History: PA Archives: Second Series, Vol. 18: Part II - AN EXAMINATION OF THE CONNECTICUT CLAIM - APPENDIX : DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE CONNECTICUT SETTLEMENT IN THE WYOMING VALLEY. Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Joe Patterson and Sally. USGENWEB ARCHIVES (tm) NOTICE All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by non-commercial entities so long as all notices and submitter information are included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm _____________________________________________________________________________________________ NOTE: An html version of this volume may be found at http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/1pa/paarchivesseries/series2/vol18/paarch2-18toc.html <>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<> DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE CONNECTICUT SETTLEMENT IN THE WYOMING VALLEY. EDITED BY WILLIAM HENRY EGLE, M. D. HARRISBURG: E. K. MEYERS, STATE PRINTER. 1893. [Page numbers are in carats.] TABLE OF CONTENTS. _ _ _ _ _ _ Minutes of the Susquehanna Company, 1-123 An Examination of the Connecticut Claim, 125-214 Connecticut Records examined by Pennsylvania, 215-276 The Dutch Records of New Netherlands, 277-322 Letters from the Pennsylvania Claimants, 323-388 Letters from Secretary of Land Office, 389-430 Letters from the Commissioners, 431-514 Book of the Fifteen Townships, 515-572 Journal of the Commissioners, 1810, 573-609 Miscellaneous Papers relating to the Wyoming Controversy, 611-780 Index, 781 _____________________________________________________________________________________________ <180 cont.> _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ APPENDIX. _ _ _ _ _ _ CONTAINING COPIES AND EXTRACTS OF SUNDRY ANCIENT CHARTERS AND PAPERS REFERRED TO AS VOUCHERS, IN THE FOREGOING SHEETS. _ _ _ PART I. To the Reader. The Author acknowledges himself indebted for this Appendix to a worthy Gentleman, long conversant in the Affairs of Connecticut; who, with a Candor becoming his good Sense, thinks that neither the Interest of that Colony, or of Pennsylvania, can be served by the Suppression of any Papers that can throw Light upon the Points in Question between them. He had collected the Copies and Extracts for his own Use, with some short Hints for connecting them; and I chuse to give them just as I received them, though some of them are not made any use of in the foregoing Work. The first Paper taken Notice of in this Appendix, is the Grant from Earl Warwick to Lord Say and Seal and others. The Earl of Warwick was himself one of the Council of Plymouth, in the County of Devon, but it is [1631.] said he had a Grant or Patent made to him, by King Charles I, and <181> LANDS IN PENNSYLVANIA. that the same may be seen inrolled in the Petty-Bag Office in England.--His Deed to Lord Say and Seal and others, is entered at large on the ancient Records of the Colony of Connecticut, with a Caption as followeth, viz. _ _ _ No. 1. A Copy of the old Patent for Connecticut. "To all People to whom this present Writing may come, Robert, Earl of Warwick, sendeth Greeting in our Lord God everlasting.--Know ye, that the said Robert, Earl of Warwick, for divers good Causes and Considerations him thereunto especially moving, hath given, granted, bargained, sold, aliened and confirmed, and by these Presents doth give, &c. unto the right honourable William Viscount Say and Seal, the right honourable Robert Lord Brook, the right honourable Robert Rich, and the honourable Charles Fiennes, Esq; Sir Nathaniel Rich, Knt. Sir Richard Saltonstall, Knt. Richard Knightly, Esq; John Pymm, Esq; John Hampden, Esq; John Humphreys, Esq; and Herbert Pelham, Esq; their Heirs and Assigns, and their Associates forever, all that Part of New-England, in [1631.] America, which lies and extends itself from a River there called Naraganset river, the Space of forty Leagues upon a straight line, near the Sea Shore, toward the South-West, West and by South or West as the Coast lieth towards Virginia, accounting three English Miles to the League, and also all and singular the Lands and Hereditaments whatsoever, lying and being within the Lands aforesaid, North and South in Latitude and Breadth, and in Length and Longitude, of, and within, all the Breadth aforesaid, throughout the Main Lands there, from the Western Ocean to the South Sea, and all Lands and Grounds, Place and Places, Soil, Wood and Woods, Grounds, Havens, Ports, Creeks and Rivers, Waters, Fishings and Hereditaments whatsoever, lying within the said Space, and every Part and Parcel thereof.--And also all Islands lying in America aforesaid, in the said Seas, or either of them on the Western or Eastern Coasts, or Parts of the said Tracts of Lands by these Presents mentioned to be given, granted, &c. and also all Mines and Minerals, as well, royal Mines of Gold and Silver, as other Mines and Minerals, whatsoever, in the said Land and Premises, or any part thereof, and also all the several Rivers within the said Limits, by what Name or Names soever called or known, and all Jurisdictions, Rights and Royalties, Liberties, Freedoms, Immunities, Pow- <182> CONNECTICUT CLAIM TO ers, Privileges, Franchises, Prehemencies and Commodities whatsoever, which the said Robert, Earl of Warwick now hath or had, or might use, exercise or enjoy, in or within any part or parcel thereof, excepting and reserving to his Majesty, his Heirs and Successors one fifth Part of Gold and Silver Ore.--To have and to hold the said Part of New England, in America, which lies and extends, and is abutted as aforesaid, and the said several Rivers, and every Part and Parcel thereof, and all the said Islands, &c. to them the said Viscount Say and Seal, &c. their Heirs and Assigns, and their Associates to their only proper and absolute Use and Behoof for evermore. In Witness whereof the said Robert, Earl of Warwick, hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal, 19th March, 1631. ROBERT WARWICK." (Seal.) Signed &c. in Presence of WALTER WILLIAMS, THOMAS HOWSON. _ _ _ No. 2. Appointment of John Winthrop, jun. Esq; to be Governor, by Lord Say and Seal, &c. "Know all Men by these Presents, that we Arthur Hasselrig, Bart. Sir Richard Saltonstall, Knt. Henry Lawrence, Henry Darley, and George Fenwick, Esqrs. in our own Names and in the Name of the right [1635.] honorable Viscount Say and Seal, Robert Lord Brook and the Rest of our Company, Do ordain and constitute John Winthrop, Esq; the younger, Governor of the River Connecticut, with the Places adjoining thereunto, for and during the Space of one whole Year, after his Arrival there, giving him, from and under us, full Power and Authority, to do and execute any such lawful Act and Thing both in respect of the Place and People, as also of the Affairs we have or shall have there, as to the Dignity or Office of a Governor doth or may appertain. In Witness whereof, we have hereunto put our Hands and Seals, this 18th Day of July, 1635. RICHARD SALTONSTALL, ARTHUR HASSELRIG, HENRY LAWRENCE, GEORGE FENWICK, HENRY DARLEY." Five Seals appendant impressed in one large Piece of Wax. <183> LANDS IN PENNSYLVANIA. Then follow a Number of Instructions.-- 1. To build a Fort on an Island near the Mouth of the River, at Saybrook, which was done. 2. To build Houses, some proper for Persons of Quality.--those to be within the Fort; --besides a Number of Regulations respecting the Planting of the Country. This is the same Mr. Winthrop, who was afterwards Governor of the old voluntary Government of Connecticut, before the Charter;--who went to England to obtain the Charter, and was the first Governor under the same. After Mr. Winthrop, the above named Mr. Fenwick was appointed Governor or Agent under the Company of Lord Say and Seal, &c. of the Fort at Saybrook, and their other Interests.--After a-while the Company, upon the Change of Affairs in England, gave over all Thoughts of removing to New England, and thereupon Mr. Fenwick sold to the old Connecticut or Hartford Colony. _ _ _ No. 3. Abstract of a Deed from George Fenwick, Esq; to old Connecticut Jurisdiction.--This Abstract contains all the Clauses that respect the Conveyance of Land as follows, viz. "The Fort at Saybrook with the Appurtenances here-1644. after mentioned, viz --All the Land on Connecticut River shall belong to the Jurisdiction of Connecticut, and such Lands as are yet undisposed, shall be ordered and given out, by a Committee of five, whereof George Fenwick, Esq; aforesaid, is always to be one.--The said George Fenwick doth also promise, that all the Lands from Naraganset River to the Fort of Saybrook, mentioned in a Patent granted by the Earl of Warwick to certain Noble and Gentlemen, shall fall in under the Jurisdiction of Connecticut, if it come into his Power, for and in regard of the Premisses, and other good Considerations."-- Then follow a Number of Covenants and Agreements.--Such as laying a certain Duty on all Beaver Skins and Corn, that shall be carried out of the River, to raise the purchase Money, viz. One thousand Pounds Sterling.