THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES GIFT OF WADSWORTH OR The Charter Oak BY W. H. GOCHER 'The traditions of a nation are part of its existence." 'Disraeli HARTFORD, CONN. Published by W. H. GOCHER 1904 Copyright, 1904 by William Henry Gocher. PRESS OF WINN k JUDSON CLEVELAND F ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE The Wyllys Mansion and The Charter Oak. Frontispiece The Wadsworth Inn 41 Wadsworths from 1595 to 1904 53 Oliver Cromwell 75 The Charter Oak in 1830 109 Hugh Peters 187 William Pendrell 143 The Royal Oak of Boscobel 151 Jane Lane 159 Charles II 171 John Winthrop 205 Charles II (From the Charter) 217 Edward Montague, First Earl of Sandwich . . . 237 Connecticut Governors 259 Sir Edmund Andros 275 The Charter Oak in 1847 291 James II 299 Moses Butler's Tavern 311 The Wadsworth Arms 829 The Charter Oak in 1856 385 Weatogue Brook Falls 845 Imlay's Bridge 361 Imlay's Mill 373 The Last Scene . . 387 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION HARTFORD Hartford is an old town as dates run in Amer- ica. The first sod was turned in 1636, sixteen years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth and six years after the Puritans located in the vicinity of what is now known as Boston. On May 31 of that year the members of the Rev. Thomas Hooker's church at Newtown, now known as Cambridge, having disposed of their homes in the colony of Massachusetts Bay, turned their faces towards the Connecticut valley. After a journey of two weeks, which can now be made almost in as many hours, this band of pioneers crossed the Connecticut River and located on the land that was subsequently known as Hartford. So far as can be learned, all of the original pro- prietors of Hartford, as well as those of Windsor and Wethersfield, were born in England and had emigrated on account of their religious views differing from those which were being forced on the people by Charles I. through Laud. Thomas Hooker, the leader of the company, had felt the 12 Wadsworth weight of the latter's displeasure. Being marked as a Non-Conformist, he was in 1629 silenced at Chelmsford and in 1630 forced to sail for Holland to escape a summons to appear before the High Commission Court. The ill-fated Charles Stuart was at the time carrying out the threat which his father made at Hampton Court when he told the Puritan divines that he would make them con- form or he would harry them out of the land, or worse. At the time it sounded like an idle boast, but when they found that King James was de- termined to enforce "one doctrine, one discipline, one religion, in substance and ceremony," many well to do people, as well as artisans and agri- culturalists, who considered their spiritual wel- fare of more moment than their physical com- forts, fled to Holland and later to America. There were no drones among those who gave up home comforts for faith. All of them were workers and thinkers whose minds had absorbed what could be gathered from the few books within the reach of the people at that period and the lectures which the Puritans had established in all of their churches. The Bible, being the most accessible, was read and discussed in every home, and with the awakening of religious lib- erty there came in turn that germ of civil liberty which was destined to blaze forth on the virgin Introduction 13 soil of America. Over a century and a half was to roll by, however, before anyone was bold enough to declare that "all men are created equal," and that mind, not birth, is the foundation of greatness, but the hour was at hand for it to be announced "that the foundation of authority was based upon the consent of the people." That declaration was made in 1638 in Hartford, the cradle of democracy, by Thomas Hooker, and from it and other thoughts leading up to it came the spirit of opposition which eventually led to the severing of the ties that bound the colonies to the mother country. 1 The first settlement in Hartford extended from what is now known as the South Green to Sen- tinel Hill, where Morgan Street leaves Main Street, the majority of the houses being along what is now known as Front, Main and Trumbull Streets, while others followed the banks of the Little River to the foot of Lord's, now known as Asylum Hill. Cut off from communication with the outside world except by trails through the forest or by the river, these English subjects on American soil began to think and act for them- 1 The birthplace of American democracy is Hartford. Government "of the people, by the people, and for the people" first took shape in Connecticut. The American form of commonwealth originated here. Johnson's Connecticut. 14 Wadsworth selves. Untrammeled by the restraints of feudal tenure which still oppressed all of the working plasses in the old country, the founders of Hart- ford, Windsor and Wethersfield devised a system of their own and began to make history, in a humble manner it is true, but on a plan which in time attracted the attention of the world. Without a charter to establish their rights to the land upon which they built their homes or a basis for civil authority, they went to the other extreme and placed the foundation of authority in the people and upon that cornerstone adopted a con- stitution which created a government. 1 Firm in their faith, these men and those who were at a later date associated with them, made self-reliant and assertive by adversity and contentions with the neighboring colonies, at a later date drafted a charter which received royal sanction and under which Connecticut conducted its government 1 It was the first written constitution known to his- tory that created a government. Fiske. The whole constitution was that of an independent state. It continued in force, with very little alteration, a hundred and eight years. Palfry's History of New England. Alone of the thirteen colonies, Connecticut entered into the War of the Revolution with her governor and council at her head under the constitution of her royal charter. Leonard Wolsey Bacon. Introduction 15 until 1818, and many features of which are still reflected in its constitution. 1 Hinman states that there never was any com- munication between the Connecticut colony and the English government from the date of settle- ment until after John Winthrop, Jr., appeared at Whitehall in 1662 and procured the Charter from Charles II. Prior to that time the founders of the three river towns and the others which were established under orders from the General Court based their claims to the soil by purchase from the Indians and an agreement with George Fen- wick, who sold them the Saybrook fort and the land on the river. A promise that Fenwick failed to keep also went with the transfer, but in time it was used not only as a means of recovering a portion of the money spent in the river purchase, but also in pressing the colony's claim for a char- ter at Whitehall, the petition or one of the peti- tions presented by Winthrop to King Charles II being not for a new charter, which might have been weakened by rights already granted by the crown, but for a renewal of the Warwick patent, 1 From this seed sprang the constitution of Connec- ticut, first in the series of written American constitu- tions framed by the people for the people. * * * Nearly two centuries have elapsed * * * but the people of Connecticut have found no reason to deviate from the government established by their fathers. Bancroft's History of United States. 16 Wadsworth then held by Lord Say and Seal, the sole surviv- ing patentee, and who was heartily in sympathy with the proposed measure, although he did not live to see the charter pass the seals. All of this is, or in time will be, set forth in the pages of State histories, a number of changes being made necessary on account of recent discoveries in cor- respondence preserved in the Bodleian library, while considerable space is devoted to the claims of the Dutch and the House of Hope, a trading post which was, according to Smith's History of New York, established in 1623, possibly a typo- graphical error on what is now known as Dutch Point. The members of Hooker's colony ignored the claims of the New Amsterdam traders and sur- rounded their low lying acres on the river front with a thriving colony. The feeling between them was not very friendly and on one or two occasions they came to blows, while Peter Stuy- vesant at a later date travelled from New Am- sterdam (New York) to Hartford to assist his countrymen in retaining their foothold on the Connecticut. Finding that none of his claims would be allowed, the peppery governor returned to Manhattan, leaving the disposal of his coun- trymen's affairs in the hands of two Englishmen. They did not make a very favorable report. The Introduction 17 Dutch were, however, permitted to remain with- in bounds until 1653, when England and Holland were at war. In that year Captain John Under- hill, a soldier of fortune, bearing a commission from the Providence Plantations, marched to Hartford and seized the House of Hope for Eng- land. The General Court of Connecticut then sequestered the Dutch property in Hartford and when peace was declared the traders abandoned the place and returned to New Amsterdam. All that now remains to revive memories of the first settlers in Hartford is the name Dutch Point and the names of a few streets in that section of the city. On January 14, 1638-9, the inhabitants and resi- dents of Windsor, Hartford and Wethersfield assembled in the meeting house in Hartford, the building being located on what is now known as the Public Square and adopted what is known as the Fundamental Orders or "Constitution of 1638-9." It is surmised, and that is the strongest word that can be used, that this constitution was the joint work of Thomas Hooker, whose teach- ings of civil liberty are reflected in it, Roger Lud- low, a skillful lawyer who held office in Massa- chusetts, Connecticut and Ireland, and John Haynes, who served as Governor of Massachu- setts before he joined the colony of Connecticut, 18 Wadsworttt where like honors were conferred upon him. The following is a copy of the constitution as adopted : CONSTITUTION OF 1638-9. "Forasmuch as it hath pleased the Almighty God, by the wise disposition of His divine providence, so to order and dispose of things, that we the inhabitants and residents of Windsor, Hartford and Weathersfield, are now cohabiting, and dwelling in and uppon the river of Conneticutt, and the lands thereunto adjoining, and well knowing when a people are gathered together, the word of God requires, that to meinteine the peace and union of such a people, there should bee an orderly and decent governement established according to God, to order and dispose of the affaires of the people at all seasons, as occasion shall require; doe therefore asso- ciate and conjoine ourselves to bee as one publique STATE or COMMONWEALTH; and doe for our- selves and our successors, and such as shall bee ad- joined to us at any time hereafter, enter into combina- tion and confederation together, to meinteine and pre- serve the libberty and purity of the Gospell of our Lord Jesus, which we now profess, as also the disci- pline of the churches, which, according to the truth of the said Gospell, is now practiced amongst us; as allso in our civill affaires to be guided and governed accord- ing to such lawes, rules, orders, and decrees, as shall bee made, ordered, and decreed, as followeth: i. It is ordered, sentenced and decreed, That there shall bee yearly two Generall Assembly's or Courts, the one the second Thursday in Aprill, the other the second Thursday in September following: The first Introduction 19 shall bee called the Courte of Election, wherein shall be yearely chosen, from time to time, so many magis- trates and other publique officers, as shall bee found requisite, whereof one to be chosen Governor for the yeare ensuing, and untill another bee chosen, and no other magistrate to bee chosen for more then one yeare; provided always, there bee six chosen besides the Governor, which being chosen and sworne accord- ing to an oath recorded for that purpose, shall have power to administer justice according to the lawes here established, and for want thereof, according to the rule of the word of God; which choyce shall bee made by all that are admitted Freemen, and have taken the oath of fidelity, and do cohabit within this jurissdiction, having beene admitted inhabitants by the major parte of the town where they live or the major parte of such as shall bee then present. 2. It is ordered, sentenced and decreed, That the Election of the aforesaid magistrate shall bee on this manner; every person present and qualified for choyce, shall bring in (to the persons deputed to re- ceive them) one single paper, with the name of him written in it whom he desires to have Governor, and hee that hath the greatest number of papers shall be Governor for that yeare: And the rest of the Magis- trates or publique officer, to be chosen in this manner; the Secretary for the time being, shall first read the names of all that are to bee put to choyce, and then shall severally nominate them distinctly, and every one that would have the person nominated to bee chosen, shall bring in one single paper written uppon, and hee that would not have him chosen, shall bring in a blanke, and every one that hath more written pa- 20 Wadswortti pers than blanks, shall be a magistrate for that yeare, which papers shall bee received and told by one or more that shall bee then chosen, by the Courte, and sworn to bee faithfull therein; but in case there should not bee six persons as aforesaid, besides the Governor, out of those which are nominated, then hee or they which have the most written papers, shall bee a Magistrate or Magistrates for the ensuing yeare, to make up the aforesaid number. 3. It is ordered, sentenced, and decreed, That the Secretary shall not nominate any person, nor shall any person bee chosen newly into the Magistracy, which was not propounded in some General Courte before, to bee nominated the next election: And to that end, it shall be lawfull for each of the Townes aforesaid, by theire Deputies, to nominate any two whoe they con- ceive fitt to be put to election, and the Courte may add so many more as they judge requisite. 4. It is ordered, sentenced and decreed, That no person bee chosen Governor above once in two years, and that the Governor bee always a member of some approved congregation, and formerly of the magis- tracy, within this Jurissdiction, and all the Magistrates, ffreemen of this Commonwealth; and that no Magis- trate or other publique Officer, shall execute any parte of his or theire office before they are severally sworne, which shall bee done in the face of the Courte, if they bee present, and in case of absence, by some deputed for that purpose. 5. It is ordered, sentenced and decreed, That to the aforesaid Courte of Election, the severall Townes shall send theire Deputyes, and when the Elections are ended they may proceed in any publique service, as at Introduction 21 other Courtes; allso, the other Generall Courte in Sep- tember, shall bee for making of lawes and any other publique occassion, which concerns the good of the Commonwealth. 6. It is ordered, sentenced, and decreed, That the Governor shall, either by himselfe or by the Secretary, send out summons to the Constables of every Towne, for the calling of these two standing Courts, one month at least before theire severall times; And allso, if the Governor and the greatest parte of the magistrates see cause, uppon any speciall occasion, to call a Generall Courte, they may give order to the Secretary so to doe, within fourteene dayes warning, and if urgent necessity so require, upon a shorter notice, giving sufficient grounds for it, to the Deputys, when they meete, or else, bee questioned for the same; and if the Governor and major parte of the Magistrates, shall either neg- lect or refuse, to call the two Generall standing Courts, or either of them; as allso, at other times, when the occassions of the Commonwealth require; the Freemen thereof, or the major parte of them, shall petition to them so to doe, if then it bee either denied or neg- lected, the said Freemen or the major parte of them, shall have power to give order to the Constables of the severall Townes to doe the same, and so many meete together and choose to themselves a moderator, and may proceed to doe any act of power which any other Generall Courte may. 7. It is ordered, sentenced and decreed, That after there are warrants given out for any of the said Gen- erall Courts, the Constable or Constables of each Towne shall forthwith give notice distinctly to the in- habitants of the same, in some publique Assembly, or 22 Wadsworth by going or sending from howse to howse, that at a place and time, by him or them limited and sett, they meete and assemble themselves together, to elect and chose certaine Deputies to bee at the Generall Courte then following, to agitate the affaires of the Common- wealth; which said Deputies, shall bee chosen by all that are admitted inhabitants in the severall towns and have taken the oath of fidelity: provided, that none bee chosen a Deputye for any Generall Courte which is not a Freeman of this Commonwealth: The afore- said Deputyes shall bee chosen in manner following: Every person that is present and qualified as before expressed, shall bring the names of such written in severall papers, as they desire to have chosen, for that employment; and these three or foure, more or less, being the number agreed on to be chosen, for that time, that have greatest number of papers written for them, shall bee Deputyes for that Courte; whose names shall be indorsed on the backside of the war- rant and returned into the Courte, with the Constable or Constables hand to the same. 8. It is ordered, sentenced and decreed, That Wyndsor, Hartford and Weathersfield, shall have pow- er, each Towne, to send foure of theire Freemen as theire Deputyes, to every Generall Courte, and what- soever other Townes shall bee hereafter added to this Jurisdiction, they shall send so many Deputyes, as the Courte shall judge meete: a reasonable proportion to the number of Freemen, that are in the said Towns, being to bee attended therein; which Deputys shall have the power of the whole Towne, to give theire voates and allowance to all such lawes and orders, as may bee for the publique good, and unto which the Introduction 23 said Towns are to bee bound; And it is allso ordered, that if any Deputyes shall be absent uppon such occas- sions, as Governor for the time being, shall approve of, or by the Providence of God, shall decease this life within the adjournment of any Courte, that it shall bee at the libertye of the Governor to send forth a war- rant, in such case, for supply thereof uppon reasonable warning. 9. It is ordered, sentenced, and decreed, That the Deputyes thus chosen, shall have power and liberty, to appoint a time and place of meeting together, before any Generall Courte, to advise and consulte of all such thinges as may concerne the good of the publique; as allso to examine theire owne Elections, whether ac- cording to the order; and if they or the greatest parte of them, finde any election to be illegall, they may se- clude such for present, from theire meetinge, and re- turne the same and theire reasons to the Courte; and if it proove true, the Courte may fyne the party or partyes so intruding, and the Towne if they see cause, and give out a warrant to goe to a new election in a legall way, either in parte or in whole. Allso the said Deputyes shall have power to fyne any that shall bee disorderly at theire meeting, or for not coming in due time or place, according to appointment, and they may returne the said fyne into the Courte, if it bee refused to bee paid, and the Treasurer to take notice of it, and to estreite or levye as hee doth other fynes. 10. It is ordered, sentenced and decreed, That every generall Courte (except such as through neglect of the Governor and the greatest parte of Magistrates, the Freemen themselves doe call,) shall consiste of the Governor or some one chosen to moderate the Courte, 24 Wadswotth and foure other Magistrates at least, with the major parte of the Deputyes of the several Towns legally chosen, and in case the Freemen or the major parte of them, through neglect or refusall of the Governor and major parte of the Magistrates, shall call a Courte, it shall consiste of the major parte of Freemen, that are present, or theire Deputyes, with a moderator chosen by them, in which said Generall Courts, shall consiste the Supreme powere of the Commonwealth, and they onely shall have power to make lawes and repeale them, to graunt levyes, to admitt of Freemen, dispose of lands undisposed of, to severall Towns or persons; and allso shall have power to call either Courte or Magistrate, or any other person whatsoever into question, for any misdemeanor, and may for such cause, displace, or deale otherwise, according to the nature of the offence; and allso may deale in any other matter that concerns the good of this Commonwealth, except election of Magistrates, which shall bee done by the whole body of Freemen; in which Courts the Gov- ernor or Moderator shall have the power to order the Courte, to give libbertye of Speech, and silence un- reasonable and disorderly speaking, to put all things to voate, and in case the voate bee equall, to have the casting voice: But none of these courts shall be ad- journed or dissolved without the consent of the major parte of the Courte. Provided, notwithstanding, that the Governor or Deputy Governor, with two Magis- trates shall have power to keepe a Particular Courte according to the lawes established; And in case the Governor or Deputy Governor bee absent, or some way or other incapable either to sitt or to bee present; if three Magistrates meete and chuse one of themselves to bee a Moderator, they may keepe a Perticular Introduction 25 Courte, which to all ends and purposes shall bee deemed as legall as though the Governor or Deputy did sitt in Courte. 11. It is ordered, sentenced, and decreed, That when any Generall Courte, upon the occassions of the Commonwealth, have agreed uppon any summ or summs of monye, to be levyed uppon the severall Townes within this Jurissdiction, that a Committee bee chosen, to sett out and appoint what shall bee the pro- portion of every Towne to pay of the said levye; Pro- vided the Comittee bee made up of an equall number out of each Towne. The eleven preceding sections were voted or en- acted at a General Court, held January I4th, 1638-9, and the following provision was added at the revision in 1650: Forasmuch as the free fruition of such libberties, immunities, priviledges, as humanity, civility, and Christianity call for, as due to every man in his place and proportion, without impeachment and infringe- ment, hath ever beene and ever will bee the tranquility and stability of Churches and Commonwealths; and the denyall or deprivall thereof, the disturbance, if not ruine of both: 12. It is thereof ordered by this Courte, and au- thority thereof, That no man's life shall bee taken away; no man's honor or good name shall be stained; no man's person shall bee arrested, restreined, bannished, dismembred, nor any way punished; no man shall be deprived of his wife or children; no man's goods or es- tate shall bee taken away from him nor any ways in- dammaged, under colour of law, or countenance of 26 Wadsworth authority; unless it bee by the vertue or equity of some express law of the Country warranting the same, es- tablished by a Generall Courte and sufficiently pub- lished, or in case of the defect of a law, in any per- ticular case, by the word of God." This was the first step towards a government by the people under a written constitution, 1 and if this instrument was not the joint production of Thomas Hooker, John Haynes and Roger Ludlow, many authorities attributing it to the last named on account of his legal training, 2 it reflected their sentiments, and they were also instrumental in having it presented and adopted by the inhabitants of the three river towns. 1 The eleven fundamental orders of Connecticut, with their preamble, presents the first examples in his- tory of a written constitution. Greene's History of English People. This constitution defined the laws, rules and regula- tions of a government created by the people. Tarbox's Organization of Civil Government. The oldest truly political constitution in America is the instrument called the Fundamental Orders of Con- necticut passed by the inhabitants of Windsor, Hart- ford and Wethersfield in 1638-9. Bryce's American Commonwealth. This remarkable document gave to Connecticut the pre-eminent place in constitutional history.* * * It was the constitution of an independent state, a distinct organic law constituting a government and defining its powers. Brinley in Reprint Laws of 1673. '"I cannot help regarding it his (Ludlow's) work. The phraseology is his; it breathes his spirit." Hollis- ter's History of Connecticut. Introduction 27 THOMAS HOOKER, Preacher Thomas Hooker, the founder of Hartford, was born in 1586, at Marfield in the county of Leices- ter, England. Elizabeth, the last of the Tudor sovereigns, was then on the throne, her death being recorded while the future divine was attend- ing school at Market Bosworth, which was about twenty-five miles from his native place and close to Bosworth Field where Henry, Earl of Rich- mond, defeated and killed Richard III. When Thomas Hooker arrived at Cambridge University in 1604, the sovereignty of England and Scotland was vested in the person of James I, son of Mary Queen of Scots. He entered Queen's College as a sizar, but was subsequently transferred to Emanuel, where he remained until 1*618. During Hooker's residence Peter Bulkeley, John Cotton, John Wilson, Francis Higginson, Nathaniel Ward and several others who were in one way or another associated with him in his subsequent career in New England, were in Cambridge and were in all probability numbered among his acquaintances. Thomas Hooker's ministry began with a rector- ship at Esher in Surrey. He remained there until 1626, when an invitation to act as lecturer at Chelmsford in Essex was accepted. Being 28 Wadsworth silenced for non-conformity in 1629, he retired to Little Braddock, where he kept a school, one of his assistants being John Elliot, who was after- wards known in America as the Apostle to the Indians. Archbishop Laud, however, did not for- get the Chelmsford lecturer and on July 10, 1630, Thomas Hooker was cited to appear before the High Commission Court. On the advice of friends he fled to Holland where he remained un- til 1633, when upon the invitation of a number of the members of his former congregation, who had emigrated and located at Newtown, Massa- chusetts, Thomas Hooker sailed with two hun- dred others for America in the Griffen. John Haynes, Samuel Stone and John Cotton were in the same vessel, which was two months making the voyage. Cotton located in Boston, while Hooker and Stone passed on to their friends at Newtown. Their arrival was a source of pro- found rejoicing, the people saying that "their great necessities were now supplied, for they had Cotton for their clothing, Hooker for their fish- ing and Stone for their building." During the early days of June, 1636, the inhabi- tants of Newtown followed their leader through the forest to the present site of Hartford. For a year the government of the colony was conducted under an order of the Massachusetts General Introduction 29 Court, Agawam (Springfield) being included with Windsor, Hartford and Wethersfield. In 1637 magistrates appointed by the people took charge of the affairs of the colony and they re- mained in control until the Constitution of 1638-9 was adopted. In the interval Thomas Hooker, firm in the belief that in public measures all of the people could not go wrong, began to promul- gate the doctrine which was in time reflected in the "Fundamental Orders." 1 That he spoke plainly and to the point is evidenced by the fol- lowing notes taken from a lecture delivered be- fore the General Court May 31, 1638. Doctrine: That the choice of the public magistrate belongs unto the people. They who have the power to appoint of- ficers and magistrates, it is in their pow- er, also, to set the bounds and limitations of the power and place unto which they have called them. 1 It is on the banks of the Connecticut, under the mighty preaching of Thomas Hooker and in the con- stitution to which he gave life, if not form, that we draw the first breath of that atmosphere which is now so familiar to us. Johnson's Connecticut. It marked the beginning of American democracy, of which Thomas Hooker deserves, more than any oth- er man, to be called the father. Fiske's Beginning of New England. The man who first visioned and did much to make possible our American democracy. Elliott's History of New England. 30 Wadsworth Reasons: Because the foundation of authority is laid in the free consent of the people. Because by a free choice, the hearts of the people will be more inclined to the love of the persons chosen and more ready to yield obedience. The above are the first recorded utterances on the broad doctrine of democracy in America. They were taken down in short hand in a note book now in the possession of the Connecticut Historical Society, by Henry Walcott of Windsor and deciphered by J. Hammond Trumbull. At this date it is difficult to imagine the su- preme courage required to enunciate such ideas in 1638 when Charles I was ruling England with- out a Parliament, and although he did not know it, plunging headlong into a sea of troubles which cost him a throne and his head. But at the same time it must be remembered that they were pre- sented by a man to men who had faced death in every form in the wilderness, and men inured to danger have little hesitation in expressing their opinions. The fear of punishment was the last thought that came to them. It was enough if they believed, and had it come to an issue be- tween them and Laud, the Archbishop's "You shall not" would have been answered "We shall." During the balance of his life Thomas Hooker took an active interest in the civil as well as the Introduction 31 religious affairs of Connecticut and assisted Gov- ernor Haynes in bringing about the confederation of the colonies of New England. He died in Hartford in 1647 an d was buried in the First Church burying ground, corner of Main and Gold Streets. ROGER LUDLOW. Lawyer Roger Ludlow stands second only to Hooker in founding the colony of Connecticut and second only to him from the fact that the illustrious divine in a measure inaugurated the movement which gave Ludlow an opportunity to demon- strate his abilities. At a later date Hooker also taught the democratic principles that were subsequently reflected in the constitution, which with the knowledge of the work that Ludlow did for the colony cannot be attributed to any other hand. Hooker inspired and Ludlow wrote the constitution. 1 1 The document bears intrinsic evidence of a legal skill and phraseology which, when compared with Lud- low's Code of 1650, seems to prove that, whatsoever's advice he had, no other hand but his drew the first con- stitution of Connecticut. Schenck's History of Fairfield. He rendered most essential services, was a principal in framing its original civil constitution. Trumbull's History of Connecticut. The authorship of it was generally attributed to 32 Wadsworth A biographical sketch of Roger Ludlow shows that he was born in England in 1590, educated at Baloil College, Oxford, and admitted as a student at the Queen's Temple in 1612. He first became interested in colonial affairs in 1629, when he was chosen assistant in a company which had procured the charter of "The Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay in New Eng- land" from Charles I. His associates included Lord Warwick, Lord Say and Seal, Winthrop and Vane. At this time his brother-in-law, John Endicott, was interested in the Dorchester Com- pany and was in New England founding a settle- ment at Salem. In the spring of 1630 Roger Ludlow sailed for America, one of his companions on the voyage being Captain John Mason, 1 a soldier of renown, Roger Ludlow. Brinley's Reprint of Laws, of 1673. He was the principal framer of the constitution of 1638-9. Day's Notes. 1 John Mason was born in 1600. He entered the army at an early age and served with distinction under Sir Thomas Fairfax in the Netherlands. He came to America in 1630 and settled at Dorchester where he remained until 1636, when he removed to Windsor. In 1646 he removed to Saybrook and in 1659 to Norwich. John Mason was an assistant from 1642 to 1659, deputy governor of Connecticut 1660 to 1668, and major gen- eral of Connecticut 1661 to 1669. He died at Norwich in 1672. While the struggle between Charles I. and the Long Parliament was in progress, Mason was re- quested to return to England and enter the parliamen- tary army. He declined. Introduction 33 who had served under Sir Thomas Fairfax in the Netherlands and who afterwards accompanied Ludlow to Windsor and led the colonial troops in the Pequot war. Upon landing in New Eng- land, Ludlow located at Dorchester, where he remained for five years. During that period he was chosen magistrate in the Court of Assistants and was also elected Deputy Governor of the Colony. In 1633 he was a candidate for governor but was defeated by John Haynes, of Newtown. This defeat with other differences created in the heat of election, prompted Ludlow to join in the Dorchester movement towards the Connecticut valley. In 1636 Roger Ludlow was the first man named in the commission granted by the General Court of Massachusets to "govern the people at Connecticott for the space of one year." For the next nineteen years his name was linked with the history of the colony of Connecticut. He ar- rived at what is now known as Windsor, May 6, 1636, took up a town lot and began to devise means to protect the new settlement from the Indians. May I, 1637, found him presiding at the first court held in Hartford, then known as New- town, it being the one at which war was declared on the Pequots. Prior to the swamp fight that followed the destruction of the Pequot fort, Lud- 34 Wadswortti low joined Mason, Stoughton and the Indian allies at Saybrook, and while accompanying the troops first saw the land which he afterwards purchased from the Indians and named Fairfield. The Colonial Records show that Roger Lud- low was a magistrate in 1637 an ^ 1638, the first Deputy Governor of Connecticut under the Con- stitution of 1638-9, John Haynes, who defeated him in Massachusetts, being at the head of the ticket. He was also chosen as a Magistrate in 1640, and every year from that date until he left the colony in 1654, except in 1642 and 1648, when he was again chosen Deputy Governor. In 1643 Ludlow was one of the representatives from Con- necticut in the negotiations which led to the con- federation of the colonies. His skill as a lawyer was also recognized by the General Court in 1646, when he was requested to draw up a body of laws for the government of the commonwealth. This task was completed in 1650, when at the May session what is known as the Ludlow Code or Code of 1650 was adopted. 1 * Mr. Ludlowe is requested to take some paynes in drawing forth a body of Lawes for the government of this Comonwelth and present the same to the next Generall Court; and if he can provide a man for his occasions while he is employed in the said searvice, he shall be paid at the country chardge. Copy of order adopted by the General Court April 9, 1646. Introduction 35 In 1639 the General Court gave Roger Ludlow permission to begin a plantation at Pequannocke. Moving from Windsor he located there and founded the town of Fairfield, which was placed under the jurisdiction of Connecticut. The foun- ders of New Haven did not feel very kindly towards the enterprise and in 1653, when both Fairfield and Stamford expected an attack from the Dutch and the Indians, Governor Eaton and his court declined to assist them. This, with his waning popularity in the broad field of New England, prompted Ludlow to sell his land in Fairfield and leave America. In May, 1654, he sailed with his family to Virginia, where, after visiting his brother George, he took ship for Eng- land. At that time Oliver Cromwell was Protec- tor. He controlled England by force of arms, had subdued Scotland and conquered Ireland. Sir Edmund Ludlow, the Lieutenant General of Ireland, met Roger Ludlow at Hollyhead in Sep- tember. Two months later the name of the colo- nial lawyer appeared as a member of the com- mission which was to determine all claims in con- nection with the forfeited lands in Ireland. He was reappointed in 1658. From that date Roger Ludlow's name disappeared from history. Endowed with talents that were in advance of his surroundings and the period in which he lived, 36 Wadsworth Roger Ludlow's career in New England was be- set with disappointments. He had the ability and the desire to lead in every public measure, but to all appearances an impetuous temper de- prived him of the confidence which electors at that or any other period place in those whom they favor with the highest honors. Like scores of others he failed in reaching the coveted goal through a want of that conservative familiarity, which eastern people call magnetism and which the western world looks for in a "good mixer." JOHN HAYNES, Colonizer John Haynes, the first Governor of Connecti- cut, and the third Governor of Massachusetts, was born in 1594, at Coddicot, County of Hert- ford, England. As has been stated he sailed for America in the Griffen, with Hooker and Stone, and located at Newtown. After serving the Mas- sachusetts colony as Assistant in 1634, he was in 1635 elected Governor, succeeding T. Dudley, and retired the following year to make way for Harry Vane, the same Sir Harry Vane from whom Cromwell, when he dismissed the Rump Introduction 37 Parliament, asked the Lord to deliver him and who was after the Restoration the last to suffer on the scaffold for his connection with the Com- monwealth. Being a man of brqad and liberal views in the matter of religion and government, John Haynes was not very favorably impressed with the Mas- sachusetts Colony, and during the year after his arrival he took means to ascertain the feasibility of a settlement on the Connecticut River. The report was, so far as appearances show, favorable, and in 1636, John Haynes marched through the forest with Hooker and about one hundred of his followers who had one hundred and sixty head of cattle and a few sheep and swine. The following spring John Haynes removed his family to Hart- ford and for a time resided on what is now known as Main Street, opposite the Meeting House yard (Public Square). Within a year or two he purchased Richard Webb's lot, located at what is now known as the corner of Arch and Front Streets, and became the next door neighbor of Thomas Hooker. The Wyllys property, on which the Charter Oak stood, was on the oppo- site bank of the Little River. Before coming to America, John Haynes was twice married. By his first wife he had two sons and a daughter. Robert, the oldest, was left in 38 Wadswmth charge of his father's estate. He espoused the cause of the Royalists during the Civil War and was imprisoned in the Tower by Cromwell. Hezekiah, the second son, took the side of the Parliament and became a Major General under Cromwell. After the Restoration, Charles II committed him to the Tower, where his brother is supposed to have died during the rule of the Protector, but he was finally set at liberty in 1662. John Haynes' second wife bore him three sons and three daughters. The sons, John, Roger and Joseph were educated at Harvard. John re- turned to England after his father's death and located at Colchester. Roger accompanied him and is supposed to have died on the voyage. Joseph graduated in 1658, located at Wethers- field, and in 1664 succeeded Samuel Stone as pas- tor of the First Church in Hartford. Of the daughters, Mary, married Joseph Cook, Ruth married Samuel Wyllys, and Martha, who was born in Hartford, married James Russell of Charlestown. John Haynes died in Hartford, March I, 1653-4, and the stone raised over his grave still stands in the old burying ground, cor- ner of Main and Gold Streets. Connecticut as a colony owed much to John Haynes' 1 foresight 1 Whose hand soever may in detail have phrased and formulated the Fundamental Laws, and Haynes, and Introduction 39 and means, of which he gave freely to advance its interests. The democracy of Hooker, Ludlow, Haynes and their associates, is now and always has been the ruling spirit of the Anglo Saxon race. It came into Britain with Hengist and Horsa, flour- ished under Alfred, from whose reign trial by jury dates, but was almost submerged by the feudal system of the Normans, which was con- tinued by the Plantaganets, the Houses of Lan- caster and York, survived the Tudors and did not disappear entirely until Cromwell appeared on the scene. While it remained the rights of the people were rarely considered, but with the ap- pearance in Parliament of deputies from the boroughs, the voice of the people began to com- mand respect and eventually had sufficient force to seek redress of grievances, until finally under Henry V. the Commons required that no laws should be framed merely upon their petitions un- less the statutes were worded by themselves and had been passed by them in the form of a bill. In 1295, Edward I., prior to a war with France, issued writs to the sheriffs enjoining them to send to Parliament along with the Knights of the Ludlow, and other men there were who might have done it. Walker's Thomas Hooker. Haynes and Ludlow shaped the infant state. Elli- ott's History of New England. 40 Wadsworth Shire, two deputies from each borough within the county and these provided with sufficient power from their community to consent in its name to what the council should require of them, "as it is a most equitable rule," said the King in the pre- amble to the writ, "that what concerns all should be approved of by all," a principle which led to the foundation of equitable government. 1 This was the beginning of the House of Commons, the deputies composing it being elected by the alder- men and the common council in their respective boroughs. This system of representation was reproduced in Connecticut, the town taking the place of the borough. It began with the Consti- tution of 1638-9 and is still in force. Under it Windsor, Hartford and Wethersfield were allowed to send four of their freemen to every General Court "and whatever other towns shall be hereafter added to this Jurisdiction, they shall send so many Deputy s, as this Courte shall judge meete." ********* For over two centuries the name of Hartford has been linked with the Charter Oak. Every school boy has read of Captain Joseph Wads- worth and looked upon him as a genuine hero in homespun, while Sir Edmund Andros has been 1 Hume's History of England. Introduction 43 painted as black as the villain in the play. Both of them were bold and fearless men whose cour- age was tested on the battlefield, Andros be- ing called to walk with kings and princes, while Wadsworth lived from birth to old age within the boundaries of New England. The Charter Oak incident has always had a pe- culiar fascination for the writer, possibly because it was a little out of the ordinary and possibly because Charles II, the King who granted the Charter hid in an oak tree, when evading Crom- well's victorious troops after the battle of Wor- cester. After becoming a resident of Hartford I made an effort to learn all the details, historical and legendary, in connection with it and the people who took part in the exploit which gave the tree a place in American history. After exhausting the archives of the Connecticut Historical Society, which has in its vault a signature of the turbulent Captain Joseph Wadsworth, the Wadsworth Inn was visited. It is at present occupied by Daniel Wadsworth, a lineal descendant of Will- iam Wadsworth, through his son, Joseph, who hid the charter in the oak and who at a later date was bold enough to tell Governor Fletcher of New York that if he interrupted him while put- ting his men through their exercises he would let the light shine through him, and that, at a time 44 Wadsworth when the Governor was striving to publish a commission from King William giving him com- mand of the Connecticut militia. And it might also be added that Wadsworth and his drummers made a tremendous uproar to drown anything which might be said by the New York visitors. The Wadsworth Inn stands on the edge of a steep hill at the corner of Albany and Prospect Avenues, the latter being the Western boundary of the City of Hartford. It is a two-story red brick building with an addition in the rear in which the kitchen and dining room were located when the Albany stage coaches and freight wagons brought business to its doors. All of those, however, rolled away years ago, the rail- road having diverted the line of travel into other channels. While the world marched on, the old building remains just as it was when Elisha Wadsworth opened its doors for business in 1820. The little tap room in the north-west corner still has its fireplace, brick hearth and bar, and an old grandfather's clock swings its pendulum to and fro at the foot of the stairs in the hall, while on the walls are to be found prints of scenes con- nected with the early history of Connecticut. "Aunt" Lucy Wadsworth lived in this house for seventy years and in all of that time occupied the same room. She died August 30, 1900, aged nine- Introduction 45 ty-eight years and eight months. Lucy Wads- worth was a daughter of Elisha Wadsworth, who was born in 1781 and died in 1854. Her brother, Sidney Wadsworth, was born in 1813 and died in 1887. He was the father of Daniel Wadsworth, the present occupant of the Inn. Elisha Wads- worth, the father of Lucy and Sidney, was the third member of the family to bear that name, his father being Elisha Wadsworth (1750-1824), son of Elisha Wadsworth (1721-1780), son of Ichabod Wadsworth (1688-1777), son of Captain Joseph Wadsworth (1648-1730), son of William Wadsworth (1595-1675), one of the original plan- ters of Hartford. In response to an inquiry for data connected with the Wadsworths dead and gone, Daniel Wadsworth told me that he had frequently heard his father and Aunt Lucy speak of a box of old papers in the garret. He said that he had never seen it, but that he would make a search and re- port. A few days later I received a note from him stating that he had the box and if I would call he would be pleased to give it to me with the con- tents. The find proved a time stained box made of inch pine boards fastened together with hand made nails. When found the cover was pushed to one side and many of the papers on the top were torn, while the edges of others were frayed 46 Wadsworth by mice which had used portions of the material to make nests for their young. In this box I found scores of letters, accounts, and notes of all sizes and descriptions, summons issued under the authority of the Kings of England to appear in court and folded with them other summons issued under the authority of the State of Con- necticut to appear in the same place. A republic known as the United States of America was established between the dates on which those papers were served, and Connecticut, as well as the Wadsworths within and without its boun- daries, had fought nobly in the cause, leaving in the path of history footprints as deep as the im- mediate descendents of William and Christopher Wadsworth had on the colonial records of New England. Accounts of every character and description were scattered through the letters, the list of items including everything from a barrel of rum to pasture for a cow, while deeds, notes and other memoranda outlined the daily lives of those who penned them. A few of the bills on the top of the box were made out in dollars and cents, but all prior to 1783 were in the pounds, shillings and pence of Great Britain. All of them were silent witnesses of the change of government. Under the several packages of letters, all of which Introduction 47 showed that they had been sealed with wafers, many of them still retaining a portion of the wax, I found a parcel somewhat frayed at the ends mice again no doubt and tied with what looked like a sinew of a deer. Whatever it was, time had made it so brittle that it parted as soon as handled. Upon examining the papers I found the material from which the following sketches were written. Whether they are fact or fancy, and my impres- sion is that there is a little of both, must remain in doubt until another discovery of a similar na- ture is made. Those who have read them are of the opinion that the material presented is the basis of the Wadsworth family legends, which have been handed down from one generation to another and which have been repeated from time out of mind by many a gray head at New Eng- land firesides during the winter evenings. When a green log would snap and send the coals flying over the hearth, more than one was heard to exclaim that the spirit of Old Joe was in it, while those whose lives led them back to the deeds related by their grandparents would nod their heads and chuckle over the dead, dead past whose events were chronicled by an occasional pen or the uncertain memories of those who took a part in them. The ubiquitous reporter and the corre- 48 Wadsworth spondent at the front were unheard of in those days. The men who acted in that period had no time to pose for photographers or artists on the spot. They were after results, not a few hours' notoriety to be followed by contention, criticism and obscurity. As for books and news letters, they are rare, and those that can be located are, with a few exceptions, filled with events from the great outside world with an occasional item about the land we live in. Memory plays many pranks with history. Its products are attractive, but as a rule unreliable, as like a snowball on a warm day in winter, the volume increases with each revolution on the hill of time. Still it supplies the gloss and spangles used to dress statistical matter, which is as dry and uninteresting, but at the same time as neces- sary as the multiplication table. By blending fact and fancy it is possible to weave a narrative which entertains and at the same time instructs the reader. Those who believe it can; those who doubt it may ; so let it go at that. MEMORIES MEMORIES WILLIAM WADSWORTH Now that old age and the infirmities that ac- company it keep me by the fireside during the winter months, I have, at the request of my chil- dren and grandchilden, consented to put on paper a few of the events in which the Wadsworth family took part in the early days of the Connect- icut Colony. There was a time when it was said that whenever there was danger on foot or fight- ing in the wind you would meet some one bearing the name, and I hope it will always be so, provid- ing the risk is taken or the fighting done on the side of right. During my life I have had more than my share of trouble with Indian surprises, Dutch and French alarms and disputes with my own folk, as well as those acting in authority for the King and colony. Many a time I have been called upon to pay the penalty for temper, and when in the wrong no one ever saw the time that I refused to make public or private reflections upon myself. I have always tried in my poor way to take what was allotted me in good part and make amends for an injury, be it white man, 52 Wadsworth Indian or slave. 1 That is the trail I blazed through life, and while the bark is off many a tree, now when old age has cooled the hot blood of youth and the ardor of middle age, with an old man's vanity I can say that I am proud of it, and I say it as a soldier, as a lawyer, and as a former deputy of Connecticut, of which my father, William Wadsworth, was an original planter. There is a strain of Anglo-Saxon fighting blood in all the Wadsworths, and I hope it will never 1 The following, which was found in the box, was no doubt written to illustrate this: "As father grew older a marked change became ap- parent to all of us. Age softened the sharpness of his tongue and brought with it a desire for comradeship that was very pleasing to all of us. Abroad, Captain Joe was the same bluff, old soldier who would shoulder a pike or gun as cheerfully as he would come home to dinner, but at the fireside he always spoke of the past, reminding all of us frequently by name that the greatest good to the greatest number was accom- plished by the most direct measures. After reading from the New Testament he frequently said that the greatest sayings were the simplest and that the thoughts which bore conviction were clothed in the language of a child. He rarely turned to the Old Tes- tament upon which many of the penal laws of the col- ony were based. On one of his visits the Teacher men- tioned this and father, ever ready with the tongue, said that it was a mistake for the colony to tax the Jews when it had taken the laws handed down to them by Moses. As I write I can still hear him tell the Teacher that the people of all beliefs should be told to love one another regardless of their faith, as all men could not think alike." WADSWORTHS FROM 1595 to 1904 Memories 55 breed out. Father said it came down to us from the Yorkshire Wadsworths, who traced to Duke Wada. 1 Whether it did or not is foreign to my task, and lest I give offense to those who may read these notes, I shall from this time confine my remarks to the Wadsworth family and those with whom they were associated in England and America. William Wadsworth, my father, came from Newtown with the Hooker company in 1636 and remained in Hartford the balance of his life. He died in 1675 as is shown by the town records. He following reference to Duke Wada in York- shire appears in the Wadsworth Family in America, the paragraph quoted being from Lionel Charlton's History of Whitby, 1779. "During the course of these civil wars, some little time before the year 800, one of the chief leaders or heads of the faction against the government was Duke Wada, who lived in the neigh- borhood of Streanshalh, having his castle at the place now called Mulgrave. This Wada was one of the prin- cipal conspirators among those that murdered Ethel- red, King of Northumberland; and afterwards joining the confederates with what forces he could raise, gave battle to his successor, Ardulph, at Whalley in Lin- colnshire, but with such ill fortune, that his army was routed and himself obliged to fly for it. On which he fortified his castle at Mulgrave with an intention to defend himself; but being seized with a certain dis- temper, he soon ended his days, and was interred there on a hill, between two hard stones, about seven feet high, which being twelve feet from each other, gave rise to the current report, which still prevails, that he was a giant in bulk and stature." It is further fabled, that Wada and his wife, the giantess Bell, built Mul- 56 Wadsworth was born at Long Buckley in Northamptonshire, England, in 1595, or, as he always stated it, in the thirty-seventh year of the reign of Queen Eliza- beth, and came to New England on the ship Lion in 1633 with his four children, Sarah, Mary, Wil- liam and John, and his brother Christopher. 