USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Stratford > A history of the old town of Stratford and the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut > Part 10
USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Bridgeport > A history of the old town of Stratford and the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut > Part 10
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14-Richard Butler was a proprietor in Stratford and received his divisions of lands as others, but may not have resided here until after 1660. He was a juryman in Hartford in 1643, and in 1648 was made executor of his brother Wil- liam's estate at Hartford, who seems to have had no heirs but this brother Richard and two sisters in England. In 1651 the General Court granted him liberty to prosecute the Indian Nimrod at Pequannock who had " willfully killed some of his swyne." In 1659 he is appointed Custom officer at Stratford and allowed for his duty as collector 2s. for every butt of wine entered, and 12d. for every anker of liquor, and in proportion for other casks; and the Colonial Records make him one of the grand jury for Hartford in 1660. He died in Stratford in 1676, having an estate of £350. His home lot was the southern part of lot number 68 on the dia- gram of home lots in this book. He was prominent in the organization of the Second Church from 1666 to 1670.
15-John Peake, afterward written Peat and then Peet, is said to have come from Duffield Parish, county of Derby, England, in the Hopewell, Capt. Bundock, master, in 1635. He had a wife, Sarah, but whose daughter she was is not cer- tain, although the Fairfield Brand book' in 1669, styles Richard Osborn, John Peat's father, which in modern terms would be father-in-law. He may have been one of the orig- inal proprietors in Stratford ; had his house lot, No. 67, on Front street, now Elm, bordering on Salt Pond, and died in 1678, aged 81 years. His descendants have been and are still quite numerous, and scattered in the States. He was sexton,
1 Manuscript of the Rev. B. L. Swan.
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First Settlers of Stratford.
and rang the bell of the first meeting-house some years, giving up his position in 1660, in consequence of age.
Thomas Fairchild, Sen., was among the first settlers of Stratford, but whether he came here in 1638 or 1639 is not known. He was a merchant and may have come with his brother-in-law Thomas Sherwood, and with .William Judson in 1638, for the purpose, principally, of trading with the Indians, or he may have joined Mr. Blakeman's company at Wethersfield and come in 1639. Mr. Fairchild's wife was the daughter of Robert Seabrook, and therefore sister to the wives of Thomas Sherwood, William Preston, of New Haven, and Lieut. Thomas Wheeler, of Milford. Mrs. Sher- wood was much older than her sisters, she having been married twenty-one or twenty-two years when she came here, and probably two of her sisters were married after they came, about 1640. In what year Mrs. Fairchild died is not known, but her last child was born in 1653, and Mr. Fairchild married, 2d, Catharine Craigg, of London, a relative of Mrs. Elizabeth Whiting, of Hartford, to whom he secured in writ- ing? £200 out of his estate, but he died without fulfilling the agreement, and the matter being brought before the General Court with the contract in writing, that body ordered it paid, but that she must support her three children by Mr. Fairchild. He died, Dec. 14, 1670, and the select- men reported his inventory at £350. He had four sons by his first wife and two by his second, and the descendants are numerous.
The family name is of- long standing in England, the coat-of-arms indicating that members of it were in the Cru- sades from (A. D. 1096 to 1400). The name is said to have been Fairbairn in Scotland, whence the family passed into England.
2 A foot note in the Col. Rec. ii. 199, gives the following facts : "A copy of the marriage contract between Thomas Fairchild of Stratford, merchant, and Katharine Craigg, a sister of Elizabeth Whiting, widow, of London (executed in England, Dec. 22, 1662, is in Priv. Controv., Vol. I, Doc. 20), in which Mr. Fairchild binds himself to convey to the said Katharine a life estate in his lands at Stratford, or, in case of his death before his arrival in New England, to cause to be paid to the said Katharine the sum of £200.
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History of Stratford.
Mr. Fairchild was one of the most prominent and respected men of Stratford. He was appointed by the General Court, with Thomas Sherwood and the Constables of Stratford, to draft men in 1654 for the then proclaimed Narraganset war ; and again on a committee with Philip Groves, as leather sealer of Fairfield county. In 1654 he was elected Deputy; and a number of times after that, and in 1663 he was nominated for an Assistant, and the same for three successive years, but was not elected. As these nominations were made at or by the General Court, this shows the estimation of him by that body. In 1664 he was appointed a Commissioner, which was a Justice of the Peace, for Strat- ford and was reappointed afterwards.
Dr. Trumbull's statement, repeated by Mr. J. W. Barber, that " Mr. Fairchild was the first gentleman vested with civil authority,"3 appears to be erroneous, since the Colonial Rec- ords state that William Hopkins was appointed in 1640 Assist- ant, which must have been the first ; and that Philip Groves was appointed several successive years from 1654.
17-Lieut. Joseph Judson, son of William, was born in 1619 in England, and died in 1690, aged 71 years. He became so prominent in the town, and his name so frequent in the records, that he was supposed by Dr. Trumbull and others to have been the first of the name in Stratford, but he came with his father, probably among the first settlers, and married Sarah, daughter of John Porter of Windsor, about 1644. He was made a freeman in 1658, elected a Deputy the next year, and was one of the foremost men in the work and offices of the town about thirty years. He died in 1690, aged 71 years, having been for quite a number of years the highest military officer in the town.
William Judson, born in Yorkshire, England, emigra- ted to Concord, Mass., in 1634, and settled in Stratford in 1638, the first inhabitant in the place, if here in that year; and the only one unless Thomas Fairchild or Thomas Sher- wood, one or both of them, were with him.
8 Trumbull, i. 109.
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First Settlers of Stratford.
After residing in Stratford some years he became an owner in the iron works in East Haven and made his resi- dence in New Haven, where he died July 29, 1662.
His will, recorded in New Haven, was dated 20th of ninth month, 1661, in which he gives to his son Joseph twenty pounds, and to his sons Joseph and Jeremiah Judson "all my part in the iron works (and the privilege I have in it) which are near Stony river, belonging to New Haven." He says also : " I give to my wife's daughter, Hannah Will- mott, five pounds; to my wife's daughter, Mercy Willmott, five pounds ; and to my wife's daughter, Elizabeth Willmott, five pounds ; and the remaining time of service of my servant Peter Simson I give to my wife, and for his encouragement therein, he being a diligent servant to his dame, I give unto him five pounds, to be paid him when he hath served out his time according to his indenture ; and the residue I give unto my loving and beloved wife Elizabeth Judson."
The inventory of his estate was taken Dec. 15, 1662, and amounted to £369, 16s. 6d.
Widow Elizabeth's will was made in January or Febru- ary, 1685, and the inventory of her estate was taken Nov. 10, 1685, amounting to £63, 8s. Id.
18-Adam Hurd, son of John Hurd, Sen., came with his father from Windsor, Conn., where they had been among the first settlers, to Stratford, before or not later than the spring of 1644. Instead of there being two brothers, it is quite evident that there were the father and two sons, and yet it is not certain. A clause in the will of John Thompson, who was brother to Sarah, the wife of John Hurd (1681), represents said John Hurd as having become senior by the death of his father, and if so, his father came to Stratford and was one of the first settlers there. The town records style this John brother of Adam, uncle to Adam's son John, and yet Adam's son John styles him cousin.
Adam Hurd had two house lots, Nos. 31 and 35, and other lands, but his name, while prominent on the records, is not as much so as his supposed brother John's.
19-Daniel Titterton (also spelled Titharton) appears to have been in Boston in 1643, removed to Stratford before
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History of Stratford.
1647, for he was Representative from Stratford in 1647 and also in 1649, 1652 and 1654. He died in 1661, his will being proved July 6, 1661, in which he mentions three sons, Daniel, Samuel and Timothy, the last being the only one whose birth is recorded in Stratford, which was March 25, 1651. To these he gave his estate and lands in England, besides some in New England. He mentions three daughters; one, name not given, had married John Wilcoxson, and Mary and Elizabeth, to whom he gave £30 each, and besides £10 for marriage dresses. His wife Jane outlived him, and two sons may have returned to England to enjoy the estate there, yet Timothy and Samuel are here in the year 1700.
