USA > Connecticut > A catalogue of the names of the early Puritan settlers of the colony of Connecticut, with the time of their arrival in the country and colony, their standing in society, place of residence, condition in life, where from, business, &c., as far as is found on record, No. 1 > Part 16
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GENEALOGY OF THE PURITANS.
Sumner, b. June 15, 1841, d. Oct. 4, 1842 ; Henry Adams, b. Sept. 1, 1843 ; Hiram Roberts, b. March 20, 1846.
BATTERSON, JAMES GOODWIN, m. Eunice Elizabeth Good- win, of Hartford, June 2, 1851 ; no issue.
*GEORGE, SEN., was about seven years in the service of his country, in the Army and Navy of Connecticut, during the war of the Revolution : he was probably at Fairfield, as early as 1750.
BATTERSON, WILLIAM, a brother of George, Sen., removed with his family to Warren, Conn., where he remained a few years, and then removed with his family to Ohio. He had two sons, Will- iam and Lewis.
The Battersons who settled at Fairfield, are the only persons of the name known to have come to this country.
BATTER, EDMOND, freeman in Massachusetts, March. 1635- 6, and Nicholas, in 1638-9. Mr. Edmond Batter d. at Salem, Mass., 1756, aged 84. The Batters were connected by marriage with the Gookins, of Massachusetts, (perhaps Batterson.)
BASCOM, (Bascomb, Boscum,) THOMAS, of Windsor, an early settler, had issue : Abigail, b. 1639, baptized June 7, 1640 ; Thom- as, Jr., baptized Feb. 20, 1641 ; Hepzibah, baptized April 14, 1644 : Thomas, Juror in 1644, at Hartford.
BASCUM, WILLIAM, of Wethersfield, in 1636, probably in Guilford, in 1665.
Farmer says there was a Thomas Bascom, of Northampton, in 1658. This name yet continues in Connecticut. Two of the name have graduated at Harvard College, and two at Yale College.
BASCOMB, THOMAS, SEN. and JR., took the oath of allegiance at Northampton, Mass., 1678 ; also Thomas, freeman, 1670.
Thomas Bascomb is in the list of first settlers at Windsor, in 1640, as are Thomas Barber, Thomas Buckland, and others. He probably removed to Massachusetts.
BASCOMB, THOMAS, of Northampton, m. Mary Newell, daughter of Thomas, of Farmington, March 20, 1667. This name is yet at Enfield, and other places in Connecticut.
* The wife of George, Sen., was a weaver, and had just taken a piece of cloth out of the loom, when the British set fire to Fairfield. George Jr., then young, under 20 years old, de- clared the British should not have the cloth: he took and secreted it in the hollow of a large poplar tree. After the enemy had retired, George Jr., took the cloth from its hiding place, and his mother made for him a suit of clothes, and he immediately after enlisted in the army, where he continued nearly seven years, in the army and navy, and was in several naval actions, and aided in taking many English vessels.
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GENEALOGY OF THE PURITANS.
BASEY, JOHN, a weaver by trade, was a respectable and early settler at Hartford ; he had fourteen acres in the land division at Hartford, in 1639. In 1640, he resided in Hartford, south of Little River ; his lot was bounded westerly on Richard Butler, south by the road from George Steel's to south meadow, and easterly by Jo- seph Easton ; he had a daughter Elizabeth, baptized at Hartford, Aug. 23, 1645; Mary, m. Samuel Burr; Lydia, m. John Baker ; Elizabeth, his third daughter, m. Paul Peck ; his wife was Eliza- beth -. He had a grandson, Paul Peck ; another, Joseph Baker, a brother-in-law, John Baker, and a son-in-law, John Baker; he left no sons. He d. 1671; his wife, Elizabeth, d. 1672. John Basey drew 36 acres in the land division in 1672. He made his will Aug. 14, 1671. He gave his grandson, Paul Peck, a piece of land ; also, his grandson, Joseph Baker, wood land ; also, to his grand- son, John Baker, a piece of land ; to his son-in-law, John Baker, he gave his loom, " with all the tackling," after his decease. His wife, Elizabeth, executrix ; inventory appraised Aug. 29, 1671; £383, 2s. 6d. He mentions no sons in his will. He gave Joseph, son of John Baker, seventeen acres of land.