1 grave and Pickering castles, one working upon one and the other upon the second. But since they had only one hammer, they threw it backwards and for- wards across the country when it was wanted, shout- ing so that the one to whom it was thrown might be ready to catch it. They had a son, who when an in- fant could throw stones of enormous size, and becom- ing impatient one day for his mother's return, threw a huge stone across a valley at her, striking here with such force as to indent the stone itself. The Roman Road, which is called Wade's Causeway, was formed by Wada and Bell; he paving and she bringing stones in her apron, which, sometimes giving way, would cause her to drop large heaps, which can now be seen in the heath. There can be but little doubt that the name of Wadsworth originally signified Wada's or Waddy's residence, Worth, according to Edmonds, being derived in the Anglo-Saxon from Wyrth, an es- tate or manor, usually one well watered. (See Glos- sary of Yorkshire Words.) 1 Christopher Wadsworth's name did not appear on the Lion's passenger list and the date of his landing was unknown until 1881, when E. S. Cowles, of Hart- ford, Conn., came into possession of a Bible in which the following is written: "Christopher Wadsworth. His Book." "Christopher and William Wadsworth landed in Boston by ye ship Lion i6th September, 1632, together in ye ship." This Bible was printed in London by Bonham Nor- ton and John Bill, 1625. Memories 57 Christopher settled in Massachusetts at Duxbury and his descendants are well known in those parts, several of them having fought and died in the Indian wars. The voyage on the Lion was the second made by my father to the English colonies in America, as in a book which my brother John gave me some time before his death I find the following entry : November 22, 1621. Came this day to Newport News with Daniel Gookin in the Flying Harte. This Daniel Gookin 1 was a native of Kent and was at that time located at Cork, Ireland. He owned over two thousand acres of land at New- port News, as well as a number of vessels in which he shipped cattle and goats from England and Ireland to the Virginia colony. Father sailed with him, as stated, in the Flying Harte and landed at Newport News in November. 1 According to the most ancient records of Virginia, Daniel Gooken was granted two thousand acres in Elizabeth City county, commonly called Newport News. (William and Mary College Quarterly for 1897, Vol. VI, p. 257.) Newport News is now by leg- islative enactment wholly in Warwick County. Prior to 1621 Thomas Wood in behalf of Daniel Gookin completed a treaty with the Virginia Company for the transportation of cattle of the English breed out of Ireland, the rate agreed upon being n pounds for heifers and 3 pounds 10 shillings for she goats upon certificate of safe landing. (Virginia Company in London.) 58 Wadsworth On another page of the same book there ap- pears a few facts in relation to the Indian massa- cre which occurred March 22 of the following year. In it three hundred and forty-nine people were killed almost without a moment's warning. Daniel Gookin and those who were with him re- sisted the attack and escaped with their lives, and when at a later date the governor of the col- ony ordered the remnant of the people to draw together for mutual protection, he was one of those who refused to obey, the others, according to these notes, being Edward Hill at Elizabeth City and Samuel Jordan at Jordan's Point. By throwing up intrenchments and mounting cannon they put themselves in a position to defend them- selves from further attacks, which fortunately never occurred, as the Indians in Virginia were from that day hunted like beasts of prey. A short time after the massacre Daniel Gookin sailed for London in the Sea Flower. He was accompanied by my father and a number of others who left the colony forever. Virginia was almost depopulated, the number of the plantations being reduced, as Daniel Gookin's son told me, from eighty to six. As the years rolled by, others arrived from England to take the place of the dead and those who sailed away in the summer of 1622. Daniel Gookin, after bearing the details Memories 59 of the massacre to the Virginia Company in Lon- don, also returned and became one of the most important men in the colony. His son, also named Daniel, 1 at a later date became one of the noted men in the English colonies. Being a mem- ber of the Puritan church, he removed in 1644 from Virginia to Massachusetts, and settled at Cambridge, where he died in 1687. My father's life from the time he settled in Hartford was busy, though uneventful. The town records show that he was a selectman, townsman and constable between 1638-9, when the Fundamental Orders were adopted, and 1656, and that he was a deputy at almost every session of 1 Daniel Gookin, 2d, was born in Kent, England, in 1612, and is supposed to have accompanied his father to Virginia when he returned after reporting the In- dian massacre to the Virginia Company in London in 1622. In 1642 he was President of the County Court at Upper Norfolk. In 1644 he removed to Massachu- setts and located at Cambridge. He became a friend of John Eliot, the "apostle to the Indians." According to the Massachusetts Historical collections (Vol. I, p. 228) Daniel Gookin was in 1644 chosen member of the House of Deputies as well as appointed captain of a military company. In 1652 he was elected assistant and in 1656 superintendent of all the Indians in Mas- sachusetts and continued in that office until his death, except for two or three years while in England. In 1656 he visited Cromwell's court and had an inter- view with the Protector who commissioned him to in- vite the people of Massachusetts to go to Jamaica. He was very unpopular during the King Philip war as he sympathized with the Indians. He died in 1687. 60 Wadsworth the General Court from that year up to the day of his death. The Lion sailed from London June 22, 1633, and arrived at Boston on Sunday evening, Sep- tember 16, with one hundred and twenty-three passengers, of which fifty were children. Of this number, in addition to my father and his family, the following came to Hartford with Hooker: William Goodwin, James Olmstead, his two sons, Nicholas and Nehemiah, two nephews, Richard and John, and a niece, Rebecca, Nathaniel Rich- ards, William Lewis, Elder John White and John Talcott. William Goodwin was the neighbor and friend of Thomas Hooker and was for many years an elder of the church. He was one of the agents who purchased Farmington from the In- dians, while he also purchased large tracts of land up the river. After Hooker's death he differed with my uncle, Samuel Stone, in the management of the church, and finally, with Governor Web- ster, led what was known as the "Withdrawers," from Hartford to Hadley. I have always been told that this dismember- ment of the church was a dark day for Hartford, still those who remained, retained a kindly feeling for their brethren further up the Connecti- cut, as was shown by the assistance sent them during the Indian wars. In my soldiering days I Memories 61 was there a number of times and on one of my visits met with an adventure which will be writ- ten down in its proper place. Elder Goodwin did not live to see the sad days of the King Philip war, as after living at South Hadley for about ten years, he removed to Farmington, where he died in 1673. It was in the month of March, and a cold and stormy month it was. My brother John and I were at his funeral and ate and drank, as I remember, more than our share of the fare provided for the mourners. James Olmsted came to Hartford with his two sons, two nephews and niece Rebecca. He died in 1640, his place being taken in the colony by his son Nathaniel, who at the age of eighteen served in the Pequot war and was with Mason when the fort was destroyed. He was also in the King Philip war and died in 1684. His brother Nehemiah removed in 1649 to Fairfield, a town founded by Roger Ludlow, between New Haven and the Dutch settlement at Manhattan. He died in 1659. Richard, one of the nephews, was in the Pequot war and also in the Sasco fight. In 1651 he removed to Norwalk, where he died in 1684. The burying ground occupies the lot as- signed Richard Olmsted. It was taken 1 after it January n, 1640-1. The first settlers of Connecticut commenced their year on the 25th of March. This was continued in Great Britain and the American colonies until 1752. 62 Wadsworth was decided not to make any more burials in the Meeting House yard. John, the other nephew, became a physician and surgeon. He removed to Saybrook, but finally settled at Norwich. During the King Philip war he was with the train bands. Nathaniel Richards remained in Hartford un- til 1650, when he, with a number of others, plant- ed the town of Norwalk, while William Lewis and John White, two of the remaining compan- ions of my father on the Lion, were with the "Withdrawers" who turned their backs on Hart- ford in 1659. Lewis remained at South Hadley until after the King Philip war, when he re- moved to Farmington and died there in 1683. John White returned to Hartford in 1671 and was ordained ruling elder of the Second church. One of his daughters married Barnabas Hinsdale, who was in the company under Captain Lathrop, that was killed by the Indians while marching with carts laden with corn and other goods from Deer- field to Hadley. Hubbard, in his "Narrative of the Indian Wars," printed in Boston in 1677, says, "Upon September 18 (1675) that most fatal day, the saddest that ever befell New England, as the company under Captain Lathrop was marching along with the carts, never apprehending danger so near, they were suddently set upon and almost all cut off (ninety killed, teamsters included), not Memories 63 above seven or eight escaping." That night Ma- jor Treat arrived at Deerfield with a company of English and Mohegans. On the following day he and Captain Mosely marched to the scene of ambush and buried the brave men where they fell. John Talcott came from Braintree in Essex. He was accompanied by his wife, Dorothy and their two children, Mary and John. Like all of the members of the Hooker company, they set- tled at Newtown and remained there until 1636, John Talcott being twice elected deputy in the interval. His son, Samuel, was also born at that place. John Talcott came to Hartford with Hooker, and from that day to this one or more members of the family have been continuously chosen to represent the freemen. At the time of his death, in 1660, John Talcott was an assistant and treasurer of the colony. Before that he was a deputy. His son, John, succeeded him as treas- urer. He held the office until 1676, when he re- signed to command the troops in the King Philip war. I am proud to say that I have marched un- der his orders. Colonel Talcott routed the In- dians wherever he found them and they were as much afraid of him and Major Treat as the Irish are said to have been of Oliver Cromwell. Throughout New England both of these men 64 Wadsworth were known as skillful and bold soldiers. In my humble way when a command came to me I tried to follow in their footsteps, and now in my old age I can look back and say that where I failed in skill I more than balanced the loss with bold- ness. John Talcott's name appears in the charter which King Charles II. gave the colony in 1662, and when it was received he, with Samuel Wyllys and John Allyn, were appointed by the General Court to see that no harm came to it. The charter was kept in a box which I have been told Winthrop made with his own hands in London. Whether this is true or not I am not prepared to state positively, but the box 1 can be seen and the man who made it was not a joiner. The box and the charters were for a number of years deposited with John Allyn. On town meeting days one of them was carried to the Meeting House and read to the people. That I can certify to, as I was present a number of times when it was read and I was also present when it was not read but of that anon. John Talcott died about two months after Ed- mund Andros joined the government of this col- ony to Massachusetts. He left a large family, 1 This box is among the relics owned by the Con- necticut Historical Society. Memories 65 my second wife, Elizabeth, being one of his daughters, and I hope to live long enough to see his son Joseph Governor of Connecticut. 1 Mary, the oldest daughter of John Talcott, married the Rev. John Russell, of Wethersfield, in 1649. They removed with the "Withdrawers," in 1659, to South Hadley, where Mistress Russell died the following year. Her husband remained at that place and the majority of the members of his church in Wethersfield followed him. It was in his house that the King's Judges, William Whal- ley and his son-in-law, Edward Goffe, found shel- ter when they fled from Milford, and it was my privilege to meet both of these good men, who suffered without complaint and died in exile for doing what their conscience dictated. CROMWELL The names of Whalley and Goffe recall a few incidents in connection with my father's early days in England, together with what both of them told me of the history of the Cromwell fam- 1 Captain Joseph Wadsworth lived to see Joseph Tal- cott Governor of Connecticut. He died in 1630 and Joseph Talcott was elected Governor in 1624 and re- mained in office until 1641. 66 Wadsworth ily. Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector of England, was Whalley's cousin, his father and Whalley's mother being brother and sister. By his skill in battle, boldness in counsel and vigor in debate, Cromwell rose from a sheep farmer in the fen country to a king in all but name, and that what they told me may not be lost, I will write it, although it is connected only incidentally with the Wadsworths. The country seat of the Cromwells was named Hinchenbrook, its name being taken from the brook that joins the Ouse River near Huntingdon in Huntingdonshire. The estate was originally a convent and after it was suppressed Sir Rich- ard Cromwell, 1 the founder of the family, pur- 1 Sir Richard Cromwell was a son of Morgan Wil- liams or Morgan ap Williams, whose father, William ap Yeran, held an honorable place in the household of William, Duke of Bedford, and it is said in that of his nephew Henry VII. Morgan Williams married a sister of Thomas Cromwell, afterwards Earl of Essex, and their son upon the suggestion of Henry VIII. assumed the name of his uncle. An attempt on the part of the Roman Catholics in 1536 to check the progress of the Reformation in the eastern counties of England afforded Henry VIII. with a pretext for demolishing the monasteries in that district and for disbursing their revenues among his favorites and dependents. Ram- sey Abbey was partly given and partly sold to Richard Williams, alias Cromwell. He named it Hinchen- brook. It became the home of the Cromwells and re- mained in the family until Sir Oliver, impoverished by the visits of royalty, was forced to sell it during the reign of Charles I. to the Montagues. The crown giv- Memories 67 chased it from King Henry VIII. This Sir Rich- ard was a son of a Glamorganshire squire named Williams and a sister of Thomas Cromwell, known in history as the "Mauler of the Monas- teries," and to whom, according to Shakespeare, the fallen Cardinal Woolsey said: "Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition! Had I but served my God with half the zeal I served my King, he would not in mine old age Have left me naked to mine enemies." eth and the crown taketh away. Sir Henry Cromwell, a son of Sir Oliver and a cousin of the Protector, served in several Parliaments for Huntingdonshire, voting in 1660 for the Restoration of the Monarchy, and as he knew that the name of Cromwell would not be acceptable at court he discarded it and assumed that of Williams, and he is so styled in a list of Knights of the proposed order of the Royal Oak. He died at Huntingdon August 3, 1673. On March 22, 1663, Pepys referred to him in his Diary as "Colonel Williams, Cromwell that was." Thomas Fuller, in the second volume of his Church History of Great Britain, says that Richard Williams, alias Cromwell, the founder of the family, was one of five who in the thirty-second year of Henry VIII. made the bold challenge at jousts to all comers that would, in France, Flanders, Scotland and Spain. He came into the place an esquire, but departed a Knight, dubbed by the King for his valor, clearly carrying away the credit; over- throwing Mr. Palmer in the field at jousts in one day, and the next serving Mr. Culpepper at barriers in the same manner. Heretofore there goeth a tradition in the family, that King Henry was highly pleased with his prowess. "Formerly," said he, "thou wast my Dick, but hereafter thou shalt be my Diamond," and thereat let fall his diamond ring upon him. In avow- ance thereof these Cromwells have ever since given for their crest "a lion holding a diamond ring in his forepaw." 68 Wadsworth Thomas Cromwell defended Woolsey with so much spirit that King Henry VIII.'s attention was called to him. This laid the foundation of his favor with the King, who in six years conferred on him the titles Vicar General, Lord Cromwell and Earl of Essex, and finally sent him to the scaffold. During the period of prosperity his nephew was knighted and at the suggestion of the king adopted the name of his distinguished uncle, although up to the time of the Protector all of the important family papers were signed Crom- well, alias Williams. In his day Sir Richard also made a name for himself at Court by his skill at arms, one of his most brilliant exploits being in a tournament at Westminster, on May Day, in 1540, when he defended the honor and rights of the English king against the challenges from France, Flanders, Scotland and Spain. Sir Richard left Hinchenbrook to his son Henry. He was held in high regard by Queen Elizabeth, who knighted him and did him further honor by lodging at Hinchenbrook while return- ing from a visit to the University at Cambridge. Sir Henry completed the manor house and spent the money which his father acquired in the cru- sades against the monasteries and convents, so lavishly that he was known as the "Golden Knight." He died in 1603, leaving six sons and Memories 69 three daughters. Of the latter, Joan became Lady Harrington, Elizabeth the mother of John Hamp- den, and Frances the mother of William Whalley, upon whom Oliver Cromwell leaned in war and peace. Of the sons, Oliver inherited Hinchen- brook, Robert settled in Huntingdon and married Widow Lynne, nee Elizabeth Steward, and in time became the father of Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector. A daughter of Henry, the third son, married Oliver St. John, the lawyer who de- fended John Hampden in the ship money trial and who afterwards became one of the strong men in the commonwealth. Philip, the fourth son, was knighted by King James, at Whitehall, while his sons fought for and against King Charles in the Revolution, two being with the Parliament and one with the Cavaliers. Neither Richard or Ralph, the remaining sons, made much stir in the world, although Richard was sent to Parliament from Huntingdon in Queen Elizabeth's time, but members were not permitted to say much in those days. In April, 1603, about four months after Sir Henry's death, King James lodged two nights at Hinchenbrook. He was at the time traveling from Scotland to ascend the English throne, and in return for the splendid entertainment of him- self and retinue, the third member of the Crom- 70 Wadsworth well family was knighted. The following year in September another member of the Stuart fam- ily lodged at Hinchenbrook. The guest on this occasion was Charles, the second son of King James and then known as Duke of York. On the morning after his arrival Robert Cromwell and his wife, 1 who was proud of her connection with 1 Genealogists have shown that Oliver Cromwell and Charles I. were distantly related. Both of them were descended from Alexander, the Lord High Steward of Scotland. He had three sons, James, John and Andrew. James succeeded to the hereditary office of his father and transmitted it on his death to his son Walter, who brought the Scottish crown into the fam- ily by marrying Margery, the eldest daughter of Rob- ert Bruce and heiress of his brother David, who died without issue. Their son was Robert II., King of Scotland, the line of succession from him to Charles I. being through Robert III., James I., James II., James III., James IV., James V., Mary and James VI., who was James I. of England and father of Charles I. The second branch of Alexander's descendants through his son are known in history as the Earls and Dukes of Lennox, and was joined with the royal line when Lord Darnley married Mary, Queen of Scots, whose only child was the first of the ill-fated Stuarts to ascend the throne of England. Andrew, the third son, lived at Dundavale. His grandson was appointed one of the attendants of James I. when he was sent to France to evade the intrigues of his uncle, the Duke of Albany. The vessel in which they sailed was driven on the English coast and Henry IV. de- tained the prince and his suite as prisoners. Growing restless under restraint this member of the Steward family, whose name was John, consented to fix his residence in England if released. He married advan- tageously and was knighted. Elizabeth Steward, the mother of Oliver Cromwell, traced to this grandson of Memories 71 the Stuart family, although it was rather remote, called at Hinchenbrook, taking their son Oliver, then a rugged boy of five years, with them. The boys met and were soon on good terms, as neither of them had arrived at the age which places a barrier between the reigning family and a subject. While romping on the green in front of the manor house they quarreled and before the Prince's attendants could interfere Oliver made the blood flow from the Duke of York's nose. As soon as they were separated Oliver was hur- ried away in disgrace, while the Prince proceeded to London. In time he became King Charles I, while Oliver grew up at Huntingdon, attended Dr. Beard's school and was eventually taken to Alexander, Lord High Steward of Scotland, through William Steward, Archibald Steward, Richard Steward, Thomas Steward, and Sir John Steward. When Hen- ry VIII. suppressed the monasteries one of the Stew- ards was prior of Ely. Like his first ancestor in Eng- land he preferred a good living to the stings of adver- sity and became the first Protestant Dean of Ely. Thomas Steward succeeded his father William Steward. He was knighted by King James in 1604 and farmed the tithes of Ely until January, 1635-6, when he died, his sister's son, Oliver Cromwell, being his principal heir. Had the Lord Protector accepted Charles II. 's offer to marry his daughter Frances the third branch would have been joined to the royal line. In that event the remark of James V. that the crown came with a lass and would go with a lass, as it actually did, might have been forgotten with the thousand and one prophecies which fail to materialize. 72 Wadsworth Cambridge by his father. When Oliver and Charles again met face to face, the latter was on trial for his life and Cromwell was one of his Judges. Upon the death of his father in 1617, Oliver left Cambridge and returned to Huntingdon to assist his mother in looking after their estate and in rearing his six sisters. At the time he was a bold resolute blade who had few equals at cudgeling and quarterstaff, and a temper that would flare up at the least provocation. He never made any friends, but was ever ready to' have a bout with anyone of his years in Huntingdon or the sur- rounding villages, and there were few who bothered him after the first encounter. From the day that he quarreled with Prince Charles at Hinchenbrook, strange tales were told of Oliver Cromwell, many an old wife in the fen country, where witches 1 abounded, shaking their heads with 1 Of all the manias which have affected the English speaking race the one against witchcraft has left the blackest mark. The extent to which it was carried by enlightened fanatics, the majority of whom were men of influence, although for some reason none of them were tainted with it, can be gathered from the laws enacted and the penalties imposed. In 1559 Bishop Jewell, while preaching before Elizabeth, called attention to the marvellous increase of witches and sorceresses and petitioned the Queen to have laws im- posed against them. In accordance with the good man's wishes, in 1562 at the next session of Parlia- ment, a bill was passed making enchantment and Memories 73 awe as they told of the gigantic figure that ap- peared to him in a vision and said he would be witchcraft a felony. A number of what were termed witches, but in the majority of cases helpless old men, women and even children, were convicted under it, three being hanged at Warboise in Huntingdonshire in 1593- Under James I., who had before leaving Scot- land assisted in the execution of several warlocks and witches, this law was amended so as to make witch- craft punishable by death and without the benefit of the clergy. This law was not repealed until 1735. the last execution under it being in 1722, when an old woman was burned at the stake in the north of Scot- land. At Chelmsford in Essex in 1645 there were thir- ty tried at once by Judge Coniers and fourteen of them hanged, and a hundred or more detained in prisons in Suffolk and Essex. In 1716 a woman and her nine- year-old daughter were hanged at Huntingdon, the town in which Cromwell was born, and he in all prob- ability witnessed the execution, for selling their souls to the devil and raising a storm by pulling off their stockings. To Hartford, Connecticut, belongs the doubtful honor of killing the first witch in America. In 1646 a person of Windsor was put to death on the charge of witchcraft at Hartford. No circumstances have been found nor the name of the sufferer. June 15, 1648, Maynard Jones of Charlestown was hanged in Bos- ton and on December 7 of the same year Mary Johns- ton of Windsor was hanged at Hartford on Rocky Hill, the present site of Trinity College. In 1662-3 Nathaniel Greensmith and his wife Rebecca were tried for witchcraft and convicted in Hartford. Nathaniel Greensmith was executed January 25, 1662-3. There is no entry to show whether the woman was hanged or not. By the above it will be seen that all the witches in America were not executed at Salem, Mass., where in the delusion of 1692, of one hundred and thirty person accused, seventeen were hanged on Gal- lows Hill and eleven others were condemned to death, but did not suffer. 74 Wadswotth the greatest man in England, 1 a visitation in itself more wonderful than the phantom ship at New Haven. As Oliver grew to man's estate the burdens of his uncle became heavier, until finally he was forced to sell Hinchenbrook to the Montagues and retire deeper into the fens. Oliver also dis- posed of his father's holdings in Huntingdon and removed to St. Ives where he became a sheep farmer. He was living there when my father sailed from London in 1632 for America. Long before these changes were made, my father ac- companied Oliver on one of his trips to London, 1 The vision or dream in which Oliver Cromwell was told that he should be the greatest man in England made an impression that remained through life. As with Napoleon, it became his star of destiny even after being flogged by Dr. Beard for repeating it and being told by his uncle Sir Thomas Steward that such thoughts were traitorous. Noble says that Crom- well mentioned it often when in the height of his glory and Clarendon in his History of the Rebellion and Civil War in England says that during the delib- eration which took place when an offer of the crown was made him, they who were near to him said that in this perplexity he mentioned his former dream or apparition that had first found and promised him this high future to which he was already arrived and which was generally spoken of even from the beginning of the troubles, and when he was not in a position that promised such exaltation; and that he then observed, it had only declared that he should be the greatest man in England and that he should be near to a King, which seemed to imply that he should be only near, and never actually attain the crown. OLIVER CROMWELL Memories 77 where he was married in 1620 to Elizabeth Bour- chier. While casting about for employment he met Daniel Gookin, with whom he sailed for Vir- ginia. After returning to England he married and settled in Essex at Braintree, where he re- mained until he and his four children, their mother being dead, embarked on the Lion. My mother before marriage was Elizabeth Stone, whom father married in Hartford in 1644. She told me that before leaving England he traveled to St. Ives, where he visited Oliver Cromwell and asked his sister Elizabeth to accompany him to America as his wife. She would not come unless the family did, and for several years they were expected. Whalley told me she never married. It is also well known in Connecticut that Oliver Cromwell intended to come to New England with John Hampden and others in- terested in the Warwick patent, a plot of land hav- ing been prepared for them at the mouth of the river, now known as Saybrook. 1 When on the ship 1 John Morley, in his Oliver Cromwell, says "There is no substance in this fable, though so circumstantially related; that in 1636 in company with his cousin Hampden, despairing of his country, he took passage for America and the vessel was stopped by an order in council. All probabilities are against it, and there is no evidence for it. While it is creditable enough in Clarendon's story that five years later, on the day when the Grand Remonstrance was passed, Cromwell whis- pered to Falkland 'That if the Remonstrance had been rejected he would have sold all he had the next morn- 78 Wadsworth they were stopped by an order from the King who had reason to repent not letting them go to the wilds of America. In the war that followed, Oliver Cromwell and those associated with him in the Commonwealth, did not forget those who had crossed the ocean. John Mason was one of the leaders remembered. He was offered a major-generalship if he would re- turn and enter the Parliamentary army, but he de- cided to remain in the colony. Israel Stoughton, who commanded the Massachusetts forces in the Pequot war, returned and was given a regiment in ing and never have seen England more,' and he knew there were many other honest men of the same reso- lution." (Clarendon's History of Rebellion and Civil War in England.) The histories published in the eighteenth century refer to this as a fact. Hutchin- son in his History of Massachusetts Bay says, "In 1635 there was a great addition made to the number of inhabitants, among others Mr. Vane, afterwards Sir Harry Vane, * * * * and many other persons of figure and distinction were expected to come over, some of which are said to have been prevented by express order of the King, as Mr. Pym, Mr. Hampden, Sir Arthur Hazelrigg, Oliver Cromwell, etc. I know that this is questioned by some others, but it appears very plainly by a letter from Lord Say and Seal, to Mr. Vane and a letter from Mr. Cotton to the same nobleman as I take it, although his name is not men- tioned, and an answer to certain demands made upon him, that his Lordship himself and Lord Brooke and others were not without thought of removing to New England and that several others persons of quality were in treaty about their removal also, but undeter- mined whether to join th* Massachusetts colony or to settle in a new colony." Memories 79 Cromwell's army, while after peace was established and Cromwell was in the saddle Samuel Disborow, 1 one of the founders of Guilford, married Dorothy Whitfield, sailed with her father for England and in time became Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland. 1 Samuel Disborow was born in the manor at Ettisley in Cambridgeshire, November 20, 1619. He was the third surviving son of James Disborow, who married Jane, sister of Oliver Cromwell, and was one of the Judges appointed to try Charles I. Samuel Disborow studied law with his brother John, who was a bar- rister, before he entered the Parliamentary army. In 1639 he decided to sail for America and in May of that year when two vessels sailed from London, he was on board with Henry Whitfield of Ockley, William Leete, a London lawyer, and thirty-seven sturdy farmers from Kent and Surrey. After a voyage of forty-nine days they landed at New Haven and in September of that year founded Guilford. In that year Whitfield built both for the accommodation of his family and as a fortification for the protection of the inhabitants against the Indians, what is now known as the "Old Stone House of Guilford," supposed to be the oldest dwelling house now standing in the United States. Samuel Disborow was the first person appointed Mag- istrate in Guilford. He retained the office until 1651, when after marrying Dorothy Whitfield he sailed for England to rise to power with Cromwell. In a short time Samuel Disborow became Commissioner of the Revenues and member of Parliament for Edinburgh. He was then appointed one of the Nine Counsellors of the Kingdom of Scotland and soon after keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland. After the Restoration he accepted the pardon offered by Charles II. to a large class of Puritans and by so doing saved for himself his manor at Ellsworth, where he died aged seventy- five, December 10, 1690. In 1651, Henry Whitfield also returned to England, where he became one of the Commissioners of the Revenues and in 1655 repre- sented the City of Edinburgh in Parliament. 80 Wadsworth THE REGICIDES Mention has been made in these pages of the King's Judges, Whalley and Goffe, both of whom died in my brother-in-law's house at Hadley, after being secreted there from 1664, when they were compelled to leave Milford on account of a commission arriving in Bos- ton with instructions to find the Regicides, both of whom were known to be hiding in the colony of New Haven. Having met and conversed with both of these men while they were in John Russell's house, which also for a time sheltered a third Judge, John Dixwell, who eventually went on to New Haven, where he lived until 1688, the year James II. was driven from the throne and Sir Edmund An- dros' government in New England was overthrown, I will write what I know of them as well as the adventures and trials which they had to contend with until death released them from confinement and raised the possibility of being arrested for treason from the shoulders of those who sheltered them. Edward Whalley was a merchant when the re- bellion broke out in England. Entering the army he soon distinguished himself in many battles and sieges. At Naseby, where he fought under Crom- well, he charged and defeated two divisions of Lang- Memories 81 dale's horse and for which Parliament made him a Colonel of horse. He also received the thanks of the Parliament for his brilliant action at Banbury the following year. When King Charles was de- tained at Hampton Court, Whalley had charge of him and as near as I can learn permitted him to escape in the hope that he would leave England. The King fled to the Isle of Wight, where he was confined in Carisbrook Castle and was eventually taken to London, where he was tried and executed. William Goffe was born at Stanmore in Sussex. His father was a minister and paid great attention to the education of his three sons. Stephen and John were sent to the University and as William did not develop a fondness for books he was appren- ticed to Vaughn, a salter in London. John became a clergyman of the established church and Stephen, acted as agent for Charles II. in France, Flanders and Holland, turned priest and became chaplain to Queen Henrietta Maria. While at Vaughn's, William Goffe had ample opportunity to learn of the stand which the Parliament was taking against the King, and being imbued with the Puritan ideas of his father, as well as the martial spirit of the times, when the war broke out he entered the army. In the camp Goffe excelled as a prayer maker and preacher, while in the field his boldness and skill with the sword soon earned promotion. He was 82 Wadsworth one of the first to proclaim that Charles Stuart should be brought to account for the blood he had shed and when the commission of one hundred and thirty judges was appointed to try the king, his name was on the list. George Fenwick, who re- turned to England from Saybrook the year before, was also named as a judge. Of the one hundred and thirty selected seventy-four sat in judgment and fifty-nine signed the death warrant, Edward Whalley's name being fourth, those preceding him being John Bradshaw, Thomas Grey and Oliver Cromwell. When the King came to his own again in 1660, according to a journal kept by Goffe and what I have learned since his death, twenty-four of the Judges, or Regicides as they were designated by the Royalists, were dead, twenty-seven were taken, tried and convicted, some of them being pardoned, while nine, with five others who were prominent in the affairs of the Commonwealth, were executed. Six- teen fled and escaped. Of the latter, Whalley, Goffe and Dixwell died in New England, one shot him- self in Holland and one was assassinated. What became of the others is unknown. Whalley and Goffe sailed from London before Charles II. was proclaimed King and arrived in Boston July 27, 1660. They were received very courteously by Governor Endicott and went on to Memories 83 Cambridge, where they resided while in that vicin- ity. Their grave and devout manners commanded the respect of all who were aware of the rank they sustained under the Commonwealth and toward which all of the inhabitants of New England had a leaning, while Goffe made all Boston ring with his praises by giving a vain fencing master an unmer- ciful drubbing. This impudent fellow erected a stage near the common and walked it for several days challenging any one to play at swords with him. Rumors of his boasting reached Cambridge. Goffe for a lark disguised himself as a rustic and armed with a broom stick, the mop of which he had besmeared in a dirty puddle of water, and a cheese wrapped in a napkin for a shield, mounted the stage and offered to fight him. The fencing master bade him begone, but Goffe insisted upon an encounter. Aggravated by the cheers of a crowd which gath- ered quickly, the fencing master made a pass at him with his sword to drive him off. Goffe received the sword in the cheese and held it there until he drew the mop of the broom across his antagonist's mouth. Breaking loose he made another attack only to have the sword again stopped in the cheese, while the broom was this time drawn over his eyes. At a third lunge Goffe stopped him in the same manner, while he rubbed the mop all over the boaster's face. Exasperated by the treatment, the fencing master 84 Wadsworth dropped his small sword and rushed on Goffe with a broadsword, swinging it over his head like a Scotchman. Goffe who had nothing but a broom to defend himself with, held up his hand and bade him stop with so much firmness and determination that he stood with the sword in the air. Upon this the Judge reminded him that he was only playing with him, but that if it came to broadswords he would take his life. Dropping his sword the fencing mas- ter asked the rustic who he was and as he did not receive an answer he said, "You are either Goffe, Whalley or the devil, as no other man in England could beat me." Goffe stepped from the stage and disappeared, but it was not long before every one knew the name of the man who had clipped the wings of the boasting fencing master. 1 The notoriety which Goffe acquired by this per- formance attracted the attention of a man named Brudan, the captain of a vessel lying in the harbor. On his return to London he told where Goffe and Whalley were and as soon as the Court learned of it steps were taken to apprehend them. In the interval the Act of Indemnity was received and as neither of them were excepted the Governor was alarmed. He called the Court of Assistants together in February to consult about securing them, but the Court would 1 History of the Three Judges of Charles I., by Ezra Stiles. Memories 85 pot agree to it. Finding it unsafe to remain longer, Whalley and Goffe left Cambridge on February 26, 1661, and arrived at New Haven, March 7, having stopped at Springfield and Hart- ford on the way. A few days after their depart- ure a hue and cry was brought by way of Bar- badoes and on March 8 a warrant was issued to apprehend them. It was sent to Springfield, the western boundary of the Massachusetts colony, but the Judges were beyond the reach of it. Finally on May 7, Governor Endicott gave Thomas Kellond and Thomas Kirk an order to make a search for Colonels Goffe and Whalley. They left Boston that night and on May 10 arrived at Hartford, where they were informed by Gov- ernor Winthrop that the men they were seeking had been there, but had gone on to New Haven. The following afternoon Kellond and Kirk were at Guil- ford, where William Leete, 1 the Deputy Governor, 1 William Leete was born in Huntingdonshire, Eng- land, in 1613, his home being nine mile from Crom- well's, while he was a neighbor of Samuel Disborow, with whom he and Henry Whitfield were associated in founding Guilford. He was bred to the law and while serving as clerk of the Bishop's court at Cam- bridge he observed the cruelties to which the Puritans were subjected. After examining their doctrine he adopted it, resigned office and in 1639, when twenty- six years old, sailed for New England. During his residence in Guilford he was a party to almost every public transaction, being clerk of the town for twenty- two years, magistrate from 1651, the years that Dis- 86 Wadsworttt resided. Upon their arrival they presented a letter from Governor Endicott and a copy of His Majes- ty's order to apprehend the Regicides. Leete, who was at the time acting Governor of the colony, Francis Newman, having died in November of the preceding year, read both papers aloud so that every one in his store could hear their contents. When Kellond and Kirk objected to such a course he told them that he had not seen the Colonels for nine weeks and that he would not issue an order to search and apprehend without consulting the magistrates, Matthew Gilbert, Robert Treat and Jasper Crane. Both Kellond and Kirk demanded horses to con- tinue their journey, but as it was Saturday and the sun had set, further action had to remain in abey- ance until after the Sabbath. borow returned to England, until 1658, when he was elected Deputy-Governor of the Colony of New Haven. When Governor Newman died William Leete was chosen to succeed him and remained in office until 1664, when the New Haven Colony was united with Connecticut. In the Connecticut government he served as magistrate from 1664 to 1669, as Deputy- Governor from 1669 to 1676, and Governor from 1676 until his death April 16, 1683. When elected governor he removed to Hartford, where he died and was buried in the burying ground of the First Church. For over forty years his acts as an official met with the ap- proval of the freemen he represented. No greater tribute could be paid a man. The Regicide incident shows him to have been a man of great courage as in tacitly favoring the concealment and escape of Whal- ley and Goffe he risked his life and all he owned. Memories 87 In the interval a swift-footed Indian was dis- patched to New Haven to warn the Judges as well as Rev. John Davenport 1 and William Jones, 2 who had given them shelter from the time of their arri- val, except for a day or two, when they walked over to Milford in order to make the gossips report that they had gone on to Manhadoes (Manhattan) to take 1 John Davenport was born at Coventry, England, in 1597. He was educated at Oxford and began preach- ing in London in 1616. In 1624 he was appointed vicar of St. Stephen. While Bishop of London, Laud regarded him with suspicion, and when he became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1633, Davenport fled to Holland. While in Amsterdam he formed the idea of establishing a colony in New England and in 1636, with that object in view, he returned to London. After consulting with his former parishioners he prevailed upon Samuel Eaton, Theophilus Eaton, Edward Hop- kins, Thomas Grigson, and many others of good char- acter and fortune, to embark in the enterprise. They arrived in Boston June 26, 1637, and after remaining there for nine months, while engaged in selecting a site for the colony, they sailed, on March 30, 1638, for Quinnipiack. In about a fortnight they arrived at the desired port, which was named New Haven. John Davenport remained there until 1667, when he re- turned to Boston. He died March n, 1670. It was Davenport's influence and courage that saved Whal- ley and Goffe, while his interest in them may in a great measure be attributed to the fact that he was a brother-in-law of the Rev. William Hood, who was in 1644 ordained reader of the church at New Haven. He returned to England and was afterwards a chap- lain to Oliver Cromwell. *At the time the Regicides were in New Haven, Wil- liam Jones was a new comer. He married as a sec- ond wife Hannah, the youngest daughter of Gov. Ea- ton, in London in 1659, and arrived in New Haven 88 Wadsworth shipping for Holland. Under receipt of this news they slipped out of town and hid in a mill, while on the following day John Davenport preached from Isaiah XVI, 3 and 4. "Take counsel, execute judg- ment, make thy shadow as the night in the midst of noonday; hide the outcasts, betray not him that wandereth. Let mine outcasts dwell with thee; Moab, be thou a covet to them from the face of the spoiler." Before break of day on Monday, John Megges came from Guilford and told that the "red coats" were after the Judges and that Dennis Scranton had told where they were in hiding. Also when Magis- trate Matthew Gilbert received notice from Deputy Governor Leete, advising him that a meeting would be held that day to decide what steps should be taken in issuing an order to search and apprehend Colonels Whalley and Goffe, the Marshal, Thomas Kimberly, decided to take the bull by the horns and seize them as traitors. Knowing that both of them had been seen near the neck bridge he rose before with his wife in the fall of 1660, when they took possession of Governor Eaton's estate and lived in his house, which was opposite Mr. Davenport's. The Ea- ton house was the finest in New Haven, having nine- teen fireplaces and many apartments. The Davenport house is described as having thirteen fireplaces and many apartments. William Jones was a son of John Jones, one of the King's Judges. He was Deputy- Governor of Connecticut from 1692 to 1697. Memories 89 the break of day and going there lay in wait. Near midday he saw both of them coming towards him. Each had a stout staff, but so far as he could see it was all that they had to defend themselves with. Drawing his sword he rushed out and demanded their surrender in the name of King Charles. Whalley asked for his authority. Waving his sword in front of them, the Marshal told them that it was his authority to proceed against traitors. Before he had the words out of his mouth Goffe, with nothing but a staff, whipped the sword out of Kimberly's hand and sent it flying into the water. With a threat that he would return to New Haven and se- cure sufficient aid to arrest them, Kimberly de- parted, while Whalley and Goffe hid under the bridge, believing that a searching party would pass on instead of making an examination so near the scene of the encounter. While lying there they heard horses approaching and after they had passed over the bridge they saw that the riders wore the King's red coats which their old leader, Oliver Cromwell, introduced into the English army. As soon as the riders disappeared on the road to New Haven both Whalley and Goffe started towards Guilford, skirting the road whenever pos- sible or disappearing in the bushes if they saw a traveler approaching, and there were not very many 90 Wadsworth of them in those days. At a bend of the road about an hour after they left the bridge they saw a horse and rider coming 1 . Concealed behind a clump of bushes they watched him. As he drew near both of them recognized William Leete. Believing they could trust him they stepped to the side of the road and stood uncovered as he passed by. A sad smile was their only greeting, but in it they saw safety so far as he was concerned and they also felt they could trust Jasper Crane of Branford, who soon galloped by and joined Leete near the foot of the hill. That night both Whalley and Goffe returned to New Haven and slept in Governor Eaton's cham- ber. Deputy Governor Leete and Jasper Crane rode on to New Haven, where the Magistrates and the four Judges of the New Haven Court convened. For five or six hours they were on the point of issuing a warrant, and part of it was written when Matthew Gilbert and Robert Treat, the Magistrate for Mil- ford, arrived and stopped it. They suggested that the question be referred to the Assembly, which was called and convened within four days. When advised that the Deputy-Governor and his assistants would take no action in the matter, Kel- lond and Kirk expostulated, threatened and even went so far as to state that the Judges were hidden in either the Davenport or Jones house. This was Memories 91 what Dennis Scranton had told them at Guilford, and when they made the statement they were given permission to search both houses, which they did without finding any traces of the fugitives. As they were returning disappointed, an Indian who had heard of a reward offered for information, told them that both of the Regicides had been seen in New Haven that morning (May 14) and that they were concealed in the home of Mrs. Eyers, 1 who had a grand house with four porches, on the creek. Kcllond and Kirk went to the house in haste and on reaching it found all of the doors open and Mrs. Eyers busy in her flower garden. When asked if the Regicides were there she answered that they had been there, but had gone into the fields and woods. Notwithstanding her fine words they insisted on searching the house and she allowed them to pro- ceed, but they were again unsuccessful. Years after it was learned that Whalley and Goffe came to her house that morning from Jones's and were concealed while the search was being made in a large wains- cotted closet in the kitchen. This closet had a door 1 Mrs. Eyers was a daughter of Isaac Allerton, a Bos- ton sea captain who settled in New Haven. Her hus- band was also a sea captain who sailed up the Medi- terranean. Both her father and husband were lost at sea, leaving her a young widow with two children. She inherited her father's, brother's and husband's es- tates. She never married again and died in 1740, be- ing over one hundred years old. 92 Wadsworth which when shut could not be distinguished from the wall and all over it on the outside was hung the kitchen furniture. As soon as Kellond and Kirk departed the Judges fled to the woods, where they lay concealed until joined by Jones, Burril and Richard Sperry, 1 who conducted them to the house of the latter on Mr. Goodyear's farm behind the West Rock. They had been in this asylum only a few hours when the red coats of their pursuers were seen coming up a long corduroy road which led through a morass. Rushing from the house into the woods of the ad- joining hill they concealed themselves behind Savin Rock. When Kellond and Kirk came to the house and asked for the Regicides they were told that they had been there, but had gone into the woods. Being without authority to search or apprehend they de- parted and went on to Manhadoes (Manhatten), going from there to Boston by sea. Whalley and Goffe slept that night under a bower made of bushes and on the following day entered the cave on the West Rock, where they remained 1 Richard Sperry was a farmer brought from Eng- land by Mr. Goodyear, a wealthy merchant who had purchased from the town of New Haven a farm of over a thousand acres and located beyond the West Rock. Goodyear built Sperry a house on the place and subsequently sold him the farm, which remained in the possession of the Sperry family for over a cen- tury. Memories 93 until June 11, Richard Sperry supplying them with food from his house about a mile away. On the night of June n a panther or catamount put his head into the door of the cave and affrighted them so that they fled to Sperry's house for shelter. Upon their arrival they learned of the report which Kel- lond and Kirk had made to Governor Endicott upon their return to Boston, and that their friends, the Rev. John Davenport, William Jones and William Leete, who was on May 29 chosen Governor of the colony of New Haven, were in danger of being charged with sheltering and aiding in the escape of traitors. Upon receipt of this news both of them started for New Haven, where after consulting bv proxy with Matthew Gilbert, who was then Deputy Governor, they sent a messenger to Guilford with advice to Governor Leete that they were coming there to surrender. Both Davenport and Jones did what they could to dissuade them from taking this step, and when they were unable to make them change their minds they decided to accompany them in the hope that something might happen on the journey to keep them from making the sacrifice. At the edge of the town they met their messenger returning in company with Dr. Bryan Rossiter. 3 The latter bade Whalley and Goffe go with him, 1 Dr. Bryan Rossiter purchased Samuel Disborow's place on October 16, 1651. 