Fifty Puritan Ancestors
1628 - 1660
Genealogical Notes - 1650 - 1900
Elizabeth Todd Nash
New Haven: Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor
1902



[Transcribed by Coralynn Brown]

THE BUELL FAMILY In the "History of the Buell Family in England from the remotest times ascertainable from our ancient histories, and in America from town, parish, church and family records," compiled by Albert Welles, President of the American College for Genealogical Registry, Family History and Heraldry," reasons are given for concluding that the Buells came from the English family of de Berille who were connected in various ways with the courts of the kings, particularly of England during the reigns of Henry III, Edward I, II, III, from A.D. 1270 to A.D. 1375. In A.D. 1270 William de Berille witnessed a charter granted by the King for the protection of the Crusaders.) In the time of Edward III a petition was sent "to the Pope for the Canonization of Thomas, late Count of Lancaster. Recital of his glorious and Christian life and death inflicted upon him by the unjust. Prayer for his enrollment among the saints . . . For the prosecution of which business we have sent to you our beloved Walter de Burle, Professor of the Sacred Page, Lord William Trussell, Knight and Master John de Thoresby, Clerke. . . . Given at London the last day of the month of February 1327," [Rymer's Foedera, Vol. I, part ii, p. 695] --and in the same volume it says that Edward III in 1330 sent for his "Envoy Extraordinary his beloved Clerke, Master Walter de Burle, Prof. of the Sacred Page."s On May 25, 1368, Rev. Thomas de Beuele was restored to the Chancellorship of Ireland, with all the dignities and emoluments in full which he had been deposed from in 1364: [Ibid. Vol. III, pt ii, p. 993]. Concerning the office of Chancellor of Ireland committed to T. de Buerle. The King to whom etc. Greeting : Know ye that we have committed to our Beloved in Christ, Thomas de Buerle, brother, of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in Ireland, the Office of Chancellor of our land of Ireland to be held as long as is pleasing to Us, he receiving in that office the accustomed feudal service In testimony of which, etc. Witness the King at Westminster, the 23 day of May, A.D. 1368. By the King Himself. In 1373, October 30, Edward III gives a commission to John de Buelle to be commander of Calais. [Rymer's Foedera, Vol. I, part ii, p. 993]. Also a second commission on November 20, 1374, "to John de Burle, Captain of the King, City of Calais of Supreme Jurisdiction, Civil and Criminal, and an injunction on all officers and subjects of the King to obey and support him in the exercise of his office." [Ibid, Vol. III, part ii, p. 1017]. This shows that the name of one man, well known, was not always spelt the same in early times. In England Bewelle, Berill, Berrille, Berile are the same family. In New England the name is spelt Buel, Buell, Bewelle, and in Lebanon, Conn., a large branch spell their name Bewelle. Ensign William Bewelle was the seventh child of Samuel Buell of Killingworth, and grandson of William Buell, Bewelle or Berille of Killingworth. Ensign William Bewelle's tombstone is standing in Lebanon, Conn. (where he went in 1698), and on it he is called "One of the Fathers of the Town." In the "Rotuli Hundredorum" (Roles of the Hundred) of England by Command of His Majesty King George III., A.D. 1812, many of the Buell family are mentioned as holding manors and public offices in many of the counties of England. William Buell, a Welshman, came to Massachusetts in 1630 with his mother "Goode Buell," from Wales. "Goode Buell died at Windsor, Dec. 3, 1639." William Buell was in the first land division in Windsor in 1636. They evidently came there from Plymouth, as he is called "of Plymouth Colony," and a William Buell and his wife in Oct., 1650, were indicted in Plymouth Colony as Baptists [Baylies, Vol. II, p. 211] with nine other prominent people of Plymouth; his indictment was not pushed. He "was a man of some considerable position in society, a man of property and good personal character." [Woodruff's History]. He died November 16, 1681; will dated July 26, 1681. Inventory, offered by his wife Mary, dated July 26, 1681, of 147 pounds 2S. 7d. Mary, his relict, made oath "March 6 Anno 1682," that she made true presentment of his estate. Widow Mary Buell died at Windsor, Sept. 1, 1684. In William Buell's will he gave all his tools to his sons, Samuel and Peter, and gave his daughter Mary Niles £5 more than any of his other daughters. William Buell married Nov. 18, 1640, Mary _____. CHILDREN SAMUEL, b. Sept. 2, 1641; m. NOV. 30, 1662, Deborah Griswold; d. July 11, 1720. MARY, b. Sept. 3,1642 ; m. Feb. 23, 1660, Niles; d. 1725. PETER, b. August Ig, 1644; m. March 31, 1670; d. Jan. 8, 1729. HANNAH, b. Jan. 8, 1646; m. (1) Sept. 17, 1663, Timothy Palmer, (2) Thomas Wells of Hartford; d. 1720. HEPZIBAH, b. Dec. 11, 1649; m. Jan. 12, 1673, Thomas Wells of Hadley, Mass.; d. 