An historic record and pictorial description of the town of.,, Charles Bancroft Gillespie, George Munson Curtis )Ogle r Digitized by Google i I r * Uigiii^ea by GoOgle AN HISTORIC RECORD AND PICTORIAL DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN OF MERIDEN, CONNECTICUT AND MEN WHO HAVE MADE IT. FROM EARLIEST SETTLEMENT TO CLOSE OF ITS FIRST CENTURY OF INCORPORATION. A CENTURY OF MERIDEN THE SILVER CITY.' Issued as the Official Souvenir History by Authority of the General Committee at the Centennial Celebration, June io to i6, 1906. CoMPiLSD BY C. BANCROFT GILLESPIE. Early History by GEORGE MUNSON CURTIS. WITH PROrUSI ILLUSTRATIONS OP THB PAST AND PRBSCNT. Journal Publish i no Co.» mekiden. conn. 1906. Digitized THE NEW YOr^v ASTOB, LEKOXANO TtLLt N FOUNOATIOIit. R 1906 CfipyrlKht. 1;>'m;, |.y C. Bancroft Quxbspis. Digitized by ^opglc TABLE OF CONTENTS PART T. CH APTFR 1 LauE. nist"n'c;tl Skt'tcli «if Colonics of Coiinfctictit .md Now HaviMi. First Notices <»f Tcr- rUor> of \tl«>nifs Relative to l)>vi«lint^ Lint*. 5 CHAPTRR II. J'^nathnn Gilbert. Meridon's I-'irs,*^ Landowner. Mcridon Farm. Kdward HigUec's In- dian Purchase. Andrew and Jtuiatlian HelcluT own Meridcn l''anii. QUI Tav- ern and Stoiif House or Fort. ; . . . . . 15 rWAPTFR 111 N'fw Haven Colon\'s Purchase of Land of Indians. Rev. John Davenport's Letter to (governor John NVintlirop. Marly I''xtcut nf Territf>r\ Inchidcd I'nder Name f'f Meridcn . . . . . . -^i CHAFI KR IV. Oriyin of tFe Names of Meridcn and Pilgrims' ll.irlx^r. . . . 42 CHAPTFR V. Milktnj^ Yard, l-'alls F*!ain or Hanover. HangiuK Hills Wooi Is. . 5- CHAPTFR VT N'rtrlhcm Half fif .VIeriden. Purchase from .\dani Puit. Indian. Di spnte with Middle- town. Setting off of Parisli of .Meriden, 172.S. 67 CHAPTFR VII. ^>rant< of F^arms to James Mishop and William Jolu•^. Mai,n of ("(«!( tin- of Co)1- nec»icut. Some Old Meriden Farms 75 CHAPTFR Vlll. Further Account of Old Meriden [•"arms and Landowner^. Capt. Jr>^i;ill Ro hin^on's Tavern CHAPTFR IX Old Meridcn Farms Continued. Rev. Theophihis Hall. . . ip:; CHAPTER X. (jld F.anns of Meridcn Continued- . ^ , , 1 y, d by Google I CH APTFR XI Page. Ruilifiii^ iif |-'irsl. St-coiul and "I hird .Moetiii>; Houses- Clitirch and Parisii History. i.-S ( H APTFR XI 1 / C H A I- 1 I'.R /Life ill Mcriden During the iMf^litcenth Ctntury. V* 1 1 1 A 1 I 1 . Inrlustries. \Vallinf?f»>rd and Mer- J idon Stores atul Store KeepL-rs. 'I'averiis. MuMiiK. ICarly l^hysicians. . 209 rn APTFR Indians. NeRro Slaves and Slavcrv. XIV, 242 TT? APTFR W itchcraft Persecutions in \\ allinuft 'nl. XV. rn APTFR ^Meriden and WallinKf(»rd in tlie Wars. XVI, 260 rn APTFR , Tories in Meriden and Walhncrford XVTl 2»X) niAPTFR XVIII. ItanRall. I'urther .\ccotint of Meriden Farms and Landowners. Walhngford and .MiddUtown Boundary Disputes. Mt. Lanientation, Leonard Chester's Adven- ture. Beset Mountain. . . ; ; . . 308 CIIAPTFR XIX. I SoC)-- Meriden a Town. The Village Streets. . , . . : XU rn APTFR XX Farly Strr},^)>les of Meriden to Become a .Manufacturing Town. Success Crowns the CH APTFR XXT. .Merchants of the Middle of llie Nineteenth Century. Hotels- Places of Amusement and Res:)rt. Town Hall- Coul1a{,?rations. .Meriden a City, i8()7. Newspapers. Farly Lawyers (^or.chisit)ii. ^ ^6t APPi-xnix Lists of Representatives in the General Assembly. State Senators. Town Clerks. }''irst Selectmen. Jutly:es of Probate- Mayors of the Citv. City Clerks. .^95 FARLY VITAL STATISTICS. I-^irly Vital Statistics Marriages. Ba;)tisms and P.urialv . . 