HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT

HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT,
WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF MANY OF ITS PIONEERS AND PROMINENT MEN.
COMPILED UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF D. HAMILTON HURD
J. W. LEWIS & CO., PHILADELPHIA, 1882
PRESS OF J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO., PHILADELPHIA

[transcribed by Janece Streig]

CHAPTER XI - Part B (continued from Part A)

Samuel STARR died probably in 1688. Mr. STARR is not mentioned upon the records of New London at an earlier date than his marriage with Hannah, daughter of Jonathan BREWSTER, Dec. 23, 1664. His wife was aged thirty-seven in 1680. Their children were Samuel, born Dec. 11, 1665; Thomas, Sept. 27, 1668; Comfort, baptized by Mr. BRADSTREET in August, 1671; Jonathan, baptized in 1674; and Benjamin, in 1679.

The residence of this family was on the southwest corner of BRADLEY lot (corner of Main and State Streets, or Buttonwood corner). Mr. STARR was appointed county marshal 6 [6. Equivalent to sheriff.] in 1678, and probably held the office till his death. No will, inventory, or record of settlement of his estate has been found, but a deed was executed Feb. 2, 1687-88, by Hannah, widow of Samuel STARR, and it is probably that her husband had then recently deceased.

Samuel STARR was undoubtedly a descendant of "Comfort STARR, of Ashford, chirugeon," who came to New England in the "Hercules," of Sandwich, 1635, with three children and three servants. 1 [1. Gleanings by Savage, in Mass. Hist. Coll., 3d series, vol. Viii. P. 275.] The coincidence of names suggests an intimate family connection. The three children of the chirurgeon are supposed to have been Thomas, John, and Comfort. Thomas followed the profession of his father, is styled a surgeon, and was living in Yarmouth, Mass., from 1648 to 1670. 2 [2. Dean's Hist. Of Scituate, p. 347, and Thatcher's Medical Biography.] He had two children born in Scituate,--Comfort, in 1644, and Elizabeth, in 1646. It is probable that he had other children, and, in according to our conjecture, one older, viz., our Samuel STARR, of New London. The church records of Ipswich state that Mary, wife of Comfort STARR, was admitted to that church in March, 1671, and in May, 1673, dismissed to the church in New London. She was received here in June, and her husband's name appears on the town record about the same period, but he is supposed to have removed to Middletown. This was probably the brother of Samuel, and identical with Comfort STARR, born in 1644.

Samuel STARR, Jr., is mentioned in 1685, and again in 1687. He then disappears, and no descendants have been found in this vicinity. Of Comfort, third son of Samuel, nothing is known after his baptism in 1671. It may be presumed that he died young. The second and fourth sons, Thomas and Jonathan, settled east of the river, in the present town of Groton, on land which some of their descendants still occupy. Thomas STARR is called a shipwright. In the year 1710 he sold a sloop called the "Sea Flower," which he describes as "a square-sterned vessel of sixty-seven tons and six-sevenths of a ton burden, built by me in Groton" for Ł180. This is our latest account of him till we meet with the notice of his death, which took place Jan. 31, 1711-12.

Thomas and Jonathan STARR married sisters, Mary and Elizabeth MORGAN, daughters of Capt. James MORGAN. Samuel, the oldest son of Jonathan, removed to Norwich, and is the founder of the Norwich family of STARRs. Jonathan, the second son, was the ancestor of the present Jonathan STARR, Esq., of New London, and of the late Capt. Jared STARR. Richard, another brother of this family, removed to Hinsdale, Mass., and was one of the fathers of that new settlement, and a founder of its infant church.

The descendants of Jonathan STARR have been remarkable for longevity,--eight of his children lived to be eighty, and the most of them over eighty-five years of age. One of his daughters, Mrs. TURNER, was one hundred years and seven months old. In the family of his son Jonathan, the father, mother, and four children averaged ninety years of age. The third Jonathan lived to be ninety-five, and his brother, Capt. Jared STARR, to his ninetieth year. A similar length of years characterized their partners in marriage. Mrs. Mary (SEABURY) STARR lived to the age of ninety-nine years, and Elizabeth, relict of Capt. Joseph STARR, of Groton (brother of Jonathan, 2d), died at the age of one hundred years four months and eight days.

Benjamin STARR, the youngest son of the first Samuel (born 1679), settled in New London, and has had many descendants here. He purchased in 1702 of the heirs of Thomas DYMOND a house, garden, and wharf upon Bream Cove, east side, where the old bridge crossed the cove, which was then regarded as the end of the town in that direction. The phrase "from the fort to Benjamin STARR's" comprehended the whole length of the bank. The water at high tide came up to the base of Mr. STARR's house, and the dwellings southeast of it, known as the CROCKER and PERRIMAN houses, founded on the rocks, had the tide directly in their rear, so as to preclude the use of doors on the water side. The quantity of made land in that vicinity, and the recession of the water consequent upon bridging and wharfing, has entirely altered the original form of the shore around Bream Cove. A foot-bridge, with a draw, spanned the cove by the side of Mr. STARR, and connected him with his opposite neighbor, Peter HARRIS.

Philip BILL died July 8, 1689. Mr. BILL and a daughter named Margaret died the same day, victims of an epidemic through distemper. He settled east of the river, in that part of the township which is now Ledyard, before 1670. Mr. BRADSTREET baptized his son Jonathan, Nov. 5, 1671, and adds to the record that the father was a member of the church at Ipswich. Another son, Joshua, was baptized in 1675. The older children, probably born in Ipswich, were Philip, Samuel, John, and Elizabeth. Hannah, relict of Philip BILL, married Samuel BUCKNALL. Philip BILL, Jr., was sergeant of the first company of train-bands formed in Groton. His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Andrew LESTER. Their oldest son, Philip, was lost at sea or died abroad. Sergt. Philip BILL, who "lived near the Long Hill, in Groton," died July 10, 1739, aged above eighty. "The church-bell" (says HEMPSTEAD in his "Diary") "tolled twice on that occasion." We infer from this that it was customary at that day to have only a death-bell to announce decease, but no passing-bell to solemnize the funeral.

