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Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Notebooks - Dad's Families No. 5

New England Towns in 1700
Calder, Isabel. The New Haven Colony, New Haven, CT: Yale University President, 1936
At this stage in the evolution of a colonial government the plantation-colony of New Haven was invited to join a confederation of the Puritan colonies of New England. Such a confederation had first been proposed in August, 1637, soon after the arrival of the Davenport company in New England, when representatives of the towns on the Connecticut River visited the Bay Colony in connection with the Pequot War and the Hutchinsonian controversy. At this time five proposals made by some of the assistants of Massachusetts Bay proved acceptable to the magistrates and people of Connecticut, but a sixth, providing for the reference of intercolonial disputes to commissioners to be appointed by the colonies, the decision of a majority of the commissioners to be accepted as final, met with opposition. In May, 1638, John Haynes, William Pynchon, and John Steele of Connecticut laid before the general court of Massachusetts Bay at Newtown revised articles providing for the reference of intercolonial disputes to commissioners, the decision of the latter to be accepted as final only if unanimous. The Bay Colony seized upon this opportunity to advance its claim to Agawam or Springfield, most northerly of the river towns. The delegation from Connecticut assented to the claim, but Massachusetts demanded the assent of the general court of the colony. When
the latter continued to exercise jurisdiction over Agawam, Governor Winthrop protested and received a harsh reply from Roger Ludlow. The conflicting interests of the two governments, the claim of the Bay Colony of Agawam, the belief of the River Colony that Massachusetts was discouraging emigration to Connecticut, and the refusal of Connecticut to be bound by a treaty which Massachusetts Bay had signed with Miantonomo, chieftain of the Narragansetts, on the eve of the Pequot War, interrupted further negotiations. . . . 
After his removal to Ipswich in 1650, William Janes undertook the instruction in elementary subjects of such children as were sent to him by their parents and masters, but soon departed to become the schoolmaster at Wethersfield. . . . 
In Guilford in December, 1645, the town completed the construction of a mill. After Henry Whitfield had declined to operate it, the town sold it to Robert Kitchel. the mill was damaged in a storm almost immediately, however, and though the town undertook the necessary repairs, Kitchel sold it back to the plantation for £80. The town installed Thomas Norton as miller in 1646, and Francis Bushnell two years later. . . . 
Upon complaint of Uncas that the Long Island Indians were bewitching and killing his men, the commissioners in session at Hartford in 1650 authorized Connecticut to commission John Mason of Saybrook, Edward Howell and John Gosmer of Southampton, and Thomas Benedict of Southold to inquire into the matter, but again there is no evidence that action was taken. . . . 
As Ninnegrett's attacks on the Indians of Long Island continued, Connecticut and the New Haven Colony determined to intervene. On August 23, 1654, a general court for the jurisdiction of New Haven voted to send Lieutenant Robert Seely and five others equipped with twelve pounds of powder and thirty pounds of lead in Seely's boat to cooperate with Major John Mason and men from Connecticut in protecting their friends on Long Island. Ninnegrett refused to pay tribute for the Pequots in his charge, or to appear before the commissioners of the United Colonies and asked that "the English would lett him alone."  In session at Hartford in September, 1654, the commissioners authorized an expedition of forty horsemen and two hundred and seventy foot soldiers to go against him. Of the total, the new Haven Colony was asked to furnish thirty-one foot soldiers, sixteen of them to meet a commander-in-chief to be appointed by Massachusetts Bay at Thomas Stanton's at Pequot on October 13. On October 9 Samuel Willard led the Massachusetts contingent out of Boston. A week later he was joined by men, boats, and provisions from the New Haven Colony and Connecticut at Thomas Stanton's. The frightened Pequots promptly agreed to settle where the English should appoint.  Ninnegrett at first betook himself to a swamp, but on October 18 agreed to surrender the Pequots in his charge to the English but refused to pay past-due tribute on them or the cost of the expedition. . . . 
Undiscouraged by its original rebuff, on March 11, 1663, a general assembly at Hartford appointed Deputy Governor John Mason, Mathew Allyn, John Talcott, John Allyn, and Samuel Wyllys if Deputy Governor Mason were unable to serve, a committee to continue negotiations with the New Haven Colony. On March 20 the two Allyns and Wyllys were in New Haven. In behalf of Connecticut, they offered that if the union of the two colonies were consummated, the churches of the New Haven Colony should be undisturbed, for after all the Half-Way Covenant had not yet received universal acceptance even in Connecticut. They were willing that the magistrates of the New Haven Colony should continue to exercise their office until the following May. They promised that a proportionate number of the assistants of Connecticut would henceforth be chosen from within the limits of the New Haven Colony, and that freemen of the New Haven Colony would be received as freemen in Connecticut. They said that New Haven, Milford, Branford and Guilford would be erected into a county within which powers of judicature would be exercised, and that a court of assistants would sit annually or oftener at New Haven to hear appeals from the county court. They promised that the towns of the New Haven Colony might each send two representatives to the general assembly at Hartford. To these proposals the New Haven committee through Governor Leete replied that the colony was under appeal to Charles II!
Caulkins, Frances. History of Norwich, Connecticut, From Its Settlement in 1660 to January 1845, Norwich, CT: Thomas Robinson, 1845
Cheesbrough, Harriet. Glimpses of Saybrook in Colonial Days, 1985
Founding Families of Saybrook 1635-1660
  • Thomas Adgate
  • Francis Bushnell, Jr.
  • Richard Bushnell
  • William Bushnell
  • James Fitch
  • John Gallop, Jr.
  • Margaret Lake
  • Thomas Leffingwell
  • John Mason 
Durrie, Daniel. Steele Family: A Genealogical History of John & George Steele, Albany, NY: J. Munsell, 1862.
Petition written and signed by John Steel - The first day of May, 1637, Generall Corte att Harteford.  It is ordered that there shalbe an offensive warr agt the Pequoitt, and that there shalbe 90 men levied out of the 3 Plantacons, Harteford, Weathersfeild & Windsor 9vizt) out of Harteford 42, Windsor 30, Weathersfeild 18: under the Comande of Captaine Jo: Mason & in Case of death or sickness under the Comand of Rob'te Seeley Leift, & the'ldest Srjeant or military officer survivinge, if both these miscary.
It is ordered that Harteford shall send 14 Armour in this designe, Windsor 6
It is ordered that there shalbe 1hh [hogshead, barrell] of good beare for the Captaine & Mr & sick men, if there be only 3 or 4 gallons of stronge water, 2 gallons of sacke.
