John Stoddard, of Wethersfield

Parents unknown. Not the son of John Stodder, Sr.. Not the same as John Stoddard, Jr..

Disambiguation

do not confuse John Stoddard of Wethersfield, Connecticut, died 1664, with John Stodder of Hingham, Massachusetts. They do not appear to be related.

brief biography

John was an early Puritan Settler and landowner in Wethersfield, Connecticut.

He had a home on the Pennywise. He was proprietor of the Chester Grist Mill.

The name appears on the early records in the following forms: Stodart, Staddart, Stader, Stadder, Stodar, Stodard, Stoddar, Stoddard, Stoder, Stodder, Stother and Studard.[1]

LifeSketch: John Stoddard was an early settler in Wethersfield, CT, where several parcels of land were recorded to him 18 Jun 1645. He seems to have been there for several years prior to that date, 1642. He married, about 1642, Mary Foote, who was born in England about 1623, the daughter of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Deming) Foote. He died in Wethersfield in Dec 1664.

John Stoddard died at Wethersfield, Connecticut in Dec. of 1664, and the inventory dated 20 Dec 1664 showed an estate of 407 pounds.[1][7] Six children were listed Mary age 21, John 19, Josiah 16, Mercy 12, Elizabeth 8, Nathaniel 4. distribution by the court was made 2 Mar 1664/5; administration granted to the relict who received £129 during life, to eldest son John £63, to Josiah £49 , to Nathaniel #40, and £36 to each daughter.[7]

His widow then married 1674 John Goodrich, Sr. of Wethersfield who died in Apr 1680, and then she married third Lt. Thomas Tracy of Norwich, CT, who died 7 Nov 1685. The date of her death does not appear, though she was living as late as Aug 1685.

Children:[5]

1. Mary b. 12 March 1643/4; m. 10 Dec 1663 Joseph Wright; died 23 Aug 1683
2. John b. 12 April 1646; m. 1674 Elizabeth Curtis; died 1703
3. Caleab (twin with Joshua) b. 12 Sep 1648;
4. Joshua (twin to Caleb) b. 12 Sep 1648; Stiles made an error and attributed information -- m. 1684 Bethiah Goodwin; d. c 1725; no children -- to Caleb instead of Joshua.[8]
5. Mercy b. Nov 1652; m. 1685 Joseph Wright (the same Joseph that was married to her sister)
6. Elizabeth b. July 1656
7. Nathaniel b. March 1660/1; d. 1714; m. (1) Mary --- and (2) Eunice Standish

Research Notes

History of Other "John Stodder" - identity clarification

John Stoddard of Weathersfield, Connecticut is not in The Great Migration Directory, and is not the same person as John Stodder ofHingham, Massachusetts. (different wives, etc.):: The Great Migration Directory, by Robert Charles Anderson, (Boston 2015), page 321. "Stodder, John: Unknown: 1638; Hingham [HiBOP67;NEHGR 12:13; SPR Case #290; Hingham Hist 3:191-92; Francis Russell Stoddard, Jr. The Stoddard Family (New York 1912)].
:: Key to Abbreviations: :: HiBOP=Hingham, Massachusetts, Book of Possessions (original) :: NEHGR=New England Historic and Genealogical Register :: SPR=Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Probate Records

GEDCOM Note

1642 was a juror in Wethersfield, CT

sources

• Patterson, D. Williams, John Stoddard of Wethersfield, Conn., and his descendants, 1642-1872, Published by Rev, E. W. Stoddard, 1873. Pgs. 13-14.
• Ancestry.com. New England, The Great Migration and The Great Migration Begins, 1620-1635 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.
• Original data: Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633, Volumes 1-3; The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volumes 1-6. Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1996-2011. John Stoddard, Vol 2 C-F, page 542
• Finda Grave, Wethersfield Village Cemetery, Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut, USA* Pg. 33 - The Goodrich Family in America. A Genealogy of the Descendants of John and William Goodrich of Wethersfield, Conn., Richard Goodrich of Guilford, Conn., and William Goodridge of Watertown, Mass. Lafayette Wallace Case M.D., Author Role: Editor Publication: Fergus Printing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1889, Second Date, 1984

www.findagrave.com

Sgt John Stoddard, Sr
Birth unknown
Death Dec 1664
Wethersfield, Hartford County, Connecticut, USA
Burial
Wethersfield Village Cemetery
Wethersfield, Hartford County, Connecticut, USA
Memorial ID 48358736

