man. With all this he was an active trustee of Princeton,then in its beginnings; moderator of the General Assembly, and a distinct influence among the powerful men then forming the clergy of northern New Jersey. During the French and Indian Wars he served as chaplain while his people fought with the English. When at length the customary stealing of the Indian's lands was completed his charges were removed to western New York and Mass. he took a pastorate at Deerfield, Of the two, Dr. Field writes, "In their native place the saying was, 'Although not so great a son, John was as holy as his brother David." On the crest of the hill above the county jail buildings lies a pasture, the "old house lot," but little trace of the building is found from which the field is named. Here, from 1739 to 1746, dwelt, while pastor of the town, the Rev. Aaron Cleveland,ancestor of President Cleveland, and of Bishop Arthur Cleveland Coxe. The minister's enthusiastic belief in the methods of Whitfield. then causing much dissension, together with the effect on hist salary of the "sink in money," shortened his pastorate, though these difficulties did not prevent a second call to him a few years later. When the old red house of the Rev. Eleazer May was torn down there was saved the painted panel above the "keeping room "mantel. It is a large board, presenting a spirited hunting scene. Red coated hunters on brown steeds prance over an expanse of green paint. Through the center of the field zigzags a blue stream, while in an unusual tree in the foreground sits a fat squirrel so large that the presence of horsemen for his capture is no anomaly. This is the remaining specimen of the work of Mistress Sybil Huntington, wife of Parson May. Their story runs somewhat on this fashion; Mr. May in his romantic youth found little The hills among which the settlement From the beginning the "Trayne Band" had held there, as throughout New England, a foremost place in the town life. Jarrad Spencer, the wealthiest and most important of the settlers was probably the first leader mentioned in the records of 1675 as "Commissionated by the Councill to be their ensigne to command them according to lawe." The middle of the present century saw the death of the institution of the village militia, and with it went that festivity, still fresh in the memory of many who as children counted the weeks to its coming, the annual "general training." At the outbreak of the Revolution, however, these organizations were in full vigor and formed everywhere the starting points for the future army. On tiny scraps of yellowed paper are preserved the names enrolled in the militia companies, and the accounts of ammunition collected for each. So many balls, so much powder from one and another citizen read the old lists, giving an idea of the personal element that gave power to the public side in the marvelous contest. Among the names of high rank in the Revolutionary struggle stands one belonging to this village, Abram Tyler, Captain, Major, Lieutenant, Colonel. A plain white stone and the flag mark his grave in the old burying yard. Neither flag nor stone mark the graves of his followers from the village, yet on its Lexington Alarm list, headed by Col. Tyler, are the names of thirty-two of his townsmen, and though the records are imperfect it is known that Haddam men served on Long Island, at West Point and Rhode Island. In that charming corner of Higganum, "The Landing," the business of shipbuilding had been carried on for several years before the war. There are legends of several vessels from these docks engaged in the struggle, but the "Harlequin" and the "Sampson," are mentioned in the list of privateers. The Sampson, manned largely from the town where it was built THE OLD CHESTNUT TREE. made a gallant fight in the Sound against the British "Swallow." It paid for the victory later, when it was captured in the English Channel and one of those prison ships whose very mention sickens the heart, received, never to set free, the officers and crew. The village took that quiet share in the war that fell to the lot of 552 its state, the giving of its children, the Dr. Hezekiah Brainerd, a cousin of the missionaries, and Corneius Higgins, whose TWO SONNETS. BY BERT F. CASE. I. As one that, wandering in the frosty night fright As other worlds in still mystery look down So in Life's narrowing path I hurried on thou art My Savior and my Saint thro One above. 1893. II. MY DREAM. A dreaming child will sometimes start and cry "Papa, come back-O Papa, don't go'way!" The dream runs gently on.-At midnight I Heart broken cried I--"O,come back to me!" wept, "My prayer, my prayer, it must not be denied.' The morning came, - -My Dream, God pity Joy to his grave hath ILLUSTRATED BY ELLSWORTH SPERRY. AN OUTLOOK. From the Summit of Roaring Brook, Cheshire, Conn. M BY E. W. ELLSWORTH. AKE we this mountain top our Till noon is past, and shadows grow; These mountains, of an age unknown, And level-off, so high in air, Wheels yonder hawk in dizzy round; Above us is the void of heaven, A teeming valley's checkered sod; Save trees that topple from its face, Of thunder storms the battle place, And branded with the lightning's mark. |