Matthias St. John, Sr.

Matthias Sention, Sr. Born August 9, 1601 St. Olave, Silver Street Parish, London, England [1] Died October 19, 1669 (aged 68)[2] Norwalk, Connecticut Colony [2] Resting place East Norwalk Historical Cemetery, Norwalk, Connecticut [2] Residence: St. Olave, Silver Street, London, England Dorchester, Massachusetts Bay Colony Windsor, Connecticut Colony Wethersfield, Connecticut Colony Norwalk, Connecticut Colony [3] Occupation: ship chandler Religion Puritan Spouse(s) Mary Tinker (m. November 1, 1627, Windsor, Berkshire, England) Children Matthias Sention, Jr., Mark Sension, Thomas, Samuel, Mercie St. John Lockwood, James

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Matthias Sention, Sr. (also spelled Sangins,Sension, Senchion, and later as St. John) (August 9, 1601 – October 19, 1669) was a founding settler of Dorchester, Massachusetts, of Windsor, Connecticut, of Wethersfield, Connecticut and of Norwalk, Connecticut.[3]

Matthias was the son of Christopher St. John (c. 1581 – June 19, 1629) and Joane (Nee?) St. John.[1][4] He was the grandson of Thomas St. John, Esquire (1564–1625) and Jane Mathew and great-nephew to Sir William St. John, Knight of Highlight and his wife Eleanor (de Port-St. John) St. John of Lydiard Tregoze. He was the great-grandson of Christopher St. John, Esquire (1547-1616), Lord of Uchel-olau until his death and his wife Elizabeth Bawdrip.

This St. John family came from a small, now abandoned, feudal village called Uchel-olau (High-light in English), Glamorganshire, Wales. Thomas St. John, Esquire removed to London after he was admitted to Gray's Inn, one of the four Inns of Court in 1577. Mathias' father, Christopher St. John was raised in London no later than 1584 and married about 1600. Matthias appears to be his first born child.

Sir William St. John, Knight his great uncle was a member of the Virginia Company of London and recorded in the early census records of Virginia. Sir William was back and forth between London and Colonial America until Matthias and his uncle Matthew came to America permanently. Sir William was a Vice Admiral in the English Royal Navy and had his own ships. Matthias' occupation as a chandler likely refers to ship chandler a service he probably provided for his great uncle, lord of Uchel-olau. Matthias and his uncle Matthew have been merged into 1 person in the 1907 St. John Genealogy book. This information is being corrected in an upcoming publication and further details about Matthias' family are being made public in 2014.

Settlement in Massachusetts Bay Colony[edit] He came to Dorchester, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1632.[6] He was named a freeman on September 3, 1634.[6] He received a grant of twenty acres of land there on January 14, 1635.[6] In 1638, he sold his house to a Mr. Withington, and in 1639, he sold his land to Withington too.[6]

Settlement in Connecticut Colony[edit]

"Matthias Senchion's" property can be seen on this map of the settlement of Windsor He moved to Windsor, Connecticut Colony in 1640.[6] He was granted land ten rods wide and 18 rods deep adjacent to the palisades (the protective fence of the settlement).[6] In 1643 and 1644, he served as a member of a Grand jury.[6]

Matthias is listed as a settler in Wethersfield as early as 1648.[6] Jonas Weede sold Matthias his land in Wethersfield in 1640.[6] On several occasions he served on a jury, and was also himself challenged in court in Hartford.[6] In some cases, the issue was either a debt owed of or to him.[6] On one occasion, he was brought before the court accused of selling "syder to Indians by which they was Drunke" [sic].[6] On another occasion he won a judgment against Stephen Beckwith for defamation.[6] In February 1658, Thomas Wickham bought Matthias' land in Wethersfield.[6]

He moved to Norwalk in 1654.[6] In 1657, he is recorded as working with Isacke More, and Edward Nash to "make and provide a good and sufficient wolfe-pit." [sic][6] The record states that Matthias was chosen in 1660, as a townsman "to act and agitate all such affairs and occasions as the orders of the court authoriseth and that for the Yere ensuinge." [sic][6]

He is listed on the Founders Stone bearing the names of the founding settlers of Norwalk in the East Norwalk Historical Cemetery.

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Birth: 1603 London, England Death: 1669 Norwalk Fairfield County Connecticut, USA

~MY ANCESTOR~

Virkus states that Matthias was the son of Sir Oliver & Sarah Bulkley St. John, but he (Matthias) is not mentioned in the Last Will and Testament of Sir Oliver, so it is doubtfull that they are his parents.