1734. SARAH, b. March 21, 1653; d. s. ABIGAIL, b. Feb. 12, 1656; d. y. SECOND GENERATION Samuel Buell of Windsor, born, Sept. 2, 1641; married at Windsor, November 30, 1662, Deborah Griswold, daughter of Edward, born June 28, 1646. Samuel Buell removed to Killingworth in 1664, where he "was an extensive land holder, owning large estates amid the pleasant farms of Killingworth ;--filled many responsible public offices, and was a gentleman of great influence, as well as generous means." He had twelve children, seven sons, who with one exception married and reared large families. Samuel Buell, Sr., was appointed with John Griswold and Lieut. Stephen Bradley, and three others, to be a "committee to survey or settle the road from Saybrooke to Samuell Buell's house in Kenilworth." Samuel Buell, member of General Court, presented a petition May 14, 1697, for Hammonassett River bridge. He was also a member for 1692, 1693, 1696, 1697, 1698 M., 1698 0., 1700 M., 1701 M., 1702, 1704 M., 1704 0., 1706, 1708, 1710, 1711, 1714, 1715. [History Middlesex Co., p. 424] Made Justice of the Peace at Killingworth, 1716 ; was denominated on the Town Records as "Gentleman." Samuel Buell gave by deed "dated Feb. 15, 1695 to his well-beloved son Samuel Buell, Jr., seven acres of Land for a House and Lot with a dwelling House thereon, Salt meadow four acres, four and a half acres of land in the neck (plain land), also two acres by the westerly end of my house, a small piece of meadow, one third of my land that flowed by the saw mill pond." Signed, etc., in the presence of Deborah Buell, Wm. Buell and David Buell as witnesses. In 1693 Samuel Buell, Sr., and Samuel Buell, Jr., purchased jointly a piece of meadow of thirty acres of John Shelton and William Wellman at the head of the Indian Meadow. Samuel Buell died at Killingworth, July I1, 1720. Deborah Griswold Buell died there, February 7, 1717-18. CHILDREN [Hinman's Puritan Settlers, pp. 368, 369] SAMUEL, JR., b. at Windsor, July 20, 1663; d. Nov. 2, 1732 ; m. Judith Stevens, August 16, 1686. DEBORAH, b. Killingworth, Oct. 18, 1665 ; m. Nathaniel Porter. HANNAH, b. Killingworth, Sept. 6, 1667; d. y. MARY, b. Killingworth, Nov. 28, 1669; m. Hezekiah Porter. JOHN, b. Killingworth, Feb. 17, 1671 ; m. May Loomis. HANNAH, b. Killingworth, May 4, 1674; m. Joseph Porter. WILLIAM, b. Killingworth, Oct. 18, 1676. DAVID (Major), b. Killingworth, Feb. 15, 1678. JOSIAH, b. Killingworth, March 17, 1680. MEHITABLE, b. Killingworth, Aug. 22, 1682 ; d. y. PETER, b. Killingworth, Dec. 3, 1684. BENJAMIN, b. Killingworth in 1686. THIRD GENERATION Samuel Buell, Jr., born at Windsor, July 20, 1663; died November 2, 1732; married August 16, 1686, Judith Stevens, daughter of William and Mary Meigs Stevens, born October 1, 1668 ; died October 31, 1732. On "May 21, 1688, Samuel Buell, Jr., bath a grant of land from the Town of seven acres of land more or less." March 8, 1703, the Town sold to Samuel Buell, Jr., that "Hill of upland at the head of the Indian Meadow at l0 shillings per acre." Samuel Buell, Jr., was first elected Justice of the Peace by General Court of Connecticut, May Session, 1704, at Hartford. Commissioner of Deeds from 1706 to 1716. [Town Records]. He was first made Lieutenant, then Captain of the Militia Company, and always known as Captain Samuel Buell. On December 12, 1720, Samuel Buell executed a deed to his son Daniel Buell, one half of the division of land that was laid out to his father, lately deceased, on Roast Meat Hill in Killingworth, containing 58 1/2 acres, thereby conveying 29 1/2 acres. The deed commences as follows : "To all Christian People to whom these Presents shall come," and closes. "In Witness where of I have put my hand and seal this Twelfth day of December in the Sixth year of the Raighn of our foueron Lord George, King of England, etc., Anney Doming, 1720." Witnessed by Daniel Griswold and Samuel Wilcocks. Recorded in 3rd Book of Records, folio 83, pp. 31, 32, 33, John Kelcey, Town Clerk." [Buell Book, pp. 7 to 21, 25 to 28]. "Will of Samuel Buell. Exhibited in Court of Probate held at Guilford, Nov. 16, 1732, and duly proved. Will made July 16, 1728. Witnesses Josiah Baldwin, William Wellman John Kelcey." Extracts from will: "He wills to his wife Judith one third of his personal and moveable estate, also house, barn and orchard of the home stead and all the land adjoining; also all the uphill and meadow in the Neck field ; also one horse, two oxen, two cows and all the tools and utensils of husbandry, to have the use of the same during the time of her widowhood. To his son Samuel, all the lands lying in the old saw mill pond, in consideration of his birthright. He then divides all his lands, with housing and barns, equally to his five sons, Samuel, Josiah, Daniel, Nathaniel and Joseph Buell, including what they had previously received as will appear by his books of account, allowing his wife the use of the property willed to her. He gives his three daughters one half as much as each of the sons