(Major) John MASON 9th & 11th Gr. Grandfather - The Great Migration Begins

JOHN MASON ORIGIN: Unknown MIGRATION: 1632 FIRST RESIDENCE: Dorchester REMOVES: Windsor 1635, Saybrook 1647, Norwich 1659 OCCUPATION: Soldier, magistrate. CHURCH MEMBERSHIP: Admission to Dorchester church prior to 4 March 1634/5 implied by freemanship. FREEMAN: 4 March 1634/5 (as "Captain John Mason") [MBCR 1:370]. "Major John Mason" is in the 9 October 1669 list of Connecticut freemen in Norwich [CCCR 2:523]. EDUCATION: His prose is vigorous and direct in his regular correspondence with the Winthrops [WP 4:419-20; 5:249-51, 253, 263, 317-18; 6:257-58, 384-85, 388, 395-96] and in his history of the Pequot War [A Brief History of the Pequot War (Boston 1736)]. His activities from the earliest days in New England give evidence of training as a military engineer. OFFICES: Deputy for Dorchester to Massachusetts Bay General Court, 4 March 1634/5, 2 September 1635 [MBCR 1:135, 156]. Connecticut Deputy Governor, May 1660, May 1661, May 1662, October 1662, May 1663, May 1664, May 1665, May 1666, May 1667, May 1668 [CT Civil List 36]. Deputy for Windsor to Connecticut Court, November 1637, March 1638, April 1638, September 1639, February 1641, April 1641, September 1641 [CT Civil List 35]. Assistant, 1642-1659, 1669-71 [CT Civil List 35]. War committee for Saybrook, May 1653, October 1654 [CT Civil List 35]. Patentee, Royal Charter, 1662 [CT Civil List 36]. Commissioner for United Colonies, June 1654, May 1655, May 1656, May 1657, May 1660, May 1661 [CT Civil List 36]. A rate was gathered for the support of Captain Mason 29 December 1634 [DTR 1:9]. Militia Committee, May 1667 - June 1672 [CT Civil List 36]. Captain by 1637 [CT Civil List 35]. Major, June 1654 [CT Civil List 35] (but he was called Major at the General Court of 18 May 1654 [CCCR 1:256]). ESTATE: On 10 February 1634/5 "Captayne Mason" received a grant of two acres in Dorchester [DTR 1:9]. He drew six acres of meadow beyond Naponset in lot #73 [DTR 1:322]. In the Windsor land inventory on 28 February 1640[/1] John Mason held seven parcels, six of which were granted to him: "a homelot with some additions to it, ten acres"; "in the palisado where his house stands and mead adjoining twenty acres and half"; "in the first mead on the northside of the rivulet, for mead and addition in swamp eight acres"; "in the northwest field for upland eight acres with some addition on the bank side"; "over the Great River in breadth by the river twenty-six rods more or less, and continues that breadth to the east side of the west marsh, and there it is but sixteen rods in breadth and so continues to the end of the three miles"; "twelve acres of land by Rocky Hill"; and "by a deed of exchange with Thomas Duy [Dewey] ... on the east side of the Great River in breadth eighteen rods more or less, in length three miles" [WiLR 1:91]. On 5 January 1641/2 Connecticut court ordered "that Captain Mason shall have 500 acres of ground, for him and his heirs, about Pequoyt Country, and the dispose of 500 more to such soldiers as joined with him in the service when they conquered the Indians there" [CCCR 1:70]. On 12 July 1644 John Mason of Windsor sold to William Hosford of Windsor eight acres in a little meadow with addition of swamp [WiLR 48]. On 11 September 1651 "the island commonly called Chippachauge in Mistick Bay is given to Capt. John Mason, as also one hundred acres of upland and ten acres of meadow near Mistick, where he shall make choice" [CCCR 1:24-25]. On 14 March 1660/1 the "jurisdiction power over that land that Uncus and Wawequa have made over to Major Mason is by him surrendered to this Colony. Nevertheless for the laying out of those lands to farms or plantations the Court doth leave it in the hands of Major Mason. It is also ordered and provided with the consent of Major Mason, that Uncus & Wawequa and their Indians and successors shall be supplied with sufficient planting ground at all times as the Court sees cause out of that land. And the Major doth reserve for himself a competence of land sufficient to make a farm" [CCCR 1:359]. On 14 May 1663 the court granted "unto the Major, our worshipful Deputy Governor, 500 acres of land for a farm, where he shall choose it, if it may not be prejudicial to a plantation already set up or to set up, so there be not above 50 acres of meadow in it" [CCCR 1:406]. On 13 October 1664, the "Major propounding to the Court to take up his former grant of a farm, at a place by the Indians called Pomakuck, near Norwich, the Court grants liberty to him to take up his former grant in that place, upon the same terms as it was granted to him by the Court" [CCCR 1:432]. On 20 May 1668 the "Major desiring this Court to grant him a farm of about three hundred acres, for one of his sons, his desire is hereby granted (provided there be not above thirty acres of meadow) and Lt. Griswold & Ensign Tracy are hereby desired to lay it out to him in some convenient place near that tract of land granted Jer[emiah] Adams, it being the place the Major hath pitched upon, the name of the place is Uncupsitt, provided it prejudice no plantation or former grant" [CCCR 2:86-87] On 9 May 1672 "Ensign Tracy is appointed to join with Sergeant Tho[mas] Leffingwell in laying out to the Major and Mr. Howkins their grants of land according to their grants" [CCCR 2:171]. BIRTH: By about 1605 based on military service in the Low Countries in the 1620s [DAB]. (Some secondary sources give his age at death as seventy-two, which would place his birth about 1600, but the source for this age is not known.) DEATH: Norwich between 9 May 1672 and 6 June 1672 [CCCR 2:171, 182]. MARRIAGE: (1) By about 1638 _____ _____. She died at Windsor before 10 March 1638[/9] [Grant 77]. (2) Hingham [blank] July 1639 Ann Peck [NEHGR 121:11], daughter of Rev. Robert Peck [TAG 26:85]; she died shortly before her husband. (Her son-in-law, Reverend James Fitch, preached the sermon at her funeral, which was published under the title Peace The End of the Perfect and Upright Demonstrated and Usefully Improved in a Sermon Preached upon the Occasion of the Death and Decease of the Piously Affected and Truely Religious Woman, Mrs. Anne Mason, Sometime Wife to Major John Mason, Who Not Long After Finished His Course and Is Now at Rest [Cambridge 1672].) CHILDREN (births of iii-ix recorded at Norwich [NoVR 1:20]): With first wife i ISRAEL, b. say 1638; m. Windsor 17 June 1658 John Bissell [Grant 23; TAG 26:84-94, 27:100-01]. With second wife ii ANN, d. Windsor 7 October 1640 [Grant 78]. iii PRISCILLA, b. Windsor October 1641; m. Norwich [8] October 1664 Rev. James Fitch [NoVR 39]. iv SAMUEL, b. Windsor July 1644; m. (1) Rehoboth 26 June 1670 Judith Smith [NEHGR 121:124-25]; m. (2) Rehoboth 4 July 1694 Elizabeth Peck (at Rehoboth but recorded Stonington [StonVR Barbour 158]). v JOHN, b. Windsor August 1646; m. about 1670 