
 known as the "election parade," when the Governor is 
 inaugurated with civil and military display at the opening 
 of the Legislature. An election sermon was then an 
 invariable feature, and on this occasion it was preached in 
 the North Church. These election parades have now, so 
 far as New Haven is concerned, passed into ancient history, 
 and the Green, to which they were for two generations 
 familiar, knows them no more. The last of them and the 
 last session of the Legislature in New Haven took place in 
 1874. Whatever disadvantage the loss of the General 
 Assembly has been to the Green in other respects, it has
 
 AS A POLITICAL AND CIVIC FORUM. 71 
 
 not impaired the freshness and fragrance of its political or 
 moral atmosphere. 
 
 After 1820, the city turned its attention to public 
 improvements and found in the Farmington Canal a sub- 
 ject for abundant contemplation. Numerous meetings 
 relating to it were held through a quarter of a century to 
 consider successively how to get into the enterprise, how 
 to maintain it, and how to get out all of which problems 
 were finally solved at a loss to the people of New Haven 
 of over $1,000,000. Since that experience both town and 
 city have been somewhat conservative with regard to 
 investments in public enterprises. Nevertheless in 1853, 
 a city meeting held on the Green voted to construct 
 municipal water works, a measure which evoked violent 
 opposition, and led to other and tumultuous city meetings, 
 by which the project was finally defeated. The excitement 
 at the last one was great. As the crowd could not be 
 accommodated in the State House, the meeting adjourned 
 to the open air, where the leader of the opposition mounted 
 a tree for a better survey of the situation, and addressed 
 the moderator from its topmost branches. 
 
 The Temperance Movement. 
 
 While the city was thus agitated by the subject of water, 
 the town was undergoing the throes of a controversy 
 between the same fluid and certain exhilerating rivals of an 
 alcoholic nature. The temperance reform took organized 
 shape about 1840 in Washingtonian and Martha Wash- 
 ington societies. These associations for several years 
 made frequent public demonstrations on the Green, with 
 large and enthusiastic processions, often with delegations 
 from neighboring towns. There were music and banners 
 and vehicles bearing awful examples of the drink habit, in 
 striking contrast with beautiful young ladies who wore 
 badges inscribed with the blood-curdling motto, "Tee total 
 or no husband." Moral suasion, however, even though
 
 72 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 enforced by such rigorous alternatives, failed to destroy the 
 liquor traffic, and temperance soon became a political issue. 
 In 1854 the so-called "Maine law" was passed. By this 
 enactment the sale of liquor by private parties was for- 
 bidden, and was entrusted to the towns alone. Each town 
 was empowered to appoint an agent for the purpose, and 
 sales were to be made for medicinal, chemical and sacra- 
 mental uses only, the agent to keep a record of every sale 
 with the name of the purchaser and the purpose of the 
 purchase. The law was appointed to take effect August 
 ist, 1854, and in preparation for the period of thirst that 
 seemed likely to ensue thereafter, all prudent persons pro- 
 ceeded to lay in abundant stores of stimulating beverages, 
 so that for several weeks the liquor traffic assumed enor- 
 mous proportions. As the dreaded day approached every 
 vehicle in town, from wheelbarrows to hackney coaches, 
 seemed to be engaged in the transportation of liquid 
 refreshment in every form of receptacle, and even the most 
 reputable temperance advocates were sometimes seen with 
 lumps in their garments which they were careful to protect 
 from contact with stone posts and other hard obstacles. 
 Four several times in August and September vast and 
 turbulent crowds assembled at the State House in town 
 meeting to vote on the establishment of a town agency, or 
 as its deriders called it, "A Maine law grog shop." After 
 three defeats the supporters of the law carried the day by 
 a small majority in an enormous vote. The agency was 
 established and continued to make sales until March, 1857, 
 when it ceased to do business. The medicinal column of 
 its records during these three years would seem to indicate 
 an unusually sickly period in New Haven, which, however, 
 is not confirmed by medical statistics. Toward the end its 
 sales rapidly declined, as invalids found no difficulty in 
 procuring their medicine where no record was required 
 and where, as they generally claimed, its quality was more 
 remedial than that of the town agency's article. The law 
 was not repealed for many years, but it remained a
 
 AS A POLITICAL AND CIVIC FORUM. 73 
 
 dead letter on the statute book, an object lesson, like so 
 many others before and since, to show that while the com- 
 munity may be strongly in favor of a law it may also be 
 generally opposed to its enforcement. 
 
 Public Receptions. 
 
 Returning to 1824, the most conspicuous event in that 
 year with which the Green is associated was the reception 
 of General Lafayette. On that occasion New Haven out- 
 did itself in the enthusiasm and brillancy of its welcome. 
 The General had visited the town in 1778, and it is needless 
 to say he now declared himself astonished at its improve- 
 ment. Like the Queen of Sheba when she visited Solomon, 
 he was shown all the treasures and glory of the city. He 
 was profoundly impressed with the martial bearing of the 
 Horse Guards, whom he reviewed on the Green; and when 
 he had inspected the College cabinet and viewed the 
 College library, which was kept over a loft in the old 
 chapel, and had seen the new cemetery then recently 
 inclosed by a picket fence, there was no more spirit in him. 
 
 Another visit of importance was that of President 
 Jackson in 1833. He was just then more generally popular 
 in New Haven than at a later period on account of his 
 recent stand against nullification. He arrived on Saturday, 
 and Sunday being a day of rest, his repose was provided 
 for by conducting him to three religious services during 
 the day. Trinity was taken in the morning, the North 
 Church early in the afternoon and the Methodist immedi- 
 ately after; the service in the latter church, we are told, had 
 been prolonged so that the President might arrive before its 
 close. Needless to say, the sermon was not addressed to 
 the children in the galleries. It was charged by some 
 political enemies that Mr. Van Buren, who was of the 
 Presidential party, was profanely restless under these
 
 74 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 copious droppings of the sanctuary, but the heroic fortitude 
 of Old Hickory was not called in question.* 
 
 The visits of later Presidents may be briefly referred 
 to; that of President Polk in 1847, and that of President 
 Buchanan in 1858. On both these occasions the principal 
 ceremonies took place on the south portico of the State 
 House, an admirable site for public receptions, for which 
 a suitable substitute on the Green is as much a municipal 
 necessity as is a good landing place on our water front. 
 It was on this same portico that Kossuth was received, 
 April 23, 1852, by one of the greatest and most enthusiastic 
 multitudes ever assembled on the Green for a similar 
 occasion. Bells rang, cannons were fired, and a military 
 escort with a great procession, including all the civil func- 
 tionaries, accompanied the illustrious visitor from the rail- 
 road station to the State House steps. There he was 
 formally welcomed by the honorable Mayor in a burst of 
 eloquence which left the great orator but little chance to 
 distinguish himself. The mission of Kossuth failed to 
 relieve Hungary from Austrian oppression, but it conferred 
 an inestimable benefit on this country by releasing it from 
 bondage to the stove pipe hat. In imitation of our 
 example the same tyrant is fast being dethroned abroad, 
 and thus in one important particular the great Hungarian 
 promoted the object which he so eloquently advocated 
 the solidarity of the nations. 
 
 Political Conventions on the Green. 
 
 After 1820, as already remarked, political discussions 
 were banished from town and city meetings and relegated 
 to partisan assemblages. Of such assemblages the Green 
 has ever since been a favorite gathering place. During 
 the administrations of Jackson and Van Buren they took 
 the form of political processions, generally followed by a 
 banquet in the State House. In the campaign of 1840, 
 
 *See Note 5.
 
 AS A POLITICAL AND CIVIC FORUM. 75 
 
 known as the Log Cabin and Hard Cider campaign, they 
 expanded into mass conventions of county or state. On 
 the appointed day delegations from other towns arrived in 
 long cavalcades of gaily-decorated carts loaded with men, 
 women and children, banners and cider barrels, log cabins 
 and coons. These assembled on the Green and then 
 paraded the streets, lustily singing campaign songs 
 extremely laudatory of "Tippecanoe and Tyler too," and 
 highly derisive of "Van, Van," who was declared to be "a 
 used-up man." Such indeed proved to be the case when 
 the votes were counted, but the death of Harrison and the 
 defection of Tyler "blasted the counsels of the brave in 
 their hour of might," and in 1844 it became necessary for 
 the Whigs to fight the battle over again with Henry Clay 
 as their candidate. Their enthusiasm was unbounded, but 
 their opponents were better organized than in 1840 and 
 there was a more equal use of the Green by the two parties 
 as the arena for their respective assemblages and oratorical 
 displays. Then followed the Mexican war and next the 
 prolonged and exciting agitation over slavery in the terri- 
 tories, the Fugitive Slave law, the compromise measures, 
 the repeal of the Missouri compromise, and finally the 
 struggle between freedom and slavery for the possession 
 of Kansas. Through this eventful period there was no 
 place where the fires of political discussion blazed more 
 frequently or more fiercely than on the Green. At Fourth 
 of July celebrations, and during election campaigns, open- 
 air meetings were held there and excited crowds heard 
 harangues in behalf of Free Soil and Bleeding Kansas, or 
 appeals to save the Union by conceding the demands of 
 slavery; and as to the pulpits on the Green and their utter- 
 ances when such tremendous moral issues were at stake, it 
 is enough to say that one of them was occupied by Samuel 
 Button and another by Leonard Bacon. 
 
 In March, 1856, occurred the famous Kansas Rifle meet- 
 ing in the North Church. It was begun as a semi-religious 
 service held on a week-day evening to bid farewell to a
 
 76 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 band of citizens who were about going to Kansas as 
 settlers in the interest of freedom. Henry Ward Beecher 
 addressed them and there was not a thought of presenting 
 them with arms until it was spontaneously suggested by 
 that noble embodiment of every personal and civic virtue, 
 Prof. Silliman senior. The rifles never did much damage 
 directly to the Border Ruffians, bnt the fame of the event 
 spread throughout the country. The hint was taken and 
 the example followed by every emigrant aid society which 
 sent out its party thereafter, with the result that Kansas was 
 saved and formed an outpost of the utmost importance in 
 the war for the Union. 
 
 The story of the two presidential contests of 1856 and 
 1860 is familiar history. It hardly need be said that the 
 Green was the center of the political turmoil in New Haven, 
 the field of numberless gatherings of the contending parties, 
 and illuminated night after night by torch-light processions, 
 then a new feature in election campaigns, premonitors of 
 the armed hosts which those electoral struggles engendered. 
 On November 7, 1860, the roar of cannons on the Green 
 announced that Abraham Lincoln was elected. On Satur- 
 day, April 13, 1 86 1, came news of the capture of Fort 
 Sumter and with it the President's call to arms. At that 
 signal all political questions melted into one "Shall the 
 nation perish?" a question to be solved not by discussion, 
 but by the clash of arms. As the curtain descends on this 
 retrospect of the Green as a political and civic forum, we 
 catch a glimpse beneath it of long lines of men marching 
 upon the stage by companies from every town and village, 
 from every hillside and valley in the Old Commonwealth. 
 To-day they are farmers, mechanics, clerks and business 
 men. To-morrow they will be soldiers; actors in the 
 mighty drama of tragedy which is about to open.
 
 NOTES TO PAPER No. II. 
 
 NOTE i (page 46). 
 
 Different forms of "Quinnipiac" found in the records and contem- 
 poraneous documents: Querepees, Quiripeys, Quiripegs, Quillipeg, 
 Quillipiage, Quilipiage, Quillepiage, Quellipiack, Quinepeag, Quilli- 
 peck, Quillipiock, Quillipiack, Quillipyack, Quillypiack, Quillipiake, 
 Quillipieck, Quillipioak, Quillipiogue, Queenapiok, Quinepieck, Quini- 
 pieck, Quinopiocke, Quinnopyocke, Quinnypiacke, Quinnipiocke, 
 Quinnypiock, Quinypiock, Quinnepyoogh, Quinnipagee, Quinnipeauke, 
 Quinnipyack, Quinnipiack. 
 
 NOTE 2 (page 63). 
 
 The Connecticut Journal of July 10, 1776, printed at New Haven, says 
 under the heading "Philadelphia": "Yesterday the Congress unani- 
 mously resolved to declare the United Colonies Free and Independent 
 States." In another column it announces: "To-morrow will be ready 
 for sale the Resolution of the Congress declaring the United Colonies 
 Free and Independent States." No other reference to the subject 
 appears in that issue of the paper. Mr. Hoadly, State Librarian, thinks 
 that the principal demonstration connected with the Declaration of 
 Independence, so far as Connecticut was concerned, was possibly the 
 reading of the declaration in the churches. 
 
 NOTE 3 (page 66). 
 
 When the City Government was organized, Mr. Sherman was at 
 Annapolis in attendance on Congress, of which he was a member. In 
 Boutelle's Life of Sherman a letter is given written to him from New 
 Haven, February II, 1784, by Benj. Huntington, who says: "The 
 freemen of the city of New Haven are now in the upper house of the 
 State House choosing their city magistrates and have made choice of 
 a Member of Congress for the Mayor; and Deacon Howell, Deacon 
 Bishop, Deacon Austin and Mr. Isaac Beers are chosen Aldermen. . . 
 Mrs. Sherman received some addresses on the subject of the election 
 and by way of answer has fed some hungry bellies whilst others wanted 
 powder to fire in honor of the Lord Mayor Elect. The cannons are at 
 this moment firing in a most tremendous manner on the subject."
 
 78 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 NOTE 4 (page 66). 
 
 No mention of any case in which the freedom of the city was con- 
 ferred appears in the city records after this second instance, but in 
 Boutelle's Life of Sherman it is stated that it was conferred on John 
 Adams as he passed through New Haven in April, 1789, to attend the 
 inauguration of President Washington. The letter from Acting Mayor 
 Pierpont Edwards enclosing the diploma is also printed, and an effu- 
 sively grateful reply from Mr. Adams, in which he speaks of the honor 
 as "the most endearing compliment I ever received." 
 
 NOTE 5 (page 74). 
 
 Old Hickory's fortitude was quite as strongly tested next day by the 
 excessive hospitality of his entertainers, as appears by the following 
 extract from one of the local papers : "At an early hour in the morning 
 he was aroused from his slumbers at the Tontine Hotel and conveyed 
 to the carriage factory of the Messrs. Brewster at the foot of Wooster 
 street, which he inspected. He was then taken to the ax factory in 
 the same vicinity and showed through the works, where he was cheered 
 by the workmen and evidently gratified by the hasty view which his 
 limited time permitted. He returned to the Tontine to breakfast 
 immediately, after which at half-past six he departed for Hartford."
 
 III. 
 
 THE GREEN AS A RELIGIOUS AND ECCLESIASTICAL 
 ARENA. 
 
 When the company of New Haven colonists left England, 
 their main purpose was (in the words of Mr. Davenport) 
 "to found a plantation whose design was religion." This 
 being so, it seems, at first view, somewhat singular that 
 more than a year elapsed after their landing at New Haven 
 before they took the first step toward church organization 
 and a year and a half before the organization was com- 
 pleted. The principal cause of the delay is supposed to 
 have been a difference of opinion between one portion of 
 the company headed by Mr. Davenport, and another por- 
 tion represented by his brother minister, Samuel Eaton, 
 as to the propriety and policy of confining political power 
 and privilege to church members. It would appear that 
 for a year at least this subject was under discussion between 
 these two leaders and probably also among the people at 
 large, and it was doubtless through the influence of Mr. 
 Davenport himself that both the formation of the church 
 and the organization of the state were delayed until he 
 could feel sure of carrying through his scheme of pietistic 
 government. This he accomplished June 4, 1639, at the 
 meeting in Mr. Newman's barn, Samuel Eaton alone 
 opposing and he but feebly. Twelve men were selected by 
 that meeting, presumably on account of their preeminence 
 in saintliness of character, and these were instructed to sift 
 out the seven of their own number who were most worthy 
 to form the nucleus of the church, and to admit such others 
 into it as they should find qualified for membership. It 
 was also provided that the body of church members thus 
 constituted and their successors should compose the state, 
 and as such be the repository and source of all civil and 
 political authority.
 
 80 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 The selection of the apostolic twelve was not effected 
 with entire serenity. When their names were called, a 
 person present, perhaps a disappointed candidate, accused 
 one of them with "having charged an excessive rate for 
 meal to one of Poquonnock in his need." The inculpated 
 brother admitted the fact with grief, but explained that he 
 had made reasonable restitution. At the present day in 
 New York or Brooklyn, the fact that a church elder had 
 made a corner in wheat would not in the least disqualify 
 him for churchly honors. But the company in Mr. 
 Newman's barn expected to be buyers of grain for the 
 most part and were not disposed to tolerate conduct by 
 which they might be caught short in the market. The plea 
 in mitigation was promptly set aside and the speculator's 
 name must have been striken out, for the list, as given in 
 the record, numbers only eleven. Subsequent developments 
 showed that it might well have been made still shorter, for 
 one of the chosen eleven, who became also one of the seven 
 pillars of the church, was at a later date excommunicated 
 for fraudulently falsifying the public records. From all 
 which it appears that human nature even in New Haven 
 furnishes a somewhat insecure foundation for the walls of 
 a heavenly city. 
 
 The preliminary organization of the church by the 
 seven pillars took place August 22, 1639, but its 
 membership was not completed until two months 
 later. As no meeting-house was erected till 1640, 
 the question arises, where, during the two years before 
 its completion, the people were accustomed to assemble 
 for united religious worship. We have no account 
 of any such general assemblage except the one under the 
 oak tree the day after the landing, and it is not certain that 
 any was held. "Neighborhood meetings" during this period 
 are referred to in the record and if there were others more 
 general they were perhaps only occasional, and held in some 
 large barn or in the open air. Cotton Mather says that the 
 church was organized in Mr. Newman's barn. Dr. Bacon,
 
 RELIGIOUS AND ECCLESIASTICAL ARENA. 81 
 
 on the other hand, gives it as local tradition that it was 
 organized "under the same broad oak under which they 
 had kept their first Sabbath." Such gatherings might be 
 practicable in August, but during the winter months meet- 
 ings must have been held under shelter. It illustrates the 
 unreliability of even contemporaneous authority in his- 
 torical matters, that the Dutch traveller, De Vries, in his 
 journal under date of June 5, 1639, speaks of reaching 
 "Redmont" (i. e., New Haven) harbor on that day and adds: 
 "The English are building a fine town there, having already 
 erected upwards of three hundred houses and a fine church." 
 June 5, 1639, was the day after the first meeting in Mr. 
 Newman's barn, and probably the Dutchman received 
 information from some West Haven clam digger of the 
 new church which had been founded with its seven pillars, 
 and from it conjured up the mental vision of quite a magnifi- 
 cent edifice. 
 
 The First Meeting-house. 
 
 The first church edifice, which stood in the center of the 
 Square, was in fact a small and rude structure. It was fifty 
 feet square, built of green timber, with rough planks and 
 without a stone foundation. It was commenced soon after 
 November 25, 1639, and was completed in the following 
 summer, and in less than four years had become so leaky 
 and in such bad condition that the builders were called to 
 account for their bad work and required to repair it. From 
 that time on until 1668 it was in constant danger of falling 
 on the heads of the congregation. In that year a new 
 meeting-house was ordered. It was ready in 1670 and the 
 old building was then "sold to the town's best advantage." 
 
 If there had been any irregularity or freedom about 
 attendance on public worship up to the time when the 
 first meeting-house was ready for occupancy, it is certain 
 that none was permitted afterwards. Every adult person 
 had his or her assigned seat in the building, so that absence 
 6
 
 82 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 was sure to be observed, and a rigid inquiry by the magis- 
 trates into the cause inevitably followed. At the sound of 
 the second drum the people issued from their dwellings 
 by families, the parents in front and the children and 
 servants following, a custom which was kept up at late as 
 the revolutionary war. On arriving at the meeting-house 
 door, the men were placed on one side of the house and the 
 women on the other. The "soldiers" were placed near 
 the door and a sentry was left outside. "The children and 
 young people," says Dr. Bacon, "seem to have been left 
 to find their own places;" and he adds, "it is not to be 
 wondered at, so long as this practice continued, that the 
 regulation of boys in the meeting-house formed a frequent 
 subject of discussion." It would have been strange indeed 
 and highly discreditable to the boys if they had not become 
 restive during the long sermons in the dark little meeting- 
 house, especially in cold weather, after the glass windows 
 had been taken out and boards substituted, as was done 
 in 1651, and they seem to have done their best to enliven 
 the proceedings, in all seasons. In 1660, "on account of 
 great disorders amongst children in ye meeting-house in 
 time of divine worship," boys under 16 were placed "in the 
 soldiers seat" and Edward Parker was "to have the over- 
 sight of them, while those who sat about the stairs of ye 
 pulpit were "to be looked after by Brothers Hull and 
 Beaman." In 1674 the townsmen were directed "to pro- 
 vide some suitable seats for ye boys in ye meeting-house 
 and Wm. Payne was desired to look after ye boys before 
 ye first seats and in ye Deacons' seats." In 1678 they had 
 become so obstreperous in the gallery that the town ordered 
 "William Payne and Samuel Hemingway to take a stick or 
 wand and smite such as are of uncomely behavior in ye 
 meeting and acquaint their parents." The office of "tithing- 
 men" originated in these enactments, and they continued 
 to be elected as town officials for each house of worship 
 till 1865. They had then reached the number of 125, and 
 after that year their appointment was left to the several 
 ecclesiastical societies.
 
 RELIGIOUS AND ECCLESIASTICAL ARENA. 83 
 
 Mr. Davenport and his Successors. 
 
 Mr. Davenport is often spoken of as the minister of the 
 New Haven Colony when it arrived in New Haven, but 
 this is true only in the sense that he was its most prominent 
 religious teacher. It was not until after the church was 
 organized in August, 1639, that he was chosen and ordained 
 its pastor. In 1644, William Hooke was installed "teacher" 
 or "assistant pastor" of the church. Mr. Hooke returned 
 to England in 1656, when Cromwell, who was a kinsman 
 of his wife, was in the height of his power, and became his 
 private chaplain, and in that capacity he must often have 
 preached to John Milton, who was also attached to the 
 Lord Protector's household. Mr. Hooke was a brother- 
 in-law of Edward Whalley, one of the regicide judges, and 
 it is probable that Whalley came to New Haven by his 
 advice, in 1661, and doubtless brought messages of recom- 
 mendation to Mr. Davenport from his former colleague. 
 
 After Mr. Hooke's departure for England, Nicholas 
 Street was chosen to supply his place, and when Mr. 
 Davenport removed to Boston in 1668, Mr. Street became 
 his successor. He held the office of pastor until his death 
 in 1674, being, as his memorial tablet records, "the first 
 pastor who died in the service of the church." 
 
 The removal of Mr. Davenport from New Haven in 1668 
 was occasioned by the union of New Haven with Con- 
 necticut against his protest and the consequent fall of the 
 ecclesiastical system of government which he had founded. 
 The church parted with him with great reluctance, refusing 
 to dismiss him, and only saying that if he was determined 
 to go they would not oppose his wishes. Thirty years 
 had now elapsed since the first settlers landed. Gov. Eaton 
 and many, if not most, of those who had been their leaders, 
 were gone, and the effect of church membership govern- 
 ment had been to alienate the affections and lower the 
 respect for it of all who were excluded from its privileges. 
 The influence of these changed relations had affected the
 
 84 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 church itself. During the first few years the ministers had 
 been cheerfully supported by voluntary contribution, but 
 even before Mr. Davenport left, the collections had begun 
 to fall off both in quantity and quality. In 1650 the deacons 
 complained to the General Court that "the wampum which 
 is put into the church treasury is generally so bad that 
 the ministers cannot pay it away." Evidently it was not so 
 convenient in this respect as the doubtful bank bills which 
 are now occasionally cast by cheerful givers into the con- 
 tribution box. In 1651 the trouble had increased and the 
 contributions diminished, and the Court ordered that "no 
 planter shall give anything on the Lord's day but silver or 
 bills. And, whereas, it is taken notice that divers give not 
 into the treasury at all on the Lord's day, all such, if they 
 give not freely of themselves, shall be rated for the minister's 
 maintainance." But threats proved as ineffectual as princi- 
 ple to raise money, where no money existed, and in March, 
 1677, the ministers had been reduced to such necessity that 
 the town voted to lay a tax for their support on all the 
 inhabitants. Thus the church shifted the burden of main- 
 taining religious worship from itself upon the people at 
 large and these continued to carry it for one hundred and 
 forty years, until the present constitution of Connecticut 
 was adopted. The effect of this change was to secularize 
 the church. Taxation and representation cannot long be 
 dissociated. If the general public are compelled to support 
 religious institutions the general public must be admitted to 
 share in ecclesiastical rights and privileges, and thus was 
 introduced into New Haven the practice which was known 
 throughout New England as the Half-way Covenant. 
 
 The Half-way Covenant. 
 
 The Half-way Covenant had prevailed in Massachusetts 
 and Connecticut long before it obtained a foothold in New 
 Haven. It originated in Boston, where, as here, in the 
 beginning church membership was the qualification for
 
 RELIGIOUS AND ECCLESIASTICAL ARENA. 85 
 
 political rights. The consequence had been, that as early 
 as 1670, in order to satisfy the popular demand for a wider 
 franchise, it had been determined, against great opposition, 
 in which Mr. Davenport, after his departure from New 
 Haven, took part, to open the church doors for a more 
 general membership. To accomplish this the rule had 
 been adopted to recognize all baptized persons of good 
 moral character as nominally church members, but without 
 admitting them to full communion. Although the politi- 
 cal necessity for the Half-way Covenant did not exist in all 
 parts of New England and especially in those parts under 
 the Connecticut charter, yet it had become generally prev- 
 alent everywhere before it reached New Haven and its 
 associated churches. Here, where the influence of Mr. 
 Davenport and the early fathers was still potent, the opposi- 
 tion to it was vigorous, and a controversy was soon under 
 way, characterized on both sides by the vivacity which is 
 usual when matters of religious difference are under 
 discussion. In fact in 1678 the strife had waxed so hot that 
 by common consent a council of neighboring churches was 
 called in for advice how to assuage it. The council met 
 and after due consideration recommended a season of 
 prayer and fasting as the most likely way to promote a 
 general cheerfulness and good humor. The advice was 
 adopted. The combatants assembled in the meeting-house; 
 each party contritely confessed the other's envy, malice and 
 all uncharitableness and prayed that it might have more 
 grace and brotherly love, and then both sides, refreshed and 
 invigorated, returned to the fray with more unction than 
 ever. 
 
 The logic of the situation, however, after public taxation 
 had been resorted to for the support of the church, rendered 
 the acceptance of the Half-way Covenant inevitable here 
 as elsewhere, and it was not long before the New Haven 
 church fell into line with all the rest. The practice, which 
 continued until about the beginning of the present century, 
 was not only judicious from a political point of view, but its
 
 86 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 effect was to preserve the hold of the church upon the 
 interest and morals of the people. It thus doubtless 
 greatly promoted that general and regular attendance on 
 religious worship which characterized the New England 
 population of one hundred years ago, and which has pro- 
 gressively diminished since it was abrogated. It was more- 
 over in accordance with the theory and usages of most 
 Christian communions not having a Puritan origin, and it 
 would not be surprising if at some future day a demand 
 should arise for its restoration. The adoption of the Half- 
 way Covenant was but one indication of a great reaction 
 which had now set in from the extreme austerity and 
 religious tension of the previous generation, and of a 
 decline in faith and morals which had already commenced. 
 Such a declension usually occurs in the second or third 
 generation of a new country, as the fathers, emigrants from 
 civilization, disappear, and the children, wilderness-born 
 and bred, assume the stage of action; and in this case 
 several special causes had contributed their influence. 
 First was King Philip's war, lasting from 1675 to 1678, a 
 period the most anxious and distressing that New England 
 ever experienced. Then followed the Government of 
 Andross with the temporary loss of the Connecticut charter 
 and the subsequent efforts of the British Crown to abrogate 
 that instrument, which continued even after the reign of 
 William and Mary. Added to these were the evils of a 
 depreciated and fluctuating currency, which in the extreme 
 poverty of the people was sorely felt. "All these causes," 
 says Dr. Bacon, "had a disastrous effect not only on business 
 and general prosperity, but on morals and against the influ- 
 ence of religion." 
 
 Mr. Pierpont's Ministry. 
 
 Another and a local cause for religious and moral declen- 
 sion, so far as respected New Haven, existed in the fact 
 that for nearly ten years after the death of Mr. Street, that
 
 RELIGIOUS AND ECCLESIASTICAL ARENA. 87 
 
 is to say from 1674 to 1684, the town had no regular settled 
 minister. Occasional temporary supplies of the pulpit 
 were obtained but the service was not satisfactory, though 
 it was certainly as good as the pay, which as we have seen 
 was scanty and always in arrears. In 1683 the town could 
 no longer endure this religious destitution and determined 
 to secure a spiritual guide even if it had to take him out of 
 jail. Accordingly, messengers were sent to extend a call 
 to Rev. Mr. Moody of Portsmouth, New Hamphire, who 
 was then undergoing imprisonment by the Royal Governor 
 of that Province for refusing to admit him and some fellow 
 scapegraces to the sacrament. Mr. Moody was found in 
 Boston, having just been released from prison and banished 
 from New Hampshire with strict injunctions never to 
 return. Regarding such an order as affording the best 
 possible reason why he should go back immediately, he 
 declined the call to New Haven, and the messengers, being 
 thus baffled, looked about for a substitute. This they soon 
 found in the person of Mr. James Pierpont, who, though 
 he had never been in jail, had just graduated from Harvard 
 College, an institution of learning, which stood better at 
 that time than at present, its reputation for football kicking 
 and other branches of the higher education not having then 
 been seriously impaired. Accordingly, the messengers, 
 unwilling to go home without having accomplished any- 
 thing, invited Mr. Pierpont to come to New Haven and 
 preach as a candidate. He accepted the proposal, and in 
 August, 1684, was reported at the town meeting as having 
 arrived and being lodged at the house of the Widow 
 Davenport "to his content." He was, in fact, so much con- 
 tented then and afterwards that he subsequently married 
 the widow's daughter Abigail, who was a granddaughter of 
 Rev. John Davenport, his predecessor in the ministry.* 
 
 Mr. Pierpont preached acceptably as a candidate for 
 nearly a year and was ordained July 2, 1685. The church 
 'built a house for him on a lot which was given by the town, 
 
 * See Note i at the end of this Paper.
 
 88 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 on the north side of the market place, and a part of this lot 
 is still occupied by one of his descendants. As a Boston 
 man, Mr. Pierpont was favorable to the Half-way Covenant, 
 and it prevailed in the first church from the time of his 
 ordination until about the beginning of this century. The 
 tax rate of 2,y 2 pence in the pound, which was levied for the 
 minister's support, was found to be impossible of collection 
 in money, and its avails were also fluctuating in amount, 
 so that the town, as a matter of mutual convenience, pro- 
 posed to Mr. Pierpont in 1697 to pay him thereafter a regu- 
 lar salary of 120 a year "in grane and flesh," at certain 
 fixed prices, and also his firewood. Mr. Pierpont accepted 
 the offer, "having heard," as he said, "that it was cheerfully 
 tendered," but with a shrewd recollection of the bad wam- 
 pum contributions of former days, he stipulated that "the 
 offerings should be brought to the house of God without 
 lameness or reflections on the ministry in the respective 
 years." As the records show no friction between pastor 
 and people during his ministry, it is to be presumed that 
 there was no lameness either in the salary or the preaching. 
 Mr. Pierpont continued to be a faithful and esteemed 
 pastor until his death in 1714, but the period was one of 
 religious and moral decadence, which the most effective 
 ministry could not wholly check. In 1692, at the request 
 of the ministers of the colony, a town meeting directed the 
 authorities and heads of families to take measures to sup- 
 port the prevalent "horse racing and tavern tippling" after 
 religious services on lecture days. It must be remembered, 
 however, that lecture days were a species of holiday on 
 which the suburban population generally came to town for 
 purposes both of devotion and festivity, and doubtless 
 church attendance was largely promoted by the combina- 
 tion. Certain it is, that notwithstanding the lamentations 
 so frequently encountered in the records, as to the degree 
 in which Satan raged and sin abounded, the meeting-house 
 was crowded, so that in 1697 it was necessary to enlarge 
 the gallery, and a year later to put an addition on the main
 
 THE SECOND MEETING HOUSE AS IT APPEARED AFTER I7OO. 
 Built 1670 Removed 1757.
 
 RELIGIOUS AND ECCLESIASTICAL ARENA. 89 
 
 body of the house.* In the allotment of seats the practice 
 seems to have grown up of giving the best seats to the 
 highest taxpayers, and the official dignitaries were in danger 
 of being crowded to the wall by a shoddy aristocracy. To 
 prevent so unseemly a scandal without unduly curtailing 
 the tax receipts, the town voted, in 1701, that the seating 
 committee should "have a principle Respect to Offices, 
 Civill Eclesiastick and Military, and Rates, it being under- 
 stood ye Rates to be valued and no persons to advance s 
 Rates for ye Dignity of ye Seats in ye Meeting House."f 
 
 The Saybrook Platform. 
 
 In full accordance with the history of the church in all 
 ages, as spiritual religion declined formalism became more 
 pronounced, and ecclesiasticism developed. The ministers 
 found the Puritan doctrine of church isolation and inde- 
 pendence unfavorable to the dignity and influence of their 
 order and began to hanker for the flesh pots of organization 
 and clerical power. In pursuance of their request, in 1708 
 the General Assembly of Connecticut ordered a synod of 
 churches convened at Saybrook, which met and adopted 
 a code of church association and discipline. By this code, 
 known as the Saybrook platform, a system was introduced 
 so much like the Presbyterian order that the churches 
 under it were afterwards frequently styled Presbyterian, 
 even by their own clergy. The framers of the platform did 
 not venture to force it upon the churches, but through 
 their influence the General Assembly approved of it and 
 recommended to the churches to unite under its provisions. 
 It also enacted that those churches and those only which 
 accepted the platform should be recognized in law as 
 established churches, and as such be entitled to a share of 
 the taxes laid for the support of the ministry. Those not 
 adopting it could only acquire legal recognition by special 
 license of the General Assembly in each case; while mem- 
 
 * See Note 2. t See Note 3-
 
 90 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 bers of churches not so licensed, besides being obliged to 
 support their own ministers, were liable to taxation for the 
 support of the established churches in their several towns. 
 Thus was created not only an established church, but one 
 intolerant and repressive of all rivals; and at the same time 
 the ministers of the establishment were erected into a 
 clerical order in the state; an order which for more than 
 one hundred years wielded a power and influence almost 
 supreme in the Commonwealth, and exercised it too often 
 with the display of those faults which are so generally 
 associated with ecclesiastical rule. It should be remem- 
 bered, however, that the Saybrook Platform was established 
 as a rule of order within the Congregational church as the 
 only denomination actually existing in the colony at that 
 time; and not for the purpose of suppressing other sects 
 which had made or might thereafter make their appearance. 
 Permission was, in fact, given by the law to any church 
 "to soberly dissent from the united churches hereby 
 established." This provision was known as "the Toleration 
 Act," and in 1727 the General Assembly went a step further 
 and specially enacted that any society of the church of 
 England that might be framed in any town should be 
 recognized as an established society. In 1729 a similar 
 law was passed to cover the case of the Quakers and 
 Baptists. Neither of these denominations, however, had 
 any organized existence till many years later, and in the 
 meantime the "Prime Ancient Church," as it was legally 
 designated, remained in undisputed occupancy of its 
 supreme power and prerogative. Mr. Pierpont was one of 
 the leaders in forming the Saybrook Platform. He was 
 also the most active agent in effecting the foundation of 
 Yale College. He died November 14, 1714, aged 55 years, 
 much beloved, honored and lamented. 
 
 Three years before Mr. Pierpont's death East Haven had 
 been established as a distinct parish and somewhat later 
 several other outlying parishes had been set off as separate 
 ecclesiastical societies. Thenceforward that in New Haven
 
 RELIGIOUS AND ECCLESIASTICAL ARENA. 91 
 
 was known as "the First Ecclesiastical Society." The 
 records of the First Society, as such, began to be kept 
 distinct from the town records July i, 1715. At this period 
 also occurred the first serious disagreement among its own 
 people over the election of a new pastor. Mr. Joseph 
 Noyes was chosen, after an animated controversy, but a 
 year of probation reconciled his opponents, and he was 
 ordained without objection. During the first twenty years 
 of his ministry the declension of spiritual religion and the 
 decadence of public morals, not only in New Haven, but 
 elsewhere, steadily continued. Such at least is the tenor 
 of contemporary declarations. Probably much of this 
 disparaging comment is due to the narrow and rigid 
 standards of the day, for it is not easy to believe that any 
 great or general depravity could then have existed in the 
 rural villages of New England, and no particulars are on 
 record to justify the current imputations. 
 
 The Great Awakening. 
 
 However, this may be, there is no doubt that lifelessness 
 in religion, and monotony in intellectual and social life, 
 prevailed in New Haven throughout the early part of the 
 eighteenth century, which were followed in 1735 by a great 
 and sudden reaction. In that year remarkable revivals of 
 religion, known as "the Great Awakening, attended with 
 extraordinary popular interest and excitement, broke out 
 almost simultaneously throughout New England. New 
 Haven was one of the first places to feel the sweep of the 
 tidal wave, and even after its first force was spent, it con- 
 tinued to return with successive impulses. It was impos- 
 sible that such an upheaval of emotions, the profoundest 
 and most intense that can excite the human breast, could 
 agitate the community without bringing division and 
 controversy. Sensitive and impassioned souls, urging on 
 the movement as the highest call of duty, were arrayed 
 against cold, conservative natures who considered it
 
 92 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 uncalled for, or extravagant, and thus households were soon 
 divided among themselves, husband against wife, father 
 against daughter, and possibly, in some extreme cases, son- 
 in-law against mother-in-law. 
 
 In 1740 first appeared in New Haven the celebrated 
 revivalist, George Whitefield, an orator of remarkable 
 fervor and power, who went through the country preaching 
 to enormous crowds of people, and producing an effect like 
 that which followed John the Baptist in Judea. In contrast 
 with the current Calvinistic view of election by the grace 
 of God, which led the sinner to passively await the divine 
 movement in his soul, he proclaimed the gospel of salvation 
 through the efforts of the sinner himself. He terrified his 
 hearers by depicting the flames of hell as ready to break 
 forth beneath their feet, and pressed home on their alarmed 
 and startled consciences the necessity for immediate repent- 
 ance and of arousing to a new and spiritual life. He 
 inveighed against the prevalent sloth and torpor in religion, 
 and especially denounced, sometimes by name, those minis- 
 ters who were at ease in Zion as faithless shepherds, blind 
 guides and unconverted men. On his first visit to New 
 Haven he preached several times in Mr. Noyes' pulpit, and 
 seems not to have given any special ground of offense to 
 the more conservative portion of the church. After his 
 departure, however, exhorters and ranters more extravagant 
 than he sprang up on all sides. Rev. John Davenport was 
 one of these, a great grandson of the New Haven founder, 
 whose mind, as it afterwards appeared, was somewhat 
 unbalanced, and who assailed with indecent violence all 
 those of the clergy who did not commit themselves unquali- 
 fiedly to what was now called the "new light movement." 
 
 The Old and Nezv-light Controversy. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Noyes was now 50 years old. He was of a 
 calm and quiet temperament, and did not readily lend 
 himself to new doctrines, or to methods of passionate
 
 RELIGIOUS AND ECCLESIASTICAL ARENA. 93 
 
 excitement, and he quickly became the special target for 
 the fire of Mr. Davenport and his sympathizers. He was 
 also rather a dull preacher at best, and it was not long before 
 a strong opposition was organized against him in his own 
 church. Naturally the older and more conservative por- 
 tion, who also constituted the majority, rallied for his 
 defense, and thus the church was divided into two hostile 
 factions, known as the "New light" and "Old light" parties. 
 In 1742 the New-lights associated themselves into a distinct 
 church, requested a separation of the society and a division 
 of the property, and began to carry on separate services in 
 a private house. The Old-light party protested against 
 the secession and refused to divide the society. As the 
 law then stood, although new churches might be formed, 
 in any parish, new ecclesiastical societies could not, without 
 a license from the Legislature. In the meantime the 
 Separatists were obliged to support their own worship and, 
 as legal members of the First Ecclesiastical Society, were 
 also taxed for the support of Mr. Noyes. As such mem- 
 bers, however, they had the right of voting at all meetings 
 of the First Society, and they were not behindhand in 
 availing themselves of the privilege, not failing to attend 
 every business meeting and doing their best to enliven the 
 proceedings. The Old-light majority had a paramount 
 influence with the Legislature, and not only prevented a 
 society license being granted to the New-light church, but 
 secured the passage of a law forbidding any minister to 
 preach within the limits of any parish without the consent 
 of the established pastor and a majority of the parish. 
 
 Notwithstanding these obstacles, the New-light party 
 were not discouraged. They first applied for permission 
 to build a meeting-house on the Green. Being refused, 
 they proceeded to erect one on the corner of Elm and 
 Church streets, which they completed in 1748, and painted 
 an azure blue; a color to explain which has greatly puzzled 
 the historians. Mr. Barber says it was caused by mixing 
 too much lampblack with the white, but in the first place,
 
 94 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 that would not produce a blue, and in the second place 
 such a mistake would have been rectified before the whole 
 building was painted. Others have suggested that the 
 color symbolized the orthodoxy of the worshippers; but 
 the fact is that just at that period gaily-colored meeting- 
 houses were a fashionable fad. Those at Pomfret and 
 Windham were painted a brilliant yellow. The Killingly 
 meeting-house was yellow with a red roof; and in 1762 
 Brooklyn painted her's orange, with doors and trimmings 
 of chocolate and white. Blue was in fact a very common 
 color for buildings in New Haven at that time. In 
 Wadsworths's map of 1748 the colors of the painted houses 
 are indicated by the letters "b" and "r" and from this it 
 appears that eight, including the college building, "Con- 
 necticut Hall," were painted blue, and thirty-seven red. 
 White was an unusual color on account of its greater 
 expense, the virtues of barytes as an adulterant not being 
 then understood. 
 
 Affairs were in this situation when Whitefield made a 
 second visit to New Haven in 1745. Regarding him as a 
 firebrand, the Old-light party refused him admission to the 
 meeting-house, and as the Blue Meeting-house was not 
 yet finished, he preached to a great multitude assembled 
 on the Green in front of the Pierpont trees, which stood 
 at the present intersection of Elm and Temple streets. In 
 1751, Rev. Mr. Bird was settled as pastor in the Blue 
 Meeting-house, apparently in defiance of the law, and 
 preached without interference. Thus matters continued 
 till 1757, sixteen years after the contest began. During 
 all this time the New-light party attended the meetings of 
 the First Society with great regularity, pressing its demand 
 for a division with equal pugnacity and piety, and resisted 
 by their Old-light adversaries with quite as much grit as 
 grace. 
 
 It was in the midst of this warfare that the first Brick 
 Meeting-house was erected on the Green. An attempt was 
 first made to raise the necessary funds by society taxation;
 
 RELIGIOUS AND ECCLESIASTICAL ARENA. 95 
 
 but the law required a two-thirds vote for this, and the 
 New-lights were on hand and defeated it. It was therefore 
 built by the Old-lights majority partly by voluntary contri- 
 butions and partly with funds of the church, a body to which 
 the New-lights did not pretend to belong. It was com- 
 menced in 1753, and finished in 1757. The old meeting- 
 house remained standing in front of it for over two years 
 and was taken down in 1760. 
 
 In the meantime the New-light party had been steadily 
 growing in numbers and political influence. It gathered 
 to its support not only those who favored liberality and 
 equal rights, but also the great body of the common people, 
 who looked upon the Old-lights as an aristocratic party, 
 both in religion and politics. By 1757 both factions had 
 become tired, and in January of that year it was voted that 
 application be made to the General Assembly for a division 
 of the society and the distribution of its property. As pre- 
 paratory for such division it was ordered that all the inhabit- 
 ants of the parish should enroll themselves, and that each 
 one should declare which party he favored and to which of 
 the two societies he wished to belong. By June the 
 enrollment was completed, and lo! the New-light party had 
 a large majority. On thus discovering "where they were 
 at" a marvelous change of heart was suddenly experienced. 
 The New-lights became entirely averse to a division; took 
 possession of the First Society meetings and carried through 
 a vote to withdraw the application to the Legislature. 
 They also called Mr. Bird to be the minister of the First 
 Society, "the New-light meeting-house to be the place of 
 worship for the present." "It was now," says Dr. Bacon, 
 "the turn of the Old-lights to exercise the grace of 
 patience." They entered their protest on the record 
 refused to be bound by the votes that had been taken, and 
 continued to occupy the old meeting-house with Mr. Noyes 
 as minister. In the following October another society 
 meeting was held and the New-light majority passed a vote 
 requesting Mr. Noyes to cease his ministerial labors, with
 
 96 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 notice that his salary would no longer be paid. Mr. Noyes 
 did not cease his labors, but brought suit for his salary and 
 recovered judgment for the full amount. 
 
 In February, 1758, the Old-light church settled Rev. 
 Chauncey Whittelsey as assistant pastor with Mr. Noyes, 
 and this with other circumstances brought the Old-light 
 party many new adherents, so that the tide began to turn 
 in their favor. Before 1759 they were settled in the new 
 Brick Meeting-house and had again a clear majority in 
 the society. In view of the vicissitudes both parties had 
 experienced, they were now both disposed to accommoda- 
 tion, and in January, 1759, the society again voted to apply 
 to the Legislature for a separation. As each party claimed 
 to be the First Society, the Legislature was requested to 
 determine this point, and also to apportion the property in 
 an equitable manner. In October the division was effected. 
 The Old-lights were declared to be the First Society, and 
 the New-lights were incorporated as the White Haven 
 Society. The Brick Meeting-house was set to the First 
 Society, and the old meeting-house and the bell and other 
 appurtenances to the two jointly. Thus ended the war 
 which for eighteen years had kept New Haven in a turmoil 
 and disrupted social foundations and family ties. So bitter 
 and lasting were the feelings it engendered that when in 
 1838, seventy years later, Dr. Bacon related its story in his 
 Historical Discourses, he declared that he did so with great 
 anxiety, "lest walking among the ashes of the fires that had 
 burned so fiercely, he might tread on unextinguished 
 embers." Rev. Mr. Noyes still held the fort when peace 
 was declared but lived only three years longer. He died 
 quietly in 1701, aged 73, and his bones lie under the pulpit 
 which in life he so tenaciously stuck to. 
 
