Lawrence Walton
of Preston, Norwich, and Griswold, Connecticut
L awrence Walton was the first of that surname to settle in the area of Preston, Connecticut. The case study, "Rescue, Research, and Reburial: Walton Family Cemetery, Griswold, Connecticut" published in In Remembrance, Archaeology and Death (Bellantoni & Poirier, 1995), states that Lawrence Walton emigrated from the Boston, Massachusetts area. No record has been found to support this, although probably the closest family of the surname Walton living near Preston, Connecticut was at Marblehead, Massachusetts, to the north of Boston. Reverend William Walton, born ca. 1598, of Seaton, Devonshire, England, came to New England in 1635, going first to Hingham, Massachusetts, and then settling to the north at Marblehead (Walton, 1898).
Reverend Walton was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and
became a clergyman. He married Elizabeth Cooke, daughter of William and
Martha (White) Cooke of Stratton, England (Henninger, 1972).
Reverend William and Elizabeth (Cooke) Walton's three oldest children
were born in Seaton, England before the young family came to New
England. In 1646, Reverend Walton made a certified copy of the births of
his seven children in the Essex County Court at Salem (Essex
Antiquarian, 1901). The two oldest sons were named John and
Nathaniel, which are the names Lawrence and Margaret Walton gave their
two oldest sons. A large number of Internet family trees list Lawrence
Walton's father as Nathaniel Walton, the second son of Reverend William
Walton, however this seems very unlikely, because, as Hattie E. Walton
Heninger wrote in her genealogy A Brief Historical and
Genealogical Account of the Walton Family in the New England States, the
Western States, and Canada with Notes on Some of the Allied Families
(Heninger, 1972) about Nathaniel Walton, son of Reverend William Walton,
"There is reason to believe that he did not marry, as records suggest that his widowed sister, Martha Mountjoy, lived with him and shared land, home, and debts in common. (Essex Ct. Files, vol. 46, p. 180) The gift of a "horse to have betwixt them" bequeathed by their brother Josiah suggests the same." (Heninger, 1972)
Virtually no information, aside from his birth record, has been found about Reverend Walton's eldest son, John, to confirm or eliminate him as a potential father of Lawrence Walton of Connecticut. Thus, the parentage of Lawrence Walton remains unknown. The earliest record of Lawrence Walton is his marriage to Margaret Smith on 10 August 1693 in Preston, Connecticut town records, so it is assumed he arrived at Preston some time before this date. His marriage to Margaret Smith, along with the births of their first four children were recorded in the first volume of Preston town records.
(Enhanced from microfilm copy. Preston Town Clerk, 1672-1848, Volume 1, page 25, Family History Center Microfilm 1311194)
Transcription:
Larance Walton
Larance walton and margrat smith were
married :1693
August: 10
John walton was born :June:19:1694
Nathaniel walton was born martch 20: 1697
Annah walton born Martch : 1699
Thomas walton born January 1701/2
Margaret Smith is believed to be the daughter of Thomas and Hannah (Nettleton) Smith of Killingworth, Connecticut. In her genealogy, The Family of Willis Vernon Farr Past and Present Including Descendants of His Grandfather, Ivah Newton Farr and a Number of Female Lines, Jane E. Bickford made the case, that Margaret (Smith) Walton, wife of Lawrence Walton, was probably the daughter of Thomas and Hannah (Nettleton) Smith of Guilford and Killingworth, Connecticut (Bickford, 1977). Killingworth records show a daughter, Margaret, born to this couple on 6 March 1668 (Killingworth Town Records, 1663-1747). Margaret Smith would have been 25 years old when she married Lawrence Walton. Bickford's assertion is further supported by findings in John D. Hoff's Connecticut Nutmegger paper, "The Ancestry of Samuel Smith of Preston, Connecticut, who Married Sarah Tracy". Hoff provided evidence that Samuel, a son of Thomas and Hannah (Nettleton) Smith, left Killingworth in 1695 when he was 35 years of age and purchased 50 acres of land in Preston, Connecticut from Thomas Leffiingwell on 4 April 1696. The land was on the east side of the "Quanabauge'' River in Preston, so it was probably close to the land east of the Quinebaug River that Lawrence Walton bought from Solomon Tracy on 3 January 1706/7 (see details below).
