William Chesebrough
From The History of
Stonington,
CT 1690 - 1900
by Richard Anson Wheeler
Press
of the Day Publishing company 1900
Pages 288 - 292
Submitted by: Larry Chesebro'
WILLIAM
CHESEBROUGH, the first white man who made what is now Stonington, in
Connecticut, his permanent place of abode, was born in Boston, Lincolnshire,
England, in the year 1594, where he m. Anna Stevenson, December 6th, 1620. He
was a gunsmith, and worked at his trade in England, and in this country,
until he came to Stonington in 1649, when he changed his occupation to that
of farming and stock raising, occupying and improving the large grants of
land given him by the town of Pequot, now New London. In the
early part of the year 1630, he joined a large party of immigrants who came
with John Winthrop, Esq., to this country. Mr. Chesebrough located himself in
Boston, Mass., and soon after became a member of the first church. He was
admitted a freeman of the Massachusetts Colony in May 1631, and afterwards
took an active part in public affairs. In 1632, Mr. Chesebrough was elected
as "one of two" from Boston to unite with two from every plantation
to confer with the court about raising a public stock, and "Prince"
in his "Annals" says that this seems to pave the way for a house of
representation in the General Court. In 1634,
Mr. Chesebrough was elected constable of Boston, where he continued to reside
for several years. Previous to 1640, he removed to Braintree, and that year
was elected deputy to the Massachusetts General Court. Soon after which he
removed his residence to Rehoboth, Plymouth Colony, where in 1643 his list
was returned at £450. The next year lots were drawn for a division of the
woodland near the town, and Mr. Chesebrough received lot No. 4. During this
year the planters of Rehoboth drew up and signed a compact by which they
agreed to be governed by nine persons, "according to law and equity
until we shall subject ourselves jointly to some other government." Mr.
Chesebrough was a party to that transaction, which was participated in by
thirty of the planters of the new settlement. He had taken an active and
prominent part in organizing the town of Rehoboth, and at a public meeting
held July 12, 1644, his services were recognized by the town in ordering that
he "should have division in all lands of Seakunk, for one hundred and
fifty three pounds, besides what he is to have for his own proportion, and
that in way of consideration for the pains and charges he hath been at for
setting off this plantation." He was propounded for freeman at the
General Court in Plymouth in 1645, but was not admitted till 1648.
Notwithstanding the prominent part he acted in establishing the plantation of
Rehoboth and the recognition of his services by the new town, he was not
treated with much favor by the General Court of that colony, which ordered
him to be arrested for an affray with an Indian by the name of Z'assamequine,
and harshly treated him in other respects. This led him to look further for a
permanent place of abode. About this time Mr. John Winthrop, Jr., acting
under a commission from the Massachusetts General Court, commenced a
settlement at Ivameaug, afterward called Pequot, and then New London. Mr.
Chesebrough visited the place in 1645 for the purpose of making it his future
home. He was kindly treated by Mr. Winthrop, and urged to settle there; but
finding the place in several respects unsuitable to his expectations, he
concluded not to stay. Subsequently he examined the Pawcatuck region, and
finally concluded to settle at the head of Wequetequock Cove. He shared the
friendship of Roger Williams, and was encouraged and assisted by him in
removing his habitation to Pawcatuck. He did not, however, immediately remove
his family there, and not until he had provided for them a comfortable place
of abode. It was during the summer of 1849 that his family came to
Wequetequock and occupied their new house in the wilderness. The marshland
bordering on Wequetequock Cove furnished hay for his stock in abundance. He brought
his entire family with him, which consisted of his wife and four sons,
namely, Samuel, Nathaniel, John and Elisha. The two eldest and the youngest
subsequently married and had families, and after the death of each, their
widows married again. John died single in 1660. Mr.
Chesebrough, like most of the early planters, traded more or less with the
Indians, and was engaged in trade with people of Long Island and elsewhere.
The first act of the General Assembly of Connecticut was an order prohibiting
all persons from selling firearms and ammunition to the Indians; another act
was passed in 1642 "forbidding smiths from doing any work for the
Indians, or selling them any instruments or matter made of iron or steel
without a license from two magistrates." Various other acts were passed
regulating and in some cases prohibiting trade with the Indians. Mr.
