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Guilford Covenant

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GUILFORD>>On Tuesday, May 14, 2014, a dream came true for Guilford resident and member of the Board of Selectmen Carl Balestracci. That was the day on which a 27,000-pound slab of pink granite was put into place on a tiny parcel of land at the intersection of Whitfield and Old Whitfield streets.

GUILFORD>>On Tuesday, May 14, 2014, a dream came true for Guilford resident and member of the Board of Selectmen Carl Balestracci. That was the day on which a 27,000-pound slab of pink granite was put into place on a tiny parcel of land at the intersection of Whitfield and Old Whitfield streets.

Overview[]

The Guilford Covenant (or sometimes called the "Plantation Covenant"), was a covenant signed on June 1, 1639 by English colonists during their Atlantic crossing as the founding document of what would become Guilford, Connecticut.

Led by Rev. Henry Whitfield, the Plantation Covenant was signed onboard ship after departing England.[1] The 25 signers were the male heads of household among the group of settlers bound first for Quinnipiac (later known as New Haven). Most of these families were from Surrey and Kent, who by September 1639 founded present-day Guilford after securing a land grant from Shaumpishuh, the Quinnipiac sachem of Menunkatuck.[2]

Text[]

The covenant stated:

We whose names are herein written, intending by God's gracious permission, to plant ourselves in New England, and if it may be in the southerly part, about Quinpisac [ Quinnipiac ], we do faithfully promise each for ourselves and families and those that belong to us, that we will, the Lord assisting us, sit down and join ourselves together in one entire plantation and to be helpful to the other in any common work, according to every man's ability and as need shall require, and we promise not to desert or leave each other on the plantation but with the consent of the rest, or the greater part of the company, who have entered into this engagement.
As for our gathering together into a church way and the choice officers and members to be joined together in that way, we do refer ourselves until such time as it shall please God to settle us in our plantation.
In witness whereof we subscribe our hands, this first day of June 1639[3][4]

Signers[]

GuilfordCovenant2

In order:[5]

Guilford Church[]

"A church was here gathered at Guilford consisting of these 7 persons: the Rev. Henry Whitfield, Samuel Desbrough, John Higginson, John Hoadley, William Leete, John Neoham, and Jacob Sheaffer. " Some who did not sign the Covenant or who arrived in Guilford between 1639 and 1643 were:

  • William Barnes
  • Alexander Chalker
  • William Love
  • George Bartlett
  • George Chatfield
  • Thomas Relf
  • Edward Benton
  • Thomas Chatfield
  • John Scranton
  • Thomas Betts
  • Thomas French
  • John Sheather
  • William Boreman
  • Henry Goldham
  • John Stevens
  • John Chaffinch
  • Thomas Jordan
  • Benjamin Wright


Legacy[]

The covenant Francis was a part of was also notable. It’s been said that “in terms of early colonial documents of this kind, there are only the Mayflower Compact and the Guilford Covenant.”

The original covenant survives in the collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and a digital version exists in the collections of the Guilford Free Library. In June 2014, as part of Guilford's 375th anniversary, the MHS sent the document on loan for display in the town hall.[6][7]

The text of the covenant is memorialized by an engraved pink granite slab at the corner of Old Whitfield and Whitfield streets in Guilford. The town installed the memorial in May 2014.[8]

Today there is a carved stone memorial, erected in 2014. Selected for its location facing toward the center of town and in front of the Henry Whitfield State Museum, the site, now known as Covenant Point, was approved by the town of Guilford and the Historical District Commission.

Notes[]

  1. ^ Cutter, William Richard (2008). Genealogical and Personal Memoirs: Relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts, Volume 1. Baltimore, MD: Clearfield. pp. 1687. ISBN 978-0-8063-4960-2. 
  2. ^ Smith, Ralph Dunning (1877). The History of Guilford, Connecticut: From Its First Settlement in 1639. Albany, New York: J. Munsell. pp. 11. 
  3. ^ "“The Guilford Covenant"". https://guilfordfreelibrary.org/gflarchives/items/show/141. 
  4. ^ Leete, Joseph; Anderson, John (1906). "William Leete". The family of Leete. Blades, East & Blades, Printers. pp. 161–177. https://archive.org/details/familyofleete00leet. 
  5. ^ Steiner, Bernard Christian (1897). History of the Plantation of Manunkatuck and of the Original Town of Guilford, Connecticut. p. 25. https://archive.org/embed/historyofplantat00steiuoft. 
  6. ^ Carlin, Sean (6 June 2014). "Guilford marks founding this weekend". Hearst Connecticut Media Group. https://www.nhregister.com/connecticut/article/Guilford-marks-founding-this-weekend-11384122.php. 
  7. ^ "375-Year-Old 'Guilford Covenant' Returns To Town". 8 June 2014. https://www.courant.com/2014/06/08/375-year-old-guilford-covenant-returns-to-town-2/. 
  8. ^ Eaton-Robb, Pat (19 May 2014). "Massive Guilford Covenant carved in Stony Creek granite stands test of time". Hearst Connecticut Media. https://www.ctinsider.com/news/article/Massive-Guilford-Covenant-carved-in-Stony-Creek-16959444.php. 

Further reading[]

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