Mercy HIGLEY

Other Events:

• _UID: 4C67894A8D1D470A8DF5DC72F81BBDB2D3DE

Other Events:

• _UID: 36F8D23349AC4C36973E595BEA6240E09F1E

Jonathan married Anne (Anna) BARBER on 4 Dec 1701 in Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut. Anne (daughter of Lt. Thomas BARBER and Mary PHELPS) was born on 7 Oct 1671-1672 in Simsbury, Hartford County, Connecticut; died on 15 Nov 1722 in Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• _UID: 1C20533CAB88418683B5D38B401218BC8128

Notes:

Married:
NOTE MARRIED

Other Events:

• _UID: F185868338D141EC92CCB99E3247BF42E434

Notes:

John HIGLEY (628), born 22 Jul 1649, Frimley, England, married 1696, died 27 Aug 1714, Simsbury, CT. SOURCE NOTES: John Higley, the son of Jonathan Higley and Katherine Brewster, was born at Frimely Parrish, Surrey, England on January 3, 1647. He was the progenitor of almost all Higleys in America and a great deal of his tradition has come down to our time. John's father' Jonathan, died when John was young and he was left in the care of his mother. Soon after his father's death, she apprenticed John to a trade as was the common custom of the time. John was, by his mother's wishes to become a glove maker. However, John had different ideas. His master proved severe and overbearing and the weekly tasks overworked young John. One Saturday night, upon John's failure to perform a certain task to his master's satisfaction, John was promised a sound flogging the fol- lowing Monday (such floggings not being permitted on the Sabbath). John, being sensible as most of his descendants have been, decided that this was not for him, and he ran away. Being underage and impoverished, not to mention on the lamb, John's one choice was to indenture himself and take ship to the new world. At the time the colonies were desperate for workers of every kind and John found a ship whose captain arranged pas- sage for him with the understanding that he would be sold upon his arrival. Upon the ship's arrival she sailed up the Connecticut River to Windsor in the Colony of Connecticut. There, with his consent, John was sold to Mr. John Drake. He was admitted to the Drake family as one of its number and soon became a family favorite. In Lame John retired his indenturement and remained thereafter in the service of John Drake by choice. It was at about this time, he having come to manhood, the he and Hannah Drake, the el- dest of John Drake's daughters, plighted their troth. But in those days it was not a simple matter to get married. Though they certainly had the blessings of the Drake household, there was still the matter of John's own mother in England and the unsatisfied master glove maker. With the same Higley fortitude and perseverance that he passed to future generations of Higleys, John undertook the 51 day voyage back to England. Landing safely he proceeded to Frimely and soon stood once more upon his rnother's threshold. After a five year absence, the tall, strong man on her door step did not resemble her son, and Katherine Higley had no clue as to who it was who greeted her and handed her a letter. The letter contained his declaration of true and honest heart and she wept as she read it. Glancing at the stranger before her, she caught her breath as maternal in- stinct moved her. Advancing to his side she parted his hair and discovered a scar from a fall John had taken down some stairs when he was ten. "John, you rogue! Is that you?" she exclaimed and soundly cuffed his ear. Of course, after the happy reunion she gave John her blessing and, after making satisfactory arrangements with the glove maker, he was once more on a ship to America to claim his bride. After their marriage the young couple took up residence on the eastern shore of the Connecticut River and raised a large family. Their children were John, Jonathan, Elizabeth, Katherine, Brew- ster, Hannah, Joseph, Samuel and Mindwell. John prospered and became one of Connecticut's leading citizens. In 167l he was elected Constable for Windsor. It was also that year that he erected a warehouse and began his mercantile career that was to make him one of the wealthiest men in Connecticut, dealing pri- marily in sugar, molasses and rum between the colonies and Bermuda and Jamaica. By 1683 he held the additional office of Customs Officer and his fortune was growing rapidly. He decided to move the family to Simsbury Connecticut, about nine miles from Windsor, where he purchased 94 acres plus some additional adjacent land. Here he erected colonial home, much above the standard of the time, and moved burgeoning family. As John purchased more adjacent land over the years and extended his holdings for more than four miles along the river, the region began to be called Higley-town and was known as that for than 150 years. One of the most interesting stories concerning John Higley re- volves around the political affairs of the colony. For in 1685 King James II of England came to power and promptly required the colonies to surrender their charters in order to establish dominions under a Crown appointed governor-general. On 31 October 1687, Sir Edmund Andros arrived in Hartford, with a company of soldiers, while the General Assembly was in session. John Higley was present at the assembly. Andros demanded the assembly surren- der their charter. After heated debate that lasted until night- fall, the charter was brought into the chamber and laid upon the table in front of Adros. Suddenly the lights were extinguished, leaving the chamber in pitch dark, and the charter was spirited away. John Higley, as tradition goes, was given the charter by Captain John Wadsworth, the chief actor in the saving of the Charter, and sped away through the night to Higleytown. There the charter stayed for six weeks until it found its way to the famous Charter Oak in Hartford. We find John soon after given a commission as ensign in the Connecticut militia which was, at the time, the highest ranking officer in Simsbury. In 1689 he was elected to the General Assembly. John was devastated in 1694 by the death of his wife Hannah. She passed away on August 4 of that year at the age of 41. John did not resume his seat at the General Assembly again until 1698. These three years and the year 1703 were the only years he did not serve the assembly from 1687 until 1711. In 1696 John remarried Sarah Strong Bissel, who is our ancestor. She was a widow with two children of her own. In spite of hav- ing now a family of eleven children, Sarah and John had a large family of their own: Sarah, Nathaniel, Josiah (our ancestor), Abigail , Susanna and Isaac. And you wonder why there are so many Higleys? In 1698 John, who was by then a Lieutenant in the militia, was promoted by the General Assembly to the rank of Captain and given his own company. It is by the title "Captain" that John has come down to tradition. John continued to prosper and was engaged in numerous business and public pursuits up until the day he died, August 25, 1714 His estate showed his tremendous increase since the day he ran away from home to a strange new world to found a distinguished bloodline in America. source: abbreviation: The Higleys and their Ancestry, 1963. note: The Higleys and their Ancestry, 1963. 3. Sarah STRONG (629), born 14 Mar 1666, Taunton, MA, married 1696, died 27 May 1739, Windsor, CT. SOURCE NOTES: source: ab- breviation: English Origins of the "Mary & John" Passengers by note: English Origins of the "Mary & John" Passengers by Ann Na- talie Hansen, continued: 1985 source: abbreviation: History of the Descendents of Elder John Strong o note: History of the Descendents of Elder John Strong of Northampton, Mass.

