History of ancient Woodbury, Connecticut : from the first Indian dead in 1659..

Front matter

Class Book.

HISTORY

OF

Introduction To The Second Volume

OYFULLY do I bring this history to a close — a work of most arduous labor, — long-continued, — and heartily can I join in the aspiration ; — " Oh ! that mine enemy had written a book " — especially a book of Town History !

The work has grown upon my hands to a volume more than twice the size contemplated and promised. It became inevitable. \Ve have made history faster, and more voluminously, during the last twenty years, than for the preceding one hundred A faithful and minute account of these years has been attempted. At the same time, the careful inquiries and researches of the last twenty years, have added to the ancient history of the town an amount almost equal to that contained in the former volume, of most valuable and interesting matter. In this part of his work the author lias been most ably aided by several antiquarian friends, and especially by the Rev. Benjamin L. Swan, of Oyster Bay, N\ Y., a most careful and successful antiquarian scholar. Due credit has been given to each assistant in the pages of the volume.

Iv PREFACE.

No work so elaborate, extended and complete, has been attempted in this country, and it will remain for the reader to decide, whether the author has accomplished his purpose of making it a model of its kind. Neither time, arduous labor, nor expense has been withheld by him.

A large addition has been made to almost every chapter of the former work. The statistics of the several towns have been brought down to date, and include the results of the last election. As a book of statistics, it must remain for all time invaluable to all. In the genealogical part of the work, not only lias all additional information in regard to the families in the former volume been added, but the genealogies of a large number of other families have been included.

Woodbury has been celebrated for its Bi-Centennial Celebrations. A full history of all these has been included in the work- A new feature in the work is exhibited in the illustrations. Mr. Henry Clay Curtis, an excellent artist, residing in Hartford, has profusely illustrated the work, so that the two volumes now contain about one hundred and sixty-seven cuts, of all kinds, inserted at g'-eat expense, contributing immensely to the attractions and and permanent value of the work.

The question of the "Church dissensions in Stratford," resulting in the settlement of Woodbury, has been seriously mooted. Every recorded item in the records has been carefully collected, and printed entire in the work, with such remarks and elucidations as seemed called for, placing the controversy, as it would seem, forever at rest. As the theory maintained in the former work had been adopted by all subsequent historians, State and Ecclesiastical, it seemed necessary to thoroughly examine the subject, and vindicate the " truth of history."

A leading feature of the work is a minute history of the efforts of the several towns in the ancient territory to suppress the late Rebellion. The author has treated this subject in a manner entirely different from that pursued by the various historians of the war. The latter have written general histories. The authors

PREFACE were obliged to say such a General did this — such a Colonel did that. The author of this work has attempted to write an individal history of the war. Private A. did this — Sergeant B. did that. He has attempted to reveal the nerve and sinew which did most to accomplish the great result. He has given a complete list of all the soldiers from the ancient town, with particular incidents in regard to many of them. About 400 pages of the work are de voted to this history. It is believed that it will be one of the most satisfactory accounts of the incidents of the Rebellion to the private soldier.

Filially, this work is now passed over for the examination of a discriminating public, upon its merits, and the author awaits its judgment with calm composure, believing it will be just.

WILLIAM COTHREN.

WooDBuny, May 1, 1872.

CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME.

CHAPTER I.— PHYSICAL HISTORY. First Impressions, Bestowal of names, Quassapaug Lake, Weraumaug "

Bantam "

Kissevvaug "

Village Plain, Indian Names, Pootatuck River, Pomperaug "

Page. 842

! Nonnewaug River, j Shepaug "

' Orenang Park,

Shepaug Falls, ; Nonnewaug "

Bacon's Pond,

Kettletown.

Jack's Brook Legend,

Mine Hill, ; Helicon Spring,

CHAPTER II.— INDIAN HISTORY. Who were the Indians? . 8fil

Their character, . . . 863

Indian Regulations, . . 865

Indian Watches, . . . 869

Definition of Indian names, . 876

Indian Relics 878

Indian God, Pomperaug's Grave, Nonnewaug's "

Bethel Rock Legend, Reflections,

880 881

Chapter Iii.— Ecclesiastical History

General Ecclesiastical Review, 890 " Stratford View " of the religious dissensions, . . . 892

The " Woodbury View " re-stated, re-affirmed, and proved, . 895

Chapter Iv.— Civil History

Accuracy of American History, 929 i Fundamental Articles, Free Home-Lots, . . . 930 | Lower Nonnewaug Falls.