 The name of the new society, "White Haven," has been 
 the theme of some conjecture with respect to its origin, 
 but seems quite explainable in the light of the foregoing 
 history. The church was the offspring of Whitefield's 
 preaching, and the combination of that name with New 
 Haven was the most natural way to designate it.
 
 THE THIRD MEETING HOUSE OR "BRICK MEETING HOUSE. 
 Built 1757 Removed 1813.
 
 RELIGIOUS AND ECCLESIASTICAL ARENA. 97 
 
 The Fair Haven Society. 
 
 Hardly had the smoke of the long battle cleared away 
 when the New-light church, which had seceded partly on 
 the ground of opposition to the Half-way Covenant, con- 
 quered its prejudices in that respect, and adopted the prac- 
 tice by a large majority. Seven years later, Rev. Mr. Bird 
 having resigned, and Rev. Jonathan Edwards being called 
 as his successor, Mr. Edwards declined the call unless the 
 Half-way Covenant was abrogated. Whereupon, in the 
 most obliging manner the church promptly voted to 
 abandon it. A considerable number of members, how- 
 ever, found themselves unequal to this doctrinal agility, 
 and these seceded, to form a third society under the 
 name of the Fair Haven Society. This name also, has 
 given rise to much speculation, and its derivation is not 
 entirely clear. Of course it had no connection with the 
 thriving suburb of our city which is famous for its fattened 
 oysters. In 1767 that precinct consisted of only half a 
 dozen fishermen's huts, two miles from town, and was known 
 as "The Dragon," a locality most unsuitable to give the 
 name to a church. Probably the full title of the church 
 would have been "The Fair Society of New Haven," the 
 word "fair" implying either its attractiveness in contrast with 
 its misguided neighbors; or perhaps, the medium and fair 
 position it occupied spiritually between the two, combin- 
 ing as it did the New-light faith with the Old-light, Half- 
 way Covenant practice, thus being "fair" to both saints and 
 sinners. 
 
 The new church met in the State House for a time but 
 soon obtained permission to build on the Green, and in 
 1770 the Fair Haven Meeting-house was completed. It 
 stood on the site of the present North Church, but its 
 longest line was north and south, with the steeple on the 
 south end. It was made of wood, and as the new Brick 
 Church was red, and its old antagonist blue, this one was 
 carefully painted white in order to symbolize its diversity 
 7
 
 98 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 from both the others. Thus the New Haven churches first 
 became identified with the red, white and blue colors, to 
 which in their symbolic combination they have since so 
 often proved their fidelity. 
 
 The three churches thus domiciliated within a stone's 
 throw of each other were for several years neighborly only 
 in situation. The acrimony left by their previous quarrels 
 prevented all interchange of amenities, and it was not until 
 1779 that an angel of peace appeared to bring them to a 
 common agreement. The tranquilizer on this occasion 
 was the invading British army, which visited New Haven 
 July 5, 1779, and its soothing influence on the churches 
 was apparent on the following Sunday. On that day, for 
 the first time, they had a united service, which happy event, 
 with its abrupt conclusion, is thus chronicled in Dr. Stiles' 
 diary: 
 
 "July ii Lord's day So many had left town that two 
 congregations agreed to meet together in forenoon at Mr. 
 Edwards' meeting; in p. m. with Mr. Whittelsey; I was to 
 preach a. m. but was interrupted in middle of sermon with 
 news of burning of Norwalk on enemy's landing. Congre- 
 gation broke up and spent the day in moving furniture 
 and effects." 
 
 A month later a rumor became current that the enemy 
 was about to return and burn the town, and a season of 
 fasting and prayer was promptly held by mutual consent, but 
 these prudent devotions proved to have been superfluous, 
 as there was no real cause for alarm. In course of time, 
 the Fair Haven and White Haven churches became recon- 
 ciled, and in 1796, both being without pastors and in a 
 declining state, they again associated under the name of 
 "The United Societies of Fair Haven and White Haven," 
 subsequently abbreviated to "The United Society." The 
 new society by the reunion came into possession of two 
 meeting-houses and occupied them in alternate months 
 until 1815, when the Fair Haven Meeting-house was 
 removed and the present North Church was built on its site. 
 The Blue Meeting-house disappeared soon afterwards.
 
 RELIGIOUS AND ECCLESIASTICAL ARENA. 99 
 
 After 1800. 
 
 Mr. Whittelsey continued to preach in the Brick Meeting- 
 house until his death in 1787. He was followed by Rev. 
 James Dana, who was the last of the preachers identified 
 with the Old-light, Half-way Covenant period. In 1805 
 the new divinity was recognized by the ordination of Rev. 
 Moses Stuart, a young man of fervor and eloquence, who 
 remained, however, only five years and then resigned to 
 become an eminent professor in Andover Theological Semi- 
 nary. Mr. Nathaniel Taylor succeeded Mr. Stuart in 1810, 
 but like him resigned in 1820 to become an equally if not 
 more distinguished professor in the Theological Seminary 
 of Yale. It was during his pastorate that the present 
 Center Church edifice was erected. In March, 1825, Rev. 
 Leonard Bacon, then just 23 years of age, was installed 
 in the pulpit which he so nobly filled until his resignation 
 as active pastor in 1866. 
 
 The first half of this century was marked by great 
 religious activity, in which frequent and powerful revivals 
 were a conspicuous feature. Another result was an 
 extreme sensitiveness on questions of Christian morals, 
 with much agitation of such important matters as the sinful- 
 ness of dancing, card-playing and novel-reading. Sectarian 
 and doctrinal zeal also supplied material for abundant and 
 profitless controversy, and so full was the air of these dis- 
 putes that even the church bells on Sundays were said to 
 fling out their sectarian catch-words at each other: the 
 Baptist bell calling "Come and be dipped"; and Trinity 
 proclaiming "Bishops, priests and deacons." The North 
 Church reiterated "Free grace free grace," while Center 
 solemnly responded, "To-tal de-pravity." These denomi- 
 national bickerings may be said to have continued down 
 to the time of the civil war, but in the excitement and 
 agitation of that momentous period they disappeared, 
 and, happily, have never since come to the surface. Thus
 
 100 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 in the religious annals of the Green, as in other lines of its 
 history, the year 1862 marked a new era, and forms an 
 appropriate resting-place. 
 
 The three churches on the Green, which were all erected 
 during the war of 1812, were built by syndicates or associa- 
 tions which reimbursed themselves by the sale or the rental 
 of the pews. Possibly if the British naval commander in 
 the Sound, who allowed the materials for their construction 
 to pass out of respect for a community that was so "devilish 
 pious," had known all the facts, he might have taken a 
 different view of the situation.* Pews in those days were 
 sold and rented as real estate by the owners, the occupancy 
 of them carrying no liability to contribute to the expenses 
 of the church or society. Religious worship until 1818 
 was supported by public taxation; the taxpayer had the 
 right to designate the Society to which his money should 
 be applied, and if he did not exercise this privilege, it was 
 applied to the uses of the Congregational Church as the 
 established order. Under this system pew-ownership was 
 practicable, but the Constitution of 1818 abolished it, and 
 it was soon found, as it had been in 1677, that voluntary 
 contribution was an insufficient reliance as a means of 
 church revenue. It thus became necessary for the eccle- 
 ciastical societies to acquire the ownership of the pews, and 
 by a long process of gradual purchase, and an occasional 
 donation, this was finally accomplished. The last acquisi- 
 tion in the Center Church was not effected till 1893. 
 
 The North Church was completed in 1815, Rev. Samuel 
 Merwin then being its pastor. Mr. Merwin's long and 
 faithful ministry lasted from 1805 to 1831. He was fol- 
 lowed by Rev. Leverett Sawyer, who remained two years. 
 In 1838 Rev. Samuel Button was called to the pulpit and 
 occupied it till his death, in January, 1866. It is nearly 
 thirty years since Dr. Button passed away, but the memory 
 of his genial spirit, his generous nature and his devoted 
 piety is still warmly cherished in the hearts of all who knew 
 
 * See Note 4.
 
 RELIGIOUS AND ECCLESIASTICAL ARENA. 101 
 
 him. The brotherly affection which subsisted between him 
 and Dr. Bacon was reflected in the cordial fraternity of 
 their respective churches a fraternity which still continues 
 and which strengthens with every passing year. 
 
 Other Denominations on the Green. 
 
 The direct connection of Trinity parish with the Green 
 commences with the permission it obtained from the town 
 in 1812 to build a house of worship upon it. The building 
 was completed in 1815. Being the only stone church in 
 town, and esteemed the finest specimen of Gothic architec- 
 ture in the United States, if not in the world, it was naturally 
 regarded w r ith some complacency by its congregation, 
 especially in comparison with its neighbors, the "Middle- 
 brick" and "North-brick" meeting-houses. When it was 
 consecrated, in 1815, Rev. Harry Croswell was its rector, 
 and he so continued, aided by various assistants, until his 
 death, in 1858. Dr. Croswell was a man of grand and 
 dignified presence and of commanding qualities. He 
 wielded great influence in New Haven, being universally 
 beloved and honored, and under his charge his parish 
 enjoyed a remarkable growth and prosperity. He was 
 succeeded in 1859 by Rev. Edwin Harwood, whose ministry 
 terminated at the beginning of the present year. In the 
 fine historical discourse which Dr. Harwood delivered in 
 that connection he congratulated his people on the cordial 
 relations which subsist between Trinity and its sister 
 churches of all denominations in New Haven. Doubtless 
 there were a few in his audience who failed to reflect that 
 this was due in great measure to his own broad, wise and 
 catholic spirit during the thirty-five years of his ministry. 
 Like Dr. Bacon he retires from active service while still 
 in the vigor of life. Like him, also, may he long be spared 
 in strength and usefulness to enjoy among us an honored 
 and serene old age.
 
 102 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 After two denominations had been permitted to build 
 upon the Green, it was natural that others should ask for 
 a similar privilege, and in 1820 the Methodist Society was 
 granted liberty by a town vote to build a meeting-house 
 in the northwest corner. The little band of worshippers 
 were poor in this world's goods but rich in faith and fervent 
 in spirit, and made it a matter of principle to illustrate 
 literally the petition of the Lord's prayer as they generally 
 pronounced it, "Hollo-wed be Thy name." The previous 
 pastor had been a strict disciplinarian and had excommuni- 
 cated the greater part of his flock; most righteously, if we 
 may judge from one example, that of a sister, who was given 
 over to Satan for wearing a large broad-brimmed hat in 
 public assemblies. The collapse of the half-finished build- 
 ing in the September gale of 1821 has been referred to in a 
 previous paper. With commendable perseverance and the 
 assistance of their fellow citizens the society erected another 
 which stood till 1848. By this time the congregation 
 required a larger building and an arrangement was effected 
 for their removal from the Green to their present location 
 on the corner of Elm and College streets. 
 
 In 1821 the Baptist Society, which had been worship- 
 ping for a while in the State House, obtained leave from the 
 town to build a meeting-house on the southwest corner of 
 the Green, but subsequently, in view of the remonstrance 
 which the permission evoked, decided not to avail them- 
 selves of it and purchased a lot on Chapel street below the 
 bridge, where they built a church which they occupied for 
 many years. Eleven years later an infant Universalist 
 Society applied to the Proprietors' Committee for the site 
 which the Baptists had resigned, but the application was 
 unsuccessful. The refusal of the Committee was couched in 
 elaborate diplomatic phraseology and dwelt on the inex- 
 pediency of allowing further enroachments on the Green; 
 but it is easy to read between the lines the complacency of 
 the Committee in thus baffling an attempt of the adversary 
 to get a foothold under the very eaves of the orthodox 
 churches.
 
 RELIGIOUS AND ECCLESIASTICAL ARENA. 103 
 
 Of open-air religious meetings held on the Green prior 
 to 1862 not much information has been preserved. The 
 great assemblage addressed by Whitefield in 1745 has been 
 already mentioned. About 1790 Jesse Lee, the founder 
 of Methodism in New England, held large meetings on 
 the Green in gathering that church in New Haven. The 
 present Universalists held services at intervals on the north 
 steps of the last State House. And an occasional itinerant 
 like the eccentric Lorenzo Dow from time to time appeared 
 and drew together what he called "a religious meeting," 
 of which the "collection" was the most conspicuous feature. 
 In 1842 another itinerant, William Miller, who had already 
 created a great excitement throughout New England by 
 predicting the destruction of the world in 1843, preached 
 several discourses to crowded congregations in the Metho- 
 dist Church. His argument was drawn from the recorded 
 antics of certain peculiar beasts mentioned by the Prophet 
 Daniel, and his figures fixed the time of the final conflagra- 
 tion at a certain date in December, 1843. On the night of 
 the appointed day, in the midst of a driving snow storm, 
 the cry of "fire" aroused the community. A wonderful 
 lurid glare filled the heavens, but no cause for it could be 
 discovered. Numerous believers donned their ascension 
 robes, but the glow disappeared, and the next morning 
 information was received that the only portion of the world 
 that had been destroyed was a paper mill in Westville. 
 
 Notable Religious Meetings on the Green. 
 
 Among the notable religious meetings which have been 
 held on the Green one may be specially referred to as of 
 historic interest. It took place in 1822 in the North Church, 
 on the departure of the second company of missionaries 
 from this country to the Sandwich Islands. They sailed 
 the next day from this port in a New Haven vessel. The 
 missionary movement to those islands originated in New 
 Haven and was for many years largely supported by the
 
 104 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 churches on the Green. To these churches therefore it is 
 principally due that that young republic to-day is controlled 
 by American institutions and American influence, instead 
 of being an appendage of Great Britain or France. In 
 recognition of this fact, when the interior of the Center 
 Church was renovated in 1843, its pulpit was sent to the 
 Sandwich Islands at the request of the people there and set 
 up in the First Church of Honolulu as a memorial of New 
 Haven, upon whose Green not only that church but the 
 Hawaiian nation itself may be fairly said to have been 
 founded. 
 
 Another notable service, also in the North Church, the 
 Kansas Rifle meeting held in 1856, has been referred to in 
 a previous paper. Political preaching has always been 
 regarded by the Congregational clergy as one of their 
 vested rights, and their pulpits on the Green have always 
 been not merely "drums ecclesiastic" but "drums civic" 
 for all calls to public duty. It was so when in 1660 Mr. 
 Davenport preached on sheltering the Regicide judges, and 
 it was so when in 1861 the Stars and Stripes were flung 
 from the topmast spire of Center Church, there to float 
 till the bell beneath should proclaim the surrender of the 
 last rebel army. For nearly two centuries, in default of 
 daily papers, important news and public notices were habitu- 
 ally announced from the pulpit. It was thus that calls for 
 troops and supplies were made during the Revolution. 
 The Declaration of Independence was first publicly read in 
 New Haven in the meeting-houses, and in 1815 the news of 
 the treaty of peace was made known from the pulpit of the 
 Old Blue Meeting-house, on Sunday, February 13, having 
 just been communicated by the post rider as he passed by 
 the door. 
 
 The numerous printed sermons which have come down 
 to us from colonial days suggest that a good opinion of 
 their merit was entertained at least by their authors, but 
 to the modern reader they are of little interest, being prolix, 
 dogmatic and tedious in the extreme. Among these pub-
 
 NORTH CHURCH. 
 Built 1815.
 
 RELIGIOUS AND ECCLESIASTICAL ARENA. 105 
 
 lished discourses is one preached September 2, 1772, by 
 Rev. Sampson Occum, a converted Indian, at the hanging 
 of a fellow aboriginal for murder. The execution, which 
 was the first in New Haven since 1749, was preceded by a 
 religious service in the Brick Meeting-house. An immense 
 audience attended, the court and magistrates being present. 
 The prisoner, accompanied by the sheriff, occupied the 
 place of honor, and the minister and the choir vied with 
 each other in their efforts to do justice to an occasion so 
 brilliant and interesting. 
 
 Next to hangings, ordinations were the most festive 
 events which enlivened the Green down to the beginning 
 of the present century. Distinguished divines and promi- 
 nent dignitaries from all parts of the State were invited, 
 and crowds came in from the surrounding towns. The 
 candidate was first publicly examined as to his orthodoxy, 
 which afforded a great opportunity for ecclesiastical fenc- 
 ing and doctrinal athletics. Then came a procession 
 generally headed by music to the meeting-house, which was 
 crowded literally to the ceiling, the beams and rafters over- 
 head being often occupied. After the services a sumptuous 
 banquet followed at the tavern, the bill for which closely 
 resembled Falstaff's tavern score in its proportions of bread 
 and sack. The account for entertaining the Council at the 
 ordination of Dr. Bacon in 1825 is still preserved and its 
 charges are, for dinners $30.50, for porter, wine and cigars 
 $42.25, for liquors and horsekeeping $12.75. ^ n m ^ny 
 New England towns there was a ball in the evening, to 
 solace the young people from a distance who happened to 
 arrive too late for the ordination, but I find no evidence 
 that ordination balls were ever customary in New Haven. 
 
 Improvements introduced by Trinity. 
 
 The early New England clergy wore gowns and bands 
 in the pulpit, and the practice seems to have continued 
 in New Haven until about the time of the Revolution, after
 
 106 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 which it gradually died out. It was at this period that 
 Episcopacy began to become prominent and possibly these 
 badges became objectionable as savoring of prelacy. How- 
 ever this may have been with regard to clerical vestments, 
 it is certain that in other directions the influence of the 
 Episcopal Church on Puritan ideas and usages in New 
 Haven has been of quite an opposite character. From the 
 time when the new denomination gained an established 
 position, it has exerted a marked effect on the Congrega- 
 tional order in the gradual amelioration of its doctrinal 
 asperities, and in the improvement and adornment of its 
 ecclesiastical appliances and forms of worship. The change 
 in these respects dates back to the organization of Trinity 
 Parish about 1750, and it will be interesting to notice some 
 of those steps in its progress in which Trinity has been the 
 pioneer. In 1752 Trinity erected its first house of worship, 
 sarcastically called by Dr. Stiles "a reading house," a small 
 and modest edifice; but it was adorned with a steeple and 
 spire and thus symbolized, as an admiring vestryman 
 declared, "good Mother Church, with one foot resting on 
 the apostolic rock, and the other pointing to the skies."* 
 The graceful and suggestive emblem commended itself at 
 once to the First Church, which built the Brick Meeting- 
 house in the following year and adopted the same appropri- 
 ate appendage. In 1764 the White Haven Society attached 
 a similar addition to the barn-like Blue Meeting-house, and 
 the Fair Haven Society, which built in 1770, followed the 
 now established fashion. The meeting-houses having thus 
 taken on a more churchly form, began to be invested with 
 a more sacred character; so that in 1814 and 1815, when 
 the two Congregational houses of worship now on the 
 Green were completed, they were solemnly "dedicated to 
 the worship of God." No such ceremony had ever been 
 applied to their predecessors, which had been intended for 
 secular as well as religious uses. Having thus been quali- 
 fied as "churches," that term is now properly applied to 
 
 * See Note 5.
 
 RELIGIOUS AND ECCLESIASTICAL ARENA. 107 
 
 them; nevertheless in the Congregational mind the Puritan 
 instinct is still potent and its conceptions of the church as 
 an edifice are strongly imbued with the meeting-house 
 flavor. 
 
 Another improvement in ecclesiastical appliances, in 
 which Trinity led its contemporaries, was in the use of 
 the organ, which it introduced in 1784. The innovation 
 was regarded by its neighbors as a mode of worship- 
 ping God by machinery and a clear proof of papistical 
 tendencies, and it was not till 1818, or thirty-four years 
 later, that the United Society could be brought to allow 
 David Read and others to place an organ in the North 
 Church on trial at their own expense. The Center 
 Church held out with its old-fashioned choir till 1855, when 
 it fell into line with the others. Trinity was the first also 
 to introduce an artificial warmth into public worship by 
 means of stoves, which it adopted in 1806. The congrega- 
 tions in the other churches regarded this as another step 
 toward popery, and continued to combine their spiritual 
 glow with blue noses and chattering teeth for twenty 
 winters longer. Possibly they believed that the "colder the 
 church the less likely the tempter of souls would be to leave 
 his warm quarters and enter them. Nevertheless when the 
 Center and North Churches were built in 1814 and 1815, 
 they were both provided with chimneys, and brick or 
 "Russian" stoves, as they were called, appear to have been 
 used in the Center Church immediately thereafter. The 
 United Society, however, held out much more heroically 
 against the Evil One in its test of endurance. Propositions 
 to connect stoves with its empty chimney were repeatedly 
 voted down, but by 1827, during an extremely cold snap, 
 it became so evident that the enemy could not be success- 
 fully frozen out, that they wisely resolved to fight the Devil 
 with fire and thus turned the tables on the adversary.* 
 
 The warming of the meeting-houses brought about the 
 disuse of Sabbath-day houses, which had been for nearly 
 
 * See Note 6.
 
 108 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 two hundred years the retreat of half-frozen worshippers 
 from out of town, during the noon interval between the 
 Sunday services. At least one of these refuges stood upon 
 the Green, a little east of the Fair Haven Church, perhaps 
 as late as 1800. 
 
 To Trinity also the worshipping congregations of New 
 Haven are indebted for first placing a clock directly in front 
 of the preacher to remind him that time is a matter of 
 interest as well as eternity. The handsome clock which 
 adorns the gallery front in Trinity Church, with a carved 
 figure in gilt representing David playing on a harp, was the 
 first time-piece set up in any New Haven church interior, 
 and was given to the church by the architect, Mr. Ithiel 
 Towne. The story is that Mr. Towne, who had previously 
 been identified with the First Society, had intended to give 
 this clock to the Center Church, but owing to some dis- 
 agreement with the Society changed his mind and not only 
 gave the clock to Trinity but always attended service there 
 afterwards. It is said that this incident deeply impressed 
 the First Church with a conviction that brethren ought to 
 dwell together in peace and harmony, and that they sang 
 thereafter with pathetic unction the hymn containing the 
 lines: 
 
 Let all our hearts in tune be found 
 Like David's harp of solemn sound. 
 
 The changes which have gradually crept into Puritan 
 usages and forms of worship through the influence of the 
 Episcopal Church are so familiar that they hardly need be 
 enumerated. One of the first in order was the discontinu- 
 ance of standing in prayer, a custom universal for men, 
 women and children less than a hundred years ago. Under 
 Mr. Davenport's ministry it was a local custom for the 
 congregation to rise and remain standing during the read- 
 ing of the text. It does not appear when this practice 
 ceased, but Mr. Barber says that as late as 1815, if two 
 clergymen were in a New Haven pulpit during service, it
 
 
 TRINITY CHURCH. 
 Built 1815.
 
 RELIGIOUS AND ECCLESIASTICAL ARENA. 109 
 
 was usual for the one who did not officiate to rise while 
 the other announced the text of the discourse. The general 
 observance of Church holy days and anniversaries is another 
 important change. Christmas, Good Friday and Easter 
 are now recognized as religious occasions by all denomi- 
 nations, and Lent is also piously observed, at least as a 
 season of social tranquility, literary lectures, and the prepa- 
 ration of Easter millinery. These innovations, which one 
 hundred years ago would have been regarded as little short 
 of Roman Catholicism, and also the growing use of various 
 portions of the Episcopal liturgy in Congregational wor- 
 ship, are among the borrowed graces by which New Eng- 
 land Puritanism is being progressively mellowed and 
 enriched. If imitation is flattery, the Episcopal Church 
 may well feel a worthy gratification in observing the move- 
 ment of all Protestant denominations toward the general 
 adoption of its venerable and noble ritual. Not less 
 heartily must every friend of Christian unity rejoice to see 
 each partition dissolve which tends to separate different 
 sects or obscure the common ground on which they stand. 
 
 Early and later Church Music. 
 
 The allusion to organs and choirs suggests a reference to 
 the different styles of church music which have enlivened the 
 meeting-houses on the Green from 1640 down to modern 
 times. Unfortunately the church and society records of 
 New Haven, unlike those of many New England towns, 
 throw little light on the subject and none at all before 1771. 
 So far as can now be ascertained, the Sternhold and 
 Hopkins collection of psalms was the only singing book 
 used until about the time of the Revolution, when it was 
 supplanted by Dr. Watts' version, and Dr. Dwight's Revi- 
 sion of Watts succeeded in the year 1800. The custom of 
 "lining out" or reading each line of the psalm before it was 
 sung was followed until 1774 if not later. It was abolished 
 in the White Haven church in that year. Probably also
 
 1 10 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 in the exercise of singing, each member of the congregation 
 followed his own ideas of time and tune according to the 
 general practice of New England churches until after the 
 Revolution. The singing school of New England social 
 circles was an institution unknown to the earlier period, 
 and very few choirs were organized until after 1750. 
 Before that time it was said by a contemporary writer: "No 
 two men in the congregation quaver alike or together, and 
 it sounds in the ears of a good judge like five hundred 
 different tunes roared out at,the same time with perpetual 
 interferings with one another." A violent controversy 
 finally sprung up throughout New England between two 
 parties in church music, the one demanding the use of notes 
 or "singing by rule," the other resisting the innovation on 
 the ground that "singing by rule would be followed by 
 praying by rule, and preaching by rule; and then comes 
 popery." 
 
 If this agitation reached New Haven, there is no tradi- 
 tion of it. Possibly the use of Sternhold and Hopkins' 
 instead of the Bay State Psalm Book may have prevented 
 its necessity, as the former was not only far superior to the 
 other in literary merit, but frequently contained musical 
 notes. Perhaps the existence of the college here may have 
 occasioned a better knowledge and practice of music than in 
 most other towns, for we learn from Dr. Stiles' diary that 
 at some of the special services there was "singing by the 
 students." The first record of a church choir appeared in 
 1771, when the White Haven Church voted "that those 
 persons who are singers in the congregation be desired to 
 sit m the gallery together." A committee on music was 
 also appointed and a number of tunes selected which should 
 alone be used. In 1777 Andrew Law of Cheshire advertised 
 "a collection of Psalm Tunes for use in Public Worship." 
 In 1786 Daniel Reade published the "American Singing" 
 Book in New Haven. In 1794, the First Ecclesiastical 
 Society appropriated nine pounds for promoting instruc- 
 tion in singing conditioned on the other ecclesiastical 
 societies doing the same.
 
 RELIGIOUS AND ECCLESIASTICAL ARENA. Ill 
 
 From this time, if not earlier, choir singing superseded 
 congregational singing. Singing schools became the chief 
 social dissipation, and the gallery entered on its career as 
 a rival of the pulpit for the principal honors of the service. 
 As the choir developed in numbers and skill it naturally 
 became more aspiring. It assumed independence in its 
 sphere of action and aimed to monopolize the praising func- 
 tion entirely, selecting tunes which defied the ability of the 
 congregation to follow, and indulging in artistic flights 
 which scandalized the conservatives as awful exhibitions 
 of "unsanctified singing." It was useless, however, to 
 resist the march of musical progress, and in all attempts 
 to do so the choir invariably came off triumphant. Thus 
 in 1830 a majority of the United Church rose in opposition 
 to the organ interludes and voted that "the symphonies be 
 suspended for the ensuing year." The order had as little 
 effect as the pope's bull against the comet, and at the next 
 annual meeting the church only ventured humbly to sug- 
 gest that "the symphonies be shortened." 
 
 The choir of the Center Church had no organ till 1856, 
 but the want was more than made up by a wonderful 
 orchestra of wind and stringed instruments, which Dr. 
 Bacon appropriately designated "Nebuchadnezzar's band." 
 The chorister for many years \vas Ailing Brown, and under 
 the guidance of his enrapturing fiddle, the achievements 
 of his devoted followers were often grand and moving in 
 the extreme. The great effort of the Sunday exercises was 
 concentrated on the afternoon voluntary, which opened the 
 service, and on which the choir had been carefully practic- 
 ing through the previous week. "Expression" was their 
 strong point, and few who remember those days will ever 
 forget their impressive rendering of Dr. Watts' beautiful 
 Psalm, beginning, 
 
 Let all the heathen writers join 
 
 To make a perfect book; 
 Great God! when once compared with thine 
 
 How mean their writings look!
 
 112 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 The first two lines were given with a bold self-confident 
 air, reflecting the vainglory of the heathen writers, and 
 their dismal failure was expressed by a derisive tone, fol- 
 lowed by a snort of the trombone, highly expressive of con- 
 tempt. Another noble stanza from Dr. Watts' collection 
 afforded a fine opportunity for variety of expression, the 
 music commencing with a lofty, heroic style, followed by 
 a halting movement of hesitation and alarm, and closing 
 with an air of pathos befitting the painful climax: 
 
 So Samson, when his hair was lost, 
 Met the Philistines to his cost! 
 Shook his vain limbs with sad surprise, 
 Made feeble fight, and lost his eyes! 
 
 Alas! the old-fashioned hymn-book and the volunteer 
 choir of fifty years ago are gone, and with them are gone 
 those soul-inspiring flights of feeling and harmony. With 
 the growth of musical knowledge and taste the praising of 
 God is now accomplished by salaried singers, who are 
 selected for their ability to give the church a preeminence 
 for artistic music and to fill it with appreciative audiences 
 and rent-paying pewholders. Their Sunday programs 
 are advertised in advance and their performances are made 
 the subject of careful and critical comment by the news- 
 papers, as if they were a public entertainment and not a 
 solemn service of worship; a strange confusion of ideas 
 and one entirely inexcusable because no money is taken at 
 the door. 
 
 The Four Meeting-Jwuses. 
 
 If now we look backwards over this review of New 
 Haven Green as a religious and ecclesiastical arena, there 
 pass before our mental vision the four successive meeting- 
 houses of the original church as the most prominent land- 
 marks in the retrospect; and we observe that each of them 
 is associated with a distinct stage of progress in the mutual 
 relations of church and state. The first rude and rickety
 
 THE CENTER CHURCH. 
 Built 1812.
 
 RELIGIOUS AND ECCLESIASTICAL ARENA. 113 
 
 building, which stood from 1640 to 1670, was almost 
 exactly contemporary with the period when church and 
 state were identical, and fitly typified that crude and 
 unstable polity. Structurally weak from the outset, both 
 building and polity fell speedily into dilapidation, and both 
 collapsed together. The second meeting-house, lasting 
 from 1670 to 1757, was coeval with the dominance of a 
 single ecclesiastical order in the civil government, and sym- 
 bolized that era by its sole occupancy of the public square, 
 its mingled secular and religious aspect and uses, and by 
 its square ugliness without and its barren formalism 
 within. When the third meeting-house was finished in 
 1 757> a third stage had been reached in the ecclesiastical 
 and civil history of Connecticut. The religious establish- 
 men was no longer confined to a single denomination. 
 New orders had begun to be recognized as legitimate 
 offshoots of the parent stock, and while the old Brick 
 Meeting-house remained, additional branches were grafted 
 upon the original stem to share in its legal recogni- 
 tion and privileges. The influence of these different com- 
 munions upon each other was beneficial to all. Mutual 
 observation tended to strengthen the tone of religious life, 
 to make it less formal, more spiritual and earnest, broader 
 and more progressive. The Brick Meeting-house, in con- 
 trast with its predecessor, illustrated these growing graces 
 as well as this divided supremacy. Its outward appearance 
 was more comely and more expressive of devotional uses. 
 Moreover, it no longer monopolized the Green, and though 
 the Brick and Fair Haven Meeting-houses always continued 
 to confront each other in pugnacious attitude, they gradu- 
 ally lost their mutual acerbity, and by the time they passed 
 away were ready to rest lovingly, side by side, as their 
 successors have done ever since. By that time also, both 
 were ready to welcome their sister Trinity to her new home 
 on the Green as an acceptable member of the family group. 
 But the time had now arrived when the people had out- 
 grown the system of a state religion and the three churches
 
 114 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 on the Green had hardly been erected when the institution 
 was overthrown. Since 1818 church and state have been 
 completely disassociated, to the unspeakable advantage of 
 both. Religion, freed from political trammels, has out- 
 grown its sectarian jealousies and, with more elevated aims, 
 has advanced with an ever-widening activity in the service 
 of God and man. Of this free, hopeful and brotherly 
 Christianity, illustrated by all denominations and by every 
 individual church, the fourth house of worship in our his- 
 torical series, that which pertains to the old First Church, 
 the mother of all the rest, by its central position on the 
 Green, its dominating spire, its happy combination of archi- 
 tectural dignity and grace, its historic tablets and memorials 
 and its crypt filled with common ancestral tombs, seems to 
 speak for all communions alike, and to extend to all alike 
 its maternal greeting and benediction. 
 
 If we were to write upon each of these four successive 
 temples of the ancient church an inscription, expressive of 
 the spirit toward other forms of faith, which most distin- 
 guished its period, we should write upon the first one 
 "INTOLERANCE;" upon the second, "JEALOUSY;" upon the 
 third, "RECOGNITION," and upon the fourth, "FELLOW- 
 SHIP." 
 
 And when the present edifice crumbles away, as in time 
 it must, shall its place upon the Green remain forever 
 vacant? Rather let that spot, consecrated to religion from 
 the dawn of New Haven's history, be preserved as hallowed 
 ground! Let another temple arise there and a new inscrip- 
 tion be written upon it a temple noble and enduring in 
 architecture; a temple always open, and filled with the 
 harmony of a universal form of worship; a temple with 
 portals wide enough to admit all sincere believers of every 
 name, who worship the common Father in spirit and in 
 truth, and let the word that it bears be "UNION!"
 
 NOTES TO PAPER No. III. 
 
 NOTE i (page 87). 
 
 Mr. Pierpont married Abigail Davenport October 27th, 1691. On 
 the Sabbath after her wedding she attended meeting in her bridal dress, 
 according to the fashion of the time, took cold, and died of consump- 
 tion about three months later, February 3d, 1692. His second wife was 
 a granddaughter of Gov. Haynes of Hartford, and his third, Mary 
 Hooker, was a granddaughter of Rev. Thomas Hooker, the founder 
 of Hartford. She lived till 1640 and her daughter Sarah married 
 Jonathan Edwards, the eminent metaphysician and divine. 
 
 NOTE 2 (page 89). 
 
 In January, 1698, the town voted to build a new meeting-house of 
 stone or brick 60 feet long, 50 feet wide and 20 feet high, for 500, but 
 as nobody would take the contract it was decided to enlarge the old 
 one "by adding 16 or 20 feet on ye side next ye burial place." In the 
 two following years (1699 and 1700) there were numerous improve- 
 ments in the exterior and interior of the building, and pews introduced 
 "back of the pulpit," which were let with the privilege reserved to the 
 town of filling the pews if the holders did not do so. There were 
 "side galaries" and a "galary behind the pulpit" and in 1727 an 
 additional gallery was placed above the others. The bell rope hung 
 down through a hole in the center of the ceiling. Dr. Bacon is in 
 error in supposing that the gallery stairs may have been outside. 
 There were applications made and refused to build private pews "under 
 the stairs to the men's galary," and "under the stairs to the woman's 
 galary," and the constables were directed to prevent excessive noise 
 in the use of the gallery stairs. 
 
 NOTE 3 (page 89). 
 
 The subject of seats in the meeting-house was a fruitful subject of 
 discussion in town meeting for many years before 1700. A seating 
 committee was annually appointed, but there were complaints that 
 people took seats assigned to others and got into the "soldiers seats." 
 After the enlargement of the meeting-house in 1700 it was thought a 
 good time to revise the subject and the rule was laid down as stated in 
 the text, and at the same time the dignity of the different seats was 
 duly graded by vote. "The civil authority and the two deacons"
 
 116 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 were then appointed a seating committee who at a subsequent meeting 
 "published what they had done to ye towne" and their report was 
 accepted. This is the last reference in the town records to the seating 
 of people in the meeting-house. In 1715 the town was divided into 
 two ecclesiastical societies of which "The First Ecclesiastical Society" 
 comprised substantially what is now embraced in the town limits. 
 Thereafter matters relating to religious worship, schools, etc. are found 
 in the records of the First Ecclesiastical Society. From these it 
 appears that seats were assigned to persons by name as late as 1719 and 
 probably later. Students were placed in the galleries. A few private 
 pews were allowed before the Brick Meeting-house was built in 1757, 
 and more were permitted in that building, but they gave great occasion 
 for unpleasant feeling and several sharp society votes through the 
 inhospitable conduct of the owners. The Society made several 
 attempts to buy them in but failed to accomplish it. In 1784 it voted 
 to convert some of "the men's seats" and "the women's seats" into 
 pews and to rent them annually, reserving the right to fill them if the 
 lessees did not. 
 
 NOTE 4 (page 100). 
 
 The story as handed down by tradition is that the officer permitted 
 a cargo of lumber for the Center Church to pass quite readily on 
 learning that it was for a religious edifice. The second cargo was 
 also passed, but with some suspicion, on the assurance that it was for 
 another church; but when a third cargo intended for Trinity appeared 
 with the story that it was for a Church of England church he was 
 found very difficult to persuade, but finally yielded with the compli- 
 ment quoted in the text. Since this paper was written, however, Mr. 
 E. C. Beecher has found and printed some documents which show that 
 permission to convey the lumber for Trinity was obtained from Capt. 
 Paget before it was shipped. 
 
 NOTE 5 (page 106). 
 
 Dr. Bacon says that the spire of the first Trinity Church was sur- 
 mounted by a crown which remained until the removal of the church 
 in 1817. A picture of the church which was taken after 1813 shows no 
 such decoration. 
 
 NOTE 6 (page 107). 
 
 Cold churches before the present century were not exclusively a 
 Puritan institution. Churches were not then warmed in England for 
 the same reason which applied here, viz., there were no means of doing 
 it. Fire-places were impracticable and stoves had not come into use. 
 It was not until a later period that freezing during divine service was 
 made a matter of principle.
 
 FIRST TRINITY CHURCH. 
 Built 1753 Removed 1817. 
 yrary Painting in possession of Trinity Parish
 
 IV. 
 
 THE GREEN AS A FIELD OF MILITARY PARADES 
 AND COUNCILS. 
 
 In the memorial window which adorns the west wall of 
 the Center Church, the artist has introduced among the 
 typical figures surrounding the preacher, that of a soldier 
 in armor. The representation is appropriate, not merely as 
 a feature of the scene depicted and with relation to the few 
 years immediately following the settlement of New Haven, 
 but for the more than two centuries and a half which have 
 since elapsed. During the whole period of its history, not 
 a generation has passed away without beholding the soldier 
 armed and enrolled for actual conflict, marching forth from 
 our public square. As introductory, therefore, to the mili- 
 tary records of the Green, let me briefly recapitulate the 
 successive wars in which New Haven has borne an active 
 part, and to which successively for more than two hundred 
 years it has sent forth its soldiers from the market place. 
 
 For the first twenty years after 1638, the military force of 
 the colony was kept in constant readiness for active service, 
 and was frequently drawn upon to aid in quelling Indian 
 hostilities and disturbances. During the same period, also, 
 there was a standing controversy, always verging on war, 
 with the Dutch at New Netherlands, and in 1653, England 
 being then at war with Holland, New Haven assisted in 
 organizing a hostile expedition against these neighbors, 
 which was only prevented from moving by the conclusion 
 of peace in Europe. In 1673, another expedition was 
 made ready against the Dutch, to which New Haven con- 
 tributed its quota of men, but again peace was declared in 
 time to prevent its departure. Two years later came King 
 Philip's war, with subsequent Indian hostilities not repressed 
 for several years. From 1689 to 1697 was the war known
 
 118 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 to our forefathers as "King William's war;" the first of the 
 long series of French and Indian wars which harassed New 
 England for more than half a century. In 1702 came the 
 second of the French and Indian wars, commonly desig- 
 nated "Queen Anne's war," which lasted till 1711. In 1739 
 began "King George's war" with Spain, in which France 
 joined in in 1744, and which continued till 1748. In 1754 
 commenced what our grandfathers called "The Old French 
 war" to distinguish it from the two subsequent wars with 
 England, all of which were still fresh in their memories or 
 traditions. This lasted till 1763. The Revolution fol- 
 lowed in 1775 and ended in 1783. Then ensued a period 
 of twenty-nine years, the most of which (from 1798 to 1812) 
 could scarcely be called years of peace, since an embroilment 
 little short of actual warfare continually existed against both 
 France and Great Britain, culminating in war with Great 
 Britain in 1812. In 1815 began thirty years of peace, 
 except for hostilities waged against Indian tribes, lasting 
 until the Mexican war commenced in 1845. This ended in 
 1848, and hardly thirteen years were suffered to elapse before 
 the great rebellion drove the nation into fratricidal strife. 
 Thus every generation in our history has been called to drink 
 more or less frequently and deeply from the bloody cup of 
 war. Since the last shot in the rebellion was fired, thirty 
 years of peace have barely passed away, and again the 
 shadow of war returns to hover over our land.* Let us 
 hope that out of the darkness may arise a new light the 
 light of arbitration in all national disputes, and the dawning 
 of a better day. May demoniac war be buried in the grave 
 of the nineteenth century, and when the new-born twentieth 
 smiles upon the world, may its message from heaven to all 
 mankind be "Peace." 
 
 Peace! and no longer from its brazen portals 
 
 The blasts of war's harsh organ shake the skies! 
 But beautiful as songs of the immortals 
 The holy melodies of love arise! 
 
 * See Note i at the end of this Paper.
 
 FIELD OF MILITARY PARADES AND COUNCILS. 119 
 
 Early Military Regulations. 
 
 What military organization was maintained in New 
 Haven Colony during the first year of its existence is 
 unknown. The isolated situation of the settlement, within 
 easy reach of the powerful and restless tribes of eastern 
 Connecticut on one side and of eastern New York on the 
 other, to say nothing of the less dangerous aboriginals in 
 its own neighborhood, no doubt caused a degree of war- 
 like preparation and alertness to be maintained. It is cer- 
 tain that, in view of such necessity, the settlers had been 
 careful to bring with them from Boston several veterans 
 of previous Indian wars, and after the civil government had 
 been established, these were formally invested with military 
 commands. The first act of the Colonial government was 
 to decapitate an Indian ; its second was to begin a meeting- 
 house and the third to organize a military force. 
 
 On the 25th of November, 1639, it was ordered "that 
 every one that beares armes shall be compleately furnished 
 with armes viz: a muskett, a sword, bandoliers, a rest, a 
 pound of powder, 20 bulletts fitted to their muskett, or four 
 pounds of pistoll shott or swan shott at least, and be ready 
 to show them in the markett place upon Monday, the i6th 
 of this month [meaning the month following] before Capt. 
 Turner and Lieut. Seely under penalty of 2Os fine for 
 default or absence." The review and inspection which 
 took place under this order, December 16, 1639, begins the 
 military history of the Green, and also the history of the 
 Second Regiment of the Connecticut National Guard. 
 The force then organized was known for many years as 
 "the train band," and numbered in the beginning about 
 two hundred men. It was at first divided into four squad- 
 rons, each under the command of a sergeant; the com- 
 missioned officers being a captain, a lieutenant, and an 
 antient or standard bearer. Every man was required to 
 supply himself with some kind of a shooting iron, whether
 
 120 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 matchlock or firelock, with all appurtenances complete, and 
 to keep the same in perfect condition. The town owned a 
 supply of pikes, which it kept in a chest in the meeting- 
 house, while several barrels of powder with other military 
 property were stowed away in the prison. Uniforms there 
 were none at first, though probably the officers wore the 
 helmet and breastplate of the period, but in 1643 the Court, 
 in view of impending Indian hostilities, ordered "that every 
 famyly within this plantacion shall have a coate of cotton 
 woole, well and substantially made so as itt may be fitt for 
 service, and that in convenient time the taylours see it be 
 done." These coats were intended as a defensive armor 
 against Indian arrows, but whether they proved as useful 
 as they must have been ornamental does not appear. It 
 was not long, however, before the Indians were supplied 
 with muskets, which so "knocked the stuffing" out of the 
 coats that in 1673 the town voted to sell its whole supply 
 for what they would bring. 
 
 The first commander of the New Haven army was Capt. 
 Nathaniel Turner, who in 1640 was chosen by the General 
 Court "to be Captain and to have the command and order- 
 ing of all martial affairs of the Plantation." He held 
 this office until 1645, when he departed for England in 
 Lamberton's ship, which was never afterwards heard from. 
 On his departure Mr. Malbone was chosen to fill his place 
 during his absence, Robert Seely was appointed lieutenant 
 and Francis Newman "antient," or ensign. Four ser- 
 geants and four corporals were also chosen. In selecting 
 officers our pious forefathers rated church membership as 
 the most important qualification for military command. 
 The General Court in 1661 declared: "We cannot be per- 
 suaded to commit our more mighty civil or military trusts 
 into the hands of either a crafty Ahithopell or a bloody 
 Joab, though such should seem to be better accomplished 
 with either natural or acquired abilities above those that 
 are as well lawful as intituled freemen."
 
 THE TROWBRIDGE MEMORIAL WINDOW 
 In west wall of the Center Church.
 
 FIELD OF MILITARY PARADES AND COUNCILS. 121 
 
 There was one conspicuous military personage, however, 
 for whom neither piety nor orthodoxy was indispensable. 
 This was the drummer, who in his military capacity com- 
 prised in his single person an entire regimental band. As 
 a civil functionary holding the office of town drummer, he 
 was still more multifarious, being town clock, meeting- 
 house bell, and public morning rooster all in one. His 
 duties were to attend all squadron and general trainings, 
 to beat the call for all meetings of the General Court, and 
 for all religious gatherings on Sundays and week days, 
 to summon the watch at sunset, and to beat a reveille "half 
 an hour before day in the market place and some of the 
 streets." To promote punctuality and social enjoyment in 
 his use of the last named privilege the watch was ordered "to 
 call him an hour before day, and to walk with him as a 
 guard while he continues beating." The most distinguished 
 incumbent of this responsible office was Robert Bassett, 
 a jolly Yorkshireman, whose proclivity for jovial com- 
 panionship and the use of exhilarants other than the spirit- 
 stirring drum brought him occasionally before the magis- 
 trates' courts, where he was wont "to face the music" in a 
 somewhat sturdy manner. The authorities were compelled 
 to treat him gingerly lest an interruption of his official 
 functions should derange the whole civil and military 
 machinery of the commonwealth; but his growing incom- 
 patibility of temperament with "a state whose design was 
 religion" led him to migrate to Stamford, where he speedily 
 joined with other malcontents in drumming up opposition 
 to the established order of churchly government. For 
 this he was arrested and brought to trial at New Haven as 
 a seditious conspirator, and incarcerated in the prison house 
 directly over the powder magazine. There, with neither 
 fire, pipe nor toddy to sustain his zeal, his ardor as a con- 
 stitutional expounder soon cooled, and on making a humble 
 submission he was released with a warning. The next 
 year, partly from policy and partly on account of his 
 thumping professional merits, he was appointed chief drum-
 
 122 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 mer of the forces then being raised against the Dutch. The 
 appointment had at least the effect of keeping him quiet, 
 and thereafter Robert bobs up in the records no more. 
 