John married Hannah DRAKE on 9 Nov 1671 in Simsbury, Hartford County, Connecticut. Hannah (daughter of John DRAKE and Hannah MOORE) was born on 8 Aug 1653 in Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut; died on 4 Aug 1694 in Simsbury, Hartford County, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• _UID: C551991F909742CEA663C496D5EFA752253B

Other Events:

• _UID: 67B66F7A597A4D31B339F164BC0256B9659F

Notes:

BIOGRAPHY: May be the same Thomas Barber married to Mercy Case. CONFLICT: Death date 10 May 1713 Simsbury Hartford, Connecticut.

Thomas married Mary PHELPS on 17 Dec 1663 in Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut. Mary (daughter of William PHELPS, II and Ann (Mary Ann) DOVER) was born on 2 Mar 1644 in Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut; was christened in in Crewkerne, Somersetshire, England; died on 13 Feb 1726 in Simsbury, Hartford County, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• _UID: AD3A04691F1B499A86AF9C4782FE2ABDF0BB

Notes:

BIOGRAPHY: presumed to have died young, died soon after birth BIRTH: twin

Notes:

Married:
They first lived in Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut. About 1671/1671 moved to Simsbury, Hartford, Connecticut.

Other Events:

• _UID: A48544B85FA54C5B92983499EFFCDD3DCC65

Notes:

Jonathan HIGLEY (630), born 20 Jun 1624, Frimley, Surrey, Eng- land, married 3 Jan 1647, Frimley, Surrey, England, died 1664, Frimley, Surrey, England. SOURCE NOTES: source: abbreviation: ROOTBOOK database on Internet.
5. Katherine BREWSTER (631), born 20 Jun 1626, Frimley, Surrey, England, married 3 Jan 1647, Frimley, Surrey, England, died Aug 1694.

ROOTBOOK database on Internet. source: abbreviation: The Higleys and their Ancestry, 1963. note: The Higleys and their Ancestry, 1963. 6. Return STRONG (632), born 1641, Taunton, MA, married 11 May 1664, died 9 Apr 1726, Northamptonshire, MA. SOURCE NOTES: Return was a tanner and he remained in Windsor when his father moved to Northampton. He was a Cornet - 1689 and a lieutenant in the Hartford Cavalry. A deputy from Windsor (1689-90) and a J. P. in Hartford in 1710. source: abbreviation: History of the Descendents of Elder John Strong o note: History of the Descendents of Elder John Strong of Northampton, Mass. source: abbreviation: English Origins of the "Mary & John" Passengers by note: English Origins of the "Mary & John" Passengers by Ann Natalie Hansen, continued: 1985 7. Sarah WAREHAM (633), born 1642, married 11 May 1664, died 26 Dec 1678, Windsor, CT. SOURCE NOTES: source: abbreviation: English Origins of the "Mary & John" Passengers by note: English Origins of the "Mary & John" Passengers by Ann Natalie Hansen, continued: 1985 source: abbreviation: History of the Descendents of Elder John Strong