--Mr. Fenwick to have Liberty to live there ten Years, to have certain Grounds, Wharfs, &c. <184> CONNECTICUT CLAIM TO No. 4. Petition to the King for a Charter. "The humble Petition of the General Court at Hartford, upon Connecticut in New England, to the high and mighty Prince Charles the Second, "Humbly Sheweth,-- "That whereas your Petitioners have not had for many years past, since their 1661. Possession and inhabiting these western and inland Parts of this Wilderness, any Opportunity, by reason of the Calamities of the late Times, to seek for, and obtain such Grants and Letters Patents from your excellent Majesty their sovereign Lord and King, as might assure them of such Liberties and Privileges, and sufficient Powers, as might encourage them to go on through all Difficulties, Hazards and Expenses, in so great a Work of Plantation, in a Place so remote from the Christian World; and a Desart so difficultly subdued in a Way, improveable for Substance but by great Cost and hard Labour, with much Patience and Care. "And whereas besides the great Charge that hath been expended by our Fathers and some of their Associates yet surviving, about the Purchase, building and fortifying, and other Matters of culturing and improving, to a condition of safety and subsistence, in the Places of our present Abode among the Heathen, whereby there is considerable and real Addition, to the Honour and Inlargement of his Majesty's Dominion, by the sole Disbursements of his Majesty's Subjects there, of their own proper Estates, they have laid out a very great Sum for the purchasing a jurisdiction Right of Mr. George Fenwick which they were given to understand was derived from true royal Authority, by Letters Patent to certain Lords and Gentlemen therein nominated, a Copy whereof was produced before the Commissioners of the Colonies and approved by them as appears by their Records. * A Copy whereof is ready to be presented at your Majesty's Command, though, either by Fire at a House where it had been some time kept, or some other Accident, is now lost, with which your poor Subjects were rather willing to have contended themselves, than to seek for Power or Privilege, from any other than their lawful Prince and Sovereign. May it therefore please your most excellent and gracious ________________________________________________________________________ *The four Colonies, Massachusets Bay and Plymouth, and the old Connecticut and New Haven, both voluntary Governments, May 19th, 1643, formed a Plan of managing their general Affairs by Commissioners appointed by themselves, who kept Records of their Proceedings. <185> LANDS IN PENNSYLVANIA. Majesty, to confer upon your humble Petitioners, who unanimously do implore your Highness's Favour and Grace therein, those Liberties, Rights and Authorities and Privileges, which were granted by the aforementioned Letters Patent, to certain Lords and Gentlemen so purchased as aforesaid, or which were enjoyed from those Letters Patent, granted to the Massachusetts Plantation, by our Fathers and some of us yet surviving, when there in our beginning inhabiting, and upon which those large Encouragements, Liberties and Privileges; so great a Transplantation from our dear England was undertaken, and supposed to be yet our Inheritance, until the running of that western Line, the bounded Limits of those Letters Patent, did since our Removal thence, determine our Lot to be fallen without the Limits of that so bounded Authority. "May it please your Majesty graciously to bestow upon your humble Supplicants, such royal Munificence, according to the Tenor of a Draft or Instrument, which is ready here to be tendered at your gracous Order. And whereas besides those Monies and other Disbursements as aforesaid, in Prosecution of this wilderness Work, your poor Petitioners were forced to maintain a War against one Nation of the Heathen that did much interrupt the Beginnings of your Servants, by many bloody and hostile Acts, whereby divers of our dear Countrymen were treacherously destroyed, and have also been ever since, and are still, at much charge in keeping such a Correspondence of Peace and Amity with divers Sorts of the Heathen Nations, that are round about our Plantations thus far extent into the Bowels of the Country, besides the Maintenance of all publick Charges for Church and Civil Affairs, which are very great in respect of our great Poverty.-- "May it please your most excellent Majesty, out of your princely Wisdom, to grant such an Immunity from Customs, as may encourage the Merchants to supply our Necessities in such Commodities as may be wanting here, for which we have neither Silver nor Gold to pay, but the Supply in that Kind may enable, in due Time, to search the Bowels of the Earth for some Gold Minerals, whereof there seems to be a fair Probability, or produce some such Staple Commodities, as may in future Time appear to be good Effects of your Majesty's Goodness and Bounty; if your poor Colony may find this gracious Acceptance with your Majesty as to grant their humble Desire, whereby they may be encouraged to go on cheerfully and strenuously in their plantation Business, in hope of a comfortable Settlement for themselves and their Posterity, that under your royal Protection they may prosper in this Desart; <186> CONNECTICUT CLAIM TO they shall, as in their acknowledged Duty, ever pray for your great Tranquility and perpetual Happiness; and humbly craving Leave they subscribe themselves your Majesty's loyal Subjects and Servants the General Court for the Colony of Connecticut in New-England, --per their Order signed DANIEL CLARK, SECRETARY." The before mentioned Mr. Winthrop, at that time Governor of the antient Connecticut or Hartford Colony, went to England with this Petition; and, it is said, so far varied the same, as to inform the King that he had not been able to obtain a Deed from Lord Say and Seal and Company, as he expected.--The following is a Letter which Lord Say and Seal wrote to him, when in England, upon the Subject. _ _ _ No. 5. "Mr. WINTHROP, I Received your Letter by Mr. Richards, and I would have been glad to have had an Opportunity of being at London myself, to have done you and my good Friends in New-England the best Service I could; but my Weakness hath been such, and my old Disease of the Gout falling upon me, I did desire Leave not to come up this Winter, but I have wrote to the Earl of Manchester, Lord Chamberlain of his Majesty's Household, to give you the best Assistance he may; and indeed he is a noble, and a worthy Lord, and one that loves those that are godly.--And he and I did join together, that our godly Friends of New-England might enjoy their just Rights and Liberties; and this Colonel Crowne, who, I hear, is still in London, can fully inform you. "Concerning that of Connecticut, I am not able to remember all the Particulars; but I have written to my Lord Chamberlain, that when you shall attend him, (which I think will be best for you to do, and therefore I have inclosed a Letter to him, in yours) that you may deliver it, and I have desired him to acquaint you where you may speak with Mr. Jesup, who, when we had the Patent, was our Clerk, and he, I believe, is able to inform you best about it and I have desired my Lord to wish him so to do.--I do think he is now in London.--My Love remembered unto you, 'I shall remain, your very loving Friend, W. SAY and SEAL." December 11, 1661. Thus directed, "For my very loving Friend Mr. John Winthrop, living in Coleman Street, at one Mrs. Whitings House, near the Church." <187> LANDS IN PENNSYLVANIA. No. 6. Abstract of the Charter of Connecticut from King Charles II. "Charles the Second by the Grace of God King of England, Scotland, France and [1662.] Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c. To all to whom these Presents shall come Greeting. Whereas by the several Navigations, Discoveries and successful plantations of divers of our loving Subjects of this our Realm of England, several Lands, Islands, Places, Colonies and Plantations, have been obtained and settled in that Part of the Continent of America called New-England, and thereby the Trade and Commerce there, hath been of late Years much increased; and whereas we have been informed, by the humble Petition of our trusty and well beloved John Winthrop, John Mason, Samuel Wyllis, &c. being Persons principally interested in our Colony or Plantation of Connecticut, in New-England, that the same Colony, or the greatest Part thereof, was purchased and obtained for great and valuable Considerations; and some other Part thereof gained by Conquest, and with much Difficulty, and at the only Endeavours, Expence, and Charges of them and their Associates, and those under whom they claim, subdued and improved, and thereby become a considerable inlargement and Addition of our Dominions and Interest there. Now know ye, that in Consideration thereof, and in Regard the said Colony is remote from other the English Plantations in the Places aforesaid, and to the End the affairs and Business, which shall from Time happen or arise, concerning the same, may be duly ordered and managed, we have thought fit, and, at the humble Petition of the Persons aforesaid, are graciously pleased to create and make them a Body Politic and Corporate, &c. "And for the better Execution of our Royal Will and Pleasure herein, we do, for us, our Heirs, and Successors, assign, name, constitute, and appoint, the aforesaid John Winthrop, to be the first and present Governor of the said Company, and the said John Mason to be the Deputy Governor, &c. "And know ye further that we, of our abundant Grace, certain Knowledge and meer Motion, have given, granted and confirmed, and by these Presents, for us, our Heirs, and Successors, do give, grant and confirm, unto the said Governor and Company, and their Successors, all that Part of our Dominions in New-England, in America, bounden on the East by Naraganset River, commonly called Narraganset Bay, where the said River falleth into the Sea; and on the North by the Line of the Massachusets Plantation, and on the South by the Sea; and in Longitude as the Line of the Massachusets Colony, <188> CONNECTICUT CLAIM TO running from East to West, that is to say, from the said Narraganset Bay on the East, to the South Sea, on the West Part, with the Islands thereunto adjoining, &c. "And lastly, we do for us, our Heirs and Successors, grant to the said Governor and Company, and their Successors, by these Presents, that these our Letters Patents shall be firm, good, and effectual in the Law, to all Intents, Constructions, and Purposes whatsoever, according to our true Intent and Meaning herein before declared, as shall be construed, reputed, and adjudged most favourable on the Behalf, and for the best Benefit and Behoof of the said Governor and Company, and their Successors, although express Mention of the true yearly Value, or Certainty of the Premisses, or of any of them, or of any other Gifts or Grants by us, or by any of our Progenitors, or Predecessors, heretofore made to the said Governor and Company of the English Colony of Connecticut, in New-England, in America, in these Presents is not made; or any Statute, Act, Ordinance, Provision, Proclamation, or Restriction heretofore had, made, enacted, ordained or provided, or any other Matter, Cause, or Thing whatsoever, to the contrary thereof in any wise, notwithstanding. "In Witness &c. the three and twentieth Day of April, in the fourteenth of our Reign. "By Writ of Privy Seal, HOWARD." _ _ _ No. 7. Commission to Colonel Nichols and others, to Settle the Bounds of The New England Colonies, &c. [1664.]"Charles the Second, &c. Whereas we have received several Addresses from our Subjects of several Colonies in New England, all full of Duty and Affection, and Expressions of Loyalty and Allegiance to us, with their humble Desires, that we would renew their several Charters, and receive them into our favourable Opinion and Protection; and several of our Colonies there, and other our loving Subjects, have likewise complained of Differences and Disputes, arisen upon the Limits and Bounds of their several Charters and Jurisdictions, whereby unneighbourly and unbrotherly Contentions have and may arise, to the Damage and Discredit of the English Interest, &c." --see the Commission at large in the Appendix of Hutchinson's History of the Massachusetts Bay, page 537. <189> LANDS IN PENNSYLVANIA. No. 8. Letter from King Charles II, Accompanying the Commission, Dated April 23d, 1664. CHARLES REX, "Trusty and well beloved,--we Greet you well. Having, according to the Resolution we declared to Mr. John Winthrop, at the Time when we renewed your Charter, now sent these Persons of known Abilities and [1664.] Affection to us, that is to say, Colonel Richard Nichols, Sir Robert Carr, Knt. George Cartwright, Esq; and Samuel Maverick, Esq; our Commissioners, to visit those our several Colonies and Plantations in New England, &c."-- The Residue of the Letter was not copied, but is supposed to be in common and usual Form of requiring a Submission to them.--This Letter is addressed.-- "To the Governor and Council of Connecticut in New-England." Mr. Winthrop returned to his Government as soon as the Commissioners arrived, and attended them at New-York with others, as a Committee appointed by the General Court of Connecticut, in order to get the Bounds ascertained, and which was done as follows. _ _ _ No. 9. Order of the Decree of the Commissioners. "We have heard the Differences about the Bounds of the Patents, granted to his Royal Highness the Duke of York, and his Majesty's Colony of Connecticut, and having deliberately considered all the Reasons alledged by Mr. Allyn, Mr. Gold, Mr. Richards, and Captain Winthrop, appointed by the General Assembly, held at Hartford the 13th of October, 1664, to accompany John Winthrop, Esq; the Governor of his Majesty's Colony of Connecticut, to New York, and by Mr. Howell, and Capt. Young of Long Island, why the said Long Island should be under the Government of Connecticut, which are too long here to be recited.-- "We do declare and order, the Southern Bounds of his Majesty's Colony of Connecticut is the Sea, and that Long-Island is to be under the Government of his Royal Highness the Duke of York, as is expressed by plain words in said Patents respectively--And also by Virtue of his Majesty's Commission, and <190> CONNECTICUT CLAIM TO by the Consent of both the Governors and the Gentlemen above named, we do also order and declare, that the Creek or River called Momoronack, which is reputed to be about twelve Miles to the East of West Chester, and a Line drawn from the East Point or Side, where the fresh Water falls into the Salt, at high Water Mark, North North West to the Line of the Massachusetts be the Western Bounds of the said Colony of Connecticut, and all Plantations lying Westward of that Creek and Line so drawn, shall be under his Royal Highness' Government; and all the Plantations lying Eastward of that Creek and Line to be under the Government of Connecticut. "Given under our Hands, at James's Fort in New York, on the Island of Manhattan, this 1st Day of December, 1664. RICHARD NICOLLS, GEORGE CARTERET, S. MAVERICKE." To which the Commissioners from Connecticut subscribed in the Words following: "We the Governor and Commissioners of the General Assembly of the Colony of Connecticut, do give our Consent to the Limits and Bounds above mentioned, as Witness our Hands, _ _ GOLD, JOHN WINTHROP, JOHN WINTHROP, JUN. _ _ ALLEN, SEN. _ _ RICHARDS." The Duke of York's Grant from King Charles II, among other Tracts, contained "Long Island, situate, lying and being, towards the West of Cape-Cod and the Naragansets, abuting upon the Mainland between the two Rivers, there called and known by the Names of Connecticut and Hudsons River, together also with said River called Hudsons River, and all the land from the West Side of Connecticut River, to the East Side of Delaware Bay."--This interfered with Connecticut, but being younger by about two Years, was obliged to give way--The Duke's Grant bears Date the 12th of March, 1664. Whether the Bounds of Connecticut on the East were settled at this Time is not certain, but it is agreed on all Hands, that they were very antiently fixt at Paukatuck River, about twenty-five Miles West of Narraganset River or Bay mentioned in the Charter, and have so remained ever since.--The Occasion of which we have told to us by the following Clause, in the Charter of Rhode Island Colony, and which is about three Months younger than that of Connecticut. The Charter of that Colony, after bounding the Lands on the West with the aforesaid Paukatuck River, says the same shall be held to them, &c. <191> LANDS IN PENNSYLVANIA. "Any Grant, or Clause in a late Grant, to the Governor and Company of Connecticut Colony in America, to the Contrary thereof, in any wise notwithstanding The aforesaid Paukatuck River, * having been yielded, after much Debate, for the fixed and certain Bounds, between these our said Colonies by the Agents thereof, who have also agreed, that the said Paukatuck River, shall be also called, alias Naraganset River, and to prevent future Disputes, that otherwise might arise, for ever hereafter shall be construed, deemed, and taken to be the Naraganset River, in our late Grant to Connecticut Colony, mentioned, as the Easterly Bounds of that Colony." It is said John Winthrop, Esq; of New London in Connecticut, a Descendant of the before mentioned Governor Winthrop, has in his Possession, a Letter of the said Governor wrote from England giving an Account that he had been obliged to yield before the King and Council, in favour of a Mr. Clarke who is named in the Rhode-Island Charter, the Naraganset Country, lying between Paukatuck River on the West, and Naraganset River, or Bay, on the East, on the Ground, that the said Mr. Clark, and his Associates, had purchased the native Right of the Indians.--Mr. Fenwick in his Deed to old Connecticut Jurisdiction, engages to procure this Territory, if it shall be in his Power.-- Duke Hamilton in 1635 obtained a Grant of all the Land lying between Naraganset Bay and Connecticut River, and sixty Miles back into the Country.--His Claim came under Consideration before Commissioners of the Crown in 1665, the Defence on the Part of Connecticut was as follows. _ _ _ No. 10. [1665.] "We humbly conceive that the original Patent granted from royal Authority to the Lord Say and Seal and others, Nobles and Gentlemen, which we purchased at a dear Rate, is lately ratified and confirmed by our gracious Sovereign, under the broad Seal of England, the most absolute and unquestionable Security of the English Subjects, in which Grant the Lands forementioned are comprized.--The ________________________________________________________________________ *See Hutchinson's Vol. Collection of Papers, page 414. "Narrative of the Commissioners from England about New England, speaking of Connecticut," they say, "Their Eastern Bounds are determined to be a Line drawn Westward (should be Northward) from the Midst of the Road going over Paukatuck River near to Shaw's House," &c. <192> CONNECTICUT CLAIM TO Grant to Connecticut was precedent to that of Duke Hamilton, several Years, which gives us to conclude, that Propriety of Title, will be settled upon Priority of Grant.--The Bounds of our Charter, as to the Eastern Limits, are not newly devised, but was so described in a Grant made formerly to some Lords and Gentlemen, bearing Date 1631, which at a dear Rate was purchased by the Colony of Connecticut, which Grant, though so purchased, we were unwilling to rely upon, it wanting a royal Stamp.-- "We have had peaceable Possession these thirty Years, free from the least Claim of any other that ever we heard of to this Day, which persuades us that if the Duke's Highness had ever Right by Virtue of his Grant, yet that Right pretended is extent in Law many Years, since his Majesty our gracious Sovereign was pleased of his abundant Power and Grace to his Subjects of this Colony, so far to declare his free Reception of the Reasons forementioned, of our Purchase made and Conquest recovered, and likewise by our Improvements and Labour bestowed upon those Lands, as to insert them as Motives to that late Renewal of our Charter.-- "It was conquered by the People of Connecticut. "We have had peaceable Possession thirty Years. This Defence bears Date March 25, 1665. Opinion of Council. "I am of Opinion, that these Purchasers, by Virtue of their Purchase, and so long uninterrupted Possession under them, have an undoubted Right and [1665.] Title to these Grounds and Lands, and the Buildings and Improvements of them, and ought not now, after so much money laid out upon them, and such Enjoyment of them, be disturbed in their Possession of them. FRA. PEMBERTON." _ _ _ No. 11. Queries from the Board of Trade, and the Answers. "What are your Bounds? [1680.] "Answer. The reputed and known Boundaries are the Massachusetts on the North; Rhode Island Colony on the East; Long-Island Sound on the South; and New-York Province on the West: No Points thereof are disputed, except some Part of the dividing Line betwixt this Colony and New-York. "What are your Rivers? "Answer. Between the Narraganset River our eastern Bounds, <193> LANDS IN PENNSYLVANIA. and Maroneck Rivulet our Western Bounds, are these Rivers following--the River of Connecticut--the Pequot River at New-London, and the River at Stratford." It being found, that the line settled by the Commissioners running N. N. W. from Maroneck River, crossed Hudson River about forty or fifty Miles above the City of New York; that Government never left importuning the Government of Connecticut, until they brought them to agree to a new Line about seven Miles to the Eastward at the Sea; and to run Northward at the Distance of twenty Miles; East of every Part of Hudson's River, up to the Massachusetts South Line.