History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

Francis Bi-own was here early. Savage tells us that he had been a servant of Henry Wolcott, of Windsor, and bought out the rest of his time in 1640 and was a small trader in 1651, and that he bought and sold lands in Farmington in 1656. He seems to have been a ]icrtinacious stickler for the largest liberty to the individual. In 1662 be headed a petition to the Gen- eral Court at New Haven respecting the franchise of all the citizens, respecting equalizing the rates of the several colonies then under the jurisdiction of New Haven, and respecting the colony school. The court rather curtly gave him to understand that " whatever liberties or privileges our laws do allow them, that they should have." He then desires a special court in Stamford for the settlement of these questions. In 1663 he is sworn a constable for the town of Stam- ford in tlie CJeneral Court of Connecticut, and in 1665, 1667, and 1669 he represented the town in the Gen- '^Jra./,. I DAKIEN. 267 eral Assembly. He married, licre, Martha, widow of John Chapman, and Iiad one son, .Tosepli, to wliom he gave huid in l(iS3. In 1(5813 lie is reported in a gift of land to his son .Toseph as now of Rye. John Dililile died in 11146, and his widow married, the next year, "William Graves, of [Stamford. The two sons, Samuel and Zachariali Dil)l)le, probably came with their father. Zachariali married, May 10, IGCt), Sarah Waterbury, and had a son, Zaeliarry, born in IGiiT. His wife obtained a divorce in 1672, and afterwards married Nicholas Wclistcr. John Green, who lost liis wife Mary here in 1057. He was declared freeman of the Ci)iinccticut colony in 1062, and represented the town in 10i>!t. Joseph Green mortgaged lands here, in lOol, to Thomas Morehouse, and William Green appears on the rec- ords as landholder iti KS'iO. His land was next to Daniel Scofield. William Hill was here in lO'irt. Francis Holmes was a resident here 1648, as ap- l)ears from the testimony against Kol)ert Penoyer. His will, on record at Fairfield, dated Scjit. 6, 1671, makes meiiticju of his wife, Ann, and his children, Stephen, John, liicliard, and Ann, wife of Samuel Dean. Stephen Holmes has lands assigned him by the town in 1667. Kichard Holmes witnesses here June 17, 1658, the will (.f Henry Akerlcy. The name of John Holmes is on the land records often before 1660. Cornelius Jones was evidently here in 1(!.")7. He married the widow of Thomas Halt, or Hyat, as is evident from the receipts which three of Thomas Hoyt's children gave him. On r)ec. 17, 16')7, there is a record made of the age of his children, probably by a former wife. Tlicre are six of them, aged, re- spectively, eleven, ten, eight, six, and three years, but the margin on which the names are written is gone. His will, found at Fairfield, is dated June 2, 1690, and mentions his son Josepli and his grand- child Ruth " Hyat," explaining also wliy he does not make bequeaths to his daughter, Mary Hyat. Nicholas Knapp had land here in 164!», as ajipears from the land-records. His wife, Eleanor, died Aug. 16, 1658. Savage thinks he may have come in the Heet with Winthrop and Saltonstall in 1(!;!0. His children were Jonatluiii, born Dec. 27, I6:)l ; Timo- thy, Dec. 14, 1632; Joshua, Jan. 5, 1635; (_'alcb, .Fan. 20, 1637; Sarah, Jan. 5, 1039; Ruth, Jan. 6, 1641; Hannah, March 6, 1043. After coming to Stamford he liad probably Moses and Lydia. After the death of his wife, Eleanor, he married, March 9, 1659, Unity, widow of Peter Brown, who had also been the widow of Clement Buxton. He died in Ajiril, 1670, and liis will, now in the Probate records of Fairfield, dated the 15th of that month, names the children in the fol- lowing order: Jloses, Timothy, Caleb, Sarah Dis- brow, Hannah, Lidea, Ruth, and Sarah and Unica Buxton, daughters of Clement. Edmund Lockwood, Oct. 14, 1050, sold all his right and title in Stamford to Ann Akerley. How long he had licen liere at that date docs not appear. He was jirobably a son of Ivlmund, of Cambridge. His ehil- drcn were: John, Daniel, Edmund, Mary, and .Abigail. Under date of March 24, 1098-99, the town grants the children of Edmund Lockwood, deceased, lilierty to take up as much laml for their father's estate in tlie second " lotment" at RnnkiMhcag as he ha<l in the first division there, "his lotment in the first division being not to be found." He died here Jan. 31, 1092, as a|ii)cars from inventory of his estate now on record (book 1st, page 119), amounting to throe hundred and five pounds. This name has been numerous and jirominent here to tlie present day. It now stands next to the Scofield name in numbers. .lonathan Lockwood was liere in ll)59, as appears from his testimony in court, at Fairfield, Fel)ruary 24th of that year. He is reported as then twenty- four or twenty-five years of age. This corresponds