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John THOMPSON / Dorothy

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William WADSWORTH / Elizabeth STONE

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[NI10453] Was among the wealthier and more influential proprietors and settlers of Hartford. His house lot was nearly co-extensive with the square enclosed by Asylum, Trumbull, and West Pearl Streets, and the road by the river; which continued in the Wadsworth family until 1773, when it went into the hands of George and William Burr, who were relatives of the family.
, Sept. 16, 1632. She brought, says Winthrop, "one hundred and twenty-three passengers, whereof fifty were children, all in good health." They had been aboard twelve weeks, and eight weeks from Land's End. The ship first made land at Cape Ann, and it being foggy could move only by using the lead. She was five days in Massachusetts Bay before coming to anchor before Boston.
, only the names of about thirty are preserved, and of these the name of William Wadsworth heads the list, stating his family to consist of four persons.
nly three or four miles from Boston. He was a man at this time in middle life, at just what age is not known. It has been stated that he was born in the year 1600, though the year or the place of his birth in England is not definitely known. Hinman, in his history of the early settlers of Hartford, says: "In what part of England he was born or emigrated to America from is not known. In Farmer's Journal, giving the biography of Hon. James Wadsworth, of Geneseo, New York, he (James) is described as having descended from a native of the county of Palatine of Durham," though other places have been designated, probably with equal authority. Those people most familiar with history incline to the belief that William was a member of Rev. Mr. Hooker's church before he came to America. He went to Newtown with those people, and helped to induce the reverend gentleman to come to this country with others of his parishioners, after they arrived here. Rev. Mr. Hooker's church in England, of which he had pastoral charge, was in Chelmsford, about twenty miles north of the London district, which contained about that time thirty parishes; but from which particular parish these people came is yet uncertain. In the reign of Edward the Confessor, Chelmsford was a part of the pope pious of the Bishop of London. The members of Mr. Hooker's church were fervently attached to him. Soon after their arrival here they solicited him to come over; and after his arrival Mr. Wadsworth was in full communion and a member of his band. No one of the family now appear to know anything concerning his first wife, as no account is found of her death. It is possible that she died before he came to this country. By this wife he had four children: Sarah, who married John Wilcox; William, who died in infancy; Mary, who married Thomas Stoughton, and John, who settled at Farmington. Soon after he removed to Cambridge he was the possessor of a house and a home. His residence was on the westerly side of Holyoke Street, near Harvard Square. On his removal to Hartford he sold his house to Elder Champney.
n the town organized, was chosen a member of the first board of selectmen, holding the office in the years 1634-35. During these years reports were continually coming to the ears of these settlers of the rich and valuable unoccupied lands on the Connecticut river. Rev. Mr. Hooker, who had in the mean time arrived, and, with most of the members of his church, had resolved to remove thither as early as 1635. Several persons from the Massachusetts Colony did go that year; but this company did not, on account of the opposition of the other settlers. But in 1636 the journey was undertaken and completed. Among them were William Wadsworth and his family. The distance from Dorchester, where the company started, to what is now Hartford, at this time was a long one. There were no bridges and no roads. They pursued their course by blazed trees. There were one or two invalids in the company, to be carried on litters, and lots of small children, with no canopy to cover them at night but the starry heavens. The journey lasted several days, they largely subsisting on the milk from their herds of cattle, which they drove along with them. The settlement they called Hartford. In 1637 William Wadsworth was chosen collector; from 1642-47 was one of the selectmen, and throughout his life was one of the most active men of the colony, both in church and state. Hinman says: "In 1639 he held several important offices in the town and colony, and sustained a high rank with the best puritan families of Hartford, both in character and wealth." In 1644 he married for a second wife Miss Elizabeth Stone, daughter of Rev. Samuel Stone. The children by this wife were Samuel, Joseph, Thomas, Elizabeth, Rebecca and Mary. A further account of these children is given in the genealogical register. William died at Hartford, 1675, his wife surviving him. In his will, dated 16 June 1675, he gave nothing to his daughter Sarah, and but £10 to his son John, by his first wife, who was then married and settled at Farmington. It is presumed that they had previously received their share. He gave to his son Thomas his lands, with buildings thereon, at East Hartford, upon which he settled. Joseph, of Charter Oak fame, settled and died in Hartford; and these three sons of William--John, Thomas and Joseph--are all of his male children that have descendants by the name of Wadsworth now living. William's estate at death was £1677 13s 9d. His widow died 1682.

[NI10461] Wadsworth Family says daughter of Rev. Samuel Stone. Barbour says daughter of John Stone and sister of Rev. Samuel Stone. Talcott says sister of Rev. Samuel Stone.

[NI10462] Freeman, 1676. Will dated 16 Aug 1682, gave his estate of over £1100 to a brother and a sister, a nephew and two nieces.

