Museum
Education
Docent Guide II
Updated April, 2017
The seal for the town of Fairfield is round, consisting of a circle within a circle. In the space between
the two circles are the words "Town of Fairfield" and "Connecticut."Three leaves appear before and
after the word Connecticut in this ring. Inside the inner
circle is a scene with a hill and trees in the background;
in the middle ground are two individuals shaking hands
(a Native American on the left and Roger Ludlow on the
right). The word "SEAL" appears just above the heads
of the two individuals and the year "1639" appears at
their feet. Three small grapevines appear in the
foreground just above a banner which says "qui
transtulit sustinet" (he who transplanted sustains).
Grapevines
The people who first landed in New England were
amazed at the quantity of wild grapevines they found in
the woods. In the old world, vineyards were fenced in
and vines were private property. In the New World, they
were free to all. It is probable that the three vines stood
for the three colonies which united and formed the
Connecticut Colony; New Haven, Saybrook and
Hartford. Another explanation of the grapevines is tied in with our State Motto, "He who transplanted
sustains." According to Newton's publication, "where it came from we do not know. Some think from
the verse in the 80th Psalm, 'Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt and planted it.' It certainly expresses
the belief of the leaders of the Connecticut Colonies that God had brought them into a new world and
would sustain them in it."
European Explorers, Native Americans,
Contact Period & The Pequot War
Contact Period refers to the years when colonists from Europe made contact with the Native
Americans. French, Spanish, Dutch and English explorers sought influence, trade, and power. Below
are excerpts from the 2014 exhibition on the Pequot War.
From the Mashantucket Pequot Museum website:
Europeans came to America not intending to discover a new world but to increase the power and
resources of an old one. Some came for political reasons, on behalf of powerful European kings and
queens who sought to expand their empires. Many came for economic reasons, to reach the silks and
spices of China and India or, failing that, to see what resources this continent had to offer. Still others
came primarily for religious reasons, either to escape persecution at home or to convert the Natives to
Christianity.
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Changing political and economic conditions in Europe propelled these forays across the Atlantic.
Newly powerful monarchs had the resources to finance exploration; a growing class of merchants was
eager to expand trade; and the Protestant Reformation sent European society into turmoil. Although
early European voyagers to North America had diverse motives, they shared one attitude in common:
they had little regard for the beliefs and ways of life of the Native people who were already here.
The Pequot War
The Pequot War (1637-38) was the first serious conflict in New England between European colonizers
and the indigenous population. Historians have referred to the war as a seminal event in early
American history, as it paved the way for English control of southern New England and the
subjugation of the region’s Native people. The war arose both from English desires to control the
area’s lucrative trade and decades of tension between the Pequot, one of the region’s most powerful
tribes, and other Native groups. The conflict drew in English colonists and the Pequot as well as the
Narragansett, Niantic, Mohegan, Mohawk, and Sasqua tribes. Over the course of the war, thousands of
combatants fought dozens of battles in Rhode Island and Connecticut, with the final English victory
won in a swamp here in Southport in 1637. Two years later, English veterans from the Swamp Fight
returned to the area of this last battle and established the town of Fairfield. Since its inception,
Fairfield’s history has been tied to the Pequot War.
WPA Mural which was previously in Tomlinson School
Conflict over Trade
In the 1630s, English traders and settlers entered the Connecticut River Valley, seeking a share of the region’s
rich fur and wampum trade as well as new sites to establish Puritan villages. At the time, an alliance between
the Dutch and the Pequot, which had been established the decade prior, controlled the region’s trade. The
Dutch shipped roughly 10,000 fur pelts a year to Holland with the help of the Pequot, who had become the most
dominant tribe in the region. Through warfare and coercion, and sometime diplomacy and marriage, the Pequot
had gained power over other tribes, who paid an annual tribute to the Pequot in return for protection. By 1630,
the Pequot tributary system extended throughout southeastern and coastal Connecticut. The arrival of the
English in the Connecticut River Valley however threatened the status quo, as the Pequot found themselves in
an increasingly precarious position: more and more dependent on a European economic system, the target of
other Native groups’ ire, and with a population threatened by European diseases.
