Richard Risley, Sr.

• Richard de Risley

Wikipedia Biographical Summary :

"...Richard Risley (before 1615 - 1648) was an early Puritan settler in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and one of the founders of Hartford, Connecticut. Risley sailed from England on July 15, 1633, in the ship Griffen with Thomas Hooker, William Stone, John Cotton, and John Haynes. They arrived in Boston on September 4, 1633..."

"...In May 1636, Risley left Massachusetts with almost the entire company he had arrived with two and a half years earlier. They found John Winthrop to be too dictatorial. The group headed west through the wilderness, and after a month stopped in an area now occupied by the city of Hartford, Connecticut..."

"...Risley died at Hockanum, Connecticut of typhoid in October 1648, leaving his wife and three children, ages two months to eight years..."

SOURCE: Wikipedia contributors, 'Richard Risley', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 25 December 2010, 16:13 UTC, <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_Risley&oldid=4041...> [accessed 25 April 2011]

Biographical Summary #2:

"...Richard Risley (Wrigley), an original proprietor of Hartford; his home-lot in 1639 was on the west side of the road from George Steel's to the Great Swamp. He afterward went to Hockanum, and settled near Willow Brook. He d. about 1648; inv. £135. 5. 10. His widow m. William Hills, who agreed to bring up the children to read and write, and to give them their several portions.-Ch.: i. Sarah, b. about 1641. ii. Samuel, bapt. Nov. 1, 1646; freeman, May 20,1668 ; d. July 8, 1670, a'. 23 yrs. 8 mos. iii. Richard, bapt. Aug. 21, 1648; freeman, 1669; lived in Hockanum, married and had seven children, and through them had numerous descendants in East Hartford..."

SOURCE: Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford. www.Foundersofhartford.org. Retrieved online on 6 Jun 2010.