400 A CENTURY OF MERIDEX Digitized by Google iMERIDEN'S EARLY HISTORY. BY GEORGE MUNSON CURTIS. CHAPTER I. ALTHOUGH the history of Meriden as a township certainly does not begin until 1806, the year of its incorporation, still the story of its set- tlement starts many years previous to that date, at a time when historic Ply- mouth was only forty-one years old and scarcely twenty-five years had elapsed since the founding of Hartford, while New Haven had little more than attained its majority. W hen the white man rtrst bej^jan to clear the primeval forests that covered the land now embraced within the territory of Meriden, Wallinjjford settlcnient had not even been thotii^ht i»f. it is a tact that t'ne Tinmc of the daughter antedates that (»i ilie niothcr town oii \hc colonial recurds bv lour years, for as early as i(v>6 the name of Meriden a])|)ears in tlie lists of the General Court. In all probability, no Indian villajje was ever located within these borders, and yet the land wa'^ clainit d as his heritaLce by three different re■ 'Id it to the while man. In fact, the greater part of Meriden was Ixjuglu of ihe aix »ri{?inal inhabitants five different times. licrc the dusky savage came to follow the cliaonds, lakes, meadows, woodland and villages, and cl^ked on the east by moun- tains and crags whidi distance clothes in a purple haze, half veiling the ruggedness of grim old Lamentation, Higby and Beseck, torn and rent by the storms and frosts of ages. Like a map the country lies below us, for we are more than a thousand feet above the sea. Away in the north gleams the gilded dome of the Capitol in that gentle depression which holds in its lap Hartford, Windsor and Wethersfield, washed on the east by the waters of the Connecticut and swelling in the west into the wooded slopes of Talcott Mouritnin, while further south and west the spreading waves of pioneer life extended the colony into the valley of tlie Farmington river. With :i strong glass we even fancy we can see the spire of the old meeting house in Farmington peci)ing above the green elm trees of the villacre street; near at hand. He New Britain, Berlin, Bristol and Southington, all settled by the same movement which drew the pioneers into the lovely Tunxis A alley and all for many years ]>arts of the town of FarmiuLxton. On the borders of Pitrlin and Meriden gleams like a spot of burnislicd silver a large lake, or pond, now u.scti by a Hartford Coiiij>any as an ice reservoir, but in those days of long ago. no pond would have met our eyes, but instead a vast mo- rass or swamp alive with Ijeavcrs and water fowl and curiously called by the old Dutch name of the Fly or Vly. Just south of this pond was cleared the first set- tlement in the territory of Meriden. Glancing to the east over Meriden and the summit of Lamentation we suspect rather than see the ancient town of Middle- town, in those early . : . s called Mattabesett, the seat of the great Sachem Sow- heag, from whose son, bearing the euphonious name of Montowese, was bought by the English of New Haven the land extending northward from its bounds up through North Haven and Wallingford as far as where Kensington avenue in Meriden winds to the northwest on its way to New Britain. Just at the foot of the steep side of the most eastern of the parallel ridges close at hand, Cold Spring pours forth its ice cold water, now almost forgotten by a generation which re- members not the attractions of the place before the Cold Spring Home or poor- house had contaminated it by its depressing association. The fame of Cold Spring was once so great that it lent its name to localize all the territory for at least two miles to the north, east and south. Digitized by Google EARLY HISTORy. 7 On the southeast, hc}nnfl \N'alIingford, the range of Lamentation and Bescck Mountains stretches the bold front of its trap-rock cliffs into the town of Bran- ford, known there as Totokct Mountain : while towards the south on the horizon vise the sharp hills known as Hast and W'c-st l\ocks and over their svnnniits we catch irlimpscs of Lon;^^ Island Sound, indcntinc^ the land in a little bay where liic ' Ji;innipiac ri\er. winding quietly through this southern valley, finally pours its waters, gathered from the hill? and meadows of Bristol, Southinglon, Meriden, Wallingford and North Haven. New Haven we cannot see, for East Rock, capped by the monnnuTit t reeled