Redding, Connecticut commemorates the 1714 deed granting land to John Read, one of the first English settlers in an area between Fairfield and Danbury along the colonial frontier. This deed from Native Americans Chickens and Nasecro marked the founding of a multicultural community. The document summarizes the history of the area from Native American habitation thousands of years ago, through the Pequot War and English settlement, to the specifics of the 1714 deed granting land to John Read. It also provides background on Chickens and John Read, and details their ongoing relationship and legal disputes over the land.

1. Redding:
Founding a Frontier
Community
1714 - 2014
The Redding Town Seal commemorates the
1714 deed from Chickens and Nasecro granting
Lonetown Manor to John Read, among the first
English settlers in lands between Fairfield and
Danbury. This deed marked the founding of a
multi-cultural community along the Colonial
frontier. Redding is celebrating the tercentenary
of this deed and the community that followed.
1
Know all men by these Crooked Scrawls & Seals yt
we Chickens alias Sam: Mohawk & Nasecro do
solemnly declare yt we are the Owners of
ye tract of Land Called Lonetown fenced
Round between Danbury & Fairfield, and
Jon Read Govr & Comander in Chief yr-of & of
ye dominions yr upon depending, desiring to
please us having plaid the fool and given us
three pounds in money & promised us an
horse next autumn In consideration yrof
we we do hereby give and grant him and
his heirs the farm Abovementioned cum per-
tinentiis , & further of Our free Will, meer
motion and soverain pleasure make ye same
A manour Indowing ye same with the priv-
leges yrof and Create the sd John Read
Lord Prince and Soverain Pontiff of the same
to him & his heirs forever Witness our Crooked
Marks and borrowed seals this seventh day
Of May Anno Regin Anne Dei Gratis
Magna Brittania & Regina decimo tertio
annog domi 1714
Sealed and delivered Chickens alias Sam his
in the presence of Mohawk mark
Nasecro his
Winham his mark
mark
The above mentioned Chickens &
Liacus his Nasecro Natives personally appeared
crook & acknowledged ye above Instrument
yr free act and cheerful deed
Nathan Gold in Fairfield ye 7th of May 1714
Before me
Martha Harvey her N Gold
mark Dep Gov
Transcription by Dr. Theodore Dayton, 1967
1714 Deed from Chickens
to John Read
Redding Historical Society

2. Native Americans
Redding was along a Native American frontier
from 2,000 to 300 years ago.
East of Redding, Windsor ceramics were made by the Mohegans,
Pequots, and allied tribes.
To the north, Point Peninsula-Owasco pottery reflects Mohican
and Iroquois influences.
The East River Ceramic Tradition indicates historic Munsee
speakers from southern New York and New Jersey.
Adrian Block Map - 1614
By AD 1600, local Aspetuck, Sasqua and Pequonnock villages paid
wampum tribute to the powerful Pequot of eastern Connecticut,
and to the Mohawk, west of the Hudson River.
At the time of European
contact, the Wampano
dialect (Munsee)
extended from the
Connecticut River west to
Hudson River and south
to Long Island.
Wampano shared
linguistic elements with
northern Micmac from
Maine, and southern
Powhatan and Nanticoke
from Chesapeake Bay,
reflecting prolonged
regional exchanges.
2
A
S
P
A Aspetuck S Sasqua P Pequonnock
Redding
East River Tradition,
Bowmans Brook
Vessel
Historical Society of Easton
Source:
Cassedy 1998
Source: Ceci 1990