932 935

Contents

vu

Old Mill-stones . . . 936

Church Drum,

Chapter V.— Civil History Continued. Centennial Celebrations

Town Bi-Centennial of 1859, 951

Ode of Invocation, . . 958

N. Smith's Welcome, . . 959

William Cothren's Address, 960

Rev. Wm T. Bacon's Poem, . 965 Rev. A. S. Atwood's Speech, 970

Bi-Centenniel Ode, . . .973 Hon. Seth P. Beers' Speech, 973

Mrs. Ann Stephen's Ode, . 977 Hon. Charles Chapman's speech, 978 Hon. I. W. Stuarts' Letter, 980

Mrs. L. H. Sigourney's Ode, 981

Geo. H. Clark's Centennial Poem, 982 Hon. Henry Dutton's Speech, 988

Samuel Minor's " 988

Mrs. Ann S. Stephens' Poem, 990

Rev. Philo Judson's Speech, 998

Masonic Centennial, . . 998 AlonzoN. Lewis' Address, 1000,1011 Rev. Curtiss T. Woodruff's Sermon, .... 1008 William Cothren's Address, 1011

E. A. Judd's Address, . . 1018 First Church Bi-Centenniel. 1022

Rev. W. T. Bacon's Poem, . 1019

Rev. John Churchell's Speech, 1020 List of Deacons, . . . 1026 Dedication of the Fathers' Monument, .... 1040 Rev. T. L. Shipman's Prayer, 1041 W. Cothren's Dedicatory Address, . .' . 1042 Rev. W. T. Bacon's dedication

Poem, .... 1046 Rev. Mr. Noyes' Bi-Centenniel

Sermon, . . . .1029 Communion Exercises, . 1038

Dedication Hymn, . . . 1048 Rev. Horace Winslow's Greeting, 1051 Rev. Wm. K. Hall's Speech, 1052

Rev. A. B. Smith's " . 1056 Rev. Geo. W. Banks, " . 1058

Dr. Bellamy's Letter, . . 1059 Rev. Willis S. Colton's Speech, 1062 Rev. A. Goodenough's ■' 1065

Rev. H. S. Newcomb's •' 1066

Rev. John Churchill's " 1067

Rev. Thomas L. Shipman's " 1 070

Rev. C. E. Robinson's Letter, 1071 Rev. Chas. Little's " 1072

Rev. Philo Judson's " 1073

Miss C. E. Andrew's " 1074

CHAPTER VI.— WOODBURY IN THE GREAT REBELLION. Causes of the War

Rev. Noah Coe's Buchanan Prayer, ....

Parson Champion's Revolutionary Prayer,

First Union Meeting,

" Woodbury Reds,'1

Letters,

Amusing War Stories, 1149, 1157

Woodbury War Notes,

Farewell to Co. " I,"

. 1191

March to Alexandria, .

Scenes at "

. 1209

James C. Policy's death,

Convalescent Camp,

. 1212

Col. Elisha Kellogg,

Lt. Fred. Whitiock,

. 1214

Alexandria Alarm,

. 1219

War Notes of 1863,

. 1226

Vlll

CO NTENTS.