BASEY, ELIZABETH, widow of John, in her will, gave her daughter, Elizabeth Peck, two coats, one that was her husband's cloak, and her cow, for her care for her in her sickness; the remainder she gave her three daughters, Mary Burr, Lydia Baker, and Eliza- beth Peck. Inventory dated Dec. 13, 1673; £60, 14s. ; no sons.
BAYSA'S, STEPHEN, will offered in court at Hartford, Sept., 1692.
BASSAKER, PETER, was by trade a blacksmith, and was an early settler at Hartford. He had a trial to make nails, with less loss, and at as cheap a rate as Thomas Hurlbut, in 1643. Defend- ant in court at Hartford, Sept. 12, 1644 ; also in Dec., 1644. March 5, 1644-5, he was recognized in &20 to appear at the court in Hart- ford, on the first Thursday of the next June. He was fined 20s. for resisting the watch, Sept. 2, 1647. Oct. 17, 1648, the court adjudged Peter Bussaker, for his filthy and profane expressions, (viz., " that hee hopd to meete some of the members of the church in hell, ere long, and hee did not question but hee should,")" to be committed to prison, and there safely kept during the sermon, and then to stand in the pillory the time thereof, and after sermon to be severely whipped." Richard Skinner was plaintiff in court against Peter Bussaker, March, 1648. He was again a defendant in court at Hartford, April, 1649. (Col. Court Rec.)
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GENEALOGY OF THE PURITANS.
BASS, JOHN, of Windham, and his wife, Elizabeth, had Han- nah, b. May 27, 1711; Priscilla, b. April 13, 1713, d. 1714 ; sec- ond Priscilla, b. June 9, 1715 ; Zebulon, b. May 22, 1718, d. 1719 ; John, son of John, d. 1712; second John, b. Jan. 2, 1720, d. same day. The father, John, d. Oct. 10, 1753, aged about eighty years.
BASS, THOMAS, of Windham, m. Dorothy Parish, Nov. 9, 1726 ; issue, John, b. Sept. 14, 1727; Mary, b. June 20, 1729 ; Elizabeth, b. March 1, 1731; Dorothy, b. Oct. 29, 1736 ; Lydia, b. April 15, 1738; Joab, b. Dec. 9, 1739. Thomas Bass, of Windham, d. Jan. 8, 1787, aged eighty-six years. There have been several of this name at Windham and Hampton, and the name is yet found at Windham and in Litchfield county.
BASS, JOHN, of Braintree, Mass., m. Ruth, daughter of John Alden, of Plymouth, April 12, 1657, and had issue : John, b. Nov. 26, 1658; Samuel, b. March 25, 1660; Ruth, Joseph, Sarah ; perhaps others.
BASS, JOSEPH, of Braintree, 1648.
SAMUEL, of Braintree, freeman, 1634; the first deacon of the church there, held it over fifty years ; representative 1641, twelve years ; d. Dec. 3, 1694, aged ninety-four. Ann, his wife, d. Sept. 5, 1693.
BASS, WILLIAM, of Mass., freeman, 1638. (Farmer.)
Seven of this name have graduated at Harvard College.
BASS, REV. JOHN, graduated at Harvard, 1637, and settled at Ashford, Conn., Sept. 7, 1743, and remained until 1751.
BASSETT, THOMAS, of Windsor, was made free April 9, 1640. He was a defendant in court about 1644. He removed to Fairfield, where, in 1659, he was exempted from watching, ward- ing and training.
In May, 1651, the General Court requested the Governor, Mr. Cullick, and Mr. Clark, to hold a court at Stratford, for the trial of Goody Bassett,* for her life, (perhaps for witchcraft,) and in case the Governor could not go, Mr. Welles was appointed in his place.