The family of Lawrence and Margaret (Smith) Walton provide additional clues to Margaret (Smith) Walton's relationship with Thomas and Hannah (Nettleton) Smith in the naming of their children. Lawrence and Margaret Walton named two of their children Thomas and Hannah, probably after Margaret's parents. Lawrence and Margaret's daughter, Hannah, married Jabez Green. Hannah and Jabez Green named their two oldest children Hannah and Thomas, probably for Hannah and also for her maternal grandparents, Thomas and Hannah (Nettleton) Smith. Margaret (Smith) Walton's parentage presents an interesting connection in the next generation, because her son Nathaniel Walton married for his second wife, Hannah Smith, a great-granddaughter of Thomas and Hannah (Nettleton) Smith. Nathaniel Walton and Hannah Smith were first cousins once removed.
Following his marriage to Margaret Smith in 1693, Lawrence Walton purchased 100 acres of land in Preston for £10 from Thomas and Anne Stanton on 10 August 1696. Considering that Margaret's older brother, Samuel Smith purchased land in Preston a few months earlier on 4 April 1696, it seems likely there was a prior relationship between Lawrence Walton and the Smith family of Killingworth, Connecticut. Samuel Smith and Lawrence and Margaret (Smith) Walton arrived in Preston around the same time, 1693 when Lawrence and Margaret's marriage took place, and 1696 when Samuel Smith and Lawrence Walton purchased land there. Additional investigation of Killingworth records may reveal more about Lawrence Walton's origins.
Lawrence and Margaret (Smith) Walton had the following six known children:
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John Walton, born 19 June 1694 in Preston, Connecticut, married 1) Miriam Ward, 1725, Preston, Connecticut; she died in 1732 at Providence, Rhode Island (Caulfield, 1937), with whom he had one son and two daughters who died in infancy; and 2) Susannah Boone, 1738, with whom he had one son and probably four daughters, at least one of whom died young. John Walton entered Yale College in 1716 at the age of 22. He became a Congregational minister and preached in Canterbury, Voluntown and New Jersey. As a result of his progressive ideas, he repeatedly ran into conflict with the church leadership. He served as a representative on the Connecticut General Assembly and also taught school in Plainfield, Connecticut. He moved to Rhode Island where he became involved with the Baptist church in Providence. He later became a doctor, settling on a farm in Glocester, Rhode Island, while he also served on the Rhode Island General Assembly. He died in 1764 (Caulfield, 1937). Susannah, his second wife, died in Providence in 1787 “at an advanced age.” (Arnold, 1911). Ernest Caulfield suggests John Walton may have returned to Preston at the end of his life, where he died and is buried at the Walton Family Cemetery:
“There is a small note in the Connecticut Probate Records dated April 23, 1764, concerning a guardian for “Sarah Walton, a minor of the Town of Preston, Daughter of John Walton, late of Preston, Decd.” so it is possible that he returned to his native town to spend his last few years. Though there are only a few legible stones in the old Walton cemetery on his father's original farm, perhaps he was buried there.” (Caulfield, 1937)
Although John Walton’s second wife, Susannah, died more than 20 years later, it was not unusual in Colonial New England for guardianship of minor children to be given to another adult even when the mother was still living. Nevertheless, Caulfield’s suggestion has not been verified. -
Nathaniel Walton, born 20 March 1697 in Preston, Connecticut, married 1) Jemima (__), about 1716. They had six known children, born between 1717 and 1750, five of whom survived to adulthood. Evidence of these children is found in Canterbury and Norwich town records and in Nathaniel Walton's will, written 5 October 1775, and probated 4 May 1779. In 1725, Nathaniel Walton was granted one-half of his father’s original farm in the northeastern part of Norwich, what is now the northwestern part of Griswold, where he remained for the entirety of his life. Jemima Walton died on 18 September 1754 and the following year, Nathaniel Walton married 2) his first cousin once removed, Hannah Smith, the 24-year old daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Tracy) Smith. Nathaniel Walton and Samuel Smith, father of Hannah Smith, were first cousins.