with the presumption that he was son of Robert lyock- wood, of Fairfield, and that he is the son born in Watertown, Sept. 10, 1034. His children were .Jona- than, Robert, Gershom, Joseph, and John., He sold his estate here in 16(i5, and was afterwards a promi- nent citizen of Greenwich, representing that town in the State Legislature for four years. Joseph Lockwood went, in 1044, to Poundridge, where ho luul sons, — Jo>e]pli, .lames, Solomon, Israel, Reul)en, and Nathaniel. His wife was Ilannali, daughter of Solomon Close. His oldest son, .loseph, had two sons, — Major Ebenezer, of Poundridge, who lived until 1821 and w;is tlie father of the Hon. ]'>.ra and Horatio Lockwood ; and Joseph had also sons, among whose descendants are the Hon. Alliert, of Sing Sing, N. Y., and Gen. Mnnson Lockwood, of White Plains. Tiiomas Lyon was here as landholder in 11150, as appears from land-records of Daniel Scofield. Joseph Mea<l, of Stamford, sells his house and land to John and Daniel Weed. From his testimony given in court at New Haven in 1000 it appears that he was born in 1630. He went to Greenwich, which town he represented in flic (jonnccticut Legislature from 160)9 to 1671. Jonathan Mead sells land in 1050, and in 105:) also sells lan<l to Henry Smith. Obadiah Seeley was early a resident here, as sev- eral entries in the records show. In 1051 he acknowl- edged payment of a debt due him from .lohn r>are- son. He died in 1607, and his inventory, taken in 1005 by William Newman and Robert Usher, men- tions his widow, Mary, and his sons, Obadiah, ('urne- lius, and Jonas. His widow, Mary, had been the widow also of .John Miller, of Stamford. He was probably a son of Robert Seeley, of Watertown, who settled afterwanis in Wethcrsfiehl and became fpiitc famous as a lieutenant in the Poijuot war, and still later of the New Haven force under Sedgwick and Lcverett ag.'iinst the New Netherlands. This name 268 HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. has been well represented in all its generations in the | town. Thomas Stevens died here in 1G58. He had been a landiiolder as early as 1049, as ujjpears from the land-records. His will and inventory of estate are on record, dated Nov. 30, KJO.S. His property was bequeathed to his wife for the cliiUlrcn; but if she should marry, she was to have her third and the rest to be divided,— the oldest son, if deserving and of godly carriage, to have a double i)ortion ; if not, to share ei|ually with the rest. John Waterlmry came bore soon after tlie settle- ment, and liad land rec()rde<l to liim in lOSO. He died in 16o8. He had lands here as early as 1650, as appears from assignment of lands of that date. His inventory bears date in April, 1659, amounting to £185 12.V. His sons were John, Jonathan, and David, and possibly still others. Those three malce over to their fatlicr-in-law, Joseph Garnsey, in 1074, a parcel of land then in possession of John Miller. His widow had married Joseph Garnsey, in May, 1001, when she attested his will. Tliis is one of the most numerous, as well as respectable of the Stamford names, down to the present day. Richard Webb probably came to Stamford from Norwalk about 1054. The "Mill" in Norwalk was that year abandoned as worthless, and we find Mr. Webl) liere, soon after, engaged in the Stamford " Mill." He was probably a son of Richard, of Nor- walk, though he is not mentioned in his father's will, of date 1055. Mr. Webb was a man of some estate and note, representing the town in the Connecticut General Court as early as 1007. The will of Kicliard Webb, Sen., of Stamford, is on record in Fairfield, having date 7, 1, 1675-76, and the death of Richard AVcbb is on our town records as occurring March 15, 1075-70, eight days after the will. The inventory of liis estate bears date April 29, 1670. His legatees were his wife, Margery; Joseph, who took the mill in Stamford, but who was to run it jointly with the widow ; Richard, who had the uplands at Wescott's; Joshua, who took lands in Newfield, and the tools, which were in Huntington, L. I.; Caleb and Samuel, whose legacy was to be in the care of their mother; and Sarah. In a deposition of Richard Webb, made Nov. 22, 1007, he is said to be " aged forty-four years or thereabout." Joseph Webb died here in 1684, leaving children,— Joseph, Mary, Hannah, Sarah, and Margery. His inventory, dated March 8, 1084, makes his wife's name Hannah. This name is among the most numerous and reputable names on the Stamford list. John Clock, William Crissy, George Gonim, Daniel Gray, John Hobby, John How, Josiah Hull, Ricliard Lonensburg, Samuel Palmer, John Reed, Samuel Richards, David St. John, Selleck, Thomas Talmadge, Jlichael Waring, William Wardwell, Eliiwph Whit- ney, Gilbert Woolsey, Rev. Moses Mather are also names of early settlers. REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENT.