Founders of Hartford CT - Part IV

Our Fathers the Founding Fathers of Hartford, CT - Part IV 

Ancestors of Mary DUNN (1833-1920) wife of Martin Luther ENSIGN (1831-1911) son of Horace Datus ENSIGN of Part I and Mary BRONSON of Part II. - Mary DUNN is the great grandmother of Camilla SMITH.

11th Great Grandfather  
21-Reverend Samuel STONE 1602-1663
Samuel Stone was born on 18th July 1602 in Herford England the third son of John Stone and Sarah Rogers, graduated from Emmanuel College in Cambridge, became curate at Sisted, Essex. Stone was a Puritan. Puritans wanted the church restored to its' ancient purity and simplicity. With Reverend Thomas Hooker,  and Reverend John Cotton, Reverend Samuel Stone migrated on the Griffith in 1633 to escape religious persecution.  With Reverend Thomas Hooker as Preacher and Reverend Samuel Stone as Teacher they served in the church at New Town which became Cambridge Massachusetts. In 1636 the two lead part of the congregation 100 miles Southwest founding Hartford, Connecticut.  Stone bought the land for the new settlement from the chief Sequassen, being a leader of Hartford. Samuel's wife Hope died in 1640 they had four children born in England and Hartford. He married second Elizabeth Allen they had five or six children all born in Hartford. Reverend Stone served as Chaplin during the Pequot war, and was among the writers  of “The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut.” After Thomas Hooker's 1647 death Reverend Stone became Pastor of the 1st Church of Hartford.  Samuel Stone died on 20th July 1663, aged 61.

11^th great grandfather: Reverend Samuel Stone (New World Immigrant) 1602-1663 / Mary Stone 1638-1682 / Lydia Fitch 1663-1740 / Mary Stedman 1687-1772 / Mary Thomas or Tommas 1718-1804 / Ann Gustin 1760-1833 / Simeon A. Dunn (War of 1812) 1774- / Simeon Adams Dunn(Convert to Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints, Pioneer) 1803-1883 / Mary Dunn (child Utah Pioneer) 1833-1920 / Harriet Camilla Ensign 1859-1930 / George Ensign Smith 1898-1967 / Camilla Smith 1926-1999 / L Wood / JR.

NOTE: Reverend Thomas Hooker 1589-1647 is our 13th great grandfather through Kirt DeMar WOOD 1923-1987. 
For our founding grandfather Thomas Hooke see: Founders of Hartford CT - Part I

                                                                            Hartford  Tercentenary Plaque                                                              
Pictured: The Tercentenary Plaque (300th Anniversary). That Part of "Suckiaug" now Hartford where in 1636 lived four of its founders, William Goodwin Elder, Samuel Stone Teacher, Rev. Thomas Hooker Leader, John Haynes first Govenor. 

How did Hartford, CT get its name? It was named for Hertford, England, the birthplace of Rev. Thomas Hooker's assistants, the Rev. Samuel Stone. The Saukiogs (Black Earth) occupied the area of Hartford before Europeans arrived. The Podunks lived across the Connecticut River. The Tunxis tribe lived west. Dutch explorers, arrived in 1614.  In 1636 Samuel Stone made a peace treaty with the Saukiogs' chief Sequassen purchasing the land for the town of Hartford. "The Saukiogs remained friendly with the English settlers and lived near Hartford until about 1730.

12th Great Grandfather 
22-John Stone

[John Steele] was born abt. 1573 in England, and died aft. 16 Sep 1639 in poss England. He married _______ ROGERS abt. 1598 in prob Hertford, Hertfordshire, England, daughter of RICHARD ROGERS, REV. She was born abt. 1577 in England, and died aft. 26 Apr 1629 in prob England.

John Stone of Hertford, Hertfordshire, England, was among the so-called “Adventurers Party” of twenty-five men who set out to explore the area that would become Hartford, led by Rounder John Steele in October 1635, prior to the departure from Cambridge of the Rev. Hooker's party in May 1636. John Stone is recorded as having fought in the Pequot War of 1637. On 16 September 1639, William Edwards was bound to John Stone as a servant for one year (as recorded by Thomas Lechford in his notebook). In the Hartford land distribution of February 1639/40, it was recorded that “several parcels of land in Hertford upon the River of Conecticot (part) whereof did belong to John Stone & were by him given to [his son, ed.] Samuel Stone & by the said Samuel Stone unto John Marsh of Hertford & and now belongeth to him and his heires for ever”. These were: two acres on which his dwelling house stood with other outhouses, yards, or gardens located on the road from the Little River to the North Meadow; two roods and thirty-one perches in the North Meadow; another five acres, two roods and thirty-four perches in the North Meadow; and three acres in the West Field.

