ANALYSIS. shire, which they called Laconia. 'In the spring of the following year they sent over two small parties of emi1. First settle- grants, one of which landed at the mouth of the Piscataqua, ments in New and settled at Little Harbor,* a short distance below 1623. Hampshire. Portsmouth; the other, proceeding farther up, formed a settlement at Dover.‡ 1629. a. May. made by Mr. b. Nov. 17. 3. In 1629 the Rev. John Wheelright and others purchased of the Indians all the country between the 2 Purchase Merrimac and the Piscataqua. A few months later, this Wheelright. tract of country, which was a part of the grant to Gorges and 3 Separate Mason, was given to Mason alone, and it then first regrant made ceived the name of New Hampshire. The country was How the divided among numerous proprietors, and the various governed settlements during several years were governed separately, by agents of the different proprietors, or by magis. trates elected by the people. to Mason. country was 1641. Massachu setts. Separation. Sept. 28, 1679. 4. 'In 1641 the people of New Hampshire placed them5. Union with selves under the protection of Massachusetts, in which situation they remained until 1680, when, after a long 1680. controversy with the heirs of Mason, relative to the ownerc. Royal ship of the soil, New Hampshire was separated from commission, Massachusetts by a royal commission, and made a royal Actual sepa province. The new government was to consist of a president and council, to be appointed by the king, and a 6. Nature of house of representatives to be chosen by the people. No government. dissatisfaction with the government of Massachusetts had change. been expressed, and the change to a separate province was received with reluctance by all. ration, Jan. 1680 new 7. The d. March 26. of the first and its pro 5. The first legislature, which assembled at Ports8. Ambing mouth in 1680, adopted a code of laws, the first of which Legislature, declared "That no act, imposition, law, or ordinance, ceedings. should be made, or imposed upon them, but such as should be made by the assembly and approved by the president 9. The king's and council." "This declaration, so worthy of freemen, and spirit of was received with marked displeasure by the king; but the people. New Hampshire, ever after, was as forward as any of her sister colonies in resisting every encroachment upon her just rights. displeasure, Little Harbor, the place first settled, is at the southern entrance to the harbor of Portsmouth, two miles below the city, and opposite the town and island of Newcastle. (See L.H. in Map.) t Portsmouth, in New Hampshire, is situated on a peninsula, on the south side of the Piscataqua, three miles from the ocean. It has an excellent harbor, which, owing to the rapidity of the current, is never frozen. It is fifty-four miles N. from Boston, and the same distance S. W. from Portland. (See Map.) Dover village, in N. H., formerly called Cocheco, is situated on Cocheco River, four miles above its junction with the Piscataqua, and twelve N.W. from Portsmouth. The first settlement in the town was on a beautiful peninsula between Black and Piscataqua Rivers. (See Map.) 6. 'Early in the following year Robert Mason arrived, -asserted his right to the province, on the ground of the early grants made to his ancestor, and assumed the title of lord proprietor. But his claims to the soil, and his demands for rent, were resisted by the people. A long controversy ensued; lawsuits were numerous; and judg ments for rent were obtained against many of the leading men in the province; but, so general was the hostility to the proprietor, that he could not enforce them. 7. In 1686 the government of Dudley, and afterwards that of Andros, was extended over New Hampshire. 2 When the latter was seized and imprisoned, on the arrival of the news of the revolution in England, the people of New Hampshire took the government into their own hands, and, in 1690, placed themselves under the protection of Massachusetts. "Two years later, they were separated from Massachusetts, contrary to their wishes, and a separate royal government was established over them; but in 1699 the two provinces were again united, and the Earl of Bellamont was appointed governor over both. 8. 'In 1691 the heirs of Mason sold their title to the lands in New Hampshire to Samuel Allen, between whom and the people contentions and lawsuits continued until 1715, when the heirs of Allen relinquished their claims in despair. A descendant of Mason, however, subsequently renewed the original claim, on the ground of a defect in the conveyance to Allen. The Masonian controversy was finally terminated by a relinquishment, on the part of the claimants, of all except the unoccupied portions of the territory. 9. 'In 1741, on the removal of Governor Belcher, the provinces of Massachusetts and New Hampshire were separated, never to be united again, and a separate governor was appointed over each. 