Hartford is an old town as dates run in America. 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 proprietors 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

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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 conform 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 determined to enforce "one doctrine, one discipline, one religion, in substance and ceremony," many well to do people, as well as artisans and agriculturalists, who considered their spiritual welfare of more moment than their physical comforts, 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 liberty there came in turn that germ of civil liberty which was destined to blaze forth on the virgin

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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 Sentinel 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-

1The 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.

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selves. Untrammeled by the restraints of feudal tenure which still oppressed all of the working-classes in the old country, the founders of Hartford, 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 constitution 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 history 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.

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until 1818, and many features of which are still reflected in its constitution.1

Hinman states that there never was any communication between the Connecticut colony and the English government from the date of settlement 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 Fenwick, 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 charter at Whitehall, the petition or one of the petitions 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 Connecticut, first in the series of written American constitutions 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.

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then held by Lord Say and Seal, the sole surviving 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 correspondence 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 typographical error on what is now known as Dutch Point.

The members of Hooker's colony ignored the claims of the New Amsterdam traders and surrounded 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 Stuyvesant 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

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Dutch were, however, permitted to remain within bounds until 1653, when England and Holland were at war. In that year Captain John Underhill, 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 residents 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 teachings of civil liberty are reflected in it, Roger Ludlow, a skillful lawyer who held office in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Ireland, and John Haynes, who served as Governor of Massachusetts before he joined the colony of Connecticut,

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where like honors were conferred upon him. The following is a copy of the constitution as adopted:

"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 associate and conjoine ourselves to bee as one publique STATE or COMMONWEALTH; and doe for ourselves and our successors, and such as shall bee ad-joined to us at any time hereafter, enter into combination 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 according 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

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shall bee called the Courte of Election, wherein shall be yearely chosen, from time to time, so many magistrates 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 receive 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 bee Governor for that yeare: And the rest of the Magistrates 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-

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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 conceive 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, freemen of this Commonwealth; and that no Magistrate 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

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other Courtes; allso, the other Generall Courte in September, 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 neglected, 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 Generall 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

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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 aforesaid 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 warrant 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 power, each Towne, to send foure of theire Freemen as theire Deputyes, to every Generall Courte, and whatsoever 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

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said Towns are to bee bound; And it Is allso ordered, that if any Deputyes shall be absent uppon such occassions, 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 warrant, 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 seclude such for present, from theire meetinge, and returne 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,

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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 Governor or Moderator shall have the power to order the Courte, to give libbertye of Speech, and silence unreasonable 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 adjourned or dissolved without the consent of the major parte of the Courte. Provided, notwithstanding, that the Governor or Deputy Governor, with two Magistrates 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

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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 proportion 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 enacted at a General Court, held January 14th, 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 infringement, 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 authority 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 estate shall bee taken away from him nor any ways in dammaged, under colour of law, or countenance of

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authority; unless it bee by the vertue or equity of some express law of the Country warranting the same, established by a Generall Courte and sufficiently published, or in case of the defect of a law, in any perticular 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 history of a written constitution.-Greene's History of English People.

This constitution defined the laws, rules and regulations 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 Connecticut 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.

3 "I cannot help regarding it his (Ludlow's) work. The phraseology is his; it breathes his spirit."-Hollister's History of Connecticut.

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Thomas Hooker, the founder of Hartford, was born in 1586, at Marfield in the county of Leicester, 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 Richmond, 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 1618. 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 rectorship at Esher in Surrey. He remained there until 1626, when an invitation to act as lecturer at Chelmsford in Essex was accepted. Being

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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 afterwards 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 until 1633, when upon the invitation of a number of the members of his former congregation, who had emigrated and located at Newtown, Massahusetts, Thomas Hooker sailed with two hundred 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 inhabitants 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

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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 remained 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 promulgate 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 officers 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 constitution 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 other 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.

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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 supreme courage required to enunciate such ideas in 1638 when Charles I was ruling England without 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 presented by a man to men who had faced death {n 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 between 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

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religious affairs of Connecticut and assisted Governor Haynes in bringing about the confederation of the colonies of New England. He died in Hartford in 1647 and was buried in the First Church burying ground, corner of Main and Gold Streets.

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 demonstrate 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

'The document bears intrinsic evidence of a legal skill and phraseology which, when compared with Ludlow's Code of 1650, seems to prove that, whatsoever's advice he had, no other hand but his drew the first constitution 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

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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 England" 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 settlement 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 general 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 requested to return to England and enter the parliamentary army. He declined.

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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 England, 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 arrived 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 1, 1637, found him presiding at the first court held in Hartford, then known as Newtown, 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-

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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 Ludlow was a magistrate in 1637 and 1638, the first Deputy Governor of Connecticut under the Constitution 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 Connecticut 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

1Mr. 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.

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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 founders 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 England. At that time Oliver Cromwell was Protector. 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 September. Two months later the name of the colonial lawyer appeared as a member of the commission which was to determine all claims in connection 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,

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Roger Ludlow's career in New England was beset with disappointments. He had the ability and the desire to lead in every public measure, but to all appearances an impetuous temper deprived 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, the first Governor of Connecticut, and the third Governor of Massachusetts, was born in 1594, at Coddicot, County of Hertford, England. As has been stated he sailed for America in the Griffen, with Hooker and Stone, and located at Newtown. After serving the Massachusetts 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

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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 Commonwealth.