3. English settlement of Connecticut sought to co-opt the Indian Fur
Trade from the Dutch, and break the control of the Pequots.
After the English massacre at Mystic Fort in 1637, Pequots fled to
their western frontier at Fairfield and sent pleas for sanctuary to
the Mohicans and Mohawks, along the Hudson River.
The Pequot were defeated in the Great Swamp Fight near Sasqua
Village in Fairfield. The English claimed Connecticut by conquest.
After the Pequot War, English settlements expanded rapidly. New
Haven was founded in 1638. In 1639, Fairfield, Stratford, Milford,
Branford and Guilford were settled. English towns clung to the
coast and major rivers until King Philips War during the 1670s.
3
Pequot War, 1636-1637
Early English Settlements
in Connecticut, 1633-1660
X Wethersfield
X
Mystic Fort
Massacre
X
Saybrook
Fort Siege
X
Sasqua
“Great Swamp Fight”
X Dover Plains
“Paquiaug”
X Battles Pequot Retreat
Dates of
Town Settlement
Before the Pequot War
A Windsor, 1633
B Wethersfield. 1634
C Hartford, 1635
D Saybrook, 1635
After the Pequot War
E New Haven, 1638
F Fairfield, 1639
G Stratford, 1639
H Milford, 1639
I Branford, 1639
J Guilford, 1639
K Greenwich, 1640
L Farmington, 1640
M Stamford, 1641
N New London, 1646
O Norwalk 1649
P Stonington, 1649
Q Derby, 1651
R Middletown, 1651
S Norwich, 1659
Sources: Spiess, Griswold and Cheney 1930;
McBride, Naumec and Eleazer 2008
Source: Spiess, Griswold and Cheney 1930

4. Who was Chickens?
In Fairfield, local Native Americans
were forced to sell land for peace.
In 1671, The Aspetuck sold 52,000
acres that extended into southern
Redding. This land was divided
into “Long Lots.”
The Aspetuck retained land in
northern Redding.
Two Sasqua-Aspetuck lineages
signed most deeds. Nasecro and
his son Young Nasecro signed
deeds from 1680 to 1719.
Chickens and his son Mohawk
signied Fairfield and Redding
deeds from 1679 to 1748.
Linguists have determined that in the local Wampano dialect, “Chickens”
means hatchet. “Mohawk” may have similar meanings, such as the
Powhatan word “tomahawk,” or the Pequot “mahawg”.
Deeds and other documents suggest that there were at least four
generations that adopted the family name of Chickens. Old Chickens
was born about 1645, and might have married the sister of Katonah,
moving to Westchester or Ridgefield by 1683. His son Chickens, alias
Mohawk, signed many Redding deeds, including the 1714 deed with John
Read. Grandson Warrups-Chickens died at Lonetown Manor in 1763.
Tom Chickens, or Warrups, remained in Redding after the Revolution.
4
Chickens’ Family
Was Chickens a Mohawk?
Chickens, alias Sam Mohawk
Fairfield
Indian Deeds
1680 - 1699
Privy Council Order
Received 17 May 1680
B 1680 Sasqua Field Deed **
C 1680 General Land Deed **
1681 Lawsuit filed for
Wampas’ claim
1681 Long Lots Distributed
D 1681 Old Indian Field Deed
1684 Trial of Wampas’ claim*
E 1686 Wolf Pit Neck Deed
F 1686 Umpawaug--Gold Deed *
G 1687 Umpawaug–Burr Deed*
H 1689 Morehouse Deed **
* signed or witnessed by Nasecro
* signed or witnessed by Chickens
Fairfield
Indian Deeds
1700 - 1748
I 1703 Rocky Neck Deed *
J 1709 Hall Deed **
K 1711 Webb Deed **
L 1714 Hull Deed **
M 1714 Clapboard Hill Deed **
N 1714 Read Deed-Lonetown **
O 1717 Osborn Deed **
P 1717 Williams Deed **
Q 1719 Fairweather Deed **
R 1724 Undivided Land Deed *
S 1748 Chickens Reservation *
* signed by Old or Young Nasecro
* signed by Chickens or Mohawk
Wampano: “chekenas” meaning ax or hatchet
Powhatan: “tomahawk” meaning hatchet
Pequot: “mahawg” meaning war-hammer
Sources: Rudes 1997; Mather 1864
King Philip’s War Club, 1675
Bought by Mr. John Checkley
Collections of the Fruitlands Museum
Old Chickens: born ~1645, signed Fairfield deeds from 1672-1684, Westchester and Ridgefield
deeds and documents from 1683-1720
Chickens, alias Mohawk: signed Fairfield and Redding deeds from 1689-1748
Warrups, alias Chickens: signed Redding documents from 1748, died 1763
Tom, alias Chickens or Warrups: born 1739, died after 1789