'During the forty-two years previous to the separation, New Hampshire had a separate legislative assembly, and the two provinces were, in reality, distinct, with the exception of their being under the administration of the same royal governor. 1681. 1 Controver sy with the por about lands. 1686. Dudley and the second Massachu Andros; and union with selis a. See p. 199. 1690. b March. 3. Separated, and again united. c. Aug. 1692. 4. Continy ance, and Anal settle ment of the Masonian controversy. 1741. 5 The final separation from Massa chusetts The nature of the union chusetts. Hampshire Indian tours 10. 'New Hampshire suffered greatly, and perhaps 7 The suffer. more than any other New England colony, by the several French and Indian wars, whose general history has been already given. A particular recital of the plundering. and burning of her towns, of her frontiers laid waste, and her children inhumanly murdered, or led into a wretched captivity, would only exhibit scenes similar to those which have been already described, and we willingly pass by this portion of her local history. ANALYSIS. Subject of Chapter IV. CHAPTER IV. CONNECTICUT.* Its Divisions. DIVISIONS.-I. Early Settlements.-II. Pequod War.-III. New Haven Colony.-IV. Connecticut under her own Constitution.-V. Connecticut under the Royal Charter. 1630. the early grants of Connecticut. 1631. a. March 29. I. EARLY SETTLEMENTS.-1. 'In 1630 the soil of Con1. Accounts of necticut was granted by the council of Plymouth to the Earl of Warwick; and, in the following year, the Earl of Warwick transferred the same to Lord Say-and-Seal, Lord Brooke and others. Like all the early colonial grants, that of Connecticut was to extend westward from the Atlantic Ocean to the South Sea, or the Pacific. 2. Visit to the During the same year some of the people of Plymouth, the Plymouth with their governor, Mr. Winslow, visited the valley of people. the Connecticut, by invitation of an Indian chief, who wished the English to make a settlement in that quarter. country by 3. Dutch fort at Hartford. trading-house 2. The Dutch at New York, apprized of the object of the Plymouth people, determined to anticipate them, and, early in 1633, despatched a party who erected a fort at 4 English Hartford.† 'In October of the same year, a company at Windsor. from Plymouth sailed up the Connecticut River, and passing the Dutch fort, erected a trading-house at Windsor.+ The Dutch ordered Captain Holmes, the commander of the Plymouth sloop, to strike his colors, and, in case of refusal, threatened to fire upon him; but he declared that he would execute the orders of the governor of Plymouth, and, in spite of their threats, proceeded resolutely on1634. ward. 'In the following year the Dutch sent a company 5. Events that to expel the English from the country, but finding them the following well fortified, they came to a parley, and finally returned 6 Emigration in peace. occurred in year. from Massa- 3. In the summer of 1635, exploring parties from chusetts. CONNECTICUT, the southernmost of the New England States, is from ninety to 100 miles long from E. to W., and from fifty to seventy broad, and contains an area of about 4700 square miles. The country is, generally, uneven and hilly, and somewhat mountainous in the northwest. The valley of the Connecticut is very fertile, but in most parts of the state the soil is better adapted to grazing than to tillage. An excellent freestone, much used in building, is found in Chatham and Haddam; iron ore of a superior quality in Salisbury and Kent; and fine marble in Milford. t Hartford, one of the capitals of Connecticut, is on the W. side of the Connecticut River, fifty miles from its mouth, by the river's course. Mill. or Little River, passes through the southern part of the city. The old Dutch fort was on the S. side of Mill River, at its entrance into the Connecticut. The Dutch maintained their position until 1654. (See Map.) t Windsor is on the W. side of the Connecticut, seven miles N. from Hartford. The village is on the N. side of Farmington River. The trading house erected by the Plymouth people, was below the mouth of Farmington River. The meadow in the vicinity is still called Plymouth Meadow. (See Map.) 1. Settlement of Saybrook. Massachusetts Bay colony visited the valley of the Con- 1635. necticut, and, in the autumn of the same year, a company of about sixty men, women, and children, made a toilsome journey through the wilderness, and settled at a See p. 185. Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield.* 'In October, the younger Winthrop, son of the governor of Massachusetts, arrived at Boston, with a commission from the proprietors of Connecticut, authorizing him to erect a fort at the mouth of the river of that name, and make the requisite preparations for planting a colony. Scarcely was the fort erected when a Dutch vessel appeared at the mouth of the river, but was not permitted to enter. In honor of Lord Say-and-Seal, and Lord Brooke, the new settlement was named Saybrook,† which continued a separate colony until 1644. II. PEQUOD WAR.-1. 'During the year 1636 the Pequods, a powerful tribe of Indians residing mostly within the limits of Connecticut, began to annoy the infant colony. 