Map on Page 3: Map of Connecticut circa 1625: Indian Trails, Villages, Sachemdoms. Compiled by Mathias Spiess,
Drawn by Hayden L. Griswold. Source: The Connecticut Historical Society.
Docent Guide II: History & Background Info
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Who were the Pequot?
An Algonquian-speaking people, the Pequot had been living in southeastern Connecticut for thousands of years
prior to European contact. Before the arrival of the Europeans, roughly 13,000 Pequot lived in villages of 50 to
400 people along Long Island Sound and the estuaries of the Thames, Mystic, and Pawcatuck Rivers, raising
food through farming, hunting, and gathering. They were led by sachems, and their councils selected a grand
sachem to rule over their large confederation. The Pequot had come to dominate other tribes in southern
Connecticut and Long Island through trade, warfare, and diplomacy, which resulted in a tense relationship with
their neighbors, including the Narragansett to the east and the Wangunk to the west.
Contact with the Dutch and English brought about profound changes in Pequot society, as well as in that of
other Native groups, even before the outbreak of war. Most notably, a series of European-borne epidemics
reduced Connecticut’s Native population by as much as 90% in some cases, leaving a weakened
population and a shattered social structure to face the forces of colonization. The Pequot numbered about
4,000 at the time of the Pequot War.
Who were the English?
Between 1634 and 1635, English colonists from Massachusetts Bay, seeking to outflank the Dutch and to find
new opportunities, established new settlements in Connecticut, including Windsor, Wethersfield, Hartford, and
Saybrook. These Puritan communities were small, closely-knit, deeply religious, and depended on
agriculture and trade for their livelihood. The English colonists believed they were on a divine mission to
create godly communities in the wilderness and viewed the Native population as “savages,” or even
embodiments of the Devil. They interpreted the epidemics that devastated Native communities as divine favor
that had been sent to make their path easier. At the same time, they relied on the Native peoples they
encountered for trade and local knowledge. While early English descriptions of the Pequot were favorable, this
changed as they came to see the Pequot as a threat.
The Fur and Wampum Trade
In the 17th century, fur and wampum were part of a global exchange:
European investors sent manufactured goods, such as textiles and iron
tools, to the coast of southern New England, where it was traded for
wampum, a type of shell bead. The wampum was then transported
upriver and exchanged for furs, which in turn were shipped back to
investors in Europe and sold at a great profit. Pequot territory resided
directly between the coastal wampum and hinterland furs, which gave
them a monopolistic position as they produced and controlled wampum
supplies from less-powerful coastal bead makers.
From “Creating Community” exhibition:
If you have ever walked along the shores of Connecticut you
have probably come across large, white quahog shells with a
purple hue inside. Native American tribes made small beads from
these shells and formed them into wampum, which was of great
value. They exchanged wampum when they wanted to make an
alliance, trade, or build ties with other groups and tribes. The
patterns formed by wampum beads helped people to tell stories of
the tribe’s past, and signaled the importance of the sachem who
wore a wampum belt, or who gave it as a gift.
The Outbreak of War
The murders of two English traders—John Stone in 1634 by the Pequot and John Oldham in 1636 by the
Manisses—are often cited as the cause of the Pequot War, but the conflict was really the culmination of decades
of tension between Native tribes that was further stressed by the arrival of European settlers. The Pequot War
resulted from intense competition for control of trade as well as inter-tribal conflict as Native groups wrested
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themselves from Pequot subjugation. The conflict was as much Native vs. Native as it was English vs. Native.
Tribes that were resentful of the Pequots’ domination, such as the Narragansett and Mohegan allied themselves
with the incoming English, while the Pequot, determined to maintain control over trade in the Connecticut
Valley, pulled in local tribes like the Sasqua and Unquowa, who owed them allegiance.
