The Connecticut Charter of 1662 - Connecticut History Constitution Prior to being the first of the original thirteen colonies to pen a constitution, Connecticut was granted a very generous charter by King Charles II of England, which it very bravely preserved when Charles' brother, James, ascended the throne and tried to have this wonderful piece of Connecticut history revoked. The way it was protected demonstrates pure Yankee ingenuity. After this remarkable document came The Fundamental Orders of 1638-1639, a first attempt at a constitution that defined citizen rights. If you look at the flip side of the new Connecticut quarter you'll find the outline of the "Charter Oak" tree. Estimated at over 500 years of age, the tree was a huge white oak. The paper with which it was involved was a Royal Charter granted to Connecticut by England's King Charles II† in 1662. It defined the state's borders and bestowed ownership of the land as well as giving certain rights to the people of Connecticut. Over the next twenty-five years after it was granted, the British colonies became very attractive to British aristocracy, so much so that in 1687, King James II ordered his representatives to seize the Connecticut Charter.

In characteristic defiance, the people of Connecticut refused to surrender it, so the British threatened to claim the land and divide it. Some would go to New York and the remainder to Massachusetts. On October 26, 1687, Sir Edmund Andros, the crown's appointed governor of New England, traveled to Butler's Tavern in Hartford (now Connecticut's capital) and demanded the Charter be surrendered to him at once. Had the people living in Connecticut given it up, their rights would have been revoked, and Connecticut history would have ended there. Considerable debate ensued that night, and during a rowdy argument, the candles lighting the room were suddenly and quite mysteriously extinguished. Captain Joseph Wadsworth, a man fiercely protective of the Charter, was waiting outside. In the midst of the confusion inside the tavern, the Charter was slipped out the door to him. Wadsworth quickly made his way to the Wylls estate in Hartford, where he found an oak tree. An opening in its trunk became the ideal hiding place for the document.

The majestic tree, better known as th "Charter Oak Tree, helping in part to preserve the rights of the state's citizens, stood proudly in Hartford until August 21, 1856, when high winds toppled it. It has become as representative of Connecticut history as has the first Constitution to be drafted in this country. It is presented below in its original wording, which is at times difficult to comprehend. Editing it to adhere to modern-day speech, however, would be to deprive the reader of its originality and to provide a glimpse into just how far the "King's English" has evolved. THE CHARTER FOR THE CONNECTICUT COLONY 1662 GRANTED BY KING CHARLES II *The original Charter of the Colony of Connecticut, 1662, is on permanent exhibition at the Museum of Connecticut History, 231 Capitol Ave., Hartford. Note: What's below is the exact wording, punctuation and misspellings of the original document.

CHARLES THE SECOND, BY THE GRACE OF GOD, King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, defender of the Faith; To all to whome theis presents shall come Greetinge: WHEREAS, by the severall Navigacons, discoveryes and susccessfull Plantacons of diverse of our loving Subjects of this our Realme of England, Severall Lands, Islands, Places, Colonies and Plantacons have byn obtayned and setled in that parte of the Continent of America called New England, and thereby the Trade and Comerce there hath byn of late yeares much increased, AND WHEREAS, wee have byn informed by the humble Peticon of our Trusty and welbeloved John Winthrop, John Mason, Samuell Willis, Henry Clerke, Mathew Allen, John Tappen, Nathan Gold, Richard Treate, Richard Lord, Henry Woolicott, John Talcott, Daniell Clerke, John Ogden, Thomas Wells, Obedias Brewen, John Clerke, Anthony Haukins, John Deming and Mathew Camfeild, being Persons Principally interested in our Colony or Plantacon of Connecticut in New England, that the same Colony or the greatest parte

 thereof was purchased and obteyned for greate and valuable Consideracons, And some other part thereof gained by Conquest and with much difficulty, and att the onely endeavours, expence and Charge of them and their Associates, and those vnder whome they Clayme, Subdued and improved, and thereby become a considerable enlargement and addicon of our Dominions and interest there.

NOW KNOW YEA, that in consideracion thereof, and in regard the said Colony is remote from other the English Plantacons in the Places aforesaid, And to the end the Affaires and Business which shall from tyme to tyme happen or arise concerning the same may be duely Ordered and managed.

WEE HAVE thought fitt, and att the humble Peticon of the Persons aforesaid, and are graciously pleased to Create and Make them a Body Pollitique and Corporate, with the powers and Priviliges herein after menconed; And Accordingly Our will and pleasure is, and of our especiall grace, certeine knowledge and meere mocon wee have Ordeyned, Constituted and Declared, And by theis presents, for vs, our heires and Successors, Doe Ordeine, Constitute and Declare That they, the said John Winthrop, John Mason, Samuell Willis, Henry Clerke, Mathew Allen, John Tappen, Nathan Gold, Richard Treate, Richard Lord, Henry Woollcot, John Talcot, Daniell Clerke, John Ogden, Thomas Wells, Obadiah Brewen, John Clerke, Anthony Hawkins, John Deming and Mathew Camfeild, and all such others as now are or hereafter shall bee Admitted and made free of the Company and Society of our Collony of Connecticut in America, shall from tyme to tyme and forever hereafter, bee one Body Corporate and Pollitique in fact and name, by the Name

 of Governour and Company of the English Collony of Connecticut in New England in America; And that by the same name they and their Successors shall and may have perpetuall Succession, and shall and mey bee Persons able and Capable in the law to Plead and bee Impleaded, to Answere and to be Answered vnto, to Defend and bee Defended in all and Singular, Suits, Causes, quarrelles, Matters, Accons and things of what kind or nature soever, And alsoe to have, take, possesse, acquire and purchase lands Tenements or hereditaments, or any goods or Chattells, and the same to, Lease, Graunt, Demise, Alien, bargaine, Sell and dispose of, as other our leige People of this our Realme of England, or any other Corporacon or Body Politique within the same may lawfully doe.

AND FURTHER, that the said Governour and Company, and their Successors shall and may for ever hereafter have a Comon Seale to serve and vse for all Causes, matters, things and affaires, whatsoever of them and their Successors, and the same Seale to alter, change, breake and make new from tyme to tyme att their wills and pleasures, as they shall thinke fitt.