There were two separate people with the name, Matthias Sension, living in London at the same time. This Matthias apears to be the one who was living in St. Nicholas Cole Abby, a chandler (candle maker/seller), married to MARY TINKER (married November 1, 1627), and had two sons baptized there, Thomas on October 24, 1631, and MARKE on June 10, 1633. There were no more baptizms after this which would be consistent with the presence of Matthias in Dorchester in the Colony of Mass. in September of 1634 when he was made a freeman in Dorchester. On January 14, 1634/5 he was granted 20 acres of land there. In the early records his name was spelled Sension, Sention, or Senchon (a French derivative of St. John - even though the family has been shown to NOT be of French origin). The spelling was changed to St. John or Saint John in the early 1700's.

In about 1640, the family removed from Dorchester to Windsor in the Colony of Connecticut. Matthias Sension was given a homelot containing ten rods in the northwest side of the Palisades of Windsor, bounded by the old graveyard on the south, bounded east by the green and went back to the palisades (the fence protecting the settlement).

The family moved on to Wethersfield in the Colony of Conn. where Matthias purchased land from Jonas Weede who had removed to Stamford. He appears on the list of one of the first settlers of Wethersfield. While there, his name appears in the records where he appeared before Particular Courts in Hartford several times between 1650 and 1654 for various reasons such as debt and defamation. On June 1, 1654, "Mathias Sension of Wethersfield sold syder [cider] to the Indians by which they was Drunke." In February of 1658, Thomas Wickham bought his house & gardenplot in Wethersfield, and the family removed to Norwalk.

On April 26, 1664, John Steele sold all of his land in Norwalk to Matthis Sention. He, along with his sons, Mathias Jr. & Matthew Sention, were on the list of the first settlers of Norwalk in 1655. He received lot #10 in the first division of land. His will was dated October 19, 1669, and probated March 10, 1670. His estate was inventoried and totalled 189 pounds. His will mentions his youngest son, James; his wife; his mother -- "Mother Seele one cow and one ewe"; sons: Samuel Sension, Mathias Sension, and Mark Sension; and son-in-law, Ephraim Lockwood. He left 205 shillings each to his beloved brother & sister Hoit [may be Walter Hoit] as a token of love.

Other known children: Mary (St. John) Hyatt MATHIAS ST. JOHN, my ancestor Matthew St. John Thomas St. John Samuel St. John Mercy (St. John) Lockwood James St. John

Family links:

Spouse:

 Mary Tinker Saint John (1606 - 1669)

Children:

 Mathias Saint John (1628 - 1728)*

 Thomas Sension (1631 - 1639)*

 Mark Saint John (1633 - 1693)*

 Samuel Saint John (1637 - 1685)*

 Mercy St. John Lockwood (1642 - 1694)*

*Calculated relationship

Burial: East Norwalk Historical Cemetery Norwalk Fairfield County Connecticut, USA Plot: No tombstone remains.

Created by: Nareen, et al Record added: Sep 26, 2008 Find A Grave Memorial# 30089736 ________________________________

Notable descendants[edit] Matthias Sension is the ancestor of many people with the surname St. John in America.[6] The name was changed in the early 1700s.

Ninth great-grandfather of George H. W. Bush Matthias Sention, Jr., founding settler of Norwalk Mark Sension (1630–1693), deputy of the Connecticut General Assembly from Norwalk (1672, 1676, 1678, 1684) Stephen St. John (1735–1785), member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from Norwalk (1778, 1780–1785) Stephen St. John, member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from Norwalk (1805, 1806) Frederick St. John Lockwood, member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from Norwalk (1865, 1866, 1872)

