Milford Haven

“ It was the articulation of one life into another life, and of each life into the whole, that made the village of New Milford and every village in New England so strong and safe and efficient.
“But, little by little, these villagers in New Milford and other communities round about felt the need of the articulation of community interest into a larger whole. And so the community of associated responsibility and help took in Waterbury, Norwalk, Bridgeport, Hartford, and New Haven and other villages and towns scattered over this general region. ”

“ On the first roster, you will find the names of the leading citizens of old New Haven town. The first men of the town were its sponsors. Back of them was a patriotic and humane purpose, and, having that purpose in view, I am able to declare that we are the oldest military organization of the sort in the State.
“The First Company in Hartford antedates us by a few months, but the First Company was what its name implies, the Governor’s Guard. The Second Company came at the call of the danger to liberty and its first act was to make response to the call of Lexington and Concord. ”

“ Samuel Canfield—money contributed by the first Ecclesiastical Society of New Milford, for the relief of the distressed inhabitants of the towns of New Haven, Fairfield, and Norwalk.
The actual conflict came no nearer than Danbury. A large number of our citizens participated in that battle. ”

“ Those were days when the quick division of land, from the great blocks included in colonial patents granted for the formation of a new township, into numerous small farms, called far more frequently than now for the services of men who could run a line with precision and describe it in the proper terms of art. Within two years from his arrival at New Milford, he had fitted himself to engage in this business, and received from the General Assembly the appointment of a Surveyor of Lands for the County of New Haven ”

“ These citizens were an obstacle to the town’s admission to the New Haven Jurisdiction, which was formed in 1643, but in the following year a compromise was effected and Milford was admitted on condition that, in the future, suffrage should be granted only to church members and that none of the objectionable six should be elected to any office of the Jurisdiction. In 1664 Milford, with the other members of the jurisdiction, was absorbed by Connecticut ”

“ At the supper table Milford nodded in his chair. The hired man spoke to him, and he looked up, his batting eyes fighting off sleep.
"Them slashes have about got the best of you, haven't they, Bill? I'd let that corn go before I'd dig my life out among them tough clods. I'm givin' it to you straight."
"I don't doubt it. But it will pay in the end. I've come to the conclusion that all hard work pays. It pays a man's mind, and he couldn't get a much better reward. ”

“ For integrity of character, for honesty of purpose, for having the courage of his convictions, he is a Governor whom the people of the State of Connecticut will do well to honor. Roosevelt at Washington, Hughes at Albany, Woodruff at Hartford, are the type of public officials which the people want.
“It is my very great pleasure, as well as honor, to present not only to the people of New Milford, but also to the guests whom we are entertaining to-day, his Excellency, Rollin S. Woodruff, of New Haven, Governor of Connecticut. ”

“ Do we, who know this lovely valley so well, wonder that he built his simple home here, and that his descendants have remained here ever since? His house was for some time the last house this side of Albany.
“After a short time, a company from Milford, on Long Island Sound, took up much of the land here, and naturally gave the name New Milford to the new settlement. These men were of a sturdy race, strong in body, courageous, believers in God and His righteousness. ”

“ Blakemore. My station entitled me to respect, and you gave it. But you did not feel that my love for the young woman entitled me to something closer than respect. You are no common man, Mr. Milford. Your face is a Vandyke conception of a spirit of adventure. You are a strength repenting a weakness; there are flaws in you, and yet I could wish that I were the mother of such a son."
"Don't," said Milford, touching her hand; "please don't. I honor you; I could get down on my knees to you. You're not a shadow. There is nothing in a shadow that makes a man bow his head in reverence. ”

“ Marmaduke Hare, who spoke as an Englishman who is an American in the making, Mr. Beach terminated the exercises with these words:
“One brief thought in closing. As the sun sinks behind the hills of our western horizon to-night, we close the second century of the history of New Milford; but let us not linger too long in contemplation of the setting sun. Rather, let us turn our faces eastward and greet the rising sun, which will usher in the third century. Yes, it will be our privilege to enter the portals of another century, but certain it is that not one present will reach its exit. ”

