December 1742, Connecticut

Israel Putnam birthplace

 

December 1742- The last wolf in Connecticut was killed. The story goes that Israel Putnam, who later became a hero of the Revolutionary War, led an effort, with the help of a group of farmers from Mortlake, to find and kill a marauding wolf that was savaging sheep flocks in the northeast part of the state.
The den where the wolf was found and cornered is in Mashamoquet Brook State Park. On the right of the den, is a plaque that reads, in part:
''Following her tracks through one day and night in the early snow of December 1742 to the Connecticut River and back, the early settlers of this region here discovered the den of the she wolf that had for years devastated their flocks.'' Putnam, then in his early 20's, was the only one willing to go in after the wolf.
''Israel Putnam, 70 of whose sheep had been slaughtered, at 10 o'clock at night, with a rope tied to his feet, first with a torch, again with a musket, entered this cave, and by the light of her angry eyes, shot and killed the marauder, and entering a third time, dragged forth the body of the last wolf in Connecticut.'' He emerged, according to one account, dragging the wolf by the ears to the acclaim of his companions.
The farmers thought killing all the wolves was necessary to safeguard their sheep and early settlements typically offered bounties on such predators.

December 9, 1742- Thomas Langton, son of Joseph Lankton & Rachael Cowles, marries Abigail Richards, daughter of Thomas Richards & Abigail Turner, in Farmington, Connecticut.

December 18, 1742- Samuel, son of Nathaniel Bacon & Esther Hubbard, dies at age 9 in Middletown, Middlesex County, Connecticut.

December 24, 1742- Christiana, daughter of Ebenezer Savage Wetmore & Elizabeth Cornwall, dies at the age of 7 in Middletown, Middlesex County, Connecticut.

(Samuel Bacon is my first cousin 8 times removed. Our common ancestors are Nathaniel Hubbard & Mary Earle and Nathaniel Bacon & Ann Miller and Deacon Thomas Wetmore.
Samuel Bacon and Christiana Wetmore are second cousins. Christiana Wetmore is my second cousin 8 times removed. Our common ancestors are Deacon Thomas Wetmore & Sarah Hall and William Cornwall & Mary Bailey.
Abigail Richards is my second cousin 8 times removed. Our common ancestors are Edward Turner & Mary Sanford.)

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