Once Upon a Time in Connecticut by Newton, Caroline Clifford

If this little volume gives to the children of Connecticut a truer appreciation of the early history of the state in which they live, its purpose will have been achieved. A knowledge of Connecticut's history, its men and the work they have accomplished, should arouse the devotion and loyalty of every Connecticut boy and girl to the state and its welfare; and that it shall do so is the hope of those by whom this work has been projected and under whose auspices it has been published.

CHARLES M. ANDREWS.

CONTENTS

I. THE HOUSE OF HOPE AND THE CHARTER OAK II. TWO INDIAN WARRIORS III. A HARBOR FOR SHIPS IV. THREE JUDGES V. THE FORT ON THE RIVER VI. THE FROGS OF WINDHAM VII. OLD WOLF PUTNAM VIII. THE BULLET-MAKERS OF LITCHFIELD IX. NEWGATE PRISON X. THE DARK DAY XI. A FRENCH CAMP IN CONNECTICUT XII. NATHAN HALE

ILLUSTRATIONS

I. WADSWORTH HIDING THE CHARTER II. MIANTONOMO'S MONUMENT III. MEDAL COMMEMORATING THE FOUNDING OF NEW HAVEN IV. THE JUDGES' CAVE ON WEST ROCK V. THE SITE OF SAYBROOK FORT VI. THE WYOMING MASSACRE VII. GENERAL PUTNAM VIII. KING GEORGE THE THIRD IX. THE RUINS OF NEWGATE PRISON X. AN OLD CONNECTICUT INN, 1790 XI. THE MARQUIS OF LAFAYETTE XII. NATHAN HALE

ONCE UPON A TIME IN CONNECTICUT

THE HOUSE OF HOPE AND THE CHARTER OAK

A great oak tree fell in the city of Hartford on August 21, 1856. The night had been wild and stormy; in the early morning a violent wind twisted and broke the hollow trunk about six feet above the ground, and the old oak that had stood for centuries was overthrown.

All day long people came to look at it as it lay on the ground. Its wood was carefully preserved and souvenirs were made from it: chairs, tables, boxes, picture-frames, wooden nutmegs, etc. One section of the trunk is to-day in the possession of the Connecticut Historical Society. Tradition says that this tree was standing, tall and vigorous, when the first English settlers reached Hartford and began to clear the land; that the Indians came to them then, as they were felling trees, and begged them to spare that one because it told them when to plant their corn. "When its leaves are the size of a mouse's ears," they said, "then is the time to put the seed in the ground."

At sunset, on the day when it fell, the bells of Hartford tolled and flags draped in mourning were displayed on the gnarled and broken trunk, for this tree was the Charter Oak, and its story is bound up with the story of the Connecticut Colony.

About the year 1613, five little ships set sail from Holland on voyages for discovery and trade in the New World. They were the Little Fox, the Nightingale, the Tiger, and two called the Fortune. The Tiger was under the command of a bold sailor named Adriaen Block and he brought her across the ocean to New Netherland, which is now New York. There was then a small Dutch village of a few houses on Manhattan Island.