Generation 1
1. John Steel b. Essex County, England, d. 1655 md. 1) Rachel [Talcott] & 2) Mercy (--?--) Seamer; immigrated to New England about 1631/2 settled first at New Town [Cambridge, MA], removed to Hartford, Conn., and thence to Farmington, Conn.
2. George Steele presumed elder brother of John, they came to New England together.  George died 1663 and described as very old.

 Generation 2
1a. John Jr. d. before 1653/4 md. 1645 Mercy Warner, daughter of Andrew Warner
1b. Lydia md. 1657 James Bird
1c. Mary b. 1637, d. 1718 md. William Judd - grandparents
1d. Hannah d. 1655, probably unmarried
1e. Sarah b. 1638, d. 1695 md. 1658 Lt. Thomas Judd, brother of William Judd above
1f. Samuel b. 1626/7, d. 1685 md. Mary Boosey
2a. Elizabeth md. Thomas Watts
2b. a daughter b. 1640 md. (--?--) Harrison / Henderson
2c. Richard d. 1639 no children
2d. James md. Anna Bishop

 Generation 3
1a1. Benoni - no children
1a2. Henry died in infancy
1a3. Daniel b. 1645, d. 1646
1a4. Mary b. 1646, md. 1670 John Thompson
1a5. Lt. John b. 1647, d. 1737 md. Ruth Judd
1a6. Samuel b. 1652, d. 1710 md. 1680 Mercy Bradford daughter of Major William Bradford
1b1. James Bird Jr. d. 1708
1b2. Hannah md. nathaniel Morgan
1b3. Rebecca md. Samuel Lamb
1b4. Mehitable b. 1682 md. 1710 Simon Newell
1b5. Elizabeth bapt. 1684 md. Ebenezer Alvord
1b6. Thomas md. 1) Mary Woodford, 2) Sarah Smith
1b7. Lydia md. Pelatiah Morgan
1c1. Thomas Judd b. 1672, d. 1747 md. 1687-8 Stephen Freeman
1c2. Mary b. 1658 md. Abel Janes - grandparents
1c3. John b. 1667, d. 1710
1c4. Rachel b. 1670, d. 1703 not married
1c5. Samuel b. 1673 md. 1710 Ann Hart
1c6. Daniel b. 1675, d. 1748 md. 1705 Mercy Mitchell
1c7. Elizabeth b. 1678, d. after 1718 never married
1e1. Thomas Judd md. 1688 Sarah Gaylord
1e2. John Judd md. 1696 Hannah Hickox
1e3. Sarah Judd md. 1686 Stephen Hopkins
1e4. Mary Judd b. 1670, d. 1698
1f1. James b. 1644, d. 1713 md. 1687 Anna Welles
1f2. Mary b. 1652
1f3. Rachel bapt. 1654 md. Jonathan Smith
1f4. Sarah bapt. 1656 never married
1f5. Samuel b. 1658/9 d. young
1f6. John bapt. 1661 never married
1f7. Hannah b. 1688 md. (--?--) Hart
1f8. Ebenezer d. 1722 md. 1705 Sarah Hart
2d1. Sarah b. 1656, d. 1720 md. Samuel Borman, Jr.
2d2. Lt. James b. ca. 1658, d. 1712 md. Sarah Barnard
2d3. John b. ca. 1660 md. Melatiah Bradford - daughter of Major William Bradford
2d4. Mary md. (--?--) Hall
2d5. Elizabeth d. 1723 never married
2d6. Rachel md. 1) Edward Allyn & 2) (--?--) Deming
Gates, Gilman. Saybrook at the Mouth of the Connecticut: The First One Hundred Years, Deep River, CT: Wilson Lee Company, 1935.
We will now go toward the river and see who owned house lots east of the former Fenwick Street, now "Cromwell Place," and near the main fortification, called "the Fort." We have eight lots in this group by "the Fort," and commencing at the south end of the group, we find that they were owned by the following persons: 
  • John Lay Sr . . . 
  • Major Mason. We find that he had a lot north of the one sold by John Lay, Sr., to Westall, but as in other instances there is no description of the lot in the Major's name
  • Thomas Bliss . . . 
  • Thomas Tracy . . . 
  • Nicholas Jennings . . . 
James Fitch, first pastor of the Church at Saybrook which was organized in 1646, came with his mother and several brothers to America in 1638, the father having died. James studied theology with the Rev. Thomas Hooker of Hartford. He married, in 1648, Abigail Whitfield, daughter of the Rev. Mr. Henry Whitfield of Guilford. The wedding took place in the stone house her father built, which is still standing and is said to be the oldest house in Connecticut. The Rev. Mr. and Abigail Fitch had six children and after her death in 1659 he married Priscilla, daughter of Capt. John Mason, who added eight more to his family . . . 
Thomas Adgate was active in the formation of the first Church and one of its deacons. his wife died in 1657 and lies in an unmarked grave in the ancient cemetery. In 1659, he married Mrs. Mary (Marvin) Bushnell widow of Richard Bushnell of Saybrook. By his first wife, Mr. Adgate had two daughters [Hannah (Adgate) Lathrop] and by his second he had three daughters and one son. Mrs. Bushnell, by her husband, Richard, had two sons and one daughter. . . . 
Thomas Leffingwell, lieutenant, was born in 1622 at Croxhall, England, and came to America when quite young. Early notices of his name connect him with Saybrook Fort before the Pequot War. He paddled a canoe of provisions from Saybrook to Shattuck Point, under cover of darkness, and relieved Uncas when besieged by the Narragansetts. Thomas married, on a visit to England, at the age of twenty-one, Mary White. Descendants of theirs have been numerous and influential.  
Golay, Michael. Hero's Statue Raises Ire of Pequot Leader, Hartford Courant, Jan. 19, 1984.
Mystic - The statue of Maj. John Mason stands atop a boulder in the middle of Pequot Avenue, a quiet, out-of-the-way residential street.
It commemorates a May 1637 battle in which English troops led by Mason crushed the Pequot Indian tribe and spurred the white settlement of southeastern Connecticut.
Now a descendant of the Pequots wants the 95-year-old statue removed. He calls it an insult to Indians.
"It's a dual insult," said Raymond Geer, tribal chairman of the Easter Paucatuck Pequots.
The state put up that statue in recognition of the destruction of the Pequots. And it's near the site where the Pequots were massacred.
"I didn't even know it existed . . . (until) I was reading Indian history this fall and came across a description of the statue and the inscription. It really hit deep," Geer said.
Geer has protested to the Connecticut Historical Commission and to several state legislators. So far, he has gotten polite responses, but little else.
"There are two questions,' said John Shannahan, the historical commission's director. "Who has the rights to the statue? Moving the statue? That's a separate money problem."
