Norwalk

'Copy of Original Deed to Captain Josiah Thacher. Norwalk Land Records, Vol. V., Folio 285. To all people to whom these presents shall come, Greeting : Know ye that I, Alexander Ressiquie of ye town of Ridgefield in the County of Fairfield within his Majesties Colony of Connecticut in New England. For and in consideration of the sum of One hundred and Seventy pounds to me in hand before the enseal- ing of these presents well and truly paid by Josiah Thatcher of ye town of Yarmouth in the County of Barnstable in the province of Massachusetts Bay in New England, the receipt thereof I do hereby ac- knowledge and myself satisfied and contented, Have given, granted, Bargained, Sold, and by these pres- ents Do freely fully and absolutely give, grant, Bar- gain, Sell, Alienate, convey and confirm to him the sd Josiah Thacher his heirs and assigns forever a cer- tain House Lott lying within the Township of Nor- walk in ye County of sd Fairfield Containing Three acres be it more or less Bounded on the East by the Town Street on ye South by a house lot belonging to ye heirs of Benjamin Keeler deceased, on ye North by John Eversley's House Lot on ye West by the Creek with all ye Right of Sedge I have West to the Chan- nel adjoining to sd lot now sold all called Three acres be it more or less. To Have and to Hold the sd granted and bargained premises with all the appur- tenances, privileges and comoditics to ye same be- longing or in anywise appertaining to him the sd Josiah Thacher his heirs and assigns to him and their only proper use benefit and behoof forever. And that the sd Josiah Thacher his heirs and assigns shall and may henceforth and forever by force and virtue of these presents Lawfully peacefully and quietly Have Hold and occupy, possess and enjoy the sd demised and bargained premises with the appurtenances thereof, free and clear : and clearly acquitted and Dis- charged of from all and all former and other Gifts grants bargains sales, leases, mortgages and of and from all other incumbrances whatsoever Had Made Committed Done or Supposed to be Done by me the Sd Alexander Ressique my heirs or assigns at any- time or times before the ensealing and delivery of these presents. Furthermore I the sd Alexander Res- siquie for myself my heirs, Executors Administrators Do Covenant and ingage the above demised premises to him the sd Josiah Thacher his heirs and assigns against the Lawful Claims and Demands of any per- son or persons Whatsoever forever hereafter to war- rant secure and Defend, and Moreover I the Sd Alex- ander Ressiquie for myself my heirs executors Admin- istrators or assigns to make to perform and Execute any further or other Lawful and reasonable act or acts Thing or things Device or Devices in re Law- needful or requisite for ye more perfect assurance, settling and the sure making of the premises as afore- said. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 22 day of December in the Eleventh year of ye reign of our Sovereign Lord George of Great NORWALK. December 22. 1724. a desirably situated house lot (see front piece page 449) on the east bank of Norwalk River, not far from the present George VV Cram home site on East Avenue. The Captain appears to have been a coast mariner, and also an active Norwalk citizen. He signalized his Norwalk coming by marrying (February 17, 1724) Ann (Burr, it is believed), and had : Ann1", died in infancy : Josiah*", born February 15, 1728-9; Ann"2"", Mrs. Isaac Hayes3"1 (see Thacher-Hayes, page 4b2) ; Mary, Mrs. Stephen Davis, first, and second, Mrs. Hoyt of Pound Ridge. Mrs. Ann Thacher died February 25, 1733-4, and Captain Josiah Thacher2"3 married, second, either August 7 or September 15, 1735, Mary, daughter of Rev. Daniel and Elizabeth (Gooking) Greenleaf of Boston, and had: Elizabeth1-', born April 25, 1737, died young ; Daniel1'', born June 29, 1739; John1', born July 25, 1742; Hannah, Mrs. John Banks of Rhinebeck; Elizabeth2'"1, Mrs. John Blackleach of Stratford, afterward Mrs. Hill of New Haven; Stephen Greenleaf. Josiah3'1, son of Captain Josiah21"1 and Ann Thacher, married, December 19, 1751, Mary, daughter of Governor Thomas and Hannah (Hall) Fitch, and had : Mary, born September 14, 1753, Mrs. Betts ; Hannah, born May 15, 1760, Mrs. Hendricks; Thomas Fitch, born June 16, 1769 j1 Britain King. Annouue Domini, ( hie thousand Seven Hundred and Twenty-five. Alexandkk Rkssiuvie. [seal.] Signed, Sealed and delivered in presence of JOSKI'H PlaTT, Natuan'l C Stkket. Xorwalk on ye day above written Mr. Alexander Ressiquic The Subscriber unto ve above written instrumem personallv ap- peared and did acknowledge it for lo lie his free ncj ami Deed Before me. Joseph Putt, Justice of the Peace. Unit to record December 31 , 1724, and Recorded per me, John Cor p. Recorder. i'fhomas Fitch Timelier married, .March 28, 171)11, Susannah, daughter of John Lockwood, and! having