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• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Risley
• 'Richard Risley (before 1615 - 1648) was an early Puritan settler in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and one of the founders of Hartford, Connecticut.[1] Risley sailed from England on July 15, 1633, in the ship Griffen with Thomas Hooker, William Stone, John Cotton, and John Haynes.[2] They arrived in Boston on September 4, 1633.
• In May 1636, Risley left Massachusetts with almost the entire company he had arrived with two and a half years earlier. They found John Winthrop to be too dictatorial. The group headed west through the wilderness, and after a month stopped in an area now occupied by the city of Hartford, Connecticut.
• Within the year, the group started a collective government to fight the Pequot War. By the next year, they had adopted what is now generally considered the first written constitution in Western history, the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut. The group eventually signed a treaty with the Indians for a tract of land and settled down.
• The present-day state capitol building in Hartford sits on the original Risley land grant.[3]
• 'Risley died at Hockanum, Connecticut of typhoid in October 1648, leaving his wife and three children, ages two months to eight years.
• References
• 1.^ "Founders of Hartford". www.cslib.org. http://www.cslib.org/foundhtfd.htm. Accessed 1 July 2007.
• 2.^ Goold, Roy D. "The First Risley in America". The Risley Family Genealogy (Volume 1).
• 3.^ "Founding of Connecticut & The Pequot War". www.cypresscollege.edu. http://socialscience.cypresscollege.edu/~lyerby/connect.htm. Accessed 1 July 2007.
• ___________________
• 'The Descendants of Richard Risley Sr. in America
• A nonprofit, private, national organization preserving the history and genealogy of the Risley family Founded 1889
• http://risleyfamily.org/richard_risley.htm
• 'Richard Risley was married about 1640 to Mary, who was probably born in England, we are unable to determine her maiden name. Richard died at Hockanum in October of 1648 of Typhoid fever, leaving his wife and three children...
• 'Richard and Mary Risley had three children:
  • Sarah,
  • Samuel, baptized November 1, 1645, Hartford,
  • Richard, Jr., baptized August 2, 1648; m. Rebecca Adams.
• ____________________
• 'Full text of "The Risley family history, including records of some of the early English Risleys' a geneaology of the descendants of Richard Risley, of Newtown (Cambridge), Massachusetts (1633), and of Hartford, Connecticut (1636); an account of the family reunion at Hartford, August 3, 1904, and a list of the founders of the commonwealth of Connectucut;"
• http://www.archive.org/stream/risleyfamilyhist00lcrisl/risleyfamily...
• 1 'RICHARD RISLEY is believed to have descended from the Lancastershire, England, Risleys previously mentioned in this work. All the evidence now at hand indicates Norse origin of the name Risley. They were lords and knights in the 12th Century in England; the early name in English Genealogy of " Rolf " is a distinctive Norse name. They no doubt emigrated from Norway into Normandy, France, in the 8th century. The name " Risle " indicated a creek in Normandy, near where the Monastery of Bech was located; there the Normans established a great seat of learning, where the Duke of Normandy was first to be touched by the new faith. Every approach to the monastery was crowded with pilgrims ; monasteries multiplied in the forest glades. Kings sought shelter from the turmoil of the times in a little valley surrounded with woods of ash and elm through which a brook or brooklet runs down to the " Risle." By adding the final " y " to this name we have Risley, The appearance of the name Risley in the early years of the 12th century in England, in which titles of distinction were borne by members of the Risley family, is indisputable evidence that they found their way from Normandy, France, to England with, or followed William the Conqueror, who vacated and set aside nearly all landed titles granted by Saxon and Danish kings and gave their estates to his " Norman " followers. The Risleys are of Norman descent.
• In the Colonial records the name is erroneously spelled. Restley, Rysley, Rissley, Rizley, Risla, Wisla, Wisley. These various modes of spelling related to the same person whose name is spelled in the inventory of his estate, Risele}'^ and Risley,
• 34 THE DESCENDANTS OF RICHARD RISLEY
• and the last spelling of this name was used by three generations of his descendants with a single exception.
• 'In lineage he was a Norman. In religion a Puritan. Born probably in Oxon, County Lancastershire, England, prior to 1615, he emigrated to Massachussetts Bay Colony, Boston, sailing from Downs in the ship " Griffin " July 15th, 1633, in company with Rev. Thomas Hooker, Rev. Wm. Stone, Rev. John Cotton and the Hon. John Haynes. The latter Governor of Massachussetts Bay Colony in the years 163475, and of the Connecticut Colony in 1639-1641, 1643, 1645', 1649 and 1653. The ship " Griffin " brought from England many of Hooker's church in Braintree, numbering more than a hundred persons. The vessel landed in Boston Harbor, Sept. 4, 1633. Hooker and his associates located in Newtown (now Cambridge,) Mass., where a church had been previously erected to accomodate the new comers. Hooker was ordained pastor of the new church and Wm. Stone as teacher Oct. 25, 1633.
• The little colony thus planted was surrounded by the trouble-some conditions which seriously aflTected the entire population of Massachusetts Bay and Salem Colonies, there being a struggle between the church and Civil Magistrates and the people which resulted in the election of John Haynes as Governor, in 1634. .............
• 'In the book of distribution of property in Hartford it is stated: " Samuel Wrislea, son of Richard Wrislea, bap. Nov. 1, 1645. Richard Risla bap. Aug. 2, 1648." These baptisms occurred in the First Church of Hartford. Richard and Mary, his wife, lived on the east of the " Great River."
• October, 1648, Richard, sr., died at Hockanum, leaving his wife and three children surviving. December 7, 1648, an inventory of his estate, amounting to 135£ 5s. lOd., was filed in court. ..............
• 'Richard Risley was married about 1640 to Mary , who was probably born in England.
• 'After the death of her husband, Richard, she became the second or third wife of Will Hill (Hills), who was also one of the landed proprietors of Hartford. He lived at Hockanum, on the east side of the " Great River," and was possessed of some military talent.
• 'The date of the death of Mary Risley Hill is probably prior to 1680.
• 'The proof of the marriage of Mary with Mr. Hill (Hills) is found in the inventory of Richard Risley's estate and the book of distribution in the Hartford clerk's office, p. 219, it is recorded that on Feb. 26, 1680, Thomas Bunse bought land of Wm. Hill in Podunk Swamp, which formerly belonged to Richard Risley and came to said Hill by right of his wife Mary, " relict of said Risley." The land was a part of the early undivided lands belonging to Richard Risley and others of Hartford.
• 'Richard and Mary Risley had three children:
  • 2 Sarah.
  • 3 Samuei..
  • 4 Richard.
• 'Who after Richard's death were reared in the family of Wm. Hill, who married Mary Risley.
• _______________
• 'The Society of the Descendents of the Founders of Hartford
• http://www.foundersofhartford.org/founders/risley_richard.htm
• The Founders of Hartford
• 'Richard Risley (Wrigley), an original proprietor of Hartford; his home-lot in 1639 was on the west side of the road from George Steel's to the Great Swamp. He afterward went to Hockanum, and settled near Willow Brook. He d. about 1648; inv. £135. 5. 10. His widow m. William Hills, who agreed to bring up the children to read and write, and to give them their several portions.-Ch.: i. Sarah, b. about 1641. ii. Samuel, bapt. Nov. 1, 1646; freeman, May 20,1668 ; d. July 8, 1670, a'. 23 yrs. 8 mos. iii. Richard, bapt. Aug. 21, 1648; freeman, 1669; lived in Hockanum, married and had seven children, and through them had numerous descendants in East Hartford.
• ________________________