State Rep. Muriel W. Buckley, a Democrat whose 41st District includes the Pequot Avenue neighborhood, said, "I can see Mr. Geer's concern, but I don't see what the benefits would be if it wre removed."
"Indians see these things differently," said Ed Sarabian of the Connecticut Indian Affairs Council, a state agency. He said the council may consider the issue at its February meeting.
Geer suggests the state transfer the statue to an innocuous site, such as nearby Mason's Island, and change the inscription to honor Mason's role in promoting white settlement rather than his rout of the Pequots.
The statue, a 9-foot-high bronze on an 11-foot pedestal, shows Mason, one foot slightly forward, unsheathing his sword. The inscription reads: "Erected in 1889 by the state of Connecticut to commemorate the heroic achievement of Major John Mason and his comrades who on this spot in 1637 overthrew the Pequot Indians and preserved the settlement from destruction."
"This was Pequot land," Geer counters. "The colonists were the aggressors. Anyway, it wasn't what you'd call a fair fight. They (the Pequots) were burnt to death while they slept."
Mason himself, writing about the battle later, describes how his troops surprised the Pequots, burst into their fort and using a firebrand, put their wigwams to flame.
"The fire was kindled on the North East Side to windward which did swiftly overrun the fort, to the extream excitement of the enemy, and great Rejoycing of our men," Mason wrote. "Some of them climbing to the top of the Pallizado; some running into the very Flmaes; many of them gathering to windward, lay pelting at us with their Arrows; and we repayed them with our small Shot: others of the Stoutest issued forth, as we did guess, to the Number of Forty, who perished by the Sword."
A total of 600 Pequots, including many women and children, died in the massacre.
Until recently, the statue, sculpted by J.G.C. Hamilton of Westerly,  R.I., was little more than a landmark familiar to residents ad a target of minor vadalism on Halloween.
Geer says he believes people who live near the statue do not care whether it stays or goes. But the neighbors say they just are reluctant to become involved in the controversy.
"Of course it was a dreadful massacre," one said, "but I'd hate to see the statue go."
Melissa Welch, a 13-year-old junior high school student, knows all about the statue, which she can see from her lawn. "It's about how John Mason drove the Indians out of the area," she said. "It would be strange with it not here."
Shannahan said the historical commission cannot tamper with the statue without authorization from the General Assembly.
Buckley said she does not plan to sponsor a measure to transfer the statue to a less objectionable site.
Geer vows to pursue the matter.
"What I'm asking for is cooperation.  If the legislature decides they don't want to do it, they'll have to give me a reason.
"If they don't want to appropriate the money, I'll have to find a way of raising it. If they don't think I have a good cause, I'll have to drum up some more support," he said.
Koster, Fanny. Annals of the Leonard Family, 1911.
Elkanah Leonard, born May 15, 1677, fifth son of Thomas, married Charity Hodges, March 25, 1703. Were married by Thomas Leonard, father of Elkanah. The children of this marriage were: 
  • Elkanah born 1703, Middleboro, MA
  • Joseph born 1705, Middleboro, MA
  • Simeon born 1708, Middleboro, MA
  • Zebulon, born 1711, Middleboro, MA
  • Timothy born 1713, Middleboro, MA
  • Henry born 1714, Middleboro, MA
  • Thomas born 1715, Middleboro, MA
The book photocopied had been written in, adding the following daughters to the list - Abiah who married John Nelson, Rebecca, Charity and Jemima. 
Elkanah Leonard was the father of Elkanah Leonard, Jr., one of the most distinguished geniuses of his name and day. He practiced law in Middleboro in which place he was the first attorney, and the only one till about 1788. He possessed strong powers of investigation, a sound judgment, and an uncommon brilliancy of wit; and his inventive powers were not surpassed, if equaled, by any of his time. His assistance in the defense in criminal prosecutions was much sought for, and his abilities were never more conspicuous than in those defenses, while his success was in proportion to his exertions. 
Loomis, Elias. Descendants of Joseph Loomis In America, no imprint, 1908
Loomis, Elias. The Descendants of Joseph Loomis, Who Came from Braintree, England, In the Year 1638, & Settled in Windsor, Connecticut, in 1639, New Haven, CT: Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor, 1875
Coat of Arms of Lomax and Lomas
Nearly all of those persons in the United States who are known by the name of Loomis are descended from Joseph Loomis, who settled in Windsor, Conn., in 1639. This name, in the lapse of time, has undergone various changes of orthography. For somewhat more than a century it has, with few exceptions been spelled Loomis. Previous to that time, the more commons spelling was Lomis. On the oldest grave-stones at Colchester the name is spelled Lomis. On the early town records at Windsor the name is generally spelled Lomys, but on the oldest grave-stone of any member of this family now known to exist any where in America, the name is spelled Lomas. This is the grave-stone of Deacon John Lomas, who died at Windsor, Sept. 1, 1688.
In England, for more than a century past, the name has uniformly been spelled Lomas, but two or three centuries ago the name was sometimes spelled Lummas, Lommas, or Lomes. All these names are considered to be variations in the spelling of one original name, and the spelling now well established in England is Lomas, while the spelling adopted in the United States is Loomis.
