Further excursion among the stones revealed monuments to five Lathrops and six Leffingwells. Still musing, the Pilgrim trudged off beside the meadows to where the two Old Lathrop Houses face one another across the brink of Washington Street. [Norwich, CT]
The lower one stands on land Samuel Lathrop inherited from his mother, but his seventeenth century house was burned in 1745. Dr. Daniel Lathrop, his grandson, was responsible for the present structure, yet it cannot be said that he built it, for there is no way of knowing how much was reclaimed from the former damaged abode. It is quite possible that this very kitchen saw Mohegan Indians lying before the fire of an autumn night, for the Lathrops would never close their doors against the original owners of the soil, and Colonel Simeon, one of Samuel's sons, was a great sympathizer with the wrongs of the Mohegans.
Barber, John. Connecticut Historical Collections, New Haven, CT: Durrie & Peck & J.W. Barber, nd
Norwich, Lebanon, New London, Windsor, New Haven, Farmington, Norwalk, Saybrook, Guilford, Stonington, Hartford, East Hartford
Barbour, Lucius. Families of Early Hartford, Connecticut, Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. 1977.
I. John Crow b. 1606, d. 1/16/1685/6 md. Elizabeth Goodwin d/o Elder William & Susanna (--?--) Goodwin.
II. Nathaniel md. Deborah (Leffingwell) Warner
III. Deborah md. Samuel Lathrop
I. William Goodwin b. ? d. 3/11/1673 md. Susanna (--?--) b. ? d. 5/17/1676
II. Elizabeth md. John Crow
I. Thomas Judd b. ? d. 11/12/1688, md. 1) Elizabeth (--?--) & 2) Clemence (--?--) Mason 12/2/1679
II. Mary md. Thomas Loomis as second wife
I. John Steele b. ? d. 11/25/1665 md. Rachel Talcott
II. Sarah md. Thomas Judd
I. John Talcott b. ? d. 11/1/1606 md. 1) (--?--) Wells, 2) Maria Pullen
II. John md. Anne Skinner
III. Rachel md. John Steele
Caulkins, Frances. History of Norwich, Connecticut, Norwich, CT: Caulkins, 1866.
Leffingwell, Lathrop, Peck, Perkins, Adgate, Bradford, Fitch, Benedict Arnold, includes signatures of Captain John Mason, Rev. James Fitch and Samuel Lathrop.
Cheeseborough, Harriet. Glimpses of Saybrook in Colonial Days, Saybrook, CT: 1985
The Council of War
Pequot cruelty and strategy proving unbearable, early in 1637, Lion Gardiner sent to the Massachusetts Bay Colony for reinforcements. A son of Mr. Mitchell had been captured and roasted alive; others horribly mutilated, several killed, and many wounded.
The cows, came lowing home with arrows in their flesh. Burning the Fort, even before its completion, by setting fire to dry leaves among the stockade, had been attempted.
Lion Gardiner's call for troops was promptly met by the arrival of Capt. John Underhill and twenty lusty men, well armed, coming at the charge of the Patentees, and sent to stay two months. Soon after, Capt. John Mason, Lieut. Seeley, Mr. Stone and ninety Englishmen from Hartford, Wethersfield and Windsor appeared at the Fort, ready for a fight with the Pequots. They were also accompanied by seventy or more friendly Indians, furnished by Uncas the Mohigan Sachem who having fallen out with Sassacus his father-in-law, was quite willing to afford aid in subjugating him. Here a "Council of War" was held, lasting five or six days.
Capt. Mason and Lion Gardiner were both trained soldiers; having served with English allies in Holland before coming to New England. The former received his military training under Sir Thomas Fairfax; the latter under Lord Vere. Not agreeing as to the method of attack it was left to the Chaplain Mr. Stone, who was to accompany the expedition. After spending a whole night in prayer for direction, he decided in favor of Mason's plan, which was immediately carried out.
