David Bishop, Sr.

David Bishop was a founding pioneer of east Ashford, Windham, Connecticut. Most of the settlers came from Roxbury, MA. and settled on what is now called Woodstock Hill in 1686. The town was originally called New Roxbury. There were two settlements, East and West, and in the middle was built the Meeting House. Woodstock was the place where the famous minister to the Indians, Rev. John Eliot,preached the gospel and made it available in the local Native American language.

Ashford was also formerly called New Scituate and was founded in 1710. This area, part of the Wabbaquasset Indian country, was deeded to Captain James Fitch of Norwich in 1684 by Owaneco, sachem of the Mohegans.   Rev. James Hale was another early settler. In October, 1714 further town privileges were granted and liberty to settle a minister and erect a meetinghouse. William Ward and John Perry were chosen as selectmen at the first town meeting, held early in 1715. This green was the center of town before the separation of Eastford  (East Ashford) in 1847. The First Church of Ashford, Congregational, organized November 26, 1718 with James Hale as minister, stood on this common.

David's death date is inferred (but not proven) by his wife's remarriage to Benjamin Allen.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=93606

Bristol County Probate Court References

On May 11, 1711, Edward Bishop, Jr. made a will, which was probated May 28 of that year.
It was witnessed by Deacon Samuel Newman, Moses Read, and Daniel Carpenter.

Edward named the following individuals in his will:
Sarah Bishop: Wife. Executor.
Edward Bishop: Eldest son.
Samuel Bishop: Son.
William Bishop: Son.
Jonathan Bishop: Son.
Joseph Bishop: Son.
David Bishop: Son.
Benjamin Bishop: Son, adding, "if he lives to come home."
John Bishop: Son.
Ebenezer Bishop: Son.
Priscilla Day: Daughter.
Sarah Jorden: Daughter.
Samuel Day: Son-in-law.
Edward Day: Grandson, under age 21.
John Day: Grandson, under age 21.

Sarah Bishop died in 1725. Bristol County Probate Records Vol. 5, p. 157, records that the Court appointed Samuel Bishop of Attleboro the administrator of his late mother's estate.
She died intestate.

Marriage: 4 February 1701

Childrens births confirm mother Rebeckah.

Woodstock, Windham, Connecticut, United States

Citing Norafleming1:

Vital Records of Connecticut, Series I, Towns III, by Lucius Barnes Barbour, a compiled record of vital births, marriages and deaths for the town of Woodstock,  Connecticut.  See page 2: "A return of Mr Josiah Dwight of  Such Persons as were married by him in Woodstock", then included is the marriage of David Bishop and Rebeckah Hubbard, both of Woodstock, on 4 February 1701/02.

From the Proprietors Records of the town of Ashford, Windham, Connecticut, 1705-1770, page 48, dated 29 December in the year of 1718, is found the following: "Voted at sd meeting that the town doe grant to the heirs of David Bishop an equal share of all divisions of land". (FHC Film number 3676). From these same records, on a 1716 list of proprietors voting in Ashford was David Bishop. He does not appear on any later lists, only mention of his heirs. Also, in December of 1717 is a marriage recorded of a Rebeckah Bishop to Benjamin Allen. This needs to be verified but could be David's widow. There are further records in the deeds of Ashford which many years later mention David's children and heirs.: put into standard format TRittel

Birth Calculation:

David had to have been 16 years of age by 1695. He was a signer on a petition in Salem, Massachusetts that year, under the heading "Young Men 16 years old". 1677 is an estimate based on his birth order (listed in his father's will in 1711) and approximate birth dates of his siblings. As for David's place of birth, the family of Edward Bishop and Sarah Wildes Bishop was living in either Beverly or Salem Village, in Essex County, Massachusetts at the time. David didn't move from Essex County until about 1700 or 1701. His name appears on the tax lists for Essex County until those years.

Settlement at Ashford:

The general court, whose committee had done nothing toward laying out a town here, now reappointed a committee with more practical instructions to proceed at once with the project of establishing a town here. The committee now took possession of .the township and undertook to lay it out in the name of the colony. The name Ashford was suggested by the great number of ash trees which grew in the primitive forests. The region was rough, rocky and unattractive, a great portion of it being covered with dense forests which abounded in wolves, bears and various species of game. This was a favorite hunting ground of the remaining Wabbaquassets, who secured large quantities of furs here, which they furnished in trade to Mr. Corbin, who derived therefrom a considerable revenue. Only two families of white inhabitants, and they living five miles apart, were now upon the tract. The impending contest between the individual proprietors already mentioned and the government of Connecticut was a serious obstacle in the way of settlement. Both parties appealed to the general court; the representatives of the Fitch title for confirmation of their title and liberty to settle, and the committee to show their inability to carry out their instructions under existing circumstances. While the court was undecided as to what course to take, the claimants under Fitch pushed forward the work of settlement. Philip Eastman, of Woodstock, and John Pitts, Benjamin Allen, Benjamin Russel and William Ward, of Marlborough, bought farms of James Corbin and settled on them, north of the Stoddard tract, on Still river, in the summer of 1711. Houses were built, lands broken up, and a highway was laid out by these settlers. In the following year William Price, senior and junior, David Bishop, Nathaniel Walker, John Chubb and John Ross bought land of Corbin and joined the eastern settlement. Daniel James and Nathaniel Fuller, of Windham, Josiah Bugbee, of Woodstock, and Samuel Rice and Philip Squier, of Concord, purchased farms of Captain Chandler in New Scituate. The court’s committee also sold some land. Homesteads were purchased of them by Isaac Kendall, William Chapman, Isaac Farrar and Simon Burton.

https://connecticutgenealogy.com/windham/ashford.htm