Gen. 1 Joseph Loomis b. ca. 1590, d. 1658 md. Mary White

 Gen. 2
1. Joseph b. 1616, d. 1687 md. 1) 1646 Sarah Hill, 2) 1659 Mary Chauncey
2. daughter md. Capt. Nicholas Olmstead
3. Elizabeth md. 1641 Josiah Hull
4. Deacon John b. 1622, d. ca. 1688 md. 1648/9 Elizabeth Scott
5. Thomas d. 1689 md. 1) 1653 Hannah Fox, 2) 1662-3 Mary Judd
6. Nathaniel d. ca. 1688 md. 1653 Elizabeth Moore - grandparents
7. Mary d. 1680 md. 1) John Skinner, 2) 1651 Owen Tudor
8. Lt. Samuel d. 1689 md. Elizabeth Judd

 Gen. 3
1a. Sarah b. 1647, d. 1654
1b. Joseph b. 1649, d. 1715 md. 1) 1681 Lydia Drake, 2) 1702/3 Abigail Birge
1c. John b. 1651, d. 1732 md. 1) Mary (--?--), 2) 1705 Esther Gillet
1d. Mary b. 1653, d. after 1687
1e. Sarah b. 1660, d. 1661
1f. Hannah b. 1662, d. after 1687
1g. Matthew b. 1664, d. 1688, md. 1686/7 Mary Gaylord
1h. Isaac b. 1666, d. young
1i. Stephen b. 1668, d. 1711, md. 1690/1 Esther Colt
1j. James b. 1669, d. 1750, md. 1696 Mindwell (--?--)
1k. Nathaniel b. 1673, d. 1730 or 1736
1l. Isaac b. 1677, d. 1704
4a. Deacon John b. 1649, d. 1715 md. 1696 Sarah (--?--) Warner
4b. Deacon Joseph b. 1651, d. 1699 md. Hannah (--?--)
4c. Thomas b. 1654, d. 1688, md. 1680 Sarah White
4d. Samuel b. 1655, d. young
4e. Sgt. Daniel b. 1657, d. 1740 md. 1) Mary Ellsworth, 2) 1713 Hannah (--?--) Drake
4f. James b. 1659, d. 1669
4g. Timothy b. 1661, d. 1718 (?) md. 1689/90 Rebecca Porter
4h. Ensign Nathaniel b. 1663, d. 1732, md. Ruth Porter
4i. David b. 1665, d. 1665
4j. Deacon Samuel b. 1666, d. 1754, md. 1) 1688 Elizabeth White, 2) 1738 Elizabeth (--?--) Church
4k. Isaac b. 1668, d. 1688
4l. Elizabeth b. 1671, d. 1723 md. 1691/2 John Brown - ancestors of John Brown of Harper's Ferrry fame
4m. Mary b. 1673, d. 1675
5a. Thomas b. 1654, d. 1654
5b. Thomas (2nd) b. 1655/6, d. 1746 md. 1682 Hannah Porter
5c. Hannah b. 1657/8 d. after 1690 md. William Judd
5d. Mary b. 1659/60, d. 1695 md. 1679 Michael Taintor
5e. Elizabeth b. 1663/4, d. after 1690
5f. Ruth b. 1665 md. 1691 Joseph Colt
5g. Sarah b. 1667/8, d. 1693 md. 1692 Wakefield Dibble
5h. Jeremiah b. 1670, d. 1672
5i. Mabel b. 1672, d. after 1690
5j. Mindwell b. 1676, d. after 1690
5k. Benjamin b. 1679, d. after 1690
6a. Elizabeth b. 1655 md. 1682 John Lee
6b. Lt. Nathaniel b. 1657, d. 1733 md. 1680 Elizabeth Ellsworth - no children
6c. Abigail b. 1659, d. 1700/01, md. 1677 Josiah Barber
6d. Josiah b. 1660/1, d. 1735 md. 1683 Mary Rockwell - grandparents
6e. Jonathan b. 1664, d. 1707 md. 1688 (--?--)
6f. David b. 1667/8, d. 1751/2 md. 1692 Lydia Marsh
6g. Hezekiah b. 1668/9, d. 1758 md. 1690 Mary Porter
6h. Moses b. 1671, d. 1754 md. 1694 Joanna Gibbs
6i. Mindwell b. 1673 md. 1696 Jonathan Brown
6j. Ebenezer b. 1675, d. 1709 md. 1697 Jemima Whitcomb
6k. Mary b. 1680, md. 1708 Joseph Barber
6l. Rebecca b. 1682, md. 1713 Josiah Rockwell
8a. Sgt. Samuel md. 1678 Hannah Hanchet
8b. Elizabeth md. 1673 Thomas Hanchet
8c. Ruth b. 1660, md. Benjamin Smith
8d. Sarah b. 1662/3 md. 1689 John Bissell
8e. Joanna, b. 1665 md. 1691 Joseph Smith
8f. Benjamin b. 1667/8, d. 1726 md. 1703 Anna Fitch
8g. Nehemiah b. 1670, d. 1740 md. 1694 Thankful Weller
8h. William b. 1672, d. 1738 md. 1703 Martha Morley
8i. Philip b. 1675, d. 1746 md. 1704 Hannah (--?--)
8j. Mary b. 1678

 Gen. 4
1b1. Joseph b. 1682, d. 1682/3
1b2. Joseph (2nd) b. 1684, d. after 1733 md. 1708 Sarah Bissell
1b3. Caleb b. 1686, d. 1686/7
1b4. Lydia b. 1687/8 md. 1715 Isaac Hinsdale
1b5. Martha b. 1690, d. 1751 md. 1709/10 Thomas Bissell
1b6. Rachel b. 1692/3 md. (--?--) Lambard
1b7. Enoch b. 1694/5, d. after 1713
1b8. Phoebe b. 1697, d. after 1733 md. 1718 Jacob Munsell
1b9. Damaris, b. 1699, d. 1705
1b10. Isaac b. 1705, d. after 1739
1b11. Abigail b. 1708, d. after 1733
1c1. John b. 1670, d. young
1c2. John (2nd) b. 1676, d. 1677
1c3. Mary b. 1677, d. before 1729 md. 1696 Ebenezer Dibble
1c4. John (3rd) b. 1706/7, d. young
1c5. Esther b. 1708, d. 1730
1c6. Sarah b. 1710 md. 1733 Thomas Ellsworth
1c7. Damaris b. 1712, d. 1792 md. 1744/5 Daniel Phelps
1c8. John (4th) b. 1713, d. 1793, md. 1) 1733 Abigail Ellsworth, 2) Anne (--?--)
1c9. Abel b. 1716, d. 1769 md. 1741 Eunice Porter
1g1. Mary b. 1687
1i1. Matthew b. 1691, d. before 1714
1i2. Stephen b. 1693, d. 1769 md. 1715 Mabel Hoskins
1i3. Hannah b. 1703, d. after 1720
6d1. Mary b. 1685
6d2. Josiah b. 1687/8
6d3. Abigail b. 1691 md. 1712 William Janes - grandparents
6d4. Lt. Caleb b. 1693, d. 1784 md. 1728 Joannah Skinner
6d5. Ephraim b. 1698 md. Mary Tuttle
6d6. Nathaniel b. 1700, d. 1768 md. 1721 Sarah Skinner
Mason, John. A Brief History of the Pequot War, Boston, MA: Kneeland & Green, 1736
Grandpa John Mason's account of the Pequot War. 
Mason, Louis. The Life & Times of Major John Mason of Connecticut: 1600-1672, New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1935.
Biography of grandpa John Mason
Peck, Ira. A Genealogical History of the Descendants of Joseph Peck . . . Boston, MA: Alfred Mudge & Son, 1868.
Perkins, George. The Family of John Perkins of Ipswich, Massachusetts, Salem, MA: Salem Press Publishing & Printing Company, 1889.
Perry, Charles. Founders & Leaders of Connecticut 1633-1783, Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press.
Buell, Irwin. John Steele:
John Steele was a leader among those intrepid people that came from England to Massachusetts for freedom's sake, and even then, feeling cramped and thwarted in their purpose, pushed on still farther to seize from the wilderness a commonwealth fashioned according to their own patterns of religious and political liberty.
