EARLIEST TOWN ACTS.
In England the past sixty years had been teeming with events of the most momentous consideration in their bearing upon the future destinies of mankind. The first quarter of the century had been occupied by the bigot king, James Stuart. On the day of his accession then did the great British monarchy descend from the rank which it had hitherto held, and during many years under four successive princes of the house of Stuart, was scarcely a more important member of the European system than the little kingdom of Scotland had previously been. Cromwell was no more; and those who had fled before him were forced to content themselves
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with the miserable satisfaction of digging up, hanging, quartering, and burning the remains of the greatest prince that has ever ruled England. Then after the imbecile protectorate of Richard, came the long desired restoration. No wonder, that amid such convulsions at home, the English government should have lost sight of that handful of men who, under the shade of the mighty forest trees, stole away from the provincial government at Boston, and set up a new jurisdiction for themselves in the wilds of Connecticut. But the restoration of 1660, which brought tranquility to England, enabled the king to look abroad, and reflect upon the growing importance of Connecticut.
In the midst of dangers, with the Dutch on one side, the Indians on the other, and the powerful colony of Massachusetts not far off, the General Court of Connecticut determined to make a formal avowal of their allegiance to the crown, and apply for a charter. It is not likely that the framers of the constitution of 1639 ever entertained the idea of maintaining a government independent of the crown, but they had wisely kept themselves in abeyance for the time when England, bowed down by her calamities, could no longer stretch her shortened sceptre across three thousand miles of ocean.
On the 23d of April, 1662, letters patent under the great seal received the royal signature, giving to the petitioners the most ample privileges. By this patent, the patentees,1 together with all the other freemen of
1 The names of the patentees in the charter were John Winthrop, John Mason, Samuel Wyllys, Henry Clarke, Mathew Allen, 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 Canfield.
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Connecticut then existing, or who might afterwards be admitted electors or freemen to the end of time, were given the irrevocable privileges of being "one body corporate and politic in fact and name, by the name of the governor and company of the English colony of Connecticut in New England in America, and that by the same name they and their successors, should have perpetual succession." By these letters patent they are made persons in law, may plead and be impleaded, defend and be defended, in all suits whatsoever; may purchase, possess, lease, grant, demise and sell, lands, tenements and goods in the same unrestricted manner as any of the king's subjects or corporations in England. They are annually to hold two general assemblies-one on the second Thursday in May, and the other on the second Thursday in October-to consist of the governor, deputy governor and twelve assistants, with the more popular element of two deputies from every town or city.
Of course, the territory embraced in the charter, included the entire colony of New Haven. Accordingly a committee were appointed who repaired to New Haven with becoming dispatch, and held a long and earnest conference with the authorities and principal gentlemen there. But the freemen of the colony were highly indignant, and looked with disfavor upon this strange patent that had thus suddenly disposed, of their government and political existence, without giving them a premonition of the fate that awaited them. Meetings were called in the towns of the colony, protesting against the union of the colonies, and delegates were appointed to attend the session of the General Court held on the 6th of May, 1663, and a remonstrance against the doings of
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the encroaching colony was drawn up and sent to the General Assembly of Connecticut. Numerous sessions of the General Court were called. Discussions innumerable, and protests without number, kept the colony in a constant state of excitement, confusion and enmity; but the doom of this little republic was impending. What could she do against a powerful colony clad in the impenetrable panoply of the royal charter.
On the 13th of December, 1664, the freemen of New Haven held their last General Court, and passed a series of resolutions declaring themselves "now put under Connecticut patent;" and the colony "having drawn the folds of her mantle about her, as if to prepare herself to die with the dignity that became her, found, with a pleased surprise, that union was not annihilation, and in the arms of her elder sister, whom she learned at last both to forgive and to love, 'lay down to pleasant dreams.' "
Six years after the union of the colonies, about one hundred persons, men, women and children, commenced the settlement at Wallingford. Instead of scattering themselves on farms, as is now usual in new settlements, they erected their humble dwellings in a compact village. This arrangement, though inconvenient for an agricultural population, was necessary for defence and safety in these perilous times, when savage wars, and the irregular incursions of the Indians were so frequent. On the 6th of April, 1671, the first town meeting was held in Wallingford. How many of the first undertakers had families when they came to Wallingford to reside, we cannot now ascertain. In the spring of 1671, there were probably one hundred inhabitants.
