About

There are over 2000 persons in the American ancestries of the four White, Griggs, Judd, Cowles principals in this study. These are in the descents from 277 immigrant (or in a few cases, first identified) ancestors. Where English or other European origins are known, they are included, but the emphasis is on the experience of the families in America. I intend this work to be useful to anyone with family associations in early New England, New Amsterdam, and early New York. Four American Ancestries is fully annotated (footnotes); it includes an extensive list of references, an eleven-generation Ahmentafel, and an every name and place index. I have also included contextual material about places, early settlements, and contemporary accounts. In all there is a fascinating outline of these families’ journies in the first 250 years or so of European settlement in what became the United States.

I used the resources of the New York Public Library and the New England Historical and Genealogical Society and online sources to include the most up-to-date and authoritative genealogical work on these families. The annotations should be useful to others working on these families. Although it is not meant to be a read-through book, many parts can be enjoyed by those unrelated to the families from descriptions of early New London, New Haven, Fairfield, the Indian Wars, early Massachusetts Bay towns, New Amsterdam, Harlem, Ulster settlement of Pennsylvania, the Hudson Valley, the Revolution, War of 1812 and much else.

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From the Introduction:

The principals in this compilation are my four grandparents. Their lives were almost entirely spent in the same city, Waterbury, in central Connecticut; each was descended from forebears who were early on American shores. At the outer edges of the fan-shaped lineage of each of the four are people who arrived in Massachusetts and in New Amsterdam in the seventeenth century, 1620s to 1660s, the great majority in the 1630s. Those coming to Massachusetts were mostly from England; those to New Amsterdam were Dutch, French Huguenots, and from Westphalia. There are exceptions to these early places of entry: some came directly to New Haven Colony; there was a party of Quakers who came to what was then West Jersey in the 1660s, and an immigrant likely from Ulster came to Pennsylvania through Delaware Bay in the Scots-Irish emigration of the 1720s. The latter was the last in these lineages to arrive in America.

How did it come to be that these four grandparents came to their marriages and to live where they did? What does the defining of these lineages tell about life in America in the 250 years that separated the four from most of their immigrant ancestors? What would tracing all the lines reveal about family inter-marriages and relationships? In the analogy of a river system, what (and who) were the tributaries? Questions such as these are part of a quest to sort out who and what came before in family and, in the broadest sense, community. That is the basis for my curiosity—and, of course, my grandparents’ ancestries are my own.

Over 250 years the “tributary” families had made many “removes.” There were always other places to go to, where more or better land was available, new trading patterns could be developed, a seaport became active, or, in the early days, an entire church congregation moved. These families share what has come to be considered a characteristic American pattern: moving from place to place over the generations. There were far more geographic choices for the first immigrants, than those they could reasonably expect in their homeshires in England. This was made possible by the establishment of towns and ports as the Indian population declined through disease and defeat. In these ancestral lines, however, though the removes were numerous over the years, they were largely within Connecticut, Massachusetts, and the Hudson Valley; no one went further west.

The study follows my investigations in some contextual detail of several of the female lines in my maternal grandmother’s lineage. In The Hatch and Brood of Time (1999) I concentrated on four generations of the New England Phelps family ending with the marriage in the 1840s of a New England Phelps woman to a Haring with New Amsterdam roots. In More Lasting than Brass(2004) I traced the Haring and related families through the Revolution, through the young Republic and on to this marriage to a Phelps. The present study covers a broader field. While the patrilinear lines are well established, tracing the female lines has greatly expanded the area of interest.

The origins of many of these 17th century immigrants have been established. The largest number is from the British Isles, overwhelmingly England, with a few from Wales, one or two from Scotland, an immigrant likely from Ulster in the 18th century. About one eighth of the immigrants came through New Amsterdam, most of these were Dutch-born, some were Huguenots and other Protestants who had sought refuge in the Netherlands; there is even a man from Norway, perhaps attracted by an emigration bonus from the Dutch West Indies Company. A considerable number of the immigrants can be identified only by the first town records associated with them; no place of origin or parentage has yet been unearthed. Almost all of these, however, can be presumed English.

Much of this compilation is based on my survey of the relevant genealogical literature, books, and periodicals consulted in libraries and online. I made a diligent search to find the latest research on all the families. In its absence I relied on the best older accounts I could find. On several families there is more detailed archival research (Phelps, Griggs, Wolcott, Coley, and related families, Ayers, Pancoast, among others).

