The Hebron Historical Society

This January marks the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. To note and celebrate Hebron's important role in the abolition of slavery, the Hebron Historical Society has created a new section, "Hebron & Slavery" on its website. The new section gathers together dozens of documents chronicling Hebron's rich tradition of opposing slavery and supporting human rights. The reader will find enough information with which to write a term paper!

Early citizens of Hebron made statements and took strong action against slavery long before 1863. Hebron was ahead of Prudence Crandall's Canterbury school by nearly 50 years, and promoted abolition 75 years before Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was printed. In 2007, Hebron was selected as a site on the Connecticut Freedom Trail, a tribute to our town's citizenry and their great respect for all neighbors, regardless of color or status.

Abduction of the Cesar and Lowis Peters Family

Many have heard about the 1787 abduction of Hebron slaves, Cesar and Lowis Peters, along with their 8 children. Their owner was the Rev. Samuel Peters, a minister of the Anglican Church on Godfrey Hill, Hebron. Due to the Reverend's Loyalist sympathy and sermons to his parishioners, he was threatened with "tarring and feathering" by the town fathers. Rev. Peters fled to England in 1774, leaving his family & slaves to fend for themselves.

In 1787 Rev. Peters was still in England, although he had accrued liability in Hebron, so the men designated by Rev. Peters with power-of-attorney, John and Nathaniel Mann, were attempting to straighten out their relative's financial mess. To pay a debt, Nathaniel Mann arranged to have Cesar and Lowis sold to a South Carolina slave owner. The attempt of one David Prior to retrieve his new slaves is the story of an attempted abduction and the response of Hebron's citizenry to prevent it.

A little chicanery by Hebron's judicial and law enforcement officials stopped Mr. Prior at the dock in Norwich, just prior to loading his "property" and heading south. Not only did Hebron's officials save their friends from an uncertain future, but worked with the state to have Cesar and Lowis emancipated within two years. Various depositions show that Rev. Peters never wanted to do anything but free Cesar and Lowis.

Even after the quick action by Hebron citizens to save the Cesar & Lowis Peters family from being sent to South Carolina, some of Hebron's wealthier landowners continued to hold slaves. The Federal Census of 1790 lists 15 slaves still owned in Hebron -- among the owners, some who fought for the freedom of Cesar and Lowis! By 1848, the State of Connecticut had abolished slavery within its boundaries.

Josephine Sophia (White) Griffing

Not as well known, but equally as important is the abolitionist and freedmen's work of Hebron's daughter, Josephine Sophia (White) Griffing. She was born December 18, 1814 to Joseph and Sophia (Waldo) White, and was a descendant of Peregrine White, first white child born in New England in the Mayflower. Josephine received her early education in the Burrows Hill School and completed her studies at Bacon Academy. In 1842, several years after her marriage to Charles S. Griffing, the couple moved to Ohio.

It was in Ohio that Josephine Griffing's reform work began. Among her acquaintances were: Abraham Lincoln, William Lloyd Garrison, Edwin L. Stanton, and others. Her home was a station on the Underground Railroad, a respite for runaway slaves. She was part of the abolitionist speaking circuit, an unusual deed for a woman, and she received much favorable attention.

Probably the largest contribution of Mrs. Griffing was her work in recognizing and protecting those who had recently been released from slavery. Following their emancipation, the ex-slaves were quite lost when it came to making their own living and caring for their families. Many ended up in camps, still without direction or wherewithal. After the birth of the Freedmen's Bureau, many of our politicians simply lost interest in the cause. The Freedmen's Bureau worked as both "conscience and common-sense of the country". It was here that Josephine aggressively approached government leaders to gain support for our newly freed citizens.

Josephine died in 1872, and is buried with many of her relatives in
Hebron's Burrows Hill Cemetery. Her gravestone reads: "A friend to the slave, The poor and oppressed. With unswerving faith in God's eternal justice. Her life was given in their service."

For More Information

To read the full stories of both the Cesar Peters family and Josephine Griifing, go to the website of the Hebron Historical Society (HHS) at http://www.hebronhistoricalsociety.org and click on Hebron & Slavery. The site includes dozens of original documents, as well as the movie, "Testimonies of a Quiet New England Town," produced by HHS.

