Saybrook History

Old Saybrook, located at the the mouth of the Connecticut River, was the home of Algonquin Nehantic Indians for years before Europeans arrived. These were peace loving Indians who farmed the area and had village at Saybrook Point. Around 1590, the peaceful Nehantic and other gentle Algonquin tribes living inthe Connecticut River Valley were conquered by the Pequots, a warlike tribe from the north.

The first European to sail up the Connecticut River was Adrian Block who, in 1614, was sent by the Dutch West India Company in New Amsterdam on an expedition to explore, map and claim the eastern cost of "New Netherlands" for the Dutch.
At about the same time the Dutch were exploring this area, the English decided to do the same. In 1620, King James I created the Plymouth Colony (also known as Council for New England) and thereafter, no English Settlement in New England was allowed without the Council's permission.

The Dutch were primarily interested in the fur trade with the Indians along the Connecticut River Valley, and initially only established trading posts for that purpose at several spots along the river, including what is now Hartford, Middletown and Old Saybrook. In 1623, fearing English competition, the Dutch deposited a small group of Dutch men and women at Saybrook Point to establish a permanent colony.

In 1631, the Earl of Warwick, president of the Council for New England, signed a unique deed of conveyance, called the Warwick Patent, to eleven of his closest friends and/or relatives, including the Viscount Saye and Sele and Lord Brooke. A year or so later, four more gentlemen became patentees, including Colonel George Fenwick. Saybrook Point was included in this patent that gave the 15 lords and gentlemen a vast segment of New England stretching from the Narragansett River along the coast line south to about Greenwich, and west from these two point to the Pacific Ocean.

In 1632, the Dutch Governor Van Twiller of New Amsterdam, sent Captain Hans Eechuys to Saybrook Point to formally purchase the point from local Indians. He then contructed a small fur trading post at the Point and named it Kievets Hook. The following year, the Company established a very successful trading post up-river called the House of Hope at the present site of Hartford.

In 1635, the Warwick patentees commissioned John Winthrop, Jr. as the first Governor of the river Connecticut territory. In 1635 Winthrop, learning that the Dutch were planning to permanently occupy Saybrook Point, sent a small vessel with 20 men with orders to seize control of the point. Arriving on November 24, 1635, the Englishmen quickly put ashore two cannons to ward off any attack by the Dutch or the Indians.

Earlier in 1635, Governor Winthrop, Jr. had engaged Lieutenant Lion Gardiner to build a fort and lay out a town, with suitable homes for the gentlemen patentees. In March of 1636, he sailed to Saybrook Point along with supplies and 12 men to build the fort. A month later, Governor Winthrop arrived in Saybrook and shortly thereafter named the settlement Say-Brook in honor of Viscount Saye and Sele and Lord Brooke. While not the oldest town in Connecticut, it has the oldest English town name.

While the local Indians welcomed the settlers, their Pequot conquerors strongly resented them and were intent on driving them away. As a result, Fort Saybrook was in a constant state of siege and when the settlers needed to tend their crops, armed soldiers had to accompany them.

On April 29, 1636, the Gardiner's son David was born at Fort Saybrook, the first child of European parent born in Connecticut.

In 1639, Warwick patentee George Fenwick arrived in Say-brooke with his wife, two sisters and their servants to become its second governor. In 1643, a council for mutual military defense, "The United Colonies of New England" was created between Say-Brooke, New Haven, Connecticut, Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay and also resulted in Articles of Confederation being drawn up which were the first constitution of the American people. In 1644, Fenwick, acting as agent of the 14 other Warwick Patentees, sold the Say-brooke Colony to the Connecticut Colony and also turned over to Connecticut the Saybrook Seal.

As Saybrook grew, settlers moved further and further away from the original settlement and, eventually they received permission to form their own parishes so that they would not have to travel so far on Sundays to attend church services. As these outlying parished grew, they separated from Saybrook and become the present day town of Lyme, Old Lyme, Westbrook, Chester, Essex and Deep River.

Because of its location at the mouth of the river, Saybrook became an important center for the coastal trade and for transshipment from river boats to ocean ships. In the 1700's and 1800's along the shore of North Cove, and even extending out onto the river shore near the cove's mouth, were built many warehouses and wharfs to handle the ships and their cargoes. Many of the houses in the North Cove area today were built by sea captains or ship owners. The ships sailing to and from Saybrook visited Europe, Africa and South America, bu their primary trade was with the West Indies and long the eastern seaboard.

Today the Old Saybrook Historical Society takes an active role in perserving Old Saybrook's past, as does the Saybrook Colony Founder's Association. The General William Hart House, built in 1767 and located at 350 Main Street, is home to the Society and is open to the public.

The Frank Stevenson Archives Building, behind the Hart House, contains material for genealogy and historical research. The building houses the Society's archives vault, containing numerous historical archives concerning Old Saybrook, the Say-brooke Colony, its past citizens and history, as well as the combined Historical Society's and Saybrook Founder Association's historical and genealogy library.

The Hart House is open from June through August and during special exhibits at other times during the year. The Archives are open Wednesday and Thursday, 9-noon or by appointment.

Hart House: 860-388-2622

Archives: 860-395-1635

Old Saybrook Historical Society

PO Box 4

Old Saybrook, CT 06475

www.saybrookhistory.org

The Old Saybrook Chamber of Commerce would like to thank the Old Saybrook Historical Society for sharing the beautiful photos used in our website.

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