 |
|
|
| *FREE Long & Short-Term Parking With
24-HR Security Monitoring |
|
|
|
|||||||||
    |
||||||
     |
ANCIENT, ANCIENT HISTORY
(Pre-1800) Y' Can't Tell Where You're Goin' Unless Y'know Where You've Been . . . It was the seventeenth century in southeastern Connecticut, home to several Native American groups, such as the Pequot, Nipmuc, Niantic, Podunk, Hammonasett, Paugussett, Siwanoy, Poquonock, Quinnipiac, Tunxi, and Massacoe. Archeologists approximate that in the early 1600s, and after a devastating epidemic among the indigenous population, the total population was about 7,000. Most powerful among the peoples of southeastern Connecticut were the Pequot, a faction of who, the Mohegans, split off from the main group early in the 1600s and, led by Chief Uncas, took up residence near the Thames River. To this day, several of the area's major towns are named for these famous indigenous groups (e.g., Niantic, Uncasville). In 1614, the Dutch mariner Adriaen Block sailed up the Connecticut River from Long Island Sound, and soon the fertile valleys of southeastern Connecticut attracted English settlers from the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies. As a response to the incursion by the English, the Dutch built their one and only Connecticut fort near Hartford. By 1635, English trader John Oldham had brought a large party from Watertown to settle Wethersfield, and John Winthrop, Jr., established Old Saybrook at the mouth of the Connecticut River, which was named after Lord Saye and Lord Brooke, two of the colony's founders. Within a few years, the New English residents of Saybrook, Wethersfield, and (soon) Windsor and Hartford, outnumbered the Dutch. For the most part, the trade-based relationship between the Europeans and Native Americans was peaceful — that is, until New England's first major war — the Pequot War of 1637. What started the war? Well, no one is exactly sure, but historians point to a series of killings, raids, and reprisals on both sides. In May of 1637, the colonists declared war on the Pequots and, with the help the Mohegans and Narragansetts, launched a surprise attack at what is now known as Mystic. Hundreds of Pequots died, and the few survivors were scattered throughout New England and/or sold into slavery. (Four hundred years later the Pequots would rise, phoenix-like, from the ashes to make their Foxwoods Casino the largest casino in the world and establish themselves as a pivotal point in Connecticut tourism and the state economy.) The colony of Connecticut was formally formed on January 14, 1639. John Haynes, former governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, served as the first governor of the Connecticut colony. Meanwhile, Theophilus Eaton and Puritan minister John Davenport established a trading colony near the site of present-day New Haven in 1638, called Quinnipiac, which was subsequently renamed New Haven in 1640. Soon Milford, Stamford, Guilford, Branford, and Southold (Long Island) joined the New Haven colony, but their laws were much stricter than the those of Haynes' colony — only members of the Puritan church could vote, and religion ruled every aspect of the colonists' lives. The two colonies remained separate until 1643, when they briefly joined in a mutual defense pact, the New England Confederation. Saybrook was added to the Connecticut Colony settlement in 1644. Colonialism The colonies of Connecticut and New Haven were not recognized by England until 1662. John Winthrop, Jr., elected governor of the Connecticut Colony, sailed to England in 1661 and secured a royal charter from King Charles II, which set the boundaries of the Connecticut colony as extending from Massachusetts to Long Island Sound, and from Narragansett Bay west to the Pacific Ocean (My word, how large Connecticut once was!). Eaton and Davenport's New Haven was totally ignored; and in 1664, they agreed to a merger with the Connecticut colony. The charter of 1662 basically gave Connecticut political autonomy and held as such until Charles II's death, when his successor, James II, tried to consolidate all of New England under the administration of Edmund Andros. Connecticut was ordered to surrender the original charter in 1687 (Hartford), but the document had mysteriously (?) disappeared. Legend has it that it was hidden in the hollow of a large oak tree that was would later be known as the "Charter Oak." In 1688, Andros and James II were overthrown, and self-government in Connecticut resumed. The Connecticut Colony residents were active in events leading up to the American Revolution of 1775-1783. In 1765, delegates went to the intercolonial assembly in New York to demand repeal of the Stamp Act. (All legal documents, newspapers, and pamphlets had to carry a British tax stamp.) Also represented at the first Continental Congress (1774), Connecticut legislator and judge Roger Sherman helped draft the Declaration of Independence. But outside of isolated skirmishes with the British, including in New London, little fighting went on in Connecticut. Support to the Revolution was primarily (and substantially) in the way of provisioning of the troops by supplying food, arms, and ammunition. Manufacturing Manufacturing had always flourished, albeit on a small scale, in Connecticut since early colonial times. But just before the Revenue Act passed by Congress in 1792 took hold, the first textile mills were established at Hartford, Manchester, Vernon, and Jewett City. Inventory Eli Whitney manufactured his cotton gin in New Haven in 1793; and in 1798, he helped develop the modern system of mass production using interchangeable parts. When the War of 1812 cut off trade, many New England shippers instead invested their capital in manufacturing. Charles Goodyear (Naugatuck, CT) discovered vulcanization in 1839, a revolutionary technique that made natural rubber stronger, more elastic, and resistant to temperature change. The Birth of Connecticut's Aviation History In 1785, the first anti-aircraft barrage occurred in Connecticut on New Haven Green. Balloon mania had gripped the world, and in May of 1785, Josiah Meiggs, editor of the New Haven Gazette, built and flew a small