mapgraphs' photos

A Map of the Mohegan Sachems Hereditary Country, Plotted Aug 1st 1705, John Chandler, Surveyer. Source: Front-piece, Governor and Company of Connecticut and Moheagan Indians, By their Guardians, Certified Copy of Proceedings Before Commissioners of Review MDCCXLIII (1743), London : MDCCLXIX (1769) Note that North is at the bottom. ****** This map of Mohegan country was done for the 1704 Dudley Commission that was convened to hear the Mohegan challenge of Major John Mason's transfer, as the trustee of Mohegan Reserved Lands, of those lands to the government of the Colony of Connecticut. This is an important primary source document that helps explain Roger Williams 1637 description of the overland connection between Massachusetts Bay and the Connecticut River valley English settlements. This map by Chandler places the southwest corner of Wabaquassett Country at Moshe nup suck, the outlet of mishi nippe or the Great Pond (present day Shenipsit Pond - mishi-nipe-set, at or near the great pond). Prior to the English war against the Pequot, Wabaquassett Country was in the southern part of Nipmik Country, called Shetucket Country, as attested to by Mohegan, Nipmuck Wabaquassett, and Shetucket inhabitants. The country reportedly extended forty five miles, which if measured from Moshe nup suck would have run to the Blackstone River. From the outlet, Moshe nup suck, to the Connecticut River valley would have most likely been part of several Connecticut River valley communities such as those at or near Hockenum, Podunk and Scantic. Roger Williams described the route linking Connecticut (ostensibly Hartford and Windsor although it could be valid for Springfield as well) as passing through the Nipnet lands of Hassanemesit and Shetucket countries. Williams identified the Hassanemisco and Shetucket as Nipmuc - as differentiated from the Massachusett, in other words, inland communities as opposed to coastal communities. Taken at face value, the western bound of the Massachusett could have been Natick, as the compound word was used as a bound name. If so, this would suggest that Hassanemesit Country extended from Natick to the Blackstone River. If Hassanemesit and Shetucket countries were so defined, it would explain William's description of the route through the greater Nipmuck Country. For a comparison, the northwest bound of Wabaquassett Country was called Natick Hill, which could have been a bound between Nipmuck and Connecticut River valley communities near the Freshwater Brook and Chicopee River, as Moshe nup suck would have been for the more southerly Connecticut River valley communities around the Scantic and Hockanum Rivers as noted. The place name Natick shows up in Rhode Island as well. From early English records concerning the bounds of Native American lands, it would seem that Native American country bounds used pond/lake outlets, hills and rivers to denote the extent of hereditary land tenure. A broad Shetucket authority over the country apparently reverted to local control following the collapse of the Pequot - Shetucket alliance. Colonial records show Massachusetts Bay authorities negotiating with local leaders individually throughout this part of Nipnet. The allegiances to the Bay Colony that were collected allowed the piecemeal English assimilation of these Nipnet lands. Separate communities were involved with the English acquisition of the various Dudley, Stoughton and Thompson tracts in Webster and Thompson. Major James Fitch acquired the southern Nipnet Wabaquassett country in 1684 from Owaneco but there is no mention of him or the Wabaquassett claiming authority over or ownership of land to the Blackstone. However, according to English narratives the Mohegan apparently attempted to exert their influence into Quaboag country, or tried to check any Narraganset infulence there that extended along the Blackstone River watershed. Once the English intruded in the relationships of the various communities of Pequot, Shetucket, Nipmuck, Mohegan and Narraganset, if these can be considered some of the major alliances circa 1636, the dynamics changed. What has come forward is mostly a record of the changes, however there are clues pointing to how these long-standing traditional communities interacted prior to English colonial expansion. Roger Williams talked about specific relationships and John Chandler's 1705 map of Moghean country draws a similar picture. Mark A. Palmer Resources: Bowen, Clarence Winthrop, The Boundary Disputes of Connecticut, Boston 1882. Gookin, Daniel. Historical Collections of the Indians in New England. Cambridge, 1674, Sandwich 1792. Governor and Company of Connecticut and Moheagan Indians, By their Guardians, Certified Copy of Proceedings Before Commissioners of Review 1743; London,1769 Grafton, Town of. Documenting Hassanamesit Woods, Its History and Cultural Resources, the Town of Grafton Hassanamesit Woods Management Committee. Grafton, 2006. Town Reconnaissance Survey Reports. Massachusetts Historical Commission, 1979 – 1987. Records of the Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay in New England, Vol. I 1628 – 1641. Ed. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff M.D.. Boston 1853. Trumbull, J. Hammond, The Composition of Indian Geographical Names, Illustrated from the Algonkin Languages, Hartford, 1870. Trumbull, J. Hammond, Indian Names of Places Etc., In and On The Borders Of Connecticut: With Interpretations Of Some Of Them, Hartford, 1881. Williams, Roger. A Key into the Language of America. London, 1643. Williams, Roger. Letters of Roger Williams. 1632-1682. Now First Collected, Ed. by John Russell Bartlett. Providence, 1874.

