three sides of houses. It run much in veins, damaging only some fields, and totally destroying others adjoining. The hail extended nearly four miles in width, where it was dreadful: it grew wider in Franklin, which is to the east, and seemed to spend itself there, ending in rain beyond that place. It was doubtless the same cloud which passed over Litchfield county, &c. scattering its hail through the State, even to the mouth of the Connecticut River, which united with the other in the south, took this direction, and here spread its most distinguishing horrors. 'Tis considered almost miraculous by the people, that amidst all this distress, the lives of men and beasts have been wonderfully preserved. Only two or three men have been knocked down, and one or two children, one of which, 14 years old, was so beaten as to be deprived of reason for two days."

COLCHESTER.

THE settlement of Colchester began about 1701. In 1698 the Legislature enacted that a new plantation should be made at Jeremy's farm. It was determined that it should be bounded southerly on Lyme, westerly on Middletown, and easterly on Norwich and Lebanon. This was most commonly called the plantation at Twenty-mile river, and was originally within the limits of the county of Hartford. Some of the principal planters were the Rev. John Bulkley, Samuel Gilbert, Michael Taintor, Samuel Northam, John Adams, Joseph Pomeroy, and John Loomis.

Colchester is bounded N. by Hebron and Marlborough, w. by Chatham, E. by Lebanon, and s. by East Haddam and Salem. Its average length from east to west is about 9 miles, and its breadth about 4, comprising an area of about 43 square miles. The face of the township is generally uneven, being hilly, and in some places somewhat rough and stony. The prevailing soil is a gravelly loam, tolerably strong and fertile. Iron ore of the best quality has been recently found in this town; the beds apparently are inexhaustible; the best bed is about one mile N. w. of the Congregational church. There are three houses of worship, 2 for Congregationalists and one for Baptists. Westchester society is possessed of a fund sufficient for the support of the ministry, and also a free grammar school for two thirds of the year.

In the first located society, there is a pleasant village of perhaps 40 or 50 houses, having an elevated and healthful situation. The following engraving shows the Congregational church and Bacon Academy, situated on the western side of the open green, in the center of the village. The small one story building with a cupola, seen on the left, is the conference house, used for holding religious meetings. The school for colored children is seen north of the church, under the trees; the hill seen in the distance, is called Bulkley Hill, between which and the village is a deep valley. Bacon Academy is so called from Mr. Pierpont Bacon, its benefactor and founder. It was established in 1800, and possesses $35,000 in funds. The Academy is built of brick, 75 feet by 34, three stories high, spacious and commodious. It is a free school for the inhabitants of the society, and is open for scholars from abroad upon very accommodating and moderate terms. All the higher branches of an English education are taught, and the institution is accommodated with philosophical apparatus of various kinds. There are usually about 200 scholars,

It

with four or five instructors. This institution has ever been considered one of the most respectable and flourishing academies in the state. is 20 miles from New London, 23 from Hartford, 15 from Norwich, and 10 from East Haddam Landing.

Bacon Academy and Congregational Church, Colchester.

John Bulkley, the first minister in this town, was the son of the Rev. Gershom Bulkley. "His mother was the daughter of President Chauncy. He was graduated at Harvard College in 1699, and was ordained December 20, 1703. His death took place in June, 1731.

"Mr. Bulkley was very distinguished as a scholar. While a member of college, he and Mr. Dummer, who was a member of the same class, were considered as preeminent in genius and talents. The palm was given to the latter for quickness, brilliancy, and wit; but Mr. Bulkley was regarded as his superior in solidity of judgment and strength of argument. He carried his researches into the various departments of the law, of medicine, and theology. His son, John Bulkley, who was also eminent for his learning, possessed a high reputation as a physician and lawyer, and when very young was appointed a judge of the superior court of Connecticut.

"Mr. Bulkley was classed by the Rev. Dr. Chauncy, in 1768, among the three most eminent for strength of genius and powers of mind, which New England had produced. The other two were Mr. Jeremiah Dummer and Mr. Thomas Walter. He published an election sermon in 1713, entitled 'the necessity of religion in societies.' In 1724 he published an inquiry into the right of the aboriginal natives to the lands in America. This curious treatise has within a few years been reprinted in the collection of the Historical Society of Massachusetts. The author contends, that the Indians had no just claims to any lands, but such as they had subdued and improved by their own labor, and that the English had a perfect right to occupy all other lands without

compensation to the natives. He published one other tract, entitled 'an impartial account of the late debate at Lyme upon the following points; whether it be the will of God, that the infants of visible believers should be baptised; whether sprinkling be lawful and sufficient; and whether the present way of maintaining ministers by a public rate or tax be lawful,' 1729. In this he gives some account of the rise of the antipedobaptist persuasion.”*

The following humorous story, in which Mr. Bulkley, the first minister in this town, was concerned, is from an ancient publication.

