Families of Ancient New Haven

“Families of Ancient New Haven,” compiled by Donald Lines Jacobus and published in 1923, serves as a vital genealogical resource tracing the familial histories of New Haven, Connecticut, and its surrounding towns up to the early 19th century. This expansive work meticulously collected births, marriages, and deaths from various public and church records, alongside contributions from probate, land, and court documents, emphasizing families settled in the region before 1750. Jacobus’s methodical approach not only preserves the genealogies of the initial settlers but also includes descendants who moved away from the region. The book’s thoroughness is evidenced by its reliance on primary sources to construct detailed family trees up to the first census of 1790, providing an indispensable tool for both amateur and professional genealogists interested in the early inhabitants of New Haven and its adjacent towns.

The Families of Ancient New Haven compilation includes the families of the ancient town of New Haven, covering the present towns of New Haven, East Haven, North Haven, Hamden, Bethany, Woodbridge and West Haven. These families are brought down to the heads of families in the First Census (1790), and include the generation born about 1790 to 1800. Descendants in the male line who removed from this region are also given, if obtainable, to about 1800, unless they have been adequately set forth in published genealogies.

It is intended to give every record of birth or baptism to 1800, every record of marriage to 1810, and every record of death of individuals born prior to 1800 in the above towns. All dates derived from the public records are followed by an abbreviated reference in italics, indicating their source. A key to these abbreviations is provided. The vital records of six towns, the registers of seven churches, and the inscriptions in twenty-seven graveyards have been copied The probate, land and court records have been searched, as far as they relate to families that settled in this region prior to 1750. Much material has also been gathered from probate and town records of districts and towns outside of this region. Dates not followed by symbols are usually from printed authorities which, although unverified, are considered trustworthy.

The early Wallingford and Cheshire families, which for the most part were of New Haven origin, are given completely to 1780, and in many instances to 1800.

Omissions

Another antiquarian is engaged in compiling the families of Milford and Orange. Hence, we shall devote as little space as possible to those families of Woodbridge and Bethany which originated in Milford.

Some miscellaneous and unassigned records are omitted in the main body of the work. They will be given in the final installment, together with such additions and corrections as may be furnished by descendants.

Arrangement

Families are arranged alphabetically. Under the founder of the family, two generations (children and grandchildren) appear. Children are numbered in the order of birth. Grandsons who left issue are assigned a family number and carried forward as heads of families.

Brackets are used to enclose statements that are not based on conclusive evidence. Such statements, when also preceded by an interrogation point, are considered doubtful.

Ages at death are given in years, months and days. Thus, “ae. 10” signifies 10 years; “se. 0-10”, 10 months; ‘ at. 1-0-5”, 1 year and 5 days. If the record gives the age in weeks, the abbreviation “wks” is used.

The Old Style calendar prevailed until September 1752. March 25th was New Year’s Day, and March was commonly reckoned the first month of the year. Hence, dates between 1 Jan and 24 Mar were usually considered to belong to what is now reckoned the preceding year. Thus, ”5 Feb 1703” often means 1704; but since the New Style was sometimes employed before officially sanctioned in 1752, ‘‘5 Feb 1703” sometimes means 1703. It was the practice of careful scribes to employ double dates (“5 Feb 1703/4,” meaning 1704). The form used in the record is given in the following compilation, and the corrected double date is often added in brackets.

Towns are in Connecticut unless another colony or state is designated.

Census records: divorce: bastardy

Nearly all of the heads of families who appear in the First Census (1790) in the region covered have been identified. The census record is given in the following form:

“Census (NH) 2-1-3.”

The abbreviation in parenthesis signifies the town where resident; the first figure indicates the number of males aged 16 years or over, including the head of the family if a man; the second figure, the number of males under 16 years; the third figure, the number of females, including the head of the family if a woman. Through an error in the Census returns, the population of Barkhamstead, Canaan, Colebrook, Goshen, Hartland, Litchfield, New Hartford, Norfolk, Salisbury, Sharon, Torrington and Winchester are all listed under Litchfield.