On the road heading west, after cresting a knoll where a Methodist Meeting House, the Tolland County Moose Meadow District Post Office, forge mill and a number of dwellings were located in the mid 1800s. Moose Meadow is to the north, on the right. Moose Meadow as a place name shows up in town records as early as 1716, four years prior to the township grant, and is often mentioned along with Roaring Brook as a landmark. A working assumption is that a tavern was located near here on what was at the time a post road, hence the location of the Post Office. The next stop to the east would have been at the north end of Troop's Hill in Ashford, and then on to Richardson's tavern in Westford village (not to be confused with Westford Hill aka Troop's Hill, White Pine Hill. This road is present day Turnpike Road, the old Center Turnpike, previously Hartford Old Road, heading towards Roaring Brook, a crossing over the Willimantic River and on to the routes through Tolland pointing to Bolton Notch and Hartford, and over the hills to Windsor.

The road as it drops down to the Mount Hope River from present day Westford Hill.

35th Annual Nipmuck Powwow, Holland MA. Chaubunagungamaug Band of Nipmuck Indians.

A collaboration.

First part o a deed from Thomas Acley to Thos Lampkin. Book B - 124. The description of the bounds starts on the eleventh line with "Butting & Bounding as followeth begining at a stake... ". This is the third in a series of transactions for a 40 acre parcel of land abutting a fording place on the Willimantic River. The fording place is above (upstream of) where the Center Turnpike bridge crossed the Willimantic River which is just above where the Wilber Cross Parkway of the late 1930s and the present day Interstate I84 crosses the Willimantic River. The first transaction dated December 11, 1730 is the sale for "thirty six pounds money in hand" by Daniel Eaton of Tolland to Moses Rowley of East Haddam. The second transaction dated April 7, 1732 is a sale by Moses Roulee, now of Middletown for "the sum of forty pounds currant money" to Thomas Acley of Haddom Est. The third transaction dated May 12, 1746 is a sale for "60 pounds old tenar" by Thomas Acley of East Haddam to Thos. Lampkin of Wellington. The description of the bounds are similar in all three deeds except for some minor changes such as the distance of the second to last bound from the path from Stafford, changing from two rods to five rods and exchanging "path over willimantic" for "ford way".

Second part of a deed from Thomas Acley to Thos Lampkin. Book B - 125. The business or legal end of the transaction verbiage. Sometimes this end of the document or "instrument" can go a full page with the signature and "seal" running over to another page.

Storrs Connecticut. An intersection of a road from Mansfield to Stafford with a road from Ashford to Coventry.

After crossing the Fenton River, uphill to Storrs Four Corners.

Start of the Crow Hop Dance, 22nd annual Wolf Den Powwow, October 19, 2013. Mashamoquet Brook State Park.

Intertribal Dance, 22nd annual Wolf Den Powwow, October 19, 2013. Mashamoquet Brook State Park.

Smooth stones and wading pools.

Bridge above an old fording place.