Abel MOORE died July 9, 1689. This event occurred at Dedham, Mass., and was caused by the extreme heat of the weather. He was constable of the town that year, and had been to Boston, probably on business connected with his public duties.

SMITH. We find the name of Giles SMITH at Hartford in 1639; at New London in 1647; at Fairfield in 1651. These three are doubtless one and the same person. At Fairfield he found a resting-lace, and there remained till his death.

Ralph SMITH was a transient resident in 1657, and again in 1659.

Richard SMITH came to the plantation in 1652 from "Martha's Vineyard," but soon went to Wethersfield. Another Richard SMITH was a householder in 1655, occupying the lot of Jarvis MUDGE, near the burial-ground; but he also removed to Wethersfield, where the two were styled senior and junior, but they do not appear to have been father and son. This name, Richard SMITH, was often repeated on the list of early emigrants.

Other early settlers of New London of the name of SMITH were Nehemiah, John, and Edward. The first two were brothers, and the last named their nephew. Nehemiah had previously lived in New Haven, and the birth of his son Nehemiah, the only son that appears on record, was registered there in 1646. John SMITH came from Boston, with his wife Joanna and daughter Elizabeth, who appears to have been his only child. Edward SMITH is first named in 1660. He settled on a farm east of the river.

John SMITH remained in the town plot, and after 1659 held the offices of commissioner, custom-master, and grand juryman. His residence was in New, or Cape Ann Street.

"Feb. 1666-67. John SMITH hath given him the two trees that stand in the street before his house for shade, not to be cut down by any person." Walter BODINGTON died Sept. 17, 1689. He was a single man who had occupied for a few years certain lands east of the river which he purchased of the heirs of Thomas BAILEY. The orthography of the name has since varied into BUDDINGTON.

John PACKER died in 1689. With this early settler in Groton only a slight acquaintance has been obtained/ He fixed his habitation, about the year 1655, in close proximity to the Pequot Indians, who had congregated at Naiwayonk (Noank).

William CHAPELL died in 1689 or 1690. This name is often in the confused orthography of the old records confounded with "CHAPPELL," but they appear to have been from the first distinct names. Some clerks were very careful to note the distinction, putting an accent over the a, or writing it double, CHAAPEL. William CHAPELL, in 1659, bought a house-lot in New Street, in partnership with Richard WARING (WARREN?). In 1667 he was associated with William PEAKE in the purchase of various lots of rugged, uncleared land, hill, ledge, and swamp, on the west side of the town plot, which they divided between them. William PEAKE settled on what has since been called the ROCKDALE farm, now James BROWN's, and William CHAPELL, on the Cohanzie road, upon what is at present known as the Cavalry farm. A considerable part of the CHAPELL land was afterwards purchased by the LATIMER family.

In February, 1695, William CHAPELL, aged eight years and a half, was delivered "to Jonathan PRENTIS, mariner, to be instructed in the mariner's art and navigation by said PRENTIS, or, in case of his death, by his Dame." This lad died in 1704. The descendants of John and Joseph CHAPELL, the oldest and youngest sons of William and Christian, are numerous. There was a John CHAPELL, of Lyme, in 1678, and onward, probably brother of William, Sr., of New London.

Thomas MINOR 1 [1. This name is now commonly written MINER. We use in this work the original autograph authority.] died Oct. 23, 1690. Mrs. Grace MONOR deceased the same month. A long stone of rough granite in the burial-ground at Wickutequack, almost imbedded in the turf, bears the following rudely-cut inscription: "Here lyeth the body of Lieutenant Thomas MONOR, aged eighty-three years. Departed 1690." It is said that Mr. MONOR had selected this stone from his own fields, and had often pointed it out to he family, with the request, "Lay this stone on my grave." Mr. MONOR bore a conspicuous part in the settlement both of New London and Stonington. His personal history belongs more particularly to the latter place.

George MILLER died in 1690. This person had been a resident east of the river (in Groton) from the year 1679, and perhaps longer.

John LAMB. This name is found on the New London rate-list of 1664, and on the list of freemen in 1669. In December, 1663, he is styled "John LAMB, new of Pockatuck, alias Southerton." John BETTER died Sept. 22, 1691. This person was at Mystic as early as 1658. He had sons,--William (born 1660), John, and Joseph.

John PRENTIS. No account of the death of this early member of the community has been found, but the probate proceedings show that it took place in 1691.

Valentine PRENTIS, or PRENTICE, came to New England in 1631, with wife Alice and son John, having buried one child at sea. He settled in Roxbury, where he soon died, and his relict married (April 3, 1634) John WATSON.

John PRENTIS, son of Valentine and Alice, became an inhabitant of New London in 1652, and probably brought his wife, Hester, with him from Roxbury. Though living in New London, he connected himself with the Roxbury Church in September, 1665, and thither he carried most of his children to be baptized.

It has been mentioned that John PRENTIS was by trade a blacksmith. He pursued his craft in New London for six or seven years, and then removed to a farm in the neighborhood of Robin Hood's Bay (Jordan Cove), near the BENTWORTH farm, but in a few years once more changed his main pursuit and entered upon a seafaring life. His sons, also, one after another (according to the usual custom of New London), began the business of life upon the sea. In 1675, John PRENTIS, Jr., commanded the bark "Adventure" in the Barbadoes trade. In 1680 the elder John and his son Jonathan owned and navigated a vessel bearing the family name of "John and Hester." Thomas PRENTIS also became a noted sea-captain, making a constant succession of voyages to Newfoundland and the West Indies from 1695 to 1720.

Among these children the father in 1711 distributed the Indian servants of his household-Rachel and her children-in this order: "To my son-in-law Thomas HOSMER, of Hartford, one black girl named Simone, till she is 30-then she is to be free. To my son-in-law John BULKLEY, Bilhah-to be set free at 32. To my daughter Sarah, Zilpha-to be set free at 32. To my daughter Elizabeth, a black boy named Hannibal-to be set free at 35. To my daughter Irene, a boy named York, free at 35. To Scipio I have promised freedom at 30. Rachel the mother, I give to Irene-also the little girl with her, named Dido, who is to be free at 32." To this bequest is added to the three youngest daughters, then unmarried, each "a feather bed and its furniture." Stephen PRENTIS, son of John the elder, inherited the farm of his father, near Niantic Ferry, where he died in 1758, aged ninety-two. His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of John ROGERS, and granddaughter of Matthew GRISWOLD.

