Matching family tree profiles for George Hubbard, of Hartford
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About George Hubbard, of Hartford
George Hubbard was born in 1601 "probably in eastern or southern England" (Hubbard History/Day, 1895). More recent scholarship has pinpointed this to Suffolk. Due to exhaustive research, his parentage is considered unknown by the Society of Middletown First Settlers Descendants, the New England Historic Genealogical Society, and other organizations.
Life in Hartford
He first settled in the colonies in Dorchester or Newtown (Cambridge), Massachusetts. By 1639, he moved to Hartford, though he did did not have a clear lot yet.
In 1640, he married 18-year-old Elizabeth Watts, daughter of Richard Watts and Elizabeth (Duck) Watts. They would go on to have eight children from 1645-1660.
In Hartford, the couple had the following children:
- Mary (Hubbard) Ranney - b. January 16, 1641; m. Thomas Ranney in May 1659 at Middletown (11 children); d. December 18, 1721 at Middletown
- Joseph Hubbard - b. December 10, 1643; m. Mary Porter on December 29, 1670 at Middletown (6 children); d. December 26, 1686 at Middletown
- Daniel Hubbard - b. December 1645; m. Mary Clark on February 24, 1669/70 at Middletown (1 child); m. Sarah Cornwell on October 16, 1675 at Middletown (6 children); d. November 9, 1704 at Middletown
- Samuel Hubbard - b. May 1648; m. Sarah Kirby on August 9, 1673 at Middletown (11 children); d. November 4, 1732 at Hartford
- George Hubbard - b. December 15, 1650 at Hartford; d. 1675 at Middletown; unmarried
In 1649, he was "fined 10 pounds for exchanging a gunn with an Indian." (Hubbard History/Day, 1895)
By the time he left Hartford, he had a house-lot in the settlement itself, probably near what is today known as the South Meadows area, as well as land on the east side of the Connecticut River, possibly in what is today East Hartford. That land and house-lot were sold in or before 1650.
Life in Middletown
In 1652, he moved south to Middletown with about fifteen other families, "carr[ying] with him a commission from the colonial government as 'Indian Agent and Trader for the Mattabesett District.'" (Hubbard History/Day, 1895) He achieved freeman status there in 1654.
His children born at Middletown were:
- Nathaniel Hubbard - b. December 10, 1652; m, Mary Earle on May 29, 1682 at Middletown (10 children); d. May 20, 1738 at Middletown
- Richard Hubbard - b. July 1655; m. Martha Cromwell on March 31, 1692 at Middletown (6 children); d. July 30, 1732 at Middletown
- Elizabeth (Hubbard) Wetmore - b. January 15, 1659; m. Thomas Wetmore on February 20, 1684 at Middletown (2 or 6 children; disputed by SMFSD); d. December 6, 1732
On December 17, 1666, the town "Voated to alowe Goodman Huberd fourtie Shillings for Sweeping the meeting hous and keeping the Glas and for his son Josephes beating the drum for all Comon meeting both on Saboth days and all other meeting..."
According to the Society of Middletown First Settlers Descendants, "George Hubbard was one of the 10 men who organized the first church in 1668 ... he contributed land for the second meeting house (1668), which was located in the middle of what is now Main Street, near Liberty and Grand Streets."
On the 1670 census, Hubbard was at the top of the list of the 52 proprietors ranked by wealth. His son-in-law Thomas Ranney was ninth.
Personal Character
The Commemorative Biographical Record of Middlesex County, Connecticut of 1903 (compiler: Charles William Manwaring) described George Hubbard this way:
"It was recorded of him that he was highly respected and of marked integrity and fairness, which he must have been to be selected by the colony as its Indian trader, for promiscuous trading was forbidden, and the possession by the Indians of firearms and fire water would produce direful results; so the trading was confined to one man of discretion and judgment."
Note that this conflicts with the fine he received in Hartford in 1649 "for exchanging a gunn with an Indian." Perhaps he was forgiven in his time, or later biographers chose to forgive him as part of their remembrance.
Legacy
George Hubbard is recognized as one of the first European settlers of Hartford, including having his name on the Founders Monument in the Ancient Burying Ground. He is also listed on the plaque at Founders Rock in Middletown, located in St. John's Park adjacent to Riverside Cemetery, and on a plaque at the famed Godfrey Memorial Library, an important genealogy library, in Middletown.
His descendants today are eligible for membership in both the Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford and the Society of Middletown First Settlers Descendants.
His family Bible is on display in the Connecticut Historical Society's curated exhibit "History Is All Around Us" in Connecticut's Old State House, which is open to the public.
He is very commonly confused with the George Hubbard of Wethersfield and Guilford, who lived in close proximity and had nearly the same birth and date dates.
Resources
- SDFH: George Hubbard
- SMFSD: George Hubbard - simplified
- SMFSD: George Hubbard (PDF) - expanded
- Will of George Hubbard
Biographical Summary:
George Hubbard, son of George Hubbard, of Milford and Guilford, born 1601; said to have been at Hartford as early as 1639, although he had no house lot then. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Watts, of Hartford; removed to Middletown about 1651; he sold his house-lot in Hartford, and land on the east side of the Great River, in or before 1650; freeman, Middletown, 1654; died in Middletown, March 18, 1684-5; his son Samuel settled in Hartford.
SOURCE: James Hammond Trumbull, editor, The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884, Volume 1 (Boston, Massachusetts: Edward L. Osgood, 1886), page 247. Retrieved: 3 May 2011 from Google Books
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George Hubbard, of Hartford's Timeline
| 1601 |
1601
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Suffolk, England
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| 1635 |
September 1635
Age 34
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Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America
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| 1641 |
January 16, 1641
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Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut
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| 1643 |
December 10, 1643
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Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut, British Colonial America
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| 1645 |
December 1645
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Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut
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| 1648 |
May 1648
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Hartford, Hartford, CT, United States
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| 1650 |
December 15, 1650
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Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut
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| 1652 |
December 10, 1652
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Middletown, Connecticut Colony
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| 1655 |
July 1655
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Middletown, (Present Middlesex County), Connecticut Colony, (Present USA)
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