as her first husband Abigail Fitch [TAG 40:50-54, 58:135-37]. vi RACHEL, b. Saybrook October 1648; m. New London 12 June 1678 Charles Hill [NLVR Barbour 204]. vii ANN, b. Saybrook June 1650; m. Swansea 8 November 1672 John Brown [SwVR 23]. (On 7 October 1672 Thomas Minor reported that "An Mason was married," but he did not seem to be interested in the identity of the groom [Minor Diary 112]). viii DANIEL, b. Saybrook April 1652; m. (1) by 8 February 1673/4 Margaret Denison, daughter of Edward Denison (she was buried 15 May 1679 [Minor Diary 148]); m. (2) Hingham 10 October 1679 Rebecca Hobart [NEHGR 121:205]. ix ELIZABETH, b. Saybrook August 1654; m. Norwich January 1676/7 James Fitch [TAG 46:44]. COMMENTS: In his list of "some omitted in former records being gone yet had children born here," Matthew Grant included "Captain Masen" and credited him with four children born in Windsor [Grant 93], which are best accounted for as the daughter Ann who died in 1640, and Priscilla, Samuel and John [TAG 26:86-87]. The record of births of John Mason's children by his second wife was entered in Norwich vital records, even though none of the births had occurred there, with only the month and year of the birth given [TAG 26:86, citing NoVR 1:20]. The division of births between Windsor and Saybrook is based on the knowledge that Mason was in Saybrook by 1647, and on the accounting of Matthew Grant, discussed in the last paragraph. In his few years in Massachusetts John Mason was found very useful by town and colony. On 2 July 1633 order is "given to the Treasurer to deliver to Lieutenant Mason £10 for his voyage to the eastward, when he went about the taking of Bull" [MBCR 1:106; MHSC 2:8:232]. On 5 November 1633 "Sergeant Stoughton is chosen ensign to Captain Mason" [MBCR 1:110]. On 3 September 1634 "Captain Mason" was appointed to a committee to "find out the convenient places for situation, as also to lay out the several works for fortification at Castle Island, Charelton, & Dorchester" [MBCR 1:124]. On 3 September 1635 "Captain Mason is authorized by the Court to press men & carts to help towards the finishing of the fort at Castle Island, & to return the same into the Court" [MBCR 1:158]. John Mason was one of the most trusted men in Connecticut during his three and a half decades of residence there, in both civil and military matters. In his latter years the formal colony records referred to him simply as "the Major," without forename or surname. Only a sampling of his activities can be presented here. On 1 May 1637 the Connecticut General Court ordered that "there shall be an offensive war against the Pequoitt" and levied ninety men from the three towns of Hartford, Windsor and Wethersfield, to be "under the command of Captain Jo[hn] Mason" [CCCR 1:9]. His comings and goings during the Pequot War are occasionally noted by Winthrop [WP 3:419, 421, 435, 456; WJ 1:233, 267]. He took a company of Englishmen up the river and rescued two English maids during this war [WJ 1:223]. (On 22 May 1639, even though he had been living in Connecticut for three years, "Captain Mason had granted him" by Massachusetts Bay General Court "ten pounds, for his good service against the Pecoits & otherwise" [MBCR 1:259].) On 8 March 1637/8, in the aftermath of the Pequot War, the Connecticut General Court "ordered that Captain Mason shall be a public military officer of the plantations of Conecticot, and shall train the military men thereof in each plantation" [CCCR 1:15]. On 2 June 1647 the court ordered "that Captain Mason should for the peace, safety and good assurance of the Commonwealth, have the command of all soldiers and inhabitants of Seabrooke, and in case of alarum or danger by approach of an enemy, to draw forth or put the said soldiers & inhabitants in such posture for the defense of the place as to him shall seem best," and "whereas Captain Mason, at the special instance & request of the inhabitants of Seabrooke, together with the good liking of the Commonwealth, did leave his habitation in the River and repair thither, to exercise a place of trust. It is this day ordered, that his former salary of £40 per annum be continued" [CCCR 1:155-56]. During the winter of 1647/8 Winthrop records that "in the depth of winter, in a very tempestuous night, the fort at Saybrook was set on fire, and all the buildings within the palisado, with all the goods, etc., were burnt down, Captain Mason, his wife, and children, hardly saved. The loss was estimated at one thousand pounds, and not known how the fire came" [WJ 2:311]. Prior to the sitting of the court on 6 October 1651, Captain Mason had sent a letter to the court, "wherein he desires, among other things, the advice of this Court touching a motion propounded by some of New Haven interested in Dillaware design, for his assistance of them in that business, with some encouragements for his settling there." The Court did not like the idea, but admitted they could not prevent him, and gave their reluctant permission to "attend the service for 3 months, provided he will engage himself to return within that time and continue his abode amongst them as formerly" [CCCR 1:227]. (New Haven was at this time attempting to establish a daughter colony on the Delaware River [Isabel MacBeath Calder, The New Haven Colony (New Haven 1934), p. 192].) By the sitting of the Court on 18 May 1654 he had been advanced from Captain to Major [CCCR 1:256], the rank that he would hold for the remainder of his life. On 13 June 1654 he and Captain John Cullick were sent to Boston as agents of Connecticut, to discuss Cromwell's plans for fighting the Dutch at New Amsterdam [CCCR 1:260]. In April 1657 he received from the General Court an extensive commission, requiring him to go to Southampton and investigate the complaints of the inhabitants of that town (then under Connecticut jurisdiction) regarding depradations made by the Montauk Indians [CCCR 1:295-97]. On 15 June 1659 Mr. Willis was "requested to go down to Sea Brook, to assist the Major in examining the suspicions about witchery, and to act therein as may be requisite" [CCCR 1:338]. In the summer of 1669 residents of Easthampton, Southampton and Stonington addressed letters to Mason, warning him of an impending attack by several groups of Indians. Mason passed these letters on to the colony authorities in Hartford, and added his own strongly worded advice [CCCR 2:548-50]. In the summer of 1670 John Mason acted as an intermediary between Roger Williams and the Connecticut government regarding a boundary dispute between Rhode Island and Connecticut [RWCorr 609-20; CCCR 2:536]. BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTE: In 1935 Louis B. Mason published a book-length biography of John Mason [The Life and Times of Major John Mason of Connecticut: 1600-1672 (New York 1935)]. There is also an account in the Dictionary of American Biography.