Antique Carriages 2013, Old Sturbridge Village (OSV)

From here, a path ran northwest to Plaine Hill in Woodstock and a path ran southwest to the Pine or Meeting House Hill in Ashford. There are photos of the 1955 flood in the park adjacent to the falls. One showing the water running over the bridge. The flood of '55: www.norwichbulletin.com/news/x776063271/Victims-recall-devastation-of-1955-flood-that-left-Putnam-in-ruins?photo=0

Ashford Common, Meeting-house Hill also known as the Pine Hill. Ashford Connecticut. From Ellen Larned: "January 1, 1718 voted, 'That the meeting-house be set upon the Pine Hill and that the town will go about building it forthwith.' This site was in the northern part of New Scituate, near the center of town, and is still occupied by the Congregational church of Ashford." (Larned, 187) Larned, Ellen D. History of Windham County 1600 – 1760, Chapter 32, Swordsmith edition, Putnam, 2000 The Reverend James Fitch, Captain (Major) James Fitch and Major John Mason. Captain James Fitch (noted above) was the eldest son of the Reverend James Fitch. The Reverend James Fitch probably began his theological study in Chelmsford England under Thomas Hooker. He came to Hartford ca. 1638 and finished his study with Thomas Hooker, in Hartford. The Reverend Fitch, along with “The Major” or Major John Mason were among the founders of Norwich Connecticut. The Reverend James Fitch married Pricilla Mason, after his wife Abigail died in 1659. The Reverend’s eldest son, of Abigail, Major James Fitch married Elizabeth Mason, youngest daughter of Major John Mason. Major James Fitch was one of the founders of a church college that became Yale College. Following the death of Major Mason, the Connecticut Court or General Assembly found itself defending the appropriation of Mohegan Reserve lands after the Mohegan and some descendants of Major John Mason attempted to have jurisdiction of the Mohegan reserve lands returned to the Mohegan people. Major John Mason was entrusted to be the “Protector and Guardian” of the reserve land but turned the land over to Connecticut, eliminating any farming and hunting rights the Mohegan previously had. The case, known as the "Mason Land Court Case" which started with the 1704 Dudley Commission eventually went to the Crown's Privy Council who decided it in favor of the Connecticut Colony in 1772. According to Mohegan history, some tribal members eventually left Connecticut in an exodus of Mohegan, Pequot, Narragansett, Nehantic, Montaukett and Tunxis under the leadership of Samson Occom to live among the Oneida. Although many joined Occom, local communities in southern New England continued living in and near English towns as they continue to do so today. According to Ellen Larned, as late as 1724, Wabaquassett and Shetucket continued living in Woodstock, adjacent to but separate of the English, still exercising their farming and hunting rights in the territory. In that year following a general alarm about “Mohawks” being seen, the General Court decreed that all Sachems should call in anyone out hunting. According to Larned, when the town of Woodstock raised an alarm about an attack in Oxford Massachusetts (just north of Webster MA), Major Fitch rode from Norwich with a force of troopers and contingent of Mohegan. The Wabaquassett offered to join with the troop and search the countryside. At one time, most of eastern Connecticut was either owned by or entrusted to Major James Fitch and Major John Mason. One side of the family traces back to both Fitch and Mason. The other side, to the Whites of Plimouth. © 2013 mapgraphs, all rights reserved For examples of early meeting houses: Society of Friends Meetinghouse, Schoosett Street (Routes 139 & 53), North Pembroke, Plymouth County, MA [ www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ma0891.photos.075769p ] Society of Friends Meetinghouse, West Road & Maple Street, Adams, Berkshire County, MA: [ www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ma0094.photos.077389p ] From the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

One of the more elusive quests has been the origins of the noted Narragansett Pacer. The Pacer was a smaller horse noted for it's riding and working qualities and disposition. Some background: www.walkerswest.com/History/MysteriousNarragansettPacer.htm www.arkwild.org/hoofbeats/96_articles/newclue.html Photo: 2013 Antique Carriage Show, Old Sturbridge Village.