USA > Connecticut > New London County > Norwich > History of Norwich, Connecticut, from its settlement in 1660, to January 1845 > Part 7
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Among the various offices held by Mason, was that of Major General of the militia of Connecticut; a duty which obliged him to call out and exercise the militia of cach town ten times a year : salary forty pounds per annum.
When Mr. Fenwick arrived from England with a few persons, to make a plantation near Saybrook Fort, Capt. Mason was induced to join them, and accordingly removed thither. The government of the town was entirely independent of the colony for ten years, Mr. Fenwick and Capt. Mason acting as sole magistrates. Nevertheless the latter continued to hold and exercise his military command in the colony. When the fort passed into the hands of the colony, Mason was ap- pointed to receive the investment, and at the special request of the inhabitants of Saybrook, he was made commander of the station. During the winter of 1617-8, the Fort in some unknown way took fire, and
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HISTORY OF NORWICHI.
together with the buildings attached to it, was burnt to the ground. The Captain, with his wife and child, very narrowly escaped.
The people of New Haven were not entirely satisfied with their location, and formed a design of removing to a tract of land which they had purchased on the Del- aware river. In 1651, they proposed this matter to Capt. Mason, urgently requesting him to remove with them, and take the management of the company. This invitation is a proof of the high opinion his con- temporaries had formed both of his civil and military talents. The offers they made him were liberal, and he was on the point of accepting, when the legislature of Connecticut interfered, entreating him not to leave the colony, and declaring, that they could by no means consent to his removal. Finding that his presence was considered essential to the safety of Connecticut, he declined the offers of New Haven. If he went, there was no one left, who could make his place good ; neither had New Haven any person in reserve, who could fill the station designed for him, and therefore the projected settlement never took place. The active disposition of Mason, however, never lacked employ- ment. There was scarcely a year in which he was not obliged to go on some expedition among the Indian tribes, to negotiate, or to fight, or to pacify their mutual quarrels. At one time, his faithful friend Uncas, was in danger from a powerful league of the other tribes. but the seasonable preparations of Mason for his relief, frightened the foe into peace and submission. At another time, he was sent with arms and men to the assistance of the Long Island Indians, against Nini- grate, the powerful Sachem of the Nehanticks, who threatened them with extirpation. This service he gallantly performed; but only two years afterwards
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
was compelled to appear again on that Island with a band of soldiers, in order to chastise the very Indians, mischievous and ungrateful, whom he had before relieved.
We find him, at the same time, and for several years in succession, holding various public offices, all arduous and important. A member of two deliberative bodies, the Connecticut Legislature, and the Board of Commissioners of the United Colonies-Major General of the militia at home, and the acting commander in all expeditions abroad; his whole life seems to be given to the public. In 1660 he was chosen Deputy Governor, to which office he was annually re-elected for ten years, five under the old form, and five under the king's charter, which united Connecticut with New Haven. The same year he was actively em- ployed in conjunction with Mr. Fitch and others, in effecting the settlement of Norwich, and also in pur- chasing of the Mohegans a large tract of land, in behalf of the colony. The jurisdiction of these lands he pub- licly surrendered to the General Court, March 14, 1661, receiving from them at the same time, an order to lay out these lands into plantations, with permission to reserve a farm for himself.
Capt. Mason continued to reside in Norwich until his death ; though his public duties kept him absent from the place a great part of the time. His three sons were,
Samuel, born 1641
John,
1646
Daniel, ·
1652
His family continued to reside in Norwich for some years after his death. His widow, Mrs. Abigail Mason, was living there in 16S1. The sons ultimately settled 9
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
in neighboring towns. Between the years 1704 and 1712, they were all three residing in Stonington.
ADGATE.
Thomas Adgate was one of the two deacons of Mr. Fitch's church, ordained to office in Saybrook, 1659 .. Nothing is known of him previous to this event, but it is supposed that he was the only one of his family who emigrated to America, and that he came direct to Say- brook, and there resided till the settlement of Norwich. By his first wife, he had two daughters, born in 1651 and 1653. Previous to leaving Saybrook, he married the widow of Richard Bushnell, she having at that time two sons and two daughters. Their children born in Norwich, were three daughters and one son.
+ Deacon Adgate died in 1707. His son, Deacon Thomas Adgate 2d, born 1669, lived to be nearly ninety-two years of age. He had two sons, Thomas and Matthew. , The line of Thomas, in the male branch, is believed to be extinct, and the descendants of Matthew, (who had seven sons,) have removed to other parts of the country.
ALLYN.