Divorce and bastardy, both of which were more common in colonial New England than is generally supposed, are apt to prove perplexing and annoying to the genealogist. Proved cases are for this reason here given, and since we do not pass beyond 1800 it is believed no offence will be taken by living descendants. In the case of divorce, the usual causes were desertion, adultery or bigamy. Herein we do not state the cause, and merely signify the guilty party by the statement “he div. her” or “she div. him”. Wherever we give the name of the father of an illegitimate child, reputed father must always be understood as implied.

In a work covering so much ground, it is not possible to give anything beyond statistical material. Biographies, and colonial or revolutionary services, fall within the sphere of the family historian. Civil and military titles, however, are given when found on record.

Family Histories: Acknowledgments

Wherever it has been possible to consult family histories or magazine articles treating of families included herein, that fact is signified by placing the symbol * before the family name in the former case, or the symbol f in the latter. This not merely is an acknowledgment of indebtedness, but refers the reader to the book or article for the later generations of the family. The histories of the Tuttle, Trowbridge, Munson, Dickerman, Ailing and Atwater families have been particularly helpful. Some genealogical works have not been found invariably accurate, and where any record given herein differs from what has previously appeared in print, it is because the compiler believes the previous account to be in error.

The compiler thanks all those who have furnished private or Bible records, regretting that he cannot specify indebtedness in each instance. Special acknowledgment is due to the following:

• Clarence E. Thompson of West Haven, for permission to examine the manuscripts of the late Harry Ives Thompson, including a copy of the West Haven mortality list;
• Roger S. White of New Haven, for permission to use the late Henry White’s copy of the First Church records;
• Ethel Lord Scofield of West Haven, for much valuable data, especially material from the Superior Court records at Hartford;
• Francis B. Trowbridge of New Haven, for placing at my service his large collection of data on New Haven families;
• Rev. George S. Dickerman of New Haven, for use of his extensive Motes on several Mount Carmel families;
• George C. Bryant of Ansonia, for data relating to families -with Milford connections;
• Clarence D. Smith of Rome, N. Y., for data on the Peck and allied families;
• O. E. Hotchkiss of Oakland, Cal., for data on the Hotchkiss and allied families;
• Dr. G. A. Gilbert of Danbury, for use of his extensive notes on the Gilbert and allied families;
• Rev. Wallace Humiston of Northfield, for his copy of a private Bethany mortality list and other assistance.

The compiler is grateful to the several custodians of church registers, whose courtesy enabled him to copy the records under their care.

Nomenclature found within Families of ancient New Haven

The spelling of surnames did not become standardized until a comparatively recent date. Some spellings prior to 1800 are due merely to the ignorance of the clerks or notaries who wrote the names. Others are variations which the possessors of the name themselves adopted, and which became fixed in certain branches of the family. Thus, Ailing and Allen, Cole and Cowles, Humphreville and Umberfield, are variants of the same name. Since few of these variations became permanently fixed prior to 1800, the method of the present compilation is to disregard them and to use throughout the spelling which prevailed in the early generations.

In the Eighteenth Century, diminutives were regularly employed in place of the commoner Christian names; as Polly for Mary, Dolly for Dorothy, Patty for Martha, or Sukev for Susan. As a rule, such forms were used interchangeably. A woman might be christened Bede in infancy, bnt lengthen it to Obedience later in life; or a man who was christened Azariah might marry, sign deeds, and die, all under the name of Riah. Such carelessness was prevalent that the genealogist cannot assert that this or that was the proper form of the name in any individual case. In the present compilation, no attempt is made to distinguish between variations of Christian names.

Even such names as Mehitabel and Mabel, Ellen and Helena, or Alice and Elsa, were frequently used interchangeably.

The Compiler

Donald Lines Jacobus, B. A. (Yale 1908), M. A. (1911), was born at New Haven, Conn., 3 Oct. 1887, and became interested in genealogical research at an early age. For over twenty years he has searched the original records and collected the material which is presented in the following pages. He is a member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, and has contributed many articles to that Society’s publication. The present compilation was planned several j^ears ago, but was delayed by the war, in which Mr. Jacobus served as a member of the American Expeditionary Forces. Every effort has been put forth to make this compilation a perfect work of its kind; in so far as imperfections have crept in, indulgence is craved.