And further, wee will and Ordeine, and by theis presents for vs, our heires and Successors Doe Declare and appoint, that for the better ordering and manageing of the affaires and businesse of the said Company and their Successors, there shall be one Governour, one Deputy Governour and Twelve Assistants to bee from tyme to tyme Constituted, Elected and Chosen out of the Freemen of the said Company for the tyme being, in such manner and forme as hereafter in these presents is expressed; which said Officers shall apply themselves to take care for the best disposeing and Ordering of the Generall business and affaires of and concerning the lands and hereditaments herein after menconed to bee graunted, and the Plantacon thereof and the Government of the People thereof.

And for the better execucon of our Royall Pleasure herein, WEE DOE for vs, our heires and Successors, Assigne, name, Constitute and appoint the aforesaid John Winthrop to bee the first and present Governour of the said Company; And the said John Mason to bee the Deputy Governour; And the said Samuell Willis, Mathew Allen, Nathan Gold, Henry Clerke, Richard Treat, John Ogden, Thomas Tappen, John Talcott, Thomas Wells, Henry Woolcot, Richard Lord and Daniell Clerke to bee the Twelve present Assistants of the said Company; to contynue in the said severall Offices respectively, vntill the second Thursday which shall bee in the moneth of October now next comeing.

AND FURTHER, wee will, and by theis presents for vs, our heires and Successors DOE Ordaine and Graunt that the Governour of the said Company for the tyme being, or, in his absence by occasion of sicknes, or otherwise by his leave or permission, the Deputy Governour for the tyme being, shall and may from tyme to tyme vpon all occasions give Order for the assembling of the said Company and calling them together to Consult and advise of the businesse and Affairs of the said Company, And that for ever hereafter Twice in every yeare, (That is to say,) on every Second Thursday in October and on every Second Thursday in May, or oftener, in Case it shall bee requisite, The Assistants and freemen of the said Company, or such of them, (not exceeding twoe Persons from each Place, Towne or Citty) whoe, shall bee from tyme to tyme therevnto Elected or deputed by the major parte of the freemen of the respective Townes, Cittyes and Places for which they shall bee soe elected or Deputed, shall have a generall meeting or Assembly, then and their to Consult and advise in

 and about the Affaires And businesse of the said Company; And that the Governour, or in his absence the Deputy Governour of the said Company for the tyme being, and such of the Assistants and freemen of the said Company as shall be soe Elected or Deputed and bee present att such meeting or Assembly, or the greatest number of them, whereof the Governour or Deputy Governour and Six of the Assistants, at least, to bee Seaven, shall be called the Generall Assembly, and shall have full power and authority to alter and change their dayes and tymes of meeting or Generall Assemblies for Electing the Governour, Deputy Governour and Assistants or other Officers or any other Courts, Assemblies or meetings, and to Choose, Nominate and appoint such and soe many other Persons as they shall thinke fitt and shall bee willing to accept the same, to bee free of the said Company and Body Politique, and them into the same to Admitt and to Elect, and Constitute such Officers as they shall thinke fitt and requisite for the Ordering, Manageing and disposeing of the Affaires of the said Governour and Company and their Successors.

AND WEE DOE hereby for vs, our heires and Successors, Establish and Ordeine, that once in the yeare for ever hereafter, namely, the said Second Thursday in May, the Governour, Deputy Governour, and Assistants of the said Company and other Officers of the said Company, or such of them as the said Generall Assembly shall thinke fitt, shall bee in the said Generall Court and Assembly to be held from that day or tyme, newly Chosen for the yeare ensuing, by such greater parte of the said Company for the tyme being then and there present.

And if the Governour, Deputy Governour and Assistants by these presents appointed, or such as hereafter bee newly Chosen into their Roomes, or any of them, or any other the Officers to bee appointed for the said Company shall dye or bee removed from his or their severall Offices or Places before the said Generall day of Eleccon, whome wee doe hereby Declare for any misdemeanour or default to bee removeable by the Governour, Assistants and Company, or such greater part of them in any of the said publique Courts to be Assembled as is aforesaid, That then and in every such Case itt shall and may bee lawfull to and for the Governour, Deputy Governour and Assistants and Company aforesaid, or such greater parte of them soe to bee Assembled as is aforesaid in any of their Assemblies, to proceede to a New Eleccon of one or more of their Company in the Roome or place, Roomes or Places of such Governour, Deputy Governour, Assistant or other Officer or Officers soe dyeing or removed, according to their discretions; and immediately vpon and after such Eleccon or Eleccons made of such

 Governour, Deputy Governour, Assistant or Assistants, or any other Officer of the said Company in manner and forme, Aforesaid, The Authority Office and Power before given to the former Governour, Deputy Governour or other Officer and Officers soe removed, in whose stead and Place new shall be chosen, shall as to him and them and every of them respectively cease and determine.

PROVIDED, alsoe, and our will and pleasure is, That as well such as are by theis presents appointed to bee the present Governour, Deputy Governour and Assistants of the said Company as those that shall succeed them, and all other Officers to bee appointed and Chosen as aforesaid, shall, before they vndertake the Execucon of their said Offices and places respectively, take their severall and respective Corporall Oathes for the due and faithfull performance of their dutyes in their severall Offices and Places, before such Person or Persons as are by these Presents hereafter appoynted to take and receive the same; That is to say, the said John Winthrop, whoe is herein before nominated and appointed the present Governour of the said Company, shall take the said Oath before one or more of the Masters of our Court of Chancery for the tyme being, vnto which Master of Chancery WEE DOE, by theis presents, give full power and authority to administer the said Oath to the said John Winthrop accordingly.

And the said John Mason, whoe is herein before nominated and appointed the present Deputy Governour of the said Company, shall take the said Oath before the said John Winthrop, or any twoe of the Assistants of the said Company, vnto whome WEE DOE by these presents, give full power and authority to Administer the said Oath to the said John Mason accordingly. And the said Samuell Willis, Henry Clerke, Mathew Allen, John Tappen, Nathan Gold, Richard Treate, Richard Lord, Henry Woolcott, John Talcott, Daniell Clerke, John Ogden and Thomas Welles, whoe are herein before Nominated and appointed the present Assistants of the said Company, shall take the Oath before the said John Winthrop and John Mason, or one of them, to whome WEE DOE hereby give full power and authority to Administer the same accordingly.