94 Wadsworth while their companions proceeded to Governor Leete's house and slept there. For nine days the Judges remained in Guilford and in all that time the Governor refused to see them. During the day they were concealed in a stone cellar under Leete's store on the bank of the river, their victuals being carried to them from the Governor's table. Under cover of night they walked to Rossiter's house to sleep. Finally their friends prevailed on them to recede from their determination to surrender and they re- turned to New Haven, where after appearing pub- licly for three or four days in order to clear Daven- port and Jones from the suspicion of sheltering them, they returned to the cave on the West Rock, wandering about from there to Totoket (Branford), Paugasset (Derby) and other places of shelter until August 19, when they repaired to Milford, where one Tomkins had prepared a hiding place for them in the center of the town. It was a two story build- ing, twenty feet square, located within a few feet of Tomkins' house. The lower room was built of stone and considered a store room, while the up- per room was finished in timber and used as a spinning and work room by Tomkins' family. Whalley and Goffe remained in the lower room of this building for two years without so much as going into the orchard. After that, when the Memories 95 New Haven people had apparently forgotten the declaration which the commissioners of the United Colonies issued at Hartford, September 5, 1661, warning all persons not to receive, harbor, conceal or succor Whalley or Goffe, they took a little more liberty, made themselves known to several persons and frequently prayed and preached at private meetings in their chamber. In 1663 it was reported at the Court of Charles II. that Whalley and Goffe were at the head of an army in New England and that the union of the colonies was believed to have been made for the express purpose of throwing off dependence on England. 1 When Col. Richard Nichols, George Cartwright, Sir Robert Carr and Samuel Maverick, the Commissioners from King Charles, sailed for Boston the following year, they were instructed to find the Regicides. Upon the news of their arrival and in all probability on advice as to the instruc- tions concerning them, Whalley and Goffe returned to the cave at West Rock until another asylum could be prepared. They had been there but eight or ten days when an Indian, while hunting, dis- covered their hiding place. The report being spread abroad it was not safe to remain there, and on the following night, October 13, 1664, Whalley and Goffe, after a residence of three years and seven 1 Bancroft's History of the United States. 96 Wadsworth months in New Haven and Milford, turned their faces towards Hadley, where John Russell, the min- ister of the town founded by the Hartford "With- drawers," had previously agreed to receive them. That night they traveled twenty miles, stopping for the day in the woods near the ford over a brook on the road to Hartford. They called the place Pilgrim's Harbor, 1 and it is still known by that name. Before night they were joined by a guide with horses. He conducted them to Hartford, where after resting a day in John Talcott's house, 2 they proceeded to Springfield, and from there to Hadley, where both of them died and were buried in the minister's cellar. February 10, 1664-5, John Dixwell, who was also a King's Judge, came to the Russell house and re- mained there with Whalley and Goffe until after the King's Commissioners had made their report. He then removed to New Haven, where under the assumed name of James Daniels he settled with a family named Ling, was twice married, raised a family, and died in 1688, aged eighty-two. He was never molested. Two or three years before Dix- well's death, while attending public worship in New Haven, Sir Edmund Andros, who was at that time 1 Pilgrim's Harbor is located in the town of Meriden. 2 This house stood at the corner of Main and Tal- cott Streets. It was torn down in 1900. Memories 97 Governor of New York, saw him and after meeting asked who he was. Upon being informed that he was a merchant, Andros replied that he was not and became very inquisitive. Nothing more was heard of the matter, as the venerable gentleman was not seen at the meeting in the afternoon, and Sir Edmund was so exasperated by one of the psalms sung by the congregation that he no doubt forgot all about him. 1 About ten years after Whalley and Goffe removed to Hadley, the former began to fail both mentally 1 At this meeting the deacon gave out the Fifty- second Psalm to sing in Sternbold's and Hopkins' ver- sion, which began Why dost thou, tyrant, boast abroad, Thy wicked works of praise? Dost thou not know there is a God, Whose mercy lasts always? Why dost thy mind still devise Such wicked wiles to harp? 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 flattering style, Of false, deceitful tongue! Governor Andros felt it as an intended insult to himself, and after meeting resented it as such, and rep- rehended the deacon for it. But being told that it was the usage of the church to sing the Psalms in course, he excused the deacon and let the matter drop. Stiles' History of the Judges. 98 Wadsworth and physically. At the time of the King Philip war he had lost all interest in worldly affairs and was almost constantly confined to his bed. Goffe nursed and humored him, doing all that he could to make the last days of his companion in fortune and ad- versity comfortable, and while he remained vigorous and as cheerful as a man could under such con- ditions, he frequently complained of being banished from the world in which he had been so conspicuous a figure, and to the last clung to the hope that his friends in England would eventually secure a par- don. It was that ray of hope and the memory of his wife and family at home which kept Goffe from leaving Hadley after Whalley died. In the sixteen years that Goffe was under John Russell's roof he was never seen in public but once, and on that occasion his appearance was so unex- pected and his exit so guarded that the people whose lives were saved by his skill looked upon the mys- terious stranger as an angel instead of a man whose life and the lives of all who sheltered him, together with all they possessed, would have been forfeited to the crown had it been known. It was on Fast Day in 1675 that Goffe saved Hadley. While the people were attending public worship the town was surrounded by a body of Indians. The attack was so sudden and unexpected that everything was in confusion before the meeting house guard could Memories 99 rally those who had brought arms with them. Sud j denly a venerable man, whose apparel and manner differed from the rest of the people, appeared in their midst, took command, arranged them in the best military manner and routed the Indians. The town was saved, and while the Hadley forces were pursuing the assailants the leader disappeared as mysteriously as he came. Of all who saw him, the minister, John Russell, alone knew to whom they owed their homes and their lives. In the spring of 1679, Whalley having been dead some time, Goffe came down the river to Hartford, intending to go on to New Haven and Milford for a brief period. While here he was concealed in the house of Joseph Bull and was visited by myself and a few others who were in the secret. Through a servant, his presence became known to one John London, of Windsor, who in the hope of reward associated himself with several others and decided to seize him in the King's name. Thomas Powell overheard them discussing their plans and informed Major Talcott. He recommended that Goffe return to Hadley, which he did, and Captain Allyn forbade London to leave the town without a license. This unexpected discovery made an old man of Goffe. He saw that after nineteen years he was still in peril. After his return to Hadley he was seized with a fit of melancholy, under which he sickened 100 Wadswoiih and died early in the following year. London also disappeared and nothing more was heard of him or his threats until the following spring, when Sir Edmund Andros wrote Governor Leete 1 that he had learned from depositions taken in New York that Colonel Goffe, the Regicide, was concealed in Hart- ford by Captain Joseph Bull and his sons. Upon receipt of this advice John Allyn commanded the constables to make diligent search in the houses, barns and outhouses of Captain Bull and his sons. No such person was found, Goffe having returned to Hadley over a year before and was so far as I know dead at the time the notice was received. 1 For correspondence see Colonial Records of Con- necticut covering years 1678-1689, pages 283 to 285. THE CHARTER OAK THE CHARTER OAK George Wyllys was the third Governor of Con- necticut and the first of that name in New England. Being a Puritan, he decided in 1637 to leave Eng- land, and in order to make a home for himself in the New World before leaving the family mansion at Fenney Compton, at Knapton, in the county of Warwick, he sent his steward, William Gibbons, with twenty men and the frame of a house, to select a site in the town which the Hooker company had started in the Connecticut valley. For about two years William Gibbons and the men in his employ were busy felling trees, building and preparing the soil for the seed on the home lot assigned George Wyllys. It was on the south bank of the Little River, running back from the top of the hill upon which but one tree was permitted to remain stand- ing. It was a gnarled oak with a hole in one side of it, and that tree still stands 1 on the brow of the hill by the road leading down to the South Meadows. 1 The Charter Oak fell August 21, 1856. A marble tablet has been inserted in a brick wall on Charter Oak Avenue to designate the place where it stood. All of the wood and bark were preserved, being made into chairs, small tables, picture frames, etc., and Ex- Governor Morgan G. Bulkeley tells me that there is somewhere in Hartford a piano made of the wood of the Charter Oak. 104 Wadsworth The Suckiag Indians, who were here when what they called the big canoes with white wings were first seen on the river, and from whom the Hooker company purchased the site of Hartford, asked Will- iam Gibbons to spare it, as in addition to being a landmark the oak was the peace tree of the tribe. The sachem Sequassen said that the tree was planted by the great sachem who led his people from the land of the setting sun as a pledge of per- petual peace with those whom they found here and from whom they received the land. At the planting their tomahawks 1 were buried under it and the acorn adopted as their totem. For centuries the Suckiag Indians lived in peace, fishing in the great river and its branches and hunting in the forest, while the squaws and the old men planted the corn and beans which Kiehtan sent them from the southwest. Ac- cording to the Indian tradition, the corn 2 was 1 The English, when adopting the name of the Indian hatchet, called it tom-my-hawk. The Indians say tume-hegan, the e being short, and scarcely sounded, with the short sound of a and the h has a full aspirate as hee. The gn is sounded short. This word is com- pounded of the Indian verb tume-ta-mun, to cut, and the noun hegun, a sharp cutting instrument. In com- pounding this word half of the verb is clipped off and joined with the noun. * The Southern Indians have the following tradi- tion concerning the origin of corn, beans and tobacco: "Two youths, while pursuing the pleasures of the chase, were led to an unfrequented part of the forest, where, being fatigued and hungry, they sat down to The Charter Oak 105 brought by the sacred blackbird and the bean by the crow, the former being first seen in the slender branches of the peace tree when the leaves were the size of a mouse's ear, and by this they fixed the time for placing the corn in the ground. As the generations of Indians were gathered to their long sleep, the oak increased in size and was known as a landmark and meeting place for all the tribes on the river. In the fourth generation before the coming of the white man, Wawanda, the sach- em's favorite wife, bore him male twins, and in the year of their birth a sprout appeared on the north- east side of the oak. It was permitted to remain, and as the boys, who were named Saweg and No- washe, each of them being given a portion of their rest themselves and to dress their victuals. While they were in this employ the spirit of the woods, at- tracted by the savory smell of the venison, approached them in the form of a beautiful female and seated her- self beside them. The youths, awed by the presence of so superior a being, presented to her in the most respectful manner a share of their repast, which she was pleased to accept, and eat with satisfaction. The repast being finished, the female spirit informed them that if they would return to the same place after the revolution of twelve moons they would find something which would recompense their kindness, disappeared from sight. The youths returned at the appointed time and found that upon the place on which the right arm of the goddess had reclined a stalk of corn had sprung up; under her left, a stalk of beans, and from the spot on which she had been seated was growing a flourishing plant of tobacco." 106 Wadsworth father's name, Sawashe, grew in years, the sprout became a twig and finally a branch as large as a man's arm. In this limb the powwows and a few of the sagamores saw the sign of a split in the tribe. At different times they urged its removal, but Sa- washe, proud of the skill and rugged strength of the twin brothers, although they were almost oppo- sites in disposition, would never consent, as he be- lieved that the great father Kiehtan 1 placed it there 1 The Connecticut Indians believed in one great and invisible Deity, who was known in the different tribes as Kiehtan, Woonand and Cantantowit. The Indians placed the dwelling of Kiehtan in the southwest be- cause the wind from that quarter is the warmest and pleasantest that blows in this climate and usually brings fair weather. They also believed that the soul existed after death and that the spirits of the good would go to the house of Kiehtan. Then they would be delivered from sorrow and enjoy pleasures similar to those which they had indulged in here, only in abundance and in perfection. They also believed that the wicked would go to the door of Kiehtan and knock for admittance; but upon his telling them to go away, they would be obliged to wander forever in a state of horror and discontent. The Narragansett In- dians believed that Cantantowit made a man and woman of stone, but not liking them he broke them to pieces and made another pair of wood, from whom all human beings were descended. Another tribe, when questioned as to their creation, said that two squaws were once wading in the sea; the foam touched their bodies and they became pregnant; one brought forth a boy and the other a girl; the two squaws then died and their children became the progenitors of the hu- man race. Massachusetts Historical Collections, Vol. III., and De Forest's History of Indians of Connecti- cut. The Charter Oak 107 to show that another branch had been added to the tribes which had lived for so many years on the bank of the great river and that they would flourish under the protection of the Mohawks so long as it retained life. Saweg was the elder of the twins, and from an early age he was noted for his even temper and deliberate methods. The old men of the tribe gave him their confidence, while they looked with distrust upon Nowashe, who was im- pulsive and fearless and also the acknowledged leader of all the young men. A few years after Saweg and Nowashe were born, the Mohawks swept over the Connecticut val- ley like a storm cloud, destroying or exacting tribute from all who lay in their path. Sawashe heard of their coming, and knowing that the hearts of his warriors had grown soft after years of peace, bade his sagamores carry presents of wampum and offer tribute to the Mohawks if they were permitted to remain undisturbed in their villages and among their cornfields. The offer was accepted, while the tribes that resisted were conquered or destroyed. From that period until the coming of the white man, every year two old Mohawks might be seen going from village to village to collect tribute and issue orders from the council at Onondaga. To the tribes living on the Connecticut River this tribute in wampum did not prove a burden, as Long Island 108 Wadsworth was then and for many years thereafter known as the land of shells (Sewan Hacky). During the summer months the canoes crossed the Sound and returned loaded with conches and mussels which the squaws and arrowhead makers fashioned into wampum, white and purple, during the winter months. To Saweg, the visit of the Mohawks was a re- minder of a greater and fiercer race of men, and with the knowledge that he would in time be sachem of his tribe, he steeled himself to bear without bit- terness the boasts and petty insults which were at times cast upon them by those who came to collect tribute. As a boy, Nowashe sat at their feet and heard with delight the sayings of the strangers as they glowed with danger and daring, but when he arrived at an age to learn that his own people, as well as his own father and mother, were among those who had been humbled by the Mohawks his heart was pierced with Hobbamocko's 1 black arrow of revenge and from that time his one thought was how he could free the world of the hated Mohawks or get beyond their power. He had learned that 1 Hobbamocko was the spirit of evil, the author of all plagues and calamities. From the fear that his malignant disposition inspired he received great ven- eration. Many dances were performed in his honor, and many sacrifices made to appease his wrath. THE CHARTER OAK IN 1830 The Charter Oak 111 the field of their triumphs extended from the father of waters to the inland seas and the falling waters, 1 that all who obeyed them and paid tribute were at peace and all who resisted were hunted like the deer in autumn. To obey meant humble comforts, to rebel, death. This was the state of affairs in the tribe dwelling under the shadow of the peace tree on the banks of the Little River, when Sawashe died and Saweg was named sachem, regardless of the protests of Nowashe, who claimed that being of one birth they should rule jointly until one died. In this conten- tion he was supported by his mother and the young men of the tribe, but the sagamores shook their heads and said that Saweg was the older son and in the event of his death Saweg's son and not No- washe would be sachem. There was no appeal, as the Mohawks knew that Saweg would succeed his father and he had also sent a runner to Onondaga with presents of purple wampum and advice of Sa- washe's death. Nowashe and those who supported him in his claim remained silent until the Mohawks made their next visit. It was in the summer when the corn was beginning to grow hard and as they sat with Saweg and his council under the old oak smoking 1 Niagara Falls. 1 12 Wadsworth the peace pipe, Nowashe approached. The Mo- hawks bade him enter the circle, but instead of doing so he cast a bundle of arrows in front of them and said "this is the tribute of Nowashe." The older Mohawk raised the arrows from the ground and drawing one from the thong which held them together broke it and threw the pieces outside of the circle, while Saweg did what he could to con- vince the tribute collectors that the tribe was not responsible for his brother's act. Nowashe remained standing with his arms crossed on his breast, and when his brother demanded an explanation for his hostile act he turned towards the Mohawks and pointing towards the remaining arrows said, "Let my words and tribute sink into your hearts," and walked away. The Mohawks departed to all appearances satis- fied with Saweg's explanations and nothing more was heard of the incident until it was noticed that the leaves on the branch of the peace tree were withering. An examination showed that the limb had been girdled near the trunk, while on the same day Saweg learned from a young man who had been down to Rocky Hill that Nowashe, who had reported that he and his friends were going on a big hunt, had spoken with a forked tongue, as they were building a fort on the top of a precipitous hill The Charter Oak 113 near the Roaring Brook which runs through what is now known as Glassenbury. 1 Saweg sent his father's brother, the oldest and wisest man in the tribe, to remonstrate with No- washe and to remind him that their land did not extend beyond the great river, but Nowashe re- fused to talk with him. He then sent his mother and when she failed to return he went himself and as sachem demanded obedience. In reply to Sa- weg's orders Nowashe appeared and said that his young men and their squaws had no wampum for the Mohawks and that they had resolved to with- draw from Saweg's tribe, build a fort, defend them- selves in the position which they had selected and maintain their right to hunt in the forest on the side of the great river on which they were located. Sa- weg pleaded long and earnestly with his brother and when after many talks he found that his advice was rejected he withdrew, but not before he re- minded Nowashe and his young men that the Mo- hawks were brave warriors, that their number was like the leaves of the forest and that with his small 1 The founders of this town having come from the neighborhood of Glastonbury, England, the General Court, in 1692, with a disregard for spelling, named the town Glassenbury. This method of spelling the name of the town continued to be used until about 1780, when it was changed to Glastenbury and so writ- ten until 1870, when the town voted to make it Glas- tonbury, by which name it is now known. 114 Wadsworth force resistance would in the end mean death for all of them. The brothers parted in anger, Nowashe boasting that he would fight and kill all the Mo- hawks that could be sent against him, while Saweg and his sagamores, having a knowledge of what had happened in the past, returned to their villages in silence. For two corn plantings Nowashe and his forces remained undisturbed. During that period rocks and logs had been carried up the hill and laid within the palisades of the fort so that they could be rolled down upon any force which might attack it. They also built a village at the foot of the hill, planted corn and beans, fished in the river and hunted in the forest. In that time the Mohawks' tribute col- lectors made their regular visits, received the wam- pum expected of Saweg's tribe and went on their way to other villages just as though Nowashe and his fort existed only in his imagination instead of being a stern reality on the opposite bank of the Connecticut River. On the other hand Nowashe knew that the pro- longed silence on the part of the Mohawks could not be construed as indifference on their part, as the council at Onondaga was well advised of what he had done and was either engaged in greater en- terprises or waiting until time would give his young warriors a careless sense of security, which would The Charter Oak 115 present an opportunity to attack them when off their guard or when a majority of them were away on a hunt. By spies and friends in the villages between the two great rivers, Nowashe was constantly ad- vised of the Mohawks' movements and when the second leaves were falling on his wigwam, he learned that the Mohawks were coming. Upon re- ceipt of this advice the whole tribe, including wom- en and children, were gathered within the fort and on the following day they saw the Mohawks cross- ing the river in canoes belonging to Saweg's tribe. Knowing that Nowashe had a small force and confident of success, the Mohawks proceeded against the fort as soon as all of their warriors had disem- barked. With a yell that had chilled the blood of so many of their enemies they rushed up the hill to be met not with a cloud of arrows as they ex- pected, but by huge logs and rocks which as they bounded from ridge to ridge tore holes in their ranks and killed and maimed a number of their bold- est warriors. Gathering up their dead and wounded they retired to the village and burned it. Three times on successive days they returned to the at- tack, but with no better success. When the morning of the fourth day dawned they had disappeared, a few of Saweg's canoes on the river bank and three or four dead Indians on the side of the hill being all that was left, aside 116 Wadsworth from the ashes where the village stood, to remind Nowashe and his followers of the visit of the Mo- hawks. Later in the day it was learned from the trail that the attacking force had gone up the river and a small number were dispatched to follow them. A week passed without anything being heard from the enemy or those who were watching them. Be- lieving that they had returned home, a number of the women and children came down from the fort and were soon busy gathering material for new wigwams, while Nowashe, after sending the heads and hands of the dead Mohawks to his brother as an evidence of his prowess, joined with the pow- wows in the dances of victory. The Mohawks followed the bank of the river to the falls which are above the point where William Pyncheon built his warehouse, and remained there for a number of days in order to give the wounded time to recover from their injuries. Knowing that they were being watched by the Nowashe scouts they did what they could to convey the impression that they were going to return to their own people, the whole body crossing the river by the ford, which can still be located below the point, and marching rapidly inland. For two days they continued, but on the night of the third those who had escaped injury in the attacks on the forts left the wounded, who were now able to travel and protect themselves The Charter Oak 117 if attacked, and turned towards the Connecticut River. Evading the Nowashe scouts, they again crossed the river at the ford 1 and disappeared in a southeasterly direction. The Nowashe scouts also returned and after crossing the ford struck the new trail made by the Mohawks. They followed it until they came to the head waters of Roaring Brook, near Minachaug mountain. Here all traces ceased. Turning their faces towards the Connecticut River they followed the stream which they knew led to their fort. Si- 1 The ford referred to is opposite Windsor Locks. The late Jabez Haskell Hayden, in his Historical Sketches, devotes a chapter to "The old fording place opposite Windsor Locks." He says "Very many years ago, doubtless more than two hundred, this fording place, the only one in the colony, was discovered, and used even after the opening of the ferry in 1783." Writing in 1900 (the old gentleman died in 1903) he said "The last time I crossed the ford was more than thirty years ago, when I was induced to go by two little boys of about ten years growth, who wanted to wade across the Connecticut River just once. The water was very low, and taking the hand of each we entered the ford below the mouth of Kettle Brook and easily waded to the point, where we made directly for the 'Old Horse Pasture.' Then we crossed the channel, where the water was so deep and the cur- rent so strong the boys would hardly have kept their feet under them if they had not clung to me. We crossed to the other side and returned in safety, but I could not have been induced to try the same feat again." The "Old Horse Pasture" is an island which appears in the river at low water and between which and the east shore is the deep water where Mr. Pyn- chon anchored his sea-going vessel in 1636. 118 Wadsworth lently and swiftly they made their way through the rough country drained by the Roaring Brook, being awed by the disappearance of the broad trail which led them to the Minachaug mountain, and eager to report the fact to Nowashe. As they approached the river from the top of a hill they saw a great smoke and in a short time they met a few squaws and children running for their lives. From them they learned that the Mohawks had returned, taken and burned the fort and killed everyone in it, No- washe being one of the last to fall in the terrible slaughter. Subsequent events showed that the Mohawks had entered the Roaring Brook at the place where the trail disappeared and waded down the entire dis- tance to near the fort. Nowashe and his people were surprised, many of them being killed before they could seek the shelter of the fort and when they did get within the palisades the enemy was on them before the logs and stones, of which they had a great quantity, could be hurled down upon them. All of the righting men of the tribe, as well as many of the squaws and grown children who mixed in the melee, were killed. The few who remained, together with those who were absent from the vil- lage, were granted their lives upon payment of trib- ute in wampum, the greater portion of which was advanced by Saweg, who interceded for the unfor- The Charter Oak 119 tunate followers of his brother. The Mohawks also required them to build another village between the Podunk and the Scantic and almost opposite the cornfields and a small village 1 of Saweg's tribe. They remained in this place until they sold the lands to the Windsor plantation in 1636. This little band was always referred to as the Nowashe Indians, the name of their first sachem being adopted by them, but after the sale of their lands the tribe lost its identity and was absorbed by the Podunks and Mohegans. It may also be added that it was opposite the Nowashe village, which was then surrounded by palisades, that Adra- ien Block cast anchor when he sailed up the river in the Restless and named it de Versche Reviere (the Fresh River) in 1814, and upon whose right of discovery and a subsequent purchase from the Pequots the Dutch laid claim to the Connecticut valley. None of the river Indians ever forgot the deter- mined manner in which the Mohawks stamped out the spirit of resistance shown by Nowashe and his followers, and from that day until long after the white man controlled the colony of Connecticut many a squaw and white woman as well subdued 1 The village referred to was located at what is now known as Wilson's, a small station on the New York and New Haven R. R., about two miles north of Hart- ford. 120 Wadsworth a rebellious child by saying "the Mohawks are com- ing." 1 That the fear of the Mohawks was not con- fined only to women and children was shown in 1656, when Uncas and Sequassen had a quarrel with Tontonimo, a Podunk sachem. The latter re- fused to surrender a young man named Weass- apano who had murdered a sagamore living near 1 Tradition tells of a brave tribe of aborigines which occupied a position a little south of the centre of Glas- tonbury, known by the name of the Red Hill Indians. They were a branch of the Pequots, and between them and the Mohawks there were unsparing and relentless hostilities. The Red Hills had a fort on a very pre- cipitous hill, which was strongly fortified on the east; but towards the river, on the west, the besieged relied principally on large logs and stones, which they rolled down upon their enemies, if they attempted to ascend the eminence. Spies and friendly Indians informed the Red Hills of the advance of their enemies, who imme- diately gathered their women and children within the fort; and, on several occasions, made a gallant defence, repelling the Mohawks with great loss. At length the Mohawks, whose numbers far exceeded those of the Red Hills, and who had usually made their most des- perate effort by trying to ascend the hill, resorted to stratagem. Word came to the Red Hills that the "Mo- hawks were coming," and they hastily gathered their little tribe within the fort. But the Mohawks did not make their appearance, and, after waiting for some time in vain, the Red Hills despatched a small number up the river, for the purpose of reconnoitering. Near the upper part of East Windsor or Enfield, the party struck upon a trail, which they followed in a south- easterly direction until they came to the head waters of Roaring Brook, near Minachaug mountain. Here all traces ceased. No trail, nor track, nor scent could be found. Subsequently events showed that the Mo- The Charter Oak 121 Mattabesett. 1 The three sachems submitted their differences to the English, and when Governor Webster supposed that Tontonimo would surrender the murderer, the latter returned to the Podunk fort and sent a messenger who said that Weasse- apano had so many friends that he could not sur- render him. Finally the English decided that they would not trouble themselves with the Indians' quarrel and gave Uncas and Sequassen to under- stand that they could follow their own counsel. Taking advantage of this advice Uncas assembled a war party and marched against the Podunks. He met them near the Hockanum River and as their forces were about equal Uncas was unwilling to fight, but before retreating sent a message to tell Tontonimo that if he continued to shelter the mur- hawks had at this place entered the stream, and, that they might not be traced, had waded down the entire distance to near the mouth, where were the fort and village of the Red Hills. The scheme was successful. The hapless Red Hills were surprised and experienced more than savage vengeance. The Mohawks spared not one of the race. This horrid butchery is said to have taken place about the period when the first set- tlers emigrated to Connecticut. Although the whites had no part in this tragedy, the bloody legend was re- membered and told; and the forward child was often subdued by the terrific exclamation, "the Mohawks are coming." Barber's Connecticut Historical Collec- tions. 1 Middletown. 122 Wadsworth derer he would bring the Mohawks and destroy both him and his people. A few weeks later the wily Mohegan sent a war- rior supplied with Mohawk weapons to the Podunk country where he set fire to a wigwam near the fort and escaped, leaving his arms. In the morning, when the Podunks came out of the fort to examine the ruins and look for the trail of the destroyer, they found the weapons which they knew by their make and ornaments must have been fashioned by a Mohawk. Believing that Uncas had succeeded in fulfilling his threat and blinded with terror, with- out making any inquiry, Tontonimo surrendered Weassapano and asked for peace. 1 It was granted, and from that time the Podunks remained undis- turbed until after the King Philip war, in which a majority of their warriors were slain. 2 When King Philip was shot, the remnant of the Podunk tribe was scattered, many of them joining the Pequots, while a few crossed the river and allied themselves with the Suckiag, Poquonoc and Tunxis Indians. As the land which they occcupied was vacated it was parcelled out to those who had taken an active part 'Trumbull's History of Connecticut and De Forest's History of the Indians of Connecticut. 1 The Podunk tribe in King Philip's war contained between two and three hundred men, who went off in that war and never returned. Massachusetts Histori- cal Collections, Vol. 4. The Charter Oak 123 in the war, my reward being three hundred and forty acres 1 in the great swamp and which I after- wards sold to Lieutenant John Ellsworth, who was killed on the place by a tree falling on him. After the defeat and death of Nowashe the Mo- hawks remained with Saweg's tribe for several days, celebrating their victory and at the same time giving the wounded an opportunity to recover before start- ing on the march to Onondaga. During this period the sagamores and powwows of the tribe met under the oak and in the presence of the Mohawks re- moved the dead limb from the peace tree, charring J The plot of land referred to is located in the town of Ellington, which was originally a part of the town- ship of East Windsor. The following is from the or- iginal record: "Land surveyed to Daniel and John Ellsworth, sons of Lieutenant John Ellsworth of Wind- sor, by Thomas Kimberly, surveyor of land in the County of Hartford, i6th of March, 1720, five hundred and forty acres of land between the mountains east of Windsor and Connecticut River, at a place called by the English 'the great marsh' and by the Indians Weaxkashuck, three hundred and forty acres bought of Captain Wadsworth and two hundred acres bought of the Bissels by said Lieutenant John Ellsworth, be- gan at a pine tree marked and having two mere stones by it, standing on the plains near the northwest cor- ner of said marsh, etc." Barber, in his Historical Col- lections of Connecticut, says that on a stone a little distance northwest from the residence of Samuel Chapman, who lived on this land when the book re- ferred to was published in 1836, the following inscrip- tion appears: "Lieut. John Ellsworth was killed here by the fall of a tree Oct. 26th, 1720, aged 49 years and 15 days." 124 Wadsworth it near the trunk with fire and reducing it to ashes as soon as it fell. This limb, as has been stated, was on the northeast side of the tree and in the years which followed, the rain and the snow, rein- forced by the heat and the frost, caused the balance of the branch to decay and make a hole in the side of the oak. In those years the sachemship of the tribe de- scended from Saweg to his son, who was in time succeeded by Sowheag, the father of Sequassen, the leader of the Suckiag Indians when the white man came to the Connecticut valley. Having been defeated by the Pequots, from whom the Dutch traders had purchased a title to a portion of the land occupied by his tribe, he hailed the coming of the Hooker company with delight and sold its mem- bers the site of Hartford for a few coats, blankets, knives and hoes. The transfer was made under the old oak on what was afterwards the Wyllys home lot, Elder William Goodwin and my uncle, Samuel Stone, acting for the English, and Sequas- sen, who signed the deed with an acorn totem, acted for the Suckiag tribe, all of his sagamores being present and giving their consent to the trans- fer. After the deed had been signed a twig and a piece of turf were handed Sequassen by one of the sagamores. He stuck the twig in the turf and The Charter Oak 125 placed both in Elder Goodwin's hands. By this ceremony he considered himself to have passed over to the English the soil and all that grew on it. This was the Indians' last meeting under the tribe's peace tree, and except when they asked William Gibbons to spare it, the old oak 1 did not attract very much 'The Political Annals of the United Colonies from the Settlement to the Peace of 1763 by George Chal- mers and published in London in 1780 contains the first mention of hiding the Connecticut Charter in a tree. He says that "Connecticut with the other colonies con- gratulated James II. on his accession to the throne, acknowledge his authority and begged for protection of their chartered privileges. He received the com- pliment with satisfaction, though he had already de- cided what course he should pursue with regard to colonial policy. Various articles of Misdemeanor were exhibited, in July, 1685, against the Governor and Company, before the lord commissioners of colonies, impeaching them of making laws contrary to those of England; of extorting unreasonable fines; of intoler- ance in religion; of denials of justice. These various accusations which were supposed to infer a forfeiture of the Charter, were instantly sent to Sawyer, attorney general, with orders to issue a writ of quo warranto forthwith against the colony. He obeyed and Ran- dolph, who had acted as a public accuser, now offered his services to carry it beyond the Atlantic. The Gov- ernor and Company had for some time seen the storm approaching which threatened to lay their beloved system in the dust; and they endeavored with great address, to elude the force of what they were unable to resist. When they remembered the fatal accident which had formerly bereaved them of their ancient conveyance, they carefully concealed the Charter in a venerable elm which to this day is deemed sacred as the preserver of their constitution." That Chalmers re- ceived this item from the Rev. Samuel Peters, who was 126 Wadsworth attention until after the overthrow of the Andros government. Mistress Ruth Wyllys was bold enough to say that I hid the charter in it the night that it disappeared from the council chamber. then in London, is evidenced by the following sentence from Peters' General History of Connecticut which was published in 1781. "They have represented the Magis- trates of Connecticut as not having resigned their Charter, but by an erroneous construction put on their humble supplication to James II. by the Court of Lon- don: whereas the fact is, they resigned it, in propria forma, into the hands of Sir Edmund Andros, at Hart- ford in October, 1687, and were annexed to the Massa- chusetts Bay Colony in preference to New York, ac- cording to royal promise and their own petition. But the very night of the surrender of it, Samuel Wads- worth, of Hartford, with the assistance of a mob, vio- lently broke into the apartments of Sir Edmund, re- gained, carried off, and hid the charter in the hollow elm." Further on in the same work, when enumerating the curiosities in Hartford, he refers to "an elm, es- teemed sacred, for being the tree in which their Char- ter was concealed." The substitution of an elm for an oak in Peters' history will not surprise anyone who has read the work published by that worthy divine, who was forced to flee from Lebanon and eventually left the country on account of his tory principles. In a geography published in 1789 Jedidiah Morse wrote: "In 1684, the charters of Massachusetts Bay and Ply- mouth were taken away in consequence of quo war- rantos which had been issued against them. The char- ter of Connecticut would have shared the same fate, had it not been for - Wadsworth, Esq., who hav- ing very artfully procured it when it was on the point of being delivered up, buried it under an oak tree in Hartford, where it remained until all danger was over, and then was dug up and reassumed." Trumbull in his History of Connecticut which was published in 1797. says that the Charter was "secreted in a large hollow tree fronting the house of the Hon. Samuel Wyllys." THE ROYAL OAK THE ROYAL OAK The Indian deed and the promise of the War- wick patent were the foundation of all land titles in Connecticut until May 10, 1662, when the char- ter granted by Charles II. passed the seals. It was issued upon the application of the colony through John Winthrop, Jr., who took a draft of what was wanted with him when he sailed for England and who was so fortunate as to secure the co-operation of his old patron, Lord Say and Seal, 1 the Earl of Manchester and many other Puritan sympathizers who had influence at Court through having been instrumental in bringing about the Restoration. Before taking up the Charter, I purpose devoting a few pages to John Winthrop, Jr., and the King, whose miraculous escape after the battle of Worces- ter has been told time and again by the firesides of New England, a version of it having been brought over by Winthrop, who had it from the King him- self. 2 Other incidents in connection with it have 1 William, first Viscount and second Baron Say and Seal, was made Lord of the Privy Seal at the Restora- tion. He died April 14, 1662. He was active to the end of his days, as Pepys speaks of meeting him at the Lord's House on April 7 of same year. 2 Peter Cunningham says that Charles II. loved to talk over the incidents of his life to every new face that came about him, and especially his escape from Wor- 130 Wadsworth been sent from time to time to the people of Hart- ford by relatives living in the counties that His Majesty crossed while seeking a vessel to carry him to France, and it was the knowledge of this adventure that prompted Mistress Ruth Wyllys, when I brought her the charter, to bid me conceal it in the hollow oak, just as the King who granted it found shelter in the foliage of an oak when his life was in peril and of which all Englishmen sing, The Royal Oak it was the tree That saved his royal majesty. Possibly in years to come the descendants of those who lived and acted in Hartford when Sir Edmund Andros was here to do the bidding of King James, may also sing, The Charter Oak it was the tree That saved the people's liberty. cester. Burnet says that he went over it so often that those who had been long accustomed to it usually with- drew. On the other hand Sheffield says that many of his ministers, not out of flattery, but for the pleasure of hearing it, affected an ignorance of what they had heard ten times before. This love of talking made King Charles fond of strangers who would listen to his stories and went away in raptures at such an un- common condescension in a Monarch; while the same- ness in telling caused Lord Rochester to observe that "he wondered to see a man have so good a memory as to repeat the same story without losing the least cir- cumstance, and yet not remember that he had told it to the same persons the day before." (See Lord Roches- ter to Saville, relative to Mulgrave's Essay on Satire. Malone's Life of Dryden, Burnet, etc.) The Royal Oak 131 John Winthrop, Jr., who was in 1635 designated in the commission granted by the Warwick pat- entees as Governor of the River Connecticut, with places adjoining thereto, and who was at a later date Governor of Connecticut, and died in 1676 while holding that office, was born at Groton in Suffolk, England, February 12, 1605-6. He was fitted for college at the free grammar school found- ed by Edward VI. at Bury St. Edmunds and after studying at Trinity College, Dublin, was admitted a barrister of the Inner Temple in London, Febru- ary 28, 1624-5. As secretary of Captain Best, on the ship-of-war Dere Repulse, he served under the Duke of Buckingham in the effort to release the French Protestants at La Rochelle. Upon the return of the fleet he departed for the continent and for a year and a half traveled in Europe, going as far east as Constantinople. On February 8, 1631, John Winthrop, Jr., married Martha Fones, whose sister was the wife of his brother Henry, and in August of that year he and his wife sailed for Boston on the ship Lion. They were ten weeks at sea and arrived in Boston No- vember 4, 1631. The following March he was elected Assistant in Massachusetts. In March, 1632-3, he made a settlement at Agawam, a name that was afterwards changed to Ipswich, and re- sided there until September, 1634, when his wife 132 Wadsworth and daughter died. A few weeks later he sailed for England, where early in the following year, he was employed by Lord Say and Seal and Lord Brooke to found a plantation in Connecticut, the commission granted him bearing the date of July 15, 1635, and as has been stated, made him Governor of the River Connecticut with places adjoining thereto for one year after his arrival. Before sailing for New Eng- land John Winthrop, Jr., married Elizabeth, daugh- ter of Edmund Read and step-daughter of Rev. Hugh Peters, 1 who afterwards became chaplain to Oliver Cromwell. Winthrop and his second wife arrived in Boston on the Abigail, October 6, 1635, in company with his step-father-in-law, Hugh Pe- ters, and young Harry Vane, who was in due time elected Governor of Massachusetts, and after his return to England, became a power in the Com- monwealth. 1 Hugh Peters, a native of Fleury in Cornwall, was expelled from St. John's College, Cambridge, for ir- regularity. He was then an actor and afterwards took orders and was celebrated for his buffoonery in the pulpit. He was so bitter against Charles the First that at the Restoration he was excepted in the act of pardon and was hanged and quartered in 1660. Heath, in his narrative which was published during the reign of Charles II., refers to Peters in the list of Regicides as follows: Hugh Peters, the shame of the clergy, a pulpit buffoon, a seditious abominable fellow, trumpeter of their pageantry of a high court of Justice, the most unparalleled ecclesiastic in all story or times. The Royal Oak 133 As soon as he was settled comfortably in Boston, John Winthrop, Jr., sent a party of twenty men to found a settlement at the mouth of the Connecticut River. The subsequent struggles of this outpost in the wars and disputes with the Pequots, is a portion of the history of the colony, but Winthrop did not take an active part in them, as in 1637 he returned to Ipswich and the following year obtained permis- sion to set up salt works at Ryall-side, then part of Salem. Prior to this date his son, Fitz John Win- throp, who was Governor of Connecticut from 1698 to 1707, was born March 14, 1637-8, in Boston. John Winthrop, Jr., moved to Ryall-side in 1639 and resided there until August, 1641, when he again sailed for England. He remained abroad for over two years, the most of his time being devoted to organizing a company to erect iron works in New England. Returning to New England in 1643, John Win- throp, Jr., remained in Massachusetts until the spring of 1645, when he started for the Pequot country, taking with him the first horse 1 ever seen 'John Winthrop, Jr., was one of the first, if not the first man to encourage horse breeding in New Eng- land. On Fisher's Island he maintained a stud farm which was continued by his son and grandson. In 1677, the year after John Winthrop, Jr., died, John Hull, the master of the Boston Mint, at which the pine tree shillings were coined, associated himself with Mr. Brenton and Benedict Arnold, and enclosed Point 134 Wadsworth in Connecticut. In November of that year the town of Pequot, a name subsequently changed to New London, was founded, and in 1646 John Winthrop, Jr., removed his family to Fisher's Island, which was granted him by the General Court of Massa- chusetts. His residence in New London was built the following year. In 1655 he moved to New Haven and from there to Hartford in 1657, when he was elected Governor of Connecticut. From 1646 until his death, in 1676, John Winthrop, Jr., Judith in Rhode Island by running a stone wall across the north end in order to keep the mongrel breeds from among the "very good breed of large and fine horses" which they pastured there, and some of which no doubt came from the Winthrop stud on Fisher's Island. (See Archaelogia Americana, Vol. Ill, p. 128.) It is supposed that the Narragansett pacer which fables have made rise, Venus like from the sea, trace to this band on Point Judith and of which the Rev. Dr. McSparren said that he had seen "some of them pace a mile in a little more than two minutes." How much more would be very interesting to those who study racing. The first horse brought to New England ar- rived in Boston, July i, 1630, in the Mayflower or Whale. (See Winthrop's History of New England, Vol. I, p. 34.) Three heifers and a bull were brought to Plymouth in the Charity in 1624. (See Pilgrims and Puritans, p. 179). They were the first cattle in New England. In the south, Ferdinand De Soto landed in Florida in May, 1539, with two or three hundred horses and began his unsuccessful search for gold or silver, although he discovered the Mississippi River in which he also found a grave. Of the horses, a few wounded ones were turned loose in the forest when Mavilla or Mobile was burned October 18, 1540. In March of the following year another bunch of horses The Royal Oak 135 was identified with Connecticut, and while he fre- quently asked to be relieved from the cares of office in order to devote his declining years to his own affairs, the inhabitants of the colony had so much confidence in his judgment that they would not consider it. The highest honor in their gift was none too great for a man who had procured the charter upon which they based the titles to their homes. In 1649, Winthrop gave notice that he would decline re-election in the Court of Assistants in the escaped into the woods when the Chickasas burned Chicaca after they had refused to supply De Soto with two hundred men to carry the baggage of his army. This village was in the upper part of Mississippi, probably on the west bank of the Yazoo. (See Ban- croft's History of the United States, Vol. I, Chapter II.) A few days after this mishap, De Soto discovered the Mississippi River, which he crossed, barges being built for the horses. De Soto died May 21, 1542, and his followers, after making an unsuccessful effort to find gold, built a few boats to carry them down the river. What horses they did not kill for food were turned loose in the forest. The wild horses which were subsequently found on the prairies traced to this stock. Bancroft also says that it was not long after 1660 before the horses multiplied in Virginia, and to improve that noble animal was early an object of pride soon to be favored by legislature. Speed was es- pecially valued and "the planters' pace" became pro- verbial. (See Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. I, p. 234.) In New England in 1637, a mare from England or Flanders was worth 30 pounds. (See Trumbull's History of Connecticut, Vol. I, p. 78.) In 1687 the court allowed Steven Bracy 4 pounds for a horse that was pressed into the country service and lost. (See Connecticut Colonial Records.) 136 Wadsworth Massachusetts colony, and after a residence of one year in Connecticut, he was in May, 1651, chosen as an Assistant. About this time his step-father- in-law, Hugh Peters, urged him to return to Eng- land and cast his fortunes with the followers of Oliver Cromwell. Winthrop decided to remain in New England and was in 1657 chosen Governor. He was again elected to that office in 1659, after which the law forbidding immediate re-election of the Governor was changed, and John Winthrop was chosen annually from that date until 1676. In 1661 he was sent to England, without relinquishing the Governorship, to procure a charter for the Colony from Charles II., the General Assembly on the fourth of March of that year voting 500 pounds for his expenses and as the Treasurer did not have the money, Winthrop raised it by mortgaging Fisher's Island. When John Winthrop, Jr., visited the court of Charles II. no one in England was aware of the relationship existing between him and Cromwell's chaplain, Hugh Peters, who had been executed as a Regicide. I have also heard it said that one of Peters' legs was nailed over the gate by which his step-son-in-law entered London, while Cromwell's head, 1 pierced with a pikestaff, looked down on him 'The embalmed head of Oliver Cromwell is owned by Horace Wilkinson, who lives at Seal, near Seven- HUGH PETERS The Royal Oak 139 from Westminster Hall, but for the truthfulness of this I cannot vouch. At this period many Puritans had influence at court. The King had not as yet forgotten that he came to his own again through their favoring a Restoration, to what prevailed after the death of Oliver Cromwell, and made it possible by co-oper- ating with Monk, under whom John Winthrop's son Fitz John served as a captain on the march to London. Monk was at this date Duke of Albe- marle, and Lord Say and Seal, after serving as privy counsellor to Charles I., survived the Com- monwealth, and was now, notwithstanding his Presbyterian principles and well-known bearing to- wards the Puritans, Lord of the Privy Seal. Lord Brooke, one of his associates in the Warwick Pat- ent, and whose name is coupled with his in Say- brook, was dead, having been shot while sitting in his chamber by a besieged soldier in Litchfield Close. Favored by "Old Subtility," 1 the Earl of Man- oaks, in Kent. It, together with a portion of the pikestaff with which it was pierced, fell from the pin- nacle of Westminster Hall during the reign of James II, after being exposed to the elements for over thirty years. 