--This Line begins at the Mouth of Byrum River, and after taking several Turns, in order to include to Connecticut certain Towns planted by 1683. them, proceeds Northward, as beforementioned. This Line was agreed upon in 1683, was confirmed by the Crown in 1700, but not measured out, and carried into Execution, until sometime about the Year 1732, when a Deed of Release was executed on the part of Connecticut to the Government of New-York, of all the Lands in that Province, lying to the Westward of that Line. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ APPENDIX-PART II. _ _ _ _ _ _ No. 12. Extracts from the Records of the Old Colony of New-Haven. "At a General Court, held at New-Haven, the 11th of November, 1644. "Whereas the General Court for this Jurisdiction, did see Cause to put forth their best Endeavours to procure a Patent from the Parliament, as judging it a fit Season now for that End; therefore desired Mr. Gregson to undertake the Voyage and Business, and agreed to furnish him Two Hundred Pounds in this Jurisdiction, of which, in Proportion to the other Plantations, New-Haven is to pay One Hundred and Ten Pounds in good merchantable Beaver--It was therefore ordered, that the said One Hundred and Ten Pounds shall be procured at the Charge of the Town, to stand to the Terms, and bear the Damage that may come thereby." 13-VOL. XVIII. <194> CONNECTICUT CLAIM TO No. 13. "It is ordered, that upon the Admittance of any Man, as a Planter into any Plantation in this Jurisdiction, the fundamental Laws and Orders, concerning Votes, &c. shall be read [1654.] to them, and if approved, the Oath of Fidelity shall be administered to them; the Plantation which is to receive them being satisfied in other Particulars by a satisfying Certificate from sufficient credible Persons of their good Behaviour and Conversation. "The Governor informed the Court, that Mr. Leveridge had been with him, and propounded to know whether their Plantation at Oyster Bay might not join and be admitted a Member of this Colony; He also propounded some Objections about a Patent, about public Charges in this Jurisdiction above others, with something about keeping Courts at their own Plantation; all which was answered, so as he objected no further, but desired to know, if upon further Speech with their Town, they desire to be received, whether it might be done without the general Courts meeting again. The Court considered of what was propounded, and declared, that if upon their full Understanding the fundamental Laws and Orders for Government here established, they shall desire to join, and that they do upon their Admittance take the Oath of Fidelity as before ordered, and in a Writing subscribed by them, solemnly engage themselves to a full Observance thereof, they may be received as a Member of this Jurisdiction. _ _ _ No. 14. At a General Court for New-Haven, 16th March, 1644. [1644.] "John Cooper, having been to Delaware Bay, returned with discouraging Accounts. "Voted, that they will be at Twenty or Thirty Pounds Charge, that Mr. Goodyear, &c. may go to Delaware, and carry the Commissioners Letter, and treat with the Swedes about a probable Settlement of the English, upon their own Right, &c." It appears from this Entry, that three Swedish Ships had arrived at Delaware. <195> LANDS IN PENNSYLVANIA. No. 15. At a General Court held at New Haven for the Jurisdiction the 30th of January, 1654. "A Petition was presented by Thomas Munson and John Cooper of New Haven, on Behalf of a Company of Persons intending a Remove to Delaware Bay, wherein they propounded that for the Inlargement of the Kingdom of Christ, the Spreading of the Gospel and the good of Posterity therein, that they may live under the Wings of Christ, they would afford some Encouragement to help forward so publick a Work. 1. That two Magistrates Mr. Samuel Eaton, and Mr. Francis Newman, may have Liberty from this Court to go in Person at first, and in Case they see not themselves called to lay out so much of their Estate, as is like to be disbursed on such an Undertaking, that then it would please the Court, that out of the Jurisdiction they may be honourably provided for, with Men that are willing to lay out themselves for the public good. 2. In the Case there be an Undertaking, they that go, may, at first, go under the Protection of this Jurisdiction, and that in Case of any Affront, the Jurisdiction will engage to assist, till by the Blessing of God, they may be able of themselves to set up a Commonwealth, according to the Fundamentals for Government laid at New-Haven. 3. That seeing our Numbers are yet small, about or betwixt 50 or 60 we desire the Court to consider what Number they think may be a competent Number, that we may serve God's Providence, and yet not let the Work fall for want of too great a Number. 4. That two great Guns and Powder, and what belongs to them, might be granted. 5. Seeing that most that have purposed to go, do only for public Respects undertake, and not for any Need at present, and thereupon do leave their Houses and Lands without that Improvement, that they themselves did make; they desire that for some Time, as the Court shall think meet, they may be freed from Rates and publick Charges. 6. Seeing that they, whose Hearts God shall incline to undertake at first, are Men, for the general, of no great Estates, and some cannot go without Help, we desire, that a sum of Money may be raised in this Jurisdiction, which may be employed either to buy a small Vessel, that may attend the Service, or otherwise as shall be thought meet. Now that which occasions this last, is not only the Sense of the great Expense and Charge at first, and the present Need that some have now; but <196> CONNECTICUT CLAIM TO also we have heard from sundry, that generally Men are willing to help on the Work, either by Person or Estates. Thus begging Pardon for our Boldness, we humbly desire to commit all your Consultations unto the Direction of the God of Wisdom. And so remain, Yours, to be commanded, JOHN COOPER, TH. MUNSON. New-Haven, In the Behalf of the Rest, The 30th of the 11th Month, 1654." To which the Court returned,-- "That having read and considered a Paper of some Propositions, presented by Thomas Munson and John Cooper of New-Haven, in the Name and Behalf of sundry Persons of this Jurisdiction, and elsewhere, appearing as Undertakers, for the first planting of Delaware, in order to the public Good of this Jurisdiction and the Enlargement of the Kingdom of Christ, in these Parts, do return in Answer as followeth.-- 1. That they are willing so far to deny themselves for the furtherance of that Work, in order to the Ends propounded, as to grant Liberty to one or both of those Magistrates mentioned, to go along with them, who, with such other fit Persons as this Court shall see meet to join with them, may be impowered for managing of all Matters of civil Government there, according to such Commission as shall be given them by this Court. 2. That they will either take the Propriety of all the purchased Lands into their own Hands, or leave it to such as shall undertake the Planting of it; provided that it be and remain a Part or Member of this Jurisdiction--And for their Encouragement they purpose, when God shall so inlarge the English Plantations in Delaware as that they shall grow the Greater Part of the Jurisdiction, that then due Consideration shall be taken for the Ease and Conveniency of both Parts, as that the Governor may be one Year in one Part, and the next Year in another, and the Deputy Governor to be in that Part where the Governor is not; and that General Courts for making Laws may be ordinarily but once a Year, and where the Governor resides, and if God much increase Plantations in Delaware, and diminish them in these Parts, then possibly they may see cause that the Governor may be constantly there, and the Deputy Governor here, but that the lesser Part of the Jurisdiction be protected and eased by the greater Part, both in Rates and otherwise, which they conceive will be both agreeable to God <197> LANDS IN PENNSYLVANIA. and (as appears by the conclusions of the Commissioners Anno 1651) most satisfying to the Rest of the united Colonies. 1. That for the Matter of Charge propounded for Encouragement to be given or lent, to help on their first Beginnings, they will propound the Thing to the several particular Plantations, and promote the Business for procuring something that may, and shall return their Answer with all convenient Speed." At a General Court, &c. July 5, 1654. "A Letter was now, by Order of this Court, sent to the Swedes at Delaware Bay, informing them of the Propriety, which some in this Colony have to large Tracts of Land, on both Sides of Delaware Bay and River, and desiring a neighbourly Corresponding with them, both in Trading and Planting there". _ _ _ No. 16. From the Book of Commissioners of United Colonies. This Year at Cambridge, the Commissioners for the Massachusetts, by Virtue of a joint Conquest with Connecticut, laid Claim to some of [1638.] the Lands belonging to the Pequots, with Right of Jurisdiction thereof." _ _ _ No. 17. At a Meeting of the Commissioners of the United Colonies at New-Haven, September 3, 1646. An English Plantation being lately begun by Mr. John Winthrop, junior, at * Pequot, a Question grew, to which Colony the Jurisdiction should belong? "The Commissioners for the Massachusetts propounded an Interest by Conquest--the Commissioners for Connecticut, by ** Patent. Purchase and Conquest;-- it was remembered, that in a Treaty betwixt them at Cambridge, 1638, not perfected, a Proposition was made, that Pequot River, in Reference to the Conquest, should be the Bounds betwixt them; but Mr. Fenwick was not then here to plead that Patent, nor had ad Connecticut then any Title to these Lands, by Purchase or ________________________________________________________________________ *New-London. **Meaning the Deed from Mr. Fenwick. <198> CONNECTICUT CLAIM