USA > Connecticut > New London County > New London > History of New London, Connecticut, From the First Survey of the Coast in 1612 to 1852 > Part 29
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"These two last pieces (says the marshal's return) were prized according to law, on the Cove, one rod for two, and on the Beach, two rods for one ; the four pieces containing 285 rods were delivered to Mr. Amos Richardson and accepted in full satisfaction ; Feb. 13, 1681."
William Hough, died August 10th, 1683.
The family of Samuel Hough, oldest son of William, is registered
1 This lot was assigned to Mr. Plumbe for his services in managing the case.
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HISTORY OF NEW L LONDON.
at Saybrook, and in connection with the record it is stated that Wil- liam Hough, was a son of Edward Hough, of West Chester in Cheshire, England. It has not been ascertained that this Edward Hough emigrated to America, but a widow Ann Hough that died in Gloucester, Mass., in 1672, aged eighty-five years, was perhaps his relict, and the mother of William Hough.
William Hough married Sarah, daughter of Hugh Calkin, October 28th, 1635.
Children.
1. Hannah b. July 31, 1646. 6. William b. Oct. 13, 1657.
2. Abiah " Sept. 15, 1648.
7. Jonathan " Feb. 7, 1659-60.
3. Sarah Mar. 23, 1651. 8. Deborah " Oct. 21, 1662.
4. Samuel " Mar. 9, 1652-3. 9. Abigail " Mar. 5, 1665-6.
6. John " Oct. 17, 1655.
10. Anna " Aug. 29, 1667.
Hannah Hough married John Borden of Lyme; Abiah married the second William Douglas ; Sarah married David Carpenter.
The marriage of William Hough and the births of three children, are recorded at Gloucester ; the remainder in New London, but it is men- tioned that Samuel was born in Saybrook. The father being a house builder might have been temporarily employed in that place.
The last four children of William Hough are not afterward found at New London ; it is probable that they were scattered in other towns. Samuel the oldest son settled in Saybrook. Capt. John Hough, the second son, was a noted man of his time, powerful in frame and energetic in character. His wife was Sarah Post, of Norwich, and Capt. Hough was at one time a resident in that place. His death was caused by a fall from the scaffolding of a house which he was building in New London, August 26th, 1715.1 No external injury could be discovered, but he lived only an hour. Such an event was sufficient at that time to move the whole town.
William Hough, Jun., married Ann, daughter of Samuel Lothrop, of Norwich. He died April 22d, 1705. His relict, Widow Ann Hough, died in Norwich Nov. 19th, 1745.
John Baldwin, of Stonington, died August 19th, 1683.
Among the original emigrants from Great Britain to the shores of New England, were several John Baldwins. Two of these, father
1 This house, which belonged to Richard Christophers, was on State Street, the end to the street, near the corner of the present Bradley Street, but at that time no street was opened east of it, and the house fronted the water. Capt. Hough fell from the south-east corner, on the spot now occupied by W. H. Chapman, merchant.
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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON.
and son, who married Mary and Hannah Bruen, have already been mentioned in this history, as belonging to Milford, and subsequently joining the company that purchased Newark. Another John Bald- win was of Guilford, where he married Hannah Burchet, or Birchard, in 1653, and afterward removed to Norwich. A fourth John Bald- win was the one now under consideration, and may be distinguished as the son of Sylvester, of whom John, Sen., of Milford, was probably a brother.
Sylvester Baldwin died on the voyage from Great Britain, a pass- enger in the Martin, 1638, making his will "on the main ocean bound for New England." In this will he is said to be of Aston-Clinton in Bucks ; he notes wife Sarah, sons Richard and John, and daughters Sarah, Mary, Martha and Ruth. The will was proved in July, be- fore Deputy Governor Dudley of Mass.1
In 1643, the Widow Baldwin is found enrolled among the residents of New Haven ; five in her family and her estate estimated at £800.2 She afterward married John Astwood, one of the first planters of Milford, and removed to that place.3 Richard Baldwin, her oldest son, married and settled at Milford. John, the second son, we sup- pose to be the person who came to New London, where his name appears occasionally after 1654, but not as a fixed resident till about ten years later.