Note: Many Internet family trees identify Nathaniel Walton who married Hannah Smith as a son of Nathaniel and Jemima Walton, but it is clear from researching the children named in Nathaniel Walton's will that he named five children from his first marriage (Lawrence, Joseph, Susannah, Jemima, and Miriam - the latter two whose births do not appear in town records) and two children from his second marriage (Anna and Daniel). For more information, please read the following document.
Nathaniel and Hannah (Smith) Walton had three known children during their marriage, two of whom survived to adulthood. In 1756, Nathaniel Walton purchased from his neighbor Stephen Johnson a small parcel of land adjoining his property that he had previously improved for the Walton Family Cemetery. He left his half of Lawrence Walton’s original farm to his son from his second marriage, Daniel Walton, consisting of, “a farm containing about 115 acres of land with the buildings thereon”. -
Anna Walton, born March 1699 in Preston, Connecticut, married Gershom Mott on 4 April 1720 in Canterbury, Connecticut. The first child of Anna and Gershom Mott, Mary, was born a year after their marriage. Then on 6 September 1724, Anna gave birth to triplets, Anna, Gershom, and Margaret (probably named for their parents and maternal grandmother). One year thereafter, Gershom and Anna (Walton) Mott were ill and in distress, because on 16 October 1725, at a meeting of the Governor and Council in New Haven it was recorded that,
"Upon the prayer of Anna Mott, wife of Gershom Mott of Canterbury, in the county of New London, in behalf of her said husband (now confined by sickness) and herself, setting forth that about a year since she was delivered of three children at a birth, (which thro God's mercy are all still living,) and has ever since languished under distressing and very expensive sickness, viz., first by a pleurisie, secondly a dropsie, and lastly a dangerous imposthume, (of which she is not yet cured,) successively seizing on. her ; her said infants most or all the while out at nurse at a great expence; and lastly her said husband being by sore sickness in the summer past (from which he is not yet fully recovered,) brought very low and nigh the dust of death; by which series of adverse providences the holy and all wise God has exercised them withal, they have been and are reduced to great want and straights; and praying that a brief craving the contribution and charity of the good people in such and so many towns as the Governour and Council shall see meet, might be granted for their relief. in this distress:"
The Governor and Council approved her request and ordered;
"That a brief be therefore granted, and that it be directed, and it is hereby granted and directed to pass into and thro the towns and respective congregations in New London; Groton, Stonington, Preston, Norwich, Lebanon, Canterbury, Plainfield, Pomfret and Killingly, for the end aforesaid ; and that the money collected by said brief be transmitted to the Reverend Mr. Sam'l Eastabrook of said Canterbury, and by him delivered for the relief of the said poor distressed family."
Anna (Walton) Mott died some time in the late 1720s or early 1730s because Gershom Mott married 2) Elizabeth Walcott as his second wife. A precise date of their marriage or Anna Walton's death has not been found, although some Internet family trees state Anna died in 1729. -
Thomas Walton, born January 1701/02 in Preston, Connecticut, married Mary Downing on 26 November 1723 in New London, Connecticut. They had seven known children born between 1718 and 1735. Mary died and Thomas married Lydia (__), who is named in his will. He removed to Willington, Connecticut, where he died 11 October 1778. His will names his second wife, Lydia, sons Oliver, Andrew, Ezra, Jonathan, Thomas and Henry, and daughters Mary, wife of Nathan Parke; Elizabeth, wife of John Belknap; Mehitable, wife of Experience Cross; Hannah, wife of Jeremiah Parke; and Eunice, wife of Benjamin Johnson.