Battle of Cold Harbor, . .1280 Battle at Winchester, . . 1230 Battle of Cedar Creek, . .1238 War Notes of 1864. . . 1254 War Letters, .• 1259

Soldiers' Welcome Home, . 1283 Welcome Ode, . . .1284

Dea. P. M. Trowbridge's Address, 1285 Woodbury " Secesh " Flags, 1280

Rev. A. N. Lewis' Poem of Welcome, . . . 1286, 160*7 Wm. Cothren's Address of Wei

Woodbury Contributions, 1291

List of those who sent Substitutes, 1293 Decoration Day, . . . 1294 W. Cothren's Address, . 1294

Soldiers' Monument Meeting, 1296 Dedication of Soldiers' Monument, 1299 W. Cothren's Address at same,

1300, 1308 Col. A. H. Fenn's Speech, . 1304 Complete List of Woodbury Soldiers, . . . .1304 Woodbury Roll of Honor, 131C. 1313 Andersonville Prison, . 1324 Final Remarks on the War, 1343

Chapter Vii.— Ecclesiastical History Continued

Rev. Lucius Curtis dismissed, 1347 Religious Revivals, 1347, 1357

Rev. RobertG. Williams Settled, 1347 Rev. Chas E. Robinson " 1351 Rev. Chas. Little, . . 1352

Rev. Horace Winslow, . . 1353 Rev. Gurdon W Noyes Settled, 1353

Rev. Samuel R. Andrew — Life

and Character, . . 1354 Mr. Andrew's account of his Settlement, . . . 1357 Dea. Matthew Minor's Biography, 1365 Minor Jubilee, . . . 1369 Hon. Noah B. Benedict's Will, 1369

CHAPTER VIII.— CIVIL HISTORY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 342. Tories, 1372

Local School Fund, . . 1372

Remember Baker, . . .1373

Col. Seth Warner, . . 1373

Parson Stoddard and the Flint

Epidemics, . . . 1376

Ancient Burial Ground, . . 1377

New Burial, " . 1377

New County Proposition, . 1378

Ancient Tea Party, . 1379

Moll Cramer— the witch, . 1380

Break Neck Hill, . . 1381

Parson Wildman's Donati'n Visit, 1383 Natural Curiosities, . . 1382

Walker Headstone, . . 1383 Ram Pit Hill. . - .1383

Parker Academy, . . 1384

Woodbury Bank, . . .1384 " Building Association, 1384 King Solomon's Lodge, . 1385

CHAPTER IX— CIVIL HISTORY CONTINUED.— CRIMES AND CASU- ALTIES. Murder of Bennet Ward, . 1390

" Matthew M. Morriss. 1390

" Lucius H. Foot, 1392

Suicide of Ralph Lina, . 1396

Suicide of Columbus W. Randall, 1 397 Thefts, . . . . 1397

Burlaries in Curtiss' Factory and

Walker's Store, . . 1397

CONTEXTS.

IX

CHAPTER X.— HISTORY OF THE SOCIETIES AND TOWNS SET OFF FROM ANCIENT WOODBURY— CONTINUED FROM PAGE 218.

Southbury Society, Rev. Jason Atwater, Rev. A. B. Smith, South Britain Society, Rev. John W. Wolcott, Rev. Homer S. Newcomb Southbury War Votes, Southbury Volunteers, Bethlehem, Rev. Eph. M. Wright, Rev. Geo. W. Banks, .

Bethlehem War Votes, Bethlehem Volunteers, Washington, Rev. Ephraim Lyman, Rev. Wm. H. H. Murray, Rev. Willis S. Colton,

New Preston Society, " . 1407

Washington War Votes, . 1 407

Washington Volunteers, . 1408 Frederick W. Gunn's Boarding

School for Boys, Roxbury, ....

Rev. Austin Isham, Rev. Oliver S. Dean, Rev. J. H. Varce, Rev. A. Goodenough, Revivals, .

Roxbury Volunteers, .

Roxbury War Votes, North Congregational Church, St Paul's Church, Centennial of Same, . . .

CHAPTER XL— BIOGRAPHIES AND AUTO-BIOGRAPHIES OF NA- TIVES, RESIDENTS AND DESCENDANTS OF ANCIENT WOOD- BURY IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER.

Rev. Garrett G. Brown,

Hon. Seth P. Beers,

. 1423

Hon. Chas. Chapman, William Cothren,

1423 . 1426

Hon. Samuel G. Goodrich, .

Hon. Orlando Hastings, .

Hon. Joel Hinman,

. 1428 1430

Rev. Benjamin C. Meigs, Rev. John Purves,

. 1444 1450

Dr. Avery J. Skilton, Mrs. Mary Ann W. Smith, .