To enrich the study, I have added commentary from contemporary sources, histories, and modern accounts. Richard Warren of the Mayflower was in the small party that first landed on North American sands; Mount’s Relation has an account of this first encounter with the land and the Indians. Cotton Mather in his Magnalia or, the Ecclesiastical History of New England, celebrated several of the figures herein (Richard (1) Denton, John (1) Davenport, Abraham Pierson, among others), and I have excerpted these. John Winthrop’s Journals have entries relating to several of the families early in their lives in New England. Capt. John Mason and Lion Gardiner published accounts of their experiences in the Pequot War in the 1630s, a conflict which involved a number of men in these lines, victims and warriors (of the latter, Robert (1) Seeley was in the Fairfield Swamp Fight and at the Mystic Fort, both massacres). William Hubbard wrote a contemporary account of King Philip’s War, a conflict in which several of those in these ancestries were killed. (George (2) Denison was second in command in that war’s Great Swamp Fight and massacre in Rhode Island.) In the case of both these wars recent scholarly books provide additional context. Thomas (1) Chittenden and John (1) Bishop were among the founders of Guilford, Conn., and came by ship directly to the Connecticut shore. The Guilford Compact which members of that party agreed to deserved inclusion in full, a founding document. Roger Wolcott was second-in-command of the New Englanders who successfully laid siege to the French fortress at Louisbourg, Nova Scotia in 1745; included here are transcripts I made of his account of that action, and also of his autobiography, a rare example in the early generations of the emergence of a personal voice. (The manuscripts are held by the Connecticut Historical Society.) The most comprehensive study of the West Country families who settled first Dorchester, Massachusetts Bay and within a few years established Windsor, Connecticut, is Frank Thistlethwaite’s Dorset Pilgrims, quoted extensively in connection with the many families from that place. Accounts of the engagements in which men were involved in the wars of the 18th century, King William’s War, Queen Anne’s War, King George’s War, and the French and Indian War provide depth to the references to the involvement of the men who were participants. The pension applications submitted by Revolutionary War veterans are included, with contextual material. (See Clark, Chapman, Green, Griggs.) Nineteenth century town histories often provide interesting context. Among those used extensively here are Frances Manwaring Caulkins’ New London history, and Edward E. Atwater’s New Haven.

Four American Ancestries includes nine-generation (some 10 and 11) descents included from these first known ancestors in America, 277 in total.

 