The Great Migration Begins Sketches PRESERVED PURITAN Ancestry Chain 1: Major John MASON Immigrant b.1600, Captain John MASON b.1657, Lydia MASON, Lucretia SEYMOUR b.1730, Isaac ENSIGN Rev.WarVet. b.1756, Horace Datus ENSIGN b.1797, Martin Luther ENSIGN b.1831, Harriett Camilla ENSIGN b.1859, George Ensign SMITH b.1898, Camilla SMITH b.1926, Lark, JR. Ancestry Chain 2: Major John MASON Immigrant b.1600, Anne MASON b.1650,John BROWN Capt. b.1675, Martha BROWN b.1729, John JEFFORDS b.1746, Lucretia JEFFORDS b.1766, Amariah RAWSON b.1787, Adaline RAWSON b.1811, Mary DUNN b.1833, Harriett Camilla ENSIGN b.1859, George Ensign SMITH b.1898, Camilla SMITH b.1926, Lark, JR. Of Interest: 3rd great grandparents Martin Luther ENSIGN and his wife Mary DUNN are 5th cousins, their common ancestor is (Major) John MASON.

John MOODY 10th Gr. Grandfather - Great Migration Begins

JOHN MOODY

ORIGIN: Moulton, Suffolk MIGRATION: 1633 FIRST RESIDENCE: Roxbury REMOVES: Hartford by 1639 CHURCH MEMBERSHIP: Admitted to Roxbury church as member #69: He came to the land in the year 1633. He had no children. He had two men servants, that were ungodly, especially one of them; who in his passion would wish himself in hell; & use desperate words, yet had a good measure of knowledge. These 2 servants would go to the oyster bank in a boat, & did, against the counsel of their governor, where they lay all night; & in the morning early when the tide was out they gathering oysters, did unskillfully leave their boat afloat, in the verges of the channel, & quickly the tide carried it away so far into the channel that they could not come near it, which made them cry out & hallow, but being very early & remote were not heard, till the water had risen very high upon them to the armholes as it's thought, & then a man from Rockbrough meeting house hill heard them cry & call, & he cried & ran with all speed, & seeing their boat swam to it, & hastened to them, but they were both so drowned before any help could possibly come, a dreadful example of God's displeasure against obstinate servants [RChR 78]. (Winthrop tells this same story, with minor differences in detail, but with the same moralistic judgment, and dates the event as 6 August 1633 [WJ 1:126]; one of these servants was THOMAS DESBRE, administration of whose estate was granted to John Moody on 3 September 1633 [MBCR 1:108].) FREEMAN: 5 November 1633 (as "Mr. John Moody") [MBCR 1:368]. EDUCATION: The inventory included a parcel of books valued at £2 10s. OFFICES: Deputy to General Court for Roxbury, 2 September 1635 [MBCR 1:156]. Lieutenant, Hartford train band, April 1640 [CT Civil List 37]. ESTATE: In the Hartford land inventory of February 1639[/40] "John Moodie" held six parcels which were granted to him; he also had two parcels by purchase, which were later exchanged for other parcels: four acres with dwelling house, outhouses, yards and gardens; twenty-six acres of upland; six acres in the South Meadow; four acres in the South Meadow "which was sequestered for Abram Pratt & is now settled on John Moody by the inhabitants of the town"; two roods in the Neck of Land "which was sequestered for Abram Pratt & now settled on John Moody by the inhabitants of the town"; four acres in Hockanum; fourteen acres in a great swamp, purchased of Nathaniel Cole; another parcel "in the same tier of lots," purchased of Nathaniel Cole; these last two parcels exchanged with John Grave for thirteen acres in the great swamp [HaBOP 210-12]. The will of John Moody was dated 23 July 1655 and proved in December 1655: "The last will & testament of John Moody late of Hartford: I do make my loving wife Sarah Moody sole executrix, and I do will that half of all that I have, both land and stuff (excepting the household stuff, which I leave wholly to my wife), I give to my son Samuel Moody for to have it at the age of twenty-four years. I will also that Elizabeth Pepper shall have five & twenty pound paid her within a year, and a petticoat and a waistcoat & a pair of shoes; and this and all my debts for to be paid out of the whole" [Hartford PD Case #3758; Manwaring 1:138; RPCC 156]. The inventory of the estate of John Moody, taken 6 December 1655, totalled £300 14s. 6d., of which £110 was real estate: "11 acres of meadow," £40; "two parcels of upland," £10; and "the homelot with all the housing thereupon," £60 [Hartford PD Case #3758; Manwaring 1:138] BIRTH: Baptized Moulton, Suffolk, 8 April 1593, son of George and Margaret (Chenery) Moody of Moulton [NEHGR 80:326-27; TAG 64:1-11]. DEATH: Hartford between 25 July 1655 (date of will) and 6 December 1655 (date of inventory). MARRIAGE: Bury St. Edmunds St. James, Suffolk, 8 September 1617 Sarah Cox. She was baptized at Bury St. Edmunds St. James on 17 May 1598 [NEHGR 80:326]. "Sarah Moody, the wife of John Moody," was admitted to Roxbury church as member #70, immediately after her husband [RChR 78]. She died at Hadley 4 November 1671 [HadVR 80]. CHILDREN (dates for i-vi from NEHGR 80:327): i (poss.) JOHN, bp. Bury St. Edmunds St. James, 3 December 1617; no further record. ii JOHN, bp. Bury St. Edmunds St. James 1 January 1618/9; bur. there 5 January 1618/9. iii JOHN, bp. Bury St. Edmunds St. James 3 March 1621/2; bur. there 5 March 1621/2. iv HANNAH, bp. Bury St. Edmunds St. James 11 November 1624; bur. there the same day. v SAMUEL, bp. Bury St. Edmunds St. James 16 July 1631; bur. there 19 July 1631. vi JOHN, bp. Moulton, Suffolk, October 1632; no further record. vii SAMUEL, b. say 1634; m. say 1659 Sarah [DEMING] (based on estimated ages of children). ASSOCIATIONS: Frances Moody, sister of John Moody, married Thomas Kilbourn, and this couple came to New England in 1635, settling in Wethersfield [Hale, House 652-56]. A third sibling, Elizabeth Moody, married John Pratt of Wood Ditton, Cambridgeshire, but this was not the JOHN PRATT of Cambridge and Hartford in New England [TAG 64:11]. COMMENTS: John Moody was involved in civil actions before the Connecticut Particular Court on 1 August 1639, 5 September 1639, 29 October 1646 and 3 March 1652/3 [RPCC 4, 5, 44, 45, 115; CCCR 1:29, 33]. On 27 January 1642/3 he swore to the will of Richard Lyman [CCCR 1:81]. Savage read Elizabeth Pepper of the will as Elizabeth "Seger." She must have been Elizabeth (Johnson) Pepper, wife of Robert. BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTE: In 1926 Miss Lilian J. Redstone of London, England, communicated a thorough study of the English Moody ancestry of John Moody to the Register [NEHGR 80:313-27]. Frederick J. Nicholson identified the mother of John Moody and in 1989 and 1991 published information on her ancestry [TAG 64:1-11, 66:197-204].

The Great Migration Begins Sketches PRESERVED PURITAN

Ancestry Chain: John MOODY 1633 Immigrant, Samuel MOODY b.1631, John MOODY b.1661, Sarah MOODY b.1702, Datus (Datis) ENSIGN b.1729, Isaac ENSIGN Rev.WarVet. b.1756, Horace Datus ENSIGN b.1797, Martin Luther ENSIGN b.1831, Harriett Camilla ENSIGN b.1859, George Ensign SMITH b.1898, Camilla SMITH b.1926, Lark, JR.

(I will have to research to birthdays of the brothers Samuel MOODY.)

