Connecticut western news., 1921-09-08
MORE INTERESTING NEWS OF TOWNS HISTORY Compiled by s. A. Eddy and Late Miss Sarah w.
 Adam


 Noting what appeared to be a misprint of the date of the arrival of the first white settler in Canaan as recorded in Mrs. Adams very in- teresting account of the early days of the town 1 have verified my own recollection of the date as follows:-
 Isaac Lawrence, as shown on the inscription on the old door step as well as on his tombstone in the lower cemetery, ''came here June 2, IT35."
 Some thirty years ago my aunt, Miss Sarah W. Adam, gathered a large amount of data relative Co the town of Canaan which it was her intention to publish, but she never got very far with it's compilation. Among her papers, however, I find the following which appears to have been intended as the beginning of the first chapter of the proposed history of the town:-
 "The accounts of the first settle ment in the town of Canaan arc in- volved in much obscurity, and it seems impossible to discover, with any degree of accuracy, in what year the first white settlers actually came into the township. The popular ideo | has been that the real pioneers reached the town in 173S, but .he earliest records reveal the fact that as early as 1722 there were Dutch families living near the Housatoric River, below the farm now GS58) owned and occupied by Daniel R. Spaulding. The names Hogeboom, Butcher, Hollenbeck and Deighteen appear on the Proprietor's Book, and on page 85 is the record of a meet ing of several of the original Pro prietors of the town held on the 18th of April 1737 G73S?) at "P. IFS on the Ousetunic river" where it was voted "that Johannie's Deighteen shall have 15 acers of land he and his deceased Father purchased of William Whiting deceased, by Deed dated Jany. 1722. This is the earli- est date of which any record can be found, and this was of course before the township had received it's name, 90 that the real history of the town of Canaan may be said to have be- gun in 1737 (173SO, when the original Purchasers or Proprietors of the town met in Wethersfield on the 22nd of February, choosing Capt. David Whitney, of Plainfeld, Moderator and Humphrey Avery of Groton Proprietor's Clerk. At this meeting, a Committee, consisting of David Whitney, Humphrey Avery, John Beebe, Samuel Bryant and Silas Bedding was appointed to lay out such parts of the land in the Town ship as they should think for the best interests of all the Proprietors, also to lay out for each Proprietor an equal part for quantity and quality', and make surveys of the same. This Committee was also empowered to lay out necessary high ways. Each Proprietor was to have not less than thirty acres. 1t was voted to call the town Canaan, to pay Avery 12 shillings and the rest 8 shillings per day for their services. The meeting adjourned to the 2nd Wednesday of April when they were again to meet at Peter Hogeb oom's house at 1 o'clock P. M. to draw lots for their different shares of land.
 At this meeting, April 12th) it was voted that the land already oc- cupied by Peter Hogeboom and Abraham Hollenbeck should be given to them, such part thereof as was within their own fence and im- provement", also, that Christopher Butcher should have the 65 acres of
 Continued on page 4)