Notes

• 8 volumes ; 24 cm
• Originally published as New Haven Genealogical Magazine, vols. I-VIII, 1922-32
• Later volumes bear imprint of D.L. Jacobus (Printer Tuttle & Co.)
• Notes
• Copyright not renewed as per Stanford database.
• Irregular pagination.
• Faint text hard to read

Surnames

Volume 1

Abbot, Abernathy, Adams, Adee, Adlington, Albro, Alcott, Allerton, Alley, Allicock, Alling, Allison, Allyn, Alsop, Ambery, Ambrose, Ames, Anderson, Andrew, Andrews, Anno, Anthony, Appleton, Arnold, Ash, Ashburn, Aspinwall, Atkins, Atkinson, Atwater, Augur, Austin, Avery, Ayres, Badger, Bailey, Baird, Baker, Baldwin, Ball, Barber, Barker, Barnes, Barnett, Barney, Bartholomew, Bassett, Batchelor, Bates, Beach, Beadles, Beamon, Bean, Beardsley, Beaumont, Beckley, Beecher, Beers, Belden, Bell, Bellamy, Benedict, Benham, Benjamin, Bennett, Benton, Berry, Biggs, Bills, Bingley, Bird, Birdsey, Bishop, Bivins, Black, Blackman, Blagge, Blakeslee, Bonticou, Booth, Botsford, Boulcott, Bowden, Bowers, Boykin, Bracy.

Volume 2

Abernathy, Allen, Andrews, Atwater, Bale, Barnes, Bassett, Bates, Beach, Beecher, Benham, Bird, Bishop, Bradley, Bragg, Brainard, Bray, Brewster, Brinsmade, Brintnall, Briscoe, Bristol, Brittin, Brockett, Bromham, Bronson, Brooks, Broome, Broughton, Brown, Browning, Buckingham, Buckley, Buddington, Buel, Bull, Bunce, Bunnell, Burn, Burnham, Burr, Burrage, Burrill, Burrington, Burritt, Burroughs, Burwell, Butcher, Butler, Button, Byington, Cable, Cadwell, Caffinch, Callahan, Camp, Candee, Canfield, Canner, Canodise, Carnes, Carpenter, Carrington, Carter, Castle, Catlin, Cavalee, Center, Chandler, Chapin, Chaplin, Chapman, Chappel, Charles, Chase, Chatterton, Chauncey, Cheney, Chew, Chidsey, Chilson, Chittenden, Chittester, Christophers, Church, Churchill, Clap, Claridge, Clark, Clause, Clement, Clinton, Coburn, Coffee, Cole, Coleman, Coley, Collier, Collins, Collis, Conger, Conklin, Cook, Cooper, Corbet, Corey, Cornish, Cornwall, Cotter, Couch, Covert, Coyle, Crabtree, Crane, Crawford, Crittenden, Crocker, Crosby, Crumb, Culver, Cunningham, Curtis, Cutler, Cutts, Daggett.