To read about Hebron's placement on the Connecticut Freedom Trail, see http://www.ctfreedomtrail.org/.

To study Yale University's "Citizens All: African Americans in Connecticut, 1700-1850", go to http://cmi2.yale.edu/citizens_all/stories/index.html. The Cesar and Lowis Peters story is found in the "Freedom" chapter.

Mary Ann Foote, Hebron Historian
January 2013

While there are now 169 Connecticut municipalities, Hebron is actually one of the oldest. It became our state’s 41^st town, officially incorporated by the State of Connecticut on May 26, 1708. Interestingly, Hebron was also only the second town to be incorporated with a biblical name, the first being Lebanon in 1700.

Here are the symbols used by both Attawanhood and Uncas in their legal documents.

Hebron’s History: The Beginning

It’s finally here – the year 2008, and the beginning of many celebrations of Hebron’s 300^th anniversary of incorporation. While there are now 169 Connecticut municipalities, Hebron is actually one of the oldest. It became our state’s 41^st town, officially incorporated by the State of Connecticut on May 26, 1708. Interestingly, Hebron was also only the second town to be incorporated with a biblical name, the first being Lebanon in 1700.

Hebron’s origins are like many in eastern Connecticut – the result of peaceful land transactions between the Native Americans and the new English settlers. But that peaceful transfer had a turbulent – and often confusing – history.

It is the primary job of history to solve mysteries. In the case of Hebron, the mystery revolves around the direct relationship of Attawanhood (also known as Joshua), a Sachem of the Mohegan tribe, and son of well-known Mohegan chief Uncas, the Saybrook Legatees, and the original founders of Hebron.

The Mohegan website provides a brief summary of Attawanhood’s father, Chief Uncas. “Uncas, son of Owaneco, was a Pequot chief. His wife was the daughter of Sassacus, Sachem of the Pequots. "Uncas was exceedingly restless and ambitious. Five times, the Indians said, he rebelled against his superior, and each time was expelled from his possessions, and his followers subjected to the sway of the conqueror.” (History of Norwich, Connecticut: From its possesion by the Indians to the year 1866, by Frances Manwaring Caulkins)

“Uncas then removed to the interior and placed himself at the head of the Mohegan clans who occupied lands east of the Connecticut river, and west of the great Pequot River now known as the Thames. While Sassacus traded with the Dutch, Uncas developed alliances with the English. War eventually broke out between the English and the Pequot after the murder of John Oldham [from Wethersfield] in 1636 and the punitive expedition by John Endicott. In May of 1637, Uncas with seventy Mohegan warriors joined ninety Englishmen under the command of Capt. John Mason in the famous expedition against the Pequots, sailing down the Connecticut river to Saybrook, then to Narragansett Bay and attacking the Pequots from the eastward. In a series of bloody battles, Uncas and Mason brought the power of the great Pequot nation to an end.”

There is no doubt that Uncas’ decision to support Mason and the new settlers resulted in the ultimate survival of the Mohegan tribe, while the Pequots were virtually wiped out only years after taking on the colonists. It also signaled the start of the permanent settlement of Connecticut as an English colony, usually attributed to Thomas Hooker. The famous Puritan minister, leading a group of 100 settlers, arrived in the Hartford area in 1636, and joined forces with the two existing settlements, Windsor (established in late1633) and Wethersfield (established in 1634.) With Hooker’s arrival, the three settlements set up a “collective government” and soon adopted their “Fundamental Orders” – clearly a constitutional document deemed the first of its kind for guaranteeing individual rights.

It’s not as though peace with the Native American tribes was a given in the mid-17^th century; indeed, some tribes began fighting among themselves, and in 1643, Uncas and his Mohegans faced the Narragansetts in battle, with Uncas easily winning. It was about this time that Uncas and his sons, Owaneco and Attawanhood, began a series of land transfers and grants to English settlers who had helped them throughout the tumultuous period.