He is on the rate list of 1667, and on the roll of freemen in 1668. He purchased two houses in the town plot and had several grants of land.
His first wife died at Milford in 1658, leaving a son, John, born in 1657.4 This son came to New London with him, received adult baptism in 1674 and after that event is lost to our records. From some probate testimony given at a much later period, we learn that soon after arriving at maturity, he sailed for England and never re- turned.5
John Baldwin, the father, married July 24th, 1672, Rebecca, relict of Elisha Chesebrough, and daughter of Walter Palmer. This connection with a richly dowried widow, whose posessions lay in Stonington, led to an immediate transfer of his residence to that
1 Savage (MS.)
2 Lambert's Hist. New Haven Colony, p. 54.
3 R. Smith, Esq., of Guilford, (MS.)
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid.
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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON.
place. By this marriage he had a son Sylvester and several daughters.
Benjamin Atwell, died 1683.
The name suggests a family connection with the Benjamin Atwell killed by the Indians, while he was engaged in hay-making, August 11th, 1676, at Casco, within a mile of the present Portland, Maine.1 Benjamin Atwell of New London, had been at that time about ten years an inhabitant. He was constable of the town in 1675. He had a son Benjamin, whose birth is not recorded in New London ; Thomas born 1670; John, 1675; Joseph, 1677; Richard, 1679; and Samuel, the youngest child, born April 23d, 1682. Joseph, Rich- ard and Samuel, settled about 1710, on wild land in the North Parish of New London. Joseph died without issue. Descendants of the others remain in that vicinity.
Two of the grandchildren of Samuel, that is, of the fourth gener- ation from the first settler Benjamin, were living at the commence- ment of the year 1850. These were Samuel Atwell and his sister Lucretia, children of Samuel Atwell second. Samuel died Nov. 26th, 1850, aged ninety-five years and six months; Lucretia, daughter of Samuel second and relict of Joseph Atwell, died Oct. 25th, 1851, aged 102 years. She was born Nov. 19th, 1749, O. S. Here are three generations covering the space from 1682 to 1851.
Benjamin and Thomas Atwell, the two oldest sons of Benjamin senior, died in New London leaving descendants. John, in 1712, was of Saybrook.
Daniel Comstock, died 1683.
William Comstock the father of Daniel, came from Hartford in 1649 and lived to old age in his house upon Post Hill; (near north corner of Williams and Vauxhall Streets.) His wife Elizabeth was aged fifty-five in 1663. No record has been found of the death of either. His land was inherited by his son Daniel, of New London, and grandson William, of Lyme. The latter was a son of John Comstock deceased-and his mother Abigail in 1680, was the wife of Moses Huntley, of Lyme. It is probable that Daniel and John were the only children of William Comstock, sen., and his wife
1 Willis' Hist. of Portland, pp. 134, 144.
26*
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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON.
Elizabeth. John is the ancestor of the Lyme family of Comstocks, and Daniel of those of the North Parish or Montville. The latter, as appears from statements of his age, was born about 1630. His wife, whose name was Paltiah, was a daughter, or step-daughter of John Elderkin. They had a son Daniel and eight daughters, whose births are not recorded; but they were all baptized by Mr. Bradstreet in April and November, 1671. After this two other sons were bap- tized; Kingsland in 1673, and Samuel in 1677.
John Lockwood, died in 1683.
We suppose this person to have been the son of Elizabeth, wife of Cary Latham, by a former husband Edward Lockwood, and the same whose birth stands on record in Boston, 9th month, 1632.1 He dwelt on Foxen's Hill, at a place since known as a Wheeler home- stead. In the settlement of the estate, no heir appears but Edmund Lockwood of Stamford, who is called his brother.
Ralph Parker, died in 1683.
