Mortlake, Connecticut facts for kids
Mortlake was the old name for a special area in what is now Brooklyn, Connecticut. It was a unique place with its own rules for a long time.
Contents
History
How Mortlake Began
On October 19, 1687, a long time ago, the leaders of the Connecticut Colony gave Captain William Blackwell permission to create a new area. This area was called Mortlake. It was about six miles wide and seven miles long. Captain Blackwell named it after a place called Mortlake in England, which is now part of London.
Where Was Mortlake?
Mortlake was located south of Mashamoquet Brook and east of the Quinebaug River. Its western edge was near today's Connecticut State Route 169. The southern edge was close to U.S. Route 6, near roads like Herrick Road and Brown Road.
A Special Kind of Land
Mortlake was not like other towns in Connecticut. It was set up as a "Manor." This meant it was a very large piece of land with special rights given by the King of England. The owner of the Manor had a lot of power, almost like a small ruler. This was unusual in Connecticut, where most places were organized as towns with elected governments.
Because Mortlake was a Manor and not a town, its residents faced problems. They didn't have the same rights as people in regular towns. For example, they couldn't collect taxes to pay for roads or help people in need.
The Case of Peter Davison
One example of this problem happened when Windham County was formed. The town of Norwich sued Mortlake. They wanted Mortlake to pay for the care of a poor man named Peter Davison who lived there.
The owner of Mortlake at the time was Massachusetts Governor Johnathan Belcher. His lawyer argued that Mortlake, as a Manor, didn't have the same duties to care for the poor as a regular town. The court agreed, showing how different Mortlake was.
Becoming Part of Other Towns
The town of Pomfret was next to Mortlake on its north, west, and south sides. The southern part of Pomfret is what we now call Brooklyn Center.
In 1731, a church group was formed for people living in Mortlake, southern Pomfret, and northern Canterbury. Four years later, in 1735, this group was officially named "The Society taken out of Pomfret, Canterbury, and Mortlake." People often called the area Mortlake Parish. The church was known as the Second Church of Pomfret.
New Owners and More Problems
In 1739, Governor Belcher sold parts of Mortlake to Israel Putnam and John Pope. Israel Putnam moved to Mortlake and later bought out Pope's share. The next year, Governor Belcher sold the rest of Mortlake to Godfrey Malbone.
The fact that Mortlake wasn't a town continued to cause issues. People from southern Pomfret had to travel through Mortlake to get to other parts of Pomfret. Also, towns collected taxes to support their churches. But the parts of Mortlake Parish that were inside Mortlake Manor couldn't be taxed to support the church.
Mortlake Becomes Brooklyn
Finally, in May 1752, the colonial leaders decided that Mortlake would officially become part of Pomfret. At the same time, the church group's long name was changed to the much simpler "Society of Brooklyn," also known as Brooklyn Parish.
Israel Putnam's Ride
In 1775, Israel Putnam, who was a Major General for Connecticut, was working in his field in Brooklyn Center. He heard news about the Battle of Lexington and Concord, which started the American Revolutionary War. He left his plow right there and rode horses all the way to Boston in just 18 hours! He took command of the rebel forces and famously said, "Don't shoot until you see the whites of their eyes!" at Breed's Hill.
In 1786, Brooklyn Parish officially separated from Pomfret and Canterbury to become its own town.
Mortlake's Legacy Today
In the 1920s and 1930s, Edith Kermit Carow, who was the wife of President Theodore Roosevelt, ran an old family property as a country inn called Mortlake House. Mrs. Roosevelt was related to the Tyler and Putnam families, who had lived in the area.
Mortlake House was torn down in the late 1960s. Today, the Post Office stands on that spot. There's a large statue of General Putnam nearby. The Daniel Tyler Law Office, which is now a small museum for the Brooklyn Historical Society, is behind the Post Office. The Tyler family still owns their old home, Putnam Elms, on Church Street in Brooklyn. It's a historical site that sometimes opens to the public.
In 1927, the people of Brooklyn Center started a volunteer fire department. To honor the area's history as Mortlake and Mrs. Roosevelt's inn, they named it "The Mortlake Fire Company of Brooklyn, Connecticut, Inc." This name is still used today!