in memory of tlie dead of the Civil war, hides and shelters it from the north. It is aa historic as well as a beautiful panorama on whieh we arc gazing and students and historians have many times told the story of Connecticut and New liavoi; colonies and it may seem unnecessary to give in these pages even the slightest sketch of this early history, but Meriden's earliest settlement depends so largel}- on the relations of these two rivals that the attempt will be made to re- fresh the raeniory of those who have forgotten. In 1635 a little band of Englishmen who had but lately arrived from the mother oomAryt began to regret their decision to reside near Boston. Resenting the re- ligious and civil intolerance of the lately settled towns in eastern Massachusetts and lon^ng to found a commonwealth on a more liberal basis, they gathered up their possessions and turned their faces towards the Connecticut river at Hartford. Driving their cattle and herds before them they traversed on foot the long and tedious journey and by 1636 they had founded the three towns of Hartford, Wind- sor and Wethersfield. Here, under the leadership of Rev. Thotnas Hooker, they laid the fotmdation of constitutional government in this country, for it was in Hartford that was drawn up the first written constitution of which history gives us any record.^ Hartford was the birtliplace of American democracy. These three river towns were the nucleus of the colony of Connecticut and hardly an event in the settlement of Anierica was of more importance than the cornerstone of free government laid by these early pioneers, for here grew tip the theory of govf>mment "of the people, by the people, for the people,"^ that American idea of a free and equal government where every freeman in good standing is entitled to the hailnt and can register his ai)|)rfival or disapprnval of men and measures. In 1638 another company of Englishmen landed in Boston, the mo?t opulent of ,!i;v C'f these early migrations across the sea. Led by the London merchant, Theophilus Eaton and the Rev. John Davenport, they were not satisfied l>y the con- ditions thev found in the towns around Massachusetts Bay, and, m bpite of in- Ouccmeuts to settle in iIk- neigh Ijorlujud where they bad landed, they sought for a virgin field where they could establish the religious and political ideas they had 1 JotnaUttk'B CoBLU. Am. Comnionwcaltli series, p. 63. i Mem. p. 70 Digrtized by Google 8 A CENTURY OF MBRIDEN. brought with them. Thc>' finally decided on the meadows near the mouth of the Quinnipiac river as the place where they could safely try their experiment in civil government. Called at first Quinnipiac, after the tril)e of Indians from \\hom the land was bought, the name was soon chanj^ed to New Haven. Other baiicl-^ of pilj^rims soon arrived and Milfnrd. F>ranford and Guilford were founded and these four towns were soon welded into the colony of New Haven. The methods of government were very different from those of tlie colony of Connecticut at the north. In New Haven the l')i1)le was the constitution and no one was entitled to the ballot who was not a cbureh member in L;oud standini^. In other words, the colonx was «^ovcrncd by what may be called a church oligar- chy. It nia\ rcatlily be imauined that the commonwealth with a center at Hart- ford was speedily to become much more popular than the one located on the Sound. It grew more rapidly in territory and numbers and soon embraced the newly settled towns of Stratford, Sayhrook, New London, Farming- ton, Fairfield and Norwalk, while New Haven never extended its original bounds except to settle and absorb the town of Stamford. Here, then, were two rival colonies only thirty^six miles apart, but as widely SQMirated as the poles in methods and theories of government. Just half way between was the territory of Meriden, a buffer as it were between two rival push- ing bands of land-hungry Englishmen. Without doubt the oldest highway of any length in the state of Connecticut is the Old Colony road, leading from Hartford to New Haven and still bearing tliis descriptive name as it passes through Meriden ancl W'allingford. Probably there was an Indian trail occupying the same general position before the white man's advent, for, according to credible tradition and written records the Indian.