Steele was born probably at Fairsled, Essex County, England, where he was baptized December 12, 1591. Nothing is known of his parents and little about his early life, but he undoubtedly received a good education.  The earliest records of his presence in this country show him to have been in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1630; and two years later he was listed as one of the proprietors of Cambridge, then called Newtown. There he was made a freeman, or elector, in 1634, and the next year was chosen a representative from Cambridge to the General Court of the colony. As he was a prominent member of that group in Cambridge that were dissatisfied with conditions there and were making ready to move their families overland to the Connecticut River valley, he was appointed as one of the committee to supervise "the great Exodus."  Lat in 1635 he led a small band of men to the present location of Hartford to make preparations for the larger body that was to follow under the leadership of Thomas Hooker the following summer. 
At first neither the people of the three river towns, Windsor, Wethersfield, and Hartford, nor those of Massachusetts, thought of the new settlement as anything but a part of the Massachusetts colony. As early as March, 1636, the Massachusetts Court established a provisional government for the Connecticut group by appointing eight leaders from their number as a commission of control "to govern the people at Connecticut for the space of a year now next coming."  This commission had almost arbitrary powers - legislative, executive and judicial - in the government of Connecticut in 1636 and 1637.  At its first meeting Steele was chosen secretary. In 1638 Steele, Haynes, and Pyncheon went to the Massachusetts Court to discuss the general relationships of the Connecticut settlements to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and to determine whether the settlement at Agawam (Springfield) was to be united with the three river towns to the south. 
The contribution of Steele to the deliberations that accompanied the framing of the Fundamental Orders is not definitely known, as there are no records of those meetings.  He was, however, one of the small group of men who were associated with Ludlow in drawing up this remarkable instrument of government. At its adoption, the secretaryship of the colony passed to Edward Hopkins, but Steele continued as deputy from Hartford to the General Court until his death, being reelected each year. 
He was on many special committees of importance, often with the governor and deputy governor, in determining town boundaries, settling land allotments and divisions, raising troops for expeditions against the Indians, making arrangements for settlements and fortifications at the mouth of the Connecticut River, and regulating many other matters in the settlements.  In 1640 he was also chosen recorder, or town clerk, for the town of Hartford and that year "brought into the courte 114 coppys of the severall pr'cells of land belonging to & concerning 114 pr'sons."  His own home lot was on what is now Main Street of Hartford, just north of the Wadsworth Atheneum.
When the new settlement at Farmington was incorporated in 1645, Steele was "entreated for the present to be Recorder there until ye Town have one fitt among themselves." He continued to be recorder at Hartford for fifteen more years, or until he moved to Farmington.
John Steele married twice, first at Braintreee, England, October 10, 1622, to Rachel Talcott [grandma], sister of John Talcott, an early settler of Hartford. She died in 1653, as did also their oldest child, John, Jr. Steele's second wife was Mercy, the widow of Richard Seymour.
A few years before Steel's death he moved to Farmington and for a while kept the church records there. As the earliest Farmington records are lost, we do not know of his other activities. he died in Farmington in 1665, and is buried in the old Farmington graveyard.
It is to Steele and ot others cast in like heroic molds that we owe the democratic beginnings of our commonwealth. Probably because of an education superior to that of the average settler, but doubtless also because of a greater capacity for leadership, john Steele stood forth with the eminent among a group where nearly all were the stuff of which leaders are made. 
Benezet, Louis. John Mason
It is said that Alexander the Great, when standing at the tomb of Achilles, cried out, "Oh, fortunate youth, to have had Homer as the herald of your fame!"  How many of the world's staunchest warriors and greatest men have vanished into obscurity for the lack of a historian!
Every school child in America above the age of ten is familiar with the name of Captain Myles Standish. Not one in ten thousand knows of Captain John Mason. Yet the two men held equal fame in New England for courage, integrity, and military intelligence, and from the standpoint of warlike accomplishments the deeds of Mason far outshine those of his Plymouth rival. The Reverend Thomas Prince, writing in 1735, thus compares them: "Capt. Standish was of a low Stature, but of such a daring and active Genius, that even before the Arrival of the Massachusetts Colony, He spread a Terror over all the Tribes of Indians round about him, from the Massachusetts to Martha's Vineyard, and from Cape-Cod Harbour to Narragansett. Capt. Mason was Tall and Portly, but never the less full of Martial Bravery and Vigour; that He soon became the equal Dread of the more numerous Nations from Narragansett to Hudson's River. They were Both the Instrumental Saviours of this Country in the most critical Conjunctures."
John Mason is said to have been "a Relative of Mr. John Mason the ancient Claimer of the Province of New Hampshire."  Be that as it may, he was a bold, courageous, and resourceful warrior, trained in the wars of the Low Countries under Sir Thomas Fairfax. His reputation was so great that Oliver Cromwell offered him the rank of major general in the Parliamentary army, an honor which Mason declined.  He came to America with Warham's company in 1630, and in December, 1632, he was employed by the governor and magistrates of Massachusetts to search for Dixy Bull, a notorious pirate who had been annoying the coast. In 1634 he assisted in planning and building the fortifications in Boston Harbor, and in March of the next year he represented Dorchester in the General Court.  Whether his fame would have been greater had he remained in the Bay Colony must be a matter of conjecture, for he chose to cast his lot with his pastor, Mr. Warham, and thus became one of the first settlers of Windsor. 
 Most biographers or historians begin with a bias or prejudice one way or the other. They are like the portrait painter whom Cromwell rebuked for painting his portrait without the warts which adorned his face, or those literary portrait painters who have depicted the warts alone and called them Cromwell's countenance. In the case of Mason we know him not only from the writings of other historians, but from his own account, transparent, naive, and honest, of the Pequot War. Before the actual outbreak of that struggle Mason was sent to Saybrook in February, 1637, to reinforce Lion Gardiner who was encountering difficulties with the Indians. In reporting this experience the doughty captain is not blind to his own good qualities nor does he minimize the fear which his reputation aroused in the aborigines. He says, writing in the third person, "that Capt. John Mason was sent by Connecticut Colony with twenty Men out of their small Numbers to secure the Place; But after his coming, there did not one Pequot appear in view for one Month Space, which was the time he there remained."
After the murder of John Oldham and the invasion of Pequot territory by Captain Endicott, events moved swiftly toward the inevitable final struggle. The sudden attack on Wethersfield in April, and the capture of the two young daughters of Abraham Swain, made the General Court determined to end this Indian menace. Meeting in Hartford May 1, the Court ordered "an offensive war against the Pequots," levied 90 men from Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield, and placed Mason in command. On May 10, these men, accompanied by 70 Mohegans led by Mason's friend Uncas, started on their momentous journey.
