The Newtown bee., 1897-01-22

though one of the earliest in our country, Is one of the smallest in the entire group, at least territorially, if not in population.
 It is situate in the northerly portion of Faii field county, Connecticut, In the southwesterly section of New England, in the United States of America, within radius of 65 miles from the cupola of the city hall of the greatest and richest municipality in the New World, with which it Is to-day connected by steam railway and electric telegraph and tele- phone, and it has more than 20 trains of cars, both passenger and freight, running to and from that metropolis daily, except Sundays, throughout the year. Our town is thus easy of access and egress to and from all parts of the habtable globe.
 During the Revolutionary war, in which our ancestors achieved our independence from Great Britain, the territory now comprising our township belonged to two different counties, FaiI field and Litch field, and to three separate towns, New Milford, Newtown and DaDbury.
 THEIR RESPECTIVE BOUNDARY LINES met, or centered in, and started from 8 large granite rock or boulder, that half a century ago stood some 10 feet high ip what is now the northeasterly corner of the front door yard of the author of this historic sketch. That Bound Rock" as it was then called and known far and wide, has almost wholly disappeared from off the surface of the earth ,and now forms part of the foundation walls of his present dwelling; and some of it wa used in the construction of more than 100 rods of stone fencing on the family home stead.
 Shortly after the cessation of ho.tih- ties between the British forces and the American patriots, in consequence Of some real or supposed hardship of the state law requiring, under fixed penal ties, and compelling all it's inhabitants, of whatever creed, condition or color, to contribute to the support and maintep ance of religious worship in each town, (which was here and then dominated largely, if not entirely, by the Puritan or Congregational element, to the exclu sion or suppression of all others differing Tn form or mode of religious worship Some of the inhabitants of this section, who had recently come over from Egg land, members of, or attached to, the Anglican Communion, ,and some, perhaps who
 BELONGED TO NO PARTICULAR DENoMI
 NATION,
 except they were permanent and persist ent oppositie nists to all rigor or hard ship, in any and every established order or form of religious or social life, sought to emancipate themselves and their chil- dren. from religious taxation and civic thralldom :they abhorred, claiming the right to worship God after the dictates of their own sweet will, or not at all, as the Spirit within might move them-banded together to form an independent parish, or new township, under the proposed name of Newbury, in honor of the com bined nomenclature of the triple town ships out of whose domain they proposed to form g. separate community.
 Early in 17s2 an organization was form ed in the proposed parish, to petition the General Assembly of the late Colony (now state) of Connecticut, for charter of incorporation as separate town. The enterprise was new; the petitioners were inexperienced in dancing attendance on the legislative body of the State that was so recently colony besides their or ganization was defective, and the difficult ties.of combining and blending the con cessions of two different counties, and three several townships-a task always difacult and sometimes insuperable and