The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-06-18

of Autumn and Winter. Holes were
 bored at the proper height in the logs
 at one corner of the room, and into
 these the ends of poles were fitted, the opposite ends, where they crossed. be- ing supported by crotch or a block
 of the proper height. Across these poles others were laid, and these were cover ed by thick mattress of hemlock boughs, over which blankets were spread. On such beds as these the first inhabitants of this town slept and their
 first children were born. For want of
 chairs, rude seats were made with ax and auger by boring holes and insert | ing legs in blanks split from basswood logs, hewn smooth on one side. Tables were made in the same way, and after
 a time the floor, a bare space being left about the fireplace instead of hearth | stone.
 No sooner had the first settlers talk en up their abode here than they were called upon to defend the title to their Hands in the courts of the colony. About thirty seven years before, the general court had granted permission to certain Stratford parties to buy land from the Indians and settle a planta- tion at this place, and they had bought over twenty-six thousand acres here abouts. Apparently, however, no at tempt was made towards settlement l of the same until after the purchase of the same tract from the Indians by the Milford parties in 1702, and the l grant for a patent for the same to them by the general court In 1703. Soon after the settlers first broke ground here in 17O7, a suit was begun against them by the stratford people in the county court at New Haven in May, | 170S, and 1t was carried thence to the general court. It was tried sixteen times. The first fifteen times the plain l tlffs won on the strength of their h. dian title. The sixteenth, the defend ants won on the strength of their h. dian title, the patent from the general court, and occupation. This incident is particularly interesting because one of the plaintiffs and the lawyer In this 1 great case was the famous John Read, one of the ablest men and most re- markable characters which New Eng land has produced. Some notice of him will not be inappropriate here, as he | was one of the earliest inhabitants of this place.
 He was born at Fairfield, June 29, 1879, and was brother-in-law of Gov ernor Talcott He graduated at liar yard in 1897. and became a minister, preached in Woodbury as candi- date, and in various towns In Hart ford and Fairfield counties and preach ed the first sermon ever delivered in this place. He, studied law, and when in 170S, the general assembly first pro- vIded for the appointment of attorneys as officers of the court, he was one of the first admitted, He held the offices of Colony Queens attorney, 1712-16, deputy for Norwalk, 1715-17, commits sioner to settle the boundary with New York 17l9, and he was Connecticut's representative in the inter- colonial commission In regard to bills of cred It, in 172O He removed to Boston in 1722 and became the attorney general
 
 sachusetts. He was by far the most eminent lawyer of New England, and was called "The Pride of the Bar, Light of the Law, and Chief Among the Wise. Witty and Eloquent" It was he who prepared the instructions 1 to Lord Mansfield, the counsel for Connecticut In the great case of Clark vs. Tousey, in which was discussed the question whether the common law of England had any force in Connecticut other than as 1t was adopted by the people of Connecticut. His exposition of the principles involved was most mas Iterly, and 1t was the great authority. upon which in 0 later generation the people of Connecticut relied to sustain them in their opposition to the meas ures of the crown in 1775,
 In centenary sermon delivered at Danbury in January, 1S01 the Rev; Thomas Robbins had this to say of him, "one of the early inhabitants of Danbury was John Read man of great talents and thoroughly skilled in the knowledge and practice of the law. He possessed naturally many pe- culiarities and effected still more. He l Is known to this day. through the country by many singular anecdotes and characteristics under the appella- ton of John Read, the lawyer
 | In TIP, the town was incorporated. which gave 1t the power to tax the in- habitants to support minister, and 1 the place became thereby an eccleslas- 1 tical society. In March, 1712 the Rev. Daniel Boardman was called to preach to the settlers In May, 1715, the set- tiers petitioned the general assembly that they might obtain liberty for the settlement of the worship and ordl- nances of God among them, and the | legislature granted them liberty to erl- body in church estate as soon as God l in his Providence should make way 1 therefor. On November 21, l716, Mir Boardman was duly ordained as the pastor of the Church of Christ fin New Milford, the total number of the in- l habitants of the town then being one hundred and twenty-five. The first vote of the town to build a meetinghouse was passed in 1Tts, but work was not commenced upon 1t until 171s and it was not completed until 17S1, after in- finite struggling It was forty feet long, thirty wide and twenty feet in height between joints and. was provided with galleries, pews and pulpit Long be- fore completion, when 1t was first used for religious purposes, the congregation was accustomed to sit upon It's outer sills which were ahla to accnrnn1 nf1afA