Norton, Thomas

Thomas NORTON (1582 - 1648) and Grace WELLS (? - 1648)

my 9g-grandparents

Thomas NORTON was born about 1582 in England, son of William NORTON and Dencia CHELMESBY. He married Grace WELLS about 1625 in Ockley, Surrey, England, and they had 7 children. Ockley is about 30 miles southwest of London. Thomas died in May 1648, and Grace in Aug 1648, both in Guilford, CT.

Thomas NORTON and his family emigrated about 20 May 1639, in the company of Rev. Henry WHITFIELD, aboard the ship St. John. Thomas had been Warden of Rev. WHITFIELD's church in Ockley. The passengers were soon to become the first settlers of Guilford, Colony of New Haven. While at sea, on 1 Jun 1639, the company formulated a covenant, pledging mutual assistance, sometimes called the "Guilford Covenant" or "The Plantation Covenant,"

Also on the ship, and signer of the Covenant, was Francis BUSHNELL and his family. Francis and his wife, Ferris, were also my 9g-grandparents. Francis BUSHNELL and Thomas NORTON were g-grandfathers of John SEWARD (1682 - 1748), my 6g.

The St. John landed at Fair Haven, CT between 10 and 15 Jul 1639. In Sep 1639 the deed was signed for their new settlement at Menunkatuck, purchased of the Quinipiac Indians, which they named Guilford. The original town had 40 people, of whom 28 were heads of families, and 25 were signers of the covenant. [HFS, vol 2, p. 516]

The settlers left in time to avoid the English Civil War (1642 - 1651), but they faced the hardships of a pioneering life.

1816 map showing the area surrounding Ockley, Surrey, England [S8]

NORTON, THOMAS, Guilford, one of the signers of the first compact, 1639; died 1648, leaving widow Grace, sons Thomas and John, daughters Ann, Grace, Mary and Abigail, who married, 1667, Ananias Trians; Ann married, John Warner at Hartford; Grace married, 1651, William Seward; and Mary married, 1660, Samuel Rockwell of Windsor. [GG, Vol. III p. 389]

Thomas Norton had his home lot next south of the original home lot of William Hall, on the west side of State street, near what is known as the Partridge house. He had two acres. [BCS, p. 53]

Henry WHITFIELD (1592 - 1657) was a minister in the Church of England, at St. Margaret's Church in Ockley, Surrey, England, As the Puritans and Separatists began to be persecuted, his sympathies shifted toward them. He was censured as a dissident by the High Commission Court in 1638, and resigned from his post in Ockley. He recruited 25 families, mostly farmers of Surrey and Kent, and they followed him to New Haven Colony in 1639. They signed a covenant on the voyage, and purchased land from the Indians, first called Menunkatuck, later Guilford. Henry was leader of the community until he returned to England in 1650, leaving his wife and 9 children in Guilford. His stone house still stands, the oldest house in CT and the oldest stone house in New England.

Thomas and Grace only lived 9 years in Guilford, where Thomas was the miller from 1646 until his death in 1648. The operation of the mill was taken over by Francis BUSHNELL after Thomas NORTON's death. [BCS, p. 48] Later, Thomas's son John NORTON, and John's sons John Jr and Thomas, filled the role of Miller for Guilford. [BCS, pp. 227-31]

1 Thomas NORTON b: 1582 in England, d: Aug 1648, age 64

+ Grace WELLS m: 1625 in Ockley, Surrey, England, d: Aug 1648

......2 George NORTON b: 1606 ?, d: 1659 [birth date must be wrong]

...... + Mary

......2 Grace NORTON d: 05 Mar 1704

...... + William Lieut. SEWARD b: 1627 in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England, m: 02 Apr 1651 in Guilford, New Haven, CT, d: 02 Mar 1689 in Guilford, New Haven, CT

......2 Mary NORTON

...... + Samuel ROCKWELL m: 07 Apr 1660 in Saybrook, CT

......2 Thomas NORTON b: 1626, d: 1712

...... + Elizabeth MASON m: 08 May 1671, d: 31 Jan 1699

......2 Anna NORTON d: 1679

...... + John WARNER m: 1649

......2 John NORTON b: 1628, d: 05 Mar 1704

...... + Hannah STONE b: 1644, m: 1664

...... + Elizabeth HUBBARD b: 1638

......2 Abigail NORTON

...... + Amamus ZYARD m: 1667

Sources