TO Deed of Gift from Uncas, but the Plantation is on the West Side of Pequot, and so within the Bounds at first propounded for Connecticut, the Commissioners jointly agreed, that an English Plantation there, being well ordered, may, in sundry Respects, be of good Use to all the Colonies, and that it is fit it should have all due Encouragement, only they conceived, unless the Massachusetts hereafter shew better Title, the Jurisdiction should belong to Connecticut." _ _ _ No. 18. From New-Haven General Court it was propounded to the Commissioners, what Course might be taken for the speedy planting of Delaware-Bay--the Title some Merchants of New-Haven have, by Purchase from Indians on both Sides of the River--what had passed at a former Meeting, Anno 1643--the Healthfulness of the Place, Goodness of Land, with the Advantages of a well ordered Trade there;-- the New-Haven Merchants are left to their just Liberty to dispose, improve or plant the Lands they have purchased in these Parts, or any Part thereof, as they shall see Cause. "The Commissioners for New-Haven informed and complained--1st. That whereas, by their Agents, they had duly purchased of the Indian Sachems, and their Companies, several Tracts or Parcels of Land, on both Sides Delaware-Bay or River, to which neither the Dutch or Swedes had any just Title, yet, without any legal Protest or Warning, Mr. Kieft, the then Dutch Governor, sent armed Men, A. D. 1642, and by Force, in a hostile Way, burnt their Trading-house, seized, and for some Time detained, the Goods in it, &c. [1658.] "The Commissioners of the united Colonies settled a Line of Partition of the Ground conquered from the Pequots.--And Stonington was about this Time settled by the Massachusetts People, and called Southerton. _ _ _ No. 19. The Declaration against the Dutch sets forth, That the united English Colonies, expecting a just and neighbourly Correspondency and Intercourse [1653.] from and with the Dutch, living at and about the Manhatoes, which they call New Netherlands, tho' the Place fall within that Part or <199> LANDS IN PENNSYLVANIA. Tract of America, called New-England, lying and being in Breadth from 40 to 48 Degrees of northerly Latitude, which, both in Europe and here, is well known by ancient Patents to be granted, by the Kings of England, to their Subjects, to settle and plant upon, have met with a constant Course of Opposition, &c. from the Dutch. "That the English, before or when they began to build, fence or plant in the said Parts, did generally purchase to themselves from the Indians, the true Proprietors, a just Right and Title to the Lands they meant to improve, if they found not the Place vacuum Domicilium.-- "First, letting pass an hostile Affront and Injury Capt. Howe, and his Company, received from the former Governor Kieft, at Long-Island, Anno 1650, the English at New-Haven, upon a due Title, both by * Patent and Purchase, built within their own just limits a small Town or Village, called Stamford; but about two Years after, the said Governor Kieft sent Men armed to challenge the Place, as within the Dutch Limits and Jurisdiction, &c. the Dutch having never had Possession of any Part of the Place, nor to this Day could ever shew any Shadow of Right to it. "In the same Year, 1650, [should be 1640] the English at New-Haven sent Men to view and purchase Part of Delaware-Bay, but with express Direction, not to meddle with any Thing the Dutch or Swedes had Right unto, &c. Kieft wrote to John Johnson, the Dutch Agent at Delaware, to hold a Correspondence with the English there, which accordingly he did at first, and shewed them how far the Dutch and Swedes Title or Claim reached--the rest he said the English might purchase, &c. but afterwards, &c. the Indians being free, [probably means "willing"] the English Agents at several Times, from the several Proprietors, purchased large Tracts of Land on both Sides of Delaware-Bay and River, and began to plant, and to set up Houses for Trade, within their own Limits; but, &c.--Here follows a Narrative of the Abuses offered to these Settlers by the Dutch and Swedes, then follows--"And soon after, by a Protest in Dutch, dated October 12, 1647, New Stile, he enlarges his Claim to all the Lands, Rivers, Streams, &c. from Cape-Henlopen (which may be about Virginia) to Cape Cod, from which drawing any Line to the North, Northwest, or West, he wholly takes in or encroaches far upon all the United Colonies." ______________________________________________________________________ *The general Patents before spoken of 'tis supposed, as they had none themselves. <200> CONNECTICUT CLAIM TO Continuation of Extracts from the Records of the old New- Haven Colony. When the Charter from King Charles the Second was obtained and sent over, some Persons from Hartford went down to New-Haven, and served them with a Copy of the same, and demanded their Submission, as being included within it; upon which the People of New-Haven Colony, being much alarmed, met together in General Assembly, and after debating the Matter warmly, being much opposed to coming under the Charter, they sent a Letter to Hartford, complaining of the Injury done them, in which, among other Things, they say-- "As for the Patent upon your Petition granted to you, we object not, &c.--but if the Line of your Patent doth circumscribe this Colony, &c.--This Letter is dated May 6, 1663. And after much Altercation, New-Haven Colony appealed to the King, to declare his Intention with regard to the Charter's including that Colony or not; and thereupon they drew up what they call A State of their Case, which gives a Sort of History of their Colony to that Time, and is in the following Words, viz. _ _ _ No. 20. The Writings sent to the General Assembly of Connecticut here follow, and the First is called, New-Haven Case Stated. Honoured and Beloved in the Lord, We, the General Court of New-Haven Colony, being sensible of the many Wrongs which this Colony hath suffered lately, by your unjust Pretences and Encroachments upon our just Rights, have unanimously consented, tho' with Grief of Heart, being compelled thereunto, to declare unto you, and unto all whom the Knowledge thereof may concern, what yourselves do or may know to be true, as followeth:-- 1. That the first Beginning of these Plantations by the Sea Side, in these Western Parts of New-England, being engaged to sundry Friends in London, and in other Places about London (who purposed to plant some with them in the same Town, and others as near to them as they might) to provide for themselves some convenient Places by the Sea Side, arrived at Boston, in the Massachusetts (having a special Right in their Patent, two of them being joint Purchasers * of it with ________________________________________________________________________ *Mr. Eaton, and others. <201> LANDS IN PENNSYLVANIA. others, and one them a Patentee, and one of the Assistants chosen for the New-England Company in London) where they abode all the Winter following; but not finding there a Place suitable to their Purpose, were perswaded to view these Parts, which those that viewed approved; and, before their Removal, finding that no English were planted in any Place, from the Fort called Say Brook to the Dutch, purposed to purchase of the Indians, the natural Proprietors of those Lands, that whole Tract of Land by the Sea Coast for themselves, and those that should come to them, which they before signified to their Friends at Hartford, in Connecticut Colony, and desired that some fit Men from thence might be employed in that Business, at their proper Cost and Charges who wrote to them; unto which Letters having received a satisfactory Answer, they acquainted the Court of Magistrates of Massachusetts Colony with their Purpose to remove, and the Grounds of it, and, with their Consent, began a Plantation in a Place, situated by the Sea, called by the Indians Quinnipiaug, which they did purchase of the Indians, the true Proprietors thereof, for themselves and their Posterity, and have quietly possessed the same about six and twenty Years, and have buried great Estates in Buildings, Fencings, clearing the Ground, and in all Sorts of Husbandry, without any Help from Connecticut, or Dependance upon them, and, by voluntary Consent among themselves, they settled a Civil Court and Government among themselves, upon such Fundamentals as were established in Massachusetts, by Allowance of their Patent, whereof the then Governor of the Bay, the Right Worshipful Mr. Winthrop, sent us a Copy, to improve for our best Advantage.--These Fundamentals all the Inhabitants of the said Quinnipiaug approved, and bound themselves to submit unto and maintain, and chose Theophilus Eaton, Esq; to be their Governor, with as good Right as Connecticut settled their Government among themselves, and continued it above twenty Years, without any Patent. 2. That when the Help of Mr. Eaton, our Governor, and some others from Quinnipiaug, was desired, for ending of a Controversy at Weathersfield, a Town in Connecticut Colony, it being judged necessary for Peace, that one Party should remove their Dwellings, upon equal satisfying Terms proposed, the Governor, Magistrates, &c. of Connecticut offered, for their Part, that if the Parties that would remove should find a fit Place to plant in, upon the River, Connecticut would grant it to them; and the Governor of Quinnipiaug (now called New-Haven) and the rest there present, joined with him, and promised, that if they should find a fit Place for themselves, <202> CONNECTICUT CLAIM TO by the Sea-Side, New-Haven would grant it unto them, which accordingly New-Haven performed; and so the Town of Stamford begun, and became a Member of New-Haven Colony, and so continueth unto this Day.