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• Updated from MyHeritage Family Trees via daughter Sarah Crooke (born Risley) by SmartCopy: Mar 18 2015, 20:11:57 UTC

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(f/g) Richard W Risley Birth: unknown Oxfordshire, England Death: Oct., 1648 Hartford Hartford County Connecticut, USA

Born in England, immigrated to America on the ship Griffin with Thomas hooker in 1633.

Settled in Hartford in 1636.

The original brownstone monument erected in 1837 was replaced by this one in 1986, by the Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford. It stands in the Ancient Burying Ground, which is located to the rear of the First Congregational Church at the corner of Main and Gold Streets in Hartford. This cemetery is also known as Old Center Cemetery. It lists the original Founders of Hartford.

It's commonly accepted as the burial place of the Founders. However, their bodies were more likely buried at the First Burying Ground of Hartford, which predates the Ancient Buying Ground, but was destroyed and the land reclaimed by the city. A portion of the story explains it:

Excerpt from "Hartford in the Olden Time" by Stuart Publishers, 1853

[quote] ITS FIRST BURYING-GROUND

... deposited in the manner we have described, in solemn keeping, at the corner of present Market Street and State House, Square.

Yes, Reader, there was the site of the first Burying-Ground of Hartford-an area close by the first Meeting-House, and running north from the Square towards the present City Hall, and west from present Market Street up, a little distance, the hill. It was then much more elevated than now-ten to twelve feet. It has been cut down since low enough to carry away all the dust both of the bodies and coffins of those who slept in its cold embrace. Its monuments, many of them, as they stood upon the site, were well remembered and frequently spoken of to his sons by the father of Messrs J. B. and C. Hosmer of this city, and also by the late Samuel Olcott. The latter said that many of the stones composing them were used in laying the foundations of some of the oldest buildings fronting on the Square, on it's north side.

But they are gone to our view—and the Settlers have transmitted to us none of their mummied bodies 'loaded with biography.' We have not even the name of a solitary one of those who were buried there. Their dust, distinguished or undistinguished in its day, is undistinguishable now...

— SCAEVA. [/quote]

Family links:

Spouse:

 Mary Risley Hills

Children:

 Richard Risley (1648 - 1728)

Note: Richard W. Risley was likely buried at the First Burying Ground of Hartford, but as the graves are gone this cenotaph will serve as his burial site.

Burial: Ancient Burying Ground Hartford Hartford County Connecticut, USA Maintained by: greatgrands Originally Created by: The Guardian (inactive) Record added: Dec 08, 2006 Find A Grave Memorial# 16963840 -tcd

Richard Risely (bef. 1600)

Richard Risely Born before 1600 in Clevedon, Somersetshire, Englandmap [uncertain] Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown] [sibling%28s%29 unknown] Husband of Mary (Arnold) Risely — married [date unknown] [location unknown] Father of Elizabeth (Unknown) Irish Died [date unknown] [location unknown] Profile manager: Rev Daniel Washburn Jones private message [send private message] Last modified 14 September 2015.