 Among the martial materials owned by the town were 
 half a dozen small iron cannons, which had been brought 
 from Boston, and are respectfully referred to in the records 
 as "the Great Gunnes."* In 1645 a volunteer artillery 
 company was formed and the Court ordered that "Henry 
 Peck and Old Bassett should sett the Great Gunnes upon 
 good strong carryadges." Three of these "Gunnes" appear 
 to have been kept on the market place near the watch- 
 house and presumably the artillery company were exercised 
 in the use of them. All soldiers were also trained to use 
 the pikes, which were kept "in the meeting-house chest" 
 and in broad-sword and cudgel practice. A shooting range 
 was established at Oystershell Fields, which was a tract 
 of 40 acres east of Union street, bounded southerly by the 
 water, and prizes were established for the best marksmen. 
 
 Training days were frequent and attendance was encour- 
 aged by fines, which were unflinchingly levied and collected. 
 As other inducements it was ordered that the soldiers, in 
 the intervals of drill, "doe exercise themselves in running, 
 wrastling, leaping and the like manly exercises," and to 
 complete their round of hilarity it was requested that "the 
 ruling elders should speake to the souldiers something by 
 way of exhortation to quicken them to a conscientious 
 attendance to their duty." After the military exercises of 
 the day were over, and the elder had concluded his pious 
 exhortation and the men had run and wrastled and leaped 
 to the full extent of their legal obligations, they were 
 permitted to indulge in the more frivolous amusements of 
 "stole bale, nine pins, quaites and such like games" if they 
 had time or spirit left to do so. 
 
 * See Note 2.
 
 FIELD OF MILITARY PARADES AND COUNCILS. 123 
 
 The Colony Colors. 
 
 Although an "antient" or standard-bearer was from the 
 first appointed by the General Court both for the infantry 
 and artillery companies, there were, for some reason 
 unknown, no colors provided for several years. In May, 
 1647, Capt. Malbone "propounded to the Court that seeing 
 the towne had no cullors for the Traine Band that therefore 
 the towne would pay for, part of them and let the artillery 
 have the use of them." The proposal, however, did not 
 meet with favor, and "it was respited." The artillery 
 company therefore with proper spirit purchased colors at 
 its own expense and used them in the town trainings, and 
 in 1648 the town adopted them as the town colors and paid 
 their cost. Why this delay and hesitation on the part of 
 the colony in adopting military colors and what were the 
 colors finally adopted? The answer to these questions is 
 perhaps connected with a bit of Massachusetts history. 
 
 Three years before the New Haven colonists left Boston, 
 John Endicott had cut the cross out of the king's colors 
 borne by the colonial troops, as a papistical emblem, and 
 though the magistrates disapproved the act at first they 
 afterwards accepted it, and the cross was left out of the 
 Massachusetts colonial standard until 1651. At that date 
 the Puritans had come into control of the English govern- 
 ment, and as they had not seen fit to alter the national 
 ensign, the prejudice in Massachusetts abated, and the 
 General Court "considering that the English ensign is 
 distinctive of nationality and as such necessary to be recog- 
 nized and used," voted that the "English colors should be 
 raised on the castle till the state of England shall alter the 
 same which we much desier." New Haven Colony was in 
 close political and religious sympathy with Massachusetts, 
 and possibly the authorities prior to 1647 were in doubt 
 whether to adopt "the King's colors" with the cross or 
 without it, and so deferred action till the artillery company
 
 124 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 settled the question for itself. Presumably the standard 
 adopted by the company was the Union ensign of Great 
 Britain, established in 1606, consisting of the conjoined 
 crosses of St. George and St. Andrew on a blue ground. 
 Presumably also the cross was left in, as we have no intima- 
 tion to the contrary. We know that in the same year 
 (1647) Gov. Eaton caused the king's arms to be carved in 
 wood and set up on the seashore as a warning against 
 encroachments by the Dutch. He would not be likely to 
 mutilate the device in such a case, and possibly the necessity 
 for a colonial sign-board may have influenced the decision 
 with respect to the colonial banner. 
 
 In 1656 a cavalry corps numbering sixteen troopers was 
 organized in New Haven Colony. Of these New Haven 
 furnished six men and horses and the other towns of the 
 colony the rest. The troopers of each plantation were 
 required to exercise themselves and their horses in mili- 
 tary movements at home and to meet in general training at 
 New Haven four times a year. This company does not 
 appear to have proved a success and was disbanded in 1664. 
 
 The train band of New Haven was not allowed to rust in 
 idleness, and the Green as a field of Mars was put to abund- 
 ant use. Squadron or company trainings were had on the 
 market place at first every week, and afterwards every two 
 months. General reviews were held six times a year in 
 which between two hundred and three hundred soldiers 
 paraded as infantry and artillery, to say nothing of the sixteen 
 rampant troopers on their bucolic steeds, all fully arrayed 
 in warlike panoply. As all the infantry and artillery com- 
 panies were well armed, drilled and disciplined, the Green 
 on these occasions must have presented a martial appear- 
 ance. In addition to these trainings and parades one com- 
 pany of soldiers was required to attend public worship every 
 Sabbath, lecture, and fast day with arms complete. The 
 standing order was that "they be at the meeting-house 
 before the second drum hath left beating, their gunnes 
 ready charged with a fitt proportion of match for match
 
 FIELD OF MILITARY PARADES AND COUNCILS. 125 
 
 locks and flints ready fitted in their firelock pieces and 
 shott and powder for five or six charges at the least." If 
 this order was complied with there must have been on each 
 Sunday at the meeting-house an armed guard of at least 
 fifty men. Seats were provided for them near the door. 
 Sentinels were posted in the market place and patrols 
 walked the streets. And it was ordered that "the door of 
 the meeting-house next the souldiers' seats should be kept 
 clear of women and children sitting there, that if there be 
 occasion for the souldiers to goe suddenly forth they may 
 have a free passage." 
 
 Attendance at the meeting-house must have been the 
 hardest part of the soldiers' duties, and doubtless they often 
 fervently wished for a blood-curdling war whoop under the 
 windows as an agreeable variation of the service. Failing 
 in this relief, they occasionally indulged in a little private 
 warfare among themselves. In June, 1662, William Payne 
 "informed the court that at the last day of humiliation he 
 saw great disorders in the souldiers' seats, laughing, 
 struggling and pulling of a hatte from one to another, and 
 also he heard that Mrs. Goodyear's Boy had his head broke 
 that day." Brother Lines confirmed the dreadful tale, and 
 "Brother Elsy said that a woman did so speake that she 
 never saw such disorders, and that she doubted that the 
 wrath of God would be brought upon us." The Court, 
 greatly scandalized, made rigid inquiry. Sam Potter, one 
 of the inculpated warriors, was charged with having been 
 asleep, and when awakened by John Hitchcock, acknowl- 
 edging the attention by a vigorous kick. Sam Potter 
 replied that "he was not asleep, but that not feeling well 
 he was leaning over the bench and that John Hitchcock 
 knocked him many times, and Stephen Parsons threw 
 pieces of lime at him which did provoke him." Consider- 
 able testimony having been taken, Sam Potter was told by 
 the Court that it did not plainly appear whether he was 
 asleep or not, but that he should avenge himself by kicking 
 was very evill, though it was seen that he was little sensible
 
 126 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 of it." At this hint Sam penitently professed that "he was 
 sorry he should so carry it as to kick him and desired to see 
 his evill, and was sensible of his sinn," and concluded with 
 the unmilitary vow that "for all time to come he should 
 never lift up hand or foot against any." Whereupon "the 
 Court was pleased to pass it by." Stephen Parsons, how- 
 ever, who acknowledged "that he did lie along the seat in 
 an uncomely manner" and "that there was striving between 
 John Clarke and himself aboute a hatte in time of divine 
 service," was roundly lectured, and two others were sen- 
 tenced to be corporally whipped. At the intercession of 
 friends, however, and on promises of future good behavior, 
 the punishment was remitted. 
 
 The Town Watch. 
 
 The regular duties of the militia were not limited to 
 parades, reviews and attendance upon public worship. The 
 whole force was divided into night watches of six men each, 
 besides a master of each watch; the number being increased 
 in times of special danger. Every night at sundown the 
 drum was beaten and within half an hour the master of the 
 watch must be "at the Court of Guard" (meaning the room 
 which was used for headquarters in the watch-house) and 
 the rest of the watch within one hour after sunset. The 
 watchmen were required to patrol the streets in couples, 
 to arrest all suspicious or disorderly persons and to give 
 an alarm in case of the approach of enemies or in case of 
 fire. It was found that patrolling the streets on dark nights 
 was attended with serious damage to shins, and numerous 
 breaches of the third commandment in consequence of 
 obstructions left on the walks, and in 1647 a town meeting 
 "propounded that men would clear wood and stones from 
 their pale sides that the watchmen on dark nights may safely 
 walk the rounds without being hurt." This was the first 
 sidewalk ordinance in New Haven, and it had the distin- 
 guished merit of being a sensible one.
 
 FIELD OF MILITARY PARADES AND COUNCILS. 127 
 
 The watch-house was located about opposite the present 
 site of Farnam Hall. It was commodious and had a fire- 
 place in it, and became a favorite lounging place of nights, 
 so that in 1652 the Court passed an order "forbidding all 
 persons to come there after the watch is sett, as is the 
 manner of some to doe, whereby they idle away the time 
 and hinder the watch in their service." Sleeping in the 
 watch-house was strictly forbidden and was punished by 
 fine when found out, as it occasionally was. An extract 
 from the records bearing on this point is interesting, 
 especially as it gives a glimpse of the Green as it appeared 
 on a moonlight night in May, 1653. In November of that 
 year, "Sam Hodgkins complayned of ye watch that one 
 night, about ye beginning of May last, he came from John 
 Harriman's late in ye night where he had been grinding 
 malt [John Harriman's was about where Traeger's Hotel 
 now stands on Chapel street, and Sam was crossing the 
 Green toward Elm street], and when he came aboute ye 
 great gunnes, ye moon shining bright, he saw ye sentinel 
 stand at ye watch-house corner; he marvelled that he spake 
 nott, so he passed on; but when he was almost at Mr. 
 Goodenhouse's [on Elm street near College] he thought 
 he had not done well that he spake nott to them; there- 
 fore went back and so neare ye sentinel as he thought 
 he might have struck him before he spake, and reproved 
 him for his carelessness in these dangerous times; but he 
 marvelled that upon his discourse with ye sentinel he heard 
 no stirring in ye watch-house; therefore went in and found 
 John Winton, ye master, asleep in ye chair and ye men 
 snortinge that he asked if they were driving hogges." The 
 charge of being asleep was vigorously denied by the master 
 and all his men, and as Sam's reputation was unsavory and 
 his motives in making the complaint suspicious, the Court 
 found the charge "not proved." The persons implicated, 
 however, kept an eye on Mr. Hodgkins, and it was not 
 many months before he was "complayned of because he 
 doth not attend ye public ordinances on ye Sabbath days
 
 128 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 nor attend ye order of ye towne in bringing his armes to 
 do service as the rest of ye squadron, but it is said stayeth 
 at home and sleepeth away his time." The record adds 
 that "he made sundry excuses, but all would not clear him, 
 wherefore he was seriously warned to take heed of this 
 disorder, for hereafter if complaints goe on of this kind he 
 will agayne be warned to ye court and find more sharp pro- 
 ceeding than now he doth." 
 
 Military Achievements of New Haven Colony. 
 
 Of actual warfare, whether within or outside of its own 
 borders, New Haven Colony before its union with Con- 
 necticut saw but little. The aboriginals in its neighbor- 
 hood were not at all dangerous, but the warlike and 
 powerful tribes of eastern Connecticut and Rhode Island, 
 the Mohegans, the Niantics and the Narragansetts, con- 
 tinually stirred up as they were by restless agitators like 
 Uncus* and his rivals Canonicus, Pessacus and other cusses, 
 kept them constantly on the ragged edge of anxiety and it 
 was Lo here! and Lo there! all the time. At three different 
 times New Haven joined with the other colonies in 
 organized expeditions against their red-skinned neighbors. 
 A quota of six men was sent in 1644, about the same num- 
 ber in 1645 an(i sixteen in 1654. Besides these military 
 enterprises, the colony fitted out others which never 
 marched, the most important of which was one against the 
 Dutch in 1654, and to which this town contributed fifty 
 men. The object of this expedition was the capture and 
 annexation of Manhattan Island. New Haven was 
 enthusiastic for consolidation, and there was every prospect 
 of success, when the movement was frustrated by the sudden 
 conclusion of peace between England and Holland. It 
 does not appear that our forefathers appointed any day 
 
 *This is the spelling in the records. "Uncas" is a modern form of the
 
 FIELD OF MILITARY PARADES AND COUNCILS. 129 
 
 of thanksgiving for the blessing of peace, and the omission 
 will be fully approved of by some of us in the present 
 generation, however pacific we may be upon general prin- 
 ciples, whose prospective ownership of New York ancestral 
 building lots was then so unhappily blasted. 
 
 After 1660 the fear of Indian hostilities subsided, and in 
 consequence the rigor of military regulations was much 
 relaxed, and the town watch fell into disuse. On the 22d 
 of August, 1 66 1, there was a general parade of the New 
 Haven Colony train bands on the Green to assist in the 
 proclamation of Charles II. as King of Great Britain, and 
 the English provinces of North America; a performance 
 rather late in the day and more perfunctory than enthusi- 
 astic. In 1665 New Haven passed into the jurisdiction of 
 Connecticut, and thereafter her military records became 
 a part of Connecticut history. 
 
 King Philip's war began in 1675 an d lasted somewhat 
 over a year, during which period New Haven was kept in 
 a constant state of anxiety and alarm. Frequent calls were 
 made upon the town for soldiers, both horse and foot. The 
 town meetings chiefly' discussed measures of defence. 
 Palisades were erected around the settlement; the meeting- 
 house and other buildings were fortified, and a military 
 watch re-established in the market place and streets. 
 Sixty-three men were supplied by New Haven to the army 
 in the field, with a horse for every commisioned officer, and 
 one for every three enlisted men. These soldiers did gallant 
 service in the bloody assault on Narragansett Fort, twenty 
 being killed and wounded, besides their commander, Capt. 
 Seeley, who fell inside the fort. In August, 1676, a sloop 
 I from Rhode Island brought the joyful news that Philip was 
 dead, but for months afterward there were "rumors of 
 Indian stirrings and a noise of war reported," and the 
 militia were ordered to maintain the watch, and "to furnish 
 guards in their course for ye Sabbath days." It was several 
 years before the anxiety and excitement attending Philip's 
 war were over. Even as late as March, 1681, the town 
 
 9
 
 130 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 was thrown into a panic by news of "a great body of Indians 
 gathered up Hudson River," and it was urged in town 
 meeting that "ye appearing of ye blazing starr in ye winter 
 with ye reports of gunnes and drums heard by some, and 
 ye earthquake taken notis of in a neighboring town, may be 
 forerunners of some great change or judgment neare." A 
 committee was appointed on fortifications and the watch, 
 but at the next town meeting the blazing starre and the 
 earthquake were exonerated from suspicion, by the commit- 
 tee's report that there existed no real cause for alarm. 
 
 In 1690, following the accession of William and Mary, 
 the first French and Indian war commenced from the 
 direction of Canada, and New Haven rose promptly to the 
 situation. At a town meeting on the 3d of March, 1690, 
 the military watch was ordered to be renewed; the whole 
 body of soldiers were directed to bring their arms to 
 meeting on the Sabbath days; mounted scouts to be sent 
 out daily, and fortifications commenced. It was also voted 
 to draw out one-tenth of the listed soldiers to form part of 
 a flying army "to be commanded by such officers as the 
 Major General shall appoint with the approbation of the 
 major part of said flying army." This war lasted five years, 
 till 1697. During that period New Haven took part in 
 several abortive expeditions toward Canada. In 1697 the 
 town was called on for a company to go to New York to 
 defend it against an anticipated attack by the French fleet, 
 but the call appears to have been countermanded. 
 
 Another French and Indian war broke out in 1702, in 
 which New Haven quotas were called for at different times. 
 In 1711 the whole Connecticut contingent of three hundred 
 and fifty men, raised to co-operate in an attack on Canada, 
 made this town their place of rendezvous. Here also were 
 collected their arms, horses, equipments and supplies, and 
 for several weeks the market place and streets were filled 
 with the throngs and bustle of a military encampment. In 
 November news came of the failure of the expedition, but 
 the abundant cash which it had left behind it in New Haven
 
 FIELD OF MILITARY PARADES AND COUNCILS. 131 
 
 gave a silver lining to the cloud, and lent on the whole an 
 aspect of cheerfulness to the situation. 
 
 In 1739 again war's trumpet sounded across the market 
 place, calling for New Haven troops to take part in hostili- 
 ties between the mother country and Spain. The General 
 Assembly of that year organized the militia force of Con- 
 necticut into thirteen regiments; the companies from New 
 Haven, Branford, Milford and Derby composing the Second 
 Regiment. An official report in 1739 shows six companies 
 of the Second Regiment in New Haven, with a muster roll 
 of five hundred and eighty-eight men, while the whole 
 population of the town did not exceed four thousand in 
 number. 
 
 In the years 1740, 1741 and 1742 volunteers were called 
 for to join the expedition sent by the British government 
 in Admiral Vernon's fleet against Cartagena and Havana. 
 An expedition of mournful fame, not so much for its failure 
 in military achievement as on account of those fearful 
 ravages of pestilence in the harbor of Havana, which the 
 poet Thompson refers to in familiar lines: 
 
 You gallant Vernon saw 
 The miserable scene; and heard the groans 
 Of agonizing ships: From shore to shore 
 Heard nightly plunged amid the sullen waves 
 The frequent corse! While on each other fixed 
 In sad presage, the blank assistants seemed 
 Silent to ask whom Fate would next demand. 
 
 Doubtless the fever-wasted body of many a New Haven 
 boy fed the sharks along those fatal shores, for it is said 
 that out of one thousand Connecticut men who went away 
 not one hundred ever returned.* Three years later, how- 
 ever, all the woe of this calamitous experience was forgotten 
 in the joy of a glorious triumph. In 1745 was undertaken 
 the famous expedition against Louisburg, the Colonies 
 alone originating and conducting the enterprise. Con- 
 necticut sent eleven hundred men, of whom New Haven 
 
 * See Note 3.
 
 132 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 furnished her proportion, among her officers being David 
 Wooster and Nathan Whiting, who then gained their first 
 military laurels. The Connecticut troops sailed from New 
 London in April, and early in August came the thrilling 
 news that the renowned and impregnable fortress was 
 captured. No military success in Colonial history ever 
 aroused such joy and enthusiasm. Bells were rung, cannons 
 fired and bonfires blazed in the market place. New Eng- 
 land rum flowed in streams, and the glory of the achieve- 
 ment continued to be a favorite theme for discourse among 
 our ancestors for three generations. 
 
 In 1748 grim-visaged war re-smoothed his wrinkled 
 front, and left the land in quiet for several years; but in 
 1754 his features took a new contortive twist and intro- 
 duced the last and fiercest of the French and Indian wars. 
 It was during this eventful period that the names of Wooster 
 and Whiting were written large upon New Haven's roll of 
 fame as the earliest of her conspicuous military heroes. 
 Our soldiers' monument will never be complete till their 
 statues stand with those of Foote and Terry about its base 
 or take the place upon its shaft of those nondescript animals 
 which now adorn it. In 1755 Wooster was colonel of the 
 Third Connecticut Regiment, and Whiting lieutenant- 
 colonel of the Second, both of which regiments took part 
 in the expedition against Crown Point. 
 
 It was on the 25th of May of that year that Whiting had 
 his command drawn up on the Green in front of Mr. Noyes' 
 Meeting-house ready for their departure. One thing only 
 they lacked to give them a satisfactory send-off, and that 
 was a rousing sermon. In this they were not disappointed, 
 for Rev. Isaac Stiles then preached a discourse, of which 
 an imperfect copy is found in the College Library, and 
 which was fitted to stir the blood in the rafters of the 
 meeting-house. In a strain of fiery eloquence he conjured 
 the soldiers to "file off the rust of their firelocks, that 
 exquisitely contrived and tremendous instrument of death." 
 Also to "attend to the several beats of that great warlike
 
 FIELD OF MILITARY PARADES AND COUNCILS. 133 
 
 instrument the drum, and to the language of the shrill, high- 
 sounding trumpet, that noble, reviving and animating 
 sound." He painted a glowing vision of their prospective 
 achievements. "Fierce as young lions with undaunted 
 courage they wave their flaming faulchions, which make 
 frightful circles in the air; and the battered arms, bleeding 
 sculls and cloven trunks of the slain, together with the 
 dolorous groans and bellowing of the wounded, witness that 
 these were not wooden swords, but made of triple steel." 
 He depicts their Papist foes smitten by guilty consciences, 
 beginning to waver, but "the good soldiers of Jesus Christ 
 all the while shine with all the beauty and luster that inward 
 sanctity and outward charms lend to the heroes' look; and 
 fierce as a whirlwind down they drive the faithful edge of 
 their swords tearing" but here the tattered copy of the 
 sermon gives out as if it could no longer hold together 
 under the strain of so much eloquence; and we can only 
 presume that the preacher in closing assured his hearers, in 
 the \vords of a modern orator, that "the hand of Provi- 
 dence would smile on their cause and the God of victory 
 would perch upon their banners." 
 
 Happily in that campaign, victory did perch upon their 
 banners. It was the same campaign in which Gen. Phineas 
 Lyman of Connecticut, after the commander-in-chief, 
 William Johnson, had left the field, gained the splendid 
 victory at Fort Edward, for which Johnson was knighted, 
 while Lyman was not even mentioned in his dispatches. 
 In this fight, Whiting also showed conspicuous skill and 
 bravery, and though he received no recognition from the 
 British government, he was promoted by the General 
 Assembly to a colonelcy in the following year. As colonel 
 of the Second Regiment, he took part in the campaigns of 
 1758, '59, '60 and '61. Wooster, during the same period, 
 was in command of the Third Regiment, and many of the 
 officers and men under both commanders were from New 
 Haven and the neighboring towns.
 
 134: CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 During the old French war, the ecclesiastical conflict 
 between the Old-lights and New-lights was raging in New 
 Haven, and after Mr. Noyes' Meeting-house had covered 
 itself with glory by the sermon of Mr. Stiles to Col. 
 Whiting's regiment, it was no more than proper that the 
 Blue Meeting-house, which Col. Wooster attended, should 
 also have its innings. Accordingly in April, 1759, Col. 
 Wooster, on the day of marching with his command to join 
 Amherst's expedition against Canada, assembled his troops 
 on the Green and led them into the Blue Meeting-house 
 on the corner of Elm and Church streets, where they were 
 addressed by the Rev. Mr. Bird on "The Importance of the 
 Divine Presence with our Hosts." The sermon did not 
 make so much havoc with the enemy as that of Mr. Stiles, 
 and consequently the campaign was much longer and more 
 arduous, but it at last was crowned with success; and the 
 French power in Canada had been practically overthrown 
 before the New Haven troops returned and were mustered 
 out in the market place. 
 
 On the 23d of January, 1761, two troops of horse and 
 four companies of foot were drawn up "on the Great Square 
 before the Town House," which stood near the corner of 
 Elm and College streets. To this place of parade, escorted 
 by Capt. Peck's company of foot, came "His Honor, the 
 Governor, and the gentlemen of the Council, with many 
 other gentlemen of distinction, and there in the audience of 
 a numerous concourse the accession of His Sacred Majesty, 
 George the Third, was formally proclaimed amid three 
 general huzzas and a royal salute of twenty-one cannon." 
 The change of sovereign did not bring any relaxation of 
 the war; expeditions followed in 1761, 1762 and 1763, in 
 all of which Cols. Whiting and Wooster and other New 
 Haven soldiers bore honorable part.
 
 FIELD OF MILITARY PARADES AND COUNCILS. 135 
 
 During and after the Revolution. 
 
 After 1763 peace smiled again, and the Green had rest 
 from war till 1775. In April of that year, news of the 
 battle of Lexington and Concord arrived those lively 
 international athletic contests in which, as in the contests 
 of last fall in New York, the Yankees excelled in putting 
 the shot and the Britons in long-distance running. The 
 citizens at once assembled in the Brick Meeting-house to 
 consider the situation. Roger Sherman was chosen Mod- 
 erator and a warm debate ensued. A Committee of Safety 
 was appointed and before night the Second Company of 
 Foot Guards, then just organized, had held a meeting and, 
 with that alacrity for excursion trips which it still retains, 
 had voted to proceed immediately to Boston. The next 
 morning, fully armed and equipped, they assembled on the 
 Green. There were prayers and an address by Rev. 
 Jonathan Edwards, and then Capt. Arnold requested the 
 Selectmen to furnish a supply of powder for the expedition. 
 Those officials were disposed to demur, but on his assur- 
 ance that he would leave town as soon as he got it they 
 promptly handed him the keys of the powder house, and 
 begged him to help himself. The trip of the Guards to 
 Boston was a great success. They were much admired 
 in all the places through which they passed, and after their 
 arrival at the front, when on one occasion they pierced 
 the enemy's lines, under a flag of truce, an English officer 
 warmly declared that there was no body of men who made 
 so fine an appearance in the British army. 
 
 Whatever hesitation may have been felt at first by the 
 town with regard to an immediate and energetic support 
 of the patriot cause quickly disappeared. New military 
 companies were speedily organized; an artillery company, 
 two companies of householders and a company of Yale 
 College students. Committees of public safety and of 
 correspondence were formed and sat in continuous session;
 
 136 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 and the Court House was kept alive for months with fre- 
 quent town meetings, at which vote followed vote to 
 procure arms, equipments and powder; to establish bea- 
 cons, to fortify Black Rock and other places, and requesting 
 all persons who held to the king to leave town immediately. 
 In June, Col. Wooster's regiment paraded on the Green 
 under orders for New York, and their commander having 
 failed to find a minister to conduct a religious service, 
 marched his men into the Blue Meeting-house and offered 
 prayers himself for the success of their cause and their 
 enterprise. In July, Gen. Washington, in company with 
 Gen. Lee, on his way through town to take command of 
 the American army, stopped over night at Mr. Beers' 
 tavern on the corner of College and Chapel streets. Noah 
 Webster informs us that "the next morning the generals 
 reviewed the students' military company on the Green and 
 expressed their surprise and gratification at the expertness 
 with which they performed their exercises. The company 
 then escorted the generals as far as Neck Bridge, and this 
 was the first instance of that honor conferred on Gen. 
 Washington in New England." Mr. Webster adds: "It fell 
 to my humble lot to lead this company with music." 
 
 The most interesting military event which occurred on 
 the Green during the Revolutionary war, and the one 
 longest remembered by the people of New Haven, was the 
 celebration of Independence, July 5, 1779, by the British 
 troops, in place of the exercises previously planned by the 
 citizens. The day was ushered in by the ringing of bells 
 and the firing of cannon, but not exactly in the jubilant 
 way contemplated by the committee. The procession also 
 formed with promptitude, but instead of wending its course 
 leisurely around the Green, it made the best possible time 
 toward Hamden and North Haven. The out-of-town 
 visitors came more numerously than had been expected; 
 they were, however, warmly received in the suburbs by the 
 local militia and citizens; among the latter, President 
 Daggett mounted on his black mare and bearing a fowling
 
 FIELD OF MILITARY PARADES AND COUNCILS. 137" 
 
 piece, was conspicuous for the attentions which he bestowed 
 on the strangers and which they cordially recognized 
 by an urgent invitation to accompany them. The line of 
 march was somewhat lengthy owing to objections inter- 
 posed at West Bridge, and it was one o'clock before the 
 visiting soldiery marched upon the Green, escorting Presi- 
 dent Daggett in their midst in a very dilapidated condition, 
 deeply pondering on military glory and inclined to believe 
 that its charms had been overrated. The parade being 
 over, the soldiers were dismissed for refreshments, and 
 entertained themselves with so much hospitality, and such 
 an exuberant overflow of spirits, that the effects were 
 speedily manifest in their greatly impaired walk and con- 
 versation. As these irregularities increased, the officers, 
 fearing that the local authorities would put in an appearance 
 and commit the whole party to the lock-up, decided to 
 bring the celebration to a close. The general illumination 
 which had been planned for the evening was given up, and 
 those few men who could preserve their equilibrium were 
 employed in collecting together those who could not. By 
 nine o'clock the Green was strewn with the prostrate forms 
 of those who had most deeply imbibed the spirit of the 
 occasion, watched over by such as were still able to stand. 
 At a later hour, by the aid of carts, wagons and wheel- 
 barrows kindly loaned for the purpose, all who could not 
 walk were conveyed to the wharf, and by the next morning 
 all the visitors had taken their departure. 
 
 It was a full month after this surprise party before the 
 good people of New Haven had sufficiently recovered their 
 equanimity to hold a town meeting. On August 6th, 
 however, they came together "in a state of mind," and 
 passed a number of votes. One of these called to account 
 those persons who had staid in town during the unexpected 
 visitation of July 5th. Another called to account those 
 persons who went away on the same occasion; and a third 
 was one of great exasperation against certain inhuman 
 and unscrupulous persons who since that date had been
 
 138 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEX. 
 
 charging an exorbitant price for rum the scarcity of which 
 since the invasion was evidently regarded as one of its 
 gloomiest results. At the next town meeting, however, a 
 more equable temper was manifested. The vote concerning 
 rum was "on second consideration rescinded." The citi- 
 zens who remained to meet the visitors and also those who 
 kept out of their way were both exonerated. A comfort- 
 able sum was realized by the confiscation of Tory property; 
 and after a reasonable time, the price of Santa Cruz having 
 receded to the normal standard, the public mind regained 
 its wonted equanimity. 
 
 The military record of the Green after the Revolution 
 must be rapidly passed over.* For many years it related 
 only to the regular training day parades of the local militia 
 in May and September. In 1809 the Second Company of 
 Governor's Horse Guards, which had become disbanded, 
 was re-organized, and thereafter took part in the militia 
 parades for several years. After 1826, however, it fell into 
 a decline and remained disrupted till again re-organized in 
 1861. During the war of 1812, British ships lay in Long 
 Island Sound, and New Haven companies were constantly 
 on the alert for a call to repel invasion. More than once 
 they assembled on an alarm at the flagstaff, the appointed 
 rendezvous, but though ever valiant for fight and ready to 
 put to flight the armies of the aliens, the hostile force was 
 never so unfortunate as to confront them. The nearest 
 approach to actual warfare in which they engaged was in 
 1813, when the Foot Guards turned out to suppress a 
 sailors' riot on Long Wharf, a duty which they performed 
 with efficiency and dispatch. The old State House near 
 Trinity Church was the headquarters of all the military 
 companies, and contained their drill rooms, as did also its 
 successor until about 1860. 
 
 The first Monday in May, 1817, is interesting as the date 
 of the first public parade of the New Haven Grays. On 
 the 4th of July in the same year they formed part of the 
 
 * See Note 4.
 
 FIELD OF MILITARY PARADES AND COUNCILS. 139 
 
 escort of President Monroe on his visit to this city. In 
 1820 the first election parade which ever occurred in New 
 Haven took place, and as these pageants are now obsolete 
 in our city, it may be interesting to quote the description 
 of this first one as given in the Foot Guards' records: 
 
 "Between ten and eleven o'clock the line was formed 
 under command of Maj. Hotchkiss with the Horse Guards 
 on the right, Foot Guards on the left and Artillery in the 
 center. At two o'clock the Governor and Senate were 
 received at the Court House, and from thence escorted to 
 the North Church, where appropriate services were per- 
 formed. At the close of service at the church, the line was 
 again formed and marched back to the Court House, where 
 His Excellency took the oath of office and was escorted 
 to his lodgings. The company was then dismissed for 
 dinner and sat down to a bountiful entertainment at the 
 County Hotel." 
 
 In 1824 the visit of Gen. Lafayette to New Haven called 
 out a general military parade and review on the Green, the 
 Foot Guards, Horse Guards and Grays being in the line. 
 In 1828 the New Haven Blues were organized as an artillery 
 company, and their records proudly inform us that in May, 
 1829, they appeared on the Green with the first pair of brass 
 field-pieces drawn by horses that had ever been seen in New 
 Haven. The occasion was also signalized by the presenta- 
 tion of an elegant stand of colors to the company, impos- 
 ingly drawn up with its guns and horses in front of the 
 flag-staff. The military spirit was now commendably 
 developed among the young men of New Haven, and for 
 many years not only the regular semi-annual training days 
 in May and September were always marked by fine military 
 displays on the Green, but also numerous special occasions 
 of which the most important may be here enumerated. On 
 February 22, 1832, the centennial anniversary of Washing- 
 ton's birthday was celebrated by an imposing parade of all 
 the companies; and in June of the same year a visit by the 
 Seventh Regiment of New York was made the occasion
 
 140 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 of a grand reception and parade. In 1833 President Jackson 
 was escorted to the State House by the military companies 
 for a public reception. In April, 1838, the centennial 
 celebration of the settlement of New Haven was attended 
 by a military parade. In 1847 President Polk visited this 
 city and was escorted by all the companies to the State 
 House. In 1852 a very brilliant display greeted Louis 
 Kossuth and attended him to the same place of public 
 reception. Besides these more conspicuous special parades 
 on the Green, there were numerous others of less import- 
 ance, especially on various Fourths of July, which day was 
 more frequently celebrated by military displays before the 
 civil war than in later years. 
 
 As an event of local celebrity rather than of military 
 history, the burlesque parade of "the Invincibles" on June 
 i, 1833, may be here referred to. This redoubtable corps 
 was commanded by Gen. Timothy Tremendous mounted 
 on a rackabones charger, who reached the back of his fiery 
 steed by descending a ladder from a second-story window. 
 The company in its equipments and general appearance 
 was modelled after Falstaff's ragged regiment, and except 
 for its sufficiency of clothing would nowadays be taken for 
 a gang of student athletes out for exercise. After march- 
 ing through the principal streets, the company brought up 
 at the south steps of the State House, and was there 
 addressed by its commander in an outburst of blood and 
 thunder, which has lately been published by several of our 
 city papers as editorial matter on the Venezuelan question. 
 
 Among the special services rendered by the uniformed 
 companies between 1840 and 1854 was their attendance on 
 three different occasions at executions of criminals in the 
 jail yard on Church street, directly opposite the Green. 
 This military attendance was the survival of an old custom, 
 now disused, which was designed to render as agreeable as 
 possible to the recipient of the honor, an experience at best 
 somewhat disconcerting. After the exercises in the jail 
 yard had been performed to the satisfaction of all concerned,
 
 FIELD OF MILITARY PARADES AND COUNCILS. 141 
 
 the soldiers were entertained by the sheriff at a genial 
 banquet in honor of the occasion and dismissed with his 
 thanks for their kind and cordial cooperation. 
 
 The zeal and public spirit manifested by the young men 
 of New Haven who thus for two generations kept up mili- 
 tary organizations in our city, were the more praiseworthy 
 because during those weak, piping times of peace public 
 interest in the military service had greatly declined, and the 
 encouragement and support of the State had been almost 
 entirely withheld. It will hardly be believed, did not the 
 fact appear in the records of the Common Council, that 
 in September, 1846, that body requested the commanding 
 officer of the militia not to parade on the Green the next 
 day, which was one of the two annual parade days fixed 
 by law, and reminded him that a by-law of the city pro- 
 hibited thus parading. In September, 1859, the Common 
 Council grudgingly granted permission to the Second 
 Regiment to use the north half of the lower Green for their 
 semi-annual parade : and in the following year it designated 
 the same liberal space for the same purpose. From such 
 causes as these the membership of the Grays so dwindled 
 that at their annual parade in 1854 the company numbered 
 only seven men two commissioned and two non-commis- 
 sioned officers and three privates. Nothing daunted, they 
 provided themselves with new uniforms, hired a drum corps 
 from New York City, consisting of twelve pieces, and 
 paraded on the Green and in the streets through the day, 
 closing with a banquet at the Tontine Hotel. Indomitable 
 spirits like these might be expected to achieve high distinc- 
 tion, and accordingly we find that in after life one of the 
 sturdy seven captured Fort Fisher and another is now a 
 director of the New Haven Colony Historical Society. 
 
 Training Days of the State Militia. 
 
 The uniformed companies which we have thus com- 
 memorated formed but a part of the active State militia 
 in New Haven down to 1848, though they were the only
 
 142 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 part which could be called a military corps. Until that 
 year, by the laws of the State, all able-bodied citizens 
 between eighteen and forty-five (with certain specific 
 exemptions) were not only enrolled in the militia but were 
 required to appear on appointed days fully armed and 
 equipped for parade and review. The first Monday in May 
 was from time immemorial one of these "training days." 
 It was a public holiday and was looked forward to by every 
 school boy all the rest of the year with joyful anticipation. 
 Not only for school b'oys but for the entire population it 
 was a day of jubliee. Rural swains and maidens in their 
 best attire swarmed in the streets and over the Green, and 
 settled down for the day on the steps of the churches. 
 Oyster booths lined the borders of the upper Green, and 
 itinerant youths wandered to and fro bearing trays laden 
 with tawny-colored twisted strings of molasses candy, 
 highly tempting to the juvenile and bucolic appetite. 
 Groups of boys of all sizes and colors obstructed the paths, 
 pitching pennies or shooting at cents with a bow and arrow, 
 while their parents and guardians were patronizing more 
 genteel gambling devices arranged on the top of a barrel or 
 in some neighboring booth. The strains of martial music 
 were continually in the ear and the incessant popping of 
 pistols and fire-crackers filled the air with din and a smoky 
 haze. 
 
 The military exercises of the day commenced and ended 
 on the Green. The uniformed companies had by custom 
 their regular places of assembling as follows: The Grays in 
 front of Trinity Church; the Foot Guards under the trees 
 parallel with Chapel street; the artillery company, or Blues, 
 opposite the jail, now the City Hall; the Horse Guards 
 at the north end of the Green near Elm street. The 
 Grays, Foot Guards and Blues had each its own company 
 band containing serpents, bassoons and Turkish bells, 
 and the melody of their music was not always commen- 
 surate with its volume. The feature of the day, which, 
 as it is now obsolete, and will probably never be revived,
 
 FIELD OF MILITARY PARADES AND COUNCILS. 143 
 
 possesses historical interest, was the parading of the non- 
 uniformed militia the successors in unbroken line of the 
 ancient train bands which from the earliest times had drilled 
 on the market place. Let us recall one of these unique 
 performances as they were seen on the Green fifty years ago. 
 At seven o'clock in the morning the beat of the drum 
 resounded over the Green, and in response to the summons 
 throngs of men in every variety of motley garb, military, 
 civil and uncivil, each bearing his own or a borrowed mus- 
 ket, were seen wending their way towards the appointed 
 rendezvous. There they collected in two separate com- 
 panies popularly known as the "Uptown" and "Down- 
 town milish," of which the former always mustered 
 in front of the North Church, and the latter at the 
 corner of Church and Chapel streets, near the pump. 
 There was no rivalry between the companies except a 
 rivalry to extract the greatest amount of frolic out of the 
 day, and as they chose their own officers they were careful 
 to elect such as would intentionally or unintentionally pro- 
 mote that laudable ambition. One of these chieftains was 
 a pompous little son of Erin, who immediately on his 
 election invested all his available capital in a complete 
 captain's uniform, which then included a sash and epaulets, 
 a long curved sword and an immense half-moon chapeau 
 surmounted by a lofty red-tipped plume. Arrayed in this 
 magnificent attire, he endeavored on the morning of train- 
 ing day to maneuver his company according to his own 
 extremely limited knowledge of tactics, and as the first step 
 toward orderly arrangement to form his men into line. 
 Accordingly with a swing of his pondrous sabre over his 
 head, he shouted the command, "Attintion company! Get 
 into a row!" With prompt obedience a row was at once 
 commenced which the captain in vain attempted to allay by 
 the explanation that he wanted the company "to do what 
 the Blues were doing." At length by a series of similar 
 appeals the company was arranged in the semblance 
 of a column and received the order to march. As no
 
 144 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 particular time was specified the company selected the 
 double quick and made an impetuous rush which took the 
 little warrior off his feet and carried him along the street 
 in the midst of his own men, his sanguineous plume and 
 wildly-waved sword alone being visible in the melee. The 
 line of march, about which the commander was very little 
 consulted, embraced numerous halting places for refresh- 
 ments, so that by the time the company returned to the 
 Green both officers and men were in a condition quite 
 unfavorable for a successful drill in the manual of arms. 
 The display was nevertheless attempted in the presence of 
 an admiring crowd, and the doughty captain having got 
 his men "into a row" gave the first order which came into 
 his head, which happened to be "Charge bayonets!" The 
 next moment he was running for his life before a bristling 
 line of steel which followed him closely across the Green and 
 up the Tontine steps into the hotel, where the pursuit was 
 checked by an appropriate order, which the captain happily 
 remembered just in time and issued to the barkeeper. The 
 last exercise of training day was company and platoon 
 firing on the Green by all the troops. Sometimes a sham 
 fight would be had, the contending forces being drawn up 
 on opposite sides of the Green. On such occasions the 
 intervening space was carefully avoided by prudent specta- 
 tors on account of stray ramrods which now and then went 
 singing through the smoke half way across the field of 
 battle. 
 
 These farcical attempts to educate the people in the mili- 
 tary art by compulsion had been abandoned several years 
 prior to 1861; and for the decade before that eventful year, 
 although some slight recognition was given by law to the 
 uniformed companies, yet these maintained their organiza- 
 tion chiefly through the personal zeal and public spirit of 
 their members. During the whole of that period threaten- 
 ing clouds had been gathering in the political sky, but 
 though they grew continually darker, and the rumblings of 
 secession sounded louder and louder along the southern
 
 FIELD OF MILITARY PARADES AND COUNCILS. 145 
 
 horizon, men generally believed that these portents would 
 pass away without a storm. But after the Presidential 
 election of 1860 the tempest swept together like the rush 
 of a cyclone and suddenly, from the midst of it, like an awful 
 thunderclap, the roar of the guns fired at Fort Sumter 
 shook the firmament and started the whole nation to its feet 
 with the universal cry, "To arms!" Before the echoes of 
 that peal had rolled across New Haven Green, out flew Old 
 Glory from the peak of the flagstaff and from the topmost 
 spire of Center Church, and forthwith, as if by a magic 
 signal, every blade of grass beneath seemed transformed 
 into a soldier! From workshop and counter, from office 
 and study and farm, came those who had often turned the 
 Green, as a military parade ground, into a mere field of 
 frolic, but who now, inspired with patriotic zeal, marched to 
 and fro in squads over its surface from morn till dewy eve, 
 assiduous to learn the duties of the soldier. Officers and 
 privates of uniformed companies who had been for years 
 faithfully practicing military tactics, with little public sup- 
 port, and under a certain degree of public ridicule, were 
 urgently besought to take positions of instruction and 
 command. Even small boys in the Russell Military School 
 were called from their desks and were daily seen on the 
 Green with strident steps and piping voices marshaling 
 and drilling their several squads of stalwart men. Fort 
 Sumter fell on the I4th day of April, 1861, and on the loth 
 of May the Second Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers, 
 fully armed and equipped, paraded on the lower Green, 
 departing for the seat of war. At the right of the line 
 stood the New Haven Grays in full ranks and in their com- 
 pany uniform, and in front rode Col. Alfred H. Terry in 
 command of the regiment. I will not linger over the details 
 of that solemn and memorable scene: the speeches, the 
 prayers, the blessings and the tears which marked it will 
 never fade from the memories of the past and will forever 
 hallow the ground with which they are associated. The 
 public ceremonies are over; the colors have been presented
 
 14:6 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 and the benediction pronounced; the line forms into 
 column; the command is given to march; the band strikes 
 up "The Star Spangled Banner," and in step with those 
 inspiring strains the regiment, amid its following of cheer- 
 ing citizens, crying women and clinging little children, 
 passes through the south gate of the Green, New Haven's 
 first great offering on that sacred altar which was afterwards 
 to receive so many!
 
 NOTES TO PAPER No. IV. 
 
 NOTE i (page 118). 
 
 This paper was read February 24, 1896, when there was serious 
 apprehension of war with Great Britain over the Venezuelan question. 
 That danger happily disappeared, but while this book is in press the 
 war with Spain is furnishing a melancholy answer to the hopes 
 expressed in the latter part of the paragraph to which this note is 
 appended. 
 
 NOTE 2 (page 122). 
 
 A list of property belonging to the town in 1657 enumerates "3 great 
 gunnes at the water side upon shipp carriages" and "3 more of the 
 greater cise in the market place upon field carriages." The shot and 
 powder for these guns was kept in "the Prison Chamber." It seems 
 to have been the practice to keep cannon on the market place until 
 1748, and probably later. Three are shown on the Green in Wads- 
 worth's map of that date. 
 
 NOTE 3 (page 131). 
 
 And now (August, 1898) thousands of fever-stricken, hunger-wasted 
 soldiers are being brought back from those same pestilential shores of 
 Cuba, victims of the reckless folly of Congress, which precipitated 
 war with Spain without previous preparation and in the height of a 
 tropical summer. A series of miracles and the valor of the "men 
 behind the guns" in navy and army brought the campaign to a success- 
 ful close just as it was about to collapse in ignominious and disastrous 
 failure. Had our opponent been any other European power than 
 feeble and bankrupt Spain, we should now be anxiously considering 
 how to protect our own seaboard towns from destruction, instead of 
 discussing how much territory we shall hold, and seize, to pay us for 
 our disinterested efforts in the cause of humanity. 
 
 NOTE 4 (page 138). 
 
 President Stiles' Diary under date of June 27, 1781, says: "Lauzun's 
 Legion of Colonial troops, 300 horse and 300 foot commanded by the 
 Duke de Lauzun, passed through town on its way to Washington's 
 Army and encamped one night in the new town one mile east of the 
 College." It resumed its march early the next morning and as it was 
 going to New Jersey probably took the Litchfield road, and if so, 
 doubtless crossed the Green diagonally from the corner of Church and 
 Chapel to the corner of Elm and College streets. President Stiles says 
 he called upon the Duke, who was the guest of Gen. Wooster, whose 
 house is still standing on Wooster street. It was then beautifully 
 situated, with large grounds about it and an open view of the harbor 
 in front.
 