--Thus, in a public Assembly of Connecticut, was the distinct Right of Connecticut upon the River, and of New-Haven by the Sea-Side, declared, with Consent of the Governor, Magistrates, Ministers, and better Sorts of the People of Connecticut, at that Time. 3. Sundry other Townships by the Sea-Side, and Southold on Long-Island (being settled in their Inheritances by Right of Purchase of their Indian Proprietors) did voluntarily join themselves to New-Haven, to be all under one Jurisdiction, by a firm Engagement to the Fundamentals formerly settled in New-Haven; whereupon it was called New-Haven Colony. The General Court being thus constituted, chose the said Theophilus Eaton, Esq; a Man of singular Wisdom, Godliness and Experience, to be the Governor of New-Haven Colony, and they chose a competent Number of Magistrates, and other Officers, for the several Towns. Mr. Eaton so well managed that great Trust, that he was chosen Governor every Year while he lived. All this Time Connecticut never questioned what was done at New-Haven, nor pretended any Right to it, or to any of the Towns belonging to this Colony, nor objected against our being a distinct Colony. 4. When the Dutch claimed a Right to New-Haven, and all along the Coast by the Sea-Side, it being reported that they would set up the Prince of Orange's Arms, the Governor of New-Haven, to prevent that, caused the King of England's Arms to be fairly cut in Wood, and set up on a Post, in the Highway, by the Sea-Side, to vindicate the Right of the English, without consulting Connecticut, or seeking their Concurrence therein. 5. In the Year 1643, upon Weighty Considerations, an Union of four distinct Colonies was agreed upon by all New-England (except Rhode-Island) in their several General Courts, and was established by a most solemn Confederation, whereby they bound themselves, mutually to preserve unto each Colony its entire Jurisdiction within itself respectively, and to avoid the putting of two into one by any Act of their own, without the Consent of Confederacy from the four united Colonies, which were from that Time, and still are, called and known by the Title of The four United Colonies of New-England. Of these Colonies New-Haven was and is one;--and in this solemn Confederation Connecticut joined with the rest and with us. 6. In the Year 1644, the General Court for New-Haven Colony, then sitting in the Town of New-Haven, agreed unanimously to send to England for a Patent, and, in the Year 1645, <203> LANDS IN PENNSYLVANIA. committed the procuring of it to Mr. Grigson, one of our Magistrates, who entered upon his Voyage in January that Year, from New-Haven, furnished with some Beaver, in order thereunto as we suppose; but, by the Providence of God, the Ship and all the Passengers and Goods were lost at Sea, in their Passage towards England, to our Grief, and the Frustration of that Design for that time; after which the Troubles in England put a Stop to our proceeding therein. This was done with the Consent and Desire of Connecticut to confer with New-Haven therein; whereby the Difference of Times, and of Men's Spirits in them, may be discovered, for then the Magistrates of Connecticut, with Consent of their General Court, knowing our Purpose, desired to join with New-Haven in procuring that Patent, for common Privileges to both in their distinct Jurisdictions, and left it to Mr. Eaton's Wisdom, to have the Patent framed accordingly. But now they seek to procure a Patent, without the Concurrence of New-Haven, and contrary to our Minds expressed before this Patent was sent for, and to their own Promise, and to the Terms of the Confederation, and, without sufficient Warrant from their Patent, they have invaded our Rights, and seek to involve New-Haven under Connecticut Jurisdiction. 7. That in the Year 1646, when the Commissioners first met at New-Haven, Kieft, the then Dutch Governor, by Letter expostulated with the Commissioners, by what Warrant they met at New-Haven, without his Consent, seeing it, and all by the Sea Coast, belonged to his Principals in Holland, and to the Lords the States General. The Answer to that Letter was framed by Mr. Eaton, Governor of New-Haven, and then President of the Commission, approved by all the Commissioners, and sent in their Names, with their Consent, to the then Dutch Governor, who never replied thereunto. 8. That this Colony, in the Reign of the late King Charles the First, received a Letter from the Committee of Lords and Commons for foreign Plantations, then sitting at Westminster, which Letter was delivered to our Governor Mr. Eaton, for freeing the several distinct Colonies of New-England from Molestation, by the appealing of troublesome Spirits unto England, whereby they declared, that they had dismissed all Causes depending before them from New England, and that they advised all Inhabitants to submit to their respective Governments there established, and to acquiesce when their Causes shall be there heard and determined, as it is to be seen more largely expressed in the Original, which we have subscribed [thus]--------- Your assured Friends, PEMBROKE, MANCHESTER, WARWICK, W. SAY & SEAL, FR. DACRE, DENBIGH. <204> CONNECTICUT CLAIM TO In this Order they subscribed their Names, with their own Hands, which we have to shew, and they inscribed or directed this Letter--To our worthy Friends, the Governor and Assistants of the Plantations of New-Haven, in New-England.--Whereby you may clearly see, that the Right Hon. the Earl of Warwick, and the Lord Viscount Say and Seal (lately one of his Majesty's that now is, King Charles the Second, his Most Honourable Privy Council, as also the Right Honourable Earl of Manchester still is) had no Purpose after New-Haven Colony, situated by the Sea Side, was settled to be a distinct Government, that it should be put under the Patent for Connecticut, whereof they had only framed a Copy, before any House was erected by the Sea Side, from the Fort to the Dutch; which yet was not signed and sealed by the last King for a Patent, nor had you any Patent till your Agent, Mr. Winthrop, procured it about two Years since. 9. That in the Year 1650, when the Commissioners for the four united Colonies of New-England met at Hartford, the now Dutch Governor being then and there present, Mr. Eaton, the then Governor of New-Haven Colony, complained of the Dutch Governor's encroaching upon our Colony of New-Haven, by taking under his Jurisdiction a Township beyond Stamford, called Greenwich, all the Commissioners (as well for Connecticut, as for the other Colonies) concluded that Greenwich, and four Miles beyond it, belongs to New-Haven Jurisdiction, whereunto the Dutch Governor then yielded, and restored it to New-Haven Colony.--Thus were our Bounds Westward settled by Consent of all. 10. That when the Honourable Governor of Connecticut, John Winthrop, Esq; had consented to undertake a Voyage for England, to procure a Patent for Connecticut, in the Year 1661, a Friend warned him by Letter not to have his Hand in so unrighteous an Act, as so far to extend the Line of their Patent, that the Colony of New-Haven should be involved within it. For Answer thereunto, he was pleased to certify that Friend in two Letters, which he wrote from two several Places before his Departure, that no such Thing was intended, but rather the contrary; and that the Magistrates had agreed and expressed, in the Presence of some Ministers, that if their Line should reach us (which they knew not, the Copy being in England) yet New-Haven Colony should be at full Liberty to join with them or not. This Agreement, so attested, made us secure, who else could have procured a Patent for ourselves, wherein our own known Bounds, according to Purchase, without doing any Wrong to Connecticut in their just Bounds and Limits, would have been expressed. <205> LANDS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 11. That notwithstanding all the Premises, in the Year 1662, when you had received your Patent, under his Majesty's Hand and Seal, contrary to your Promise and solemn Confederation, and to common Equity, at your first General Assembly (which yet could not be called general without us, if we were under your Patent, seeing none of us were called thereunto) you agreed among yourselves, to treat with New-Haven Colony about Union by your Commissioners, chosen for that End. Within two or three Days after that Assembly was dissolved, but before the ending of that Session, you made an unrighteous Breach in our Colony, by taking under your Patent some of ours from Stamford and from Guilford, and from Southold, contrary to your Engagements to New-Haven Colony, and without our Consent or Knowledge. This being thus done, some sent from you to treat with us shewed some of ours your Patent, which being read, they declared to yours, that New-Haven Colony is not at all mentioned in your Patent, and gave you some Reasons why they believed, that the King did not intend to put this Colony under Connecticut, without our Desire or Knowledge; and they added, that you took a preposterous Course in first dismembering this Colony, and after that treating with it about Union; which is as if one Man, purposing to treat with another about Union, first cut off from him an Arm, and a Leg, and an Ear, then to treat with him about Union. The Rev. Mr. Stone also, the Teacher of the Church at Hartford, was one of the Committee, who being asked what he thought of this Action, answered, that he would not justify it. 12. After that Conference, our Committee sent, by Order of the General Court, by two of our Magistrates, and two of our Elders, &c. a Writing, containing sundry other Reasons for our not joining with you, who also, finding that you persisted in your own Will and Way, declared to you our own Resolution to appeal to his Majesty, to explain his true Intendment and Meaning in your Patent, whether it was to subject this Colony under it or not? being perswaded, as we still are, that it neither was nor is his Royal Will and Pleasure to confound this Colony with yours, which would destroy the so long continued, and so strongly settled, Distinction of the four united Colonies of New-England, without our Desire or Knowledge. 