Biography

Elizabeth Risely was born ca. 1613, a daughter possibly of Richard and Mary (Arnold) Risely.

Maltby cites the below as reference: Little Compton Families, Little Compton, RI, 1967 by Benjamin Franklin Wilbour p. 370, taken apparently from the Compendium of American Genealogy, Vol. 6, p. 785.

FHL Ancestral File for John Irish and Elizabeth Risely, submitted by Larry S. Christiansen, of Tullahoma, TN, Fae S. Cobbley, of American Fork, UT, Robert A. Valentine, of Overland Park, KS, Scott A. Tracy, of Payette, ID, and many others.

He then states: I have not been able to confirm her maiden name from reliable published sources or through original record research.

So I will be marking these parents as "Uncertain".

Sources

English Origins of the Washburn Families of Plymouth Colony and Hempstead, Long Island" byJohn Maltby - Phillip Washburn

Richard Rislely, with the Hooker Company, was one of the original founders of the Commonwealth of Connecticut.

The Gloucester Historian confirms that "Risley" and "Wrisley" are contractions of the English name "Wriosthesley" . Richard Risley was of Norman extracton and a Puritan. He was married about 1640 to Mary. She married after he died in 1648 to Will Hill (Hills), another landed proprietor. She was his second or third wife.

Richard Risley emigrated from Downs to Boston, and arrived on the "Griffin" which brought to Boston many of Hooker's church in Braintree, numbering more than one hundred. The ship left Downs July 15th 1633 with Rev. Thomas Hooker, Rev. William Stone, Rev. John Mather and the Hon. John Haynes. They landed in Boston Harbor Sept. 4, 1633.

Hooker and his associates located at Newtown (now Cambridge) where a church had been previously erected for the newcomers. Hooker was ordained pastor and Wm. Stone teacher on Oct. 25, 1633. John Haynes became governor in 1634. Hooker and his followers obtained permission to remove to land in the Connecticut Valley and left May 1, 1636. It took about a month to get to their destination, which is now called Hartford. There they made a treaty with the native Americans, and Samuel Stone and William Goodwin became trustees.

He participated in the Pequot War with Capt. John Mason of Windsor in 1637. On Jan. 14, 1638 he participated in the adoption of the "Fundamental Order" the first written constitution known to history.

Source:

The Risley Family History: Including Records of Some of the Early English Risleys; a Genealogy of the Descendants of Richard Risley, of Newtown (Cambridge), Massachusetts, (1633), and of Hartford, Connecticut (1636); an Account of the Family Reunion at Hartford, August 3, 1904, and a List of the Founders of the Commonwealth of Connecticut Edwin Hills Risley January 1, 1909 Grafton Press

Alternate History from Risley Family Assn: www.Risleyfamily.org

Source of Risley in America

As the National Historian for the Risley Family Association since 1982, I have been tracking down Risleys (et al) wherever they we to be found, all across America, the British Isles and even Australia.

There were two landed gentry families of the name in England in the 13th century. One was a Norman line in the Visitations of the Herald in Chetwode, Buckinghamshire, that showed the spelling Riseley (not to be confused with the American Riseley family who migrated to Rheinbeck, NY about 1700 from Germany). The other was a Celtic family in the Visitations of the Herald in Winwick, Lancashire who spelled the name Risley.

Barring a non-paternal event in my Risley lineage, my 67 marker Y-DNA with Family Tree DNA proves that the American Risleys descend from an ancient Irish line possibly from King Niall of Nine Hostages, that later crossed to Southwestern Scotland, and finally settled in the 12th century in Northwestern England.

In 1292 a.d. Ellen de Culcheth, daughter of Gilbert de Culcheth and Lady Cecilie de Lathom (a descendant of King Alfred the Great of England), a ward of the Baron of Warrington, received as her dowry the land and manor of Risley in Winwick, on her marriage to Robert de Hindley. Thereafter, they used the name de Risley which was the earliest beginning of our name as Risley. It was a location name in England describing Risley manor and lands as a meadow surrounded by brushwood. I know this connection only from my Y-DNA results and by process of elimination of the two families in England and we still have much to learn about our Risley generations in England and the parentage of our immigrant, Richard Risley.