Exchanging his twenty weaker men for the stoutest, the little garrison at the Fort afforded, including Thos. Pell the surgeon, Capt. Mason followed the coast-line to Point Judith; passing on his way, the Indian headquaters at Mystic. The Indians, seeing the boats pass the Indian headquarters at Mystic. The Indians, seeing the boats pass by, in wild delight gave themselves up to a grand carousel; so that when by war-craft in a retrogade [retrograde] march, the troops fell upon them unawares, many were suffering from their wild debouch. The village of wigwams, encircled by high palisades had but a single entrance; and that piled with brushwood as a night defense. The battle was at first a hand to hand conflict, till the place was fired when bowstrings of warriors snapped with heat, while the whites and their allies formed a circle outside to prevent any escape of the besieged. Between six and seven hundred perished in the conflagration, or by the hands of those outside. Capt. Mason, having sent his boats to meet him at the mouth of the Thames, his twenty wounded men were put on board, he marching by land to Saybrook; where he was received by Lion Gardiner with many great guns. Here all rested over the Sabbath; with a "Thanksgiving, to the Glory of God, who had blessed the design and way." To the cruelty of these native Indians, this was a fatal blow. What remained in Ct. after Capt. Mason finished the work in the swamp at Fairfield, were divided between the Mohigans and Narragansetts, with an express stipulation that the proud name of Pequot become extinct. An item from Lion Gardiner's record of the event reads thus: "Our New England Twelve-penny Chronicle is stuffed with the names of some, as if they deserved immortal fame; but the right military worthies are left out for want of room; as Major Mason, Capt. Underhill and Lieut. Seeley, who are not once named.
Lieut. Thomas Leffingwell
Thos. Leffingwell born 1622 at Croxhall England, came to America at 15 or 16 years of age. Early notices of his name connect him with Saybrook Fort before the Pequot war. His daring adventure in paddling a canoe of provision from Saybrook to Shattuck Point, under cover of darkness, and relieving Uncas when besieged by the Narragansetts, is matter of history. What compensation he received is a question; but removed with the Colony from Saybrook to Norwich in 1660. He married on a visit to England at the age of 21, Mary White.
His descendants are numerous and influential. -- There are five generations of Thomas Leffingwells in direct succession; each the Eldest son. The walking staff of Dea. Thos. 3rd bearing his initials, with silver head (value 20 shillings), has been the staff and support of successive generations, is now preserved by descendants of the Rev. Thomas Leffingwell Shipman of Jewett City, Ct.
Destruction of the Fort and its Rebuilding
When Saybrook Fort was purchased in 1644 by the Colony of Ct. the place received from the General Court a municipal organization; such as her other towns enjoyed. It was then "they drew the first breath of that democratic atmosphere which loomed over Hartford and the associated towns, under the preaching of Hooker." Gov. Fenwick and Matthew Griswold were the highest representatives of her civic dignity at first, in the capacity of select townsmen appointed by the people. The government heretofore exercised by a magistracy in limited association with a privileged class of freemen, now came under law, alike for magistrate and people.
This Fort remained until early in 1647; when on a tempestuous night in mid-winter it was destroyed by fire, and its half clad inmates, men, women and children, hurried out into the darkness and cold; their only thought being to escape as quickly as possible, before the flames reached the arsenal. There were few shelters outside the Fortification, and tradition has it, that many took refuge in a Windmill near the Neck Gate. Capt. John Mason had just assumed command, and his family consisting of his wife and four little Children, barely escaped with their lives. There were also young children in the family of Matthew Griswold and although Fenwick had sold the Fort, he was still occupying with his family, the house at the southeast angle. No contemporaneous record, mentioning the event, tradition has always ascribed the death of Lady Fenwick to the shock, and exposure of that night.
Robert Chapman's wife and two children were inmates of the Fort at that time; - also Lieut. Thomas Tracy's family of three little ones, with others of tender age. Whether the fire was a freak of Indian revenge on Capt. Mason, can never be known; as he seems to have been only temporarilty in command. Colonial Records inform that "the following summer, at request of the Inhabitants of Saybrook, he left his habitation on the River, and repaired to that place; when all guns and military ammunition were delivered up to him, with command of soldiers and inhabitants, whom in case of danger he could draw forth in posture of defense of the place."
In Sept. 1647, assisted by John Clark, he was ordered to carry on the building of the Fort, by hiring men and carts with other necessaries. May 17th 1649 the Gen. Court ordered a dwelling house erected at Saybrook about the middle of New Fort-Hill, at the charge, and for the services of the Commonwealth. A want of hands, and abilities of men of the several trades for carrying on this work, being reported to the Gen. Court, they do order that it be lawful for any magistrate within and of this jurisdiction, to impress such men as are fittest for the work.
