John Wilcox, of Hartford

Not a proven son of Christopher Wilcox

John Wilcox, Sr.

• AKA Willcocks
• BIRTH: unknown; say 1595 in England
• DEATH: 1 Oct 1651 Hartford, Connecticut Colony
• BURIAL: Ancient Burying Ground, Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut, USA
• Parents: unknown
• Spouse: Mary (unknown) (d. 1668) - married before 1616 in England

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Biography

John Wilcox of Hartford was born bet. 1595/1598 in England and died October 14, 1651 in Hatford, Connecticut, where he is buried.

John Wilcox emigrated from England with his wife Mary, son John and daughter Sarah around 1635. His oldest daughter Ann may have also been with him under her husband's name, John Hall.

He was one of Hartford's Original Proprietors and accompanied Thomas Hooker from Newtown, MA (now Cambridge) in 1636. As a member of Rev Thomas Hooker's congregation, he became an original proprietor of Hartford. He was given a home lot in a “bend of the Little River” on what is now West Park[4]. He was a selectman in 1640 and chosen surveyor of Highways in 1643 and 1644.[4]

Origins: unknown in England. Some online trees, including an unsourced LDS Pedigree Resource File,[1] claim that John was the son of Christopher Wilcox and Alice Stephens. We need better documentation to confirm John Wilcox Sr's origins. Place of Birth -- One author, Charles Adams Collard, mentioned the fact that there were Wilcoxses at Bury Priory, Suffolk, England. This has led subsequent genealogists to make this the point of birth of John Wilcox the immigrant. Adams made no such connection and mentioned it in passing with several other known Wilcox families in early England.[2]

Wife: her name was was Mary; she was not Mary Farnsworth. Mary was was born 1597 in England. Mary survived her husband seventeen years. Her will was dated October 4, 1666, and she died 1669 in Hartford, CT.

A recently indexed marriage record for John Wilcox and Mary Wylsher, 12 Oct 1615, in Terling,Essex,England, is a good fit given what we know. Unfortunately we don't know enough. We don't know where John was from. So far no subsequent baptisms of children have been located in the same area on 12 October 1615 to Mary Wylshyre, daughter of George Wylshyre and Philippa Thurgwood.

The three children of John and Mary Wilcox were:

1. Ann b. about 1616 at St. Edmonds, Suffolk, England, d. July 20, 1673 m. on July 24, 1651 at Middletown, Connecticut to John Hall[13]
2. Sarah b. 1618 at St. Edmonds, Suffolk, England, d. June 15, 1690 at Hartford, Connecticut, m. 1641 at Hartford to John Bidwell, 7 children.[14]
3. John b. January 13, 1622 at St. Edmonds, Suffolk, England, d. May 24, 1676 at Hartford, m. 1) September 17, 1646 in Hartford to Sarah Wadsworth, 1 child; m. 2) January 18, 1650 at Hartford to Catherine Stoughton, 5 children; m. 3) after 1660 at Hartford Mary (Unknown); m. 4) 1671 Esther Cornwell[15]

Some online trees, including an LDS Pedigree Resource File, claim that John and his wife Mary Farnsworth were parents of Edward Wilcox early emigrant to Rhode Island. But research published in 1993 identified the correct parents of Edward, including parish records of Edward's birth, marriages, and baptisms of his children.[17]

Events

• John was a descendant of Capt. John Wilcox who commanded 1000 lancers against William the Conqueror ?? [unproven]
• came from Leicestershire, England, [unproven] to Hartford, Connecticut, about 1636.
• proprietor of Hartford, Conn.
• surveyor of highways 1642-44; juror 1645; selectman 1649.
• home lot was part of what is now West Park, Hartford, Conn.
• died October 14, 1651; will dated July 24 1651 ; Inv., £391-13. (Ibid.)
• name of John Wilcox is on the Founder's Monument in Hartford, Conn.


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Notes

From Encyclopedia of Connecticut Biography, New York: The American Historical Society, 1923.

• "Among the early residents of Hartford, Connecticut, was John Wilcox, who served as selectman in 1640, was chosen surveyor in 1643-44, and died in 1651. His name appears on the monument erected to the pioneers of Hartford in the Center Church burying-ground. His wife died about 1668."

Robert Charles Anderson, FASG [Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists], The Great Migration Directory: Immigrants to New England, 1620–1640; a Concise Compendium [Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 2015], 373).

• The origins of John Wilcocks of Hartford, Connecticut are unknown

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The Wilcox family seat is in Bury, St. Edmunds (Suffolk) England. The earliest information that I have leads me to believe that in 1565 one Christopher Wilcox was born to ? & ?, married ? who produced a son, John b. 1595 in Bury, St. Edmunds; m. Oct. 12, 1615 Mary Wylshyre dau. of George Wylshyre and Philippa Thurgwood (m. April 25, 1589 at Terling, Essex, England). Mary produced, dau. Ann 1616; dau. Sarah 1618; son John II (John of Middletown, CT) 1620.