 V. 
 THE GREEN AS THE SEAT OF JUDICIAL TRIBUNALS. 
 
 The judicial history of New Haven for the first eighteen 
 months after its settlement is, like its civil, religious and 
 military history, an utter blank. As to what laws prevailed, 
 by whom and how they were administered and with what 
 effect on public order and morals, scarcely a fragment of 
 record or tradition remains to inform us, and we know 
 hardly more about it than we do about the laws and magis- 
 trates of the antediluvians. We are simply told that on 
 the first day of extraordinary humiliation which the free 
 planters had after they came together, there was a solemn 
 covenant made "that in all publique offices which concerne 
 civil order they would be governed by the rules which 
 Scripture holds forth;" and it is also recorded that a year 
 and a half later, after the principles of the proposed perma- 
 nent government were agreed upon, "all former power and 
 trust for managing any publique affairs in this plantation 
 into whose hands soever formerly committed was now 
 abrogated and from henceforward utterly to cease." On 
 the same day new magistrates were duly chosen. It was 
 also agreed that there should be a yearly election of magis- 
 trates thereafter in October, and that "the word of God 
 shall be the only rule to be attended to in ordering the 
 affayres of government in this plantation." 
 
 Organisation of the Courts. 
 
 In the theocratic system thus established the modern 
 plan of keeping the executive, legislative and judicial 
 departments distinct from each other was conspicuous by 
 its absence. All the powers and functions of government 
 were inextricably intermingled and promiscuously exer- 
 cised by various assemblies called "courts." When the
 
 THE SEAT OF JUDICIAL TRIBUNALS. 149 
 
 whole body of freemen met in town meeting it was called 
 "the General Court," whose principal province it was to 
 make laws, levy taxes and choose magistrates; yet its first 
 act was to hold a trial for murder. There was also the 
 "Particular Court," or "Plantation Court," consisting of 
 the governor and four assistants with a clerk and marshal, 
 which, as Mr. Levermore says, "took cognizance of any 
 matters which seemed to Magistrate Eaton suitable for 
 immediate decision without reference to the general court 
 or whole body of freemen. It sent malefactors to the whip- 
 ping post. It registered wills and administered estates, 
 decided civil suits and granted divorces. It also established 
 and regulated the watch and military affairs, and created 
 new town officers as occasion required." 
 
 In 1643, a ft er tne plantation had expanded into a colony, 
 the jurisdiction of the plantation court was limited to civil 
 causes in which the matter in demand did not exceed 20, 
 and to those criminal matters in which a punishment not 
 greater than stocking or whipping, or a fine of 5, was 
 prescribed by the laws of Moses and other parts of Scrip- 
 ture. Its sessions were held monthly and it was sometimes 
 called "the monthly court." There was also established a 
 colonial court for cases of greater magnitude and for pre- 
 paring appeals from the plantation court. This court was 
 composed of the governor and magistrates from each town 
 in the colony, and met at New Haven in April and October. 
 In addition to its judicial functions it made laws as a colonial 
 legislature, managed external affairs and levied taxes 
 throughout the colony. 
 
 The Laws of God the Only Code. 
 
 The legal code which these early courts expounded and 
 enforced was about as vague and elastic as the jurisdiction 
 of the courts themselves. It was concisely summed up in 
 the records as "the judicial lawes of God as they were 
 delivered by Moses and expounded in other parts of Scrip-
 
 150 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 ture, so farre as they are a fence to the morall law and not 
 tipicall nor having reference to Canaan." To this general 
 code rriust also be added such special local ordinances 
 as were from time to time enacted by the general and 
 plantation courts. In practical administration the scope of 
 the criminal law was extended to cover not only the scrip- 
 tural code of morals as interpreted by the magistrates, but 
 minute infractions of decorum according to the same 
 authority, and even scraps of private conversation, which 
 might be deemed .not entirely agreeable to the divine ear, 
 were dragged to light as subjects for trial and punishment. 
 In 1656, a digest of the colonial code was prepared by Gov. 
 Eaton, and printed with copious and convincing citations 
 of Scripture authority in the margin; but this reduction 
 to written form made very little difference in the latitude 
 of jurisdiction assumed by the court. It has been shown 
 by papers read before this Society that, taking the printed 
 code and the judicial decisions under it as the laws of the 
 colony, most of the allegations of Peters respecting the so- 
 called Blue Laws were founded in truth. It should be 
 added, however, that some of the most extreme features of 
 the code were never enforced, and that even these and also 
 most of the others accorded with the current legislation of 
 the age, not only in the other colonies, but also in England.* 
 Dr. Bacon truly remarks that the New Haven code as a 
 whole was superior for humanity and justice to the civil 
 and criminal laws of England, not only at that time but for 
 a hundred years later. 
 
 The methods of procedure which prevailed in the early 
 courts were simple and effective. The presiding magis- 
 trates were prosecuting officer, judge and jury all combined. 
 There was but one rule of evidence and that was to admit 
 everything that was offered by witnesses and bystanders 
 in the nature of facts, hearsay and guesses, and to screw as 
 much more out of the parties to their own disadvantage 
 as possible. In criminal trials the court never allowed 
 
 * See Note i at the end of this Paper.
 
 THE SEAT OF JUDICIAL TRIBUNALS. 151 
 
 itself to be embarrassed by any presumption of innocence 
 and it by no means believed in the maxim that it is better 
 that ten guilty men escape than that one innocent person 
 should suffer. Occasionally in civil causes the parties were 
 allowed to appear by attorney, but in criminal cases no such 
 interference was tolerated. Apparently some innovator 
 had prior to 1667 attempted thus to obstruct the course 
 of justice, for in that year it was enacted by the General 
 Assembly of Connecticut that "what person or persons 
 soever shall take the boldness to themselves to plead or 
 speak in behalf of any person upon examination or trial 
 for delinquency, except he shall speak directly to matter of 
 law and with leave of the authority present, he shall pay 
 ten shillings to the public treasurer as a fine or sit in the 
 stocks one hour for every offence." Under such dis- 
 couraging enactments a flourishing bar could hardly be 
 expected. In fact, our ancestors for the first hundred years 
 seem to have had much the same opinion of the legal pro- 
 fession as Peter the Great, who, after a visit to the courts 
 at Westminster Hall, thanked God that there was but one 
 lawyer in his dominions and declared that he would hang 
 him as soon as he got home. 
 
 The Successive Court Houses. 
 
 Before illustrating the proceedings of the early New 
 Haven courts by citations from the records, let us locate 
 the several places on the Green where at different periods 
 of its history judicial tribunals have held their sessions. 
 With regard to this point the records from 1639 to 1718 
 give us little or no information. The trial of Nepaupuck 
 for murder in October, 1639, was preceded by an examina- 
 tion before the magistrates which, from an allusion in the 
 records to "the mantelpiece of the chimney," is believed to 
 have been held in Gov. Eaton's house, but where his trial 
 was held, and also subsequent trials before the General 
 Court, there are no means to determine. After the meeting-
 
 152 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 house was built it is supposed that the courts and all other 
 public assemblies convened within its walls, but the only 
 evidence of that fact as respects the courts is derived from 
 the report of a civil trial held in 1659, where we are told 
 that "the season being cold the court removed to a private 
 house," and that it afterwards "returned to the meeting- 
 house." This is the only hint to be found respecting the 
 place or building used by the courts until action was taken 
 for the erection of the first Court and State House in 1719. 
 It is true that four years prior to this date the General 
 Assembly ordered the accession of George I. to be pro- 
 claimed "in the great square in front of the court house," 
 but probably that designation was applied to the meet- 
 ing-house as the place where the General Assembly, or 
 "General Court," was then holding its session. As sug- 
 gested in a previous paper, it is not unlikely that the original 
 watch-house was used as a court house by the County 
 Court after 1665, and that it is shown in the Brown and 
 Wadsworth maps under the name of "the County House" 
 attached to the Court House of 1719. 
 
 However, this may be, in January, 1719, according to 
 our present mode of reckoning, an order was made by 
 the County Court for the erection of a "timber house for 
 his Majesty's service, 45 feet in length and 2.2. feet in 
 breadth, two stories high with chimneys at each end, pro- 
 vided the town of New Haven provide a suitable piece of 
 land to set it upon." A month later a town meeting 
 granted a half a quarter of an acre of land in the market 
 place for the proposed building "adjoining the old prison- 
 house," that is to say near the corner of College and Elm 
 streets. The building was completed sometime in 1720 
 and was thereafter occupied as a court and state house 
 until 1763. In that year the second Court and State House 
 was built by the county on the line of Temple street near 
 the present site of Trinity Church. This building, whose 
 appearance is familiar to us through numerous pictures, 
 was of brick in the colonial style, having the court rooms
 
 THE SEAT OF JUDICIAL TRIBUNALS. 153 
 
 and town hall on the lower floor and rooms above for the 
 General Assembly. The cost of the building was borne by 
 the colony and the county jointly, but in December, 1768, 
 a town meeting, in a burst of generosity, voted that "in 
 consideration of the use the town would have of the 
 building it would pay one quarter of the expense of the 
 stone steps, front and rear." Certainly the town was 
 justified in the end for this lavish expenditure, for in this 
 building the political, civil, judicial and social life of New 
 Haven centered through nearly three generations embrac- 
 ing the most remarkable and stirring period of its history. 
 Here were held the town and public meetings connected 
 with the old French war, in opposition to the stamp act, 
 in the preparation and progress of the Revolution, with the 
 decline of the old confederation, the inauguration of the 
 present federal government, and all others through the 
 many stormy years of political and party strife which 
 followed thereafter. Here the infant city first saw the light, 
 and here for more than sixty years were celebrated by 
 public meetings, banquets and balls, the victories of war, 
 the return of peace, the triumphs of parties, and the fes- 
 tivities of commencement seasons, Fourths of July and 
 other public anniversaries and occasions. Here the state 
 legislatures convened, and all the courts, both federal and 
 state, sat, and here the New Haven bar developed from 
 infancy to vigorous prime. It may be interesting to add 
 that a part of the foundation wall and steps of this ancient 
 building are still preserved in the foundation wall and steps 
 of the dwelling house No. 644 on State street. 
 
 When after 1818, a state constitution had superseded 
 the ancient colonial charter and the stocks and the whip- 
 ping post with other colonial relics and usages had passed 
 away, the Colonial State House was deemed too narrow 
 and old-fashioned for the new order of things, and it was 
 torn down in 1828. Most of the materials were used in the 
 erection of its successor, and during the building of the 
 latter the courts sat for three years in the basement of the
 
 154: CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 Methodist Church on the Green, near the corner of College 
 and Elm streets. At last, in 1831, there was seen upon the 
 Green, fully completed, that stately and classic temple of 
 graceful proportions which we all remember so well and 
 admired so much both in the light of day, when it appeared 
 like a battered veteran abundantly scarred but imperfectly 
 plastered, or when, bathed in the radiance of the lunar rays, 
 it gleamed with the mild effulgence "of an ancient mackerel 
 by moonlight." As the home of this Society, free of rent 
 for several years, the late lamented, though lost to sight, is 
 still to memory dear, and however convinced we may be 
 that the Green is the better off for its having left it, we 
 recall with tender emotion the many virtues which pleaded 
 trumpet-tongued against the deep darnation of its taking 
 oft*. It was occupied by the courts till December, 1862, 
 when the new City Hall on Church street having been 
 completed, judicial tribunals took their final departure from 
 the Green, which had been their abiding place for two 
 centuries and a quarter. 
 
 Proceedings of the Early Courts. 
 
 If the early records are meagre in their information about 
 court accommodations, they are not open to this charge 
 as regards their reports of the judicial proceedings. These 
 are all detailed with a particularity which not only furnishes 
 a clear and picturesque view of the way in which justice 
 was dispensed, and sometimes dispensed with, in the primi- 
 tive days of the colony, but also gives us a distinct impres- 
 sion of the social and moral atmosphere of the time. As 
 already stated, the only rule by which the courts were 
 governed was to do substantial justice according to the 
 will of God as interpreted by the magistrates, and this 
 applied as well in civil as in criminal law. Thus in the 
 settlement of estates, the courts did not hesitate to set aside 
 a will if they thought it unjust, as in the case of Hinde's 
 estate in 1653, where the testator had left everything to his
 
 THE SEAT OF JUDICIAL TRIBUNALS. 155 
 
 wife, and she being about to marry again, refused to make 
 provision for the children. "The Court wished her to 
 consider whether, if her husband had given all to the 
 children, she could not have been relieved? Men may not 
 make wills as they will themselves, but must attend the 
 mind of God in doing the same." Gov. Eaton was 
 regarded as specially expert in discerning and expounding 
 the divine will in judicial questions, and the clerk takes 
 evident pride in spreading his edifying discourses on the 
 records. When James Heyward was complained of for 
 being drunk, "the governor declared to him how greatly 
 his sinne was aggravated with many circumstances, but 
 especially that he being a member of the church with whom 
 the Lord had dealt so kindly with, and he so to requite 
 the Lord was a sinfull, foolish thing: oh foolish people and 
 unwise doe you so requite the Lord." The culprit pru- 
 dently acknowledged the enormity of his offense and "justi- 
 fied the court in whatever God might incline their hearts 
 unto." This soft answer considerably mollified the gover- 
 nor, so that he summed up the case as follows: "Drunken- 
 ness is among the fruits of the flesh both to be witnessed 
 against in the church and in the civil court, and it is a 
 brutish sinne and to be witnessed against: a whip for the 
 horse, a bridle for the asse and a rod for the foole's back. 
 But it has not been brought to me that this man hath been 
 given to drunkenness, and I leave it therefore with the 
 court whether they shall find a disposition to drunkenness 
 or an act only." Upon this hint the court promptly found 
 that the defendant had got drunk against his inclinations 
 and that it was not a case for the whip nor the rod but the 
 bridle. They therefore decided "not to punish it with 
 corporal punishment but by a fine only," thus judicially 
 declaring Mr. Heyward to be an ass, much to his relief and 
 satisfaction. 
 
 A more vigorous lecture was addressed in 1659 by 
 Governor Newman to William East, another church mem- 
 ber, whose chronic inebriety could not be reconciled with
 
 156 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 a want of disposition. He was told that "the gross miscar- 
 riages by him committed that he should make his house 
 a house of drunkennesse and rise up against authority as he 
 had done, showed that he was a man fallen from God and 
 from the profession which he had formerly made more than 
 in an ordinary manner, and now to goe on to add sinne to 
 sinne it was an amazing thing to consider off as if he were 
 an atheist and without God in the world, and that he carryes 
 it as one given up of God to satisfie his severall appetites 
 and had thereby caused the name of God to be blaspheamed: 
 shall such wickedness be suffered and is there no balm in 
 Gilead or as we may say no meanes to prevent it? It is an 
 amazing thing that he should doe thus wickedly in a land 
 of uprightness and not behold the majesty of ye Lord." 
 After much more to the same effect, the court applied the 
 balm of Gilead in the shape of a fine of 50, with the threat 
 that if he were found drunk again he would be anointed 
 with a more pungent form of ointment at the whipping 
 post. He was then dismissed with the encouraging remark 
 by the court that "he goes under the divell in the state he 
 stands in." 
 
 Troubles from Temperance Legislation. 
 
 The sale of intoxicating liquors in New Haven Colony 
 under a license system was as prolific of business for the 
 courts, including some burning questions of law, as at 
 present. One such case was that of Robert Bassett, the 
 town drummer, who was licensed to sell liquors in quanti- 
 ties not less than three quarts, the intention being to pre- 
 vent his retailing it to be drunk on the premises. A jolly 
 party of sailors visited his house one evening and called for 
 "sacke." Bassett, with literal adherence to the terms of 
 his license, supplied them with three full quarts, and when 
 that was gone furnished three quarts more, and so on "in 
 severall parcells, three quarts at a time." The direful con- 
 sequences are thus described in the records of the court:
 
 THE SEAT OF JUDICIAL TRIBUNALS. 157 
 
 "Some of the company dranke to excess and distemper 
 and broke into quarrelling and other miscarriages. The 
 owner of the pinnace in their cupps calling the boatswaine 
 of the Susan, Brother Loggerhead, the boatswaine returns 
 threatening language, thence they grew to sideing, part- 
 taking and challenging, then the master of the pinnace 
 and the boatswaine, going out of ye house, fall first to 
 wrestling, then to blowes and therein grew to that fierceness 
 that ye master of the pinnace thought that ye boatswaine 
 would have pulled out his eies, and in their rage and dis- 
 temper they toumbled on ye ground, down ye hill into ye 
 creeke and ye mire, shamfully wallowing therein. Then 
 Charles Higenson, distempered as it seems with drinke, in 
 a way of sideing with the boatswaine, grew quarrelsome, 
 wherewith the owner of the pinnace being affrighted, ran 
 aboute ye street crying ' Hoe, the watch ! hoe, the watch ! ' 
 and the boatswaine fell a swearing wounds and hart as if 
 he were not only angry with men but would provoake the 
 high and blessed God." The turmoil brought the watch 
 to the scene, who parted the combatants and they returned 
 to Robert Bassett's house, where the irate boatswain recom- 
 menced the fray, "and thereby frighted Robert Bassett's 
 wife and child, so that Bassett thrust them out of doors with 
 violence and terrible threats, so that the disorder was very 
 great and very offensive both to ye neighbors, the noyse 
 and oathes being heard to the other side of the creeks, and 
 to others coming thither, and Robert Bassett confessed that 
 he had not heard the like since he came to this place." (It 
 must be remembered that Yale College was not established 
 in New Haven till two generations later.) 
 
 The court was greatly scandalized at the affair, especially 
 at Bassett's construction of his license, declaring that "it 
 was a perverse interpretation of the order forcing men to 
 drink more than they desired, whereas he should have 
 drawn nothing at all in that waye." He was therefore 
 mulcted in a heavy penalty as the responsible cause of the 
 disturbance, but the sailors being new-comers to the town
 
 158 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 and persons of low breeding, weak intelligence and feeble 
 moral sense, were let off with a censure and the light fines 
 which are usually imposed on college students and such 
 like characters in similar cases. 
 
 The Early Sabbath Laws. 
 
 In the laws relating to Sabbath observance the Puritan 
 sentiment was most strongly entrenched, and prosecutions 
 under these were perhaps the most numerous of any. By 
 Governor Eaton's Code, Sabbath-breaking, "if proudly, 
 presumptuously and with a high hand committed against 
 the known command and authority of the blessed God," 
 was punishable with death, but it is not known that this 
 extreme penalty was ever enforced. The cases were numer- 
 ous, however, where fines were imposed, and even corporal 
 punishment was in one case inflicted for non-attendance or 
 lateness at meeting, and excuses were rarely received. In 
 1643 William Blayden, "charged with late cumming 2 
 Lords dayes, pleaded that the first time he heard not the 
 drume, and thother day he having got wet the day before 
 in the evening it rayninge and he not able to make a fier 
 to dry his clothes, was forced to lye abedd the Lord's days. 
 But the truth appearing to be no other than a prophane 
 neglecting, yea dispising the ordynances of Christ through 
 sloathfulnesse, the judgement of the court was that he be 
 publicly whipped as he is the first profanely breaking the 
 Sabbath, worshipping not God nor waytinge for a blessing 
 from him on himself." In 1647 the masters of two vessels 
 in the harbor were called before the court to answer for 
 working on the Sabbath on board their respective vessels. 
 They replied that the vessels were in sudden peril and the 
 labor became necessary, but were told that "they ought to 
 have provided beforehand so that nothing should disturb 
 them on the Sabbath." It appeared that with respect to 
 one of the vessels, Mr. Davenport had been consulted and 
 had advised that "the issue be left to God's Providence,"
 
 THE SEAT OF JUDICIAL TRIBUNALS. 159 
 
 but that notwithstanding this high authority in favor of 
 salvation by faith in the case of ships, the master had 
 trusted to works as the more orthodox course in practical 
 seamanship. After due deliberation, the court "consider- 
 ing the persons that they are strangers and thinking that 
 they did not doe it out of contempt but ignorantly, they 
 agreed for this time (they acknowledging their failings and 
 promising amendment for time to come) to passe it by, 
 but if any of our owne take libbertie hereby the sentence 
 will be heavier on them." The penitent mariners were 
 careful, before another Sunday, to put themselves beyond 
 the jurisdiction of the court and doubtless thereafter noted 
 on their charts that New Haven harbor and New Haven 
 Green were places equally dangerous to navigators. 
 
 It is often said that the New England Sabbath ended at 
 sundown on Sunday evening, but this was certainly neither 
 the usage nor the law of New Haven. The Lord's day 
 evening was included by the ordinances in "holy time" and 
 any peccadillo then committed was punished with addi- 
 tional severity. William Pert, who "took a couple of 
 watermillions out of Mr. Hooke's lot on Sunday evening, 
 'was' publiquely whipped for doing it so soon after the 
 Sabbath." In 1659 an ordinance was passed forbidding 
 young people or children to walk or play in the streets on 
 Sunday evening, for the reason that such recreation "was 
 very prejudiciall to the good of their souls, that being 
 Satan's opportunity to steal the Word out of their hearts," 
 and the marshal was directed to summon such offenders 
 before the court. Satan himself could hardly have devised 
 a more effectual way to steal the word out of young people's 
 hearts than such an interference with their customary 
 Sunday evening courtships, and all right-minded persons 
 will sympathize with unfortunate Sam Clarke, who was 
 brought into court under this law, charged with "hankering 
 about men's gates the evening after the Sabbath to draw 
 out company to him." Sam "confessed that he did some- 
 times go out in the evening after the Sabbath, but withal
 
 160 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 said that he went upon business." Being asked "what 
 business he had when he was hankering at Roger Alling's 
 gate," he replied that he "remembered not." This sudden 
 failure of memory on Sam's part evidently awakened sym- 
 pathetic recollections in the breasts of the magistrates, who 
 pressed their inquiries no farther but postponed the case, 
 with a solemn warning to Sam to consider "what the Scrip- 
 ture saith, that he who being often reproved hardeneth his 
 neck shall suddenly be cut off and that without a remedy." 
 As nothing more is heard of Sam's case, let us hope that on 
 subsequent Sunday evenings, instead of being left to 
 hanker about Roger Alling's gate, he came to anchor inside 
 the house, and did not forget the business he came on. 
 
 Judicial Suppression of Criticisms. 
 
 The sanctity with which the Sunday laws were invested 
 as ordinances of God, was extended for the same reason 
 to the rest of the Scripture code, and logically to the divine 
 representative, the State, which proclaimed and enforced 
 them. In 1646 Thomas Blatchley was forced to apologize 
 "for giving the court some offence, and neglecting the 
 imadge of God in the magistrates." "Bamfield Bell being 
 reproved by William Paine for singing profane songs, 
 answered and said: You are one of the holy brethren who 
 will lye for advantage. Mr. Evans testified that it was his 
 constant frame to reproach those who walked in the wayes 
 of God. The premises being considered, the centence of 
 the court was that he be severely whipped." Criticisms of 
 the higher powers whether the magistrates, the minister 
 or the church, however privately expressed, were ferreted 
 out and punished. An important case of this kind which 
 is reported at great length in the records occurred in 1646. 
 The defendants were three ladies of excellent social posi- 
 tion, Mrs. Brewster, Mrs. Moore and Mrs. Leach, and they 
 were charged with "severall miscarriages of a publique
 
 THE SEAT OF JUDICIAL TRIBUNALS. 161 
 
 nature." These public miscarriages consisted of remarks 
 in a private conversation behind closed doors in Mrs. 
 Leach's house, partly overheard by two servants of Mrs. 
 Leach by assiduous listening at the keyhole. These two 
 servants, whose character the record shows to have been 
 notoriously bad, were the sole witnesses to the fact; they also 
 admitted that they had heard some parts of the conversation 
 imperfectly, and were not quite clear in their recollection 
 as to others. 
 
 Mrs. Brewster, as the principal culprit, was put on trial 
 first. The charges against her were twelve in number, of 
 which the first two related to criticisms of Mr. Davenport's 
 doctrinal views. "Job and Elizabeth both affirme that Mrs. 
 Brewster, speaking of a passage in Mr. Davenport's sermon, 
 said 'Mr. Davenport makes the people believe that to come 
 into the church is as much as the receiving of Christ.' " 
 And again "Job and Elizabeth affirme that Mrs. Brewster, 
 speaking of something Mr. Davenport had delivered upon 
 Ephes. iv, 12, said that it made her sermon sicke and that 
 when she came home she badde her son make waste 
 paper of it, which she said Elizabeth conceiveth was spoken 
 of his noats of Mr. Davenport's sermon." The other 
 charges, which were all supported by the testimony of Job 
 and Elizabeth, were that Mrs. Brewster, in the same con- 
 versation, had referred to the method of giving in the weekly 
 contributions by going forward, as too much "like going 
 up to the altar in masse;" that she criticised the proceedings 
 of the church in Mrs. Eaton's case and in some other cases, 
 and had spoken disparagingly of church membership. 
 Also that she had consorted with some excommunicated 
 persons and had on one occasion drank out of the same 
 cup with one of them, and that she had expressed pity for 
 some convicts as having been "cruelly whipped." A 
 supplementary count added by the magistrates charged 
 that since the proceedings against her were commenced 
 she had rated the virtuous Job and Elizabeth soundly for 
 their eaves-dropping and tale-bearing with expressions
 
 162 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 more commendable for their truth than their elegance. 
 The court impugned such language as "uncomely and sin- 
 ful," citing the parallel case of "Michaell the Arcangell, 
 who durst not carry it so with the Divell though he had 
 matter enough against him." 
 
 Mrs. Brewster defended herself with spirit, denying some 
 parts of the language charged and explaining others, and 
 altogether held her ground so well that the magistrates 
 became somewhat disconcerted. Hoping to weaken her 
 by a flank attack, the court suddenly sprung a new charge 
 against her, to wit, that she had retailed w r ine to several 
 persons in smaller quantities than her license authorized. 
 To this she retorted that three members of the court had 
 been among her customers in the sales referred to, and that 
 she "hoped they had not been laying snares for her." The 
 inculpated magistrates squirmed vigorously at this home- 
 thrust, and after some very lame attempts at explanation 
 on their part the court dropped that subject of inquiry. 
 
 In the case against Mrs. Moore, who was next arraigned, 
 the pious and orthodox Job was again the leading witness. 
 He testified that Mrs. Moore had, in family prayers, in 
 opposition to Mr. Davenport's sermon as he (Job) con- 
 ceiveth, spoken of "pastors and teachers since Christ 
 ascended to heaven as being but the inventions of men." 
 Also that in the talk with Mrs. Brewster he had overheard 
 her say, "A vayle is before the eyes of ministers and people 
 and till that is taken away they cannot be turned to 
 the Lord." These heinous charges were confirmed by 
 Elizabeth in substance, "though she remembered not all 
 the particulars." Thomas Kimberley took the stand as a 
 volunteer witness and recounted a lengthy argument which 
 he had had with Mrs. Moore, in which she maintained with 
 numerous citations of Scriptures "that the Angels of the 
 Seven Churches of Asia were sperits, not men." Mr. 
 Kimberley replied that "there were two sorts of angells, 
 some sperits, some in the flesh, but Mrs. Moore, said he, 
 pished at it."
 
 THE SEAT OF JUDICIAL TRIBUNALS. 163 
 
 At this point the governor could restrain himself no 
 longer, but sailed in with a lucid refutation of Mrs. Moore's 
 heretical views. He fully supported Mr. Kimberley's 
 statement respecting the biology of angels and clearly 
 demonstrated that pastors and teachers of the church in 
 New Haven were as genuine a species of angels as any 
 other. Having demolished Mrs. Moore's false theories 
 with much learning and eloquence, he closed his remarks 
 by a practical application, warning her that "it was not to 
 be suffered that she should blaspheme and revyle the holy 
 ordynances of Christ and the people of God and by spread- 
 ing her errors, corrupt and disturb the people of this place." 
 
 Mrs. Leach's turn came next, "being charged that, upon 
 a question or conference about joyning with this church, 
 she had said to Mrs. Brewster that she sometime had a 
 mynd to join but now declined it because she found so 
 many untruthes among them." She boldly admitted the 
 truth of the charge and justified the remark by reference 
 to the numerous church scandals which had occasioned it. 
 The governor, however, told her that these "were a cleare 
 evidence of the church's integryty, and that upon such a 
 ground any might have declyned Christ's famyly because 
 there was a theife, a divell in it, and might have reproached 
 the primitive pure church at Jerusalem because Ananias 
 and Sapphira were punished for lying." To all which Mrs. 
 Leach "neither excused nor replyed, but spoke uncomely 
 for her sex and her age, soe that her carriage offended the 
 whole court." 
 
 In conclusion, the defendants were all found guilty, and 
 "upon consideration of the nature and weight of the 
 offences" were bound over for trial before a higher court. 
 What became of the case is unknown, as the next volume 
 of the records has long been lost. It is probable that heavy 
 fines were imposed upon all the defendants, for Mrs. 
 Brewster soon afterwards married a Mr. Pell, and the later 
 records disclose that for several years Mr. Pell was being 
 regularly nagged and dunned by the court for the amount
 
 164: CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 of a fine which had been imposed upon his wife before her 
 marriage. It is satisfactory to add that Mr. Pell per- 
 tinaciously evaded its payment and apparently with success. 
 
 Prosecutions of Quakers. 
 
 This jealous intolerance of any reflections upon the 
 magistrates, the ministers or the church was not founded 
 exclusively in religious bigotry, but was, in part, political 
 in its nature; such criticisms being regarded as seditious 
 opposition to the theocratic institutions of the state. 
 Hence the laws against "Quakers and other Herreticks," 
 which were passed in 1658, and which were borrowed from 
 Massachusetts Bay, where a similar form of government 
 prevailed, are to be regarded not so much as an outbreak 
 of religious persecution as the desperate defence of a totter- 
 ing civil order. Nowhere do the early New Haven courts 
 appear so disadvantageous^ as in those trials where this 
 politico-religious fanaticism was stirred into action. The 
 case against Richard Crabbe, of Stamford, affords a painful 
 illustration. Crabbe and his wife were charged with "clam- 
 orous and reproachful speeches against the government and 
 the ministry and officers and for neglecting the meetings 
 for sanctification of the Saboth." They had been suspected 
 of sympathizing with the Quakers, and when officers broke 
 into their house in an unsuccessful search for Quaker 
 books, Crabbe's wife in a fit of hysterical excitement had 
 bitterly reproached the laws and the magistrates which 
 authorized such proceedings. There was not a particle of 
 proof against Crabbe personally, and he not only denied 
 having reviled the government or the ministers, but on 
 being catechised by the court as to his views on the Sab- 
 bath, they seemed to be orthodox. He admitted that his 
 wife (who was not present in court on account of illness) 
 had used opprobrious language to the officers, but said he 
 could not prevent it. He was told that "if his wife speake
 
 THE SEAT OF JUDICIAL TRIBUNALS. 165 
 
 such words and he countenance her in it, he must answer 
 it." Crabbe, who bore himself throughout with great 
 dignity and patience, then asked permission to say a few 
 words concerning his wife, "not as he said that he would 
 justify her in any evill, but to acquaint the court with some- 
 thing concerning her. The woman, said he, was a well 
 bred woman in England, a zealous professour from her 
 childhood, almost beyond example, but when she is sud- 
 denly surprized she hath not power to restrane her pas- 
 sions." To this the governor replied, "that what he said 
 did greatly aggravate her miscarriages, for if she had been 
 a great professour it was certain she had been an ill-practiser 
 in which you have countenanced her and borne her up 
 which may be accounted yours, reviling Mr. Bishop as a 
 priest of Baal and ye members as liars and that Mr. Bishop 
 preached for filthy lucre." He was told "to consider his 
 way how yt after a greate profession made he had now been 
 for a long time a neglecter of ye ordinances, a reproacher of 
 ye ministry and his wife also whom he hath not reproved, 
 that their case seems scarce to be paralleled in these times, 
 that he having such light and his wife such an one as he 
 described her to be should fall into such abominable courses 
 to rail upon the ministers, calling them Baal's priests, etc., 
 and the people of God, calling them traitors, liars, villains, 
 etc., neglecting the ordinances and the Sabbaths and yt 
 every ordinary eye may see marks of apostasy in them." 
 The court being now out of breath "inquired whether he 
 had anything more to say, to which he replyed the Lord 
 help him but farther said not." He was found guilty and 
 fined thirty pounds. He was also required "to give a bond 
 of one hundred pounds for his good behavior and to make a 
 publique acknowledgment at Stamford of the offences" 
 which he denied having committed, and which certainly had 
 not been proved against him. 
 
 As Crabbe was not convicted of Quakerism or heresy but 
 only of his wife's censorious language toward government 
 officials, his case does not form one of the prosecutions
 
 166 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 under the anti-Quaker law. These prosecutions were four 
 in number. The case of Humphrey Norton, who was 
 whipped on New Haven Green in 1658, was referred to in 
 a former paper. The only other Quaker who was whipped 
 in New Haven Colony was Arthur Smith, who was brought 
 from Southold in 1659, charged with expressing the follow- 
 ing "dangerous and corrupt opinions, to wit, 'that there 
 was no divell; that the seven churches of Asia were seven 
 vials, that the three friends of Job were the three persons 
 of the Trinity; and that infants were not charged with 
 Adam's sin till they sinned personally." Being required 
 to answer concerning these appalling propositions, the 
 "court found his answers to be both prophane, absurd, 
 conceited and ridiculous" and he was ordered to be whipped 
 and also to give a bond of fifty pounds or quit the jurisdic- 
 tion. In 1 66 1 John Bud of Southold was fined five pounds 
 for censuring the persecution of Quakers, and commend- 
 ing that sect as "an honest and godly people." The only 
 other case was that of Edward Barnes, a mariner, charged 
 with being a Quaker, who was merely required to remain 
 on board his ship while she staid in port. These four cases 
 of Norton, Smith, Bud and Barnes make up the total of 
 Quaker prosecutions in New Haven Colony. 
 
 Witchcraft Trials. 
 
 In its dealings with witchcraft, the court appears in a 
 more creditable light than in heresy trials. The only per- 
 son ever tried in New Haven Colony for witchcraft was 
 Mrs. Goodman, who had herself initiated the proceedings 
 by charging some of her neighbors with slanderously 
 calling her a witch. As this trial was reviewed in a former 
 paper it will not be enlarged upon. All things considered, 
 the court showed a conservatism which was unusual in such 
 trials at that period, and though the defendant was 
 imprisoned for a few days, and warned that there was grave
 
 THE SEAT OF JUDICIAL TRIBUNALS. 167 
 
 cause for suspicion against her, she was in the end only 
 required to find sureties for her good conduct. There were 
 but two other cases before the court in which the question 
 of witchcraft was involved, both of them, like that of Mrs. 
 Goodman, actions for slander. Of these one was brought in 
 1658 against Roger Ludlow by Thomas Staples of Fairfield, 
 who charged Ludlow with defamation in calling his wife 
 a witch. After a long hearing the court "saw no cause 
 to lay any blame as a witch on Goodwife Staples and 
 judged that Mr. Ludlow had done her wrong" and awarded 
 ten pounds damages to the plaintiff with costs of suit. 
 
 The other case was one of more tragic interest. William 
 Meeker charged Thomas Mulliner with defamation in say- 
 ing that he had bewitched Mulliner's pigs. It appeared 
 that several of Mulliner's pigs had died in a strange way, 
 and when the last remaining animal was taken sick he 
 resolved to investigate the nature of its ailment. In this 
 spirit of inquiry he brought the languishing porker to a 
 fire and having cut off its ears and tail consigned them 
 to the flames. As this soothing remedy failed to restore 
 the pig to its wonted cheerfulness, he gently lifted the 
 remainder of the patient and put that on the fire also. 
 Strange to say, so far from accepting thankfully these kind 
 measures of relief, as a pig mentally well-balanced might be 
 expected to do, the creature vociferously expostulated and 
 concluded by shuffling off its mortal coil in a spiteful mood 
 and disagreeable manner. This unreasonable, not to say 
 hoggish conduct on the part of the brute afforded clear 
 proof to Mr. Mulliner's mind that the pigs had all been 
 bewitched, and that William Meeker, with whom he had 
 had a quarrel, was somehow concerned in it. On the trial 
 of the case, however, he failed to convince the court to that 
 effect, and he was ordered to give bonds that he would cut 
 short all crooked tales to Goodman Meeker's discredit.
 
 168 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 Slander Suits. 
 
 The number of slander suits which were evolved in the 
 small and select community of New Haven out of neighbor- 
 hood quarrels and scandals was quite noteworthy and leads 
 to the conclusion that they were the chief reliance for 
 social entertainment, in the absence of more wholesome 
 amusements. Our ancestors, not having the inestimable 
 privilege of newspapers to wash the dirty linen of society 
 in public, were forced to depend on the courts for that 
 service, and there is every reason to believe that the opera- 
 tion afforded as much popular enjoyment as it does at the 
 present time. A case in the higher circles which doubtless 
 attracted a large audience to the court room was that of 
 Lancelot Fuller and wife against Francis Newman (after- 
 wards governor) and wife. Mrs. Newman was charged 
 with spreading scandalous insinuations against Mrs. Fuller, 
 to the effect that she had invited young Mr. Stone to 
 breakfast when her husband was absent. It appeared that 
 the ladies had had several vivacious conferences about the 
 matter before it came to court, and that the husbands had 
 mixed in and aggravated the trouble, Mrs. Newman had 
 proffered a qualified apology for her remarks, which Mrs. 
 Fuller rejected as unsatisfactory. Mrs. Newman retorted 
 that "then she must goe without satisfaction and she had 
 best let the matter die lest it should bring out worse." Mr. 
 Newman then interposed with a view, it was said, "to 
 heale the business," and in pursuance of that laudable 
 purpose "told Mrs. Fuller in a threteninge manner that 
 she had once been brought into court for her tongue and 
 that he would tame her tongue for he knew what it 
 was." Mrs. Fuller denied that she had been brought 
 into court for her tongue and said "she would scorn 
 to goe up and down to carry lyes." Mr. Newman "asked 
 if he had told any lyes about her; she said his wife 
 had and that he and his wife were one." Rebecca Grigson
 
 THE SEAT OF JUDICIAL TRIBUNALS. 169 
 
 testified that "Mr. Newman told Mrs. Fuller to doe her 
 worst, and she told him to doe his worst and that 
 Mrs. Fuller was high but not so high as he." Mr. Fuller 
 testified that it was himself and not his wife who invited 
 Mr. Stone to breakfast, and in the end the court with great 
 impartiality blamed all the parties to the quarrel, and read 
 a lecture to each; "and for Mr. Newman the court found 
 that he fell short of his duty in controlling his wife and in 
 using exasperating language to Mrs. Fuller, and therefore 
 thought fitt and ordered that Mr. Newman pay five pounds 
 to Lancelot Fuller and his wife to repaire her in point of 
 injury." 
 
 A more moving "case of defamation" which came before 
 the court in 1662 was that of Edmund Dorman against 
 Jeremiah Johnson. The plaintiff informed the court that 
 the defendant had reported at John Clarke's house "with 
 sircumstances of scoffing" that he heard the plaintiff at 
 prayer in a swamp pleading with the Lord to influence an 
 obdurate damsel to accept his matrimonial advances. 
 "Lord, thou knowest my necessity and canst supply it. 
 Lord, bend and bow her will and make her sensible of my 
 condition and submissable to me." The sympathetic court 
 scolded Jeremiah roundly for treating poor Dorman's for- 
 lorn appeal with "sircumstances of scoffing" and reminded 
 him that "it was a fearfull thing to come to that height of 
 sinning as to sit in the seats of ye scorner." 
 
 Conjugal Quarrels. 
 
 Cases of matrimonial infelicity occasionally came before 
 the courts and were generally disposed of by good advice 
 to both parties. Occasionally the advice would be rein- 
 forced by persuasions of quite an urgent character. 
 
 "Ebenezer Brown and Hannah his wife having made 
 many and grievous complaints against each other before 
 ye authorities, the court heard both sides, and finding that 
 both had gone on in a most abominable way, to the
 
 170 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 dishonor of God and the scandall of ye Christian profession, 
 ordered that sentence of corporall punishment be executed 
 upon Ebenezer to-morrow at eight o'clock, and for Hannah 
 the court finds that she also deserves corp'll punishment, 
 yet at present suspend execution on her promise of better 
 behavior, and only order that she stand by her husband 
 while sentence is being executed upon him." If our 
 modern courts were authorized to try similar methods of 
 reconciliation between quarreling partners, divorces for 
 incompatibility of temper would be far less frequent. 
 
 Penal Sentences. 
 
 In case of theft and wilful injury to property, not only 
 was punishment inflicted on the offender, but he was 
 required to indemnify the injured party. If he was not 
 able to make restitution, he was liable to be sold for the 
 purpose, and this fate was imposed in several instances, 
 among them, that of a boy 12 years of age, and that of a 
 little girl still younger, who had mischievously set fire to 
 a barn. We read with less sympathy about George Wood, 
 who was convicted of " stealing from his master and also 
 lying, cursing himself, threatening to kill himself and 
 others, mocking on his mistris, rebelling against his master 
 and against ye authorities in this place, and this on the 
 Sabbath daye after precious means enjoyed, with further 
 lying and atheisticall miscarriages," and who was sentenced 
 "to be set in ye pillory about ye space of one hour, and after 
 that severely whipped, and then banished not to return 
 under pain of death; but because Mr. Goodyeare hath laide 
 out some money for him and it is fitte that it should be 
 repaide, the court gave fourteen days' time to sell him in 
 any other colony; during which delay he is to lye in prison 
 and in irons that so farther miscarriages may be prevented 
 while he stayes here." 
 
 It will be seen from these illustrations that our ancestors 
 in their penal methods sought to prevent crime and to
 
 THE SEAT OF JUDICIAL TRIBUNALS. 1Y1 
 
 protect society, by making the offenders bear the principal 
 burden of their misdeeds, and not to throw it on the law- 
 abiding part of society. It is the most pressing question 
 of our criminal jurisprudence to-day whether a return to 
 the common sense principles of our forefathers is not our 
 first necessity, and whether the whipping post and the 
 treadmill, with proper limitations as to privacy and modera- 
 tion, are not more rational, effective and just as a mode of 
 preventing crime, than the enormous and ever-enlarging 
 hotels in which the vicious, the brutal and the lazy, are now 
 entertained by the public, free of cost, in unaccustomed 
 ease and abundance. 
 
 Even as reformatory agencies, these early instrumentali- 
 ties, by the mere prospect of their application, would 
 generally develop in culprits on trial a feeling of penitence 
 for their misdoings which are quite unknown to the cheer- 
 ful victims of our modern criminal courts. The confession 
 of James Hey wood in 1647 ^ s but one illustration of con- 
 trite acknowledgments which were very common in those 
 days, and which were often quite effective in mitigating 
 the sentence of the court from whipping to a fine, to the 
 mutual advantage of the convict and the public. "I owne 
 my sinne and my shame and do confesse the name of God 
 hath been dishonored and blaspheamed through me for 
 my sinne, with menny circumstances which makes it 
 grevious, so that I have nothing to say but doe justify the 
 proceedings of the court in what God shall guide their 
 harts to." Imagine some old rounder before one of our 
 city police courts, with the prospect of fifteen days in jail, 
 including perhaps a Christmas dinner, addressing the court 
 in language like that! 
 
 I have devoted so large a space to the judicial proceed- 
 ings of the early New Haven Colony, because the court 
 records of that period alone are sufficiently detailed to 
 possess historic interest. To make the review complete 
 it would be necessary to refer to the numerous political 
 trials which arose out of the normal state of popular dis-
 
 172 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 content and rebellion against the narrow and illiberal form 
 of colonial government. Another field which cannot be en- 
 tered is the revolting disclosures of the records relative to 
 outbreaks of criminal vice, the mere mention of which here 
 could not be tolerated. It must be admitted that the state 
 of morals in New Haven County was far from idyllic, and if 
 any one sighs for a return to the purity and tranquility 
 which our pious ancestors enjoyed in the days of Eaton 
 and Davenport, he can be speedily cured of his longings by 
 perusing the New Haven Colonial Records. One can 
 hardly resist the conviction that much of the vice and crime 
 with which those pages are stained, was due to the reaction 
 of human nature against the gloomy austerity and slavish 
 dread of "the wrath of God," which, like a crushing incubus, 
 stunted the moral and mental development of the com- 
 munity. Certain it is that after the union with Connecticut 
 in 1665, the records of the courts take on almost immedi- 
 ately a healthier tone, both with respect to morals and civil 
 order. 
 
 Courts under Connecticut Laws. 
 
 After the union a new judicial system was established 
 under the laws of Connecticut, including a County Court 
 and, for the first time, trials by jury. A new code of laws 
 was also introduced with new methods of trial, which left 
 less latitude to the personal caprices and prejudices of the 
 magistrate. During the rule of Sir Edmund Andross the 
 colonial courts were superseded by courts of the crown, but 
 on his overthrow in 1689 the colonial courts resumed their 
 sessions under the Connecticut charter. It is probable that 
 forms of procedure and trial were not affected by either 
 change. 
 
 With the advent of the new judicial system and a gradual 
 increase of business, the court records fell into a more per- 
 functory form, from which nothing can be learned except 
 the names of the parties, the nature of the action and issue
 
 THE SEAT OF JUDICIAL TRIBUNALS. 173 
 
 and the judgment of the court. There were no newspapers 
 for more than one hundred years, and when they appeared 
 they made little or no reference to court proceedings until 
 long after the beginning of the present century. For these 
 reasons the annals of New Haven judicature between 1670 
 and 1820 are almost a blank as regards historic incident or 
 interest. Within this period there were several trials for 
 murder and other capital crimes which must have caused 
 much local excitement, but they are not touched upon in 
 the newspapers, and even the convictions and executions 
 which followed are alluded to not at all, or in the most 
 meager manner. 
 
 Capital Punishments. 
 
 It may be mentioned here that no capital executions 
 have ever taken place on the Green unless Nepaupuck was 
 beheaded there in 1639, which is doubtful. In 1646 
 another Indian was beheaded in New Haven, but probably 
 not on the Green. Before 1700 there were at least two 
 hangings at Oystershell Fields in the vicinity of Brewery 
 street, and between 1700 and 1800 there were three, all 
 which took place on the south bank of the flats opposite 
 East Rock, a few rods west of State street at a spot which 
 was called Hangman's Hill within the memory of persons 
 now living. In 1835 a law was passed requiring capital 
 executions to be had within the jail yard. The nearest 
 approach to a hanging on the Green that I know of took 
 place in 1828, and is still remembered by some of our oldest 
 citizens. On that occasion a scaffold was erected on the 
 Green opposite the jail and a woman exposed upon it with 
 a halter around her neck for the space of one hour as a 
 punishment for concealing the death of an illegitimate 
 child. The statute prescribing this penalty was repealed 
 in 1830.
 
