USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Stamford > History of Stamford, Connecticut : from its settlement in 1641, to the present time, including Darien, which was one of its parishes until 1820 > Part 3
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40
23
THE SETTLEMENT.
balance of the account. The selected specimen is that which stands second on the list :
T. Rainer debtor for lose by mil 44.9 Capt. house 22s. purchase. mil 18.12.6 all wch 21.19.3 due to him.
paid the Char. mil 7.18,8 Capt. house 34.8 last Char. 24s. 6d. S. Swain 171.00.0-all 27.17.10 towne owes him 5.17.7.
Whoever will take the trouble to effeet the reductions neces- sary to the solution of the above problem will find the account accurate. In the same way, the charges are made and the credits are given through the entire list, with a single excep- tion. In the charges against Capt. John Underhill, no mention is made of the item found in the other accounts of the "Capt. house." The presumption therefore is, that the military chief- tain of our Stamford pioneers, was exeused from the charge for the support of the Stamford fortress, since he was expected to discharge his duty to the community in another way.
This account, which seems to have been made out in January 1642, has charges against fifty-two persons. As the margin on which the names occur is entirely gone from the second page of the charges, only twenty-four of the parties are reported in the regular account. Besides these, four other names casually occur in the accounts. The only name which does not already appear on our list of the settlers, is that of Samuel Swane.
There is probably but one more record, now preserved, which can assist in confirming the accuracy of our list of the pioneers of the Stamford settlement. That was made in the fall of 1641, and is even more defaced than those we have already examined. It is thus introduced :
"It was ordered that [ ] should be made for defraying [town] charges."
Then follows an almost unintelligible statement of the nature of the charges and the principles upon which they are to be adjusted. Enough remains of the records to show that the charge made by the New Haven " friends" who had secured for them the territory, had never been paid in full. It also appear- ed that a difference was made between the Wethersfield men
24
IIISTORY OF STAMFORD.
who came to Stamford with the first company and those who did not come, so that it was agreed " to lay 3s. 8d. an acre on marsh and house lott, upon the company that came from Weth- ersfield, and 3s. 5d. an aere upon the rest."
"The account, very short, yet wee hope, plainly, now follow- eth, with the sd rate included in the ballance of every partic- ular, but that it may be somd [summed] up, it is drawn in two [parts]."
A single specimen of these charges and credits will here be given, drawn up so as to show what is meant by the "two parts" above.
T. Rainer For bill charges For rate now 3. 18. 10 for
85s. 6 for 5 3-4 bush 17s. so much due at w. 2s. 3
3 for 1-2 that he paid at To recv. of S. C. 21s. 1 of
W. 22s. 6 all makes 6. Jer. Wood 19. 9d J Renoude
3s. 6 all makes up 06. 5. 5
5.3
Then follow similar accounts with all the parties concerned in the transaction.
On this record occurs the name Jam, Pine, which is probably the James Pyne on the former list. The names which are found here are all of them reported already in the preceding lists of the settlers.
This adds to the list of our pioneers, all but one of whom were land owners for the second year of the colony, seventeen new names, making in all fifty-nine. No other record reports any additional distribution of land to the settlers. A few more certainly received their lands in the mutual distribution, as is evident from the records of several house lots still preserved. But their names can probably never be recorded.
No fuller list of these settlers down to the end of 1642 can now be hoped for, but the record thus transcribed is authorative as to the presence here, thus early, of the following worthy list- our roll of pioneers. Twenty of them, by the opening of the summer of 1641, had already doubtless planted themselves near each other in their pioneer tabernacles, on a sinuous path be- tween Noroton and Tomuek, now Richmond Hills, winding its
25
THE SETTLEMENT.
way around ledges and knolls since then removed, and avoiding more than one pathless swamp, where we now have our most solid and right lined thoroughfare. Thirty-eight more of them, drawn by the good report which had gone back from those who had thus made proof of the goodly land, had followed, and were here to spend the ninth month of the second year of the colony. Fifty-nine, at least, of these sturdy men, with their wives and little ones, braved in their extemporized homes, the colds and storms of the winter of 1642. How many others, and who, were counted worthy to share with them the honors of that bold adventure, we may never know. We have gratefully recorded these names, that we may know whom we honor as we shall trace the growth and fair fame of the town they thus came to found. They will appear in our third and fourth chapters, with such record as we shall be able to make of their origin and their families.