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Hannah Walton, born about 1708, probably in Norwich, Connecticut, married Jabez Green, son of William Green, on 10 June 1728 in Preston, Connecticut. No birth record has been found for Hannah Walton whose marriage to Jabez Green is recorded in Preston vital records, however, given the date of her marriage, 1728, and her likely birth year, about 1708 if she was 20 years old when she married, and her maiden name, she is logically a daughter of Lawrence and Margaret (Smith) Walton. Conventional naming patterns also support this relationship. Hannah and her next older brother, Thomas Walton, were probably named after their maternal grandparents, Thomas and Hannah (Nettleton) Smith. In addition, Hannah and her husband, Jabez Green, named their two eldest children Hannah and Thomas, probably for their maternal great-grandparents, and their third child, Margaret, was probably named for her maternal grandmother, Margaret (Smith) Walton. Jabez and Hannah (Walton) Green had eight known children, born between 1731 and 1754 who are recorded in Norwich and Canterbury, Connecticut vital records. There may have been more children because there was a ten-year gap between the births of Thomas and Margaret.
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Henry Walton, born 14 November 1710 in Norwich, Connecticut, married Tamsen Parish, daughter of Benjamin and Mary (Tracy) Parish on 16 November 1737 in Preston, Connecticut. Henry and Tamsen (Parish) Walton had three children born in Norwich, Connecticut between 1738 and 1744.
The Move to Norwich
Less than eight years after Lawrence Walton bought land from Thomas and Anne Stanton, he and Margaret sold this same land at more than double the purchase price to Joseph Prentice for £22 on 15 February 1704, perhaps in preparation for a move to Norwich (Preston Land Records, Volume 1, pages 271 and 365, respectively, Family History Library Film 5381). On 3 January 1706/7, Lawrence Walton, husbandman of Preston bought from Solomon Tracy, yeoman of Norwich for £65, land in the northeastern corner of the Norwich boundaryi near the east bank of the Quinebaug River:
“Two hundred and twenty acres of land & Meadow lying in four parcells near the Northeasterly Corner of the bounds of Norwich, within said Norwich bounds be the stone more or less abutted and bounded as followeth: Impre Forty acres abutting Southerly on land formerly belonging to Christopher Huntington being Divided by the brow of a hill that lyeth between there being eighty rodds from the river to a white oake tree marked S.T. and from thence the line runs Northerly ninety rodds to a pine tree marked S.T. from thence the line runs Westerly to Quinebaug river, allowing three rodds Continuously by the river this line being fifty rodds and so running down the river once one hundred & Twenty rodds. With here north at meadow that is lying upon the bank that connects with the Northeast Corner of the town bounds beginning att the Lower end of the first meadow within the Town bounds, and so running up the bank taking in all the Meadow on both sides of the bound whence it comes to a marked tree on the Northerly side of the meadow and running from that tree across the meadow to a point of upland that cometh into the meadows. The third parcel is forty acres lying in a little Eastward from the above mentioned forty acres beginning at a white oake tree marked S.T. from thence the line runs Southeasterly Eighty rodds to a tree marked S.T. from thence the line runs Northeasterly to a tree marked S.T. Eighty rodds then the line runs Northeasterly to a stake on the [unreadable] from thence the line runs Eighty rodds to the first station, abutting on the [unreadable] on every side: the fourth parcel is one hundred & Thirty acres beginning att the Corner tree of the Town bounds. Thence bounded Easterly to the Town line one hundred and Twentie rodds. Thence bounded Southerly on Continuous Two hundred and twenty eight rodds to a white oake tree marked AC: thence by the side of a hill to the southwest Corner of his most Easterly parcel of land and from thence sd Corner tree of the Town bounds it is bounded Northerly on the Town line to the Cedar Swamp and by the swamp to Richard Adams his land and by sd Adams to his own land excepting only three acres of meadow lying upon the bank above his own meadow at a liberty to pass with [unreadable] round the end of the Cedar Swamp. (Norwich Land Records, Family History Library Microfilm 5023; Volume 1, pages 266-268).