John WHEELER died Dec. 16, 1691. No connection has been traced between John WHEELER, of New London, and Thomas and Isaac WHEELER, cotemporary inhabitants of Stonington. John is first presented to us as part owner of a vessel called the "Zebulon" in 1667. He entered largely into mercantile concerns, traded with the West Indies, and had a vessel built under his own superintendence, which at the period of his death had just returned from an English voyage.

AVERY. Christopher AVERY was one of the selectmen of Gloucester, Mass., between 1646 and 1654. 1 [1. Babson of Gloucester.] On the 8th of August, 1665, he is at New London, purchasing the house, orchard, and lot of Robert BURROWS, in the town plot. In June, 1667, he was released from watching and training. In October, 1669, made freeman of the colony. Charles HILL, the town clerk, makes this memorandum of his decease: "Christopher AVERY's death, vide, near the death of mother BREWSTER." The reference is to Lucretia, relict of Jonathan BREWSTER (mother-in-law to Mr. HILL), but no record of her death is to be found. James AVERY in 1685 gives a deed to his four sons of the house, orchard, and land, "which belonged" (he says) "to my deceased father, Christopher AVERY." No other son but James has been traced. It may be conjectured that this family came from Salisbury, England, as a Christopher AVERY of that place had wife Mary buried in 1591. 2 [2. Mass. Hist. Coll., 3d series, vol. X. p. 139.

James AVERY and Joanna GREENSLADE were married Nov. 10, 1643. This is recorded in Gloucester. The records of Boston Church have the following entry: "17 of 1 mo. 1644. Our sister, Joan GREENSLADE, now the wife of one James AVERILL, had granted her by the church's silence letters of recommendation to the Ch. At Closter." 3 [3. Savage (MS.).] The births of three children are recorded at Gloucester; these are repeated at New London, and the others registered from time to time. The whole list is as follows: Hannah, born Oct. 12, 1644; James, born Dec. 16, 1646; Mary, born Feb. 19, 1648; Thomas, born May 6, 1651; John, born Feb. 10, 1653-54; Rebecca, born Oct. 6, 1656; Jonathan, born Jan. 5, 1658-59; Christopher, born April 30, 1661; Samuel, born Aug. 14, 1664; Joanna, born 1669.

James AVERY was sixty-two years old in 1682; of course born on the other side of the ocean about 1620. At New London he took an important part in the affairs of the plantation. He was chosen townsman in 1660, and held the office twenty-three years, ending with 1680. He was successively ensign, lieutenant, and captain of the only company of train-bands in the town, and was in active service through Philip's war. He was twelve times deputy to the General Court between 1658 and 1680; was in the commission of the peace, and sat as assistant judge in the County Court.

He removed to Pequonuck, east of the river, between 1660 and 1670, here both he and his wife were living in 1693. Deeds of lands to his sons, including the homestead farm, in February, 1693-94, probably indicate the near approach of death. His sons Jonathan and Christopher died young, and probably without issue. The descendants of James, Jr., Thomas, John, and Samuel, are very numerous, and may be regarded as four distinct streams of life. Groton is the principal hive of the family.

Capt. George DENISON died Oct. 23, 1694. This event took place at Hartford during the session of the General Court. His gravestone at that place is extant, and the age given, seventy-six, shows that the date of 1621, which as been assigned for his birth, is too late, and that 1619 should be substituted. This diminished the difference of age between him and his second wife, Ann, who, according to the memorial tablet erected by her descendants at Mystic, deceased Sept. 26, 1712, aged ninety-seven.

Peter SPICER died probably in 1695. He was one of the resident farmers in that part of the township which is now Ledyard. He was a landholder n 1666.

John LEEDS died probably in 1696. The following extracts from the town and church records contain all the information that has been gathered of the family of John LEEDS: "John LEEDS, of Staplehowe, in Kent, Old England, was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Cary LATHAM, June 25, 1678." "Mr. LEEDS' child John, baptized March 13, 1680-81.
"Mr. LEEDS' daughter Elizabeth, baptized Oct. 16, 1681.
"Mr. LEEDS son William, baptized May 20, 1683.
"Widow LEEDS' two children baptized, Gideon and Thomas, Aug. 1, 1697." John LEEDS is first introduced to us in 1674 as a mariner, commander of the "Success," bound to Nevis. He engaged afterwards in building vessels, and had a ship-yard on the east side of the river.

John MAYHEW died 1696. This name appears after 1670, belonging to one of that class of persons who had their principal home on the deep and their rendezvous in New London.

"John MAYHEW, from Devonshire, Old England, mariner, was married unto Johanna, daughter of Jeffrey CHRISTOPHERS, Dec. 26, 1676.

John PLUMBE died in 1696. PLUMBE is one of the oldest names in Connecticut. Mr. John PLUMBE was of Wethersfield, in 1636, and a magistrate in 1637. He had a warehouse burnt at Saybrook in the Pequot war. In February, 1664-65, he was appointed inspector of the lading of vessels at Wethersfield. He was engaged in the coasting trade, and his name incidentally appears in the records of various towns on the river and long the coast of the Sound. An account has been preserved among the Winthrop papers of a remarkable meteor which he saw one night in October, 1665, "I being then" (he observes) "rouing in my bote to Groton," probably from Seabrook, where his account is dated. In 1670 he is noticed as carrying dispatches between Governors WINTHROP, of Hartford, and LOVELACE, of New York. We have no account of him at New London as an inhabitant of the town until he was chosen constable, in February, 1679-80. He was afterwards known as marshal of the county and inn-keeper.

Joseph TRUMAN died in 1697. Joseph TRUMAN came to New London in 1666, and was chosen constable the next year.

Joseph and Jonathan ROGERS. These were the second and fifth sons of James ROGERS, Sr., and are supposed to have died in 1697, at the respective ages of fifty-one and forty-seven, both leaving large families.