George STEELE 11th Gr. Grandfather - The Great Migration Begins

GEORGE STEELE ORIGIN: Fairstead, Essex MIGRATION: 1633 FIRST RESIDENCE: Cambridge REMOVES: Hartford 1636 CHURCH MEMBERSHIP: Admission to Cambridge church prior to 14 May 1634 implied by freemanship. FREEMAN: 14 May 1634 [MBCR 1:369]. EDUCATION: Signed his will. His inventory included "one great Bible" valued at 16s. and "one of Mr. Shipard's books" valued at 11s. OFFICES: With William Spencer, ordered on 22 August 1635 to measure and divide meadow in Cambridge [CaTR 12]; ordered to provide a gate and three rods of pales for the burying ground, 4 January 1635/6 [CaTR 15]. Jury, 1 June 1643, 24 April 1649, 7 March 1649/50, Summer 1656 [RPCC 20, 62, 77, 169; CCCR 1:87, 180]. Committee to regulate slaughtering of cattle, 24 September 1642 [CCCR 1:75]. ESTATE: On 5 August 1633 granted one-half acre for a cowyard in Cambridge [CaTR 5]; granted two acres planting ground in the neck of land, 2 February 1633/4 [CaTR 7]; granted a proportional share of one in undivided meadow ground, 20 August 1635 [CaTR 13]; in 8 February 1635/6 list of houses in town, George Steele had one [CaTR 18]. In 5 October 1635 inventory of Cambridge lands, George Steele held six parcels: one house with backside in town, about half a rood; half an acre in cowyard row; half an acre in Old Field; two acres in Wigwam Neck; five acres and a half in the neck of land; one acre and one rood in Long Marsh; and five acres in Great Marsh [CaBOP 22]; the houselot and some of the other parcels soon appear in the hands of Edward Goffe [CaBOP 45-46]. In the Hartford land inventory in February 1639/40 George Steele held fourteen parcels (some of them acquired after the date of the inventory): six acres "on which his dwelling house now standeth with other outhouses, yards & gardens"; five acres "lying in the Twenty Acres"; two roods "abutting upon the highway leading from his house to the great swamp"; eleven acres "abutting on the highway leading from his house to the great swamp"; three acres in the South Meadow; four acres and two roods "lying in the forty acres"; two roods in the Little Meadow; two acres on the east side of the Great River (acquired by exchange); four acres on the east side of the Great River; two acres of swamp on the east side of the Great River "which did sometime belong to Richard Steele lately deceased & now belongeth to George Steele his father"; three acres "called swamp now mowing land which he bought of Mr. John Hayns Esq."; two acres and two roods "called swamp now mowing land which he bought of Mr. John Hayns Esq."; thirty-five acres of woodland "which parcel of land he bought of Mr. Thomas Welles"; and thirty-five acres of woodland in the great swamp [HaBOP 355-57]. In his will, dated 24 May 1663 and proved 2 March 1664/5, George Steele of Hartford bequeathed to "my dear and loving brother John Steele," 50s.; to "my daughter Elizabeth Wates," "my old mill" and several household objects; to "my grandchild Martha Hanison," best chamber pot; to "Moses and Micah Mudg," 10s. apiece; to "my grandchildren James and Mary Steele," one chest apiece; and to "my dear and loving son James Steele" the residue, he to be executor [Hartford PD Case #5180; Manwaring 1:239]. The inventory of the estate of George Steele was taken on 21 December 1664 by Thomas Bunce and Samuel Steele, and totalled £136 6s. 10d., including £58 in real estate: "six acres of land in the south meadow," £30; "thirty acres of woodland," £20; and "five acres of upland," £8 [Hartford PD Case #5180; Manwaring 1:239]. BIRTH: By about 1583 based on date of marriage. DEATH: Hartford between 24 May 1663 (date of will) and 21 December 1664 (date of inventory). MARRIAGE: Fairstead, Essex, 12 October 1608 Margery Sorrell; she died before 24 May 1663 (date of husband's will). CHILDREN: [Rebecca STEELE ELSON MUDGE GREENSMITH] i RICHARD, b. say 1610; d. Hartford by about 1640 [HaBOP 356]. ii MARGERY, bp. Fairstead, Essex, 24 September 1612; no further record. iii JOHN, bp. Fairstead 29 September 1615; d. soon. iv JOHN, bp. Fairstead 20 September 1618; no further record. v MARY, bp. Fairstead 7 May 1620; no further record. vi JAMES, bp. Fairstead 30 November 1622; m. (1) (possibly at Guilford on 18 October 1651) Bethia Bishop, daughter of John Bishop [TAG 36:188-89]; m. (2) by 1685 Bethia (Hopkins) Stocking, widow of Samuel Stocking [TAG 36:188]. vii ELIZABETH, bp. Fairstead 4 May 1628; m. Hartford 1 May 1645 Thomas Watts [HaVR 606; TAG 22:161]. viii SARAH, bur. Fairstead 10 November 1629. ASSOCIATIONS: Brother of JOHN STEELE of Cambridge, Hartford and Farmington. COMMENTS: In 1960 Donald Lines Jacobus discussed this family in great detail [TAG 36:186-90]. He concluded that "my grandchild Martha Hanison" named in the will of George Steele was not born a "Hanison," but was the wife of John Henderson (or Hannison or Henryson); Jacobus did not determine who Martha's parents were. Jacobus further concluded that Jarvis Mudge or his wife (who had previously been the wife of Abraham Elsen) "was quite likely related to George Steele, but she is not indicated as his daughter" [TAG 36:187]. From the will of Elizabeth (Steele) Watts, it is clear that Martha was not her daughter or the daughter of her brother, James Steele [TAG 36:187-88, citing Manwaring 1:377]. Martha must, then, be a daughter of one of the other children of George Steele. Since the land owned by Richard Steele reverted to his father George Steele, it would seem that Richard died unmarried and without children. Any remaining solutions, therefore, require that Martha be a daughter of one of George Steele's daughters other than Elizabeth, but who this daughter might have married remains unknown. George Steele sued John Carrington in 1644 [RPCC 26; CCCR 1:107] and twice sued Will Corbit on 2 December 1647 [RPCC 49; CCCR 1:159]. BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTE: A comprehensive but somewhat antiquated account of both George and John Steele was published by Daniel Steele Durrie in 1862 [Steele Family. A Genealogical History of John and George Steele ... (Albany 1862)]. This includes the incorrect conclusion that a daughter of George Steele married a Henderson.

The Great Migration Begins Sketches PRESERVED PURITAN Ancestral chain: George STEELE Immigrant b.1583, Rebecca STEELE Immigrant b.1590, Sarah ELSON Immigrant b.1611, David ENSIGN b.1644, David ENSIGN Jr. b.1688, Datus (Datis) ENSIGN b.1729, Isaac ENSIGN Rev.WarVet. b.1756, Horace Datus ENSIGN b.1797, Martin Luther ENSIGN b.1831, Harriett Camilla ENSIGN b.1859, George Ensign SMITH b.1898, Camilla SMITH b.1926, Lark, JR