And our further will and pleasure, is that all and every Governour or Deputy Governour to bee Elected and Chosen by vertue of theis presents, shall take the said Oath before two or more of the Assistants of the said Company for the tyme being, vnto whom wee doe, by theis presents, give full power and authority to give and Administer the said Oath accordingly. And the said Assistants and every of them, and all and every other Officer or Officers to bee hereafter Chosen from tyme to tyme, to take the said Oath before the Governour or Deputy Governour for the tyme being, vnto which said Governour or Deputy Governour wee doe, by theis presents, give full power and authority to Administer the same accordingly.

AND FURTHER, of our more ample grace, certeine knowledge and meere mocon WEE HAVE given and Graunted, and by theis presents, for vs, our heires and Successors, ULME give and Graunt vnto the said Governour and Company of the English Colony of Connecticut in New England in America, and to every Inhabitant there, and to every Person and Persons Trading thither, And to every such Person and Persons as are or shall bee free of the said Collony, full power and authority from tyme to tyme and att all tymes hereafter, to take, Ship, Transport and Carry away, for and towards the Plantacon and defence of the said Collony such of our loveing Subjects and Strangers as shall or will willingly accompany them in and to their said Collony and Plantacon: (Except such Person and Persons as are or shall bee therein restrayned by vs, our heires and Successors:) And alsoe to Ship and Transport all and all manner of goods, Chattells, Merchandizes and other things whatsoever that are or shall be vsefull or necessary for the Inhabitants of the said Collony and may lawfully bee Transported thither

; Neverthe lesse, not to bee discharged of payment to vs, our heires and Successors, of the Dutyes, Customes and Subsidies which are or ought to bee paid or payable for the same.

AND FURTHER, Our will and pleasure is, and WEE DOE for vs, our heires and Successors, Ordeyne, Declare and Graunt vnto the said Governour and Company and their Successors, That all and every the Subjects of vs, our heires or Successors which shall goe to Inhabite within the said Colony, and every of their Children which shall happen to bee borne there or on the Sea in goeing thither or returneing from thence, shall have and enjoye all liberties and immunities of free and naturall Subjects within any the Dominions of vs, our heires or Successors, to all intents, Construccons and purposes whatsoever, as if they and every of them were borne within the Realme of England, AND WEE DOE authorize and impower the Governour, or in his absence the Deputy Governour for the tyme being, to appointe two or more of the said assistants att any of their Courts or Assemblyes to bee held as aforesaid, to have power and authority to Administer the Oath of Supremacy and obedience to all and every Person and Persons which shall att any tyme or tymes hereafter goe or passe into the said

 Colony of Connecticutt, vnto which said Assistants soe to bee appointed as aforesaid, WEE DOE, by these presents, give full power and authority to Administer the said Oath accordingly.

AND WEE DOE FURTHER, of our especiall grace, certeine knowledge and meere mocon, give and Graunt vnto the said Governour and Company of the English Colony of Connecticutt in New England in America, and their Successors, that itt shall and may bee lawful to and for the Governour or Deputy Governour and such of the Assistants of the said Company for the tyme being as shall bee Assembled in any of the Generall Courts aforesaid, or in any Courts to be especially Sumoned or Assembled for that purpose, or the greater parte of them, whereof the Governour or Deputy Governour and Six of the Assistants, to be all wayes Seaven, to Erect and make such Judicatories for the heareing and Determining of all Accons, Causes, matters and things happening within the said Colony or Plantacon and which shall bee in dispute and depending there, as they shall thinke fitt and convenient; And alsoe from tyme to tyme to Make, Ordaine and Establish All manner of wholesome and reasonable Lawes, Statutes, Ordinances, Direccons and Instruccons, not contrary to the laws of this

 Realme of England, as well for setling the formes and Ceremonies of Government and Magestracy fitt and necessary for the said Plantacon and the Inhabitants there as for naming and Stileing all sorts of Officers, both superior and inferior, which they shall find needfull for the Government and Plantacon of the said Colony, and the distinguishing and setting forth of the severall Dutyes, Powers and Lymitts of every such Office and Place, and the formes of such Oaths, not being contrary to the Laws and Statutes of this our Realme of England, to bee administered for the Execucon of the said severall Offices and Places; As alsoe for the disposeing and Ordering of the Eleccon of such of the said Officers as are to bee Annually Chosen, and of such others as shall succeed in case of death or removall, and Administering the said Oath to the new Elected Officers, and Graunting necessary Comissions, and for imposicon of lawfull Fines, Mulcts, Imprisonment or other Punishment vpon Offenders and Delinquents, according to the Course of other Corporacons within this our Kingdome of

 England, and the same Lawes, fines, Mulcts and Execucons to alter, change, revoke, adnull, release or Pardon, vnder their Comon Seale, As by the said Generall Assembly or the major part of them shall be thought fitt; And for the directing, ruleing and disposing of all other matters and things whereby our said people, Inhabitants there, may bee soe religiously, peaceably and civilly Governed as their good life and orderly Conversacon may wynn and invite the Natives of the Country to the knowledge and obedience of the onely true God and Saviour of mankind, and the Christian faith, which in our Royall intencons and the Adventurers free profession is the onely and principall end of this Plantacon; WILLING, Commanding and requireing, and by these presents, for vs, our heires and Successors, Ordaineing and appointeing.

That all such Lawes, Statutes and Ordinances, Instruccons, Imposicons, and Direccons as shall bee soe made by the Governour, Deputy Governour, and Assistants, as aforesaid, and published in writeing vnder their Comon Seale, shall carefully and duely bee observed, kept, performed and putt in execucion, according to the true intent and meaning of the same. AND these our letters Patents, or the Duplicate or Exemplification thereof, shall bee to all and every such Officers, Superiors and inferiors, from tyme to tyme, for the Putting of the same Orders, Lawes, Statutes, Ordinances, Instruccons and Direccons in due Execucon, against vs, our heires and Successors, a sufficient warrant and discharge.

AND WEE DOE FURTHER, for vs, our heires and Successors, give and Graunt vnto the said Governor and Company and their Successors, by these presents, That itt shall and may bee lawfull to and for the chiefe Commanders, Governours and Officers of the said Company for the tyme being whoe shall bee resident in the parts of New England hereafter menconed, and others inhabitating there by their leave, admittance, appointment or direccon, from tyme to tyme and att all tymes hereafter, for their speciall defence and safety, to Assemble, Martiall, Array, and putt in Warlike posture the Inhabitants of the said Colony, and to; Commissionate, Impower and authorize such Person or Persons as they shall thinke fitt to lead and Conduct the said Inhabitants, and to encounter, expulse, repell and resist by force of Armes, as well by Sea as by land, And alsoe to kill, Slay and destroy, by all fitting wayes, enterprizes and meanes whatsoever, all and every such Person or Persons as shall at any tyme hereafter Attempt or enterprize the destruc

con, Invasion, detriment or annoyance of the said Inhabitants or Plantacon, And to vse and exercise the law Martiall, in such Cases onely as occasion shall require, And to take or surprize by all wayes and meanes whatsoever, all and every such Person and Persons, with their Shipps, Armour, Ammunicon, and other goods of such as shall in such hostile manner invade or attempt the defeating of the said Plantacon or the hurt of the said Company and Inhabitants; and vpon just Causes to invade and destroy the Natives or other Enemyes of the said Colony.