He had a house in Gloucester in 1647. Sold out there "24th of 8 m. 1651" and was the same year a grantee at New London. He appears to have been wholly engaged in marine affairs-sending out vessels and sometimes going himself to sea. No births, marriages or deaths of his family are recorded. It is ascertained, however, that his wife was Susannah, daughter of Wm. Keeny; though not proba- bly his first wife, as her age in October, 1662, was thirty-four and that of his daughter Mary nineteen. This daughter Mary married William Condy of Boston, about 1663 : another daughter, Susannah, married Thomas Forster in 1666. Keeny, Condy, Forster and Parker were all masters of vessels, as was also at a later period, Jonathan Parker, son of Ralph. In the year 1710 Thomas Parker of Boston, son of Jonathan, was the principal heir to certain estate of the family left in New London.
Edmund Fanning, died in December, 1683.
It has been transmitted from one generation to another in the Fan- ning family that their ancestor "Edmund Fanning, escaped from
1 Hist. and Gen. Reg., vol. 2, p. 181. and vol. 4, p. 181.
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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON.
Dublin in 1641, in the time of the great rebellion, in which 100,000 Protestants fell victims to the fury of the Roman Catholics,"1 and after eleven years of wandering and uncertainty he found a resting place in that part of New London now called Groton, in the year 1652. On the town records the name is not mentioned till ten years later, but it is then in a way that denotes previous residence. In the inventory of goods of Richard Poole, April 25th, 1662, one article is-
"Two cowes and one steere now with Edmon ffaning."
After this he has a grant of land; claims the bounty for killing a wolf; is chosen to some town office ; is propounded to be made a freeman in Stonington, and thus occasionally gleams upon us, till we come to the last item-the probate of his estate.
Feb., 1683-4, " The widow Fanning is to pay 10 shillings for the settlement of her estate, it being done at a called Court, which the clerk is to demand and receive."
The estate was distributed to the widow and four sons-Edmund, John, Thomas and William, and two grandsons, William and Benja- min Hewet.
Several of the family have in latter days been eminent as naviga- tors ;2 others have gained distinction in naval battles and in military affairs.3
Charles Hill, died in October, 1684.
The first copartnership in trading at New London, of which we have any knowledge, is that of Hill and Christophers, " Charles Hill, of London, guirdler, and Christopher Christophers, mariner." The earliest date respecting them is June 26th, 1665, when they pur-
1 MS. information from late Capt. John Fanning, of Norwich.
2 In 1797, '98 and '99, Capt. Edmund Fanning, of Stonington, made a voyage for seals in the ship Betsey, in which he discovered several islands near the equator, not before laid down on any chart. They are known as Fanning's Islands. (See Fan- ning's Voyages round the World.)
3 Nathaniel Fanning, brother of Edmund, the discoverer, was an officer in the ship of Paul Jones at the time of his celebrated naval battle, and by his gallant daring contributed essentially to the brilliant result. He was stationed in the maintop of Jones' ship and led his men upon the interlocked yards to the enemy's top, which was cleared by the well directed fire of his command. He died in Charleston, S. C., Sept. 30th, 1805. Edmund Fanning, cousin of Nathaniel, fought on the other side during the Revolutionary War. He was colonel of a regiment raised on Long Island and called the Associated Refugees. (Onderdonk's Revolutionary Incidents of Queen's County.) He died in London in 1813.
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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON.
chased a warehouse that had been John Tinker's, on Mill Cove. Hill, though styled of London, had previously been at the south, for in 1668, he assigned to Robert Prowse, merchant, all right to a plan- tation in Maryland, with milch cows and small cattle, &c., which had been four years jointly owned and cultivated by them.
Mr. Hill was chosen recorder of the town, February 25th, 1669-70, and held the office till his death. His handwriting was compact and neat, but not distinct. He was also clerk of the county court at the time of his decease. His first marriage is thus recorded : " Charles, son to George Hill, of Barley, Derbyshire, Esq., was married July 16, 1668, to Ruth, widow of John Picket." Children-Jane, born December 9th, 1669 ; Charles, October 16th, 1671; Ruth, baptized October, 1673, probably died in infancy ; Jonathan, born December, 1674. Ruth, wife of Charles Hill, died April 30th, 1677. Charles Hill married, second, June 12th, 1678, Rachel, daughter of Major John Mason, deputy governor of the colony. This second wife and her infant child died in 1679.
Charles Hill, second, married Abigail Fox, August 28th, 1701. Jonathan Hill married Mary Sharswood, the date not recovered.
Pasco Foote, died probably in 1684.
We can scarcely err in assuming that he was son of Pasco Foote, of Salem, and that he was the Pasco Foote, Jr., of the Salem records, who married 2d 10th month, 1668, Martha Wood, and of whose mar- riage three sons are the recorded issue, Malachi, Martha and Pasco.1 He appears in New London as a mariner, engaged in the Newfound- land trade, and marries November 30th, 1678, Margaret, daughter of Edward Stallion. Three children were the issue of this marriage, whose births are not recorded, Isaac, Stallion and Margaret. Ed- ward Stallion, the grandfather, by a deed of adoption, took the second son, Stallion, for his own child, and at the same time, Pasco Foote settled his house and land in New London, on his youngest child, Margaret. These deeds, executed January 6th, 1683-4, give us our latest information of Pasco Foote. His relict married James Haynes, in 1687 or 1688.
Stallion Foote died in 1710, leaving a wife, Ann, and an only child, of his own name, Stallion, who died suddenly at the house of John Williams, on Groton bank, January 9th, 1714-15, aged six
1 Goodwin's Foote Genealogy, p. 292.
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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON.
years. On the 7th of March succeeding the death of the child, an entry was made on the New London record, of the following import : " Isaac, son of Pasco Foote, late of New London, deceased, and Mar- garet his wife, hath desired his name may be now recorded, Isaac, alias Stallion Foote." This person after 1715, disappears from our records.
Charles Haynes.
His inventory was presented in 1685. This is all the information obtained respecting the period of his decease. His marriage is not recorded.
Children of Charles Haynes and his wife Mary.
1. James, born March 1st, 1664-5.
4. Jonathan, born June 29th, 1674.
2. Peter, " November 21st, 1666. 5. Mary, October 29th, 1678.
3. Charles, " Sept. 25th, 1669. 6. Hercules, " April 29th, 1681.
James and Jonathan Haynes settled in New London, and left de- scendants.
Edward Culver, died in 1685.
He had lived at Dedham, where the births of three children are recorded : John, April 15th, 1640 ; Joshua, January 12th, 1642-3; Samuel, January 9th, 1644-5 ; and at Roxbury, where the record of baptisms adds two more to the list of children, Gershom, December 3d, 1648 ; Hannah, April 11th, 1651.1 His arrival at Pequot is an- nounced by a land grant in 1653. He purchased the house-lot of Robert Burrows, given to the latter by the town, and established himself as a baker and brewer. In 1664 he relinquished the home- stead to his son John, and removed to a place near the head of Mys- tic, but within New London bounds, called by the Indians Chepadaso, and in one place recorded as Chepados Hill. During Philip's War, Edward Culver was a noted soldier and partisan, often sent out with Indian scouts to explore the wilderness.2 In 1681, he is called " wheel-right of Mystic." The sons of Edward and Ann Culver, expressly named, are John, Joshua, Samuel and Joseph.3 It is sup- posed that Edward Culver, of Norwich, 1680, having wife Sarah,
1 Savage, (MS.)
2 Conn. Col. Rec., vol. 2, pp. 408, 417.
3 Perhaps Gershom, baptized at Roxbury, 1648, is a mistake for Joseph.
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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON.
and children ranging in birth from 1681 to 1694, and in 1700, an inhabitant of the new town of Lebanon, should be added to the list. If so, he was probably born after the removal to Pequot, or about 1654. The identity of his name, however, is the only evidence we can produce of the relationship.
John Culver was for several years a resident in New Haven, where the birth of a daughter, Abigail, is recorded in 1676, and son, James, in 1679.1 He ultimately returned to the neighborhood of the Mystic. Joshua Culver, married in 1673, Elizabeth Ford, of New Haven, and settled in Wallingford .? Samuel Culver, about the year 1674, eloped with the wife of John Fish, and is not known to have ever returned to this part of the country. Joseph Culver settled on his father's lands at Groton.