Ebenezer HUBBELL died in 1698. He was a native of Stratfield, in Fairfield County; married Mary, daughter of Gabriel HARRIS, and purchased the homestead of Samson HAUGHTON (corner of Truman and Blinman Streets).

The BEEBY brothers. The phrase "John BEEBY and his brothers," used in the early grants to the family, leads to the supposition that John was the oldest of the four. They may be arranged with probability in the order of John, Thomas, Samuel, and Nathaniel. They all lived to advanced age.

William CHAPMAN died Dec. 18, 1699. This name first appears in 1657, when William CHAPMAN bought the DENISON house-lot on the present Hempstead Street, nearly opposite the jail. No record is found of his family. The children named in his will ere John, William, Samuel, Jeremiah, Joseph, Sarah, and Rebecca.

Stephen LOOMER died in 1700. This name is not found in New London before 1687. Mr. LOOMER's wife was the daughter of George MILLER. His children and their ages at the time of his death were as follows: John, sixteen; Mary, thirteen; Martha, eleven; Samuel, eight; Elizabeth, five.

David CARPENTER died in 1700. The period of his settlement in the town was probably coincident with his marriage to Sarah, daughter of William HOUGH; to both events the conjectured date of 1676 may be assigned.

Alexander PYGAN died in 1701. On his first arrival in the plantation Mr. PYGAN appears to have been a lawless young man of "passionate and distempered carriage," as it was then expressed,--one who, we may suppose, "left his country for his country's good." But the restraints and influences with which he was here surrounded produced their legitimate effect, and he became a valuable member of the community.

Thomas STEDMAN died in 1701. This name is found at New London at the early date of 1649, but it soon afterward disappears.

BUTLER. Thomas and John BUTLER are not presented to our notice as inhabitants of New London until after 1680. Probably they were brothers. No account of their marriage or family of either is on record.

Capt. Samuel FOSDICK died Aug. 27, 1702. Samuel FOSDICK, "from Charlestown, in the Bay," appears at New London about 1680. According to manuscripts preserved in the family, he was the son of John FOSDICK and Anna SHAPLEY, who are married in 1648; and the said John was a son of Stephen FOSDICK, of Charlestown, who died May 21, 1664.

Joseph PEMBERTON died Oct. 14, 1702. James PEMBERTON had a son, Joseph, born in Boston in 1665, with whom we venture to identify the Joseph PEMBERTON here noticed. He resided in Westerly before coming to New London.

William WALWORTH died in 1703. William WALWORTH is first known to us as the lessee of Fisher's Island, or of a considerable part of it, and it is a tradition of the family that he came directly from England to assume this charge at the invitation of the owner of the island, Fitz-John WINTHROP, who wished to introduce the English methods of arming.

Edward STALLION died May 14, 1703. When this person made his first appearance in the plantation, Mr. BRUEN, the clerk, recorded his name STANLEY. It was soon altered to STALLION, or STALLON. In later times it has been identified with STERLING, which may have been the true name.

Edward STALLION was at first a costing trader, but later in life became a resident farmer in North Groton (now Ledyard).

Ezekiel TURNER died Jan. 16, 1703-4. He was a son of John TURNER, of Scituate, and grandson of Humphrey TURNER, an emigrant of 1628. His mother was Mary, daughter of Jonathan BREWSTER. At New London we have no account of him earlier than his marriage with Susannah, daughter of John KEENY, Dec. 26, 1678.

Sergt. George DARROW died in 1704. From inferential testimony it is ascertained that George DARROW married Mary, relict of George SHARSWOOD. The baptisms but not the birth of their children are recorded.

Maj. Christopher DARROW, a brave soldier of the French and Revolutionary wars, who lived in the North Parish, and Elder Zadok DARROW, a venerable Baptist minister of Waterford, were descendants of Christopher and Elizabeth DARROW.

George SHARSWOOD. Only flitting gleams are obtained of this person and his family. They come and go like figures exhibited for scenic effect. George SHARSWOOD appears before us in 1666; is inserted in the rate-list of 1667; the next year builds a house, and apparently about the same time becomes a married man, though of this event we can find no record.

John HARVEY died in January, 1705. The name of John HARVEY is first noticed about 1682. He was then living near the head of Niantic River, and perhaps within the bounds of Lyme. He left sons, John and Thomas, and daughter, Elizabeth WILLEY.

WILLIAMS. No genealogy in New London County is more extensive and perplexing than that of WILLIAMS. The families of that name are derived from several distinct ancestors. Among them John WILLIAMS and Thomas WILLIAMS appear to stand disconnected; at least, no relationship with their contemporaries has been traced, or with each other. They are entirely distinct from the Stonington family of WILLIAMS, although the names are in many cases identical.

The first WILLIAMS in New London was William, who is in the rate-list of 1664. He lived on the east, or Groton side of the river, and died in 1704, leaving four sons, Richard, William, Henry, and Stephen, all of full age, and a daughter, Mary, wife of Samuel PACKER.

Thomas WILLIAMS appears in the plantation about 1670. His cattle-mark was enrolled in 1680. He lived west of the river, at or near Mohegan, and died Sept. 24, 1705, about sixty-one years of age. He left a widow, Joanna, and eleven children between the ages of twelve and thirty-three years, and a grandchild who was heir of a deceased daughter. The sons were John, Thomas, Jonathan, William, Samuel and Ebenezer.

John WILLIAMS, another independent branch of this extended name, married, in 1685 or 1686, Jane, relict of Hugh HUBBARD and daughter of Cary LATHAM. No trace of him earlier than this has been noticed. He succeeded to the least of the ferry (granted for fifty years to Cary LATHAM), and lived, as did also his wife, to advanced age. "He kept the ferry," says "HEMPSTEAD's Diary," "when Groton and New London were one town, and had but one minister and one captain's company." When he died, Dec. 3, 1741, within the same bounds were eight religious societies and nine military companies, five on the west side and four in Groton. He left an only son, Peter, of whom Capt. John WILLIAMS, who perished in the massacre at Groton fort in 1781, was a descendant.

