Kent, Connecticut, USA
1836 - Kent

The tract now comprising the towns of Kent and Warren was sold at auction at the court house in Windham, in March, 1738. The settlement commenced the same year. The town was laid out in fifty three shares. The principal settlers were rom Coichester, Fairfield and Norwalk. Payne, Washburn, Wright, Ransom and Platt, were from Colchester; the Comstocks were from Fairfield; and the Slausons, Canfields and Bassetts, were from Norwalk. The town was incorporated, and vested with town privileges at the session of the Legislature in October, 1739. The first minister was the Rev. Cyrus Marsh, ordained in May, 1741. The settlement of the town was rapid. In May, when Mr. Marsh was ordained, the church consisted of ten males only; but before the end of the year, there was an addition of fifty three persons, male and female, principally by recommendations froth other churches.

Kent is characteristically mountainous; it is bounded N. by Sharon, E. by Warren, s. by New Milford, and w. by the state of New York. It is nearly 8 miles in length, and 6 in breadth from east to west. The manufacture of iron was formerly carried an to a considerable extent in this town; there are at present three furnaces in operation. There are 3 houses of worship in the town; 1 Episcopal, 1 Congregational, and 1 Methodist.

The above (refers to missing picture) is a representation of the Episcopal church in Kent, 50 miles from Hartford, and the same distance from New Haven. The Housatonic river passes at the foot of the mountain seen in the back ground. About a mile and a half below this building, on the opposite side of the river, the Moravian church or mission house was standing 30 or 40 years since, near the house of Mr. Raymond, which is just discernible.in the distance on the extreme left. The Moravians left this place about half a century since. The Scatacook tribe, for whose benefit this mission was established, occupied the interval on the west side of the river for about three miles. The scenery in this place has a peculiar charm, being uncommonly beautiful and interesting. The river, calm and still, winds with grace and beauty through this fertile spot, while the mountain rises abruptly, high, rugged and precipitous, forming a back ground and finish to the picture. During the Revolutionary war this tribe furnished 100 warriors. It is said that they were able to communicate intelligence from the sea coast 10 Stockbridge, Mass. the distance of 100 miles, in two hours. This was effected by Indian yells, or whoops, from their men, who were stationed at proper places along the borders of the Housatonic, from its mouth up to Stockbridge. Dr. Dwight, who passed through this place in 1798, says that there were sixteen wigwams remaining.

Gideon Mauwehu, the king or sachem of the Scatacook tribe, was a Pequot Indian. The last place of his residence, previous to his coming to Kent, was in the town of Dover, N. Y. on Ten mile river, a few miles west of Scatacook. Mauwehu, in one of his hunting excursions, came to the summit of the mountain which rises almost precipitously west of Scatacook, and beholding the beautiful valley and river below, determined to make it the place of his future residence. It was indeed a lovely and desirable place; there were several hundred acres of excellent land, covered with grass like a prairie, with some few scattering trees interspersed. The river was well supplied with fish, and on the mountains, on both sides, was found an abundance of deer, and other wild game. At this place Mauwehu collected the Indians, and became their sachem, and here the Moravians had a flourishing mission.

A granddaughter of the sachem, Eunice Mauwehu, and two or three families, are all that now (1836) remain of the tribe at Scatacook. The place where Mauwehu resided was sold by the state for about 3,000 dollars, the interest of which is annually appropriated for their benefit. This farm has been recently sold by Mr. Raymond for 18,000 dollars. The tribe still possesses about 300 acres of land, lying south of this farm; the greater part of which, however, lies on the mountain west of the valley, and is valued from 1,500 to 2,000 dollars.

"There is in this town, (says Dr. Trumbull,) convincing evidence, that it was a grand seat of the native inhabitants of this country, before Indians, who more lately inhabited it, had any residence in it. There are arrow heads, stone pots, and a sort of knives, and various kinds of utensils, frequently found by the English, of such curious workmanship, as exceeds all the skill of any Indians since the English came into this country, and became acquainted with them. These were not only found when the town was first settled, but they are still found on the sides of Housatonic river. The history of the Indians in the town when the settlement of it commenced, is well known. Mowehue, a sachem, who a few years before had removed with his Indians from Newtown to New Milford, about the year 1728 built him a hunting house at Scatacook, in the northwest part of Kent, on the west bank of the Housatonic river. He invited the Indians at New Milford, from the Oblong, in the province of New York, and from various other places, to settle with him at Scatacook; and it appears that he was a man of so much art and popularity among the Indians, that in about ten or eleven years, about the time when the town was settled, he could muster an hundred warriors. The whole number, probably, was about live or six hundred. These, like the other Indians in this state, and in most other states, have been greatly diminished.

Connecticut Historical Collection by John Warner Barbour, Published 1836

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