the title to the soil. Mr. Butler,
who owned a tract upon which the
river was encroaching, found after a
while, some of his land appearing
on the opposite side of the river,
and accordingly laid claim to it.
His claim was disputed, as he nev-
er owned ldnd on that side of the
river. It was.. a long time'before
this case was decided. There ap-
peared some difficulty in making
the jury who sat on the case, to un-
derstand the merite of the question.
Mr. Ingersoll, a relative of the In-
gersoll family in New Haven, was
the counsel employed by Mr. But-
ler. He illustrated the case by
supposing that Mr. B. had built a
castle on the land'in question. Al-
though the ground on which it stood
might be overflowed, yet stiil it was
his castle, and also the ground on
which it stood, and he had a right
to his property wherever he could
find it. The case was finally deci-
ded in accordance with these views.

The State Prison of Connecticut
was erected in this town in 1S26,
and the prisoners from Newgate
prison, in Granby, were removed
here the next year. This building
is situated on the south margin of
the cove, which sets' backr'from
Connecticut river, at"the north end
of Wethersfield village. The build-
ings of the prison form very near-
ly a quadrangle, on the south side
of which, stands the building which
is more properly the Prison. The
apartments of the warden are situ-
ated in the east end of this build-
ing ; the centre surrounds the
block of cells 4 stories high, in
which the male prisoners are loclo-
ed up. This hall or centre is 154
feet long, 43 feet wide, and 30 feet
high ; the number of cells or night
rooms is 200. . The west end, is
used as the female department,
containing pells, rooms for labor,
.kitchen, and apartments for the
matron. The east, north, and west
sides of this quadrangle, are form-
ed by a wall 20 feet High. With-
in this yard are situated two ran-
ges of shops one on the east side,
and one upon the west, in which
the convidts perform their daily la-
bor. The passage into the prison,
is through the warden’s apartment,
into the guard room, thence into
the hall surrounding the cells,
thence into the yard. This, ia the
only passage, except through a
large gate on the north side of the
yard.

Rocky Hill, the south parish of
Wethersfield, lies on a collection
of hills which are a continuation of
the Middletown range: one of
these eminences', Rocky hill, has
given name to the parish. It has a
pleasant little village on an eleva-
ted situation, 7 miles from Hartford,
with a landing at some distance,
where considerable commerce and
ship building were formerly car-
ried on.

Newington, the 2d society in
Wethersfield, was formerly called
Cow plain. The village is pleas-
antly situated in a fertile valley,
west of Cedar mountain: the cen-
tral part is G miles - from Hartford,
ahiU^HTtmuVVethersfield village.
“The inhabitants are chiefly engag-
ed in agriculture, and are distin-
guished for their general intelli-
gence, and attachment to the in-
stitutions of morality and religion.

Many years since, a gentleman
of Newington, who was a very re-
ligious and conscientious man, mar-
ried for a wife, one of the most ill
natured and troublesome women
which could be found in the vicini-
ty. This occasioned universal sur-
prise wherever he was known, and
one of his neighbors ventured to
ask him the reasons which govern-
ed his choice. The gentleman re-
plied, that having had but little or
no trouble in the woi*l, he was
fearful of becoming too much at-
tached to things of time and sense.
And he thought by experiencing
some afflictions, he should become
more weaned from the world, and