Chesebrough while living at Rehoboth, had incurred the displeasure of certain
parties in the Plymouth Colony, and no sooner was he located here, than they
informed the General Court of Connecticut that he had removed here for the
purpose of selling firearms to the Indians; whereupon the Court, in November,
1649, issued a warrant "to the constable of Pequot to repair forthwith
to Chesebrough of Long Island (where he was trading at the time), and to let
him understand that the government of Connecticut doth dislike and distaste
the way he is in and trade he doth drive among the Indians, and that they do
require him to desist therefrom immediately; and that he should repair to
Capt. Mason of Seabrook or some of the Magistrates upon the river
(Connecticut) to give an account to him or them of what he bath done
hitherto." Mr. Chesebrough at first disregarded this order, claiming
that his new home was within the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, but
subsequently, acting under the advice and assurance of Mr. Winthrop and other
friends at Pequot, he so far yielded to the authorities of Connecticut as to
engage to appear at the General Court at Hartford in March, I65I, some
sixteen months after the issue of said order, and related to them the reason
why he had taken up his abode at Wequetequock, and that he was not engaged in
any unlawful trade with the Indians, and assured them that his religious
opinions were orthodox:, neither did he intend to remain alone in the
wilderness, and was in hopes that in a short time he should be able to
procure a competent company of desirable persons for the planting of the
place. The court reluctantly permitted him to remain on condition that if he
would give a bond of £300 not to prosecute any unlawful trade with the
Indians, and that he would furnish them with the names of such persons as he
could induce to settle at Pawcatuck before the next winter, they would not
compel him to remove. While the planters of Pequot were friendly to Mr.
Chesebrough, they preferred that he should become an inhabitant of that
settlement, rather than to establish a new township. In September of the same
year, Mr. Chesebrough again visited Hartford for the purpose of obtaining a
legal title to the land he occupied. Mr. Winthrop and the deputies from
Pequot engaged that if he would put himself on the footing of an inhabitant
of Pequot he should have his lands confirmed to him by a grant of the town.
To this he acceded, but the bounds of Pequot did not include his lands,
whereupon "on request" the court extended the bounds of the
settlement to Pawcatuck River, and the town in November following gave him a
house lot at Pequot, which he never occupied. In January, 1652, a large tract
of land was given him by the town of Pequot, which was afterwards liberally
enlarged until it embraced between two and three thousand acres, and was
included within the following boundaries, namely, beginning at the harbor of
Stonington, running northerly up the same, and Lambert's Cove, and Stony
Brook to the old Post Road, thence following said road easterly to Anguilla
Brook; thence down said brook and Wequetequock Cove and the Sound, to the
place of beginning. Mr. Chesebrough succeeded in drawing around him a
sufficient number of "acceptable persons" to satisfy the General
Court; and the settlement of the town was begun, went on in a flourishing
condition until 1654, when the planters here desired a separation for
religious, as well as civil purposes. This measure was resisted by the
planters at Pequot. Meantime, Massachusetts laid claim to the settlement, and
the controversy went up to the court of the Commissioners of the United
Colonies, and terminated in 1658 in awarding all the territory east of Mystic
River to the Massachusetts Colony, under the name of Southertown, and so
remained until 1662, when it was included in the new charter, and again
became a part of the colony of Connecticut. In 1665, the name of Southertown
was changed to that of Mystic, and in 1666, it was again changed to
Stonington. Mr. Chesebrough was a man of more than ordinary ability, and held
positions of trust not only in the Massachusetts Colony, but was prominent in
the settlement of the town of Rehoboth, in Plymouth Colony. After his place
at Wequetequock was included in the township of Pequot, he was elected deputy
thereof to the General Court at Hartford in 1653-4-5-6, and on one occasion
rate-maker or assessor. When
in 1658 the Massachusetts General Court asserted jurisdiction over this town,
Mr. Chesebrough with others were
appointed to manage the prudential affairs thereof, and one of the
Commissioners to end small causes and deal in criminal matters. He held the
office of Townsman (Selectman) until Southertown was annexed to Connecticut,
and was the first man elected deputy after the reunion, 1653, '55, '57, '64,
and succeeded in restoring amicable relations with the Court which had been
seriously disturbed by the jurisdictional controversy. After his return, he
was elected first selectman of the town, and re-elected every year up to the
time of his death, which took place June 9, 1667. His dwelling house stood on
the west side of Wequetequock Cove, near the head of tidewater.
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