bought out the heirs, resided on " Drye Hill, ' where ten nts in ISilO Albert, son of Allen Betts. This portion of the now-named "Newtown Avenue" belonged to the Lockwood family branch represented by Mrs. Thomas F. Thacher, a branch which num hers amongits descendants the present highly regarded Probate Judge for the .Norwalk district, Hon. A. B. Woodward. James Lockwood, the more remote Mrs. Thacher and Judge Woodward ancestor, is described as having lived in primitive comfort a little to the west of Belden Hill, from which sequestered locality some who have been a power in their day and genera- tion have emerged. In a retreat, quite like to the James Lockwood cradle, a noted one spentasummer and left, inscribed upon a window pane.grateful testimony for the lessons gleaned in his solitary quarters, and to the silent training of the secluded Lockwood home, a President elect of Princeton, and a chosen head of Yale, and a Chancellor Kent, all of the same Lock- wood blood, may have been influence-excellence indebted. Mrs. Thomas F. Thacher (Susannah Lockwood) was brought up in the Lockwood abode which stood on the opposite street-side of the Drye Hill Thacher house, and about where is now built the residence of Postman Glendenning. Her father owned the prem- ises, several acres, of this fine property, and she was a woman of force. In later life she was known as an excellent dairy caretaker. Hermilk, cream and butter were of superior quailty. The latter brought the N O R W A L K. +53 Esther Ann1*, born January 26, 1773, died young ; Esther Ann2"1, born April 19, 1775, died young. Mrs. Mary (Fitch) Thacher died September 30, 1776, and Josiah Thacher3"' married, second, December 3, 1785, the widow Wait Burwell, mother of Samuel Burwell. Daniel1", son of Captain Josiah2"J and Mary (Greenleaf) Thacher, married Mary, daughter of Nathaniel and Mary (Raymond) Street, and had : Josiah*11 j Daniel Greenleaf ; William, supposed to be a New York City physician. John1", son of Captain JosiahM, and Mary (Greenleaf) Thacher, married twice. He was a young man of destiny and distinguished himself in the Revolutionary War. He was with the brave General David Waterbury of Stamford in 1776 at Crown Point and Ticonderoga. An old record makes him a "Captain of Navy on Lake Champlain" at that time. General Waterbury left Crown Point and returned to Connecticut early in 1776 and was ordered by Hancock to proceed on a tory errand to Long Island. This accomplished he left in the autumn for Crown Point again to officer a command in General Arnold's fleet on Lake Cham- plain. It was with one of the two Waterbury galleys that Captain John Thacher of Norwalk was possibly connected. The General was taken prisoner and so was Captain Thacher What may have been Thacher s immediately subsequent history is not documentarily known, but from a preserved register it is learned that Captain Thacher, four years afterward (1780) belonged to the "militia light horse." It is a little curious that the Waterbury commission, signed by Captain John Thacher's boyhood neighbor, Governor Thomas Fitch, should have been to this day well kept in this ancient settlement. Captain Thacher resided in Stratford and New Haven, and dying at the age of sixty-three, his remains were interred in the Christ Church burying yard in Stratford. From this patriotic Norwalk youth, through his second wife, the widow of Lieutenant William Thompson, who fell beside the heroic David Selleck (see page 200) at Ridgefield, has descended his son, Anthony Thacher21"1, born January 7, 1782, whose daughter, Julia Ann Hubbell Thacher, married General James Totten, of the highest price in the market. She did her milking after niglit-iall and made her butter at midnight. All was done in the cool of the day and her well was her re- frigerator. She ended her days under the care of Stephen Smith and his family. The Thacher property on the west side, and quite a share, of the Lockwood property on the east side of the street, now Newtown Avenue, finally fell to Mr. Smith, who was the owner of the Thacher house at the time of its accidental conflagration. Colonel Buckingham Lockwood's land adjoined the east side Lockwood-Thaeher estate. The present Colonel Frederick St. John Lockwood was wont, as a youth, to look after this portion of his father's large landed domain during harvest-tide. He was an able handler of the fine family horses, and whether in the saddle or holding the reins over the dashboard presented a noticeable appearance. He is known to have taken some pride in overseeing the Newtown Avenue meadows, and his excursions in and out, and greetings from the future Mrs. Colonel Colt and her sister Mrs. Beach, who as young ladies might chance at the time to be visiting their Grand- father Jarvis, at his home which lay along the route to the Thacher and Lockwood lands, are a local re- call of to-day.