John and Eleazer WILLIAMS, brother and son of Isaac WILLIAMS, of Roxbury, Mass., settled in Stonington about the year 1687, and are the ancestors of another distinct line, braches of which have been many years resident in New London and Norwich. The genealogy of this family belongs more particularly to Stonington.

Ebenezer WILLIAMS, son of Samuel, of Roxbury, and cousin of John and Eleazer, settled also in Stonington, and left descendants there. He was brother of the Rev. John WILLIAMS, first minister of Deerfield, who was taken captive with his family by the French and Indians in 1701. A passage from "HEMPSTEAD's Diary" avouches this relationship: "Sept. 9, 1733. Mr. Ebenezer WILLIAMS, of Stonington, is come to see a French woman in town that says she is daughter to his brother, the late Rev. Mr. WILLIAMS, of Deerfield, taken by the French and Indians thirty years ago." This passage refers to a young daughter of the Deerfield family that was never redeemed from captivity, but lived and died among the Indians. She was probably often personated for sinister ends. The Frenchwoman mentioned above was unquestionably an imposter.

Capt. John WILLIAMS, of Poquetannock (Ledyard), was yet another original settler of the name. He is said to have come directly from Wales, and to have had no relationship with other families in the country. We quote a contemporary notice of his death: "Jan. 12, 1741-2. Capt. John WILLIAMS died at Pockatonnock of pleurlsy, after 7 days' illness. He was a good commonwealth's man, traded much by sea and land with good success for many years, and acquired wholly by his own industry a great estate. He was a very just dealer, aged about 60 years." 1 [1. Hempstead (MS.) Brig.-Gen Joseph WILLIAMS, of Norwich, one of the Western Reserve purchasers, was a son of Capt. John WILLIAMS.

Benjamin SHAPLEY died Aug. 3, 1706. Benjamin, son of Nicholas SHAPLEY, of Boston, was born, according to Farmers' Register, in 1645. We find no difficulty in appropriating this birth to Benjamin SHAPLEY, mariner, who about 1670 became an inhabitant of New London.

Anthony ASHBY. A person of this name kept a house of entertainment at Salem in 1670. It was probably the same man that afterwards came to New London and settled east of the river.

George DENNIS. The period of his death is uncertain, but it was previous to 1708. He came to New London from Long Island, and married Elizabeth, relict of Joshua RAYMOND. They had but one child, Ebenezer, who was born Oct. 23, 1682. Ebenezer DENNIS inherited from his mother a dwelling-house, choicely situated near the water, and a commanding a fine prospect of the harbor, where about the year 1710 he opened a house of entertainment.

Peter CRARY, of Groton, died in 1708. He married in December, 1677, Christobel, daughter of John GALLOP. His oldest child, Christobel, was born "the latter end of February, 1678-79." John DANIEL died about 1709. This date is obtained by approximation; he was living in the early part of 1709, and in July, 1710, Mary, widow of John DANIELS, is mentioned. His earliest date at New London is in April, 1663, when his name is given without the s, John DANIEL.

George CHAPPELL died in 1709. Among the emigrants for New England in the "Christian" from London, 1635, was George CHAPPELL, aged twenty. He was at Wethersfield in 1637, and can be traced there as a resident until 1649, which was probably about the time that he came to Pequot, bringing with him a wife, Margaret, and some three or four children. Of his marriage, or of the births of these children, no account is preserved at Wethersfield. The whole list of his family, as fathered from various sources, is as follows: 1. Mary, married John DANIELS; 2. Rachel, married Thomas CROCKER; 3. John, removed to Flushing, L. I; 4. George, born March 5, 1653-54; 5. Elizabeth, born Aug. 30, 1656; 6. Hester, Born April 15, 1662; 7. Sarah, born Feb. 14, 1665-66; 8. Nathaniel, born May 21, 1668; 9. Caleb, born Oct. 7, 1671.

At the time of George CHAPPELL's decease these nine children were all living, as was also his aged wife, whom he committed to the special care of his son Caleb and grandson Comfort. Caleb CHAPPELL had previously removed to Lebanon, from whence his son Amos went to Sharon and settled in that part of the township which is now Ellsworth. The second George CHAPPELL married, first, Alice WAY, and second Mary DOUGLAS. He had two sons, George and Comfort; from the latter the late Capt. Edward CHAPPELL, of New London descended. Families of this name in New London and the neighboring towns are numerous, all tracing back to George for their ancestor. Branches from this stock are also disseminated in various parts of the Union.

Capt. Samuel CHESTER died in 1710. A sea-captain in the West India line, he receives his first grant of land in New London for a warehouse in 1664, in company with William CONDY, of Boston, who was styled his nephew.

William CONDY. In connection with Capt. CHESTER, a brief notice is due to William CONDY. His wife was Mary, daughter of Ralph PARKER. He had four children presented together for baptism, March 23, 1672-73,--Richard, William, Ebenezer, and Ralph. The family removed to Boston about 1680. A letter from Mr. CONDY, dated June 14, 1688, to Capt. CHESTER is recorded at New London, requesting him to make sale of one hundred and fifty acres of land that had been given him by the town. He says,-- "Loving Uncle: "I would desire if you can sell the land that lyeth on your side of the river to do me that kindness as to sell it for me at the best advantage, and send it down to me the next spring, and give a bill of sale for the same, and this shall be your discharge. If you sell it, take it in port if you can, for that will be the best commodity here. I am now ready to sale for Barbadoes," etc.

Thomas MORTIMER died March 11, 1709-10. This name was often written MALTIMORE and MORTIMORE. We have little information concerning the person who bore it, and with whom, apparently, it became extinct. He was a constable in 1680.

William MYNARD died in 1711. This person was an original emigrant from Great Britain; he had a brother George, who died at Fording Bridge, in Hampshire, England, to whose estate he was an heir.

Thomas PEMBER, drowned Sept. 27, 1711, in Nahantic River, on whose banks he dwelt. He had three children baptized in 1692, viz., Mercy, Thomas, and Elizabeth; also Ann, baptized 1694, and John, 1696. At the period of his death only four children were living. He left a wife, Agnes, who was for many years famous as a nurse and doctress.