The land transaction was witnessed by Elizabeth Bushnell and Mary Rudd.
It has been speculated that Lawrence and Margaret moved their family to Norwich because there were schools there (Caulfield, 1937). They no doubt recognized the intellectual capabilities of their eldest son, John, and the value of education to him, because it’s hard to conceive that John would attain what he did later in life without his family’s early support.
Noting the exception of the three acres of meadow land in the land deed above, Lawrence soon acquired this land too. On 5 July 1709, James Fitch of Canterbury, Connecticut sold for 40 shillings to Lawrence Walton of Norwich, husbandman,
“…a certain tract or parcell of Land Containing three acres of meadow, lying & being Cittuate in ye Town ship of Norwich & in ye County & Colony above sd & ye above sd three acres of meadow is bounded as followeth it is it is bounded northerly or northeasterly by ye sd Norwich Town line that runneth from ye sd Norwich northeasterly Corner tree unto ye great Cedar swamp, & from thence unto Quinebaug River and it is bounded upon ye sd Waltons land on upon every side only upon ye north easterly end or side it is bounded upon Norwich town line as above sd, and ye sd Lawrence Waltons land joyneth upon ye sd meadow upon every side or end, only upon in ye north or northeasterly end or side.” (Norwich Land Records, Family History Library Microfilm 5025; Volume 4, pages 357-8).
The witnesses to this deed were Tyxhall Ensworthii and Ebenezer Williams.
Although town boundaries changed over time, descriptions of Lawrence and Margaret Walton’s farm indicate it was in the most northeastern corner of Norwich. Daniel L. Phillips described the location of their property as follows:
“It was near the end of the seventeenth century on a farm abutting on the famous Norwich Northeast Corner Bound and covering lands in both of the ancient towns of Norwich and Preston, now known as the northern part of Griswold, that Lawrence and Maryiii Smith Walton made their home.” (Phillips, 1918)
Today, this location is at the northwest corner of Griswold, near the border with Lisbon, and south of the Canterbury and Plainfield borders.
John Walton's Emancipation and Entry into Yale College
On 17 February 1712/13, John Walton, then age eighteen, purchased for £3 a parcel of land in Preston, Connecticut from Josiah Hayes of Preston (Preston Land Records, Volume 3, page 15, Family History Center Microfilm 5381). Although John Walton was still three years shy of reaching his majority, he clearly was seeking his independence. One month later, 16 March 1713, Lawrence Walton legally emancipated his eldest son John, as follows:
“Know all men by thefe presents that I
Lawrence walton of Norwich in ye County of New London and Colony of
Connecticut and New England yeoman half by thefe prefents freely fully
and absolutely Demifed and Releafed My son John walton from my Service
and have by thefe prefents given him his freedom to all intents and
purposes that is to Say to bargon to bye or Sell and to act as fully as
freely upon all accounts whatfoever as he might Law-fully doe in Cafe he
were twenty and one years of age and allfo what Eftate he have now is
his in his pofefsion whether Lands [unreadable] or any other Eftate upon
any account Reasonably accounted to be his own or in his pofefsion I
have fully and abfolutely given him power and Lawful Right to my Same
and have given him all my right and title or privileges therein or there
unto belonging in witnefs whereof I have here unto Set my hand and Seal
this ye Sixteenth day of March in ye year of our Lord one thoufand Seven
hundred and thirteen and in ye 12th year of ye Reign of our Sovereign
Lady Ann Queen of great Britten: Signed Sealed and Delivered preafents
of us witnefses
Thomas Clark
Sarah Smith”
(Preston Land Records, Volume 3, page 13, Family History Center Microfilm 5381)
This may have been an act to liberate John from the responsibilities of the farm to pursue his academic studies. John Walton entered Yale College when he was twenty-two years old, about 1716. According to Ernest Caulfield, John was placed last in his class of ten due to his humble origins, however “he had a good character and ‘got his learning by great Industry, for want of Means’.” (Caulfield, 1937).