5. Born in Fairfield, John Read graduated from Harvard in 1697, and was
Congregational minister at Stratford from 1703 to 1707. In a major break
from Puritan church and civil governments, he converted to the Church of
England. In 1706, Read joined Stratford Anglicans defending an Indian deed
for New Milford, and sent his brother-in-law to settle at Weantinock on the
Housatonic. After censure by the Puritans, Read moved to New Milford and
studied law, rising to the post of Queen’s Attorney by 1712. He was also
among the founders of Newtown in 1708, New Fairfield in 1710, and in 1711
moved to Lonetown in the “Undivided Lands” of Redding. In each community,
he planted seeds for Anglican parishes to break the Puritan hold on the
Colonial government, a conflict that expanded between Loyalists and Patriots
during the American Revolution.
Read’s 1714 deed from Chickens expressed his quixotic legal theory that
sovereign Native Americans could bestow land titles along with honors and
ranks, similar to the Queen of England. Read’s humor was a slap at Puritans,
who settled New England to escape bishops of the Church of England, a slap
also at his brother-in-law Lieutenant Governor Nathan Gold, Jr., an orthodox
Puritan who registered the deed.
5
“…Of our free will, meer
motion and Soverain pleasure, make ye same
A manour, Indowing ye same with the privi-
lages Th’r-of And Create the sd John Read
Lord Prince and Soverain Pontiff of the Same”
Hon. John Read
“Father of American Law”
1680 - 1749
Chickens’ Deed to John Read
May 7, 1714
Addison Museum of American Art
Authenticity Doubtful
1680 Born in Fairfield
1697 Harvard graduate
1703-1707 Puritan minister at Stratford
1706-1710 Defended New Milford Indian deed
1707 Converted to the Church of England
1708 Licensed attorney in Connecticut
1708 Newtown proprietor
1710 New Fairfield proprietor
1711 Settled at Lonetown, Redding
1714 Chickens deed for Lonetown Manor, Redding
1716 Massachusetts Equivalent Lands, 10,000 acres
1719-1726 Boston: prosecuted Rev. Cotton Mather
1721-1736 Elected Attorney General of
Massachusetts
1721 With John Checkley, started The New-England
Courant, printed by the Franklins
1722 Attorney for Yale during the Anglican Apostacy
1722 Moved to Boston
1724-1739 Kings Chapel, Boston vestry and warden
1741-1742 On Massachusetts Council
1748 Exchanged land at Schaghticoke for
Chickens’ Reservation in Redding
1749 Died at Boston, grave unknown

