John BELDEN

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: Murdered by Indians

Other Events and Attributes:

• Also Known As: Daniel Belding
• Residence: Daniel Belden

Notes:

When Daniel and Elizabeth and Esther, went to Canada, whence he came back in 1698.

Daniel married Elizabeth FOOTE on 10 Nov 1670 in Hatfield, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts. Elizabeth (daughter of Nathaniel FOOTE, Jr. and Elizabeth SMITH) was born in 1654 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut, USA; died on 16 Sep 1696 in Deerfield, Franklin Co., Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: Killed by Indians

Notes:

Elizabeth along with son Daniel, and the youngest 2 children were killed by Indians on September 16, 1696, when Samuel, Abigail, and two others of the children were wounded.

Excerpt from "Discendants of Nathaniel Foote Sr. & Elizabeth Deming" by Ellwood Count Curtis:

The Hatfield town record states:
"16 September 1696: The Indians came along from up Green river to the town, and assaulted Mr. Daniel Belden's house; took Mr. Belden, his son Nathaniel and daughter Esther captive, killed his wife and three children, and wounded Samuel and Abigail, but they recovered, although Samuel had a hatchet stuck in his head, and some of his brains came out at his wound."

Other Events and Attributes:

• Also Known As: William Beldon

Notes:

Excerpt from "Connecticut Puritan Settlers": tradition says, that two brothers by the name of Belden, were among the first settlers of the colony of Conencticut, and that they made their first location at Wethersfield, but that one of them, (William), after a while, on the settlement of Norwalk, removed thither. As early as Feb. 7, 1641, and among the earliest grants, Richard had eight distnect tracts of land allotted to him by the town, and little or no mention is made of William, save that he had three sons, Samuel, Daniel and John, born by his first wife, Tomisin; yet Williams death is found in Wethersfield, about 1660, and Samuel and John are found at Norwalk, about 1673.

Source: Belden/Baildon by Stephen M. Lawson: William Belden, of Wethersfield, died in 1655. His will dated 27 March 1655, may be found in Hartford County Probate records, in the Particular Court for the years 1650-1663, Volume II, pages 69-70. No land records have been discovered for him although he is mentioned in several records.
Descendants believe William to be the first son of the emigrant Richard, and that he was born about 1622.
In the "Parish Registers of Heptonstall", by Edith Horsfall (Yorkshire Register Society 1925) as cited by Donald E. Poste, there is a William baptized 23 April 1609, shown as a son of Lawrance Beldon of Ayringden.
In this same Register, a Richard Beldon is mentioned although his birth is not shown. William and Richard have been shown as brothers, father and son, and also as cousins. A research agency in 1935, wrote that they were distant cousins, that William Belden came to America in 1646 and established a home in Wethersfield, Connecticut, where he married Thomasine Allen (?). The researcher (name and address now lost), as well as others, made the statement that all Beldens were descended from the large family of the name lving in York County, England.
Most writers have seemed inclined to accept as fact that Richard Belden was the son of Sir Francis Bayldon. Particularly in view of the English history of a Yorkshire manor and family, "Baildon and the Baildons, by Wm. Paley Baildon, ed. by Francis J. Baildon", we used the same assumption in our "Family Hustory of Judge Ellsworth B. Belden (1969).
If Richard Belden was the son of Sir Francis Baildon (Bayldon), then William Belden, of Wethersfield, was not his brother. As Richard was the only one named in Wethersfield records as having a house or land, we have placed William as Richard's first son......

"Belden Ancestry in England" by Stephen M. Lawson states that the parentage of Richard Belden (d. Aug. 1655, Wethersfield, Hartford Co, CT) has not been absolutely proved. The most probable BELDEN ancestry is presented here, summaried from a two part article "the English Ancestry of Richard Belden of Wethersfield, Connecticut, With the Probable Ancestry of William Belden of Wethersfield," by Paul C. REED in "The American Genealogist (76:1-2, Jan and Apr 2001). Refer to the "Appendix on the Belden English Ancestry". Which states the following: The parentage of Richard Belden (d. Aug. 1655, Wethersfield, Hartford Co., CT) has not been absolutely proved. the 'traditional' viewpoint is that he was the son of Sir Francis BAILDON and Margaret GOODRICK who was baptized May 26, 1591 at Kippax, Yorkshire, England. However, there is no documentary evidence identifying Richard BELDEN of Wethersfield as the Richard BAILDON baptized at Kippax. Researcher Paul C. Reed has written a two-part article published in "The American Genealogist" in January and April 2001 in which he concludes, "Richard Baildon, the son of Sir Francis Baildon, died in England. He was not the New England immigrant," and that "The best deduction that can be made is that Richard Belden, born about 1598-1599, was the eldest son of Lawrence Beldon, bnaptized shortly before the commencement of the Heptonstall registry."