Being a man of broad and liberal views in the matter of religion and government, John Haynes was not very favorably impressed with the Massachusetts 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 Hartford 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 opposite 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

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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 Wethersfield, and in 1664 succeeded Samuel Stone as pastor 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 1, 1653-4, and the stone raised over his grave still stands in the old burying ground, corner 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

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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, flourished under Alfred, from whose reign trial by jury dates, but was almost submerged by the feudal system of the Normans, which was continued by the Plantaganets, the Houses of Lancaster 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 appearance in Parliament of deputies from the boroughs, the voice of the people began to command 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 unless the statutes were worded by themselves and had been passed by them in the form of a bill.

In 1295, Edward L, 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.-Elliott's History of New England.

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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 preamble 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 Constitution 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 Deputys, 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 Wadsworth and looked upon him as a genuine hero in homespun, while Sir Edmund Andros has been

1Hume's History of England.

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painted as black as the villain in the play. Both of them were bold and fearless men whose courage was tested on the battlefield, Andros being 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 peculiar 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 Cromwell's victorious troops after the battle of Worcester. 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 William 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 putting his men through their exercises he would let the light shine through him, and that, at a time

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when the Governor was striving to publish a commission from King William giving him command 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 railroad 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 northwest 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 connected 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-

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ty-eight years and eight months. Lucy Wadsworth 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 Wadsworth, 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 planters 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 report. 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 contents. 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

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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 Connecticut 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 immediate 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

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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 impression 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-

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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, rilled 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 neces­sary 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.

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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 righting 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 accomplished 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 Testament upon which many of the penal laws of the col-ony were based. On one of his visits the Teacher mentioned 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."

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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 Connecticut 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, providing 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,

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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

1 The 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 neighborhood of Streanshalh, having his castle at the place now called Mulgrave. This Wada was one of the principal 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 Lincolnshire, 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 distemper, 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-

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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, shouting 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 estate or manor, usually one well watered. (See Glos-sary of Yorkshire Words.)

1 Christopher Wadswprth'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.

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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 Gookin1 was a native of Kent and was at that time located at Cork, Ireland. He owned over two thousand acres of land at Newport 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 11 pounds for heifers and 3 pounds 10 shillings for she goats upon certificate of safe landing. (Virginia Company in London.)

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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 resisted the attack and escaped with their lives, and when at a later date the governor of the colony 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

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of the massacre to the Virginia Company in London, 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 member 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 Massachusetts 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.

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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 Indians, 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 Webster, 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 Connecticut, as was shown by the assistance sent them during the Indian wars. In my soldiering days I

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was there a number of times and on one of my visits met with an adventure which will be written 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 taken1 after it

1January 11, 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.

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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, planted 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 Deerfield 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

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above seven or eight escaping." That night Major 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 under his orders. Colonel Talcott routed the Indians 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

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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 box1 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 Edmund Andros joined the government of this col-ony to Massachusetts. He left a large family,

lThis box is among the relics owned by the Con-necticut Historical Society.

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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 Whalley 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.

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 Talcott Governor of Connecticut. He died in 1630 and Joseph Talcott was elected Governor in 1624 and re-mained in office until 1641.

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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 Richard Cromwell,1 the founder of the family, pur-

1 Sir Richard Cromwell was a son of Morgan Williams 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-

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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."

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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

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three daughters. Of the latter, Joan became Lady Barrington, 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-

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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

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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.

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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 witches1 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

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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 IS93- 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.

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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.

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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

1John 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-

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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 the Massachusetts colony or to settle in a new colony."

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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.

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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-

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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

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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

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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

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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 master 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.

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not 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-

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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.

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In the interval a swift-footed Indian was dispatched to New Haven to warn the Judges as well as Rev. John Davenport1 and William Jones,2 who had given them shelter from the time of their arrival, 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

1John 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 11, 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.

2At 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

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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.

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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

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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. 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 Baton'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

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what Dennis Scranton had told them at Guiiford, 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. Kellond 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.

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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 adjoining 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

1Richard 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 century.

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until June 11, Richard Sperry supplying them with food from his house about a mile away. On the night of June 11 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 Kellond 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 by 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.1 The latter bade Whalley and Goffe go with him,

1 Dr. Bryan Rossiter purchased Samuel Disborow's place on October 16, 1651.

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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 publicly 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

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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.

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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. "This house stood at the corner of Main and Tal-cott Streets. It was torn down in 1900.

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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

1At 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 reprehended 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.

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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

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rally those who had brought arms with them. Suddenly 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 John 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 town without a license. This unexpected discovery made and 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

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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 Leete1 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 Connecticut covering years 1678-1689, pages 283 to 285.

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 England, 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 stands1 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.

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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 Will­iam 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 per­petual peace with those whom they found here and from whom they received the land. At the planting their tomahawks1 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. Ac­cording to the Indian tradition, the corn2 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 com­pounded of the Indian verb tume-ta-mun, to cut, and the noun hegun, a sharp cutting instrument. In com­pounding this word half of the verb is clipped off and joined with the noun. 'The Southern Indians have the following tradi­tion 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

105 brought by the sacred blackbird and the bean bv 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 sach­em's favorite wife, bore him male twins, and in the year of their birth a sprout appeared on the north­east 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, at­tracted by the savory smell of the venison, approached them in the form of a beautiful female and seated her­self 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."

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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 Kiehtan1 placed it there

1The 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.

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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

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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