Samuel Ireland, of Wethersfield

Family

• Parents unknown. Not a known child of Samuel Ireland & Margaret Ireland
• Wife was Mary, parents unknown. His widow married 2nd to Robert Burrows
• 2 daughters, Martha & Mary.

Biography

http://happygenealogydance.blogspot.com/2016/12/allen-line-samuel-i...

Posted Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Allen line: Samuel Ireland 1603-1639 Immigrant

Samuel Ireland came from England. It would not surprise me to learn that one or more of his ancestors were Irish, but perhaps there is another reason for his name. His background, at this point, is still a mystery.

We know that he was born about 1603. Some websites are listing his place of birth as London but I haven't seen documentation to support that. We know he was born about 1603 because when he immigrated to New England, he was reported as being a carpenter, aged 32. He had a wife Marie, aged 30, and a daughter, aged one and one-half when he was permitted to set sail on the "Increase" after going through all the formalities to prove he was not a threat to the government nor to the Church of England.

We don't know where the family first landed, but they ended up in Wethersfield, Ct. Wethersfield was founded in 1634 so the family was almost in at the beginning of the settlement. He soon owned several small parcels (none larger than 10 acres) of land which indicates that most of them were probably as the result of being a founder of the settlement, and were given by the town as more or less a 'reward" for being there and doing the early hard work. As a carpenter, Samuel would have been kept quite busy building homes and businesses for those who wanted to settle there.

He is believed to have had at least one child in Connecticut. It's a little confusing but it seems the name of his first child was Martha and his second Mary. We don't know whether there were other children, but if there were, they apparently died young.

A major event during his time in Wethersfield was the Pequot War. There was an attack on the town in 1637, which resulted in the death of 6 men and 3 women, and several head of livestock, and the capture of two young girls. Undoubtedly this was a stressful time for the village, and it is likely that Samuel would have been involved in the militia that responded to the attack.

Unfortunately, Samuel also died young, sometime after September 5, 1639 and before April 2 of 1641, when his inventory was produced. We don't know whether it was an accident or an illness that took his life. His widow was to have one third and "the children" two thirds of the estate, which was valued at 70 pounds. Marie Ireland married Robert Burrows and he apparently took over the estate. She is believed to have died in 1672.

This isn't a lot to go on, but it does give us a brief glimpse of the kind of life Samuel must have led. He was a family man, a tradesman, a landowner, and likely a church member, one of the young men who helped our country get started. I'd love to know more about him, where he came from and who his parents were. But at least we know a little about his life on this side of the Atlantic.

Comments

There is no further information on the daughters of Samuel Ireland.

References

• https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Samuel_Ireland_(1)_
• Samuel Ireland, in Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Directory. (Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, Jun 2015), 180. "Ireland, Samuel: [Origin] Unknown; [Emigration] 1635 on Increase; [Resided] Wethersfield [GM 4:5-6].
• Samuel Ireland, in Anderson, Robert Charles; George F. Sanborn; and Melinde Lutz Sanborn. The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635. (NEHGS, 1999-2011), 4:5-6. "Migration: 1635 on the Increase (on 15 April 1635, 'Samuell Ireland' carpenter, aged 32, 'uxor Marie Ireland,' aged 30, and 'Martha Ireland' aged 1½, were enrolled at London as passengers for New England on the Increase [Hotten 65]). DEATH: Between 5 September 1639 (court appearance [CCCR 1:33]) and 2 April 1641 (date of Wethersfield land inventory [WetLR 110r]). (The probate inventory states that Samuel Ireland died on 20 May 1639, but this cannot be correct, as he appeared in court on 5 September 1639. There is no record of him alive after this latter date, however, and he may have died soon after.)"
• Samuel Ireland, in Manwaring, Charles W. A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records. (Hartford, Conn.: R. S. Peck & Co., 1904-06), v 1 p 20. Ierland, Samuel. Died 20 May, 1639. Invt. £70-00-00. Taken by Tho. Vffoote, Jo. Edwards. (Report) : A trewe Inventory, as neere as we can find out, of all goods, corne, and Cattle and Lands, of Samuel lerland. His Howse and lotts wth 8 acres of meadowe & all dividents vnsold, prysed at £40-00-00. His Apparell and prsonall Estate, i 10-00-00. His Hoggs, £20-00-00. Som, £70-00-00. Court Record, Page 137. 5 March, 1645 • (The) Inventory of sd. lerland is brought into Court by Jo. Edwards, And the wife of Robert Burrows, who was wife to (the) deceased, is to administer & to have the thirds, the other two prts to be for the Children.
• “Some account of the Ireland family : originally of Long Island, N. Y., 1664-1880” Author: Ireland, Joseph Norton, 1817-1898. Page 7. Archive.Org