20-Philip Groves was among the first settlers at Stratford and was early appointed the Ruling Elder, and the only one, of the Stratford church. He seems to have mar- ried Ann, the daughter of the Rev. Henry Smith of Wethers- field, for John Blakeman, Jr., who married another daugh- ter calls Philip Groves " brother." Mr. Groves was prom- inent in the town. He was, in 1642, the first Deputy of this town, and in 1647 a juryman at Hartford, but living at Stratford ; in 1653 he was appointed with William Beardsley by the General Court to settle a question of boundaries between Fairfield and Norwalk; and the same year was directed as " Goodman Groves with Goodman Thornton," both of Stratford, to assist the Constables in making the draft of soldiers and provisions for the supposed impending war against the Dutch at New York; in 1654 he was appointed by the Court, with others, an Assistant to the Magistrates,
4 General Court, May 1654.
" It is ordered by this Court, that Mr. George Hull and Alexander Knowles of Fairfield, Philip Groves of Stratford, and Matthew Camfield of Norwalk, shall be Assistant to such Magistrates as the Court shall at any time send among them, in the execution of justice, and they hereby empower them to examine mis- demeanors, to grant out summons, or bind over delinquents to Court, in this Jurisdiction, for either of them to marry persons, to press horses by warrant from them as the public welfare of this Comonwealth and their particular Towns may or shall at any time require ; they giving an account to this Court of the same when required thereunto." In 1658 this office was further defined and restricted in the following language : "to assist Mr. John Wells and Assistant Camfield in procuring wills and taking inventories, and distributing estates of
First Settlers of Stratford. II3
which might be sent to execute justice in the town, and reappointed in 1655 and '56, thus showing that at this date this town had no regularly elected Magistrate. In 1655 he was elected Deputy ; in 1656 he was again appointed Assist- ant; in October, 1656, he, with Robert Rice, was appointed leather sealer for Stratford, perhaps the first in that office ; and in May, 1660, he was appointed one of the grand jury for the Colony. He died in 1675, having been a useful, promi- nent man in the church, town and state.
21-Francis Peacock, supposed brother of John Pea- cock, was a land owner in Stratford, but no further account of him has been seen.
22-William Crooker was a land owner in Stratford, but probably did not reside here, or if he did it was but a short time. His wife was the daughter of Henry Gregory. William Crooker, an original proprietor, deeded his land in Stratford to Henry Wakeley, and probably went to Norwalk, 1654, and thence to Newtown, L. I.
23-John Hurd, Sen., the emigrant, among the first settlers in Windsor, Conn., was in Stratford in October, 1644, when he and William Judson were appointed by the General Court to solicit subscriptions in the town of Stratford for the maintenance of scholars at Cambridge, and this collection was " to continue yearly," such being the enterprise of that day in behalf of education. In May, 1649, he was a chosen deputy to the General Court, and was appointed by that Court on a committee with Daniel Titterton to view land desired by the town of Fairfield for an enlargement of their territory, and in May, 1650, the report being favorable, the request of Fairfield was allowed, which extended their bounds to the Saugatuck river. He was deputy also at other times. Hence it seems that this John must have been an older man than the John who was married in 1662, and is credited with being the first of the name at Stratford.
persons that died intestate, and to appoint administrators. . This order respects Stratford, Fairfield and Norwalk." Hence the origin of the Probate Court. Col. Rec. i. 257, 323.
8
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History of Stratford.
A grave-stone of "John Hurd, 1681, aged 68," taken from the old burying-ground, is probably his, and hence he was born in 1613, seven years before the landing at what we now know as the old Plymouth Rock. Stratford should be proud of such a monument as this stone, for, although naught but a rude field stone, yet what visions of long years gone by are brought to our minds by it. Two hundred and three years this plain and often unnoticed stone has borne its unpreten- tious title-John Hurd, 1681, aged 68-a fitting monument for the plain, earnest life he and his associated brethren lived, as emigrants to the then New World, for the sake of the truth as they viewed it, in obedience to the Gospel of the Son of God. Standing by such a stone in the light of two hundred years is sufficient inspiration to cause every man to defy religious proscription, bigotry or oppression.
John Hurd was a miller, and in connection with Thomas Sherwood built the first mill at Old Mill Green, in 1653, where he himself probably was the first or among the first residents in that part of the town. He and Thomas Sher- wood, or one of Sherwood's sons, may have located there together.
24-Arthur Bostwick, came from Cheshire, county of Chester, England, with son John, and probably a wife, and was an early settler in Stratford, before 1650, and probably in 1639. In 1659 he had a second wife, a widow Ellen Johnson, who petitioned the General Court in regard to her husband's lands, and by the order of the Court their united property was divided equally between them, and in the same year Arthur gave the most, if not all of his estate, to his son John, by contract, in which John agrees to maintain his father with whatever he shall need for his comfort, and among other things " to find him wines and spirituous liquors, and a horse when he shall wish to ride forth." The widow, Ellen, in after years gave a portion of her property to her son Johnson by a former husband. The reason for dividing the property appears from the use they made of it, in each bestowing it on children by their former marriage ; a matter of no surprise. Arthur was in the list of freemen in 1669, and probably died within four vears thereafter.