The origins of the Wethersfield, Conn. immigrant John Stoddard are unknown, including where and when he was born and the identity of his parents. There is no document that states his age while a resident of Wethersfield and no record states his age at death.

[Note: Sgt. John Stoddard's genealogical sketch in Stiles' Ancient Wethersfield (2:684-5), hereafter "Stiles", was badly edited for publication and includes material errors.]

John Stoddard was in Wethersfield prior to 1643. The first record of him concerns appointment as a juror Mar. 2, 1642-3 at the Conn. Colony Particular Court [Conn. Pub. Rec., 1:81 as John "Stedder."] To have been a juror means he was then an approved resident of the town and probably a freeman of the town, if not also of the Connecticut Colony. Unfortunately, the earliest land records of Wethersfield begin in 1640. On June 18, 1645 the first parcel of land in Wethersfield recorded to John was his purchase of the Richard Wescott homestead [Stiles].

By mid-1643 John Stoddard m. Mary Foote (eldest child b. Mar. 12, 1643/4), dau. of the immigrant Nathaniel Foote of Wethersfield, grocer. [Savage errs stating they married in 1642 by misstating the birth of the first child, dau. Mary, as May 12, 1643 when the correct date was Mar. 12, 1643/4, as verified by John's estate inventory].

Leonard Chester built the first grist mill in Wethersfield in 1637 and d. in Wethersfield Dec. 11, 1648. In September 1648 two men were under contract to purchase Chester's mill, but it subsequently came under the ownership of John Stoddard. In October 1660, the town of Wethersfield voted to purchase from John, "his mill, with the land and the appurtenances thereto," for £27. The town purchased the mill then leased it back to John in 1661. In January 1662, John conveyed the mill, with twenty acres of land, to John Chester, son of Leonard who had built the mill in 1637. Whether this signifies that John was a miller is unknown.

In 1662, John Stoddard purchased the Pennywise property of former Wethersfield resident Lieut. Thomas Tracy, who in 1659 relocated to Norwich, Conn. (Lieut. Tracy would become the 3rd husband of Sgt. John Stoddard's widow Mary.) Pennywise Island consisted of 9 acres in the Connecticut River off the northeast corner of Wethersfield, the mainland west of the island was also referred to as Pennywise. The northern boundary of Pennywise was the fenced boundary line between the town of Hartford and Wethersfield. By 1650 Pennywise Island had been divided into 14 homesteads each of 3-4 acres in size. Over the course of time Pennywise Island eroded and its remnant became adjoined to the town's mainland. Unfortunately, the land Stoddard purchased from Tracy in 1662 has, for nearly the past 300 years, been at the bottom of the Connecticut River.

Another memorialist of John Stoddard infers that Pennywise is one and the same as Hartford's South Meadow, providing an image of a memorial to the latter place at what was the approximate location of the South Meadow's "South Gate." Hartford's South Meadow was strictly reserved for the grazing of cattle and raising of feed crops by Hartford's proprietary owners. The present writer cites one of many records available on this point, with modernized spelling.