* There is, perhaps, no positive record evidence that Goodwife Bassett was executed at Stratford, for witchcraft, though such has been the tradition ; noticed by Dr. Trumbull, " as an obscure tradition that one or two persons were executed at Stratford," for witchcraft, and such has been the tradition at Stratford since. The Governor, Mr. Cullick, and Mr. Clarke, were desired by the General Court "to go down to Stratford to keepe courte, vppon the tryall of Goody Bassett, for her life," and if the Governor could not go, then Mr. Welles was to go in his place. (Conn. Col. Record, printed p. 220,)
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A Thomas Bassett came from England to Boston, in 1634 ; perhaps this Thomas, of Windsor, was the same man.
BASSETT, THOMAS, had a home lot at Fairfield, two and a half acres, Aug. 10, 1655, and was in the colony as early as 1643.
BASSETT, NATHANIEL, of Windham, m. Joannah Borden, Dec. 10, 1695; issue, Joannah, b. Sept. 24, 1697; Ebenezer, b. May 4, 1699, d. ; second Ebenezer, b. April 2, 1701, d. 1701. ( Windham Rec.)
BASSETT, GOODWIFE, of Stamford, May 17, 1656, made her will, and notices her children, viz., Robert, to him she gave her home lot at New Haven ; also John, Emery, John Webb, Sarah and Eliz- abeth, (perhaps Jonathan ;) notices her two daughters, Goodwife Emery and Good wife Webb.
BASSETT, ROBERT, united with John Chapman and others, in 1653-4, in Fairfield county, to raise troops. The town of Fairfield held a meeting, without authority from the General Court, to raise troops to fight the Dutch at New Netherlands, and appointed Mr. Ludlow commander-in-chief of their troops, which office he accepted. This transaction, it is supposed, caused the departure of Mr. Lud- low to Virginia.
BASSITT, ROBERT, had a daughter, Mary, b. at New Haven, March 8, 1649.
BASSETT, PETER, 1644.
BASSIT, JOSIAH, m. Allice Camfield, of Milford, April 25, 1717, by S. Eells, Assistant ; son Josiah, b. Oct. 14, 1719.
She probably had her trial before the trial of Knapp's wife, for the same offence, at Fair- field, by a jury, as most of the first records at Fairfield have long been missing. It is probable these records at Fairfield were carried to Virginia, by Hon. Roger Ludlow, who, at least re- port says, abstracted the records, and that they were not afterwards recovered. Mr. Ludlow left Connecticut for Virginia, about 1654 or '5; the same year he was sued by Thomas Sta- plies, for saying that Staplies' wife "had caused Knapp's wife to be new searched, after she was hanged," &c. ; also, that " Mr. Ludlow said Knap's wife told him that Goodwife Staplies was a witch," &c. Implications on this trial are, that Goodwife Bassett had been tried and executed, and Goodwife Knapp also, though there is no positive proof of their execution. Mr. Joseph Hawley by way of division of land in Stratford, Feb. 28, 1680-1, had three acres and twenty rods of land lying upon the place called " Gallows hill," &c. ; near this were " Gallows swamp" and "Gallows brooke." The brook has long since disappeared, and it began to be doubted whether it ever was; but by throwing up the einbankment for the New York and New Haven Railroad, the stone bridge once built over the brook, was uncovered, several feet from the surface ; the sides of the bridge were in perfect order ; the wood part of the bridge entirely de- cayed : by which the tradition of the execution of a woman in Stratford, for witchcraft, is some- what confirmed. See trial of Roger Ludlow, at New Haven, 1654 ; also see Professor Kingsley's Historical Discourse, note L, page 101.)
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GENEALOGY OF THE PURITANS.
BASSET, BENJAMIN, and wife, Deborah, of N. Stratford, had a son, Johnadab, b. Oct. 27, 1751; Samuel, b. Feb., 1753 ; John, baptized 1754 ; Isaac, baptized May 16, 1766, and others.