1 It was an age of nicknames. The King was known as "Old Rowley," an allusion to an ill-favored but famous horse in the Royal Mews. King Charles called Hobbes "the bear," named a favored yacht "Fubbs" 140 Wadsworth Chester and their following, John Winthrop, Jr., soon made his way at court, his recitals of the won- ders of this, then comparatively unknown world, in which the English by their valor and skill at arms, had conquered the Pequots and other tribes of Indians, being very gratifying to the King, with whom Winthrop had several audiences, and those who had followed His Majesty from the continent. During one of these interviews Winthrop presented His Majesty with a ring which was given his grand- father by Charles I. when he was Prince of Wales. This pleased the King mightily and in return he presented Governor Winthrop with a miniature of himself painted on ivory. in honor of the Duchess of Portsmouth, who became very plump in her person, while he called the Queen "a bat" in allusion to her short, broad, figure, her swarthy complexion and the projection of her upper lip from a protuberant tooth. The name selected for Lord Say and Seal was very appropriate when it is remembered that it was applied to a man who passed through the Revolution, lived under the Common- wealth and aided in the Restoration without being put to any annoyance, while his sons also lived on in the enjoyment of their estates under Charles II., although one of them, Nathaniel Fiennes, commanded Bristol when taken by that madman, Prince Rupert, was con- demned to be shot, but escaped the penalty, later be- came one of the Commissioners of the great seal under the Parliament and subsequently a member of Crom- well's privy council; while John, his third son, was one of Oliver Cromwell's Lords. After the Restora- tion Nathaniel retired to his estates in Wiltshire, where he died Dec. 16, 1669. The Royal Oak 141 Notwithstanding the favors shown him by His Majesty and those who were numbered among- his admirers, John Winthrop, had many obstacles to overcome, but his tact proved equal to every emergency. On one occasion an enemy of colonial interests, who felt that he had been slighted by an unknown from America, handed the King a pine tree shilling 1 which had been struck in Massachu- setts as an evidence that the colonists were violating the laws of England by coining the King's money, and under such conditions were not entitled to pat- ent privileges. The King retained the coin until Winthrop again appeared at court to urge the Con- necticut petition, and after his arguments were pre- sented Charles handed him the piece of money and asked him what was meant by the tree on the face of it. "That," said Winthrop, who was familiar with the personal history of the King and who also saw that the name of the tree could not be deter- mined by the stamp on the coin, "is the Royal Oak, whose leaves and branches once sheltered your gra- cious Majesty from your foes." 1 The pine tree shillings were coined by John Hull who was made master of the Mint in Boston in 1652. Hull was born at Market Hanborough, Leicestershire, England, December 18, 1624, and accompanied his father to New England in 1635. He was a zealous Puri- tan and married Judith, daughter of Edmund Quincy, the ceremony being performed by Governor Winthrop "on the nth day of the third month," 1647. 142 Wadsworfh "Oddsfish," said His Majesty, "you are truly loyal in New England, when even the dangers I have passed are commemorated on your coins," and as Winthrop related on his return, the King, utterly regardless of the other business which required his attention, called his spaniels 1 and as he fondled their long silky ears, related to those present how he fled from Worcester and wandered for over six weeks in the southwestern counties of England before his friends could find a ship to carry him across the channel to France. Over fifty years have elapsed since I first heard what the King said to Winthrop and the others who were present and since then many local facts have been added to the narration which I will endeavor to place on record in these notes. The battle of Worcester was the last stand that the Royalists made in England against Cromwell, and as his victorious troops poured into the city, Charles Stuart, the nominal King of Great Britain, surrounded by a few nobles, rode out of St. Mar- tin's gate towards Scotland, a fugitive who in a few days had a price of 1,000 pounds placed on his 'Sept. 4, 1667. Staid (at the Whitehall chamber) and heard Alderman Baker's case of his being abused by the council of Ireland, touching his lands there; all I observed there was the silliness of the King, playing with his dogs all the while, and not minding the busi- ness, and what he said was mighty weak. Pepy's Diary. WILLIAM PENDRELL The Royal Oak 145 head. In the first flush of triumph no one in the Parliamentary forces appeared to be very anxious to apprehend the King and to this no doubt he owed his escape without leaving a clue. When the King left the city, he and Lord Wil- mot, afterwards the Duke of Rochester, intended to make a dash for London in the hope of getting a vessel for France before the news of his defeat could get thither, but he found that he could not break away from his defeated soldiers who were, like himself, fleeing along Leicestershire road until it was too late. He finally, with about sixty gentle- men and officers, the Duke of Buckingham, Lord Derby and Wilmot being of the number, slipped out of the high road and galloped towards Wolver- hampton, passing through Stonebridge, where a troop of the enemy was quartered for the night, without being suspected. After a ride of about twenty miles, as the day was breaking they came to White Ladys, 1 a house belonging to the Giffard family, one of whose retainers, William Pendrell, hid Lord Derby at Boscobel House while he was recovering from a wound received in a skirmish with Colonel Lilburn at Wigan. Just as they ar- rived at White Ladys, a country fellow brought the 1 White Ladys was given the name from it having been formerly a monastery of Cistertian nuns whose habits were of that color. 146 Wadsworfh news that there were three thousand Royalist horse on a heath near Tong Castle, all in disorder, under David Leslie. A few of those who were with the King advised him to join Leslie and endeavor to reach Scotland, but Charles thought that this was not possible, as he knew that the country would rise against the Scotch and that men who had deserted him when in good order could not be depended upon after they had been beaten. After having some refreshments of bread and cheese, the King decided to go on foot to London disguised in a country fellow's habit, a pair of or- dinary gray cloth breeches, a leather doublet and a green jerkin. Upon the announcement of his plan, all of the persons of quality and officers, except Lord Wilmot, rode off to join Leslie. After they reached him and marched about six miles they were routed by a single troop of horse, Lord Derby and a number of others being taken prison- ers. Before leaving to join the Leslie horse, Charles Giffard recommended to the King his retainers, Richard and William Pendrell, 1 as honest men who 1 The Pendrell family consisted of six sons and one daughter, the mother, good wife Pendrell, called Dame Joan by Charles II., being at Hobbal Grange when the King was in that vicinity. She died in 1669 and was buried at White Ladys. Of her sons, Thomas fell at Edgehill in the army of Charles I., William lived with his wife at Boscobel House; Richard, "Trusty Dick," resided at Hobbal Grange; John and George, both of The Royal Oak 147 could be depended upon. With their assistance he cut off his hair and flung his clothes in a privy house so that nobody might see that anyone had been stripping themselves there, and, disguised in a leathern doublet and workman's suit, left White Ladys to find refuge in Spring Coppice wood. Seated on a blanket which Richard Pend- rell brought from the house of his brother-in-law, Francis Yates, the King passed the first day of his hiding, good wife Yates, a sister of the Pend- rells, bringing him a mess of butter, milk and eggs, and cheering him with the assurance that she would rather die than discover him. As the King and Richard Pendrell passed the day in the wood, they talked about getting to which were woodmen, occupied adjoining cottages, al- thoueh Father Hudleston says that John lived at White Ladys and Humphrey at the mill at White Ladys. The daughter Elizabeth was the wife of Fran- cis Yates, who gave the King the coarse shirt which he wore until Hudleston gave him a linen one the fol- lowing week at Moseley Hall. The King is supposed to have changed his clothes in the Yates house, and he told Pepys at Newmarket in 1680 "the man in whose house I changed my clothes came to one of the Pend- rells about two days after, and asking him where I was, told him that they might get 1,000 pounds if they would tell, because there was that sum upon my head. But Pendrell was so honest, that, though he at the time knew where I was, he bade him have a care what he did; for, that I being gone out of reach, if they should now discover that I had been there, they would get nothing but hanging for their pains." 148 Wadsworth London, and, as the family did not know any men of quality on the way, Charles decided that he would create less suspicion by crossing the Sev- ern and seeking shelter among the Royalists in Wales until a ship could be found to carry him from Swansea or some of the other sea towns, to France. At nightfall they repaired to Hobbal Grange, where the King completed his rustic dis- guise and from which he and "Trusty Dick" Pendrell started on foot towards the river, in- tending to cross at a ferry between Bridgewater and Shrewsbury. As they were trudging along in the dark they came to a mill in which they could hear people talking. When they passed, the miller, who was sitting at the door, called out, "Who goes there?" upon which Rich- ard Pendrell answered, "Neighbours going home." Whereupon the miller cried out, "If you are neighbours, stand or I will knock you down." Fearful of exposure on account of the King not being able to speak in the accent of the country, and believing that the company was coming out of the mill, Pendrell and Charles turned and fled up a lane, with the miller crying "Rogues, rogues," in pursuit. They soon evaded him in the darkness, and, after hiding for about half an hour behind a hedge, marched on to Madeley, where Pendrell The Royal Oak 149 knew an old Royalist named Woolfe, who had hiding holes for priests. The King refused to go into his house until he knew whether Woolfe would harbor so dangerous a guest, and remained in the field under a hedge until Pendrell could learn if he would receive a person of quality and hide him the next day. At the time Woolfe's son was a prisoner at Shrewsbury, having been taken while fighting for the King, while his house had recently been searched and all of the hiding holes discovered. When Woolfe learned that the man seeking shelter was one who escaped from Worcester, he said that he would not venture his neck for any man unless it were the King himself. As Pend- rell had orders not to tell who the person was, he did not know which way to turn, but upon learn- ing that there were two companies of militia in the place Ireeping guard at the ferry, and seeing that the day was coming, he decided to disobey Charles' commands and told Woolfe that it was the King. Upon this Woolfe said that he would venture all he had in the world to secure him, and Pendrell brought the King into the house by a back way. After giving the pair some cold meat, Woolfe concealed them under the corn and hay in his barn, where they remained all the next day. 150 Wadsworth Towards evening Woolfe's son who had been released, came home. At dusk they brought food to the barn, where they discussed the chances of getting over the Severn into Wales. They were of the opinion that it could not be done on account of the strict guards that were kept all along the river where a passage could be found, and, as the King had taken sufficient chances in the past forty-eight hours, he decided to return to Pendrell's house and remain there until he could hear from Lord Wilmot. After Mrs. Woolfe had completed the King's disguise by staining his face and hands a reeky color with walnut leaves, Richard Pendrell and Charles started for Boscobel House, stopping on the way at John Pendrell's, where they learned that Wil- mot had found shelter at Moseley Hall, the home of Mr. Whitgreave, and that Major Carles, an officer who had fought under him at Worcester and who had maintained his ground until the last man was killed, was in hiding at Boscobel. As soon as the King arrived at his destination he sent for Carles and consulted with him as to what they should do the next day. Carles advised him that it would be dangerous to remain in the house or go into the great wood, as the enemy would certainly search for people who had made their escape. He also said that he knew of but THE ROYAL OAK OF BOSCOBEL The Royal Oak 153 one way to pass the day, and that was to climb into an oak tree standing in an open space about a furlong from the house. 1 As the King approved of the plan, the two fugitives, assisted by the Pendrells, went up into the great oak, taking some bread, cheese and small beer as victuals for the day. This tree had been lopped some three or four years before, and, having grown out again very thick and bushy, could not be seen through ; but during the day both Carles and the King saw the red coats of Cromwell's soldiers as they searched in the Boscobel wood for persons who had escaped from Worcester. None of them came near the hiding place, which has since that day been known as the Royal Oak. 2 At dusk 1 After the Restoration, when the details of the King's escape from Worcester were published, hun- dreds flocked to Boscobel to see the tree, which was soon called the Royal Oak. The more zealous ad- mirers of the King were not satisfied with looking at the tree, but insisted on carrying away young branches as souvenirs. At an early date Basil Fitzherbert, who subsequently owned the property on which the tree stood, built a stone wall around the tree to protect it from the public. He also had it cropped in the hope that it would grow out again, but even this heroic measure failed to save it. Upon its fall one of its acorns was planted on the original spot. The wall built by Sir Basil was removed in 1814, when a high iron railing took its place. A brass plate, with Sir Basil's inscription formerly fixed on the tree, is still preserved in Boscobel House. * On April 21, 1840, at a meeting of the Connecti- cut Historical Society Col. Wm. L. Stone of New 154 Wadsworth Carles and the King returned to Boscobel House, where they remained until the following evening, when John Pendrell returned from a visit to Lord Wilmot and told the King that arrangements had been made to receive him at Moseley Hall. At nightfall, surrounded by a bodyguard com- posed of the five Pendrells and brother-in-law Yates, the King, mounted on Humphrey's mill horse, set out. As they trudged along in the York, made the following reference of the Charter and Royal Oaks: "I need not remind this audience of the fact that after the decisive defeat of Charles the Sec- ond, by Cromwell at Worcester, he was indebted to the thick branches of an oak in Boscobel, for conceal- ment from his victorious pursuers, upon whom he looked down in perfect security. Now had it not been for the Oak of Boscobel, Charles would have been taken and executed by the fierce and victorious Presby- terian. Of course, in that event, he would not have granted the Charter of 1662, securing to the Colony the Constitution of 1639; and again when in 1687, Sir Ed- mund Andros came hither to reclaim the Charter, had it not been for the dexterity of Wadsworth and his con- federates, and the noble old Oak, whose boughs, 'mossed with age, and bald with dry antiquity,' yet brave the tempest and 'the scolding winds,' what would have be- come of that priceless Charter? Sir, I venerate the 'gnarled and unwedgeable oak;' I prize it for its poetical associations and for its history. I prize it because it sheltered the patriarchs; I regard it because the Anglo Saxons loved and worshipped under it. I love it because it saved Charles the Second to give the Charter of 1662. And I value it still more because it saved the Charter itself. Let me then give as a toast The Oak of Boscobel and the Oak of Hartford the latter saved the Charter of Connecticut, which but for the former, King Charles would not have lived to grant." The Royal Oak 155 darkness and rain, his Majesty, who had not as yet recovered from his fatigue, complained that his mount "was the dullest jade he ever rode on," to which the miller replied, "Can you blame the horse, my liege, to go heavily when he has the weight of three kingdoms on his back?" an an- swer the King enjoyed hugely. When within two miles of Moseley Hall the King dismounted, and after parting with three of the brothers, proceeded on foot to a small grove of trees known as Pit Leason, where he was met by Father Hudleston 1 and Mr. Whitgreave and conveyed to the home of the latter, where he found Lord Wilmot. The King remained at Moseley Hall for two days, during which Lord Wilmot and Colonel Lane perfected arrange- ments to have him proceed to a point near Bris- tol, as William Jackson, a serving man with Jane Lane, under a pass which she had from Captain Stone, Governor of Stratford. Clothed in an ordinary gray suit, the newly made servant, after being equipped and tutored in the stable by the Colonel, rode to the front door of Bentley Hall on a double horse provided for Mistress 1 Both Hudleston and Whitgreave had served in the army of Charles I. The former survived the Restora- tion and also Charles II. and was the priest who was smuggled into the Royal chamber to administer ex- treme unction to that monarch in his last moments. 156 Wadsworih Lane and set off in company with a Royalist offi- cer named Lascelles, Mrs. Petre, a sister of Col- onel Lane, and her husband. After a ride of about two hours the King's mare cast a shoe and he was forced to ride to a village near by to have it reset. As he was hold- ing the mare's foot he asked the smith what news and was told that there was none since the Scotch rogues were beaten at Worcester. The King then asked if none of the English had been taken with the Scots and was told that he did not hear that the rogue Charles Stuart was taken, but that some of the others were. At this point His Maj- esty ventured the remark that if the rogue Charles Stuart were taken he deserved hanging for bring- ing in the Scots. Upon which the smith told him he talked like an honest man, and they parted. As the King and his small party arrived near Walton, within four miles of Stratford, an old woman who was gleaning in the fields cried out, "Master, don't you see a troop of horses before you ?" and upon looking in the direction indicated they espied a troop whose riders had alighted and the horses eating grass by the wayside. At the suggestion of one of the gentlemen who ac- companied Mrs. Lane, they wheeled about and took a more indirect way into Stratford, where they met the same or another troop, which opened The Royal Oak 157 right and left, making way for the travelers to march through them. Jane Lane and her com- pany lodged that night at the house of Mr. Toombs, in Long Marston, four miles west of Stratford. Upon their arrival, Will Jackson was sent to the kitchen, where the cook was busy preparing supper for the master and his guests. As the King in disguise sat by the fire, the cook bade him wind up the jack. When he failed to do it properly she flew into a passion and asked, "What countryman are you that you know not how to wind up a jack?" His Majesty answered very satisfactorily as he said, "I am a poor ten- ant's son of Colonel Lane's of Staffordshire; we seldom have roast meat, but when we have it, we do not make use of a jack," at which the cook was very much amused. The following day Jane Lane's party, which was now reduced to Mr. Lascells and the dis- guised serving man, Mr. Petre and his wife hav- ing parted from them at Stratford, passed through Camden and lodged at an inn in Cirencester. Another day's journey brought them to the resi- dence of George Norton at Abbotsleigh, three miles beyond the town of Bristol. The King re- mained here from Saturday until the following- Tuesday. On the morning after his arrival he was recognized by the butler of the house, an 158 Wadsworfh honest fellow named Pope, and who had served Tom Jermyn, a groom of the King's bedchamber when Charles was a boy at Richmond. Pope had also been a trooper in his father's army. Having learned that he was always loyal, the King, as soon as he was advised of the discovery, sent for Pope and told him that as an old ac- quaintance he would trust him with his life. He also told him that it was his design to get a ship at Bristol, and to that end bade Pope go that day to the town and learn if there were any vessels ready to sail for Spain or France. Upon his re- turn Pope reported that there would be none sailing for a month, and, as the King could not remain at Abbotsleigh for that length of time, after consulting with Lord Wilmot, who traveled about without putting on any disguise, he de- cided to adopt Pope's suggestion of seeking shel- ter with Frank Wyndham at Trent in Somerset- shire. Accordingly the next morning Jane Lane, accompanied by Mr. Lascells and her disguised serving man, departed for Trent, although at the time the Nortons supposed that they were re- turning to Bentley Hall, while Lord Wilmot rode on in advance to apprise the Wyndhams of the quality of the guest who would seek the shel- ter of their roof. Upon receipt of advice that it JANE LANE The Royal Oak 161 was the King, Colonel Wyndham, who was at the time a prisoner on parole, assured Wilmot that for His Majesty's preservation he would value neither his life, family nor fortune and would never injure His Majesty's confidence in him. The next morning, after acquainting his mother, Lady Wyndham, her niece, Juliana Con- ingsby, his wife and the servants that could be trusted with what Lord Wilmot told him over night, he and his lady walked forth in the fields to meet Jane Lane and her escort, which had lain the preceding night at Castle Gary, a town six miles distant from Trent. In their absence Lady Wyndham had her chamber prepared to receive the King, while all of the servants not privy to the secret were given employment which removed them out of the way at the time of his arrival. As soon as the King came near Colonel Wynd- ham, he called to him, "Frank, Frank, how dost thou do?" but refrained from further remarks until he and Mistress Lane had been conveyed into Lady Wyndham's chamber, where they were soon joined by Lord Wilmot. The ladies then withdrew to the parlor and on the following day Jane Lane and Mr. Lascells departed. As for the King, he remained at Trent house for 162 Wadsworth nineteen days, except during the period covered by an unsuccessful attempt to get a vessel to transport him from Lyme to France. During this period he had ample opportunity to learn of the loyalty of the Wyndhams. When the time hung heavily, Colonel Wynd- ham, on more than one occasion, entertained the King by relating how, in 1636, before the break- ing out of the Civil War, his father, Sir Thomas Wyndham, summoned his five sons to his cham- ber and spoke to them of the peace which the kingdom had enjoyed under the Tudor sover- eigns and of the blessed union of the crowns of England and Scotland, which put an end to the border raids and feuds, many of which traced back to the Normans. After dwelling upon the stern but loyal barons who wrested the Magna Charta from King John, and referring to the divisions of families in the troubles between the houses of Lancaster and York, both of which were united in Henry VIL, he said, "My sons! we have hitherto seen serene and quiet times, but now prepare yourselves for cloudy and trouble- some. I command you to honor and obey our gracious sovereign, and in all times to adhere to the crown ; and though the crown shall hang on a bush, I charge you to forsake it not." Sir Thomas died before the war began, but his family re- The Royal Oak 163 mained loyal to the end, three of his sons and a grandson falling in battle in the cause of Charles I., and Frank Wyndham also served with honor. On one of the days while the King was con- cealed at Trent, he heard the bells ringing in a church yard hard by the Wyndham house, and, see- ing a company there he sent a maid who knew him to learn what was on foot. Upon her return she told him that one of Cromwell's troopers was telling the people that he had killed the King and that he was then wearing his buff coat. As the majority of the people were bitterly opposed to the Royalists, they expressed their joy by ringing the church bells and making a bonfire. The morning after the King arrived at Trent, both he and Lord Wilmot, after consulting with Frank Wyndham, decided that the latter should approach Sir John Strangways, who had had two sons in Charles I.'s army, and ask him to assist in procuring a vessel. The Strangways were un- able to give any aid in the adventure other than by sending the King a hundred pounds. After advising His Majesty of the failure in that quar- ter, Frank Wyndham traveled to Lyme, where he approached William Ellesden; a merchant who had, with the assistance of his brother, con- veyed several gentlemen to France. As soon as Ellesden learned that Colonel Wyndham came 164 Wadsworth from the King, he expressed himself as willing to meet any hazard in the enterprise and went with him to one of his tenants, Samuel Limbry, who intended to make a speedy voyage to San Malo. Limbry agreed to transport Colonel Wyndham, who treated with him under the name of Captain Norris, and three or four friends to France for 60 pounds, promising to take them from the beach near Charmouth in his long boat on the night of September 22. As soon as their arrangements were completed, Colonel Wyndham returned to Trent and dispatched his servant, Henry Peters, to Charmouth to engage chambers at the inn for the King and his party until it was time to go on board. By representing his master as a gallant who was eloping with a young wom- an of good parents in Devon, and favoring the hostess with a present, Peters left with a promise that the house and its servants should be at his master's command. When the day selected for the journey to Char- mouth came, the King rode away from Trent as a serving man before Lady Wyndham's niece, Juliana Coningsby. Colonel Wyndham acted as guide, while Lord Wilmot and Peters remained at a convenient distance. William Ellesden met them and conducted the party to his brother's house among the hills, where they remained un- The Royal Oak 165 til nightfall. The company then started for the inn, where they expected to lay until midnight, when Limbry's long boat was to meet them at the appointed place. As the set hour drew nigh Colonel Wyndham and Peters repaired to the beach, where they re- mained until the break of day. The boat did not come, and as they had not received a message from the master of the ship, they returned to the inn and advised both the King and Lord Wilmot to fly, as they feared that they had been betrayed. As soon as the horses could be led out, Colonel Wyndham and the King, the latter riding before Mistress Coningsby, departed for Burport, where Lord Wilmot promised to join them as soon as he learned why the ship had failed them. Send- ing for Ellesden, he had him find Limbry, from whom it was ascertained that in order to prevent a discovery he had not told his wife of his intention of going to sea until it was almost time for him to go aboard. When he called for his chest, she asked him why he was going to sail without goods, and he told her that Mr. Ellesden had pro- vided a better freight. His wife, having been at the Lyme fair that day, heard the proclamation read wherein 1,000 pounds reward was promised for the discovery of the King, and in which the penalties for concealing His Majesty or any of 166 Wadsworth those who fought with him at Worcester were set forth. Being convinced that her husband intended to carry a few of these fugitives into France, she locked the door upon him and by the help of her two daughters kept him by force, and at the same time threatened that if he offered to stir out of doors she would go to Lyme and give information against him and Mr. Ellesden to Captain Macy, who was lying there with a company of foot. Knowing what an exposure meant, Limbry remained peaceably at home. While getting this information Lord Wilmot learned that his horse was wanting a shoe, and, knowing that it was all he had to depend upon in making his escape from Charmouth, he bade the hostler at the inn lead him to a smith and have one set. The horse was taken to the forge of one Hammet, who, after finishing his task, examined the remaining shoes, as all good work- men will. As he did so he said in the hearing of the hostler, "This horse hath three shoes that were set in three different counties, and one of them in Worcestershire." This confirmed the hostler's suspicions, which were first aroused by the horses being kept in readiness all the night, and several members of the company going to the seaside, but before he could find anyone who would listen to him, Lord Wilmot rode off The Royal Oak 167 towards Burport, where he joined the King and Colonel Wyndham. When Charles and his party arrived at Bur- port they found the streets full of Cromwell's red-coated soldiers, it being a regiment of Colonel Haynes going to embark for Jersey. Wyndham was very much startled, but the King told him that they must go impudently into the best inn in the town, and take a chamber there; because they should otherwise miss Lord Wilmot in case they went anywhere else, and that would be very inconvenient both to him and them. So they rode directly into the inn yard. The King alight- ed and, taking the horses, went blundering through the middle of the soldiers into the stable ; and in doing so created not a little anger by his rudeness. As soon as he went into the stable Charles took the bridles off the horses, called the hostler to help him, and to give the horses some oats. As the hostler was feeding the horses he said, "Sure, sir, I know your face," which was not a very pleasant remark under the circumstances, but in order to learn what he did know the King asked him where he had lived and if he had al- ways lived in Burport or not. The hostler told him that he was born in Exeter and had worked in the stables at an inn near the house of one 168 Wadsworth Mr. Porter, in whose house His Majesty had slept in the time of the war. Deeming it advisable to give the fellow no further occasion of thinking where he had seen him, the King told him, "Certainly, friend, you have seen me at Mr. Porter's, for I served him a good while above a year." At this the hostler replied, "Oh, then I remember you a boy there," and desired the King to drink a pot of beer with him. Excusing him- self by saying that he must go and wait on his master, and get his dinner ready, and promising to share a pot with him on their return from London in about three weeks, Charles sought the shelter of the inn, where he remained until Lord Wilmot rode into the town. As soon as Peters announced his arrival, they took horse and galloped off on the London road, which they left as soon as Lord Wilmot joined them, taking what they supposed was the road to Yeovil, but which led them at about nightfall to Broad Wind- sor, where they found shelter in an upper cham- ber of a small inn kept by Rice Jones. In the interval the hue and cry raised by the hostler and those in Charmouth who listened to him, reached Captain Macy. He rushed off with a party in pursuit of the royal fugitive. At Bur- port he learned from the hostler that the party The Royal Oak 169 had gone on to London, but all traces of them disappeared before Dorchester was reached. The following morning the King returned to Trent. Upon his arrival he sent a message to Salisbury for Colonel Robert Phillips, to learn what could be done in the way of getting a ship. Phillips chartered one, but before their plans could be completed it was prest to carry troops to Jersey. The next messenger was sent farther into Sussex, and, in order to be nearer the point of embarkation should a vessel be procured, His Majesty arranged with Colonel Phillips to find him a hiding place nearer Salisbury. He selected a house owned by Sergeant Hyde, and which was then occupied by the widow of his elder brother. It was near Heale, three miles from Salisbury. As soon as the necessary arrangements were completed Colonel Phillips went to Trent and returned with the King, the latter traveling in his old disguise of a serving man and for security riding in front of Mistress Juliana Coningsby. In this journey he passed through the middle of a regiment of horse and also met Disborow, who was at the time walking down a hill with three or four men who had lodged with him the night before in Salisbury. In four or five days Phillips returned to Heale 170 Wadsworth to advise Charles that a vessel had been secured at Shoreham. Upon which, at two o'clock in the morning, they went out of the house by a back way, and, after traveling fifteen miles, met Lord Wilmot and Colonel Gunter. The latter con- ducted them to the home of his brother-in-law at Hambleton, seven miles from Portsmouth. The next day they went to Brighthelmstone, where they met the merchant Francis Mansel, who had procured the vessel, and its master, Captain Nich- olas Tattersall. As they were all sitting together the master of the vessel looked very much at the King, who was at the time in the same gray cloth suit. After they had supped he took the merchant aside and said that he had not dealt fairly with him, for though he had given him a very good price for carrying over the gentleman, he had not been clear with him, "for," said he, "it is the King, and I very well know him to be so." Upon which, the merchant denying it, as at the time he only knew His Majesty as a person of quality who had escaped from the battle of Worcester, the master answered, "I know him very well, for he took my ship, together with other fishing vessels, at Brighthelmstone in 1648. But be not troubled at it, for I think to do God and my country a good service in preserving the King, and, by the grace of God, I will venture CHARLES The Royal Oak 173 my life and all for him and set him safely on shore, if I can, in France." When the merchant advised Lord Wilmot and the King of the conversation, His Majesty told him that what Captain Tattersall said was true and that he had, when in command of his fathers fleet, taken the vessels as stated, but let them go again. After what had happened, and remem- bering their mishap at Charmouth, it was not deemed prudent to let the captain go home lest he should be asking advice of his wife or any- body else, so they kept him with them at the inn where they sat up all night drinking beer and taking tobacco. About four o'clock in the morning the King and his company went towards Shoreham, where both he and Lord Wilmot got into the ship. They went out of port about seven and stood all day with easy sail towards the Isle of Wight, the vessel being bound for Pool with a load of sea coal. About five o'clock in the afternoon, the wind being then full north, its bow was turned towards France and the next morning, a little before day, they saw the coast. As the tide failed them, the King and Lord Wilmot were rowed ashore and went up into the town of Fecamp, where they remained until they procured horses to carry them to Rouen, from whence they sent notice to Queen Henrietta in Paris. 174 Wadsworth Within an hour after the King landed the wind changed and Captain Tattersall was carried directly to Pool without its being known that he had been on the coast of France. 1 Such, in brief, is the narrative of Charles XL's escape from 1 Charles II.'s love of talking referred to by Cun- ningham and others in a preceding note is aptly illus- trated in the Diary of Samuel Pepys, who wrote as fol- lows on May 23, 1660, the day Charles sailed from Hol- land for England. "All the afternoon the King walked here and there, up and down, very active and stirring. Upon the quarterdeck he fell into discourse of his es- cape from Worcester, where it made me ready to weep to hear the stories that he told of his difficulties that he had passed through, as his traveling three days and four nights on foot, every step up to his knees in dirt, with nothing but a green coat and a pair of country breeches on, and a pair of country shoes that made him so sore all over his feet that he could scarce stir. Yet he was forced to run away from a miller and other company that took them for rogues. His sitting at a table at one place, where the master of the house, that had not seen him in eight years, did know him, but kept it private; where at the same table there was one that had been of his own regiment at Worcester, could not know him, but made him drink the King's health, and said that the King was at least four fingers higher than he. At another place he was by some servants in the house made to drink, that they might know him not to be a Roundhead, which they swore he was. In another place at his inn, the master of the house, as the King was standing with his hands upon the back of a chair by the fireside, kneeled down and kissed his hand, privately saying that he would not ask him who he was, but bid God bless him whither he was going. Then the difficulty to get a boat going into France when he was fain to plot with the master thereof to keep his design from the foreman and a boy (which The Royal Oak 175 Worcester and his wanderings in the southern counties of England before he could find a vessel to carry him across the Channel, and that he did not forget those who risked their lives and prop- erty aiding and sheltering him when there was a price upon his head, is evidenced by the following pensions which were granted after the Restora- tion: Lady Fisher, nee Jane Lane, 1 pension for life looo pounds Colonel Lane, pension for life 500 " Anne Wyndham, widow of Sir Francis Wyndham, pension in which her daugh- ters Rachel and Frances had a joint reversionary interest for their lives.... 400 Robert Phillips, pension for life 400 " Mr. Whitgreave, an annuity with reversion to his son Thomas 200 " Richard Pendrell and his heirs forever, per annum 100 " William Pendrell and his heirs forever, per annum 100 " Humphrey, John & George Pendrell and their heirs forever, per annum severally. 100 marks Elizabeth Yates, widow, and her heirs for- ever, per annum 50 pounds was all the ship's company) and so got to Fecamp in France. At Rouen he looked so poorly that the peo- ple went into his rooms before he went away to see whether he had not stole something or other." 1 Jane Lane's pension was accompanied by a watch, which by the express request of the King, was to descend by succession to the eldest daughter of the house of Lane. The Colonel Lane pension ceased in the reign of George I. The Pendrell and Yates an- nuities are still paid, the last reference to them in the daily press being published in the New York Sun in 176 Wadsworth the form of a despatch from St. John, N. B., Canada, September 20, 1902. It is reproduced as an evidence that at least one family did not suffer when its members trusted a Prince. "A gift from Charles II. Dr. Walker benefiting by the gratitude of a King 250 years ago. St. John, N. B., Sept. 20, 1902. Because in September, 251 years ago, the Pendrells, of Boscobel in Staffordshire, England, saved the life of Charles Stuart, afterward Charles II., Thomas Walker, M. D., of St. John, gets 10 pounds per annum. For he is a descendant of the Pendrells. After Charles became King, Farmer Pendrell was suitably remembered. One of the estates which Charles granted afterward was made chargeable with a perpetual pay- ment of 100 pounds to each of the other four brothers, and 50 pounds to a sister, Elizabeth Pendrell, who shared the family secret. Dr. Walker, of St. John, is a descendant of Elizabeth Pendrell. There were five families descended from her, and the 50 pounds was divided, so that the representative of each branch gets 10 pounds a year. A check for this amount, less a small commission, comes every spring to Dr. Walker from a solicitor at Lichfield, England. His father got it before him, and it will descend to his son. Once, when in England, the doctor sought to learn whose estate was still paying so old an account, but the solic- itor was abroad." In order to make a permanent provision for the con- tinuation of the Pendrells' and Yates' pensions, Charles II., on July 24, 1675, settled by patent fee farm rents to Sir Walter Wrottesley, Bart., Richard Con- greve and John Richard, Esqrs., charged with the pensions granted the Pendrells and Yates families. THE PATENT, CHARTER AND DEED THE PATENT, CHARTER AND DEED November 3, 1620, James I., by letters patent, incorporated the Duke of Lennox, Marquis of Buckingham, Marquis of Hamilton, Earl of Arun- del, Earl of Warwick and others to the number of forty noblemen, knights and gentlemen, into what was afterwards known as the Plymouth Company, the object of which was the planting, ruling and governing of New England in Amer- ica, "and granted unto them, and their successors and assigns, all that part of America lying and being in breadth from forty degrees of north latitude, from the equinoctial line to the forty- eighth degree of said northerly latitude inclu- sively, and in length of, and within all the breadth aforesaid, throughout the main lands from sea to sea." The patent ordained that this territory should be known forever as New England. It is also the foundation of all subsequent grants made to the Colonies in New England. On March 19, 1628, the Plymouth Company granted unto Sir Henry Roswell, Sir John Young, Thomas Southcoat, John Humphrey, John Endi- cott, and Simon Whitcomb, their heirs and as- signs forever, all that part of New England be- tween the Merrimack and Charles Rivers, in the 180 Wadsworth bottom of Massachusetts Bay, and three miles to the north and south of every part of the Charles River, and three miles south of the southernmost part of said bay, and three miles to the northward of every part of the Mernmack River. Charles I. confirmed this patent on March 4, 1629, and the settlement of Massachusetts was commenced under it. In 1630 the council of Plymouth granted its President, Robert, Earl of Warwick, "all that part of New England in America which lies and extends itself from a river there called the Narra- gansett River, the space of forty leagues upon a straight line, near the seashore, towards the southwest, west and by south or west, as the coast lyeth towards Virginia, counting three miles to the league, and also all and singular the lands, hereditaments whatsoever, lying and being with- in the lands aforesaid, north and south in latitude and breadth, and in length and longitude of, and within all the breadth aforesaid, throughout the main lands there, from the western ocean to the south seas, and all lands, grounds, soil, wood and woodlands, grounds, havens, ports, creeks, rivers, waters, fishings and hereditaments whatsoever lying within the said space and every part and parcel thereof, and also all lands lying in America aforesaid, in the said seas or either of them, on The Patent, Charter and Deed 181 the western or eastern coasts or parts of the said tracts of land by these presents, to be given and granted." 1 This grant was subsequently known as the Warwick Patent and is the original patent of Connecticut. This patent was, on October 19, 1631, trans- ferred by the Earl of Warwick to William Vis- count Say and Seal, Robert Lord Brooke, Rob- ert Lord Rich, Charles Fines, Sir Nathaniel Rich, Sir Richard Saltonstall, John Pym, John Hamp- den, John Humphry, Herbert Pelham, their heirs and assigns and their associates forever, but no steps to found a colony were made until July 7, 1635, when William Say and Seal, Henry Law- rence, Richard Saltonstall, George Fenwick, Ar- thur Hazelrigg and Henry Darley appointed John Winthrop, the younger, "Governor of the River Connecticut in New England, and of the harbor and places adjoining," for the space of one year from his arrival there. The articles of agree- ment between the parties also stipulated that as soon as Winthrop came to the Bay he should employ at least fifty able men to build a fort and houses at the River Connecticut, and the harbor 'This grant, according to President Clap of Yale College, extended from Point Judith to New York, and from thence in a west line to the south sea; and if the whole length of the Narragansett River is included, it extended as far north as Worcester. Massachusetts. 182 Wadsworth adjoining, first for their own accommodation, and also houses suitable to receive men of qual- ity, the latter to be built within the fort. It was this clause which led to the rumor that Pym, Hampden, Hazelrigg, Cromwell and others who were associated with them, intended to leave England and settle in America. They were ex- pected for many a day, or at least until the suc- cesses of the Parliamentary forces under Crom- well convinced the surviving patentees that vic- tory was assured, the rout of King Charles' forces at Naseby practically putting an end to his au- thority as sovereign. In addition to appointing John Winthrop, Jr., Governor of the River Connecticut, the Warwick patentees also employed Lion Gardiner to com- mand the fort for four years, subject to the direc- tion of the Governor. At the time of his engage- ment, Gardiner was Master of the Works of For- tification in the camp of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, in the Netherlands, where he and John Mason, one of the founders of Windsor and the leader of the Connecticut forces in the Pequot war, both saw much active service under Sir Thomas Fairfax. Gardiner was born in England in 1599, and went with the English army to the Low Countries, where he met Hugh Peters, and the Rev. John Davenport, one of the founders of New The Patent, Charter and Deed 183 Haven, both of whom were at the time connected with a Protestant church in Rotterdam. They urged him to accept the offer of the Warwick patentees and both of them in the course of a few years met him in New England. Before leaving for England, Gardiner was, on July 10, 1635, married to Mary Wilemsen, of Woerden. They proceeded to London, where, after entering into an agreement to act as archi- tect, builder and engineer of the town and fort of defense which was to be located at the mouth of the Connecticut River, Gardiner and his wife, with her maid, Elizabeth Colet, sailed on August n for New England, with Captain Thomas Webb, in the Batchelor. After a voyage of three months and seventeen days, they landed on November 28 in Boston, where Gardiner met Winthrop. As arrangements for the reception of Gardiner and his wife at the mouth of the Connecticut had not been made, the citizens of Boston solicited his advice in completing their fort, and while each of them were contributing fourteen days' labor, or the equivalent in money, a force of twenty men under Lieutenant Gibbons was sent by Winthrop to the mouth of the Connecticut River to erect suitable buildings for Gardiner and his wife, both of whom went there as soon as the work at Boston was completed. 