Around the same time, Lawrence and Margaret’s second eldest son, Nathaniel, married Jemima (__), as their first child, a son named Lawrence, was born 15 December 1717 in Canterbury. Some Internet sources give Jemima Walton’s maiden name as Clark; however, no record has been found to verify this.
While at Yale, John Walton studied theology, philosophy, logic, and the languages. He made the decision to prepare for the ministry, and went to Canterbury, Connecticut where he was baptized, entered the Covenant in 1718, and was admitted to the Congregational Church in 1719 (Caulfield, 1937). Considering Canterbury’s proximity to his family, it is no surprise that John Walton went there to attain his ministerial training. John Walton married Miriam Ward of Norwich about 1725, probably in Preston (Caulfield, 1937), although no marriage record has been found.
The Division of Lawrence Walton's Land
Lawrence Walton did not leave a will, however one year before his death, he divided his land between his two eldest sons, John and Nathaniel, through two land deeds. These land transactions more clearly outline the location of Lawrence Walton’s land within the northeast corner of Norwich: on the west by the Quinebaug River, on the north by Benjamin Clarke’s land (which was mostly in Plainfield, Connecticut), on the east by the boundary with Preston, and on the south by Benjamin Johnson’s land. Benjamin Johnson was the father of Stephen Johnson from whom Nathaniel Walton purchased land for the Walton Family Cemetery in 1757 and who witnessed Nathaniel Walton's will in 1775. From this, it appears the Walton and Johnson families were neighbors for a few generations.
Because Lawrence didn’t provide for Margaret Walton’s maintenance, it is assumed she had already died.
His grant to his eldest son John Walton, 10 June 1725 outlined the following:
“Know yea yt I Lawrence Walton of Norwich in ye County of New London & Colony of Connecticut in New England yeoman for & in Consideration of ye Love goodwill & natural affection I bear to my well beloved son John Walton together with diverse other good Considerations to his securing by bond an honorable maintenance to me During my naturall Life, have given Granted bargained and sold aliened enfeoffed Conveyed and fully Confirm, to my sd Loving and Dutyfull son John his heirs exects adminsr assigns forever The one equal half part for Quantity of all messuage, or farm I now Dwell upon scituate Lyeing & being in ye northeastly Corner of ye bounds of sd Norwich my sd son John to have his equal halfe as above sd, at ye West End of my sd ffarm, Beginning at Quinebaug River extending east till it has taken ye half as above sd, Together with halfe ye Cedar swamp that belongs to me ---------
To have & To hold, all ye sd Land to him my sd
Loving son for his heirs exects admits & assigns forever as a good
estate of inheritance in fee simple, Together with all privileges &
appurtenances thereunto belonging free & Clear & freely & Clearly
acquitted of from all other & former Gifts Grants Wills & alienations,
Receiving for myselfe during my Life my Dwelling House & a privilege in
ye Barn my use of ye orchard and pasture in it & ye wood I stand in need
of."
(Norwich Land Records,Volume 4, page 271, Family History
Library Microfilm 5025.)
This deed was witnessed by Lawrence Walton’s third son, Thomas Walton, and Elizabeth Downing. Thomas Walton married Mary Downing on 15 May 1723, so Elizabeth Downing was probably her relative.