Captain Aaron COOKE 11th Gr. Grandfather - The Great Migration Begins

AARON COOKE [II] ORIGIN: Dorchester, Dorsetshire MIGRATION: 1630 on Mary & John FIRST RESIDENCE: Dorchester REMOVES: Windsor 1637, Northampton 1661, Westfield 1668, Northampton 1678 CHURCH MEMBERSHIP: Admission to Dorchester church prior to 6 May 1635 implied by freemanship. FREEMAN: 6 May 1635 [MBCR 1:371]. EDUCATION: Although his inventory does not include them, Aaron Cooke bequeathed several bibles and military books to various of his heirs. OFFICES: Connecticut jury, 1 June 1643, December 1644, 9 October 1645, 29 October 1646, 24 May 1647, 2 September 1647, 7 March 1649/50, 15 May 1650 [CCCR 1:87; RPCC 20, 30, 37, 44, 47, 48, 52, 77, 82]. Called the court of Magistrates as "Capt: Aron Cooke," 11 October 1655 [RPCC 153]. Hampshire jury, 24 September 1661, 25 March 1662 [Pynchon Court 253, 259]. Commissioner to end small causes at Westfield, 27 July 1672, 13 October 1673, 10 April 1675 [Pynchon Court 276, 277]. "Lieutenant Cooke is to be Commander in Chief" of a company of men to be prepared to go against the Dutch, 21 May 1653 [CCCR 1:242]. On 11 March 1657/8 "Capt. Aron Cooke" is in the Windsor section of a list of troopers [CCCR 1:309]. Confirmed as captain of the military company at Northampton, 5 July 1686 [Pynchon Court 313]. ESTATE: On 1 September 1634 granted three acres in Dorchester "up Naponset" [DTR 7]; on 22 November 1634 granted six acres for his "small and great lots at Naponset betwixt the Indian Field and the mill" [DTR 8]. Granted sixteen acres for a Great Lot, 4 January 1635/6 [DTR 14]. Granted "half an acre of ground over against his lot by the brook near the dead swamp to build his house upon," 5 July 1636 [DTR 18]. On 2 January 1637/8 the town of Dorchester ordered that "Jo: Kingsley is limited for his marsh in the neck next Good: Gaylor's which was sold him by Aron Cooke to have only 4 acres" [DTR 26]. On 8 September 1653 "Lieutenant Cooke is allowed fifty acres of meadow in Massacoe [Simsbury]," and in May 1661 "Lt. Cooke owns [this land] to be in his father Ford's improvement" [CCCR 1:246-47]. On 14 March 1660/1 "Capt. Cook is required to desist in any further labor on the lower farm at Mussaco, until the matter be issued at General Court, in May next" [CCCR 1:364], and on 16 May 1661 the court ordered respecting "Capt. Aaron Cook's grant at Mussaco" that the grant is still in force [CCCR 1:367]. In his will, dated [illegible] August 1690 and proved 24 October 1690, "Aaron Cooke Sen[io]r of Northampton" bequeathed that as "my loving son Noah hath on his marriage my inheritance at Westfield given him, as my loving son Aaron had my inheritance at Windsor given him at his marriage, and as much as my son Noah hath left his dwelling at Hartford to come to look to my [decline?] & nurse me in my age at Northampton, I do will & bequeath my house & barn ... to my loving son Noah ... I mean my house in Northampton, likewise all my meadow ... with my pasture land next my brother John Strong's ... my son Noah paying my debts and giving such legacies as I shall after express as soon as he can do it without selling off the land, namely unto his brother my loving son" £40 if he releases the estate from any claims from him; to "my daughter Miriam Laids" £20 at her own dispose as an addition to her portion; to "my loving daughter Elizabeth Parsons" £20 in addition to her portion formerly, also "the great brass [tight binding] that was her own mother's"; to "Moses Cooke my grandson, of my son Moses deceased, born of his wife Elizabeth [tight binding] Clark's daughter" a parcel of land of one hundred fifty acres, also a Bible; to "Elizabeth Cooke my granddaughter my son Moses' daughter" one cow more, also a bible; to "my grandson Aaron Cooke son of my son Aaron" three hundred acres; to "my son Aaron my leadering staff, sword, and best belt & the military book entitled [tight binding] and the cane leadering staff that my son Aaron Cooke hath the use of I give to the use of Northampton Foot Company"; to "my son Noah Cooke" clothing and a military book; to the Church of Christ at Northampton a silver bowl of £6 price; to "each of my grandchildren" a Bible; "my sons Aaron and Noah Cooke" executors [HamLR A:1 (court)]. The inventory of the estate of Major Cook was taken 26 December 1690 and totalled £526 1s., including real estate valued at £410: "a house & homestead" and "land in the meadow, thirty-six acres," £330; "a parcel of land within the common fence by Elder Strong's," £30; "in Hartford Colony about three hundred acres," £30 10s.; and "one parcel of land in Windsor bounds," £20 [HamPR 1:274]. BIRTH: Baptized Bridport, Dorsetshire, 20 March 1613/4, son of Aaron and Elizabeth (Chard) Cooke [TAG 11:179-80]. DEATH: Northampton 5 September 1690. MARRIAGE: (1) By 1638 Mary Cooke, daughter of William and Martha (White) Cooke (and first cousin of STEPHEN TERRY) [DSGRM 25:54-55]; she died by 1650. (2) By 1650 Joan Denslow, daughter of NICHOLAS DENSLOW; she died Westfield in April 1676. (3) New Haven 2 December 1676 Elizabeth Nash [NHVR 1:43]; she died by 1688. (4) Hadley 2 October 1688 Rebecca (Foote) Smith [Pynchon VR 224], widow of Philip Smith, daughter of Nathaniel Foote [Wethersfield Hist 2:328]; although not mentioned in the will of her second husband, she survived him and died 6 April 1701. CHILDREN: With first wife i JOANNA, bp. Windsor 5 August 1638 [WiVR 33; Grant 29]; m. Windsor 19 March 1656 Simon Woolcott [WiVR 42]. ii AARON [III], bp. Windsor 21 February 1640[/1?] [WiVR 33; Grant 29]; m. Hadley 30 May 1661 Sarah Westwood [Pynchon VR 223]. iii MIRIAM, bp. Windsor 12 March 1642[/3?] [WiVR 33; Grant 29]; m. Dorchester 8 November 1661 Joseph Leeds [DVR 20]. iv MOSES, bp. Windsor 16 November 1645 [WiVR 33; Grant 29]; m. Windsor 25 November 1669 (as "Moses Cooke of Warronock") Elizabeth Clarke [WiVR 12]. With second wife v SAMUEL, b. Windsor 21 November 1650 [Grant 29], bp. Windsor 22 November 1650 [WiVR 33]; vi ELIZABETH, b. Windsor 7 August 1653 [WiVR 33: Grant 29]; by about 1677 Samuel Parsons [NEHGR 148:219]. vii NOAH, b. Windsor 14 June 1657 [WiVR 44; Grant 29]; ASSOCIATIONS: Aaron Cooke's mother [Elizabeth CHARDE COOK Immigrant 1630 John & Mary] was widowed the year after his birth, and she soon married THOMAS FORD [Immigrant 1630 John & Mary], in whose family Cooke came to New England [TAG 11:179-80]. COMMENTS: In his accounting of "what children has been born in Windsor from our beginning hither," compiled on 17 August 1677, Matthew Grant reported for "C[aptain] Aron Cook" seven children [Grant 91]. (Pope also gives Aaron Cooke an eldest child Nathaniel, but Nathaniel Cooke of Windsor married in 1649, which would make him too old to be a son of Aaron.) Aaron Cooke had relatively few debt suits at court in the 1640s and 1650s [RPCC 46, 90, 102, 115, 119]. At court in May 1656, Janne Maton of London successfully sued "Capt. Aron Cooke" for a debt of £26 [RPCC 162]. On 4 December 1656 "Nicholas Maber servant to Capt. Cooke" was ordered to pay his master for corn he "feloniously took from him an paid to the Irishmen" [RPCC 171]. On 4 March 1657[/8] Edward Messenger sued Capt. "Aron Cooke" for detaining a sow [RPCC 186]. On 15 May 1650 and 7 June 1660, Timothy Trall sued "Capt. Aaron Cooke" for "defaming him in open Court" and won a small judgment [RPCC 212, 214, 215]. Trumbull provides a concise but excellent summary of the life of Aaron Cooke [Northampton Hist 415-18].

The Great Migration Begins Sketches PRESERVED PURITAN Research is needed on wife Mary: Is she Mary COOKE, daughter of William and Martha (White) Cooke as shown here. Or is she Mary FORD COOK daughter of Thomas FORD immigrant and Joanna WAY as I have?

Ancestral chain: Elizabeth CHARDE b.1589 Immigrant, Captain Aaron COOKE [II] Immigrant b.1613 Immigrant, Capt. Aaron COOKE [III] b.1640, Sarah COOK b.1662, Abigail Rebecca HOVEY b.1678, Abigail LANE b.1716, Elijah REMINGTON b.1743, Esther REMINGTON b.1772, Mary BRONSON b.1806, Martin Luther ENSIGN b.1831, Harriett Camilla ENSIGN b.1859, George Ensign SMITH b.1898, Camilla SMITH b.1926, Lark, JR

