Prior to 1636, The Plymouth Colony had laid claim to Eastern Long Island but had not settled it. On April 22, 1636, Charles I of England ordered the land be given to William Alexander, and he received a grant of the Island of "Matowack" which he then proposed to call the Isle of Stirling. Alexander, through his agent James Farret (who personally received Shelter Island and Robins Island), in turn sold most of the eastern island to the New Haven and Connecticut colonies.
A few English settlers first arrived at Southold in eastern Long Island in 1636/37. Additional English settlements on the east end began when Puritans from New Haven, Connecticut, arrived in present-day Southold on October 21, 1640. In the summer of 1640, they purchased the land from an Indian tribe named the Corchaugs. Southold remained under the jurisdiction of the New Haven Colony until 1662 and of the Connecticut Colony until 1674.
William Wells, one of the first settlers in Southhold, came from Guilford, Connecticut.
Guilford, Connecticut, was founded by Rev. Henry Whitfield in 1639. Many of the settlers who followed him to America originated in Surrey, England.
This band of Puritans, led by the Rev. Henry Whitfield, left England to seek religious freedom in the New World. They set sail for Quinnipiac (New Haven, Connecticut) and arrived there later that summer. After negotiating with the local Native Americans, who were represented by the squaw sachem (female chief) Shaumpishih, the group purchased land halfway between New Haven and Saybrook, Connecticut. There, they established the plantation of Menuncatuck, which was later renamed Guilford and was admitted to the New Haven Colony in 1643.
In the book History of Elizabeth, New Jersey, including the early history of Union County, there is a description of John Baylis that says he was from Guilford, Connecticut, where he was residing in 1642.
The records of the First Church of Southold Long Island (need citation) show that John Bayles was living there by 1654, but the exact year of his arrival is unknown. He bought a lot on Town Street in 1656, upon which he built a house. This means that his children, born before 1654, were probably born in Guilford, Connecticut, part of the New Haven Colony.
In 1661, John Bayles sold his home in Southold Long Island to John Tuthill and moved his family to Dutch Controlled Rustdorp, present-day Jamaica, Long Island.
Can I add John Baylis / Bayles to the list of Settlers.