Rev. Bennet Tyler, Arthur B. Warner,

. 1450 1459

. 1461 1465

Hon. Warren W. Guthrie,

. 1366

Edward J. Hubbard, Hon. James Huntington, Willis Lambert, Henry Minor Rev. Dr. Elisha Mitchell, Hon Simeon H. Minor, Hon. Wm. T. Minor.

Hon. Chas. B. Phelps, Hon. Henry S. Sanford, Dr. Azariah B. Shipman, Dr. Parson G. Shipman, Hon. Isaac Toucey, Col. Seth Warner,

CHAPTER XII.— GENEALOGIES CONTINUED FROM PAGE 481. In Alphabetical order.

CHAPTER XIII.— STATISTICS.

CONTENTS.

Appendix

Bolton Family,

Curtiss Family.

Hon. David F. Hollister,

Rev. Alonzo Norton Lewis,

1605 | Rev. Alonzo Norton Lewis' Poem L605 to Returned Soldiers, . 1607

1606 j Rev. Win. T. Bacon's Reunion 1606 Poem, .... 1609

TABLE OF ERRATA.

Page

Chapter 1 Physical History

First Impressions ; Bestowal of names ; Village Plain ; Middle Quarter ; White Oak ; Indian names ; Quassapaug ; "Weraumaug ; Bantam ; Kissewaug ; Pootatuck; Pomperaug ; Nonnicwaug ; Shepaug; Orenaug ; Bethel Rock; Nonnewaug Falls ; Shepaug Falls ; Bacon's Pond ; Kettletown ; Divers Localities ; Jack's Brook ; Mine Hill ; Helicon Spring.

FTER a lapse of seventeen years, during which history has more than "repeated itself," in great and stirring events, in the progress of living ideas, in the advancement of literature and science, in the spread of Christianity, and in the clear understanding and final establishment of the true principles of civil liberty, and the enfranchisement of the human race, it would seem wise to review the whole ground-work of our history as a nation, and as civil communities, that we may learn the true lessons of the recent past, and take prudent and judicious departures for the scenes and events of the future, through which we are yet to pass. We have5 been so overwhelmed with the tumultuous events which have occurred in the last few years, that we shall be astonished, on a calm retrospect, to observe what strides we have made in humau progress, and how totally unconscious we have been of the magnitude and importance of the history we have been making, and of the share each little hamlet has had in producing it. It is from the careful examination of the elements, that go to make up any desirable event, or result, that we are able to understand and duly appreciate it, and derive from it the lessons desirable for future use and improvement.

It will be our pleasing duty, then, to review the history of our ancient and honorable town, and gather for the use of ourselves, and those who shall succeed us in our pleasant abodes, in this valley of valleys, and on these rejoicing hills, so favored of Heaven, the " remnants, that remain " of the treasures not discovered before the completion of our former enterprise, and to preserve them in the archives of our local history, " that nothing may be lost." To accomplish this, the plan of the former work Avill be followed, recording, step by step, all further facts obtained, under the several heads employed before, sometimes repeating facts found in the first volume, for greater clearness of statement, and to save reference to another volume, so inconvenient in the reading of any work.

