Lt. William Bushnell, of Saybrook

4. William Bushnell, bapt. Horsham, co. Sussex, Eng. 3 Feb. 1610/11 (R-1), d. Saybrook, Conn. 12 Dec. 1683, m. Saybrook, abt. 1643, Rebecca Chapman (R-32), sister of Capt. Robert Chapman, b. Eng. d. Saybrook.

He was the son of Francis, b. abt. 1580, d. Guilford, Ct. abt. 1646, m. 1st, at Horsham, 13 May 1605, Ferris Quenell, bapt, Horsham, 17 Apr. 1587, d. in childbirth and bur. there with her dau. Elizabeth, 10 Mar. 1627

William Bushnell, it in inferred, came to New England with his brothers Francis and Richard, and for a few years res. at Salem, Mass. and prob. rem. to Guilford, Conn. before their father's deaths, all coming together. He was a carpenter and soon rem. to Saybrook where his services were much needed.

According to family tradition he built the first meeting house in Saybrook abt. 1646 and by record, he built the second. The records also show that he received 6s. for mending the drum that called the people to worship and to town meetings, and 10s-6d. for making pikes for the soldiers (R-28).

On 12 Sept. 1652, Daniel Sledd of London, Eng. exec. of the est. of his father, William Sledd, dec'd , authorized his uncle John Leigh of Ipswich, Mass. to collect a debt from William Bushnell of Guilford, in New England, sadler, for goods bought of his father; this debt was still claimed on 5 Oct. 1666 when Peter Blanchford of New London was empowered to make the collection (R-28), William being then of Saybrook. He was also mentioned in the will of Bozone Allen of Boston, Mass.

In 1659/60 he was collector of the town rate, and on 3 Oct. 1661 was appointed Ensign of the train band (militia) (R-37), and served in that capacity during the Indian wars. In 1663 he took the Inv. of the est. of Joseph Clark and on 4 July 1665, Robert Chapman, William Post, Francis Bushnell, Robert Lay, William Bushnell, and Abram Post, representing the inhabitants of Saybrook entered into an agreement with the Mohigan Indians, whereby additional lands were acquired by the town, and the former grants confirmed (vide).

On 3 Nov. 1669, he sold two acres of his pasture to Abraham Post for a home lot, and on 12 May 1670 was appointed Deputy (R-37) to the General Court. In 1673 he was a leather sealer; 1675 lister, 1677 townsman; and 1681 lister to rate all taxable lands, on 12 May 1679 he was appointed Lt. of the train band, and on 22 of the same month was one of four to draw up a plea.

On 4 Sept. 1672, Thomas Adgate who had married his brother 'Richard's widow, sold (R-38) a tract of land in Saybrook to "brother William Bushnell," and in Aug. 1683 he testified to the nunc. will of Sussannah Waddams and two months later died on 12 Nov. 1683. By the will of Uncas, Sachem of the Mohigans, dated 29 Apr. 1684, 1500 acres of land was devised to him.

The Inv. of his est. was presented to the New London Court (R-35) on 24 Nov. 1683 and adm. was granted to his eldest sons Joshua and Samuel until the next term of court in Sept. when William Dudley was appointed. At that time a dist. was ordered to the ch. and all of his dau's were named by their marriage names, except Lydia Seward. On 4 May 1698, in another record concerning his estate, the names of his sons Joshua, Samuel, William, and Thomas were given, and on 2 June 1710, Robert Chapman and John Clark were called upon to pass Judgement on the value of a 1500 acre tract of land in Hebron, by Samuel Bushnell, only surviving adm. of the estate of his father, Lt. William Bushnell of Saybrook, dec'd, naming the surviving heirs as Samuel, William, Thomas, Daniel, Rebecca Hand, Judith Seward, Abigail Seward, and Lydia Seward.

It is interesting to note that for nearly 200 years, Westbrook, a parish of Saybrook, was not without a William Bushnell.