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First Settlers of Stratford.
His home lot, 25, indicates him to have been among the first settlers. His descendants have been numerous in New Milford as well as in Fairfield county.
25-John Thompson, being a little over twenty-one years of age, came to New England on a visit of inspection, and being satisfied with its appearance returned home to dispose of his property and come here for life. From the seaport where he landed in England to his home in the inte- rior was a distance of many miles, which he journeyed on foot. While passing at early morn a farm-house where the daughters were bringing the milk, he stopped for some refreshments, and disclosing the fact that he was from New England, he found himself among ardent friends of the Puritan Colonies. Conversation grew earnest and he was urged to stay. Many questions were asked in regard to the land of the exiles. " It is a goodly land," said he, " but as yet full of wild beasts and savage men, but a place where we may wor- ship God with a true conscience." " Would God I were there," said Mirable, a younger daughter of the farmer, pro- testing that for love of Christ and to be free from the severe restrictions then laid upon Puritan worship, she would gladly endure the hardships and peril in order to attain that end. Not long before this she had been imprisoned for attending a conventicle. Thompson's stay was prolonged ; the interest between him and Mirable increased and they were engaged to be married. He went home, closed his business affairs, returned, married her, and they came to New England. It is thought that his first coming was in the Elizabeth and Ann in 1635, he being then twenty-two years of age, yet this is not certain, nor is it certain in what year he came the second time, nor what year he arrived at Stratford, although he was there before 1646.
This sketch is taken from the narrative of these events by the Rev. Nathan Birdseye who died in 1818, aged 103 years, who relates among other things that Mr. Thompson brought to Stratford some of the first fruit trees introduced there, and also that he harvested the first wheat raised there.
8 From the manuscript of Mr. Curtis Thompson.
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History of Stratford.
The family tradition was that he and his wife, walking in the field by the Fresh Pond, found that numerous heads of wheat had already become yellow, whereupon he gathered hand- fulls of these heads and she rubbed out the wheat until nearly a peck was secured, which they dried, and probably pounded in a mortar, and made bread from it, the first made from wheat grown in the town.
Mr. Thompson died in July or August, 1678; his will being drawn in July and the inventory was made in August, and he is supposed to have been 65 years of age. His widow, Mirable, died April 13, 1690. The story is related that on a certain day soon after their settlement in Stratford, while engaged in her house with her face from the door two Indians rushed in, the one giving a fearful yell, and the other just then buried his tomahawk in the head of the first, who fell dead across the table. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson had two sons and four daughters, whose descendants still abide within the limits of the old town.
26-Robert Coe, Jr., settled in Stratford before 1651, where he purchased of widow Ramble (?) a house lot recorded in 1652, bounded "east upon the highway, west upon the swamp, Samuel Sherman on the north and Thomas Uffoot on the south ; with land in the New Field, at Carman's Neck, at Nesumpaws and in the great meadows." Previous to this purchase he held land in the Old Field, and hence was one of those who kept up the fence around it, and therefore it is probable that his father was one of the original owners of Stratford and afterwards gave his share to this son Robert, else why should he have left Hempstead to settle at Strat- ford? He died in 1659, at the age of 32, leaving a widow, three daughters and one son, among whom his estate, amount- ing to £179, 18s. was divided, the daughters receiving £35 each. The widow, Susannah Coe, married, 2d, Nicholas Elsey of New Haven, and upon her son John becoming of age she, with her husband, made over to him the homestead of his father, December, 1682.
The following verses were made by the Rev. Abraham Pierson, pastor at Branford, on the death of Robert Coe :
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First Settlers of Stratford.
" Rest blessed Coe, upon thy bed of ease ; I'the quiat grave with the is no desease. all, all our anguish hath its perod fixt, Err hens we goe : not any joy but mixt. Raer grace which maks the life of man the best. this young man lived to God and now is blest. Come parallel this saint : now far exceed : Omnit no means that may true goodness breed. are tryals come, bestowed for days of need ? the Lord his widow bless, and take his seed."