The first birth in the town was Samuel, son of Samuel
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Potter, born. September 19, 1671. The first marriage was on the 5th of June, 1673, when one of the first planters, Thomas Hall, and one of Wallingford's fair daughters were joined in the union of heart and hand in bonds indissoluble. In those days it was understood by both parties that the wife was to be "a help-meet for her husband." On this point the minister who joined them was wont to be very emphatic.1
The first death in Wallingford, was Samuel, son of Eleazer Peck, who died March 12, 1673. A death in that small community was a great event. The magistrate, the minister, and the fathers of the town, came to the bed of the dying to witness his testament and gather up his last words. It was soon known to every individual of the plantation that one of their number had been cut down. All were eager once more to gaze upon the face they had known so well; they flocked to the funeral; the near neighbors and coevals of the dead bore him on their shoulders to the grave; the whole community with solemn step and downcast eyes, followed him to his long home. Almost from the beginning, the town had the following civil officers, chosen by its own freemen: namely, a board of selectmen, varying in number from three to nine; a clerk, a treasurer, a sealer of weights and measures, one or more surveyors of highways, a constable, and one or more tithing men. In October, 1644, the admirable system of recording all conveyances of land was instituted, and the following law was passed:
"The towns shall each of them provide a ledger book with an index or alphabet unto the same: also shall choose one
1 See Dr. Bushnell's Discourse
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who shall be a town clerk or register, who shall before the General Court in April, next, record every man's house and land already granted."
The owners of land, under heavy penalties, were required to present to the town clerk a description of their real estate for record.
"The like to be done for all lands hereafter granted and measured to any; and all bargains or mortgages of lands whatsoever shall be accounted as of no value until they be recorded."
There is nothing in which our nation is more peculiar, than that it records its own origin. There is no other nation that does this, the Jews excepted. No one of the present nations of Europe can tell in a word of their earliest ancestors, or even specify the century in which their territory was first taken possession of by them; but all is involved in obscurity, as are the years before the flood. But it is far different with our early history as a nation. We know the men who said they would be free, and who laid the foundation of this mighty republic. We know whence they came, the object for which they came, the spot to which they came, and the year, the month, and the day they took possession. Our nation owes a lasting debt of gratitude to our ancestors for their fidelity in recording the incipient steps taken by them in settling this new world.
With the true spirit of New Englanders, the inhabitants of Wallingford at once secured for themselves religious institutions and public worship. Though necessarily pressed with the excessive labor of erecting their own houses, and clearing away a heavy forest, to procure some land for cultivation, and the great expense
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involved therein, yet this little band had from the first, the stated preaching of the gospel. For two years, one Mr. Harriman preached on the Sabbath. He was not a regularly ordained pastor, but was probably an "elder," or church officer of that day, who was appointed to discharge certain duties in the church, and was authorized to preach, in case of the sickness or absence of the pastor. But they designed to secure the services of an ordained minister as soon as one could be found, and the first tax ever imposed in. the town was for this purpose. The vote stands thus:
"April 21, 1671. It was voated for the incouragement of any fitt person whose hart god may stire up to be helpfull in the ministry, that what some soever shall be Reqisitt to the attaining such a man shall be raysed for this present yeare according to every man's proportion of land allotted to him on the river; the twelve acre lotts to pay 30 s, and the eight acre lotts to pay 20 s."
This tax was not only a heavy one in itself to persons in their circumstances, but pressed still heavier from a fact, the nature of which we at .this day can hardly appreciate; the almost entire destitution of money, or circulating medium. So scanty was the amount of gold and silver, that even, as late as 1706, the whole circulating cash in the State was not more than ?2,000. In 1670, there must of course have been still less; and all taxes and debts must have pressed therefore with almost intolerable weight, except when payable in something else than gold and silver. Banks, then, had no existence. We find on the early records accordingly, very many votes, authorizing payments to be made in various kinds of produce. As the New Haven people traded some with the West Indies, one common mode of raising
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funds was from hoops and staves, materials for which abounded in our woods and swamps, and for which there was then as now, a great demand in the islands. They were taken to New Haven and sold to the merchants. Thus we find in relation to the first tax, it was voted that "John Mosse and three others, ingage to provide and deliver 1500 good Merchantable pipe staves and deliver them at the place called logmine wharfe," and "others to pay their proportion in the like manner, in sonic other good pay."