Isaac Willey,3 died about 1685.
Willey's house-lot was on Mill Brook, at the base of Post Hill. He was an agriculturist, and soon removed to a farm at the head of Nahantic River, which was confirmed to "old goodman Willie," in 1664. It is probable that both he and his wife Joanna, had passed the bounds of middle age, and that all their children were born before they came to the banks of the Pequot. Isaac Willey, Jr., was a mar- ried man at the time of his death, in 1662; John Willey was one who wrought on the mill-dam in 1651; Abraham had married and settled in Haddam before his father's decease. No other sons are known. Hannah, wife of Peter Blatchford, is the only daughter ex- pressly named as such, but inferential testimony leads us to enroll among the members of this family, Joanna, wife of Robert Hemp- stead, and afterward of Andrew Lester; Mary, wife of Samuel Tubbs, and Sarah, wife of John Terrall.
Isaac Willey married, second, after 1670, Anna, relict of Andrew Lester,4 who survived him. The Willey farm was sold to Abel Moore and Chr. Christophers. John Willey married in 1670, Miri- am, daughter of Miles Moore. He lived beyond the head of Nahan-
1 Judd, of Northampton, (MS.) 2 Ibid.
3 He wrote his name Isark Willy. Mr. Bruen's orthography was Willie : he had a partiality for this termination, and wrote Averie, Marie, Doxie, &c.
4 She had been the third wife of his former son-in-law. Relationship was some- times curiously involved by marriages. It must be recollected that the males out- numbered the females, and there could be no wide range of choice in the selection of a wife.
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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON.
tick, and when the bounds between New London and Lyme were de- termined, his farm was split by the line, leaving twenty acres, on which stood his house, in New London.
Abraham Willey, the ancestor of the Haddam family, married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Mortimer, of New London.
James Morgan, died about 1685.
He was about seventy-eight years of age.1 The earliest notice of him is from the records of Boston, where the birth of his daughter, Hannah, is registered, eighteenth day, fifth month, 1642.2 He was afterward of Gloucester, and came with the Cape Ann company to Pequot, where he acted as one of the townsmen, from 1653 to 1656, inclusive. His homestead, " on the path to New Street," was sold December 25th, 1657. He then removed east of the river, where he had large grants of land. The following additional grant alludes to his dwelling :
" James Morgan hath given him about six acres of upland where the wig- wams were in the path that goes from his house towards Culver's among the rocky hills."
He was often employed by the public in land surveys, stating high- ways and determining boundaries, and was nine times deputy to the General Court. His estate was settled in 1685, by division among his four children, James, John, Joseph and Hannah, wife of Nehe- miah Royce.
James Morgan, 2d, married, "some time in the month of November, 1666," Mary Vine,3 of old England. This was the Capt. James Morgan, of Groton, who died December 8th, 1711. John Morgan married, November 16th, 1665, Rachel Dymond, by whom he had seven children. By a second wife, Elizabeth, supposed to have been daughter of William Jones, of New Haven,4 and granddaughter of Governor Eaton, he had six other children. Lieut. John Morgan died in Groton, 1712. Joseph Morgan married, in April, 1670, Dor- othy, daughter of Thomas Parke. He died in Preston, April 5th,
1 Conn. Col. Rec., vol. 1, p. 300.
2 Hist. and Gen. Reg., vol 6, p. 184.
5
3 Of the Vine family there has been no account recovered. The name can be traced in several families, as Vine Starr, Vine Utley, Vine Stoddard, &c.
4 In settling Mr. Jones' estate in 1707, one of the children mentioned is Elizabeth wife of John Morgan. Judd, (MS.)
,
-
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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON.