^, although never inhabiting the valley between Lamentation and Hanging Hills, resorted hither from the vicinity of Hartford and New Haven to follow the chase. Although travel between the colonies of Connecticut and New Haven could not have been very frecjuent during the first few years, still tlie nld records preserve evidence? of communication between the two rolnnirs. In 1639 letters troin Ontnnipiac were demanding the attention of the tieneral Court in Hartford^ and the same year it was tbnngbt best h > send to Quinnipiac counsels relative to de- fense against the Indians and Mr. Webster and Mr. Willis were dispatched on the errand.- A few weeks later Edward IIu})kius. of Harlb^rd, set ont from that town for Stratford wdth a drove of cattle and passed through New Havrn ■ and afterwards he confesses to frequent journeys over the same road wlicn be writes "I remember with what pleasure he (Gov. Thcop. Eaton) would come down the street that 1 Cono. Col. Rec., Vol. I., p. 2S. 2 Idem, p. 82. 8 ld«tt. 35. Digitized by Gopgle EARLY HISTORY, 9 heinig^ht meet me w Ik h I came from Hartford unto Xcw Haven."' In 1640 word was sent to New Haven of Indian depredations- and in 1645 the New Haven court ordered a bridge built over ''East River in the way to Connecticott."^ On ^ September 13, 1649, the Connecticut Court directed Mr. Ludlow and Mr. Tayle- coat (Talcott) to ride to \ew Haven to-mormw to confer with Mr. Raton relative to the Indians.'' In 1653 the New Haven court i)asscn increased. Doubtless, Kev. Mr. Hooker, of Hartford. Kev. Mr. Davenpurt, of Xew Haven, nn to o\erconie the wiles of the Devil, who in this new country of inibrokrn wilderness and ti-rrible solitudes was cunningly devising new tempta- tions to draw the souls of the faitliful from the straight and narrow \v;t\. Con.<;equently, the country in the vicinity of Meriden soon became familiar to many of the colonists in ilartiord and New Haven and other towns. If these ancient worthies had lime and inclination to admire the beauties of nature they •nust have been impressed as they entered the valley between Lamentation Moun- tain on the east and the gently rising Hanging Hills on the west, which, gradu- ally climbing higher and higher, with here and there great si)aces of rock, grey with the frosts of ages, drop precii)itonsIy into the plain extending to the Sound. No other place on their weary journey could have compared in beauty and pic- turesqueness with this little valley. But even the beauty of hill and dale can hardly have repaid them for the hardships endured during the long and weary thirt^'-six miles which lay between Hartford and New Haven, with hardly a house to break the monotony of the journey. There were only two methods of overcoming this distance : one must travel afoot or on horseback over a path without bridges and with the directions blazed on the trees of the primeval forest. The necessity for caution in following this road through the wilderness may be judged by the following extract from a letter written by Rev. John Daven- port, of Xew Haven, to Gov. Winthrop at Hartford, dated 6 month, 1660: **I received a former letter from you by Mr. Bishop who, in his return from your parts hitherward, tooke a wrong path twise and was so bewiltlered that he lost his way from W'ethersfieUl and lay in the woods in a very cold night and came not to us til the last day of the weeke towards noone."^ 1 Mather's Magnalia. Ed. 1820, Vol. I, p. 134. 2 Conn. Co). Rec, Vol. I, p. 58. 3 N. H. Col. Rec , Vol. I, p. 188. 4 Coon. Col. Rcc, Vol. L. p. 1»7. 