received with what they had previously been paid, as charged to them on his books, and the balance to be paid from his moveable estate; in case that should not be sufficient, then the five sons to pay them, or cause to be paid them, a sum sufficient to make each of the daughters' share equal to one half of each of the sons. He names his daughter Deborah, wife of Daniel Dudley ; Mary, wife of Joseph Waterhouse and Mehitable Buell. He constitutes his wife Judith, Executrix ; his sons Samuel and Josiah Buell Executors." "An inventory of the personal estate of Samuel Buell who departed this life 2nd day of November 1732" covers ten closely written pages of foolscap paper; list contains household furniture, beds and bedding, clothing, cooking utensils, etc., amounting in all to 701 pounds 2s. od., an almost unheard of amount of household furnishings for that time. From a deed executed by Samuel Buell iii, son of Capt. Samuel Buell, dated July 23, 1733, "wherein he recites that Capt. Samuel Buell late of Killingworth, County of New London, State of Connecticut, did by his last Will and Testament, bequeath to his sons Daniel, Nathaniel Buell and his son Joseph Buell, an equal share of his lands with the rest of the brethern, excepting a small consideration to himself. On account of his birth-right and being sole executor in pursuance of said Will, he deeds to Daniel Buell besides what he had by deed of gift from his father which was appraised at £83 Ios. od., half the Turn Meadow, a £5 right in the homestead, and a £19 right in the Meadow called the Home Meadow. To Nathaniel Buell, besides £78 10s. od., half the Turn Meadow, a £5 right in the homestead, and a right in the Home Meadow of £4, and a £20 right in the Narrow Neck lot. To Joseph Buell, right in the Homestead £ 130 ; right in the Home Meadow 47 shilling, in the Wellman Land 11 shil." The deed is witnessed by Jonathan Lane and James Elderkin and recorded in the 4th Book of Records, folio 128. [Ibid]. CHILDREN SAMUEL iii, b. May 29, 1687; d. June 15, 1688. SAMUEL (Ensign and Capt.), b. March 8, 1690; m. Abigail Chittenden, May 3, 171 1 ; d. Nov. 8, 1750. JOSIAH (Lieut. and Captain), b. March 7, 1692. DEBORAH, b. Jan. 24, 1694. MARY, b. May 17, 1696. DANIEL (Lieut.), b. June 19, 1698. NATHANIEL, b. Sept. 29, 1700. LYDIA, b. March 8, 1703 ; d. Aug. 8, 1710. MEHITABLE, b. May 8, 1705 ; m. Elnathan Smith, Feb. 18, 1730. LUCY, b. May 25, 1708; d. Aug., 1708. JOSEPH, b. Aug. 24, 1710. FOURTH GENERATION Mehitable Buell, daughter of Samuel Buell, Jr., born May 8, 1705, at Killingworth; married Elnathan Smith, son of Thomas, February 18, 1730; their daughter Siba Smith married Captain Daniel Hand, October 14, 1759. Siba Smith Hand died September 20, 1772. NOTE --- General Joseph Buell of Marietta, Ohio, who was on Washington's staff, held several civil and military offices, being a member of Legislature and also appointed by Thomas Jefferson General at the post to arrest Burr and his accomplices, was a descendant of this Buell Family. He was born at Killingworth, February 16, 1 76; married at East Guilford Siba Hand (daughter of Captain Daniel Hand and Siba Smith), February 15, 1789, thus bringing the families together again. General Buell died June 13, 1812. THE STEVENS FAMILY JOHN STEPHENS, afterwards spelt Stevens, emigrated to New Haven, from Kent, England, bringing two sons with him, William and Thomas. He was in Guilford at the first allotment of land, his house lot being on the east side of Fair Street, one and one half acres, and his dwelling house stood near that recently owned by Mr. Albert Dowd. Among the signers of the petition, 1664, that they "may live as Christians and sit under our own vine and fig tree with peace and safety," in Killingworth, were Thomas Stevens, Thomas Cruttenden, Abraham Cruttenden, Thomas Smith, William Stevens, John Stevens, John Bishop, John Meigs. [Steiner, Hist. of Guilford and Madison, pp. 46, 52, 61, 62, 89, 101, 106, 125, 126, 128]. John Stevens made freeman 1660; died Sept. 1, 1670. CHILDREN MARY STEPHENS, b. 1624; m. Henry Kingsworth. THOMAs, b. 1628. WILLIAM, b. 1630; m. Mary Meigs, March 3, 1652-3. JOHN STEPHENS, b. 1632. SECOND GENERATION William Stevens, born in England, 1630; married Mary Meigs, daughter of John Meigs, March 3, 1653 ; she died April 30, 1703. [Meigs Family]. February 24, 1703, William Stevens deeded land to his son William and gave Judith, his daughter, £10 in provision, and called her Judith Buell, wife of Samuel Buell. CHILDREN JOHN STEVENS, b. March 3, 1654. SAMUEL, b. March 1, 1656. NATHANIEL, b. March 10, 1659; d. y. NATHANIEL, b. Oct. 29, 1661. JUDITH, b. Oct. 1, 1668; m. Samuel Buell, August, 1686. JOSIAH, b. Dec. 8, 1670. MARY, b. Nov. 2, 1677. THIRD GENERATION Judith Stevens, born Oct. I, 1668; married Samuel Buell ii, August 16, 1686 ; had eleven children. Mehitable, the ninth, born May 8, 1705, married Elnathan Smith. THE MEIGS FAMIILY VINCENT MEIGS, born in Devonshire, England, about 1583 ; married, in 1608, _____ Churchill. Came to New England in 1639 settled first in Massachusetts (Weymouth, probably), removed to Hartford and from there to New Haven, in 1644 ; moved to Guilford in 1647, and subsequently moved to Hammonassett, East Guilford, now Madison, in 1653 ; died there in December, 1658, and was the first person buried [Rocky's New Haven Co., p. 203] in East Guilford. The house of Sergeant Daniel Meigs, built in 1750, stands upon the original home lot of Vincent Meigs. His two sons, John and Mark, came with him to New England. SECOND GENERATION John Meigs, son of Vincent, Weymouth, Mass., 1639, Hartford, New Haven, 1644, owned "Cutler's corner" in New Haven, fronting on Church- street one hundred and thirty-nine feet, and on Chapel street two hundred and thirty-five feet. William Jeanes owned it, by allotment, from 1639 to 1648; John Meggs, from 1648 to 1658, by deed; Town, from 1658, by cession. John Meigs, or Meggs, as he spelled his name then, acquired his title by purchase and conveyance, which is on record as follows : "Wm Jeanes passeth over to John Meggs his house and house lot, lying at the corner over against the house lot of John Budd and the highway." John Meggs took the oath of fidelity in New Haven in 1644, and was admitted freeman 1644. He was a tanner by trade, active in business and had a large estate; he is also mentioned in early records as having "books, one was a Greek and Latin Dictionary," showing that he was a literary man. When the trouble with Connecticut arose he took an active part on the side of the Connecticut usurpation, and accepted the appointment of constable for Guilford from the Connecticut authorities in defiance of the New Haven jurisdiction. John Meigs settled in Guilford 1647; was admitted a planter on his buying a hundred-pound allotment at Hammonassett on its settlement, March 3, 1653-4: made freeman 1657. Mr. John Meigs was one of the twelve men selected as patentees of the Charter of Guilford ; his name occurs in the Charter four times. He was Representative at Hartford, 1647. May 14, 1663, John Meigs was chosen Constable over those submitting to Connecticut Colony at Guilford. [History of Guilford (Smith) pp. 19, 24, 25, 28, 50, 78, 79]. In 1668 he removed to Killingworth, where he died January 4, 1671, leaving a very large estate. One of the most interesting incidents of his life is recorded in many histories and romances of New England. [Palfrey's New England, ii, pp. 490, 502. Atwater's New Haven, p. 426. Hollister's Conn., i, p. 239. Col. Histo. Soc., xxviii, p. 325. The Judges Cave, Romance of New Haven Colony, 1661, by Margaret Sidney, Chap. x, and the Regicides, F. H. Cogswell]. By a wild ride on horseback "the night of May 12, 1661, John Meiggs of Guilford" succeeded in reaching New Haven in time to notify Rev. John Davenport that agents of the King were at Guilford on their way to New Haven to seize the regicides Whalley and Goffe, then in hiding at Mr. Davenport's. The regicides, warned in time, hurried away to another of their mysterious hiding places, and John Meigs was considered to have saved their lives ; he is also said to have carried food to their "hiding place." John Meigs married in Weymouth, England, in 1632, Tamazin Fry. CHILDREN MARY, b. Weymouth, Eng., 1633 ; m. March 3, 1653, William Stevens; d. April 30, 1703. JOHN, b. Weymouth, Mass., Feb. 29, 1640; d. Nov. 9, 1713. CONCURRENCE, b. Weymouth, Mass., 1643; m. Henry Crane of Killingworth ; d. Oct. 9, 1708. ELIZABETH, b. _____; m. Richard Hubbell, Guilford, Conn. TRYAL, b. _____; m. 1668, Andrew Ward, Killingworth, Conn. THIRD GENERATION. John Meigs, Jr., born in Weymouth, Mass., Feb. 29, 1640; married (1) March 7, 1665, Sarah Wilcoxson, daughter of William Wilcoxson of Stratford, who died 1691 ; married (2) Lydia, widow of Isaac Crittenden and daughter of Anthony Thompson, who died December, 1727. [Munsell's American Ancestry]. John Meigs was first deacon of the First Congregational Church in Guilford; he died Nov. 9, 1713. CHILDREN SARAH, b. Feb. 14, 1667 ; m. Jan. 11, 1686, Daniel Bartlett of Guilford, Conn.; d. April 8, 1688. JOHN, b. Nov. 11, 1670; d. Feb. 19, 1718; m. Rebecca Hand. JANNA, b. Dec. 21, 1672; d. June 5, 1739; m. Hannah Willard of Wethersfield, Conn., May 18, 1698. EBENEZER, b. Sept. 19, 1675; m. Mercy Weeks of Falmouth. HANNAH, b. Feb. 25, 1678; m. Jeremiah Foster of Long Island. HESTER, b. Nov. 10, 1680. MINDWELL, b. ____1682; d. March 31, 1762; m. Samuel Crittenden of Guilford, Conn., Oct. 8, 1702. FOURTH GENERATION Janna Meigs, son of John Meigs ii, born Dec. 21, 1672 ; married May 18, 1698, Hannah Willard of Wethersfield, daughter of Josiah and Hannah (Hosmer) Willard, granddaughter of Major Simon Willard. [Munsell's American Ancestry]. Hannah Willard, born 1674, died Jan. 4, 1750. Janna Meigs died June 5, 1739. "A Sermon occassioned by the Death of Captain Janna Meigs preached June 10, 1739, by Rev. Jonathan Todd" was published. "A prominent man in the early days was Janna Meigs. "Captain Janna Meigs was the