Lawrence Walton’s grant to his second oldest son, Nathaniel Walton,12 June 1725, outlined the following:
“Know ye that I ye above sd Lawrence Walton for & in ye Consideration of ye Love goodwill & affection which I have and Do Bear toward my Loving son Nathaniel Walton of ye Town County & Colony above sd have given & granted & by these presents Do freely Clearly & absolutely Give & Grant to ye sd Nathaniel Walton to his heirs exectr admirs & assigns for ever, all ye land yt I have within ye Township of Norwich or ever shall, or Could have and rights unto by any former purchase, or in Continuous & undivided land but especially ye farm that I now live on. I give all unto my son Nathaniel Walton, on ye south it bounds with ye land of Benjamin Johnson, on ye east with Preston line on ye north with ye land of Benjamin Clarke and on ye West with land I have given to my son John Walton. The above sd Land I have given to ye above sd Nathaniel Walton my son ----------------------
To have & to hold, all ye above Released
promises with all ye buildings and fences, with all ye privileges
belonging to sd land as Wood timber springs of water on water courses
Rocks mines mineralle and all other privileges belonging to sd land, or
any wayes appertaining to ye same to him ye sd
Nathaniel Walton his
heirs exectr admirs assigns forever to occupy possess & enjoy without
any least hindrance I enseal opposition or molestation of me ye sd
Lawrence Walton my heirs exects assigns or any other persons or
persons whatsoever from by or under me upon any pretence whatsoever .
--------------
(Norwich Land Records,Volume 4, page 269,
Family History Library Microfilm 5025.)
This deed was witnessed by Thomas Rose, Jr. and Benjamin Johnson. As noted, Benjamin Johnson was the Walton's neighbor to the south and the father of Stephen Johnson from whom Nathaniel Walton purchased land for the Walton Family Cemetery in 1757, and who witnessed Nathaniel Walton's will in 1775.
By October 1725, John Walton was in Greenwich, Connecticut where he represented Greenwich on the Connecticut General Assembly (Caulfield, 1937). A few months later, 26 March 1726, John Walton quitclaimed the surface rights of one half of his portion of his father's land to his younger brother, Thomas Walton. This included the western half of his land, beginning at the Quinebaug River, plus one acre, and excepted the use of mines, minerals and the transportation and disposing of these efforts; as well as any buildings on the land. Clearly John Walton himself had an industrial interest in this property.
"To all
Christian men to whom these presents shall come greeting know yea yt
I John Walton of Greenwich in ye County of ffairfield &
Colony of Connecticut in new england for & in Consideration of three
hundred pounds Current money of new england paid before ye
ensealing hereof by my brother Thomas Walton of Norwich in ye
County of New London and sd Colony. The receipt whereof I do
acknowledge & myself therewith Contented and paid have given granted &
for ever Quit Claimed To my sd Brother Thomas his heirs exectrs
admitrs assigns The one halfe of all my right & title to any
lands in sd Norwich excepting only ye mines &
minerals & a liability of ye
same transporting & Disposing of
ye same only binding myselfe heirs &c to allow my brother Thomas his
heirs &c a Reasonable satisfaction for ye Damage Done in
Diging & transporting sd mine.
--------------------------------------
To have & to
hold ye above Described halfe right being to be received for
Quantity Quality & to begin at Quinebaug River & run eastward till it
take in halfe ye land, as above sd & one acre
Reckoned & allowed over in Consideration That sd Thomas his
heirs &c: shall have no right to any buildings on my sd land
nor shall any respect be had thereunto in ye Division as
above sd but only shall have ye land as above sd
& one acre over in room of any right to any Buildings, Which right &
title as above mentioned my said brother his heirs &c shall have freely
quitted forever my errors executors and administrators with all your
privileges and appurtenances yet do or may there unto belong only what
are expected as above said."
(Norwich Land Records,Volume
4, pages 356-357, Family History Library Microfilm 5025.) The deed was
witnessed by neighbors of the Walton family, Thomas Clark and Benjamin
Johnson.
One month later, Lawrence Walton died, on 20 June 1726 (Vital Records of Norwich, 1659-1848). Less than a year later, Thomas Walton quit-claimed his interest of land back to his older brother John Walton (Porter, 1985).