5 N. H. Col. Rec, Vol. II.. p. S. e MmM. HI*. Soe. Ool.. 3rd SerlM, Vol. X. 37. lO A CENTURY OF MERIDEN. l^HH :is late a? 1672 the Governor of New York in his instructions to post riders from that cnlcniy to P.oston states, "You are principally to apply yourselfe to tlic Governors csjiccially Governor W'inthrop (at Hartford) from whom you sliall receive the hest directions how to form yc best Poast Road. When you think it requisite yon are to marke some Trees that shall direct Passengers the best way.''^ "The Indian paths were good thougli only two or three feet wide and in many places the savagfes kept the woods clear from underbrush by burning over large tracts. ' and doubtless the colonists followed the same method. "Thus the 'blazes' stood out clear and while in the dark shadows of the forests like welcoiue guide-posts, showing the traveler his way/'^ And \et, ahvass haunting one, like a ghost that will not be exorcised, was the fear of the lurking savage and wild beast ; and at any sudden noise there was a tenser strain of the nerves and a tight- ening grasp of the trusty rifle, that constant "vade mecum" of the sturdy colonist The Rev. John Davenport, in a letter to Governor Wtnthrop, dated April 2, 1660, gives us a little story which illustrates the perils of the journey and which for dearth of other material may well be inserted : "Honored Sir — received yours by Brother Benham, whom God preserved from being drowned in his journey homeward. The river by Mr. Yale's farm was swollen high ; his wife was fearful of riding through it God provided an help for her at the instant by a passenger who traveled from Windsor to Bran- ford to Mr, Crane's, whose daughter he had married. He helped Sister Benham over a tree. But her husband, adventuring to ride through, a foot of his horse slipped, so he fell into the water, and his horse, as he thinketh, fell upon him or struck him with his foot, for he had a blow on his head. But through the mercy of God he is now well." * * * This was doubtless at the crossing of Pil- grims' Harbor Brook, for no one could cross the Quinnipiac River when swollen, by means of a tree or log. But they were a brave and imdaunted people and notwithstanding the bidden terrors of the wilderness slowly but riK ntlessly the van of the settlements was constantly advancing, and as the numbers increased the question of a dividing line between the sister governments of Connecticut and Xiw Haven began to attract attention. It is easy to imagine that, when bounds bad been described only in deeds from tlie Indians, drawn up when limits were not considered of moment, accuracy in tracing tliese bounds would cause nuich friction. At last New Haven determined to leave no room for doubt as to the extent of her territory, and at a General Court held April 23, 1660, "the Governor desired that the bounds of a p'cel of land towards Connecticote might be sett out for the prevention of future differences that might otherwise arise betwixt us w'ch motion was approved and thereupon it was ordered yt Mr. Yale, Wm. Andrews, John Cowper, John Brock- 1 N. T. Bv«nlDS Post. F^b. IS. 1899. 2 Barle's Hom« U(e In Colonial Days. p. 880. Digitized by Google , EARLY HISTORY. II t, Nathaniel Merriman with the help of Mantowecs. an Indian \e late pprictor lall set out the bounds wth lasting marks wch is to be done wth the first con- enyence. It is interesting to note that two of these men were leaders in the settlement f WallinL^'ford ten years later, and prol»al)ly their first acquaintance with that icinity was made during their service on the committee to execute this vote of le General {.'ourt. As soon as s]»riiig has really cIorton, Bishop of Chester, England. He evidently was fond of pioneer life, for vhen New Haven had grown to be a larger town he settled in North Haven *, he Iso has left many descendants among us who still maintain the prestige of his ame. Then comes John Brockett, who also served in King Philip's War; he vas frequently employed as a surveyor and