It was stated in “The Original Proprietors” section of the “Memorial history of Hartford County” (1886) by Mary K. Talcott, based on the research of Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull, that John Stone “removed to Guilford, where he was one of the signers of the original compact in 1639”. This is an error, possibly originating in the transcript of Thomas Lechford's notebook, in which the editor, in a footnote, stated that John Stone removed to Guilford, but this is not based on anything within Lechford’s notes. As early as 1888, William L. Stone in “The Family of John Stone... of... Guilford” claimed a different ancestry for the John Stone of Guilford.

The John Stone who settled in Guilford was aboard the ship heading from England to New Haven when he signed the Guilford Planters Covenant on 1 June 1639. Thus he could not have been the John Stone of Hartford.

The most compelling argument that the John Stone of Hartford was the father of the Rev Samuel Stone, as well as the father of Sarah Stone who married Henry Howard, and Elizabeth Stone who married William Wadsworth, is given in “Hertfordshire in History”, in which it is stated, “... Samuel Stone’s father was an inhabitant of Hertford {i.e., Hertfordshire, England}. He was an assistant Burgess of the Corporation and was deprived of this position in October, 1637 because he had been absent from the Borough for one year. In the Months Court minutes of Hertford there is comment that John Stone had ’lately gone beyond the seas and hath there seated and planted himself and his Familye.’” (p. 136)

Since John Stone apparently left no will, and there is no record of probate of his estate in Hartford (Connecticut), it is possible that he returned to England about 1640, but this is merely conjecture. (Compiled by Timothy Lester Jacobs, SDFH Genealogist)

12^th great grandfather: John Stone / Reverend Samuel Stone (New World Immigrant) 1602-1663 / Mary Stone 1638-1682 / Lydia Fitch 1663-1740 / Mary Stedman 1687-1772 / Mary Thomas or Tommas 1718-1804 / Ann Gustin 1760-1833 / Simeon A. Dunn (War of 1812) 1774- / Simeon Adams Dunn(Convert to Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints, Pioneer) 1803-1883 / Mary Dunn (child Utah Pioneer) 1833-1920 / Harriet Camilla Ensign 1859-1930 / George Ensign Smith 1898-1967 / Camilla Smith 1926-1999 / L Wood / JR.

11th Great Grandfather 
23-George Steele
[George Steele] was born abt. 1583 in poss Fairstead, Essex, England, and died bef. 21 Dec 1664 in Hartford, CT (inventory). He married Margery Sorrell 12 Oct 1608 in Fairstead, Essex, England. She was born abt. 1587 in England, and died bef. 24 May 1663 in Hartford, CT (not named in husband’s will).

George Steele emigrated from Fairstead, Essex, England in 1633 along with his brother John Steel, another Founder of Hartford, first residing in Cambridge, where he was made freeman 14 May 1634, and owned six parcels of land.

He removed to Hartford in 1636, where in the land inventory of February 1639/40 he held eight parcels granted to him by the town: six acres on which his dwelling house stood with other outhouses, yards and gardens located on the corner of the road from his lot to the Great Swamp and the road from his lot to the South Meadow; five acres lying in the Twenty Acres; two roods abutting on the road from his house to the Great Swamp; eleven acres also on the road 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; and four acres on the east side of the Great River. He later acquired six other parcels from others. Since he had a parcel of one rood in the Soldiers Field which he sold to Nicholas Clark, it is to be assumed that George Steele served in the Pequot War of 1637.

He was a surveyor of highways in 1640, was on the Hartford jury in 1643, 1649, 1650, and 1656. He was appointed to the committee to regulate slaughtering of cattle 24 September 1642. His will was written 24 May 1663, and his inventory was taken 21 December 1664. (Compiled by Timothy Lester Jacobs, SDFH Genealogist)

11th Great Grandfather: George Steele / Rebecca Steele / Sarah Elson / David Ensign Sr. / David Ensign Jr. / Isaac Ensign / Horace Datus Ensign / Mart6in Luther Ensign / Harriet Camilla Ensign / George Ensign Smith / Camilla Smith / Lark / JR.


To see 29 more of our grandfathers who were founders of  Hartford CT go to Part I and Part II.  See Uncles and Step Grandfathers in Part III.