Although our country is so young, and our experience so recent, it is yet very difficult for us to picture to ourselves the novelty with which this wilderness must have struck the early gaze of our forefathers, as they came here, " bearing the ark of their covenant into the wilderness." The land was all before them. They had full authority to enter and possess it, by solemn conveyance from the Indian proprietors, and by the full consent and endowment of the General Court, encumbered by no conditions, except to receive as many other " honest inhabitants " into proprietorship with them, as the plantation would " conveniently entertain " — a matter of prime necessity in new and feeble communities. How does our most fertile imagination fail to grasp and comprehend the mingled emotions which must have struggled in the bosoms of our sturdy forefathers, as, after a weary wandering in the deep forests and beside the " great rivers," they stood upon the summit of " Good Hill," first local name selected and pronounced by their lips, in the new home, and gazed into the wild and beautiful valley, divided by its lovely, meandering river, seeking with the eye, even in this first moment of enraptured vision, the sequestered nooks in which they would build their happy, moral abodes, and erect their family altars, first offerings to their adorable God and Master. Like the land of Canaan to the Israelites of old, the new land was all before them, with its woods and rocks, and hills and streams — nameless as yet. Here were a thousand hills, valleys, streams, and beautiful local objects of every form and style of loveliness, with no names by which they might be called ; no appellation by which they might be described. They had bought land at "Pomperaug ; " they had been granted liberty by the General Court to found a new plantation there, and that was all there was of designation. Every thing betokened that the silence of nature had remained unbroken by human voice, since those early days, when u the morning stars sang together," save by those of nature's own uncultivated children, the red hunters of the forest. Nature, in all its grand magnificence, met the enchanted view of the pale face in these sweetly fertile plains, and mountain fastnesses. The grim chiefs of the woody wilds alone roamed over these retired solitudes, save the wild beasts, that growled upon a thousand hills. The whole face of the country was one vast wilderness, uncheered by the benign rays of civilization.

Such was the scene, and such were the circumstances that greeted the eyes of Capt. John Minor, the intrepid surveyor, and his sturdy companions, as they entered this territory, which was then the farthest point from our coast and larger rivers, that had been explored, two hundred years ago. This wilderness must be reclaimed; human habitations must be erected; the church ot God, with its accompanying school-house, must be builded from these over-arching forest trees, aud all objects must receive names and designations.

We may imagine the first surveyor, like a second Adam, with every living and inanimate object before him, awaiting the bestowal of an appellation. And right royally did he and his associates fulfill this duty of necessity and convenience, as they scattered among the hills and valleys, and reclaimed the waste lands. Perhaps no town anywhere has so successfully preserved its early designations as this. Everywhere we meet the "old landmarks." We will mention some, of them, that they may be recorded, as well as remembered forever.

It was natural that they should then and there name the place whence they had had the pleasure of beholding, their "land of promise ; " their future homes. They called it Good Hill. It was good and pleasant for them, in more particulars than one. It was the place of good hopes and anticipations. It was the place of good views. It was the place of good lands, and, afterwards, became the location of their " Good Hill Division," in the proportionate distribution of the lands of their new territory among the proprietors. The place where the present village stands, which was, at that date, with the adjoining intervales, cultivated by the Indians, and planted with scant crops of coi-n, beans, and some few other productions, was called by preeminence The Plain, and the designation has been handed down to the present day, in the conveyance of lands. The fertile plateau where the pioneers spent their first night, a little south of the village, they named Middle Quarter. It was so named, probably, because they deemed it nearly midway between the plain land, which they named Judson Lane, and on which the first framed house was built, and White Oak, a place so designated by them, in the upper part of Southbury, nearest the present town of Woodbury, the place where they spent the second night of their explorations. This spot has always been one of interest. The old oak long since passed away, as is stated on a preceding page, but the interest still lingers around the ancient locality, and our artist has given a sketch of it for a future chapter.

These few names sufficed their first wants, as they builded their cabins amid these vales and hills, keeping as nearly together as possible. As the settlement extended its limits, they learned and appropriated the good old names, which had been used by the original native proprietors, and they have been carefully handed down to the present. No town of equal dimensions within the waiter's kuowedge has retained so many of them, and they are of far greater euphony, for the most part, than those preserved in other parts of the State. Many of our towns long since forgot the local names of the former occupants of the country. In the the neighboring town of Watertown, for instance, it is said that not a single Indian appellation, or name of local objects or places, noAV remains. This is the more singular, as there must ever be a lingering interest or curiosity in all the remaining traces of the aboriginal race, which preceded us, even in the least observant mimls.