Henry WOLCOTT 12th Gr. Grandfather - The Great Migration Begins

HENRY WOLCOTT ORIGIN: Lidyard St. Lawrence, Somersetshire MIGRATION: 1630 on Mary & John FIRST RESIDENCE: Dorchester REMOVES: Windsor 1636 RETURN TRIPS: Travelled to England in 1640 and returned in 1641 [Lechford 324-25]. CHURCH MEMBERSHIP: Admission to Dorchester church prior to 1 April 1634 implied by freemanship. FREEMAN: Requested 19 October 1630 and admitted 1 April 1634 [MBCR 1:79, 368]. EDUCATION: His inventory included "the books and other things in the closet" valued at £11. OFFICES: Dorchester assessor, 3 November 1633 [DTR 4]. Fenceviewer, 20 May 1634, 10 February 1634/5 [DTR 6, 10]. Selectman, 28 October 1634 [DTR 7]. Deputy for Windsor to Connecticut General Court, April 1639 [CT Civil List 64]. Assistant, April 1643, April 1644, April 1645, April 1646, May 1647, May 1648, May 1649, May 1650, May 1651, May 1652, May 1653, May 1654, May 1655 [CT Civil List 64]. Windsor constable, 26 April 1636 [CCCR 1:1]. Tax collector, 9 February 1637/8 [CCCR 1:12]. Jury, 1644 [CCCR 1:102]. Committee on highway between Windsor and Hartford, 10 April 1645 [CCCR 1:125]. ESTATE: On 3 April 1633 ordered to maintain sixty feet of fence at Dorchester, for three cows [DTR 1]. Granted fourteen acres in the meadow beyond Naponset [DTR 322]. In the Windsor land inventory on 11 January 1640[/1] "Henry Woolcott the elder" held eleven parcels: a twelve acre homelot; twenty-two acres in the Great Meadow; eight acres in Plimouth Meadow; fifty-eight acres toward Hartford; twenty-four acres over the Great River; a parcel over the Great River twenty rods in breadth and three miles in length; a parcel over the Great River ten rods in breadth and three miles in length; eighteen acres over the Great River; a parcel "upon Plimouth Meadow bank"; fifty acres over the Great River; and eight acres and fifty rods in swamp [WiLR 42]. For settling the estate of Thomas Marshfield, Henry Wolcott received seventeen acres of upland and six acres of swamp, and purchased of the overseers of Thomas Marshfield a parcel over the Great River, thirteen rods in breadth and three miles in length [WiLR 42]. In his will, dated 30 May 1655 and proved 4 October 1655, "Henry Wolcot" bequeathed to "my wife ... all my houselot, orchard, garden, hopyard and my lot in Plimmouth Meadow during the term of her life, also ... two of my cows and half the household goods in my dwelling house"; "I leave my land in England to Henry my eldest son without encumbrances, also I give unto him my two Books of Martyrs"; to "Christopher my second son my lot in the great meadow after my death and my houselot and housing upon it after the death of my wife he paying out of it thirty pounds after my wife's decease as I shall further appoint"; to "George my third son the five pounds he owes me and five pounds more"; to "Simon my youngest son all my land on the easterly side of the Great River and my lot at Arramummett"; to "the children of Henry my eldest son five pounds to Henry the eldest of them and to the rest of them forty shillings apiece"; residue to be equally divided "amongst all my children"; "Henry Wolcot my son" to be overseer; to "Christopher my son ... my lot in Plimmouth Meadow after the decease of my wife" [Hartford PD Case #6179; Manwaring 1:167-68]. The inventory of the estate of "Mr. Henry Wolcot deceased," taken 13 June 1655, totalled £764 8s. 10d., of which £351 5s. was real estate: "the houselot, housing, orchard, gardens, press, garner [granary] and things thereto belonging," £135; "twenty-two acres in the Great Meadow," £88; "8 acres in Plimmouth Meadow," £32; "24 acres at Podunk ... with a barn," £54; "Marshfield's lot and house," £24; "the lot at Arramomets," £10; and "four other lots not fenced," £8 5s. [Hartford PD Case #6179]. In her will, dated 5 July 1655 and proved 4 October 1655, "Elizabeth Wolcot" bequeathed to "my son George" £10 in moveables; to "Simon my son" some cloth; "the rest of my household goods to be equally divided betwixt Christopher and Simon my sons"; "the rest of my clothes to be equally divided betwixt my two daughters Anna and Mary"; "I would entreat Christopher to let Simon to dwell in the house and to have the use of it a while"; "my two cows to be equally divided amongst all my grandchildren" [Hartford PD Case #6167; Manwaring 1:166]. BIRTH: Baptized at Lidyard St. Lawrence, Somersetshire, 6 December 1578, son of John Woolcott [Wolcott Gen 2]. DEATH: Windsor 30 May 1655 [CTVR 43; Grant 82 (day and month not given)]. MARRIAGE: Lidyard St. Lawrence, Somersetshire, 19 January 1606 Elizabeth Saunders [Wolcott Gen 2]. She died at Windsor on 5 July 1655 [CTVR 43; Grant 82 (day and month not given)]. CHILDREN: i JOHN, bp. Lidyard St. Lawrence 1 October 1607 [Wolcott Gen 2]; living in 1631 [NEHGR 4:23-23]; no further record, and died without surviving issue before 10 March 1642 (when "Henry Woolcot of Windsor" deeded to "Henry Woolcot mine oldest son" the family inheritance in Tolland and Lidyard St. Lawrence [Wolcott Gen 39]). ii HENRY, b. say 1616; m. Windsor 8 November 1641 Sarah Newberry [Grant 69], daughter of Thomas Newberry. iii GEORGE, b. say 1622; m. by about 1649 Elizabeth _____ (said to be Elizabeth Treat, daughter of Richard, but without evidence [Hale, House 767]). iv ANNE, b. say 1624; m. Windsor 16 October 1646 Mathew Griswold (so stated in all secondary sources, but no evidence provided). v MARY, b. say 1626; m. Windsor 25 June 1646 Job Drake, son of John Drake [Grant 32]. vi CHRISTOPHER, b. say 1628; d. Windsor 7 September 1662, unmarried [Manwaring 1:166]. In his nuncupative will Christopher Wolcott asked that "his estate should be divided among his brothers and sisters, only that Henry should have something more than the others" [Manwaring 1:166]. vii SIMON, b say 1630; m. (1) Windsor 19 March 1656/7 Joanna Cooke, daughter of AARON COOKE [CTVR 42], and she d. Windsor 27 April 1657 [CTVR 43]; m. (2) Windsor 17 October 1661 Martha Pitkin [Grant 69]. ASSOCIATIONS: "John Woolcott heretofore of Glaston in the County of Somerset, yeoman, and late of Watertowne in New Engand, planter, deceased," left behind two minor daughters. One of those chosen to be guardian was "Henry Woolcott of Windsor in N.E." [Lechford 39-41]. The exact degree of kinship between this John and Henry has not been determined, but they were probably not-too-distant cousins. COMMENTS: On 22 July 1631 "John Wollcott," writing from Wellington, Somersetshire, addressed "his loving cousin Henry Wollcott Junior in Matapan (Dorchester) these in New England," asked to be remembered to "your father and mother [and] to your brothers," and reported that "your brother Simon hath been very sick of late and so hath your sisters also.... Your brother John continues in his old course of living" [NEHGR 4:23-24]. The addressee was the younger Henry Wolcott, the eldest son in New England of the immigrant. On 15 April 1639 "John Wollcott" of Bishop's Lydyard wrote to "my loving brother Hennory Wollcott dwelling in Winsor by Quenattecott River in New England" to inform him that "our dear brother C[hris]topher Wollcott of Wellington" had died on the 25th of March 1639 [NEHGR 2:373-74]. The statement has been made that Henry Wolcott lived at Ash Priors, Somersetshire, after 1607, and baptisms are given for sons Henry and Simon, but the parish where these events took place is not stated with assurance [M&JCH 17:176]. Further evidence is needed on this point. In 1640 Henry Wolcott was in partnership with Thomas Marshfield and Samuel Wakeman in the voyages of two ships across the Atlantic, and he presumably made the voyage himself in one of these vessels [Lechford 324-25].

The Great Migration Begins Sketches PRESERVED PURITAN Ancestry chain: Henry WOLCOTT b.1578 and Elizabeth SAUNDERS Immigrants, Simon WOLCOTT b.1624 Immigrant, Elizabeth WOLCOTT b.1662, Simon COOLEY b.1687, Lieut. Abner COOLEY b.1687, Jerusha COOLEY b.1738 , Sylvanus BRONSON b.1769, Mary BRONSON b.1806, Martin Luther ENSIGN b.1831, Harriett Camilla ENSIGN b.1859, George Ensign SMITH b.1898, Camilla SMITH b.1926, Lark, JR

Connecticut Witch Trials

10th great grandmother Rebecca Steele 1590-1663 married first Abraham Elson they were the parents of Sarah Elson. Sarah Elson married to James Ensign. Rebecca Steele married second Jarvis Mudge. Rebecca Steele married third Nathaniel Greensmith.

The Witchcraft Delusion In Colonial Connecticut (1647-1697)
by John M. Taylor

NATHANIEL AND REBECCA [STEELE ELSON MUDGE] GREENSMITH

Nathaniel Greensmith lived in Hartford, south of the little river, in
1661-62, on a lot of about twenty acres, with a house and barn. He also
had other holdings "neer Podunk," and "on ye highway leading to
Farmington."

He was thrifty by divergent and economical methods, since he is credited
in the records of the time with stealing a bushel and a half of wheat,
of stealing a hoe, and of lying to the court, and of battery.

In one way or another he accumulated quite a property for those days,
since the inventory of it filed in the Hartford Probate Office, January
25, 1662, after his execution, carried an appraisal of L137. l4s.
1_d_.--including "2 bibles," "a sword," "a resthead," and a "drachm
cup"--all indicating that Nathaniel judiciously mingled his theology and
patriotism, his recreation and refreshment, with his everyday practical
affairs and opportunities.

But he made one adventure that was most unprofitable. In an evil hour he
took to wife Rebecca, relict of Abraham Elson, and also relict of Jarvis
Mudge, and of whom so good a man as the Rev. John Whiting, minister of
the First Church in Hartford--afterward first pastor of the Second
Church--said that she was "a lewd, ignorant and considerably aged
woman."

This triple combination of personal qualities soon elicited the
criticism and animosity of the community, and Nathaniel and Rebecca fell
under the most fatal of all suspicions of that day, that of being
possessed by the evil one.

Gossip and rumor about these unpopular neighbors culminated in a formal
complaint, and December 30, 1662, at a court held at Hartford, both the
Greensmiths were separately indicted in the same formal charge.