"The Rev. Mr. Bulkley of Colchester, Con., was famous in his day as a casuist and sage counselor. A church in his neighborhood had fallen into unhappy divisions and contentions, which they were unable to adjust among themselves. They deputed one of their number to the venerable Bulkley, for his services; with a request that he would send it to them in writing. The matters were taken into serious consideration, and the advice with much deliberation committed to writing. It so happened, that Mr. Bulkley had a farm in an extreme part of the town, upon which he entrusted a tenant; in superscribing the two letters, the one for the church was directed to the tenant, and the one for the tenant to the church. The church was convened to hear the advice which was to settle all their disputes. The moderator read as follows: You will see to the repair of the fences, that they be built high and strong, and you will take special care of the old black bull. This mystical advice puzzled the church at first, but an interpreter among the more discerning ones was soon found, who said, Brethren, this is the very advice we most need; the direction to repair the fences is to admonish us to take good heed in the admission and government of our members: we must guard the church by our master's laws, and keep out strange cattle from the fold. And we must in a particular manner set a watchful guard over the Devil, the old black bull, who has done so much hurt of late. All perceived the wisdom and fitness of Mr. Bulkley's advice, and resolved to be governed by it. The consequence was, all the animosities subsided, and harmony was restored to the long afflicted church. What the subject of the letter sent to the tenant was, and what good effect it had upon him, the story does not tell."

In this town, Westchester society, is the monument of Col. Henry Champion, a native of East Haddam, deputy commissary general of the armies of the United States, in the Revolution, and in that station eminently useful. To this gentleman, Washington, in his distress for provisions at Valley Forge, applied for relief, and the first relief to the starving army, came from his land. He died in 1796.

The following is from the Colchester Town Records; the tradition is, that this thanksgiving was put off on account of there being a deficiency of molasses, an article much used on these occasions.

"At a legal Town meeting held in Colchester, Oct. 29th, 1705. It was voted, that whereas there was a thanksgiving appointed to be held on the first Thursday in November, and our present circumstances being such, that it cannot with convenience be attended on that day; it is therefore voted and agreed by the inhabitants, as aforesaid, (concluding the thing will not be otherwise than well resented,) that the second Thursday of November aforesaid, shall be set apart for that service."

Allen's Biographical Dictionary.

306

FRANKLIN.—GRISWOLD.

The following inscriptions are from monuments in the grave yard on the west side of the Congregational church.

The Honble. John Bulkley, Esqr. of Colchester, who for a number of years, was a great honor to an uncommon variety of exalted stations in life. Morte Subitanea Corripuit Julii 21 A. D. 1753: Anno Etatis Suæ 49.

Beloved and fear'd for vertue's sake,

Such vertue as the great doth make.

In memory of Jonathan Kilborn Esq. who departed this life Octobr. 14th, A. D. 1785, in the 79 year of his age.

He was a man of invention great,

Above all that lived nigh,

But he could not invent to live,
When God called him to die.

Mr. Kilborn lived about one mile south of the Academy. He was an uncommonly ingenious mechanic, and it is said he was the inventor of the iron screw. It is also stated, that he admitted an Englishman into his shop, who observing his invention, took the proper dimensions, &c. went to England, and claimed to be the original inventor.

FRANKLIN.

THIS town originally belonged to Norwich, and was incorporated as a town in 1786. Its length from north to south is five miles, and its average breadth four miles. It is bounded on the N. E. by Windham and the Shetucket river, which separates it from Lisbon, w. by Lebanon, s. by Bozrah, and s. E. by Norwich. The town is diversified with hills and valleys, and the geological structure and soil are of a granitic character, the latter being generally a gravelly loam. The lands are best adapted to grazing.

The population of the town in 1810 was 1,161; in 1830 it was 1,194. There are 2 houses of worship in the town, 1 for Congregationalists and one for Methodists. Agriculture is the principal business of the inhabitants, who live scattered about on their farms, there being no place which may be considered as a village in the town. There is a woolen factory on Beaver brook, near the Shetucket river, on the eastern border of the town. The central part of Franklin is thirty four miles from Hartford, and about seven miles from Norwich city.

GRISWOLD.

GRISWOLD was originally a part of Preston, and was incorporated as a town in 1815. Its average length is 8 miles, and its breadth about 4. It is bounded N. by Plainfield, w. by Quinnebaug river, separating it from Lisbon, E. by Voluntown, s. by Preston and North Stonington. The surface of the township is uneven; the prevailing soil is a gravelly loam, with some sections of sandy loam. There are some low marsh lands upon the Pochaug river, a sluggish stream, which passes through the central part of the town. There are two Congregational churches in the town, I at Jewett's City, the other in the central part of the town. The population in 1810 was 1,520; in 1830, it was 2,212.

South view of Jewett's City, Griswold.

The above shows the appearance of Jewett's City, the principal place in Griswold, about a mile south from the village on the Norwich road. This is a flourishing village, on the east side of the Quinnebaug, containing 800 or 900 inhabitants, 3 extensive cotton factories, 5 mercantile stores, a Congregational church, and a bank, with a capital of 100,000 dollars, called the Jewett City bank. It is stated, that there is water power in this place sufficient to keep 40 or 50,000 spindles in operation. It is 8 miles N. E. from Norwich, and 14 from Brooklyn.

Hopeville is a little manufacturing village, about 2 miles east of Jewett's City, containing one or two satinet factories and about twenty houses. There are in the eastern part of this town two cotton factories, situated on the line between this town and Voluntown.

The following is copied from a monument in the grave yard in the village of Jewett's City.

In memory of Mr. Eliezer Jewett, who died Decr. 7th, 1817, in the 87th year of his age. In April, 1771, he began the settlement of this village, and from his persevering industry and active benevolence, it has derived its present importance: its name will perpetuate his memory.

GROTON.

GROTON was incorporated as a town in 1705, having until that period belonged to New London. It is bounded north by Ledyard, west by the river Thames, separating it from New London, Montville, and Waterford, east by North Stonington and the Mystic, which separates it from Stonington, and south by Fisher's Island sound. It is about six miles in length from north to south, and has an average breadth of nearly six miles.