Note: For the above reasons, I am putting William Belden as the son of Lawrence Beldon.

William married Thomasine (Tamsen) SHERWOOD in 1646 in Wethersfield, Hartford Co., Conn. Thomasine (daughter of Thomas SHERWOOD and Alice SEABROOK) was born on 24 Oct 1615 in Bocking, England; died on 04 Jan 1684 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: Between 05 Mar 1619 and 1620, Colchester, County Essex, England
• Death: 1655, Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut, USA

Nathaniel married Elizabeth SMITH about 1646 in Poss. Wethersfield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Elizabeth (daughter of Lieut. Samuel SMITH and Elizabeth SMITH) was born before 28 Jan 1627 in St. Mary the Virgin, Hadleigh, Suffolk Co., England; was christened on 28 Jan 1626/7 in Hadleigh, Englan; died after 05 Jan 1702 in Wethersfield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 20 May 1571, Gisburn, Yorkshire, England

Lawrence married ? UNKNOWN. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: 21 Jul 1655, Date of Will
• Fact 1: 25 Oct 1655, Date will was proved

Notes:

"History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield": Sherwood, Thomas - Thomas came to Boston in the "Frances", Apr. 1634, ae. 48, with wife Alice, ae. 47, and children Anna (14), Rose (11), Thomas (10), and rebecca (9). He came to Wethersfield with the first settlers, 1635, was a carpenter, and sold his lands to George Wyllys, 25 Mar. 1640. He removed to Stamford, where he lived until 1648, when he sold to John Holly, and settled in Fairfield. He may have been related to Thomas Morehouse, whose holdings adjoined his in Wethersfield, and who accompanied him in his subsequent migrations.
If the age of the son Thomas was misstated in the ship's list, he could have been the Thomas son of Thomas and Alice bapt. at St. Michael's, London, Eng., 23 Jan. 1630.
Will 21 July 1655, proved 25 Oct. 1655; children by former wife, Thomas, Jane, Tamsen, Margaret, Sarah, Hannah, Rose, Rebecca; wife Mary, and children by her, Stephen, Matthew, Mary, Ruth, Abigail, Isaac.
Fairfield Deeds mention 18 Jan. 1658/9 that "john Banks hath married Mary Sherwood the relict."
His widow Mary m. (2) John Banks and d. in 1694/
Will of Mary Banks, 6 Jan. 1693/4; son Stephen Sherwood's dau. Ruth; son Matthew Sherwood's dau. Mary; Hannah "Lumis"; dau. Ruth; sons Stephen, Isaad; residue to son Mathew; Ens. Wheeler and James Bennett, Sr., overseers. Inv. 13 Mar. 1693/4.

Thomas married Alice SEABROOKEngland. Alice (daughter of Robert SEABROOK and Alice GOODSPEED) was born about 1587 in England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Family History center records show a birth date of May 8, 1606.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Birth: Abt 1593, England
• Emigration: 1633
• Death: 20 Nov 1644, Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut, USA
• Fact: 20 Nov 1644, Inventory of estate taken.