"Nathaniel Greensmith thou art here indicted by the name of Nathaniel
Greensmith for not having the fear of God before thine eyes, thou hast
entertained familiarity with Satan, the grand enemy of God and
mankind--and by his help hast acted things in a preternatural way beyond
human abilities in a natural course for which according to the law of
God and the established law of this commonwealth thou deservest to die."

While Rebecca was in prison under suspicion, she was interviewed by two
ministers, Revs. Haynes and Whiting, as to the charges of Ann Cole--a
next door neighbor--which were written down by them, all of which, and
more, she confessed to be true before the court.

(Note. Increase Mather regarded this confession as convictive a proof of
real witchcraft as most single cases he had known.)

THE MINISTERS' ACCOUNT--_Promise to Satan--A merry Christmas
meeting--Stone's lecture--Haynes' plea--The dear Devil--The corvine
guest--Sexual delusions_

"She forthwith and freely confessed those things to be true, that she
(and other persons named in the discourse) had familiarity with the
devil. Being asked whether she had made an express covenant with him,
she answered she had not, only as she promised to go with him when he
called (which she had accordingly done several times). But that the
devil told her that at Christmas they would have a merry meeting, and
then the covenant should be drawn and subscribed. Thereupon the
fore-mentioned Mr. Stone (being then in court) with much weight and
earnestness laid forth the exceeding heinousness and hazard of that
dreadful sin; and therewith solemnly took notice (upon the occasion
given) of the devil's loving Christmas.

"A person at the same time present being desired the next day more
particularly to enquire of her about her guilt, it was accordingly done,
to whom she acknowledged that though when Mr. Haynes began to read she
could have torn him in pieces, and was so much resolved as might be to
deny her guilt (as she had done before) yet after he had read awhile,
she was as if her flesh had been pulled from her bones, (such was her
expression,) and so could not deny any longer. She also declared that
the devil first appeared to her in the form of a deer or fawn, skipping
about her, wherewith she was not much affrighted but by degrees he
contrived talk with her; and that their meetings were frequently at such
a place, (near her own house;) that some of the company came in one
shape and some in another, and one in particular in the shape of a crow
came flying to them. Amongst other things she owned that the devil had
frequent use of her body."

Had Rebecca been content with purging her own conscience, she alone
would have met the fate she had invoked, and probably deserved; but out
of "love to her husband's soul" she made an accusation against him,
which of itself secured his conviction of the same offense, with the
same dire penalty.

THE ACCUSATION--_Nathaniel's plea--"Travaile and labour"--"A red
creature"--- Prenuptial doubts--The weighty logs--Wifely tenderness and
anxiety--Under the greenwood tree--A cat call--Terpsichore and Bacchus_

"Rebecca Greenswith testifieth in Court Janry 8. 62.

"1. That my husband on Friday night last when I came to prison told me
that now thou hast confest against thyself let me alone and say nothing
of me and I wilbe good unto thy children.

"I doe now testifie that formerly when my husband hathe told me of his
great travaile and labour I wondered at it how he did it this he did
before I was married and when I was married I asked him how he did it
and he answered me he had help yt I knew not of.

"3. About three years agoe as I think it; my husband and I were in ye
wood several miles from home and were looking for a sow yt we lost and I
saw a creature a red creature following my husband and when I came to
him I asked him what it was that was with him and he told me it was a
fox.

"4. Another time when he and I drove or hogs into ye woods beyond ye
pound yt was to keep yong cattle severall miles of I went before ye hogs
to call them and looking back I saw two creatures like dogs one a little
blacker then ye other, they came after my husband pretty close to him
and one did seem to me to touch him I asked him wt they were he told me
he thought foxes I was stil afraid when I saw anything because I heard
soe much of him before I married him.

"5. I have seen logs that my husband hath brought home in his cart that
I wondered at it that he could get them into ye cart being a man of
little body and weake to my apprhension and ye logs were such that I
thought two men such as he could not have done it.

"I speak all this out of love to my husbands soule and it is much
against my will that I am now necessitate to speake agaynst my husband,
I desire that ye Lord would open his heart to owne and speak ye trueth.

"I also testify that I being in ye wood at a meeting there was wth me
Goody Seager Goodwife Sanford & Goodwife Ayres; and at another time
there was a meeting under a tree in ye green by or house & there was
there James Walkely, Peter Grants wife Goodwife Aires & Henry Palmers
wife of Wethersfield, & Goody Seager, & there we danced, & had a bottle
of sack: it was in ye night & something like a catt cald me out to ye
meeting & I was in Mr. Varlets orcherd wth Mrs. Judeth Varlett & shee
tould me that shee was much troubled wth ye Marshall Jonath: Gilbert &
cried, & she sayd if it lay in her power she would doe him a mischief,
or what hurt shee could."

The Green smiths [and Mary Barnes] were convicted and sentenced to suffer death. In [25] January, 166[3], they were hung on "Gallows Hill," on the bluff a little north of where Trinity College now stands--"a logical location" one most learned in the traditions and history of Hartford calls it--as it afforded an excellent view of the execution to a large crowd on the meadows to the west, a hanging being then a popular spectacle and entertainment.

-----------------------------------------------
Other family connection to this witch trial:
The magistrates holding the court were Matthew Allyn, moderator, Samuel Wyllys, [likely our grandfather] Richard Treat, [possible uncle] Henry Wolcott, Daniel Clark, secretary, John Allyn. The jury were [likely our grandfather] Edward Griswold, Walter Filer, Ensign Olmsted, Samuel Boardman, Gregory Winterton, John Cowles, [likely our grandfather] Samuel Marshall, Samuel Hale, Nathaniel Willett, John Hart, [possible uncle] John Wadsworth and [likely our grandfather] Robert Webster.
-----------------------------------------------
Ancestral Chain:
Rebecca STEELE-b.1590-1663 /Sarah ELSON Emigrant-b.1611 / David ENSIGN-b.1644 / David ENSIGN-b.1688 / Datus (Datis) ENSIGN-b.1729 /Isaac ENSIGN Rev.WarVet-b.1756 / Horace Datus ENSIGN-b.1797 / Martin Luther ENSIGN-b.1831 / Harriett Camilla ENSIGN-b.1859 / George Ensign SMITH-b.1898 / Camilla SMITH-1b.1926 / Lark / J.R.

Early America - Nathaniel FOOTE & Elizabeth DEMING; John DEMING & Honor TREAT

11th - 11th - 11th great Grandparents

Nathaniel FOOTE "the Settler" and Elizabeth DEMING

IV. Nathaniel FOOTE I - b abt 1593 Colchester, Essex, Eng; d 20 Dec 1644 Wethersfield, Hartford, CT; m abt 1615 at Shalford, Eng to Elizabeth DEMING b Oct 1595 Shalford, Essex Eng / Pitminster, Colchester, England; d 28 Jul 1683 Wethersfield, Hartford, CT; she was dau of Johnthan and Elizabeth (GILBERT?) DEMING and the sister of John DEMING who is also our 10th great Grandfaother; Other spouse Elizabeth Deming married second to Governor Thomas Welles. Thomas Welles was born 1590 at Stourton, Whichford, Warwickshire, England and died 14 January 1659/60 at Wethersfield, Hartford Co., CT. He had first married Alice Tomes c5 July 1615 in England they had eight children; Ch of Elizabeth DEMING FOOTE and Gov. Thomas WELLS were: none.

Seven Ch of Nathaniel FOOTE and Elizabeth DEMING were:
1. Elizabeth FOOTE - b 14 Jan 1617/18 Shalford, Eng; d 8 Sep 1700; m abt 1638 Wethersfield, CT to Josiah CHURCHILL died Jan 1686/87 Wethersfield, CT; Children: Mary married Samuel CHURCH; Elizabeth married Henry BUCK; Hannah married Samuel ROYCE; Ann married Mr. RICE; Joseph married Mary; Benjamin married Mary; and Sarah married Thomas WICKAM.

2. Nathaniel FOOTE II - b 5 Mar 1619/20; Married 1646, Elizabeth SMITH (bap. Jan. 28, 1626/7, Hadleigh, Suffolk, England), daughter of Lt. Samuel and Elizabeth SMITH.