Richard SINGLETON died Oct. 16, 1711. The record of his death styles him ferryman of Groton. Originally he was a mariner, and probably took the ferry when the fifty years' lease of Latham expired, in 1705, in company with John WILLIAMS, or perhaps alternating with him. Both lived on Groton Bank, and were lessees of the ferry about the same time.

WELLS. Thomas WELLS was one of the early band of planters at Pequot Harbor; probably on the ground in 1648, and certainly in 1649. He was a carpenter, and worked with ELDERKIN on mills and meeting-houses.

Jacob HOLLOWAY died Nov. 9, 1711. He appears in the plantation a little before 1700. Left a son, John, and daughters, Rose and Ann. His wife died four days after the decease of her husband.

Joseph NEST died Dec. 8, 1711. Mr. NEST's wife deceased before him, and he lived apparently alone in a small tenement in the angle of the Lyme and Great Neck roads.

John TERRALL died Feb. 27, 1712. His wife, Mrs. Sarah TERRALL, died March 7th succeeding. No children are mentioned in the will of the latter, but she was probably a second wife.

John WICKWIRE died in March or April, 1712. This person was an early settler in Mohegan, or the North Parish (now Montville).

Thomas SHORT. "Here lyeth the body of Thomas SHORT, who deceased Sept. 27, 1712, aged thirty years." The small headstone in the old burial-ground which bears this inscription shows where the remains of the first printer in the colony of Connecticut are deposited. He had been instructed in his art by Bartholomew GREEN, of Boston, who recommended him to the authorities of Connecticut for a colony printer, in which office he established himself at New London in 1709.

Thomas MUNSELL died in 1712. We find this person mentioned in 1681. He was on a committee to lay out a highway n 1683. His wife was Lydia, and his children Jacob, Elisha, Mercy, and Deliverance. In 1723, Jacob was of Windsor, and Elisha of Norwich. Stephen HURLBUT died Oct. 7, 1712. The HURLBUT family of Connecticut commences with Thomas HURLBUT, who was one of the garrison at Saybrook fort in 1636, and settled in Wethersfield about 1640. Stephen, who came to New London after 1690, was probably one of his descendants, and a native of Wethersfield.

William CAMP died Oct. 9, 1713. He was an inhabitant of the Jordan district. His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Richard SMITH. His two sons, William and James, removed to the North Parish (now Montville). HALLAM. John and Nicholas HALLAM were the sons of Mrs. Alice LIVEEN by a former marriage, and probably born in Barbadoes,--John in 1661, and Nicholas in 1664. John married Prudence, daughter of Amos RICHARDSON, in 1682, and fixed his residence in Stonington, where he died in 1700. His possessions were large; a thousand acres of land were leased to him in perpetuity by John RICHARDSON, of Newbury, in 1692, "for the consideration of five shillings and an annual rent of one pepper-corn; and his inventory gives evidence of a style of dress and housekeeping more expensive and showy than was common in those days. It contains silver-plate, mantle, and coat of broadcloth, lined with silk, "seventeen horse kind," four negro servants, etc.

Maj. Edward PALMES died March 21, 1714-15. The same day died Capt. John PRENTIS (2). They were both buried on the 23d, under arms, Capt. PRENTIS in the morning, and Maj. PALMES in the afternoon. The latter died on his farm at Nahantick, but was brought into town for interment. Mr. HEMPSTEAD's diary notices the extreme severity of the weather at the time, and says of Maj. PALMES, "He was well and dead in two hours and a half." His gravestone states that he was in his seventy-eighth year; we may therefore place his birth in the year 1638.

Guy and Edward PALMES were both traders in 1659 and 1660, the latter in New Haven, and the former in one of the towns west of it upon the Sound. In December, 1660, Edward had removed to New London. From various sources it is ascertained that he married Lucy WINTHROP, daughter of Governor WINTHROP of Connecticut, and after her death a Widow DAVIS, and that by his first wife he had a daughter Lucy, who married (first) Samuel GRAY and (second) Samuel LYNDE, of Saybrook, but of these successive events no explicit documentary evidence is to be found in New London. Dates therefore cannot be given. Two children of Maj. PALMES by his second wife are on Mr. BRADSTREET's record of baptisms: "Baptized Nov. 17, 1678, Maj. PALMES his child by his second wife who was Capt. DAVIS his relict,-- Guy.

"Baptized Oct. 1, 1682, Maj. PALMES his child --- Andrew.

The BENTWORTH farm of Maj. PALMES at Nahantick was mortgaged to Capt. Charles CHAMBERS, of Charlestown, for Ł853. He left, however, five other valuable farms. The WINTHROP homestead in the town plot, and the Mountain farm, bought of Samuel ROYCE, he gave to his daughter, Lucy GRAY, but the remainder of his estate went to his son Andrew. These are the only children mentioned in his will, and probably all that survived infancy.

Andrew PALMES graduated at Harvard College in 1703, and die din 1721. He had four sons-Guy, Bryan, Edward, and Andrew-and a daughter, Sarah, who married Richard DURFEY. The name of PALMES is now extinct in New London. The BRAINERD family is descended in the female line from Capt. Edward PALMES, the third son of Andrew.

Richard JENNINGS died Dec. 12, 1715. Richard JENNINGS and Elizabeth REYNOLDS were married "the beginning of June, 1678." They were both emigrants from Barbadoes. Their children were, first, Samuel, born March 11, 1679; second, Richard, 1680; third, Elinor, who married Richard MANWARING.

Thomas CROCKER died Jan. 18, 1715-16. The descendants of this person are numerous and widely scattered. At the time of his decease he was eighty-three years of age, and had lived about fifty years in the town. His wife, Rachel, was a daughter of Geo. CHAPPELL.

David CAULKINS died Nov. 25, 1717. Hugh CALKIN(s) and his son John removed to Norwich in 1660. David, the younger son, remained in New London, and inherited the homestead farm given by the town to his father at Nahantick. Edward PALMES, john PRENTIS, David CAULKINS, and William KENNY lived on adjoining farms, and for a considerable period occupied a district by themselves around the present Rope Ferry and Millstone Point.

