coming oblivion the characters and memory of humbler children of the same mother, the "rank and file," whose epitaphs have not previously been written, save, perchance, upon their gravestones. This unexpected increase of material upon my hands, has also obliged me to omit much of what I had prepared, and intended to have printed. Among other items, I may mention a chapter on the Colonies of Ancient Windsor, and another on ministers, college graduates, etc., who originated from that town; besides lists of freemen, town officers, and state officers who originated there. The same cause has also obliged me to use small type and the most compact form of arrangement in the genealogies, as an undesirable expansion of the volume could only be avoided, to use a phrase more expressive than elegant, "by chucking 'em in tight." In the same cause also, must be found my excuse for the many repeated delays in the appearance of the volume, for which it is hoped my readers will feel amply compensated by the fact that they have over 900 pages instead of 600, as promised. Another pleasant duty yet remains, viz., the rendering of acknowledgments to those who have assisted me in my labors. Where so many have lent a "helping shoulder," it may seem invidious to particularize individuals; yet I must refer to the Misses STILES, whose hospitable roof has always been a pleasant home to me whenever I have visited Windsor, and to whom, especially to Miss LUCRETIA STILES, this history is, in a thousand ways, indebted for its value and interest. To Mr. JABEZ H. HAYDEN of Windsor Locks, Ct., whom Nature certainly designed for the historian of his native town, but whose multiplicity of business cares have prevented him from following out his inclination; to the president and officers of the Connecticut Historical Society, especially to its librarian, FRED. B. PERKINS, Esq., and to Mr. HOADLEY, State Librarian, for facilities and assistance extended to me in investigating the valuable manuscripts in their charge; to Mr. SIDNEY STANLEY, for his extremely valuable contributions to our Ellington history; to J. HAMMOND TRUMBULL, Esq., and the Hon. GIDEON WELLES, all of Hartford; to JOHN W. BARBER of New Haven; to Mr. S. H. HAYDEN of Windsor; to Dr. ASHBEL WOODWARD of Franklin, Ct. ; to Mr. EDWARD HALL and the Hon. BENJAMIN PINNEY of Ellington, Ct.; to Mr. GEORGE H. MOORE, librarian of the New York Historical Society; to Rev. EDWARD C. MARSHALL and HORACE DRESSER, Esq., and family, of New York city; and to the TOWN CLERKS of all of the towns formerly comprised within Ancient Windsor, I tender my hearty thanks for many facilities and courtesies extended to me during my investigations. I should be doing serious injustice to my own feelings, did I not, in this connection, express my deep sense of personal obligation to Mr. JOEL MUNSELL, of the firm of Munsell & Rowland, the printers of this volume, for the hearty interest with which he has superintended its progress through the press. Being, like myself, a grandson of Ancient Windsor, the labor has been to him, as to me, a "labor of love," of which every page bears witness. It may not be amiss in this place to speak, somewhat at length, of the manuscripts and records which we have consulted in the preparation of this history. The Records of Windsor are as follows: 1. Record of Town Acts, in four volumes. Volume 1st, size, 9 by 74 inches, parchment covered, 50 (double) pages, contains the records from May 6, 1650, to December 31, 1661. Several of the first pages of this volume have crumbled away from age. Volume 2d, similar in size and covering to the above, 81 (double) pages, contains records from February 6, 1666, to October 26, 1700. Ten pages of this volume are devoted to lists of town rates, and pages 51-52 to a record of town ways. A volume of 52 (double) pages, without cover, and altogether in a very dilapidated condition, contains records from December, 1700, to December 7, 1714; probably belongs to the preceding volume, and should be bound with it. Volume 3d, of larger folio size, leather binding, 147 (double) pages, contains records from December, 1768, to December, 1830. 2. A Record of Acts of Proprietors of Common and Undivided Lands in Windsor, folio, parchment covered — very dry reading. 3. A little volume of same size as the earlier volumes of Town Acts, in parchment binding, entitled A Book of Town Wayes. This has been used and referred to in our chapter on the Plan and Distribution of Ancient Windsor. It is transcribed by TIMOTHY LOOMIS, third town clerk, from the original by his predecessor, invaluable Matthew Grant. 4. A volume similar in size to the above, in parchment cover, filled mostly with ancient Town Rates, Lists, etc., about 1672–1676. 