184 Wadsworfh Winthrop and Gardiner learned upon their ar- rival in Boston, that a company had gone from Dorchester and Watertown to settle upon the Connecticut River, and that the inhabitants of Newtown intended to go there the following summer, but with the understanding that they were not to go beyond the limits of the Massa- chusetts patent. The desire to remove to the Connecticut valley was first expressed in 1634, and before the inhabitants of the three towns named took their departure they were joined by Roxbury, under the leadership of William Pyn- chon. One of the reasons for the change of abode, as stated at the time and also subsequently re- peated by John Winthrop, Jr., in his address to Charles II., when the colony of Connecticut was seeking a charter, was that the place was not large enough for so great a number if they re- mained together. The true reason, however, was that the residents of the towns named were dis- satisfied with the management of public affairs and decided to establish a colony in which the foundation of authority rested upon the free con- sent of the people. This was Hooker's idea. In Dorchester that ambitious, but restless, spirit, Roger Ludlow, was a leader. He had been an Assistant in the General Court of Massachusetts for four years and Deputy-Governor in 1634. He The Patent, Charter and Deed 185 hoped to be Governor in 1635, but was defeated by the jealousy of the deputies, who had taken offense at some remarks made by him. John Haynes was chosen notwithstanding Ludlow's pro- test, and in order to hide his humiliation he decided to follow Newtown's lead. The inhabitants of the last named town received permission to seek a more convenient place of residence on May 14, 1634. A like permission was granted Roxbury and Water- town on May 16, 1635, and Dorchester on June 3 of the same year. In the location of the new colony, the residents of Newtown were no doubt guided by the favor- able reports received by John Haynes, one of the leaders in the movement, although he was at that time Governor of Massachusetts, while Roger Ludlow had also acquired considerable informa- tion from traders and the Pequots, who had twice visited him during his term of office as Deputy- Governor. In 1635, a few of the inhabitants of Watertown and Dorchester came to the Con- necticut River and settled at Wethersfield and Windsor. The Hooker company, however, did not leave Newtown until May 31, 1636. Prior to its departure the General Court of Massachu- setts, at its session on March 3, 1635-6, appointed a commission composed of Roger Ludlow, Wil- liam Pynchon, John Steele, William Swaine, 186 Wadsworth Henry Smith, William Phelps, William West- wood and Andrew Ward, giving them full power and authority for the space of one year to hear and determine in a judicial way all differences that might arise in the new plantation. At the time that this step was taken, it was understood that those who were withdrawing from the vicin- ity of Boston were to remain within the limits of the Massachusetts patent, but all of them, possi- bly because they did not have the means of de- termining where the boundary was, except the inhabitants of Roxbury, who founded Agawam, afterwards known as Springfield, passed beyond it. When this was discovered no steps were taken to make a change, and when the members of the commission held their last meeting on February 21, 1636-7, they took the first step towards separating the towns on the river from Massachusetts by changing the name of New- town to Hartford, Watertown to Wethersfield, and Dorchester to Windsor. The first General Court in Connecticut met at Hartford, May i, 1637. While in session it or- dered "that there shalbe an offensive warr against the Pequoitt, and that there shalbe 90 men levied out of the 3 Plantacons, Harteford, Weathersfeild & Windsor." Of this number Hartford contrib- uted forty-two Windsor thirty and Wethersfield The Patent, Charter and Deed 187 eighteen. The trouble between the English and the Pequots began in 1634, when two traders, Captains Stone and Norton, came into the river with a design of trading with the Dutch at the House of Hope. They employed Indians tf CHARLES II (From the Charter) The Patent, Charter and Deed 219 NOW KNOW YE, That in consideration thereof, and in regard, the said colony is remote from other the English plantations in the places aforesaid, and to the end the affairs and business which shall from time to time happen to arise concerning the same, may be duly ordered and managed, we have thought fit, and at the humble petition of the persons aforesaid, and are gra- ciously pleased to create and make them a body politic and corporate, with the powers and privileges herein after mentioned; and accordingly our will and pleasure is, and of our special grace, certain knowledge, and mere notion, we have ordained, constituted and de- clared, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, do ordain, constitute and declare, that they the said John Winthrop, John Mason, Samuel Wyllys, Henry Clarke, Matthew Allyn, John Tapping, Nathan Gold, Richard Treat, Richard Lord, Henry Wolcott, John Talcott, Daniel Clarke, John Ogden, Thomas Wells, Obadiah Bruen, John Clarke, Anthony Hawkins, John Deming, and Matthew Camfield, and all such others as now are, or hereafter shall be admitted and made free of the company and society of our colony of Connecticut, in America, shall from time to time, and for ever hereafter, be one body corporate and politic, in fact and name, by the name of Governour and com- pany of the English colony of Connecticut in New England, in America; and that by the same name, they and their successors shall and may have perpetual suc- cession, and shall and may be persons able and capable in the law, to plead and be impleaded, to answer and to be answered unto, to defend and be defended in all and singular suits, causes, quarrels, matters, actions and things, of what kind or nature soever; and also to have, take, possess, acquire, and purchase lands, tene- 220 Wadsworth ments, or hereditaments, or any goods, or chattels, and the same to lease, grant, demise, alien, bargain, sell, and dispose of, as other our liege people of this our realm of England, or any other corporation or body politic within the same may lawfully do. And further, That the said Gouvernour and company, and their successors, shall and may for ever hereafter have a common seal, to serve and use for all causes, matters, things, and affairs whatsoever, of them and their successors, and the same seal, to alter, change, break, and make new from time to time, at their wills and pleasures, as they shall think fit. And further, We will and ordain, and by these pres- ents, for us, our heirs and successors, do declare and appoint, That for the better ordering and managing of the affairs and business of the said company and their successors, there shall be one Gouvernour, one Deputy- Gouvernour, and twelve Assistants, to be from time to time constituted, elected and chosen out of the freemen of the said company for the time being, in such manner and form as hereafter in these presents is expressed, which said officers shall apply themselves to take care for the best disposing and ordering of the general busi- ness and affairs of and concerning the land and heredi- taments herein after mentioned to be granted, and the plantation thereof, and the government of the people thereof: And for the better execution of our royal pleasure herein, we do for us, our heirs and successors, assign, name, constitute and appoint the aforesaid John Winthrop to be the first and present Gouvernour of the said company, and the said John Mason, to be the Deputy-Gouvernour, and the said Samuel Wyllys, Matthew Allyn, Nathan Gold, Henry Clarke, Richard Treat, John Ogden, John Tapping, John Talcott, The Patent, Charter and Deed 221 Thomas Wells, Henry Wolcott, Richard Lord and Dan- iel Clarke, to be the twelve present Assistants of the said company, to continue in the said several offices respectively, until the second Thursday, which shall be in the month of October now next coming. And further, We will, and by these presents for us, our heirs, and successors, do ordain and grant, That the Gouvernour of the said company for the time be- ing, or in his absence by occasion of sickness, or other- wise by his leave or permission, the Deputy-Gouver- nour for the time being, shall and may from time to time upon all occasions, give orders for the assembling of the said company, and calling them together to con- sult and advise of the business and affairs of the said company, and that for ever hereafter, twice in every year, That is to say, on every second Thursday in Octo- ber, and on ever 2d Thursday in May, or oftener in case it shall be requisite; the assistants, and freemen of the said company, or such of them (not exceeding two per- sons from each place, town or city) who shall be from time to time thereunto elected or deputed by the major part of the freemen of the respective towns, cities, and places for which they shall be elected or deputed, shall have a general meeting, or assembly, then and there to consult and advise in and about the affairs and busi- ness of the said company: and that the Gouvernour, or in his absence the Deputy-Gouvernour of the said company for the time being, and such of the assistants and freemen of the said company as shall be so elected or deputed, and be present at such meeting or as- sembly, or the greatest number of them, whereof the Gouvernour or Deputy-Gouvernour, and six of the as- sistants, at least to be seven, shall be called the general assembly, and shall have full power and authority to 222 Wadsworth alter and change their days and times of meeting, or general assemblies, for electing the gouvernour, deputy- gouvernour, and assistants, or other officers, or any other courts, assemblies or meetings, and to choose, nominate and appoint such and so many others persons as they shall think fit, and shall be willing to accept the same, to be free of the said company, and body politic, and them into the same to admit; and to elect and constitute such officers as they shall think fit and requisite for the ordering, managing and disposing of the affairs of the said gouvernour and company and their successors. And we do hereby for us, our heirs and successors, establish and ordain, That once in a year for ever here- after, namely, the second Thursday of May, the gouver- nour, deputy-gouvernour, and assistants of the said company, and other officers of the said company, or such of them as the said general assembly shall think fit, shall be in the said general court and assembly to be held from that day or time, newly chosen for the year ensuing, by such greater part of the said com- pany for the time being, then and there present; and if the gouvernour, deputy-gouvernour, and assistants by these presents appointed, or such as hereafter be newly chosen into their rooms, or any of them, or any other of the officers to be appointed for the said company shall die, or be removed from his or their several of- fices or places before said general day of election, whom we do hereby declare for any misdemeanor or default, to be removable by the gouvernour, assistants, and companv. or such greater part of them in any of the said public courts to be assembled, as is aforesaid, that then and in every case, it shall and may be lawful to and for the gouvernour, deputy-gouvernour, and as- The Patent, Charter and Deed 223 sistants, and company aforesaid, or such greater part of them to be assembled, as is aforesaid, in any of their assemblies, to proceed to a new election of one or more of their company, in the room or place, rooms or places of such gouvernour, deputy-gouvernour, as- sistant, or other officer or officers so dying or removed, according to their discretions, and immediately upon and after such election or elections made of such Gouv- ernour, deputy-gouvernour, assistant or assistants, or any other officer of the said company, in manner and form aforesaid, the authority, office and power before given to the former gouvernour, deputy-gouvernour, or other officer or officers so removed, in whose stead and place new shall be chosen, shall as to him and them, and every of them respectively cease and determine. Provided also, And our will and pleasure is, That as well such as are by these presents appointed to be the present gouvernour, deputy-gouvernour, and assistants of the said company, as those that shall succeed them, and all other officers to be appointed and chosen, as aforesaid, shall, before they undertake the execution of their said offices and places respectively, take their several and respective corporal oaths for the due and faithful performance of their duties in their several of- fices and places, before such person or persons as are by these presents hereafter appointed to take and re- ceive the same; That is to say, That the said John Winthrop, who is herein before nominated and ap- pointed the present gouvernour of the said company, shall take the said oath before one or more of the mas- ters of our court of chancery for the time being, unto which master of chancery, we do by these presents give full power and authority to administer the said oath to the said John Winthrop accordingly: and the said John 224 Wadsworih Mason, who is herein before nominated and appointed the present deputy-gouvernour of the said company, shall take the said oath before the said John Winthrop, or any two of the assistants of the said company, unto whom we do by these presents give full power and au- thority to administer the said oath to the said John Mason accordingly: and the said Samuel Wyllys, Henry Clarke, Matthew Allyn, John Tapping, Nathan Gold, Richard Treat, Richard Lord, Henry Wolcott, John Talcott, Daniel Clarke, John Ogden, and Thomas Wells, who are herein before nominated and appointed the present assistants of the said company, shall take the oath before the said John Winthrop, and John Mason, or one of them, to whom we do hereby give full power and authority to administer the same accord- ingly. And our further will and pleasure is, That all and every gouvernour, or deputy-gouvernour to be elected and chosen by virtue of these presents, shall take the said oath before two or more of the assistants of the said company for the time being, unto whom we do by these presents give full power and authority to give and administer the said oath accordingly; and the said assistants, and every of them, and all and every other officer or officers to be hereafter chosen from time to time, to take the said oath before the gouver- nour, or deputy-gouvernour for the time being, unto which gouvernour or deputy-gouvernour, we do by these presents give full power and authority to admin- ister the same accordingly. And further. Of our more ample grace, certain knowl- edge, and mere notion, we have given and granted, and by these presents for us, our heirs and successors, do give and grant unto the said gouvernour and company of the English colony of Connecticut, in New England, The Patent, Charter and Deed 225 in America, and to every inhabitant there, and to every person or persons trading thither, and to every such person and persons as are or shall be free of the said colony, full power and authority from time to time, and at all times hereafter, to take ship, transport and carry away for and towards the plantation and defence of the said colony, such of our loving subjects and strang- ers, as shall or will willingly accompany them in, and to their said colony and plantation, except such per- son and persons, as are or shall be therein restrained by us, our heirs and successors; and also to ship and transport all, and all manner of goods, chattels, mer- chandizes, and other things whatsoever that are or shall be useful or necessary for the inhabitants of the said colony, and may lawfully be transported thither: Nevertheless, not to be discharged of payment to us, our heirs and successors, of the duties, customs and subsidies which are or ought to be paid or payable for the same. And further, Our will and pleasure is, and we do for us, our heirs and successors, ordain, declare, and grant unto the said gouvernour and company, and their successors, that all, and every subjects of us, our heirs, or successors, which shall go to inhabit within the said colony, and every of their children, which shall happen to be born there, or on the seas in going thith- er, or returning from thence, shall have and enjoy all liberties and immunities of free and natural subjects within any of the dominions of us, our heirs or suc- cessors, to all intents, constructions and purposed whatsoever, as if they and every of them were born within the realm of England; and we do authorize and impower the gouvernour, or in his absence the dep- uty-gouvernour for the time being, to appoint two or 226 Wadsworih more of the said assistants at any of their courts or assemblies to be held as aforesaid, to have power and authority to administer the oath of supremacy and obedience to all and every person and persons which shall at any time or times hereafter go or pass into the said colony of Connecticut, unto which said as- sistants so to be appointed as aforesaid, we do by these presents give full power and authority to administer the said oath accordingly. And we do further, of our special grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, give and grant unto the said gouvernour and company of the English colony of Connecticut, in New England, in America, and their successors, that it shall and may be lawful to and for the gouvernour, or deputy-gouvernour, and such of the assistants of the said company for the time being as shall be assembled in any of the general courts aforesaid, or in any courts to be especially summoned or assembled for that purpose, or the greater part of them, whereof the governour, or deputy-gouvernour, and six of the assistants to be always seven, to erect and make such judicatories, for the hearing and de- termining of all actions, causes, matters and things happening within the said colony or plantation, and which shall be in dispute, and depending there, as they shall think fit, and convenient, and also from time to time to make, ordain, and establish all manner of wholesome, and reasonable laws, statutes, ordinances, directions and instructions, not contrary to the laws of this realm of England, as well for settling the forms and ceremonies of government, and magistracy, fit and necessary for the said plantation, and the inhabi- tants there, as for naming and stiling all sorts of offi- cers, both superior and inferior, which they shall find The Patent, Charter and Deed 227 needful for the government and plantation of the said colony, and the distinguishing and setting forth of the several duties, powers and limits of every such office and place, and the forms of such oaths not being con- trary to the laws and statutes of this our realm of Eng- land, to be administered for the execution of the said severall offices and places as also for the disposing and ordering of the election of such of the said offi- cers as are to be annually chosen, and of such others as shall succeed in case of death or removal, and ad- ministering the said oath to the new elected officers, and granting necessary commissions, and for imposi- tion of lawful fines, mulcts, imprisonment or other punishment upon offenders and delinquents according to the course of other corporations within this our kingdom of England, and the same laws, fines, mulcts, and executions, to alter, change, revoke, annul, re- lease, or pardon under their common seal, as by the said general assembly, or the major part of them shall be thought fit, and for the directing, ruling and dispos- ing of all other matters and things, whereby our said people inhabitants there, may be so religiously, peace- ably and civilly governed, as their good life and or- derly conversation may win and invite the natives of the country to the knowledge and obedience of the only true God, and the Saviour of mankind and the Christian faith, which in our royal intentions, and the adventurers free possession, is the only and principal end of the plantation; willing, commanding, and re- quiring, and by these presents for us, our heirs and successors, ordaining and appointing, that all such laws, statutes, and ordinances, instructions, imposi- tions and directions as shall be so made by the gouv- ernour, deputy-gouvernour, and assistants as aforesaid, 228 Wadsworth and published in writing under their common seal, shall carefully and duly be observed, kept, performed, and put in execution, according to the true intent and meaning of the same, and these our letters patent, or the duplicate, or exemplification thereof, shall be to all and every such officers, superiors and inferiors from time to time, for the putting of the same orders, laws, statutes, ordinances, instructions and directions in due execution against us, our heirs and successors, a sufficient warrant and discharge. And we do further for us, our heirs and successors, give and grant unto the said gouvernour and com- pany, and their successors, by these presents, that it shall and may be lawful to, and for the chief com- manders, gouvernours and officers of the said com- pany for the time being, who shall be resident in the parts of New England hereafter mentioned, and oth- ers inhabiting there, by their leave, admittance, ap- pointment, or direction, from time to time, and at all times hereafter, for their special defence and safety, to assemble, martial-array, and put in war-like posture the inhabitants of the said colony, and to commission- ate, impower, and authorize such person or persons, as they shall think fit, to lead and conduct the said in- habitants, and to encounter, expulse, repel and resist by force of arms, as well by sea as by land, and also to kill, slay, and destroy by all fitting ways, enter- prizes, and means whatsoever, all and every such per- son or persons as shall at any time hereafter attempt or enterprize the destruction, invasion, detriment, or annoyance of the said inhabitants or plantation, and to use and exercise the law martial in such cases only as occasion shall require; and to take or surprize by all ways and means whatsoever, all and every such The Patent, Charter and Deed 229 person or persons, with their ships, armour, ammuni- tion and other goods of such as shall in such hostile manner invade or attempt the defeating of the said plantation, or the hurt of the said company and inhab- itants, and upon just causes to invade and destroy the natives, or other enemies of the said colony. Nevertheless, Our will and pleasure is, and we do hereby declare unto all Christian kings, princes, and states, That if any persons which shall hereafter be of the said company or plantations, or any other by appointment of the said gouvernour and company for the time being, shall at any time or times hereafter rob or spoil by sea or by land, and do any hurt, vio- lence, or unlawful hostility to any of the subjects of us, our heirs or successors, or any of the subjects of any prince or state being then in league with us, our heirs or successors, upon complaint of such injury done to any such prince or state, or their subjects, we, our heirs and successors will make open proclamation with- in any parts of our realm of England fit for that pur- pose, that the person or persons committing any such robbery or spoil, shall within the time limited by such proclamation, make full restitution or satisfaction of all such injuries done or committed, so as the said prince, or others so complaining may be fully satisfied and contented; and if the said person or persons who shall commit any such robbery or spoil shall not make satisfaction accordingly, within such time so to be limited, that then it shall and may be lawful for us, our heirs and successors, to put such person or persons out of our allegiance and protection; and that it shall and may be lawful and free for all princes or others to prosecute with hostility such offenders, and every of them, their, and every of their precursors, aiders, abet- tors and counsellors in that behalf. 230 Wadsworth Provided also, And our express will and pleasure is, and we do by these presents for us, our heirs, and successors, ordain and appoint, That these presents shall not in any manner hinder any of our loving sub- jects whatsoever to use and exercise the trade of fish- ing upon the coast of New England, in America, but they and every or any of them shall have full and free power and liberty to continue, and use the said trade of fishing upon the said coast, in any of the seas there- unto adjoining, or any arms of the seas, or salt water rivers where they have been accustomed to fish, and to build and set up on the waste land belonging to the said colony of Connecticut, such wharves, stages, and work-houses as shall be necessary for the salting, drying and keeping of their fish to be taken, or gotten upon that coast, anything in these presents contained to the contrary notwishstanding. And know ye further, That we, of our abundant grace, certain knowledge, and mere notion, have given, granted, and confirmed, and by these presents for us, our heirs and successors, do give, grant and confirm unto the said gouvernour and company, and their suc- cessors, all that part of our dominions in New Eng- land in America, bounded on the east by the Narra- ganset River, commonly called Narraganset Bay, where the said river falleth into the sea; and on the north by the line of the Massachusetts plantation; and on the south by the sea; and in longitude as the line of the Massachusetts colony, running from east to west, that is to say, from the said Narraganset Bay on the east, to the south sea on the west part, with the islands thereunto adjoining, together with all firm lands, soils, grounds, havens, ports, rivers, waters, fishings, mines, minerals, precious stones, quarries, and all and sin- The Patent, Charter and Deed 231 gular other commodities, jurisdictions, royalties, privileges, franchises, pre-eminences, and hereditaments whatsoever, within the said tract, bounds, lands, and islands aforesaid, or to them or any of them belong- ing. TO HAVE AND TO HOLD the same unto the said gouvernour and company, their successors and as- signs for ever, upon trust, and for the use and ben- efit of themselves and their associates, freemen of the said colony, their heirs and assigns, to be holden of us, our heirs and successors, as of our manor of East Greenwich, in free and common soccage, and not in capite, nor by knights, service, yielding and paying therefore to us, our heirs and successors, only the fifth part of all the ore of gold and silver which from time to time, and at all times hereafter, shall be there gotten, had, or obtained, in lieu of all services, duties and demands whatsoever, to be to us, our heirs, or successors therefore, or thereout rendered, made, or paid. And lastly, We do for us, our heirs and successors, grant to the said gouvernour and company, and their successors, by these presents, That these our letters patents, shall be firm, good and effectual in the law, to all intents, constructions, and purposes whatsoever, according to our true intent and meaning herein before declared, as shall be construed, reputed and adjudged most favorable on the behalf, and for the best benefit, and behoof of the said gouvernour and company, and their successors, although express mention of the true yearly value or certainty of the premises, or any of them, or of any other gifts or grants by us, or by any of our progenitors, or predecessors, heretofore made to the said gouvernour and company of the English 232 Wadsworth colony of Connecticut, in New England, America, aforesaid, in these presents is not made, or any statute, act, ordinance, provision, proclamation, or restriction heretofore had, made, enacted, ordained, or provided, or any other matter, cause, or thing whatsoever, to the contrary thereof, in any wise notwithstanding. In witness whereof, We have caused these our let- ters to be made patents. Witness ourself at West- minster, the three and twentieth day of April, in the fourteenth year of our reign. (1662.) By writ of Privy Seal. HOWARD. When the Charter was read to the freemen assembled in the Meeting House yard it was by common consent placed for safe keeping with Mr. Samuel Wyllys, whose father was the third Governor of the Colony, Captain John Talcott and Lieutenant John Allyn, 1 and at the first meet- *John Allyn was a son of Matthew Allyn, one of the original proprietors of Hartford, but subsequently of Windsor, where he removed after being excommu- nicated by the church. He married Ann, daughter of Henry Smith, of Springfield. By her he had six daugh- ters. One of them married John Gardiner, of Gardin- er's Island, another was the second wife of Joseph Whiting, the Treasurer of the colony, and another the wife of William Whiting, Marshal of the colony. John Allyn was in office almost continuously from 1659, when he was chosen town clerk of Hartford, until his death, the following reference to his services appear- ing on his tombstone in the old burying ground: "Here lyes interred the body of the Honourable Lt. Col. John Allyn, who served His Generation in the Capacity of a Magistrate, Secretary of the Colony of Connecticut, 34 years, who dyed Nov. 6, in the year 1696." T/te Patent, Charter and Deed 233 ing of the General Court after Governor Win- throp's return from England he was requested to deliver the duplicate to the same parties. 1 The two Charters remained in their hands from that time until 1687, when both of them disappeared for a period. After the return of Governor Winthrop it was learned that upon his arrival in London he re- paired to the home of William Whiting in Cole- man Street near St. Stephen's church. He was a 1 The Colonial Records make the following reference to the custody of the Charters: "Oct. 9, 1662. The Patent or Charter was this day publiquely read in audience of ye Freemen, and de- clared to belong to them and their successors, and ye freeman made choice of Mr. Wyllys, C: John Talcott and Lt. John Allyn to take the Charter into their cus- tody, in behalf of ye freemen, who are to have an oath administered to them by the General Assembly, for ye due discharge of the trust committed to them." "August 19, 1663. This Court doth desire that those Friends appoynted to keepe the Charter do allso re- ceive the Duplicate into their custody, and keepe it in behalf e of ye Freemen of this Corporation: and the Woshipfull Governour is desired to deliver the sd Du- plicate to the said Friends or either of them." If the Charter and duplicate were brought to Con- necticut as would be inferred from the above orders, there must have been a third copy, although there is no record of it having been made, as in September, 1686, the following appears in the instructions sent to Wil- liam Whiting, the Colony's agent in England: "You are to have ye duplicate of our Charter ready to be ex- hibited in Court if need be (wch by Governour Winthrop was left with Mr. James Porter of London and since by us he was ordered to deliver it to you." 234 Wadsworth merchant, like his father, who died in Hartford in 1647, being at the time Treasurer of the Colony, as well as a partner of Governor Hopkins, their dealings extending from Virginia to Piscataqua, where Whiting had interests in common with Lord Say and Seal, Lord Brooke and George Wyllys. As soon as he was comfortably settled in his new surroundings, the Governor, in accord- ance with the instructions of the General Court, began to make inquiries as to the whereabouts of those who were interested in the Warwick patent in the hope of procuring a copy of same so as to determine what privileges, rights and immunities were granted in it. After diligent inquiry he learned that Lord Say and Seal, at the time Lord Privy Seal, was the sole survivor. Mr. Jessup, who had acted as clerk for the corporation, was also supposed to be in London, but the Governor was unable to find him until Lord Say and Seal had interested the Earl of Manchester in the project. At this date "old Subtlety" was in very poor health. He was excused from attendance at Court, his general weakness and an attack of his old enemy, the gout, confining him to his estate during the latter part of autumn and fully half of the winter, and while he had no longer an ac- tive interest in the colony which he and his asso- ciates planned in America over a quarter of a The Patent, Charter and Deed 235 century before, he still had a friendly feeling for New England and never failed when before the King and Council to advance its interests. Upon advice as to the whereabouts of Lord Say and Seal Governor Winthrop wrote him, and while he was unable to favor him at that period as he did later with his presence at court, he sent him letters to the Earl of Manchester, 1 who soon put the Colonial Governor in the way of finding Mr. Jessup and also to push his acquain- tance among those who brought him and his mis- sion to the notice of the King. From Mr. Jessup the Governor learned that Edward Hopkins had a copy of the Warwick patent and that access could be had to it, as well as his other colonial papers, by applying to his executor, Henry Dal- ley. The result of the visit has been referred to on a preceding page. Of the Governor's new acquaintances at Whitehall, no one gave him more assistance than the Earl of Sandwich, who was ever zealous in the affairs of others and negligent of his own. Both the King and his brother, the Duke of York, who was afterwards James II., knew that he did as much to bring about the Restoration as Monk, 1 The Parliamentary General who was instrumental in the King's Restoration, became Chamberlain of the Household, a Privy Councillor and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He died in 1671. 236 Wadsworth but for reasons unknown to them, although the wife of the old soldier never hesitated in her rough way to attribute it and many of his subse- quent acts to cowardice, 1 he allowed the bulk of the glory to go to the General who was created Duke of Albermarle for the part he played in this bloodless victory of the Royalists. The Earl of Sandwich was a descendant of the Montagues, who purchased Hinchenbrook from Sir Oliver Cromwell. He stood high in the coun- cils of the Commonwealth, one of the last acts of its governing powers being to appoint him a member of the Council of State, and with Monk a General at Sea, and at a time when he was in active correspondence with the King and Duke of York in reference to placing the former on the throne. He also had the honor of bringing the King to England. 1 Pepys in his Diary quotes the Duchess of Albemarle as having said in the presence of twenty gentlemen "that she would have Montague sent once more to sea, before he goes his embassy, that we may see whether he will make amends for his cowardice." (Jan. 10, 1666.) The same writer also refers to Gen- eral Monk (Duke of Albemarle) as "a dull heavy man," (March I, 1660) while he also says "I perceive his (Sir Edmund Montague) being willing to do all the honor in the world to Monk and to let him have all the honor of doing the business (that is, bringing in the King) though he will many times express his thought of him to be but a thick skulled fool." (May 3, 1660.) EDWARD MONTAGUE I First Earl of Sandwich) The Patent, Charter and Deed 239 Upon the advice of the Earls of Manchester and Sandwich, and of which Lord Say and Seal at a later date expressed his approval, Governor Winthrop, in addition to presenting the petition approved by the General Court of Connecticut, also asked for a renewal of the Warwick patent on account of the original having been destroyed in the Saybrook Fort fire, 1 while the duplicate was with other papers lost when taken abroad by Lord Keeper Finch during King Charles I.'s troubles with the Parliament. The petitions 1 To the Kings Most Excellent The humble Peticon of John Winthrop Esq r . in the name and by Order of your Ma ties most Loyall, obed- ient and most dutifull Subjects, the Colony of Conecte- cut in New England in all humility Sheweth That your Maties Subjects of the said Colony of Conectecut at their greate expence in the beginning of the late unhappy Civil warr, became lawfully seized of all the Maineland and Islands, Bayes, Harbours, Creekes, Fresh Rivers Rivelits Mines Mineralls Quarries of Stones &c with Right of Government in and over all the said Colony, Situate and lying in the West and Southward parts of New England bounded on the East with the Norriganset Bay, on the North with the South Line of Mattechusets on the South with the Sea, and thence Westward to the Pacifique Sea, comprehending all that part of your Ma ties Dominions Westward of the said Norriganset Bay called New England, to the Fortieth Degree of Lattitude North from the Equator, all which they peaceably enjoyed in the right of the right Honorable the Lord Viscount Say and Scale and the Lord Brookes and other persons of Honour their Associates who were incorporated with the said Pattent about the Twelfth yeare of the Reigne of your Ma ties 240 Wadsworth made rapid progress at court, as the Earl of Sand- wich at that period of all men knew how and when to approach His Majesty, who looked upon matters of state as burdens and stumbling blocks rolled in the way to interfere with his sports, long walks and still longer dalliance with his mis- tresses. The gallant Earl ever willing to follow Royall Father of Blessed memory, Which Colony was settled in a Competent Measure by the said Originall Pattentees at their greate expence in Transporting some hundred of Families, Cattle of all kindes ffortify- ing the said Colony, in which Settlem* your Ma*' 63 Peticoner was employed in the Right of the said Lords and their Associates the first Pattentees. The said Lord Viscount Say and Scale Lord Brookes and their Associates the Lord Proprietors unwilling to make further disbursements on the said Colony did by their Agent George ffenwicke Esq r one of the said Proprietors make sale of the said Colony to the Peti- coner and the rest of the Colonie your Ma ties good Sub- jects for a very valuable sume of money who have since built severall Towns and Villages which the Inhabitants have ever since peaceably enjoyed by virtue of their Purchase from the first Pattentees. But soe it is, the Originall Pattent being lost in a Fatall Fire at Saybrook fort in the said Colony and the Duplicate being lost amongst those papers carryed be- yond the Seas by the Lord Keeper Finch in the late Civill Troubles, Your Ma ties Peticoner has recourse (upon your Ma ties happy restoration) to the Grace and Clemency inherent in your Princely minde, and most humbly prayes the Reneual of the said Pattent under your Ma ties greate Scale. And yo r Ma ties Peticoner and all those concerned in the said Colony, as they are bound in duty shall ever pray for your Majesty. J. WINTHROP The Patent, Charter and Deed 241 the King in his pleasures, even so far as to share in his vices, was also high in the good graces of the Countess of Castlemaine, who for many years twisted the Merry Monarch around her thumb. It has been told, and I have no reason to doubt it, that this vacillating mistress of the King looked for a time with more than ordinary favor upon Governor Winthrop's mission, being fasci- nated with his recital of adventures and the won- ders of the New World, and in one of her flam- boyant moments begged of him for her cabinet the Indian deed, promising in return for the parchment bearing the totem of the Suckiag Indians, her influence to obtain a charter under the broad seal of England from her Sovereign Lord, King Charles II. The Earl of Sandwich who was well acquainted with the petulant tem- per of the lady advised, aye, even insisted upon the Governor complying with her request, which was literally a demand, telling him that she would soon tire of the novelty and that he or one of his servants, almost all of whom were on friendly terms with the Castlemaine household, would get it for him as soon as the charter passed the seal. The Countess also proved true to her promise, and when Lord Say and Seal returned to court he found that the Connecticut Charter was as- 242 Wadsworth sured, but death claimed him nine days before it was signed. In due time the Charter and duplicate passed the great seal, the former being forwarded to New England and the duplicate, from which a copy was made for the colony's agent in Lon- don, was retained by Governor Winthrop until he returned to Hartford in June, 1663. Prior to his departure from England he sought the Earl of Sandwich in order to recover the Indian deed, but found him dangerously ill, so bad in fact that his life was despaired of. Knowing that with the Charter the deed was of little or no value, except for sentimental reasons, the Governor left the matter in the hands of the colony's agent. He failed to secure it, although he ultimately learned that it was destroyed by a fire in the Castlemaine apartments. 1 When the fragment of this story leaked out a few of the original planters insisted upon procuring another deed from the descend- 1 January 26, 1663-4. Pepys writes "Tom Killegrew told us of a fire last night in My Lady Castlemaine's lodging, which she did bid 40 pounds for one to ad- venture the fetching of a cabinet out, which at last was got to be done, and the fire at last quenched with- out doing much wrong." On January 20, four days prior to the fire, he also made note of the intimacy existing between the Countess and the Earl of Sand- wich, or as he worded it "My Lord Fitz Harding and the Hambletons and sometimes My Lord Sandwich they say have their snaps with her." The Patent, Charter and Deed 243 ants of the Indians who had by right of inher- itance a claim to any of the lands included in the treaty of 1636. They were therefore summoned to Hartford, where on July 5, 1670, the following was drawn up and signed : "Whereas our predecessor, Sunckquasson, sachem of Suckiage, alias Hartford, did about the yeare sixteen hundred thirty six, by a writeing under his hand, pass over unto Mr. Samuel Stone and Mr. Wm. Goodwin, in the behalf of the present proprietors and owner of the lands belonging to the township of Hartford, all that part of his country from a tree marked N. F. which is the divident between Hartford and Wethers- field we say from the afoarsayd tree on the south, till it meet with Windsor bounds on the north, and from the great river on the east, the whole bredth to run into the wilderness towards the west full six miles, which is to the place where Hartford and Farmington bounds meet; which grant of Sunckquasson, as occa- sion hath been, was by him renewed to the honoured John Haines, Esqr. and other the first magistrates of this place, and enlarged to the westward so far as his country went; which enlargement as well as his former grant was made in presence of many of the natives of the place and English inhabitants; and severall yeares after, about the time of the planting of Farmington in the yeare one thousand six hundred and forty, in a writeing made between the English and Pethus the sachem or gentleman of that place, there is a full mention of the aforesayd Sunckquasson his grant of his country to the magistrates of this place, which grant we are privy too; and we being the only successors 244 Wadsworth of Sunckquasson and proprietors (before the fore- mentioned sale) of the lands belonging to the town- ship of Hartford on the west side of the great river, being desired to confirm and pass over all our right and interest in the aforesayd lands to the present possessors of them, they informeing us that those writeings made by Sunckquasson before recited are at present out of the way, knowing what our pred- ecessor hath done, and what consideration he hath received for the same, We, Masseeckcup and William squa, in behalfe of ourselves and Wawarme, the sister and onely heire of Sunckquasson, and Keepequam, Seacutt, Jack Spiner, Currecombe, Wehassatuck squa and Seacunck squa, the onely inhabitants that are surviving of the afoar- sayd lands, doe by these presents owne, acknowledge and declare, that Sunckquasson whoe was the sachem of Suckiage alias Hartford, and grand proprietor of the lands adjacent, did with the consent of those of us whoe were of age to declare our consent, and with the consent of the rest of the inhabitants of this place, about the year 1636, pass over unto Mr. Samuel Stone and Mr. Wm. Goodwine, in behalfe and for the use of themselves and their company, all the land from Wethersfield bounds on the south, to Windsor bounds on the north, and the whole bredth from Connecticutt river on the east six large miles into the wilderness on the west, which sayd grant was afterwards upon fur- ther consideration renewed and enlarged by the sayd Sunckquasson, upon the desire of the honoured Mr. Haines and the rest of the magistrates of this place; but we being informed that on the removeall of some of the gentlemen afoarmentioned, the papers and write- ings before specifyed are out of the way, and haveing The Patent, Charter and Deed 245 now received of Mr. Samuel Willys, Capt. John Tall- cott, Mr. John Allyn and Mr. James Richards a farther gratification of near the value the land was esteemed at before the English came into these parts to prevent all father trouble between ourselves and the inhabi- tants of Hartford, we the sayd Masseeckcup, William squa as afoarsayd, and Seacutt, Keepequam, Jack Spiner, Currecombe, Wehassatuck squa and Seacunck squa, upon the consideration forementioned by these presents have and doe fully, clearly and absolutely grant, bargain, sell, alien, enfeoffe and confirme unto Mr. Samuel Willys, Capt. John Tallcott, Mr. John Allyn and Mr. James Richards, in behalfe of the rest of the proprietors of the land belonging to the town- ship of Hartford, their heires and assignes forever, all that parcell of land from a tree marked N. F. being a boundary between Wethersfield and Hartford on the south, to Windsor bounds on the north, and the whole bredth of land from Wethersfield to Windsor bounds from the great river on the east to runn into the wilder- ness westward full six miles, which is to the place where Hartford and Farmington bounds meet, To have and to hold all the afoarsayd parcell of land as it is bounded, with all the meadowes, pastures, woodes, underwood, stones, quarries, brookes, ponds, rivers, profitts, comodities and appurtenances whatsoever be- longing thereto, unto the sayd Mr. Samuel Willys, Capt. John Tallcott, Mr. James Richards and Mr. John Allyn, in behalfe of themselves and the rest of the inhabitants of the towne of Hartford, whoe are stated proprietors in the undivided lands, their heires and assignes, to the onely proper use and behoofe of the sayd Mr. Samuel Willys, Capt. John Tallcott, Mr. John Allyn and Mr. James Richards as afoarsayd, their 246 Wadsworlh heires and assignes forever; and the sayd Massecup and Wm squa in behalfe of themselves and Wawarme the sister of Sunckquasson and Seacutt, Keepequam, Jack Spiner, Currecombe, Wehassatuck squa, and Secunck squa, doe covenant to and with the sayd Mr. Samuel Willys, Mr. John Talcott, Mr. James Richards and Mr. John Allyn, that after and next unto the afoar- sayd Sunckquasson, they the said Masseeckcup, Wm squa, Seacutt, Keepequam, &c., have onely full power, good right, and lawfull authority to grant, bargain, sell and convey all and singular the before hereby granted or mentioned to be granted premises with their and every of their appurtenances, unto the sayd Mr. Sam- uel Willys, Mr. John Talcott, Mr. John Allyn, and Mr. James Richards as aforesayd, their heires and assignes forever and that they the sayd Mr. Samuel Willys, Mr. John Talcott, Mr. John Allyn and Mr. James Richards and the rest of the proprietors of the undivided lands within the bounds of the township of Hartford, their heires and assignes, shall and may by force and vertue of these presents, from time to time and all times for- ever hereafter, lawfully have, receive and take the rents issues and profitts thereof to their owne proper use and behoofe forever, without any lett, suit, trouble or disturbance whatsoever of the heires of Sunck- quasson or of us the sayd Massecup, Wm squa, Sea- cutt, Keepequam, Jack Spiner, Currecombe, Wehassa- tuck squa, and Seacunck squa, our heires or assignes, or of any other person or persons whatsoever clayming by, from or under us or any of us of by our meanes, act, consent, priority or procurement, and that free and clear and freely and clearly acquitted exonerated and discharged or otherwise from time to time, well and sufficiently saved and kep harmless by the sayd Mas- The Patent, Charter and Deed 247 secup, William-squa, Seacutt and Keepequam, &c., their heires, executors and administrators from all for- mer and other grants, guifts, bargains, sales, titles, troubles, demands, and incumbrances whatsoever had, made, committed, suffered or done by the afoarsayd Massecup, William squa, Keepequam, Seacutt, &c. "In witness whereof, they have signed, sealed and delivered this writeing with their own hands, this fifth of July, one thousand six hundred and seventy. Signed sealed and delivered in presence of Arramatt, his mark, Masseeckcup, his mark, L. S. Mamanto, his mark, Seacutt, his mark, L. S. Neschegen, his mark, Jack Spiner, his mark, L. S. Attumtoha, his mark, Seacunck, his mark, L. S. Wennoe, his mark, Currecombe, his mark, L. S. Will. Wadsworth, Keepequam, his mark, L. S. John Adams, William squa's mark, L. S. John Strickland, Wehassatuck squa's mark, L. S. Giles Hamlin. Nescanett gives consent to this grant and bargain, as he wit- nesseth by subscribing Nesacanett, his mark, L. S. HIDING THE CHARTER HIDING THE CHARTER In the twenty-four years that elapsed between the arrival of the Charter and Gov. Andros' visit to Hartford, the Connecticut colony became the granary of New England. It exported so much grain that Sir Edmund, in the winter of 1675-6 sent Captain Salisbury to England to advise the Duke of York that it was impossible for the gov- ernment of New York to subsist without the ad- dition of that colony. The wheat, corn, peas and beans grown in the valleys of Connecticut, were carried in vessels to Boston, New York, the West Indies and Eng- land, the merchants and others who shipped it bringing back products which made colonial life more comfortable, while the material comforts of the inhabitants were not forgotten, tobacco, 1 1 At the General Court which was held in Hartford, June n, 1640, it was ordered "that what person or per- sons within this jurisdiction shall, after September, 1641, drinke any other Tobacco but such as is or shalbe planted within these libertyes, shall forfeit for every pownd so spent fiue shillings, except they haue license fro the Courte." This order was repealed January 28, 1646-7, and the following adopted at the General Court May 20, 1647: "Forasmuch as it is obsearued that many adbuses are committed by frequent takeing To- bacco, It is Ordered, that noe person vnder the age of 20 years, nor any other that hath not allreddy accus- 252 Wadsworth wine, and strong waters 1 being brought in large quantities and consumed so freely that the Gen- tomed himselfe to the vse therof, shall take any To- bacco vntil he haue brought a Certificat, vnder the hand of some who are approued for knowledg and skill in phisicke, that it is vsefull for him, and also that he hath receaued a lycence fro the Court for the same. And for the regulateing those who either by their former takeing yt haue to their owne apprehen- sions made yt necessary to them, or vppon due aduice are persuaded to the vse thereof. It is Ordered, that no man within this Colony, after the publication hereof, shall take any tobacco publicquelv in the street, nor shall take yt in the fyelds or woods} vnlesse when they be on their trauill or joyrny at lest 10 myles, or at the ordinary tyme of repast comonly called dynner, or if it be not then taken, yet not aboue once in the day at most, and then not in company with any other. Nor shall any inhabiting in any of the Townes within this Jurisdiction, take any Tobacco in any howse in the same Towne wher he liueth, with and in the company of any more then one who vseth and drinketh the same weed, with him at that tyme; vnder the penulty of six pence for ech offence against this Order, in any of the particulers thereof, to be payd without gainsaying, vppon conuiction by the testimony of one witnesse that is without just exception, before any one Magistrate; and the Constables in the seuerall Townes are required to make presentment to ech particuler Court of such as they doe vnderstand and can evict to be transgressors of the Order." This order appears under the head "Tobacko" in the Code of 1650. 1 The following order in reference to the excessive use of same was adopted May 20, 1647: "And for the preuenting that great abuse which is creeping in by excesse in Wyne and strong waters, It is Ordered, that noe inhabitant in any Towne of this Jurisdiction shall continue in any comon victualing howse in the same Towne wher he liueth aboue halfe an hower att a tyme in drinkeing wyne, bear or hotte waters, nether shall any who draweth & selleth wyne suffer any to drynke Hiding the Charter 253 eral Court was time and again called upon to pass laws against the indiscriminate sale and use of them. During this period I received my share of at- tention from the horn book at school and the stick of the tithing man 1 at meeting, a turbulent and an impulsive nature making me a leader of the lads in the misdemeanors of the town. As soon as I was old enough I became a member of the train band, of which I was subsequently any more wyne att on tyme then after the proportion of three to a pynt of sacke. And it is further Ordered, that noe such wyne drawer deliuer any wyne, or suffer any to be deliuered out of his howse to any who com for yt, vnlesse they bring a noate vnder the hand of some one Mister of some family and alowed inhabitant of that Towne, nether shall any such Ordinary keep, sell or drawe any hotte waters to any but in case of necessity, and in such moderation for quantity as they may haue good grownds to conceaue yt may not be abused; and shalbe reddy to giue an accoumpte of their doeings herein when they are cauled thereto, vnder Censure of the Court in a case of delinquency." 1 A parish officer elected annually to preserve order in meeting during divine service. He was provided with a staff which had a rabbit's foot at one end and a piece of iron on the other, the former being used to rouse sleepy ladies, and the latter to keep the boys in order or out of the land of nod. A writer in Hartford in History also says that the tithing man was required to "look after young people illegally walking together on the Sabbath, after strangers at inns, after travelers, after such as 'lye at home' or 'linger without doors at meeting time,' and after 'all sons of Belial strutting about, setting on fences and otherwise desecrating the day.' " 254 Wadsworth Sergeant, Lieutenant, and afterwards Captain. 1 Also when I arrived at the proper age I was made a freeman 2 of the colony and afterwards a Deputy 3 to the General Court, my first service in the latter being prior to the trouble over the Charter. Time and again it has been said that war at- tracts the attention of the aggressive and I cer- tainly must be numbered among them, for as soon as King Philip began the war which laid waste to a greater part of Massachusetts and Rhode Island I was ready to march out and meet him. For- tunately Connecticut was not called upon to make any sacrifices in this troublous time, as aside from the burning of Simsbury there was no prop- erty lost in the colony and I always believed that it would not have happened if the people had re- mained in their homes instead of rushing off to Windsor, after burying the most of their property in the swamp and losing it, as no one has found 1 Joseph Wadsworth is referred to as Sargeant in order of Council dated Sept. 6, 1675. He was appointed Lieutenant January 14, 1675, and Captain by order of the General Assembly October 14, 1697, although he appears as Captain in the list of Deputies elected May 9, 1695- 'Propounded for freeman May u, 1676, was admitted at session of General Court October 12, 1676. * He was a Deputy from Hartford in 1685, 1694, 1695. 1699, 1703, 1704 and 1705. Hiding the Charter 255 the place of sepulture to this day. Major Treat, afterwards Governor of the colony, was in com- mand of the Connecticut troops from the begin- ning of the war until after the burning of the Narragansett Fort. He relieved Hadley and would have saved Springfield, when a portion of it was burned by the Indians, had he not been de- layed in getting boats to cross the river. After the Commissioners of the United Col- onies decided upon a winter campaign and to at- tack the Indians at their headquarters in the Narragansett country it was resolved to raise an army of one thousand men. Of that portion Con- necticut supplied three hundred Englishmen and one hundred and fifty Mohegan and Pequot In- dians, the latter being attached to the companies commanded by Captain John Gallup of Stoning- ton and Captain John Mason of Norwich. The other three companies of the Connecticut division were commanded by Samuel Marshall of Wind- sor, Thomas Watts of Hartford and Nathaniel Seely of Stratford. Gershom Bulkeley was sur- geon, Reverend Nicholas Boyes chaplain and Stephen Barret commissary. This corps, under the command of Major Treat, marched from Stonington to Petty quamscott, where it arrived on December 17 and found the buildings in which they expected to find shelter 256 Wadsworth had been burned a day or two before by the In- dians. The next day they joined the Massachu- setts and Plymouth forces and after remaining over night in an open field continued the march towards the Narragansett fort, which was reached about noon Sunday, December 19. The fort 1 was on an island of five or six acres in the midst of a cedar swamp which was under water except in the driest part of the year. It was impassable except to the Indians by their accustomed paths, but was now easily approached as the severe cold had turned the waters of the swamp into a mass of ice. The fort was sur- rounded by a palisade and a hedge of almost a rod in thickness. The former, however, was not all completed at the time of the attack and the English were fortunate in coming upon the place. It was at a corner and while there was a block- house opposite the gap and flankers at both sides of it, there was nothing across it except a long tree about five feet from the ground. Captains Johnson and Davenport rushed into this opening with the Massachusetts troops. Johnson fell at 'The scene of the battle was in West Kingston, Rhode Island, on the estate of J. G. Clark, whose res- idence is about a mile from where the fort was located. The island was cleared and ploughed about 1775, while the swampy land is still overflowed except in the driest part of the season. Hiding the Charter 257 the log and Davenport within the fort. With their leaders gone the troops fell on their faces to escape the galling fire of musketry and retreated as soon as it abated. Captains Moseley and Gar- diner pressed up to take their places, but had to fall back. They were succeeded by Major Apple- ton and Captain Oliver, who drove the enemy out of one of the flankers. Holding the Plymouth forces in reserve, Gen- eral Josiah Winslow rushed forward the Connec- ticut troops which were in the rear of the army. Not being aware of the extent of the danger from the blockhouse, Captain Marshall's company suf- fered terribly as it entered the line of fire. Marshall fell at the tree. As he dropped Major Treat assumed command of the company and beckoning for the men to follow him rushed into the fort. With a yell that could be heard above the cries of the Indians and the roar of the mus- kets, Gallup and Seely followed him. Both of them were shot down, while Captain Mason received a wound from which he died nine months later. As the Connecticut troops forced back the enemy the Massachusetts forces joined them. Step by step they drove the Indians out of the blockhouses into the wigwams. After three hours' fighting the order to destroy the place by fire 258 Wadsworfh came, and as in the Pequot fight, the scene of carnage became a fearful holocaust. Major Treat was in the thick of the fight from the beginning and in one of the skirmishes re- ceived a ball through the rim of his hat. He was the last man who left the fort in the dusk of the evening, commanding the rear of the army. Of his five captains three were killed and one wounded, while of the three hundred Englishmen seventy were killed or wounded; twenty in Cap- tain Seely's, ten in Captain Gallup's, seventeen in Captain Watt's, nine in Captain Mason's and four- teen in Captain Marshall's company. Of these about forty were killed or died of their wounds. About half of the loss in action fell upon Connec- ticut and they, as well as those who survived them, richly deserved the following tribute which was subsequently made by the legislature of the colony : "In that signal service, the fort fight, in Narragan- sett, as we had our full number, in proportion with the other confederates, so all say they did their full propor- tion of service. Three noble soldiers, Seely, courageous Marshall, and bold Gallup, died in the bed of honour; and valiant Mason, a fourth captain, had his death's wound. There died many brave officers, and sentinels, whose memory is blessed; and whose death redeemed our lives. The bitter cold, the tarled swamp, the tedious march, the strong fort, the numerous and stub- born enemy they contended with, for their God, king CONNECTICUT GOVERNORS Hiding the Charter 261 and country, be their trophies over death. He that commanded our forces then, and now us, made no less than seventeen fair shots at the enemy, and was thereby as oft a fair mark for them. Our mourners, over all the colony, witness for our men, that they were not un- faithful in that day." On April 5, 1676, John Winthrop, the Governor of Connecticut, died in Boston while attending a meeting of the Commissioners of the United Col- onies. At the election on May n he was suc- ceeded by William Leete, while Major Robert Treat 1 was chosen Deputy-Governor and Major John Talcott appointed to command the troops during the balance of the war, which dragged along until King Philip was killed in the swamp near Mount Hope on August 12. When Major Talcott was made chief in command, the Reverend Gershom Bulkeley of Wethersfield was appointed surgeon. The latter was the son of Peter Bulke- ley, the first minister of Concord, Mass., and Grace, the daughter of Sir Richard Chitwood. He was born December 26, 1635, a few weeks after their arrival in America. It is stated that his mother apparently died on the passage to 1 Robert Treat was born in England in 1622 and came to America with his father. In 1641 he located at Mil- ford and moved from there to New Jersey when the Connecticut and New Haven colonies were united. He was one of the founders of Newark and remained there until 1672, when he returned to Milford. 