Samuel FULLER 12 year old Mayflower Passenger - our 12 Great Grandfather

Passengers Samuel FULLER child 1620 Mayflower son of Edward FULLER 1620 Mayflower and mother-name unknown 1620 Mayflower.
Born: About 1608.
Marriage: Jane Lothrop, 8 April 1635, Scituate.
Death: 31 October 1683, Barnstable.
Children: Hannah, Samuel, Elizabeth, Sarah, Mary, Thomas, Sarah, John, and a child whose name is not recorded but who died 15 days after birth.

Biographical Summary

Samuel Fuller came on the Mayflower at the age of 12, with his mother and father Edward Fuller. (He should not be confused with Doctor Samuel Fuller, his uncle, who also came on the Mayflower). Samuel's parents both died the first winter at Plymouth. Samuel was apparently raised by his uncle, and became a freeman of Plymouth in 1634. He married in Scituate the next year to Jane Tothrop, the daughter of Rev. John Lothrop and his first wife Hannah Howes. He and wife Jane would raise their family initially at Scituate, before moving sometime shortly before 1641 to Barnstable. He would live out the next forty years of his life in Barnstable. His probate records of 1683-1684 indicate that his wife predeceased him. He also bequeathed an Indian named Joel to his son John.

13th great grandfather Edward FULLER b.1575 and wife both of the Mayflower / 12th great grandfather Samuel FULLER of the Mayflower b.1612 / Mary FULLER b.1644 / Sarah WILLIAMS / Benjamin ROATH b.1701 / Mary ROTH b.1726 / Mary SANGER / 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 / Lark / JR.

(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.

