Peter Aspinwall

One of the thirteen "goers" sent from Roxbury to "spy out" Woodstock for a new settlement. He became one of the first landowners in Woodstock. (more below)

https://nectchamber.com/woodstock-2/

John Eliot, Pastor of the First Church in Roxbury, Massachusetts Bay Colony, and Major Daniel Gookin came to Woodstock in 1674 and preached to the Wabaquasset Indians from Eliot Rock.

In 1686, the “Thirteen Goers”

(Peter Aspinwal

, Thomas Bacon, Henry Bowen, Matthew Davis, John Frizzel, Nathaniel Gary, John Gore, Benjamin Griggs, George Griggs, John Marcy, Ebenezer Morris Lieutenant Ebenezer Morris , Benjamin Sabin and Jonathan Smithers)

settled at the same site to establish New Roxbury, the first European settlement in Windham County. In 1690, Judge Samuel Sewall gave the Town its name after Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England “because of its nearness to Oxford, for the sake of Queen Elizabeth.” Woodstock seceded from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1749 to become part of the Connecticut Colony. Captain, later General, Samuel McClellan and 184 men went forth to fight in the Revolutionary War. General McClellan’s house still stands on the corner of Route 169 and Stone Bridge Road.

https://nectchamber.com/woodstock-2/

http://archive.org/stream/aspinwallgenealo00aspi/aspinwallgenealo00...

Peter', son of Peter' and Remember (Palfrey) Aspinwall,
was born at Muddy River, or Brookline, Mass., June 4, 1664. He " took hold of the Covenant 1684, 2 mo 5 day."

The settlement of Woodstock, Ct., was made by residents of Roxbury, Mass. They secured the grant of a tract of land seven miles square, in what was called the " Nipmuck Country." About the first of April, 1686, they sent out thirteen pioneers in advance of the others, to break up land and make some prepara- tions for the main body of colonists. They are recorded in the first book of records of Roxbury as " the men who went to spy out Woodstock." One of these thirteen pioneers was Peter Aspinwall. At the settlement, on Saturday, August 28, 1686, at Woodstock, they drew lots, and Peter Aspinwall drew "20 Acres, west side of the eastward vale, abutting east on highway." This eastward vale is now known as South Woodstock, Ct. In 1696, during the trouble with the Indians, a military company was formed at Woodstock, with Peter Aspinwall as lieutenant, and he took an active part in all the campaigns against the Indians, and was a prominent figure in all matters attending the early

PETER ASPINWALL AND DESCENDANTS. 27

history of Woodstock. He was employed by the authorities to lay out a road to the Quimebaug, and, while thus engaged, he removed to the vicinity of the Great Falls. About 1703, he removed to a tract of land he had purchased at Aspinock, now Killingly, Ct., and devoted his energies to the settlement of that town. In 1713, Killingly sent him as the first representative of that town, to the General Assembly, of which he was also a member in 17U, 1716, 1719, 1720, 1721, 1722, 1723, 1727 and 1728. He was a leading citizen of Killingly. In 1716, he was elected Justice of the Peace, and held other public offices. In 1715, at the organization of the church at Killingly, he was chosen deacon. He also gave a plot of land for a burial ground. ^^

On March 24, 1699, he married, at Woodstock, Elizabeth, ._Z4.^i the widow of John Leavens of that place. Her maiden name has not been ascertained.

In Dr. AVilliam Aspinwall's manuscript, heretofore men- tioned, he states :

" Peter, the son of Peter, was settled at Woodstock and married a widow with a large number of children, her and her children was Levens they and she always kept him low ; he had by her one daughter and she married a Bateman and had a son and several daughters, said Peter was a meek sensible man and a Deacon."

The date of death of Peter Aspinwall, and that of his wife, are unknown. The records of Windham County, Ct., show that he was alive on June 4, 1749, at which time he was 85 years old.

Child of Peter and Elizabeth Aspinwall : +20. MARY^ b. .

GEDCOM Source

@R-1795321785@ Ancestry Family Trees Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.

GEDCOM Source

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