many of the early roads in New Ha- en Counfy were laid out under his direction; after him comes Wm. Andrews vho accompanied Gov. Eaton to New Haven at the first settlement and was for nany years the keeper of the only inn in that town ; and last of all is John Cooper, prominent man in the community, for many years manager of the iron works tnd frequently a representative at the General Court. In December, 1638, Theophilus Eaton and John Davenport had bought of Tontowese, the son of the sachem at Middletown, a tract of land ten miles long, ying north of a purchase previously made of an Indian sachem named Momau- 4in. This purchase was added to by a subsequent deed in 1645 which has been est Our committee, intent on carrying out the instructions ol the General Court, 1 N. H. Col. RM.. Vol. II. p. m. 2 N. B. niK ud 0«D. R«K.. Vol. LIIL, p. 21. Diguizea by Google I 12 A CENTURY OF UBRIOEX. follow iiiL,^ tlic lead of Montowcsc, pass up the road through what was later Wal lingford and over the hill by Walnut Grove cemetery until they come to Pilg^rims Harbor. Here, we fancy, some little time was consumed in crossing the brod where Lyon & Billard 's office now stands, and in picking their way through th swamp which formerly made this locality almost impassable. On they went u] what is now G>lony street until quite to the present junction of that street an« Kensington avenue. As far as this Montowese clainu'd his domains had extended and here the; placed "lasting marks" which would define the I'oundaries between Connecticu and New Haven colonies. Their work done, doubtless, they leisurely proceed€< home, possibly lingering a little while on the hill where the future Wallingfon was to lie. It was not long l)efore the (iencral Court at Hartford had been infonned o New Haven's action and although no record ol t Monloweeze that the land \\a> lK>uglit \\]ierel)y N. H. bounds extended ncarc unto the Cold Spring beyond Pilgriuii Harlii mr."* Tiui latter throws a flood of light upon the cnx)k, not\vithsiane about 1638. The rival claims to this territory resulted in an anomalous situation. For any years the land was a part of no township. It formennic time in the next cenuir\. In i''t8A the (^cTicral Conrt in anticii)ation the pns.'-il>le loss of the charter thron};h the action of .Sir l-jlinund Andros fof [larter Oak fame), took such steps as would secure the colony a-aiiist the fu- rc exactions of an arbitrary governor. 'I'he court was cm] n iw rrrd to fli'^pnse all vacant land^. It granted "'to \\\ ihi r^tu !d. M id'llrii >\\ n ami l aniiington all ose vacant lands between Wallingford bounds and the bounds of those planta- »ns to make a village therein." It mu-^t nnt !)e forgotten that wlun the linnl^ of Wallingford were assigned at ^ planting in lOjo its northern Ixjuutls endcrl at a line drawn ca-^t and west at >iit where Colonv street crosses flarlxir T.rook. In 1U83 W allingfnrd hovji^hl " ]uhn Talcott, oi liarlfiird, all tlu- laiul iKtucon this east and west hnr and (iil- •rt's farn; called Meriden who, in turn, had iKUight it of Adam lV.it. an Indian f T*odunk :' so that the action of the court in assigning the lands to Wetherstield, I i Id^. p. lOv. oiyui^uo uy Google 14 A CENTURY OF MERIDEN. cease until it was t'lnally sot ofl to Wallitij^ford about 1728 as a parish by 1 name of Mcridcn. It is interesting' to note that practically all the land bctwc the Colony street crossinj^ of Harbor I'rook and the Belcher, or Meriden. faj was bouj^ht of the Indians thrtv separate times; first by Xew Haven of Moil wese in 1638, then of Seaukeet by Ivlward Hij^bec in 1664, and lastly by In Talcott of Adam Puit in 1683. There were also two other deeds confirinaic of previous grants. Digitized by Google EARI^Y HISTORY. '5 CHAPTER II. Whclhcr ConiicclicuL s protest sent to New Haven against the action of the utter colony in placini? "lastinL,^ marks" or bomids in this vicinity was brought i.bout by a Inlief that the laixls in question