first magistrate of East Guilford, Conn., Deputy Governor from 1716 to 1726, Commander of Military Band from 1716 to 1731. [History of Guilford and Madison (Steiner), pp. 350, 354, 397, 506, 514. New Haven Co., by Rockey, p. 204]. CHILDREN JANNA, b. Aug. 17, 1699; m. Elizabeth Dudley, May 13, 1724; d. JOSIAH, b. May 14, 1701; m. Mary Hand, June 14, 1727; d. Dec. 26, 1774. JEHIEL, b. June 11, 1703; m. Lucy Bartlett, Sept. 27, 1736; d. March 23, 1780. HANNAH, b. Aug. 13, 1705; d. May 20, 1727. RETURN, b. March 16, 1708 ; m. (1) Elizabeth Hamlin of Middletown, who d. Sept. 17, 1762; m. (2) Widow Jane Doane, March 25, 1763. HESTER, b. Dec. 19, 1709; m. Stephen Bishop. SILENCE, b. Jan. 5, 1712; d. Jan., 1712. SUBMIT, b. Jan. 5, 1712; d. Jan., 1712. TIMOTHY, b. Sept. 19, 1713; m. Mary French, Sept. 17, 1735; d. Sept. 14, 1751. EUNICE, b. Oct. 19, 1715. FIFTH GENERATION Captain Jehiel Meigs, son of Janna, born June 11, 1703; married Lucy Bartlett, daughter of Daniel, granddaughter of George Bartlett of Guilford, Sept. 27, 1736. Lucy Bartlett, born 1713 ; died Dec. 8, 1800. Captain Jehiel Meigs was "Commander of the Military Band from 1747 to 1762"; died March 23, 1780. CHILDREN LUCY, b. 1739; d. 1740. LUCY, b. Sept. 21, 1741; d. June 25, 1778; m. Capt. Joseph Hand of East Guilford, July 14, 1756. JEHIEL, b. July 6, 1743; d. Dec. 27, 1776; m. Abigail Meigs, Jan. 4, 1764. LUCRETIA, b. July 14, 1745; m. Reuben Rose of North Branford, Jan. 1, 1772. DANIEL, b. July 24, 1747; m. (1) Chloe Scranton, who died May 19, 1788; m. (2) Millicent Hopson, who died April 12, 1828; he died May 12, 1822. ELIHU, b. Sept. 21, 1749 ; m. Elizabeth Rich; d. Sept. 9, 1827. LOVISA, b. Dec. 31, 1751; m. Capt Edward Mulford of North Branford; d. 1824. SIXTH GENERATION Jehiel Meigs, Jr., oldest son of Captain Jehiel Meigs, was Ensign at Lexington Alarm, 1775; served five days. Second Lieutenant Jehiel Meigs, Jr., commissioned May 1st; discharged December, 1775; re-enlisted May 14, 1776. Captain Jehiel Meigs, Jr., died in the service of his country, Dec. 27, 1776, in New York. He married Abigail, daughter of Captain Phineas Meigs left three children. [Steiner, Hist. Guilford and Madison, pp. 427, 447, 462. Rockey's N. H. Co., p. 49. Record Conn. Soldiers in Revolutionary War]. Sergeant Daniel Meigs, second son of Captain Jehiel of East Guilford: Sergeant, Lexington Alarm, 1775; served five days. Sergeant. Capt. Daniel Hand's Company; served in New York State, September, 1776, to November 20. [Steiner, Hist. Guilford and Madison, pp. 446, 452. Record Conn. Soldiers in Revolutionary War. Smith, History of Guilford] Captain Peter Vail's Company ; enlisted April 10, 1781 ; served eight months twenty days. Daniel Meigs married (1) Chloe Scranton, daughter Captain Ichabod Scranton, who died May 19, 1788 ; married (2) Millicent Hopson of North Madison; died April 12, 1828. Daniel Meigs died May 12, 1822. CHILDREN ARTEMESIA, b. Feb. 25, 1770; d. Oct. 11, 1812; m. Daniel Hand, 1787. JONATHAN, b. Sept. 14, 1771 ; no children. JEHIEL, b. April 9, 1777 ; d. single. April 3, 1812. DANIEL, b. April 9, 1779; m. Eliza B. S. Saunders, dau. of Anthony Saunders of Charleston, S. C. ; d. Aug. 9, 1826. SON, b. Feb. 2, 1791; d. Feb. 2, 1791. WILLIAM, b. April 27, 1792; d. May 21, 1792. HARRY, b. July 5, 1793 ; d. Nov. 16, 1793. DEBORAH HOPSON, , b. Nov. 4, 1794; d. Sept. 12, 1796. DEBORAH HOPSON, b. May 24, 1797; d. Dec. 7, 1859; m. Reynold Webb, M.D., of Madison, March 8, 1821. SEVENTH GENERATION Artemesia Meigs, born February 25, 1770 ; died October 11, 1812; married Daniel Hand, 1787. CHILDREN . WILLIAM MEIGS, b. Oct. 6, 1789; d. July 29, 182o; m. Susan Stocking. AUGUSTUS FREDERICK, b. Nov. 6, 1790 ; d. April 2, 1822 ; single. CHLOE, b. Nov. 30, 1791; d. Sept. 2I, 1875 ; m. Jonathan S. Wilcox. JONATHAN MEIGS, b. May 17, 1793 ; d. Aug., 1822 ; single. SIBA, b. May 13, 1796 ; d. Aug., 1876; m. Josiah Chittenden. ELIZA, b. March 10, 1799; d. Aug., 1875; m. Zephaniah Alden. DANIEL, b. July 16. 1801 ; d. Dec. 17, 1891 ; m. Elizabeth Ward. ARTEMESIA, b. April 21, 1803 ; d. 1804. JEHIEL MEIGS, b. April 24. 1805; d. Sept. 10, 1888; m. (1) Eliza Swathel, (2) Caroline Allen, (3) Catherine Thayer. ARTEMESIA MEIGS, b. Sept. 15, 1807; d. June 14, 1838; m. Ichabod Lee Scranton, Nov.. 1827. GEORGE EDWARD, b. Aug. 16, 1809; d. Aug. 30, 1889; single. JOHN AUGUSTINE, b. Jan. 1. 