Quite different from this was the care with which our fathers gathered up, and applied the beautiful Indian names which abound in our territory. This may, in part, be accounted for by the fact, that Capt. John Minor, the leading man among the colonists, had been educated as missionary to the Indians, understood well their language, and seemed to take a delight in fixing forever the aboriginal names to the various localities, as he, in his office of surveyor, parcelled out the lands among the pioneers. To the lovely lake on our eastern borders he applied the name of Quassapauu', or The Beautiful Clear Water. This pleasant sheet of water, so cosily nestling among the verdant hills, furnished one of the first fishing places to the new settlers, cut off as they were from the seaboard by the boundless forests lying between them and the sen. This is an enchanting little water retreat among the hills, where one may while away an hour of pleasant thought and rest, secluded from all obtruding care, or may unite with friends in sailing over its limpid waters, enjoying the " feast of reason and the flow of soul." It has ever been a location of interest, and is yearly becoming the place of resort for those who admire the loveliness of nature secluded in its deep solitudes. Weraumaug is another lake of about the same size, one mile by two in dimensions, located in the north-west corner of the ancient territory, to which the same remarks will apply. It has now become the popular resort of the city-heated denizen, who seeks, for a brief space, rest and relaxation during the hot months.

Like the former, it has become the place of sweet romance and many a flirtation, while reverend doctors of divinity and learned doctors of the law, " pass stately by," and form a solid back ground. Bantam, in the northern bounds, north of what was, at a later day, called " Woodbury Farms," is another beautiful sheet of water, and point of much attraction. It is one of the principal boasts of the present town of Litchfield, the County seat, which is now in somewhat, pleasant repute as a " summer resort," claiming attention, principally, for the life-invigorating air of its breezy hills and extended country views. The name of Bantam has usually been considered by historians as the aboriginal name of this lake, together with its river, and surrounding country. But there is every reason to doubt the correctness of this opinion. It has neither the look nor sound of any other words in our native Indian dialect.1 The only place called by this name, now recollected, is Bantam in the Island of Java. No reason can be assigned for the transfer of the name to this locality, except, perhaps, the fanciful one, that " like the Bantam of the old world, this was a wild and almost unknown region, inhabited by a race of barbarians." It is hardly probable, however, that our ancestors, in the necessitous circumstances of a new settlement in the unbroken wilderness, had time to make, even if they had the necessary geographical information, such farfetched and philosophical, not to say poetical comparisons in diverse localities. Kissewaug is the name bestowed upon a long and narrow pond below Quassapaug lake, in the southern part of the present town of Middlebury. It' also bears the more modern name of Long Meadow Pond. There is a somewhat apocryphal legend connected with this little lakelet, from which it is said to have derived its name, Kissewaug. But it is by no means certain that the first syllable of that name, used as as separate word, has the same

1 Kilbourn's History of Litchfield, p. 24.

and lamprey eels, of enormous size, are caught in great abundance. Occasionally, even in these later years, a trout of very great size, and of the true speckled variety, strays into the pools below the falls. A few years ago, Mr. Thomas Tyrrell, who owns the land and mill at the falls, captured in a brook-pool near the river, by using a shad seine, a trout of large dimensions, for these waters. It was 3% inches in length, measuring 16 inches around the body in front of the fins, being the largest part, and weighed 17^ pounds. This account is vouched for by several witnesses, and is no doubt correct. But the beauty of these falls has just been destroyed, by blasting down the cliffs, to make way for the road-bed of the Shepaug Valley Railroad, Jer "ng from Litchfield to a junction with the Housatonic Railroa< . at Hawley ville. The rocks have been skillfully and ruthlessly blasted out, and thrown into the river, and across it, cutting down large trees two feet in diameter, and far into the fields beyond. The rock is thrown down the side of the mountain in large masses, some of them weighing a hundred and thirty tons to the boulder. It is a fine display of the power of man in his war with nature. The building of this Railroad, which runs the whole length of the ancient territory, from north to south, through the Shepaug valley, with terminus at Litchfield, is a remarkable result of the enterprize of our people. If one had been asked a year ago to name a locality which was least likely to be traversed by a Railroad in this region, the unhesitating answer would have been, one through the Shepaug valley. And yet such has been the indomitable spirit displayed, that the cars will be running on the road by August, 1871, a little less than a year from the time when the first spade full of earth was thrown out to grade the way.