Despite his orders to land near the mouth of the Pequot (Thames) River and attack from the west, Mason's own good sense told him that this would be disastrous, with the enemy watching every move and expecting him at this particular spot. A council of the officers voting unanimously to obey orders, Captain mason believing that one with God is a majority, ordered "the Chaplin that he would commend our Condition to the Lord, that Night to direct how and in what manner we should demean ourselves in that Respect."  Next morning the "Chaplin" (Samuel Stone) reported a message from God upholding the captain and the attack was immediately ordered. This was deliberate disobedience to the orders from the home government, and in his story of the campaign the worthy captain warns others that only a great man may do this with impunity. "I declare not this to encourage any Soldiers to Act beyond their Commission, or contrary to it; for in so doing they run a double Hazard," and he cites the example of a "great Commander in Belgia" who was killed because he went "beyond his Commission."  He adds a bit of wisdom for the home governments by advising legislative bodies to choose courageous and prudent leaders, "and then bind them not up into too narrow a Compass; For it is not possible for the wisest and ablest Senator to foresee all Accidents and Occurrents that fall out in the Management and Pursuit of a War."
The strategy of the man in choosing a thirty-five mile march through the wilderness in order to take his enemy unawares, the skill with which he chose a site for their encampment before the attack on the Pequot fort, May 26, the bravery with which he, at the head by sixteen men, boldly entered the enemy's fortress held by six hundred hostiles, the quickness with which he grasped the idea that fire and not the sword was the most effective weapon, all show us that had he yielded to the Lord Protector's request, he might have attained high rank among the great generals of English military history. 
In June the General Court ordered Mason to carry on the war against the Pequots, this time supplying him with only 40 men. He joined Captain Israel Stoughton with his 120 Massachusetts men at New London and relentlessly they pursued the doomed Pequots, finally surrounding them in a swamp in Westport, the 13th of July. here the remnants of this once powerful tribe tried valiantly to break through the cordon of determined whites, but in the hand-to-hand fighting that ensued some were killed, a few escaped, and 180 were made prisoners. With this Swamp Fight, the Pequots as a tribe passed into history.
The comforting philosophy of the doughty captain, which permeates his whole "Brief History of the Pequot War," deserves some notice. After the Pequots, men, women, and children, had been roasted alive in their fort, slain, and sometimes eaten by the Mohegan allies of the captain (and the Lord), or sold into slavery up the river in Massachusetts, he exclaims, "Thus did the Lord scatter his Enemies with his strong Arm!"  It never occurs to him that the Pequots have any claim upon their Maker. 
In March, 1638, Mason was appointed commander-in-chief of the militia of Connecticut, his arduous duties requiring him to call out the militia of each town of the colony ten times each year for instruction and practice. Thomas Hooker personally delivered to him the staff of this new rank.
When, in 1645, the joint commissioners of Plymouth, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Haven thought that it would be necessary to declare war on the Narragansetts, Mason was the first man picked to command their forces. At the request of the inhabitants of Saybrook and for their protection, he was sent there to live as commander of the fort in 1647.  While he was in charge the inhabitants lived in peace. Dutch and hostile Indians gave no trouble. So vital to the continued peace of the colony was his presence felt to be, that when the New Haven colonists planned a migration to their lands in Delaware, Mason was obliged to refuse the invitation to go as their leader. In 1654 and again in 1657 he was sent to Long Island to quiet the Indians there, and as the emissary of the colony he showed that in diplomacy as in war he could win triumphs.
In May, 1660, he was appointed deputy governor of the colony of Connecticut, an appointment confirmed by election and reelection annually until 1669, when he was succeeded by William Leete. During the time that Governor John Winthrop was negotiating for the charter, Mason performed all the duties of governor. 
In 1668 he went to live in Norwich on a tract of land granted to the town by Uncas, the Mohegan, and his sons. Mason's life in Norwich was one of honor and activity. He was chief judge of the county court until 1670, when he retired from public life. The infirmities of old age had settled upon him and he died in June, 1672, in his seventy-third year, full of years and honors. Many worthy citizens of the commonwealths of Connecticut and Massachusetts trace their ancestry to our hero.
Pierce, Richard, ed. Publications of The Colonial Society of Massachusetts, Vol. 39: The Records of the First Church in Boston, 1630-1868, Boston, MA: Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 1961.
Revolutionary War Rolls
I didn't copy the title page on this one.
Capt. Joshua Hazen's Company - A Pay Roll of Capt. Joshua Hazen's Company in Col. Wood's Regiment that marched to Brookfield in the Alarm, Oct. 1780
Name - Days - Wages Due - Miles - Amount Travel - Total [payment in pounds, shillings & pence]
Rockwell, Henry. The Rockwell Family In America: A Genealogical Record from 1630 to 1878, Boston, MA: Rockwell & Churchill, 1873.
The family of Rockwell is of Norman origin. The first of the name in England was Sir Ralph de Rocheville, one of the knights who accompanied the Empress Maude into England, when she claimed the throne of that realm. Sir Ralph ultimately joined King Henry II, and had a grant of three knights fees of land in the county of York, upon which estate the Rockwells have continued up to the present day; James Rockwell, Esq., of Rockwell Hall, Boroughbridge, County of York, being the representative of the family in Great Britain. 
The last great act of the family that is recorded in English history is the rescuing of the Earl of Northumberland and Lord Percy (the celebrated Hotspur), from the party of the Earl Douglass, at the battle of Halidon Hill, in the reign of King Henry IV, by Sir John Rockwell. 
Arms. Argent (white) upon a chief sable (black); three boars heads couped (cut off), or (gold) langued (tongued); gules (red). Crest upon a wreath of the colors of the shield, or boar's head, as in the arms.  Motto - Tout pour mon Dieu et mon roi. [All for my God & my king]
Settlement at Dorchester, Massachusetts - From the Annals of the Town of Dorchester by J. Blake. . . . 
The territory of Dorchester was originally called Mattapan, and was occupied by the Neponset tribe of Indians, the resduary legatees of the Massachusetts tribe, who formerly, occupied all the region around Boston Harbor, from Malden to Cohasset.
Rev. John White was the rector of Trinity parish, Dorchester, Dorset Shire, England; and though he had not renounced the Episcopal form of worship at the time of the Pilgrimage to Plymouth in 1620, he sympathized strongly with the movement and actually assisted the undertaking by pecuniary aid . . .  