Families

Abbott: George of Rowley     Abbott: Robert of Branford     Adams: Henry of Braintree     Adams: Jeremy of Cambridge and Hartford     Adgate: Thomas of Norwich     Allen: Gideon and Joseph Allen of Fairfield     Allyn: Matthew of Windsor    Andrews: John of Farmington     Andrews: Robert of Ipswich     Ashman: Robert of Jamaica, N.Y.     Ayers: David of Monaghan, York Co., Pa.     Baldwin: John of` Milford     Bancroft: John of Lynn     Barker: Robert of Plymouth, Marshfield, and Duxbury     Barlow: Edward or Edmund of Charlestown     Bassett: William of New Haven     Beecher: John of New Haven     Bertholf: Guiliam of East Jersey     Betts: John and Mary of Hartford?    Bigge: Rachel (Martin) of Cranbrooke, Kent and Roxbury     Birchard: Thomas of Roxbury, Hartford, Saybrook, Martha’s Vineyard, and Norwich     Bishop: John of Guilford     Bishop: Thomas of Ipswich     Bissell: John of Windsor     Blinn: Peter of Wethersfield     Bliss: Thomas of Hartford and Springfield     Boardman: Samuel of Wethersfield     Bogert: Cornelius Jans of Flatbush, Long Island, New York     Bogert: Jan Laurens of Bedford Corners Long Island and Harlem     Boosey: James of Wethersfield     Bourne: Thomas of Marshfield     Bowen: Richard of Weymouth and Rehoboth     Bradfield: Leslie of Branford     Bradley: Elizabeth (_____) of New Haven     Brewer: Daniel of Roxbury     Bulkeley: Peter of Concord     Bullard: William of Dedham     Bunce: Thomas of Hartford?     Burnham: Thomas of Podunk     Cadwell: Thomas of Hartford     Capen: Bernard of Dorchester     Carpenter: David of Farmington     Carwithey: David of Salem     Caulkins (Calkins): Hugh of New London     Chandler: William of Roxbury     Chapin: Samuel of Springfield     Chapman: Edward of Windsor     Chittenden: William of Guilford     Churchill: Josiah of Wethersfield     Claessen: Dirck of New York City     Clark: William of Bedford, Westchester     Clarke: Daniel of Windsor     Cogswell: John of Ipswich     Coit: John of New London     Cole: Henry of Hartford and Middletown     Coley: Samuel of Milford     Collins: Edward of Cambridge, Medford, and Charlestown     Colton: George of Springfield and Longmeadow     Cooke: Aaron of Windsor     Cooper: John of New Haven     Coultman: John of Wethersfield     Cowles: John of Harford, Farmington, and Hatfield     Curtis (Curtice): Richard of Salem    Daniel: Stephen of New Haven     Davenport: John of New Haven     Davis: Samuel of Boston     de Conselje: Jan of New Amsterdam     de Vaux: Frederick of Harlem, Morrissania, Eastchester     Dean: Samuel of Jamaica, Long Island     Deming: John of Wethersfield     Denison: William of Roxbury and New London     Denton: Richard of Wethersfield, Stamford and Jamaica, Long Island     Dibble: Abraham of Boston, Haddam, and Hampshire Co., Mass.     Downey: James     Drake: John of Windsor     Dunham: John of Plymouth Colony     Durant: George of Malden and Lyme     Dwight: John of Dedham     Dyckman: Johannes of Albany     Edwards: John of Stratfield     Eells: John of Windsor     Farnham: Ralph of Ipswich     Farrington: John of Dedham     Filley: William of Windsor     Firman (Fairman): John of Salem     Foote: Nathaniel of Wethersfield     Ford: Thomas of Windsor and Northampton     Fox: Margaret (Clark) of Windsor     Frost: William of Fairfield     Fuller: Robert of Rehoboth     Gaines: Henry of Lynn     Gardiner/Gardner: Thomas of Roxbury     Gaylord: William of Dorchester and Windsor     Gibbard: William of New Haven     Gold: Nathan of Fairfield     Goodyear: Stephen of New Haven     Graves: Thomas of Charlestown     Graves: Thomas of Hartford and Hatfield     Gray: Henry of Fairfield     Green: Jacob of Norwalk     Greenhill: Samuel of Hartford     Gregson: Thomas of New Haven     Gridley: Thomas of Hartford and Farmington     Griffin: John of Windsor and Simsbury     Griggs: Thomas of Roxbury     Griswold: Edward of Killingworth     Gunn: Thomas of Windsor     Haight: Simon of Dorchester and Stamford     Hanford: Eglin (Hatherly) of Scituate, Thomas of Norwalk     Haring: Jan Pietersen of New Amsterdam     Harris: Walter of New London     Harrison: Richard of New Haven     Hawkes: Adam of Charlestown and Lynn     Heaton: Elizabeth of New Haven     Hickox (Hickok, Hickocke): William of Farmington     Hide: Humphrey of Fairfield     Hinckley: Samuel of Barnstable     Hines (Hine): Thomas of Milford     Hobby (Hubbe, Hubby): John of Greenwich     Holcomb: Thomas of Windsor     Hollister: John of Wethersfield     Hough: William of New London     Hovey: Daniel of Ipswich     Howard: Zebulon     Hubbard: George of Middletown     Huntington: Simon; Christopher of Norwich     Hurlburt: Thomas of Saybrook and Wethersfield     Hyde: William of Norwich     Ives: William of New Haven     Jackson     Jones: John of Concord     Jordan: Jeffrey of New London     Jordan: John of Guilford     Kilbourne: Thomas of Wethersfield     