THE GUILFORD SETTLEMENT - 1639
Historical Notes

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The first settlers of Guilford were most of them gentlemen of some good rank and estate in their native country. They appear to have been not only Puritans, but of the same ripe non-conformist grade with the Pilgrims of Plymouth, whom they closely resembled in all main points of faith and practice. That Whitfield was their pastor and leader, and Desborough, kinsman and trusted ally of Cromwell, their comrade, indicates very truly the spirit and aim of the movement.

Their avowed purpose in coming to America was to find here an opportunity to develop their religious and political convictions in their own way. They made it very clear, in word and deed, what their convictions and that "own way" of theirs were.

While yet on their passage and preparing to land at Quinnipiac, the company signed this covenant. "We, whose names are hereunder written, intending by God's gracious permission, to plant ourselves in new England, and, if it may be in the southerly part, about Quinnipiac. We do faithfully promise each to 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 each to the other in every common work, according to every man's ability, and as need shall require; and we promise not to desert or leave each other or 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 in a church 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, the first day of June 1639."

But their inmost heart was revealed more fully when they came to draft a constitution for their Guilford settlement. in that they say, "The mayne ends which wee propounded to ourselves in our coming hither and settling down together are, that wee may settle and uphold the ordinances of God in an explicit Congregational Church Way, with most purity, peace and liberty, for the benefit both of ourselves and posterity after us. Wee do now , therefore, all and every on of us agree, order and conclude, that only such planter as are also members of the Church here, shall be and be called freeman, and that such freemen only shall have power to elect magistrates, deputies, and other officers of public interest or authority in matters of importance." Only Church members capable of citizenship, and they not members of some sort, of some church somewhere, but approved and accepted members of the church here."

This extreme Puritan theory of civil rights as inhering in the Church, was adopted in all the New haven settlements; and while some friction resulted in some other communities, in Guilford it is said to have found quiet acceptance and smooth operation. But meanwhile, until their church should come into being and possess the kingdom, some provisional administration must be had; and accordingly at a meeting of the planters it was, "Agreed that the civil power for the administration of justice and preservation of peace shall remain in the hands of Robert Kitchel, William Chittenden, John Bishop and William Leete, formerly chosen for that work, until some may be chosen out of the Church that shall be gathered." At length, June 29, 1643, their organization was perfected by the formation of a church; whereupon the provincial agents and magistrates resigned their trust, a constitution was adopted, officers chosen, lands divided, title given and Guilford entered as a member of the confederate New Haven Colony.

New Haven was the first, Milford the second and Guilford the third, in the order of settlement and confederation. Each town reserved to itself the control of its own affairs by the body of church members, while a General Court composed of Deputies from the several towns transacted the proper federal affairs of the Colony.

The leading Guilford planters were farmers from Surey and Kent, in the vicinity of London; and in choosing their place of settlement they were attracted to "......the low, flat land like that from which they were removed," lying along the border of the Sound eastward. in was then know a s Menunkatuck in the possession of an Indian tribe of that same name. They named it Guilford from the old borough town of that name, the capital of Surey, where many of them had lived.

September 29, 1639, Henry Wakefield, Robert Kitchel, William Leete, William Chittenden, john Bishop and John Coffinge, as agents of the associate planters, purchased the tract which constitutes nearly all of the present town of Guilford, from Shaumpishah, the Sachemsqaw of the Menunkatucks. The price paid was a dozen of each of the following articles: coats, shoes, stockings, mirrors, spoons, four kettles and two English coats. December 17, 1641, they purchased what is called the neck, eastward to Tuckishoag Pond. These tracts were held in trust by the agents until such time as their church the sole depository of all legitimate civil as well as ecclesiastical authority, was prepared to receive them t their hands. Still later, January 13, 1664, Samuel kitchel and William Leete purchased a strip of territory on the northern border of Guilford from Uncas, the Mohegan Sachem, and this they afterwards sold to the town.

During the twenty-seven years of his residence in Guilford from 1639 to 1666, Robert Kitchel held a prominent place among the most active and trusted of the planters. he occupied what is now the corner of Broad and Fair streets, and the center still carries the name. he was Deputy for Guilford in the General Court at new Haven, in 1630, 1656, 1661, 1662 and 1663, the Treasurer for the Plantation for many years.

By all tokens, Robert Kitchel stands out a staunch, tenacious character, intensely Puritan, a pilgrim Father, even to the second degree. he not only left Old England for the New in quest of freedom and purity, but when it became certain that the New Haven Plantations were to lose their separateness and be blended with the lax Connecticut Colony, and so all their pure beginnings be diluted and defiled, he tore away again with a like-minded company, and began his enterprise afresh in New Jersey.(See Reason for Removal to Newark)

One of his compeers in the Guilford Colony was Samuel Desborough, a kinsman of Oliver Cromwell. A few years later, he returned to England, took a prominent part in the revolution and counsels of Cromwell, a member of his Parliament and Scotch Council of State, and Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland.

More than any other Henry Wakefield inspired and guided the Guilford company. he was a University man, educated for a lawyer in the Inns of Court, but took orders in the Church of England. Conferring with Mr. Cotton, he caught his non-conformity, sold his large estate, and led out this band of sympathizing parishioners and friends. his wealth and remarkable force of character were devoted to the enterprise. he was their minister for twelve years, when he returned to England. he was one of those who shaped New England. His Stone house, built in 1639, is still standing, reputed to be the oldest dwelling-house in the United States, and certainly one of our most venerable antiquities. His son-in-law, John Higginson, succeeded him as second pastor, still 1659; and after the lapse of two centuries, the Kitchel name appears gain, the twelfth Guilford pastor, in the eighth generation from Robert Kitchel.

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