1812; d. ___1839; single. [Descendants of Vincent Meigs. by Prof. R. W. Wilcox, M.A.. M.D. Meigs Family Bible. Family Records. Alvan Talcott's, M.D. MSS. Records.] THE WILCOXSON FAMILY WILLIAM WILCOXSON, born in 1601, at St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England, came to America in the ship "Planter," April, 1635, in company with Richard Harvey and William Beardsley, who settled in Stratford. He settled in Concord and was made freeman Dec. 7, 1636, went from Concord to Stratford about 1638, and was one of the first proprietors and a prominent man of the township. Dr. Trumbull puts "William Wilcoxson one of the first principal gentlemen of the town and church of Stratford." [Orcutt Hist. of Stratford, p. 89]. Made Representative at Hartford, 1647. [Hist. of Fairfield Co., Hand, p. 751. Hist. of Stratford, pp. 89, 93, 104, 122, 123, 184, 185, 186, 187, 352, 949. Meigs Family, Wilcoxson, by Prof. R. W. Wilcox]. William Wilcoxson was a "lynen weaver," and he and his wife Margaret brought certificates of membership from St. Albans Church, Hertfordshire, England. He was thirty-four years old, Margaret Wilcoxson twenty-four, their son John two years, when they left England. William Wilcoxson died in 1652, and in his will, dated May, 1652, he gave forty pounds to the church in Concord, Mass. Margaret Wilcoxson married William Hayden of Windsor, about 1653; she died 1655. CHILDREN TIMOTHY, b. 1630 ; m. Johanna Birdseye, Dec. 8, 1664; d. Jan. 13, 1713. JOHN, b. 1633 ; m. (1) ---- Tilerton, (2) Mrs. Elizabeth Welles, March 19, 1663. JOSEPH, b.1638 ; m. Anna ---; d. Feb. 9, 1703. SAMUEL, b. 1640; m. Hannah --; d. March 12, 1713. OBADIAH, b. 1644; m. (1) Phebe _____, (2) Silence _____; d. 1713. ELIZABETH, b. 1644; m. Henry Stiles, April 16, 1663. HANNAH, b. 1646; m. Lieut. Daniel Hayden, March 17, 1664. SARAH, b. 1648; m. John Meigs, Jr., March 7, 1665; d. Nov. 24, 1691. PHOEBE, b. Aug. 31, 1650; m. John Birdseye, Dec. 11, 1669. SECOND GENERATION Sarah Wilcoxson, born 1648, married John Meigs, son of John and Tamazin Fry Meigs, March 7, 1665 ; she died November 24, 1691. Had seven children. (See Meigs Family) Sarah, the oldest, born February 14, 1667, married Daniel Bartlett, January 11, 1686; died April 8, 1688; and Janna, the third, born December 21, 1672, married Hannah Willard. THE WILLARD FAMILY MAJOR SIMON WILLARD came from Horsemonden, Kent, England, where the records of the family read as follows : "1610 24 Sept. Henry Sharpe and Jane Ffeylde were married. 1615 19 Sept. Jane Ffield Sharpe was buried. 1614 16 Oct. Mary Sharpe daughter of Henry christened." Richard Willard married [Life and Times of Major Simon Willard] Catherine, who died at Horsemonden, March 1597-8, buried March 11 . He married (2) Margery _____, who died Dec. 1608; buried Dec. 12 ; (3) Jan. 10, 1609-10 Widow Joan Morebread, who died Feb. 1616-17, was buried February 25, "1616-17. An' Dni Anno 3 Jacobi 1605 vijth day of April Simon Willarde sonne of Richarde Willarde was christenede. Edward Alchine, Rector. Richard Willard died Feb. 1616 ; buried Feb. 20. Will proved, March 14, 1616." Simon Willard and Margery Willard were children of the second wife, and Margery came with Simon to New England ; married Captain Dolar Davis. Margery Willard, born at Horsemonden, 1602 ; baptized 1602. George Willard, who accompanied them to New England, was a half-brother, son of the third marriage. The Willards came to New England, arriving May, 1634 ; settled in Cambridge. "In 1635, at the house of the Rev. Peter Bulkley, Mr. Simon Willard, Mr. John Jones, Mr. Spencer and others did purchase of squaw Sachem Tahaltaman a tract of land six miles square. That said Willard and others did pay for said land in wampumpeague, hatchets, hoes, knives, cotton cloth and shirts." [Barker's Hist., Collection 1839]. "Sept. 3, 1635 Upon some inquiry of the Indians who lived to the North West of the Bay, One Captaine Simon Willard, being acquainted with them by reason of his travel, became a chief instrument in erecting this town. "Wishing to be near Rev. Mr. Bulkeley, Simon Willard obtained from the Great and General Court a grant of six miles square at Musketaquid on condition he would settle twelve families there. He went there in 1635 and led a busy, active, vigorous, public life; became an extensive trader with the Indians. Clerk of the Writs, Surveyor of arms, Deputy, Military Commander, Commissioner, Judge of the County Court, Major, Sergeant Major, second only in office to the Sergeant Major, General Assistant. He was commander-in-chief of the Massachusetts Bay force, sent against the Niantics, a tribe of Narragansett Indians under the Sachem Nioriquet, whose chief seat was the corner of Rhode Island which bordered on Connecticut." [Henry Crane's Melton, Mass., pp. 24, 25]. Of the settlement of Concord, Ridpath says: [History of United States, Ridpath, p. 130] "One little company of twelve families led by Simon Willard and Peter Bulkeley, marched through the woods until they came to some open meadows sixteen miles from Boston, and there laid the foundations of Concord." In 1654, Simon Willard was made Assistant for Massachusetts Colony, which office he held to 1675. [Palfrey's New England, Vol. II, p. 389]. He sold his estate in Concord in 1659, and removed to Lancaster, where he was established in 1660, but about 1671 or 1672 Major Willard made another remove to a large farm at Womacricus near Ayer, Mass. His dwelling place there was the first burnt by the Indians, on March 13, 1676. On August 2, 1675, Major Simon Willard, who had been in command of a Middlesex County regiment for twenty years, at the head of