6. Wampum March
18 October 1720
Conn. State Archives
1 Wampum belt to Chickens at Ridgefield:
“Tapaunanawk an Horseneck Indian to make payment to an Indian
Chickens for ye Death of sd Chickens sisters husband a great Sagamore
over the Indians about Hudsons River…”
2 Wampum belts to Chickens, then to Mohawk at Lonetown:
“The Wampam came from an Ind’n place called Towattowau, being a great
way southward, and a great people of Indians, sent thence first to
Ammawawgs on East side of Hudsons River a little below the Highlands--
thence to Bear Ridge above Rye--thence to Byfield in Horseneck bounds
by Rauriquoss, who thence delivered it to Tapaunanawk telling him, the
Wampam was sent in token the Indians of Towattowaus would joy’d
Indians to Sett to the English or Indians in those parts, Ordering it to be
sent to Chickens-- thence to Chickens or Mohawk at Lonetown… thence to
Potatuck--thence to Wyantinuck w’ch is the End of the Wampum March.
Then the Belts to be returned to Ammawawgs & then to Towattowaw…
Before us Jos. Bishop Justice, Samuel Couch”
A recently discovered document in the State Archives clarifies the political
importance of Chickens and his family within New York and Connecticut native
communities, a linguistic, social and trade network stretching back 2,000 years.
In 1720,, a wampum belt was sent to Old Chickens in Ridgefield in condolence
for the death of his sister’s husband, “a great Sagamore over the Indians about
Hudson’s River.”
Soon afterwards, two other wampum belts were sent by the Tuscarora, who wished
to relocate to Connecticut. They were fleeing a bloody war with the English in the
Carolinas. The belts were first sent to the Mohican community of Ammawauwgs, in
Westchester County. A ceremonial Wampum March then went to Rye, Greenwich,
to Chickens at Ridgefield, then to Chickens alias Mohawk at Lonetown. Mohawk
took the belts to Weantinock and Potatuck on the Housatonic River, and returned
them to Ammawauwgs. At Lonetown, the Indians probably consulted with a
really good lawyer---John Read.
This document was submitted by Samuel Couch, and caused a great alarm.
On New Year’s Eve 1720, less then four months after the Wampum March,
a Boston shopkeeper named John Checkley blithely wrote to his good friend
John Read at Lonetown, asking if Chickens could gather “stone implements
used by the Indians before the Europeans came into this Country.”
This letter was discovered in a 1621 religious text in President John Adam’s
Library. President Adams praised Read, “as a great genius and became as
eminent as any man.” Harvard historians honored John Read as the
“Father of American Law.”
6
America’s First Archeologist?
Mr. John Checkley, to John Read, Esq.,
Boston, Massachusetts Lonetown, Connecticut
31 December 1720
“Sr. I should be glad if you could (without much
Trouble) procure for me some of the Stone-
Instruments &c, which were used by the Indians
before the Europeans came in to this Country.
It may be Chicken may have, or may give you
some Account how to get, some of them…
You may possibly wonder what I have to do with
them besides the vain & empty Pleasure (as
some call it) of ranging them in their several
Orders…I have further Use for them (fit
Instruments for an airy Architect you’ll say!) in
building my Castles in the Air.”Source: President John Adams Library

7. In December 1722, Hon. John Read moved to Boston, leaving his
Redding lands to the care of his son, John, Jr. The next year, 1723,
the Colony took steps against Chickens and against Hon. John Read’s
Anglican influences by selling the Redding Undivided Lands at an
unannounced auction to Captain Samuel Couch and Lt. Gov. Nathan
Gold, both strongly anti-Indian and anti-Anglican. Read and Chickens’
protested to the General Assembly, but to no avail. In 1725, the
General Assembly appointed “Mr. John Read” as agent for the
Lonetown Indians, and ordered a reservation for Chickens. Chickens
retained rights to hunt and fish on Samuel Couch’s lands.
Under increasing pressure from
new settlers, Chickens formed a
family alliance with the Reads.
Chickens sent his son Tom and
daughter Cate to live with at
Lonetown Manor.
Thomas and Cate were baptized
and joined the Congregational
Church. Tom died in 1740.
Cate married John Read Jr.’s
African slave Andrew. They had
11 children. Tragically, their
children grew in slavery, several
died, but others were sold.
7
Cate and Andrew
Read Family Papers
Col. John Read, Jr.
1701 -1786
Col. John Read, circa 1750
Susanna Hill Collection

8. Lonetown Manor
1711 - 1937
1750s Manor House Plan – East Façade
demolished ca. 1937
1711 Hon. John Read settled at Lonetown
1714 Deed from Chickens and Nasecro
1722-1786 Col. John Read, Jr. founded Redding Parish,
1753 Col. Read possibly built the second manor house
1786-1804 John Read III sold the manor to his cousin
1805-1851 John Read Hill, Methodist, ran a limekiln
1850-1857 Morris and Joseph Hill
1857-1897 Aaron Treadwell gave land for Putnam Park
1897-1909 Aaron H. Dimond
1907-1937 Albert H. Williams and heirs
1935 Redding designated Lonetown Manor as a landmark
1937 Bromwell Ault from Cincinnati, Ohio demolished
the second (1750s) manor house
Lonetown Manor Plat, 1937
1750s
Manor
Historic Landscapes - 1997
8
Stone well Old orchard Root cellar
View southwest to
Chickens’ Hill
1940s manor house and
19th-Century stone wall
Colonial bank-barn,
burned by arsonist in 1918
Lowntown Manor Owners
Collection of Scott and Jennifer Estabrook

9. From 1997 to 2000, the Redding Planning Commission
sponsored archeology at Lonetown Manor prior to a proposed
subdivision. Archeologists found John Read’s 1711 manor
house, perhaps the first English dwelling in Redding.
Lonetown Manor artifacts dated to the founding of Redding: a fork (A), spoon (B),
and knife (C), a wife’s setting for the Read’s table.
Buttons were probably lost in the wash: brass (D) and silver (E) from the master’s
coat, and a bone button (F) from a servant.
Many ceramics were imported: Dutch Delftware (G), English slipwares (H, I) Rhenish
stonewares (J); English stonewares (K, L); a redware tygee communal drinking cup
(M), Chinese porcelain (N); and bones, mostly of pig (O) and cow.
9
Lonetown Manor
Archeology
Redding Treasures
1711 Manor House
1998 telephone line installation trench
to the existing 1940 dwelling
Plan of archeological excavations
west of the ca.1750 manor house
Plan and profile of excavations at
the 1711 manor house
Cobble foundation of the 1711 manor house
Source: Reeve 1999
1940s
1750s
1711
1711 -1750

10. Reservation Landscapes, 2013
After the Reservation
10
Chickens’ Reservation
1725-1748
N New Farm
1712-1729
C Chickens
Reservation
1725-1748
L Lonetown
Manor
1711-1714
L
N
C
C
1723 Fairfield sale of Undivided Lands to Samuel Couch
and Hon. Nathan Gold.
1724 Chickens’ deed for Undivided Lands to Samuel Couch,
reserving rights to “fish and hunt” and “land by my
present house or wigwam.”
1724 Chickens and Read protested that Couch and Rev.
Chapman got his land through “grinding oppression.”
General Assembly ordered a survey for a reservation.
1725 Mr. Read named overseer of Lonetown Indians.
1736 Family Alliance: Chickens’ daughter Cate married
Read’s African slave Andrew.
1737 General Assembly surveyed a 100-acre reservation:
“we found ye sd Chicken with himself his Children &
Grand Child to be already twenty in Number.”
1738-1739 Read’s Indian “servants” Cate and Thomas
admitted to Reading Church. Thomas died in 1740.
1741 Chickens petitioned for land to support his family.
Hon. John Read, Indian deed 200 acres Schaghticoke.
1746 General Assembly resurveyed Chickens’ 100 acres in
two parts.
1748 Hon. John Read of Boston exchanged 200 acres at
Schaghticoke for the 100-acre Redding Reservation,
signed by Capt. Chickens and his son Warrups.
1763 Warrups Chickens returned and died at Lonetown.
Early land grants mapped by Highstead
Chickens’ Hill,
Highstead
1771 Zalmon Read farm,
Redding Country Club
1750 John Read III house,
Redding Country Club
Chickens’ Reservation
east wall, Warrups Farm
Chickens’ Reservation at
Warrups Farm
Chickens’ Reservation
south wall, Warrups Farm
At Schaghticoke, old Captain Chickens, alias
Mohawk, probably died. Son Warrups and his
family were baptized by Moravian missionaries.
However, they returned to Redding through the
1750s and 1760s to visit Cate and trade with the
Reads. Col. Read’s account books record debts
for food, cider and clothing, that were paid with
farm labor, baskets and tanning hides.
Warrups-Chickens and his son Tom served in the
French and Indian War with Col. John Read.
In 1763, Warrups-Chickens returned to Lonetown
and died. An undiscovered family cemetery is
perhaps on the old reservation.
Warrups-Chickens’ death was traumatic. Four
months later, Cate’s sons Daniel and Titus ran
away from Lonetown Manor, probably to join
Ramapo relatives in New Jersey.
Col. Read placed advertisements in Boston and
New York newspapers, offering a reward, or to
sell them at a cheep price.
Descriptions revealed the boys’ desperate
attempts to retain Native American identities,
especially in their hair styles.
Their uncle Tom Warrups remained in Redding
through the Revolution, and served with Capt.
Zalmon Read.
Indian Slaves
Sons of Cate (Indian) and
Andrew (African)
fled west across Hudson River
Boston Gazette, 25 July 1763
Titus
-- Age 22
-- Pale visage
-- His hair cut off
-- Had a fiddle and played well
-- Brown camblet coat, horn buttons
-- Blue flannel coat, pewter buttons
Daniel
-- Age 16
-- Broad face, high cheek bones
-- Long black hair, cut-off on top
-- Brown camblet coat, red lining
-- Whit linen, colored flannel shirts
-- Blue great coat, metal buttons
-- Leather breeches