In 1659, Uncas and his sons, according to the deed filed in Norwich on August 20, 1663, “bargained, sold and passed over, and doe by these presents, bargain, sell and pass over unto the Towne and Inhabitants of Norwich, nine miles square of lands…with all ponds, rivers, woods, quarries, mines with all Royalties, privileges and appurtenances thereunto belonging to them the sayd Inhabitants of Norwich, their heirs and successors forever…” It’s highly doubtful that the Mohegans wrote such language, the basis of which can be found in English law, and according to Forrest Morgan’s 1904 edition of Connecticut as a Colony and as a State, Uncas sold this land in order to fund his ongoing conflict with the Narragansetts.

In 1675, King Philip’s War broke out, causing great damage and loss of life throughout New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. It has been described repeatedly as the “bloodiest and most costly war in colonial history,” and should not be confused with the “French and Indian War” of 1754-1763.

Towns throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut and even Rhode Island were being established at a rapid rate, and Native Americans were increasingly concerned about encroachment on their territories. Prior to King Philip’s War (named after the chief of the Wampanoag tribe, Metacomet, known as “King Philip” by the colonists), interactions were often tense, but generally peaceful. But the colonists of what is now southern and eastern New England were soon viewed by some tribes as a threatening presence, especially as their small population grew at a rapid rate over time and the number of settlements increased almost monthly. Metacomet decided to take on the settler’s encroachment challenge, but again with disastrous results.

While most of the fighting occurred in Massachusetts, Suffield, CT was also attacked, and Providence, the capital of Rhode Island, was abandoned by colonists and burned to the ground by the Wampanoags, who by that time been joined by other, smaller Native American tribes. Uncas was now too old to fight in King Philip’s War, but, according to Mohegan history, “Owaneco, with several hundred Mohegans, rendered valuable assistance to the colonists in their fight against the unfriendly Indians. Attawanhood (Joshua), another son, with a band of thirty Indians scoured the woods in the route of the retreating foe, and took active part in the conflict.”

On February 29, 1676, shortly after the “Great Swamp Fight” of December 15, 1675 (in which the combined forces of colonists and Mohegans successfully destroyed a Narragansett fort in Kingston, Rhode Island) and shortly before his death in May of that same year, Attawanhood issued his “Last Will and Testament.” Because the entire conflict had begun over land rights, it is significant to note that this son of Uncas legally granted a significant amount of land to the colonists.

The document begins “I Joshua Sachim Son of Uncau Sachim Living nigh Eightmile Island on the River of Connecticut and within Bounds of Lyme being Sick of Body but of good and perfect memory and not knowing how soon I may depart this Life…” There follows an extremely complicated and confusing description of the lands being given over to a group of men later referred to as the “Saybrook Legatees.” Key names listed in Attawanhood’s will – in terms of Hebron’s ultimate future – were John Talcott, John Pratt, John Chapman, Abraham Post, and Edward Shipman. In the second paragraph of his will, Attawanhood specifically stated: “To Francis Busnell Son & Edward Shipman Son and Mr. John Westall to Every and each of them Three thousand acres…””

In May 1684, Connecticut Governor Robert Treat “conceded that neither he nor [John] Talcott could positively Assert or determine anything concerning the true bounds of said country.” Part of the problem, then and now, was the use of Native American boundary descriptions that consisted of “strange names of places unknown to us.” Yet despite some confusion over the exact boundaries of the land grants, the area now known as “Hebron” was considered by all to be part of the lands granted in Attawanhood’s will.

One of the state’s most famous historians, Benjamin Trumbull, was born in Hebron in 1735 and graduated from Yale University in 1759 with a degree in theology. Trumbull published the first volume of his Complete History of Connecticut in 1797. His recount of Hebron’s settlement provides further insight into our town’s origins:

“Upon the petition of John Pratt, Robert Chapman, John Clark, and Stephen Post, [the governor and council] appointed a committee in behalf of the legatees of Joshua Uncas [i.e., Attawanhood], the assembly granted a township which they named Hebron. The settlement of the town began in June, 1704. The first people who made settlements in the town were William Shipman, Timothy Phelps, Samuel Filer, Caleb Jones, Stephen Post, Jacob Root, Samuel Curtis, Edward Sawyer, Joseph Youngs, and Benoni Trumbull. They were from Windsor, Saybrook, Long-Island, and Northampton. The settlement, at first, went on but slowly; partly, by reason of opposition made by Mason and the Mohegans, and partly, by reason of the extensive tracts claimed by proprietors, who made no settlements. Several acts of the assembly were made, and committees appointed to encourage and assist the planters. By these means they so increased in numbers and wealth that in about six or seven years they were enabled to erect a meeting-house and settle a minister among them.”