• At the Dec. 1684 meeting of the Town of Hartford: "the Town, considering that there is a parcel of land in the south meadow that is parceled out & let to Several persons yearly which brings no advantage to the Town, The Town therefore by a unanimous vote this day ordered that the said land shall be measured by the Town measurers & when the exact quantity of it is known it shall by Ens. Nathaniel Standly [Stanley] & Mr Niccols [Cyprian Nichols, the present writer's ancestor] be equally divided, & it shall be settled & is hereby settled the one half upon the first church in Hartford & the other half upon the second church now in Hartford to be to them & their successor forever to help towards the maintenance of the Ministry in the respective churches. When the land is laid out by Ens. Standly, & Mr Niccols, Major Talcott is to have the choice in behalf of the first church & then it is to be recorded to the said churches & their successor forever." [Hartford Town Votes, 1:212.]

The only connection between Hartford's ancient South Meadow and Pennywise in the Town of Wethersfield is that they abutted each other at their mutual town line. However, the South Meadow Gate was located at the northwest entrance to said meadow, south of present-day downtown Hartford, not at the Hartford-Wethersfield town line. The gate was literally out the back door of the homestead of Cyprian Nichols, who owned the 3rd house south of Little River (aka, the Hog and now the underground Park River through the middle of original downtown Hartford), said river the historic dividing line between the north and south sides of Hartford.

John Stoddard died intestate in December 1664; his estate inventory, taken Dec. 20, 1664, totaled £407-08-00. Six children are named in the inventory as abstracted by Manwaring. However, Manwaring did not provide the full written entry in the original inventory on file. The original written entries provide the basis of when the youngest three children were born, who do not have a birth record in the printed Wethersfield records. Manwaring also misread the name of Joshua as Josiah in the inventory.[*1] Administration was granted to the widow Mary Stoddard Mar. 2, 1664/5. [Manwaring: Hart. Prob. Dist., 1:241-2, citing Probate Vol. III:40.]

John Stoddard and Mary Foote had the following children at Wethersfield. Only the eldest four have recorded birth dates in the printed Wethersfield records:

• i. Mary Stoddard, b. Mar. 12, 1643/4, d. Aug. 23, 1683, Æ 40; m. Dec. 10, 1663 in Wethersfield as his first wife, Dea. Joseph Wright, s. of Thomas Wright, Esq. & Mary Cranbrook, b. Mar. 5, 1639/40. Seven children of the marriage. See also v. Mercy Stoddard below.

• ii. John Stoddard, Jr., b. Apr. 12, 1646, d. Dec. 4, 1703, Æ 58; m. May 26, 1674 in Wethersfield, Elizabeth Curtis, dau. of Thomas & Elizabeth Curtis, b. circa 1651 in Wethersfield. She purportedly d. Dec. 3, 1709 in Wethersfield, NOT in 1761 at Wallingford, Conn. [Stiles]. Eight children of the family.

• iii. Caleb Wright, twin, b. Sept. 12, 1648; d. before Dec. 20, 1664, the date of his father's estate inventory and may not have even reached the age of 16. He is not included in the names of his father's living children on the latter date. Stiles errantly switched Caleb with twin brother Joshua below as the husband of Bethiah Smith. Stiles also claimed that Caleb drew land in Wethersfield in a 1694 allotment [2:685]. However, at 1:303 Stiles correctly names twin brother Joshua Stoddard as the person who was allotted land in 1694.

• iv. Joshua Stoddard, twin of Caleb, b. Sept. 12, 1648 and d. before Sept. 7, 1725, the date his September 1703 [not 1723 per Stiles] written will was probated. Because of the irregularity of how Joshua's will was handled between 1703 and 1725, the will was not approved by the probate court. Instead, because wife Bethiah was now dead, Joshua's estate was ordered to be distributed to his sibling's heirs Mar. 1, 1725/6. He m. of record Aug. 15, 1680 in Wethersfield, Bethiah Smith, dau. of Richard Smith of Wethersfield. Bethia d. in Wethersfield betw. Apr. 19 and 28, 1725, leaving a verbal will requesting her estate be distributed to her siblings or their heirs. Joshua and Bethia had no known children.

