Thomas WELLES

Thomas married Martha PITKIN on 28 Dec 1715. Martha (daughter of William PITKIN, Jr. and Elizabeth STANLEY) was born on 28 Feb 1691 in Hartford, Hartford County,Connecticut; died on 04 Jul 1763. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Samuel married Ruth RICE on 20 Jun 1683 in Glastonbury, Hartford County, Connecticut. Ruth (daughter of Edmund RICE and Mercy HURD) was born on 29 Sep 1659 in Sudbury, Middelsex County, Massachusetts; died on 30 Mar 1742 in Glastonbury, Hartford County, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: 1657-1661, Representative
• Military Service: 1665, Lieutenant
• Military Service: 1670, Captain

Samuel married Elizabeth HOLLISTER in 1659. Elizabeth (daughter of John HOLLISTER and Joanna TREAT) was born before 1640 in Wethersfield, Hartford Co., Connecticut; died about 1670 in Wethersfield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: Daughter of John Hollister and Joanna Treat
• Death: 1683

Notes:

Name:
Edmund Rice came from Barkhamstead, in the county of Hertfordshire, in England, and settled in Sudbury, Mass., in 1638 or 9; as he shared in the three divisions of land inSudbury, the first of which was made in 1639, he was not doubt residing there at that time.

No record has been found of his embarkation for this country, nor in what ship he came, or at what place he first arrived; there is not so much as tradition on the subject. The first we find of him is at Sudbury, with a wife and family of at least seven children that came over with him; that place, called "the planation lying near unto Concord," was incorporated in 1639 by the same of Sudbury. His residence was on the east side of Sudbury river, in the southerly part of what is now Wayland, and near the border of the extensive meadows through which that river flows in a northeasterly course to the Merrimac.

He was Selectman in 1644, and subsequent years; Dea,. of the church 1648, and in 1656, one of thirteen petitioners belonging to Sudbury, who besought the General Court for a new plantation, saying, "Whereas your petitioners have lived divers years in Sudbury, and God hath been pleased to increase our children, which are now, divers of them, grown to man's estate, and wee, many of us grown into years, so as that wee should bee glad to see them settled before the Lord take us away from hence; as also God having given us some considerable quantity of cattle, so that wee are so straightened, that wee cannot so comfortably subsist as could be desired; and some of us having taken some pains to view the country, wee have found a place, which lieth Westward about eight miles from Sudbury, which wee conceive might bee comfortable for our subsistence."

Sudbury at that time contained less than seventy-five families, and in territory included what is now Wayland. One would naturally think they were "straightened" for the want of 'neighbors', rather than for want of 'room' for themselves, or 'meadows' wherefrom to procure subsistence for their cattle; and so they found it, even twenty years later, when the town, with an increased population, was broken up and nearly destroyed by the Indians. Their petition was granted, and the plantation laid to them was incorporated by the name of Marlborough in 1660; whereto he removed and had a house lot of fifty aces granted to him by the proprietors of that town, with the rights appertaining thereto in after divisions.

His wife "Tamazine" died at Sudbury, June 13, 1654; the record of her death is the only one wherein her name has been found.

His 2d wife was "Mercie" wid. of Thomas Brigham of Cambridge; whom he married, March 1, 1656. His house lot in Marlboro',on which he built and resided, was in the westerly part of the town, on the old county road leading from Marlboro' to Northboro', and in the bend as it passes round the northerly side of the pond, a short distance northerly of the ancient "Williams tavern," afterwards kept by Gates and since by Wetherby. he was intrusted with various important duties by the General Court, which he discharged with a fidelity that occasioned repeated calls for his services, while the records of Sudbury and Marlboro' contain ample evidence of his vigilant and fatherly care in promoting the welfare of those infant settlements; the destruction of which by the Indians, occurring a few years after, he was not permitted to see by reason of death.

He died at Marboro', May 3, 1663, and was buried at Sudbury. A deposition of his on the court files at Cambridge states his age, April 3, 1656, to be "about 62 years" -hence he was born about 1594, and about 69 years old when he died.

Edmund married Mercy HURD on 01 Mar 1655 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Mass. Mercy was born in England; died in 1693. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Between 1637 and 1660; Chosen As Magistrate
• Occupation: 1639; Elected treasurer of the colony
• Occupation: 1643; Elected secretary
• Occupation: 1649; Commissioner to represent Connecticut in the confederation of New England colonies
• Occupation: 1654; Acting governor
• Occupation: 1655; Governor
• Occupation: 1656; Deputy governor
• Occupation: 1658; Governor
• Occupation: 1659; Deputy governor

Notes:

Name:
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.

Thomas married Alice TOMES in 1618 in England. Alice died about 1640 in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: ? Hunt

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: One of the first Settlers of Wethersfield, Connecticut

Notes:

Name:
He is said to have come to New England about 1642; was made a freeman, May 10, 1643, in Weymouth, Mass. there is reason, however, for thinking that there were two John Hollisters in New England at the same time, one at Weymouth who afterwards returned to England, and the other at Wethersfield. In June, 1644, was a member of the jury at Hartford, from Wethers, Conn. he was a deputy fourteen ties from 1644 to 1658, and had the title of Mr. when he first came to Conn., but after 1657, was styled Lieut. Hollister. In 1656, he became involved in a church quarrel with the Rev. John Russell, of Wethersfield, who excommunicated him that year, and refused to give any reason for his act. Hollister and his friends petitioned the Court, Aug. 17, 1658, for an order compelling Mr. Russell to give his reasons. this petition was granted. As near as we can judge from the scant records which have come down to us, Mr. Hollister had accused Mr. Russell of having given false testimony in a certain case which was probably true, through perhaps, not intentional. the result of the quarrel was that Mr. Russell and his friends moved to Hadley, under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, in 1659.

John married Joanna TREAT. Joanna (daughter of Hon. Richard TREAT and Alice GAYLARD) was born in 1618 in Pitminster, Somerset, England; was christened on 24 May 1618; died in Oct 1694. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: Daughter of Richard Treat

Henry married Margaret BAKER on 22 Jun 1579 in Of Sudbury, Suffolk, England. Margaret (daughter of Thomas BAKER and Agnes GOLDHOP) was born about 1558 in Sudbury, England; was christened on 07 Jul 1558 in St. Christopher, London, Middlesex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]