'In July, the Indians of Block Island,‡ who were supposed to be in alliance with the Pequods, surprised and plundered a trading vessel and killed the captain. An expedition from Massachusetts was sent against them, which invaded the territory of the Pequods, but as nothing important was accomplished, it served only to excite the Indians to greater outrages. During the winter, a number of whites were killed in the vicinity of Saybrook fort. In April following, nine persons were killed at Wethersfield, and the alarm became general throughout the plantations on the Connecticut. 4 Their atance with the tempted allNarragan setts. See p. 186. 2. The Pequods, who had long been at enmity with the Narragansetts, now sought their alliance in a general war upon the English; but the exertions of Roger Williams not only defeated their designs, but induced the Narragansetts again to renew the war against their ancient enemy. Early in May, the magistrates of the three 5. Expedition infant towns of Connecticut formally declared war against the Pequod nation, and, in ten days, a little army of eighty English, and seventy friendly Mohegan Indians, was on its way against the enemy, whose warriors were said to number more than two thousand men. 3. "The principal seat of the Pequods was near the against them. 6 Principal seat of the Pequods. * Wethersfield is on the W. side of the Connecticut, four miles S. from Hartford. The river here is continually changing its course, by the wearing away of the land on one side, and its gradual deposit on the other. (See Map.) ↑ Saybrook is on the west side of Connecticut River, at its entrance into Long Island Sound. #Block Island, discovered in 1614 by Adrian Blok, a Dutch captain, is twenty-four miles. S.W. from Newport. It is attached to Newport Co., R. I., and constitutes the township of Newshoreham. It has no harbor. It is eight miles long from N. to S., and from two to four broad. 27 1. The route, son ANALYSIS. mouth of Pequod River, now called the Thames,* in the eastern part of Connecticut. 'Captain Mason sailed down c. of Ma- the Connecticut with his forces, whence he proceeded to a Note, p. 215. Narragansett Bay, where several hundred of the Narragansetts joined him. He then commenced his march across the country, towards the principal Pequod fort, which stood on an eminence on the west side of Mystic† 2. What the River, in the present town of Groton. "The Pequods thought of the were ignorant of his approach, for they had seen the English. boats of the English pass the mouth of their river a few days before, and they believed that their enemies had fled through fear. Pequods 3. Attack on the Pequod fort. 4. Destruction of the Pequods. 4. Early in the morning of the 5th of June, the soldiers of Connecticut advanced against the fort, while their Indian allies stood aloof, astonished at the boldness of the enterprise. The barking of a dog betrayed their approach, and an Indian, rushing into the fort, gave the alarm; but scarcely were the enemy aroused from their slumbers, when Mason and his little band, having forced an entrance, commenced the work of destruction. Indians fought bravely, but bows and arrows availed little against weapons of steel. Yet the vast superiority of numbers on the side of the enemy, for a time rendered the victory doubtful. "We must burn them!" shouted Mason, and applying a firebrand, the frail Indian cabins were soon enveloped in flame. The 5. The English now hastily withdrew and surrounded the place, while the savages, driven from their inclosure, became, by the light of the burning pile, a sure prey to the English muskets; or, if they attempted a sally, they were cut down by the broadsword, or they fell under the weapons of the Narragansetts, who now rushed forward to the slaughter. As the sun rose upon the scene of destruction it showed that the victory was complete. About six hundred Indians,-men, women, and children, had perished; most of them in the hideous conflagration. Of the whole number within the fort, only seven escaped, 5 Loss of the and seven were made prisoners. Two of the whites were killed, and nearly twenty were wounded. English. 6. Farther history of the Pequods. 6. The loss of their principal fort, and the destruction of the main body of their warriors, so disheartened the *The Pequod, or Thames River, rises in Massachusetts, and, passing south through the eastern part of Connecticut, enters Long Island Sound, below New London. It is generally called Quinebaug from its source to Norwich. On the west it receives Shetucket, Yantic, and other small streams. It is navigable fourteen miles, to Norwich. t Mystic River is a small river which enters L. I. Sound, six miles E. from the Thames. The town of Groton lies between the Thames and the Mystic, bordering on the Sound. The Pequod fort, above mentioned, was or Pequod Hill, in the N.E. part of the town, about half a mile west from Mystic River, and eight miles N.E. from New London. A public road now crosses the hill, and a dwelling-house occupies its summit. |