William WADSWORTH 10th Gr. Grandfather - The Great Migration Begins

WILLIAM WADSWORTH ORIGIN: Unknown MIGRATION: 1632 on Lyon FIRST RESIDENCE: Cambridge REMOVES: Hartford 1636 CHURCH MEMBERSHIP: Admission to a Massachusetts Bay church (probably Watertown) prior to 6 November 1632 implied by freemanship. FREEMAN: 6 November 1632 [MBCR 1:367]. Connecticut freeman (at "Hartford on the north the river"), 13 October 1669 [CCCR 2:518]. EDUCATION: He signed his will. His widow's inventory included "books" valued at 10s. OFFICES: Collector for Hartford, February 1638 [CT Civil List 57]. Deputy (from Hartford), September 1652, October 1656, February 1657, August 1657, October 1657, May 1658, October 1658, May 1659, October 1659, May 1660, October 1660, May 1661, May 1662, October 1662, May 1663, October 1663, May 1664, October 1664, May 1665, October 1665, May 1666, October 1666, May 1667, October 1667, May 1668, October 1668, May 1669, October 1669, May 1670, October 1670, May 1671, October 1671, May 1672, October 1672, May 1673, October 1673, May 1674, October 1674, May 1675 [CT Civil List 57]. Committee on Stonington and Indian bounds, May 1666 [CT Civil List 57]. Indian Commissioner, May 1666 [CT Civil List 57]. Militia Committee, July 1666 [CT Civil List 57]. War Committee, August 1673 [CT Civil List 57]. Committee on Indian Complaints, May 1674 [CT Civil List 57]. ESTATE: In the Hartford land inventory in February 1639/40 William Wadsworth held the following parcels of land: "one parcel on which his dwelling house now standeth ... four acres (more or less) a parcel whereof he bought of William Rusco & was parcel of his house lot"; "one parcel lying in the little meadow ... three roods & twenty parches"; "one parcel lying in the north meadow ... two acres two roods & ten parches"; "one parcel more lying in the north meadow ... twenty-three acres & twenty-two parches"; " one parcel lying on the east side of the great river ... three acres twenty-four parches"; "one parcel of swamp ... eight acres"; "one parcel lying in the old ox pasture ... twenty-two acres"; "one parcel lying in the cow pasture ... eleven acres, thirty parches"; "one parcel lying in the neck of land ... ten acres"; "lands in Windsor upon Conickticott River mortgaged to William Wadsworth which did belong to Elias Parckmons"; "one parcel .. eleven acres"; "one parcel lying on the east side of Coneckticott River ... twenty-five rood" [HaBOP 184-87]. By 1639 he had sold eight acres at Ventrers Field to Richard Lord [HaBOP 130]. By 1650, John Willcock Jr. had received a parcel of meadow in Hartford from William Wadsworth [HaBOP 420]. By January 1650 William Wadsworth's holdings included "one parcel of meadow lying in the north meadow ... two roods"; "one parcel lying in the old ox pasture containing ... thirty-eight acres"; "one parcel lying in the cow pasture containing ... eighteen acres, two roods, & thirty & six parches"; " one parcel of woodland lying on the west side of the little river ... eighteen acres, two roods & thirty-six parches"; "one parcel lying on the east side of the great river ... one hundred & fourteen acres"; "one parcel lying in the little ox pasture which he bought of Richard Lord containing ... four acres"; "one parcel of meadow lying in the north meadow which he bought of Stephen Hart containing ... three acres & thirty parches"; "one parcel lying in the Soldier's Field containing ... fourteen acres ... whereof he bought of Stephen Hart & part of Zacheriah Field & another part of Richard Olmsted & another part of Will Blomfelld & another part of Nickolas Clarck & another part of William Hayton & another part of John Bronsunn & part of Nath. Yele"; "one parcel of meadow & swamp lying in the north meadow which he bought of Stephen Hart ... twenty acres, one rood & eighteen parches"; "one parcel of woodland lying for cow pasture ... thirty-three acres ... he bought of Richard Lord & another part he bought of Stephen Hart"; "one parcel of woodland which he bought of Richard Lord containing ... thirteen acres"; "one parcel which he bought of Stephen Hart called his house lot containing ... three acres"; "one parcel lying in the north meadow which he bought of Richard Olmsted containing ... two roods & five parches"; "one parcel which he bought of Richard Goodman lying on the west side of the river in a greater parcel which belongeth to Mrs. Haynes, Mr. Talcott, Mrs. Hooker & others, containing by estimation eight acres..."; "one parcel of upland & swamp being his division of upland on the east side the great river containing ... one hundred & fifty-six acres" [HaBOP 187-89]. By 21 October 1654 Richard Goodman had purchased two parcels in the ox pasture, one of four acres and one of five acres, one rood [HaBOP 468]. At some point he exchanged a parcel of nine acres near the little river with this same Richard Goodman [HaBOP 84, 86]. On 12 June 1666, William Wadsworth received one hundred and fifty-six acres of upland in Hartford on the east side of the river next to Windsor [HaBOP 493]. In February 1671[/2] Mr. William Wadsworth had fifty-two acres and "in Stev: Harts 40" totalling ninety-two acres in one division of the undivided lands in Hartford [HaBOP 549]. On 14 October 1669 William Wadsworth was granted "three hundred acres of land provided that he take it up where it do not prejudice any former grants" [CCCR 2:123]. In his will, dated 16 May 1675 and proved 26 January 1675/6, William Wadsworth "being weak in body by the visiting hand of God" bequeathed to "my wife Elizabeth Wadsworth £20 a year the term of her life to be paid £8 by Samuel Wadsworth, £6 by Joseph Wadsworth, & £6 by Thomas Wadsworth"; to "my