262 Wadsworth this country and as her husband supposed land was near he prevailed upon the captain, notwith- standing the superstitious fears of the sailors, to keep the body three days beyond the time ap- pointed for consigning it to the deep. A chest 1 containing a portion of their earthly possessions was emptied and the body placed in it. On the third day symptoms of vitality were discovered and before the vessel reached land animation was restored, and although carried from the vessel an invalid, Mrs. Bulkeley survived her husband and followed her son, Gershom, to New London, where after graduating at Harvard in divinity and medicine in 1659 he was installed as a minis- ter. In 1666 he removed to Wethersfield to preach to a portion of the congregation over which John Russell presided before he accom- panied the "withdrawers" to Hadley. When the King Philip war broke out Gershom Bulkeley ac- companied Captain Thomas Bull to Saybrook and was present when Edmund Andros made an ef- fort to take possession of the fort. 1 This chest is now owned by Ex-Governor Morgan Gardner Bulkeley, the most prominent representative of the family since his distinguished ancestor, Gershom Bulkeley, brought the name to Connecticut in 1659. By a strange coincidence both of them were born on the same date, providing allowance is not made for the eleven days change in calendar, Gershom Bulkeley as stated in the text being born December 26, 1635, and Morgan Gardner Bulkeley December 26, 1838. Hiding the Charter 263 As the latter played a very important part in the history of New England from the time of the King Philip war until after James II. was driven from the throne of England, a few words in refer- ence to him would scarcely be out of place. Sir Edmund Andros, Lord Seignoire of Saufmarez in the Island of Guernsey, was born in London De- cember 6, 1637. His ancestors were originally from Northamptonshire, where they were known as Andrews or Andros, and became connected with the Island of Guernsey in 1543, when one of them, acting as lieutenant to Sir Peter Meautis, the Governor, married Judith D'Saufmarez, the heiress who brought the fief of Saufmarez into the family. Amice Andros, the father of Ed- mund Andros, married Elizabeth Stone, sister of Major Stone, cupbearer to the Queen of Bohemia and Captain of a troop of horse in Holland. He was master of ceremonies to Charles I. at the time of the birth of his son, who was brought up in the royal family and during its exile com- menced his career as a soldier in Holland under Prince Henry of Nassau. After the Restoration, Edmund Andros was appointed Gentleman in Ordinary to the King's aunt, the Queen of Bo- hemia, whose daughter, Princess Sophia, be- came the mother of George I. of England. 264 Wadsworth Edmund Andros distinguished himself in the Dutch war which ended in 1667, but was not heard from again until 1672, when he appears as the commander of the forces in Barbadoes and during which he acquired a knowledge of Ameri- can affairs. Under royal warrant of the Master General of Ordnance, on April 2 of that year, a regiment of dragoons raised for the King's cousin, Prince Rupert, was directed to be armed "with the bayonet or great knife," this being its first introduction into the English army. An- dros was promoted to this regiment, and the four companies then under his command in Barbadoes advanced to be a troop of horse in it. In 1674 upon the death of his father he suc- ceeded to the office of Bailiff of Guernsey, the reversion to which had been granted to him by King Charles during his father's lifetime. The same year, the war which had been re-commenced with the Dutch having terminated, Andros' regi- ment was disbanded and he was commissioned by the King to receive New York and its depend- encies pursuant to the treaty of peace, which was signed at Westminister February 9, 1674. On June 29 of the same year the Duke of York, to remove all grounds of controversy respecting the title of his American claim, obtained a new patent from the King confirming his former grant of Hiding the Charter 265 1664. Two days later he appointed Major Andros his lieutenant and governor in America and over all the territory embraced in the patent. Andros arrived in New York on November I, 1674, and ten days later received a formal surrender of the province of New Netherlands from Governor Clove. As soon as he was settled in New York, Gov- ernor Andros sent the Governor and General Court of Connecticut a copy of the Duke of York's patent, and the following spring made a demand for the territory included in same lying within the jurisdiction of Connecticut, "as the Duke's patent included all of the land from the west side of the Connecticut river to the east side of the Delaware Bay." As a portion of the land was in 1662 included in the Connecticut Charter, and the boundary between the two colonies fixed by a former governor of the Duke of York, the General Court of Connecticut advised Governor Andros that it did not have a plantation, town, village, house or place in its possession which was not within the limits granted by His Majesty and approved by his royal letters. On July 8, after the beginning of the King Philip war, Edmund An- dros appeared at Saybrook with two sloops, ostensibly to protect the inhabitants against the 266 Wadsworth Indians, but really to get control of the part of the colony claimed by the Duke of York. On the day prior to Andros' arrival, Captain Thomas Bull was sent to Saybrook with two companies of soldiers. His instructions were so framed that while they had ostensible reference to the protection of the place against Indians, he was authorized to repel aggression from any quarter and to maintain the possession of the fort if necessary by force of arms. Upon his arrival Governor Andros sent Captain Nichols, with two or three gentlemen, on shore with a flag in the bow of the boat and instructions to advise the parties that he was there to give assistance against the Indians if necessary. The occupants of the fort and the inhabitants of Saybrook, how- ever, were well aware of his object, and lost no time in advising the General Court at Hartford. They were also prepared to meet the Governor and his gentlemen when they came ashore on the morning of July 12 and desired to speak with the ministers and chief officers of the place. Failing in this Andros ordered that the Duke of York's charter and his commission be read. This was done, Captain Bull and the men who were with him withdrawing, declaring that they had nothing to do with it. As soon as the reading was completed Captain Hiding the Charter 267 Bull presented, and had read, a protest from the General Court in which it tendered "him a treaty by meete persons deputed to that purpose in any place of this Colony where he should choose," while Captain Bull informed him that his instruc- tions were to keep the King's colors standing un- der his majesty, the lieutenant governor of Con- necticut, and if any other colors were set up they would be struck down. Governor Andros, pleased with the Captain's bold and soldier-like appearance said, "What is your name?" He re- plied, "My name is Bull, sir." "Bull !" said the Governor, "It is a pity that your horns are not tipped with silver." Finding that he could make no impression upon the officers or people, and that Connecticut was determined to maintain its chartered rights, Andros gave up his design of seizing the fort and returned to his vessels, being guarded to the water side by town soldiers. Dur- ing this trying period Captain Bull displayed in military affairs the courage which had already distinguished him in private life, and especially in winning a wife. 1 1 The allusion in the text refers to a matter passed upon at the County Court, holden at Hartford, March 4, 1669, before John Winthrop, Governor, Captain John Talcott, Leftenant John Allyn, Mr. Henry Wolcott, and Mr. Anthony Hawkins, Assistants. The following ap- pears in the record: Benjamin Waite having publiquely protested against 268 Wadsworfh Gershom Bulkeley was also present at Saybrook when Governor Andros made his visit. Two of the letters sent to the General Court were written by him and while it approved of all that was done, Deputy Governor Leete was of the opinion that when Andros came ashore and commanded the Duke's charter and commission read, they should have interrupted "by shouts or the sound Thomas Bull, Jim., and Esther Cowles, their proceed- ings in referrence to marriage and manifested his de- sires that authority would not marry, or any ways contract in order to marriage, them the said Thomas and Esther, the Court desired the said Waite, that he would manifest his reasons to them and produce his proofes of any right or clayme that he hath to the said Esther Cowles, but he refused to attend to any such thing at this time; the Court did therefore declare to the said Benjamin Waite, that they did not judge it reasonable to restrain Thomas Bull and Esther Cowles from marriage 'till the next term of this Court in Sep- tember next; and therefore, if the said Waite doth not make good his clayme and prosecute it to effect be- tween this and the 7th day of April next, (to which day this Court will adjourn) they will no longer deny them the said Thomas and Esther marriage. Esther Cowles, the lady in question, was the daughter of John Cowles, of Hatfield, Massachusetts, one of the first settlers of that town, and the ancestor of all who bear that name now dwelling in Farmington, Con- necticut. Hannah Cowles and Sarah Cowles. daughters of John Cowles, married inhabitants of Hartford, the former Caleb Stanley, and the latter Nathaniel Good- win. It may also be added in order to complete the note that Benjamin Waite failed to produce to this ad- journed Court "proofes" to his "clayme" to Miss Esther Cowles, and she soon afterwards became Mrs. Thomas Bull. Hiding the Charter 269 of a drum, &c., without violence," as I was in- structed when in the fall of 1693 Benjamin Fletcher, another governor of New York, came to Connecticut to take command of the militia, 1 and met with no better success than his predeces- sor. While the references to Major Treat, Sir Ed- mund Andros and Gershom Bulkeley, may ap- pear out of place in this narrative, they have been introduced in order to give an idea of three men 1 The following reference to the above incident ap- pears in Trumbull's History of Connecticut: "The trainbands of Hartford assembled, and, as the tradition is, while captain Wadsworth, the senior officer, was walking in front of the companies, and exercising the soldiers, colonel Fletcher ordered his commission and instructions to be read. Captain Wadsworth instantly commanded, "Beat the drums;" and there was such a roaring of them that nothing else could be heard. Colonel Fletcher commanded silence. But no sooner had Bayard made an attempt to read again than Wads- worth commands, "Drum, drum, I say." The drummers understood their business, and instantly beat up with all the art and life of which they were masters. ''Silence, silence," says the Colonel. No sooner was there a pause, than Wadsworth speaks with great ear- nestness. "Drum, drum, I say," and turning to his ex- cellency, said, "If I am interrupted again I will make the sun shine through you in a moment." He spoke with such energy in his voice and meaning in his counte- nance, that no further attempts were made to read or enlist men. Such numbers of people collected together, and their spirits appeared so high, that the Governor and his suit judged it expedient, soon to leave the town and return to New York." This story is contradicted in a pamphlet published in 1694 by order of the Governor and Assistants. 270 Wadsworth who played important parts in the interruption of the Charter government of Connecticut and the resumption of same when it was known that James II. was dethroned. By yielding to au- thority that could have been resisted only by force, which would have been considered revolu- tionary and treasonable, Governor Treat saved the lives of many colonists, as well as their prop- erty from confiscation ; while by taking into his hands the government of Connecticut "for reasons of state," Sir Edmund Andros made an explanation as to the misinterpretation of the co- lonial letter at Whitehall unnecessary, and which if explained would have led to a judgment against the Charter. The inquiries under quo warranto were pursued no further, and while Ger- shom Bulkeley, the third member of the group, considered the resumption of the government un- lawful 1 on account of his belief that the Charter was voluntarily surrendered, his arguments failed to impress those in authority in England, al- though it was not until after Bulkeley had retired from public affairs that General Fitz John Winthrop succeeded in obtaining from King William and Queen Mary a letter dated June 21, 1 See his "People's Right of Election," published in YO!. I,, and "Will and Doom," in Vol. III., of Collec- tions of Connecticut Historical Society. Hiding the Charter 271 1694, addressed to the Governor and Magistrates of Connecticut, explaining and restricting Fletch- er's commission already referred to, and which contained the following encouraging sentence: "And the said Major General Fitz John Win- throp, will upon his arrival, inform you of our gracious intention to continue our royal protec- tion to you and all our subjects of that, our Colony, and particularly in what may relate to the preservation of the peace, welfare and se- curity of the same, and maintaining your just rights and privileges." Firm in his faith in the colony, Gershom Bulk- eley expected unqualified obedience to authority and ever looked with distrust upon the growing feeling that the colonies, which were by their location deprived of a voice in the councils of England, should not be required to yield allegi- ance to the crown. He served as a surgeon throughout the King Philip war, was in the Nar- ragansett fort fight with Major Treat, and in the campaign of 1676 was wounded 1 by a shot from the enemy in a sudden assault made by a party of Indians. Upon the close of the war he asked to be dismissed from the church at Weth- ersfield. After it was granted he moved across 1 See Hubbard's Narrative of the Indian Wars, pub- lished in Boston March 29, 1677. 272 Wadsworth the river to Glastonbury, commenced to prac- tice medicine and continued it for over thirty years. Two of his daughters married into the Treat family, of which the Governor was the most prominent member, and for whom Ger- shom Bulkeley always had an unbounded ad- miration, although they differed in the matter of public policy, as is shown by his "Peo- ples Right of Election" which was addressed to him. At the time that this was written, Gershom Bulkeley was a justice of the peace, having been appointed by Governor Andros. Time, however, closed the breach and long before his death in 1713 those who followed him to his grave looked upon Gershom Bulkeley, not as an uncom- promising royalist, but as a man of great learn- ing and extraordinary ability, and who by his exemplary life proved himself a man who never hesitated to express an opinion or live up to his ideals. At the time of his death, Gershom Bulkeley was on a visit to his daughter Dorothy, wife of Thomas Treat, a grandson of Richard Treat, one of the first settlers of Wethersfield, and to whose son Richard he left his books 1 and manuscripts upon medicine and chemistry. Of his sons, 1 A number of his books, as well as a few of his man- uscripts, are in the library of Trinity College, Hartford. Hiding the Charter 273 Charles was licensed as a physician, Peter was lost at sea, Edward married Dorothy Talcott, and John 1 the youngest, after graduating at Har- vard in 1699, settled at Colchester, being the first minister of that town. Sir Edmund Andros was Governor of New York from 1674 until January u, 1680-1, when he was recalled by the Duke of York to answer J The following humorous story is told of the latter: "The Rev. Mr. Bulkeley, of Colchester, was famous in his day as a casuist and sage counsellor. A church in his neighborhood had fallen into unhappy divisions and contentions, which they were unable to adjust among themselves. They sent one of their number to John Bulkeley for his advice with a request that he would send it in writing. It so happened that Mr. Bulkeley had a farm in the town, upon which he entrusted a tenant who was also seeking advice of a different char- acter. In addressing the two letters, the one for the church was directed to the tenant, and the one for the tenant to the church. The church members convened to hear the advice which was to settle their disputes. The moderator read as follows: 'You will see to the repair of the fences, that they be built high and strong, and you will take special care of the old black bull.' This mystical advice puzzled the church at first, but an interpreter among the more discerning ones was soon found, who said, 'Brethren, this is the very advice we most need; the direction to repair the fences is to ad- monish us to take good heed in the admission and gov- ernment of our members. We must guard the church by our master's laws, and keep out strange cattle from the fold. And we must in a particular manner set a watchful guard over the devil, the old black bull, who has done so much hurt of late.' All perceived the wisdom and fitness of Mr. Bulkeley's advice, and re- solved to be governed by it. The consequence was, all the animosities subsided, and harmony was restored." 274 Wadsworth charges of mis-government and embezzlement which were preferred against him. During the winter of 1677-8 he was also in England on a visit and was knighted by Charles II. The charges referred to were not serious enough to forfeit the favor of his patron, as in 1682 Andros was named as a gentleman of the King's privy chamber. The following year the Island of Al- derney was granted to him and Lady Mary An- dros for ninety-nine years, and in 1685 he was made a colonel in Her Royal Highness Princess Anne of Denmark's regiment of horse, while he also commanded a troop of horse against the Duke of Monmouth in the rebellion which ter- minated at Sedgemore, July 18, 1685. On June 3, 1686, James II. commissioned Sir Edmund Andros as "Captain General and Gov- ernor in Chief in and over the Colonies of Massa- chusetts Bay and New Plymouth, the Provinces of New Hampshire and Maine, and the Narra- gansett country or King's Province." On Sep- tember 13 of the same year additional powers and instructions to the new Governor were issued from James II.'s Court at Windsor. They required him to demand the surrender of the Charter of Rhode Island and the Providence Plantation against which a writ of quo warranto had been issued, and also said that "in case it SIR EDMUND ANDROS Hiding the Charter 277 shall happen, that upon a like writ of quo war- ranto, issued against the Charter of our govern- ment and company of our Colony of Connecticut, they shall be induced to make surrender of their Charter, our will and pleasure is, and we do hereby authorize and empower you, in our name, to receive such surrender, and to take our said Colony of Connecticut under your government, in the same manner as before expressed." July 15, 1685, Edward Randolph, the collector of His Majesty's customs in New England, filed with the Lord Commissioners for the Plantations the following articles to support a writ of quo warranto against the Connecticut Charter: "Art. I. That they have made laws contrary to the laws of England." "Art. 2. They impose fines upon the inhabitants, and convert them to their own use." "Art. 3. They enforce an oath of fidelity upon the inhabitants without administering the oath of suprem- acy and allegiance, as in their Charter is directed." "Art. 4. They deny to the inhabitants the exercise of the religion of the church of England, arbitrarily fining those who refuse to come to their congrega- tional assemblies." "Art. 5. His Majesty's subjects, inhabiting there, cannot obtain justice in the courts of that colony." "Art. 6. They discourage and exclude from the government all gentlemen of known loyalty, and keep it in the hands of the independent party in the Colony." 278 Wadsworth Proofs to sustain the first five of the above articles were taken out of the Colony Law Book printed at Cambridge in 1673. Under these charges a quo warranto was in July, 1685, issued against the Governor and Company of Connecti- cut. Another followed in October of the same year. The following is a copy of the latter, to- gether with a copy of a letter to the Colony from Ri: Normansell, Secondary to the Sheriffs of London : "Oct. 6, 1685. James the Second, by the grace of God, of England, Scotland, France and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, &c. To the Sheriffs of Lon- don: Peace. We require you to warn the Governor and Company of the English Colony of Connecticut in New England in America, to appear before us wher- ever we shall then be in England, from the Day of Easter in fifteen days, to answer by what warrant they claim to have and use diverse liberties, privileges and franchises within the said Colony, vis: in the Parish of St. Michael in Cornhill, London, where they are impeached, and there they shall have this writ. Teste: George Lord Jeffries at Westminster, the 8th day of July in the first year of our reign by the Judge in the first year of James the Second. For the King, Robert Sawyer Knight, now Astry." Attorney General for our lord the King, prosecutes this writ upon the quo warranto for the same lord and king." Hiding the Charter 279 London, Oct. 6th, 1685. "Gentlemen. This day was delivered to my hands (as I am Secondary to the Sheriffs of London) a writt of Quo Warranto, issuing out of the Crown Office of the Court of Kings Bench at Westminster, against you the Governor and Company of the English Colony of Con- necticut, in New England in America, requiring your Appearance before His Majesty, whersoever he shall then be in England, from the day of Easter in fifteen days to answer unto our Lord, the King, by what Warrant you Claime to have and use divers Liberties, privileges and Franchises within the said Colony, viz: in the Parish of St. Michael Cornhill, London, of which you are impeacht, and that you may not be ignorant of any part of the contents of the said writt, I have enclosed sent you a true coppy of the same (in his Majesty's name) requiring your appearance to it, and acquainting you that in default thereof, you will be proceeded Against to the Outlawry, whereby the Liberties, privileges and Franchises you Claime and now enjoy, will be forfeited to the King, and your Charter vacated and Annulled. Of this Gent, please to take notice, from your humble servant. Ri: Normansell." To the Governor and Company of the English Colony of Connecticut in New England in America." Both of the quo warrantos 1 were served on John Allyn and John Talcott, two of the 1 Two of these quo warrantos, and one notification from Richard Normansell, are preserved in Volume I of the Original Papers in the Connecticut Department of State and copies of all three of the writs and the 280 Wadsworth keepers of the Charter, by Edward Randolph, about midnight on July 20, 1686, but they were void as the time of their return -had elapsed. Notwithstanding that fact the Colony wrote William Whiting, its agent in England, to pre- sent a petition and an appeal to the King request- ing the recall of the quo warrantos and the con- tinuation of their Charter privileges. During the summer and autumn of 1686, Joseph Dudley, who was subsequently a member of Edmund Andros' Council, and Edward Ran- dolph, wrote the Governor and General Court of Connecticut, urging them to surrender the Char- ter and be annexed to Massachusetts, even going so far as to send Major John Pynchon and Cap- tain Waite Winthrop to consult with them on the subject; while Governor Dongan of New York was equally persistent in urging them to be annexed to his government. No advances were made to either and such was the condition of affairs when Sir Edmund Andros landed in Boston on December 20. His first council was held on December 22, when the following letter three notifications are preserved in the letter book of the Colony in the same Department. Two of the original writs are thus endorsed: "This received of Edward Randolph Esq. upon the 2Oth of July, 1686, about 12 or one in the morning pr us, John Talcott, Asst. John Allyn, Secry." Hiding the Charter^ 281 was addressed to Robert Treat, Governor of His Majesty's Colony of Connecticut: "Boston, 22nd December, 1686. Sir. This is to acquaint you that his Majesty having been pleased to send me to the Government of New England, of which you are a part, I arrived here on the 2Oth instant, where I find all very well disposed for his Majesty's service; and his Majesty's Letters Patent to me for the said Government being then published were re- ceived with suitable Demonstration. "I am commanded and authorized by his Majesty, at my arrival in these parts, to receive in his name the surrender of your Charter (if tendered by you) and to take you into my present care and charge as other parts of the Government, assuring his Majesty's good subjects of his countenance and protection in all things relating to his service and their welfare. "I have only to add that I shall be ready and glad to do my duty accordingly, and therefore desire to hear from you as soon as may be, and remain your very affectionate friend, E. Andros." Edward Randolph also accompanied this let- ter with another quo warranto and the following letter: "Boston, Dec. 23, 1686. Gentlemen. His Majesty hath commanded me to serve another writ of quo war- ranto upon you it is returnable the first of next Term. You find by a Letter from his excellence Sir Edmund Andros herewith sent you, that as yet a door is open for you, and tis your own fault if you fail of the enjoy- ments and indulgencies which his Majesty hath been graciously pleased to grant to the Colonies of New Plymouth and Rhode Island now annexed to this Government. 282 Wadsworlh "By serving of this quo warranto, and you not ap- pearing to defend yourselves, judgment will be entered against you on your non-appearance, so that it is not in your choice how next to dispose of yourselves. You have no way to make yourselves happy but by an early application to his Excellence, which is all & more than you might expect to hear from me, with whom you have so often and so unkindly trifled. However I will not be disoblidged, but am, Gentlemen, your humble servant, Ed. Randolph." Randolph expected that Andros' letter and the quo warranto which accompanied it would result in a surrender, as he wrote Major Pynchon of Springfield the following- week that he was well assured that the physic would operate, although he heard that the little quacks in Hartford were endeavoring to divert their coming under the government of Massachusetts. Instead of sur- rendering the Charter as anticipated, Governor Treat called a special meeting of the General Court at Hartford on January 26, 1686. It de- cided to leave the matter to the Governor and Council, who upon the same date dispatched the following letter to the Earl of Sunderland, Sec- retary of State : Hartford, 26 Jan., 1686-7. "Right Hon. The occasion of these lines are to inform your lord- ship, that we have formerly sent several addresses to be presented to his Majesty; but have no return that Hiding the Charter 283 they ever came to his Majesty's view. The last year two writs of quo-warranto were served upon us by Mr. Randolph, which were issued out of the Crown-office of the court of King's Bench at Westminster, but served upon us after the time of appearance had elapsed, as we understand it; But then we prepared an address to his Majesty, and appointed Mr. William Whiting, a merchant in London, to be our attorney, to present our address to his Majesty: And, in case we should be called upon to answer before his Majesty, or any court or judges, by what authority we hold, possess and enjoy divers rights, privileges and franchises, that he might on our behalfe make answer thereto. And since that, December last past, another quo-warranto was served upon us, requiring our appearance before eights days of the purification of the blessed virgin Mary; which is so sudden, by reason of our remoteness, and the sharpness of the winter season, that we cannot make such suitable return as we ought: Yet we have again requested and empowered Mr. Whiting to appear on our behalf, if we must come to answer, so that, by reason of our non-appearance or silence, we may not be proceeded against to an outlawry, or forfeiture of our liberties and privileges. May it please your honour, we are his Majesty's loyal subjects, and we are heartily desirous that we may continue in the same station that we are in, if it may consist with his princely wisdom to continue us so: But, if his Majesty's royal purpose be otherwise to dispose of us, we shall, as in duty bound, submit to his royal commands; and, if it be to conjoin us with the other colonies and provinces, under Sir Edmund Andros, his Majesty's present governor, it will be more pleasin? than to be joined with any other province. 284 Wadsworth Sir: We pray your honour's pardon for this address, which is only occasioned for fear any mishap should befal our former letters, requesting your honour to acquaint his Majesty, that we are his obedient and loyal subjects, and shall so approve ourselves, notwithstand- ing any misrepresentation that may be made of us; who are &c. Robert Treat, Governor. By order of the General Court, John Allyn, Secretary." At the same time Governor Andros was also advised that the Colony declined to give up the Charter. He expressed his surprise in a letter to Governor Treat that the Colony required any other "argument than his Majesty's own words to induce compliance," and followed it with an- other note in which he said: "While you have no more regard to reiterated quo warrantos nor gracious opportunities by his Majesty's commands to me as signified to you at my arrival, but still act with the most obstinate & adverse to his Maj- esty's service, you thereby hazard the advantages that might be to your Colony and totally your own which others even of this Colony have prevented by a con- siderable part of them now in place submitting and leaving the refractory and unless you shall do your part without delay, you will not only make me in- capable to serve you but occasion the contrary but do hope better of you and the whole Colony by your good ensample and loyal acting in your station ere too late." This communication was carried to Hartford by Captain Nicholson and was submitted to the Hiding the Charter 285 General Court at a special meeting held on March 30. At the time there was also a differ- ence of opinion between some of the leading men in the Colony in reference to the contest that was being carried on over the Charter. A number thought that it would end in a victory for the King and that by making a voluntary surrender it would be possible to secure better terms. Others were of the opinion that if the Court still held out the Colony might be divided by the river, the Western half being annexed to New York as de- sired by Governor Dongan, and the Eastern por- tion to Massachusetts. Governor Treat was supposed to be one of those, while John Allyn submitted the following communication at this meeting: "To the Honerd Genii Court. Gentm, Vpon the reasons which haue been layd before you, with many more that might be giuen, we doe declare that we do verily belieue it is for the Advantage of this Court Freely; and voluntarily to submitt yorselves to his Maties: disspose, and not to begin or hold any further Suites in Law with his Mats, which in noe wise can be expected will promote or profitt or wealfare. And for or own parts, we doe declare, and desire you would take notice, we are for answering his Matis: expectation, by a present submission, and are against all further prosecutions or engagements by Law Suites in opposition to his Mates: known pleasr: for or sub- mission. 30th March 1687. John Talcott, John Allyn, Samll Talcott." 286 Wadsworth Of the signers of the above communication John Allyn and John Talcott were two of the keepers of the Charter, and that Andros was ad- vised of what was being done is shown by a letter which Allyn wrote on the same day to Fitz John Winthrop, who although living in New London had been appointed as one of the Council of New England before Connecticut was annexed. In it he said : "I have hoped that this time we should have been ready to have joined our divisions and to have made an entire body, but by our statesmen it is thought not convenient yet, and they will not be moved beyond their pace; notwithstanding the advantage that offers to encourage a present union, they will not be per- suaded to it. It looks so like a giving away that which is precious to them, which they can rather be passive than active in parting with it; and also those difficulties that threaten the standing out, as the procuring his majesty's displeasure, making the terms the harder, and losing the little share we possibly might have in the government if cheerfully submitted to, seems of little weight with too many. The result of present considerations are that we must stand as we are until his Majesty farther dispose of us, and all that is gained is our gentlemen rather choose to be conjoined to Massachusetts than with any other province or colony." After Governor Andros' letter was read at the special meeting the General Court voted that it did not see sufficient reason to vary from the answer given in January, while it also ordered Hiding the Charter 287 that the following letter 1 be drawn up and signed by the Secretary in the name of the Court and directed to his Excellency Sir Edmund An- dros: "The Governor and Council to Gov. Andros. Hartford, March 30, 1687. Right Honble Sir: According as or Governor informed Capt. Niccolson, we conveened this day by or sd Governors order, who told us that the occasion of our meeting was, your Excellency had signified to him, by advice of his Maties Councill that you had granted us another opportunity of making suitable and dutifull resolves concerning or surrender. For yr Eccelencie's and their care of us and love to us, we return you or hearty thanks, but we humbly request that we may without offence in- form your Honor that as matters are circumstanced with us we cannot vary from what we informed your Excelency in or letters of January 26 past, by reason we have by or severall addresses formerly sent to his Matie left orselves so fully to be guided and dissposed by his princely wisdome, and have not reced any re- turn or direction from his matie since, and therefore we request that a good neighborhood and an amicable correspondence may be continued between your Excel- ency and ys Colony till his Maties father pleasure be 1 The following sentence appeared in the original draft of this letter but was crossed out before being copied and transmitted to Boston: "And then when we are commanded by his Matie to surrender orselves to your Excelencies government, and to be united wth or neighbors in yt government, we shall be as loyall and dutifull as any, we hope, and as readily submit orselves to your Excelency." 288 Wadsworth made known to us. Which wth or best respects and service to your Excelency, is all at present from your humble servants, ye Govr & Company of his Maties Colony of Connecticutt." Andros' feelings upon the receipt of this letter can be better imagined than described, but noth- ing more was heard from him on the subject until the day after the meeting of the General Court, held in Hartford, June 15, 1687, an d which was called by the Governor in order to lay before it the information that he had received from Wil- liam Whiting as to their affairs in England. During this meeting the assistants and deputies who in March defeated the recommendations of John Allyn, John Talcott and Samuel Talcott were very outspoken and insisted that the Char- ter should no longer be left in charge of the Sec- retary. 1 Several members also desired that the 1 So far as can be gleaned from the Colonial Records, John Allyn had the charters in his possession as on October 9, 1662, the General Court made the follow- ing order: "This Court doth order Lt. Jo: Allyn to shew Capt. Varlet the Charter granted to this Colony, and to inform him that it is desired by the Court that the Honorable Lord Stevesant would not in any wise incumber or molest his Ma'ties subjects comprehended within ye extent of our Pattent by any impositions, that thereby more than probable inconveniences may be prevented." Captain Varlet (Varleth) was a brother- in-law of Governor Stuyvesant and an officer in the employ of the Dutch West India Company. Hiding the Charter 289 Charter be brought into the Court Chamber. The Secretary accordingly sent for it and as soon as the messenger returned the box was opened and the parchment, over which there was so much contention, was exhibited to the Court. The Governor then bade him put it in the box, lay it on the table and leave the key in the box. 1 The box was still on the table when the Court adjourned. After a number of the assistants and deputies had retired from the chamber, Gov. Treat and Deputy Governor Bishop held a conference with those who insisted upon retaining the Charter until a judgment was rendered against it, while Andrew Leete, 2 as I was afterwards told by my 1 The following paragraph in reference to same ap- pears in the record of the meeting: "Sundry of the Court desireing that the Patent or Charter might be brought into the Court, the Secretary sent for it, and informed the Governor and Court that he had the Charter, and shewed it to the Court; and the Governor bid him put it into the box againe and lay it on the table and leave the key in the box, which he did forth- with." 'Andrew Leete possessed a liberal portion of the excellencies of his father. He was early appointed commissioner or justice of the peace, and had principal concern in managing the affairs of Guilford. In 1677 he was elected an assistant and was annually re-elected until his death October 31, 1702. Rev. Thomas Rug- gles, minister of Guilford from 1729 to 1770 in his History of Guilford says, "It is said and believed that Andrew Leet was the principal hand in securing and preserving the charter when it was just upon the point 290 Wadsworth brother, asked that the duplicate be sent for, which was done. He also insisted that the Char- ters should be separated, one remaining in Hart- ford and the other taken to New Haven or an adjoining town. Upon the suggestion of the Governor, the Charter, which was always referred to as the original, being the one that was first received from England, was handed to Andrew Leete with instructions to take it to Guilford and conceal it either in his house or in one of the hiding places of the stone house 1 built by Henry Whitfield. of being taken and that it was in his house that it found a safe retreat until better times." Leete appears to have been a man of infirm health, most of his life subject to fits of epilepsy, which impaired his useful- ness. 1 The stone house of Guilford is said to have been built in 1639 by Henry Whitfield, and is supposed to be the oldest dwelling house now standing in the United States. According to tradition, the stone of which the house was built, was brought by the Indians on hand barrows, across the swamp from Griswold's rocks, and an ancient causeway across the swamp is shown as the path employed for the purpose. The house consists of two stories and an attic. The walls are three feet thick. The walls of the front and back of the house terminate at the floor of the attic, and the rafters lie upon them. The angle of the roof is 60 degrees, mak- ing the base and sides equal. At the end of the wing, by the chimney, is a recess, which must have been intended as a place of concealment. The interior wall has the appearance of touching the chimney, like the wall at the northwest end. But the removal of a board discovers two closets which project beyond the lower part of the building. Smith's History of Guilford. Kb* T ' I Hiding the Charter 293 This was done, I being detailed the same night to accompany him, although at the time I did not know what he had concealed in the box under his cloak. The duplicate Charter was intrusted to a Committee composed of Nathaniel Stanley, my brother John Wadsworth and Samuel Wyllys, one of the original keepers. Nathaniel Stanley and my brother took the Charter to Sam- uel Wyllys' house. As he was absent in the West Indies, they gave it to his wife and re- mained until she placed it in the iron chest in which the Wyllys family kept its papers. The day after the Court adjourned Edward Randolph arrived at Hartford with the following letter from Governor Andros : "Boston, June 13, 1687. By my several letters and advice from England I am assured that by this time, there would be an issue put to, and judgment entered upon the quo warranto against your Charter, and soon expect his Majesty's commands accordingly; of which I doubt not but you are advised, as many of your friends in these parts, who have prevailed with me on your Assembly's meeting, to express my inclinations. Still not to be wanting for your welfare, if you yet give me opportunity by accepting his Majesty's favor, so graciously offered you, in a present compliance and surrender, and not with vain hopes to delay until execution be served upon you, when too late to acquit yourselves of your Duty to his Majesty and trust re- posed in you by the Colony, which, being of such im- 294 Wadsworfh portance, deserves your best considerations and re- solves accordingly. "This is by Edward Randolph, Esq., to whom you may give entire credence in anything relating to this matter from your very affectionate friend, E. Andros." It was delivered to Secretary Allyn, who sent the following reply: "Hartford, June 18, 1687. May it please your Excel- lency. Your letters by Esq're Randolph and Capt. Davis have arrived, and we are sorry they came too late to reach our General Court, who adjourned the evening before the arrival of those gentlemen, and though by what we took notice of their minds, we con- clude they would not have altered or varied anything from what in their former letters they wrote unto you, for at their last session they resolved to continue in the station they are in till his Majesty's pleasure be made known to them for a change, and they having so declared, it is not in our power to vary or alter what they have so resolved therefore according to the cir- cumstances we stand under we cannot make a surren- der of our Charter at present, but must wait his Maj- esty's pleasure for our farther dispose, which shall be readily submitted unto by us we thankfully acknowl- edge your Honors favor to us, and care over us, and earnestly your candid acceptation of this return, and a favorable construction of our intentions therein, who are resolved through the help of Almighty God to ap- prove ourselves his Majesty's loyal subjects, and your Honors most affectionate friends & humble servants, the Governor and Council of his Majesty's Colony of Connecticut pr order signed John Allyn, Secy." Hiding the Charter 295 Nothing more was heard from Governor An- dros until the following October, but during the interval several communications were received from the London agent, William Whiting. In June he wrote that he had delivered the letter addressed to the Earl of Sunderland, but that he had been unable to learn as to what action had been taken in connection with it, while at the same time he advised the Colony that An- dros had not made any return of the quo war- ranto, but that he was of the opinion that the Charter would be surrendered. On June 14 and again on August 9, Whiting wrote that there was a rule of the Court passed for appearance on the last day of the term or judgment would be passed against the Connecticut Charter, "but no information being then, nor since, given in against the Collony, the case stands as it did: whether any will be put in between this and next terme, cannot learne." Afterwards it was discovered that Whiting's inability to learn anything came about through the construction placed by the Committee on Trade and Foreign Plantations upon a paragraph in the letter to the Earl of Sunderland. It made the following report to His Majesty: "May it please your Majesty, Wee haue considered a letter directed to the Right Honble Earle of Sunderland 296 Wadsworth from the Generall Court of your Majesty's Colony of Connecticut in New England, wherein they represent their desires to continue in the same Station they are at present, if it shall so please your Majesty, But that if your Majesty shall thinke fit otherwise to dispose of them, they do in all duty declare their readiness to submit to your Royall commands; Hoping that your Majesty may be more inclined to annex them to the Government of New England, then to any other, Whereupon Wee most humbly offer our opinion, That your Majesty be pleased to send your instructions to Sir Edmund Andros, forthwith to signify your Maj- esty's Good liking and accepetance of their dutiful Sub- mission, and to take them under his government." His Majesty approved and ordered that the Earl of Sunderland, as Secretary of the State, cause instructions to be prepared for his signa- ture and transmitted to Sir Edmund Andros for taking the Colony of Connecticut under his gov- ernment. The first advice that Connecticut re- ceived of this action came in a letter from Gov. Dongan of New York, who on October 4, 1687, wrote the General Court, "I lately had a letter from Whitehall that tells me Governor Treat and Mr. Allyn had writ thither desiring the Colony of Connecticut might be added to Boston and Sir Edmund Andros." This letter arrived in Hart- ford prior to the meeting of the General Court on October 13, which after transacting the regular business that came before it, ordered that "the Hiding the Charter 297 Governor and Dept. Governor and so many of the Assistants as may make seven to be a committee or councill in behalfe of the Generall Court in the intervals of the Generall Court, to transact such publique concerns as shall fall in." While to all appearances this was the last meeting un- der the Charter, the members after granting the deputies their usual salary for attendance sepa- rated without making a motion to adjourn. Before taking up the letter which preceded Sir Edmund Andros' visit to Hartford, I wish to state that while the Governor has been looked upon in New England and especially in Con- necticut as tyrant, I have never had other than a friendly feeling for him. Prior to coming to New York all of his life was spent in the Court and camp. In the former he recognized the crown as the symbol of authority which all roy- alists were required to respect and, if necessary, defend with their lives, while the latter was to him, as to all soldiers, the badge of obedience. Upon his arrival in Boston, where both the civil and military authority were united in his person, Sir Edmund expected the respect and obedience which he had yielded without question to his sovereign and superior officers. When it was not forthcoming, and especially during the trou- 298 Wadsworth blesome times when those who dominated his council fleeced the Massachusetts land owners whose property was not granted under seal, it is not surprising that he lost his temper and told the colonists when they brought their complaints to him that they were either subjects or rebels and that their Indian deeds were of no more value than the scratch of a bear's paw. 1 Above all this, Andros was a soldier, and while he knew when to yield to superior force or con- stituted authority, he never hesitated, no matter how disagreeable the duty, to carry out the orders of his superiors. The odium which has been cast upon him by New England belongs to the Duke of York, whose orders he acted under when in New York and whose will was his mandate, when as James II., he sent him to Boston in 1686. The idea of uniting all of the New England 1 Connecticut did not have any trouble over land titles during the Andros administration, as when it became inevitable that the Charter would be annulled the undivided lands were split up, each township being ordered to take out deeds for their grants under the seal of the Colony. In Massachusetts the land was granted, but not under seal. When its Charter was an- nulled the grants never having been perfected, became void and Andros, or rather his council, offered to con- firm the titles on payment of a moderate first rent, which was considered a burden to men who had held the lands for over half a century. Hiding the Charter 301 Colonies did not originate with Andros, but grew out of the complaints filed by Randolph, who flooded the Committee of Trade and Plantations with letters showing that the Colonists did not look to the throne as "the wellspring of dignity or the fountain of justice, of honor, of office and privilege," and that they were constantly ex- ceeding the rights granted in their Charters. The Massachusetts Charter having been an- nulled and Rhode Island willing to surrender its letters royal, Andros was selected to represent his old patron, and when assuming office he was compelled, or possibly he never thought of it, to take under his protection Randolph, whose spying eyes were constantly noting all of the failings of the colonists but never saw any of their good qualities or the difficulties with which they were forced to contend in the New World. Time and again it has been said of Randolph that he wandered up and down seeking whom he could devour, viewing with jaundiced eyes those who would not lend a willing ear to his over- bearing inquisitiveness, be blind to his cupidity, or respect his petty authority. Upon Randolph, the scourge of the Colonies, execrations cannot be too loud or deep, and Andros must to a cer- tain extent bear his share of it through having 302 Wadsworth been associated with him in the service of the power-blind and bigotted prince and King James the second and last of that name to sit upon the throne of England. Randolph's tattling began long before Andros arrived in Boston. He was there eleven years and during that period crossed the Atlantic eight times with complaints, while he drew with his own hands the articles under which the quo war- ranto proceedings against the Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut Charters were in- stituted, and while none of them were carried to a judgment, the Massachusetts Charter was an- nulled under a writ of scire facias, while Rhode Island yielded and Connecticut well, possibly evaded is the proper word the issue. Knowing that his methods made him the target of Colonial scorn, Randolph hoped to win favor at White- hall, but he never had the courage to gloat over his work until after Andros appeared on the scene. Then, with a Governor behind him, he began to tell in his correspondence of the doings of the council and boasted that they were as arbitrary as the Grand Turk. Andros' career in America does not require an apology, even if he was one of "the kind that Hiding the Charter 303 goeth not out but by prayer and fasting." 1 He conducted his government like a soldier under orders, force or an attempt at it taking the place of diplomacy, and while charges were preferred against him in New York, the outcome did not forfeit the respect or support of his employer. On the other hand, King James sent him back to America with increased powers and at the same time bade him make the government self-sus- taining. This is Sir Edmund Andros as I remember him, my opinion of the man and his methods being based upon his military training and the period in which he lived. He was ambitious. What Colonial Governor was not? He was un- scrupulous. What soldier is not? He was se- vere. So are all in authority if the record is kept by those who are governed without their con- sent. The orders of King James II. and his coun- sellors to Sir Edmund Andros to annex the gov- ernment of Connecticut to the one over which he *The discontents of the people made such impression upon him that one morning he told Doctor Hooker he thought the good people of Connecticut kept many dayes of fasting and prayer on his account. Very probable, says the doctor, for we read that this kind goeth not out by other means. Roger Wolcott's Me- moir, July I2th, 1759. 