 174 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 The Amistad Case. 
 
 Since 1820 there have been numerous cases tried on the 
 Green which were of local celebrity, but only one, previous 
 to 1 86 1, was of such widespread importance and interest as 
 to require mention here. This was the trial of the African 
 negroes who were taken with the Spanish slaver Amistad 
 in 1839 in the waters of Long Island Sound. The story 
 of this trial, and of the other legal proceedings growing out 
 of it, has been fully narrated by Judge Baldwin in a paper 
 published by the Society, and I will not repeat it. Suffice 
 it to say that the Africans were charged with murder and 
 piracy on the high seas and the influence of the United 
 States government was strongly exerted to secure either 
 their conviction or their delivery to the Spanish authorities. 
 The masterly and successful defence interposed by their 
 principal counsel, Roger S. Baldwin, won for him a national 
 reputation, while the sympathy aroused for these poor 
 slaves, who had bravely vindicated their right to freedom, 
 was one of the factors in the growth of anti-slavery senti- 
 ment then forming in the public mind. During the two 
 years that the fate of the negroes was in abeyance they were 
 confined in New Haven jail on Church street, and in pleas- 
 ant weather were frequently taken over to the Green for 
 exercise; at which time they capered and tumbled about 
 on the grass in a manner highly entertaining to the numer- 
 ous spectators. 
 
 The New Haven Bar. 
 
 A chronicle of the judicial proceedings associated with 
 the Green would be grossly defective if it omitted refer- 
 ence to the lawyers, who in their several days and genera- 
 tions were the principal actors in those proceedings and 
 did most to make them interesting and memorable, especi- 
 ally to the parties litigant. In such a chronicle, however,
 
 THE SEAT OF JUDICIAL TRIBUNALS. 175 
 
 a chapter on the New Haven Bar prior to 1730 would be 
 like the famous chapter on "The Snakes in Ireland" inas- 
 much as prior to that year there was, properly speaking, 
 no New Haven Bar in existence. It would therefore be 
 in striking contrast with a chapter on the Bar at the present 
 time, which might almost be entitled "On the Snakes Out 
 of Ireland," especially since that prolific incubator, the 
 Yale Law School, has been hatching out these emblems 
 of wisdom in annual swarms as "rigler" members of the 
 profession. 
 
 Before 1708 any person might appear in court as attorney 
 for another in any civil cause, but in that year a law v was 
 passed forbidding such appearance unless the attorney 
 should be approved by the court and take an attorney's 
 oath. In 1725 these practising pettifoggers began to 
 attract attention by their "pernicious activity," and to 
 check the growing evil the Legislature imposed a special 
 tax on attorneys "in proportion to their faculty." The tax, 
 however, seems to have had a stimulating effect, for in 1730 
 the Legislature felt called upon to pass another act declar- 
 ing that "of late so many persons have taken upon them- 
 selves to be attorneys at the Bar that quarrels and law suits 
 are multiplied, and the king's good subjects disturbed." 
 It thereupon provided that thereafter there should be only 
 eleven attorneys in the colony, four in Hartford and two 
 in each of the others, and that these authorized attorneys 
 should be appointed by the County Court and be subject to 
 removal by it. Under this act, which may be said to have 
 founded the New Haven Bar as a branch of the court, the 
 County Court of New Haven, in November, 1730, 
 appointed Mr. William Addams, of Milford, to be one of 
 the two attorneys for that county, and apparently made 
 no other appointment; so that Mr. Addams, so far as I 
 can discover, was the first regular member of the New 
 Haven Bar. In 1731, that part of the law which restricted 
 the number of attorneys was repealed, and in November, 
 1734, Messrs. Daniel Edwards, of New Haven; Elihu Hall,
 
 1Y6 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 of Wallingford, and Michael Hill of Guilford, "were 
 admitted by the court to the office of attorney and sworn, 
 according to law." In 1737, Samuel Darling, of New 
 Haven, was admitted; in 1742, Robert Fairchild, of Dur- 
 ham. In 1743, Messrs. Samuel Andrews and Jared 
 Ingersoll, both of Milford, were admitted, and in 1753 
 Messrs. Ezra Stiles, of New Haven, and James Hillhouse, 
 of New London, were similarly enrolled. From this time 
 on there seems to have been no lack of legal talent at the 
 command of the New Haven public, and before the century 
 closed, Jared and Jonathan Ingersoll, James Abraham 
 Hillhouse, Roger Sherman, Pierpont Edwards, Nathan 
 Smith and others had already placed the New Haven Bar 
 in the high rank which it has ever since maintained in the 
 public esteem and in national reputation. From 1800 to 
 1828, David Daggett, Simeon Baldwin, William Bristol, 
 Seth P. Staples, Dyer White and Eleazar Foster were the 
 most prominent among the practitioners in the old Court 
 House of 1763; and during the latter part of that period 
 Ralph and Charles A. Ingersoll, Roger S. Baldwin, Dennis 
 Kimberley and others came to the front rank of the genera- 
 tion whose career was well begun when the third Court 
 House was occupied in 1828. Later in that generation, 
 and among its most distinguished leaders, are to be included 
 Alfred Blackman, Clark Bissell and Henry Dutton, who 
 came to New Haven at different periods, after the Court 
 House of 1828 was erected. Such was the bar of New 
 Haven which was identified with the closing period of the 
 Green's judicial history. To quote the words of ex-Gov- 
 ernor Harrison in a recent obituary address: "The group 
 of men who led and controlled that bar was large, very 
 large in comparison with its whole membership, and nobody 
 who ever saw those men can ever forget them. It was 
 a splendid galaxy of great lawyers such a galaxy as had 
 never been seen here before and has never been seen here 
 since."
 
 THE SEAT OF JUDICIAL TRIBUNALS. 177 
 
 Emoluments of the Bar. 
 
 It may be interesting to glance for a moment at the 
 emoluments of the New Haven Bar during its earlier years, 
 so far as light can be gathered on that obscure subject, if 
 only to illustrate the modest returns which have always 
 been realized by that ill-paid body of public benefactors. 
 
 The law of 1730, which has been already referred to, 
 provided that, "the attorneys' fees of the county or inferior 
 courts should be ten shillings and no more, and at the 
 Superior Court, twenty shillings and no more." This 
 attempt to restrict the liberality of grateful clients, however, 
 proved a failure, and in order to obviate the habitual dis- 
 regard of a legal ordinance by an appreciative public, the 
 law was subsequently superseded by a rule of the bar that 
 the rates of compensation for the various kinds of legal 
 service should be not less than certain specified amounts. 
 It is believed that this wise regulation has ever since been 
 conformed to by the profession with loyal and honorable 
 fidelity. One difficulty in the way of establishing fixed 
 rates by law in the last century arose from the fact that 
 lawyers were generally obliged to take their pay in materials 
 which had no fixed relation to any uniform standard of 
 value. Some light is thrown on this point by an adver- 
 tisement in the Connecticut Journal of December 24, 1777, 
 in which Pierpont Edwards offers to give "rum, sugar and 
 ginger by retail in exchange for flax, butter, and eggs or 
 Continental currency." This is the only instance I have 
 been able to discover where a member of the New Haven 
 Bar gave public notice, and especially on the day before 
 Christmas, that he had more of the aforesaid genial ingre- 
 dients on hand than he required for his own consumption. 
 Two months later we find another advertisement by Mr. 
 Edwards, offering cart tires and old iron for sale, which 
 seems to indicate that the lawyers of that day stood by their 
 clients to the last as faithfully as they do now.
 
 178 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 Mayor Lewis and General Terry. 
 
 In December, 1862, the courts took their departure 
 from the State House to the new City Hall, on Church 
 street, and the Green ceased to be the seat of judicial 
 tribunals. Of the fifty-seven members of the local bar 
 then enrolled in the Connecticut Register, eleven now 
 survive; most of them still in harness, and all of them, with- 
 out exception, having achieved successful and honored 
 careers in their profession and the public service. As we 
 look through that list of attorneys of 1862, our eyes rest 
 upon the names of two, now gone, who had both been 
 prominent officials of the courts while they held their ses- 
 sions on the Green, and whose subsequent careers of useful- 
 ness and distinction invest their names with a special interest 
 as among those which New Haven will longest cherish with 
 gratitude and honor. The first of these names, in order, 
 is that of Henry G. Lewis. He had been Clerk of the 
 Superior Court from 1847 to 1851, and in 1862 he gave up 
 his legal practice to engage in other pursuits. In 1870 he 
 was elected Mayor of New Haven, and continued in office 
 till 1877, an d was again elected for two years in 1880. To 
 his foresight, public spirit and energy during his first official 
 term as Mayor, in the face of strong opposition, New 
 Haven is indebted for the system of sewers which all now 
 see to have been indispensable for the comfort and health 
 of the community. He took an active interest in the 
 improvement of our streets and it was during his first 
 administration that their general reconstruction with Tel- 
 ford pavements was begun. During his second mayoralty 
 he promoted the opening of East Rock Park and after his 
 retirement from official life he aided in the establishment 
 of our present public park system. It was his warm heart 
 and ready brain which originated that New Haven institu- 
 tion known as "Orphans' Day," and his bust, fitly placed on 
 the summit of East Rock Park, which he helped to create,
 
 THE SEAT OF JUDICIAL TRIBUNALS. 179 
 
 looks with equal fitness toward one of those orphan homes 
 which he so warmly befriended. 
 
 The other name at which we pause is that of Alfred H. 
 Terry. He, too, had been Clerk of the Superior Court, 
 holding that office from 1854 to 1860. Previous to that 
 time, while still a youth, he had acted as Assistant Town 
 Clerk for several years, and it is an interesting circum- 
 stance in connection with the subject of this paper, that 
 in that capacity he transcribed an entire volume of the New 
 Haven Colony records (from 1649 to 1662) with a view to 
 their improved legibility and preservation. Thus it hap- 
 pens that almost the first volume of the records of judicial 
 proceedings on New Haven Green, as well as part of the 
 very last, are in his clear and graceful handwriting. In 
 July, 1860, he gave up his clerical office and a year later 
 was on the field of battle at the head of the regiment which 
 he had organized, developing those splendid qualities which 
 afterwards drew from Admiral Porter the admiring enco- 
 mium that "he was the beau ideal of a soldier and a gentle- 
 man." No characterization could be more fitting, for 
 never was a more gallant spirit graced with a finer culture, 
 or enshrined in a purer and more magnanimous soul. New 
 Haven will honor itself when it shall place the figure of the 
 chivalrous soldier near to that of the public-spirited civilian 
 on those heights which are consecrated to the memory of 
 its patriot heroes, its faithful officials and its generous 
 benefactors.
 
 NOTE TO PAPER No. V. 
 
 NOTE i (page 150). 
 
 Had Peters compared the so-called "Blue laws" with those of other 
 colonies and of England at the same period, his book would always 
 have been cited as a tribute in honor of New Haven and Connecticut. 
 In Virginia, absence from church was a capital crime. Blasphemy was 
 punished by boring the tongue with a redhot bodkin and death. One 
 political malcontent was thus punished and chained to a tree to 
 die. Several others were put to death "by hanging, shooting, breaking 
 on the wheel and the like." Another culprit, for defamation, was 
 condemned to have his tongue bored with an awl, then to pass 
 through a guard of forty men and "be butted by each of them, 
 then to be knocked down and footed out of the fort." In Maryland, 
 for blasphemy the first offence was punished by boring the tongue 
 and a fine of twenty pounds; the second offence by branding in the 
 forehead with a letter B and a fine of forty pounds, and the third offence 
 by death. In New York under the Dutch, torture was a recognized 
 method of extracting confessions in criminal trials. Lutherans and 
 Quakers were driven from the province by fines and whipping. Even 
 under English rule and as late as 1707, a Presbyterian minister, for 
 preaching one sermon in the city of New York, was imprisoned and 
 compelled to pay the costs of court amounting to $300. In Massa- 
 chusetts the record of torture and cruelty, notably toward Quakers 
 and witches, makes that of New Haven tame and insignificant. Yet 
 even this was far surpassed in atrocity by the criminal code of 
 England long after Massachusetts had abandoned her fault, and repented 
 of it in dust and ashes. New Haven Colony can well afford to have its 
 laws termed "blue" in contrast with the black and crimson legislation 
 of its contemporaries.
 
 VI. 
 THE GREEN AS AN EDUCATIONAL CAMPUS. 
 
 The founders of New Haven avowed the leading purpose 
 of their settlement here to be, "to establish a state whose 
 design was religion." In connection with this purpose, 
 and to furnish the pillars of such a state, they contemplated 
 a liberally-educated class who should be leaders and guides 
 in religious and secular affairs. And in order to provide 
 such a class they planned, as their records repeatedly express 
 it, "for the training up of youth, that, through the blessing 
 of God, they might be fitted for publique service in church 
 and commonweale." 
 
 Accordingly, when the settlers left Boston in 1638, taking 
 with them a pastor and a soldier, they also took, as equally 
 essential, a high-grade professional schoolmaster. Ezekiel 
 Cheever, who accompanied the party, was then in his 24th 
 year. He had been a teacher in Boston, and throughout 
 his long life he never had or attempted any other vocation. 
 Almost immediately after the landing, and fully a year 
 before either church or state was organized, a school had 
 been set up in Mr. Cheever's house. The house stood near 
 the southeast corner of Church and Grove streets, almost 
 within the shadow of Mr. Newman's barn, where church 
 and state were founded in June, 1639. 
 
 The First School-house. 
 
 There is good reason to believe that a school-house was 
 built for Mr. Cheever within two or three years after 1639, 
 though there is no direct evidence of it. Michael Wiggles- 
 worth, in his autobiography, says that in 1639 he was a 
 pupil of Mr. Cheever, "who, at that time, taught school in 
 his own house." He also states that in 1645 he came again 
 under Mr. Cheever's instruction, but does not mention
 
 182 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 the place, and the natural inference is that a school-house 
 had been in the meanwhile erected. The inference is con- 
 firmed by other circumstances. Four years previous to 
 Michael's second pupilage, that is to say, on the 2$th of 
 December, 1641, there had been held a town meeting, at 
 which "it was ordered that a free school shall be set up in 
 this towne, and our pastour, Mr. Davenport, together with 
 the magistrates, shall consider what yearly allowance is 
 meete to be given to it out of the treasury of the towne." 
 Under this order Mr. Cheever was appointed schoolmaster, 
 and 20 a year was paid to him until August, 1644, when 
 the salary was increased to 30. It is probable that under 
 this vote a school-house was also provided, and that Mr. 
 Cheever was installed in it before 1645. It is certain that in 
 1651 the town, being then in the course of negotiations for 
 a new schoolmaster, agreed that the school-house should be 
 repaired. There must, therefore, have been a school-house 
 in existence in 1651 which was old enough to need repairs. 
 Mr. Cheever had left town in 1649, and no school had been 
 kept since his departure. The school-house must, there- 
 fore, have been used by him when the free school was set 
 up in 1641 or shortly thereafter. 
 
 The question where the first school-house stood is one 
 upon which the records throw no direct light, and with 
 regard to which various surmises have been advanced. 
 From a comparison of several different sources of informa- 
 tion I have no doubt that it stood on the Green near Elm 
 street a little west of Temple.* It was renovated and 
 enlarged in 1660 and was in use thereafter as a grammar 
 and English school until 1723, when a new school-house 
 was built for the grammar school on the Green near 
 College street. From this time till 1656 the old school- 
 house (doubtless with occasional repairs) was occupied for 
 an English school until 1656, when it was superseded by a 
 new brick school-house on the same location. This con- 
 tinued in use as a town school until 1815, when it was taken 
 
 *See Note i at end of this paper.
 
 AS AN EDUCATIONAL CAMPUS. 183 
 
 down. The grammar school-house of 1723 fell into dilapi- 
 dation and disuse after 1790, and was removed as a nuisance 
 sometime before 1800. 
 
 Early School Education. 
 
 Having thus traced the history of the several school 
 buildings on the Green so far as our materials permit, let us 
 next follow the progress and vicissitudes of educational 
 interests within their walls. 
 
 The "free school" which was set up in 1641 by vote of 
 the town was not intended to be a school free of cost to the 
 pupils. It was simply a public school, controlled and partly 
 supported by the public and "free" or "open" to all who 
 chose to attend and pay tuition fees. Neither was it what 
 we understand by "a common school," viz., one designed 
 for instruction in the elementary English branches. Ele- 
 mentary instruction, when it was acquired at all, was 
 obtained either in the family or from private teachers; and 
 as was remarked in a town meeting debate, "it was scarce 
 known in any place to have a free school for teaching 
 English and writing." The law of 1656 required that 
 parents or masters should provide in some way that "their 
 children and apprentices should be taught to read the 
 Scriptures and other good and profitable books in the 
 English tongue, being their native language, and in some 
 competent measure to understand the main grounds and 
 principles of the Christian religion necessary to salvation." 
 It also required the public officials to ascertain any negli- 
 gence in this respect, and to report offenders to the court.* 
 Apparently a young man who could read the Bible after 
 a fashion and answer questions in theology to the satisfac- 
 tion of a constable, was thought sufficiently educated for all 
 the ordinary purposes of life. If in addition to this he could 
 write enough to make out a bill, and was able to foot it up 
 correctly, his educational qualifications were regarded with 
 
 * See Note 2.
 
 184 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 great respect. In 1660, at the prompting of Mr. Davenport, 
 the town extended the law so as to require that "all boys 
 should be learned to write a legible hand as soon as they 
 are capable," but it saw no need of adopting his other 
 recommendations that "they should also be taught to cast 
 up accounts competently and should make some entrance 
 into the Latin tongue." 
 
 Dame Schools and other Schools. 
 
 For this primary or, as it might be called, common school 
 education for the masses, the town made no provision. The 
 law of 1656, already quoted, required that it should be 
 imparted to children by parents and masters, "either by 
 their own ability and labor or by improving such school- 
 master or other help as the plantation doth afford or the 
 family conveniently provide." So far as can be ascertained, 
 the reliance for such instruction was upon dame schools, 
 where small boys and girls were taught their letters and 
 "manners." That some other accomplishments were 
 occasionally acquired at these schools appears from the 
 record of the trial of a little girl before the magistrates' 
 court in 1651 for "prophane swearing." The language 
 charged was the fiendish expressions "By my soul," and 
 "As I am a Christian," and the child's mother, by way of 
 extenuation, suggested that "she had learned some of her 
 ill-carriage at Goodwife Wickham's, where she went to 
 scoole." The frightened little culprit denied the charge, 
 which only made matters worse. In the end she was found 
 guilty, and after being lectured with copious and lurid 
 warnings from Scripture, was fined ten shillings for "pro- 
 fanity" and ordered "to be whipped according to her years" 
 for telling lies to the court. 
 
 To boy graduates of the dame schools who could read 
 in the Testament, the free school opened its doors provided 
 their parents were willing to pay the tuition fees for the 
 higher education there imparted. What the extent of the
 
 AS AN EDUCATIONAL CAMPUS. 185 
 
 higher education was, we learn from the records. Teachers 
 employed for the school were required "to perfect male 
 children in ye Englishe after they can read in their Testa- 
 ment or Bible, and to learn them to wrighjt and to bring 
 them on to Lattine as they are capable and desire to pro- 
 ceed therein." Arithmetic was not embraced in this 
 curriculum, and was not taught in the grammar school. In 
 1645, "Mr. Pearce, a private teacher, desired the plantation 
 to take notice that if any will send their children to him 
 he will instruct them in writing and arethmatick," but 
 arithmetic without Latin had no chance in competition 
 w r ith Latin without arithmetic, and nothing is heard of Mr. 
 Pearce's school afterwards. Thus early did the New Haven 
 educational atmosphere acquire that predominating flavor 
 of the dead languages which has ever since distinguished it, 
 and thus did New Haven begin its high school system by 
 cramming the pupils with ornamental studies, and neglect- 
 ing to train them in those which are of practical every-day 
 use. I have not yet ascertained the exact date when that 
 practice was discontinued. 
 
 Ezekiel Cheever. 
 
 How successful Mr. Cheever's career as a pedagogue 
 was in New Haven, and how many scholars he had, we 
 have no means of knowing. Some of his later pupils in 
 Boston have left reminiscences concerning him from which 
 we may draw inferences respecting his methods of instruc- 
 tion and discipline at New Haven. According to these 
 narrators, the boys found it expedient to watch the school- 
 master's cane as closely as their text-books, and as one 
 witness remarks, "when they saw him begin to stroke his 
 pointed beard they all got ready to stand from under." 
 This general panic in the school-room probably arose from 
 an uncertainty where the lightning was going to strike, 
 for the same witness .declares that it was Mr. Cheever's 
 practice, whenever a boy made a bad recitation, to flog
 
 186 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 another boy for not exercising a better influence over the 
 delinquent; and that one chronic victim of these vicarious 
 inflictions, in order to escape them, was compelled to thrash 
 a lazy comrade so that he never came to school any more. 
 With such amiable peculiarities as this, it is safe to say that 
 Mr. Cheever was not idolized by the schoolboys of New 
 Haven, and for some reason he also failed to ingratiate 
 himself with the older part of the community. In 1647, 
 he was called before the church to answer for "his con- 
 tradictory, stiff and proud frame of spirit," as manifested 
 in sundry offensive carriages toward the magistrates and 
 elders, and after a ridiculous and scandalous proceeding 
 called a church trial was "cast out of the church till the 
 proud flesh be destroyed and he be brought to a more 
 reasonable frame." After this certificate of character he 
 hardly felt encouraged to continue his instruction of youth 
 in New Haven, and accordingly removed to Ipswich and 
 afterwards to Boston, where he died at the age of 93, having 
 continued to teach till the year before his death. 
 
 Whatever doubt may exist as to Mr. Cheever's personal 
 success as an instructor in New Haven, it is certain that he 
 made his little school-house on the Green the point from 
 which classical education in New England derived one of 
 its principal means of preservation and progress for more 
 than a hundred and fifty years. This vitalizing agency 
 was the manual of Latin instruction known as "Cheever's 
 Accidence, or Introduction to the Latin tongue." This 
 book was compiled by him while in New Haven and was 
 used in the grammar schools of New England through 
 nineteen editions, the last of which was issued in 1838. It 
 was the first school book in the classics if not the first school 
 book of any kind produced in this country, and thus upon 
 New Haven Green, before the virgin forest was cleared 
 from its surface, began that splendid record of American 
 educational literature in which the share of New Haven 
 from first to last has not been surpassed by that of any 
 rival.
 
 AS AN EDUCATIONAL CAMPUS. 187 
 
 The Colony Collegiate School. 
 
 The departure of Mr. Cheever left the town not only 
 without a public school, but so far as can be ascertained 
 without any means of education whatever. It was not 
 easy to find a schoolmaster competent to take Mr. Cheever's 
 place, and when after three years a successor was obtained, 
 so many children came to him to be taught their letters 
 and so few to study the classics that he became discouraged 
 and continued only six months in the work. The same 
 troubles were repeated under his successors; and after 
 several years' trial, it was evident that as a nursery for 
 ministers and statesmen the town school was a failure. In 
 1660 Mr. Bowers, the schoolmaster, "desired to knowe the 
 towne's mind, whether they would have a schoole or no 
 schoole, for he could not satisfie himself to goe on thus." 
 The matter was referred to the court, elders and townsmen 
 for consideration, and after a few months it was decided 
 to abandon the school as a town institution, and to re-estab- 
 lish it as a colony grammar school, to be maintained jointly 
 by all the towns of the colony. 
 
 This step was not entirely determined by the existing 
 condition of the school, but was in accordance with plans 
 that had been cherished by the colony from its inception. 
 It had been a darling purpose of the founders of New 
 Haven to establish a college there as soon as their means 
 and other circumstances would permit. It was with this 
 in view that they had brought Mr. Cheever with them 
 from Boston, and had set up a classical school for him to 
 the neglect of all other public instruction. In the first 
 layout of the town they had set apart a tract of forty acres 
 below Olive street, called the Oystershell Fields, "for the 
 town's disposal" with a view to its application to this object. 
 In 1648 this provision was enlarged by adding three acres 
 on Elm street fronting the market place, known as "the 
 Mrs. Eldred lot," because it had been originally reserved for
 
 188 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 Mrs. Eldred, one of the proprietors, who was expected to 
 arrive, but who never came to America. This tract, which 
 afterwards became the home lot of Rev. Mr. Pierpont, 
 extended on Elm street from the east boundary of the 
 present Bristol place to the west boundary of the Foster 
 place, running- back to Wall street. In 1652 and again in 
 1655 the plan of starting the college as a colony enterprise 
 was strongly agitated and three hundred pounds were raised 
 in New Haven for the project, but the other towns felt 
 unprepared to assume their share of the burden and the 
 movement fell through. 
 
 The Hopkins Bequest. 
 
 In 1657 new hope was infused into the college scheme by 
 a bequest from Mr. Edward Hopkins, a son-in-law of 
 Governor Eaton, who had just died in London. By this 
 bequest certain property in Connecticut Colony, inventoried 
 at about fourteen hundred pounds "besides a negar," was 
 devised to three trustees, Mr. Davenport of New Haven, 
 Mr. Goodwin of Hadley and Mr. Cullick of Boston. The 
 inclusion of "a negar" in the inventory of property is per- 
 haps the earliest evidence that African servants were held 
 as chattels at that time in Connecticut.* By the terms of 
 the will the bequest was to be used at the discretion of 
 the trustees "for the breeding up of hopeful youths in New 
 England, both at grammar school and college, for the public 
 service of the country." The trustees decided to use the 
 money for maintaining grammar schools at New Haven and 
 Hadley, with an allowance to Harvard College. In 1660 
 Mr. Davenport brought the matter to the attention of the 
 town. He offered to apply the share allotted to New 
 Haven in aid of a grammar school to be maintained by the 
 colony provided the town and colony would also make 
 provision for its support according to certain conditions 
 which, he specified. Both town and colony accepted the 
 
 * See Note 3.
 
 AS AN EDUCATIONAL CAMPUS. 189 
 
 conditions, the town agreeing among other things to pro- 
 vide a school-house, and to devote the Eldred lot and the 
 Oystershell Fields to educational uses, while the colony 
 agreed to make an annual allowance for its support. 
 Everything being arranged, Mr. Peck was engaged as 
 schoolmaster and in the fall of 1660 the colony grammar 
 school went into operation. 
 
 It now looked as if the foundations of the future college 
 were actually laid and the course of study prescribed was 
 made correspondingly ambitious. Mr. Peck was required 
 "to teach ye scholars Latin, Greek and Hebrew and fit them 
 for ye college" (meaning Harvard for the time being,) and 
 also to teach them "oratory, and to write so far as was 
 necessary in his worke." Again we notice that arithmetic 
 is not mentioned. In fact arithmetic was not then taught 
 even at Harvard until the third or senior year; and only 
 after the students had been fully prepared for it by the 
 preliminary absorption of logic, physics, syntax, ethics, 
 politics, dialects, prosody and Chaldee. Another prepara- 
 tion for college was also overlooked in the school curri- 
 culum but was supplied by the enterprise of the students 
 who secured private instruction. In August, 1661, Goody 
 Spinnage was called before the court for allowing "ye 
 scollars to play at cards at her house on Saturday afternoons 
 and holidays." The thriving class in this optional study 
 was quickly broken up and Professor Spinnage only escaped 
 punishment by a humble confession, with the excuse that 
 "she did not then judge it to be a sinne, but is now sorry 
 that she gave way to such disorder." 
 
 Sequestration of the Hopkins Fund by Connecticut. 
 
 It soon appeared that the Hopkins executors, in arrang- 
 ing for the distribution of the fund between New Haven, 
 Hadley and Harvard, had reckoned without their host. 
 The property was all within the jurisdiction of Connecticut, 
 a cognomen which then as now was practically synonymous
 
 190 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 with Hartford, and that thrifty community resolved that 
 New Haven should not enjoy its good fortune except upon 
 the terms of giving to Hartford at least an equal share. 
 With this business-like purpose in view, no sooner was the 
 Hopkins will made public than the General Assembly of 
 Connecticut sequestered the whole estate into its own 
 possession, appointing an administrator of its own, for- 
 bidding any action by the trustees named in the will, 
 and interposing all kinds of obstacles to the settlement 
 of the estate. For over five years these impediments 
 were continued. All collections being stopped, many 
 claims were lost, and other wastes occurred until the 
 property had dwindled, as was estimated, nearly one- 
 quarter in amount. By that time the trustees, tired 
 of the unequal contest and fearing the loss of the whole 
 fund, consented to devote four hundred pounds to the 
 establishment of a grammar school at Hartford, provided 
 the authorities would agree not to hinder further settlement 
 of the estate; whereupon the sequestration was immedi- 
 ately removed. The estate on final settlement in 1665 
 produced about 1,200; of which 400 went to Hartford 
 and 400 to New Haven; 300 went to Hadley, 100 went 
 to Harvard College, and "the negar" went to parts 
 unknown. 
 
 In the meantime the Colony school, the incipient college 
 at New Haven which had been born in 1660, had lived and 
 died, and had long been buried. In the expectation of the 
 Hopkins fund, great enthusiasm had been awakened. The 
 colony had appropriated liberally for the school's endow- 
 ment and support. The town had greatly enlarged and 
 improved the school-house, and had turned it over as an 
 elegant academic hall to the colony. It had also voted a 
 house to the schoolmaster with an allowance of 10 a year 
 toward his maintenance. It assigned special seats of honor 
 in the meeting-house "to the schollers," and as a natural 
 consequence was soon after obliged to appoint Edwin 
 Baker to keep them in order during divine service; and as
 
 AS AN EDUCATIONAL CAMPUS. 191 
 
 an extraordinary indulgence the hour of opening school was 
 changed during the winter season from seven o'clock in the 
 morning to eight. Strange to say, notwithstanding all 
 these allurements the candidates for honors in "Latin, 
 Greek, Hebrew, oratory, and as much writing as the work 
 required," were few in number and fell off rapidly. In a 
 few months, Mr. Davenport complained that only five or 
 six children came from the town, and that the pupils were 
 very inconstant in their attendance. In 1662 the colony, 
 tired of the experiment, voted to discontinue its support. 
 
 The college being thus indefinitely postponed, and the 
 town left to shift for itself, the latter concluded to mitigate 
 its zeal in behalf of the learned languages, and in the follow- 
 ing year engaged George Pardee as schoolmaster "to teach 
 English and writing and to carry the scholars in Latin as 
 far as he could," which Mr. Pardee frankly told them was a 
 very short distance indeed. Some visionary crank made a 
 remark in town meeting to the effect "that arithmatick 
 was very necessary in these parts," but the suggestion met 
 with no favor, and as a substitute the meeting advised that 
 "the youth be instruckted in point of manners, there being 
 a great fault in that respect as some exprest." 
 
 Of course, by this abandonment of a grammar school, 
 New Haven relinquished its claims on the Hopkins fund, 
 which the Hartford authorities still held in their clutches; 
 but in 1664, Mr. Davenport, being anxious that the town 
 should not give up finally his favorite plan of a collegiate 
 school, again called up the subject in town meeting. 
 Reminding his hearers that "we are in a very low way for 
 learning," he besought the town to make a new effort to 
 secure permanently the benefit of the Hopkins fund, by 
 sending for a new schoolmaster and starting the grammar 
 school again. Under the stimulus of this appeal the town 
 voted 30 a year for a grammar school and appointed a 
 committee, but apparently went no farther. New Haven 
 Colony was then in the throes of dissolution and within 
 the next two years passed out of existence by absorption 
 into Connecticut.
 
 192 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 The Hopkins Grammar School Founded. 
 
 By the laws of Connecticut every town was required to 
 maintain a grammar school, and in 1667 New Haven, being 
 notified of this obligation, voted a grant of thirty pounds 
 a year to support such a school and engaged Mr. Street as 
 schoolmaster. The following year Mr. Davenport, being 
 about to remove to Boston, called on the town to say 
 whether it intended to carry on the school permanently in 
 such a way as to secure the Hopkins fund or not. There- 
 upon several of the leading citizens expressed their purpose 
 "of bringing up their sons to learning," and Mr. Street 
 reported "that he had already eight in lattin and expected 
 several more." On these assurances Mr. Davenport a few 
 weeks later executed a deed, conveying the Hopkins fund 
 to certain local trustees, for the support and maintenance 
 of "the grammar school or college already founded and 
 begun at New Haven." The deed recited the fact that the 
 school-house and schoolmaster's house belonging to the 
 town had already been granted and confirmed to the uses 
 of the school and stipulated that these and also the Oyster- 
 shell fields and the Eldred lot should be forever held for 
 the support of the "Grammar or Collegiate School." Thus 
 the Hopkins Grammar School was finally established in 
 New Haven, and it has survived, with various vicissitudes 
 in its activity and prosperity, to this day. It was born on 
 the Green and there it passed the first century and a half 
 of its existence, as will be seen hereafter. 
 
 Mr. Street continued to instruct the grammar school till 
 1673, when he removed to Wallingford, and the school 
 was closed for a year, apparently for lack of both teacher 
 and scholars. It was then opened with George Pardee 
 again in charge, who was still a man of Shakesperian quali- 
 ties, with respect to knowing "small Latin and less Greek." 
 He therefore undertook only "to teach English and ye 
 accidence and any gramer rules as far as he could." So
 
 AS AN EDUCATIONAL CAMPUS. 193 
 
 small a modicum of classics was not satisfactory to the 
 colonial authorities, and in 1676 the county Marshal noti- 
 fied the town that he had a warrant against it for not main- 
 taining a grammar school according to law. Under this 
 pressure the town voted in July, 1677, that "twenty pounds 
 per annum be paid from the town treasury for the incour- 
 agement and maintenance of a schoolmaster who shall not 
 only teach ye languages, but also perfect ye youth in reading 
 English, they being entered in ye Primmer and to teach 
 them to write a legible hand." No instructor of sufficient 
 erudition for such a course could be found however, and 
 even George Pardee seems to have abandoned the field, for 
 in 1 68 1 we find there was renewed complaint that "there was 
 no schoolmaster" and a debate about getting one "to teach 
 at least English till one who could teach ye languages could 
 be obtained, that the youth might not lose their time." 
 
 Early School Books. 
 
 The foregoing allusions to "the accidence" and the 
 "primmer" as school books are interesting as allusions to 
 the only text-books used in the early colonial schools of 
 which we have now any knowledge. "The Accidence" 
 was of course Mr. Cheever's little book, of which the first 
 edition was printed in London in 1660, and the nineteenth 
 in Boston in 1838. What the "Primmer" was, it is not so 
 easy to determine. We read that in 1645 Mrs. Stolion, 
 who kept a dry goods and "notion" store, was complained of 
 before the court for charging extortionate prices, and among 
 the items specified it was said that "she sold Primmers at 
 9d, which cost 4d here in New England." These were 
 doubtless an imported book containing the alphabet and 
 easy spelling and reading lessons, much like the famous New 
 England Primer which appeared at some unknown date 
 prior to 1690. Probably the primers in use in 1674 were 
 13
 
 194: CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 the same as those sold by Mrs. Stolion in 1645, as text- 
 books were not then supplied to schools at the public 
 expense and consequently were not changed every year or 
 two for the benefit of publishers. As the standard price of 
 these primers in 1645 was only four pence, it is not likely 
 that the horn book, which must have been much inferior 
 for tuition purposes, was ever in vogue in New Haven. 
 
 Revival of the Grammar School. 
 
 After 1683 the town records cease to throw any light on 
 the progress of education in the schools of New Haven, 
 but the grammar school records, which began to be kept in 
 that year, partly supply the deficiency. From these it 
 appears that boys from New Haven County were admitted 
 free, all others on payment of ten shillings. The pupils 
 were divided into "English boyes" and "Lattine boyes." 
 The English boys were taught "to perfect their right spell- 
 ing and reading and to write and to cypher in numeration 
 and addition and no further." The studies of the Latin 
 boys are not specified, but were probably such as were 
 required for entering Harvard College, viz.: Latin enough 
 to translate Cicero, and to speak Latin in prose and verse; 
 also the elements of Greek grammar. 
 
 The records of the County Court show that the school 
 received 15 a year from the county, and the court 
 appointed or confirmed the schoolmaster. Pupils were 
 admitted as soon as they could read. The hours of study 
 were in the morning from 6 to 1 1 o'clock, and in the after- 
 noon from i to 4 in the winter, and from i to 5 in the sum- 
 mer. There were apparently no half-holidays, for the rules 
 required the boys to be examined Monday mornings on 
 the sermons, and Saturday afternoons in the Catechism. 
 Even as late as 1729 the school was ordered "kept seven 
 hours a day in the winter and eight in summer, and not to 
 exceed twelve play dayes in the year." How it was pos-
 
 AS AN EDUCATIONAL CAMPUS. 195 
 
 sible to make boys work so much in order to learn so little 
 is a problem of which we have no recorded solution. 
 Doubtless the unsuitable character of the text-books and 
 the defective methods of instruction are accountable for 
 most of the profitless drudgery. 
 
 Under these inspiriting regulations the little boys of New 
 Haven pursued their studies with blithesome hearts in the 
 old Colony school-house until 1723, when the joint arrange- 
 ment between the grammar school and the town school 
 came to an end and the Latin scholars moved into new and 
 perhaps more commodious quarters. The grammar school 
 was thereafter kept in the new school-house near College 
 street, next the jail and opposite the new edifice called "Yale 
 College," while an English school was maintained in the 
 old building by the First Ecclesiastical Society as a town 
 school. From 1718 to 1723 was an era of great public build- 
 ing in New Haven. In that period, besides the new one- 
 story school-house, the jail, alongside of it, was enlarged and 
 raised to two stories; a two-story state house was erected 
 just beyond, near Elm street; and on the other side of 
 College street, near -Chapel, was reared the stately college 
 building of wood, four stories high and twenty-two feet 
 wide, whose grand "architectonic" effect then excited no 
 little admiration. 
 
 The grammar school having now become entirely dis- 
 sociated from the town management, there only remained 
 to turn over to the trustees of the Hopkins fund such 
 property belonging to it as still continued in the possession 
 of the town. For this purpose a town meeting held in 1728 
 passed a vote vesting in the Hopkins School Committee 
 full power over the Oystershell Fields, "to be improved by 
 them for the upholding of a grammar school in the First 
 Parish of this town for the educating of children of Presby- 
 terian parents only, and no other use whatsoever, forever 
 hereafter." Episcopalianism had just reared its hydra head 
 in New Haven, and this vote was designed as timely notice 
 that the privileges established to uphold the faith delivered
 
 196 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 to the saints were not to be perverted for the benefit of dis- 
 senters. The slow growth of the new denomination made 
 the restriction one of little practical consequence for many 
 years, and after that period, if not before, it was always 
 treated as a dead letter. 
 
 From this time onward, the progress of the grammar 
 school appears to have been more steady. Teachers were 
 always obtainable from graduates of the college. The 
 college afforded a stimulus to education in the town, and as 
 population and wealth increased scholars were not lacking. 
 By the year 1790 the school-house of 1723 near the jail had 
 fallen into dilapidation and the grammar school records 
 show that between 1790 and 1795 two of the teachers 
 obtained permission to keep the school in their own houses. 
 After 1797 the trustees hired a room elsewhere for the use 
 of the school until 1801, when they built a new school-house 
 of wood on the corner of Crown and Church streets, the 
 same ground now occupied by the Young Men's Republi- 
 can Club. The old school-house, as already stated, was 
 demolished sometime after 1795. 
 
 Other Schools on the Green. 
 
 After the separation of the grammar and English schools 
 in 1723, the First Ecclesiastical Society, which was to all 
 intents and purposes the town, carried on the English 
 school in the old school-house, doubtless after putting it in 
 a suitable state of renovation and repair. In 1755 the 
 Society erected a new brick school-house on the same site 
 as the old house,* and this continued in use until after the 
 present North Church was erected, or until about 1815. 
 The late Mr. Charles Thompson recollected attending 
 school in this building and turning out with the other boys 
 one bright day in June, 1813, to see the funeral cortege pass 
 by which was bearing the dead bodies of Lawrence and his 
 
 * See Note 4.
 
 AS AN EDUCATIONAL CAMPUS. 197 
 
 brave lieutenant, Ludlow, of the frigate Chesapeake, with 
 military escort, on their way to New York for burial. 
 
 Since the departure of the grammar school and the public 
 school from the Green, several private schools have been 
 kept within its borders. In 1822 Mr. John E. Lovell opened 
 a Lancasterian school in the basement of the Methodist 
 Church, then just erected. Mr. Lovell was an enthusiastic 
 and thorough instructor, and is remembered by his pupils 
 of two generations with esteem and gratitude for the valu- 
 able service which he rendered to the cause of education, 
 the influence of which is still felt in New Haven. The 
 peculiarities of the Lancasterian system as administered by 
 Mr. Lovell consisted largely in utilizing the older scholars 
 for imparting knowledge, and the occasional use of rattan 
 and a certain "yellow pony" to promote attention and 
 quicken the memory. Among the pleasing associations 
 connected with the school are recollections of its annual 
 exhibition, the leading feature of which was a dramatic per- 
 formance by the boys, rendered with the daring accessories 
 of costumes, scenery, drop-curtains and footlights. Had 
 this entertainment been called a play it would have startled 
 the moral sense of the community, but under the title of 
 "an exhibition" it was viewed with delight by the most 
 rigid of audiences. On at least one occasion it was given 
 with all its theatrical paraphernalia within the walls of the 
 sanctuary itself. The school was removed from the Green 
 in 1827 to a large new building erected expressly for it, 
 which stood on the lot on Orange street now occupied 
 by the High School. At later periods two other private 
 schools were kept in the basement of the Methodist Church, 
 one by Mr. Lucius Thomas and another by Mr. Smith 
 Dayton. 
 
 Publication Office on the Green. 
 
 If the newspaper is to be regarded as an educational 
 institution, according to a theory entertained by some 
 members of the editorial profession, it may be proper to
 
 198 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 refer to one such guide, philosopher and friend which 
 was domiciled for several years on the Green. This was 
 the Connecticut Journal and New Haven Post Boy, a weekly 
 paper which was started in 1767 by Thomas and Samuel 
 Green, and was edited and published in the Old State 
 House which stood near the corner of Elm and College 
 streets on the site of its successor, the Methodist Church. 
 The printing office was in "the old council chamber," and 
 here were printed and sold not only the newspaper itself 
 but also many sermons and other religious pamphlets, 
 and occasionally almanacs, which besides other practical 
 information sometimes contained essays on astrology, con- 
 jugation and witchcraft. In 1769 The Connecticut Colony 
 Law Book was published at this office, containing all the 
 laws in force in the colony. This printing office remained 
 on the Green until June, 1772, when it was removed to the 
 corner of College and Chapel streets, "over the store of 
 Mr. Lockwood, and opposite Mr. Beers' tavern." What- 
 ever merits as a public educator the Connecticut Journal and 
 Post Boy may have had in other respects, it was sadly defec- 
 tive in its department of local news, and especially so with 
 regard to reports of social scandals, family quarrels, brutal 
 prize fights, bloody murders, and other cheerful and edify- 
 ing occurrences which form such a prominent and instruc- 
 tive feature in the columns of its modern successors. 
 
 Town Library on the Green. 
 
 From the public press to the public library is a short 
 transition, but in this case it takes us back to the earliest 
 period of New Haven Colony. The first reference in the 
 records to a town library is under date of March, 1652, 
 when "Jerdice Boyce and William Russell were desired to 
 make some seats in the school-house and a chest to put 
 the books in." Possibly the books here referred to were 
 school books, but if so volumes of a miscellaneous charac-
 
 AS AN EDUCATIONAL CAMPUS. 199 
 
 ter belonging to the town were soon added. In 1656 
 Governor Eaton delivered to Mr. Davenport "certain books 
 lately belonging to his brother, Samuel Eaton, intended 
 for the use of a college and appraised at about twenty 
 pounds." A catalogue of these made by Mr. Davenport 
 in 1658 is copied into the records of the townsmen (or 
 selectmen) and shows a collection of one hundred volumes, 
 mostly in Latin, including Calvin's Institutes, and many 
 other entertaining theological, controversial and literary 
 works. In 1658 "Mr. Gibbard acquainted the town that a 
 friend of his in England had sent a parcel of books as a 
 gift to the town and desired to know how the town would 
 have them disposed of. It was declared that seeing they 
 are, most of them, Latin school books, they left it to him 
 and the schoolmaster and such others as they should take 
 in to advise with." Probably the Eaton and Gibbard dona- 
 tions were both stored away in the school-house chest. In 
 1659 the General Court of the colony, in connection with 
 its adoption of the collegiate or grammar school, appro- 
 priated eight pounds "for the procuring of books from 
 Rev. Mr. Blinnman." By this time the library had out- 
 grown the school-house chest, and in the following year 
 Mr. Davenport, as one condition of giving a part of the 
 Hopkins fund to the collegiate school, required that the 
 colony should contribute toward building a school-house 
 and library. In compliance with this request, when the 
 school-house was enlarged by the town in 1661, a room in 
 it was provided "with shelves to lay books on;" and when 
 the volumes were arranged on these shelves they looked so 
 attractive that Mr. Peck, the new schoolmaster, requested 
 the privilege of reading them, which privilege was graci- 
 ously granted, "provided a list of them be taken." Whether 
 Mr. Peck ever availed himself of this permission to revel 
 in the fields of fancy and humor thus laid open to him is 
 unknown, but it is believed that he is the only person who 
 ever felt tempted to do so. The shelf accommodations in 
 the school-house seem to have been insufficient, for in 1661
 
 200 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 Mr. Davenport referred to the fact that "there are now 
 many books belonging to the town," and renewed his 
 suggestion that "a library be built;" and in October, 1670, 
 the townsmen "desired bro. Glover and bro. Winston to 
 get a convenient place maid in the scool-hous to keep the 
 town books in." Nothing more is heard of the town books 
 until February, 1689, when by a vote of the townsmen, 
 afterwards ratified by the town, they were all sold to Mr. 
 Pierpont for forty pounds of rye and thirty-two bushels of 
 Indian corn, equivalent, as appears by the town treasurer's 
 account, to twelve pounds, eighteen shillings. As Mr. 
 Pierpont must have known that some of these books had 
 been originally intended to form a part of a college founda- 
 tion, it is not unlikely that he may have used them for that 
 purpose at Branford in 1700, when the ministers there 
 assembled (if they ever did so assemble) and severally 
 presented their gifts of books "for the founding of a college 
 in this colony." 
 