Matthew and Robert Allyn, the former found at Cambridge, in 1632, and the latter at Salem, in 1637, are supposed to have been brothers, and to have soon removed to Connecticut. Matthew settled at Hart- ford, and Robert at Saybrook. The latter removed with Winthrop, to New London, and subsequently be- came a proprietor of Norwich. His name is not found on the list of inhabitants after 1672, and the homelot passed into the hands of his son John, of New Lon- don, who in 1692, exchanged it with Joshua Abell, and Simon Huntington Jun., for two considerable
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
fracts of land " cast of the Great River," [the Thames,] and within the bounds of New London. In this dis- trict, afterwards included in Groton, and now in Led- yard, Robert Allyn, the son of John, and grandson of the proprietor Robert, had previously settled.
In the Norwich Patent of 1685, the S. S. E. corner of the nine miles square is designated by " a white oake neere Robert Allyn and Thomas Rose's dwelling houses." The descendants of Allyn removed nearer the river, and lived upon the Point, where the station house of the Norwich and Worcester Railroad Com- pany has been recently erected. Allyn's Mountain and Allyn's Point, are names still retained in that quarter.
Timothy Allen, who settled in Norwich about 1670, was of another family, and his descendants have used a different orthography for their name.
BACKUS.
The relationship between William and Stephen Backus, has not been accurately determined. They were probably brothers. One of the first settlers of Saybrook, was a Backus ; the name is found there as early as 1637. It is not improbable that William and Stephen Backus, proprietors, of Norwich, were the sons of this man, by a first marriage ; that his second wife was Mrs. Ann Bingham, and that he having died at Saybrook, previous to the removal, his relict came to Norwich, with Thomas Bingham, her son by a for. mer marriage. The death of Mrs. Ann Backus, the mother of Mr. Thomas Bingham, is recorded in Nor- wich, in 1670. This statement, though partly conjec- tural, harmonizes the few facts that have been glean- ed. William Backus was an active man in town affairs, and is generally mentioned as Ensign or Lieut.
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
He was married May 11, 1660, but the record does not state where, or to whom. The children of this mar- riage were
John, born February 9, 1661.
Sarah,
1663.
Samuel, 1665.
Joseph, 1667.
Nathaniel,
1669.
Hannah.
This must have been a second marriage ; for Wil- liam Backus Jr., whom the Licut. in certain docu- ments styles " my eldest son" was married in 1681. One of the wives of the Licut., and most probably the second, was the " daughter of Lieut. William Pratte, of Seabrooke."
William Backus Jr., known as Sergeant William Backus, in 1692, sold his house, homelot and three other parcels of land, in Norwich, to his father, for £55, and removed to " the nameless new town lying about ten miles N. W. of Norwich." [Lebanon.]
Lieut. William Backus, was doubtless the last of the proprietors, to leave earth. He was living in 1718. His death is not recorded in the town books, but a conveyance made in 1721, speaks of him as "late of Norwich, deceased."
Stephen Backus married Sarah Gardner, of East Hampton, Long Island, in 1666. This lady was the daughter of Capt. Lyon Gardiner, first lord of Gardin- er's Island.
Their sons were Stephen, born 1670.
Timothy, 1682.
No record has been found of the death of Stephen Backus. Mrs. Sarah Backus, his widow, was living in 1700. About that period, Stephen, the eldest son, sold his property in Norwich, and removed first to Plainfield, and afterwards to Canterbury.
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
BALDWIN.
Several persons of the ancient name of Baldwin, (derived from Baldwinus, a bishop of Great Britain, A. D. 672,) are found among the early emigrants to Massachusetts. It is not ascertained whether the Baldwin who carly settled at Saybrook, came direct from England or not. Farmer, in his Genealogical Register, observes that he may have been the Richard Baldwin that was in Braintree, in 1637. In that case, John, who removed to New London, and from thence to Norwich, was probably his son, but must have been of transatlantic birth, as John Baldwin Jr. was of man's age previous to 1678. John, the proprietor, ....... had two sons : 1, John, who died in 1700, and as far as appears, without leaving any sons : 2, Thomas, who married, in 1684, Sarah, daughter of John Calkins. The children of this marriage were all daughters. By his second wife, Abigail Lay, Thomas had three sons : Thomas, born 1701. Ebenezer, born 1710.
John, 1704.
The name is still a common one in the towns around Norwich. The late Judge Baldwin, of New Haven, born in 1761, was a native of Norwich, and descended from this stock.
BINGHAM.
Nothing has been ascertained respecting Thomas Bingham previous to the settlement. He married Mary Rudd, Dec. 12, 1666. Their children were
Thomas, born 1667. Abigail, born 1679.