In the summer of 1629, Mr. White wrote to Gov. Endicott of Massachusetts, "to appoint a place of habitation for sixty families out of Dorset Shire," which were to arrive in the following spring. "Great pains were evidently taken to construct this company of such materials as should compose a well-ordered settlement, containing all the elements of an independent community." . . . Messrs. Rossiter and Ludlow, men of character and education, were joined to the association, and several gentlemen past middle life, with adult families and good estates added.  Among these latter were the deacons of the church, William Gaylord and William Rockwell, though Deacon Rockwell was probably not much over thirty years of age, having then only one son, born in 1627.  Among the men of some military experience, who came over at this time, were Capt. John Mason and Capt. Richard Southcote.  The company assembled at Plymouth, Devonshire, where a large ship of four hundred tons, the Mary & John, Capt. Squeb, chartered for the voyage, was fitted out.  "Just as they were to embark for New England, upon a day of solemn fasting and prayer, they were formed into a Congregational Church."  . . . 
The vessel sailed on the 20th of March, 1630, and after a passage of seventy days, arrived at Nantasket (Hull), May 30th, "the Word of God being preached and expounded every day during the voyage." The number of passengers was one hundred and forty, and, in consequence of some misunderstanding as to the place of landing, or, as some say, because the captain would not risk the passage of the harbor without a pilot, and was not able to obtain one, they were obliged to land at this point.  Trumbull says the captain was compelled to pay damages afterwards for his conduct; but at the time the Mary & John arrived, the refusal of Captain Squeb to attempt the passage into the harbor, without pilot or chart, does not seem unreasonable. 
After some delay, boats were procured to take the colonists, with their goods, up the Charles river, and they landed where Watertown now is. 
They soon sent out a party of ten to explore a place for a permanent settlement. "The Indians mustered thick upon their arrival, to the number of three hundred at least," with whom they made friends by an exchange of biscuits for fish; when, it is stated, "ye Indians were very friendly to them, which our people ascribe to God's watchful providence over them in their weak beginnings."  The scouts returned in a few days, and then the whole company were conducted "to a place called by ye Indians Mattapan, that was a fit place to turn their Cattle upon, to prevent their straying."
In the first period of the settlement at Dorchester (the name being given probably in honor of Rev. John White, of Dorchester, England, who had done so much for the colony), there was much suffering among the people for the want of provisions, "their hunger, " as Captain Clapp says, "to be supplyed only by clams, muscles and fish; bread was so very scarce, that sometimes the very crusts of my father's table would have been very sweet unto me." "It was not accounted a strange thing in these days to eat samp or homine without butter or milk; indeed it would have been a strange thing to see a piece of roast beef, mutton or veal, tho' it was not long before there was roast goat."  Yet it is said they were contented so long as they could enjoy the worship of God without molestation; and, notwithstanding their privations, they did not desire to return to England, but even encouraged those of their friends and relatives who had remained there to come over also. 
The loss of some of the leaves of the volume containing the earliest records of the town renders the precise date of the first grants of land uncertain. They were made, however, by a committee of the plantation until 1635, namely, the two ministers, Maverick and Warham, and the two deacons, Gaylord and Rockwell. And all of the orders of the plantation were signed by them, or two of them. . . . 
William Rockwell, who has been considered the ancestor of all of that name in America, was one of the deacons of the church formed in the New Hospital at Plymouth, which was the first church at Dorchester, the oldest in the Colony of the Bay except that of Salem, and the only church that came over in a body in church fellowship, the others being gathered here.
Deacon Rockwell was one of the first three selectmen of the town, signed the first land grants, and was one of the "twenty-four freeman" who took the oath of fidelity, May 1630.
Removal to Windsor, Connecticut - The emigration to Connecticut deprived Dorchester of nearly half its population . . . The cause of this migration, as given by Cotton Mather, was that "Massachusetts soon became like a hive overstocked with bees, and many thought of swarming into new plantations." This colony, with Mr. Warham as pastor . . . removed in 1635; but it appears that William Rockwell did not leave with the company the first year, as from the Dorchester records he appears to have received a grant of land on "Savin Hill," June 27, 1636, which is the last mention of his name in that place. He probably removed to Windsor, that year, where he was a deacon in the First Church, and a leading man in the settlement, until his death, May 15, 1640. Subsequently, the widow became the wife of Matthew Grant, who came over from England in the same vessel, and who removed with the colony to Windsor, and was a surveyor, and recorder of deeds. 
When the English first became acquainted with the tract of lands comprising Connecticut, it was a vast wilderness. "It abounded," says Trumbull, "with the finest oaks of all kinds, with chestnut, walnut and wild cherry trees, with all kinds of maple, beech, birch, ash and elm.  The country abounded with a great variety of wild fruit. In the groves were walnuts, chestnuts, butternuts, hazelnuts, acorns, in great abundance. It was no less productive of animals than of natural fruit. In the groves there were plenty of deer, moose, fat bears, turkeys, herons, partridges, quails, pigeons and other wild game. Such numerous and extensive flocks of pigeons would be seen flying for some hours in the morning, that they would obscure the light.  Here were otters, beavers, the black, gray and red fox, the raccoon, mink and muskrat, and various other animals of the fur kind.  Wolves were numerous in all parts of New England when the settlement was commenced, and did great damage to the planters, killing their sheep, calves and young cattle." 
As Connecticut abounded with wild animals, so it did with wild and savage men. In no part of New England were the Indians so numerous, in proportion to the extent of the territory, as in Connecticut.  "They cannot be estimated at less than twelve to sixteen thousand, and they might possibly amount to twenty.  They could muster at least three or four thousand warriors. These were principally included within the ancient limits of Windsor, Hartford, Wethersfield and Middletown. Within the town of Windsor only, then embracing many of the present adjoining towns, there were ten distinct tribes or sovereigns. About the year 1670 their bowmen were reckoned at two thousand.  At that time it was generally estimated there were nineteen Indians to one Englishman. There was a great body of them in the centre of the town. They had a large fort a little north of the flat on which the first meeting-house was erected."  By being careful to treat with them with justice and humanity, and to mae presents to their sachems, the English lived in tolerable peace with the Indians of Connecticut and New England, except the Pequots, for about forty years. 
The winter of 1635-6 was one of great distress to the settlers of Dorchester. They lost many of their cattle, and it is difficult to describe their sufferings, encompassed with wild and savage men, "who could have swallowed up parents and children at pleasure, in their feeble and distressed condition. They had no bread for themselves nor their children, neither habitations nor clothing convenient for them. They were cut off, both by land and water, from any succor or retreat.  What self-denial, firmness and magnanimity are necessary for such an enterprise!". . .