LIST OF PIONEERS TO THE END OF 1642.
1. Mathew Mitchel,
2. Thurston Raynor,
3. Rev. Richard Dentou,
33. John Stevens,
4. Andrew Ward,
34. Thomas Pop.
35. Thomas Hoyt,
5. Robert Coe,
6. Richard Gildersleve,
37. John Smith, sen.,
38. John Smith, jr.,
9. John Whitmore,
39. John Rockwell,
10. Richard Crabb,
40. James Pyne,
11. Jeffry Ferris,
41. Daniel Scofield,
12. Robert Bates,
42. John Coe,
13. Samuel Sherman,
43. John Underhill,
14. Daniel Finch,
44. Robert Hustis,
15. Jonas Wood, H.,
45. John Holly,
16. John Northend, 17. Jeremy Jagger,
47. John Finch,
18. Edmond Wood,
48. George Slawson,
19. Jonas Wood, O.,
49. William Newman.
20. Samuel Clark,
50. John Lum,
51. James Swead,
21. Francis Bell,
31. John Ogden,
32. William Mead,
36. IIenry Akerly,
7. Richard Law,
8. John Reynolds,
46. John Miller,
4
26
11ISTORY OF STAMFORD.
22. Thomas Morehouse,
52. Simon Hoyt,
23. Jeremiah Wood,
53. Simon Seiring,
24. Thomas Weeks,
54. Jonas Weed.
25. John Seaman, 55. - Pierson,
26. Robert Fisher,
56. John Town,
27. Joseph Jessup,
57. William Graves,
28. Henry Smith,
58. Thomas Slawson,
20. Vincent Simkins,
30. Thomas Armitage,
59. Francis Yates.
CHAPTER III.
-
NOTES ON THE SETTLERS AND THEIR FAMILIES .- 1640-2.
In this chapter we shall indicate the proprietors of the town, who were here before the end of 1642, with such account of their origin and families as we have been able to secure. The record against each name will furnish, usually, the evidence for its presence here. The list has been made with all possible care, that we might know who and what kind of men were the founders of the town.
Possibly a few other names should have been included as worthy a place on the list, and possibly some of these were of persons too transiently here to be counted among those who so worthily laid the foundations of our community.
AKERLY, HENRY, received Dec. 7, 1641, two acres, homelot, and three acres of woodland. Savage makes him at New Haven in 1640. The Colony Records mention him there, as rebuked for "building a cellar and selling it withont leave" in April of that year. Hinman snpposes he came with Underhill and Slawson, while our record makes him precede them nearly a year. He was a house carpenter and farmer. His death is re- corded here, June 17, 1650. This name on the records is spelled as above, and also, Akerlye, Ayckrily, and on the inventory of his estate, which was witnessed Jan. 4, 1658, Accorley. His widow, Ann, is said to be 75 years old in 1662. This name is, perhaps, now represented by Ackley.
28
HISTORY OF STAMFORD.
ARMITAGE, THOMAS, received ten acres of land, Dec. 1641. According to Savage, he belonged to Lynn, Mass. He came from Bristol, England, in 1635, in the ship James, with the Rev. Richard Mather and others, and removed in 1637 to Sandwich, Mass., whence he came to Stamford as above. From Stamford he soon went with Underhill and company to Oyster Bay, L. I. In 1647 he appears on the list of the Hempstead settlers.
BATES, ROBERT, came from Wethersfield, with the first colo- ny, and is on the list of the thirty who paid one hundred bush- els of corn to the New Haven "friends," who had surveyed and transferred the territory to them. ITis lot in Wethersfield, which was thirty and a third rods in width, containing 182 acres, was sold in 1641 to William Gibbons. His death is re- corded, at Stamford, June 11, 1675. His will, probated Nov. 1, 1675, makes bequests to his son John, his daughter Mary Ambler and son-in-law John Cross. He bequeathed certain negroes, who are to be made free at 40 years of age.