304 Wadsworth presided, arrived at Boston on Saturday, October 17, 1687, Lady Andros coming on the same ship. On Friday of the following week at His Majes- ty's council in Boston, the Governor read the orders received, and it passed a resolution 1 that his Excellency should go in person and take Con- necticut under his government. On the same date he also wrote Governor Treat as follows : g r "Boston, Oct. 22d, 1687. This is to acquaint you that I have received effectual orders and commands from his Matie for Connecticott, annexed to this Government, (in a very gratious man- ner) with particular regard, and favor to yrselfe. And resolve to send or be myselfe att Hartford abt the end of next weeke, 2 'pursuant there unto, to meete you and such Gentn as you shall think fitt for his maties sd service wch I will not doubt to yr satisfaccon and other his Maties loyall subjects to yr parts; and re- main, Sr, Yor very affectionate Friend, E. Andros." 1 The following is a copy of the order: "Advised and Resolved. That his Excellencye doe goe in person or send about the latter end of the next weeke to take the said place under his Government, pursuant to the said Orders with such of the Councill or other per- sons Guards, and attendance as he shall think fitt; of which to give notice to Governour Treat and Secretary Allen." *His Excellency, with sundry of the Council, Justices, and other Gentlemen, four Blew-Coats, two trumpeters (Sam. Bligh one), 15 or 20 Red-Coats, with small Guns, and short Lances in the tops of them set forth for Woodcock's (Woodcock's tavern, in what is now Attleborough, Mass.), in order to goe to Connecticut, to assume the Government of that place. Judge Sewall's Diary, October 26, 1687. Hiding the Charter 305 Upon receipt of this notice the Governor sum- moned the General Court to meet at Hartford, while those in command of the train bands and the troop of horse were instructed to be in readi- ness to receive Sir Edmund Andros in a manner commensurate with his office. The assistants, deputies and troops were all assembled in Hart- ford by Friday of the following week, while men were posted away towards Springfield so as to be in readiness to advise those in waiting of the Governor's approach. Nothing was heard of him on that date or on Saturday, the first advice coming from Wethers- field in the middle of the afternoon of the fol- lowing Monday, 1 when Samuel Talcott, Captain of the troop of Hartford County, rode into the meeting house yard and gave notice of his Ex- cellency's coming that way. Before leaving Wethersfield he had under his authority as as- 'On Monday, Oct. 31, 1687, Sir E. A. (with divers of the members of his council and other gentlemen attending him, and with his guard,) came to Hartford, where he was received with all respect and welcome congratulation that Connecticut was capable of. The troop of horse of that county conducted him honorably from the ferry through Wethersfield up to Hartford, where the trained bands of divers towns, (who had waited there some part of the week before, expect- ing his coming then, now again, being commanded by their leaders,) waited to pay him their respects at his coming. Gershom Bulkeley's Will and Doom. 306 Wadsworfh sistant "created a constable authorizing him to press boats and men to carry over his Excellency and retinue without delay." Also as soon as everything was in readiness the troop of horse started towards Wethersfield to meet and con- duct Gov. Andros to Hartford. It was almost dusk before the lookout on the South Green reported their approach. In a few minutes Captain Talcott on his flashy chestnut was seen coming up Queen street 1 in front of his troop, but on this occasion his mount showed none of the fire or fancy steps which always dis- tinguished him in the parades of the company, the hard ride from Wethersfield to acquaint the Gov- ernor of the coming of his Excellency from that quarter and back again with the troop, having taken the gimp out of the little beauty. Upon his arrival at the edge of the meeting house yard Captain Talcott turned, while the troopers di- vided in the center and backing their mounts to the sides of the street, left a clear passage for Sir Edmund Andros and his company to pass between the train bands to the Meeting House. Two trumpeters preceded his Excellency, the jangling notes of their horns sounding strangely in the ears of those who had been accustomed to hear nothing but the meeting house bell 1 Main Street. Hiding the Charter 307 or the roll of a drum to herald the arrival of a dignitary or a call to duty. Sir Edmund was mounted on a steel gray horse, whose fine bony head, tapering ears and crested neck showed that he carried in his veins the barb blood which Charles II. and Cromwell had introduced into England and which was now found in nearly all of the better mounts of the officers in the English army. He was a horse of great substance and power and carried his rider with that light, springy step which denotes courage and the ability to go fast and far. As he passed the troop horses and moved by the train bands the strain on the rein showed that the thirty-eight mile march from Norwich had not cooled the wild spirits in his veins, while his rider sat him with the grace and ease which is acquired only by years in the saddle. Joseph Dudley and John Fitz Winthrop, the latter having joined the party at Norwich, fol- lowed the Governor, and they were in turn fol- lowed by William Stoughton, Robert Mason, John Usher, John Pynchon, Bartholomew Gid- ney, Edward Ting and Secretary John West, all of which preceded twenty-five or thirty red coat- ed soldiers armed with small guns and short lances in the tops of them. 308 Wadsworth Sir Edmund Andros turned his horse from the street and passing between the trumpeters, who posted themselves on opposite sides of the cleared space between the train bands, rode almost to the Meeting House, on the steps of which Gov- ernor Treat, Deputy-Governor Bishop, the As- sistants and Deputies were drawn up to receive him. As he swung out of the saddle I could have brushed his coat with my hand, the com- pany of which I was lieutenant being close to the building. As he was not accompanied by an orderly and no one came forward to take his horse, Sir Edmund, turning towards me, said, "Lieutenant, detail a man to hold my horse until an orderly comes for him." As he spoke I glanced down the front rank of my company, and as every face was set and stern, fearing a refusal if an order was given, I stepped forward and saluting, said, "Your Excellency, I will consider it an honor to hold the rein of such a magnificent horse." The remark pleased him, and half turning towards me he said with a smile in which anyone could see with half an eye that he had an old trooper's love for the gallant gray, "He is the best bit of blood in New England," and after patting him on the neck he turned to greet the Governor, who, coming forward with Hiding the Charter 309 extended hands, said, "Yes, and you have the boldest blade and most fearless soldier in Con- necticut to hold him." "Not so, my dear Major," said Andros, with the smile of a courtier, "since I have heard and read of the fort fight at Narragansett that honor belongs to one who is higher in the ranks of the military, and one whom I hope this evening or on the morrow to have with me as a member of His Majesty's council. But it is late. The day has almost gone since I left Norwich before sun up in the hope of arriving before the hours de- voted to the fairies and witches on All Hallow E'en, 1 and would have done so had not my com- pany been delayed at the Wethersfield ferry. However, my letter has advised you of my mis- sion and the orders under which I come. There is no occasion for treaty at this hour, as I see no provision has been made for lights in the Meeting House. I would therefore be pleased to have you and Deputy Governor Bishop, as well as your worthy Secretary, join the members of the council at dinner, for which our long ride has given us ample appetites. Two hours hence 1 "Halloween is thought to be a night when witches, devils, and other mischief-making beings are all abroad on their baneful, midnight errands." Burns' Notes to his Halloween. 310 Wadsworth we can meet in the Council Chamber at the inn where Fitz Winthrop advises me you hold many of your meetings and of which the Colony was at one time proprietor. Odds fish! under such circumstances who would hesitate at being the governor of the granary of New England." As there was no one to express disapproval to the proposal of Sir Edmund, after an exchange of courtesies with the Assistants and Deputies, he and the Governor withdrew to the tavern, being followed by Deputy Governor Bishop, Sec- retary Allyn and the members of his Council, none of whom dismounted until after the time was fixed for the meeting. After my company had been dismissed and while I was standing in the square, one of Samuel Wyllys' black boys came to me and said that I was wanted at his master's house. Without hav- ing an opportunity to change my uniform I went there and on my arrival found Nathaniel Stanley and my brother in consultation with Mistress Ruth Wyllys. They had come for the Charter, Governor Treat having advised them that it would be necessary to surrender it to Sir Ed- mund Andros in accordance with the instruc- tions of His Majesty James II. As to what penalty would be imposed on either or both of w : '">-'. -iv ff-.m, riBfl Hiding the Charter 313 them in the event of their failing to produce the Charter, they were unable to determine. Finally it was decided to take it. I returned with them and went up stairs into the Court Chamber. Before reciting what took place at the meeting it will be necessary to refer to the tavern in which it was held. The building was originally occupied by Jeremiah Adams, who came to Hartford with the Hooker company. After serv- ing as a constable he engaged in the grain trade, purchasing corn from the up river towns. In 1660 he embarked in the liquor business, having secured the exclusive right to retail liquors in Hartford, 1 and at the session of the General Court held at Hartford March 31, 1661-2 he was granted permission 2 to open an Ordinary for the entertain- ment of travelers. 1 This Court doth order, that noe person in Hartford, except Jer: Adams shal sell wine, under a quarter cask, nor liquors under an Ankor. Order General Court May 17, 1660. 2 "It is granted and ordered by this Court, vpon the motion and desire of Jeremiah Adams, that ye house that the said Jer: doth now possess and improue for an Ordinary, or house of comon enterteinment, shalbe and remaine for the same end and vse and occupation for the future, both to ye said Jeremie and his suc- cessors, provided as hereafter is expressed: I. That ye said Jeremie, his heires and successors, carry on this worke, by such prson or prsons inhabiteing in ye said house as shalbe to ye good liking and approbation of ye Genii Court from time to time. 2. That ye said 314 Wadsworth The venture was not a success, and in January, 1666, the property, which consisted of three acres of land 1 and the buildings on it, was mortgaged to the Colony, which eventually came into pos- session by foreclosure January 14, 1680. One of the first steps taken by the General Court after house be fitted and made capable to giue sufficient enterteinment as need and occasion shal require, both to neighbours and strangers. 3. That there be at all times necessary & comfortable accommodation and provison made for enterteinment of Travellers with horse and otherwise, and that both respecting wine and liquors and other food and comfortable refreshing both for man and beast. 4. It is ordered, that if Jer: Adams shall not attend his agreement in attending the provision made in ye foregoing Articles, he shal not forfeit his licence, but shalbe liable to be censured by the Court as they shal judg most suteable." 1 The tavern stood on the land bounded by Grove (Orient), Main (Queen) and Atheneum (Wadsworth Lane) Streets to the Meeting House Alley, which was about one hundred and forty feet east of the present line of Prospect Street. It was known as the Bunch of Grapes, a name no doubt given it in 1679 or 80, as at a County Court held in Hartford December 4, 1679, Jeremy Adams "having no signe according to law" was ordered "to set up a compleat signe before the March Court or pay a fine of forty shillings." The building stood back from the street and is supposed to have been on the land now covered by the Universalist Church of Redeemer, and was in the next century suc- ceeded by the Black Horse Tavern, so called from a horse of that color painted on the sign, of which Sam- uel Flagg, who acquired the property through purchase and marriage, was in 1757 the proprietor. Flagg mar- ried Sarah Bunce, a daughter of Jonathan Bunce, whose wife Sarah was a daughter of Zachariah Sandford, a grandson of Jeremy Adams. Hiding the Charter 315 obtaining possession was to set aside an upper room for its meetings, as well as the meetings held in connection with town and county affairs. After being in the tavern business for about four years the General Court at its May meeting in 1685 ordered that it should be sold, 1 and on De- cember 2 of the same year the land and build- ings were purchased by Zachariah Sandford, a grandson of the original proprietor. After the transfer Sandford enlarged and im- proved the place, adding a wing to the northeast side of the building, the back wall of which ran parallel with the lane connecting Queen Street with the Meeting House Alley. This addition darkened a window in the council chamber, it being concealed by a valance. Also when mak- ing the addition a stairway was built to connect this window with the lane, a door which could be opened only from the inside leading to the latter. The window was also placed on hinges and was used as an exit by members during the sessions or occasionally for removing prisoners lr rhis Court doe desire and impower Major John Tallcott, Capt. John Allyn, Mr. John Wadsworth, and Mr. Joseph Whiting to make sale of the house and homelott, now in the possession of the country, ac- cording to their best discression for the use of the colony, and do desire and impower Mr. Joseph Whit- ing, Treasurer, to signe the deed of sale. Colonial Records. 316 Wadsworth or witnesses who did not care to pass through the crowds that usually congregated in front of the Ordinary when court was in session. When a Deputy I frequently had occasion to use these stairs and now at the suggestion of Stanley I passed through the window with in- structions to await further orders. When closing the window I pushed the valance far enough aside so that I could see all that was being done in the Chamber, and by opening the window a trifle I could also hear everything that was said. As the hour for the meeting approached the servants of the inn entered the room and were soon busy under the supervision of a stranger whom I afterwards learned was one of Governor Andros' orderlies, putting the forms, joint stools and chairs in place for the meeting. The two tables were placed in the form of a T, one of the large leather chairs 1 being placed in the center 1 Jeremy Adams died August n, 1683. The inven- tory of his estate as preserved in the Probate Records of Hartford parcels off his household property as "in the little dining room" "in the old parlor in the parlor chamber in the kitchen," and among the rest the following: In the Court Chamber two Tables & a Carpet i IDS oo. By one Doz. stools & a form i 10 oo By 2 leather chayres and 4 other chayres, i 10 oo etc., etc., etc. Hiding the Charter 317 of the table that was crosswise of the room, with four chairs on either side of it, this being a suffi- cient number to seat the members of His Majes- ty's Council in attendance. The other leather chair was placed at the end of the table which made the stem of the letter and was within a few feet of the window behind which I was con- cealed. Six joint stools were placed on each side of this table, ten of them being for the Assist- ants, one for Deputy Governor Bishop and one for Secretary West, who as I afterwards found required a seat near the lights so as to be able to read his Excellency's commission. Between the table and the east wall forms were placed for the Deputies, who began to assemble in the chamber as soon as the fourteen candles in the two candelabra were lighted. These were placed on the lower table, one being about the center of it and the other at the further end. As soon as the Assistants entered the chamber they were shown to the places reserved for them, but none of them were seated until after Sir Edmund Andros, wearing his hat, all others be- ing uncovered, appeared with those who had dined with him. As soon as he was seated at the center of the upper table all of the others took their places, while the orderly retired and 318 Wadsworth an officer appeared at the door. Sir Edmund ordered it closed and instructed his Secretary to read his commission as Governor of New Eng- land, together with the additional powers and instructions given him in reference to the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and the Colony of Connecticut. With a voice as clear as a bell Secretary West read the commands of King James respecting his Territory and Dominion of New England in America and followed it with a copy of the order from the King and his counsellors to Sir Edmund Andros to annex Connecticut to his government. When he sat down there was an ominous silence. As I glanced over the familiar faces of the As- sistants and Deputies many of them looked ghast- ly in the flickering candle light, while the old look of determination which was seen there while there was a chance of saving the Charter was succeeded by one almost akin to despair. Of the thirty-four Deputies elected the pre- ceding May, the following were present : Nathaniel Stanley and Ceprian Niccols for Hartford, Henry Wollcott for Windsor, William Lewes and John Stanley for Farmington, Daniel Harris for Middletown, Moses Mansfield and Abram Dickerman for New Haven, John Beard Hiding the Charter 319 and Samuel Buckingham for Milford, Samuel Sherman for Stratford, Samuel Hayes for Nor- walk, Thomas Leffingwell for Norwich, Abraham Brunson for Lyme, Henry Crane for Killing- worth, William Johnson and John Grave for Guil- ford, Thomas Yale and John Hall for Walling- ford, Ebenezer Johnson for Derby, George Gates for Haddem, Elezur Street for Branford, John Chapman and William Dudly for Saybrook. The towns of Simsbury, 1 Woodbury, Stamford and Stonington were not represented. By the table at which Governor Treat sat with Deputy Governor Bishop on his left were grouped the Assistants, John Talcott, John Allyn, Will- iam Jones, John Wadsworth, Andrew Leete, Ben- jamin Newbery, Giles Hamlin, James Fitch and Samuel Mason. On the right of the Governor there was a vacant stool. It was the one reserved for Assistant Samuel Talcott, the Captain of the Hartford troop. As it was apparent that Sir Edmund Andros was waiting for Governor Treat to make a statement, the latter beckoned to Na- thaniel Stanley, who was seated at the end of one of the forms. He came forward and after handing the Charter to the Governor, sat down 1 Simsbury had no representative in the General Court from 1675 to 1687, when Peter Bewell was elected. 320 Wadsworth on the vacant stool, which was so close to the window that I could have touched it without entering the chamber. Governor Treat snipped the deer skin thong with which the Charter was tied and laid it on the table. As it unrolled the illuminated head and picture of Charles II. on the parchment could be seen by all. Pointing towards it and addressing Sir Edmund Andros as though he were conversing with him, the Governor said, "That Charter represents the accumulated ef- forts of the founders of this Colony and the toil and savings of their children. For over half a century they have carried the flag of civilization into the wilderness, clearing the forests, drain- ing the marshes and making two blades of grass grow where there had been but one before, while at all times they stood ready to defend their homes and the homes of those dwelling in the neighboring colonies from the attacks of the In- dians. "In the second year of the founding of this Colony one-half of the able bodied men left their families and homes, which were then little better than hovels, on the river, to attack the Pequots, who, true to their nature, were destroying all that was near and dear to us. With fire and Hiding the Chartei 321 sword they carried destruction and death almost to extermination among them. Since that time Connecticut was not attacked by the red men, but the annoyances continued on account of the constant depredations and desultory war which harassed the other colonies, until at the Narra- gansett fort fight when fully one-third of Con- necticut's troops were slain or wounded. They gave their lives freely that New England might live. Their blood was shed to save the homes guaranteed to them and their children by that Charter, and it is like giving up life itself to sur- render it. "When the Fundamental Orders were adopted the Connecticut valley was a wilderness. Later, when our fathers purchased the river right and Saybrook fort from the Warwick patentees through George Fenwick, they freely contributed the dole of grain, although they could ill spare it, for 'pay' to meet the obligations of the Colony. This tax upon their resources was followed by another demand to provide for the expenses in- curred by Governor John Winthrop in procuring that Charter from King Charles II. of blessed memory, the products of their fields being car- ried to New London to meet the bills issued in London in their name and under the order of the 322 Wadsworth General Court. And now after expending all this blood and treasure we are called upon to surrender the Charter for expediency in the con- duct of a government in which we will be but a small part and in which we will have virtually no voice. "At this time while there is still in my mind a doubt as to the legality of this procedure which is being forced upon us for what has been termed 'reasons of state/ I, as one of those who fought and struggled in the name of the Colony, am willing to yield a nominal consent until further inquiry can be made, but do so well aware that if the rights of the people are invaded and we cannot obtain redress it will result in another removal to a territory under a flag that respects' its own acts. I, for one, will be the first to dis- pose of what I have here and with what goods can be carried turn again towards the setting sun, where there are lands so vast that no man knows their boundaries and within which millions yet unborn shall find a heritage. The Indians tell of inland seas beyond the falling waters seas that have never been seen by the white man and plains of grass, as limitless as the ocean, over which roam herds of woolly cattle and droves of horses that have never yielded obedience to Hiding the Charter 323 man. On these lands we can build new homes, within which there may in centuries to come be found the germs of an empire greater than that which owes allegiance to the flag of England. "The sons of men who founded colonies can found others. They are inured to toil, and while the homes of childhood have many associations near and dear to all of us, there is a greater and a grander instinct which has grown up among us in the New World the privilege of thinking and acting as freemen. It is our Magna Charta." When Governor Treat sat down, my brother John arose, his tall, slim figure, sharp features and long gray hair giving him the look of a patriarch. Addressing Governor Andros in a low, clear voice, he said, "Fifty-one years ago I came to these parts, a small child walking with my father in the Hooker company. What you see here now was then a forest with a few Indian villages be- tween this place and Windsor. I grew up in this Colony and know what toil and trouble fall to the lot of the emigrant and with which no sane man would contend were it not that within each one of us there is a still small voice, demanding in return for toil, the freedom due to all men and the privilege of making their ways in the world on an equality with each other. 324 Wadsworth "The pampered life of courts or the restfulness of towns, is unknown to those whom you meet in Connecticut. They are, and have been for a generation, children of the soil. They till the earth for what it may bring forth, and with the sweat of labor on their brows stand ready at all times to defend their homes and their lives from those who may feel disposed to invade them. As protection from the Indians, each home in the Colony is armed with musket, powder and ball, each householder being required to keep a stated supply on hand under penalty from the General Court. 1 To this constant state of readiness I at- tribute Connecticut's freedom from attack. The Indians, remembering the fate of the Pequots, know that these Englishmen do not wait to be attacked, to be burned in their homes, but have from their first coming stood as the aggressor. "Where would many of the towns of Massa- chusetts, Rhode Island and Plymouth, now under your government, be to-day were it not for 1 Every male person within this Jurissdiction, that is above the age of sixteen years, whether Magistrates, Ministers or any other, (though exempted from train- ing, watching and warding,) shall bee allways provided with, and have in readiness by them halfe a pound of Powder, two pound of serviceable Bulletts or shott, and two fathom of match to every Matchlock, uppon the penalty of five shillings a month for each persons default therein. Code of 1650. Hiding the Charter 325 the timely aid of the Connecticut troops, led by the Governor of this Colony, who has just addressed you? Ask of those living in Spring- field, Hadley and the other towns on the river how they were saved from destruction, and when the issue was trembling in the balance in the Narragansett fort fight, when the Massachusetts forces fell back before the withering fire of the red men, Governor Treat and his Connecticut followers, a few of whom are in this chamber, rushed over the banked up bodies of the dead into the fort and returned the fire of the enemy with their clubbed muskets. "Like yourself, the inhabitants of Connecticut are Englishmen. Like you, we are proud of the land of our birth, but in troublous times, for faith and freedom, our fathers left the land of their nativity, not in the hope of extending the hold- ings of England in the New World, but of mak- ing homes in which they would be permitted to worship God as their conscience dictated. As you have lived at court, there is no occasion to speak of Laud and Stafford, although it was be- fore your time. Their acts and their fate show what trust can be placed in Kings, while the fate of their master proved that the homes of English- men cannot be invaded with impunity even under the guise of prerogative. 326 Wadsworth "The King whom you represent is that man's son. During the two years of his reign he has created more trouble for the Colonies of New England than all which preceded them since the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. Complaints against our faith have been urged by Randolph, a betrayer of his brethren, who of all men knows that the people of this land are of one church and one faith. For it they sacrificed their homes in England and sought the wilds of America. It shall not be changed. Death alone can alter that. It will come when the mantle of mortality is cast aside for immortality. That faith is the well spring of our being. It is nearer and dearer to us than the titles to our homes which you now hope to cloud by depriving the Colony of the Charter that was to belong to those named in it and their descendants forever as stated in the body of the patent. A great wrong is being done us and the black looks of your associates shall not deter me from saying so in your .presence. Every man in this Colony has faced death too often to hesitate when called upon to express his opinions. We have grown familiar with the pale rider of the Revelations, as his call is but a bid- ding to another realm in which the wicked will cease from troubling and where the toil-stained Hiding the Charter 327 but none the less welcome wayfarer shall find rest. "Coming as you do, a soldier under orders, I expect that you will not hesitate in the perform- ance of your duty. Under such conditions you are compelled to act, but in the doing remember that you are governing not the enemies of Eng- land, but her sons, who may again in time have equal authority with yourself as when they raised the late Lord Protector to powers greater than were ever wielded by an English King. In time even the Stuarts will learn that the voice of the people is the voice of God, the all redeeming, all ruling and all forgiving providence of mankind. Peace be with you." After my brother resumed his chair Governor Andros rose and turning towards him, said, "It is with pleasure I learn that the worthy gentle- man who has just spoken is a descendant of the Wadsworths. England has few better names among her yeomen. In London and even in Guernsey I have heard of the descendants of Duke Wada and the giantess Bell and those val- iant squires whose names are not only found on the army rolls, but are also perpetuated in the names of towns in the north of England. No bet- ter soldiers than the Wadsworths ever graced a 328 Wadsworth camp, ever fearless and bold, free of speech in de- bate and firm of hand in fight. Massachusetts now mourns one. 1 He fell at Sudbury in the King Philip war, battling against odds, and after hear- ing your discourse I have no doubt but that the Connecticut stem of the family, which shows by the lilies of France on its shield that its ances- tors fought at either Crecy or Agincourt, shall, when the opportunity presents itself, make a mark that will endure for all time. "It also pleases me to see that even as our Anglo-Saxon ancestors bearing their war chief on their shields proclaimed him their king, the old blood again asserts itself by raising the most successful leader of the Connecticut troops in the recent troubles to the Governor's chair, an au- thority which I hope to continue on the morrow by having him become, pursuant to His Majes- ty's command, a member of the council for New England. And while a number of you at this time yield reluctantly, it is well to remember that even Oliver Cromwell said that 'the ground of necessity for the justifying of men's actions is above all considerations of instituted law.' " When Sir Edmund Andros concluded his re- 1 Captain Samuel Wadsworth of Milton, who was killed with thirty of his men near Green Hill April 18, 1676, while defending Sudbury from the Indians. THE WADSWORTH ARMS Hiding the Charter 331 marks, every one in the chamber turned involun- tarily towards Andrew Leete. He had risen from his stool when reference was made to Cromwell, and moving towards the table rested both of his hands upon the edge of it. Leete's face was col- orless and as he leaned forward between the can- delabra, the twitching of the muscles showed that he was laboring under a great strain, while it was apparent to those who knew him that he was on the verge of one of the epileptic fits which had made his life a burden and on ac- count of which, as I afterwards learned, I was directed to attend him in the June proceeding when he carried one of the Charters of the Col- ony to Guilford, where it was concealed in a hid- ing place of the Whitfield house until after the troubles over it subsided. Knowing that it would be folly to interfere with him, those who were near by drew away, while Andros and the occupants of the table at which he sat, settled themselves complacently in their chairs to hear what he had to say. For a lew moments Leete was unable to speak. His lips moved, but no sound came from them, but when the words did come they gushed forth like a torrent. Raising to his full height he turned towards Andros and said, "You speak of Crom- 332 Wadsworth well. You try to justify your act and the acts of your patron by his words. You may have seen him and learned what he did, but your knowledge ends there. Now that we meet face to face I will tell you that my father and Cromwell were boys together in Huntingdonshire and knew each other in early manhood. Also, after the crisis in Eng- land, after Charles Stuart had laid his head on the block, he was among those whom Cromwell asked to return to his native land and lend a hand in creating a government of the people for the people. Disborow, Whitfield and others ac- cepted the invitation. My father did not. He had cast his lot with New England and remained here. In his time he was Governor of New Ha- ven and of the United Colonies under the Charter. Half of his life was devoted to the building up of Connecticut and maintaining its Charter rights, as you no doubt remember, if your visit to Saybrook has not passed from your memory. In that day you retired discomfited, and by God's help you shall this time." As he continued Andros' face became black with passion. The large veins in his forehead swelled as though they would burst, but Leete either did not see or care for the storm that was apt to burst forth at any moment. Swaying back- Hiding the Charter 333 ward and forward as he spoke, he continued, "Your present mission shows that King James has yet to learn that in order to govern a people it is necessary to retain their affection. He has forgotten that covenants fairly entered into must be kept. Take that away and what right has a man to anything? The rights of a slave may be invaded without protest, but no loyal subject will yield without a hearing. In properly constituted monarchies the crown is the guarantee of pro- tection, not the symbol of oppression. All of us owe obedience to constituted authority, but obe- dience and allegiance end when the sovereign as- sumes more authority than is allowed by the laws." Pointing to the Charter as it lay half unrolled on the table, Leete with the voice of a prophet said, "That Charter is in force at this hour. No judgment has been rendered against it. It was granted under the great seal of England and cannot be surrendered unless the surrender is given under the seal of this Colony. Remember it is Charles I.'s last word and that is why I use it, that measures obtained by force do not en- dure." As Leete uttered the last words and before anyone could reach him he plunged headlong on 334 Wadsworfh the table between the candelabra, his outstretched arms upsetting both of them. In an instant the room was in darkness and before the ensuing confusion subsided Nathaniel Stanley handed me the Charter through the window. Slipping the precious parchment under my tunic I rushed down the stairs, and opening the door cautiously stepped into the lane. As I turned to close it a man grabbed me and in doing so said, "Oddsfish, what have we here?" Shaking him off as a terrier would a trouble- some rat, I wheeled and by the dim light of the moon, which was in its first quarter, 1 I found myself face to face with two trumpeters. Both of them showed by their actions that they were half gone with drink, and before I had time to say a word the companion of the man who grabbed me answered for me by saying, "It's the bumpkin of a Lieutenant who, instead of detail- ing a man to take His Excellency's horse, held it himself." With a laugh and a leer and a remark that I would know better than that when Sir Ed- mund took command of the Connecticut troops, they passed on towards Queen Street, while I October 31 (old style) 1687 -f- n = November II (new style) 1687. The moon was new November 5 new style. Therefore, on October 31 (old style) it was six days old or about in its first quarter. Hiding the Charter 337 hurried through the lane to the Meeting House Alley, down which I ran at full speed until the river was reached. It only took a few moments to cross it in one of the flat bottom boats which were pulled up on the bank, and in less than ten minutes after the Charter was taken from the Council Chamber it was back again in the front parlor of Samuel Wyllys' house. Fortunately Mistress Wyllys was alone at the time, all of the help on the place, white and black, having gone to the Meeting House yard and that vicinity to see the English soldiers in their red coats and pick up what gossip they could about those who accompanied Governor Andros. After telling her what had occurred in the chamber and of my encounter with the trumpeters she said that there was but one thing for me to do and that was to hide until Sir Edmund and all of his spies had returned to Boston. As for the Charter, I could not take it with me and it could not re- main in the house, as a general search might be made for it, so she said, "Hide it in the hollow of the oak. It will shelter it just as the leaves of the Boscobel oak hid the King, who granted it, from Cromwell's soldiers." And hide it we did, first wrapping it in my tunic, "for no one," as 338 Wadsworth Mistress Wyllys remarked, "would go to the woods in the garb of a lieutenant of the train band." Habited in a coat and cap of her husband I was on the point of starting when she called me back and bade me drag Lion's kennel from the rear of the house to the foot of the old oak and fasten it there. No one would disturb the tree or its contents with that huge mastiff there. He was so ferocious that but few people on the Wyllys place could approach him, and would have been killed on account of that failing had he not in his younger days terrified the Indians and prowling blacks so that they feared him more than an evil spirit. While I was doing this Mistress Wyllys made me a small packet of bread and powdered 1 beef, and within half an hour after running down the back stairs of the court chamber I was off to find a hiding place in the bush. After leaving the Wyllys yard I followed the west bank of the Little River until opposite Allyn's Mill. 2 Crossing the river at this point I skirted the edge of Lord's Hill 8 to the Brick 1 Salted. 1 It stood near the stepping stones in the Park River. 'Now Asylum Hill. Hiding the Charter 339 Hill Road, 1 which I followed to the Venturers Field 2 through which in those days a road ran to the Cow Pasture 8 and the Blue Hills. As I went along I decided to hide in the vicinity of Sims- bury, where I knew I could get food and if neces- sary assistance from my sister, 4 the wife of John Terry. Striking into the Simsbury road I soon crossed the branch of the little river on a tree that subsequently marked the boundary line of some lands which I received in exchange for a few lots upon the river, but after climbing the hill on the other side of the brook I found that the moon had set and that it would not be possi- ble to cross the mountain before morning. While in a quandary as to where to spend the balance of the night I bethought myself of the hollow tree in the Honey Pot Lot, 6 which al- *It led to the "Brick Hill," or clay bank through which the New England road runs north of Sigourney Street. "This field lay north of the "Brick Hill" and ex- tended to Albany Avenue. It contained about 35 acres. * The Cow pasture lay west of Windsor Avenue and north of Albany Avenue. It contained about 1000 acres and was held in common by the original proprietors of the North Side. 4 Elizabeth Wadsworth, oldest daughter of William Wadsworth and Eliza Stone. She married John Terry of Windsor. They moved to Simsbury after the King Philip war. 'According to Aunt Lucy Wadsworth, who died August 30, 1900, at the age of 98 years and 8 months, 340 Wadsworth though over two miles from where I was stand- ing, was preferable to perching on a limb to keep out of the way of bears, wild cats, or worse men who might be looking for me. Following the ridge on the right of the road it was not long before I located the tree and within ten minutes after crawling into it, was sleeping as soundly as though Charter troubles were unknown. The sun was two hours high when I awoke with an appetite that caused Mistress Wyllys' bread and beef to disappear very rapidly, and after washing it down with a draught from a spring on the hillside a short distance from the hollow tree, I turned towards the mountain which separated me from Simsbury and the beau- tiful Farmington valley. As I ascended I could see the smoke from the chimneys in Hartford and the sight of it brought a desire to know what was being done there and how Mistress Wyllys explained my unexpected absence to my wife and children at their home Up Neck. After the Honey Pot Lot was located in what is or was until recently known as the Ed Kenyon farm. As to wheth- er a pot full of honey or sufficient honey to fill a pot was found in the hollow tree she never knew, but family tradition, and her great age carried her back to those who had seen and conversed with the im- mediate descendants of Captain Joseph Wadsworth, says that he slept at that place in a hollow tree on the night that the Charter was taken from Andros. Hiding the Charter 341 crossing- the Little Phillip, I descended to the shelf or break in the mountain through which the crooked Weatogue Brook rattles over the rocks, while on my left Big Phillip, its sides al- ready darkening with the shadows of the after- noon, rose to the horizon. As I had no desire to be seen in Simsbury I leisurely climbed the steep side of the larger mountain and on reaching the top, descended to King Phillip's cave. It is an oblong hole in the face of a cliff about twenty feet from the sum- mit and into which it penetrates twelve or fifteen feet. This was where the rebellious Indian hid when going to or coming from, I do not now re- member which, a visit to the Mohawks from whom, after the destruction of the Narragansett Fort, he sought aid in his war with the English. Fortunately he did not succeed, and as I lay there under the warm November sun and watched the sunshine and shadow playing hide and seek over the valley through which the Farmington River ran like a broad ribbon of silver, I could not in my heart blame that fearless warrior, even if he had a red skin and tried to burn our homes, for fighting for the land which the white man was taking from his people, occasionally exchanging a few coats, hoes, axes or beads for a territory broader in extent than the domain of a duke. 342 Wadsworth The Farmington valley never appeared to be more beautiful than it did that day. With the setting sun the blue haze, which hung over the hills during the afternoon, changed to a rose pink and finally deepened to purple as the fad- ing rays of light spread towards the Turkey Hills and Northington, 1 while the trees decked in all the gaudy colors of autumn filled in a picture that is still fresh in my memory. As the eye turned from the banks of the river, where the red leaves of the soft maple and the sumac nodded to their shadows in the water, it passed over the golden yellow of the ash, hard maple and birch, the russet brown of the oak and the deep green of the hemlock, pine and balsam, all of them be- ing mingled in delightful confusion, until near the summit of the mountain, where the trees give way to the gray moss and gnarled cedars, which appear to be almost black when seen from the valley. Did Moses, when he stood on Pisgah, see a fairer land than this? The following day, as I sat on the bank of the Weatogue Brook listening to the music of the water as it rattled the pebbles, clattered over the rocks and finally plunged with a roar to the level of the river, an Indian came and stood by a 1 Now Avon. Hiding the Charter 343 stunted hemlock. I motioned for him to be seat- ed, but he shook his head and said, "None of our tribe ever sit here." When I appeared to be astonished at his answer he told me that he was an old man of the tribe which moved from Massa- coe 1 when the English came and settled on the Housatonic, and that he had returned to once more feast his eyes on the scenes of his childhood before going hence. I also gathered from him that many years be- fore the white man came to the big river the Indians grew their corn and beans in the valley of the Tunxis. 2 That one year the rains came and destroyed two plantings, the river then, as now, becoming after a prolonged storm a raging torrent. At this time one of the sachems of the tribe had his wigwam on a little knoll near the edge of the stream, and as a consequence he lost not only his plantings of corn and beans, but also his place of shelter and all his belongings which could not be carried in canoes. After the second flood he built a wigwam on the ledge of the mountain and planted corn there as well as in the valley. As there were no more storms the corn grew from both plantings. 1 Indian name of Simsbury. * Indian name of the Farmington River. 344 Wadsworth One day, when the corn was soft in the ear, the leaves on mountain trees were seen to turn upwards as they do before a storm. There was no wind, but still the leaves rattled like the pop- lar at sunrise. In a few moments the earth trem* bled like the water when the wind touches it softly. Then all was still. Hobbamock, the spirit of evil, was angry with his people. The next day the young men who hunted on the mountain found that seams had appeared in the rocks and that there was running water where there had always been dry land. Before night the low places in this depression of the hills were un- der water and in a few days the sachem's corn was destroyed and his wigwam afloat. The lake on the mountain top had a mate. From that day none of the Indians would rest there. The old Indian also said that during the winter the ice split the rocks so that the water ran off, leaving the noisy mountain brook and fall to remind them of the displeasure of their god. Thursday morning the messenger that my sis- ter sent to Farmington came down the river with the news that John Wadsworth had returned from Hartford with a commission as Justice of the Peace under the new Governor and that Sir Edmund Andros and his troop of red coats had WEATOGUE BROOK FALLS Hiding the Charter 347 departed for Fairfield with the intention of swear- ing in the sheriffs and custom officers in the towns and seaports. When the information was com- municated to me I started for Farmington, where I first learned what happened in the Council Chamber after the lights went out. My brother told me that Sir Edmund Andros did not appear to be the least disconcerted by the incident, his' only order being that no one should be permitted to leave the room until the candles were relit. In response to a command from the officer at the door, Sandford and his servants hurried in with lights. When the candles were replaced in the candelabra and lighted it was found that there were no absentees, but that the Charter had dis- appeared. Leete still lay on the table and fully half an hour elapsed before he recovered con- sciousness. Andros saw at a glance that he had been tricked, how he did not know, and he was too proud to inquire, while in all probability he con- sidered it dangerous or possibly useless to make a search for the parchment which had caused him so much annoyance. With a sang froid and a deliberation for which my brother ever after- wards admired him, Sir Edmund arose, and after saying a few words of condolence over the un- 348 Wadsworth fortunate incident, he remarked that there was no occasion to continue the meeting. Then ad- dressing Secretary Allyn he ordered him to make the following entry in the records of the Colony : His Excellency, Sir Edmund Andros Knight, Captain General and Governor of His Majesty's Territories and Dominions in New England by order of His Majesty James the second King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, the thirty-first of October, 1687, took into his hands the Government of this Colony of Connecticut, it being by His Majesty annexed to the Massachu- setts and other Colonies under his Excellencies Government. Finis. My brother also said that Andros intended to add the last word and ordered the book brought to him for that purpose, but when he tried Sec- retary Allyn's pen he found that he could not write with it. He therefore instructed him to complete the record. 1 On the following day Sir Edmund Andros sent for Governor Treat and Secretary Allyn and ad- vised them of his plans. They communicated 1 It has been repeatedly stated, on what authority does not appear, that this record, or at least the word "Finis" was written by Andros himself. A glance at the original is sufficient to show that it is throughout in the handwriting of Secretary Allyn. J. Hammond Trumbull. Hiding the Charter 349 them to the Assistants and Deputies who were still in Hartford, and a little before noon all of them repaired to the Ordinary where His Ex- cellency lodged and escorted him with the mem- bers of his council to the Meeting House where the occasion of his coming was publicly stated. He also commanded His Majesty's letters patent for the government of New England and His Majesty's orders to His Excellency for annexing the Colony of Connecticut to the Dominion of New England and to take the same under his government to be publicly read. 1 After this was done Robert Treat and John Allyn were sworn members of His Majesty's council. On the fol- 1 Being arrived at Hartford, he (Andros) is greeted and caressed by the governor and assistants, (whose part it was, being the heads of the people, to be most active in what was now to be done,) and some say, though I will not confidently assert it, that the govern- or and one of his assistants did declare to him the vote of the general court for their submission to him. However, after some treaty between his excellency and them that evening, he was the next morning waited on and conducted by the governor, deputy governor, assistants and deputies, to the court cham- ber, and by the governor himself directed to the gov- ernor's seat; and being there seated, (the late governor, assistants and deputies being present, and the cham- ber thronged as full of people as it was capable of,) his excellency declared, that his majesty had, accord- ing to their desire, given him a commission to come and take on him the government of Connecticut, and caused his commission to be publickly read. Gershom Bulkeley's Will and Doom. 350 Wadsworth lowing day His Excellency's council named the Justices of the Peace and Sheriffs for Hartford, New Haven, New London and Fairfield Coun- ties and marched out of town. I returned to Hartford on Friday and the fol- lowing night removed the Charter from the hol- low oak and concealed it in a candle box 1 which was fitted into the stone foundation of my house. 1 A tradition of the Cook family of Harwinton, Conn., states that "Captain Wadsworth and Captain Cyprian Nichols, of Hartford, agreed that they would try to save the charter; that Wadsworth gave Captain Nichols the choice of whether he would undertake to extinguish the candles or hide the charter. Nichols chose the former, and upon receiving a prearranged signal, personally and by others extinguished all of the lights in the Council Chamber, and that Captain Wads- worth seized the charter, secreted it in the oak, com- ing back as quickly as possible. Late that night, or very soon thereafter at the dead of night, Captain Wadsworth brought the charter to his own house with the intention of secreting it there, without anyone knowing of that fact. Upon his arriving home, to his dismay, he found that his wife had been suddenly taken ill with the colic, and he had to impart to her or some other member of the family the nature of his em- ployment, and thereupon the charter, placed in an old candle-box, was secreted in the corner of Captain Wadsworth's cellar, and the earth replaced in such a way as to thoroughly conceal it. His injunctions to the person to whom his secret had to be disclosed were that if anything should happen to him, they should communicate to Captain Cyprian Nichols the secret of its hiding-place." This version is traced to Captain Joseph Wadsworth's daughter Hannah. She told it to her grandson Allan Cook, who repeated it to R. Man- ning Chipman, author of the History of Harwinton. Hiding the Charter 351 It remained there unasked for, as but few in the Colony knew what had become of it when it dis- appeared so mysteriously from the Council Cham- ber on All Hallow E'en in 1687, until the May session of the General Court in 1698, when I showed it to the Governor and Council and was instructed to retain it until further orders. The original at that time was in the hands of Sam- uel Wyllys, it having been brought back to Hart- ford by Andrew Leete and read to the freemen on May 9, 1689, when for the peace and safety of these parts the government was re-established, as it was before Sir Edmund Andros took it. From May, 1698, to May, 1715, the duplicate charter lay in its box in the cellar. Over twenty- seven years had elapsed since it was taken from the Council Chamber, and as almost all of those who participated in those stirring incidents had passed away I deemed it advisable to return it to the Governor and General Court, which after a conference, passed the following resolution :* 1 The resolution in the original paper is thus en- dorsed by the clerks: "Past in the Lower House. Test. Sam'll Cooke Clerk. Past in the Upper House in the Negative. Test. Hez: Wyllys, Secty." The Committee of Conference are noted, to wit, Matthew Allyn, Roger Woolcott, and John Clarke. Their agree- ment, viz.: twenty shillings to Capt. Wadsworth for the services mentioned in the Resolution, is also noted and the following additional endorsements occur: "Past in the Upper House. Test. Hez: Wyllys. Secry. Past in 352 Wadsworth "Upon consideration of the faithful and good service of Captain Joseph Wadsworth of Hart- ford, especially in securing the duplicate Char- ter 1 of this Colony in a very troublesome season the Lower House. Test. Sam'll Cooke, Clerk." The amendment, viz: "twenty shillings," is in the hand- writing of Secretary Wyllys. See in Original Papers, Finance and Currency, Vol. I, No. TZ\ also Col. Rec. Vol. IV, p. 351. 