Volume 3

Alling, Andrews, Babcock, Barnes, Bassett, Beach, Beecher, Benham, Bishop, Bradley, Brooks, Brown, Clark, Corey, Covert, Dailey, Dalph, Dana, Daniel, Danielson, Darling, Darrow, Darwin, Davenport, Davidson, Davis, Dawson, Day, Dayton, De La Roche, Delanoy, Deliverance, Deming, Denison, Dennis, Denslow, Dibble, Dickerman, Diodati, Dixon, Dixwell, Doak, Dodd, Dodge, Dolebear, Doolittle, Dorchester, Dorman, Dougal, Douglas, Downs, Doyle, Drake, Dudley, Dummer, Dunbar, Dunwell, Durand, Dutton, Dwight, Earl, Eastman, Eaton, Edwards, Eels, Eggleston, Elcock, Eld, Eliot, Elsey, Elwell, Emmons, English, Evance, Everton, Ewen, Fairchild, Falconer, Fanning, Farnes, Farnsworth, Farrand, Farren, Fenn, Fenton, Ferguson, Ferril, Field, Fields, Finch, Fisher, Fiske, Fitch, Fitzgerald, Foote, Forbes, Ford, Foster, Fountain, Fowler, Fox, Francis, Frederick, French, Frencham, Frisbie, Frost, Fryer, Fugill, Fuller, Galpin, Garnock, Gaskell, Gatler, Gaylord, Gedney, Geer, Gibb, Gibbard, Gibbons, Gibbs, Gibbud, Gilbert, Gill, Gillet, Glover, Gochee, Godman, Goffe, Goldsmith, Goodrich, Goodsell, Goodwin, Goodyear, Gordon, Gorham, Gould, Gourley, Gower, Graham, Granger, Grannis, Grant, Gray, Green, Greenleaf, Greenough, Gregory, Gregson, Griffin, Griggs, Grinnell, Griswold, Groon, Groves, Guitteau, Gunn, Hackley, Halbidge, Hale, Hall, Hammock, Hancock, Hansen, Harber, Harriman, Harrington, Harris, Harrison, Hart, Harvey, Harwood, Hatch, Hawes, Hawley, Hayes, Haynes, Hayward, Hazzard, Heaton, Helms, Hemingway, Hendrick, Herrick, Hickox, Hicks, Higginbotham, Higgins, Higginson, Hill, Hillhouse, Hine, Hipkins, Hitchcock.

Volume 4

Abbott, Adee, Alling, Beecher, Bradley, Brintnall, Brown, Bunnell, Cook, Dayton, Forbes, Ford, Gilbert, Glover, Goldsmith, Gorham, Green, Hawes, Heaton, Hitchcock, Hitcheson, Hitfield, Hodge, Hodges, Hodshon, Holabird, Holcolm, Hollingworth, Holmes, Holt, Hood, Hooke, Hooker, Hopkins, Horton, Hosford, Hosmer, Hossington, Hotchkin, Hotchkiss, Hough, How, Howd, Howe, Howell, Hoy, Hubbard, Hubbell, Hudson, Huggins, Hughes, Hulburt, Hull, Hulse, Humiston, Humphreville, Hunnewell, Hunt, Huntington, Ince, Ingersoll, Ingraham, Isaacs, Ives, Jackson, Jacobs, Jacocks, James, Janes, Jauncey, Jebine, Jeffries, Jerome.

Volume 5

Andrews, Austin, Baldwin, Benham, Clark, Cole, Cook, Cooler, Darrow, Denslow, Dorman, Fenn, Forses, Glover, Grannis, Hall, Heaton, Hemingway, Holbrook, Hotchkiss, How, Ives, Johnson, Jolly, Jones, Jordan, Joslin, Judd, Judson, Keefe, Kellogg, Kennedy, Kibbe, Kilby, Killam, Kimberly, King, Kingsley, Kirby, Kirtland, Kitchell, Lambert, Lamberton, Lampson, Lancraft, Landon, Lane, Lanfair, Langdon, Langmuir, Langrill, Larabee, Lathrop, Laxen, Le Forge, Leavenworth, Leavit, Leek, Leete, Leffingwell, Lerake, Letort, Lewis, Lindon, Lines, Ling, Little, Livermore, Livingston, London, Lord, Lounsbury, Love, Low, Lucas, Luddington, Luff, Lumsdon, Lupton, Lyman, Lynus, Lyon, Macumber, Mahan, Malbon, Malbone, Mallory, Malone, Maltby, Manchester, Manross, Mansfield, Mansor, Marchant, Marks, Marsh, Marshall, Martin, Mather, Matthews, Mattoon, McBane, McCleave, McConnelly, McCoy, McCrackan, McDonald, McKay, McKee, McKenzie, McLane, McNeil, Mecom, Meeker, Meloy, Merriam, Merriman, Merwin, Mesier, Messenger, Mew, Miles, Miller, Minor, Minot, Mitchell, Mix, Moffat, Montcalm, More, Morgan, Morrill, Morris, Morrison, Morse, Moss, Mott, Moulthrop, Mowatt.