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• 'Full text of "The St. John genealogy; descendants of Matthias St. John, of Dorchester, Massachusetts, 1634, of Windsor, Connecticut, 1640, of Wethersfield, Connecticut, 1643-1645, and Norwalk, Connecticut, 1650"
• http://www.archive.org/stream/stjohngenealogyd00alex/stjohngenealog...
• http://www.archive.org/details/stjohngenealogyd00alex
• http://www.archive.org/stream/stjohngenealogyd00alex#page/3/mode/1up
• '1 MATTHIAS ST. JOHN, SENSION or SENTION, the first of this name whom we can trace in America, was born in England, came to Dorchester, Mass., in 1631-2, and was made a freeman there, on September 3rd, 1634. He received a grant of 20 acres in Dorchester, January 14, 1635, " at the bounds betwixt Roxbury and Dorchester. . . . .
• http://www.archive.org/stream/stjohngenealogyd00alex#page/5/mode/1up
• ' Matthias Sention's Will was dated Oct. 19, 1669, and he died in Norwalk, in October or November of the same year. His Estate was inventoried on Jan. 31, 1669-70. He mentions his wife in his Will without giving her name ; wills to his " Mother Selle one cow and one ewe," and " unto my dearly beloved brother and sister Hoit, Twenty shillings apiece as a token of my love." On Jan. 3, 1670-71, the Town of Norwalk voted that his son " Matthias Sension is to take up his proportion of six acres to the hundred upon Elie's Nek, next to his uncle Hoite." Probably this was Walter Hoite (Whitney, 573).
• http://www.archive.org/stream/stjohngenealogyd00alex#page/8/mode/1up
• Children:
  • 2 i Matthias, b. in 1630; d. in Dec, 1728-9; m. Elizabeth.
  • 3 ii Mark, b. in 1633-4; d. Aug. 12, 1693; m. (1) before 1655-6, Elizabeth Stanley, b. abt, 1635; m. (2) in Jan., 1690, Dorothy Smith, who d. in 1706.
  • 4 iii Samuel, b. in 1637-40; d. Jan. 14, 1685; in. in Sept., 1663, Elizabeth Hoite, who d. in 1686.
  • 5 iv Mercy, m. June 8, 1665, Ephraim Lockwood, b. in Watertown, Mass., Dec. 1, 1641, the son of Robert and Susannah Lockwood.*
• ______________
• http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/STJOHN.htm#Matthias St. JOHN1
• 'Matthias St. JOHN
• 'Born: 1604, St Botolph, Bishop Gate, London, England
• 'Christened: Windsor, Fairfield, Connecticut
• 'Died: 19 Oct 1669, Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut
• 'Buried: Jan 1669/70, Windsor, Fairfield, Connecticut
• 'Notes: does not seem likely that Matthias St. John was connected with the families of the nobility or gentry. Perhaps he was of Huguenot origin. A great many of these French protestants fled to England and engaged in various trades to support themselves. "St. John" is a very common parish name in France, and would probably sound like Sension. Perhaps he was descended from servants of one of the above gentry families, and his ancestors took the name of their masters. This is what happened with many freed slaves in the South, and the same process in England led to servitors having noble surnames.
• Father: Oliver St. JOHN (Sir)
• Mother: Sarah BULKELEY
• 'Married: Sarah (or Mary) ?
• Children:
  • 1. Mathias St. JOHN
• _____________
• 'Genealogical and memorial history of the state of New Jersey ... edited by Francis Bazley Lee
• http://books.google.com/books?id=S5E-AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA957&lpg=PA957&dq... Pg. 956
• ____________

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   Families of Old Fairfield Vol. 1, Part 4 by D.L. Jacobus

Matthias St. John came to Dorchester, Mass. in 1632;Freeman 3 Sept. 1634. Moved to Windsor about 1640 and 1654 to Norwalk, where he died about 1669 or 1670. Will dated 19 Oct. 1669. Youngest son James, my wife, his mother; sons: Samuel Sention and Ephraim Lockwood; residue, double portion to son Matthias, one part to son Mark, and the other two parts to sons Samuel Sention and Ephraim, Inv., January 1669/70. Records show Matthias also used the surname Sention. Possible name change when he emigrated to America. There was a John St. John who faught with Wallace for the independance of Scotland.
1