Kimberly: Thomas of New Haven and Stratford     Kirby: John of Hartford and Middletown     Latimer: John of Wethersfield     Law: Richard of Stamford     Lay: Robert of Saybrook     Lenthall: Robert of Weymouth and Newport     Lines: Ralph of New Haven     Lockwood: Robert of Fairfield     Loomis: Joseph of Windsor     Lord: Thomas of Hartford     Manwaring: Oliver of New London     Marshfield: Thomas of Windsor     Marvin: Mathew of Hartford and Norwalk     Marvin: Reinold of Saybrook and Lyme     Miles: Richard of New Haven     Mitchell: Matthew of Stratford     Moore: Thomas of Windsor     Morton: William of Hartford     Moses: John of Windsor     Mould: Hugh of New London     Munson: Thomas of New Haven     Newberry: Thomas of Dorchester     North: Edward of Boston     Nott: John of Fairfield     Pancoast: John of West Jersey     Parker: Edward of New Haven     Parker: William of Hartford, Saybrook and Lyme     Patteson: Edward of New Haven     Peck: William of New Haven     Pemberton: James of Charlestown and Malden     Phelps: William of Windsor     Phippen: David of Hingham and Boston     Pierson: Abraham of Branford and Newark     Porter: John of Windsor     Post: Stephen of Saybrook     Potter: Ann Hannah Langford (Potter) Beecher of New Haven     Prichard: Roger of Wethersfield and New Haven     Prindle: William of New Haven     Prudden: James of Milford     Ranney: Thomas of Middletown     Raymond: Richard of Salem, Norwalk, and Saybrook     Reed: John of Norwalk     Richards: John of New London     Richards: Thomas of Hartford     Rider: Thomas of Long Island     Roberts: William of Milford     Robinson: Thomas of Guilford     Rockwell: William of Windsor     Rogers: James of New London     Rose: Robert of Branford     Rowland: Samuel of Stratford     Royce: Robert of Stratford and Wallingford     Rumrill: Simon of Enfield     Ruscoe: William of Newtowne and Hartford     Sackett: John of New Haven     Sage: David of Middletown     Sanford: Thomas of Milford     Savage: John of Middletown     Scattergood: Thomas of West Jersey     Schut: Jan Hermanszen of New Amsterdam     Scott: Benjamin of Braintree     Scott: Thomas of Hartford     Seabrook: Robert of Stratford     Seeley: Robert of Watertown, Wethersfield, New Haven, and Huntington, L.I.     Selleck: John of Fairfield     Seymour: Richard of Hartford and Norwalk     Shepard: Edward of Cambridge     Sherman: Edmund of Wethersfield and New Haven     Sherwood: Thomas of Fairfield     Shute: Richard of Eastchester     Skinner: John of Hartford     Smith: Francis of Roxbury     Smith: John of Sandwich     Smith: John of Sudbury and Lancaster, Mass.     Smith: Samuel of Wethersfield     Smith: Thomas of New Haven     Snow: Anthony of Marshfield     Sperry: Richard of New Haven     Squire: George of Fairfield     Stanley: John of Farmington     Stanley: Timothy of Hartford and Hadley     Stanton: Thomas of Stonington     Starr: Comfort of Cambridge, Duxbury, and Boston     Stebbins: Dea. Edward of Hartford     Stebbins: Rowland of Springfield     Steele: George of Hartford     Steele: John of Hartford and Farmington     Stent: Eleazer of Branford     Stoughton: Thomas of Windsor     Stow: John of Concord     Street: Nicholas of New Haven     Strong: Elder John of Hartford and Northampton     Strycker: Jan of Flatbush, Long Island     Tapp: Edmund of Milford     Tefft: William of Boston     Thomas: John of New Haven     Thompson: Anthony of New Haven     Thomson: Thomas of Hartford and Farmington     Thrall: William of Windsor     Tibbals: Thomas of Milford     Tinker: John of New London     Tinkham: _____ of New Haven     Todd: Christopher of New Haven     Tourneur: Daniel of Harlem     Treat: Mathias of Wethersfield      Treat: Richard of Wethersfield     Tuttle: William of New Haven     Tyler: Peter of Branford     Upson: Thomas of Hartford     van Putten: Cosyn Gerritsen of New Amsterdam     Vicars or Vicaris: George of Salem and Hull     Volckertzsen: Dirck of New Amsterdam and Bushwick, Long Island     Warner: Andrew of Middletown     Warren: Richard of the Mayflower and Plymouth     Waterman: Robert of Marshfield     Webb: Christopher of Braintree     Weld: Joseph of Roxbury     Welles: Thomas of Hartford and Wethersfield     Welton: John of Farmington and Waterbury     Wetmore: Thomas of Middletown     Wheeler: Ephraim of Fairfield     Wheelock: Ralph of Medfield     White: John of Hartford     Whitehead: John of New Haven and Branford     Whiting: Nathaniel of Dedham     Wilcox: John of Hartford     Wiley: John of Reading, Mass.     Wilkinson: Widow Parnell of Bermuda     Willett: Nathaniel of Hartford     Wilmot: Benjamin of New Haven     Wilson: Charles of Norwalk     Winchell: Robert of Windsor     Wolcott: Henry of Windsor     Wooding (Wooden): William of New Haven     Woodruff: Mathew of Farmington     Wright: Deacon Samuel of Northampton     Wright: Richard of Massachusetts and East Windsor