William Janes (immigrant)

May or may not have been descended from Norman Barons, as has been claimed by historians, who name as his ancestor a certain Guidode Janes who entered England with the future Henry II, of the English throne, and as a reward for bravery was allotted the manor of Kirtland. However this may be, it is certain that whoever his antecedents, it was from Kirtland, Cambridgeshire, that William Janes with his wife Mary joined the party of Mr. Davenport and Mr. Eaton bound for New Haven, Connecticut. It is said of him also that he occasionally signed papers as "DeJeannes" - after arrival in America.

They reached Boston 3 June 1637 on a chartered vessel,

"The Hector to Boston", where they tarried for a time on board, and on 26 July 1637 they landed in Boston. The group was composed principally of merchants of London, whose wealth and position prepared them to come over under far better circumstances than any company which had preceded them. They were mostly members of Mr. Davenport's church; were provided with men skilled in the various arts and trades, and brought with them whatever things they were likely to need. They were urged to remain in Boston, but they preferred to go on to the Connecticut location which had been selected for them by their committee - for which place they set out in March of the following year. After preliminary arrangements on June 4, 1639, the whole company of 419 persons signed the covenant which had been prepared.

So much for the preliminary story of the settlement of New Haven.

Born in Essex County, England, during the reign of James I, about 1610, when the Puritans were suffering fearful persecutions from powerful and bitter foes, we have found nothing of the early personal history of Janes prior to the year he came to America - 1637.

In the new colony, however, he had a prominent part. For about 17 years he was a conspicuous citizen, a teacher of the rudiments of education and of the doctrines of the Bible. In 1643 he had a family of five persons, and an estate of $150.00.

In 1653 he removed with others to a location north of Springfield and planted a colony which now includes Northampton, Hadley and Hatfield; and here for 22 years they lived in peace with the Indians, until in 1675 King Phillip began his war against the whites, during which Northampton was burned and sacked. It appears that Janes acted as a sort of missionary in the country, finally removing to Northfield, where a long and useful life ended on 20 Sep. 1690. His wife died 4 Apr. 1662, in which year he lost two sons, and in the same year he remarried. By his first wife he had 12 children, by his second four. Three sons were killed by the Indians on the same day - 2 Sep. 1675. (NEB genealogy)

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Feb 7 2016, 2:44:25 UTC
  • https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/77841817/william-janes
• “A genealogical record of Thomas Bascom and his descendants” page 14. Archive.Org

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GEDCOM Note

William /Janes/