"Oct. 1649. Dept. Gov. Edward Hopkins, Capt. Mason, Mr. Culick and Mr. Taylecoat, are ordered to prosecute with effect the work that is still to be done about the Fort, and dwelling house to be erected for the use, and service of the country. One hundred pounds received from Govert Lockman may be sequestered for this purpose, so far as it will go."
The work dragged on till 1652, when hostilities commenced between England and Holland. The perfidious management of the Dutch at Manhattan with apprehensions of rising of the Indians spread alarm throughout the Colony. "Six of the great guns at Saybrook were ordered with speed to be laid upon carriages for defense of the place, and jurisdiction at all times, as need shall require, and impower Capt. Mason to call forth men and means suitable, and upon refusal, to press such hands; Thos. Tracy and Johnathan Rudd to assist in the work. Eight able men were ordered to be impressed out of towns upon the River, with complete arms to be at the command of Capt. Mason for service of the country and defense of the place, by fortifying or otherwise at Capt. Mason's discretion. The Court further advise inhabitants of Saybrook that are scattered into several quarters, to speedily gather their families together into the town, as they tender their own safety; if any refuse they must run their own hazard."
The New Fort which Capt. John Mason built at Saybrook, was a much less formidable structure than the one erected by Lion Gardiner, which had been burned. Its rampart of earthwork was removed a little further to the North, with a house for the Commander and gunner about the middle of New Fort Hill. Probably some stockade enclosed a shelter for soldiers, and ammunition.
The Colonists were largely poor except in land; but this gave dignity to existence and furnished means for carrying out their work. What money had been brought from England, went back largely for supplies. Capt. Mason's salary as Commander of the Fort was 40 pounds; raised out of all the towns composing the Colony, and paid in "wheat, pease and rye."
Early Settlers of the Town
The town of Saybrook was originally a tract ten miles sqaure, divided near its center by Ct. river, and embracing the present towns of Lyme, Westbrook, Saybrook, Chester, Centerbrook, Essex and Old Saybrook where the first settlement was made upon the Peninsula known as Saybrook Point. here the inhabitants were given each a home-lot; where they afterwards built houses, and planted orchards and gardens; outlying lands being used in common for grazing purposes. Under the jurisdiction of Connecticut its inhabitants gained possession of the entire land of the town, when it was divided into Quarters, each of which kept a land Record and controlled its own local affairs.
Among the first 40 grantees were: Thomas Adgate, Francis Bushnell, William Bushnell, Richard Bushnell, Thomas Leffingwell, John Mason, Reynold Marvin.
Capt. John Mason
Capt. John Mason was born in England in 1600 and received a military training in the Netherlands under Sir Thos. Fairfax. He emigrated to Dorchester in 1631, and later aided in founding the town of Windsor in Ct. He was commissioned in 1637 by the Gen. Court to subjugate the Pequot Indians and led the attack on their headquarters at Mystic. In 1647 all guns and military at Saybrook Fort were delivered up to Capt. Mason who had been promoted Major of the Colonial forces, soon after which the Fort was burned, with all housing and goods within the Palisado; his family barely escaping with their lives. The Fort he rebuilt and commanded, until his removal to Norwich in 1660.
Mason was 30 years Major of the Colonial forces, a magistrate from 1642 to 1648, Dept. Governor of Ct. from 1660-1670. He died in 1672.
His name appears among those to whom land was granted at Saybrook in 1650.
Thomas Adgate
Thomas Adgate's name appears among those to whom land at Saybrook was granted in 1650. He was active in the formation of the First Church in 1646 and one of its Deacons. His wife died in 1657 and lies in an unmarked grave in the Old Cemetery. He married in 1659 Mrs. Mary Marvin Bushnell - widow of Rich'd. Bushnell of Saybrook. In 1660 the family removed to Norwich; consisting of Dea. Adgate's two daughters Elizabeth and Hannah, and Mrs. Adgate's two sons, Joseph and Richard Bushnell and her d. Mary Bushnell; all born at Saybrook. Dea. Adgate was one of the original proprietors of Norwich. Here four more children were born.