BASSETT, BENJAMIN, of Stratford, m. Deborah Edwards, of N. Stratford, (now Trumbull,) July 28, 1748.
BASSET, SAMUEL, of Stratford, m. Eunice Beach, of N. Strat- ford, Feb. 2, 1748-9.
This was an early name in the New Haven Colony. Farmer notices William Bassett, of Plymouth, 1623, Duxbury, 1639; representative, 1640 and '44. Also, William, of Lynn, Mass., 1659.
Eight of this name had graduated at Yale College, in 1850. Na- than Basset, in 1719, and Francis Bassett, 1810, graduated at Har- vard College.
BASSETT, WILLIAM, of Mass., was one of the purchasers of Middleborough, Mass., with John Adams, Francis Billington, Wil- liam Brewster, Peter Brown, Edward Bumpus, Francis Cook, Philip Delanoy, Thomas Doty, Samuel Eddy and others. Bassett, proba- bly the son of Basset who came over in the ship Fortune, who set- tled first at Plymouth, then Duxbury, and was an original proprietor in West Bridgewater, where he removed, d. in 1667. (N. E. G. R. and Eddy's note, No. 12, p. 334.)
BASSETT, WILLIAM, SEN. and JR., Jonathan Brewster, Wil- liam Brewster, Loue Brewster, and Stephen Bryan, of " Duxborrow," are found in the list of males able to bear arms, from sixteen years old to sixty years, within the several townships of the colony of New Plymouth, in 1643.
BASSITE, WILLIAM, (Bassett,) came in the Fortune, to Ply- mouth, at an early period, in 1621.
BASSET, WILLIAM, of Lynn, son John, b. 1653.
BASSETT, WILLIAM, SEN., and William, Jr., of Lynn, free- men, 1691.
BASSETT, JONATHAN, by his wife Mary, had born at Weth- ersfield, Abigail, b. Sept. 6, 1739; Jonathan, b. Nov. 14, 1743; Mary, b. May 20, 1745 ; Hannah, b. Feb. 13, 1747; William, b. April 28, 1749 ; Nathan, b. Dec. 11, 1751; Elisha, b. May 6, 1753.
BASSETT, THOMAS, aged 37; Thomas Barker, aged 21; and Mildred Bredstreet, embarked for New England in the Christo- pher, de Lo[ndon,] John White, master.
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Basset has ten coats of arms; Bassett has twenty-five coats of arms.
BASSETT, WILLIAM, aged nine years, embarked in the Abi- gall, for New England, June 17, Robert Hackwell, master.
Elcy, wife of John Bassett, of Hartford, d. April 14, 1778, aged eighty.
BASSAM, (Bassum,) WILLIAM, had a claim to land in Weth- ersfield, which was recovered by Sergeant Seely, in 1636, under whom Seely claimed.
BAXTER, THOMAS, of Yarmouth, m. Mary, daughter of John Lattimer, of Wethersfield, Conn., May 3, 1705 : son Timothy, b. Feb. 26, 1706, and Elizabeth, b. March 23, 1703 ; both born at Weth- ersfield.
BAXTER, TIMOTHY, son of Thomas, m. Sarah Kilbourn, of Wethersfield, July 14, 1726, and had John, b. Dec. 28, 1726; Honour, b. March 2, 1729; Martha, b. Dec. 14, 1730 ; Elisha, b. Oct. 29, 1732 ; Sarah, b. Dec. 28,.1735 ; Mehetabel, b. May 25, 1740.
BAXTER, ELISHA, son of Timothy and Sarah, m. Honor Wool- cott, Dec. 13, 1756, and had Honor, b. Sept. 8, 1757, d. ; Rhoda, b. Aug. 24, 1758 ; Elisha, Jr., b. Feb. 8, 1762 ; second Honor, b. Feb. 17, 1765; Lucy, b. Mar. 20, 1768; Leonard, b. Oct. 28, 1771 ; Prudence, b. Feb. 8, 1775 ; Anne, b. June 20, 1778 ; Polly, b. Oct. 1, 1781 ; all of Wethersfield.
