TERCENTENARY COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT COMMITTEE ON HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS L DOUBLE NUMBER cThe Colonial Trade of Connecticut ROLAND MATHER HOOKER PUBLISHED FOR THE TERCENTENARY COMMISSION BY THE YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS TER I936 L uiecticLit State Library ry Service Center 5000837 South Main Street HZrimldd letown , Connecticut 06457 I , s , I vi - - * • ? H 1 :rv41. -. , ' . • , . - . v U ; v t : • o jP- TERCENTENARY COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT COMMITTEE ON HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS L The Colonial Trade of Connecticut ROLAND MATHER HOOKER I N attempting to determine the exact extent of the colonial trade of Connecticut, the direction of the trade, and the kind of goods transported, the stu- dent is greatly hampered by the lack of colonial Irecords. In 1781, Benedict Arnold, in command of British troops, sailed up the Thames river, captured Fort Griswold on the Groton side, and after landing at New London, burned the city. In this fire were destroyed all the customs records of the colony, with the exception of some few in New Haven. This destruction is greatly to be deplored since, for the greater part of the colonial period, New London was the only authorized port of entry for colonial trade and the seat of the only British custom- house in Connecticut. As a result of this disaster, the historian of Connecticut colonial trade, as Miss Caulkins remarked in her History of New London, must be con- tented with grasping "those gleams and shadows that flit occasionally across the view in the investigation of other subjects." These gleams and shadows consist mainly of various reports to the board of trade in England, of writings in divers colonial diaries, of the acts of the general court, of the instructions sent to the colonial governors by the board of trade, of the action of the vice-admiralty courts, and of a study of the general British colonial policy in relation to trade with the entire British colonial world. II THE early settlers in the River Towns of Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield soon discovered trade to be essential if the settlements were to prosper, as it was not possible to produce the various goods and commodities necessary for their well-being. Only by creating a surplus in some exportable product could they import the Eng- lish manufactured goods so necessary to them. Fortu- nately, beaver skins proved salable in England, and during the early years of the settlements, large stores of these skins were exported. As the Connecticut towns had no means either to build or to buy vessels large enough to make the voyage across the ocean, most of their exports were sent on small vessels to Boston where they were exchanged for the desired manufactured goods and trans- shipped overseas. Besides the beaver trade with England, a market for pipe staves, provisions, and livestock was found in the West Indies. These staples could be ex- changed for sugar, the chief crop, after 1660, of the Eng- lish possessions there, and for molasses which could be made into rum, available for trade in New Amsterdam or Boston. The general court of Connecticut soon realized the importance of putting its export trade into the hands of responsible persons, and in 1638 granted to William Whiting and Thomas Stanton, of Hartford, the exclusive right to the beaver trade with the Indians. In 1640 Governor Hopkins obtained a special right to trade at 2 Waranocoe (Westfield, Massachusetts). Corn soon be- came a surplus commodity and was exported to Massa- chusetts and Plymouth. In 1644 Governor Hopkins and William Whiting were given the sole privilege of export- ing corn and were required to pay a fixed price for all corn so shipped. William Whiting was the leading merchant of Hartford in the early period. He died in 1647, and the inventory of his estate shows how varied were his activities. Among his effects were goods which could be used for trade, such as wampum, ammunition, various skins, hoes, hatchets, shoes, nails, pins, paper, shot, fishhooks, blades, looking- glasses, pewter, bottles, brass ladles, bells, thimbles, boxes, knives, scissorsj combs, jews'-harps, and brass kettles. Besides these minor articles, his executors listed the results of some of his trading ventures such as: It: in skinns, and debts, vppon a voyage to Verginia, in anno 1647, yet due, 67. 10. 00 It: in Tobacko, at Verginia, 65. 00. 00 It: in the proceed of corne and porke, sould in anno 1648, 48. 00. 00 It: in oyle, soape, vinegar and other goods from Delawar, ye last yeare, 30. 00. 00 It: in trade at Long Iland, 30. 00. 00 It: in stock for trade at Waranoco, TOO. 00. 