History of New London, Connecticut

Front matter

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Preface

This work has not been hastily written, but is the result of several years of patient research. It originated in the first place, from a deep interest in the subject — a fondness for lingering in the avenues of the past, and of linking places, persons and events in historic association. The pleasure connected with the occupation has thus lightened the toil ; yet it is not pretended that the work was undertaken with no view to its being published. It has been from 0vt *fbst, the aim and hope of the author to produce a work worthy of publication — a history that would be honorable to her native place, and to those neighboring towns that were connected with k in their origin. New London county is a locality no way inferior in interest to any part of the state. , Its early history is full of life and vivid anecdote. Here the white and the red race flourished for a time side by side; while hard- S ships, reverses and adventures of various kinds marked its subsequent progress. A conviction of the fertility of this unexplored field of research, connected with the sentiment of veneration for a region that had been the refuge and home of her ancestors, in all their branches, led to a design, early formed and perseveringly cherished hy the author, to write the history both of Norwich and of New London. Taste, leisure, opportunity, and above all the kind permission of a benignant providence, have concurred in allowing this design to be accomplished.

The divine command to "remember the days of old, and consider the years of many generations," so often repeated in varying terms in Holy Writ, is an imperative argument for the preservation of memorials of the past. The hand of God is seen in the history of towns as well as in that of nations. The purest and noblest love of the olden time is that which draws from its annals, motives of gratitude and thanksgiving for the past — counsels and warnings for the future. It is the ardent desire of the writer to engage the present generation iv

PREFACE.

in this ennobling study of their past history, and to awaken a sentiment of deeper and more affectionate sympathy with our ancestors, than has hitherto been felt. In the first place we find a band of exiles, far from their native land, and in great part strangers to each other, collecting together, acting together, and amid trials and embarrassments cheerfully encountered and bravely overcome, effecting a settlement upon this rugged coast ; and following the course of years, we meet with generation after generation, who endured great and manifold fluctuations of fortune, as they successively labored to improve and enlarge their inheritance into those ample accommodations and facilities for future progress which we now enjoy.

The work is extended into a larger volume than was at first anticipated ; yet such is the affluence of materials, that a second of equal size might easily have been prepared, had the author chosen to wander at large into the paths of family genealogy and individual biography. A prevalent object in view, was to illustrate the gradual progress of society, from the commencement of the township among the huts of the Indians, where the first planters found shelter, to its present maturity of two centuries. Many simple and homely traits, and slight incidents, are therefore admitted, which by themselves would seem trivial and below the dignity of history. " Posterity," said John Quincy Adams, "delights in details." This is true ; but details are great incumbrances to the easy flow of narrative writing. Less precision on minor points, fewer dates and names, and greater license of description and imaginative sketching, would have rendered the work more uniform and interesting, yet it might have diminished its value for local reference.

In the spelling of Indian names entire uniformity has not been preserved. These names have not yet been reduced to any common standard, and the variations are innumerable. The point most perplexing to an historian is the transmutation that gradually takes place in the course of a series of records in the same name, as in Nayhantick or Naihanticut, now Niantic, and in Naywayonck, now Noank. There appears to be an absurdity in writing Niantic and Noank, when treating of the early history, and a species of affectation in obtruding the old name against the popular orthography of the present day. In these words, therefore, and some others, a common uniform system of spelling has not been preserved.

Contents

Introduction and outline map of the harbor,

PACK.

18-17