11. Gallows Hill Site
Since 2000, Prof. Ernest Wiegand and Norwalk
Community College students have been excavating
the Gallows Hill Site on the Read’s New Farm, near
the old reservation. The Town of Redding and The
Nature Conservancy saved this land from residential
development.
The Gallows Hill Site contains a cabin likely associated
with the Warrups family during the 1750s and 1760s.
The site was in “William Read’s Park”, forests far from
roads. A cellar hole had mid-18th Century artifacts:
Dutch Delftware, English slipware and white salt-
glazed stoneware, but rare window and bottle glass.
Verifying the ethnicity of Gallows Hill residents is a
difficult problem. However, a glass trade bead and
stone crucible for melting lead shot were expected at
historic Native American dwellings. Gallows Hill is a
very significant discovery.
To test whether this was actually
a Warrups cabin, archeologists
compared artifacts with those
from the Read’s Lonetown Manor.
Identical rare English polychrome
slipwares were a material link
from the Reads to Warrups and
his family.
The Gallows Hill Site sits on a
much older Native American
campsite.
11
Site
1779 New Farm Plat,
“William Read’s Park”,
and the Gallows Hill Site
Gallow Hills Site cellar hole
English Polychrome Slipware
English Polychrome Slipwares
Lonetown Manor Gallows Hill Site

12. Redding’s Past and Future
In 1935, Redding designated Lonetown Manor as a historic landmark.
Two years later, in 1937, this landmark was torn down.
The archeological site remains.
Today, Redding is on the frontier of suburban development,
threatened with losing its history and rural character. Since 1997,
Redding has supported archeological surveys and historic
preservation. The Selectmen sponsored town-wide historical and
archeological assessment surveys. The Town adopted subdivision
regulations requiring consideration of impacts on Redding’s historic
and archeological resources. Before town government became
involved, only 5 archeological surveys were conducted in Redding.
Since 1997, more than 50 archeological surveys have been
completed, identifying more than 120 new archeological sites.
These studies provide meaning to the history and places we all
share, and add to the joy of living in a small Connecticut town.
12
This exhibit is dedicated to the memories of Bob Beecroft,
Margaret Wixted, Lawrence Banks, and many others who
gave so much for our understanding of Redding’s history.
Redding Archeology, 1982 - 2014
Researched, designed and produced by
Stuart A. Reeve and Kathleen von Jena,
in cooperation with First Selectmen
Natalie Ketcham and Julia Pemberton,
and the Redding Historical Society.
Exhibits provided by the Redding Historical Society,
Geordie Elkins and Jeb Stevens of Highstead,
Susanna Hill, Scott and Jennifer Estabrook, and
Ernest Wiegand of Norwalk Community College.