1. Note:

   (Research):The Last will and testament fo Mathias Sension Senior of Norwocke made this 19th of October 1669: Revoking all former will: I being at this present in perfect understandting and memorie but weak in body expecting my change suddenly in hope of a Joyfull Reusrection at the Last day; thorowe the vertu of the resurection of may alone Saveour & blessed Redemer: The estate of the lord of his bounty hath given me and blessed me withall: I doe by these presents will and bequeath: my Just Debts to be faythfully discharged: my body decently Interred---It. I will and bequeath unto my youngest sonn Janes Sention my now dwelling house and houses belonging to the same with the orchyard yards homelot with alsoe the half part of all my upland and meadowe belonging to my acomodations in Norwocke excepting that upper parcell of meadowe lying upon Sagatuck River; my sonn James paying faythfully and carefully the sum of five pounds yearly unto my beloved wife his mother and that in such current pay as may best sute for her supply my sonn James to enter upon his said houses and lands in or upon the last of March next ensuing. It. I will and bequeath unto my beloved wife: as the five pounds yearly to be payd by my sonn James unto my sayd wife during her natural life: soe alsoe I will and bequeath unto my sayd wife the other half part of my accomodations of Upland and meadow during her life and at her decease I will and bequeath then the same unto my sonn James he paying the sum of Ten pounds unto my overseers. It. I will and bequeath unto my sonn James the half of my household goods and alsoe two working oxen two cowes one horse Twelve sheep: And to be set out and apointed unto him between the date hearof and the last of next of March: My son James continuing and faythfully attending the threshing of the corn and wintering the cattell, the said goods and cattell to be set out by my overseers. It. I will and bequeath unto my marther selle one cowe and one ewe to be delivered and payd her between the date hearof and the last of March next -- It. I will and bequeath unto my sonn Samuel Sention and Epraim Lockwood that parcell of meadow upon Sagatock River called the upper parcell they to enter upon the same Imediatly after my Decease. It. I will and bequeath unot my beloved wife the other half part of my household goods the sayd part to be set as may best sute my wife and that by my overseers: Alsoe I will and bequeath unto my sayd wife all the rest of my estate unbequeathed during her life shee to have the comfort and benefit of the same, and the said estate to be ordered byt my overseers unto that end---and my mind and will is that after the Decease of my wife what estate is left and is in being should be taken by my overseers and vallued: and alsoe that parcell of meadowe bequeathed to Samuell Sention and Epraim: to be vallued and then all divided into five parts my sonn Mathis to have two parts; and my sonne Marke one part; and my sonn Samuell Sention and Epraim the other two parts---they acounting the meadowe in part of the same. --It. My will and mind is that yf my sonn James Sention should decease this life before he comes to posses the house homelot and the half of the acomodations and the goods and stock of cattell bequeathed that then the same I give and bequeath unto the rest of my children---only my sonn Mathias to have a duble part to the rest: I will and bequeath unto my Dearly beloved brother and sister Hoit Twenty shillings a peece as a token of my love and they to lay it out in what they please and keep as a remembrance; It. I doe desire constitute ordayn and apoint my beloved brother Hoit and my sonn Mathias and my sonn Marke Sention overseers of this my will and Testament desiring them to have and contnue a speciall care of my wife and to this my will and testament I have set to my hand the day and year above written in the presence of

Thomas ffitch Seniour

   Ralph R. Keler

At a Court held a ffairfeild the 10 March 1669 the Court approves of teh aboesaid will and order it to be Recorded
William Hill, Clarke

The Will of Matthias St. John, Sr., from the Fairfield Probate Records, vol. 1665-75, p. 47, is as follows:

The Last will and testament of Mathias Sension Senr. of Norwocke made this 19th of October 1669: Revoking all former will:

I being at this present in perfect understanding and memorie but weak in body expecting my change suddenly in hope of a Joyfull

Resurection at the Last day: thorowe the vertu of the resurection of my alone Saveour & blessed Redemer: The estate the lord of his

bounty hath given me and blessed me withall: I doe by these presents will and bequeath: my Just Debts to be faythfully discharged: my

body decently Interred— It. I will and bequeath unto my yongest sonn James Sention my now dwelling house and houses belonging to

the same with the orchyard yards homelot with alsoe the half part of all my upland and meadowe belonging to my acomodations in Norwocke

excepting that upper parcell of meadowe lying upon Sagatuck River ; my sonn James paying faythfully and carefully the sum of five pounds yearly unto my beloved wife his mother and that

in such current pay as may best sute for her supply my sonn James to enter upon his said houses and lands in or upon the last of March

next ensuing. It. I will and bequeath unto my beloved wife: as the five pounds yearly to be payd by my sonn James unto my sayd wife

during her natural life: soe alsoe I will and bequeath unto my sayd wife the other half part of my accomodations of Upland and meadowe

during her life and at her decease I will and bequeath then the same unto my sonn James he paying the sum of Ten pounds unto my overseers.

It. I will and bequeath unto my sonn James the half of my household goods and alsoe two working oxen two cowes one horse

Twelve sheep: And to be set out and apointed unto him between the date hearof and the last of next of March: My son James continuing

and faythfully attending the threshing of the corn and wintering the cattell, the said goods and cattell to be set out by my overseers. It.

I will and bequeath unto my marther selle one cowe and one ewe to be delivered and payd her between the date hearof and the last of

March next—It. I will and bequeath unto my sonn Samuel Sention and Epraim Lockwood that parcell of meadowe upon Sagatock River

called the upper parcell they to enter upon the same Imediatly after my Decease. It. I will and bequeath unto my beloved wife the other half part of my household goods the sayd part to be set as may best sute my wife and that by my overseers : Alsoe I will and bequeath unto

my sayd wife all the rest of my estate unbequeathed during her life shee to have the comfort and benefit of the same, and the said estate to be ordered by my overseers unto that end—and my mind and will is that after the Decease of my wife what estate is left and is in being

should be taken by my overseers and vallued: and alsoe that parcell of meadowe bequeathed to Samuell Sention and Epraim ; to be vallued

and then all divided into five parts my sonn Mathias to have two parts ; and my sonn Marke one part; and my sonn Samuell Sention and

