User:Eurodog/sandbox340

Old Saybrook

History
Simon Willard has been chronicled as a founding father of Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Willard, then a Sergeant, and Lieutenant Edward Gibbons, were sent by John Winthrop (1606–1676) — son of John Winthrop (1587–1649), Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony — to occupy the mouth of what is now the Connecticut River (Long Island Sound) with 20 carpenters and workmen. On November 24, 1635, the group landed on the west bank at the mouth of the Connecticut River. They located the Dutch coat of arms and replaced it with a shield that had a grinning face painted on it. The group established a small fort with a cannon. When the Dutch returned to the mouth of the river, they spotted the English fort and withdrew. The fort was one of the first military establishments in the Connecticut Colony.

References linked to notes

 * LCCN a31001201 (1797 ed.); (1818 ed.);.










 * → James Savage's 1825–26 edition of Winthrop's journal.