BELL, FRANCIS, is on the list of the twenty-nine settlers, who were assigned land in 1640, when he received seven acres. As his name does not appear on the Wethersfield records with the other Stamford settlers, it is probable he was still quite young. He became prominent here, and has been fully represented in every generation since, in descendants both of his own and of other names. His wife Rebecca died here, in 1684, and he, Jan. 8, 1690. His son Jonathan was the first child born in the town, and his birth was in 1641. Mrs. Bell's clothes, of which the in- ventory is on record, Book 1, Page 12, were by the husband's order, divided equally between the two daughters, Rebecca Tut- tle and Mary Hoyt. The inventory of Lieut. Francis Bell, dated Jan. 1689, is found on page 116, of 1st Book of Records, amounting to £317 12s. His will, on record at Fairfield, dated 3, 24, 1689, makes bequests to his son Jonathan, grand-son Jonathan, Mary Hoyt, grand-daughter Hannah, and " grand- daughter Rebecca, whom he had brought up," and to his
29
THE SETTLERS AND THEIR FAMILIES.
daughter Tuttle's fonr sons, Jonathan, Simon, William, and Nathaniel.
CLARK, SAMUEL, came with the company from Wethersfield, and is on each of the first three lists made at the time of the set- tlement. He received seven acres of land. Savage supposes he was at Milford in 1669, thence removing to Hempstead, L. I .; that he married Hannah, daughter of Rev. Robert Fordham, and was living in New Haven in 1685.
COE, JOHN, son of Robert, received, Dec. 7, 1641, two acres, houselot and three acres wood land. He was born in England, Norfolk county, in 1622, and he came with his father to Watertown, thence to Wethersfield, and thence to Stamford. He soon went to Hempstead, L. I., thenee to Newtown, and afterwards to Greenwich in 1660. He was one of the pur- chasers of Rye; but returned to Long Island where he was ap- appointed a Magistrate by the Connecticut Colony. He had five sons; John, Robert, Jonathan, Samuel, and David. In 1651 he sold his house and homelot to Elias Bailey.
COE, ROBERT, was born in Norfolk county, England, in 1596, and came in the Francis to Watertown, Mass., in 1634. He was admitted freeman at Boston, Sept. 3, 1634, and is enrolled among the settlers of Watertown, the same year. He brought with him his wife Ann, aged thirty-three years, and three children ; John, aged eight years, Robert, aged seven, and Ben- jamin, aged five. In 1635 he went to Wethersfield where he remained until the settlement of Stamford. In the first division of land here he received fourteen aeres, which would indicate a high standing among the settlers. He was one of the members of the Wethersfield church. While here, he once, at least, re- presented the town in the general court of New Haven. He went with Mr. Denton and his eolony in 1644 to Hempstead, L. I. His son Robert went to Jamaica in 1656. Here he was a man of distinction. He was the deputy from the town to the
30
HISTORY OF STAMFORD.
general court of Connecticut in 1656, and was Sheriff of the county from 1669 to 1672. His son Benjamin went with the father to Hempstead, whence he went to Jamaica where he had a family. Ifis descendants have been both numerous and re- spectable. A record of the Coe family was prepared by Rev. D. B. Coe, D. D., of New York, and printed in 1856.
CRABB, RICHARD .- His name first appears on the roll of the general meeting of the freemen, at Hartford, for the election of magistrates, Jan. 16, 1639; and April 9, 1640, he is present as deputy, and must have been a man of some note. Ile came to Stamford with the company from Wethersfield, and is on the list of those who paid the hundred bushels of corn to the New Haven Colony, and of those to whom the first assignment of land was made. He received ten acres. His land must have been assigned him west of the present limits of the town, as he is spoken of subsequently in the records, as belonging to Green- wich. Ilis position is sufficiently attested by his appointment on the first provisional government of the colony. In 1658, we find him making trouble in the church. He seems to have be- come a quaker, or at least, to have harbored quakers and kept quaker books. He could not agree with the church in their opinion of the sanctity of the Sabbath, and spoke disparagingly or contemptuously of the ministry. Mr. Bishop, the pastor of the church became discouraged, and we find Mr. Crabb, the of- fender, brought into court for trial. He was fined to pay £30 to the jurisdiction, and give bonds in £100, for his good be- havior, and also to make public acknowledgment at Stamford to the satisfaction of Francis Bell, and those others whom he had wronged. In 1660 the constables of Stamford are desired to use their endeavors. to arrest the person of Richard Crabb, of Greenwich.