Epraim the other two parts—they acounting the meadowe in part of the same—It. My will and mind is that yf my sonn James Sention should decease this life before he comes to posses the houses homelot and the half of the acomodations and the goods and stock of cattell

bequeathed that then the same I give and bequeath unto the rest of my children—only my sonn Mathias to have a dubble part to the rest: I will and bequeath unto my Dearly beloved brother and sister Hoit Twenty shillings a peece as a token of my love and they to

lay it out and they to lay it out in what they please and keep as a remembrance: It. I doe desire constitute ordayn and appoint my

beloved brother Hoit and my sonn Mathias and my sonn Marke Sention overseers of this my will and Testament desiring them to have and

continue a speciall care of my wife and to this my will and testament I have set to my hand the day and year above written in the presence of Thomas ffitch Sen1-

.his Mathias Sention:—

                                                                               Ralph R. Keler 

Probate Records 7 June 1895 , Fairfield County, Conneticut, USA

State of Connecticut SS.

Probate Court, District of Fairfield. Fairfield, June 7th 1895. This may certify that the above and foregoing is a true copy

of Page 47 Vol. 1665-75 of the probate records of the District of

Fairfield. Attest, Elmore S. Banks, Clerk, (L. S.)

The Fairfield Probate Records, vol. 1665-75, p. 48, read:

A Inventory of the estates of Mathias Sension Senr late of Norwocke

deceased Taken in January last 1669 by three select men of the aforesaid towne whose names are under subscribed the said estate

being vallued and apprized & is as followeth

Imprimis in bedding 09 - 16 - 00

It. in ruges blankets coverled curtains 05-15-08

It in sheets and pillow beers 05 - 00 - 00

It in Table linning 00-14-06

It in new peces of linning 01 - 05 - 06

It in movables of brass 02 - 18 - 00

It in movables of Pewter 02 - 16 - 00

It in wooden movables 04 - 04 - 03

It in movables of Iron 02-11-06

It in ammunition 03 - 02 - 00

It a pair of Stilliards beam scales weights 01 - 10 - 03

It in earthen ware 00 - 04 - 06

It in hops salt candles cards & sacking 01-19-08

It in husbendry Tooles 01 - 05 - 00

It in cart wheels & Iron belonging 02 - 08 - 00

It in plowes plow Irons yoke & chaines 02 - 08 - 00

It in a cart, rope traces & a saddle 01 - 02 - 00

It in cattell small and great. 49-10-00

It in sheep 06 - 00 - 00

It in swine fatted & lean 18-12-00

It in horses old and yonge 29 - 00 - 00

It in hay in the barn and yards 06 - 00 - 00

It in wheat in the barn 10 - 00 - 00

It in Pease and oats 03 - 00 - 00

It in Indian corn 05 - 00 - 00

It in wampam Penge 01 - 04 - 00

It in debts due to the estate 13 - 10 - 06

It in houses and Lands 100 - 00 - 00

It in his wearing clothes 08 - 14 - 00

It in four Iron hoopes 09 - 00 - 00

Totall sum 300 - 00 - 04

Richard Omsteed

Thomas ffitch Senr

Thomas Bennedick Senr

At a Courte held at ffairfield the 10th March 1669 Mathias

Sention makes oath that this is a true Inventory acording to the best of his knowledge.

Willm

Hill, Clarke. State of Connecticut, SS

Probate Court, District of Fairfield. Fairfield, June 7th, 1895. This may certify that the above and foregoing is a true copy of

Page 48 Vol. 1665-75 of the probate records of the District of

Fairfield. Attest,

Elmore S. Banks,

Clerk. (L. S.)

   Sources:

U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 Yates Publishing
Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s Gale Research
Ancestry Family Trees
WikiTree

[for extended bio see f/g # 30089736]

Family links:

Spouse:

 Mary Tinker Saint John (1606 - 1669) 

Children:

 Mathias Saint John (1628 - 1728)*

 Thomas Sension (1631 - 1639)*

 Mark Saint John (1633 - 1693)*

 Samuel Saint John (1637 - 1685)*

 Mercy St. John Lockwood (1642 - 1694)

Burial: East Norwalk Historical Cemetery Norwalk Fairfield County Connecticut, USA Plot: No tombstone remains. Created by: Nareen, et al Record added: Sep 26, 2008 Find A Grave Memorial# 30089736 -tcd