Gov. Thomas WELLES

1598 - 1660  (62 years)

• Name	Thomas WELLES  [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]
  	He was among the fist settlers of Hartford, coming probably from Cambridge, for 8 Feb 1635/6, "Thos. Wells" owned a house there, (Starr's Goodwin and Morgan Ancestral Lines, I, p. 221.) and he was made Freeman May 17, 1637. (Col. Hist. of Hartford, Love, p. 32.) Was also an early settler of Wethersfield, removing thither in 1646, and an original proprietor at both places. At Wethersfield he bought a house and 18 acres of Mr. John Plumb. He was a magistrate of the colony of Connecticut in 1637, which office he held every successive year until 1654, when he was chosen deputy governor. Besides holding other offices, he was elected governor in 1655 and as this office could not be held by the same man in consecutive terms, he was again elected deputy governor in 1656/7 and governor in 1658; deputy governor in 1659, which position he held at his death. He was first treasurer of the Colony 1639, and secretary of the Colon from 1640 to 1648. In 1649, 1654 and 1659, he was commissioner of the United Colonies. Trumbull includes him in a list of twelve men whom he calls the civil and religious fathers of Connecticut. The information here given concerning the parentage of Governor Wells and the name of his wife was obtained from pleadings in a chancery suit brought in 1648 by John Welles of Tidmington, (Nephew ofGovernor) and his son Robert, a minor, against the grantees of land in Burmington, Warwickshire, conveyed by Thomas Welles of Hartford, Conn., in 1638. The pleadings show that the property in dispute at one time belonged to Robert Welles, father of the Governor. It seems probable, therefore, that the family home was in Burmington or one of the neighboring parishes. [1, 2]
  Prefix	Gov.
  Birth	1598	Essex County, England   [2, 4]
  Gender	Male
  Occupation	Between 1637 and 1660  [9]
  	Chosen As Magistrate
  Occupation	1639  [9]
  	Elected treasurer of the colony
  Occupation	1643  [9]
  	Elected secretary
  Occupation	1649  [9]
  	Commissioner to represent Connecticut in the confederation of New England colonies
  Occupation	1654  [9]
  	Acting governor
  Occupation	1655  [9]
  	Governor
  Occupation	1656  [9]
  	Deputy governor
  Occupation	1658  [9]
  	Governor
  Occupation	1659  [9]
  	Deputy governor
  Death	14 Jan 1660	Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut, USA   [1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9]
  Person ID	I60154	Main Tree
  Last Modified	21 Mar 2018

  
  

  Father	Robert WELLES,   c. 6 Nov 1540, Whichford, co. Warwick, England bur. 24 Sep 1617, Whichford, co. Warwick, England (Age ~ 76 years)
  Relationship	Birth
  Mother	Alice ?   d. Aft 5 Jul 1615
  Relationship	Birth
  Family ID	F08552	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Alice TOMES   d. Abt 1640, Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, USA
  Married	Aft 05 Jul 1615  [8, 10]
  Marriage	1618	England   [4, 9]
  Children	+ 1. Ann WELLES,   b. Abt 1619, Essex County, England d. Abt 1680 (Age 61 years)  [Birth]   2. John WELLES,   b. Abt 1621, Essex County, England d. 07 Aug 1659, Stratford, Fairfield Co., Connecticut (Age 38 years)  [Birth]   3. Robert WELLES,   b. 1624, Essex County, England d. Bef 1659 (Age < 35 years)  [Natural]   4. Thomas WELLES,   b. 1627, Stourton, Warwickshire, England d. 1668, Hartford, Hartford Co., Connecticut (Age 41 years)  [Birth] + 5. Samuel WELLES,   b. 1630, Essex County, England d. 15 Jul 1675 (Age 45 years)  [Birth] + 6. Sarah WELLES,   b. 1632, Essex County, England d. 16 Dec 1698 (Age 66 years)  [Birth]   7. Mary WELLES,   b. 1634, Essex County, England d. Bef 7 Nov 1659 (Age 25 years)  [Birth]   8. Joseph WELLES,   b. 1637, Hartford, Hartford County,Connecticut  [Natural]
  Family ID	F08553	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	25 Aug 2021

  
  

  Family 2	Elizabeth DEMING,   b. Abt 1595, Colchester, England d. 28 Jul 1683, Wethersfield, Hartford Co., Connecticut (Age 88 years)
  Marriage	1646	Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut, USA   [1, 2, 5, 11]
  Family ID	F08534	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	23 Apr 2020

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 1598 - Essex County, England Marriage - 1618 - England  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Sources

  [S3597] Ernest Flagg, "Genealogical Notes on the Founding of New England" My Ancestors Part in that Undertaking. [S04068] "Families of Ancient Wethersfield, Connecticut". [S00084] "The Descendants of Nathaniel Foote Sr. & Elizabeth Deming" Compiled by Ellwood Count Curtis. [S02434] Albert Wells, History of the Welles Family in England and Normandy, (Name: Name: 1876;;). [S02018] Mary Walton Ferris, Dawes-Gates Ancestral Lines Vol. II. [S01765] Ancestry.com: Families of Early Hartford, Connecticut. [S9777] Nathaniel Goodwin, Genealogical Notes or Contributions to the Family History of Some of the First Settlers of Connecticut and Massachusetts, (New England Historic Genealogical Society). [S5151] Donald Lines Jacobus and Edgar Francis Waterman, "Hale, House and Related Families" Mainly of the Connecticut River Valley. [S01839] Ancestry.com: Wyoming & Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvanis Genealogies & Families Histories, Vol 1-11, Harding/Rice Family. [S02419] Donald Lines Jacobus, History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield, Vol. 1, (Name: Name: Clearfield Company, Inc.;;), 76-3279. [S00086] "The Descendants of William Beardsley and Mary Harvey" Complied by Ellwood Count Curtis.