“ And about that time I decided that I wouldn't go to town to-day."
"I'll go over there," said Milford.
"No, don't do anything of the sort, not while you're mad. It's all right now."
"No, it's not all right, but I want to tell you that I'll make it all right". [Pg 86]
"Now, don't go on getting hot. The thing was a joke, and is all smoothed over. It arose out of pity for the other young woman."
"Confound it! there isn't any other woman."
"That's all right; that's what I told them. No other woman, of course not. There never is. Well, I'll be off. I go at twelve forty-five." ”

“ In recent days the courage of our citizens has been “tried as by fire.” The great conflagration of May, 1902, swept away the entire business portion of the village; yet the Puritan fathers could not have met disaster more stoically than our brave men of to-day. The cheerful optimism that built “Shanty Town” on “The Green” while the ruins were still smouldering showed that the stout hearts of old New Milford were the same in the new, and that noble lives have been its inheritance through all its years. ”

“ It is from their lives, indeed, that history gains its color and its inspiration.
“It was the good fortune of New Milford to be the home of such a man in the middle of her first century of existence.
“It was a hundred and sixty-four years ago, this very month that a tall and well-set young fellow of two and twenty ended in this town a toilsome journey, taken on foot from the neighborhood of Boston. He had come to make New Milford his home, bringing on his back the tools of his trade—that of a shoemaker—and with their aid he here gained for a year or two an honest livelihood. ”

“ First comes Highcliffe, this has perhaps the most developed "front," then Barton, nearly two miles from New Milton station, and lastly Milford-on-Sea, the most interesting of them all, but suffering in popularity by reason of the long road, over four miles, that connects it with the nearest stations, Lymington or New Milton; possibly its regular habitués look upon this as a blessing in disguise. Milford is well placed for charming views of the Island: it has good firm sands and a golf links. An interesting church stands back from the sea on the Everton road. ”

“ The hired man was out among the women, poverty once bitten, looking for another bite. Milford stretched himself out upon the grass under the walnut tree. Grimly, he compared himself with a man thrown from a horse, not knowing yet whether or not he was hurt. He had the plainsman's sense of humor, and he laughed at himself. ”

“ Another amazing fact about Milford is its reflective powers. In calm and brilliant weather mountains are outlined in its waters almost as clearly as they appear above the surface. It is as if one were looking into a slightly defective mirror. ”

“ Milford knew that this was a pretense, not from any psychological reasoning, but because she was so unlike the Norwegian girl. To him there was more of conviction in silent opposites than in noisy arguments.
"I heard of you the other night over at the honey sociable," she said.
"Honey sociable?"
"Yes, honey and biscuit for the benefit of the church. Quite a unique affair, and wholly new to me, I assure you. A Mrs. Blakemore was present and spoke of you; she said it was a pity that you hadn't come to tell stories of the West. A very intelligent woman, don't you think?" ”

“ He listened, as if straining his ears to catch the babble of the cider. "I sat about the house, with a dry book, to feel the contrast of the rain; I sniffed the dust of an Elizabethan's pedantry—and then my wife and my daughter began on me. I beggared myself and got them a sofa, and now they want a set of chairs. I made with them a treaty of peace, and, barbarians, they violated it. What a reproach it is to woman to see a man think! She must stir him up, scatter his faculties."
"Not all women," said Milford. ”

“ But I guess I could get her again."
"And he's just about fool enough to take her," Milford spoke up. "Why, she'd run away again." [Pg 218]
"I don't think that, Bill. I guess she's got more sense now."
"At any rate, she's got more sense than you," said the old woman. "She had sense enough to run away and you didn't. But I hear that somebody else run away, Bill. I heard that you left a wife out West."
"You heard a lie, madam," Milford replied. "But that's not hard to hear. A man may be ever so deaf, and sometimes might hear a lie."
"That's gospel, Mrs. Stuvic," said the hired man. ”