• v. Mercy Stoddard, b. Nov. 1652, d. Jan. 2, 1714/5, Æ 63; m. Mar. 10, 1684/5 in Wethersfield, her widowed brother-in-law, Dea. Joseph Wright, formerly husband of Mercy's sister Mary. He d. in Wethersfield Dec. 17, 1714, Æ 75. Two children of the marriage, sons Benjamin and Nathaniel.

• vi. Elizabeth Stoddard, b. July 1656. In her brother Joshua's 1726 handwritten inventory on file, not Manwaring's abstract, the distribution includes, in abbreviated form:

"To the heirs of John Stodard one of the brothers of ye said Joshua Stodard decd...we set...two parcels of land; to the heirs of Nathaniel Stodard, one of the brothers of said Joshua Stodard decd...we set...two parcels of land; to the heirs of Elizabeth Wright, sister to Joshua Stodard Decd...we set...one parcel of land; to the heirs of Mary Wright another sister to Joshua Stodard decd...we set...three parcels of land." Excluding "Elizabeth Wright" for the moment, by 1726 all of Joshua Stoddard's siblings were dead, but the distribution does not include the heirs of Mercy (Stoddard) Wright, also deceased, the 2nd wife of Dea. Joseph Wright, whose two sons Benjamin and Nathaniel were alive and well in 1726. Others writing on the Stoddard family cite "Nathaniel Goodwin says Elizabeth m. --- Wright." However, there is no male member of the Wright family of Wethersfield of comparable age who had a wife named Elizabeth, either as a first or subsequent marriage, whose family origin is not otherwise known. The present writer believes the name Elizabeth in Joshua Stoddard's distribution record is a mistake for Mercy, and should have been written "to the heirs of Mercy Wright..." Elizabeth was alive in Dec. 1664 at 8 years of age, but when she died is unknown and no marriage record can be found for her.

• vii. Nathaniel Stoddard, b. Mar. 1660/1, d. Feb. 9, 1714/5 in Wethersfield, Æ 54 (g.s.); m. 1) on an unrecorded date probably in Hartford, Conn., Mary Marshall, b. of record May 10, 1670 in Hartford, dau. of Thomas of Hartford, and d. Jan. 17, 1692/3; m. 2) Dec. 7, 1693 in Wethersfield, Eunice Standish, dau. of Thomas Standish & Susanna Smith (dau. of Richard), who d. Aug. 5, 1716. One child by first wife Mary, three by second wife Eunice.

[*1] At bottom left of the original handwritten estate inventory on file, dated "20th of December 1664."
Impr: The children
• The eldest, Mary Stoddard one and twenty yeares the [next] march 1664 ano 60 [and] 5 [i.e., was to be 21 in Mar. 1664/5, verifying her true date of birth as Mar. 12, 1643/4, not simply Mar. 12, 1643 per the printed vital records]
• John the eldest sun 19 yeares the aprill next 1665
• Jofua [Manwaring misread as Josiah] the next, 16 yeares Septtember lafte 1664
• Marcy the next, 12 years lafte nouember 1664 [i.e., b. Nov. 1656]
• Elesabeth the next, 8 yeares lafte July 1664 [i.e., b. July 1658]
• Nathanill the next, 4 yeares ould the march ye 1664:60 [and] 5 [i.e., b. Mar. 1660/1]

Revised 10/1/2015

Family Members
Spouse

Mary Foote Tracy
1623'961685
Children

Mary Stoddard Wright
1644'961683

John Stoddard
1646'961703

Joshua Stoddard
1648'961726

Mercy Stoddard Wright
1652'961715

Nathaniel Stoddard
1661'961715

Inscription
At the time of John's death the Wethersfield Village Cemetery was the only cemetery at Wethersfield. If he had a gravestone by 1899 it no longer existed.

links

• http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/gen/report/rr02/rr02_415.html#P7196