Ensign George WAY died in February, 1716-17. This was the period of the "great snow," famous throughout New England. Ensign WAY lived at the West Farms, not far from Lake's Pond, and after his decease his remains were kept for eleven or twelve days, on account of the impassable state of the roads. He was finally interred on the 7th of March, being brought into town by men on snow-shoes.

The family of Ensign WAY removed from New London. He had several children, but Lyme was probably the place of their nativity. His wife was Susannah, daughter of Joseph NEST.

Joshua BAKER died Dec. 27, 1717. He was the son of Alexander BAKER, of Boston, and born at the latter place in 1642. He came to New London about 1670, and married, Sept. 13, 1674, Hannah relict of Tristam MINTER.

Thomas JONES died Oct. 6, 1718. His wife was Catharine, daughter of Thomas GAMMON, of Newfoundland, whom he married June 25, 1677. He lived at first near Alewife Cove, but removed into the North PARISH, and his only son, Thomas, became a proprietor of the town of Colchester.

Daniel WETHERELL was born Nov. 29, 1630, at the Free School-house, in Maidstone, Kent, Old England.

Daniel WETHERELL, of New London, son of William WETHERELL, clericus of Scituate, was married Aug. 4, 1659 to Grace, daughter of Mr. Jonathan BREWSTER.

Andrew Davis, of Groton, died April 23, 1719. John DAVIS was one of the planters of Pequot in 1651, and cam probably from Ipswich. IN 1662 he was master of a vessel. His death is not registered, but there is little hazard in assuming that his relict was the Widow DAVIS whom Maj. PALMER married for his second wife, and that Andrew DAVIS, of Groton, was his son. It is difficult to construct a family history out of the scanty materials afforded by early records.

Lieut. John RICHARDS died Nov. 2, 1720. He was the oldest son of the first John RICHARDS, and his wife was Love, daughter of Oliver MANWARING. He had a large family of ten or twelve children, of whom only four (John, George, Samuel, and Lydia) survived their father. His inventory, which comprises gold buttons, silver-plate, and gold and silver coin, shows that an advance had been made beyond the simple frugality of the first times. He owned the BARTLETT farm on the river, one-half of which was prized at Ł315, which indicates a still greater advance in the value of lands. No spot in New London was more noted than the corner of Lieut. RICHARDS (now opposite the court-house). It was for many years the most western dwelling in that direction, with only the school-house and pasture-lots beyond.

Col. John LIVINGSTON died 1720. "The inventory of Lieut.-Col. John LIVINGSTON, late of New London, taken at the house of Mrs. Sarah KNIGHT, in Norwich, at the desire of Mrs. Elizabeth LIVINGSTON, widow of ye deceased, who is appointed administratrix, March 10, 1720-21." The list of effects under this heading is slender. The principal items are 103 ounces of wrought-plate at 10s. 6d. per ounce, a japanned cabinet, and a field-tent. Col. LIVINGSTON died abroad. His residence in New London has already been noticed. He speculated largely in Indian lands. IN 1705 he purchased "Pawmechaug," three hundred acres, of Samuel ROGERS, and sold it subsequently to Charles WHITING. In 1710 he was one of the four purchasers of all Mohegan, the reservation of the Indians excepted. He had a farm on Saw-mill Brook (now Uncasville), of four hundred acres, which he cultivated as a homestead. Here he had his mills and dwelling-house, the latter standing on the west side of the road to Norwich. It was here that his first wife, Mrs. Mary LIVINGSTON, the only child of Governor Fitz-John WINTHROP, died, Jan. 8, 1712-13. She was not interred till the 16th; the weather being very inclement and the snow deep, she could not be brought into town till that time.

Col. LIVINGSTON's second wife was Elizabeth, daughter and only child of Mrs. Sarah KNIGHT. The marriage has not been found registered. To Mrs. KNIGHT, LIVINGSTON first mortgaged and then sold the Mohegan farm. The title therefore accrued to Mrs. LIVINGSTON from her mother, and not her husband. She sold it to Capt. Stephen HARDING, of Warwick. Col. LIVINGSTON had no children by either wife. The grave of the first, the daughter of Winthrop, is undistinguished and unknown. A table for freestone, with the following inscription, perpetuates the memory of the second: "Inter'd vnder this stone is the body of Mdm Elizabeth LIVINGSTON, relict of Col. John LIVINGSTONE of New London, who departed this life March 17th, A. D. 1735-36, in the 48th year of her age." The following are items from the inventory of her effects: A negro woman, Rose; man, Pompey.
Indian man named John NOTHING.
Silver-plate amounting to Ł234 13s.
A damask table-cloth, 80s.
Four golden rings, one silver ring, one stoned ring.
A pair of stoned ear-rings, a stone drop for the neck.
A red stone for a locket, two pair of gold buttons.
A diamond ring with five diamonds (prized at Ł30).

John EDGECOMB died April 11, 1721. His will calls him aged. His estate was appraised at Ł681, and consisted of a homestead in the town plot and two considerable farms.

Capt. Peter MANWARING died July 29, 1723. He perished by shipwreck on the south side of Montauk Point. This enterprising mariner is first named a little before 1700. His relationship with Oliver MANWARING has not been ascertained, but the probability is that he was his nephew. He followed the seas with great assiduity. His family consisted of a wife and three daughters.

Oliver MANWARING died Nov. 3, 1723. He was then ninety years of age, and had been an inhabitant of the town about sixty years. His house-lot of eleven acres was bought on the 3d of November, 1664. The nucleus of this homestead, consisting of the house-plot and garden is still in the possession of a descendant in the direct male line from Oliver.

Sergt. Ebenezer GRIFFING died Sept. 2, 1723. His age was fifty years, and he had been about twenty-five in New London. His parentage and native place have not been ascertained.

Richard DART died Sept. 24, 1724. This was sixty years and twelve days after the date of his first purchase in New London. He was eighty-nine years of age. His oldest son, Daniel, born May 3, 1666, married, Aug. 4, 1686, Elizabeth DOUGLAS, and about the year 1716 removed to Bolton, in Hartford County.