Pequot Swamp Fight in Southport
The timeline at the end of this document details the events during the Pequot War.
The fighting culminated with the English chasing the Pequot, led by Sassacus,
down the coast of Connecticut. The last major battle of the Pequot War took place
at Munnacommuck Swamp in the Southport section of today’s Fairfield on July
13-14, 1637.
The exact location of the fight is unknown, however researchers from the
Mashantucket Pequot Research Center are investigating the location through
archaeology, research and field work. Several monuments are located in Southport
to commemorate the event.
Aftermath
Decimated in a violent war, dispossessed of their land, and dispersed as slaves, the fate of the Pequot served as a
fierce example to those who would seek to undermine the English. In the war’s aftermath, Native groups in the
area gave the English large tracts of land in order to curry favor, including the Mohegan, who ceded most of
eastern Connecticut. Tribes that were once tributary to the Pequot now paid tribute to the Puritans, thus filling
the coffers of the English and partially underwriting the conquest of the region. The war left the English on the
ascendancy, soon to become the most powerful group in southern New England.
For the conquered coastal Pequot, the war brought drastic change. The largest group of Pequots, about 1,000
people, was placed under the control of the Mohegan, who treated them so harshly that by 1655 the English
moved them to separate locations in eastern Connecticut, eventually creating the Mashantucket (1666) and
Lantern Hill (1683) reservations at present-day Ledyard and North Stonington. It would still take another 300
years for the Pequot to regain political and economic power in their traditional homeland.
Cassacinamon
The Leadership of Robin Cassacinamon Following the Pequot War, the
English attempted an act of genocide by declaring in the 1638 Treaty of
Hartford that, “The Pequots will no longer be called Pequots, but, instead, will
take on the names of either Mohegan or Narragansett ... the Pequots will no
longer live in their homelands ....” Seventeenth-century Pequot sachem Robin
Cassacinamon was the first post-war leader to reassert Pequot sovereignty and
he oversaw the tribe’s return to its former homeland and the creation of the
continent’s first Indian “reserved lands” or reservations. Under his leadership,
the Pequots regained a significant degree of political strength.
Scholars now believe that this painting on the left depicts Robin
Cassacinamon, the most influential Pequot leader in the decades after the
Pequot War. Cassacinamon used his friendship with Connecticut Governor
John Winthrop to gain independence for his people from the Mohegans and secure a reservation at
Mashantucket in traditional Pequot territory. Cassacinamon’s importance is recognized by the Pequot tribe
today, as they have made his mark into the tribe’s symbol.
Docent Guide II: History & Background Info
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Fairfield
Early History & Growth
In 1639, Roger Ludlow purchased land from the Pequonnock Indians stretching between the Sasqua
(Mill) and Pequonnock Rivers and roughly eight miles inland. Natives also agreed to pay Ludlow an
annual tribute of furs, wampum and corn. Ludlow was initially attracted to this area because the Native
Americans had cleared much of the land for crops and the area was in close proximity to Long Island
Sound.
An area of land was divided into four squares with sections for residential, community, religious
and commercial districts, including the town green. Town greens are a unique tradition of colonial
town planning. These large, open spaces usually originated as the shared “common” set aside for the
meetinghouse of the Congregational Church, which acted as the local governing authority. This
important building, used for worship and town business alike, usually stood in or beside a crossroads.
The green space around it—whether a sheep meadow, marketplace, parade ground or even a town
dump—was the heart of the community.
The early settlers used peat from the swamp
for fuel and seaweed from the Sound for
fertilizer. The salt marshes produced natural
hay, perfect for livestock. Many early settlers
lived in “cellars” -- square pits six to eight feet
deep -- possibly lined with rushes or other
vegetation and an improvised roof overhead.
This served as home until they could find time
and money to build regular (crude) houses. Life
was difficult, yet Fairfield became a prosperous
farming community in the 1700s. Important ports were established in Black Rock and the Mill River.