13. That accordingly we forthwith sent our Appeal to be humbly presented to his Majesty, by some Friends in London; yet, out of our dear and tender Respect to Mr. Winthrop's Peace and Honour, some of us advised those Friends, to communicate our Papers first to the Honourable Mr. Winthrop himself, to the End that we might find out some effectual <206> CONNECTICUT CLAIM TO Expedient, to put a good End to this uncomfortable Difference between you and us, also to prevent our humble Address to his Majesty. Accordingly it was done, and Mr. Winthrop stopped the Proceeding of our Appeal, by undertaking to our Friends, that,--&c. N. B. The rest is wanting, either from some Leaves being tore or lost out of the Book, or from the whole being never entered. New-Haven Colony then proceed to vote to apply to England for a Patent themselves, and laid a Rate to bear the Expence--and vote to appoint an Agent to solicit the Matter. _ _ _ No. 21. Governor Winthrop's Letter to Connecticut, before-mentioned. GENTLEMEN, I am informed by some Gentlemen who are authorized to seek Remedy here, That since you had the late Patent, there hath been injury done to the Government of New-Haven, and in particular at Guilford and Stamford, in admitting of several of the Inhabitants there unto Freedom with you, and appointing Officers, which hath caused Divisions in the said Towns, which may prove of dangerous Consequence, if not timely prevented, tho' I do hope the Rise of it is from Misunderstanding, and not in Design of Prejudice to that Colony, for whom I gave Assurance to their Friends, that their Rights and Interests should not be disquieted or prejudiced by the Patent, but if both Governments would, with unanimous Agreement, unite in one, their Friends judged it for Advantage to both; and further I must let you know, that Testimony here doth affirm, that I gave Assurance before Authority, that it was not intended to meddle with any Town or Plantation that was settled under any other Government, had it been any otherwise intended or declared, it had been injurious in taking out the Patent, not to have inserted a proportionable Number of their Names in it.--Now upon the Whole, having had serious Conference with their Friends, authorized by them, and with others, who are Friends to both, to prevent a tedious and Chargeable Trial, and uncertain Event here, I promised them, to give you speedily this Representation, how far you are engaged, if any Injury have been done, by admitting of Freemen, or appointing Officers, or any other unjust intermeddling with New-Haven Colony, in one Kind or other, without the Approbation of the Government, that it be forthwith recalled, and that for the <207> LANDS IN PENNSYLVANIA. Future, there will be no imposing in any Kind upon them, nor admitting of any Members without mutual Consent, but that all Things be acted as loving neighbouring Colonies, as before such Patent granted, and unto this I judge you are obliged, I having engaged to their Agents here, that this will be by you performed, and they have thereupon forborne to give you or me any Trouble; but they do not Doubt, but upon future Consideration, there may be such a right Understanding between both Governments, that an Union and friendly Joining may be established, to the Satisfaction of all, which at my Arrival I shall also endeavour (God willing) to promote; not having more at present in this Case, I rest, Your humble Servant, JOHN WINTHROP. Subscription. For Major John Mason, Deputy-Governor of Connecticut Colony, and the rest of the Court there, at Hartford. N. B. Mr. Winthrop was the Governor of Connecticut Colony, at the Time of writing this Letter, and soon after returned from England, and was with the Commissioners, at the Time of their settling the Bounds of Connecticut. August 11, 1664. Upon Advice being received from Hartford, as coming from Boston, that certain Commissioners were appointed by the Crown to visit the New-England Colonies, and it being represented to New-Haven, that they would fare hardly without having any Charter, they agreed that Hartford should demand them, as being within their Charter, and that thereupon they, New-Haven Colony, should be silent, making no Opposition while the Bounds were settling.--And thereupon the same were settled at Maroneck River, as before-mentioned, and which included them.--They then wrote to Hartford the following Letter. _ _ _ No. 22. A Letter from New-Haven Colony to Connecticut, as followeth. HONOURED GENTLEMEN, We have been silent hitherto, as to the making any Grievance known unto the King's Commissioners, notwithstanding what may be with us of such Nature, from the several Transactions that have been amongst us, are desirous so to continue the managing of these Affairs in Ways consistent with <208> CONNECTICUT CLAIM TO the ancient Confederation of the United Colonies, choosing rather to suffer, than to begin any Motion hazardful to New-England Settlements in Pursuance whereof (according to our Promise to your Gentlemen, sent lately to demand our Submission, tho' in a divided if not dividing Way, within our Towns, severally seeking to bring us under the Government of yourselves already settled, wherein we have had no Hand to settle the same, and before we had cleared to our Conviction the certain Limits of your Charter, which may justly increase the Scruple of too much Haste in that and former Actings upon us) the Generality of our undivided People have orderly met this 13th of Tenth Month (64) and by the Vote endorsed, have prepared for this Answer to be given of our Submission, which being done by us, then for the Accommodations of Matters, betwixt us in an amicable Way, by a Committee impowered to issue with you on their Behalf, and in the Behalf of all concerned, according to Instructions given to the said Committee.--We never did, nor even do intend to damnify your moral Rights or just Privileges, consistent with our like honest Enjoyments, and we would hope that you have no further Step towards us, not to violate our Government Interest, but to accommodate us with that we shall desire, and the Patent bear, as hath been often said you would do; and surely you have the more Reason to be full with us herein, seeing that your Success for Patent Bounds with those Gentlemen now obtained, seems to be Debtor unto our Silence before them, when as you thus by single Application and Audience issued that Matter, you thus performing to Satisfaction, we may still rest silent, and according to Profession, by a studious and cordial Endeavour with us to advance the Interest of Christ in this Wilderness and by the Lord's Blessing thereupon, Love and Union between us may be greatly confirmed, and all our Comforts enlarged, which is the earnest Prayer of, Gentlemen, Your loving Friends and Neighbours the Committee, appointed by the Freemen and Inhabitants of New-Haven Colony, now assembled, New-Haven, Dec. 14, 1664. JAMES BISHOP, Secretary. _ _ _ No. 23. Answer from Connecticut Colony to New-Haven. HARTFORD, December 21, 1664. Honoured Gentlemen, We have received yours, dated the 14th of this Instant, signed by James Bishop, &c. wherein you are pleased to mention <209> LANDS IN PENNSYLVANIA. your Silence hitherto, as to the making any Grievance known to his Majesty's Commissioners, notwithstanding what may be with you, &c.--we can say the same, tho' we had fair Opportunities to present any Thing of that Nature.--As for your Desire to manage Affairs consistent with the Confederation, the present Motion will, we hope, upon a candid Review, not appear any ways dissonant therefrom; for besides the Provision made in one of the Articles of Confederation for two Colonies uniting in one, there was special Provision as you well know, made at the last Session of the Commissioners to that Purpose, conjoined with pathetical Advice and Council, to an amicable Union.--Our too much Forwardness with New-Haven, &c. is not so clear, seeing those Plantations you inhabit are much about the Center of our Patent, which our Charter limits as also the inclosed Determination of his Majesty's honourable Commissioners, will, to your Conviction, be apparent; that our Success for Patent Bounds with the King's Commissioners is Debtor to your Silence, seems to us strange, when your Non-compliance was so abundantly known to those Gentlemen, yea, the News of your Motions, when Mr. Joseph Allyn was last with you, was at New-York, before our Governor's Departure thence; notwithstanding your Silence, and yet so good an Issue obtained, we desire such Reflections may be buried in perpetual Silence, which only yourselves necessitating thereunto, shall revive them, being willing to pursue Truth and Peace as much as may be with all Men, especially with our dear Brethren in the Fellowship of the Gospel, and Fellow-Members of the same civil Corporation, accommodated with so many choice Privileges, which we are willing, after all is prepared to your Hands, to confer upon you equal with ourselves, which we wish may at last produce the long desired Effect of your free and cordial Closure with us, not attributing any Necessity imposed by us, further than the Situation of those Plantations in the Heart of our Colony, and therein the Peace of Posterity in these Parts of the Country is necessarily included, and that after so long Liberty to present your Plea when you have seen meet.--Gentlemen, we desire a full Answer as speedily as may be, whether those lately impowered, accept to govern according to their Commission, if not, other meet Persons to govern may by us be impowered in their Room; thus desiring the Lord to unite our Hearts and Spirits in Ways well pleasing in his Sight, which is the Prayer of your very loving Friends, the Council of the Colony of Connecticut. Signed by their Order, by me JOHN ALLYN, Secretary." 14-VOL. XVIII. <210> CONNECTICUT CLAIM TO No. 24. The Last Reply of New-Haven Colony to Connecticut. NEW-HAVEN, January 5, 1664. Honoured Gentlemen, Whereas by yours, dated December 21, 1664, you please to say, that you did the same as we, not making any Grievances known to the Commissioners, &c. unto that, may be returned, that you had not the same Cause so to do from any Pretence of Injury, by our intermeddling with your Colony or Government Interest, unto which we refer that Passage for our expressing Desires to manage all our Matters in Confederacy with the Confederation, we hope you will not blame us; how dissonant or consonant your Actings with us have been, we leave to the Confederation to judge as their Records may show--that Article, which allows two Colonies to join, doth also, with others, assert the Justness of each Colony's distinct Rights, until joined to mutual Satisfaction, and the Provision made in such Case the last Session, we gainsay not, when the Union is so compleated, and a new Settlement of the Confederation, by the respective General Courts, accomplished--their pathetical Advice for an amicable Union, we wish may be so attended--in Order thereunto, we gave you Notice of a Committee prepared to treat with you for such an Accommodation, unto which you gave us no Answer, but instead thereof, send forth your Edict from Authority upon us, before our Conviction for Submission was declared to you--the Argument from our intermixt Situation, is the same now as it was before our confederating and even since, and affords no more Ground now to disannul the Government than before--we might marvel at your Strange, why we should think your Success should be Debtor to our Silence, and that because the News of our Non-compliance was with the Commissioners, as if the mere News of such a Thing contained the Strength of all we had to say or plead.