Children, 11 (R-18):

• 26*. i. Joshua, b. 6 May 1644
• 27*. ii. Samuel, b. Sept. 1645 28.
• iii. Rebecca, b. 5 Oct. 1646
• 29*. iv. William, b. 15 Feb. 1658/9
• 30*. v. Francis, b. 6 Jan. 1649/50
• 31. vi. Stephen (Twin), b. 4 Jan. 1653
• 32. vii. Thomas (Twin), b. 4 Jan. 1653
• 33. viii. Judith, b. Jan. 1655
• 34. ix. Daniel
• 35. x. Abigail, b. Feb. 1659/60
• 36. xi. Lydia, b. 1661

-- (Abridged) from the Bushnell Family Genealogy compiled by George Eleazer Bushnell, revised and maintained by Irving E. Bushnell Jr. at http://www.bushnellfam.com

Had 10 or 11 children

Find A Grave Memorial# 70425419 (Family Links and notes were listed before Find A Grave updated site/pscoggin 9/25/18)

Lieut William Bushnell

• Birth: Feb. 3, 1610 Horsham, Horsham District, West Sussex, England
• Death: Nov. 12, 1683 Deep River, Middlesex County, Connecticut, USA
• Burial: Unknown
• William lived in Saybrook Colony east of the Connecticut river and a separate colony until 1644. It comprised present-day Lyme, Chester, Westbrook and Essex in addition to Deep River where the Bushnells apparently settled. It was unusually rich farming country, and town settlement was minimal until growing Indian hostility forced colonists to organize around fortifications-- and seek political union with the Puritan governments they had escaped the reach of a generation before.  
• Family links: 
  •  Parents:
    •   Francis Bushnell (1587 - 1646)
    •   Ferris Quenell Bushnell (1587 - 1628)
  •  Spouse:  Rebecca Chapman Bushnell (1617 - 1703) 
  • Children:
    •     William Bushnell (1648 - 1711)*
    •     Stephen Bushnell (1653 - 1727)*
    •     Thomas Bushnell (1653 - 1713)*
    •     Judith Bushnell Seward (1655 - 1740)*
    •     Abigail Bushnell Seward (1660 - 1750)*
    •     Lydia Bushnell Seward (1661 - 1753)* 
  •  Siblings:
    •     Edmund Bushnell (1606 - 1636)**
    •     Francis Bushnell (1608 - 1681)**
    •     William Bushnell (1610 - 1683)
    •     Stephen Bushnell (1612 - 1645)**
    •     John Bushnell (1615 - 1667)*
    •     Thomas Bushnell (1617 - 1617)**
    •     Mary Bushnell (1618 - 1628)*
    •     Rebecca Bushnell Lord (1621 - 1647)*
    •     Richard Bushnell (1623 - 1660)*
    •     Sarah Bushnell Hoadley (1625 - 1693)*
    •     Elizabeth Bushnell (1628 - 1628)*

References

• "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NRSP-Y2Q : 18 September 2020), William Bushnell, 1611.
• Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volumes 1-6. Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1996-2011.The Great Migration Vol 1. P. 508 <AncestryImage>
• New England Marriages to 1700. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. Vol 1. p. 260 <AmericanAncestors>
• Nash, Sylvester. Records of Saybrook, CT., The New England Historical & Genealogical Register (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Mass., 1850) Vol. 4, Page 20 <Archive.Org>
• Connecticut, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999 for William Bushnell Hartford <AncestryImage>
• The ancestry of Daniel Bushnell in the families of Bushnell, Boynton, Bronson, Buswell, Chandler, Cutler, Coleman, Cravitt, Eddy, Goldsmith, Griswold, Higgins, Homan, Huntley, Keyes, King, Lewis, Moore, Purrier, Reeve, Rogers, Simmons, Tillotson, Terry, Tuthill, Vail, Waite, Wells, Wines, Wolcott, and Youngs by Bartlett, J. Gardner (Joseph Gardner), 1872-1927 Publication: Boston, Massachusetts : Murray Printing Co., 1918 https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/325608
• Bushnell family genealogy : ancestry and posterity of Francis Bushnell, 1580-1646, of Horsham, England and Guilford, Connecticut, including genealogical notes of other Bushnell families, whose connections with this branch of the family tree have not been determined / compiled and written by George Eleazer Bushnell. 1873-1945. Publication date 1945 p. 34 <Archive.Org>
• The Chapman Family: Or the Descendants of Robert Chapman, One of the First Settlers of Say-Brook, Conn., Etc. By William CHAPMAN (of New London, Conn.) Case, Tiffany & Company, 1854 - 413 pages p. 29 <GoogleBooks>
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bushnell-36