forty-six dragoons, with Captain Parker of Groton, marched to the rescue of Brookfield, Mass.; where the Indians were massacring the inhabitants, thence to Hadley, Mass., and did not return to headquarters at Boston until the last of August. John Fiske [Beginnings of New England, Fiske, pp. 216, 217] gives the following account of the rescue : "That noon (August 5, 1675) the gallant Simon Willard, ancestor of two presidents of Harvard College, a man who had done so much toward building up Concord and Lancaster, that he was known as the `founder of towns' was on his way from Lancaster to Groton at the head of forty-seven horsemen, where he was overtaken by a courier with the news from Brookfield. The distance was thirty miles, the road scarcely fit to be called a bridle path, and Willard's years more than three score years and ten; but by an hour after sunset he had galloped into Brookfield and routed the Indians, who fled to a swamp ten miles distant." There were three hundred Indians led by "King" Philip himself. Major Palfrey says, in regard to his rescue : "The distance (30 miles) was great to be carried so quickly, from noon to nightfall, with poor roads, but Willard was at home in the saddle, notwithstanding his seventy years, and he came in time to save his friends another night of sleepless misery. God who comforted the holy apostle Paul by the coming of Titus unto him, so he greatly comforted his distressed servants, both soldiers and town inhabitants, by the coming of the said honored major and those with him." [Palfrey's History of New England, Vol. II, pp. 135, 136]. "February 1676, despite his advanced age, Willard raised a force of troopers and dragoons and was actively engaged in securing and protecting the defenseless frontier towns, until, while at Charlestown, Mass. he took the prevailing epidemic cold, of which disease he died, April 24, 1676, in his seventy-second year. [Dr. Talcott's MSS Records]. Simon Willard married first Mary Sharpe, daughter of Henry and Jane Ffeylde Sharpe, christened at Horsemonden, Oct. 16, 1614. After her death he married Elizabeth Dunster, sister of President Dunster of Harvard College ; she soon died and he married for his third wife, Mary Dunster, a near relative of his second wife. Had eighteen children. CHILDREN SIMEON, b. 1639. SAMUEL, b. June 30, 1640; d. Sept. 12, 1707. JOSIAH, of Wethersfield; m. Hannah Hosmer; d. 1674. DANIEL, b.1650, of Boston. JOHN, b. 1651, of Concord. SARAH, b. July 25, 1652; m. Nathaniel Hawes. JOSEPH, b. 1660; went to England. HENRY, b. 1665 ; m. Mary Larken. JONATHAN, b. 1669; of Sudbury. ELIZABETH, d. y. ELIZABETH, m. Robert Blood. MARY, m. Cyprian Stevens. INFANT, d. y. HANNAH, m. ____ Brentide. MERCY, m. Joshua Edwards. ABRAHAM, d. s. DOROTHY, d. s. BENJAMIN, of Grafton. SECOND GENERATION . Rev. Samuel Willard, born June 30, 1640, settled in Groton and Boston. "The pastor of the `Old South' Meeting-House in 1687 was Rev. Samuel Willard, son of the gallant veteran who had rescued the beleaguered people of Brookfield in King Philip's War. Amusing passages occurred between him and Sir Edmund Andross, in regard to the use of the `Old South.' When Sir Edmund Andross was forced to surrender, he appealed to Mr. Willard and other ministers to intercede for him, but the ministers ref used." [Beginnings of New England, John Fiske, pp. 269, 272]. "Lancaster may be said to have established a free public library in 1731, when its people, assembled in town meeting, voted that Rev. Samuel Willard's Complete Book of Divinity should be bought and kept in the meeting house for the town's use, so that any person may come and read therein as often as they shall see cause." [Free Public Libraries of Mass., Report of 1899, p. 179]. Rev. Samuel Willard had seventeen children. Josiah Willard, son of Major Simon Willard, settled in Wethersfield ; he married Hannah Hosmer, daughter of Thomas Hosmer, March 20, 1657. CHILDREN SAMUEL, b. Sept. 19, 1658; set. in Saybrook. JOSIAH, b. March 13, 1660. SIMEON, set. in Wethersfield. STEPHEN, d. s. THOMAS, set. in Guilford. JOHN, d. s. DOROTHY. HANNAH, b. 1674 ; m. May 18, 1698, Janna Meigs ; d. Jan. 4, 1750. THIRD GENERATION Hannah Willard, daughter of Josiah and Hannah Hosmer Willard, born in 1674 ; married May 18, 1698, Janna Meigs ; died January 4, 1750. (See Meigs family.) THE HOSMER FAMILY THOMAS HOSMER, son of Stephen and Dorothy Hosmer, was born in Hawkhurst, Co. Kent, England, February 2, 1603 ; came to Cambridge by 1632, resided on the south side of Brattle Street ; made freeman, May 6, 1635 ; Selectman 1635. [Paige, History of Cambridge]. Removed to Hartford, June, 1636; received 60 acres of land in distribution of 1639, his home lot being near the south end of Governor Street. Chosen Constable 1639 and 1663 ; Townsman 1643, 1647; also Deputy several times ; Selectman, 1642, 1646. His first wife, Frances died February 1675, aged 73. [Stuart, Hartford in Olden Time, p. 177]. He married for second wife, Katherine, widow of David Wilbur of