NEVERTHELESSE, Our Will and pleasure is, AND WEE DOE hereby Declare vnto all Christian Kings, Princes and States, That if any Persons which shall hereafter Bee of the said Company or Plantacon, or any other, by appointment of the said Governor and Company for the tyme being, shall at any tyme or tymes hereafter Robb or Spoile by Sea or by land, and doe any hurt, violence or unlawful hostility to any of the Subjects of vs, our heires or Successors, or any of the Subjects of any Prince or State beinge then in league with vs, our heires or Successors, vpon Complaint of such injury done to any such Prince or State, or their Subjects WEE, our heires and Successors, will make open Proclamacon within any parts of our Realme of England fitt for that purpose, That the Person or Persons committinge any such Robbery or Spoile, shall within the tyme lymitted by such Proclamacon, make full restitucon or satisfaccon of all such injuries done or committed, Soe as the said Prince or others soe complayneing may bee fully satisfied and contented.

And if the said Person or Persons whoe shall committ any such Robbery or Spoile shall not make satisfaccon accordingly, within such tyme soe to bee limited, That then itt shall and may bee lawful for vs, our heires and Successors, to put such Person or Persons out of our Allegiance and Proteccon: And that it shall and may bee lawfull and free for all Princes or others to Prosecute with hostility such Offenders and every of them, their and every of their Procurers, ayders, Abettors and Councellors in that behalfe.

PULMVIDED, alsoe, and our expresse will and pleasure is, AND WEE DOE by these presents for vs, our heires and Successors, Ordeyne and appointe that these presents shall not in any manner hinder any of our loveing Subjects whatsoever to vse and exercise the Trade of Fishinge vpon the coast of New England in America, but they and every or any of them shall have full and free power and liberty to contynue and vse the said Trade of Fishing upon the said Coast, in any of the Seas therevnto adioyning, or any Armes of the Seas or Salt Water Rivers where they have byn accustomed to Fish, and to build and sett vpon the wast land belonging to the said Colony of Connecticutt, such Wharfes, Stages and workehouses as shall bee necessary for the Salting, dryeing and keeping of their Fish to bee taken or gotten vpon that Coast, any thinge in these presents conteyened to the contrary notwithstanding.

AND KNOWE YEE FURTHER, That Wee, of our more abundant grace, certaine knowledge and meere mocon HAVE given, Graunted and Confirmed, And by theis presents for vs, our heires and Successors, DOE give, Graunt and Confirme vnto the said Governor and Company and their Successors, AULM that parte of our Dominions in Newe England in America bounded on the East by Norrogancett River, commonly called Norrogancett Bay, where the said River falleth into the Sea, and on the North by the lyne of the Massachusetts Plantacon, and on the South by the Sea, and in longitude as the lyne of the Massachusetts Colony, runinge from East to West, (that is to say,) from the Said Norrogancett Bay on the East to the South Sea on the West parte, with the Islands thervnto adioyneinge, Together with all firme lands, Soyles, Grounds, Havens, Ports, Rivers, Waters, Fishings, Mynes, Mynerals, Precious Stones, Quarries, and all and singular other Comodities, Iurisdiccons, Royalties, Priv

iledges, Francheses, Preheminences, and hereditaments whatsoever within the said Tract, Bounds, lands and Islands aforesaid, or to them or any of them belonging.

TO HAVE AND TO HOLD the same vnto the said Governor and Company, their Successors and Assignes, for ever vpon Trust and for the vse and benefitt of themselves and their Associates, freemen of the said Colony, their heires and Assignes, TO BEE HOLDEN of vs, our heires and Successors, as of our Mannor of East Greenewich, in Free and Common Soccage, and not in Capite nor by Knights Service, YULMLDING AND PAYINGE therefore to vs, our heires and Successors, onely the Fifth parte of all the Oare of Gold and Silver which from tyme to tyme and at all tymes hereafter shall bee there gotten, had or obteyned, in liew of all Services, Dutyes and Demaunds whatsoever, to bee to vs, our heires or Successors, therefore or thereout rendered, made or paid.

AND LASTLY, Wee doe for vs, our heires, and Successors, Graunt to the said Governor and Company and their Successors, by these presents, that these our Letters Patent shall bee firme, good and effectuall in the lawe to all intents, Construccons and purposes whatsoever, accordinge to our true intent and meaneing herein before Declared, as shall be Construed, reputed and adiudged most favourable on the behalfe and for the best benefitt and behoofe of the said Governor and Company and their Successors, ALTHOUGH EXPRESSE MENCON of the true yearely value or certeinty of the premises, or of any of them, or of any other Guifts or Graunts by vs or by any of our Progenitors or Predecessors heretofore made to the said Governor and Company of the English Colony of Connecticut in New England in America aforesaid in theis presents is not made, or any Statute, Act, Ordinance, Provision, Proclamacon or Restriccon heretofore had, made.

Enacted, Ordeyned or Provided, or any other matter, Cause or thinge whatsoever to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding. IN WITNES whereof, we have caused these our Letters to be made Patent; WITNES our Selfe, att Westminister, the three and Twentieth day of Aprill, in the Fowerteenth yeare of our Reigne. † Author's "InsidePerspective" Historical Note from Family Records: Shortly after Cromwell came to power in England, Edward Hyde, under cover of darkness, took then Prince Charles II, the Prince of Wales, to Belgium where he schooled him in all things monarchical, as well as the normal studies of the time. When Cromwell's brother passed way, Hyde restored Charles to the throne and was named Lord Chancellor, the King's closest advisor. He was rewarded by being named the first Earl Clarendon, and later, Baron of Hindon, my middle name. Clarendon was my grand, grand, grand, grand, etc. uncle.