were coniniercially vahiahle or simply )y a desire to push back any attempt ai further expansion by New llavcn, of :ourse we cannot tell. But the action of the General Court in granting a farm >f 350 acres to Jonatliaii Gilbert perhaps shows that the wilderness about Meriden was of value in one way at least For many years after fhe colony was settled ihere was a considerable trade in furs and the immediate locality of Gilbert's Eiarm certainly abounded in beavers and other fur^bearing animals at one time. He )uilt across the river from Hartford a warehouse whence he shipped to Boston Furs and other produce of the country. Just north of his farm was the old "Fly" ilready mentioned. This word is of Dutch origin and is in common use in those ^arts of New York and New Jersey first settled by the Dutch.^ The original Form of the word was Vly or Vley ; then corrupted into Fly* and was the Dutch sxpression for a swamp or morass. From time out of mind the old swamp now named the Peat Works Pond was called The Fly and the Old Ry, and so far as the writer can learn this locality is the only place in Central Connecticut that bears such a name, although the word is sometimes met with in the extreme west- ern part of this state. Are we to believe from this use of the word in Meriden that the locality was known to the Dutch who erected the Good Hope Fort at Hartford before the arrival of the English and that they were in the habit of re- sorting hither to trap the beaver? Albert Norton, of Berlin, the owner of a large part of the old Meriden Farm, says that when the disastrous attempt was made by the Aetna Peat Works to manufacture marketable peat at the "Fly" many years ag^o, in several places excavations were made at least fifteen feet in depth and in each instance trunks of trees were frequently found even at the bottom of the holes, 90 perfectly preserv ed that they still bore the marks of the teeth of beavers made centuries ago. The Dutch knew Central Connecticut well and one of their early niaps indicates the mountains at Meriden as well as East and West Rocks at New ITavcn which they called Rodenberg (Red Mts).^ The vote of the General Court of Connecticut which granted to Mr. (iilbert the right to keep an inn at his farm in Meriden reads as follows, under date of May 15, 1662: ''This colony grants 1 A point lu illufetratioo is tbe Fly Market in N. Y. City wber« there was formerly a swamp. 2 Cetititrr Otctlonair* 3 KsRmtivv Md Grit. Hist of AvMrtea. Vol.. IV., p. 4S8. uiyiii^ed by Google i 16 A CENTURY OF MliKJDEN. liberty to ye Marshall Jonathan Gilbert to keep an ordinar>' at his hoii.se at Cold! Spring for releiving of travellers according to their needs," showing that, although 1 the fann had been granted to him August 28, 166 1, he had already built a houKj on it the following May, hardly time enough to liave erected a stone house which later records show was standing there subsequcntl)'. This farm as first laid out was on tlie west side of Colony road and extended from the laneway just south of the house of Albert Norton in Berlin, southerly to a line a little south of the house now occupied by L. Michaelis, but formerly owned by James Bartlett and' known to most Meriden people as the Belcher farm. It was bounded on the east by Colony road and on the west by a stone wall still standing about three thousand feet west of the railroad track and running parallel to it. The old house proba* bty stood between the Michaetis house and that of Mrs. E. H. Yale, a little to the north. As Meriden's settlement originated with this farm it does not seem in- appropriate to devote some space to it and to Meriden's ftrst land owner, Mr. Gilbert. The fact that this farm was originally granted to Mr. Gilbert seemed to have been entirely foigotten until Dr. Davis brought the fact to light in his- History of Waltingford and Meriden. Dr. Perkins, in his interesting Historical Sketches of Meriden, says:^ *'It appears that one