Concord. Others joined them; and Mr. Adam Blackman, an Episcopal minister from Leicester and Derbyshire in England, was their first pastor. It is said that he brought several of his congrega. tion with him. The whole township was not purchased until 1672, and then several reserved tracts were excepted.

At Saybrook preparations had been early made for some gentlemen of wealth and distinguished families, among whom was Oliver Cromwell, afterward Lord Protector of England: but the war and the state of the country had prevented, and left it as it was, with only twenty men, and the soldiers in the fort. About midsummer arrived Mr. George Fenwick, with his pious and amiable wife, Lady Arabella Fenwick, who left the highest refinements of England for our then wild country, and whose monument is now the only remaining memorial of the position of the fortification in which it is said to have been placed. Mr. Fenwick had come to take possession of a large tract of land on the river for the patentees, and to commence a large town, which he laid out, and named Saybrook, after two of them: Lord Say-and-Seal and Lord Brook.

Mr. Thomas Peters was the first minister; and the principal men were Captain Gardiner, Thomas Leffingwell, Thomas Tracy, Captain John Mason, and Messrs. Huntington, Baldwin, Raynolds, Backus, Bliss, Waterman, Hide, Post, and Swift. We learn from tradition that Mr. Fenwick expected Saybrook Point to become a large commercial city; and that the regularity of its streets and fields, and the public purposes assigned to several squares, are all traceable to his plan. Saybrook H

86 DIFFICULTY WITH THE PEQUODS. [1639.

then embraced part of Lyme, and extended north eight miles, and west to Kenilworth, which is now called Killingworth.

CHAPTER X.

Difficulties of Connecticut with Sowheag, sachem of Middletown.-Pequods driven from their old Planting Grounds by Captain Mason.-Trouble with the Dutch.-Incorporation of Towns. Execution of a Pequod Sachem at New-Haven -Treatment of the Indians.-Purchases of Land for new Towns.

BUT, while so many were employed in the more pleasing occupations of peace, the conduct of some of the Indians had nearly led Connecticut into another war. It was discovered that Sowheag, the powerful sachem, the remains of whose fort are still to be seen at the entrance of the straits at Middletown, had played the traitor the preceding year for, with some of the Indians of Wethersfield, he had aided the Pequods in the murders they had committed there; and he had treated with contempt those who demanded the criminals. Mr. Stone and Mr. Goodwin were sent by the court to persuade him: but, as they failed, and he continued to ill treat the colonists, the court agreed to send 100 men to take the offenders. The NewHaven council, however, prevailed on them not fo take so hasty a step; and thus, by their humane advice, no doubt saved much bloodshed.

There was difficulty this year with the Pequods,

who, in violation of their agreement, had planted fields with corn in their former country, at what is now New-London; and Captain Mason was sent, with forty men, to dislodge them and to bring off their crop. Uncas joined him with twenty canoes and 100 men. Mason sent a warning to the Pequods from Pawcatuck Bay, but received no answer. He suddenly attacked their wigwams and drove the Indians away; and while Uncas's men were carrying off the corn, about sixty Pequods rushed upon them from a hill. The English, who had never seen an Indian fight, had now an opportunity, and were struck with their peculiar mode of making and repelling an assault. The Mohegans stood perfectly still as their enemies approached, until they were within about thirty yards, and then set up a yell and fell upon them, striking with bows and knives. The English marched to cut off the retreat of the Pequods, but would not fire upon them; and they fled, leaving seven prisoners. These men behaved with such violence that some wished to kill them: but, at the request of Otash, the brother of Miontonimoh, who offered to give up the heads of seven murderers, they were delivered to Uncas, to be exchanged in that manner. The next morning 300 Indians appeared, with some threatening language: but they declined fighting with the English, who, they said, were spirits; and Mason having, according to the orders of the court, burned the wigwams and carried off the corn and twenty canoes, with the help of the Mohegans, brought back his men in safety. We cannot but think that, if milder measures had first been

88

EXECUTION OF NEPAUTUCK.

[1639. tried, and a kind remonstrance made to these poor Indians, the effects might have been better.

These were not the only things that gave the new colonies serious apprehensions this year. The leading Dutchmen at Manahadoes (NewYork), who, being from a Protestant country, ought to have sympathized deeply with them, had come to America for trade, and not for religious purposes, and were influenced by the changing relations between Holland and England. The people at Hartford received notice that they would be no longer permitted to trade with the Dutch at Fort Good Hope; and, at the same time, Kieft, the new and energetic governor of Manahadoes, protested against the settlement of New-Haven. The court therefore sent a committee to confer with Mr. Fenwick about a confederation of all the colonies for mutual offence and defence, and found him favourable to it.

The several towns of the colony were incorporated this year, and authorized to form courts of their own, of three, five, or seven men, for the decision of all cases of trespass and debt not exceeding forty shillings, and were ordered to keep pub. lic legers for the record of all houses, lands, and transfers thereof, which transfers could not be valid until so recorded. This was the origin of the privileges of particular towns. The new towns had also particular courts of magistrates, to meet once a quarter, for the trial of appeals, and all land titles and larger causes: having the jurisdiction of the present county and superior courts, and discretionary powers not allowed at the present day.

On the 30th of October, Nepautuck, a noted

Pequod sachem, was executed at New-Haven. In his trial it had been proved that he killed John Finch of Wethersfield, took prisoner one of Mr. Swain's daughters, and aided in the death of three men in a shallop on the river. His head was cut off by an executioner so inexpert, that he gave several blows at his neck before he succeeded, the Indian sitting upright. The head, according to the barbarous custom still prevalent in Italy, was stuck up in the market-place.

The planters of Connecticut proved by their conduct that they did not seek to obtain undue advantage over the Indians. Even the Pequod war was not undertaken for the purpose of increasing their territory, but only in self-defence; for they did not need their lands, nor did they use them for a considerable time. If they had wished for them, they would have preferred to pay several times their value. They allowed the other tribes all the land they claimed after the destruction of the Pequods, and took none without paying a satisfactory price. Indeed, in most cases they bought the land in large tracts, and afterward paid for it again in smaller ones, when they wished to occupy it. In some instances, they thus purchased land thrice, and, with the repeated presents made to the sachems, the sums they spent were very large. It was admitted by good judges at the time, that they paid more than the land was worth, even after the improve. ments were made; and large estates were expended by some of the settlers in buying land at such prices as should prevent any dissatisfaction among the natives. At the same time, they allowed them the right of hunting and fishing on the ground they