Clarendon's daughter, Anne Hyde, called "Ugly Anne Hyde" for reason unknown--paintings of her show her to be quite attractive-- had a tryst with James, Charles' brother, James, the Duke of York. The result of the dallience was pregnancy out of wedlock. James, now in love with Anne and she with him, asked for King Charles' leave to marry her. Charles permitted the marriage over Clarendon's terse and sometimes salty objections. Hyde was bitter about the idea that Anne, a commoner, could be allowed to "pollute" the royal blood line. In fact, Clarendon wanted her to be banished to the tower of London for the remainder of her life. Charles nonetheless ramained adamant that James and Anne marry, and they did. Anne bore him three queens, one of whom was Mary. It was not a pleasant marriage for Anne inasmuch as James was very much a lady's man and had numerous mistresses. Hyde remained Lord Chancellor until his political enemies outmaneuvered him and had him ousted from the king's court.

He went neither quietly nor easily, but finally settled and penned Clarendon's History of the Great Rebellion, which is still in print at the Oxford University Press. It is considered by many historians even today as one of the best historical war accounts ever written. Hyde then wrote his two-volume autobiography in 1669. If you Google "Edward Hyde" "First Earl of Clarendon," or "Clarendon" you'll find a great many sites about him. His writing genes were passed down to many of us in our family tree, although I for one could never hope to be anywhere near as good as he. Page 1 of 1 OUR FRIENDS Located in one of America's most sensational, natural paradises, the Stoweflake Mountain Resort & Spa in Stowe, Vermont offers the ultimate, year-round vacation experience. With its celebrated world-class spa, luxurious accommodations, award-winning restaurants and friendly, attentive staff, the Stoweflake is unrivaled as New England's premier spa/resort destination. Since 1865, Mountain View has offered visitors a memorable experience.

Following a $20 million restoration in 2002, the Mountain View once again welcomes guests in grand style with all the state of the art amenities that today's travelers expect from a Four-Diamond destination resort. INSIDE alphaDictionary * The Origins of US State Names Alabama Alabama was named after the Alabama River. The river was named for the Alabama Indians originally living in region of that river, a subgroup of the Chickasaws and not the current Alabamas. The appellation first appeared in three accounts of the Hernando de Soto expedition of 1540, spelled Alibamo by Garcillasso de la Vega, Alibamu by the Knight of Elvas, and Limamu by Rodrigo Ranjel (in the last form, the loss of the initial vowel and the replacement of [b] by [m] were common in the language). It is possible that Alabama originated as a compound noun based on Choctaw, alba "vegetation, plants, herbs" + amo "gatherer, picker". "Plant gatherers" would be an apt description of the Alabama Indians of that time since they did clear land for farming.

( Reference ) Alaska Alaska came from an Aleut (Yupik) word alaxsxaq [ah-lock-shock] "the mainland, the land facing the sea". The Russians were the first Europeans in Alaska and they pronounced the word Alyaska. When the US purchased Alaska from the Russians the name was only slightly modified to what it is today. ( Reference ) Arizona Calling this state the "arid zona" is cute and semantically appropriate but it is only someone's idea of word play. Arizona was inherited from the Spanish Arizonac, a word virtually identical to Basque arizonac "good oak". However, it isn't clear why the Spanish would choose a Basque word for (at the time) a Mexican territory and the semantic fit is weaker than that of arid zona. The name of this state is most probably a Native American word, possibly an O'odham (Pima) word meaning "having a little spring" made up of ali "little" + sona-g "spring-having"—plus a little corruption from the Spanish. (See Bright, William Native American Placenames of the United States, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2004, p.

47.) Georgia This state was named in honor of King George II of England. Around 1730 James Oglethorpe formulated a plan to obtain the release of people from London's debtors' prison and to establish a new colony, south of Carolina, to be inhabited by the "worthy poor" of London. In a Royal Charter signed June 20, 1732, King George II granted the right for the colony of Georgia and in February, 1733, a small group of settlers sailed up the Savannah River and established the colony. In gratitude to King George II the colony was named Georgia. ( Reference ) Hawaii The name of this archipelago state was taken from the largest island. Though Captain James Cook called the islands the Sandwich Islands in honor of the Earl of Sandwich in 1778, King Kamehameha I united the islands under his rule 1819 as the Kingdom of Hawaii. One theory of the origin of the name of the largest island is that it was an old compound noun based on the words hawa "homeland" and ii "small, active".

The other theory is that the name comes from Hawaii Loa who, according to tradition, was the Polynesian who originally discovered them. Neither explanation is supported by evidence, however. ( Reference ) Idaho The claim that Idaho's name is the result of a hoax is itself a hoax ( click here ). Idaho is an English corruption of the Kiowa-Apache word idaahe "enemy", a name the Kiowas applied to the Comanches when they migrated to southern Colorado and came in contact with them in territory the Comanches considered their own. The move led to war among the two tribes. This word is still found in the name of Idaho Springs, now in the Denver-Aurora metro area. It spread east to Ohio (Pike County) and other eastern states and was applied, for whatever reason, to Idaho when it was established as a territory on March 4, 1863. (See Bright, William Native American Placenames of the United States, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2004, p.

177.) Indiana This state has one of the most obvious names in the US with the rather ironic meaning, "the land of Indians." It was given to the Indiana Territory by the United States Congress when Indiana was created from the Northwest Territory in 1800. Indiana joined the Union in 1816 as the 19th state. Iowa The state of Iowa was named for the Native Americans living in that territory at the time, the Iowas. Despite the report of the 1879 General Assembly of Iowa, which proclaimed that this word means "the beautiful land", it is actually a Dakota Sioux word given to the Iowas in jest meaning "sleepy ones". The Iowas call themselves [bah-ko-jay] "the gray/ashy heads". According to tradition, this name came from an incident in their history when, while camping in the Iowa River valley, a gust of wind blew a cloud of sand and campfire ashes onto their heads. ( Reference ) Kansas This state was named after the Kansas River that flows through it. The river was named after the Kaw, an American Indian people of the central Midwestern United States.