00 It: in goods sent from England, 65. 19. 03 It: in prt of a pinnace, 40. 00. 00 It: in debts at Dillaware, wch are harserdous, 90. 00. 00 It: a hhd. of Beauer, very haserdous, at least in great prt, sent for England, in Trerice, valued at, 50. 00. 00 It: goods and debts at Piscataway, very haserdous, 150. 00. 00 This inventory shows that, although during the first ten years after the founding of Hartford trade had been 3 established with several communities, it was not very- profitable owing to the large number of bad debts and the danger involved in transporting the commodities. The trade of Hartford during the first fifty years was very limited, and though such men as Whiting and Stanton were willing to take risks, they were disappointed in the results obtained. Windsor, during this period, seems to have been no more successful than Hartford in its attempts to enrich itself through trade. As early as 1662 Michael Humphrey, one of the leading merchants, was trading with Samuel and Henry Rose, merchants of Saint-Malo. In 1679 Cap- tain Newberry and George Griswold had warehouses in Windsor, and at about the same period George and Christopher Saunders were traders to England and the West Indies. Yet the volume of trade remained small, owing to the difficulties involved, the greatest of which were the lack of roads and the consequent dependence on river and coastal navigation. Often vessels were wrecked as the channels were not well known and the vessels small and unseaworthy. While the Indians were at times friendly, they could never be trusted to remain so, and were a constant menace to safe trading. Since most of the settlers of the River Towns had been farmers in England and wished to remain so in their new homes it is sur- prising, considering the danger and lack of incentive, that the volume of trade was not smaller. Wethersfield's story of early trade is similar to that of Hartford and Windsor. In 1649 the men of the town banded together to build a town-owned vessel, but the profits derived from it were disappointing. Besides these three River Towns, another settlement, Saybrook, had been established at the mouth of the Connecticut. The founders of this separate community 4 realized by 1644 the impossibility of continuing it as an independent colony. As it was necessary for the other towns to have freedom to enter and sail from the river, an agreement was made between George Fen wick and the Connecticut colony—an agreement which included the first tariff sanctioned by the people of Connecticut. By this arrangement Connecticut purchased Saybrook fort and all surrounding land, with the stipulation that Fenwick was to receive, for ten years, a duty on all corn, biscuits, bacon, and cattle exported from the mouth of the river. The amount of the duty was small: corn paying two pence per bushel; biscuit, six pence a hundred; cows and horses within the river district, a tax of twelve pence a year; and hogs killed for home consumption or export, a like sum. Beaver skins were taxed two pence a pound when traded within the limits of the river and twenty shillings a hogshead when exported, with the promise that, if conditions in the Indian trade changed, this duty would be eliminated. The amount collected for Fenwick in the ten years during which this tariff was enforced was contemporaneously estimated at ^1,600. ILL DURING this period the chief harbor of what is now Con- necticut belonged to the colony of New Haven, settled in 1638 by John Davenport, Theophilus Eaton, and others. While most of the towns founded in what is now Con- necticut were planned as agricultural communities, with trade as a subordinate consideration, New Haven was, from the outset, intended as a commercial center. At first, it seemed as if New Haven might succeed in its attempt at commercial enterprise. Soon after the settlement of the town, trade was established with Boston, New Amsterdam, Delaware bay, Virginia, Barbados, and 5 England. In 1639, three ships sailed directly from Eng- land to New Haven, bringing supplies to the new settle- ment; this, however, was an exception to the general rule, as most supplies came by way of Boston and most of the early exports of the New Haven colony, which were beaver and other furs, were sent to Boston and there exchanged for imported manufactured goods. The Dutch in New Amsterdam bought from the New Haven traders wheat, biscuit, beef, pork, hides, and furs. They also provided a market for Virginia tobacco and such West Indian goods as cotton, sugar, molasses, and rum. What form of payment was used by the Dutch for these articles is not easy to determine, but it is probable that the New Haven merchants would have accepted gladly any manufactured goods, which at the time were either expensive or scarce in Boston.