unmanned cylindrical balloon across the Green, much to the amusement of militia troops drilling on the Green. They couldn't resist the target, and peppered the balloon with musket fire. Fifteen years later, John Graham ran an ad in the Courant advertising (what may have been) the first commercial aeronautical enterprise in the United States, called the Federal Patented Balloons. Balloon rides were six pence per person. The hot-air vehicles rose and descended vertically, and were tethered to the ground by a string. It would take almost 100 years before fully controllable, manned ballooning would be possible. Connecticut Faces in History Benedict Arnold (Norwich, CT) Born on January 14, 1741, Arnold came from a well-to-do family in Norwich, but financial problems eventually overwhelmed them. While attending school at Canterbury, some of his siblings died from yellow fever and young Benedict was withdrawn from school. His cousins Daniel and Joshua Lathrop took him in as apprentice to their apothecary business. Arnold traveled to Europe, buying supplies for his own apothecary, which he established in New Haven. Prior to the official outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Arnold became a captain in the Governor's Second Company of Guards, and when word came of the battles of Lexington and Concord, Arnold entered into the fray. Arnold's battalion met up with Ethan Allen's Green Mountain Boys at Bennington; but he was irritated at Allen's unwillingness to bend to Benedict's authority as granted by the Committee of Safety. But Arnold conceded and accompanied Allen and his rough-riders when they surprised the British on May 20. Even so, history suggests a certain contempt that Allen's Boys held for the Arnold garrison and Arnold himself. This abrasion with fellow officers continued over the years. His dealings with his peers fared no better. Frustrated, Benedict Arnold began bargaining with the British in May of 1779. Perhaps he was angry and hurt over the many slights he'd received over the years; perhaps his pride was probably the most damaged — an affront that Arnold could not stand; perhaps his precarious financial situation was also a factor. Arnold was offered more than 10,000 pounds to defect to the British military, as well as land in Canada, pensions for himself, wife, and children, and a military commission as a British Provincial Brigadier General. One of Benedict Arnold's infamous acts was his attack on Fort Griswold (Groton) on September 6, 1781. After the Revolution, Arnold's subsequent relocation to London, and then Canada, did not improve his social status, and Arnold died in 1801 an unknown, only to have his name resurface as one of the disdained names in history. Ethan Allen (Litchfield, CT) Born on January 10, 1738, Allen first butt heads with the British over ownership of lands in Vermont. In a nutshell, the authorities in New York and the British were issuing grants to the same parcels of land in New England, and the settlers who had dealt with New York were being evicted from their lands. Ethan Allen sided with his fellow settlers and became colonel of "The Green Mountain Boys," which earned him the title of "outlaw" and a 20-pound bounty for his capture. The bounty was raised to 100 pounds by 1774. Undaunted, the Boys set out to dismantle the British fortifications and captured Fort Ticonderoga on May 10, 1775. Soon after, The Green Mountain Boys controlled all of the Lake Champlain area. Henceforth, the New York Congress granted them Continental Soldier pay, and the Boys became members of the Assembly Army, who went on to make their mark in American history. Did You Know 1614 — Adriaen Block (Holland) left the island of Manhattan on the Onrust (trans.: the Restless), a 45-foot, 16-ton vessel, and set of to explore Long Island Sound. Aptly, the Sound's Block Island is named this explorer. Adriaen Block became the first recorded European to explore the Connecticut River, sailing the 60 miles up past Hartford. 1646 — New London is founded by John Winthrop, Jr. He went on to obtain Connecticut's state charter in 1662. 1764 — The oldest, continuous American newspaper, the Connecticut Courant, is born in Hartford by Thomas Green. Now known as the Hartford Courant, (Website: www.hartfordcourant.com) the newspaper still enjoys a vibrant readership. 1781 — Benedict Arnold attacks New London and Groton, resulting in the massacre at Fort Griswold. 1784 — The first law school in the United States was established in Litchfield, Connecticut, by Tapping Reeve. Reeve, born in Brookhaven (Long Island) in October,1744, graduated from the College of New Jersey in 1766 and taught school in New Jersey before establishing his own law practice in Litchfield, Connecticut in 1772. Reeve served as a judge of the Superior Court of Connecticut (1798-1814), became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1814, and served as a Federalist representative in the State Legislature for several years. Reeve died in Litchfield on December 13, 1823. 1784 — Ahead of its time, a Connecticut Act is passed that emancipates all Negroes over the age of 25 and hereafter born after March 1784. Slavery was subsequently, formally abolished in Connecticut in 1848. Southeastern Connecticut, with its strategic location on Long Island Sound, has a history rooted in both commerce and defense. Past events form the basis for the present-day economy, as well as suggesting projections for the future. Connecticut became the fifth state to ratify the Constitution of the United States on January 9, 1788. Two years earlier, Connecticut had ceded most of its western territory held under the charter of 1662 to the U.S. government (no more West Coast surfing!). State population in 1790 was 237,946, about 6% the total nonindigenous population of the U.S. |
| NEXT . . . |
HOME • FLIGHTS • A SHORT FLIGHT THROUGH HISTORY
Catherine L. Young, Airport Manager
155 Tower Avenue • Groton, CT 06340 • (860) 445-8549 •
FAX: (860) 448-1851
or E-Mail: Airport Manager
For technical questions regarding this website, please contact: ConnDOT Webmaster
State of Connecticut Disclaimer and Privacy PolicyCopyright © 2002 - 2006 State of Connecticut