History of New London, Connecticut : from the first survey of the coast in 1612 to 1860

2013·35.8 MB·English

by  Caulkins, Frances Manwaring, 1795-1869

APPLEWOOD
HISTORIOGRAPHY
-<1895>-
New
Histon' of
London
Conmct'tCHt:FromtheFirstSunryof
theCoastin 1612to 1860
APPLEWOOD'S
HISTORIOGRAPHY
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History ofNew London
Connecticut:From theFirstSurvey of
the Coastin 1612 to 1860
Francis ManwaringCaulkins
APPLEWOOD BOOKS
Carlisle, Massachusetts
HistoryofNeii'Ijondon
was originallypublished in
1895
ISBN:978-1-4290-2291-0
APPLEWOOD'SHISTORIOGRAPHYSERIES
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HISTORY
OF
NEW LONDON.
CONNECTICUT.
FROMTHEFIRSTSURVEYOFTHECOASTIN1612,TO1860.
BY FRANCES MANVVARING CAULKINS.
WITH MEMOIR OP THE AUTHOR.
"Ihavecousidercdthedaysofold,tlicyearsofaucieuttimes." Ps.lxxvii.S.
TheSealofNe-wLondon,adoptedin1784.
NEW LONDON
Published byH. D. Utley.
1895.
PKESBOFTHISDAYPUBLISHINGCOMPANY,
NEWLONDON,CONN.
MEMOIR
OF
FRANCES MANWARING CAULKINS.
FrancesManwaring,daughterofJoshuaandFanny(Manwar-
ing)Caulkins,wasborninNewLc5ndon,Conn.,April26,1795,and
diedthereFebruary3,1869. Herancestry,onthepaternalside,
canbetracedtotheearlysettlersofthevicinityofPljonouth.
Mr. Richard Blinmau, minister in Chepstow, Monmouthshire,
England,havingbeensilencedfornon-conformitytotheestablished
church,immigratedtothiscountry,andissupposedtohavearrived
at Plymouthin'theautumnof 1640. Hewasaccompaniedinhis
voluntaryexilebyseveralmembersofhischurch,withtheirfamilies,
andalltakentogetherwerestyledthe''Welchparty.'' Monmouth
shirebordersuponWales,andprobablymostofthemwereofWelch
origin,butEnglishappearstohavebeentheirnativelanguage. The
exacttimeoftheirarrivalisnotknown,butapartofthem,including
Mr.BlinmanandHughCaukeu, werepropoundedforfreemanship
atPlymouth,March2,1640;whichwastooearlyforanyimmigrant
vesseltohavearrivedthatyear.^
InthefirstNewEnglandrecordthefamilynameiswrittenas
above,Cauken,anditmaybeinterestingtonoticeherethechanges
whichhavetakenplaceinthespellingofthissm'uame,sinceitfirst
appearsintheoldcountry. Ithasbeenheretoforestatedbyawriter
inthepagesoftheRegister,^thattheoriginalnamewasprobably
Colkin. WilliamColkinlivedinKingJohn'sreign,1199-1216,and
founded a hospital in Canterbury, which bore his name. The
CaulkinsandGooldngs,withthedifferentvariationsandchanges.
12RVeoclo.ridi.spoafgethe16c7o—unAtrty.ofGoPolkyi7miouJtfhan.iUy.
iv FRANCESMANWARING CAULKINS.
inthespellingandpronunciationofthenames,areallsupposedby
thewriterreferredto,tohave descendedfromaColkin. Atthe
presenttime,thereis great diversity,even amongacknowledged
relativesofthesamestock,inspellingthename;someiisinguands,
andothersrejectingoneorbothoftheseletters.
The"Welchparty"locatedfirstatGreen'sHarbor,nearMarsh-
field,Mass.,buttheprevioussettlersnotharmonizingwiththenew
comers,thelatterremovedthenextyeartoGloucester,nearCape
Ann,inthe"Massachusettscolony."' HughCaukinisonthelist
ofpersonsnominatedasfreemenofMassachusetts,atSalem,Dec.
27th,1642. HewasdeputytothegeneralcourtfromGloucesterin
1650-1,andservedasoneoftheselectmeninthattownfrom1643
to1651. In1645"HughCawlkingappointed toend smallcauses
foryetowneofGlocestevforthisyeereensuing." May23,1652,
Hugh Calkin, deputyfrom Gloucester, havingmoved out ofthe
colony,istohavetheplacesupplied.-•
TheRev.Mr.BlinmanremovedfromGloucester,wherehehad