“ There is a good natural centre to the village, with four cross roads and an inn, but no doubt Milford's future is to belong to Godalming. A few half-timbered and weather-tiled cottages, which have served as models for newer neighbours, some pollarded elms, a broad smooth road and dusty jasmine—Milford is the first village on the highway running south from Godalming, and on a summer Saturday is less a village than a road. ”

“ Stuvic say that the buggy was not strong. They were going to the village of Lake Villa. They might stop at the mill and have a word with the Professor. Milford remarked that the Professor would no doubt be pleased to see them, but that he was no doubt very busy. They drove on without having noticed the wounds on his face. To one not bent upon a vengeful mission, to a thoughtful man with a mind in tone with the scented air, the soft sky, the spread of green, the gleam of water, the clouds of blackbirds, such a stroll would have been rich with an inner music played upon many sweet chords. ”

“ Hangman’s Wood long way—get morning very early,” replied the other.
The long, dark outline of the ill-omened covert loomed before them; and at sight of it Haviland could hardly restrain a wild paroxysm of laughter, as he remembered the last time they visited the place, and the awful scare they had put upon the unfortunate keeper. Just as they gained it, the moon in its last quarter arose above the tree tops.
“It’s awfully dark in here, Cetchy,” whispered Haviland, as they stood within the gloomy depths of the wood. “These trees are too thick. We can’t see a blessed bird.” ”

“ Those early days of New Milford produced some noted men, whose lives and example did much to mould the characters of the inhabitants. The names of Boardman, Taylor, Noble, Gaylord, Bostwick, Canfield, Baldwin, Griswold, Sherman, Sanford, Mygatt, Marsh, Hine, Turrill, and others of the same stamp will be recalled as those of leaders in the affairs of the town and the church. ”

“ As Milford arose to follow him, he thought that on the woman's face he saw a sneer at "work shop," and he felt that she and her daughter had learned to look upon it as an idle corner, full of useless lumber. The schemes of this ducking failure of a man were not of serious interest to them. His readiness to talk made him seem light of purpose, and a sigh that came from his heart might have been an unuttered word breathed upon the air, a word in excuse of his poverty. ”

“ Milford. Mrs. Stuvic was proud of him. [Pg 217]
"Oh, I knowed what I was doin'," she said one night, sitting near the hot stove in Milford's dining-room. "You can't fool me. I know lots, I tell you. Do you know the Bunker girl? Well, she was at my house yesterday, and she talked like she knowed you but wanted to know you better. Now put down that newspaper and talk to me. Do you know her?"
"I think I've met her," said Milford.
"You think you have. Well, a woman has taken mighty little hold of a man when he thinks he's met her. She'd make you a good wife; yes, you bet!" ”

“ And they do well, the people of New Milford, proud of their town and its history, to recognize on such a splendid scale its two hundredth birthday. With all their ceremonies of civic and social celebration, the religious side of their town’s history has been given equal attention. Almighty God has not been forgotten—He who is the Creator and Supreme Ruler of the Universe, from whom comes all that we are and all that we have, who holds in the palm of His hand the destiny of the world and the fate of its people. ”

“ Twenty-five years before, the Secretary of the Colony had reported to the Home Government, that ‘in this mountainous, rocky, and swampy province’ most of the arable land was taken up, and the remainder was hardly worth tillage.
“This need of more land, and the protection from invasion which the settlement of this section would afford the communities near the coast, and the innate love of adventure and desire to subdue the wilderness, which have characterized the American people from the beginning, were the impelling causes which led to the planting of New Milford. ”

“ Milford turned away. The old woman followed him. "Do you believe he can come back?" she asked.
His sharp eyes cut round at her, like the swing of a scythe. "An old log may learn to float up-stream," he said. She stepped in front of him. "You've done somethin' that you don't want known," she declared. "As smart a man as you wouldn't come out here and work on a farm for nothin'."
"I don't expect to work for nothing."
"Come into the house, Bill. Those women want to get acquainted with you." ”