Ships used the waterways to trade with Boston and New York.
For the town of Fairfield’s first twenty years, almost the entire population lived roughly within four
square miles of each other. The center was the original Four Squares, located today at the corner of Old
Post Road and Beach Road. Soon, new residents settled as far away as seven or eight miles.
When settlers arrived in Fairfield, they immediately began to increase the size of the town by
purchasing more and more land from the Native Americans. By 1670, Fairfield went as far north as
Redding and included Westport and the Black Rock area of Bridgeport. The town’s population
continued to grow - driven by its location and the town’s importance as the county seat. As more
people begin to spread out from the “four squares,” the distance to the meeting house and school house
became an issue. Parishes broke off and new towns were established.
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Long Lots & the Mile Common
Excerpt from the inaugural exhibition “Landscape of Change,” 2007.
In the 1660s and 1670s, Fairfield began purchasing additional land from the Indians, extending well
into the area that is now Redding. In 1671, Fairfield set aside a half-mile wide swath of land running
approximately east-west and two miles north of the King’s Highway. A mile-wide tract, intersecting
the Half-Mile Common at its center, extended to the northern boundary of Fairfield, today’s Cross
Highway in Redding. Land on either side of the Mile Common was divided into long, narrow parcels,
which were distributed as dividends to Fairfield proprietors. These “long lots” were about thirteen and
a half miles long and ranged in width from a mere fifty feet to 875 feet. Residents who already had
sizable land holdings typically received the widest “long lots.”
Fairfield’s Population & Growth:
-1640 Approximately 8-10 households within town borders
(Western border=following Sasco Creek: Eastern border=following Pequonnock River: Northern
border= A days walk inland: Southern Border=Long Island Sound)
-By about 1654 there are approximately 94 households within the town borders
-1661 Town buys land extending to Saugatuck River
-1666 Bankside (Green’s Farms) becomes part of Fairfield
-1700 more than 150 households (approximately 1050 people) live within Fairfield's borders (Western
border=following Saugatuck River to Red Coat Road (Wilton) North following modern WestonWilton town line: Eastern border=following Park Avenue (Bridgeport) North to South Park Avenue
(Easton) continue North Park Avenue (Easton) to modern Redding-Newtown town line: Northern
border= modern Redding-Bethel town line: Southern Border=Long Island Sound) approximately
140 sq. miles
-1756 Fairfield includes 4455 people (4195 whites, 260 blacks) It is the fourth largest town
(Middletown [1st], Norwich [2nd], New Haven [3rd]) in Connecticut by population and it is the second
largest (Norwich [1st]) by taxable property
New Parishes Established:
-1678 Residents of Pequonnock (Stratfield) area of Fairfield petition the Connecticut General
Assembly for their own school house --- The Assembly grants permission in 1679
-1690 Residents of Pequonnock (Stratfield) area of Fairfield petition the Connecticut General
Assembly for their own minister --- The assembly establishes the Fairfield Village Ecclesiastical
Society in 1694. They further change the name to Stratfield Ecclesiastical Society in 1701.
This area commonly referred to as the Stratfield Parish is the first of seven such parishes to be formed
in Fairfield. Following a similar pattern to Stratfield’s establishment.