 Association of the Green -with Yak College. 
 
 This allusion to the founding of Yale College opens up 
 a most interesting and important branch of our subject, 
 viz., the association of the Green with the rise and progress 
 of that institution. The preliminary and abortive efforts of 
 the colony to create a college through the establishment 
 and development of a grammar school have already been 
 recounted. After the collapse of these plans in 1660 the 
 project of a college remained in abeyance until the tradi- 
 tional and perhaps mythical meeting of the ministers in 
 Branford, just referred to. In the meantime New Haven 
 sent its boys to Harvard and extended generous aid to that 
 institution, which was maintaining a precarious existence 
 amid many discouragements. As early as 1644 this aid 
 began, through the passage of the following vote by the 
 General Court: "The proposition for the relief of poore 
 schollars at the Coledg at Cambridg was fully approved off,
 
 AS AN EDUCATIONAL CAMPUS. 201 
 
 and thereupon it was ordered that Joshua Attwater and 
 William Davis shall receive of every one in this plantation 
 whose hart is willing to contribute thereunto a peck of 
 wheat, or the vallue of itt." Thus was originated the 
 annual contributions of "college corn" for the aid of Har- 
 vard College, which continued for over thirty years. By 
 the end of the century, however, the town had become 
 tired of supporting "poore scollars" at Cambridge, and felt 
 strong enough to set up a rival institution, from which 
 better results might be looked for. All arrangements hav- 
 ing been completed by Mr. Pierpont and his associates, 
 the General Assembly of Connecticut at the first session 
 which it held in New Haven, October, 1701, granted the 
 charter. The meeting-house was the place of the Assem- 
 bly's gathering, and so at last the college which New 
 Haven had so long hoped and striven for was born, and 
 born on New Haven Green. The infant was not allowed 
 to be cradled, however, in its parental home. Owing 
 to the jealousy of certain towns on the Connecticut 
 river, which need not be named, the trustees deemed it 
 prudent to settle the college at Saybrook, "as the most 
 convenient place for the present," reserving the right 
 to alter their minds upon further consideration. 
 
 The College Controversy with Hartford. 
 
 For more than fifteen years the college languished, hav- 
 ing its location nominally at Saybrook, but with its dozen 
 students scattered about, wherever they could find instruc- 
 tion. By 1716 it had become evident that its removal to a 
 larger place was essential to preserve its existence. The 
 town of New Haven, with natural affection for its offspring, 
 subscribed liberally for its establishment here, and voted 
 to give it two valuable lots on opposite corners of Chapel 
 and College streets for its location. Early in the same 
 year the trustees decided to bring the college to New
 
 202 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 Haven; the students were summoned hither and instruc- 
 tion here was commenced. At once a violent opposition 
 to the change sprang up in the colony, led by the town of 
 Hartford. That thrifty community, calling to mind its suc- 
 cess of fifty years previous in looting the Hopkins Gram- 
 mar School fund, now put forth strenuous and persistent 
 efforts to kidnap New Haven's most precious child, the 
 college, with an alternative eye to some equivalent as 
 ransom. In pursuance of this plan it influenced several 
 students and their tutors, who were gathered at Wethers- 
 field, not only to refuse to remove to New Haven, but 
 to proclaim themselves to be the original college. It also 
 petitioned the General Assembly to order the college to be 
 settled at Hartford, and pressed this petition vigorously 
 through that and the following years. It succeeded in 
 obtaining several favorable votes in the lower house, but 
 these were regularly disagreed to by the other branch of 
 the Assembly, which, with the governor, stood firm in 
 support of New Haven. 
 
 While this petition was pending, the first Commence- 
 ment in New Haven was held in September, 1717, with a 
 graduating class of five; the exercises were private, as the 
 college had as yet no name and no college building. In 
 view, however, of the Hartford petition the trustees began 
 at once the erection of a stately college hall, and pushed it 
 to completion as rapidly as possible. Meantime the 
 struggle went on in the General Assembly without decisive 
 result. Hartford still continued to recognize the Wethers- 
 field pretender as the original and genuine Jacob, and 
 encouraged it to hold a commencement at which degrees 
 were conferred. 
 
 The Splendid Commencement of 1718. 
 
 By this time the College Hall at New Haven was com- 
 pleted and the trustees resolved to hold a commencement 
 of such an imposing character as to blight forever the
 
 AS AN EDUCATIONAL CAMPUS. 203 
 
 prospects of the Wethersfield imposition. Accordingly as 
 many dignitaries of church and state throughout the colony 
 as could be brought together, were assembled at New 
 Haven in September, 1718, to grace the occasion. Gov- 
 ernor Saltonstall headed the array, and Governor Yale, who 
 had just sent additional gifts to the college, was repre- 
 sented by a proxy. In the morning the trustees met in the 
 new building and solemnly named it Yale College, with 
 many thanks to God and Governor Yale. A procession 
 was then formed, which marched to the meeting-house on 
 the Green, and there the literary exercises were held. There 
 were orations and disputations in Latin. Eight students 
 were graduated, and Governor Saltonstall wound up the 
 program with an eloquent and highly edifying Latin 
 oration. A sumptuous banquet followed in the College 
 Hall, the ladies who had prepared it being generously 
 allowed a side table by themselves in an adjoining room, 
 and at the close all sang together the first four stanzas of 
 the 65th Psalm, beginning as follows: 
 
 Thy praise alone, O Lord, doth reign 
 
 In Sion, thine own hill: 
 Their vows to thee they do maintain 
 
 And evermore fulfil. 
 
 This melodious eulogy of New Haven as the genuine and 
 only Zion brimming over with honesty and pious devotion, 
 called the divine attention very strongly to its contrast in 
 these respects with the Wethersfield Samaria and was 
 regarded as quite an effective hit at that bogus concern. 
 The whole affair passed off with great satisfaction and suc- 
 cess. Says Rev. Samuel Johnson, who was present, 
 "Everything was managed with such order and splendor 
 that the fame of it extremely disheartened the opposition 
 and made opposition fall before it." 
 
 In fact this imposing demonstration practically decided 
 the contest before the Legislature. Hartford indeed 
 appeared in the ring a month later at the October session,
 
 204 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 but the "splendid commencement" and the "architectonic" 
 College Hall, which loomed up on the west side of the 
 Green, were two knock-out blows in her solar plexus, and 
 perceiving that she had lost the fight she handsomely 
 expressed herself willing to be soothed by an equal division 
 of the prize. This liberal offer was promptly accepted, and 
 it only remained to settle the terms. These were arranged 
 by the passage of a compromise act at the same session of 
 the General Assembly, whereby the college was fixed at 
 New Haven, and a brand new State and Court House was 
 ordered erected at Hartford at the expense of the colony. 
 By this equitable arrangement, arrived at on New Haven 
 Green, the first great crisis in the history of the college was 
 relieved. The Wethersfield establishment, whose students 
 were described as "a vicious and turbulent set of fellows," 
 made much additional trouble before it was suppressed. 
 Without the active aid of Hartford, however, it finally dis- 
 appeared, and has been appropriately succeeded in modern 
 times by an institution with inmates of similar proclivities, 
 which adorns that pleasant suburb of our sister city. 
 
 Students attend Church on the Green. 
 
 After 1718 the Green had little association with the 
 history of the college for many years, except through its 
 use by the students as a play-ground and as a place where 
 they assembled weekly for public worship and annually for 
 the Commencement exercises. Until 1753 the students 
 attended Sunday services at the meeting-house. Seats 
 were assigned them in the galleries, the college authorities 
 paying thirty pounds per annum with the onerous agree- 
 ment to keep the seats and adjacent windows in repair. 
 Nothing was said about stairways, and it became necessary 
 in 1728 to provide for the preservation of these by calling 
 on the constables and grand jurors to prevent disorders by 
 the students in their use. In 1753, as one result of the Old
 
 AS AN EDUCATIONAL CAMPUS. 205 
 
 and New-light controversy, the students were withdrawn 
 to college grounds for religious exercises, and since then 
 have always worshipped in quarters of their own. Presi- 
 dent Clap, who at first sided with the Old-lights, was a 
 strong partizan, and procured a rule of the college for- 
 bidding the students to attend on New-light preaching. It 
 was for violating this order that the eminent David 
 Brainard was expelled from college; and at about the same 
 time two other students were expelled for attending New- 
 light services with their parents while at home on a vaca- 
 tion. Evidently the proclivity of students to go to places 
 which are forbidden is not of modern origin, and suggests 
 that if compulsory chapel is ever abolished it would be well 
 to go one step farther and make attendance on Sunday 
 service a penal offence. 
 
 President Clap's Defence of College Charter. 
 
 Notwithstanding President Clap's affiliations with the 
 Old-light party, his withdrawal of the students from public 
 worship on the Green was very offensive to the Old-lights 
 and in time caused an open rupture of their friendly rela- 
 tions. A new charter had been granted the college by the 
 Legislature in 1745 which reposed the entire management of 
 the institution in the hands of its trustees. Nevertheless 
 in 1763 the Old-light leaders appealed to the Legislature 
 then assembled at New Haven to interfere with the govern- 
 ment of the college, alleging maladministration of its affairs 
 and great disorders among the students. The attack was 
 supported by a powerful influence in the state, and was 
 led by some of its ablest lawyers, and President Clap 
 resisted it with great vigor, learning and ability. He 
 took the ground that the Legislature had no power 
 to abrogate the vested rights of the corporation, and thus, 
 as Chancellor Kent remarks, anticipated the celebrated 
 argument of Mr. Webster in the Dartmouth College case
 
 206 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 made more than half a century later. The contest was an 
 arduous one, but the result was the same in the General 
 Assembly as it was afterwards in the Supreme Court of the 
 United States. At the October session held at New Haven, 
 the Legislature refused to interfere, and thus the second 
 great crisis in the history of Yale College was met and 
 successfully passed on New Haven Green. 
 
 Although this attempt to invade the college charter had 
 failed, and was not renewed, yet there remained behind for 
 many years a feeling of jealousy and ill will on the part of 
 the colony toward the college, and in 1791 President 
 Stiles recognized the expediency of admitting the State 
 authorities to a share in its administration. Accord- 
 ingly in that year, by consent of the corporation, an act was 
 passed by the Legislature whereby the governor, the 
 lieutenant-governor and six of the council were added to it 
 as associate members. This arrangement continued undis- 
 turbed till 1871, when a demand for alumni representation 
 brought about the present system, by which the six state 
 senators have given way to an equal number of alumni 
 elected by the graduates. 
 
 Between 1791 and 1862 there was no important legisla- 
 tion affecting the interests of the college, and I will now 
 advert to those associations of the college with the Green 
 that grow out of Commencement celebrations and other 
 incidental connections. 
 
 College Commencements on the Green. 
 
 The "splendid commencement of 1718," which has been 
 described, was the first public commencement of the college. 
 There was a public commencement in September of every 
 year thereafter until 1746, when "on account of the great 
 charge and expense and other inconveniences of public 
 commencements/' the occasion was private. The next 
 year the public exercises were revived but were again sus-
 
 AS AN EDUCATIONAL CAMPUS. 207" 
 
 pended in 1758, "on account of the present calamitous and 
 distressing war." In 1759 and 1760 they were public, but 
 from 1761 to 1765 they were again suspended "by reason 
 of the gross disorders which have become common on such 
 occasions." From 1774 to 1781, the college being much 
 depressed, and the students scattered most of the time, 
 there were no public commencements. In the last named 
 year they were resumed with special eclat. The commence- 
 ment of that year was the first public commencement under 
 President Stiles, and he has left a full account of it in his 
 diary. The exercises were held as usual in the Brick 
 Meeting-house on the Green. The procession was headed 
 by the students; then followed the president, preceded by 
 the beadle, and after these the reverend fellows, the two 
 professors, "the tutors, ministers and other respectable 
 persons." At the meeting-house there were disputations 
 in Latin, Greek, Hebrew and even in English. There was 
 also an anthem by the choir and a poem was delivered by 
 Joel Barlow. Since that period there has been no break 
 in the regular sequence of college commencements. All 
 of them, from 1718 to 1894, have been held on the Green, 
 and all of these, except two, in the meeting-house of the 
 First Ecclesiastical Society. In 1813 and in 1814, while 
 the present Center and North Churches were being erected, 
 the commencement exercises were held in the Blue Meet- 
 ing-house, on the corner of Elm and Church streets. 
 
 The different changes in the time for holding commence- 
 ments may here be noted. From the beginning of the 
 college till 1832, commencement day was on the second 
 Wednesday of September. In that year it was changed to 
 the third Wednesday of August. From 1842 till 1851 it 
 was held on the third Thursday of August. In 1851 it was 
 changed to the last Thursday in July. In 1867 it was again 
 changed to the last Thursday but one in July. In 1871 it 
 took another move to the last Thursday but two in July; 
 in 1873 it was moved again to the Thursday after the last 
 Wednesday in June, and in 1881 it was changed to the last
 
 208 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 Wednesday in June, where it still remains. Having now 
 become the recognized end instead of the beginning of the 
 academic year, and having taken on *a much wider charac- 
 ter than that of an undergraduate festival, it would seem 
 proper to drop its misleading name, "commencement," and 
 to call it "University Day" or by some other appropriate 
 title. 
 
 Colonial Commencement Festivities. 
 
 So far as known, the earlier commencement celebrations 
 were of a scholastic and decorous character, but after 
 several years the students began to introduce various pre- 
 liminary exercises not on the official program, with a view 
 to do greater honor to so important an anniversary. 
 Among these was a custom of the freshmen, which began 
 about 1731, to break the stillness of the preceding night 
 by firing off the town cannon, which, according to ancient 
 usage, stood on the Green, as shown in Wadsworth's map 
 of 1748. The upper classes prepared for the occasion by 
 bibulous festivities hardly less disturbing to the public 
 peace. As early as 1737 the corporation voted as follows: 
 "It having been observed that on ye commencement occa- 
 sions there is great expense in spirituous distilled liquors 
 in ye college which is justly offensive, for ye prevention 
 thereof for ye future, no candidate for a degree nor any 
 undergraduate shall provide or allow any brandy, rum or 
 other spirituous distilled liquors to be drunk in his chamber 
 during ye week of commencement." In 1746 it was farther 
 voted that there should be "no kind of treat or entertain- 
 ment made by or to the scholars, but only at the commence- 
 ment, the quarter days, and the day on which the valedic- 
 tory oration is pronounced [afterwards called "Presentation 
 day], and on that day the seniors may provide and give 
 away a barrel of metheglin and no more." In 1755 the 
 cannon on the Green were still rousing people from their 
 slumbers, and it was ordered, "that if any freshman shall
 
 AS AN EDUCATIONAL CAMPUS. 209 
 
 take part in firing the great guns at commencement his 
 freshmanship shall be continued a quarter of a year longer, 
 and during that time he shall be obliged to go on errands, 
 and not have liberty to send any freshman on errands, nor 
 to wear a gown." There was an order against "the firing 
 of squibs and crackers and other great disorders which have 
 sometimes attended the elumination of the college on the 
 night before commencement and also the ringing of bells 
 contrary to law." In 1760 the corporation again found it 
 necessary to pass a special code of rules to suppress "the 
 vices and disorders attending commencement, to the great 
 dishonor of the college, all which is occasioned by giving 
 away of great quantities of strong drink." This code for- 
 bade "the purchasing of a pipe of wine by the candidates 
 for a degree" and limited the quantity to "so much as the 
 president should think proper." The president thought 
 two gallons of wine for each candidate would be about the 
 right quantity to enable him to make a creditable appear- 
 ance the next day, but the class felt that with a tonic so 
 meager in quantity and mild in quality they could not do 
 themselves justice, and in that year twenty-six out of the 
 graduating class of twenty-eight were denied a degree "for 
 having each brought two gallons of rum into the college 
 building without permission." This summary action had 
 a sobering effect, and we are told that "all the culprits 
 before mentioned offered a full confession of their crimes, 
 which being publickly read in the meeting-house, was 
 accepted, and through favor of the president and fellows 
 they were admitted to a degree." On account of these 
 "disorders," there was no public commencement the fol- 
 lowing year, but strange to say, the boisterous demonstra- 
 tions on the Green and around the college were more 
 tumultuous than ever. President Clap assured the public 
 through the newspapers that the rioters were not students 
 but "townspeople dressed in scholars' gowns to bring 
 scandal on the college;" but notwithstanding this plausible 
 14
 
 210 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 explanation, public commencements were not resumed till 
 three years later. After this period, no conspicuous dis- 
 orders appear to have attended the commencement season, 
 but for many years commencements were said to resemble 
 a training day more than a literary festival. "Elumina- 
 tions" and fireworks the evening previous were in vogue 
 till 1810 or later. 
 
 Literary Exercises at Early Commencements. 
 
 The exercises within the meeting-house on commence- 
 ment day in pre-revolutionary times were as follows: 
 
 In the forenoon there was first a prayer by the president. 
 Then came a salutatory oration in Latin, by one of the grad- 
 uating class. Aftenvards "syllogistic disputes," also in 
 Latin, by two contestants, on different subjects connected 
 with logic, rhetoric, ethics, mathematics, physics and meta- 
 physics. In the afternoon similar disputations followed by 
 the conferring of degrees by the president; and lastly the 
 valedictory oration and a concluding prayer. In conduct- 
 ing the "syllogistic disputes," the disputants stood opposite 
 each other in the side galleries of the meeting-house, 
 "and shot their logic at each other over the heads of the 
 audience." In 1770, a stage for the speakers was first 
 erected, and in 1787 this form of disputation was changed 
 for monologues, which continued to figure on the program, 
 or "scheme," as "disputes" for many years afterwards. 
 After 1780, President Stiles introduced English and Greek 
 orations; also English "colloquies," or dramatic dialogues, 
 often of a humorous character, which held their place until 
 about 1840, and were generally regarded by the audience as 
 the most interesting and profitable feature of the whole 
 performance. Music as a part of the exercises first 
 appeared in 1781, at which time an anthem was performed 
 by the choir. Forenoon and afternoon sessions prevailed 
 until 1869, beginning at eight o'clock in the morning and 
 closing at about six in the afternoon, with an interruption
 
 AS AN EDUCATIONAL CAMPUS. 211 
 
 of two hours for the commencement dinner. Until about 
 1840, ladies and gentlemen sat together in the audience, 
 with the natural result that the whispering and flirtation 
 compelled the speakers to strain their vocal organs to a 
 painful and dangerous degree. For the promotion of quiet 
 the fair sex was relegated to the galleries, where, "tier on 
 tier arrayed," they presented a brilliant and beautiful 
 spectacle, like a vision of the angelic host at the time 
 when "there was silence in heaven for the space of half an 
 hour." 
 
 Other Commencement Exercises. 
 
 After the Revolution the custom grew up of having a 
 ball on commencement evening. These balls were some- 
 times held in the State House, and we have an account of 
 one in that building in 1784, which was a very brilliant 
 affair. Eight hundred tickets were issued and the crowd 
 was so great that dancing was impossible. The commence- 
 ment balls were given irregularly after 1800 and were finally 
 discontinued about 1840. At about the same time the 
 literary features of commencement week were amplified so 
 as to introduce several new exercises, which were generally 
 held in one of the churches on the Green. These were 
 a doctrinal sermon called the Concio ad Clerum, preached 
 on Tuesday evening in the North Church by some leading 
 divine selected for the occasion, and an oration on Wednes- 
 day before the undergraduate literary societies by a speaker 
 of national reputation. These also fell out of use and were 
 succeeded about 1846 by alumni meetings held on the col- 
 lege grounds, with other changes unnecessary to mention.
 
 212 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 Old Associations cherished. 
 
 The use of the Green as a play-ground for more than 
 two hundred years by the schools and college will be con- 
 sidered in another paper. This use was terminated by city 
 ordinance in 1858. In 1895, when the commencement 
 exercises in the Center Church were abolished, the last 
 of the uses which linked the Green directly with college life 
 was severed; and it may also be said that at about the same 
 time the college itself, by merger into the university, had 
 ceased to exist. Happily and suitably, however, the long 
 association between the college and the Green is still made 
 a subject of recognition in the annual commencement 
 proceedings, for still on those occasions the procession, 
 leaving the university campus, passes over to the Green and 
 wends its course beneath the shadow of the venerable 
 church edifice which, with its predecessors, has been so 
 inseparably identified with the college history. It is fitting 
 that these filial relations should be thus recalled, and it 
 would give a pleasing emphasis to this recognition if, while 
 the procession is crossing the Green, the bell of the old 
 First Church should sound a note of greeting and reminis- 
 cence. Why, indeed, on these occasions should not all the 
 churches on the Green, mother and daughters in unison, 
 reviving a former custom, herald with mingled peal 
 the march of the scholastic array? Such a feature of this 
 academic festival would appropriately express the friendly 
 sympathy between religion and learning which Yale has 
 always been foremost to proclaim and cherish: that sym- 
 pathy in whose spirit our forefathers, as soon as they planted 
 their colony, established a school "for the training up of 
 youth that through the blessing of God they might be fitted 
 for publique service in church and commonweale."
 
 NOTES TO PAPER No. VI. 
 
 NOTE i (page 182). 
 
 For the satisfaction of those who may be interested to know how 
 this conclusion respecting the site of the first school-house has been 
 reached, I will state my reasons for it. The town records show the 
 enlargement and practical reconstruction of the first school-house in 
 1660, and there is no indication that another was built till 1718. In 
 that year the town voted "to build a new school-house on some con- 
 venient place on the market place." In 1723 it voted that "the select- 
 men change away the old school-house for the new school-house with 
 the undertakers for it provided they will relinquish their right in the 
 old house when exchanged to the Town Parrish." By the "Town 
 Parrish" is meant the First Ecclesiastical Society and by "the under- 
 takers for it" must have been meant the trustees of the grammar 
 school, who had an interest in the old school-house and who apparently 
 had offered to take the new one off the town's hands. This new school- 
 house was undoubtedly the "grammar school-house" which appears 
 on Wadsworth's map, and the "old school-house" (presumably after 
 repairs) was continued in use by the town for an English school. The 
 records of the First Ecclesiastical Society show the maintenance of 
 this public school after 1723 until 1755, when the Society voted "that 
 the old English school-house be repaired or a new one built." That a 
 new one was built appears from the General Assembly act of 1760 
 dividing property between the First and White Haven Ecclesiastical 
 Societies, which awarded "the new brick school-house" to the two 
 societies jointly. Thus it appears that "the old English school-house" 
 was not superseded by its brick successor till 1755, and consequently 
 the building shown in Wadsworth's map of 1748 as standing on the 
 site which the brick school-house afterwards occupied must have been 
 "the old English school-house" whose original construction dated 
 back to 1643. 
 
 NOTE 2 (page 183). 
 
 This duty was faithfully performed by the selectmen for many years, 
 as their records show. As late as 1808, by a statute passed in 1715, the 
 selectmen of every town in Connecticut were directed to "make diligent 
 inquiry of all housekeepers how they are furnished with bibles and 
 to require each family to have one bible at least and more according 
 to numbers and circumstances," and also "a suitable number of
 
 214 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 orthodox catechisms and other good books of practical godliness and 
 the like." Parents and masters were also required to instruct their 
 children to "read and to learn some short orthodox catechism," and the 
 selectmen were enjoined "to have a vigilant eye" on their brethren and 
 neighborhoods "so that none of them suffer so much barbarism" as the 
 disregard of these obligations, and to prosecute any persons who 
 should neglect their duties in these respects. 
 
 NOTE 3 (page 188). 
 
 There were colored servants (probably native Africans) in several 
 households of New Haven at an earlier date, as appears by references to 
 "Antony, Mr. Eaton's neagar," and to "Matthew, Mr. Evans his neagar." 
 So also there are allusions to Indians employed in the same capacity, 
 as "Time, Mr. Hooke's Indian," and others, but it does not appear 
 that servants of either class were bought and sold at that period as 
 personal property. 
 
 NOTE 4 (page 196). 
 
 Soon after the brick school-house was built, the First Ecclesiastical 
 Society, in consequence of its internal dissensions, was divided by an 
 act of the General Assembly and a second society formed called "The 
 White Haven Society." By the act (passed in 1760) "the new brick 
 school-house and the bell" were apportioned to both societies jointly, 
 "the school-house to be used for schooling by turns by each society 
 quarterly." Apparently the feeling was so bitter between the two 
 societies that they could not agree to educate their children together. 
 In February, 1765, "upon the motion of a number of persons" the 
 proprietors granted permission "to set up a new school-house on ye 
 southern side of ye graves upon ye line which shall be stated for 
 fencing sd graves;" and in April of the same year leave was granted 
 to Leverett Hubbard and others to build a new school-house "at ye 
 south end of ye new State House, east side, said house to be in a line 
 with ye east line of ye State House and ye south end of sd house to 
 joyn to the highway." Why these two additional school-houses should 
 have been suddenly called for is not very clear. Possibly the Episco- 
 palians, who had now begun to be numerous and influential, anticipated 
 trouble with the grammar school trustees on account of the intolerant 
 town vote of 1723. Possibly it was a result of the doctrinal disputes 
 which were then rife in the White Haven Society, and which split it 
 in two immediately afterwards. In 1769 the Fair Haven Society 
 obtained liberty to build a meeting-house on the market place "on the 
 same place where the brick school-house now is, if they will move the 
 school-house to some other place, or if they prefer not to do this then 
 to build on the south end of the school-house in a line with the brick 
 meeting-house." The last named course was adopted, and neither of 
 the two proposed school-houses was ever built, so that the brick school- 
 house was left undisturbed and without a rival.
 
 VII. 
 THE GREEN AS A MARKET PLACE. 
 
 When the early inhabitants of New Haven spoke of the 
 Green as a "market place," they used the term with the 
 broad signification which it then universally conveyed; 
 meaning an open space for all public uses and gatherings 
 whether of political, military, civic or business nature. In 
 the crowded walled cities of the time, such an open space for 
 general purposes was indispensable. Its most frequent use 
 was for the daily or weekly market, yet this occupied it but 
 a few hours of the day, and when the booths and benches 
 were cleared away the area was devoted to miscellaneous 
 activities and affairs. Here the citizens assembled to dis- 
 cuss news and politics; here orators and preachers aired 
 their eloquence; here occurred public ceremonials, games 
 and displays; here mobs collected and riots and revolutions 
 began; and when it was deserted by the older generation, 
 children made it their playground and "sitting in the market 
 place, called to their fellows." Having in previous papers 
 recalled the principal occasions of a political, religious and 
 military character with which the Green has been identified, 
 it only remains to review the business and miscellaneous 
 features of its use as a market place. In this paper, there- 
 fore, I shall devote myself to its connection with public 
 fairs and markets, with the discussion and regulation of 
 trade, commerce and finance; with popular assemblages, 
 whether for festive displays and celebrations, or in the spirit 
 of tumult and disorder; and also to its use as a public play- 
 ground.
 
 216 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 Markets and Fairs. 
 
 As a place for holding public markets or fairs the experi- 
 ence of the Green has not been extensive. It had an early 
 commencement, however, for in 1644, when the town was 
 hardly more than a few log huts in the forest, the General 
 Court ordered that there should be "two markets or fayres 
 for cattel and other goods every year at New Haven, one 
 on the third Wednesday in May and the other on the third 
 Wednesday in September"; and it was further ordered that 
 "lost goods be publicly cried on a faire day when the great- 
 est concourse of people may be present and heare it." 
 There is no evidence that the crier's voice was greatly 
 strained to reach the farther edges of the crowd on these 
 occasions, nevertheless more or less business seems to have 
 been transacted at the fairs. They were also not neglected 
 as places for flirtation, for in 1649 some gay triflers were 
 obliged to explain to the court their motives in making 
 presents "to Rebecka Turner at the faire," one of them hav- 
 ing given her "lace for a hankercher" and the other "some 
 cloth." Needless to say, these pleasant little gallantries 
 were sharply discouraged by the court, and as fairs with 
 little business and no flirtation were of no use to anybody, 
 the attempt to maintain them was abandoned in 1655. 
 
 After 1655 it seems probable that no more markets or 
 fairs were held on the Green until 1833. It was, however, 
 in frequent use as the customary place for sheriff's sales by 
 auction or "public vendue," as such proceedings were gen- 
 erally termed. The sale of Lois Tritton at the sign-post as 
 a slave in 1825 has been referred to in another paper, and 
 there may have been similar cases when slavery was a 
 recognized institution. Sales of laborers, vagrants and 
 criminals for limited terms of service, either under contract 
 or as legal penalties, were not uncommon before the Revo- 
 lution; and from 1763 to 1786 the town paupers were 
 annually sold at auction on the State House steps, to such 
 parties as would keep them at the lowest rates.
 
 AS A MARKET PLACE. 217 
 
 When the city government was organized in 1784, public 
 attention was at once directed to the establishment of a 
 market as a suitable city institution. There was already 
 one market house in New Haven standing in George street 
 at the end of Church. It is shown in Stiles' map of 1775 
 and is referred to in an advertisement in 1801 as "the old 
 market place." 
 
 In April, 1785, a vote of the Common Council authorized 
 the erection of a market building by private subscription 
 "in Chapel street at the southeast corner of the Green." 
 This building was put up and is said to have stood on the 
 Green, but it was probably a small affair, and was super- 
 seded in the following year by the erection of a large market 
 building by the city itself over the creek just south of the 
 present Chapel street railroad bridge. In May, 1787, the 
 Common Council ordered that "the three market houses 
 which have been erected shall be continued and no others 
 built." The building on the Green (if it was in fact on the 
 Greenland not in the street) was probably little used and 
 was removed about 1799. The city market maintained a 
 languishing existence for many years in spite of repeated 
 efforts to invigorate it, and especially in 1825. About 1830 
 the system as a city institution was abandoned and the 
 market building was taken down in 1843. 
 
 The failure of these attempts to establish public markets 
 in New Haven was perhaps partly owing to the fact that up 
 to 1840 and later nearly every householder had a kitchen 
 garden of his own, and raised a considerable part of the 
 vegetables required for his own family use. From this 
 general practice of horticulture arose in 1830 the New 
 Haven Horticultural Society, which in cooperation with the 
 County Agricultural Society revived in a notable manner, 
 though in different form, the old colonial fairs on the Green, 
 "for cattel and other goods." At these annual fairs the 
 Horticultural Society exhibited for two days in the State 
 House, which was handsomely decorated for the occasion, 
 marvelous squashes and pumpkins, grapes and pears, with
 
 218 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 other vegetables and fruits, and flowers in endless profusion 
 and variety, all of home production, together with a large 
 display of articles of local manufacture. The agricultural 
 fair was held at the same time for one day only. The pro- 
 ceedings of this day began at 9 o'clock in the morning with 
 a general peal of bells. Soon after long trains of ox teams 
 from the surrounding towns began to arrive, drawing gaily 
 decorated carts filled with bands of music and smiling dam- 
 sels waving banners. Prizes were given for the best dis- 
 plays of working cattle and the result was really magnificent 
 exhibitions of live stock. To the agricultural fair in 1843 
 there came from Derby 24 yoke of selected oxen; from 
 Cheshire, 24 yoke; from East Haven, 66 yoke; from Ham- 
 den, 1 8 yoke; from Branford, 150 yoke; while Orange 
 brought 151 yoke and took the prize. Thus on this 
 occasion there were gathered on the Green from these six 
 small towns over nine hundred of those splendid and classic 
 creatures which are now almost as rarely seen on our streets 
 as buffaloes, and which to the next generation will probably 
 be known only by some stuffed specimen in the Peabody 
 Museum. Pens were erected on both sides of Temple 
 street, across the Green, and here were quartered the 
 animals and fowls which were entered in competition for 
 prizes. In the afternoon there was a plowing match, and 
 a collation, and an address, and on the following day the 
 Horticultural Society held an auction on the south steps 
 of the State House. These fairs commenced on the Green 
 in September, 1833, and continued till 1856. In that year 
 the agricultural display was had at Grapevine Point, and 
 the Horticultural Society, owing to limited means, dis- 
 continued its annual exhibition. This closed the record of 
 the Green as a place for holding public fairs, except for an 
 occasional charity bazaar held in the basement room of the 
 State House.
 
 AS A MARKET PLACE. 219 
 
 Currency and Finance. 
 
 We now come to the wider uses of the Green as a market 
 place, and will consider it in the light of a business and 
 financial center the place where for more than two hun- 
 dred years matters of trade, commerce and industry were 
 discussed and regulated. 
 
 Of these subjects those connected with currency and 
 finance are of primary importance and should receive our 
 first attention. The first financial legislation on New 
 Haven Green was an order passed by the General Court in 
 November, 1640, that "wampum shall goe in this planta- 
 tion for 6 a penny." For want of a sufficient circulating 
 medium, business in the newly settled colony was soon 
 brought to a system of barter, and in 1641 "corne, cattel, 
 bever and worke," were made a legal tender at prices estab- 
 lished by the Court. In 1645 tne General Court enacted 
 as follows: "In order that commerce may be better carryed 
 on betwixt man and man where money is scarce, it is 
 ordered that Spanish money called peeces of eight shall 
 passe here as they doe in some other parts of the country 
 at five shillings apiece; and that Indian wampum shall 
 passe the white at six a penny and the blacke at three a 
 penny; and some men being at present loathe to receive 
 the blacke, it is ordered that in any payment under 20 shil- 
 lings halfe white and half blacke shall be accounted currency 
 paye, only if any question arise about the goodness of the 
 wompum whether white or blacke, Mr. Goodyeare, if the 
 parties repaire untou him, is intreated to judge therein." 
 Wampum had in fact about as uncertain a value as silver 
 dollars at the present time, or state bank shin-plasters 
 "before the war," and the services of Mr. Goodyear as 
 appraiser and counterfeit detector were doubtless in fre- 
 quent demand. It consisted of small spiral shells, white or 
 black, perforated for stringing, the black being the most 
 valuable. But the wily aboriginal, concurring in the doc- 
 trine of some modern financiers, that volume of currency is
 
 220 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 more important than quality, betook himself to dyeing 
 inferior shells and small soft stones, and it is safe to pre- 
 sume that his civilized brother was not far behind him 
 in similar wealth-creating devices. Strange to say, these 
 commendable efforts to supply the community with money 
 failed to bring public opulence; and in 1648, probably 
 through some gold-bug influence, the General Court par- 
 tially demonetized wampum by enacting that it "should 
 not be forced upon any man for payment unless in some 
 manner suitably stringed, and if any stone wampum be 
 presented, it be broken." The value of wampum for pay- 
 ing debts being thus impaired, it came into high favor for 
 church contributions, until its use for this purpose was also 
 stopped by the Court. There was so little of any other 
 circulating medium, however, that it continued to be 
 employed in trade, though in diminishing proportions, for 
 over fifty years and was in use for change as late as 1704. 
 
 Inferior substitutes for money and the requirements of 
 foreign commerce soon caused specie to disappear from 
 view and even small amounts of it were obtained with dif- 
 ficulty. In 1645 tn e New Haven delegates to the Congress 
 of the New England Confederation were unable to leave 
 until the authorities could persuade the Widow Wiggles- 
 worth to lend them 5 in silver, with copious protestation 
 that "neither she nor her children should suffer by it." 
 And on other similar occasions, no silver being procurable, 
 the delegates were supplied with beaver, butter and other 
 products to be sold in Boston in order to pay their expenses. 
 
 After 1680 the currency famine in New Haven was to 
 some extent relieved by the circulation of Bay shillings, or 
 "pine tree shillings," which were coined in Boston. Being 
 lighter than the English shilling, it took six of them to 
 equal the Spanish "piece of eight reals," which by the 
 ordinance of 1645 had been rated at five English shillings, 
 and which were intrinsically worth four shillings and six- 
 pence. Thus it came to pass that the Spanish dollar of 
 eight reals was afterward a six-shilling dollar in New Eng-
 
 AS A MARKET PLACE. 221 
 
 land, while in New York, where the Bay shillings did not 
 circulate, it was an eight-shilling dollar, the real being called 
 a shilling. Hence arose the distinction between "Yankee 
 shillings" and "York shillings," so familiar fifty years ago, 
 and the use of "nine-pences," and "fo'-pence-a'pennies," 
 which then entered into nearly every calculation of local 
 traffic. 
 
 After 1700, besides Bay shillings and English coins, the 
 hard money in circulation (what little there was) was a 
 promiscuous assortment of Spanish, Spanish-American, 
 French, Dutch and Portuguese coins, which were rated dif- 
 ferently in nearly all the North American colonies. This 
 variety in valuation caused so much inconvenience to Eng- 
 lish merchants that in 1704 Queen Anne, by proclamation 
 (afterward confirmed by act of Parliament), fixed a rating 
 for each of the foreign coins so current, and ordered its 
 general adoption. Thereafter these coins and all specie 
 in circulation, and paper money redeemable in specie, were 
 known as "Proclamation money," or more commonly 
 "Prock money," down to the time of the Revolution, or 
 later. 
 
 With all these different kinds of currency in use, shop- 
 ping in New Haven was a very complicated process, and 
 so Madame Knight, a Boston lady, found it when she made 
 a visit here in 1704. She says: "The traders rate their 
 goods according to the time and kind of money they are 
 paid in, viz.: 'pay,' 'money/ 'pay as money,' and 'trusting.' 
 'Pay' is grain, pork, beef, etc., at the price set by the General 
 Assembly for that year. 'Money,' is pieces of eight reals, 
 or Bay shillings, or 'good hard money,' as silver coin is 
 sometimes termed by them; also wampum or Indian beads, 
 which serve for change. 'Pay as money,' is provisions 
 as aforesaid, one-third cheaper than as the Assembly in 
 general sets it; and 'Trust' as they and the merchants agree 
 for time." She adds: "It seems a very intricate way of 
 trade," and she probably made few purchases at the "bar- 
 gain counters" of New Haven.
 
 222 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 Currency Inflation. 
 
 In 1709, in order to provide funds for impending war, 
 Connecticut, by an act of the General Assembly, passed on 
 New Haven Green, embarked for the first time on the 
 stormy sea of paper money. The voyage was long and 
 disastrous, and it was not till 1756 that the colony brought 
 its shattered financial bark into port. This was effected 
 by an act of the Legislature, likewise passed at New Haven, 
 for redeeming the outstanding colony bills at one-ninth of 
 their nominal value. Notwithstanding the lessons of this 
 experiment, only ten years later, after the Revolution had 
 opened, the General Assembly at New Haven in October, 
 1776, again established a paper currency by declaring both 
 state and continental bills to be money, and making them 
 "a legal tender as money in all payments within this state." 
 As the inevitable result, prices of all commodities rapidly 
 rose, and by other acts passed at New Haven, a few months 
 later, Mrs. Partington's broom was brought into requisi- 
 tion to sweep out the Atlantic. These acts were levelled 
 at so-called "monopolizers and oppressors," and aimed at 
 their circumvention by fixing a legal standard of prices. 
 But the tide continued to swell and the broom was called 
 into more frantic action. A law passed at New Haven in 
 1777 forbade any person whatever to buy or sell the neces- 
 saries of life except in small quantities for his own consump- 
 tion, "till he had become known as a friend of freedom, 
 had obtained a license, and taken the oath of fidelity." In 
 
 1778, by request of Congress, a convention of delegates 
 from several states was held at New Haven in the State 
 House, which revised the current prices of provisions and 
 other supplies, and recommended the Legislatures of their 
 several states to legalize the rates by them established. 
 The State of Connecticut promptly did so, and in June, 
 
 1779, the citizens of New Haven, in town meeting 
 assembled, voted, with a noble enthusiasm, that they
 
 AS A MARKET PLACE. ^O 
 
 "would receive the continental money at par, equal to gold 
 and silver" and "would frely sell all commodities for it 
 at the same rates." The resolution passed by 264 to 8, 
 and it is needless to say that not one of the patriotic 
 majority had the slightest intention of acting in accord- 
 ance with his vote. Still the downfall of continental 
 currency went on, and at New Haven in October, 1788, the 
 General Assembly recognized its collapse by enacting that 
 private contracts made at different periods of its decline 
 should be settled at the currency quotations prevalent when 
 the contracts were made. In October, 1794 (again at New 
 Haven) the same principle of liquidation was adopted in the 
 settlement of the state war debt then outstanding. From 
 this time until after 1861 the financial legislation on the 
 Green was of no historic importance. 
 
 Copper Coinage. 
 
 Having thus disparaged the reputation of the Green by 
 connecting it with acts of soft-money inflation, let us turn 
 to the brighter page of its association with genuine coin. 
 In October, 1785, the General Assembly of Connecticut, in 
 session at New Haven, granted power to Samuel Bishop, 
 James Hillhouse and others to establish a mint at New 
 Haven for coining copper pennies. The mint was located 
 on the water side near the present Water street park, and a 
 large quantity of coins were struck there. These coins had 
 on their face a man's head surrounded with the legend 
 "Auctori. Connect.," and on the reverse a figure of liberty 
 with the abbreviation "Inde. et Lib." As a business enter- 
 prise the mint was unsuccessful. The coins being too light, 
 depreciated in value, and sold in New Haven at the rate of 
 four or even six for a penny. In 1787 this mint began to 
 strike the first coins that were issued by authority of the 
 United States. These were copper cents of the pattern pre- 
 scribed by act of Congress of the Confederation, July 6,
 
 224: CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 1787. They showed on one side a chain of thirteen links 
 in a circle, within which was a smaller circle composed of 
 the words "United States," enclosing the legend, "We are 
 one." On the other side was a sundial with a sun above 
 and the inscription, "Fugio, 1787," and below the dial the 
 motto, "Mind your business." The significance of this 
 device can only be conjectured. Possibly the sundial with 
 the words "Fugio 1787" may refer to the then impending 
 dissolution of the Confederation; while the motto, "Mind 
 your business" is certainly suggestive of hard common 
 sense. The coins from this mint were not uncommon in 
 New Haven sixty years ago, and were then occasionally 
 found on the site where the building had previously stood. 
 
 Weights and Measures. 
 
 After money, the measure of value, we naturally expect 
 that weights and other measures of quantity will be con- 
 sidered and regulated on the market place. As early as 1644 
 the colony adopted a recommendation of the Congress of 
 the New England Confederacy that the London standard 
 of weights and measures should prevail throughout New 
 England; and all persons were ordered to bring their 
 weights and measures to the meeting-house on a certain 
 day to be verified and marked. The law was careful to 
 require that "every ell or yard should contain a thum's 
 breadth over;" that "a hundred weight should be five score 
 and twelve pounds;" and that "of all sorts of nails sold by 
 the hundred six score should be allowed to the hundred." 
 As scriptural authority for these required deviations from 
 accuracy, a marginal note unblushingly cited Deuteronomy 
 xxv, 14: "Thou shalt not have in thy house divers weights 
 and measures, a great and a small; but thou shalt have a 
 perfect and just weight; a perfect and just weight shalt 
 thou have."
 
 AS A MARKET PLACE. 
 
 High Prices Not Favored. 
 
 With the same careful regard for the interests of pur- 
 chasers, the Court restricted the rates of profits to be made 
 by shopkeepers in their local trade. In May, 1641, it was 
 ordered that "commoditys well bought in England for 
 ready money shall not be sold at retayle for above three 
 pence in the shilling for proffit, and when sold by wholesale 
 less proffit may suffice. Goods bought from vessels must 
 not take proffit at over one and half-pence in the shilling 
 by retale." At the same time prices were fixed for a large 
 number of commodities and for various kinds of labor, and 
 though this law was repealed in 1643, a case came before 
 the Court in 1645 whose outcome showed that its spirit 
 still survived. One of the three retail merchants of the 
 town, a Mrs. Stolion, had a difference with Capt. Turner 
 over a trade about a cow, and the gallant captain, finding 
 the case not going in court quite to his satisfaction, turned 
 the tables on his adversary by charging her with asking 
 extortionate prices for her goods. Of this heinous prac- 
 tice on her part he cited numerous particulars, and with 
 great solemnity appealed to the court "whether she ought 
 not to be dealt with as an oppressor of the commonweale." 
 This ponderous appellation so deeply impressed the court 
 that it quite forgot to decide the controversy between the 
 parties, and proceeded to bind Mrs. Stolion over for trial 
 as a person dangerous to the peace and safety of the body 
 politic. Happily for the commonwealth and probably for 
 Mrs. Stolion also, before her case was next reached, she 
 was called to settle her own last account before a tribunal 
 more likely to be impartial than one composed of her own 
 customers ; and it is to be hoped that she found it less exact- 
 ing in its dealings with her than she seems to have been 
 in her own methods of doing business. 
 
 After this merciful interposition of Providence, the com- 
 munity breathed more freely, but the warning did not pass 
 15
 
 226 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 unheeded. When the colony laws were codified by Gover- 
 nor Eaton in 1655, one was inserted under the title 
 "Oppression," which forbade any person "to take excessive 
 wages for work or unreasonable prices for commodities" 
 under penalty of fine or imprisonment; but judiciously 
 made no reference to oppressors who might obtain goods 
 or labor at prices unreasonably cheap. This law continued 
 substantially unchanged on the statute books of the colony 
 and state until after 1808. As nobody was ever prosecuted 
 under it, we must conclude that Mrs. Stolion has never had 
 any successor here who oppressed the commonweal by 
 charging high prices for goods or services. Doubtless the 
 salutary lesson conveyed by her fate accounts for the 
 extremely low cost of living for which New Haven is now 
 and always has been so enviably distinguished. 
 
 Foreign Commerce Encouraged. 
 