The Kaw have also been known as the Kanza, a word some say means "Wind People". However, no evidence supports this claim. If it had any meaning other than to designate the Kanza people, it was probably "plum". ( Reference ) Kentucky The Kentucky Encyclopedia claims that the state of Kentucky was named for the Kentucky River, as in the case of several other states. The origin of the river's name has never been definitively identified but there have been several suggestions, including an Iroquoian name meaning "place of meadows", an Algonquian term for a river bottom, or a Shawnee term for the head of a river. More likely, however, it comes from the Wyandot (Iroquoian) word kentahteh "tomorrow, the coming day", a word that originally applied to the Iroquoian possessions on the Ohio but later to the lands to the south of the Ohio. Those territories represented the land where they (the Wyandots) would live tomorrow, in the future." A good translation of the word as it came to apply to the country of Kentucky would then be "The Land of Tomorrow".

( Reference ) Louisiana The first permanent settlement in the Louisiana Territory was at Fort Maurepas (now Ocean Springs, Mississippi, near Biloxi), founded by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, a French military officer from Canada, in 1699. The French explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle named the region Louisiana to honor France's King Louis XIV in 1682. ( Reference ) Maine No one has a clue about this one. The name first appears in writing in 1622 as a province, in a charter of the Council of New England granting land to Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Captain John Mason. The portion which came to be Captain Mason's alone in 1629, he named New Hampshire. In the same year, a second charter labeled it Laconia. Gorges volleyed with yet another name for his territory: New Somerset. This was strongly disliked by King Charles; he responded in a 1639 charter that it "shall forever hereafter be called and named the Province or County of Mayne and not by any other name or names whatsoever".

Despite the tone of finality, this still was not the last word: other suggestions were Yorkshire, Lygonia and Columbus, the latter two appearing as late as 1819, when statehood was imminent. ( Reference ) Maryland In 1629, George Calvert, 1st Lord Baltimore in the Irish House of Lords, applied to Charles I (1600-1649) for a new royal charter for what was to become the Province of Maryland, which was at the time the northern part of Virginia. George Calvert died in April 1632, but a charter for "Maryland Colony" (in Latin "Terra Maria") was granted to his son, Caecilius Calvert, 2nd Lord Baltimore, on June 20, 1632. The new colony was named in honor of Henrietta Maria (1609-1669), Queen Consort of Charles I. Three years earlier, Charles established the colony of Carolina . ( Reference 1 • Reference 2 ) Massachusetts The Massachusetts Bay Colony took its name from that of the indigenous Massachusett people. The colony's name probably started out as "the Massachusetts' Bay".

The name can be segmented (with English spelling) as mass-achu-s-et, comprising mass "big" + achu "hill" + s "small" (diminutive ending) -et, a locative suffix meaning "place of". It is generally taken as a reference to the Great Blue Hills, visible from the I-93 beltway south of Milton. The problem is that the usual word for "big" in Algonquian is miss, as in missegkon "big rain = hail" and missittspu "big =(heavy) frost", not mass (see also Mississippi and Missouri for other examples of miss "big, large"). Mass usually meant "arrowhead", so the hill was more probably named "Arrowhead Hill". ( Reference 1 • Reference 2 • Dr. Ives Goddard, Chief Linguist, The Smithsonian Institute (correspondence) Minnesota The word Minnesota comes from the Dakota name for the Minnesota River, mnisota, a compound noun made up of mni "water" + sota "cloudy, muddy".

Dakotas demonstrated the name to early settlers by dropping milk into water and calling it, "mnisota." Since English does not allow words beginning with [mn], settlers inserted a vowel between these two sounds, producing mini which they wrote as "minne". Many locations in the state contain the Dakota word for water, such as Minnehaha Falls from mni + haha "falls", i.e. "Waterfall Falls" and not "laughing waters" as is commonly thought, Minneiska "white water", Minnetonka, "big water", Minnetrista "crooked water", and Minneapolis which is a combination of mni and Greek polis "city". ( Reference ) Mississippi Mississippi is named for the Mississippi river which forms its western boundary. When Abraham Lincoln wrote, "the Father of Waters again goes unvexed to the sea," in reference to the river in a letter of August 27, 1863, he promoted an urban myth that persists today. In fact, Mississippi never meant "Father of Waters". In 1666 French explorers in the Great Lakes region recorded the Ojibwa (Algonquian) name for the river as Messipi.

It was actually the phrase miss sepi "big river" (see also Massachusetts and Missouri for the word miss "big, large"). This name traveled down the length of the river, dominating all others. The French took the name with them as they went down Big River to its delta, and it superseded all the other names for Big River used by local Indian tribes and by earlier Spanish explorers. In 1798 Congress applied the Ojibwa name of the river to the territory of Mississippi, which later became the state. ( Reference ) Missouri Missouri took its name from the Missouri river. The river was named after a tribe of southern Sioux people called the Missouris, who lived along the river. The word missouri at one time meant "large canoe" and was applied both to the people and the place where they lived. (See also Massachusetts and Mississippi for the word miss "big, large".) ( Reference ) Montana The name of this Northwestern state is a variation of the Spanish word montaña "mountain". No one knows who first applied it or under what circumstances.

Subsequent to the Lewis and Clark expedition, Montana became a United States territory (Montana Territory) on May 26, 1864 and the 41st state on November 8, 1889. ( Reference ) Nebraska In 1842 Lieutenant John Fremont set out on an expedition mapping overland routes to the West. In the course of his expedition, he came in contact with the Oto (Missouri-Oto) people living along what is known today as the Platte River. The Otos called the river, according to Fremont, nebraska, which he took to mean "flat river" hence the river's current name. Fremont suggested this name for the territory and in 1844 the Secretary of War approved the name and this region became known as the Nebraska Country. ( Reference ) Nevada Although the name is derived from the Spanish word nevada "snowy, snow-covered", the local pronunciation of the state's name is not Spanish [neh-vah-dah], but good ol' American [nuh-vae-duh]. The name became official when President James Buchanan created the territory of Nevada March 2, 1861.

On October 31, 1864, President Lincoln proclaimed Nevada's admission to the Union as the 36th state. ( Reference ) New Jersey Sir John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret received a royal charter from King Charles II for a colony in the New World on June 24, 1664 and named this colony for the island of Jersey in the English Channel. Carteret had been born in Jersey and had spent several years as Lieutenant Governor of the island. Charles II also granted Pennsylvania to William Penn and New York to his cousin James II, the Duke of York. ( Reference ) New Mexico The region of New Mexico originally belonged to New Spain, as Mexico was called until Mexican War of Independence (1810-1821). It was first explored by Spaniard Francisco de Ibarra in 1562, who called the region Nueva Vizcaya "New Biscay". The name Mexico is a word based on the Nahuatl Mexihco, whose meaning is unclear. Juan de Oqate founded the San Juan colony on the Rio Grande in 1598 and was made the first governor of the new Province of New Mexico, then a part of Mexico.