In a footnote, Trumbull also wrote that “By the last will of said [Joshua] Uncas, all the lands in Hebron were bequeathed to Thomas Buckingham, Esq. William Shipman and others, called the Saybrook legatees.”

We finally have a direct link between Attawanhood, the Saybrook Legatees, and Hebron’s original founders. Edward Shipman, a veteran of King Philip’s War, must have been in Attawanhood’s close circle, due to the 3000 acres bequeathed to him “in sight of Hartford,” and being one of the larger parcels granted in Attawanhood’s will to individual colonists. Edward Shipman died on September 15, 1697.

That leads us to William, son of Edward and his first wife, Elizabeth Comstock. William was born on June 6, 1656 or 1657, in Saybrook and married Alice Hand on November 26, 1690. There can be no doubt that William Shipman was one of Hebron’s original founders, especially since his name is incorporated into the legend of Prophet’s Rock and he is referenced by Benjamin Trumbull, a dedicated historian born just ten years after Shipman passed away who surely be familiar with his town’s earliest settlers. It is also believed that Shipman was Hebron’s first “minister,” as described in Trumbull’s History of Connecticut.

William and Mary’s daughter, also named Mary, is believed to be the first white girl born in Hebron, either in 1706 or 1707.

William Shipman, one of our founding fathers as a direct result of the relationship between his father and Attawanhood, died in Hebron on September 9, 1725 at the age of 67.

In 1908, as a result of the dedication of (and perhaps a little arm-twisting from) Ida Porter Douglas, Hebron celebrated its 200^th anniversary of incorporation, the first time the town engaged in such a commemorative event. It was so successful that the town continued the tradition, celebrating the 250^th anniversary in 1958, the 275^th anniversary in 1983, and now the 300^th anniversary in 2008.

The story of the Ams Mansion has captured the imagination of many. Perhaps it is because its famous owner, Charles M. Ams, who failed to deliver manufacturing fame for Hebron, died May 25, 1930, only six months before the home was completed. Perhaps it is because Ams' wife, Amalia Elizabeth, died less than a month after her husband on June 21. Despite the fact that neither of the original owners ever lived in it, the mansion soon became the headquarters of a different vision and legacy of the Ams family.

John Sibun, in his 1975 book, Our Town's Heritage: 1708-1958, Hebron, Connecticut, reflected on the Ams Mansion: "To this day, it is impressively the largest house in town." At 5,272 square feet for the main house alone, it still holds this distinction in 2005.

The story really begins with Phineas W. Turner. Turner had been buying up the land on the south side of Hebron since the mid 1850's, and building a number of mills and factories. A post office was established, with P. W. serving as Postmaster. Even though Turner died in 1903 and his famous silk mills were defunct a few years later, the area was universally referred to as "Turnerville."

In a town that still refers to properties by the name of the original owner, that is tradition.

Charles Ams began his land-buying spree in 1912, almost ten years after Turner's death. It is a common misnomer that Charles Ams bought the Turner lands in Amston directly from Turner and his wife, Catherine. Land records in the Hebron Town Clerk's office reveal that Ams actually purchased the Turner lands and water rights from Israel Eisenstein and Daniel Brown on December 4, 1912. He also purchased adjoining tracts of land in areas that were technically Colchester and Lebanon; the transactions are recorded in the land records of those towns.

It didn't take long for Ams to start posting notices regarding "his" property. The collection of Paul Pomprowicz includes a notice in which Ams warned people "No hunting, no trespassing." basically "No Nothing" and signed it "Supt. Chas. M. Ams, Owner." But notice the linen poster states that the village name is "Turnerville, Conn." It appears from this artifact that Charles Ams wanted to quickly establish his authority in the south end of Hebron. Sometime in 1913, the village name, as well as the post office name, was changed to "Amston."