 When we turn our attention to commerce and manu- 
 factures as subjects of public consideration in the market 
 place, we find a copious record, and it will only be possible 
 to review its most important features in a cursory manner. 
 External commerce was, in fact, the chief motive for the 
 settlement of New Haven, and this purpose was reflected 
 in the choice of its name. It was expected that furs would 
 be a principal article of export, and doubtless Beaver Pond, 
 which received its name in the very first years of the colony, 
 was relied upon to furnish a considerable part of the supply. 
 But as that now charming incipient park had not then 
 become a common receptacle for defunct cats and dogs 
 and other extinct fur-bearing animals, its resources as a 
 felt-producing region was soon exhausted and attention 
 was turned to the country about Delaware Bay as 
 likely to be of more lasting productiveness. Accord- 
 ingly an extensive tract was purchased there from the 
 same honest Indians who had previously sold it to the
 
 AS A MARKET PLACE. 227 
 
 Dutch and the Swedes, and who subsequently sold it to 
 William Penn, and a trading post was established there, 
 the tribulations of which were a fruitful subject of discus- 
 sions on the Green for fifteen years. The traders were 
 interfered with and driven away by the Dutch and the 
 Swedes, and in spite of all efforts of New Haven to main- 
 tain the enterprise it was finally abandoned. In the mean- 
 time a respectable commerce in other goods than furs had 
 been built up, and the records abound with references to 
 the trade carried on with the Barbadoes, the Bermudas, the 
 Azores and with the several North American colonies. 
 The articles exported were agricultural products, packed 
 meat, ship bread, leather and shoes. With these, tobacco 
 and beaver skins were obtained in Virginia, and hides, rum 
 and sugar in the West India ports, and these in turn .were 
 sent to England to be exchanged for commodities needed 
 in New Haven. To insure the merchantable quality of 
 goods exported, the General Court annually appointed 
 leather sealers, meat packers, corn viewers, bread inspec- 
 tors and other officials with full powers of seizure and con- 
 fiscation in case of faulty material, weight or workmanship. 
 In 1647 Goodman Meigs and another party were censured 
 by the court after a long trial for using bad leather and 
 poor work in the manufacture of shoes which were to go 
 out of the colony, "as if," said the court, "the Rules of 
 Righteousness reached not to other places and countries." 
 So when Mr. Allerton and other exporting merchants in 
 1654 complained of a baker in Milford for furnishing "bad 
 biskitt and flower," whereby they had sustained great dam- 
 age in trying to dispose of their goods at Virginia and 
 Barbadoes, and the reputation of the colony there had also 
 suffered, the court sent for the delinquent baker and warned 
 him that if flour or bread proved bad thereafter through 
 his fault, he would be held liable for the consequences, 
 
 Ship-building was an early and important industry in 
 New Haven Colony, and laws were passed by the court for 
 the protection of timber suitable for that purpose. Most
 
 228 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 of the vessels built here were of small dimensions, but the 
 records refer to a "great shippe" which was launched in 
 October, 1646, and to a "ship" which was on the stocks in 
 1648. Neither of them, however, was "the Great Shippe," 
 otherwise known as Lamberton's ship, which sailed away 
 in January, 1646, and whose ghost is famous in history, 
 though its name is lost in oblivion. Lamberton's ship was 
 built in Rhode Island, as Mr. Pierpont informs us, but he 
 does not give her name. She was owned by four persons 
 called "the feofees" and was chartered and freighted 
 by another association denominated "The Company of 
 Merchants of New Haven." So much we gather from 
 the report of a law-suit which was brought after her 
 departure against the Merchants' Company about a set 
 of blocks furnished to the ship, it being a disputed ques- 
 tion whether they or the feoffees were liable to pay. 
 But even this report, though lengthy and minute, does not 
 mention the name of the ship. What is more remarkable 
 still, nowhere in either town or colonial records nor in any 
 contemporary document emanating from New Haven, 
 is there any allusion to her origin, loading or departure, 
 or to her mysterious fate, nor a word relating to the weird 
 apparition which two and one-half years later so deeply 
 agitated the community and sent a thrill of awe through 
 New England. But for the interest which the story awak- 
 ened in Massachusetts, Mr. Pierpont's account, furnished 
 to Cotton Mather fifty years later, would never have been 
 written, and we should be without a scrap of local informa- 
 tion or tradition respecting one of the most important, 
 tragic and dramatic episodes in the whole history of New 
 Haven. 
 
 The other "great shippe," which in 1646 was owned by 
 the same feoffees, was called "The Fellowship." She is 
 referred to several times by that name in the town and 
 colonial records and was making voyages as late as 1652. 
 
 The Joss of Lamberton's ship was a killing blow to New 
 Haven's hopes of commercial prosperity. Nevertheless
 
 AS A MARKET PLACE. 229 
 
 a foreign and coastwise trade, mostly in small vessels 
 of from twelve to forty tons burden, was carried on for 
 a generation or two thereafter. This trade had but slight 
 relations with the market place, and gradually diminished 
 till 1740, when the entire fleet of this port consisted of two 
 small coasters and one West India vessel. 
 
 Manufactures Encouraged. 
 
 In the meantime the necessity for a development and 
 variation of domestic industries was becoming more and 
 more pressing. The policy of England to discourage 
 manufacturing as well as commercial enterprise in her 
 North American colonies was exercised with growing 
 stringency and was borne with increasing impatience. On 
 February 22, 1763, a town meeting held in the market 
 place passed a long resolution of which the leading features 
 were as follows: "That it is expedient for the town to take 
 all prudent and legal measures to encourage the produce 
 and manufactures of this colony, and to lessen the use of 
 superfluities from abroad;" also "that we will be careful to 
 promote the saving of linen and other materials for mak- 
 ing paper in this town." The importance and significance 
 of this vote can hardly be overstated. It was New Haven's 
 first response to measures of the British government repres- 
 sive of colonial manufactures and commerce. It marks the 
 beginning of that great revolution in colonial sentiment 
 toward the mother country which resulted in political inde- 
 pendence; and so far as New Haven is concerned, 
 it was the first step in that mighty industrial progress 
 which in little more than a century has placed the United 
 States foremost among manufacturing nations, and New 
 Haven among the chief manufacturing towns of the 
 United States. It was a curious coincidence that such 
 a vote should have been adopted on the anniversary 
 of Washington's birthday, and by another remark-
 
 230 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 able coincidence, as if to point the way and supply the 
 agencies by which the coming republic was to rise to indus- 
 trial and political greatness, a vessel arrived in port a few 
 months later with a mixed cargo of coals and Irishmen. 
 It was the first importation in bulk of either and both were 
 too much in advance of the age to be appreciated.* What 
 became of the coal is unknown, but the Irishmen were 
 taken to Stamford and there sold for terms of service, 
 probably in pursuance of contract, to pay the cost of their 
 transportation. How many of them were immediately 
 elected to office does not appear, but it is certain that from 
 that time forth denunciations of old England and a demand 
 for home rule became more and more vehement. In 1768 
 and 1770 other town meetings voted measures to restrict 
 importations in order to cripple British commerce and pro- 
 mote domestic production. In the latter year "the Traders 
 and other Inhabitants of New Haven" also held a meeting 
 in the market place at which they agreed to boycott New 
 York merchants for their halting patriotism and to transfer 
 their trade to Philadelphia and Boston. In September, 
 1770, a convention of delegates from different parts of 
 Connecticut met in the State House to concert measures 
 for encouraging non-importation and home manufactures, 
 and a committee of thirty-eight members was also appointed 
 "to consider the commercial interests of New Haven." 
 
 Internal Commerce Promoted. 
 
 During the Revolution the commerce of New Haven 
 practically ceased, but it revived immediately on the return 
 of peace in 1783. At that time and until the United States 
 
 *It must be confessed that New Haven was remarkably slow in per- 
 ceiving the inestimable value of Hibernian assistance in the conduct of 
 civic affairs. Even as late as 1854 the Common Council laid on the 
 table a petition of the Irish adopted citizens for the appointment of 
 some of their number to be special constables. Happily since that 
 date our city has amply atoned for its previous obtuseness in this respect.
 
 AS A MARKET PLACE. 231 
 
 constitution took effect in 1788, New Haven was a free 
 port; hence the device on our city seal of a ship under full 
 sail with the motto "Mare Liberum." During the long 
 European wars which followed the French Revolution and 
 until the close of our own war with Great Britain in 1815, 
 there was no lack of town and popular meetings, or of 
 state legislative action on the Green having reference to 
 commercial interests. The most famous of these proceed- 
 ings were the town meetings held in 1808, 1809 and 1814, 
 at which vigorous resolutions were passed in condemnation 
 of the long embargo and of the non-importation acts which 
 followed it. During this period the flourishing maritime 
 commerce of New Haven was completely destroyed, and 
 it never regained its previous relative importance. For 
 this and other reasons the Green has been since 1815 but 
 little associated with matters of foreign trade. The inter- 
 ests of internal and domestic commerce, however, which 
 have grown to such magnitude in the last fifty years, 
 have been the frequent subject of discussion in our 
 central market place. First in order came the proceed- 
 ings relating to navigation by the Farmington canal. 
 In 1822 a town meeting, appropriately held on the 
 first of April, enthusiastically endorsed the project. In 
 1829 a city meeting voted a stock subscription of $100,000, 
 and two years later another meeting, with great public 
 spirit, pledged the city's credit for $100,000 more. By 1845 
 a million and quarter of dollars had been sunk in the enter- 
 prise. Reorganizations had converted the stock into 
 water, while leaks and washouts had dried up the canal and 
 not a dollar had been received as dividends except by a 
 stockholder who annually mowed a piece of the towpath 
 and sold the hay. As a navigation scheme it evidently 
 could not be floated any longer, and in 1846 a charter to 
 lay a railway along its bed was granted by the legislature 
 assembled on New Haven Green. This railway track was 
 the first to be carried through the central part of the 
 city, and as it followed the bed of the canal it lay below
 
 232 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 the level of the streets, and other railroads sub- 
 sequently built to connect with it necessarily adopted 
 the same plan of construction. We may therefore credit 
 the old canal with preventing scores of dangerous grade 
 crossings in the heart of our city, the expense of remov- 
 ing which would have equalled the amount invested in it; 
 and if to this be added the value of the experience it 
 brought us bearing on city subscriptions to business enter- 
 prises, we may feel on the whole a great respect for its 
 memory. 
 
 The development of the New Haven railway system 
 between 1840 and 1860 gave rise to several public meetings 
 in the basement of the State House. Some of them were 
 held to discuss the preservation of our Naugatuck valley 
 trade by aiding in the construction of a road to Derby, 
 which by some fatuity was at that time neglected, to New 
 Haven's serious loss. A city meeting was held in the same 
 place December 2.2, 1849, to express a righteous indigna- 
 tion at the nefarious course of the Hartford and New 
 Haven Railroad Company, which by the insidious pur- 
 chase of a certain "peddler's lot" had blocked the exten- 
 sion of the Canal Railroad to Springfield and thereby 
 maliciously prevented the diversion of a large volume of 
 business from its own line to that of its more popular rival. 
 
 The regulation of the liquor traffic between 1850 and 
 1860 caused many boisterous meetings on the Green, but 
 these were of a civic character rather than in regulation 
 of trade, and have been more appropriately referred to in 
 another paper. 
 
 Fourth of July Celebrations. 
 
 Turning now to uses of the market place other than 
 those connected with business, we come to popular gather- 
 ings and demonstrations. In previous papers I have 
 referred to such occasions of a civic, political, educational, 
 religious or moral nature, and will now speak first of anni-
 
 AS A MARKET PLACE. 233 
 
 versary and other jubilee celebrations. Of these which 
 occurred before the Revolution we have no reports, and our 
 review must therefore date from the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence. There is no certainty that the Fourth of July 
 was publicly celebrated in New Haven for two or three 
 years after 1776, but we learn from Dr. Stiles' diary that 
 in 1779 such an observance was only prevented by the 
 British invasion. Since that time the anniversary, with but 
 two or three known exceptions, has been greeted on the 
 Green by at least the raising of the national flag, the ring- 
 ing of bells and artillery salutes, morning and evening. 
 For the first thirty or forty years whenever the day was 
 specially observed, there was generally a procession to the 
 Brick Meeting-house, where both a sermon and an oration 
 were delivered, followed by a dinner in the State House or 
 tavern, with toasts and speeches and an abundant flow of 
 the spirit of '76 as well as of other kinds. In 1798 and 
 again in 1802, there was an interesting additional feature, 
 in the form of a celebration by the ladies of New Haven 
 on their own account. The following is an abridgment 
 of the Connecticut Journal's report of the proceedings. "At 
 five o'clock the ladies of all ages met at the New Gardens 
 and drank tea under a bower provided for the occasion." 
 Madame Wooster presided and the following toasts were 
 given: First, The Spirit of '76; second, The President of 
 the United States; third, The Hero in the Shades of Mt. 
 Vernon; fourth, The Rights of Woman, may they be re- 
 spected by the men of all ages; fifth, May all that is amiable 
 in woman characterize the daughters of America; sixth, 
 The worthy ladies of the late and present presidents. A 
 new patriotic song was sung by the ladies and gentlemen 
 present to the acclamations of many hundreds of their fel- 
 low citizens. The editor gallantly adds: "The gentlemen 
 who have been accustomed to celebrate the Fourth of July 
 will recollect with gratitude that the ladies, fully alive to 
 the peace and honor of the nation, kindly lent their aid to 
 heighten the splendor of that glad day by an assemblage
 
 234 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 of as much beauty, elegance and patriotism as this city ever 
 witnessed." It is a pity that this unique celebration was 
 at the foot of Court street and not on the Green, but it is 
 none the less worthy of applause and imitation. For sixty- 
 four years after the Declaration of Independence, no Fourth 
 of j u iy procession was deemed complete without the pres- 
 ence of at least one Revolutionary veteran, but this feature 
 ended with 1850, at which time six venerable survivors were 
 all that could be mustered from New Haven and the neigh- 
 boring towns. A sad accident marred the festivities of this 
 occasion, a little girl being instantly killed on the Green in 
 the afternoon by the wad fired from one of the cannon. 
 
 Centennial Celebrations. 
 
 The centennial anniversary of Washington's birthday in 
 1832 was observed with great eclat, but hardly with great 
 unanimity. Party and sectarian feeling then ran high and 
 three celebrations were the consequence. There was a 
 College and Henry Clay celebration with a procession, and 
 an oration in the North Church. There was also an ortho- 
 dox and anti-Jackson celebration with an oration at the 
 Center Church, and a dinner at the Franklin House on the 
 corner of Church and Crown streets. And thirdly, there 
 was a celebration by citizens who were Jacksonian in poli- 
 tics and liberalists in religion. These last named gentle- 
 men having been refused the use of the Methodist and 
 Baptist churches, assembled in the City Hall and were there 
 addressed by a Universalist clergyman ; after which they 
 dined at Washington Hall, where they toasted Washington, 
 Jackson and Van Buren and "roasted" intolerant "priests," 
 to their entire satisfaction and with great applause. 
 
 Another centennial celebration occurred April 25, 1838, 
 that being the two hundredth anniversary of the settlement 
 of New Haven. Great interest was felt on this important 
 occasion and it was observed in an appropriate and impres- 
 sive manner. A procession formed in the morning at the
 
 AS A MARKET PLACE. 235 
 
 south portico of the State House, and for the first time in 
 the history of public celebrations in this town, the school 
 children, who numbered about 1,500, were admitted to 
 participate. After proceeding to the corner of George and 
 College streets, where the first settlers landed, and there 
 pausing for religious exercises, the march was resumed, 
 ending at the Center Church, where the principal observ- 
 ances of the day took place. Two literary features of this 
 celebration have taken a distinguished and lasting place in 
 New Haven letters, the Historical Address by Professor 
 Kingsley, and the Forefathers' Hymn by Rev. Dr. Bacon. 
 
 Children's Jubilees. 
 
 The pleasing and beneficial practice of including children 
 in public celebrations was afterwards followed up and 
 extended. The first distinctively children's jubilee in New 
 Haven was held July 23, 1851. Fourteen Sunday schools, 
 and all other children who desired to join, assembled 
 on the Green in the afternoon, and after a short march, 
 returned to the Green, where seats had been prepared under 
 the trees in front of the churches. Refreshments were 
 served from a table close by, after which there were religious 
 exercises and addresses and the children sang hymns to the 
 accompaniment of a brass band. In 1855 was the first 
 children's Fourth of July celebration, which was arranged 
 by Professor Jepson. There was a charming procession 
 of juveniles, which displayed emblematical groups and 
 tableaux, and a patriotic concert by six hundred children 
 on the north steps of the State House. Six years later, 
 July 4, 1 86 1, Professor Jepson organized a much larger and 
 more impressive demonstration. The first great battle of 
 the Civil War was then impending, and the public excite- 
 ment was intense. Thousands of children in procession 
 with floats, which exhibited the Daughters of Columbia, 
 the Goddess of Liberty supported by the loyal States, and 
 other symbolical groups, marched through the principal
 
 236 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 streets to the north steps of the State House, where they 
 sang patriotic songs in chorus to a vast concourse of 
 people. Then followed addresses by Governor Bucking- 
 ham and other distinguished speakers. Since 1861 we have 
 been repeatedly indebted to Professor Jepson for similar 
 beautiful and inspiring demonstrations, but they fall within 
 a period beyond the chronological limits of this paper. 
 
 Atlantic Cable Celebration. 
 
 Probably the three most conspicuous and enthusiastic 
 general celebrations which New Haven Green ever wit- 
 nessed prior to 1 86 1, were those at the conclusions of peace, 
 in 1783, and in 1815, and that at the completion of the first 
 Atlantic telegraph cable in 1858. Of these the first two 
 have been chronicled in a previous paper. The cable cele- 
 bration took place on the I7th of August, 1858. It had 
 been expected that the first messages over the line, that of 
 the Queen to the President and his reply, would be trans- 
 mitted the evening previous, and great preparations had 
 been made for an illumination and other public rejoicings 
 as soon as three cannon shots on the Green should 
 announce that the dispatch from the Queen had been 
 received. Owing to difficulties in working the line, how- 
 ever, the Queen's message was not announced by the can- 
 non until half-past one in the morning. Nevertheless, even 
 at that hour the fire companies turned out at the signal, and 
 collected, with a large crowd of citizens, on the Green. 
 Bonfires were lighted in Chapel and Church streets, and the 
 messages between the Queen and the President were read 
 to a cheering multitude by our enthusiastic fellow citizen, 
 Joseph Sheldon, Esq., in clarion tones, like the voice of a 
 silver trumpet. A procession was then formed, abundantly 
 supplied with drums, horns and other sleep-murdering 
 devices, which marched about the city, calling Mayor 
 Galpin and other victims from their beds, while a steam 
 calliope in full blast effectually helped to make the town
 
 AS A MARKET PLACE. 237 
 
 cheerful till sunrise. On the following evening, the grand 
 demonstration which had been planned was carried out 
 with extraordinary universality and enthusiasm. One 
 hundred guns on the Green at six o'clock began the pro- 
 ceedings, and fireworks followed as soon as darkness set in. 
 Enormous crowds covered the Green, and blocked the 
 adjacent streets. Every dwelling and public building 
 glittered with illuminations, and transparencies abounded 
 on every side, with appropriate emblems and mottoes 
 galore. East Rock blazed with bonfires; fire companies 
 and other organizations of every name, with bands of music, 
 paraded the streets, shooting off rockets and roman candles; 
 the bells rang their loudest peals, and the continuous howl 
 of the steam calliope pervaded every corner of the city and 
 made life a burden from Mount Carmel to Long Island. 
 Possibly the enthusiasm of this celebration might have 
 abated somewhat had it been known that the cable had 
 "died in the borning" and that the two dispatches which 
 were alleged with more or less veracity to have been trans- 
 mitted over it were to remain forever the sum total of its 
 achievements. Yet when we consider that the first Atlantic 
 cable, though a failure, proved that electric signals could 
 be sent across the ocean, and thus ensured the realization 
 of future success with all its stupendous consequences to 
 mankind, we must agree that the rejoicings of New Haven 
 were neither misplaced nor excessive. 
 
 Mobs and Riots. 
 
 With regard to popular gatherings on the Green of a 
 disorderly and tumultuous character, there are, happily, few 
 to be chronicled. Up to 1824, with the exception of a 
 few fights between students and town roughs, which, com- 
 mencing elsewhere, boiled over upon the Green, there is no 
 record of any riotous demonstration upon it worthy of 
 notice. In January, 1824, however, occurred that memor- 
 able event in the history of New Haven known as the Medi-
 
 238 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 cal College riot. Owing to the discovery that the grave 
 of a young lady in West Haven Cemetery had been rifled, 
 suspicion turned toward the Medical College, then situated 
 on the corner of Grove and Prospect streets. An excited 
 crowd collected on the Green, and, having obtained pos- 
 session of one of the town cannon, advanced upon the medi- 
 cal building. The militia were called out, and held the 
 crowd at bay, while the building was searched by a commit- 
 tee. Soon the committee reappeared, bearing the muti- 
 lated body, which had been found beneath the pavement 
 in the cellar. Intense excitement followed, and only the 
 firm front of the military prevented the destruction of the 
 edifice. The body was borne to the Green, where a great 
 procession formed and attended it back to West Haven, 
 where it was again laid to rest. It was many years before 
 the horror of this affair faded out of the public mind. One 
 person was convicted and imprisoned for participation in 
 the outrage, and a stringent law was passed to prevent its 
 recurrence. 
 
 Another occasion on which a college building narrowly 
 escaped destruction at the hands of a mob collected on the 
 Green took place March 17, 1854. A fight between stu- 
 dents and town boys at the close of a theatrical entertain- 
 ment in the Exchange building had attracted a crowd of 
 roughs, who thronged about the students as they retired 
 up Chapel street toward the college. Bricks and stones 
 were thrown, and pistols fired. A rowdy seized a student, 
 and was instantly stabbed, falling back dead among his 
 comrades. His body was carried into the Glebe building, 
 while the students fought their way toward the campus. 
 A fire alarm was rung, and the crowd soon swelled to a 
 furious mob, which brought out a cannon, and planting 
 it opposite South College, proceeded to load it to the 
 muzzle with powder and missiles. While this operation 
 was going on at one end of the cannon, Captain Lyman 
 Bissell of the city police force, at the other end, unrecog- 
 nized in the darkness, was quietly plugging up the vent
 
 AS A MARKET PLACE. 239 
 
 with a sharpened stick, and before this obstacle could be 
 removed the Mayor arrived with sufficient force to restore 
 order. The student who used the dirk was never identified. 
 A collision on the Green between students and firemen, 
 which, however, did not approach the dimensions of a riot, 
 occurred October 30, 1841, at the first annual review of the 
 New Haven Fire Department. The firemen had laid a line 
 of hose across the Green, which was repeatedly interfered 
 with by the students, who were playing football. A fight 
 ensued, in which the students were worsted. Later in the 
 day the students interrupted a banquet of the firemen in the 
 basement of the State House, and after a second conflict 
 were again driven off the Green, The following night they 
 broke into an engine house near the college, and greatly 
 injured the apparatus, a proceeding for which the college 
 authorities promptly paid a handsome sum in damages. 
 
 Fire Department Parades. 
 
 The annual parades of the Fire Department on the 
 Green, which began under the enlivening circumstances 
 just related, deserve a more extended notice, as they were 
 for twenty years among the most important and brilliant of 
 New Haven's public spectacles. They took place in mid- 
 summer or early Fall, and always attracted great crowds. 
 There were eight fire engines in the department, manned 
 by volunteer companies of fifty or sixty men each, besides 
 hose and ladder companies, with their machines. These 
 all turned out in trim uniforms, with decorated engines, 
 and after review and inspection there was an exhibition of 
 playing, the steeple of the Center Church being generally 
 selected for "wetting down." On July 22, 1853, this parade 
 was extended in its scope by inviting companies from other 
 towns and cities to take part. A great procession was mar- 
 shaled on the Green and marched through the streets in 
 six divisions, with twenty brass bands. After a review by 
 the city authorities, a dinner for two thousand five hun-
 
 24:0 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 dred persons was served on the Green under a canvas 
 pavilion erected for the purpose. Then followed a com- 
 petitive contest between some of the visiting companies for 
 prizes offered by the New Haven Fire Department, in which 
 a Providence company came off victorious. In September, 
 1856, this tournament was repeated on a larger scale, last- 
 ing three days. In the procession of the second day, forty 
 companies paraded, including one from Chicago. There 
 were seven divisions and the line contained thirty-eight 
 engines and two thousand five hundred men. In the 
 afternoon twenty-five of the visiting companies competed 
 for prizes. The liberty pole was pieced out to a height of 
 two hundred feet and the engines played upon it succes- 
 sively through four hundred and fifty feet of hose. A 
 Stamford company won the first prize of $500 by throwing 
 a stream upon the pole to the height of one hundred and 
 fifty-three feet. The New Haven companies did not com- 
 pete with their guests, but the proud fact is recorded that 
 on the following day they put their own machine to work 
 and threw a stream to the height of one hundred and fifty- 
 five feet, thus easily beating the victors. These annual 
 exhibitions came to an end in 1861, when the volunteer 
 companies with their hand machines were disbanded and a 
 paid department with steam fire engines took their place. 
 
 The Green as a Play-ground. 
 
 It only remains to speak of the use of the Green as a 
 play-ground; a use which as respects most market places 
 is merely incidental, but which in the case of the Green was 
 recognized as a legitimate right for two hundred and twenty 
 years. The first recorded reference to such use was in 1645, 
 when it was provided that "the soldiers after their military 
 exercises were over might 'play at stole-bale, quoits, nine 
 pins and such like games,' " and with a view to enhance 
 their enjoyment of these recreations it was further requested 
 that one of the elders should be present to discourse to
 
 AS A MARKET PLACE. 241 
 
 them on some improving topic. As there was a public or 
 a private school nearly continuously on the Green for more 
 than two centuries, its use as a play-ground by the boys 
 during all that period was equally continuous, and there is 
 no reason to doubt that they availed themselves of it for 
 that purpose for all it was worth. This theory is confirmed 
 by a vote of the town passed January 27, 1827: "It being 
 propounded that ye boys playing in the market place is 
 mischevious, for by that means the meeting-house windows 
 are shamefully broken, for the preservation whereof it is 
 Resolved by this town that for the future ye boys shall not 
 be allowed to play in ye market place within twenty rods of 
 ye meeting-house on ye penalty of twelve pounds for every 
 such offense and all damages that shall by them at any time 
 be done to ye meeting-house. Voted in the affirmative." 
 Probably the town authorities had little better success in 
 enforcing this ordinance than they had in suppressing the 
 irreverent hilarity of boys inside the meeting-house on 
 Sundays, perhaps the most prolific subject of legislation to 
 be found in the town records. How many windows of the 
 meeting-house and other public buildings were "shamefully 
 broken" by accident in two hundred years cannot be easily 
 estimated, but there was at least one case in which such 
 damage was done with panes-taking deliberation. This was 
 on a Saturday night in 1835, when the town was suddenly 
 aroused from its slumbers by a tremendous explosion, and 
 the next morning it was discovered that a heavily-loaded 
 cannon had been discharged by some vivacious students in 
 College street directly opposite the State House, whereby 
 that unoffending edifice had been deprived of one hundred 
 and thirty-five panes of glass at one fell swoop. Breaking 
 the meeting-house windows, however, was not the only 
 manner in which schoolboys utilized the sanctuary for pur- 
 poses of amusement. In 1825, John Beers, a pupil of the 
 Lancasterian School, which was then kept in the basement 
 of the Methodist Church, on two successive days climbed 
 the lightning rod of the Center Church steeple and seated 
 
 16
 
 242 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 himself on the weathercock. This exploit of course turned 
 the thoughts of all the other boys to aspire with a similar 
 vane ambition, and the attempts to imitate it became so 
 numerous that the church committee bent and spiked the 
 rod in such a way as to prevent a repetition of the feat, 
 wisely reflecting that sparing the rod might result in spoil- 
 ing a boy. Those of my auditors who were New Haven 
 boys fifty or more years ago will recall youthful pranks 
 without number connected with the churches, the State 
 House and the tall grass which then grew to be from twelve 
 to eighteen inches high, and the sports which were then 
 habitually played by boys in companies on the Green 
 games like "come away," "snap the whip," and others now 
 apparently obsolete among the youth of New Haven. The 
 use of the State House hill for coasting purposes has ceased 
 so recently that it seems superfluous to refer to it, and 
 yet there are thousands living in New Haven to-day who 
 never saw the State House hill, and could not correctly 
 locate its position. The infrequent skating ponds on the 
 lower Green occasionally collect the juveniles for sport as 
 in the olden time, and supply the last surviving example of 
 the use of the market place as a schoolboy's play-ground. 
 
 College Athletics on the Green. 
 
 When we come to the use of the Green as a play-ground 
 for the students of Yale College, we approach the grand 
 and inspiring theme of college athletics and prepare to 
 unfold the origin and trace the progress of the present pros- 
 perity and glory of Yale. Unfortunately, however, the 
 chapter which treats of this subject during the period cov- 
 ered by these chronicles must be one of disappointment 
 and humiliation. The cause is found in the influence of 
 two absurd theories which then prevailed and which post- 
 poned the rise of genuine athletics for at least a century. 
 The first of these radical misconceptions was that the prin- 
 cipal purpose of college athletics should be physical exercise
 
 AS A MARKET PLACE. 243 
 
 as a means of bodily invigoration, to be cultivated by all 
 students alike and especially by those of deficient strength 
 or delicate constitution. The second error was that the 
 chief end of games and sports in an educational institution 
 should be recreation and exercise and not to gain glory or 
 make money. It was not then understood that genuine 
 college athletics consist in the artificial training of a dozen 
 or two selected giants to endure the tremendous rush and 
 strain of a few minutes' desperate struggle with a rival team 
 of Samsons once or twice a year in a public exhibition for 
 gate money; in excluding or discouraging from organized 
 college games all students who by reason of inferior vigor 
 most need to practice them; and that the only use to which 
 the great body of students can be put as participants in the 
 public contests is that of encouraging their champions and 
 disconcerting their opponents by cheering and jeering in 
 the right places. As a consequence of these lamentable 
 mistakes of our ancestors, it follows that we find in those 
 benighted times no records of glorious victories gained or 
 disastrous defeats by college teams on land or water accom- 
 panied by lists of contestants killed, crippled or permanently 
 injured by collisions, overstraining or exhaustion. There 
 is also an utter absence from the newspapers of that period 
 of daily bulletins such as now edify the public for weeks be- 
 fore every important athletic contest, containing sweet-faced 
 portraits of the demigods who are to take part, together 
 with minute details relating to their size, weight and bodily 
 condition, and current quotations of the betting market, 
 and also the cheering intelligence that "big money is being 
 put up by the sons of Eli for the honor of Old Yale." It 
 also resulted from those mistaken views that the games 
 and pastimes which were then in vogue were of a crude, 
 juvenile and unscientific character. The rowing clubs in 
 their simplicity made use of boats so clumsy in their build 
 that they were not liable to capsize or founder if taken out- 
 side of a mill pond; and so little did they understand the 
 art of rowing that in their practice and racing contests they
 
 2M CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 actually wore a few shreds of clothing. Football and hand- 
 ball were played simply for recreation and not with the sole 
 view of scoring points; hence there was an entire neglect of 
 subtle and secret tricks to be sprung on an unsuspecting 
 adversary. They were so primitive also that the players 
 did not need to be encased in steel cages or enveloped with 
 cotton bales; nor did they ever prepare for the games by 
 running about the streets in gangs for weeks in advance, 
 clad in the graceful costumes of Feejee Islanders. 
 
 In fact, so little importance was attached for the first 
 hundred years of Yale College to the sublime study of 
 "college athletics," that we have no information what sports 
 were commonly practiced by the students, though we know 
 by tradition that the Green was used by them as their regu- 
 lar play-ground. A picture of the Green made just before 
 1800 shows a number of students near the corner of Chapel 
 and College streets apparently playing football, and a pic- 
 ture of the college buildings under date of 1807 contains a 
 group unquestionably engaged in that pastime. Wicket 
 and quoits were also played on the Green between 1820 and 
 1840, but not later. After 1840 football came again into 
 prominence, and was played daily at the noon hour by 
 kicking the ball promiscuously back and forth, everybody 
 joining in who chose to. On Wednesday and Saturday 
 afternoons impromptu games between sides would often 
 be arranged, a hundred or more players taking part. 
 Between 1840 and 1854 there was nearly every year a grand 
 annual contest between the Freshman and Sophomore 
 classes, in a series of three test games, all played on the same 
 afternoon. These rough and tumble scrambles took place 
 on the upper Green, the upper classes and sometimes repre- 
 sentatives of the fair sex being collected on the south por- 
 tico of the State House, as spectators. They came to an 
 end in 1854, by edict of the faculty, ostensibly on account 
 of their roughness, but really because complaint was begin- 
 ning to be made of the inconvenience which they caused to 
 the public. This inconvenience had, in fact, begun to
 
 AS A MARKET PLACE. 245 
 
 attract attention several years previously. In 1848, when 
 the Methodist Church was removed from the Green, a 
 vote was passed in city meeting that that part of the Green 
 "should never be occupied by the students of any institu- 
 tion or any other individuals as a play-ground." In the 
 same year the Common Council appointed a committee to 
 confer with the college authorities for the suppression of 
 football playing on the Green altogether, but the faculty 
 objected so strenuously that the movement was not pursued. 
 Ten years later, however, the blow could no longer be 
 averted, and in February, 1858, a city by-law was passed 
 which forbade not only the playing of football but of all 
 other athletic games in the streets and squares of the city. 
 By this ordinance the record of the Green as a public play- 
 ground for the practice of games or sports was brought to 
 a final and abrupt conclusion. 
 
 The Passing of the Market Place. 
 
 After the courts and city offices were removed to the new 
 city hall in 1861, there were left to the Green but few of 
 the features which had belonged to it in its ancient charac- 
 ter as a market place. The town and city meetings indeed 
 continued to be held for several years longer in the damp, 
 dingy and malodorous apartment in the basement of the 
 State House which was dignified with the appellation "the 
 Town Hall," and the legislature sat biennially in the upper 
 story of the same building until 1876. When these honors 
 also departed, the last of the functions ceased which had 
 marked the Green as the center of New Haven's business 
 and political activities. In the evolution of the town from 
 a rural village to a bustling city, the market place had 
 become transformed into a simple public square, and while 
 in this capacity it still continues to be the arena for public 
 gatherings and displays, it has also taken on a new charac- 
 ter, that of a resting and breathing place for the people. 
 Never until a very recent period has it shown in its daily
 
 246 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 appearance the spectacle which it now exhibits on summer 
 afternoons, when its verdant lawns are sprinkled with little 
 children and their watchers, and all the seats beneath its 
 spreading trees are filled with refugees from stifling streets 
 and crowded tenements, who come to the Green as the only 
 retreat where they can enjoy the blessings of air and space 
 and restful quiet. If former generations commended the 
 forethought of our ancestors in reserving an area so ample 
 for the public uses of a straggling hamlet, how should we 
 rejoice that they left such liberal space for. recreation and 
 repose in the center of a teeming population! It is true 
 that as the city has expanded far beyond their anticipations, 
 the Green as its only park has become insufficient for its 
 needs. But when we go back in imagination to 1638 and 
 picture to ourselves the cramped market places of even the 
 largest European cities as they then existed, and when we 
 further consider how few American towns which were 
 founded within two hundred years after New Haven's set- 
 tlement can show an original central square or common 
 at all approaching the dimensions of our ancient Green, 
 we cannot fail to honor the broad views and the sagacious 
 foresight which actuated the settlers of New Haven in set- 
 ting apart one-ninth of their entire town plot for public use 
 as a market place.
 
 VIII. 
 THE GREEN AS A PLACE OF BURIAL. 
 
 The selection of the market place by the New Haven 
 settlers as a place of burial was somewhat anomalous. 
 Possibly the example of Boston in making a similar use of 
 a part of its Common may have had an influence. After 
 the meeting-house had been located on the Green, the use 
 of the surrounding ground for burial purposes, according 
 to the custom in the mother country, would naturally be 
 adopted, but in fact, the graveyard was begun before the 
 meeting-house. The first burial at Quinnipiac, however, was 
 not on the Green. One of the pioneers who passed the 
 winter of 1637-8 in caves or cellars on the bank of the 
 creek near George street, died before the main body of the 
 settlers arrived, and his bones were found in 1750 while 
 digging the cellar of the stone house which is still stand- 
 ing at the junction of George and Meadow streets. At 
 least two other persons died in New Haven before the first 
 meeting-house was finished, as appears by orders of the 
 court in 1640 for settling their estates. These persons 
 were probably interred in the market place, for if any other 
 burial ground had been then selected, its use would be 
 likely to have been continued. After this, the records show 
 deaths occurring until 1665 in numbers from one to five a 
 year. By 1659, there must have been about fifty graves 
 in the market place, and the unwisdom of using it as a 
 place of common interment was already beginning to sug- 
 gest itself. Governor Newman was apparently the first to 
 foresee the dangers to arise in the future from an expanded 
 and overcrowded graveyard in the center of the town. 
 "The Governor," says the record of May, 1659, "informed 
 that it is conceived that it is not for ye health that ye bury- 
 ing place should be where it is; therefore, he propounded
 
 248 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 that some other place might be thought of and fenced in 
 for that purpose. Severall places were nominated, but not 
 determined, but left with ye townsmen to consider off." 
 The sanitary suggestion was one in advance of the age, 
 and the governor's recommendations fell on stony ground. 
 He died in the following year, and was buried in the market 
 place, and no further remonstrance appears to have been 
 interposed against interments on the Green for several 
 generations. 
 
 Early Plans for Improvement. 
 
 After 1670, the area of the graveyard was considerably 
 enlarged by the removal of the first meeting-house, which 
 had stood in the center of the square, and the placing of 
 its successor some rods further east. The growing popu- 
 lation of the cemetery caused it also to extend irregularly 
 in all directions, so that it must have become a thorough- 
 fare and a lounging place for the throngs which resorted 
 to the meeting-house for the performance of civic or relig- 
 ious duties, or gathered about the whipping post for recrea- 
 tion and entertainment. Under these circumstances it is 
 not surprising that in the course of time the public taste, 
 if not the public conscience, was awakened to the propriety 
 of protecting the burial ground from unseemly desecra- 
 tions. In December, 1683, Captain Mansfield, on behalf 
 of the selectmen, "moved that ye burying place might be 
 fenced about and kept in a comly manner; they thought 
 about twenty rods square. Ye motion was debated and 
 ye town did desyer ye townsmen would take it into further 
 consideration how much to fence and in what manner, and 
 then to be further spoken of into another meeting." 
 
 Nothing came of the movement at that time, but seven 
 years later, in November, 1690, it was "voted that ye towns- 
 men consider of fencing of ye burying place; how it may 
 be done by wood or stone, and what will be ye best way of 
 doing it, in what forme and how much ground and quantity
 
 AS A BURIAL PLACE. 249 
 
 of fence and have them return to ye next town meeting 
 or as soon as may be." At the next town meeting, Decem- 
 ber 29, 1690, the committee reported that, "having viewed 
 ye burying place they think ye best way of fencing it for 
 comlines or safety from creatures rooting up ye ground 
 will be by a stone wall ditched without by earth cast up 
 within; this way judged most durable with least charge. 
 But ye towne by show vote, ordered it to be ffenced with 
 a stone wall only, in an ovall fforme; and yt ye townsmen 
 take care of ye doing it by suitable hand at ye towne's 
 charge as soon as may be." Notwithstanding this formal 
 and explicit vote, no enclosure of the burial place was then 
 made. In the next generation the crowded condition of 
 the ground, and perhaps the increasing difficulty of provid- 
 ing contiguous places of interment for members of the 
 same families, suggested the opening of a supplemental 
 burial ground where lots or graves should be furnished to 
 persons willing to pay for special accommodations; at least 
 such appears to be the significance of the following vote, 
 adopted in town meeting, December, 1728: "Voted, that 
 the lot called the town lot fronting upon the market place 
 be improved for a burying place during the town's pleasure; 
 and the annual rents of said lot be for the use of the gram- 
 mar school as heretofore." The lot here referred to was 
 the lot on Church street, where the City Hall and Court 
 House now stand. It is not quite clear exactly what 
 scheme of investment for the benefit of the grammar school 
 was contemplated by this vote. It seems likely, however, 
 that under any details of arrangement a leased burying 
 ground must soon have become very dead property, and 
 such seems to have been the public conclusion, for the vote 
 was never carried out, and thus the grammar school was 
 saved from being metaphorically buried in its own grave- 
 yard, and the lot was preserved for a future generation to 
 be used as a place for the living to lie in instead of the 
 dead.
 
 250 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 The Burial Ground Fenced. 
 
 In the meantime, burials were continued in the old 
 ground, and this was becoming not only more and more 
 crowded with permanent occupants, but, as we learn from 
 repeated town votes on record, it was also a common 
 thoroughfare for bipeds feathered and unfeathered, and for 
 quadrupeds of grazing and rooting and burrowing propen- 
 sities, and a nursery for unsightly and maladorous weeds 
 and barberry bushes, so that its condition and appearance 
 were, to say the least, discreditable. At last, in 1762, the 
 Proprietors' Committee, aroused to the need of some 
 prompt and energetic steps for ending the public disgrace, 
 assembled and passed a vigorous vote, "granting liberty to 
 fence in the burying place," and furthermore appointed "a 
 committee to join with a committee of the town to settle 
 and appoint the place of the fence, and the kind of fence, 
 without cost to the proprietors." This public-spirited 
 action by the proprietors awakened a responsive enthusi- 
 asm in the breast of the town to do something handsome 
 for the long-neglected graveyard. Accordingly, at the 
 next town meeting, it was voted with a rush, "that Col. 
 John Hubbard, Mr. Darling, Mr. John Whiting, Mr. Joshua 
 Chandler and Samuel Bishop be a committee to joyne with 
 a committee appointed by ye Proprs. of common and 
 undivided lands to settle and affix ye place where the bury- 
 ing ground shall be fenced in and see how and what man- 
 ner they can fence in the same, without cost to the town." 
 In view of such an overwhelming public determination that 
 the burying ground should be immediately fenced without 
 cost to anybody, it is not surprising to learn from the diary 
 of Manasses Cutler that three years later it was still unin- 
 closed. 
 
 Nevertheless, by 1775, the fence had become in some 
 mysterious way an accomplished fact, for it is shown in Dr. 
 Stiles' map of that year. It was a plain board fence painted 
 red, and by confining the burial ground to a limited area its 
 effect must have been to increase its already crowded condi-
 
 AS A BURIAL PLACE. 251 
 
 tion. That repeated interments were made in the same 
 spots was made evident in excavating for the foundation 
 of the Dixwell monument in 1849, when the remains of 
 sixteen persons were found in a space of twelve feet square 
 within two feet of the surface. 
 
 A New Burial Ground Established. 
 
 When, after the Revolution, New Haven entered on a 
 new career with a city charter and a population of over 
 three thousand within the city limits, it is probable that the 
 discontinuance of the old burying ground was contemplated 
 as one of the municipal improvements, for by a provision 
 in the first city charter the city was authorized to sell or 
 exchange the western half of the public square if it should 
 see fit to do so. No steps were taken, however, to exercise 
 this power, and burials continued to be made on the Green, 
 in increasing numbers, especially during the pestilential 
 years of 1794 and 1795. In those dismal years, midnight 
 burials were not uncommon, and forty years ago it was 
 one of the reminiscences of an aged lady, whose residence 
 in early life had been opposite the Green, that she had been 
 occasionally wakened by the glare of the torches through 
 her open window and had listened to the solemn tones of 
 Rev. Bela Hubbard as he read the burial service over the 
 grave. 
 
 Probably the experience of those years served to impress 
 more forcibly on the public mind the necessity of providing 
 a new burial place, and it was fortunate for New Haven 
 that it contained a citizen with the wisdom to plan and 
 the energy to accomplish the reform in a broad and original 
 manner. In September, 1796, Mr. James Hillhouse, with 
 the cooperation of thirty others, purchased six acres (soon 
 after increased to ten), on Grove street, then in the out- 
 skirts of the town, for the purpose, as they announced in 
 their prospectus, of "a new burial ground, larger, better 
 arranged for the accommodation of families, and by its
 
 252 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 retired situation better calculated to impress the mind with 
 a solemnity becoming the repository of the dead." This 
 is said to have been the first public cemetery in the world 
 which was laid out in family lots. Pere la Chaise in 
 Paris, which was among the first of modern European 
 cemeteries, was not opened till 1804. President D wight, 
 writing of the Grove street grounds in 1810, said: "It is 
 believed this cemetery is altogether a singularity in the 
 world. I have accompanied many Americans and many 
 foreigners into it, not one of whom had ever seen or heard 
 of anything of a similar nature." The projectors were 
 organized as a Burial Ground Association in October, 1797, 
 and this was probably the first private association ever 
 incorporated for burial purposes. It was thus the pioneer 
 of those similar enterprises which have since attained such 
 countless numbers, and in many cases such magnificent 
 proportions, throughout the civilized world. The first 
 interment in the new cemetery was fhat of Mrs. Martha 
 Townsend in 1797. From that date the burials on the 
 Green were few, and they ceased almost entirely after 1800. 
 The last person buried there was Mrs. Martha Whittlesey, 
 who was laid beside her husband, the Rev. Chauncey 
 Whittlesey, in 1812. Her tombstone stands in the crypt 
 of the Center Church. 
 
 Though this was the last burial on the Green, there were 
 two subsequent re-interments there which should be 
 noticed. Soon after the completion of Trinity Church, and 
 probably in 1816, the remains of Bishop Jarvis, who died 
 in 1813, and was buried in the Grove street Cemetery, were 
 exhumed and deposited beneath the chancel of the church, 
 where they still remain. His tombstone bears the simple 
 inscription: "Abraham Jarvis," but a tablet to his memory 
 in the church above records the interest he had felt in the 
 building of the edifice, which he was not permitted to 
 behold. The other re-interment was in 1849, wnen tne few 
 remaining relics of Dixwell, the regicide, were collected and 
 placed under his present monument, an incident which will 
 be more particularly referred to hereafter.
 
 AS A BURIAL PLACE. 253 
 
 The Old Burial Ground Abandoned. 
 
 In December, 1812, the burial ground on the Green 
 having been practically abandoned for several years, a town 
 meeting voted "to license the First Ecclesiastical Society 
 to build a new brick meeting-house and to extend the walls 
 as far westwardly as their convenience may require; pro- 
 vided this license do not vary the rights of individuals." 
 This proviso clearly related to questions that might arise 
 out of the disturbance of graves, and left it to the Ecclesias- 
 tical Society to take their own risks in that connection. It 
 soon became publicly known that the new meeting-house 
 would stand at right angles to the position of the old one, 
 so that a considerable part of the graveyard must inevitably 
 be encroached upon. Upon this discovery an excited 
 opposition was at once developed. A public meeting was 
 held at the County House, in March, 1813, at which a pro- 
 test was adopted, signed by one hundred and seventy-eight 
 subscribers, and resolutions passed vigorously denouncing 
 the proposed location of the building. The construction 
 was nevertheless commenced, but when the workmen 
 began to excavate the trenches, a number of persons assem- 
 bled with shovels and began to throw back the earth as fast 
 as it was thrown out. The opposition was, however, with- 
 out leadership or general support, and as the remains which 
 were found were carefully preserved, and removed to the 
 new cemetery, it was soon withdrawn. No cellar was dug 
 for the church, but that part of the yard was simply enclosed 
 by the foundation walls, so that the floor of the present 
 crypt indicates the level of the original surface. 
 