It has been often stated that Richard Risley came to Boston, Massachusetts, with Rev. Thomas Hooker in 1633 on the ship "Griffin". In all of my research I could find nothing to support that claim. What I did find was a passenger list for the Planter of London that arrived in Boston on April 6, 1635. Among its passengers was a Martin Saunders, age 40, a currier, from Sudbury, Suffolk, England, with five other members of his family, and with them also were Marie Fuller, 17, Richard Ridley (sic), 16, and Richard Smith, 15. I seem to recall that one of the passenger lists I saw said Richard Ridley was put to the ship from Stepney, London. Then, they removed to Braintree, Massachusetts where Martin Saunders would succeed Jeremy Adams as the Tavern Keeper when Adams left to join the Hooker Party in Newtowne (now Cambridge). The later records give a full account of the Saunders family but nothing more is known of Marie, Richard or Richard Smith. I think they went on with Jeremy Adams to Hartford and somewhere along the way Richard Risley married Marie(or Mary)Fuller.

This becomes more apparent when you study back from the wife of Richard Risley, Jr., Rebecca Adams. Her grandfather was Jeremy Adams came to Braintree in 1632 with his brother, Henry Adams who was grandfather to President John Adams. Her mother was Abigail Smith, daughter of Richard Smith. Jeremey Adams was the Tavern Keeper and Constable at Hartford. Richard Risley was a relatively young man when he died In Hockanum of typhoid fever in October 1648 while his wife was pregnant with Richard Jr. He had a large home lot on the Southwest of the Hartford settlement on the grounds of the present Connecticut State Capitol Building, and was said to be the Hay Warden responsible for collecting the winter forage for the livestock.

On May 31st 1636, the Hooker Party turned their backs on the Massachusetts Bay Colony, leaving behind nothing to be desired and betook themselves through a trackless wilderness on foot to the site now occupied by the city of Hartford, reaching their destination in about a month. A treaty was consummated with the Indians for a tract of land, embracing the present city of Hartford and the adjoining towns of East Manchester and East and West Hartford.

Richard Risley, with the Hooker Company, was one of the original founders of the Commonwealth of Connecticut...On January 14, 1638, Richard participated in the adoption of the "Fundamental Orders," hidden in The Charter Oak, the first written Constitution known to history.

Richard Risley was married about 1640 to Mary, who was probably born in England. She married secondly, William Hills who raised the Risley children after Richard's death.

Richard and Mary Risley had three children:

Sarah,

Samuel, baptized November 1, 1645, Hartford,

Richard, Jr., baptized August 2, 1648; m. Rebecca Adams.

"...Richard Risley (before 1615 - 1648) was an early Puritan settler in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and one of the founders of Hartford, Connecticut. Risley sailed from England on July 15, 1633, in the ship Griffen with Thomas Hooker, William Stone, John Cotton, and John Haynes. They arrived in Boston on September 4, 1633..."

"...In May 1636, Risley left Massachusetts with almost the entire company he had arrived with two and a half years earlier. They found John Winthrop to be too dictatorial. The group headed west through the wilderness, and after a month stopped in an area now occupied by the city of Hartford, Connecticut..."

"...Risley died at Hockanum, Connecticut of typhoid in October 1648, leaving his wife and three children, ages two months to eight years..."

SOURCE: Wikipedia contributors, 'Richard Risley', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 25 December 2010, 16:13 UTC, <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_Risley&oldid=4041...> [accessed 25 April 2011]

GEDCOM Note

2 AGE About 32-33

<p>!</p><p><p>!Inform from Nancy Ranck, internet, 19 Dec 2002.</p></p><p><p>"He was an original proprieter of Hartford; his home lot in 1639 was on the</p></p><p><p>west side of the road from George Steele's to the great Swamp; afterward went</p></p><p><p>to Hockanum and settled near Willow Brook." He died in 1648 at Hockanum, CT;</p></p><p><p>The inventory of his estate filed Dec 1648 showed children, Sarah age 7-8,</p></p><p>Samuel 2, and Richard 3 months."</p>