Notes:

Excerpt from "The Descendants of Nathaniel Foote Sr. & Elizabeth Deming" by Ellwood Count Curtis:
From all that we an learn Mr. Foote came from Shalford, in Colchester, England, and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. The first mention I find made of his name is in the Records of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, in 1633, when he took the oath of freeman.........
Mr. Foote married in England, about the year 1615, to Elizabeth Deming, sister of Mr. John Deming, who was one of the first settlers of Wethersfield, and for many years one of the magistrates of the Colony of Connecticut, and one of the patentees named in its charter. His children were all born in England, except perhaps the youngest. Mr. Foote died in 1644, aged about 51 years, and was buried in the ancient burying ground in the rear of the Meeting House, where are gathered together the ashes of nine generations. He left behind him, surviving, a widow, two sons and five daughters. He left no will. At a Particular Court held at Harford, 20 November 1644, the following inventory of his property and distribution of his real estate were exhibited, and an order of court granting distribution of his estate and directing a distribution to be made, was passed.
"An inventory of the good and lands of Nathaniel Foote, of Wethersfield, deceased, being truly taken and indifferently apprised by Richard Treat, Samuel Smith, and Nathaniel Dickinson. The estate was valued at over L380."

Excerpt from "Dawes-Gates Ancestral Lines": Nathaniel, with his wife and probably six children, emigrated to New England where he became a freeman of Watertown, Massachusetts,on September 3, 1634, owned a homestead of sixteen acres and a two-acre marsh and was still a proprietor as late as 1642, but removed before that date to Wethersfield, Connecticut, probably with the first group of its settlers in 1634-6.
In this new home he was the wealthiest man and the largest holder of the so-called "Adventurers' lands." He held a ten-acre home lot and gradually added various other tracts including the southern part of "Pennywise Island." In 1639 he laid out a road two rods wide which ran east from the Connecticut River "to the Wilderness" through his "3 mile lot." Farming was his occupation and, apparently, he established a good reputation as a stock raiser, or else he had superior breed of swine, for in May 1637, when the time "army" of ninety men under Captain John Mason was being provisioned to go against the Pequots, the Colonial authorities specified that "there shalbe 1 hogg provided att Wythersfield for the designe in hande, wch is conceiued to be Nathanial Footes.........."
He acted as Representative to the General Court from 1641-4 and served the community in other useful capacities.
This family, as a whole, had a large share in the tragedies of that early day for Philip Smith, husband o Rebecca Foote, was announced to have been "murdered with an hideous witchcraft"; among the members of the early generations, Nathaniel Foote had, (a), a daughter-in-law and two of her children taken captive by the Indians and another child killed; (b), a daughter and three of her children killed, while (c), her husband and two other children were made captives; and (d), two more of her children wounded; and Frances Foote lost two husbands by the Indians as well as one son-in-law killed and another, with four of his children, taken into captivity.
Nathaniel, aged about fifty-one, died intestate before December 11, 1644.

Nathaniel married Elizabeth DEMING about 1615 in England. Elizabeth (daughter of John DEMING, Sr. and ? UNKNOWN) was born about 1595 in Colchester, England; died on 28 Jul 1683 in Wethersfield, Hartford Co., Connecticut; was buried in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Will Proved: Between Aug and Sep 1683
• Will: 16 Aug 1682

Notes:

Excerpt from "Genealogies of Hadley Families": Lieut. Samuel Smith, with wife Elizabeth and children, Samuel, age 9, Elizabeth, age 7, Mary, age 4, and Philip, age 1, sailed from New England, the last day of April, 1634, in the "Elizabeth" of Ipswich. He and his wife were each then called thirty two years of age. He came from Wethersfield, Ct., where he was a leading man, to Hadley, where he held important offices both in church and state. He is supposed to have died in 1680, age abt. 78. His inventory was taken January 17, 1681.

Name:
The following evidence supports the identification of Samuel Smith, the 1634 immigrant, as the son of John and Mary (Gardiner) Smith.

The 1634 passenger list shows Samuel as aged 32, which agrees with his baptismal date.

He was baptized in Burstall, Suffolk, near Whatfield (where he married in 1624) and where his older children were baptized (Whatfield and Hadleigh).

He was named in the wills of his grandmother Gardiner in 1615 and his father in 1618. Because he had immigrated to New England in 1634, he was not named with his brothers in 1635 will of their aunt Elizabeth (Gardiner ) Hayward.

Samuel and Elizabeth named a son Philip, presumable either for his brother or her father (or both).

Four of Samuel and Elizabeth's six grown children named a child Nathaniel, perhaps for his brother Nathaniel.

Samuel married Elizabeth SMITH on 6 Oct 1624 in Whatfield, Suffolk, England. Elizabeth was born about 1602; died on 16 Mar 1686. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]