Cooe or Coe. It is an interesting fact that during Queen Mary's reign, in the year 1555, Roger Cooe, of Suffolk county, England, the section of the country whence the family came to America, was burned at the stake, in his extreme old age, a martyr to the truths of the gospel. His trial is related by Fox in the Book of Martyrs, where it is represented that he most decidedly and faithfully testified to the truth and suffered patiently but firmly for Christ and his teachings.
Robert Cooe, Sen., the first in America, who is said to have been born in Suffolkshire, England, in 1596, sailed from Ipswich in the ship Frances in 1634 with his wife Anna, who was born in 1591, and three children. He was made freeman in Watertown, Mass., in 1634, and tarried there about two years, but was among the first at Hartford, Conn. (then called Newtown), where in 1636, at the first Court held there, he and others presented their certificates of dismission from the church at Watertown, dated in the March previous, to form anew in church covenant " on the River of Connecticot." He and others settled at Wethersfield, where he with others, after about four years, formed a company and bought of New Haven colony, the plantation of Ripowams (now Stam- ford), where they settled in 1641. For this territory they agreed to pay 100 bushels of corn, and Robert Cooe's pro- portion was four bushels and one peck. In 1644, Robert Coe, with other inhabitants, removed with their minister, Mr. Richard Denton, to Hempstead, L. I., at which date, Robert, Jr. was seventeen years of age. In 1652, Robert, Sen., removed to Middlebury, now Newtown, L. I., where he was made sheriff in 1669, which office he held until 1672.
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History of Stratford.
27-Thomas Uffoot came from England in the ship Lion in 1632, with William Curtis; was made freeman in Boston that same year : may have lived in Roxbury ; came, probably, in 1639 to Stratford, and may have been related to the Curtis family by marriage. His house lot was No. 16, which still remains in the family, yet his descendants are scattered far and wide, like those of many other families. He was a juryman at Hartford as early as 1643 and again in 1644; was in Milford in 1646, when he and his wife joined the church there, and is said to have been there in 1654. He died in 1660, and as the inventory of his property is at New Haven, he may have been residing at Milford at his decease.
28-Joseph Hawley was in Stratford a proprietor as early as 1650 and probably a few years earlier. His home lot was No. 37, which he purchased of Richard Miles in or before the year 1650. The tradition in Stratford has been and is that he married Catharine Birdseye, a niece of John Birdseye, her father residing first in New Haven and then in Wethersfield. He was prominent in the town and a more than usually energetic business man. He purchased of the Indians a large tract of land in Derby, of which that town allowed him to retain the old Indian planting field, and also another tract which joined it, including Great Hill. He was chosen Deputy in 1665 and many times thereafter until near his decease. He made his will in 1689 and died the next year. His descendants are numerous and a genealogy of them is largely collected and nearly ready for publication by Mr. Elias S. Hawley, of Buffalo, N. Y.
29-Sergt. Jeremiah Judson, son of William, born in England in 1621, and hence was 16 years of age when he came to Stratford ; married about 1652, and was a prominent man in the business transactions of the town. He died in 1700, aged 79.
30-Joshua Judson, third son of William Judson, born in England in 1623, came to Stratford with his father ; mar- ried Ann Porter of Windsor about 1656, and died in 1661, aged 38, leaving two sons and a widow, who married John Hurd, Jr.
First Settlers of Stratford. 119
31-Mr. Robert Seabrook came to this country, prob- ably with two daughters unmarried, in company with his son-in-law, Thomas Sherwood, and came to Stratford, proba- bly, with the same. One daughter married Thomas Fairchild, perhaps before they came to Stratford. In 1651 he must have been about 85 years of age or more. In 1634 his daughter Alice, who was the wife .of Thomas Sherwood, was 47 years of age. He was also the father of William Preston's wife, of New Haven, and in his will gave his home lot in Stratford to his grandsons, Jehiel Preston of New Haven and Thomas Fairchild, Jr., of Stratford. He is also supposed to have been the father of Lieut. Thomas Wheeler's wife, who was married, probably, in this country. ,
32-Henry Gregory was in Stratford in 1647, when he is described in the New Haven Records as having sons Judah and John and a daughter who was the wife of William Crooker of Stratford.
The Probate Court, June 19, 1655, orders administration on Henry Gregorey's estate, giving the eldest son, John, a double portion and making him the distributer of the estate. It mentions the children, but names only John. In 1647 the son John testified that his father was old and that his sight had failed him. The descendants remained in the town many years, but were not numerous.
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