5. Land Records, 1640 to the present day. The original first volume is still in existence, although rather worn and shabby in appearance, and deserves a good strong binding, as its covers are gone, and its leaves loose. The present copy, now in use, at the clerk's office, was copied by Timothy Loomis, in 1723,* as we learn from the following town vote:-April 8, 1723, "voted to pay Timothy Loomis, £20, 12s., to be paid out of the town rate for his transcribing the first book of town records of lands." It is clearly and accurately written in Mr. Loomis's elegant style of chirography, yet the original must always have a prior value in a legal and antiquarian point of view, which no copy can possess, and we hope that the selectmen of Windsor will order this volume to be carefully rebound. We may here observe, that although the Records of Windsor are mostly in an excellent state of preservation, yet some attempt should be made by the town authorities to have all the records, manuscripts, maps, etc., in the town clerk's office, carefully overhauled, examined, and filed in volumes, properly labeled and indexed. Many valuable and interesting documents, especially of the Revolutionary * Not 1710-12, as stated on page 101. period, are perishing for lack of a little care. We can not too urgently recommend that all these records should be placed beyond all danger of destruction by fire, by the erection of a suitable fire proof building for their reception. The records, especially the land records of Ancient Windsor, possess a value which pertains to the records of few other towns of Connecticut, and Windsor owes it to the state, as well as to its own interests, to provide against the contingency of what would be an irreparable loss. 6. The Old Church Record, reprinted in this volume (Appendix No. 2), verbatim et literatim, et punctuatim, the original of which is in the safe keeping of the Connecticut Historical Society Our reprint is from a very accurate transcript by our friend Mr. JABEZ H. HAYDEN of Windsor Locks, Ct. 7. Henry Wolcott, Jr.'s, Shorthand MS. Volume, thus described: "Among the papers deposited in the Library of the Conn. Historical Society, some years since, was a stout little vellum-covered volume, of nearly 400 pages, closely written in a puzzling shorthand, with no clue to the subject nor the writer's name. It lay unnoticed until a little more than a year ago, when it attracted the attention of J. Hammond Trumbull, Esq., who is as ingenious in such matters as he is persevering in his researches. He succeeded in deciphering it, and found it to consist of notes of sermons and lectures, delivered in Windsor and Hartford, between April, 1638, and May, 1641, in regular course. The writer's name is not given, but his birthday is noted on the first leaf of the volume, and this and other facts identify him as Henry Wolcott, Jr.; and it is a curious fact that the only record of his birth is found among these hieroglyphics, and the date has been unknown till now. "These notes give the dates, texts and general outlines of the discourses of the Rev. Messrs. Warham and Huit, in Windsor, and of the Rev. Messrs. Hooker and Stone, in Hartford, during the sessions of the General and Particular Courts. Among the former is one delivered by Mr. Warham, Nov. 17, 1640, at the betrothing of Benedict Alvord and Abraham Randall,' from the text, Eph. vi, 11, 'Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.' The preacher 'improved' the theme 'for teaching the betrothed lovers that marriage is a war-faring condition,' and for reproof to those who think nothing is needed for marriage but the consent of the parents.' In the face of these solemn admonitions, it appears from the Windsor records that both were duly married before the expiration of the year the happy Benedict to Joan Newton, and the other to Mary Ware. 44 Among the latter discourses, are Mr. Hooker's two Election Sermons, of May 31, 1638, and April 11, 1639. Of the first, from the text, Deut. i, 13; Mr. Trumbull gives an abstract, of deep interest, as showing the 'politics which were preached by the ablest and best of the Puritan Fathers." We may further notice that of seventy-five of the Rev. Mr. Warham's sermons and lectures preached in the year, from April, 1639, to April, 1640, twenty four were from Psalms, xcii, 5, 6, 7; nineteen from I Corinthians, vi, 11, fourteen from Matthew, xxii, 37, 38; and four from the 6th, 7th and 8th verses of the same chapter, together with five occasional sermons from other texts. Of • We certainly do not intend, by these remarks, or those on page 398, to reflect, in the least, upon the present excellent town clerk of Windsor. As far as his care and attention can extend, the records are well and safely kept; but the subject of which we speak is a town matter. It needs the attention of the selectmen, and an appropriation from the town to put these papers in a proper condition for safe keeping and reference. forty-six sermons and lectures, preached by Rev. Mr. Huit, between August 18, 1638, and April 14, 1640, twenty-one were from 2d Timothy, 11, 19, 21; five from Jeremiah, viii, 4; five from James ii, 14; four from I Corinthians, X, 12. Of the numerous other records and manuscrips, consulted in the writing of this history, it is unnecessary to speak, as they have been elsewhere alluded to. And now, in conclusion, I may truly say, with valiant Captain John Mason:* "I wish [this task] had fallen into some better hands, that might have performed it to the life. I shall only draw the curtain & open my little casement, that so others, of larger hearts & abilities may let in a bigger light; that so at least some small glimmering may be left to posterity what difficulties & obstructions their forefathers met with in first settling these desert parts of America." Wishing, therefore, that my readers may find as much of profit and pleasure in perusing these pages, as I have found in writing them, I remain Their Friend and Servant, Brooklyn, N. Y., September, 1859. * In his Introduction to his History of the Pequot War. HENRY R. STILES, M. D. CONTENTS. CHAP. XI. Ecclesiastical and Civil History, 1685-1729,.... 208 |