At the upper end of Nonnewaug Plain, in the deep recesses of the forests, are located the Nounewaug Falls. These falls are quite fully described on page 92, but are referred to here for the purpose of collecting all the references and descriptions of places together. Since the publication of the former edition of this work, this beautiful retreat of nature has been more and more a place of resort for pleasure parties, and for those who delight to retire from the busy haunts of men, and commune with nature in her sacred solitudes. And yet, as has often been observed in other cases of the wonderful works of nature, like the falls of Niagara, for instance, people in their vicinity have never seen them, and more singular still, have never heard of them. In this very case, an old

UPPER NONNEWAUG FALLS, WOODBURY, CONN.

gentleman, aged 87, living within half a mile of these falls all his life, and in full ear-shot of their roaring in flood-time, had never known, or heard of them, up to the issue of the former edition of this history, in 1854. This is one of those peculiar instances where the grand and the sublime objects in nature, which always attract the attention and the admiration of men, and sway the heart with great emotions, have been unheeded by those who have readiest access to them, while a view of them has been sought by pilgrims from the most distant parts.

Such were some of the Indian names retained by the first settlers, and handed down to the present time. As their families increased, and new inhabitants were admitted, they continued to apply new names to the different localities. The hill south of Good Hill was called Grassy Hill, from its abundant grass, which made a good grazing, or "Pasture Division." The valley east of Grassy Hill, they called Transylvania. The hill at the south end of the village, across the river, west, was called Castle Rock, from the fact that Pomperaug, the last sachem before the advent of the whites, had there his principal wigwam, or castle. Beyond is Bear Hill and Ragland, a rugged country. North-east of the Orenaug Rocks, is a small artificial pond, covering an area of six or eight acres, which was formed by damming up a small stream that empties into the Nonnewaug river. This was done by the late Daniel Bacon, long years ago, and continues to bear his name. Until three or four years ago, it was owned by his son, Rev. William T. Bacon, the celebrated poet of our aucient territory, who had a strong reverence for the old homestead, and all its appurtenances and surroundings. To this romantic, quiet lake, embosomed among the rugged hills, and to the pleasant groves around, has he often retired for meditation, and here has he composed some of his best verses. A road passing near this sheet of water leads quite around the Orenaug group of cliffs, from and to the main street, making a pleasant and convenient drive, which is often taken by - citizen and stranger. East Meadow lies north of the village on the Quanopaug stream, and was much esteemed for its fertility by the fathers, insomuch that it was divided into small parcels among them. Steep Rock is a romantic hill some two miles south-west of the village of Washington, on the Shepaug river. The Shepaug Valley Railroad, to which reference has already been made, runs through this hill. A tunnel some thirty rods long has been excavated for its accommodation, and its for-

S50 HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.

mer romantic beauty has been somewhat marred by the ceaseless energy of man. Moose Horn Hill, so-called, from the large quantity of the horns of the moose found in that locality, lies about two miles north-west of Roxbury center. Cat Swamp, so-called, from the numbers of wildcats that lurked in that vicinity, is about a mile and a half north-east of the village, and the White Deer Rocks are about two miles farther on, near the head of Quassapaug Lake. These were so named from the numbers of white deer that made these rocks their hiding place, and found their way cautiously to the lake, to obtain water. Wolf Pit Hill is situate near the junction of the Weekeepeemee and West Sprain rivers, at Hotchkissville. The place in South Britain near the junction of the Transylvania Brook with the Pomperaug river, is called "The Bent." Kettletown lies in the south-east part of Southbury, and was so named from the fact that the consideration of its first purchase from the Indians was a brass kettle. But this consideration did not last long, for the proprietors were obliged to purchase it over again several times afterwards, to prevent controversies with the numerous elaimants. There seems to have been a fatality connected with this locality, for it has been pre-eminenly a place of dissensions, and conflicting opinions, and it has always been more prolific in senseless lawsuits than any similar extent of square acres within the writer's knowledge. And, although there have been " prophets " in that land, yet they must have been " without honor," or influence in " their own country," if we are to judge by the fruits which have come from that region, or the heart must have been more desperately wicked there than elsewhere. Salt Tooth Rock Hill lies in Southbury, and twenty-five acres of land there was set out to the wife of Col. Ethan Allen, from the estate of her father, Cornelius Brownson, previous to 1781, when they sold it.