The American government established the New Mexico Territory on September 9, 1850 after defeating Mexico in the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848 with Santa Fe ("Holy Faith") as its capital. ( Reference ) New York New York was named in honor of the Duke of York who received patent to New Netherland from his brother Charles II and sent an expedition to capture it in 1664. The English in the end traded what is today the country of Suriname for New Amsterdam that same year, renaming it New York after the Duke of York, soon to be King James II. Charles II also signed land grants for New Jersey and Pennsylvania . ( Reference ) North Carolina In 1629, King Charles I of England "erected into a province" all the land from Albemarle Sound on the north to the St. John's River on the south, which he directed should be called Carolina. The word Carolina is from the word Carolus, the Latin form of Charles. Charles I (1600-1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland, from March 27, 1625 until his execution in 1649.

In 1632 he also established the colony of Maryland . There was one state of Carolina until 1729 when owners of the northern part of the territory sold their interests back to the King and North Carolina became a royal colony. ( Reference ) North Dakota North and South Dakota were one territory until 1889. Dakota was named for the Dakota, a Sioux people who lived in the region, featured in the motion picture, Dances with Wolves . Dakota is apparently a Sioux word for "friends" or "allies." ( Reference ) Ohio A widely held fallacy is that Ohio is an Iroquoian name meaning "beautiful river." This myth originated with a French traveler of about 1750 who called the Ohio "une belle riviere" and mentioned that the local native people called it Ohio. It does not follow, however, that the Frenchman's reaction was the meaning of the word Ohio. While the origin is still very cloudy, it would seem more likely that this word was a Wyandot (Iroquoian) word meaning "large, great" or, used alone, "the great one". This is based on missionary and Indian agent reports of the time.

( Reference ) Oklahoma Oklahoma became the 46th state in the Union on November 16th, 1907. The state's name was chosen by Allen Wright, chief of the Choctaw Nation from 1866 to 1870. Wright combined two Choctaw words, ukla "person" + huma "red" to form the word that first appears in a 1866 Choctaw treaty. So, Oklahoma means "red person", a more subtly ironical memorial to the people who originally lived there than Indiana . ( Reference ) Oregon The name of this state was first published by Jonathan Carver in 1778 in his book Travels Through the Interior Parts of North America. Carver took the name from the writings of Maj. Robert Rogers, an English army officer who used this proper noun in a 1765 petition to the Kingdom of Great Britain. The petition referred to Ouragon and asked for money to finance an expedition in search of the Northwest Passage. Where Rogers got the word remains a mystery.

The most plausible explanation is that it came from an engraver's error in naming the Ouisiconsink (Wisconsin River) on a French map published in the early 1700s. In a 2004 article for the Oregon Historical Quarterly, professor Thomas Love and Smithsonian linguist Ives Goddard argue that Rogers chose the word after exposure to either of the Algonquian words wauregan and olighin, both meaning "good and beautiful". Rogers is likely to have heard the terms because of his frequent encounters with Mohegans in the late 1750s. Other suggestions, such as an origin in French ouragan "hurricane" or Spanish oregano are pure speculations without any basis in fact. ( Reference ) Pennsylvania In 1681, Charles II of England granted a land charter to William Penn, due to the fact that a large debt was owed to William Penn's father, Admiral William Penn. one of the largest land grants to an individual in history. That land included both present-day Delaware and Pennsylvania.

The name Pennsylvania is a Latinized word made up of Penn + sylva "woods" + nia (noun suffix) or, roughly, "Penn's Woodland", named in honor of Admiral Penn. Charles II also signed land grants for New Jersey and New York . ( Reference ) Rhode Island The first mention of the name Rhode Island in connection with Narragansett Bay is in a letter of Giovanni da Verrazzano, the Italian explorer, dated July 8, 1524, in which he likens an island near the mouth of Narragansett Bay to the Island of Rhodes in the Mediterranean. Verrazzano probably referred to Block Island rather than to Aquidneck but this fact was not known in England, where the name made news long before the Pilgrims came to New England. Verrazzano's letter was printed in Italian in 1556 and in English in 1582 and 1600, so that it was accessible to the early settlers before they left England. ( Reference ) South Carolina In 1629, King Charles I of England "erected into a province," all the land from Albemarle Sound on the north to the St.

John's River on the south, which he directed should be called Carolina. The word Carolina is from Carolus, the Latin form of Charles. Charles I (1600-1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland, from March 27, 1625 until his execution in 1649. In 1632 he also established the colony of Maryland . There was one state of Carolina until 1729 when owners of the northern part of the territory sold their interests back to the King and North Carolina became a royal colony. (See North Carolina .) South Dakota North and South Dakota were one territory until 1889. Dakota took its name from the Dakota (or Lakota), a Sioux people who lived in the region, featured in the motion picture, Dances with Wolves . Dakota is the Sioux word for "friends" or "allies." ( Reference ) Tennessee Tennessee comes from the name of a native American village named Tanasqui through which Captain Juan Pardo, the Spanish explorer, and his men passed in 1567 while traveling inland from South Carolina.

European settlers later encountered a Cherokee town named Tanasi in present-day Monroe County, Tennessee. It is not known whether this was the same town as the one encountered by Juan Pardo but one or both of these names were the predecessors of modern day Tennessee. Pardo said that the word had no meaning but was just a village name. ( Reference ) Utah This state's name comes from a Navajo word yuttahih "higher-ups, people who are higher". Europeans thought this term referred to a people who lived higher up in the White Mountains and when they did, in fact, encounter such a tribe, they called them "Utes". ( Reference ) Vermont Vermont was adopted as the official name of the state on June 30, 1777 as part of the first Vermont constitution. Dr. Thomas Young, a Pennsylvania statesman who suggested that the Pennsylvania constitution serve as a basis for Vermont's, proposed the name Vermont to perpetuate the memory of the Green Mountain Boys. This rebel group, led by Ethan Allen, were named for the long ridge of mountains running north-south through the state.