3. Mary FOOTE - b abt 1623 Shalford; d. Jul. 31, 1721, Norwich, CT. Married first 1642 John STODDARD; second Apr. 4, 1674, Wethersfield, CT, John GOODRICH (b. 1623; d. Apr. 1680), son of John GOODRICH and Margery HOW; and third about 1681 Thomas TRACY (b. 1623; d. Nov. 7, 1685). Children of Mary and John STODDARD: Mary married Joseph WRIGHT; John married Elizabeth CURTIS; Caleb died young; Joshua married Berthia SMITH; Mercy married Joseph WRIGHT; Elizabeth married Mr. WRIGHT; and Nathaniel married first Mary, and second Eunice STANDISH.

4. Lt. Robert FOOTE - b 5 Mar 1626/27 Shalford; d abt 1681 New Haven, CT; m abt 1659 at New Haven to Sarah POTTER, daughter of William and Frances of New Haven, CT.; died May 1730 Guilford, CT; Ch were: (a) Nathaniel FOOTE b 13 Apr 1660 New Haven, CT; d bef 1715; m Tabitha BISHOP; (b) Sarah FOOTE b 12 Feb 1661/62 New Haven, CT, Sarah married first Isaac CURTIS, and second Nathaniel HOW; (c) Elizabeth FOOTE b 8 Mar 1663/64 New Haven, CT, Elizabeth married John GRAVES; (d) Joseph FOOTE b 6 Mar 1665/66 New Haven; d 6 Mar 1750/51; Joseph married first Abigail JOHNSON, second Sarah ROSE, and third Susannah (?) FRISBIE widow of John FRISBIE; (e) Samuel FOOTE b 14 May 1668 New Haven; d 1696; m Abigail BARKER; (f) John FOOTE b 24 Jul 1670; m 1696 to Mary (???); (g) Stephen FOOTE b 14 Dec 1672; d 23 Oct 1762; spouses were Elizabeth NASH, Hannah (?) HOWD widow of Lt. John Howd; (h) Dr. Isaac FOOTE b 14 Dec 1672; d 11 Feb 1758; m 1709 to Rebecca DICKERMAN

5. Frances FOOTE - b abt 1629 England or Watertown, Middlesex, MA; d Nov 1680; m 1648 at Wethersfield to Sgt. John DICKENSON b 1630; d 19 May 1676 at Hadley, MA Married first 1648 at Wethersfield to Sgt. John DICKINSON (b. 1629; d. 1676), son of Nathaniel DICKINSON and Anne GULL; and second 1677 Francis BARNARD (b. 1617; d. Feb. 3, 1698). Children of Frances and John DICKINSON: Hannah Dickinson (6 Dec 1648-aft 1705) Hannah married first Samuel GILET, and second Stephen JENNINGS; Mary Dickinson (1650-16 March 1707/8) Mary married Samuel NORTHAM; John Dickinson (1652-1694)John married Susanna SMITH; Jonathan Dickinson died young (1654-bef 1678); Sarah Dickinson (1656-11 Feb 1731/2) Sarah married first Samuel LANE, and second Martin KELLOGG; Rebecca Dickinson (1658-16 Feb 1731) Rebecca married Joseph SMITH; Elizabeth Dickinson died young (1660-bef 1678); Abigail Dickinson (1662-1714) Abigail married first Thomas CROFT, and second Samuel CROFOOT; Mercy Dickinson (1664-30 June 1735) Mercy married Joseph CHAMBERLAIN; and Mehitable Dickinson (1666-) Mehitabel married John INGRAM, Jr. . For information on John Dickinson's ancestry search the Dickinson Family;

6. Sarah FOOTE - b abt 1632; d 1673; m 1652 at Stratford, Fairfield Co, CT to Jeremiah JUDSON of Stratford; d 15 May 1701; Children: Isaac; Mary; Elizabeth; Sarah; Mercy; and Jeremiah.

7. Rebecca FOOTE - b 3 Sep 1634 Watertown, MA; d 6 Apr 1701 Hadley, Hampshire Co, MA; m Mar 1658/59 at Hadley to Lt. Philip SMITH b 30 Apr 1633 Eng; d 10 Jan 1684/85 Hadley, MA - he was son of Samuel and Elizabeth (CHILEAB) SMITH; Other spouse was Maj. Aaron COOKE; Ch were: (a) Samuel SMITH b Jan 1658; d 1707; (b) Baby SMITH b 1661; d 22 Jan 1660/61; (c) Deacon John SMITH I b 18 Dec 1661 Hadley, MA; d 27 Apr 1727; m 29 Nov 1683 to Joanna KELLOGG; (d) Jonathan SMITH b 1663; d 1725; (e) Philip SMITH II b 1665; d 1725; (f) Rebecca SMITH b 1668; d 7 Oct 1730; m 1686 George STILLMAN; (g) Nathaniel SMITH b 1671 Hadley, MA; d 1740; m 6 Feb 1695/96 to Mary DICKINSON; (h) Joseph SMITH b 1674; d 1736; (i) Ichabod SMITH b 11 Apr 1675; d 1746

NOTES: Nathaniel Foote "The Settler" - came to New England with his wife Elizabeth. He was one of the first ten settlers (known as "adventurers) in Wethersfield, Connecticut. Elizabeth was the sister of Mr. John Deming, also one of Wethersfield's first settlers.

In the original layout of the town, 1640, Nathaniel received a home-lot of ten acres, and gradually over the years he became owner of over 400 acres. He represented the town in the General Court - this is evidence that he was held in respect and confidence by his fellow townsmen.

In May 1637, when the little army under Capt. John Mason was being provisioned for the memorable Pequot campaign, it was "ordered y that there shalbe 1 hogg p'vided att Wythersfeild for the design in hand, wch is conceived to be Nathaniell Footes"----a compliment, certainly from the Col. authorities, to Mr. Foote's ability in raising good pork!

From an abstract of the record of the apprenticeship agreement of our Nathaniel Foote from the Court Rolls of the Borough of Colchester is as follows: "Nathaniel Foote aged 16 years, son of Robert Foot of Shalford in Com. Essex yeoman doth put himself apprentice to Samuel Croylye of Colchester, aforesaid grocer and Free Burgess from the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel last past for the term of eight years. Dated 21 Sept. V James I (1608). Sealed and delivered in the presence of me Robert Foot and of me George Lumpkin."

This family, as a whole, had a large share in the tragedies of that early day for Philip Smith, husband of Rebecca Foote, was announced to have been "murdered with an hideous witchcraft";

Trouble with Indians: among the members of the early generations, Nathaniel Foote had, (a), a daughter-in law and two of her children taken captive by the Indians and another child killed; (b), a daughter and three of her children killed, while (c), her husband and two other children were made captives; and (d), two more of her children wounded; and Frances Foote lost two husbands by the Indians as well as one son-in-law killed and another, with four of his children, taken into captivity.

Sir Thomas Foote, who was Lord Mayor of London in 1649, was a first cousin of Nathaniel Foote, the settler. Sir Thomas Foote was buried in the parish church of All Saints of West Ham, now a part of the City of London. He lived to the great age of ninety-six years. There is a very pretentious monument to his memory erected in the church.

Ancestral chain: b. 1592 Nathaniel FOOTE “the Settler” and Elizabeth DEMING; Frances FOOTE and John DICKENSON; Hannah DICKINSON and Samuel GILLETT; Hannah GILLETT and John TAYLOR; Mary TAYLOR and Joseph BRONSON; David BRONSON and Jerusha COOLEY; Sylvanus BRONSON Esther REMINGTION; Mary BRONSON “Mormon Pioneer” and Horace Datus ENSIGN “died Winter Quarters”; Martin Luther ENSIGN “Teen Mormon Pioneer” and Mary DUNN “child Mormon Pioneer”; Harriett Camilla ENSIGN and Isaac SMITH; George Ensign SMITH and Amy Ella HAWKES; Camilla SMITH and Kirt DeMar WOOD; Lark; JR today