John ARNOLD died Aug. 16, 1725, his gravestone says "aged about 73." His wife died November 28th of the same year. We assume with confidence that John ARNOLD was a son of Joseph ARNOLD, of Braintree, Mass., the latter having the birth of a son John registered April 2, 1650-51. He was a resident in Norwich in 1681 and later, but before 1700 removed to New London, where he married, Dec. 6, 1703, Mercy, relict of Samuel FOSDICK.

HARWOOD. George HARWOOD can be traced as a resident in New London only between the years 1651 and 1657, inclusive.

Thomas BOLLES 1 [1. At first frequently written BOWLES.] died May 26, 1727, aged eighty-four; Samuel BOLLES died Aug. 10, 1842, aged ninety-nine. The person last mentioned was a grandson to the former, and yet the time between the birth of the one and the decease of the other was one hundred and ninety-nine years, an immense space to be covered by three generations, and a remarkable instance for our country, where the practice of early marriages operates to crowd the generations closely together. The intervening link is John BOLLES; Samuel was the son of his old age, born when his father had numbered sixty-seven years.

A family tradition states that Thomas BOLLES came to this country with brothers, an that they arrived first upon the Kennebeck coast, but WINTHROP, the founder of New London, having some knowledge of the family, invited them all to his plantation. Only Thomas answered the call, the others remaining where they first landed. It is some corroboration of the account that the name of BOLLES is found among the early settlers of Wells, in Maine.

Thomas BOLLES is found at New London about 1668. Of his marriage we have no account. He bought a house and land at Foxen's Hill, and there lived with his wife Mary and three children,--Mary, born in 1673; Joseph, in 1675; 2 [2. In some papers at Hartford this child is called Thomas; at his baptism the name registered was Joseph.] and John, in August, 1677.

On the 5th or 6th of June, 1678, while Mr. BOLLES was absent from home, a sudden and terrific blow bereaved him of most of his family. His wife and two oldest children were found dead, weltering in their flood, with the infant, wailing but unhurt, by the side of its mother. The author of this bloody deed proved to be a vagabond youth, who demanded shelter and lodging in the house, which the woman refused. Some angry words ensued, and the reckless lad, seizing an axe that lay at the wood-pile, rushed in and took awful vengeance. He soon afterwards confessed the crime, was carried to Hartford, tried by the Court of Assistants, October 3d, condemned and executed at Hartford, Oct. 9, 1678.

The records of the town do not contain the slightest allusion to this act of atrocity. Tradition, however, has faithfully preserved the history, coinciding in important facts with the account contained in documents on file among the colonial records at Hartford. John BOLLES, the infant thus providentially preserved from slaughter, in a pamphlet which he published in afterlife concerning his peculiar religious tenets, alludes to the tragic event of his infancy as follows: "My father lived about a mile from New London town, and my mother was at home with only three little children, I being the youngest, about ten months old. She, with the other two, were murdered by a youth about sixteen years of age, who was afterwards executed at Hartford, and I was found at my dead mother's breast." Tradition states that the blood of the child Mary, who was killed as she was endeavoring to escape from the door, flowed out upon the rock on which the house stood, and that the stains long remained.

Samuel FOX died Sept. 4, 1727, aged seventy-seven. Samuel and John FOX were sons of Thomas FOX, of Concord. Samuel FOX married Mary, supposed to be the daughter of Andrew LESTER, and born in Gloucester in 1647, March 30, 1675-76. They had a son Samuel, born April 24, 1681.

Mrs. Sarah KNIGHT. It is known that she was born about 1665, but where, of what parentage, when married, who was her husband, and when he was taken from her by death, are points not yet ascertained. All that is known of her kindred is that she was related to the PROUT and TROWBRIDGE families of New Haven. The few data that have been gathered respecting her in this vicinity will be rehearsed in order. In 1698 she appears at Norwich with goods to sell, and is styled widow and shop-keeper. In this connection it may be mentioned that among the planters in a settlement then recently commenced by Maj. James FITCH, of Norwich, at Peagscomsuck, now Canterbury, was a John KNIGHT, who died in 1695. It is possible that Mrs. KNIGHT was his relict; she appears to have had one child only, a daughter Elizabeth; and it is probable that John KNIGHT had no sons, as the continuation of his name and family has not been traced. He is not the ancestor of the KNIGHT family afterwards found at the West Farms, in Norwich, which originated with David KNIGHT, who married Sarah BACKUS in 1692, had sons and daughters, and died in 1744.

Mrs. KNIGHT remained but a short time in Norwich, perhaps three or four years. At the time of her celebrated journey from Boston to New York, in 1704, she was a resident of Boston. In 1717 she was again living at Norwich; a silver cup for the communion service was presented by her to the church, and the town by vote, August 12th, gave her liberty to "sit in the pew where she used to sit." In 1718, March 26th, Mrs. KNIGHT and six other persons were presented in one indictment "for selling strong drink to the Indians." They were fined twenty shillings and costs. It is added to the record, "Mrs. KNIGHT accused her maid, Ann CLARK, of the fact." After this period Mrs. KNIGHT appears as a land purchaser in the North Parish of New London, generally as a partner with Joseph BRADFORD; she was also a pew-holder in the new church built in that parish about 1724, and was sometimes styled of Norwich, and sometimes of New London. This can be easily accounted for, as she retained her dwelling-house in Norwich, but her farms, where she spent a portion of her time, were within the bounds of New London. On one of the latter, the LIVINGSTON farm, upon the Norwich road, she kept entertainment for travelers, and is called inn-keeper. At this place she died, and was brought to New London for interment.

George GEER died in 1727. The ISBELL farm bought by George GEER, Oct. 31, 1665, was bounded north by the line between New London and Norwich (now Ledyard and Preston).

FARGO. The first of this name in New London was Moses, who became a resident in 1680. He had nine children, of whom the five youngest were sons,--Moses, Ralph, Robert, Thomas, and Aaron. Moses FARGO, or FIRGO, as it was then often written, and his wife Sarah were both living in 1726.

Thomas LEACH died Nov. 24, 1732. He was eighty years of age, and had dwelt in the town upwards of fifty years.

John AMES died June 1, 1735. He had been about forty years an inhabitant of New London, and had sons,--John, Robert, and Samuel

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