Abigail b. 1661 m. Daniel Tracy (son of Lieut. Thos. Tracy)
Sarah b. 1664 m. Christopher Huntington Jr. (1st white male child born at Norwich)
Rebecca b. 1666 m. Joseph Huntington (Ancestor of Gov. Sam'l. H. & Signer of Declaration of Independence)
Thomas Jr. b. 1670 m. Ruth Brewster.
Thomas Norton
Thos. Norton of Ockley Surrey Co. Eng. - a warden in Rev. Henry Whitfield's church there, came with that Divine to Guilford Ct. in 1639, and was one of the 40 planters of that place. His son Thos. Jr. is found at Saybrook in 1669, where he was a freeman. He married in 1671 Elizabeth, dau. of Capt. John Mason. She died at Saybrook in 1698.
First Church at Saybrook with a Sketch of Rev. James Fitch, Its Pastor; and the Emigration of a Colony to Norwich, Ct.
Mr. Hooker of hartford was for seven years the instructor of James Fitch; a young man selected to be the spiritual guide of the anticipated church organization at Saybrook.
The first step of choosing seven men to be the seven pillars, was derived from the text, "Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars." These seven elect, were probably Mr. Fitch, Thos. Adgate, Wm. Pratt, Wm. Parker, Stephen Post, Matthew Griswold and Francis Bushnell. These men drew up a doctrine of Faith, to which they gave formal assent, entering into Covenant with god and with one another. Others joined them by making the same profession and covenant; and thus the Church at Saybrook was gathered and established.
At the Ordination and Installation of Mr. Fitch, though Mr. Hooker and Mr. Stone were present to preach the sermon, and give the Pastor elect his charge, the imposition of hands, setting him apart as Shepherd and Bishop of the new organization, was done by its lay members. Though the word to them was full and explicit concerning the spirit, and power of Christ in the lives of his followers, they could find no provision made in the New Testament for a ceremonial religion. Nor did they adopt that radical feature of the social system of Massachusetts which founded the civil franchise on church membership.
The first Church building stood near the East End of "Middle Lane," fronting the Green at Saybrook Point, and from the civil as well as religious gatherings it accommodated was always called the "Meeting House." It was a square structure whose four roofs meet in the center, where was an outlook for Sabbath Sentinels. This House of the Lord always bristled with defensive weapons. The burning of the Fort having left the place in a comparatively defenceless position, some of the Artillery belonging to the town was placed near the meeting house, and every man obliged to bring his sword with him on Sabbath and Town-meeting days. None were exempted save the Pastor and Dea. Thomas Adgate.
The "United Colonies of New England" had proposed, that each individual in every town should voluntarily set down what he was willing to give toward the support of the minister; and upon refusal willing to give toward the support of the minister; and upon refusal to pay his proportion, was rated by authority and the amount collected as in the case of other debts. Two services were held upon the Sabbath with an intermission of one hour between. These consisted of extempore prayers, singing of the Psalms in metrical version, and a sermon both forenoon and afternoon, the approved length of which was not less than sixty minutes by the hour-glass on the pulpit. Public reading of the Bible without exposition was disapproved as conforming to hierarchal service. Children were baptized in the meeting-house the next Sunday after birth.
James Fitch, Pastor of the first Church in Saybrook came with his mother and several brothers to America in 1638, the father having deceased. Thomas settled at Norwalk Ct. where in valuation of estates in 1665 he was higher on the list. From him in a line of 3 generations bearing the same name descended Gov. Thos. Fitch who filled the chair of state in Ct. 1754-1756. Joseph settled at Windsor Ct. John Fitch b. 1743 whose name is connected with the invention of steam navigation was his descendant.
Rev. James Fitch of Saybrook studied Theology with Rev. Thos. Hooker in Hartford and was ordained pastor of the First Church in that place (Saybrook). He married in 1648 Abigail Whitfield, daughter of Rev. Henry Whitfield of Guilford. The wedding took place in the Stone-house her father built which is still standing & said to be the oldest house in Ct. Mr. Fitch's home lot was upon the north side of "Middle Lane" near the Meeting-house and bounded East by John Olmsted - west by Wm. Parker - north by Robt. Perrigro - and south by the Highway.
In May 1656, the Court granted him a competent farm 2 and 300 acres, at Menunketseck. Mrs. Abigail Fitch died in 1659 at Saybrook leaving six motherless children.