--Gentlemen, we intreat you to consider, that there is more in it than so, yea, that still we have to alledge Things of Weight, and know where and how, if we choose not rather--Cetera desunt. _ _ _ No. 25. The Letter Referred to in Narrative 20, or State of New-Haven Case. CHARLES R. Trusty and well Beloved, we greet you well.--Whereas we have been given to understand, that our good Subjects, <211> LANDS IN PENNSYLVANIA. Thomas Chiffinch, John Scott, John Winthrop, Daniel Dennison, Simon Bradstreet, Thomas Miller, Richard Smith, Edward Hutchinson, Amos Richardson, John Alcock, William Hudson, and their Associates, having, in the Right of Major Asherton, a just Propriety in the Narraganset Country, in New-England, by Grants from the native Princes of that Country, and being desirous to improve it into an English Colony and Plantation, to the enlarging of our Empire and the common Good of our Subjects, they are yet daily disturbed, and unjustly molested in their Possession and laudable Endeavours, by certain unreasonable and turbulent Spirits of Providence Colony, of New-England aforesaid, to the great Scandal of Justice and Government, and the imminent Discouragement of that hopeful Plantation. "We have therefore thought fit hereby effectually to recommend the said Proprietors to your neighbourly Kindness and Protection, the Proprietors to be permitted peaceably to improve their Colony and Plantation in New-England, willing you, on all Occasions, to be assisting to them against such unjust Oppressions and Molestations, that so they may be secured in the full and peaceable Enjoyment of their said Country, according to the Right and Title they have to it, wherein we will not Doubt of your Readiness and Care, and shall, on all good Occasions, express how graciously we accept of your Compliance with this our Recommendation, and so we bid you Farewell. Given at our Court, at Whitehall, the 21st Day of June, 1663, in the Fifteenth Year of our Reign. By His Majesty's Command, HENRY BENNETT. His Majesty's Sign Manual annexed. --Indorsed and directed as followeth,--To our trusty and well beloved Subjects, the Governor and Assistants of the Massachusetts, Plymouth, New-Haven, and Connecticut Colonies. _ _ _ No. 26. Remarks. Here ends the History of the Colony of New-Haven, which begun in a voluntary Association for the Purposes of Government, and who extended their Settlements wherever they found it convenient. Their principal Plantations were along the Sea Coast, from Guilford on the East, to Greenwich, <212> CONNECTICUT CLAIM TO or Rye, on the West, with the Exceptions of Norwalk, Fairfield and Stratford, which belonged to Hartford. Hartford old Colony was mostly comprised within a Part of the present Counties of Hartford and New-London. Upon both these Colonies being melted down into one, under the Charter, all Plantations which were without the Limits of the Charter dropped off of course. Those attempted on Delaware-Bay, long before the Charter, never came to any Thing, being opposed by the Dutch and Swedes; and after the Charter were never more heard of or resumed. The present practical Colony of Connecticut is situated as follows; agreeable to President Clapp, viz. On the Sea Shore, from Byram River, in Lat, 40 degrees 51' N. Long. 74 degrees 10', to Paukatuck River, in Lat. 41 degrees 17', Long. 72 degrees 25', is about 88 Miles, on a straight Line. The present East Line, next Rhode-Island, is 45 Miles. The North Line, on the Massachusetts Colony, 72 Miles. West Line, on New-York, 73 Miles. Miles. The present Extent of Connecticut on the South, or Sea, as above stated, is . . . . 88 From Paukatuck River, the established East Bounds, to the Mouth of Narraganset-Bay, the Bounds mentioned in the Charter, in a straight Line, about . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 25 From Byram River, the present Bounds on the West, to Maroneck River, the Bounds fixed by the Commissioners in 1664, about . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 ___ This gives, in the Whole, the Front mentioned in Lord Say and Seal's Grant, . . . . 120 A Line drawn North-North-West from Maroneck River, would be at Right Angles with the Coast thereabout, and nearly so with the general Course of the Coast to Narraganset Bay. Thus Rhode-Island has taken off 25 Miles on the East, and New-York 7 Miles on the West, from the Sea Line in Lord Say and Seal's Grant. Whether the Commissioners, in fixing the Line N. N. W. from Maroneck River, had any Regard to either of those Circumstances--or whether they meant only to include to Connecticut their most Western Settlement, which at that Time was the Town of Rye--and whether that Settlement was or was not made, with a Regard to the Extent of 120 Miles from Narraganset-Bay'does not appear from any authentic Memorials, but is left to Conjecture. But it is not easy to account, why this Distance should be the same as in Lord Say and Seal's <213> LANDS IN PENNSYLVANIA. Grant, if a Regard had not been paid thereto. Connecticut plead a Right in this Grant before the Commissioners the following Year. N. B. The present Western Bounds, at Byram Brook, are nearly the same with those agreed upon by the Dutch and New-Haven old Colony in 1650, said to be to the West Side of Greenwich-Bay. _ _ _ No. 27. Act of Assembly, in Favour of the Susquehanna Company, so Called. Anno Regni Regis Georgii II. Vicessimo Octavo. At a General Assembly of the Governor and Company of the Colony of Connecticut, holden at Hartford, on the second Thursday of May, Anno Domini 1755. Upon the Petition of Phineas Lyman, Roger Wolcott, jun, Samuel Gray, Abraham Davenport, Esquires, and others, their Associates, to the Number of about Eight Hundred and Fifty, known by the Name of The Susquehanna Company, by their Agents George Wyllys, Daniel Edwards, Samuel Talcott, Thomas Saymour, and Eliphalet Dyer, representing that the Colony, according to the express Limits of its Royal Charter, is in Extent from the Narraganset-Bay on the East, to the South-Sea to the West, and from the Sea Shore on the South, to the Line of the Massachusetts Province on the North;--that within and towards the western Part of its Limits, are, and Time immemorial have been, large Numbers of the Indian Nations, commonly called the Six Nations, dwelling, improving and claiming a large Extent thereof?that a certain large Parcel of such their Claim, situate and lying on the Waters of the Susquehanna, about 70 Miles North and South, and from about 10 Miles East of said River, extending Westward two Degrees of Longitude, they the said Indian Nations (not) finding necessary for their own Use, have, for very valuable Considerations, been induced to relinquish, and to sell to the said Petitioners, and that some well ordered Plantation, in so near a Neighbourhood to the said Nations, might most likely be a Means to cement and fix them in Friendship with his Majesty's Subjects--and that they, the said Indian Nations, are desirous such Settlement might be promoted and carried on, as being conducive to their Interest and Safety; and thereupon praying the Consent of this Assembly, that his Majesty, if it shall be his Royal Pleasure, grant said Land to the Petitioners, and their Associates, thereon to erect and settle a Colony, for the <214> CONNECTICUT CLAIM TO LANDS IN PENNA. more effectual securing said Indians in his Majesty's Interest, and Defence of his Majesty's Dominions in North-America, with Liberty of further Purchases of said Indians to said Purpose, as Occasion may be. Resolved by this Assembly, that they are of Opinion that the peaceably and orderly erecting and carrying on some new and well regulated Colony or Plantation, on the Lands above mentioned, would greatly tend to fix and secure said Indian Nations in Allegiance to his Majesty, and Friendship with his Subjects, and accordingly hereby manifest their ready Acquiescence therein, if it should be his Majesty's Royal Pleasure to grant said Land to said Petitioners, and thereon erect and settle a new Colony, in such Form, and under such Regulations as might be consistent with his Royal Wisdom--and also take Leave, humbly to recommend the said Petitioners to his Royal Favour in the Premises. The Susquehanna Company, about three or four Years ago, by their Committee, in a Memorial to the Assembly, offered and resigned to the Colony all their Right in the before-mentioned Lands, trusting to their Goodness, if they should recover and settle the same, to give to the Company, in respect to their Purchase of the Indian Native Right, such Part of the Lands, as they should think proper; but 'tis said the Assembly did not pass any Act, declaring their Acceptance of the Resignation, and that the same was not made by any Deed from the Persons interested, and so it seems to be a Question in that Colony, Whether the Right of the Susquehanna Adventurers, whatever the same may have been, does not remain in them still. The first Application to the Assembly of Connecticut Colony, for Lands to the Westward, was made by a Mr. Hazard, late of Philadelphia, some little Time before that of the Susquehanna Company before mentioned, in whose Favour, the Assembly passed an Act or Resolve, much to the same Effect with the above, for the Lands 'tis said lying from 100 Miles to the Westward of the Province of Pennsylvania, to 100 Miles to the West of the River Mississippi. FINIS.