DENTON, REV. RICHARD, came with his parishioners from Wethersfield. His name heads the first list of the new colony, and stands third on the list of those who paid for surveying the
31
THIE SETTLERS AND THEIR FAMILIES.
tract. He received fourteen acres, only two of the settlers ex- ceeding him in the assignment of land. Mather makes him to have been a minister at Halifax, Yorkshire, England. In 1644 he took quite a large company of the Stamford settlers and went to Hempstead, on Long Island. See Biographical Sketch.
FERRIS, JEFFREY, made freeman in Boston in 1635, came with the first settlers, is on the list of those who paid for the survey, and received ten acres at the first assignment of land. Savage says he was from Watertown, Mass., where he was made free- man, probably May, 6, 1635, whence he came to Wethersfield. HIe sold his lot in Wethersfield, of 45 acres, to John Deming. HIe came with the first colony from Wethersfield, and in 1656 is one of the eleven Greenwich men who petitioned to be accepted under the New Haven jurisdiction. His will, found on the probate records at Fairfield, is dated Jan. 6, 1664. He wills to the four boys he brought up, ten pounds sterling a piece, if they live with any of his children until they are eighteen years old, the money then to be put out for them until they are twenty years of age. Ilis will names also his wife Judy, son James, son Jonathan Lockwood, and Mary Lockwood, son Peter's three children, and son Joseph's two. Judy Bowers, his wid- ow, receipts for her widow's portion, Mar. 6, 1667. His marriage contract with his wife Susannah, widow of Robert Lockwood, of date May 28, 1661, pledges certain legacies to the children of Robert Lockwood, deceased, and mortgages his Greenwich lands and "housings." He died in 1666. The name Ferris is from Leicestershire, house of Feriers, from Henry, son of Gualchelme de Feriers, to whom William the Conqueror gave large grants of land in the three shires of Stafford, Derby and Leicester.
Tradition invests the emigration of this family to this country with the hues of romantic adventure-the ancestress, high born, following her plebeian lover out into this western world, to share with him here the fortunes which English aristocracy would not allow there.
32
HISTORY OF STAMFORD.
FINCH, DANIEL, made freeman in Boston, 1631, and enrolled same year among Watertown settlers. In 1636, he was consta- ble in Wethersfield, whence he came with the Stamford settlers, 1641, and is on each of the three first lists of the colony. He received nine acres in the first distribution of land. Savage supposes he was from Watertown, Mass., and that he came in the fleet with Gov. Winthrop; that he was made freeman May 18, 1631; that he went to Wethersfield in 1635 or '36, where he was constable in the latter year. He also makes him remove in 1653 to Fairfield, where he married, Dec. 25, 1657, Elizabeth, widow of John Thompson, and died March 1667. His marriage agreement with Elizabeth Thompson is on the probate records at Fairfield.
FINCH, JonN, is assigned by the town in October 1642, six aeres, with marsh and upland as the other men. He died here in 1657. He sold his house and homelot in 1653 to Richard Ambler. The inventory of his estate, Book 1, page 66, bears date 9th of 12th mo., 1658.
FISHER, ROBERT, was here early, if not with the first colony. He had land assigned him by the town, as appears from the testimony of Thomas Morehouse, Mar. 17, 1649, in which he says that John Whitmore sold to his son John, the land which was Robert Fisher's, by gift of the town.