Northampton. Thomas Hosmer died in Northampton, April 12, 1687. He gave by will five pounds to a free school in Hartford, "to be paid when there is such settled effectually." His name is on the "Founder Monument" of Hartford, the fourteenth. CHILDREN STEPHEN, b. Hartford, 1645 ; m. Hannah Bushnell. CLEMENCE, b. _____ ; m. (1) Sept. 3, 1662, Deacon Jonathan Hoit (or Hunt), (2) March 2, 1694, John Smith of Milford. HANNAH, b. _____; m. (1) March 2o, 1657, Josiah Willard, (2) _____Maltby. HESTER, b. _____; m. Sept. 20, 1666, Rev. Thomas Buckingham of Saybrook [History of Hartford, Trumbull, p. 247]. SECOND GENERATION Hannah Hosmer married March 20, 1657, Josiah Willard, third son of Major Simon Willard. Josiah Willard died 1674. CHILDREN SAMUEL, b. Sept. 19, 1658; set. in Saybrook. JOSIAH, b. March 13, 1660. SIMEON, set. in Wethersfield. STEPHEN, d. s. THOMAS, set. in Guilford. JOHN, d. S. DOROTHY. HANNAH, b. 1674 ; m. May 18, 1698, Janna Meigs ; d. Jan. 4, 1750. THE BARTLETT FAMILY GEORGE BARTLETT was one of the original planters of Guilford, being made freeman in the first list, May 22, 1648. George Bartlett and his son Daniel were among the early settlers of Cohabit (North Guilford). He was chosen deacon of the First Congregational Church, June 1665, when the church was organized. In 1661 he was chosen Deputy Governor, continuing in the office until the union with Connecticut in 1664, when he was re-elected for the next two years, until January 30, 1666, when the County Court for New Haven was organized. [Smith's Hist. Guilford, pp. 13, 25, 30, 105, 110, 119, 154, 156, 182], George Bartlett is called "a man of education." Was made town clerk from 1662 to 1668, chosen "June 23, 1665, with others to auditate the books of account, belonging to the town and Ministers Booke of accounts, and the accounts about the mill." Also on June 9, 1651, "chosen to succeed brother Jones in the Marshall's place, when Providence shall remove him." [Steiner's Hist. Guilford and Madison, p. 136]. In 1654 an expedition against the Dutch was proposed by the United Colonies; 133 men was New Haven's proportion, of which Guilford was to furnish seventeen men and Sergeant George Bartlett was to command them. [Ibid. pp. 419, 420]. On July 6, 1665, George Bartlett was elected as Lieutenant and Samuel Kitchel, Ensign ; William Seward, Captain. [Ibid, p. 518]. George Bartlett married September 14, 1650, Mary Cruttenden (daughter of Abraham), who died Sept. 11, 1669. George Bartlett died August 2, 1669. CHILDREN ELIZABETH, b. March, 1653; m. Abraham Fowler, August 29, 1677; d. Oct 4, 1742. DANIEL, b. Dec. 14, 1665 ; m. (1) Sarah Meigs, (2) Concurrence Crane, (3) Susanna Lord. SECOND GENERATION Daniel Bartlett, born December 14, 1665, married (1) Sarah Meigs, January 11, 1687 ; she was born February 14, 1667; died April 8, 1688; married second, Concurrence Crane, born December 21, 1667; married February 11, 1691; died October 9, 1703. He married for third wife, Susanna Lord, widow of Samuel Lord, born 1680; married Daniel Bartlett, October 8, 1707 ; died February 2, 1758. Daniel Bartlett had eleven children. Elizabeth Bartlett, daughter of George and Mary Cruttenden, born March, 1653, married Abraham Fowler, August 29, 1677; died October 4, 1742. Had eight children. Abraham, the third, born 1683, married Elizabeth Hubbard; died October 11, 1754. [Dr. Talcott, MSS Records]. THIRD GENERATION Lucy Bartlett, daughter of Daniel and Susanna Lord Bartlett, born January 23, 1713, married Josiah Meigs, son of Janna Meigs, September 27, 1736; died December 8, 1800. THE CRUTTENDEN FAMILY ABRAHAM CRUTTENDEN came from Cranebreak, England, to Guilford, in 1639, being one of the signers of the "Covenant on Ship-board June 1, 1639." [Dr. Talcott's MSS Records]. Made a freeman May 19, 1651. His son Abraham was also one of the original planters, and one of the twelve men to whom the charter of Guilford was made out December 7, 1685. The oath of fidelity was taken by Abraham Cruttenden, Sr., in 1645, Abraham Cruttenden, Jr., 1652, Thomas Cruttenden, May 11, 1654, and Isaac Cruttenden, May 4, 1654, showing his children must have been quite old when they left England. Abraham Cruttenden was "Treasurer of the Plantation of Guilford," from 1657 to 1660. Abraham Cruttenden's wife Mary having died, he married Widow Johanna Chittenden. He died in January, 1683. [Smith's History of Guilford, pp. 12, 13, 14, 15, 24, 27, 28, 79, 181, 164]. CHILDREN THOMAS. ABRAHAM, d. Sept. 25, 1694. ISAAC. MARY, m. Sept. 14, 1650, George Bartlett; d. Sept. 11, 1669. ELIZABETH. HANNAH. DEBORAH. SECOND GENERATION Mary Cruttenden, born _____ ; married September 14, 1650, George Bartlett; died September 11, 1669. George Bartlett died August 2, 1669. Of their children, Elizabeth, born March, 1653 ; married Abraham Fowler August 29, 1677 ; died October, 1742. (See Fowler family.) Daniel, born December 14, 1665 ; married (I) Sarah Meigs, (2) Concurrence Crane, (3) Susanna Lord ; died November 9, 1747. (See Bartlett family.)