Abel,
1669.
Nathaniel, " 1681.
Mary, 1672. Deborah, 1683.
Samuel, 1685. Jonathan, 1674.
1677. Joseph, 1688. Ann,
Stephen, 1690.
9*
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
Thomas Bingham 2d. married Hannah, youngest daughter of Lt. William Backus, and settled in Wind- ham. The name is no longer to be found in Nor- wich, but is still common in the vicinity.
BIRCHARD.
John Birchard was a man of considerable note among the proprietors, and perhaps the best clerk in the com- pany. The earliest records are supposed to be in his hand-writing. He officiated also as townsman and constable, and was the first Commissioner of the Peace. Hence he was always designated as Mr. Birchard. His origin has not been traced. The orthography of those times was so uncertain, that he may have been of the same family with Edward Bircher, who arrived in Plymouth, 1623. He married Christian Andrews in 1653, by whom he had a large family of sons and daughters. The sons were all born in Norwich, viz.,
Samuel, born 1663. John, born 1671.
James
1665. Joseph, " 1673.
Thomas, 1669. Daniel, " 1680.
'The name is still found in Norwich, Mansfield, and perhaps other towns of this vicinity.
=
BLISS.
It is probable that most of the families of this name scattered through New England, may be traced back to George Bliss, who removed from Lyme to Sand- wich in 1637. Admitting that this man was the father of Thomas, who was one of the first settlers of Reho- both, in 1643 : of Nathaniel, who was at Springfield, in 1646, and Jolm, at Northampton, in 165S, the ge- nealogy loses its intricacy. Thomas may have re- moved from Rehoboth to Saybrook, for the purpose of joining the company then projecting the settlement of
+
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
Norwich. * In the history of Rehoboth, (a very valu- able work, by Leonard Bliss Jr.,) the name of Thom- as Bliss does not appear after 1650; that of Jonathan Bliss, perhaps another brother, supplies its place.
Thomas Bliss, of Norwich, died in 1700, being about 80 years of age. His two sons were
Thomas, born 1651, deccased, 1681. Samuel, " 1657, 1709.
He had six daughters, viz. : Elizabeth, Sarah, Mary, Dolinda, Anne, Rebecca. The descendants of the male branch in a right line, still reside upon the home- lot of their ancestors. The house, though in good preservation, is one of the oldest in town. Seven gen- erations have dwelt in it, and though often repaired and modified, it is supposed not to have been entirely rebuilt since its erection by the first proprietor. This, and the old Grover and Post houses, are probably the only dwellings in the town, any part of which can look back beyond the year 1700.
BOWERS.
Very little is known of Morgan Bowers. He appears to have been illiterate and thriftless. In the year 1700 he was still living, but so poor and infirm as to be in part supported by his neighbors and townsmen ; appa- rently the first case of penury that had occurred in the community. As the name continued in the town at a later date, it is inferred that he left children, but no record of them has been found.
BRADFORD.
John Bradford was the son of Gov. William Bradford
* That Thomas Bliss, of Rehoboth, and Thomas Bliss, of Norwich, were the same person, is a conjecture, resting only on identity of name and coeval existence.
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
of Plymouth, by his first wife, Dorothy. He was left either in England or Holland, when his parents came out in the May Flower. His mother fell overboard and was drowned, Dec. 7, 1620, while the vessel was anchored in Plymouth harbor, before they had fixed on a place for settlement, and while her husband was absent in the shallop, exploring the coast. It is not ascertained when John Bradford arrived in this country. Very little is known respecting the early part of his life ; for neither Morton, nor Prince, the earliest authorities respecting Plymouth colony, give any hint of the existence of this son of Gov. Bradford. He lived first in Duxbury and afterwards in Marshfield and was the Representative of both places in the Plym- outh Court. * "He married Martha Bourne, daughter of Thomas Bourne, as is proved by Thomas Bourne's will, and by deeds of Jolin Bradford's farm, in Marsh- field, which he sold in 1663 and 1664, which deeds are signed by Martha, his wife."f He appears next at Norwich, where his homelot was laid out with those of the first purchasers, in Nov., 1659. His name is often found on committees requiring prudent counsel and integrity of character, and though sometimes styled simply Goodman Bradford, he is usually distingished as Mr. Bradford, which was then an appellative of respect.
lle died in 1678. His widow shortly afterwards married their near neighbor, Lieut. Thomas Tracy. This we learn from an instrument dated Feb. 20, 1679, wherein Martha, the wife of Thomas Tracy, styles herself executrix of the estate of her late husband, Mr. John Bradford. It is not ascertained that Mr. Bradford
* Farmer. t F. P. Tracy, of Williamsburg, Mass.