GILDERSLEEVE, ROBERT, came with the first company from Wethersfield, and is on each of the first three lists of settlers. He received, in the first distribution of land, thirteen acres. In 1664 he went to Hempstead. His lot in Wethersfield, which was thirty-seven and a half rods wide, containing 255 acres, was sold to John Talcott in 1643. He and his son are accepted freemen in the Connecticut colony from Hempstead, in 1664. Before coming to Stamford, while in Wethersfield, he was " convicted " before the general court of Connecticut for "per- nitious speeches," tending to the detriment and dishonor of the
33
THE SETTLERS AND THEIR FAMILIES.
Commonwealth, fined £20, and bound over under a bond of £20. In the colony records this name is spelled Gyldersly. In 1636 he is appointed with John Plum, by the general court of Conneetient, to survey the inventory of John Oldham, and per- feet the same to submit it to the court at the next session. The same restlessness which made him dissatisfied at Wethers- field, seems to have affected him in Stamford. He soon went with Mr. Denton's company to Hempstead, L. I. While here he once represented the town in the general court at New Haven.
GRAVES, WILLIAM, received a house lot in the distribution of Nov. 1642; he lost his wife Sarah, here in 1651, and his son Benoni, in 1657. In a deed of land to William Newman in 1657, he is said to be of Newtown, L. I.
HOLLY, JonN, was here, as present records show, as early as 1647. Wm. H. Holly, Esq., copied from the records several years ago the birth of John, son of John Holly, in Oet. 1642, which would suggest that the family may have been here even so early. Ile purchased land on the 26th of 12th month, 1647, of William Newman ; and from that date his purchases of real estate are numerous. He was a noted man, and much in the public service. In 1679, he gave his house and lot to his son Samuel, and land to his son John, reserving to himself and wife, half the fruit of the orchard. He also gave land at the same date to his son Increase. In his will on record at Fairfield, his lega- tees are his wife Mary, and his children John, Samuel, Increase, Elisha, Jonathan, Elizabeth Turney, Bethia Weed, Hannah Hoyt, and Abigail. See Biographical Sketch.
HOYT, OR HYATT, THOMAS, received three aeres of woodland. This name was spelled very variously on the records-Hoyette, HIyat, Ilyot, Ilioute, Hout, Hoyt, Hoight, Hayt, Iliat, Hoit, and Hoyte. Thomas "Hyat" died here in 1651. I suppose him and Simon to be the ancestors of the Stamford Hoyts. The in- ventory of his estate was rendered in court in 1662, amounting
34
HISTORY OF STAMFORD.
. to £132 2s. 3d. The court gave to the widow her third, and made Cornelius Jones administrator, to divide the rest among the six children. The administrator was so well pleased with the ease, as to take for his wife the widow Elizabeth, and their marriage is ou record, 1. 8. 1657. The children are recorded as giving receipts to their father-in-law Cornelius Jones, as fol- lows: Caleb, Dee. 23, 1661; Ruth, then become Mrs. John Wescot, Feb. 9, 1667 ; Rebeeea, 13. 8. 1674, for twelve pounds, eleven shillings seven penee; Thomas, 21. 8, 1674, a like sum; and Deborah gives similar receipts, 30. 9. 1669. These receipts are for their several portions of their father, Thomas "Hiat's" estate. John "Hiat," of "Younkers," N. Y., gives receipt, July 6, 1689, for twenty pounds, eurrent pay to the said Cor- nelius Jones, his father-in-law. After careful collation of names, I am unable to distinguish among the settlers the two family names, Iloyt, and Hyatt. Within twenty-five years of the settle- ment I find these different ways of spelling the same name. On page 113 and 114, Records No. 1, the estates of both Thomas Hyatt and Simon Hoyette are receipted for by the heirs of both. In these receipts we have the following different spellings : Hoyt, 1662; Hiat, 1669; Hoyte, 1661 ; and the promiscuous entry of these receipts for the two estates would seem to indicate that they belonged to the same family. Joshua, son of Simon, spells his name Hyot. When the name beeame settled in its two leading forms, Iloyt and Hyatt, as distinct family names, I hardly think the records will show.
