fore 1724, and was by him leased to Thomas Cranne, of Stratford, and others, May 16, 1724, for a term of years, reserving to himself one-sixteenth part of all the ore which should be there raised. John Crissey, and his wife Mary, also had some rights in the hill. Still later, Thomas and John Wheeler, Doctor Jonathan Atwood, and Doctor Thomas Leavenworth, acquired rights, by lease, or otherwise, to said mine. The mining tract, at this time, was supposed to contain six acres, and that is the number of acres mentioned in the various deeds and mining leases that were then executed. It was at this early day worked to some extent, but with what success, is not now known. The next digging at this place was by Hurlbut and Hawley, but the history of their operations is substantially lost. The next company was organized by the Messrs. Bronson Brothers, about the year 1764, and many persons became interested in the mining right. This right, at that date, was supposed to cover forty acres. Col. Ethan Allen purchased two and a half acres of land on Mine Hill, or one sixteenth part of the mining title, in 1764, and was interested in the Bronson operations. It was this company that sunk the "old shaft" 125 feet into the mountain, and another lateral one for the purposes of ventilation. The working was carried on under the direction of the German goldsmith, Feuchter, to whom reference has been made, who conducted his processes of pretended separation and refining with great secresy, occasionally producing small quantities of silver, which kept the hopes of his employers alive. But after several years this undertaking collapsed, like the others before them. Still later, the mine was worked by a company organized in New York, which obtained a lease for 42 years. This effort failed. Later still, Asahel Bacon tried the experiment, with no better success. Finally, David J. Stiles, of Southbury, began to collect the scattered titles in 1824, and then the legal contests broke out afresh, and there was no" rest for the sole of his foot," till after he had repeatedly passed through the highest Court of Connecticut, and the Circuit Court of the United States, when his title was finally quieted, and no enemy any longer wagged his tongue in all the Mine Hill Mountains. But perhaps the history of this long warfare, and the state of the title, cannot be better elucidated, than by giving an epitome of the findings in the last legal decision before the Circuit Court of the United States, held by the late Hon. Charles A. Ingersoll, at New Haven, at the April term of the Court, 1856, which was arrived at after a closely contested trial, running through nine days. Certain parties in New York, claiming title under the old mining leases, sued Mr. Stiles in ejectment, and thus the title to the premises became the only issue, Stiles being in undoubted possession. The case, from its antiquity and complications, had consumed months in its preparation, on each side. Hon. Ralph I. Ingersoll, of New Haven, Hon. Norton J. Buel, of Waterbury, Henry S. Sanford and John M. Buckingham, Esqrs. of New Milford, appeared as attorneys for the New York claimants, and ex-Gov. Roger S. Baldwin, of New Haven, and the writer, appeared as attorneys. for Stiles. To state it in vulgar phrase, it was a "tiger-fight," and Stiles succeeded in fully and forever establishing his title to the spathic mine. As a result of the trial, it was found that the plaintiff, the New York party, claimed title by a series of conveyances from one Sampson Simson, a Jew in New York, who was the nephew of a man of the same name, and who, with his brother, Solomon Simson, and brother-in-law, Myer Myers, worked the mine ou said. premises as early as 1764. This Simson supposed he had some title to convey, the other two being dead, but on the trial of the case it was discovered that his interest was never any other than that of a lessee. The disputed premises contain a very rich mine of spathic iron ore, the richest, and perhaps, the only mine of that valuable ore for the manufacture of steel in the United States. It also contains a vein of silver, yielding a small quantity of silver, with a large per cent of the pure metal. The extent of this deposit has not been sufficiently tested to pronounce upon its value as a silver mine. The title to the mine has been more or less litigated since the year 1724, and large sums of money have been expended, both in litigating and working the mine. It was proved to the jury that the mining tract was laid out as as common land, on the original proprietors' rights in Woodbury, and that it was thus laid out