1704. These three sons are progenitors of a numerous body of de- scendants.
Richard Rose-Morgan, who settled in the western part of New London, (now Waterford,) in 1679 or 1680, is the ancestor of another line of Morgans, probably of a different family from James Morgan. His descendants for a considerable period, retained the adjunct of Rose, apparently to distinguish them from that family. Richard Rose-Morgan died in 1698, leaving sons, John, Richard and Benja- min, and several daughters. His relict, widow Hope-still Morgan, died June 1st, 1712.
Cary Latham, died in 1685.
Elizabeth, wife of Cary Latham, was daughter of John Masters, and relict of Edward Lockwood. Two children are recorded in Bos- ton: Thomas, born ninth month, 1639 ; Joseph, second of tenth month, probably 1642.1 John Latham, who died at New London, about 1684, is supposed to have been a third son. The daughters were four in number : Elizabeth, wife of John Leeds; Jane, of Hugh Hub- bard ; Lydia, of John Packer, and Hannah, unmarried at the time of her father's decease. Mr. Latham served in various town offices ; he was one of the townsmen or selectmen for sixteen years, and was six times deputy to the General Court, from May, 1664, to 1670. His large grants of land enriched his descendants.
Thomas Latham, oldest son of Cary, married, October 15th, 1673, Rebecca, daughter of Hugh Wells, of Wethersfield. He died before his father, December 14th, 1677, leaving an only son, Samuel. His relict married John Packer.
Joseph, the second son, had a numerous family. His marriage is not recorded at New London. His first child, Cary, was born at Newfoundland, July 14th, 1668. He died in 1706, leaving seven sons, and a daughter, Lydia, the wife of Benjamin Starr.
Thomas Forster, died in 1685.
Of this sea-captain nearly all that is presented to our view is the registry of his marriage, and birth of his children.
" Thomas, son of John Forster, of Kingsware, was married to Susannah, daughter of Ralph Parker, 27th of March, 1665-6.
1 Hist. and Gen. Reg., vol. 4, p. 181.
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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON.
1. Susannah, born March 4th, 1666-7. 5. Samuel, born Sept. 22d, 1678.
2. Thomas, Feb. 26th, 1668-9.
3. Jonathan, Aug. 17th, 1673.
4. Mary, " June 14th, 1675.
6. Rebecca, baptized June, 1681.
7. Ebenezer, April, 1683."
Thomas Forster appears to have had brothers, Edward and Jona- than. His son, Jonathan, settled in Westerly, Rhode Island.
Hugh Hubbard, died in 1685.
" Hugh Hubbard, of Derbyshire, old England, was married to Jane, daughter of Cary Latham, in March, 1672-3." Beside a son that died in infancy, they had four daughters : 1. Mary, born November 17th, 1674; married, in 1697, "Ichabod Sayre, son of Francis Sayre, of Southampton, on Nassau Id., N. Y." This was the first mar- riage recorded by Rev. Gurdon Saltonstall. 2. Lydia, born Febru- ary 7th, 1675-6; married John Burrows. 3. Margaret. 4. Jane. The relict of Hugh Hubbard married John Williams, and died May 3d, 1739, aged ninety-one.
Gabriel Woodmancy, died in 1685.
He is first introduced to our notice by the purchase of a homestead on what is now Shaw's Neck and Truman Street, in November, 1665. Three sons are mentioned : Thomas, born September 17th, 1670; settled in Shrewsbury, Monmouth county, New Jersey ; Joseph and Gabriel. The last mentioned died without issue, in September, 1720, aged thirty-four. There was also a daughter, Sarah, born in March, 1673, who married in Killingworth, where she had descend- ants of the names of Hurd, Carter and Nettleton. Joseph, whom we may assume was born about 1680, is the ancestor of the Wood- mancys of Groton.
Aaron Starke, died in 1685.
This name is found at Mystic as early as 1653. In May, 1666, Aaron Starke was among those who were to take the freeman's oath in Stonington, and in October, 1669, was accepted as freeman of New London. In the interim he had purchased the farm of William Thomson, the Pequot missionary, near the head of Mystic, which brought him within the bounds of New London. Neither his mar- riage nor his children are found recorded, but from the settlement of
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