Mr. Belcher very early, but how early we cannot precisely ascertain, had a grant of a large tract of land on our' present northern border. Whether this was a colonial grant or a royal grant we do not know for no trace of deed or grant can be found in the state records or tow n records." This seems even now to be the generally received opinion and yet it is entirely erroneous and it is singular that a man so discriminating and painstaking as Dr. Perkins was should have utterly overlooked records that were in the Capitol at Hartford. The first white man to own land within the present limits of the town of Meriden was Jonathan Gilbert. ( PHicslmlle of Blgniiture taken from bis will.) Tie was one of the earlir^i \v al! men by these presents that I Seaukett Indian (abiding in or about Hartford on Conec't) Saclum owner and true proprietor of a large tract of land in the woods towards New Haven att and about the lands now in possession of Mr. lonathan (jilhcrt entitled atid known by the name .Meridt en doe sell t iitu Va\~ ward Higby on parcell of land adjoining to the lands of Jonathan Gilbert afore- said— TTills, Rocks, Swamps and all other appurtenances hounded n!id formerly (formally) defined by marked trees and l>y the land of say'd Jonathan Gilbert and Pilgrims' Harber Rrook or River — all uhich say'd parcell of land wiili aH prerogative'^. ]iri\ile(Iu:cs and nuv kind of ai>i 'nrtfitnT-ircs thereon rnnl ilieremilo belon^^'ing. it shall he I-aufnl iar the say VI Edsvard IliL:lH\. hi> heirs and n^^^itMis to improve, possess, enjoy and that forever as fully and as freely as the said Sea- 1 Volume called Prlvata CJoatroveralOT In Um St>to Library In tke CBnltol «t Hartford. 2 Pace 104. 2 uiLjiiizuU Dy Google i8 A CENTURY OF MERIDEN. kct ever did or might have done in witness whereof by these presents I bind my- self, my lieirs and assigns, quietly and peaceably to leave in the full ] possession of all the premises the say'd Edward Iligbey never to be molested by me the say'd Seaket, my heirs or any other Indian or Indians whatsoever and so subscribe my name. In presence and witness of Bryan Rossetter and Mary Gilbert. Mr. Rossetter was a man of prominence and a physician and lived at Guilford and his son John afterwards married Mr. Gilbert's daughter. In this deofl is the first recorded use of the name Meriden. After Mr. Higbee had acquired the In- dian title to the land in question he was confirmed in it by the action of the General Court October 12, 1665. On the Middletown land records under date of July 15, 1668,^ is a further description of the proper^ which is considerably contracted from that of the Indian deed just quoted. It is somewhat difficult from the certainly inac- curate survey and description to locate the precise limits of the tract of land. But from later deeds when the land was sold and divided one would say that the boundaries were about as follows: i'-cginning at the Center street crossing of Har- bor Brook draw a Hnc west one nulc long, thence north another mile, then east half a !nile ; thence southeast to about w hore r>road strc-et crosses Harbor Brook thence to tlie starting point at Center blreet. Just where his Iiouse stood we can- not positively state hut it was probably on the south side of the junction of Ken- sington avenue an()rtance in W w KnL^land that these farts on.nht tn create in us a romantic interest in their person- ality and ownership of this farm. Captain Andrew lielcher had married Mr. Gilhert'^ daue^hter Sarah July I. 167(1. He was horn in Camhridtre, Mass.. January 1. i^qS. and was sun of Andrew llclcher, inn-ker]KT. who miij^rated from Dan- bury, Essex Co.. England.^ We know of Amlnw, jr.. first as a mariner plying hdwrm }»oston and Hartf'>rTi with this Acc' but as it may make some Little i»art of :m .Afiswcr to what ^■o1l have desired * * * j thank you for the .^ermon preacht npun the death of my Late dear and Excellent Sister which has given me nntch pleasure in rea