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
left any posterity, the presumption is to the contrary. His nephew, Thomas Bradford, was an inhabitant of Norwich in 1678, and probably a member of his uncle's family, and inheritor of a part of his estate.
Mrs. Martha Tracy is supposed to have died in 1689. In an instrument dated at Norwich April 12, 1690, Maj. William Bradford, of Plymouth, conveys to his son Thomas Bradford, of Norwich, one ninth part of all the real and personal estate "of my loving sister Martha, the wife and late the relict widow of my well beloved brother, John Bradford, late of Norwich, de- ceased," which the said Martha, by her last will and testament, had bequeathed to him. In 1691 Thomas Bradford sold his property in Norwich, which included the homelot that had belonged to his uncle, and removed to a farm in the vicinity, though not within the bounds of Norwich. He died in 1708.
William Bradford, another grandson of Gov. Brad- ford, married Anna Fitch, the youngest daughter of the Rev. James Fitch.
CAULKINS.
6 Two of this name, Hugh and his son John, were among the thirty-five proprietors. Hugh was one of the first deacons of the church, and it is inferred, from the various offices he held, a man of sound discretion, and considerable experience and activity. He was admit- ted a freeman of Lynn, Mass., in 1642 ; but removed the next year to Gloucester, of which town he was a representative in 1650 and 1651. In 1654, if not ear- lier, he was an inhabitant of New London, where he had a homelot in the town plot, and a farm at Nehan- tick, laid out to him. It does not appear that he ever resided in Saybrook, though he must have been there
4
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
at the gathering of the church which was to accom- pany Mr. Fitch to the new plantation, as he was chosen one of its deacons. His name is found on the list of inhabitants at New London, until 1660. He had two sons, John and David. The latter succeeded to his father's property in New London. John, who seems to have resided previously at Saybrook, removed with his father to Norwich. Deacon Hugh died about 1690, leaving " his accommodations in Norwich" to his grandson Hugh, oldest son of John.
The name is variously spelt, both with and without the u and the s. In the earlier records it is generally Calkin. The family tradition is that Hugh came from Wales. Though an illiterate. man himself, his sons appear to have been well educated for that period. It is a singular fact, that neither of the two deacons of Mr. Fitch's church could write. Both Thomas Adgate and Hugh Calkins invariably affix a mark instead of hand-writing to their documents. Others of the pro- prietors,-as Stephen Backus, John Pease, John Gager, Thomas Howard, John Reynolds, and Richard Edger- ton, were in the same predicament.
John Calkins, the proprietor, brought with him to Norwich a young wife and infant son. He died in 1703, and his wife in 1711. They had seven children : the sons were-
Hugh, born 1659.
John, " at Norwich, 1661.
Samuel,
1663.
Hugh 2d married for his first wife, Sarah, daughter of Thomas Sluman deceased, and step-daughter to Solomon Tracy, by whom he had four sons. His second wife was Lois Standish. One of his sons was the father of Solomon Calkins, from whom the various
1
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
families of the name afterwards found in Lebanon and Sharon, descended.
EGERTON.
Nothing antecedent to the settlement at Norwich can be ascertained respecting Richard Edgerton, except the date of his marriage, viz, 1653.
He had two sons, Richard and John ; the latter born June 12, 1662. The name is still a common one in Norwich and the adjoining towns.
GAGER.
William Gager, "a right godly man, and a skilful chyrurgeon," came to America with Gov. Winthrop, in 1630. After his arrival, he was elected deacon of , the church at Charlestown, but died the same year, together with his wife and two children, from a disease contracted by ill diet at sea, which swept off many of the emigrants. John, the son of Dr. William, removed to Saybrook with the younger Gov. Winthrop, and from thence accompanied his patron to New London, where his name is found on the oldest list of inhabit- ants extant. The elder Gov. Winthrop remembered him in the following item of his last will and testament. " I will that John Gager shall have a cow, one of the best I shall have, in recompense of a heifer his father bought of me, and two ewe goats, and ten bushels of indian corn." He joined the company of Norwich proprietors and removed to the new plantation, in 1660. He had nine children, whose births are recorded in Norwich, though most of them were born before the settlement. Only three of them were sons, viz :
John, born 1647. William, born 1660. Samuel, " 1654.
He died Dec. 10, 1703. His descendants are still
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
found in the place. Othniel Gager, the present Town Clerk, is the sixth in descent from the first pro- prietor.