[NI10452] Capt. Joseph Wadsworth, on the night of the 31st of October, 1687, seized and secreted the charter of Connecticut, when Sir Edmund Andros came to Hartford in order to wrest it by force from the freemen of this colony. "The important affair," says Trumbull, "was debated and kept in suspense until evening, when the charter was brought and laid upon the table, where the Assembly were sitting. By this time great numbers of people were assembled, and were sufficiently bold to enterprise whatever might be necessary or expedient. The lights were instantly extinguished, and one Capt. Wadsworth, of Hartford, in the most silent and secret manner, carried off the charter and secreted it in a large hollow tree fronting the house of the Hon. Samuel Wyllys, then one of the magistrates of the colony. The people appeared peaceable and orderly. The candles were officiously relighted, but the Patent was gone; and no discovery could be made of it or of the person who conveyed it away."(*Trumbull's Hist. Conn., vol. i, p. 391.) His brother, Hon. John, was sitting at the council board when Capt. Joseph took the charter. r the service here described. He was a man of great boldness and energy of purpose. He had practical good sense, and a capacity for business. The records prove that he was frequently elected to represent Hartford in the General Assembly. While still a young lieutenant in the train bands of his native town he served as one of the colonial legislators. He also rendered many important services to the town of Hartford as selectman and as a member of committees for laying out roads, looking after the ferries and lands, and for many other public duties. From his frequent services of this nature, from his plain and popular manners, his ready address and resolute bearing, he seems to have possessed the full confidence of his fellow citizens. His acts prove him to have been an ardent lover of freedom, though he erred sometimes in carrying his own acts into excess, when chafed by opposition or dislike. Once he was formally reprimanded, while a deputy in the Assembly, for words used in debate, which were "resented as declaring against the validity of certain acts of the Assembly, which were passed by both houses separately, for their inconsistency with our charter;" but he "readily acknowledged his concern that what he had spoken had given any offence to the Assembly, whose constitution and proceedings he had no intention to reflect upon." On another occasion he was fined ten pounds for using "reproachful words against Mr. Pitkin," one of the Assistants, and saying "in open Assembly, that Mr. Pitkin's proceedings in the case were altogether unjust and illegal." This fine, however, was formally remitted. Upon still another occasion he was brought before the Court of Assistants for having threatened, in a certain contingency, "to knock down Mr. Ichabod Wells, sheriff of Hartford."
rtford for the purpose of enforcing a royal commission constituting him leader of the Connecticut militia. As this was an infringement of the charter, the Assembly refused to acknowledge him; in consequence of which he summoned the militia on parade. When his instructions were about to be read, Capt. Wadsworth ordered the drums to beat. Fletcher demanded silence, and his secretary again commenced the reading. The drums beat again, and again silence was ordered. The intrepid Wadsworth now stepped forward and said sternly: "If I am interrupted again I will make daylight shine through you in one moment." This meaning language exerted a salutary influence, and Fletcher returned to New York. From this period until the opening of the Seven Years' War Connecticut steadily advanced in strength and prosperity.
y, on land owned at that time by Governor Wyllys. The tree stood until the year 1856, when on August 12th of that year it fell with a tremendous crash. It was supposed to have been standing four hundred years.
n 1650. He married for his first wife Elizabeth, daughter of Bartholomew Barnard, of Hartford. For his second wife he married Mary, the widow of John Olcott. She was also the widow of Thomas Welles, a grandson of Gov. Welles. Her maiden name was Mary Blackleach, daughter of John Blackleach, Jr. His first wife died Oct. 26, 1710. His second wife, Mary, survived him. His children were all by his first wife.
, sound in mind, morals and estate. His second wife, three sons and two daughters survived him, and quite a number of his direct descendants are now living in Hartford. He made his will in 1723, appointing his son Joseph executor. A jointure was made for his widow, Mary. He gave Joseph, Jr., his Upper Neck land, where he (Joseph, Jr.) then lived, the upper lot in Long Meadow, four acres of land which joined his brother Talcott's, and his lands in Coventry. To Jonathan, he gave lands on the Windsor road, buildings, &c. To Ichabod, he gave land in Soldiers' Field, lower house-lot, with house and barn, four acres South Meadow, and sixty acres west of Windsor road. He gave his three grand-children, the children of his daughter Elizabeth, viz: Jonathan, Joseph and Elizabeth Marsh, œ10 each; and to his daughter Hannah, (wife of John Cook,) an estate of over œ900 sterling. His will and inventory may be found in Nos. 11 and 12 of the Probate Records of Hartford.

[NI10465] Freeman, 1676. His father willed him his lands, located east of the Connecticut River, and he settled in East Hartford.

[NI10466] Unmarried in 1682.

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Joseph WRIGHT / Ruth SHELDON

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John TILTON / Sarah MAYHEW

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[NI18808] Yeoman. Resident of Chilmark. Will dated 6 Mar 1759, proved 5 June 1759.

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