BAXTER, THOMAS, New London, husband of Bridget, 1662. BAXTER, MARY, daughter of Sally Kilby, b. Oct. 28, 1791.
BAXTER, THOMAS In 1653, a special warrant was ordered by the General Court and given to Jonathan Gilbert, to arrest Thomas Baxter, for several misdemeanors in the jurisdiction of Connecticut, with power to raise forces to execute his warrant. In 1654, Mr. Samuel Mayo complained against said Baxter for seizing his vessel, (the Desire, of Barnstable,) and his goods in it, under a pretence of his having a commission from Rhode Island. The court adjudged that the vessel belonged to Mayo, and ordered Baxter to pay Mayo &£150 for his unjust seizure of the vessel and cargo ; only provided Baxter returned the vessel to said Mayo, with the sails and ropes, two swords and four guns, taken from the vessel, £18 was to be deducted from the £150. In 1654, the General Court ordered that the estate attached by the constable of Fairfield, for the forfeiture of the re- cognizance of Capt. Baxter, should be remitted. May 15, 1662, the
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General Court of Connecticut divorced Bridget Baxter from her hus- band, Thomas Baxter.
Baxter has been an old name at Boston and Roxbury, Mass.
BAXTER, ROBERT, Jo. Bently, Rachell Adams, and Eliza Blanch, embarked for Virginia, in 1635.
BAXTER, GREGORY, made free in Mass., in 1631-2.
BAXTER, SIMON, the second settler of Hartland, Conn., in 1755. In the war of the Revolution, he turned traitor, fled and died in Halifax.
Baxter has twelve coats of arms.
BEACHAM, ROBERT, who had resided at Norwalk, in March, 1657-8, had liberty granted him by the General Court, 1657-8, to cohabit at Bankside, (between Fairfield and Norwalk.) He was made free as a resident of Fairfield, by the General Court, Oct., 1664 ; appointed gate-keeper at Norwalk, in 1655.
Beacham, is sometimes on Fairfield records spelt Beachen.
BEACH, RICHARD, a New Haven planter, and unmarried in 1643. The name was early at Stratford. John and Thomas Beach were early settlers at Wallingford. The Goshen Beaches were of this family. John was son of Thomas Beach, of Milford, b. Oct. 19, 1655. The Litchfield Beaches descended from Samuel Beach, son of John, of Wallingford, and grandson of Thomas, of Milford. George Beach, Esq., of Hartford, is of this stock. Thomas Beach, of Milford, had a house lot in Milford, 1648. John, son of Thomas, b. Oct. 19, 1655 ; Mary, b. Dec. 27, 1657 ; a daughter of Thomas, b. Dec. 27, 1657 ; Samuel, son of Thomas, of Milford, b. June 5, 1660 ; Zophar, son of Thomas, b. May 27, 1662; probably others.
BEACH, BENJAMIN, of Durham, m. Dinah Birdsey ; she was probably a daughter of John Birdsey, a first planter of Milford, who afterwards removed to Stratford, from the fact that John Birdsey was the only person of the name who came into either Connecticut or New Haven colonies.
BEACH, JOHN, of Colchester, had a son Ebenezer, baptized 1733.
BEACH, JOHN, was an early settler at Stratford, before 1650, and was many years town crier of Stratford.
BEACH, RICHARD, was also an early settler at Stratford.
BEACH, AZARIAH, of Killingworth, had Richard, b. Oct. 19, 1677; Thomas, b. Oct. 5, 1679 ; Benjamin, b. Jan. 14, 1682. The connexion of Richard Beach, of New Haven, and Thomas, of Milford, not known. Thomas Beach, the emigrant, died early, and the births of his children not all found. The Beaches of Durham,
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Wallingford, and Stratford, are supposed to have descended from Richard and Thomas Beach.
Fourteen of this name had graduated at Yale College, in 1850.
Beech has been an old name at Watertown, Mass.
BEACH, BENJAMIN, David, Josiah, Daniel, Jemima, wife of Benjamin, Hannah, wife of David, Patience, wife of Josiah, Esther, wife of Daniel Beach, were all members of the first church at Unity,* Nov. 18, 1730. Hannah, daughter of Benjamin Beach, admitted Aug. 8, 1731; Ephraim Beach, admitted July 20, 1735 ; Israel Beach, and his wife, Hannah, admitted Oct. 17, 1736; Eunice, daughter of David Beach, deceased, admitted Aug. 7, 1737 ; Martha, wife of John Blackman, and Martha, the daughter of Mr. Benjamin Beach, deceased, admitted Sept. 6, 1741; Patience, wife of Benja- min, admitted into the church at Unity, from the church at Stratfield, April 19, 1743. (Unity is Trumbull.)
BEACH, DAVID, and Hannah, of Unity, had a son, Elijah, bap- tized July 4, 1731 ; Edmond, b. Sept. 4, 1733, &c.
BEACH, DAVID, Jr., m. Ruth Ilawley, of Stratford, Nov. 30, 1748.
BEACH, LT. JOSIAH, and Patience, of Unity, had Ann, b. July, 1731; Josiah, b. June 24, 1734 ; Patience, b. Aug. 17, 1737 ; Mat- thew, b. May 18, 1742. (Jethro, a negro of said Josiah, baptized Nov. 1, 1741.)
BEACH, ISRAEL, and Hannah, of Unity, had Phebe, b. Sept. 16, 1732 ; Nathaniel, b. July 30, 1735; Mary, b. Feb., 1738 ; Israel, b. 1740 ; Anna, b. Aug., 1747.
BEACH, DANIEL, and Esther, of Unity, had issue : Daniel, b. Feb. 2, 1736 ; Esther, b. May 14, 1738 ; perhaps others.
BEACH, EPHRAIM, of Unity, m. Comfort -, and had a son, Abel, b. at Unity, Sept. 29, 1743; and others.
BEACH, JOSEPH, and Esther, of Unity, had Richard, b. April 23, 1739; Ebenezer, b. 1742; Timothy, b. March, 1748. The last five families are descendants of John, of Stratford.
Beech has two coats of arms.
BEALE, THOMAS, 1639, land-holder in Hartford, in 1655.
BEADLE, (Beedle,) ROBERT, of Wethersfield, was an early settler. He stole gunpowder from Mr. Blackman, of Stratford ; two sacks from widow Foot; from Thomas Welles, two sacks ; from Richard Mills, he stole one blanket, and from Thomas Tracy, one
* Unity, north part of Stratford, afterwards North Stratford, now Trumbull.
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sack, for which he was adjudged to restore double for each theft acknowledged by him, and to be severely whipped, and branded in his hand, upon the next Wednesday, Dec. 12, 1644; and for his loathsome demeanor on the 5th day of March, 1644, he was ad- judged on the next lecture day to be severely scourged and kept in the house of correction two weeks longer, and then again whipped, and be then bound to appear every quarter court, and be whipped, until the court should see some reformation in his conduct. On the 17th day of May, 1649, Robert Beedle and Cary Latham, were warned to appear before the court for suffering an Indian to escape, who had been committed to their charge for safe keeping. In March, 1645, William Latham was charged, by the desire of Mr. Robins, in his inventory of debts, £1, 14s., for having delivered Robert Bee- dle at Fisher's Island, by order of court.
BEADLE, JOSEPH, of Taunton, Mass., as early as 1652, when he died in taking an inventory of the estate of John Barker.
BEADLE, THOMAS, a seaman, d. at Gloucester, Mass., in 1700.
BEADLE, BENJAMIN, of Colchester, had a son, Benjamin, baptized June 8, 1766 ; David, baptized June 14, 1767; Mary, bap- tized Jan. 1, 1769; Jonathan, baptized Dec. 30, 1770 ; Abigail, baptized, 1772.