Volume 6

Mudge, Muirson, Mulford, Mullinor, Munn, Munroe, Munson, Murray, Nails, Nash, Nesbit, Newell, Newhall, Newman, Newton, Nichols, Nicoll, Niles, Nobles, North, Northrop, Norton, Nott, Noyes, Oakes, O’Hara, Olds, Orshall, Osbill, Osborn, Oswald, Page, Painter, Pardee, Parker, Parmelee, Parris, Parrot, Parsons, Patchen, Patten, Patterson, Payne, Pease, Peck, Peckham, Penfield, Pennington, Perit, Perkins, Perry, Pettit, Phelps, Phipps, Pierpont, Pigg, Pinion, Pinto, Plant, Platt, Plumb, Pluymert, Pollard, Pond, Porter, Post, Potter, Powell, Powers, Pratt, Prentice, Prescott, Preston, Prindle, Pritchard, Prout, Punchard, Punderford, Punderson, Purcell, Purchase, Quintard, Ralph, Ramsdale, Randall, Ranney, Ray, Read, Redfield, Rexford, Reynolds, Rhodes, Rich, Richards, Richardson, Riley, Ritter, Roach, Roberts, Robins, Robinson, Rogers, Root, Rosbottom, Rose, Rosewell, Ross, Rowe.

Volume 7

Abernathy, Bradley, Brown, Carrington, Horton, James, Janes, Marks, Mix, Osborn, Peck, Perkins, Preston, Roberts, Royce, Ruggles, Russell, Rutherford, Sabin, Sackett, Saltonstall, Sanderson, Sanford, Sava, Sawyer, Scott, Scovill, Searl, Sears, Sedgwick, Seeley, Sellivant, Session, Seward, Sexton, Shares, Sharp, Shattuck, Shepard, Sherman, Shipman, Short, Silliman, Simmons, Simpson, Slaughter, Slauson, Sloan, Slowly, Smith, Spencer, Sperry, Spink, Spinning, Squire, Stacey, Stanley, Starke, Starr, Stein, Stent, Stevens, Stiles, Stillman, Stillwell, Stockwell, Stone, Storer, Stow, Street, Sturdevant, Summers, Sutliff, Talbot, Talmadge, Tappen, Taylor, Teal, Tench, Terrill, Thatcher, Thomas, Thompson, Thorpe, Throop, Tichenor, Tinker.

Volume 8

Allen, Andrews, Barnes, Beecher, Bishop, Bradley, Clark, Dayton, Gilbert, Hemingway, Hitchcock, Hotchkiss, Huggins, Hull, Ives, Luddington, Matthews, Mew, Morris, Moss, Northrop, Pardee, Parker, Peck, Perkins, Royce, Russell, Sperry, Stevens, Street, Thompson, Todd, Tolles, Tomlinson, Tompkins, Totten, Towner, Townsend, Treadway, Trickey, Trowbridge, Trussell, Tucker, Turhand, Turner, Tuttle, Twining, Twiss, Tyler, Upson, Utter, Van Deursen, Van Goodenhausen, Van Voorhis, Vandermark, Vautie, Ventrus, Vietro, Vincent, Vinton, Vollume, Wade, Wainwright, Wakefield, Walker, Wallace, Walter, Wan, Wantwood, Ward, Warland, Warner, Warren, Waterhouse, Waterman, Watkins, Watrous, Watson, Way, Webber, Webster, Weed, Weeks, Wells, Westerhousen, Wetmore, Whaples, Wheadon, Wheeler, White, Whitehead, Whiting, Whitmore, Whitnell, Whitney, Whittlesey, Wickham, Wilcox, Wiles, Wilkins, Wilkinson, Williams, Willoughby, Wilmot, Wilson, Wiltshire, Winston, Winus, Wise, Wolcott, Wood, Woodbridge, Woodhouse, Woodhull, Wooding, Woodruff, Woodward, Wooster, Worthley, Wright, Wylie, Yale, Yeomans, Yorke, Young.

Symbols and Abbreviations Used