Saybrook Colony: A Piece of New England History
Offspring: Towns of Lyme, Essex, Chester, Deep River and Westbrook
Dec 18, 2008
Saybrook Colony was established in 1635 where the Connecticut River meets Long Island Sound. The parent of the present towns of Old Saybrook, Lyme, Chester, Essex, Deep River and Westbrook, it claims several “firsts”.
First Birth, Book and Name
Saybrook was the birthplace of the first white child born in Connecticut, David Gardiner, son of Lion and Mary Gardiner. It is also the oldest named Connecticut town if one considers that Windsor, Wethersfield and Hartford—settled between 1633 and 1635—were first under rule of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
The first book printed in Connecticut—with a cover formed from oak boards—was titled The Saybrook Platform. Drawn up in 1708 by 12 ministers and four laymen, it was an instrument of ecclesiastical government which influenced the Congregational Church for dozens of decades. It was also the basis of the now outdated Connecticut “Blue Laws” governing conduct on the Sabbath.
Naming of Saybrook
Historians debate the basis of Saybrook's name. Some think it honors two Saybrook patentees, Viscount Say and Lord Brooke. Others claim it was named “Zeebrugge” on early Dutch maps, the translation denoting it was situated where the river meets the sea.
Its history began when, in 1632, the Earl of Warwick, president of the Council for New England, granted a patent to 15 gentlemen interested in settling what became Saybrook Colony.
They commissioned John Winthrop Jr. as first governor.
First Governors Were Winthrop and Fenwick
Lt. Edward Gibbons and Sgt. Samuel Willard, with 20 men from the Bay Colony, left Boston and landed at Saybrook Nov. 24, 1635. They had orders from Winthrop to wrest control of the area from Indian tribes and Dutch traders.
Winthrop hired Lion Gardiner to build a fort. Winthrop arrived in the late spring of 1636, leaving his wife in Boston. Col. George Fenwick, the only patentee who came to Saybrook, was the colony’s second and last governor (1639-1644).
Fenwick conveyed the colony to Connecticut Colony at Hartford in 1644, the year the English captured New York from the Dutch.
Early Days in Saybrook
During its initial years Saybrook was primarily a military post. It later played a vital role during the Pequot War. There was no organized church life until the Congregational Church was built in 1646.
Uncas, chief of the Mohegan Indians, befriended the settlers, as did his sons Attawanhood and Joshua. When their enemy, the Pequots, came from the north, the fort was reinforced with 90 men from Massachusetts. The first fort burned in 1647 and a second was constructed in 1648.
Saybrook Today
Saybrook Colony originally covered 40,000 acres. It was eventually divided into sections called quarters, which evolved into the present neighboring towns of Old Saybrook.
As part of Saybrook’s 350th anniversary in 1985, the celebration committee sponsored three books: 1) Glimpses of Saybrook in Colonial Days, edited by Elaine F. Staplins and based on a 19th century manuscript by local historian Chapman Chesebrough; 2) Saybrook Vital Statistics, compiled by Elizabeth Bull Plimpton from thousands of entries in original church and land records; and, 3) a collection of biographies of Saybrook’s 110 founders.
Saybrook Research Sources
The Saybrook Historical Society, headquartered at the historic Gen. William Hart House, maintains historical and genealogical. They include the Chapman family papers, Samuel Tully papers and various family histories. They offer research services and invite email inquiries.
Descendants of Saybrook’s founding families may join the Saybrook Colony Founders Association.
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