The genealogy of the Hitchcock family traces the lineage of descendants from Matthias Hitchcock of East Haven, Connecticut, and Luke Hitchcock of Wethersfield, Connecticut. Compiled with meticulous care, this book delves into the historical records spanning several generations, beginning with the arrival of Matthias in Boston in 1635. The narrative encapsulates the journeys, settlements, and familial expansions of the Hitchcock lineage in the early American colonies, integrating data from a variety of archival sources including town and church records, probate courts, and family Bibles. This work not only aims to document the genealogical connections but also to preserve the historical essence of the Hitchcock family as they transitioned from England to the New World, leaving a significant mark on the communities of Connecticut and Massachusetts.
The genealogy of the Hitchcock family, which is the genealogy of the descendants of only two of the Hitchcocks who early settled in this country, scarcely needs an introduction. The family seems to have been, and still is, a very numerous one in England, the “Wills and Administrations in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury” showing a list of 116 of this name between the years of 1590 and 1670. It would probably not be difficult to trace the ancestry back to England of the descendants of Thomas Hitchcock who at the age of 22 came to Virginia in the “Paule of London,” or of the Thomas Hitchcock who with Alice his wife came to Virginia in the “Marygold” in 1624 and settled on Hog Island, or of the William Hitchcock who sailed in 1635 in the “Plaine Joan” for Virginia. But Matthias, Luke and Edward came and left no trail behind them. Probably they were men in the humbler walks of life. All attempts have failed to discover any trace of them previous to May, 1635 when Matthias at the age of 25 landed in Boston and settled for a short time in Watertown, Mass., from which place he soon removed to East Haven, Conn., where our history of the family begins. There he was joined by Luke and Edward as early as July 1, 1644 at which date they both took “Freemans oath” in New Haven. Matthias and Edward remained in East Haven and in this and the towns in the neighborhood of New Haven the descendants of Matthias settled for several generations. About 1645 Luke removed to Wethersfield, Conn., dying there in 1659 after which date his children removed to Springfield, Mass. and in this neighborhood the records of the earlier generations of his descendants may be found.
Robert Charles Anderson in his monumental work on the Great Migration, vol 3, p. 338, claims that Matthew/Matthias was a brother to Edward Hitchcock, but there was no proof whether Luke Hitchcock of New Haven and Wethersfield was a third brother.
Introduction
It may be of interest to state that the Hitchcock family is supposed to have come originally from the county of Wiltshire, England, where they were located from the time of William the Conqueror. The word ” Hitch ” is an old nurse name for Richard and ” Cock ” is the ordinary diminutive. “Anciently there were two families of Hitchcocks in Wiltshire that bore separate ” coats of arms,” one as follows :
“Armor, argent (silver), on a cross azure (blue) five fleurs-de-lis, gold, in the dexter chief quarter a Lion rampant, red. Crest, a castle, red, on the tower a Lion’s head erased, in the mouth a round buckle, its mottoe ” Esse Quod Opto.”
The other one was ” Armor, gules (red), a chevron, silver between three Alligators. Crest, an Alligator.”
The Pedigree of these Wiltshire families can be found in the Harlean collection of the British Museum and may also be found in full in the “Visitation of the County of Wiltshire by Sir T. Phillips, A. D., 1623,” and also in “Hoar’s History of Wiltshire.”
The aim of the genealogy of the Hitchcock family has been to preserve the records of a portion of the Hitchcock family so far as they could be secured from town and church records, records of Probate Courts and Registries of Deeds, and from family records where they have not differed too widely from each other. The records of thirty-eight different towns in Connecticut and Massachusetts have been personally examined, also those of a few towns in New York ; where these and family records disagree the preference has been given to town records, except where the old family Bible could be found ; in which case the Bible has been supposed to be correct.
No effort has been made to follow the descendants of Matthias or Luke after the name has been lost by marriage. Prof. Edward Hitchcock, Jr., of Cornell University was the first to arouse an interest in publishing a genealogy of the Hitchcock family and he himself collected and arranged the earliest records of the family.
The pictures which embellish the genealogy of the Hitchcock family were furnished by the descendants of the men whom they represent.
Notes
- 8 vo, 555 pages
- portraits
- indexes
Source
Hitchcock, Mrs. Edward, The genealogy of the Hitchcock family : who are descended from Matthias Hitchcock of East Haven, Conn., and Luke Hitchcock of Wethersfield, Conn., Amherst, Mass. : Press of Carpenter & Morehouse, 1894.
