Weathersfield was settled in 1637 by the Rev. Mr. Smith and his followers, who left Watertown, near Boston, in order to get out of the power of Mr. Cotton, whose severity in New-England exceeded that of the bishops in Old-England. But Mr. Smith did not discard the spirit of persecution as the sole property of Mr. Cotton, but carried with him a sufficient quantity of it to distress and divide his little flock.
Middletown is ten miles below Weathersfield, and
beautifully situated upon the Connecticut, between two small rivers one mile asunder, which is the length of the town and grand street. Here is an elegant church, with steeple, bell, clock, and organ; and a large meeting without a steeple. The people are polite, and not much troubled with that fanatic zeal which pervades the rest of the colony. The township is ten miles square, and forms four parishes, one episcopalian. This and the two preceding towns may be compared to Chelsea.
The following towns, which lie on the Connecticut River, are so much alike that a description of one will serve for the whole, viz. Windsor, East Windsor, Glastenbury, Endfield, Suffield, Chatham, Haddam, and East Haddam. Windsor, the best, is cut in two by the river Ett, which wanders from the northward 100 miles, through various meadows, towns, and villages, and resembles Bedford. Township ten miles square, forming three parishes. It was settled in 1637 by the Rev. Mr. Huet and his associates, who fled from religious slavery in Boston, to enjoy the power of depriving others of liberty.
The following towns, lying back of the river towns, being similar in most respects, I shall join also in one class, viz. Hebron, Colchester, Bolton, Tolland, Stafford, and Sommers.
Hebron is the centre of the province, and it is remarkable that there are thirty-six towns larger and thirty-six less. It is situated between two ponds, about two miles in length and one in breadth, and is intersected by two small rivers, one of which falls into the Connecticut, the other into the Thames. A
large meeting stands on the square, where four roads meet. The town resembles Finchley. The township is eight miles square; five parishes, one is episcopal. The number of houses is 400; of inhabitants, 3,200. It pays one part out of seventy-three of the governmental taxes, and is a bed of farmers on their own estates. Frequent suits about the Indian titles have rendered them famous for their knowledge in law and self-preservation. In 1740 Mr. George Whitefield gave them this laconic character: “Hebron,” says he, “is the stronghold of Satan; for its people mightily oppose the work of the Lord, being more fond of earth than heaven.” This town is honoured by the residence of the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Pomeroy, an excellent scholar, an exemplary gentleman, and a most thundering preacher of the New-Light order. His great abilities procured him the favour and honour of being the instructor of Abimeleck, the present king of Mohegin. He is of a very persevering, sovereign disposition, but just, polite, generous, charitable, and without dissimulation. Avis alba. Here also reside some of the descendants of William Peters, Esq. already spoken of, among whom is the Rev. Samuel Peters,[35] an episcopal clergyman, who, by his generosity and zeal for the Church of England, rendered himself famous both in New and Old-England,
and in some degree made an atonement for the fanaticism and treason of his uncle Hugh, and of his ancestor on his mother’s side, Major-General Thomas Harrison, both hanged at Charing-Cross in the last century.
Colchester has to boast of the Rev. John Buckley for its first minister, whose grandfather was the Rev. Peter Buckley, of Woodhill, in Bedfordshire in Old-England; who, after being silenced by the bishop for his misconduct, went to New-England in 1635, and died at Concord in 1658.
John Buckley was a great scholar, and, suffering prudence to govern his hard temper, he conciliated the esteem of all parties, and became the ornament of the Sober Dissenters in Connecticut. He was a lawyer, a physician, and divine. He published an ingenious pamphlet to prove that the title of the people to their lands was good, because they had taken them out of the state of nature. His argument satisfied many who thought their titles were neither legal, just, nor scriptural; indeed, it may seem conclusive, if his major proposition be granted, that the English found Connecticut in a state of nature. His son John was a lawyer and physician of great reputation, and was appointed a Judge of the Superior Court very young. He and his father were suspected to be not sound in faith, because