1 It was the custom in the time of Charles II., as in- deed it is today, especially in England to execute im- portant documents in duplicate, or even in triplicate, so that if one should be lost in transmission across the ocean, the others might be preserved. Albert C. Bates, the Librarian of the Connecticut Historical Society, sends me the following note in reference to the two Connecticut Charters: "Much confusion, it seems to me, has arisen from the diverse and indefinite meanings of some of the terms most frequently used in speaking or writing of these charters. Two charters, each sup- posed to be the exact counterpart of the other, were made out and signed and both were sealed on May 10, 1662. In law each was an original and each was equally valid. Of course in "passing the seals," the final process in establishing their authenticity, both could not have been sealed at the same moment, one must have preceded the other, and this first one is the historical original. But only in this strict and limited historical sense can either one be designated as "the original charter." In the common usage of words both are originals and either one might be called the origi- nal, the other being then called the duplicate. And in fact each is called "the duplicate" in the charters them- selves, this phrase occurring in both documents: "these our letters Patent, or the Duplicate or Exemplificacon thereof." The word duplicate meaning simply the other the one not at hand the one not under discus- sion whichever one of the two that might happen to be. The word is used in exactly this sense at the Hiding the Charter 353 when our Constitution was struck at, and in safety keeping and preserving the same ever since unto this day, the assembly does, as a token present time by English historical writers in reference to similar documents of which more than one original was made. The identity of the "historical original" charter, the one which first receive the attachment of the "broad seal" of the realm, has been recently settled by the discovery in the English archives of the record of the fees paid for the two documents. For "the charter," that is the one first sealed, a charge of 8 gS. was made with a further "fee thereupon" of s, and for "the duplicate" charter a charge of i 48. Un- fortunately a large portion of one of the two charters is missing, but three copies of it are extant, all made at an early date. Each of these three copies has at the end following the signature the words "per fine five pounds," thus establishing this as being the one upon which the fee was paid and therefore as the his- torical original. That the one now imperfect is the one upon which the words "per fine five pounds" were written, there is the negative evidence that they do not appear upon the other one which is complete and per- fect, also the positive evidence that from each of the three copies two words are missing which in the now imperfect original are interlined in so fine a hand that they might easily escape the notice of all but the most careful copyist. The imperfect charter, the historical original, has for many years reposed in "the charter box" in the rooms of the Connecticut Historical Socie- ty; the complete charter, the historical duplicate, is exhibited in the Connecticut State Library at the Capi- tol." The duplicate charter was written on three skins and the original on two. The following note in reference to the latter appears in the third volume of the Colonial Records: In 1817 or 1818, while John Boyd, who was afterwards Secretary of State, was preparing for col- lege, at the Hartford Grammar School, he boarded in the family of Rev. Dr. Flint of the South Church. 354 Wadsworth of their grateful resentment of such his faithful and good services, grant him out of the Colony treasury the sum of twenty shillings." Coming in one day from school, he noticed on the workstand of Mrs. Bissell, the doctor's mother-in-law, a dingy piece of parchment covered on one side with black-letter manuscript. In answer to his inquiries, Mrs. Bissell told him that having occasion for some pasteboard, her friend and neighbor Mrs. Wyllys had sent her this. Mr. Boyd proposed to procure her a piece of pasteboard in exchange for the parchment, to which Mrs. Bissell consented. It was not, however, until six or eight years had elapsed that Mr. Boyd examined the parchment with care, when for the first time he learned what its contents were." This inci- dent recalls how the seared and yellow copy of the Magna Charta now in the British Museum was saved by chance from the scissors of a tailor. Struck by the great seals attached to a piece of parchment the tailor was cutting, Sir Robert Colton stopped the man and gave him fourpence for the document. It is now lined and mounted in a glass case, the seal a shapeless mass of wax and the characters illegible. THE MAN THE MAN There are no paintings or illustrations of any character of the founders of Connecticut. In all the other Colonies there are a few faces that have been handed down to posterity, while this solitary exception is also the only one which retained its identity from the beginning of its government up to the present. The Charter granted by Charles II. in 1662, as is well known, succeeded the Fundamental Orders and remained in force even under the aegis of the United States of America 1 until 1818, when the present Constitu- 1 After the Declaration of Independence, at a General Assembly held in New Haven on the second Thursday of October, 1776, the following resolution was adopted: "Resolved by this Assembly: That they approve of the Declaration of Independence, published by said Con- gress, and that this Colony is and of right ought to be a free and independent State, and the inhabitants there- of are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and all political connections between them and the Kin? of Great Britain are, and ought to be, totally dissolved. And be it enacted by the Governor, Coun- cil and representatives in General Court assembled, and by authority of the same, that the form of civil govern- ment in this State shall continue to be as established by charter received from Charles II., King of England, so far as an adherence to the same will be consistent with an absolute independence of this State on the Crown of Great Britain, and that all officers, civil and military, heretofore appointed by this State continue in the execution of their several offices, and the laws of the State shall continue in force until otherwise ordered." 358 Wadsworth tion was adopted. There is a painting of John Winthrop, Jr., from which thousands of prints have been made, while nothing but a legend and the record of a few of his acts remain of Captain Joseph Wadsworth, who "secured the Charter of the Colony in a very troublesome season," and who stands out boldly as the first genuine hero born in New England. From these acts, all of which have been gathered for this chapter, the reader can call up the rugged soldier in homespun who in his day tilled the soil of Connecticut, fought the Indians, risked his life in defense of the Colony's rights, defied a Colonial Governor and was finally in his old age admitted to the bar, where he was time and again called on to de- fend himself in suits which could be traced to his high temper and sledge hammer manner in set- tling disputes. Born in 1648, being the third child of William Wadsworth and his second wife Eliza Stone, Joseph Wadsworth became a freeman of the Colony October 12, 1676, by order of the General Court, his two brothers, Samuel and Thomas, be- ing admitted on the same date. 1 The King Philip 1 At a Court of Election Held at Hartford, May n: 1676. Propownded for freemen; John Steele, Tho: Tompson, John Norton, Samll Lewes, John Howkins, Phillip Jud, Mr. Beltcher, Lnt. Jos: Wadsworth, Samll Wadsworth, Tho: Wadsworth, Wm. Burnam, John The Man 359 war was being waged when the three brothers were "propownded for freemen" and that Joseph was taking an active part in it is shown by the following orders of the Council : At a Meeting of the Councill, Held at Hartford, Septr. 6th, 1675. Wm. Leet Esq. Dep. Govr; Major John Tallcott, Mr. Henry Woolcott, Capt. John Allyn, Capt. Tho: Topping, Capt. Benj: Newbery, Mr. John Wadsworth. The Councill ordered that Sarjt. Joseph Wadsworth should take under his conduct twenty men, and pass up to Westfield, to assist them against the common cnemie, with this following comn: To Joseph Wadsworth, Sarjt. In his Maties Name you are required to take under your conduct those dragoones now present, and lead them forth up to Westfeild, there to assist in the de- fending of the sayd Westfeild against the common enemie, and there to continue till you receiue further order from the Councill here, or are called forth to the army by Major Treat or some of the cheife command- ers of or army. Allso, in case you hear that any of or plantations are assaulted by the enemie, you are forthwith to post away to releiue the place or planta- tions assaulted; and in case you should be assaulted in the way, you are to use your utmost endeauor to defend yourselues and to destroy the enemie. This signed pr the Secretary. At a Meeting of the Council, at Hartford, Septr. 9, 1675. Wm. Leete Esq. Dept. Govr; Major John Tall- Olcott, John Pantry, Jonath: Bull and Samll Olmsteed, Wm. Waller. Colonial Records. At a Session of the Genii Court, October 12: 1676, in Hartford. Those formerly presented for freemen last Court, viz. Mr. Wadsworth three sons, Samll, Joseph & Tho:, and John Pantry, are admitted for freemen. Colonial Records. 360 Wadsworth cott, Mr. Henry Woolcott, Capt. John Allyn, Major Robt Treat, Capt. Benj: Newbery, Mr. John Wads- worth. Major Robt Treat being returned from the army, and informeing us that the Gentn from the Bay haue ordered that all their forces shall be called out of the feild, up the riuer, and their townes garrisoned as they may; and allso, that of those forces that went hence there is left about forty at Hatfeild, and some at Northampton, and some at Westfeild, are desired to be continued; the Councill doth grant that if it be desired, there be twenty-six left at Westfeild, under conduct of Ens: John Miles, and sixteen left at Springfeild, under conduct of Lnt John Standly; anf the rest both those that went with Sarjt Joseph Wadsworth and wth John Grant to return forthwith; and accordingly order was sent to Lnt John Standly and to Ens. John Miles. At a Meeting of the Council, January 14, 1676. Wm. Leet Esq. Dept. Govr; Mr. Samll Willys, Major Jno Tallcott, Mr. James Richards, Capt, John Allyn, Mr. Richd Lord. The Council appoynted John Standly Captaine of part of the forces belonging to Hartford County; and Joseph Wadsworth to be his Liuetenant. This apointment was no doubt made to fill one of the vacancies created by the loss which the Connecticut troops sustained in the Narragansett fort fight and in which Joseph Wadsworth in all probability participated. The following anecdote dates from the same period : Shortly after Joseph Wadsworth's return from an expedition to Farmington against the Indians, a man from Wethersfield, who was personally hostile to him, had occasion to call on Hezekiah Wyllys, the Secretary of Connecticut. The late The Man 363 expedition to Farmington soon becoming a topic of conversation, this Wethersfield citizen took the opportunity to say that Wadsworth behaved like a coward in the affair. Shortly after this remark was uttered, Wadsworth himself happened also to call on Mr. Wyllys. He came in quietly, and Mr. Wyllys, with whom he was a great favorite, without appearing to notice his entrance, peered over his spectacles, and inquisitively addressing Wadsworth's accuser, repeated his remark. "So you said just now," he proceeded, "that Joseph Wadsworth behaved like a coward at Farming- ton?" The reviler turned pale at once attempted to stammer out some apology and began retreat- ing towards the door. The moment Wadsworth, however, became acquainted with the offensive charge there on the spot in the lower front west parlor of the Wyllys mansion, and in the dignified presence of Mr. Wyllys himself, who obviously anticipated some amusing result he fell upon his accuser, and gave him a most severe, and exemplary whipping. 1 During the next twenty years Joseph Wads- 1 This anecdote was told I. W. Stewart by Peter Thatcher. He had it from Stephen Mix Mitchell of Wethersfield, to whom it was communicated by George Wyllys, a son of Hezekiah Wyllys. It appears in one of the Stewart manuscripts owned by the Connecticut Historical Society and is published by permission. 364 Wadsworth worth's name appears in the following entries in the Hartford Town Votes : Dec. 29, 1676. (Lieu. Joseph Wadsworth. tt Steven Hosmore. December 1679. Lieu. Joseph Wadsworth. j December 23, 1684. Townsmen on North Side j January 15, 1684-5. Att ye Same Meeting ye Towne made choyce of Mr. Sepren Nickeules, Lieu. Joseph Wadsworth & Insign Nathll Standly to bee Added to Mair Tallcott & Capt. Alyn As a Comitty for ye Scooll in Hartford. Hartford Town Votes, p. 214. December 24, 1685. Granted permission with Philip Lewis Liberty to build a warehouse next to Hartford landing place. February 28, 1689-90. Coll. John Allyn, Mr. Bar- tholomew Barnard, 1 Lieu. Joseph Wadsworth, and Capt. Caleb Stanly were chosen a committee to make up the fortyfications about Mr. Bartholomew Barnard's House. 1 Bartholomew Barnard lived on Sentinel Hill. Joseph Wadsworth married his daughter Elizabeth, who was the mother of his children, Joseph, Jonathan, who died in infancy, Ichabod, Elizabeth, Hannah and Jonathan. After her death, which occurred October 26, 1710, Joseph Wadsworth married Elizabeth Talcott, and upon her death he made his third venture by marrying Thomas Welles' widow Mary, whose maiden name was Blackleach. She survived him. The Man 365 December 16, 1690. (Joseph Wadsworth. ?o e S a e C p hB*" SOn - Jacob White. December 23, 1696. (Joseph Wadsworth. Ca n pTNfc a hof rd - Henry Hayward. January 26, 1691-2. Approved of Caleb Stanly bearing 50 Ibs. of Powder & 220 of lead for expedition to Deerfield & Albany. January 17, 1695-6. On Committee in behalfe of Town of Hartford with John Allyn, Caleb Stanly, Cep- rian Nickols, Joseph Bull. The interruption in the Government through the interference of Sir Edmund Andros occurred during this period, and while he retained it John Allyn, who was appointed a member of His Maj- esty's Council, wrote him as follows : "Sir, I allso make bold to inform your Excelency that if you please to make Lnt Joseph Wadsworth Lieuten- ant of the company of the North Side of or Towne & Mr. Niccols of the Sowth side, it will be most accomadating to the people as their habi- tations are settled." This is the only reference to Joseph Wads- worth in the Colonial Records from that time until he appeared at the meeting of the Governor and Council at Hartford on May 25, 1698, other 366 Wadsworth than that he is named as a Deputy for Hartford in 1694 and 1695, his first services as a member of that body being rendered in 1685. Att a Meeting of the Governr and Councill in Hart- ford, May 25t, 1698 The duplicate of the Pattent by order from the Governr and Councill being brought by Captn Joseph Wadsworth, and he affirming that he had order from the Genrll Assembly to be the keeper of it, the Governr and Councill concluded that it should remain in his custodie till the Generall Assembly or the Councill should see cause to order otherwise, and the sd duplicate was deliverd to him by the order of the Councill. There is nothing in the records to show when the General Assembly made the doughty Captain the keeper of the duplicate charter, but if such an order had not been issued there were men at this meeting who could have objected to such an en- try, which again called attention to Wadsworth's exploits, and resulted in his re-election as a Dep- uty in 1699, after which he served on the. follow- ing committees: A Generall Assembly Holden at Hartford, Octobr I2th, 1699. Mr. Will Pitkin, Captn John Chester, Mr. Nehemiah Palmer, Captn Thomas Hart, and Captn Joseph Wads- worth, or the majr part of them, are by this Assembly chosen a committee to take care of the countries in- terest in the undivided lands, and to indevour the pre- venting and detecting all illegal trading with the natives for land, and to implead such persons as have tres- passed upon the countries land by intrusion. The Man 367 Att a Court of Election Holden at Hartford, May the pth, 1700. Whereas this Assembly did in October last did ap- point and impower William Pitkin Esqr, Captn Thomas Hart, Mr. Nehemiah Palmer, Captn John Chester, and Captn Joseph Wadsworth, or the majr part of them, a committee to enquire after all such persons as have entred upon any countrey lands without any just right derived from this Assembly; this assembly doth con- tinue the said comittee in that trust to proceed therein and to make their return to this Assembly in October next. Att a Court of Election Holden at Hartford, May the 8th, 1701. This Assembly doth appoint and impower William Pitkin Esqr, Captn Thomas Hart, Nehemiah Palmer, Captn John Chester, Captn Joseph Wadsworth, and Sarjt Caleb Stanley, or any three of them to be a com- mittee in behalfe of this corporation to make diligent search and inquirie after all such persons as have made any unlawfull entries upon any of the countries land, not having a just right thereunto by grant from this Assembly; especially after such persons as have made any unlawfull entries upon the lands situate in the northeast parts of this Colonie; to continue in that service during the Courts pleasure, and to make pre- sentment from time to time in this Assembly of all persons that they shall find guiltie of making such unlawfull entries and incroachments upon the countries lands as is beforementioned. In May, 1703, Captain Joseph Wadsworth was again named as one of the Deputies for Hartford in the Lower House of the General Assembly, 368 Wadsworth notwithstanding the fact that he had opposed the Constable of Hartford the preceding: Febru- ary when that important official was making an effort to arrest a fugitive slave. He was also re- elected in 1704 and 1705. The following are the only entries concerning him in the records cov- ered by the three years and they show very plainly that the old warrior must have lost his temper while pleading Phillip Pain's case and that he made amply apology for his misbehaviour after the smoke of battle had blown away : Att a Genrll Assembly Holden att New Haven Octo- ber the I4th, 1703, and Continued by Adjournment to the End of the 22d Day of the same Month. Capt. Joseph Wadsworth appeaing in this Assembly in the behalfe of Mr. Phillip Pain who complained against Wiliam Pitkin Esqr, Assistant, for male-ad- ministration in his proceeding against said Pain for forcible deteiner, in ye debate upon which case the said Joseph Wadsworth used reproachful words against Mr. Pitkin and the sentence by him passed upon said Pain, saying in open Assembly that his proceedings in the case were altogether unjust and illegall, and also did cast forth reproachfull expressions against divers members of the Assembly, for which his misbehaviour this Assembly by force of the lawe title Magistrates, doe sentence the said Wadsworth to pay a fine of ten pounds to the publick Ireasurie of the Colonie. At a Generall Assembly Holden at Newhaven Octo- ber the I2th, 1/04, and Continued by Adjournments to the 24th day of the Same Month. The Man 369 This Court upon the request of Capt. Joseph Wads- worth doe remit a fine of ten pounds ladi upon him by the General! Court in October last, he havinsr made reflexions upon himselfe. After acting as one of the Selectmen for the town of Hartford in 1706 Captain Wadsworth again dropped out of sight until May 27, when at a meeting of the Court of Assistants, which at this time corresponded in most respects with the present Supreme Court of Connecticut, the fol- lowing became part of the record. "Capt. Joseph Wadsworth of Hartford was arrested and brought before this Court to answer for that on the 27th of May, 1708, in the forenoon, he, the said Wadsworth, being in the gallery of the Meetinghouse in Hartford, under the Court Chamber where the Governor and Council were sitting, and in discourse with Mr. Ichabod Wells Sheriff of the County of Hart- ford, did say to him the said Sheriff, "if you come to me, and I tender you estate and you will not take it, but take any other of my estate, I will break your head, or knock you down." "And the said Joseph Wadsworth being then imme- diately summoned before the Governor and Council, and questioned for his so speaking, he answered and said that the words he said to the Sheriff were if any Officer should come to him, and he should tender him estate enough, and the Officer would notwithstanding wreck his Estate, he would knock him down. "Which threatening speeches are unlawful and a breach of the peace. And now the sd Joseph was ex- amined and convict thereof by his own confession. 370 Wadsworth "This Court have considered the case, and do order and sentence the said Joseph Wadsworth to stand com- mitted until he shall find surety to be bound with him before this Court in a Recognisance of twenty pounds lawful money, conditioned for his peaceable and good behaviour towards all her Majesties subjects, and especially her Officers, until the next session of this Court to be held at Newhaven in October next ensuing. "The said Joseph Wadsworth and also Thomas Wadsworth of Hartford before this Court acknowl- edged themselves to stand jointly and severally bound to the Public Treasurer of this Colony in a Recog- nisance of twenty pounds lawful money of the same, to be levied on their goods, chattels or lands. "The condition whereof is that the said Joseph Wadsworth shall be of peaceable and good behaviour towards all her Majesty's subjects, and especially her officer, until the next Session of this Court, to be holden at Newhaven in October next." In 1712, Captain Joseph Wadsworth at the ripe age of sixty-four, became a member of the legal fraternity, but as to what cases he won or lost in this new field of contention the records of the Colony are silent and nothing more is said con- cerning him until his temper boiled over during the May session of the General Assembly in 1715. The following from the record shows what hap- pened on that occasion : Capt. Joseph Wadsworth being brought to the bar of the Assembly, to be examined upon the discourse he made May I7th, in the Assembly of both Houses, being publick upon the hearing of petitions, which was re- The Man 371 sented as of a seditious nature and tendency, as declar- ing against the validity of the acts of this Assembly which were passed by the Houses separate, for their inconsistency with our charter, and behaving himself with due submission declared, that he thought what he said had not such an aspect, and that he was far from intending to insinuate any such matter; but if through inadvertency his words had such a tendency, he readily acknowledged his offense and concern that what he had spoken had given any offence to the Assembly, whose constitution and proceedings he had no intention to reflect upon: Resolved thereupon, that the said Capt. Wadsworth acknowledge and consent to the following confession, viz: I do sincerely profess that in my discourse yester- day, in the hearing of both Houses when the Assembly was publick, (and upon the hearing of a petition,) re- lating to the constitution and power of this Assembly, as to the manner of their passing of acts according to our charter, I had no design to reflect upon or expose the proceedings of the Houses of the said Assembly in their passing of their acts separately. If what I said had any tendency thereunto, it was more than I in- tended or perceived; and I am heartily sorry that what I said was of any such tendency as to give offence to this Assembly, for which, as for the charter, I had a great regard and honour. Resolved, That this acknowledgment shall be read in the hearing of both Houses, the doors being open, and that after the reading thereof, the said Capt. Wads- worth publickly own the same, and a proper admo- nition (be) given him, and thereupon his offence passed by. The confession above was accordingly read in the 372 Wadswarth hearing of both Houses and acknowledged by the said Wadsworth, and an admonition given him upon the same by the Honble the Governour. 1 Further on in the proceedings of this session those who consult the Colonial Records will find a paragraph which fixes beyond a doubt the name of the man who secured and preserved the Char- ter when Andros visited Hartford, while the ac- tion taken by the Upper House in connection with the payment for "faithful and good serv- ices" shows that its members were still smarting under the remarks of the turbulent old warrior or that they did not consider the admonition of Governor Saltonstall severe enough. The follow- ing is the entry referred to and a few of the notes printed in connection with it in the fifth volume of the Colonial Records: Upon consideration of the faithful and good service of Capt. Joseph Wadsworth, of Hartford, especially in securing the Duplicate Charter, of this Colony in a very troublesome season when our constitution was struck at, and in safely keeping and preserving the same ever since unto this day: This Assembly do, as a token of their grateful resentment of such his faith- ful and good service, grant him out of the Colony treasury the sum of twenty shillings. 'The bill to bring Capt. Wadsworth to the bar, for his disorderly and mutinous speeches, originated in the Upper House. It was at first negatived in the Lower House, but after a conference of the two houses con- curred with. The journal of the Lower House informs us that the admonition was a gentle one. The Man 375 This bill originated in the Lower House, and, as at first passed there, gave Capt. Wadsworth four pounds: the Upper House negatived it: a committee of conference was appointed, consisting of Mathew Allyn, Roger Wolcott, and John Clark; and both houses agreed to give the sum named in the text. Finance & Currency, I. 82. Forty four years afterwards, Roger Wolcott wrote, for President Clap, a Memoir relating to Connecticut, dated July I2th, 1759. He says in it, "In October, 1687, Sir Edmund Andros came to Hartford. The assembly met and sat late at night. They ordered the charters to be set on the table, and unhappily, or happily, all the candles were snuffed out at once, and when they were lighted, the charters were gone. And now, Sir Edmund being in town and the charters gone, the secretary closed the Colony records with the word Finis, and all departed." In 1764, Roger Wolcott gave President Stiles this story, as the latter records it in his Itinerary, II. 105, now in Yale College Library, "Nath. Stanly, father of late Col. Stanly, took one of the Connecticut char- ters, and Mr. Talcott, late Gov. Talcott's father, took the other, from Sir Edmund Andros in Hartford meet- ing house, the lights blown out." Cyprian Nichols and Ebenezer Johnson, who were members at the sesion of May, 1715, were also mem- bers of the Assembly in June, 1687, when sundry of the Court desired that the patent or charter might be brought into the court, which the record leaves in the box on the table, at the adjournment, and with the key in the box, at which time, perhaps, the original charter was taken by Messrs. Stanly and Talcott and concealed, it may be, by Mr. Leete. Messrs. Nichols 376 Wadsworth and Johnson were also members on the 3ist of Octo- ber, 1687, when Sir Edmund Andros assumed the government, and the incident of extinguishing the lights occurred, and the duplicate charter was secured by Capt. Wadsworth. After this incident, Captain Wadsworth's name disappeared from the Colonial Records un- til 1721, when a son of Benjamin Mtmn filed the following affidavits in support of a petition for a grant of land: "These may informe ye Honoured General Courte that my Hon'rd Father having been a first planter of Hartford, I in my youth, who are now 74 years old, did often here my said Father say that those Lots called the Soldier's Field 1 were lots granted to ye Pequoit Soldiers only, and that for their good service in said War. Joseph Wadsworth." "I Thomas Burr of Hartford aged 75 years, testify as above written, that I heard my Father say as afore- said, and allso remember said Mun when he lived in Hartford and often heard my Father and other Pequot soldiers say that said Mun was a soldier in said war with them. Thomas Burr." The following reference to Captain Wadsworth also appears in the Hartford Town Votes: 1 Soldier's Field contained about fifteen acres on the west side of the North Meadow creek. The lots were chiefly a quarter of an acre each and were granted to soldiers engaged in Indian wars. There is a tradition that it was once an Indian camp ground. The original owners all lived on the north side and were few or none of the original proprietors of the town. The Man 377 Town Meeting. Dec. 20, 1720. Voted that Captain Joseph Wadsworth, Captain Aaron Cook and Lieutenant John Moakim be a Commit- tee to prosecute in Law (in behalf of this Town) and to Eject those that hold and Improve the Lands on the Town Comon on the East Side of the Great River in Hartford without Liberty of the Town and to Im- prove Councill in this Law for that out of the Charges of this Town. Town Meeting Dec. 25, 1722. Voted That Capt. John Spalding, Sargt. John Skinner be a Comittee to at- tend Capt. Jos. Wadsworth when he shall them desire with a Surveyoy to Lay out and make up the Comple- ment of his Lott upon the Comon bounded North on Symsbury Road 1 according to the agreement and records of this Town. The record of Captain Wadsworth's public services closes with a meeting of the Governor and Council at Hartford Aug. 16, 1726. The fol- lowing is a report of the proceedings : Present. Hon. Joseph Talcott, Gov. Roger Wolcott, Assistant. David Goodrich, Justice of Peace. Ozias Pitkin, Justice of Peace. Captain Joseph Wadsworth. Robert Sanford. 1 This is the lot referred to in the following memo- randum which was found in the box at the Wadsworth Inn: Land in Hartford upon Connoiticutt belonging to Lt. Joseph Wadsworth and his heirs for ever. One parcel of upland which he exchanged with the Town for land in the ox pasture and leads on to the West Side of the North Branch of the Mill River near the road that goeth or leadeth to Symsbury containing fifty four acres recorded Feb. n, 1686. A True Copy of Record. Exam Hz. Wyllys, Register. (Hezekiah Wyllys was Town Clerk from 1705 to J732.) 378 Wadsworth A petition signed by Nathaniel Stanly, Hezekiah Wyllys, Joseph Bigelow and other proprietors of cer- tain wet lands lying in the property described in said petition praying that a commission of sewers may be granted for draining said wet lands was read and voted that a commission of sewers be thereupon granted. Voted that Messrs. Thomas Seymour, John Whiting and Zoe Seymour of Hartford or any two of them be commissioners and that his Honor the Governor give them commission accordingly. Captain Joseph Wadsworth according to Sav- age died in 1730. He is supposed to have been buried in the cemetery corner of Main and Gold Streets, Hartford, but there is no gravestone to his memory. "Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire; Hands that the rod of empire might have swayed, Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre. "Some village Hampden that with dauntless breast The little tyrant of his fields withstood, Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest, Some Cromwell, guiltless of his country's blood." His will was approved and recorded March 2, 1730-1. The following is a copy of it: "I, Joseph Wadsworth, being sick and weake of bodie, tho' sound in my understanding and memory, calling to mind my mortality, that I may settle the estate God has been pleased to bestow upon me, I do make and ordain these to be my last Will and Testa- ment Imprimis I give my soul to God that gave it, in The Man 379 hope of mercy only through the merits, mediation and intercession of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and my body to a Christian buriall at the discretion of my Executor and as to "my worldly goods I dispose of them as fqlloweth first my Will is that all my just debts and funeral charges shall be duly paid, and hav- ing given a Joynture in full satisfaction to my loving wife Majy, I proceed to bequeath my estate to my Children and do give to my son Joseph the upper neck lot of land where his dwelling house stands, the whole of it, with all the buildings, orchards, privileges and appurtenances belonging, to him and his heires, forever also I do give to my son Joseph and his heires forever my upper Lot in the Long Meadow, and the five acre lot that I bought of Capt. Nathan Gold and the four acres of land at brother Tallcotts uper lot, which I have by agreement with Brother Tallcott and I do also give to my son Joseph all my land in Coventry this I give to him beside what he hath formerly had and enjoyed or improved of my estate. Item. I do give unto my son Jonathan and his heires forever, the woodlot buting East on the Road to Windsor, with all the buildings thereupon standing, with all the privileges and appurtenances thereunto be- longing also I do give him my Neck Lot of land lying over against the foresaid Woodlot, buting West on the Road leading to Windsor, that was bought of Thomas Thomlinson also I do give him the Lot of Land which the half way tree stands on in the Long Meadow these, with what I have formerly given him, or that he had posest and enjoyed that was my estate, I do give to him and his heires forever. Item. I do give to my son Ichabod to the Lower house lot so called that buteth West on the highway, 380 Wadsworth north on Joseph Barnards land, and with the Mansion house, Barn, and all the privileges and appurtenances thereunto belonging or any way appertaining also my lot of land of foure acres in the South Meadow also six acres of land in the Souldiers Field, bounding south on the Richard Goodman land, &c. also I do give to him my three-acre Lot nigh the lower end of sd. Meadow all of which I do give to him and his heires forever, together with whatsoever he hath already posest and enjoyed also I do give him my Woodlot of sixty acres lying on the West side the Mill River, nigh the road leading to Symsbury, and I order Ichabod to pay to Jonathan forty shillings yearly so long as my wife continues my widow, and my Will is that if I die before my present Wife, that my sons aforenamed do allow to her the improvement of all such lands as by Joynture I have given her to use, according to the true intent of sd Instrument, without any let or hindrance whatsoever Item. I do give to my three grandchildren, chil- dren of my daughter Elizabeth Marsh, viz: Jonathan Marsh, Joseph Marsh and Elisabeth Marsh ten pounds, to be paid to them as they come to Lawful age, each of them three pounds six shillings and eightpence, to be paid to them by my three sons Joseph, Jonathan and Ichabod, their heires, executors or administrators, in equal parts and this I give to them beside what I gave their Mother, and what she hath had of my estate formerly Item. I do give unto my daughter Hannah Cook ten pounds, beside what she hath formerly had of my estate, which ten pounds shall also be paid to her or her heires by my three sons Joseph, Jonathan and Ichabod, in equal parts, within one yeare after my Decease The Man 381 And I so appoint my son Joseph Wadsworth to be my Executor to this my last Will and I do hereby revoke all other and former Wills or Will by me made, and do declare this only to be my last Will In Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and Scale this sixth day of July, in the yeare of our Lord one thou- sand and seven hundred and twenty three. Signed, sealed and declared to be my last Will in the presence of Joseph Talcott. Joseph Wadsworth," a Scale. Joseph Farnsworth. March 2, 1730-1, proved Mary Farnsworth. and recorded; The following is a copy of the inventory of his estate filed in the Probate office at Hartford: March 24, 1730. An inventory of the Estate of Cap- tain Joseph Wadsworth of Hartford Deceased. s. d. I Cow and Calf 7 I Old Mare 2 900 I Cross Cut Saw and handsaw 15 s. part of two Great Bibles 18 s. I 13 o A Corsey coat 3 a Corsey woscoat ii 2s. 6d. I old plain cloth coat 12 s. 4 14 6 I pr black Drugit breeches 135. i old Great Coat 8 s. 2 Woolen Shirts 8s. I 19 o I pr black Woosted stockin 53. 2 pr old stockins 43. i old Woscoat & 2 pr breeches 9 s. 6 d. o 18 6 1 hat 15 s. Woolen shirt i. i pr shoes 2s. i pr gloves 3 s. 6 d. 2 Muflin Neck- cloth 33. 236 2 Knives i s. Tobacco box is. a pr of spectacles 18 d. 2 great chairs 3 s. a small chair is. 076 i iron pot 9 d. 2 old barrels 3 d. by Bills of credit li 19 s. 6 d. 2 n 6 382 Wadsworih Nine pounds interest in the old mill 900 By six ounces and a quarter of Silver By note of Gillet Addams In the Long Meadow four acres at the Gov'rs Lot 40 o o 2 lots twenty acres 200 third lot five acres 50 250 o o Fourth lot twenty acres 120. upland five acres 30 150 o o More upland fifty four acres 108 one acre in the Long Meadow 6 114 o o More by three acres 30 five acres in the Sol- dier's Field 50 80 o o Four acres in the South Meadow 40 Icha- bods house lot ten acres 100 140 o o Fifty four acres in the woods 162 o o This above aprisement was made by us the subscribers Nathaniel Marsh John Cook. Added in Court by a bond from Benjamin Burr of 15 16 s. whereof 6 7d. is received by ye aforesaid Joseph Wadsworth Dec. THE TREE THE TREE Residents of Hartford whose memories run back to the forties or early fifties of the last cen- tury, recall the hollow oak standing at the foot of a lawn sloping down from a house which still re- tained the general form of the one that was built in 1637, by William Gibbons for George Wyllys, the first English owner of the hillside. One of these when speaking of the tree, turned to the family Bible within which a leaf of the Charter Oak was still preserved, and which is now kept not so much as a memento of the oak as of the mother who placed it there the day that the old monarch fell. Another, who has in his day en- joyed the highest honors that the State can con- fer upon a favorite son, enthusiastically tells how as a boy he frequently had his head in the hole where the charter was hid, while a venerable lady still speaks of a birthday at which she presided in the hollow tree. The following description of the Charter Oak and the scenes connected with its fall are taken from the Stewart manuscript already referred to : "At ten minutes before one o'clock, in the morning of the twenty first of August, 1856; and just eight and 386 Wadsworth thirty years after the old Charter itself has passed away passed away also that Tree with which it was associated each yielding at last, and after a good old age, to Natures law. Beneath a wild midnight sky, from whose dense mass, the moon was slowly emerg- ing, and when the wind, which had been long violent, and rough with the falling rain, had suddenly veered from the south and east to the northwest, and risen to the pitch almost of a hurricane, the oak was struck by a terrific gust and its trunk, now reduced to a mere shell of a few inches, yielded at last. With a rustling of the foliage that was unusual, and a sharp, crackling sound it broke in twain about six feet from the base at a point where a horizontal fissure, of some three or four feet in length, had within a few weeks slowly opened, and parted the trunk to a width of from one to three inches. For an instant reeling convulsively in the air as witnessed by city watchman who stood within two hundred feet of it at the time then swaying to and fro, as if looking, 'like Caesar, after he received his death-blow, for a place upon which to fall with dignity' the old veteran bowed majestically, in its full mantle of green, to the fury of the blast. "Strange was the thought which at once forced itself upon my mind, on looking, as I did immediately, at the mighty ruin that with a shell so thin, it should have stood erect so long and support its huge weight of branches. And how strange, too, that, with this trunk sapless and spongy upon a great portion of its northern side and drawing sustenance, almost exclu- sively, from its southern and eastern exterior and there were many interruptions from loss of bark and to an extent only of about half the circumference of the tree it should yet have been capable of nourishing ,#**# The Tree 389 so long, and in such remarkable vigor, its massive boughs and heavy foliage, while it had sent forth even during the last spring and summer of its life hundreds of fresh twigs, many of them a foot in length, and scores of acorns, new, plump and beautiful. "But for years, it may be mentioned in this connec- tion, as proprietary guardian of the Tree, I had taken the best possible care of it, occasionally removing some of its dead and superfluous matter and from time to time, as I discovered any orifices either in its trunk or branches, caused them to be carefully cov- ered over with tin or zinc, for the purpose of exclud- ing rain, or snow, or wasting elements of any kind. Upon one memorable occasion, for example, in 1852, when the Tree was accidentally fired by a torpedo thrown in by some thoughtless boys, not from the mo- tive of wanton mischief, but for the purpose simply of hearing a Chinese cracker explode in so noted a receptacle, there was an opportunity afforded for mak- ing extensive repairs. In order to extinguish the flames which, mingled with volumes of smoke, poured out of a large opening high in one of the crotches of the tree and which, for a long time baffled the efforts of the firemen, who to a man, with patriotic zeal, rushed to save the old 'Defender of their Liberty' it became necessary to cut a hole in the trunk larere enough to permit one of the men, hose in hand, to work his way into the interior of the tree a feat which was accomplished, and which led to the speedy extinguishing of the fire. "The thorough cleaning to which I then subjected the interior by removing the spongy wood, and decayed vegetable matter, resulted in a remarkable renovation of the old oak. It put forth fresher and fuller foliage, 390 Wadsworfh than it had done before for many years bore more acorns and down to but a short period before its fall, appeared as hale, as stalwart, and as storm-defying as ever. At this time the hollow in the tree was so large that a fire company of twenty-seven men stood up in it together. During this new phase of its life a swarm of honey bees whose presence in the tree was un- known until after it fell settled in a spacious gap in one of its crotches about twenty feet from the ground. Disturbed for a moment, after the tree had fallen, by a stick thrust carelessly into their midst by some curi- ous boys, they suddenly poured out from their illus- trious dwelling-place, and lodged upon a young maple, which stood a few feet distant from the Oak, and upon the opposite side of the street. But almost immediately swarming again, they returned to their old quarters in the Tree and from thence were securely hived by Louis Wessing. They were removed to a cheerful spot in close proximity to my dwelling and are known and cherished under their new title of Charter Oak Bees. "The fall of the Oak roused the patriotic sentiments of Hartford. The old and young visited the hillside on which it stood for so many years and hundreds urged the erection of a monument upon the place to commemorate alike the Charter, the Tree, and the Hero who rendered it so conspicuous. At noon a band of musicians from the Colt Armory poured forth touching harmonies over the fallen patriarch first, in solemn dirge the 'Dead March in Saul' then 'Home, Sweet Home;' and then the national march and anthem of 'Hail Columbia.' At sundown the bells all over the city of Hartford were tolled as a signal mark of re- spect for the old Defender of Connecticut Liberty in an heroic age of colonial history a respect which was The Tree 391 heightened and deepened soon, by the display upon its stump and trunk of two Flags of the union, draped appropriately in the emblems of mourning. Sad, af- fecting tokens these were indeed of the universal feel- ing that 'one of the most sacred links which bind these modern days to the irrevocable past, had been sud- denly sundered.' " A daughter of Secretary Wyllys, 1 writing from Hartford to Dr. Holmes, author of the American Annals, published in 1805, made the following reference to it: "The venerable tree, which concealed the Charter, stands at the foot of Wyllys Hill. The first inhabitant of that name found it standing in the height of its glory. Age seems to have curtailed its branches, yet it is not exceeded in the heighth of its coloring, or richness of its foliage. The cavity which was the asylum of our Charter, was near the roots and large enough to admit a child. Within the space of eight years that cavity has closed, as if it had fulfilled the divine purpose for which it had been reared." 1 Mrs. Anstes Lee, of Wickford, Rhode Island, de- scribing in a letter a visit which she made to Hartford on Election Day, 1791, states the fact that the next day she took tea at Colonel Wyllys' with President Stiles of Yale College and other distinguished indi- viduals, and says: "We all went out after tea to see the Charter Oak, and stood under it. I felt anxious to stand under the celebrated old tree, where the old colony charter was hid by the ancestor of the present occupant. President Stiles gave us (we standing around him) a minute and detailed account of all the transactions of its seizure and concealment. His man- ner was very eloquent, and the narrative was precise and particular, and it made a deep impression on me." 392 Wadsworth Among the Charter Oak traditions preserved in Hartford is one that represents the Connecti- cut river as having, at a very ancient period, ex- panded in the form of a lake up to its roots and that the Indians tied their canoes to its trunk. Another tradition preserved in the "Old Colony Memorial" states that during the settlement of Hartford, when William Gibbons was felling the trees' on the Wyllys lot, the Indians who were hutted near him below the hill, begged that he spare that tree, as it indicated the proper season for planting their corn. It was their rule, the In- dians said, to plant the corn when the leaf of the oak was as large as a mouse's ear. This incident has been commemorated by Mrs. L. H. Sigour- ney in the following "Intercession of the Indians for the Charter Oak of Connecticut." Oh! not upon that mossy trunk Let the dire axe descend, Nor wreck its canopy of shade, So long the red man's friend, Nor to the cold, unpitying winds Those bannered branches give, Smite down the forest, if ye will But let its monarch live! For far away, in olden time, When here the red deer flew, And with his branching antlers swept In showers, the morning dew, The Tree 393 Up, like a solemn seer it rose, By hoary years unbent, Marking the seed-time, and the frost Which the Great Spirit sent. The planter watched its tender leaf, By vernal skies unrolled, Before his golden corn he placed Within the investing mould, And tho' our fallen fathers sleep, Beneath their mounds of clay, To us, it speaks their words of yore, Shred not its boughs away. And so, the white men spared the tree The Indian's prayer to bless, Not dreaming that its giant arms Would aid their own distress, Not dreaming that its grateful breast Responsive to their sigh, Would like a nursing mother shield Their germ of liberty. But when the tyrant Stuart fled And left the British throne, And stern Sir Edmund Andros found His brief dominion gone, Out laughed the Oak and o'er its leaves A shivering rapture crept, To tell the secret, that so close Full many a month was kept. Out laughed that hoary Oak, and op'd Its bosom's secret cell, And brought the entrusted treasure forth Which it had guarded well, 394 Wadsworth Not like that pale, perfidious king Whose soul with pain was wrung, To give the Magna Charta birth When England's laws were young, But like a brave, true-hearted friend Who loves a noble deed, And closest clings to those he serves In their darkest hour of need; For this, may circling centuries bid Its veins with vigour swell, And on its praise, our unborn sons Like us delight to dwell. Mrs. Sigourney also wrote the following the day after the tree fell : Woe, for the mighty Tree! The monarch of the plain, The storm hath reft its noble heart, It ne'er shall tower again: In ruins far and wide Its giant limbs are laid, Like some strong dynasty of earth Whose nod the nations sway'd. Woe, for the ancient Oak! Our pilgrim-father's pride, That shook the centuries from its crown, And flourished when they died; The grass flower at its feet, Shall quickening Spring restore, But healthful dews, or nesting bird Revisit it no more. The Tree 395 The roaming Indian prized Its canopy of shade, And bless'd it while his council-fire In eddying volumes play'd; He, for its wisdom sought, As to a Delphic shrine, He ask'd it when to plant his corn, And waited for the sign. Yon white-haired man sits down Where its torn branches lie, And tells the listening boy the tale Of threatened Liberty, How tyrant pomp and power Once in the olden time, Came Brennus-like, with iron tramp To crush this infant clime. And how that brave old Oak Stood forth a friend indeed, And spread its Egis o'er our sires In their extremest need, And in its sacred breast Their perm of Freedom bore, And hid their life-blood in its veins Until the blast was o'er. Throngs gathering round the spot, Their mornful memories weave, Even children in strange silence stand, Unconscious why they grieve, Or for their casket seek Some relic spray to glean, Acorn, or precious leaf to press Their Bible leaves between. 396 Wadsworth Was there no other prey, Oh Storm! that thunder'd by? Wreaking thy vengeance 'neath the shroud Of a wild, midnight sky? Was there no kingly Elm, Majestic, broad and free, That thou must thus in madness smite Our tutelary tree? Our beacon of the past, Our Chronicle of time, Our Mecca, to whose greenwood glade Come feet from every clime? Hark! to the echoing dirge, In measures deep and slow, While on the breeze our banner floats, Draped in the weeds of woe. The fair ones of our Vale, O'er its fallen Guardian sigh, And Elders, with prophetic thought, Dark auguries descry; Patriots and Sages deign O'er the loved wreck to bend, And in the funeral of the Oak Lament their Country's friend. George D. Prentice also added these lines to the scanty store of Charter Oak literature: "Tree of the olden Time! A thousand storms Have hurried through thy branches centuries Have set their signets on thy trunk, and gone In silence o'er thee, like the moonlight mists, That move at evening o'er the battlements The Tree 397 Of the eternal mountain and yet thou Shakest thy naked banner in the Heavens As proudly still as when great Freedom first Stamped thee with deathless glory. Monument Of Nations perished! Since thy form first sprang From its green throne of forest, many a deep And burning tide of human tears has flowed Down to the Ocean of the past until Its very wave is bitterness but thou Art reckless still. No heart has ever throbbed Beneath thy silent breast and though thy sighs Have mingled with the night storm, they were not The requiem of the nations that have gone Down to the dust, like thy own withered leaves Swept by the autumn tempests. Ay, "bloom on," Tree of the cloud and glen gird on thy strength Yet there shall come a time when thou shalt sleep Upon thy own hill court. The marshalled storms Shall seek but find thee not and the proud clime That long has been the consecrated home Of liberty and thee, shall lie so erst In silent desolation. Not a sound Shall rise from all its confines, save the moan Of passing winds, the cloud's low tone of fear, The roar of stormy waters, and the deep And fearful murmuring of the Earthquake's voice." When the time came for the old oak to sleep upon its "own hill court" he also contributed the following to the columns of the Louisville Jour- nal : "The telegraph has apprised the nation of the fall of this celebrated tree. Its history, and especially the 398 Wadsworth incident which consecrated it in the annals of freedom, are familiar to every school boy. Its legend has struck root into the national heart, and will flourish there in fadeless verdure. In New England, upon whose stor- ied turf it now lies outstretched, the Charter Oak has been a household word, for more than a century and a half, and is buried, like a trilling bird in the bosom of its glorious foliage deep in the earliest and sweetest recollections of every child of the pilgrim land. For nearly two hundred years, the Charter Oak has been the sacred trysting place of patriotism, to the sons and daughters of New England, and not the trysting place of patriotism alone, its fall has crushed along with numerous lofty reminiscences, a thousand gentler mem- ories that were hidden amidst its rich and silken leaves, like the sunbeams. "We vividly remember the emotion with which we revisited the Charter Oak, less than a year ago. While a resident of Hartford, in former days, the Oak was one of our favorite haunts. It seemed to us, at that period, truly a tree of magic, and as we stood, a few short months ago, by its dying trunk for the last time, and looked up from the treasured memories of youth, into its old, luxuriant, laughing wealth of foliage, it seemed a tree of magic still. The early fascination of the spot came back upon us with overpowering energy. Time had but enriched its wondrous enchantment. It was touched with an unearthly charm. Beyond its grana historic spell, and over all its lighter witchery, it seemed steeped, to its leafy summit, in that sad, un- defmable softness, which Wordsworth calls "The grace of forest charms decayed, And pastoral melancholy." The Tree 399 It was as if all the pure, and lovely, and beautiful thoughts it had ever sheltered or suggested, had thronged around it, and were shedding their veiled light in silence upon it exhaling life. It was the breath of death, perfumed with holiness and beauty. It was the euthanasy of a material thing. No other mere in- animate object ever exercised so profound and vital a charm upon our nature. We left its hallowed presence, with a heart brimming with tears, and have never looked upon it since, and can never look upon it again. "It had fulfilled its mission. The princely tree, like the illustrious patriots who grew up and achieved their deathless names in its shadow, has fallen in the fullness of years, and a nation's grateful benediction. May the nation be perpetual!" One night, my children, from the North There came a furious blast; At break of day I ventured forth, And near the cliff I pass'd. The storm had fall'n on the Oak And struck him with a mighty stroke, And whirl'd, and whirl'd him far away. Wordsworth. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stai~~> - - . A 001 338074 e _J