The Oyster River Quarter
Settled by English Puritans in 1635, there emerged from the Saybrook Colony, a small community in a place the Indians called Pochoug. In 1648, the large Saybrook Colony was surveyed and divided into quarters so it could be settled. Pochoug became known as West Parish in the Oyster River Quarter. Among the Quarter’s first families to move from Saybrook village were: Lord, Chapman, Chalker, Bushnell, Kelsey, Post, Wright, Stannard, Jones, Bull, and Lay. Robert Lay settled in the northern Horse Hill area, while Dunck settled along an old Indian path leading to Obed’s Hammock.
People throughout the Colony traveled a long way to the meetinghouse or church in Saybrook village. In 1724, West Parish was granted permission to have their own meeting house and some control of local affairs.