John Brunson, of Farmington

Biography

John Bronson was born on 21 Sep 1602 in Lamarsh, Essex Co., ENG.

He immigrated on 8 Oct 1635 to Boston, Suffolk Co., MA. He arrived on the ship Defence. He was Puritan.

He served in the military in 1637 in Hartford, Hartford Co., CT. He served in the Pequot War.

He was a Saw Mill Operator before 1650 in Farmington, Hartford Co., CT. He died in Nov 1680 in Farmington, Hartford Co., CT.

Family

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hills-30#_note-NEHGR28

John Browneson and Frances Hills, both single, were married 19 Nov 1626 at St. Andrew's Church, Halstead, co. Essex, England.[1]

The family left England; went to New England about 1635; spent a brief time in Massachusetts; moved onto Hartford, and finally Wethersfield in 1641. It is not positive that Frances was the same wife who was still living when John's estate was settled, because her name is never mentioned, but there is no reason to believe that she wasn't the same person.[1]

John died intestate. His Inventory was taken on 28 Nov 1680. His property was divided among his surviving children, Jacob Brunson; Isaac Brunson; Mary Ellis; John Brunson; Abraham Brunson; Dorcas Hopkins; and Sarah Kilbourn. The court ordered that payments be made to the surviving widow for her upkeep.[2]

Children:[1]

1. Mary Brownson, daughter of John Brownson Junr & Francis his wife, was baptized 12 Dec 1627 Earls Colne, Essex, England, parish of St. Andrew.
2. John Brownson, son of John Brownson Junr & Francis his wife, was baptized 17 Feb. 1628/9 Earls Colne, Essex, England, parish of St. Andrew. Died before birth of 2nd John
3. John Brownson, son of John Brownson Junr & Francis his wife, was baptized 28 Dec 1631 Earls Colne, Essex, England, parish of St. Andrew. He was buried 23 March 1631/2
4. Dorcas Brownson, daughter of John Brownson Junr & Francis his wife, was baptized 19 Dec 1633 Earls Colne, Essex, England, parish of St. Andrew. Died 10 MAY 1697 Hartford, Hartford Co., Connecticut, USA.
5. Sarah, b. ca. 1639 at Hartford; d. 4 Dec 1711 at Wethersfield, Connecticut; m. John Kilbourn;
6. Jacob, b. Hartford ca. 1641; d. 1708
7. John, b. Hartford or Farmington ca. 1643; d. South Carolina 1712
8. Isaac, b. Hartford or Farmington ca. 1645; d. before 29 Feb 1719/20 at Waterbury, Connecticut
9. Abraham, b. Hartford or Farmington 1647; d. 1719 at Lyme, Connecticut

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278 PROBATE RECORDS. VOL. IV. WILL of John Brunson Page 52. Brunson, John, Farmington. Died 28 November, 1680, Invt. £312-01-06. The children: Jacob, Isaac, Mary Ellis, John Brunson, Abraham Brunson, Dorcus Hopkins, Sarah Kilbourn. Court Record, Page 32—2 December,1680: Invt. now exhibited in Court by Jacob & Isaac Brunson & Dorcus Hopkins. This Court grant Adms. to the children of th Dec. and appoint Marchall Grave to assist them in the division. There being no will made by the deceased, and finding the sayd John Brunson had in his lifetime allotted to his foure sonns each of them a fifth part of his lands in Farrmington, This Court confirms the same to them and to their heirs forever; & whereas John had received short of Brothers £8, it is now considered in the distribution, as also what his daughters have formerly received, and the distributions as followeth £ s d To Jacob Brunson Eldest son 72-02-00 To John Brunson 44-17-00 To Isaac Brunson 36-17-00 To Abraham Brunson 36-17-00 To Mary Eldest daughter 35-16-00 To Dorcas 41-I6-00 To Sarah 45-16-00 And this Court orders that there be payd towards the Maintenance of the Widdow, yearly, the sum of £10 in good current pay, during the time of her natural life, to be paid by the children in proportion, and more if necessity arise. Page I 79- ( Vol. X) 5 March, 1727-8: Whereas it is represented to this Court byGeorge Rilbouru, Thomas Hopkins, John Bracy, Daniel Steele & Hezekiah Hopkins, Heirs by Marriage and descent from John Brunson, formerly of Farmington. deed, that there is considerable Estate in Land of the sd. Deed that has not yet been Dist., and necessary to be apprised in order to be Dist. to and amoug the heirs of sd. John Brunson, This Court grant Adms. on the sd. Real Estate which has not yet been Dist. unto the sd. Thomas Hopkins and John Bracy, and order that they make an Invt. thereof and exhibit the same to this Court as soon as may be, for Dist.