When a part of the inhabitants of Saybrook decided to remove to Mohigan in 1660 it was a subject of contention whether he should remain where he had been pastor for 13 years or go with those who chose to emigrate. Both sides claimed him. Deciding for the majority not only carried him but the church organization to the banks of the Yantic near its confluence with the Shetucket where they set themselves down as fair a mode of a Christian community as any in the Colony; fully equipped with a municipal organization - a church & its minister, leaving only a minority at Saybrook to start anew.
The names of those who removed with Mr. Fitch are Dea. Thos. Adgate, Morgan Bowers, Thos. Bliss, Wm. Backus, John Burchard, Rich'd. Edgerton, Francis Griswold, Wm. Hyde, Simon Huntington, Christopher Huntington, Capt. John Mason, Thos. Leffingwell, John [Stephen] Post, [Johnathan Rudd], Thos. Tracy, John Olmstead. Here in home lots, comprising each a block of several acres, they erected houses and founded the now beautiful city of Norwich; disposing of those left behind to such purchasers as could be found. A n item in Robert Chapman's will reads thus "Bought April 27th 1660 of Mr. Fitch, his house, orchard and home-lot of 2 acres, more or less."
Children of Rev. James and Abigail Whitfield Fitch born at Saybrook are:
(Maj.) James b. 1649 m. Elizabeth Mason, d. of Maj. John Mason
Abigail b. 1650 m. John Mason Jr. (killed at Narragansett fight)
Hannah 1653 m. Thos. Meeks (or Mix) of New Haven
Samuel 1655 lived at Preston Cr.
Dorothy 1658 m. Nathaniel Bissell of Windsor.
After the death of his wife and the removal of his family to Norwich, Rev. Mr. Fitch married Priscilla Mason, dau. of Capt. John Mason, who added 8 more to his family - their names are:
Daniel b. 1665
John b. 1667
Jeremiah 1670
Jabez 1672
Ann 1675
Nathaniel 1679
Joseph 1681
Eleazar 1683
Miscellaneous Items from Old Records
The earliest date of a Municipal character is a notice of a Town-meeting Jan. 7, 1655 in which the following persons were present. Thos. Adgate, Robt. Bull, Thos. Burchard, Wm. Bushnell, Robt. Chapman, John Clarke Sen., Thos. Dunk, Rich'd. Edgerton, Wm. Hide, Francis Griswold, Reynold Marvin, Wm. Parker, John Post, Stephen Post, Johnathan Rudd, Rich'd. Tousland, Thos. Tracy, Wm. Waller. Mention is made at the same time of Mr. Fitch, Mr. Lay, Wm. Backus, Thos. Bliss, Morgan Bowers, Simon & Christopher Huntington, Thos. Leffingwell - probably inhabitants of as long standing as most in the list.
June 15th 1659 Mr. Willis is appointed by Gen. Court to go to Saybrook to assist Major Mason in examining the suspicion about witchcraft and act accordingly.
Colonial Society of Massachusetts. Seventeenth-Century New England, Boston, MA: University Press of Virginia, 1984.
Map: The English Origins of Immigrants to Windsor, Hartford, Guilford and Milford, Connecticut
Hinman, R.R. A Catalogue of the Names of the First Puritan Settlers of the Colony of Connecticut, Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1968.
Manwaring, Charles. A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records, Vol. I, Hartford, CT: R.S. Peck & Co., 1904.
John Mason, Windsor town lots, Joseph Loomis, John Rockwell, John Skinner, John Steele, John Talcott, Thomas Wells, John Crow, John Moore, John Steele, Joseph Loomis, Nathaniel Crow, William Goodwin, William Judd
New England Historic Genealogical Society. The New England Historical & Genealogical Register, Vol. I, Boston, MA: Samuel G. Drake, 1847.
- First Settlement of Norwich, Ct.
- Names of the First Settlers of Norwich in 1660
- Patent of the Town of Norwich, AD 16855
Stiles, Henry. The History of Ancient Windsor, Vol. 1, Somersworth, NH: New Hampshire Publishing Company, 1976.
John Mason
Stiles, Henry. The History of Ancient Windsor, Vol. II, Somersworth, NH: New Hampshire Publishing Company, 1976.
Mason, Fitch, Loomis, Moore, Rockwell
Vital Records of Norwich, 1659-1848, Part I, Hartford, CT: Society of Colonial Wars, 1923
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