son John Wadsworth £10 as a token of my love"; to "my son Samuel Wadsworth the other part of my dwelling house ... and the land belonging to it"; to "my son Joseph Wadsworth the house & land I bought of Daniel Pratt in Hartford"; to "my son Thomas all my lands beyond the Great River and the barn to be finished out of the estate, & one quarter part of the household stuff which his mother have not"; to "my daughter Stoten £12"; to "my daughter Terey £6"; to "my daughter Ashley 20s."; to "my daughter Rebeckah £50 & one quarter part of my household stuff which the mother have not"; to "my granddaughter Long 20s."; to "my son Samuel the corn that is upon the ground and all the cattle"; "my son Samuel Wadsworth my sole executor"; on 16 June 1675 he made "Mr. George Gardner and Capt. John Allyn" overseers [Hartford PD Case #5605; Manwaring 1:246 (which misreads "my daughter Terey" as "my daughter Ferris")]. The inventory of William Wadsworth of Hartford was taken 18 October 1675 and totalled £1677 10s. 9d., including £1087 8s. in real estate: "his homelot and housing on it," £140; "homelot and housing belonging thereunto bought of Dan[ie]ll Pratte," £160; 23 acres in the north meadow," £200; "in Harte's upper lot 13 acres & 1/4," £110; "3 acres in Harte's lower lot," £30; "land in soldiers' field pastures and [plowing?] land," £140; "the farm bought at Hockanum of Mr. Hayns," £160; "upland and boggy meadow on the east side of the Great River lying towards Potonck," £10; "6 acres lying in the south meadow," £40; "improved land in the oxpasture," £50; "one acre more lying in the long meadow," £10; 24 acres of upland adjoining to his improved land in the oxpasture," £6; "4 acres in the [little?] oxpasture," 8s.; "56 acres of upland in the cowpasture," £6; "10 acres of land in the neck," £10; "a parcel of upland in the last division," £10; "18 acres of upland lying in the cowpasture leading to Windsor," £3; and a "parcel [of] land of 18 acres ½ lying on the west side of the oxpasture river" [Hartford PD Case #5605; Manwaring 1:246 (which misreads the date of taking of the inventory)]. The division of the estate of Elizabeth Wadsworth, deceased, was agreed upon 6 March 1681/2, leaving various amounts to "Samuel Wadsworth and Joseph Wadsworth and Thomas Wadsworth and Elisabeth Tery and Johnathan Ashly and Rebeca Wadsworth," as well as John Wadsworth [Hartford PD Case #5577; Manwaring 1:372]. The inventory of the estate of Elizabeth Wadsworth, dated December 1681, totalled £51 10s. 6d. [Hartford PD Case #5577]. BIRTH: About 1601 based on estimated date of marriage. DEATH: Between 16 June 1675 (appointment of overseers) and 18 October 1675 (date of inventory). MARRIAGE: (1) By about 1626 Sarah Talcott, daughter of John and Anne (Skinner) Talcott of Braintree, Essex (in her will of January 1636/7 Anne (Skinner) (Talcott) Wall bequeathed to "my daughter Sarah, wife of William Wadsworth" [Goodwin Anc 240-41, citing Archdeaconry of Middlesex (Essex & Herts), Bundle "Dean" No. 233]. She died by 1644. (2) Hartford 2 July 1644 Elizabeth Stone [HaVR 605]. Winthrop treated her for stomach pains in May 1658 [WMJ 114]. She died before 6 March 1681/2. (She was sister of Rev. SAMUEL STONE.) CHILDREN: With first wife i SARAH, b. say 1626; m. Hartford 17 September 1646 John Wilcox [HaBOP 525; HaVR 607]. ii WILLIAM, b. say 1630 (adult 1653 [RPCC 117]); m. _____ _____, who d. 1659 [Grant 82]; not named in father's will, 16 May 1675. iii JOHN, b. say 1632; m. say 1658 Sarah Stanley (eldest child thirty-one years old in 1689 [Manwaring 1:514]), daughter of Thomas and Bennet (Tritton) Stanley [TAG 32:199, citing HamPR 1:55]. iv LYDIA, b. about 1634 ("Wadsworth Lidia above 24 or 25 y.," 7 July 1658 [WMJ 117]; "Wadsworth (his eldest daughter) Lidia about 20 y. [sic]," 3 May 1660 [WMJ 201]; about twenty-six years in September 1660 [WMJ 217]); not named in father's will, 16 May 1675. v MARY, b. say 1635; m. Windsor 30 November 1655 Thomas Stoughton [CTVR 42; Grant 65], son of THOMAS STOUGHTON. With second wife vi ELIZABETH, b. Hartford 17 May 1645 [HaVR 575]; m. Windsor 27 November 1662 John Terry, son of STEPHEN TERRY [CTVR 9; Grant 67]. vii SAMUEL, bp. Hartford 20 October 1646 [HaVR 577]; d. unm. between 16 August 1682 and 17 September 1682 [Manwaring 1:372]. viii JOSEPH, b. about 1648 (about nineteen or twenty, 7 August 1667 [WMJ 748]); m. say 1682 Elizabeth Talcott [NEHGR 64:83]; m. (2) after 1710 Mary (Blackleach) Olcott [NEHGR 64:83]. ix SARAH, bp. Hartford 17 March 1649[/50] [HaVR 581] (nine years old 18 August 1659 [WMJ 168]; sixteen years old 17 February 1665[/6] [WMJ 626]); m. 10 November 1669 Jonathan Ashley. x THOMAS, b. about 1651 (six years old July 1658 [WMJ 117], seven years old 18 August 1659 [WMJ 168]; eight years old 14 March 1659[/60] [WMJ 193]; fourteen years old 20 March 1665[/6] [WMJ 635]); m. by 1677 Elizabeth Barnard (named in her father's will [Manwaring 536; NEHGR 64:81-82]). xi REBECCA, b. about 1656 (about four years old, 1660 [WMJ 201]; eleven or twelve years old, 7 July 1666 [WMJ 670], "a deep gash in her forehead by a sharp stick," 5 March 1666/7 [WMJ 708]); unm. 1682. ASSOCIATIONS: His first wife, Sarah Talcott, was sister of JOHN TALCOTT and of Rachel Talcott who married JOHN STEELE [Hale, House 747]. COMMENTS: Upon occasion, William Wadsworth did minor services for the particular court, including appraisal of properties [RPCC 174, 177, 225].

The Great Migration Begins SketchesPRESERVED PURITAN Anceatry chain: William WADSWORTH Immigrant, Sarah WADSWORTH Immigrant b.1620, Sarah WILCOX b.1648, 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.

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