 No interments, whatever, were made on the Green after 
 1812, and all care of the burying ground was neglected 
 thereafter. The result was that it soon became foul and 
 unsightly, overgrown with weeds, and owing to the dilapi- 
 dation of the fence, it was systematically invaded by tres- 
 passers, human and brute. By October, 1820, its condition 
 had become so disgraceful that the Common Council of the
 
 254 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 city appointed a committee "to inquire and report whether 
 the ancient burying ground should be enclosed or some 
 other course be adopted to evince respect for the dead, and 
 the feelings of the survivors." The committee in due time 
 reported that the ground was "in a condition of total 
 neglect and going to ruin in a manner inconsistent with the 
 religious and moral sense of the community, and indicating 
 a want of decent respect for the memory of the dead." 
 The committee thought that a permanent wall around it 
 would be most suitable but too expensive; and on the 
 whole, recommended a removal of the monuments to the 
 new burying ground at the expense of the city. They also 
 recommended that a marble monument with a suitable 
 inscription be placed on the rear wall of the Center Church, 
 and that the city purchase a tract in the new cemetery for 
 public use. These recommendations were adopted by the 
 Common Council and a committee was appointed to carry 
 them into effect. 
 
 Removal of the Monuments. 
 
 On June 26, 1821, the removal of the monuments was 
 commenced. The exercises began with a public religious 
 service in the Center Church, and a funeral address. After 
 the service, the committee of the Common Council, accom- 
 panied by the President and officers of Yale College, com- 
 menced the removal by conveying the monuments of 
 officers and students of the college to the new cemetery. 
 All the other monuments were then removed day by day 
 till the work was completed, and the ground was afterward 
 leveled by filling to the proper grade. A memorial tablet 
 was subsequently placed on the rear wall of the Center 
 Church, and also tablets in the vestibule of the church, 
 giving the names of those whose monuments remained 
 beneath the building. The whole expense of the proceed- 
 ing, which amounted to $1,289.38, was paid by the city. 
 
 It appears from the committee's report that the number 
 of monuments removed was eight hundred, and the num-
 
 AS A BURIAL PLACE. 255 
 
 ber left beneath the church one hundred and thirty-seven. 
 It must be observed, however, that many stones had been 
 previously removed as family memorials by persons owning 
 lots in the new cemetery. It is also traditional that for 
 more than half a century the ground had been drawn upon 
 for flat stones to be used in building and other purposes, 
 and that South Middle College in particular (which is still 
 standing) was largely indebted to the neighboring grave- 
 yard for its hearthstones and backs of fire-places. As oven 
 floors, the slate tombstones were said to be exceedingly 
 convenient, and the bread of a certain baker was always 
 known by the trademark of a cherub's head or fragment of 
 an epitaph on the bottoms of the loaves. I am informed 
 by Mr. Trowbridge that in digging a trench in Temple 
 street for a water pipe to the Center Church a few years 
 ago, not only numerous bones, but also fragments of tomb- 
 stones, were found lying underground on the original sur- 
 face, evidently broken stones not sufficiently complete to 
 be carried away at the general removal. There must there- 
 fore have been at least one thousand tombstones within 
 the limits of the graveyard in 1800, and while it is of course 
 impossible to compute with any accuracy how many bodies 
 were buried within that portion of the Green during the 
 one hundred and sixty years that it was in use for that pur- 
 pose, a conservative estimate would fix the number as 
 between four and five thousand. As no bodies were dis- 
 interred when the monuments were removed and very few 
 previous to that time, the greater part of this subterranean 
 population still rests beneath the surface of the Green. Yet 
 not entirely, for by the subtle action of chemical agencies 
 the elements of their material frames are continually pass- 
 ing from the soil into the turf and overshadowing boughs 
 which give pleasure and comfort to the living. And in 
 like manner their names, virtues and achievements are 
 being drawn from the dust of oblivion to gladden the hearts 
 of the present generation by filling its family trees with 
 illustrious ancestors, forefathers, foremothers and fore 
 bears.
 
 256 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 Ghosts in the Old Burial Ground. 
 
 While referring to the occupants of the old burial ground, 
 we must not forget those disembodied spirits with which 
 the popular imagination peoples every dwelling place of 
 the dead and whose spectral forms are supposed to occa- 
 sionally rise from yawning graves "to revisit the pale 
 glimpses of the moon, making night hideous." In view of 
 the crowded condition of the graveyard on the Green and 
 the promiscuous way in which its tenants were thrown 
 together, it would not have been surprising if an occasional 
 restless ghost had broken out of its uncomfortable quar- 
 ters to disturb the serenity of belated travelers. The only 
 genuine ghost story on record, however, connected with 
 the Green, relates to a spook which, so far from evincing 
 repugnance to the mortuary accommodations there pro- 
 vided, actually displayed a premature eagerness to occupy 
 them. The story comes from no less an authority than the 
 first President Dwight, and is contained in a published 
 decision which he rendered in a debate by the Senior class 
 of Yale College on the question, "Do Spectres Appear?" 
 I will give it in substantially the President's own words. 
 
 "A respectable inhabitant of this town whom I personally 
 knew, and who was of unquestionable veracity as well of 
 remarkable moderation, related the following incident: At 
 the age of sixteen, while an apprentice to his father, who 
 was a blacksmith, he was going home from a friend's house 
 at about two o'clock at night, when he saw a person walk- 
 ing at no great distance before him. He supposed it to 
 be a fellow apprentice' with whom he was on terms of inti- 
 macy and warm friendship, and walked fast to overtake 
 him, making as little noise as possible, intending to take 
 him by surprise. They were but a little distance from the 
 old burying ground on the Green as he drew near, and the 
 course taken by the young man was by one of the paths 
 leading into it. He soon overtook him and suddenly
 
 AS A BURIAL PLACE. 257 
 
 extending his arm endeavored to clasp him around the 
 body; but to his surprise he did not arrest his progress 
 nor appear to attract his notice, nor was he sensible of feel- 
 ing anything in his grasp. Still, he was not alarmed, but 
 felt so confident that the young man was his friend that he 
 continued to pursue him until he proceeded to a spot in 
 the burying ground where he stopped and speedily van- 
 ished. He thought the occurrence so extraordinary that 
 he determined to mark the spot, and gathering a few bones, 
 brush, and stones together, made a little heap and pro- 
 ceeded homeward. 
 
 "He went to his room and retired to bed; after which 
 he learnt from some of the family that his fellow apprentice 
 was sick. His disease, which was the pleurisy, soon termi- 
 nated his life. When the sexton went to the graveyard 
 some of the friends who accompanied him to determine the 
 spot where the grave should be made, without any knowl- 
 edge of the story of the apparition, chose the place where 
 it had disappeared, so that the first thing the sexton did 
 was to clear away with his spade the little heap by which it 
 had been distinguished. These details I had from a gentle- 
 man who received them from the surviving apprentice. 
 The evidence is strong that he told the truth, and there is 
 nothing that I know of to contradict it. It is true that 
 the time was night, but the moon was bright and objects 
 at a short distance were almost as distinctly visible as by 
 day." The Doctor adds: "There was indeed no important 
 end to be accomplished by the apparition so far as we can 
 see unless that of producing useful impressions on the mind 
 of the young man;" and it must be agreed that young 
 gentlemen who are in the habit of going home at two 
 o'clock in the morning and who under such circumstances 
 are not in the least disconcerted at finding themselves 
 embracing a ghost, are generally fit subjects for useful moral 
 lessons. It might be added that they are not unlikely to 
 remember next morning remarkable visions for which 
 spirits are chiefly responsible. 
 17
 
 258 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 Another ghost story connected with the old burial 
 ground on the Green concerns a party of convivial students, 
 who were wending their way across it one moonlight night 
 just as the clock struck twelve. Moved by a sudden 
 impulse born of Dutch courage, one of the party mounted 
 a flat tablet monument and called three times in loud and 
 solemn tones, "Arise, ye dead, and come to judgment!" 
 Scarcely had the third summons rung out on the midnight 
 air when a white figure rose from among the graves and 
 rushed toward the speaker with a wild, unearthly shriek, 
 "Yes, Lord, I'm coming!" The time occupied by the stu- 
 dents in getting out of the burial ground and into the 
 college buildings was not carefully taken, but it is positively 
 known that in brevity it broke the world's record for the 
 same distance; while the poor, demented creature who had 
 been roused from her sleep among the tombstones, after 
 vainly pursuing the supposed celestial messenger for a 
 while, returned to her resting place greatly disconcerted at 
 his sudden disappearance and the prompt withdrawal of his 
 invitation. 
 
 The "Regicides' Tombstones:' 
 
 In the general removal of monuments which took place 
 in 1821, three were left undisturbed the E. W. stone, dated 
 1657-8; the M. G. stone, marked '80, and the I. D. tomb- 
 stone of 1689. They were all left for the same reason, each 
 being supposed to mark a regicide's grave. The I. D. 
 stone was unquestionably authentic, as the memorial of 
 John Dixwell, and in 1847 som e descendants of Dixwell, 
 living in Boston, addressed the city authorities of New 
 Haven, proposing to erect a suitable monument over his 
 grave and to enclose it with an iron railing if the city would 
 protect it and keep it in repair. After obtaining the ap- 
 proval of the Proprietors' Committee, the proposal was 
 accepted at a city meeting held December 14, 1847; an d 
 on November 21, 1849, at five o'clock in the morning the
 
 AS A BURIAL PLACE. 259 
 
 remains were exhumed. The skeleton was found fairly 
 well preserved within the mouldered coffin, and the bones, 
 having been carefully collected in a suitable casket, were 
 re-interred, after which the present monument, with the 
 original tombstone by its side, was erected above them. 
 
 After this memorial work was accomplished, some criti- 
 cism was bestowed on the supervising committee because 
 they had made no provision for preserving the other two 
 stones, supposed to belong to Whalley and Goffe, in the 
 immediate vicinity. These objections called forth the 
 explanation that the committee, after careful inquiry, had 
 come to the conclusion that the stones marked E. W. and 
 M. G. were not regicide memorials, but the gravestones 
 of Edward Wigglesworth and Matthew Gilbert. As this 
 subject has been much discussed since that time, and as it 
 concerns so nearly the historic dignity of our ancient Green, 
 it is worth while to summarize the leading considerations 
 on both sides of the question. 
 
 There is little doubt that Whalley died in Hadley 
 about 1674 or 1675, an d Goffe is supposed to have 
 died in Hartford about 1680. It is extremely improbable 
 that the body of either would have been brought to New 
 Haven, at considerable trouble and cost, as a mere matter 
 of sentiment, and therefore the presumption is strongly 
 against the claim that these regicides are buried here. On 
 the other hand, the arguments in support of the Wiggles- 
 worth and Gilbert theory are far from convincing. In the 
 first place, it seems unlikely that monuments of personages 
 so prominent in the community should have been inscribed 
 with the mere initials of their names. There are but four 
 tombstones now existing which are so inscribed, and these 
 are all of dates prior to 1700. One of them is for a child 
 nine years old; one of them for a child less than two years 
 old; one of them, besides the initials, has an unintelligible 
 inscription, apparently for an infant; and the fourth is the 
 I. D. stone placed over Dixwell's grave. Concerning this 
 last one we learn from Dr. Stiles that it was marked with
 
 260 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 initials only at Dixwell's own request in order to promote 
 obscurity, "lest his enemies might dishonor his ashes." 
 From this it appears that such abbreviated designation on 
 a tombstone was unusual and indicated a person little 
 known. No such reason for mere initials, however, exists 
 in the cases of Wigglesworth and Gilbert. The first was 
 one of the original settlers. He was above the average in 
 point of property, and at the time of his death had a son in 
 the ministry. The other had been from the beginning of 
 the colony one of its most prominent men; he was one of 
 the original seven pillars, a magistrate and deputy gover- 
 nor, and was possessed of a handsome estate. The insig- 
 nificance of these stones in itself strongly discredits the 
 view that they mark the graves of Wigglesworth and 
 Gilbert, but that theory also encounters other and more 
 serious objections. 
 
 Wigglesworth died in 1653, and on both his headstone 
 and footstone appears the same date as originally cut, 1658. 
 There is no doubt that this was the original date, and it is 
 inconceivable that there can have been a mistake of five 
 years on a tombstone which must have been put up within 
 a very few months after his death. On the footstone, the 
 figure 5 in 1658 shows a figure. 7 so annexed to it that 
 the date may be read 1658 or 1678, though it is evident 
 that the 5 was the original figure. It has been suggested 
 that this alteration has been surreptitiously made in order 
 to support the claim that Whalley was buried there. But 
 Whalley died in 1674, not 1678, besides which such an 
 alteration in only one of the stones would be futile, the 
 other remaining unchanged. But apart from these con- 
 siderations there is convincing evidence that the alteration 
 was not made for any such fraudulent purpose. The ques- 
 tion whether the stones belonged to Wigglesworth or 
 Whalley had never been put in issue till Dr. Stiles raised 
 it in 1794, and the sketch of the tombstones given in his 
 book shows the mutilated date as having precisely the 
 same appearance then as now. That it could not have
 
 262 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 character as regicides' stones as unquestioned fact. Theo- 
 dore Dwight's "History of Connecticut," written in 1841, 
 made the same statement with regard to the E. W. stone 
 and raised no question as to the other. And neither Prof. 
 Kingsley nor Dr. Bacon, in their historical discourses of 
 1838 and 1839, expressed any doubt as to the correct- 
 ness of the popular belief, as they would have been 
 likely to do had that seemed to require refutation. 
 In fact, I find no intimation anywhere that Whalley and 
 Goffe were not in undisturbed occupation of the E. W. 
 and M. G. graves for more than fifty years, until the icono- 
 clastic committee on the Dixwell monument suddenly 
 ousted them from possession in 1849. 
 
 As we are now called upon to review the action of the 
 committee, we must bear in mind that possession is nine 
 points of the law, and that no occupant of real estate under 
 a claim of right can be legally dispossessed except by some 
 claimant who can prove a superior title in himself to the 
 premises. From this point of view it must be conceded 
 that Messrs. Gilbert and Wigglesworth, plaintiffs in 1849, 
 hardly made out a sufficient case in their own favor to 
 justify the ejectment of Messrs. Goffe and Whalley, defend- 
 ants. On the other hand, it appears from all the evidence 
 in the case that neither party is able to establish a clear 
 original title, and the most equitable verdict would be that 
 they should compromise on a joint possession until a 
 better owner than either appears. Let such be the judg- 
 ment recorded. And it shall come to pass that when, in 
 time to come, your children shall ask you, saying, "What 
 mean these stones?" then shall ye answer them: "These be 
 the tombstones that mark the graves of Gilbert Goffe and 
 Wigglesworth Whalley." 
 
 Now that these venerable tombstones are under consid- 
 eration, let me take this opportunity to suggest the early 
 removal of the M. G. stone from its present exposed situa- 
 tion to a place inside the iron fence which, through the 
 wise and timely action of our present president, was erected
 
 AS A BURIAL PLACE. 263 
 
 several years ago, so as to enclose the E. W. stone at the 
 rear of the Center Church. Apart from its interest as a 
 subject of antiquarian discussion, it should be protected 
 as an undoubted relic of early colonial times. By a com- 
 parison of its present appearance with the sketch made of 
 it by President Stiles in 1793, it seems not yet to have been 
 materially injured, but continued neglect may result in its 
 complete destruction.* 
 
 Governor Eaton's Monument. 
 
 Among the monuments removed to the new cemetery 
 there was one of special interest, that over the grave of 
 Governor Theophilus Eaton. In May, 1658, just after 
 Governor Eaton's death, the General Court of the colony 
 adopted the following order: 
 
 "The Court calling to mind the good service done to this 
 colony by our late honoured Governour, did order that a 
 comely tombe such as we are capable of shall be made 
 over his grave, and that the estate he left behind him shall 
 be free from rates this year to the jurisdiction." 
 
 Three years later, in May, 1661, "there was something 
 propounded about the engraving of Gov. Eaton's tomb, 
 which was agreed to be left to ye Gouvenour, Deputy 
 Gouvenour and New Haven Court with the advise of ye 
 elders of New Haven." How much of this "comely tombe" 
 remained to be transferred to the Grove Street Cemetery 
 is uncertain. The two stone blocks or pillars which sup- 
 port the tablet now in the cemetery, are probably part of 
 it, though they have been squared and trimmed into modern 
 spruceness, but the monument, if not of modern manufac- 
 ture, has certainly been redressed and re-cut, and as the 
 inscription on it differs from that given by Barber in 1836, 
 the re-cutting must have been since that date. Probably 
 the original tablet, which was engraved in 1661, was not 
 in existence when the monument was removed from the 
 
 *See Note 3.
 
 264 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 Green, for the reason that the one so removed contained 
 the epitaphs of Governor Jones and his wife, who died in 
 1706 and 1707, and also two poetical effusions which are 
 traditionally ascribed to Rev. Mr. Pierpont, and which cer- 
 tainly sound more like tombstone literature of 1707 than 
 that of 1 66 1. The first of these effusions is the well-knpwn 
 tribute to Eaton: 
 
 Eaton so f aimed, so wise, so just. 
 
 The phoenix of our world here hides his dust, 
 
 This name forget, N. England never must. 
 
 In the second, which relates to Governor Jones and wife, 
 the muse takes on a much humbler strain: 
 
 T' attend you, sir, beneath these framed stones 
 Are come your honoured son and daughter Jones 
 On each hand to repose their weary bones. 
 
 Unless the Jones epitaph was cut into the original Eaton 
 stone after Mrs. Jones's death, a new tablet must have been 
 supplied at that time, but what the fact may be it is now 
 impossible to say. I have not been able to learn of any 
 reference to the triplet on Eaton before the time of Mr. 
 Pierpont. 
 
 Public Funerals in New Haven. 
 
 It appears by the records that the colony not only fur- 
 nished the "comely tombe" to Governor Eaton's memory, 
 but that his funeral also was at the public charge. His 
 successor, Governor Newman, also died in office, in 1661, 
 and it was voted that "ye charges of his funerall be borne 
 by ye jurisdiction, as Governour Eaton's was." No monu- 
 ment, however, was voted to his memory, and no such 
 memorial is now in existence. In 1706, on the death of 
 Deputy Governor William Jones, the General Assembly of 
 Connecticut, then sitting in New Haven, voted that "in 
 consideration of his many good services, the charges of his 
 funeral be paid out of the public treasury." These three
 
 AS A BURIAL PLACE. 265 
 
 honorary funerals at public charges are the only instances 
 of the kind in New Haven, so far as I can discover, until 
 the public funeral of Admiral Foote at the cost of the city, 
 July i, 1863. At the death of Roger Sherman, July 23, 
 1793, he being at the time mayor of the city and United 
 States senator, appropriate resolutions were adopted by 
 the Common Council, and the entire city government 
 attended his funeral, together with a great concourse of 
 other public officials, officers and students of Yale College 
 and private citizens, but the obsequies were not at the 
 public charge. Funeral ceremonies, however, in honor of 
 distinguished public men, not residents of New Haven, 
 have been repeatedly conducted on the Green by city 
 authority. When Washington died, in December, 1799, 
 honorary resolutions were adopted by the Common Coun- 
 cil and minute guns fired by their order. After the death 
 of Adams and Jefferson, July 4, 1826, the Common Council 
 passed resolutions and ordered the bells to be tolled and 
 minute guns fired on the Green for one hour, from six 
 o'clock in the evening. Similar observances followed the 
 death of General Lafayette, in 1834, and by request of the 
 Common Council a funeral oration in his honor was 
 delivered by Hon. James Hillhouse at the ensuing com- 
 mencement in August. Seven years later, when President 
 Harrison died, there were elaborate ceremonies, compris- 
 ing a military and civic procession, with a funeral sermon 
 by Rev. Dr. Bacon. A more ambitious display attended 
 the obsequies of President Taylor, July 24, 1850, in which 
 a gorgeous catafalque followed by a white horse bearing 
 an empty saddle were conspicuous features. At the Cen- 
 ter Church a funeral oration was delivered by Hon. E. K. 
 Foster. 
 
 On June 21, 1861, occurred the funeral of the first son 
 of New Haven who fell in the civil war. On that day the 
 body of Major Theodore Winthrop was received at the rail- 
 road station on Chapel street and borne, to the sound of 
 minute guns and tolling bells, to its last resting-place in
 
 266 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 Grove street cemetery. It was followed by a large military 
 and civic escort, including the Mayor and Common Council 
 of the city, after which the procession returned to the Green 
 and was there dismissed. Two years later, June 30, 1863, 
 the public funeral of another New Haven hero, Admiral 
 Foote, was conducted under the direction and at the 
 expense of the city on a scale of impressive dignity and 
 extent. The body having been publicly viewed for several 
 hours at the State House, was conveyed to the Center 
 Church, which was heavily draped, and there services were 
 held, with a funeral address by Rev. Dr. Bacon. It was 
 then attended to the cemetery by an immense procession 
 composed of national and state officials, military and naval 
 officers, midshipmen and marines, with large bodies of 
 federal and state troops, followed by members of the city 
 government of New Haven and other cities, officers and 
 students of Yale College, members of the different profes- 
 sions, and numerous benevolent and other associations. 
 The public obsequies for Presidents Lincoln and Garfield 
 were of a memorable character, but belong to a period not 
 covered by these chronicles. 
 
 Ancient Funeral Customs. 
 
 It would be interesting to compare the details of this 
 public funeral with those which marked that of Governor 
 Eaton, two hundred and five years previously. No par- 
 ticulars of these observances, however, have come down 
 to us and we can only infer them by recalling the funeral 
 customs of that period. In early colonial days, owing to 
 the prejudice against prayers for the dead, there were no 
 religious services connected with the interment. Lechford, 
 who wrote of New England customs before 1700, says: 
 "At burials nothing is read nor any funeral sermon made, 
 but all the neighborhood or a goodly company of them 
 come together by the tolling of the bell and carry the dead 
 solemnly to his grave and then stand by him while he is
 
 AS A BURIAL PLACE. 267 
 
 buried. The ministers are most commonly present." 
 The procession was entirely on foot, headed by the men, 
 who walked in couples, the women following in similar 
 order. In the center was the bier, sometimes called "the 
 herse," which was a plain platform with handles, carried 
 by bearers and left at the grave or elsewhere in the burial 
 ground after the funeral. In New Haven apparently no 
 pall was used to cover the coffin until December, 1715, 
 when Mr. Jonathan Atwater offered "to ye town a cloath 
 to be servisable at funeralls to be kept at house of Ensign 
 Isaac Dickerman and when upon any occasion feched from 
 said house to be carefully returned thither." A wheeled 
 hearse was not used till 1794, when one was built by private 
 subscription and also a house to keep it in. Many of our 
 older residents well remember this building with its somber 
 contents, standing on the corner of Grove and Prospect 
 streets just outside of the cemetery fence. The hearse 
 was maintained by the city and "a hearse leader" annually 
 chosen by the Common Council until 1841, when both 
 hearse and house were .sold to West Haven for the sum of 
 $25. 
 
 Prior to 1700 the funeral sermon, if any, was preached 
 on the Sunday following the interment. After 1725, when 
 the Episcopal burial service began to be occasionally used, 
 the practice of preaching and praying at funerals gained 
 ground. The genial custom of supplying unlimited liquors 
 at funerals dates back to the earliest colonial times, and 
 was doubtless a survival of the funeral feasts of our ances- 
 tors. For many years spirituous beverages were furnished 
 freely to all comers and the liquor bill was often one of 
 the heaviest charges against the estate. Probably these 
 sympathetic potations were imbibed theoretically with a 
 view to drowning sorrow and enabling the mourning com- 
 pany to bear up firmly under the burden of their grief; 
 but there is reason to believe that, practically, quite a con- 
 trary effect was sometimes produced. In October, 1694, 
 the town voted as follows: Whereas, some inconvenience
 
 268 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 is observed in ye use of rum or strong drinks at funerals, 
 the town recommend to ye inhabitants yt may from tyme 
 to tyme be conserned, yt they would use their liberty or 
 prudence in laying downe ye custome for ye future, only 
 as there may be need of refreshing in a privat way for 
 psons living remote." This delicate suggestion had little 
 effect, however, and the practice was not entirely discon- 
 tinued until after 1830, though, in later years, the refresh- 
 ment was furnished " in a private way" to the bearers only. 
 
 Mourning rings for the minister and family friends seem 
 never to have been much in vogue in New Haven.* 
 
 Linen scarfs, each of sufficient size to make a shirt, were 
 usually furnished to the minister and bearers until after 
 1820. The last instance that I have been able to identify 
 was at the funeral of Eli Whitney in 1825. The supply of 
 gloves for bearers, which still survives, was an early colonial 
 custom. In several of the ancient graves which have been 
 disturbed on the Green a considerable number of thorns 
 two or three inches in length have been found, which were 
 probably used for fastening the winding sheet instead of 
 pins,f which during the Revolution became exceedingly 
 expensive. 
 
 Before the days of professional undertakers, it was cus- 
 tomary for neighbors to prepare the grave clothes when a 
 death was expected, and it is said that in 1804 some excel- 
 lent ladies sat up half the night to finish a shroud for John 
 C. Calhoun, then a student in Yale College, regardless of 
 Dr. Dwight's prediction that he was destined to become 
 the president of the United States. 
 
 Bell-tolling at funerals was for nearly two hundred years 
 considered an essential feature of respectable obsequies, and 
 a public bell ringer performed that function at a rate of 
 compensation annually fixed by the authorities. In April, 
 1830, the Medical Association of New Haven, in that spirit 
 of modesty which prompts them to discourage all forms 
 of professional advertising, presented a petition to the Com- 
 
 * See Note 4. f See Note 5.
 
 AS A BURIAL PLACE. 269 
 
 mon Council requesting that the tolling of bells at funerals 
 might be prohibited by city ordinance. No official action 
 was taken at that time, but the practice began to decline, 
 and when, two years afterwards, the office of public bell 
 ringer was abrogated, the custom soon came to an end. 
 
 The Medical Profession in New Haven. 
 
 Although the history of a burial ground cannot properly 
 be said to include, like that of other inhabited places, an 
 account of the rise and progress of its population, yet it 
 would hardly be complete without reference to the health 
 and mortality records of the community where it is located. 
 And just as a review of the courts and jurisprudence of New 
 Haven involved some account of the lawyers who furnished 
 the tribunals with business, so the chronicles of its grave- 
 yard suggest allusion to the local physicians of whose faith- 
 ful labors it is a perpetual reminder. For the first hundred 
 and fifty years of the town, while medical science was crude, 
 and the medical profession undeveloped and unorganized, 
 the burial place on the Green sufficed for the public needs; 
 but after the Connecticut Medical Society was established, 
 in 1792, attention was quickly drawn to the growing neces- 
 sity of a new and larger cemetery, and since that time the 
 growth of our burial accommodations has about kept pace 
 with the numerical increase of the doctors. 
 
 The first generation of New Haveners was afflicted with 
 malarial fevers which, in default of judicious medical treat- 
 ment, were the principal cause of graveyard repletion. 
 During this period, that is to say till about 1670, the prin- 
 cipal reliance of the people for medical advice was a Mr. 
 Augur, who practised the healing art in the intervals of 
 his other business. From the avidity with which the com- 
 munity welcomed rival practitioners to town, it would 
 appear that Mr. Augur's abilities were not rated very 
 highly. In 1651 a real doctor, who had studied in France 
 and had a certificate from a learned university, appeared
 
 270 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 in New Haven, and after Mr. Davenport had examined his 
 credentials and pronounced them satisfactory, the General 
 Court invited him to remain and provided him with a fur- 
 nished house. Three months later the town was in a panic 
 on account of his exorbitant charges, and the magistrates 
 and elders jointly labored with him in an attempt "to settle 
 a more moderate price for his visits." Apparently the 
 effort was unsuccessful, for a few months later the town 
 voted him "liberty to go as he had opportunity." If his 
 opportunity depended on his ability to collect his bills, it 
 is to be feared that he waited for it in vain and finally made 
 a premature departure, for the records show that even 
 cheap Mr. Augur repeatedly complained to the court that 
 he could not obtain his pay for either visits or medicines. 
 
 In 1655 the malarial scourge was especially severe, and 
 in this year Mr. John Winthrop, Jr. (afterward Governor 
 of Connecticut) took up his abode in New Haven, being 
 specially welcomed on account of his reputed medical skill. 
 Probably the public confidence was heightened by the 
 knowledge that he had in his possession "a sovereign 
 remedy for curing agues," which had been sent him from 
 London by Sir Kenelm Digby, a member of the Royal 
 Society and a noted savant of the day. As these disorders 
 are not entirely extinct in New Haven, it may be worth 
 while to restore the prescription to the modern materia 
 medica. It is as follows: "Pare the patient's nayles when 
 the fitt is coming on and put the parings into a little bagge 
 of fine linen or sarsnett and tye that about a live eele's 
 neck in a tubbe of water. The eele will dye and the patient 
 will recover. And if a dogge or a hogge eat that eele they 
 will also dye." 
 
 Doubtless this antidote was highly successful as a con- 
 venient and expeditious means of exterminating superflu- 
 ous dogs, hogs and eels, but its efficacy in expelling malaria 
 from the human system seems not to have equaled the 
 public requirements. Certain it is that in 1658 Mr. Win- 
 throp betook himself elsewhere, leaving Mr. Augur alone
 
 AS A BURIAL PLACE. 271 
 
 in the field to fight the pestilence. This he did in the old- 
 fashioned way, and when he found a patient at death's door 
 he rarely failed to pull him through. But, alas! for the 
 gratitude of his beneficiaries. In 1660 Mr. Augur 
 announced to the town meeting "that his stock of physic 
 was gone and how to procure more he saw not, being dis- 
 abled by the non-payment of some and the unsuitable pay- 
 ment of others." In response to this moving appeal the 
 meeting, which was, no doubt, largely composed of his 
 delinquent debtors, passed a vigorous resolution to the 
 effect that those who owed Mr. Augur ought to pay up, 
 and advised him to bring some of them into court. He 
 does not appear to have done so, however, and unless his 
 experience differed from that of his successors in the heal- 
 ing art in New Haven, he was obliged to wait for the pay- 
 ment of most of his bills until the settlement of his patients' 
 estates, having this advantage, however, in common with 
 his later professional brethren, that it was always in his 
 power to accelerate the time of such final adjustment. 
 
 After Mr. Winthrop's departure, Mr. Augur appears to 
 have had sole charge of the health of New Haven till his 
 death by shipwreck in 1676. The town then remained 
 destitute of a physician till 1688, when by invitation of the 
 town Dr. Williams came here from Hartford, but how long 
 he remained or when he died is unknown. 
 
 Brown's map of 1724 shows the dwelling of "W. Mather 
 Physician," and Wadsworth's map of 1748 indicates that 
 three "Physicians" at that date were living here, "Tim 
 Mix, Jno. Hubbard ancTTl. Hubbard," and about the year 
 1770 the names of Dr. John Rhode and Dr. Bonticou 
 appear as local practitioners. A medical profession had 
 now begun to develop, and in 1783 the New Haven 
 County Medical Society was organized with 61 members, 
 among them Dr. Eneas Monson, Dr. Levi Ives, Dr. 
 Leverett Hubbard and Dr. Ebenezer Beardsley, names 
 which even after the lapse of a hundred years have still a 
 familiar sound in New Haven. This association was
 
 272 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 merged into the Connecticut Medical Association in 1792, 
 and in 1803 a new local society was created which still 
 exists as the New Haven Medical Association. After that 
 date the Green was practically abandoned as a place of 
 burial; and as it does not concern these chronicles to follow 
 the medical profession into later fields of usefulness, we will 
 now turn our attention briefly to the mortuary statistics 
 and health conditions of New Haven during the period 
 when the old burying ground was in use. 
 
 Vital Statistics of New Haven. 
 
 Until after the beginning of this century no records of 
 mortality were kept in New Haven, though in 1795 and 
 afterwards the local newspapers published lists of the deaths 
 during each preceding year. In 1811 Dr. Dwight col- 
 lected the first vital statistics of a general historic charac- 
 ter, and he mentions 1734 and 1735 as being years of 
 special mortality. If the comparative number of existing 
 tombstones is any indication, the year 1711 must also have 
 been a very sickly one. Dr. Dwight also specifies 1724, 
 I 75 I > i773 J 774, i775 J 776, i777> *794 and 1795 as years 
 marked by an unusual number of deaths, the two last named 
 being still memorable as the pestilential years of yellow 
 fever and dysentery. In 1794 out of a total population 
 of 5,000 there were 180 deaths, of which 64 were from 
 yellow fever. In 1795 there were 750 cases of dysentery 
 alone, of which 75 proved fatal, which is in the same pro- 
 portion as if in 1897 it had attacked 15,000 persons, of 
 whom 1,500 had died. The total mortality in the two 
 years of 1794 and 1795 was 339, which would be equiva- 
 lent to 6,780 in 1896 and 1897, or about one-fifteenth of the 
 whole population. The ratio of deaths to the population 
 in 1794 was 36 in every 1,000 inhabitants, and in 1795, 31 
 in 1,000. The rate at the present time is about 19 in 1,000.
 
 .......J
 
 AS A BURIAL PLACE. 273 
 
 Former Unsanitary Conditions. 
 
 Doubtless the ravages of epidemic and other maladies 
 was largely due to a general neglect of sanitary conditions 
 which now would not be tolerated for a day. Garbage and 
 other refuse was quite commonly thrown into the streets. 
 The kitchen drainage of nearly every house was through 
 an open ditch across the yard, often in close proximity to 
 the well. The sluggish creeks near George and State 
 streets were the common sewers for all the filth which could 
 not otherwise be disposed of, and the market house which 
 was erected in 1786 stood for several years directly over 
 the creek for the convenience of throwing refuse into it. 
 The isolation of infectious diseases was almost wholly 
 neglected, and so reckless was the disregard of public and 
 private safety in this respect, that had an isolation hospital 
 been projected, it is not impossible, incredible as it may 
 seem in this age of the world, that an obstinate Common 
 Council might have forbidden its erection on any practica- 
 ble site. 
 
 In the habits and appointments of domestic life the 
 modern precautions against improvident exposure were 
 habitually absent. Woolen underclothing was rarely worn 
 until after 1825. Rubber shoes and waterproof garments 
 were unknown and even umbrellas were a rarity until after 
 1800. Before 1838 there were no public baths in New 
 Haven. Private bath-rooms were an unheard-of luxury, 
 and when a certain elegant gentleman was pointed out by 
 an admirer as a man who put on a clean shirt every day, the 
 astonished auditor exclaimed: "He must be an aw-fully 
 dirty fellow!" Dwelling houses were only partially warmed 
 by great drafty fire-places, and the bedrooms not at all. 
 The meeting-houses in winter were so cold that ice formed 
 in the baptismal bowl, and the bread froze on the com- 
 munion plates. Vaccination was not introduced until after 
 1800, and nearly all the great discoveries and important 
 progress in sanitary as well as medical science have been 
 made during the present century. 
 id
 
 274: CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 Reforms in Burial Customs. 
 
 Among the improvements in sanitary and social science 
 within the last hundred years which have checked the rapid 
 growth of graveyard populations, must be included that 
 great step forward which was first taken in New Haven in 
 1797, the reformation of the graveyard itself. Prior to 
 1800 the custom of intra-mural interment universally pre- 
 vailed in cities, and as the public burial places were limited 
 in area there could be no private ownership in graves and 
 no sanctity attached to them as resting-places of the dead. 
 Hence public cemeteries inevitably became neglected and 
 unsightly, offensive to the eye, and detrimental to the 
 public health. The New Haven plan, by which large areas 
 in the suburbs were divided into family lots and converted 
 into peaceful and attractive places of resort, has in its 
 development not only brought about a striking alteration 
 in the appearance of burial grounds, but a revolution in 
 public sentiment to the extent of investing every grave with 
 a sacred and inviolable character. But the new method 
 has its evils and its dangers as well as the old. It has been 
 in general operation for hardly two generations, and already 
 the enormous and successive sequestrations of land in the 
 vicinity of our cities and towns, whereby great districts are 
 withdrawn from the needs of the living for the uses of the 
 dead, and the constantly increasing burdens and expenses 
 of funerals which it entails, are beginning to awaken serious 
 apprehension. Evidently the time will come soon, if it has 
 not already, when some new system must be adopted for 
 the disposal of the dead; and it would be eminently suitable 
 if New Haven, which led the way in cemetery improve- 
 ment, should also be among the first to take the next 
 important step in the same path of progress.
 
 AS A BURIAL PLACE. 275 
 
 The Center Church Crypt. 
 
 It is an interesting circumstance in the history of the 
 Green as a burial place that, amid the changes which have 
 swept out of existence all other memorials of early colonial 
 days, a part of the ancient graveyard still remains undis- 
 turbed and in excellent preservation. Beneath the Center 
 Church, thanks to the generosity and the pious care of our 
 honored President, Mr. Trowbridge, to whom New Haven 
 is indebted for the perpetuation of much that is of historic 
 value and antiquarian interest, the generations of to-day 
 and of future years may behold a section of the old burial 
 ground on the Green substantially as it appeared in pre- 
 revolutionary times. There the venerable tombstones 
 stand intact, placed without order or arrangement, without 
 regard to kinship or station in life, but all alike sheltered 
 by the ancient mother church, as if she had gathered under 
 her wings at least these few memorials of her children to 
 preserve them from the ruthless hands of change and 
 oblivion. 
 
 Nor was her protection superfluous, for of the nearly 
 nine hundred persons whose remains are still reposing out- 
 side the church and whose graves before 1821 were plainly 
 marked by monuments, there are hardly half a dozen 
 whose resting-places could now be even conjectured. On 
 the lower Green, in some spot unknown but supposed to 
 be not far from the flagstaff, lies Isaac Allerton, one of the 
 Mayflower pilgrims and "the father of American com- 
 merce." Near the northwestern corner of the Center 
 Church reposes the dust of Governor Eaton, mingled with 
 that of his daughter and of his son-in-law, Deputy Governor 
 Jones. The grave of Dixwell is still marked by its original 
 tombstone, and so are the disputed graves which have been 
 assigned to Wigglesworth and Gilbert; and finally, Mrs. 
 Dorcas Trowbridge, who died in 1783, is known to lie 
 beneath the crossing of two footpaths near the Dixwell 
 monument. But of all the other thousands who are not
 
 276 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 sheltered beneath the church, no man living can trace, 
 or even guess, the resting-place of a single one. We only 
 know that within a space of three or four acres the bones 
 of six generations lie indistinguishably intermingled. 
 Magistrates and criminals, preachers, soldiers, merchants, 
 lawyers, doctors, colonial dames, paupers and negro slaves 
 are all consorting together in promiscuous companionship. 
 They rest from their labors, and their works do follow 
 them. The obliteration of their graves is not more com- 
 plete than the disappearance of the landmarks and manners 
 of their times. Old things have passed away and all things 
 have become new. 
 
 A Vision of Past Changes in the Green. 
 
 Like Macaulay's New Zealander, who, seated on the 
 ruins of London Bridge, pondered over the vanished life 
 of the city, we may fancy a contemplative New Havener, 
 at this close of the nineteenth century, installed on a bench 
 near the Dixwell monument, reflecting on the silent genera- 
 tions beneath his feet and recalling the changes which they 
 successively witnessed in the ancient Green around him. 
 He sees in vision the half-cleared market place of the set- 
 tlers, the rude little meeting-house in its center, with a few 
 rough tombstones half hidden by weeds at its side, and the 
 humble school-house and jail and whipping post not far 
 away. He hears the beat of a drum, and sees the reverend 
 Davenport and the worshipful Eaton, with their families, 
 wending their way to "the ordinances" along the causeway 
 which crosses the swamp. And again the drum beats, and 
 a crowd gathers about the whipping post to see a Quaker 
 instructed by its agency in the Gospel spirit and truth. 
 The scene passes, and another of the second and third 
 generations comes into view. The first meeting-house has 
 disappeared and a large one, square and plain, has taken its 
 place. The graveyard has grown in size, and on its western 
 edge a larger school-house and jail and a new wooden
 
 AS A BURIAL PLACE. 27T 
 
 court-house stand in a homely row. He sees Whitefield 
 preaching to excited and weeping crowds beneath the 
 Pierpont elms, and troops assembling on the Green and 
 filing into the meeting-house, with Whiting at their head, 
 to receive the blessing of Heaven before they start for the 
 French and Indian wars. Again the scene changes, and 
 now the Colonial period is drawing to a close. The plain, 
 square meeting-house is gone and a trim steepled edifice 
 of brick has succeeded. A neat white rival confronts it 
 on the north and in its rear a large brick court-house com- 
 pletes a dignified line. The graveyard is packed with 
 monuments and has been enclosed with a substantial fence, 
 and the surrounding square is unsightly with weeds and 
 barberry bushes, and traversed by straggling wheel tracks. 
 The jail is still standing and so is the old wooden court- 
 house at the northwest corner, and in front of it Arnold 
 is marshalling the Foot Guard and demanding powder 
 for their march to Boston. They pass on their way, and 
 now the Green is crowded with British troops, drunk 
 and disorderly, bivouacking around the buildings and 
 among the graves. This scene also fades, and in the next 
 a wonderful transformation appears. It is the year of 
 grace 1850, and of the Independence of the United 
 States the 74th. The Green has become the famous orna- 
 ment and pride of a thriving city and on its central flagstaff 
 floats the banner of the world's greatest and most power- 
 ful Republic. All the old landmarks have disappeared. 
 The colonial meeting-houses and court-houses, the jail, the 
 school-house and even the graveyard all are gone. Three 
 handsome churches are ranged symmetrically from north 
 to south, and a majestic Parthenon rears its stately form 
 where the rude jail and school-house stood two generations 
 before. The well-kept square is fenced and graded and 
 laid out with walks, and overarching rows of graceful elms 
 cast their shadows across its verdant lawns. Young men 
 and boys are romping over it in their sports and all signs 
 tell of peace and prosperity. But all at once the sky is
 
 278 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 darkened by the clouds of civil war. Flags fly from the 
 steeples and the square is covered with drilling squads 
 and marching regiments, and for a time there is an atmos- 
 phere of anxiety and gloom. Twenty-five years roll by. 
 Again the sun shines brightly forth. Peace and tran- 
 quility have returned, but New Haven is a State capital 
 no longer, and lo! there is a vision of crowds collecting in 
 front of the now deserted and crumbling Parthenon, and 
 gazing with bated breath while ropes are attached to its 
 classic portico. The ropes are strained! The fabric 
 totters! It falls with a thundering crash, and the dreamer 
 awakes with a start from his reverie to the sights and 
 sounds of a modern metropolis. Newsboys are scream- 
 ing extras with the latest telegrams from Cuba and Spain. 
 Electric cars are humming past on every side. Bicyclists 
 by scores are flitting in all directions. A horseless carriage 
 goes panting along its odorous way and the yell and roar 
 of an express train are heard in the distance. A German, 
 a Frenchman and a Swede are crowding him in his 
 bench. A Chinaman is passing with a bundle of laundry 
 work. Italian fruit venders and Russian rag dealers are 
 pushing their carts with unintelligible cries. An Armenian 
 is peddling rugs. A gang of Hungarians and Poles are 
 digging up the streets. Two Japanese students are chat- 
 tering on an adjoining seat, and an Irish policeman is 
 watching him suspiciously, evidently considering whether 
 he is drunk enough to warrant "pulling him in." He rises 
 to depart. He leaves the dead past with its buried dead; 
 and he realizes that New Haven has entered on a new career 
 of civilization as varied as science and as wide as mankind, 
 and that its old-time quaintness, simplicity and homogen- 
 eity will be seen no more forever. 
 
 The "Chronicles of the Green" are ended.
 
 NOTES TO PAPER No. VIII. 
 
 NOTE i (page 261). 
 
 Dr. Stiles gives a picture of the tombstone in which the "deeply 
 cut line under the M" is made very conspicuous. Mr. Barber furnishes 
 a corroborative representation of the underscored initial; and in all 
 the discussions about the tombstone the line under the M has not been 
 questioned. Yet when the stone was taken up soon after the reading 
 of this paper no such line could be discovered. The inscription is now 
 in plain view and those interested can examine it for themselves. 
 
 NOTE 2 (page 261). 
 
 I am informed by Mr. Henry Trowbridge that in excavating the 
 trench for a water pipe which enters the southeast corner of the Center 
 Church "there were found fragments of several stones of the Gilbert 
 family." This statement corroborates the idea that Matthew Gilbert's 
 tombstone disappeared when the Brick Meeting-house was built, for the 
 trench ran across ground which was covered by that edifice. 
 
 NOTE 3 (page 263). 
 
 When this paper was read (April 27, 1898) the M. G. stone was half 
 buried in the ground about five feet west of the northwest corner of 
 the coping around the Dixwell Monument. By request of the N. H. 
 Colony Historical Society, adopted after the reading of the paper, the 
 stone was removed April 30, 1898, to a spot within the iron fence 
 referred to. That such removal was a matter of prudence is evident 
 from a statement made by Mr. Henry Trowbridge, that about thirty 
 years ago the stone was actually taken up by a mason "to be broken up 
 for a foundation for the town safe, then being set up in the State 
 House." The relic was rescued just in time by Mr. T. and replaced 
 in its previous position. 
 
 NOTE 4 (page 268). 
 
 Mourning rings were in common use in Boston and Eastern Massa- 
 chusetts, and from that quarter made their way into Rhode Island and 
 Eastern Connecticut. In New Haven they were furnished after the 
 death of President Clap, who came here from Windham, Conn., and 
 the will of Col. John Hubbard, who died in 1773, provided for their 
 distribution. There may have been other cases.
 
 280 CHRONICLES OF NEW HAVEN GREEN. 
 
 NOTE 5 (page 268). 
 
 In 1775 Abigail Adams wrote to her husband in Philadelphia: 
 "Purchase me a bundle of pins and put them in your trunk for me the 
 ciy for pins is so great that what I used to buy for seven shillings and 
 sixpence are now twenty shillings and not to be had for that a bundle 
 contains six thousand, for which I used to give a dollar, but if you can 
 procure them for fifty shillings or three pounds, pray let me have them."
 
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