Hovr, SIMON, was probably here with the first settlers. I take the liberty of entering his name in one of the places whose name has been effaeed by time. He died here in 1657, and his name occurs quite often on the records of the town. The inventory of his estate is on record, dated Oct. 9, 1657, and amounting to 225 pounds. After his death, his widow Su- sanna, it appears, married a Bates. His children, as indicated by receipts given for their portions of the father's estate, were : Joshua, Moses of Westehester, Jolin, Samuel, Benjamin, Mrs.
35
THE SETTLERS AND THEIR FAMILIES,
Samuel Finch, and Mrs. Samuel Firman. In the distribution of the estate of their mother, then Susanna Bates, Feb. 1, 1674, besides the above names, appeared also that of Thomas Lyon, who probably had married one of her daughters.
HUSTED, ROBERT, was one of the company who received land in Oct. 1642. He had come from Mount Wollaston, now Brain- tree, Mass. He is probably the father of that Robert Hustis who, according to Bolton's Westchester, went from Fairfield to Westchester in 1654. His will, dated July 8, 1652, makes be- quests to his son Angel, of all his lands in Greenwich, with housings ; to his son Robert all his lands in Stamford, with cattle and housings ; to his wife a maintenance and other bequests ; and to his daughter Ann, ten pounds. In 1654, his widow Elizabeth, by will makes bequests to her son Angel of Green- wich ; to Robert of Stamford, and to her daughter Ann, the wife of Richard Hardy. In the will of Robert the name is Husted, and in that of the widow the name is written Hustis and both are equally distinct, and that they refer to the same family, is also, as clear as the form of the name. The names of the children are also changed from Husted to Hustis, though in the second will the name is spelled both Hustes and Hustis.
JAGGER, JEREMY, eame with the first company from Wethers- field, and is on each of the first three lists of the colony. He received, in the first distribution of land, three acres. His name occurs frequently in the early records of the town. He was engaged before the settlement of the town in the ser- vice of the Connecticut colony, in the expedition against the Pequods. Here his services were of good account, aud thirty- four years later the general court of Connecticut, in reward for his merit in the service, gave his three sons twenty aeres of land a piece. In 1655 we find him petitioning to have his fine remitted. The court granted the request as long as he "earry it well." An inventory of his estate, prized by Richard Law and Francis Bell, Dee. 11, 1658, was given in upon oath by Elizabeth, wife of Robert Usher, May 19, 1659, amounting to
36
HISTORY OF STAMFORD.
£472 and 17s., a large estate for those days. It is on record at Fairfield. His executor seems to have been Robert Usher, as receipts to him are on record from two of his sons, Jeremy and John, for their full portions of their father's estate. Ile died in 1658. An account of his sympathy with those who were disaf- fected towards the New Haven colony will appear in its appro- priate place.
JESSUP, JOHN came with the first colony from Wethersfield, and is on each of the first three lists of the colony. He received, in the first distribution of lands, five acres. In 1664 he repre- sented Westchester in the Connecticut Assembly. His name is spelled on our records, Gesseppe, Giseppe, Gesoppe, Gishop. Jolin Jessup was in Hartford, 1637, Wethersfield, before 1640, Stamford, 1641, Long Island about 1654, representative from Westchester, 1664, and back on the Island again, 1673. This name is thought to have come from Yorkshire, England. (See Gen. Reg., Vol. X., page 358.)
LAW, RICHARD, came with the first settlers from Wethersfield, is on the second and third lists of the settlers, and received, at the first assignment of land, eleven acres, He married Mar- garet, daughter of Thomas and Frances Kilborn, of Wethers- field, who was born in 1612. Mr. Law is not on the Wethers- field records as a landholder, like the most of the settlers who came with him. But he is reported in the colonial records, in 1638, when he is appointed with George Huberd, fro m Wethersfield, to trade in beavers with the Indians, on the Connecticut river. No other Wethersfield man was to do so, under penalty of five shillings "per pounde, to be paide pr. evry pounde they soe trade." He is also reported in the case of the estate of John Oldham, as indebted to it £6 4s. 11d. A further account will be given of him in the chapter devoted to biography.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.