BEATLE, (or Beattle,) WILLIAM, of Wethersfield, m. Mary Wright, Sept. 21, 1743, and had Sarah, b. July 11, 1744; William, b. Aug. 29, 1745 ; Elizabeth, b. Jan. 13, 1747; Mary, July 25, 1748 ; John, Aug. 11, 1750; James, Nov. 23, 1751; Martha, b. Feb. 22, 1753 ; Ann, b. Aug. 15, 1755.
BEADLE, DAVID, m. Abigail -, and had Benjamin, b. Dec. 18, 1741 ; Jonathan, b. June 20, 1744 ; Ruth, b. June 30, 1748; David, b. Sept. 12, 1750.
BEADLE, WILLIAM, m. Lydia -, and had children : Lydia, b. Nov. 1, 1774; Mary, b. Oct. 6, 1776. It is not known that the last families were relatives of the first Robert or the William who follows.
At a later period, viz., on the 11th day of Dec., 1782, a man by the name of William Beadle, resided at Wethersfield ; he was an Englishman by birth, from the county of Essex, of a good family. He early became familiar with an infidel club, in London, where he acquired the rudiments of his principles. He had a mother and sis- ter, whom he left in England, in 1755, and went to Barbadoes, with Charles Pinfold, Esq., then Governor of the Island, and remained there about six years ; he then returned to England, purchased a
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quantity of goods, and sailed for New York, in 1762, and soon after removed to Derby, in Connecticut, and not long after located himself at Fairfield, as a merchant ; here he married a lovely woman, from Plymouth, Mass., and was prospered in his business, and had ac- quired about ££1,200 in property, in 1772. But thinking his location was endangered, by being contiguous to the Sound, and of easy ac- cess by the British, in case of a war, he removed his family and effects to Wethersfield, about 1772, and opened a cash store, where he also was for a time successful in trade. But when the continental currency began to be used as the circulating medium, he received it for goods, and stored up his money, expecting his new money would be of par value, to replenish his store with goods. He was disappointed, for his money daily decreased in value. He became frantic, and parsimonious in all his family expenses, fearing pov- erty should overtake him. He fixed upon the evening succeeding the 18th of November, 1782, to execute his murderous design, and procured a fine supper of oysters, of which his family partook plentifully ; that evening he wrote as follows : " I have prepared a noble supper of oysters, that my flock and I may eat and drink to- gether, thank God and die." After supper he sent his waiting maid to carry a frivolous letter to his friend at some distance, to dispose of her, and obtain an answer, expecting she would not return that evening, but she returned unexpectedly, which prevented his hellish purpose that night. On the 11th of December, the maid and the children all slept in the same chamber ; early in the morning of the 11th, he went carefully to their chamber, awaked the maid, and ordered her to rise gently without awaking the children ; he gave a line to her for the family physician, who resided about one-fourth of a mile distant, stating that his wife had been ill all night, and ordered her to stay until the doctor should come with her. This done, and the maid gone, he proceeded to execute his purpose ; he smote his wife and each of his children, when sleeping, upon the side of their heads, and broke the skull of each ; he then, with a carving knife, cut their throats from ear to ear. He took the three daughters and laid them side by side, on the floor, and covered them with a blanket, and their mother's face with a handkerchief. He then placed a pistol to each of his ears, and fired them at the same instant. The return to the house by the maid, with the physician, revealed the dreadful picture to that quiet neighborhood. He was buried on the bank of Connecticut river, between high and low water mark, (after- wards removed.) His body was taken out of the window, as he was
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found, bound upon a sled with cords, the bloody knife tied on his breast, without coffin or box, drawn by his family horse, cast like a beast into the hole there dug to receive it. Beadle was fifty-two years of age ; Lydia, his wife, aged only thirty-two years. His children were Ansell, Lothrop, Elizabeth, Lydia and Mary Beadle, the eldest eleven years, and the youngest six years old. (See Rev. John Marsh's Funeral Sermon. )
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