Generation 1 - William Rockwell b. 1595, d. 1640 md. Susanna Capen b. 1602, d. after 1640

 Generation 2
1. Joan b. 1625 md. Jeffrey Baker
2. John b. 1627, md. 1) 1651 Sarah Ensign, 2) 1662 Deliverance Haynes / Haws
3. Mary probably died young
4. Samuel b. 1631 md. 1660 Mary Norton - grandparents
5. Ruth b. 1633, md. 1652 Christopher Huntington
6. Joseph b. ca. 1635
7. Sarah b. 1638 md. Walter Gaylord

 Generation 3
2a. Sarah b. 1653 md. David Hall
2b. Ruth b. 1654 md. Daniel Mix
2c. Lydia b. 1656 md. Joshua Atwater
2d. John b. 1663 md. Elizabeth Foster
2e. Hannah b. 1665
2f. Joseph b. 1668 md. Elizabeth Foster
2g. Elizabeth b. 1670 md. James Ward
4a. Mary b. 1662 md. 1683 Josiah Loomis - grandparents
4b. Abigail b. 1664, d. 1665
4c. Samuel b. 1667 md. 1694 Elizabeth Gaylord
4d. Joseph b. 1670 md. Elizabeth Drake
4e. John b. 1673 md. Anne Skinner
4f. Abigail (2nd) b. 1676 md. John Smith
4g. Josiah b. 1678 md. 1713 Rebecca Loomis
5a. Christopher Huntington b. 1653, d. 1655
5b. Ruth b. 1653, twin probably died in infancy
5c. Ruth (2nd) b. 1658, d. 1683 md. Samuel Pratt
5d. Christopher (2nd) b. 1660, d. 1735
5e. Thomas b. 1664, d. 1732 md. Elizabeth Backus
5f. John b. 1666 md. Abigail Lathrop, granddaughter of Rev. John Lothrop
5g. Susannah b. 1668 md. Capt. Samuel Griswold
5h. Lydia b. 1672
5i. Ann b. 1675, md. Jonathan Bingham
Roebling, Emily. Richard Warren of the Mayflower & Some of His Descendants, Boston, MA: David Clapp & Son, 1901.
Shurtleff, Nathaniel, ed. Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England, Court Orders: Vol. I 1633-1640, Boston, MA: William White, 1855.
Stiles, Henry. The History & Genealogies of Ancient Windsor, Connecticut, Hartford, CT: Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company, 1892.
Trivia, William & Mary Quarterly, nd

 Epitaph on Mr. Peck from New Haven Gazette Nov. 16, 1786
Here lies a Peck! which some men say
Was the first of all a Peck of clay;
This, wrought with skill divine, while fresh
Became a curious Peck of flesh;
Through various forms its Maker ran,
Then, adding breach, made Peck a man,
Full fifty years, Peck felt life's bubbles,
Till death reliev'd a Peck of troubles.
Thus fell poor Peck as all things must,
And here he lies - a Peck of dust.
Unidentified Book - has headings Windsor, Hartford County & Norwich, New London County
In the Windsor, Hartford County section there is a photo of the Loomis Homestead 
John Mason (circa 1600-1672), an Englishman, who had seen service in the Netherlands, came in 1630 with Reverend John Warham's party to Dorchester, Massachusetts, and in 1635, to Dorchester (Windsor), Connecticut. His house was at the southeast corner of the palisado, north of the road to the Great Meadow. Appointed by the General Court of March 8, 1637/38, as "a publique military officers of the plantacons of Conecticot," he became the renowned conqueror of the Pequots. . . His Briefe History of that battle classifies him also as an author. In 1641/42, he was awarded five hundred acres "about Pequoyt Country" and in 1651, the island, later called Mason's Island, near Mystic. In 1647 the court ordered that "Capten Mason should . . . have the comaund of all souldears and inhabitants of Seabrooke [and] . . . did leave his habitation in the Riv'r." In 1647 he removed from Windsor to Saybrook, where he succeeded Colonel Fenwick and continued twelve years as commander of the fort. The court sent him repeatedly to deal with the Indians. Ultimately made major of the militia, in 1660 he was the leading spirit with Reverend James Fitch in the founding Norwich (see Norwich), where his home was the first to be erected. It was situated on the southwest corner of Norwich Town green. He was not only a major of the Connecticut forces for thirty years, but a magistrate for twelve years and deputy-governor from 1660 to 1669. 
In the Norwich, New London County section:
James Fitch (1622-1702) was born in Bocking, Essex County, England. He came to this country in 1638 and studied for the ministry under Reverend Thomas Hooker and Reverend Samuel Stone in Hartford. Serving as pastor in Saybrook from 1646, he and Capt. John Mason led the greater part of that church to Norwich in 1660. Ezra Stiles said in his Diary that Reverend James Fitch "first minister of Norwich had a private but very learned education."  In 1666 the General Court gave him and his heirs a grant "of meadow adioyneinge or neer unto the farme granted to Maior Mason." His home lot extended from Simon Huntington's to the river. His first wife was a daughter of Henry Whitfield. His second wife, Priscilla, was the daughter of Major Mason. The Court of Election in May, 1671, having "been informed that Uncas and Owanecoe . . . are perswaded . . . to give attendance to what of the knowledg of the onely true God . . . is discovered to them by the Reverend Mr. James Fitch . . . this Court shall be ready to encourage Mr. Fitch in the work."  The Public Records show the reliance of the court on his judgment in matters within the churches: "cleareing up how farre the churches and people may walk together," as well as reliance on his influence "on the souldiers," and "to encourage the Mohegans, to goe forthwith out after the Indians of Phillip's Company." After long debate, the records say, the Mohegans and Pequots were induced to join the expedition. In 1674 Mr. Fitch preached the Election Sermon, the oldest on record.  In 1676 "Mr. James Fitch is chosen minister of the army."  After a life of great activity, he retired to his grant in Lebanon where he died.  . . . 
Thomas Leffingwell (circa 1622 - circa 1714) may have come to New England from Croxhall, County Yorkshire, England, and was one of the early proprietors of Norwich. he has been called "the soldier and guardsman of the new town."  Many years before he came to Norwich, on receiving word at Saybrook that Uncas and his men were starving. Leffingwell adroitly paddled up the river in a canoe loaded with beef, corn and peas for Uncas at Fort Shantok (see Montville). Uncas showed his gratitude by his later gift of land to Lieutenant Leffingwell. His home lot was located on the corner of modern Harland Road and Washington Street. . . . 
John Mason made Windsor (see Windsor) his first home in Connecticut. His home in Norwich was the first built there, and was probably located at the southeast corner of Norwich Town green. Its site was occupied in 1798 by the courthouse. 
Warren, Thomas. A History & Genealogy of the Warren Family . . . Thomas Warren, 1902
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