beenaministerforeightyears,toNewLondon,thencalledPequot
Harbor,inthefallof1650. Heseemstohavebeenaccompaniedon
hisfirstvisitbyObadiahBruen,amanof unusualintelligenceand
education,andsoundmindandjiidgment. Hewas^clerkorrecorder
of Gloucesterforseveralyears,andheldthesameofficein New
Londonduringhisentireresidenceinthattown,whichwassixteen
years. HughCalkin andseveral others,who came fromthe old
worldwithMr.Blinmanin1640,followedhimtoNewLoudon,and
strengthenedthelittlecolonytherebytheadditionofabouttwenty
families. Oct. 19,1650,therecordsshowgrantsoflandto Mr.
Blinman,"HtigheCaiikin,"andsixothers,and,underthesamedate
sixhouselotswerepledgedtothem,whichwerelaidoutinMarch
ofthefollowingyear,mostlj'in''NewStreet,"anax'rowroadonthe
westsideofthetownwhichwasopenedtoaccommodatetheGlou-
cesterimmigrants,andacquired fromthemthefamiliar nameof
"Cape-AnnLane,"bywhichitisstillquitegenerallyknown,though
nowdesignatedonthecitymapasAnnStreet. HughCalkenhad
thefirstlotonthesouthandeastendofthis streetsetofftohim.
Itconsistedo'fsixacres,andtheprecisespotcaneasilybeidentified
atthepresenttime.
1Savage'sWinthrop(edit1853),vol.ii.p:ige77.
2RecordsofthegeneralcourtofMassachusetts.
FRANCESJIAiJWARINGCAULKINS. V
HewascliosenadeputytothegeneralcourtatHartfordinSep-
tember,1651,andwasatthat timethedeputytothegeneralcourt
o£ Massachusettsfrom Gloucester. He does not appear, how-
ever,tohavebeenpresentatthesessioninHartford. Hewasalso
selectmanin1651inbothtowns. Itisevidentfromthesefactsthat
hewasesteemed amanof unusualgoodjudgmentandcapacity,
whoseservicesNewLondon, thencalledPequot, was anxiousto
secure,andGloucesterunwillingtolose. "WhileresidinginNew
Londonheheldtheofficeofselectman,ortownsmanasitwasthen
generally called, withoutinterruption; beingchosen annuallyfor
tenorelevensuccessiveyears. Hewasalsotheirrepresentativeto
thegeneralcourtfortwelvesessions,from1652to1660.
Itcannotpositivelybestatedthathewasamemberofthechurch
inNewLondon; fortherecordspreserveddonotcommenceuntil
1670,ortenyearsafterhisremoval. Thebusinessofhiringamin-
isterandprovidingfortheworshipofGodwasalldonebythetown
initscorporatecapacityinthosedays,consequentlychurchrecords
wereof lessimportance. Therecanbenoreasonabledoubt,how-
ever,thatwith the arrivalof aminister andmanyofhisfaithful
flock,whoseemtohavefollowedhimnotonlyfromtheoldcountiy
butalsoinallbisremovalsinNewEngland,achurchwasregularly
formed and alltheordiiiaucesadministered. Indeed,itishardly
possiblethatitcouldhavebeenotherwise,as Mr.Blinmanisuni-
formlystyled"Pastorofthechiirch." WhenheremovedtoNew
London, thetownhadbeenon the lookoutfor some time for a
minister,andin1648theRev.Sam'lDudley,sonof Gov.Dudley,
and son-in-lawofGov.Winthrop, hadsomethoughtsofsettling
there.^ Itislikelythatthe little community feltthemselvestoo
feebletoundertakethesupportofaministeruntilaftertheacces-
sionofthecolonyfromGloticester.
Mr.Blinmanwasamanof goodrejjuteinNewEngland,and is
sjioken of by Gov. Winthrop as "godly and able." The town
pledgedhimasalaryof£60perannum,tobeincreasedwiththeir
ability,andliberaldonationsofland. Therecordsshowthatthey
abundantlyfulfilledthelastpledge,andhewasprobablyquiteaccept-
abletothepeople,,astheybuilthimanewhouseonahigh,pleasant
lot,nowGranitestreet,westofthefirstburialground. Thereasons
forrelin'quishinghischargearenotgiven,butheleftNewLondon
1]H7Mirop'slettertoMsson. Savage'sWinthrop,vol.ii.page355.