Biographical Summary #2:

John Wilcook (Wilcox), an original proprietor, Hartford, 1639; his home-lot was on what is now the West Park, he was chosen surveyor of highways, 1643, 1644; townsman, 1650; died in 1651; will dated July 24; inventory October 1, £391. 13. He names his wife, Mary, who died about 1668.

Children:

i. John, married (1) Sept 17, 1646, Sarah, daughter of William Wadsworth; who died in 1648 or 1649; (2) Jan. 18, 1649-50, Retorn (Katherine) Stonghton; (3) Mary; (4) in 1671, Esther, daughter of William Cornwell, of Middletown. He removed to Middletown about 1654; removed to Dorchester about 1664, but returned to Middletown; died May 24, 1676.

ii. Sarah, married John Bid well (q. v.), of Hartford,

iii. Ann,b. about 1616; married John Hall (q. v.), of Hartford, afterward of Middletown.

SOURCE: James Hammond Trumbull, editor, The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884, Volume 1 (Boston, Massachusetts: Edward L. Osgood, 1886), page 270. Retrieved: 3 May 2011 from Google Books

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Family of John Wilcox & Mary

Source: Hale, House, and related families : mainly of the Connecticut River Valley by Jacobus, Donald Lines, 1887-1970. (1952). Page 805. < Archive.Org >

Hartford in 1640 prepared from the original records by vote of the town and drawn by William S. Porter. Image by The Connecticut Historical Society

From https://www.wikitree.com/photo/jpg/ABGE-77 - see list of attached residents

References

• http://mypeoplepc.com/members/srh260/id48.htm
• http://www.royalblood.co.uk/D972/I972179.html
• http://www.jenforum.com/wilcox/messages/3851.html
• http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/k/i/r/Kristen-Kirk-vanta...
• Adams, Charles C. Middletown Upper Houses: A History of the North Society of Middletown, Connecticut, from 1650 to 1800, with Genealogical and Biographical Chapters on Early Families and a Full Genealogy of the Ranney Family. New York: Grafton Press, 1908.
• http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:John_Wilcox_%281%29_
• http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/p/o/p/Sandra-Popiel/FILE...
• Find a Grave Memorial 18554137
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Wilcox-484 Cites

1. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "Pedigree Resource File," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:2:3HYX-VJC : accessed 2016-04-20), entry for John /Wilcox/.
2. Adams, Charles Collard. Middletown Upper Houses; a history of the north society of Middletown, Connecticut, from 1650 to 1800, with genealogical and biographical chapters on early families and a full genealogy of the Ranney family (1908) [https://archive.org/stream/middletownupperh00adam#page/740 p. 740+
3. "England Marriages, 1538–1973 ," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N2R8-Z2G : 10 February 2018), John Wilcock and Mary Wylsher, 12 Oct 1615; citing Terling,Essex,England, reference , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 0962530 IT 2.
4. Barbour, Lucius Barnes, 1982, Families of Early Hartford, Connecticut, Genealogical Publishing Co. Inc., Baltimore, Maryland and Connecticut Society of Genealogists, Inc., Glastonbury, Connecticut pp.680
5. Nash, Elizabeth Todd.. 1902, Fifty Puritan ancestors, 1628-1660 : genealogical notes, 1560-1900. New Haven: Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Accessed at Ancestry ($)
6. Torrey, Clarence A., 2004, New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Genealogical Publishing Co. Inc., Baltimore, Maryland pp.815'
7. Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford
8. Jacobus, Donald Lines and Edgar Francis Waterman. Hale, House and Related Families Mainly of the Connecticut River Valley. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1978. p. 803+
9. Wilcox, John & Mary Farnsworth (User contributed), citing History of Berlin, Connecticut, Chapter IV, p 80
10. Stevens Page 23
11. Colonial Year Book page 811.
12. A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records, vol ? page ?
13. In New England Marriages Prior to 1700 pg. 334
14. In New England Marriages Prior to 1700, pg. 68
15. In New England Marriages Prior to 1700, pg. 815
16. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "Pedigree Resource File," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:2:3HYX-VJC : accessed 2016-04-20), entry for John /Wilcox/.
17. Fiske, Janet Fletcher "Edward Wilcox of Lincolnshire and Rhode Island" The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2013.) Reference volume 147, pages 187-191
18. Hale, House, and related families : mainly of the Connecticut River Valley. by Jacobus, Donald Lines, 1887-1970 (Publication date 1952). Page 805. < Archive.Org >