because it was discovered that there was a mine there. It was laid out to Moses Hurlbut and Abel Hawley, in 1751. Previous to 1762, Hurlbut and Hawley sold it to Abram and Israel Bronson, who laid out an addition to it, making the whole tract sixty-seven acres, in the early part of 1764. Soon after this, Abram and Israel Bronson leased seveneighths of the mine to Sampson Simson, Myer Myers, and George Trail, of New York, for the term of forty-two years, ending in 1806. They entered into possession under the lease, and worked it from 1764 to 1766, when, from some unknown cause, they abandoned the enterprise, and returned to New York. The title to the premises continued to be bought up in fractions by various parties, till 1781, when Cyprian Collins and others, of Goshen, Conn., who were then owners of a considerable interest in the premises, commenced working the mine, the main shaft of which had been sunk by the Sampson Simson company, to the depth of 125 feet, and continued it two seasons, when, meeting with bad luck, they in turn deserted the enterprise. In 1792, Sampson Simson & Co. underlet the remaining portion of their forty-two years' lease to Israel Holmes, of Salisbury. He commenced work, had bad luck, and after staying two years, abandoned the undertaking in the same manner as his predecessors had done before. About 1780, Jabez Bacon, of Woodbury, commenced buying up the shreds of title which were scattered, and before his death, in 1806, had succeeded in perfecting the title to the entire premises in himself, and the same descended to his seven heirs, through the Probate Court. Asahel Bacon, one of the heirs of Jabez, bought out all the rest of the heirs, took possession of the premises, and maintained the exclusive possession thereof, until he sold it to the present defendent, David J. Stiles, in 1824. Immediately upon his purchase, Stiles took possession of the premises. He cut wood and pealed bark all over them, experimented with the ores, enclosed the whole hill with fences, built a road all over and around the place in dispute, and built a small barn directly by the main shaft excavation. From the day of his purchase till the day of the trial, he had kept one or more men near the premises, to watch and warn off trespassers, and had exercised every act of ownership, that a man could exercise over forest property. Yet, at three several times, had Stiles been put out of the possession of this property by trespassers, and had been as often restored by writ of forcible entry and detainer. Since 1824, he had thus kept. strict possession of the premises. Meanwhile Simson and his associates never returned to make any claim to the property, nor any claim to use it under their lease, till 1850, forty-four years after it had expired by its own limitation, when said Simson's nephew, Sampson Simson, deeded to one Josiah K. Sturges, his supposed interest, as heir of his uncle. Sturges received his deed from Simson, when he was in possession under Stiles, and for this reason, could not receive a title even though Simson had one to sell. The same objection existed against all the deeds of the plaintiff. He could not, therefore, "show a better title," and the jury rendered a verdict for the defendent, Stiles, thus establishing his title forever. So that Stiles, when he sold to the American Silver Steel Company, was able to give them a warranty deed. Thus have we recorded the various items in the physical history of our ancient town. A single item remains. A single item remains. A few rods south of the "Old Stoddard Parsonage" of 1700, is a boggy piece of water, covering, perhaps, an acre of ground, filled with bushes, bogs, turtles and frogs. Twenty-five years ago, a young man passed by this pond, which is called Cranberry Pond, and noticing that the frogs were very musical, the odd fancy of the moment suggested to him, that he should name it the "Helicon Spring." Acting upon the thought, he immediately wrote a solemn, classical poem, calling this the true fount of poesy, and its musical inhabitants, the veritable Muses, the goddesses and inspirers of song. This little effort attracted some attention at the time, and has, occasionally, ever since, been the subject of jocose remark among friends, from the odd conceit. And, in truth, this conceit is not more whimsical, or illy-applied, than some other names, that have been given to the other localities. An extract from the enthusiast ran thus: Fair spring within whose sweetly gushing fount And nightly sing in notes harmonious, To drink thy soul-inspiring water e'er, * Hark! there's music here, and melody hath |