GIFFORD.
Very little is ascertained respecting Stephen Giffords. His immediate successors were Stephen and Samuel Giffords, and Samuel Giffords, Jr. Stephen the 2d was a deacon of the church at West Farms.
GRISWOLD.
Lieut. Francis Griswold was one of the most active and enterprising men in the first company of settlers. He was probably the same Francis Griswold, who was in Cambridge, Mass., in 1637, and admitted a freeman in 1645. His wife was Mary, and their daughter Han- nah was born March 1, 1644. [See Farmer's Genea- logical Register.] He died in 1671. Thomas Adgate and John Post Sen., appear to have been guardians to his orphan children, an accurate list of whose names has not been obtained. His daughter Mary married Jonathan Tracy, in 1672. His oldest and perhaps his only son, Capt. Samuel Griswold, was born in 1665, married Susannah Huntington in 1685, and died 1740. The sons of Capt. Samuel were Francis, Samuel, John and Joseph. Joseph, born in 1706, lived to his 90th year ; was a deacon of the church, and venerable, not only for age, but for piety.
HIDE.
The Hides or Hydes of Saybrook, appear to have been older emigrants than those of that name in Mas- sachusetts. They may have come direct from the old country in company with Fenwick. The name is an ancient and honorable one in the annals of England,
.
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
By the marriage of Anne Hyde, daughter of the earl of Clarendon, with the duke of York, afterwards James II., the stock was ingrafted into the royal family.
William Hide, the proprietor, was undoubtedly of much humbler origin, but a man of discretion and in- tegrity. He often served as townsman of the West end.
In a deed of 1679, he is mentioned as " old Goodman Hide." - He died in 1681. No reference has been found to any of his children, except Samuel and a daughter Hester, the wife of John Post. His grandson William succeeded to his homestead.
Samuel Hide and Jane Lee were married in Say- brook, 1659, and their daughter Elizabeth was the first born of Norwich. The record of their children stands thus :
Elizabeth, born Aug., 1660. William born 1669.
Phebe,
1662. Thomas, " 1672.
Samuel,
1665. Jabez, 1677.
John
1667.
Samuel died in 1677, leaving his seven children, all minors ; Mr. Birchard became their guardian.
This is one of the familes that have become numer- ous and been widely dispersed. In 1779, there were more than twenty families of Hydes, numbering over 150 persons, in the western part of the Town Plot, and the societies of West Farms and Portipaug.
HOLMSTEAD.
John Holmstead or Olmstead, has not been traced beyond the era of the settlement. His wife was aunt to Joseph and Richard Bushnell, and most probably by their mother's side, in which case she must have been the daughter of Matthew Marvyn of Hartford. Mr. HIolmstead died before 1679, as a deed of that date
10
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
mentions " the widow Olmsted." He left no children ; the homestead passed into the hands of the Bushnells. In 1686, Elizabeth Holmstead who styles herself the sole heir to her husband's estate, and executrix of his will, relinquished a two thousand acre right " in the plantation above Norwich," belonging to her late hus- band, to his near kinsmen, Lt. James and Ensign John Holmstead, of Norwalk .*
HOWARD.
Very little is known of Thomas Howard ; it is even doubtful whether he was one of the original thirty-five ; but his home lot was laid out with the others. He married Mary Wollman, in 1666. He appears to have owned lands east of the Shetucket, a part of which he sold to Greenfield Larrabee, in 1671. He died in 1696. His widow married William Moore.
HUNTINGTON.
The numerous families in New England, of the name of Huntington, may all be traced back to one common ancestor, viz : Simon Huntington, an emi- grant from Norwich, in England. He had a brother Samuel, who was a Captain in the King's Life Guards; but he himself being a noted Puritan, and of course exposed to persecution, united himself to a small, but devoted company, who for the sake of unmolested wor- ship, had resolved to emigrate to America. With these he embarked in 1639 or 40, for Saybrook, Conn., where Mr. Fenwick, who accompanied them, proposed to effect a settlement in behalf of the original patentees of the colony. Mr. Huntington, brought with him his three sons, Simon, Christopher and Samuel, he being
* QUERE. Are not Holmstead and Hempstead, originally the same name?
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
.
about fifty years of age, and his sons in the bloom of youth. He fell sick on the voyage, and died just as the vessel entered the mouth of Connecticut river, and came in sight of the port to which they were bound. The vessel anchored in the river, and he was buried upon the shore. His son Samuel afterwards settled at Newark, in New Jersey, but Simon and Christopher, after residing 20 years at Saybrook, removed to Nor- wich.
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