-1711 West Parish (Compo, Greens Farms, the area west of Sasco Creek) established
-1725 Northwest Parish (renamed Greenfield Parish in 1727) established
-1729 Redding Parish established
-1757 Norfield Parish (Northern Westport, Weston) established
-1762 North Fairfield Parish (Easton) established
Parts of the “Old Fairfield” Break Off:
The following shows which towns were once a part of Fairfield and when they “broke off:”
1) Redding, 1767, 2) Weston (including present-day Easton), 1787, 3) Westport, 1835, 4) Greens
Farms becomes a part of Westport, 1842, 5) Easton breaks off from Weston, 1845 and
6) Black Rock becomes a part of Bridgeport, 1870
Docent Guide II: History & Background Info
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In the 18th century, corn, rye,
wheat, potatoes, and flax were
the main crops grown for
export as well as local
consumption. Flax seed was in
demand to make linseed oil,
and was shipped to Ireland
where flax was grown to make
fine linen cloth. Local farmers
carted their produce to
merchants and shippers located
along the wharves at Mill River
(now Southport) and Black
Rock harbor. Bartering was the
common method of exchange,
and farmers often brought dairy
and poultry products such as
butter, cheese, eggs, and sacks
of feathers to trade for credit.
Slavery
Slavery is often taught
within the context of the Civil
War, but its history in America
goes back to the nation’s
beginnings. In 1619, the first
Africans stepped foot onto
North American soil at Jamestown, Virginia; they were slaves captured from a Portuguese ship and
were sold in Jamestown.
New England colonies adopted a fugitive slave law in 1643, and in the 1660s laws in Virginia firmly
established slavery. In Connecticut, trade and rich farmland produced an abundance of agricultural
goods which were sent to the West Indies to support the sugar plantations and their slave populations.
Although smaller in number compared to the south, many wealthy New Englanders owned slaves.
Often slaves helped in the household and contributed their free labor by doing often arduous
farmwork; maintaining the fields, mowing, planting and harvesting.
Connecticut’s coastline, rivers and waterways provided the routes and ports that connected the colony
to England, Africa, and the West Indies in the “triangle trade” that exchanged New England products
for rum, molasses, and slaves. By the early 18th century, slavery was an integral part of this commerce
and trade, and slavery was a part of daily life in many Connecticut communities.
Connecticut’s role in the Triangle Trade is a small, but integral part in the larger context of our
nation’s birth and the beginning of the global economy. Our state has a legacy of people who stood for
racial equality, such as Prudence Crandall, John Brown and the Amistad case, but that is not the whole
story. Connecticut had a significant slave population, held onto slavery as long as it could, and also
benefited from trade with larger slaveholding areas. Historians have presented the research and
information to provide a balanced view of history that accounts for multiple perspectives on the past.
Docent Guide II: History & Background Info
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Slavery in Fairfield
By the early 18th century AfricanAmerican slavery had become an
established institution in Fairfield as
well as in other parts of Connecticut.
By the time of the American
Revolution, Connecticut was the
largest slaveholding colony in New
England, with slaves comprising
about three and a half percent of the
population. In Fairfield, the
percentage ran higher: about six
percent, or 260 of its 4455 residents.
Slavery was never the basis of the
agricultural economy in Connecticut
as it would become in southern
states like Virginia and South
Carolina. Rather, slaveholders
generally owned one or two people and put them to work as household servants or day laborers.
Fairfield’s slave owners were mainly wealthy and affluent people, including several of the patriots who
supported the cause of liberty—Gold Selleck Silliman, Caleb Brewster, Thaddeus Burr, and others—as
well as Loyalists.
1790 Federal Census: New England
Black Population
State
Connecticut
District of Maine
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
Rhode Island
Vermont
Total
Population
237,655
96,643
378,556
141,899
69,112
85,341
NEW ENGLAND 1,009,206
Total
Free
Slave
5,419
536
5,369
787
4,442
269
2,771
536
5,369
630
3,484
269
2,648
16,822
13,059
3,763
157
958
1790 Federal Census: Comparison
State
New York
Pennsylvania
Delaware
Maryland
Virginia
North Carolina
South Carolina
Georgia
Total Population
340,241
433,611
59,096
319,728
747,550
395,005
247,073
82,548
Slave Population
21,193
3,707
8,887
103,036
292,627
100,783
104,094
29,264
% of Total
Population
Enslaved
6.2%
0.9%
15.0%
32.2%
39.1%
25.5%
42.1%
35.5%
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Docent Guide II: History & Background Info
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