However, Vermont was first settled by the French and England gained control of the area only in 1763 after the French and Indian Wars, so the name probably originated with them. The problem with this assumption is that "green mountains" in French would be (les) monts verts not verts monts, so the phrase had been subjected to Anglicization. By whom? Probably the entire population. ( Reference ) Virginia At the end of the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533-1603), who was known as the "Virgin Queen" because she never married, gave the name Virginia to the whole area explored by the 1584 expedition of Sir Walter Raleigh along the coast of North America. The name eventually applied to the whole coast from South Carolina to Maine. ( Reference ) Washington On August 29, 1851, 27 male settlers met at Cowlitz Landing (south of present-day Olympia) to petition Congress for a Columbia Territory separate from Oregon covering the area between the Columbia River and 49th parallel. The petition was reaffirmed by 44 delegates who met in Monticello on November 25, 1852.

Congress approved the new territory on February 10, 1853, but changed its name to Washington in honor of the first president of the United States, George Washington. U.S. President Millard Fillmore established Washington Territory on March 2, 1853; Washington became a state on November 11, 1889. ( Reference ) West Virginia At the end of the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533-1603), who was known as the "Virgin Queen" because she never married, gave the name Virginia to the whole area explored by the 1584 expedition of Sir Walter Raleigh along the coast of North America. The name eventually applied to the whole coast from South Carolina to Maine. The regions making up what is now West Virginia seceded from the state of Virginia rather than join the Confederacy and became the 35th state of the U.S. during the course of the Civil War. ( Reference ) Wisconsin Wisconsin first appears in 1673 in Fr. Jacques Marquette's journal as Mescousing and Miskous, words he thought meant "red stone" in some Algonquian language.

Marquette picked this word up from the Mascouten (Miami, Kickapoo) people he had just visited. A related Algonquian people, the Mesquakie (or Fox), called themselves "Red Earth People" and may have applied the appellation to the nearby river. Modern linguists find that these primary sources do not accurately reflect what is known now about Algonquian languages and can find no word in any of those languages that resemble those in Marquette's journal. Marquette's Meskousing had become Ouisconsin by 1682 in the parlance of the explorer LaSalle and was spelled Wisconsin in the early nineteenth century after the U.S. took control of the region even though the territorial governor James Doty strongly preferred the spelling Wiskonsan. ( Reference ) Wyoming The name Wyoming was adopted from the Delaware (Lenape) word chwewamink: chw- "big" + eweam- "plains" -enk "place" = "at/on the big plains" and was first used to name the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania, where the Lenapes lived. Congressman J. M.

Ashley of Ohio, introduced a bill in the House of Representatives in 1865 to provide a "temporary government for the territory of Wyoming," a name he apparently chose. The bill was referred to a committee where it rested until being passed in 1868. During debate on the bill in the U.S. Senate in 1868, other possible names were suggested, such as Cheyenne, Shoshoni, Arapaho, Sioux, Platte, Big Horn, Yellowstone, Sweetwater and Lincoln. Wyoming was already commonly used and remained the popular choice. ( Reference ) Early Connecticut History Before the first settlers came to Connecticut, robins lived here along with Native American tribes We watched them hunt and fish in the woodlands and streams. They made many trails to allow them to travel between villages to trade . You can still hike many of these trails today . These Native Americans gave something else to Connecticut - its name. The name Connecticut comes from a Native American word "Quinatucquet," which meant "Beside the Long Tidal River." and was commonly used from the early 1600's. Do you know how long the Connecticut River is?

(Answer 360 miles from Vermont to Long Island Sound) I have flown over it many times. The first Europeans we saw landing on Connecticut shores were Dutch traders ( ) who sailed up the Connecticut River around the year 1614, and landed near Hartford. By the year 1633, they had purchased land from the Pequot Tribe and made a permanent settlement. Within the next year, we saw many English settlers from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, exploring throughout the Connecticut Valley area. They were impressed with the beauty of the countryside and decided to stay. It was in the town of Wethersfield ( ) that they planted the first crop. The English settlers gave us the name "Robin," because our red breasts reminded them of a character in many of their poems, songs and stories called " Robin Redbreast ." We knew that we were a member of the thrush family, but we didn't mind being called robins. In 1636, one of the most famous early Connecticut settlers, the Reverend Thomas Hooker, traveled from Massachusetts with a group of colonists. They founded the town of Hartford ( , which soon became an important center of government and trade.

Many of the settlers bought land along the river from the Mohegan Indians. When we returned to Connecticut each spring we saw new settlements and villages from Saybrook to Windsor. Their fields provided lots of food for our new chicks. By 1637, trouble began between the settlers and the Pequot Indians. The Indians wanted to take the lands that had been purchased from the Mohegans. In that year, Captain John Mason led the colonists to victory over the Pequots. Because they wanted to create a plan for the type of government they wanted, Thomas Hooker, John Haynes and Roger Ludlow wrote a document which has been called the first written constitution. This was the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut #HISTORICAL Many historians have said that this was the basis for the United States Constitution. It was adopted in 1639 by Freeman of Hartford, Wethersfield and Windsor. At the same time, the first Governor, John Haynes, was chosen. By 1660, the colonists had become uneasy about their legal standing with England. The colonies were still under English rule then, but there were many disagreements about land claims.

Governor John Winthrop went to England in 1662 to talk to King Charles II. He returned with a royal charter #HISTORICAL . This document was important because it gave the colony a legal basis and the approval of the King. The colony continued to grow peacefully for the next 20 years, but every spring when we returned our nests, we heard more and more that the colonists were unhappy about the rule of England. They became afraid that they would lose their charter and their lands. England was far away, and the colonists wanted to decide their own government, future and way of life. In October of 1687, the English Governor, Sir Edmund Andros, who had been appointed by King James, came to Connecticut to take away the charter and the colonists' legal rights. A large assembly was called to discuss the situation, and the charter was put on a table. Suddenly, someone put out the candles, and in the darkness the charter was taken away. Captain Wadsworth of Hartford is credited with taking the charter and placing it in a hollow spot in a large oak tree. This tree became known as the Charter Oak .

I like to think that some of my ancestors who had not yet left for the winter, sat in the branches of the tree and guarded the charter. {Charter Oak Tree} Many generations of robins would come and go before the next major crisis. During that time, Connecticut continued to grow and prosper, but troubles with England increased. I will tell you about that in the next section - Connecticut in the Revolutionary War. Call for the Robin Redbreast CALL for the robin redbreast and the wren, Since o'er shady groves they hover, And with leaves and flowers do cover... -- John Webster

Question: What is particularly common to King Charles II of England and the state of Connecticut's Royal Charter?
Answer: Oak tree