Sergt John HURLBUT

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He learned the trade of blacksmith of his father, and after becoming of age, he worked at Wethersfield and also at Killingworth. At the age of 27, he received a proposition from settlers then planting the town of Middletown, to locate among them with his business, "and do the Town's work of smithing for seven years." He joined in such a contract, bearing date 25 oct. 1669, and which he faithfully kept. He m. 15 Dec., 1670, Mary Deming, da. of John and Honor (Treat) Deming of Wethersfield. She was b. 1655; joined church in Middletown 5 Sept. 1675. Mr. Hurlbut was industrious and successful in his occupation, and he became a large landholder, and one of the prominent men of the place. he was made freeman in 1671, and held the office and title of SARGENT among the citizen soldiers. Sargent John Hulbut d. at middle age; according to the Town records 30 April, 1690, but the Probate Court Records (prob. more reliable) his death occurred 30 August, of that year, aged 48. He made no will, but the inventory of his property was presented 9 Sept. 1690. Mary his widow with Capt. Nathaniel White, were appointed to administer; but as one child was yet unborn, the court ordered that "there shall be no distribution now made." Th estate appears as follows: L373, s.15, d.6; his house, shop and home lot L100, other lots L160, cattle &C, L46, smith's tools and iron L10. "June 19, 1696, the Court being desired," the estate was distributed. The wid. Mary was to have half the personal property, and one third of the real estate during life; eldest son John to have a double portion, the other children a single one. The time of death of the widow is not learned; but few gravestones had inscriptions as early, and no deaths appear to have been recorded on the church books, until after that perios.

John married Mary DEMING on 15 Dec 1670. Mary (daughter of John DEMING and Honour TREAT) was born about 1648; died after Aug 1690. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Thomas HURLBUT was born on 20 Oct 1674 in Middletown, Connecticut; died on 3 Feb 1751/2 in Middletown, Connecticut.
2. David HURLBUT was born on 11 Aug 1688 in Middletown, Middlesex County, Connecticut; died on 9 Oct 1773.
3. Mary HURLBUT was born on 17 Nov 1678 in Middletown, Connecticut.

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Thomas Hulbut came across the Atlantic, it is supposed, in the year 1635, for he was a soldier under Lion Gardiner, who built and had command of the fort at Saybrook, Conn. Lion Gardiner, it is said, was an Englishman, and by profession an engineer, and had been in Holland in the service of the Prince of Orange, but was engaged by the proprietors of the Connecticut Patent, issued by Charles II, to Lord Say and Seal, Lord Brooke and others, granting a large tract of territory on the banks of the Connecticut river, to erect a fortification at its mouth. Gardiner, said Jude Savage, embarked at London in the BACHILOR, of only 25 tons, 11 August, 1635, with his wife and female servant, and eleven male passengers, and after a long and tempestuous voyage, arrived at Boston 28 of following November. It is believed, however, that Gov. Winthrop told that Gardiner sailed in a Norsey barque (a fishing vessel of the coast of Norway), 10 July, 1635. It is supposed that Thomas Hurlbut was one of the 11 passengers above referred to; but who his parents were, or when or where he was born, we have not been able to learn. We may yet pretty confidently believe tat his birth occurred as early as the year 1610, and I am more inclined to believe that he was a native of Scotland than I am able, perhaps, to show satisfactory evidence for such belief. Mr. Hurlbut while at Saybrook, in an encounter with the Pequot Indians in 1637, was wounded by an arrow. This appears in a letter of Lion Gardiner, written in June, 1660, some 23 years after the skirmish with the Indians, addressed to Robert Chapman and Thomas Hurlbut, detailing incidents regarding the Pequot war, as far as come within his personal knowledge. Capt. Gardiner, in the communication named, says that Mr. Robert Chapman, Thomas Hurlbut and Major Mason urged him to do it, "and having rummaged and found some old papers then written, it was a great help to my memory." The document laid in manuscript until 1833 (173 years) when it was printed in Vol. 3, 3d Ser. of Mass. Historical So. Colls.

Mr. Hurlbut was by trade a BLACKSMITH, and after the war with the Pequots, he locatd and established himself in business at Wethersfield, Ct., and was one of the early settlers of that place, as well as first blacksmith. A single extract from the Colonial records would seem to indicate that he was a good workman and charged a good price for his work; "March 2, 1642, Thomas Hallibut was fined 40 shillings for encouraging others in taking excessive rates for work and war." But this fine appears to have been "respited" Feb. 5, 1643, upon Peter Bassaker's Tryal to make "nayles" with less loss and cheaper rates.

He seems to have been a man of good standing in the place; he was Clerk of the "Train Band" in 1640, Deputy to the General Court, Grand Juror and also Constable in 1644. It appears on the records that he received various tracts of land in the several divisions of the Town, which were recorded together in 1647. In 1660 the Town of Wethersfield granted Thomas Hurlbut Lot 39, one of the "four score acre lots" (in Naubuc, east side of the river), which he afterward sold to Thomas Hollister. For his services in the Indian wars, the Assembly voted him a grant of 120 acres of land Oct. 12, 1671. It is supposed that Mr. Hurlbut died soon after the last named date, as no evidence appears that the land was set off to him during his life. In that early day of the Colony, land was plenty and cheap, and no attempt appears to have been made to avail himself of the bounty, nor even by his sons; it was not until 1694, on the petition of John Hurlbut, Jr., of Middletown, a grandson of the settler and soldier, that it was set off.

It is told, and the tradition is not an unreasonable one to credit, that the house in Wethersfield, Ct., where Miss Harriet Mitchell resides in 1888, stands upon the site of the dwelling of the first Hurlbut who lived in the settlement. (Miss M. is said to be of the 6th generation from her ancestor Thomas Hurlbut.) That house of the early settler, as tradition gives, had peculiar attractions for the Indians, whether with the purpose to inspect the architecture of the edifices, or else to get a view of the proprietor of the mansion, for he had been an Indian fighter formerly, I cannot say; but often, when in the village, they were to be seen looking curiously in at the windows.

The Christian name of the wife of Mr. Hurlbut was Sarah, but nothing further is known; no date of birth, marriage, nor death. The dates of birth of five of their six sons are missing; whether there were any daughters or not, is not known, During the contention that existed in the Church of Wethersfield, the early records of both of the Town and Church, it is understood, disappeared.

Thomas married Sarah UNKNOWN. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]