My line of descent from Lawrence and Margaret (Smith) Walton down to my maternal grandmother is as follows:
1. Lawrence Walton + Margaret Smith
2. Nathaniel Walton + Hannah Smith
3. Daniel Walton + Zerviah Slafter
4. Alice Walton + Squire Olin
5. Susannah Olin + Thomas Phillips, Jr.
6. Susan M. Phillips + Abel Burdick
7. Frank Rowland Burdick + Sarah Hannah Clark
8. Bertha Melissa Burdick
End Notes
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The original Norwich territory, purchased from Uncas, Sachem of the Mohegans, was roughly square in plan, with each side about 9 miles long. This included a strip of land on the east side of the Thames, Shetucket, and Quinebaug Rivers, part of which is now in the town of Preston. While fields were laid out on the east side of the rivers early in the history of the settlement, permanent occupation did not take place until after King Philip's War of 1675-1676. (https://www.preston-ct.org/298/History-Settlement)
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Tyxhall Ensworth emigrated to America and settled in Canterbury. His grandson, also Tyxhall Ensworth, married James Fitch’s granddaughter, Jerusha in Canterbury in 1742.
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David L. Phillips referred to Margaret Walton as Mary, and several Internet family trees refer to her as Margaret Mary. It is not clear where the name Mary comes from as land and vital records give her name as Margaret.
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Sledzik, P. S., & Poirier, D. A. (1997). Rescue, Research, and
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(1977). The Family of Vernon Farr Past and Present including
Descendants of his Grandfather, Ivah Newton Farr and a Number of
Female Lines. Lisbon Falls, Maine: Privately Published. Caulfield, E. (1937,
March). Dr. John Walton, Yale 1720. Yale Journal of Biology
and Medicine, 9(4). Caulkins, F. M. (1866). History of Norwich,
Connecticut from its possession by the Indians, to the year 1866.
Published by the author. CT. Probate Records. (1609-1999). Probate
Files Collection, Early to 1880. (Ancestry.com, Ed.) Connecticut,
Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999. Hale, C. R. (1932-5). Hale Collection of
Cemetery Inscriptions and Newspaper Notices, 1629-1934. Hartford,
Connecticut: Connecticut State Library. Heninger, H. E.
(1972). A Brief Historical and Genealogical Account of the
Walton Family in the New England States, the Western States, and
Canada with Notes on some of the Allied Families. Privately
Published. Killingworth
Vital Records. (1663-1747). Killingworth, Connecticut
Miscellaneous Town Records (Vol. 1). Family History Library
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Connecticut. Volumes 1 and 4. Family History Library Microfilm
5023 and 5025, accessed at the Anchorage, Alaska
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Places in Griswold, Connecticut, and St. Mary's Cemetery in Lisbon,
Connecticut, with Copies of all the Inscriptions on their Monuments.
Porter, G. S. (1985). A Genealogy, the
Descendants of Lawrence Walton of Preston, Connecticut Circa 1693.
Norwich: Privately Published. Available through the Genealogy
Department of the Allen County, Indiana Public Library (reference
only) and electronically through several public family trees on
Ancestry.com. Preston Land Records. (1687-1722). Preston,
Connecticut: Volumes 1 and 4, Family History Microfilm 5381,
accessed at the Anchorage, Alaska Family History Center. Preston Town Clerk. (1672-1848). Births
Marriages Deaths, Family History Library Microfilm 1311194.
Preston, Connecticut. Vital Records of Norwich 1659-1848.
(1913). Hartford: Society of Colonial Wars in the State of
Connecticut. Walton, J. P. (1898).
Walton Family Records, 1598 - 1898 with its Intermarriages, the
Oakes and Eatons, 1644-1898 and the Proctor Family, 1634-1898.
Muscatine, Iowa: A. C. Hopkinson. Warneke, J. (n.d.).
Walton History in New England. Privately Published.
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Walton Ancestor Webpages |
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Alice Walton of Griswold and Canterbury, Connecticut |
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Daniel Walton of Griswold, Connecticut |
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Nathaniel Walton of Preston and Norwich, Connecticut |
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Lawrence Walton of Preston and Norwich, Connecticut |
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The background paper for this page is from Ender Design's Realm Graphics collection.
The evergreen graphics on this page are
scans of stencils I made using the stencil,
Pine Bough, produced by Dressler
Stencil Company.
Last updated: Sunday, October 08, 2023 10:44:56 AM