Notes

Gristmills and sawmills were important to any community, but their role in seventeenth-century Farmington is not well documented. Typically. town governments made concessions of land to individuals willing to assume the expense of erecting mills; the lack of records of town votes for Farmington before 1682 has obscured such decisions, if indeed they were made. The first mill was set up by John Brownson on a brook that emptied into Diamond Glen. The mill, which was sold before 1650 to Stephen Hart. is not identified in the land records as either a sawmill or a gristmill. Julius Gay has indicated that it was probably a sawmill.32 One piece of evidence that leads to another conclusion can he found in a court case in which Farmington’s miller, Capt. Thomas Hart, was accused of charging too much for grinding Indian corn.33 In the course of his defense, Hart mentioned that the tradition of charging three quarts for every bushel of Indian corn went back forty years or more in the colony, to the best of his information, and that “ould John Brunson” charged the same. Meager as the evidence may be, it would seem to support the judgment that the first mill on Mill Brook (later Fulling Brook) was a gristmill.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/34384744/john-bronson

Born in Chelmsford, Essex, England to Roger & Mary (Underwood) Bronson. Married Frances Hills 19 Nov 1626 in Halsted, Essex England.

Find A Grave contributor Brown-Hunsaker Files adds:

John was a soldier in the bloody Pequot battle of 1637. He is not named among the proprietors of Hartford in the land division of 1639; but is mentioned in the same year in the list of settlers, who, by the "towne's courtesie" had liberty "to getch woode and keepe swine or cowes on the common." His house lot was in the "soldiers field," so called, in the north part of the old village of Hartford, on the " Neck Road" (supposed to have been given for service in the Pequot war,) where he lived in 1640. Nov. 9th 164 Massachusetts, on 8 October 1635.

Founders' Monument, Hartford, Connecticut

All Brownson/Bronson descendants are eligible to be members of the Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford. < link >

References

1. Coddington, John Insley. “The Brownson, Bronson, or Brunson Family of Earl’s Colne, Essex, England, Connecticut, and South Carolina.” The American Genealogist 152/ Volume 38 (1962) pgs. 193-211. < AmericanAncestors >
2. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/34384744/john-bronson cites
   1. "Katie's Kin, Recollections & Research", copyright Oct. 2020 and privately published by Kathleen Mary Thomas.
3. https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:John_Brownson_%286%29 cites
   1. Coddington, John Insley. The Brownson, Bronson, or Brunson Family of Earl's Colne, Essex, England, - Connecticut, and South Carolina. American Genealogist (D.L. Jacobus). (1962-1963) 38:199-202.
   2. Coddington, John Insley. The Brownson, Bronson, or Brunson Family of Earl's Colne, Essex, England, - Connecticut, and South Carolina. American Genealogist (D.L. Jacobus). (1962-1963) 38:194. His father's will, dated 4 Aug 1635, implies that he, his brother Richard and his sister Mary had left Essex by then. 'The emigrants may well have sailed on the Defence, which departed from London "the last of July 1635" and arrived at Boston 8 Oct. 1635.' The article goes on to provide an argument for believing this might be true.
   3. Coddington, John Insley. The Brownson, Bronson, or Brunson Family of Earl's Colne, Essex, England, - Connecticut, and South Carolina. American Genealogist (D.L. Jacobus). (1962-1963) 38:199. 'John Brownson (in later life his surname was variously spelled Brownson, Bronson and Brunson), second but eldest surviving son of Roger and Mary (Underwood) Brownson, was baptized at Lamarsh, Essex, 21 Sept. 1602, and died at Farmington, Conn., shortly before 28 Nov. 1680, aged 78.'
   4. Coddington, John Insley. The Brownson, Bronson, or Brunson Family of Earl's Colne, Essex, England, - Connecticut, and South Carolina. American Genealogist (D.L. Jacobus). (1962-1963) 38:201.,'The inventory of the estate of John "Brunson" was taken 28 Nov. 1680, showing that he had died intestate shortly before that date.'
   5. Coddington, John Insley. The Brownson, Bronson, or Brunson Family of Earl's Colne, Essex, England, - Connecticut, and South Carolina. American Genealogist (D.L. Jacobus). (1962-1963) 38:196. 'Parish Registers of Holy Innocents' Church, Lamarsh, co. Essex 1602 John Brownson son of Roger Brownson, bapt, 21 Sept.'
   6. John Hopkins, in Anderson, Robert Charles; George F. Sanborn; and Melinde Lutz Sanborn. The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635. (Boston, Massachusetts: NEHGS, 1999-2011) 3:413. John Brownson {1637, Hartford}
   7. Manwaring, Charles W. A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records. (Hartford, Conn.: R. S. Peck & Co., 1904-06) 1:278.
   8. Brunson, John, Farmington. Died 28 November 1680. Invt. £312-01-06. … 2 December 1680: Invt. now exhibited in Court by Jacob & Isaac Brunson & Dorcas Hopkins.
   9. Not included in The Great Migration series as having emigrated in 1634 or 1635, so presumably did not show up in New England records until after 1635.
4. https://josfamilyhistory.com/htm/hopkins/bronson/bronson1-4a.htm#john3