Thomas HURLBUT

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: Son of John Hurlbut and Mary Deming

Notes:

Name:
He was a blacksmith and after his father's death occupied the homestead, with also the original smithery, on the town lots, given to his father in 1669. He is said to have been a man of industry and integrity, a large land-holder, and a prominent man in the town.

Thomas married Martha COLLINS on 15 Dec 1705 in Middletown, Connecticut. Martha (daughter of Rev Nathaniel COLLINS and Mary WHITING) was born on 26 Dec 1674 in Middletown, Connecticut; was christened on 27 Dec 1674 in Middletown, Connecticut; died on 7 Jan 1748 in Middletown, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name:
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]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: Daughter of John Deming and Honor Treat of Wethersfield
• Birth: 1655

Notes:

Name:
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]

Notes:

Name:
"Deming Genealogy": John Deming, the immigrant ancestor of most of the persons bearing his family name, was one of the early settlers of Wethersfield, Connecticut, where he recorded his homestead in 1641, as a house, a barn, and five acres of land, bounded by High Street, west, the Great Meadow, east, Thomas Standish's homestead, north, and Richard Crabbe's homestead, south. The dates of his birth, marriage and death, have never been discovered. His wife was HONOR TREAT, daughter of Richard Treat, whose second wife Alice Gaylord, was her mother. It has not been proven that Honor was his first and only wife, nor that she was the mother of all of his children, although it is probable. In his will of 13 Feb 1668, Richard Treat makes the following bequest: "Item: My debts being paid, I give to my loving sons John Demon, and Robert Webster, equally, all the rest of my goods and chattels whatsoever, except Mr. Perkins book, which I give to my son John Demon, and my great bible to my daughter Honor Demon. And that money in my cousin Samuel Wells, his hand, unto my cousin David Deming, son of John Demon senior." This obscure clause seems to indicate that there was a John Demon senior, as well as John Demon the son-in-law, and suggests the possibility that the father of John Deming of Wethersfield was also names John. This is stated as a fact by Hinman, without giving authority, and the theory is further supported by the statements of the compiler of the Wells Genealogy, and other genealogists. Treat refers to David Deming as his cousin, and indicates the same relationship with Samuel Wells, who is presumably the son of Gov. Thomas Welles, who married Elizabeth Deming, said to have been a sister of John Deming. It would thus appear that the Treats, Welles, and Demings were connected in some way, perhaps before their removal to America. This is the only clue to the parentage of John Deming, and may ultimately lead to its final discovery.

It has been stated by some genealogists that John Deming was among the very first settlers of Wethersfield in 1635, and such is probably the case, but the proof is lacking. His first appearance upon the public records of the colony, after recording his homestead, was in 1642, March 2nd, when he was one of the jury of the "particular court." In 1645, Dec. 1st, he appears among the deputies as Jo. Demon, and in 1656 as John Dement, when as a deputy, he is appointed one of a committee, "to give the best safe advice they can to the Indians." In 1657, May 21st, he appears as a deputy to the General Court, as John Deming, and the following year as John Dement. He was a deputy at various courts until 1667, under various names, the name Deming prevailing at the last. He was also a litigant in several lawsuits. He is one of those named in the famous charter of Connecticut, in which King Charles granted to them and to those who should afterwards become associated with them, the lands of connecticut, "in free and common socage," and established a colonial government with unusual privileges.

Across the river from Wethersfield, and within its boundaries, lay the "Naubuc Farms," afterwards incorporated into the town of Glastonbury. Here among the first to obtain a lot, was John Deming in the year 1640, his name appearing as John Demion. It is not at all likely that he ever lived here, for he had a house in Wethersfield the following year, and he sold the land on the east side of the river to Samuel Wyllis before 1668. he also owned land in Eastbury, for which he was taxed in 1673. In 1669 he is listed among the freemen of Wethersfield, as John Deming Senior, together with John Deming Junior, and Jonathan Deming. He bought considerable land in Wethersfield at various times, some of which he gave to his sons before he died. The actual date of his death has never been discovered. He signed a codicil to his will Feb. 3, 1692, and this is the last recorded act of his life. When the public lands were allotted to the inhabitants in 1695, he did not draw a portion. It is probable that he died soon after 1692, although his will was not pored until 21 Nov. 1705, and Savage, and other genealogists have assumed that he lived until that year.

No public record has been found of the births of the children of John Deming, but their names, as far as known, have been taken from his will, which is preserved in the Probate Court of Hartford........

This old will is the one glimpse we have of the character of John Deming. It reveals a spirit of piety, of love for his family and his friends, and the companionship of some of the best men in the colony. It shows that he was a man of substance, well supplied with lands, and cattle; that he was equipped to work at some trade, which o doubt proved of service in the little colony when they first settled so far fro the older towns on the coast. We would like to know what that trade was, but the records are silent on that point. under the first will, David was to have the tools of the shop, and David, we know, was a rope-maker; but under the codicil to the will, these tools went to john Deming Junior, and whether he continued in his father's trade or not, we are not informed. At the time this will was written, John Deming must have been over seventy years old, and we may picture him in his last days among his children, and grandchildren, reading from his old Geneva bible, or talking with his old friends and neighbors of the trials and hardships of the early days of the settlement. As his wife is not mentioned in his will, it is probable that she died first. The church records of Wethersfield show among the members in 1694 "Jon. Deming Jr's. widow." It is hard to tell to whom this refers, unless to the widow of John Deming the first settler, but it is more probable that some other person is meant. Eunice Standish and her sister Sarah mentioned in the will as cousins, were daughters of Thos. Standish, whose land adjoined Deming's. The connection of this family with Capt Miles Standish of the Plymouth colony, has not been discovered. It would be interesting to learn how close was the relationship between the Deming and Standish families.

That John Deming was a prominent man in the affairs of the Connecticut colony, cannot be doubted, and his apparent association by kinship and friendship with those whom we look upon as among the founders of new England, indicates that he was a man of more than ordinary intelligence, and possessed of some education. It is to be hoped that future investigation may bring to light more information than we now have regarding his life in America, and the history of his birth and ancestry in his mother country.

Trumbull speaks of John Deming as one of the fathers of Connecticut, and Hinman says of him, that in 1654 he held the office of constable of Wethersfield, an office which proved that he was in the full confidence of the Governor. His name frequently appears upon the records of the colony with the prefix "Mr.," a courtesy paid only to men of some prominence. The same authority states that he was a representative at fifty sessions of the General Court, while in Hollister's roll of deputies, he is credited with nineteen sessions. It is certain that he bore his full share in the upbuilding of the colony, serving his country as the opportunity presented itself, and setting an example of good citizenship, which has born fruit in the loyalty and patriotism of many of his descendants during many generations.

John married Honour TREAT about 1637. Honour (daughter of Hon. Richard TREAT and Alice GAYLARD) was born in 1616 in Pitminster, Somerset, England; was christened on 19 Mar 1615/16 in Pitminster, Somerset, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]