Jonathan married Katherine BREWSTER on 3 Jan 1647 in Frimley, Surrey, England. Katherine (daughter of Rev. John BREWSTER and Unk) was born in 1626 in Of Frimley, Surrey, England; died in Aug 1694. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• _UID: 28BBB1EED06E4A499810BC8D13BA83059906

Other Events:

• _UID: 9DC4C716135D40F591FA838E4C35695FC882

Notes:

CONFLICT: Death: 12 sep 1689, DEATH: 7 jul 1688, Will proved. Windsor,Hartford,Connecticut. WFT # 0259

John married Hannah MOORE on 30 Nov 1648 in Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut. Hannah (daughter of John MOORE and Abigail PINNEY) was born on 29 Dec 1627 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts; died on 16 Feb 1686 in Simsbury, Hartford County, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• _UID: B47622C8716B4AC1A84300184C15339C2EBE

Notes:

CONFLICT: Birth 1633, England. Doesn't make sence when compared to brothers and sisters. I also don't think she was born in Massachusets.dl Death: Salem,Essex,Massachusetts or Simsbury,Hartford,Connecticut.

Other Events:

• _UID: AE76580A7C61417F94D36CAC9604DFD6F159

Notes:

BIOGRAPHY: From "The Connecticut Barbers" By Donald S. Barber, 1992 "Before coming to New England, Thomas was apprenticed under Francis Stiles, a master carpenter from Millbrook, Bedfordshire,England. Stiles was contracted by Sir Richard Saltonstall to build houses in America for Englismen who were to follow. Thomas Barber at the age of 21 was among the twenty apprentices plus others who sailed with Stiles for New England in the ship "Christian" (John White, Master), which left london 16 Mar 1634 (Julian Calendar) and arrived 3 months later in Boston June 1635. Each of the passengers had a certificate which read in part: "with certificate from St. Mildred, Bread Street, London, and having taken the oaths, to be transported to New England from London in the "Christian" (from the Public Record Office, Westminster Hall, London). After 10 days at Boston the Christian sailed up the Conn. River to Windsor, arriving there on the first of July 1635. That same year Thomas was granted a lot of a few acres, extending from Mill Brook, near the old Warham gristmill, north along both sides of Poquonock Ave. The author's father was born on this same land, and my brother, sister, and I were brought up on this, the original land grant. After 330 years of continuous Barber Ownership, the land has now all been sold. The Pequot War in 1637, precipitated by the Pequot Indians by their continual harrassment of both the settlers and the friendly Mohegans, found Thomas a Sargant, on of the 30 soldiers from Windsor under the leadership of Captain John Mason. The night attack was a complete surprise to the Pequots, and a large percentage of the tribe was massacred. Thomas Barber's bravery (he was inside the Pequot Fort at Mystic during the attack), gained him honorable mention from Capt. Mason, and in return for this service, in 1641 he was granted 600 acres of land in Massaco, in the western part of Windsor. Massaco became Simsbury in 1669. The year 1645 found Thomas still an apprentice carpenter. Stiles apparently was slow to finiah Thomas's apprenticeship, and needed a court order to force him to do so. From then on Thomas was making preparations to move to Northampton, MA. There were a multitude of Barber families in Bedfordshire and other parts of England in the 1500's and 1600's. Several including Thomases, leaving us uncertain to this day about Thomas's ancestry. A deeper mystery surrounds Jane, his wife. He married her in 1640, but the record gives only the name Jane or Joan. Two of Thomas's sons married Coggin ladies, but there is no sign that Jane was a Coggin, as some have suggested. One of Francis Stiles' sisters was named Jane, born 1605. She married in England and presumably remained there. There was a Jane Marden or Worden, age 35, on the passenger list of the 'Christian", however, I know nothing further about her. It seems she was too old to have borne all of Thomas's children. Coggin Stiles, Morden, Worden or someone else: there seems as yet no way of knowing (an all too frequent problem in genealogy)." BIRTH: Probably born 21 dec 1612 (St. Thomas's Day. DonBarber

Thomas married Jane (Joan) COGGINS on 7 Oct 1640 in Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut. Jane (daughter of John COGGINS) was born in 1619 in Of Bedfordshire, England; died on 10 Sep 1662 in Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• _UID: E62D2CC971AF4522B2C97FB825E9FBC61001

Notes:

CONFLICT: From the Connecticut Barbers by Donald S. Barber 1992, Jane's last name was unknown and the name Coggins is highly suspect. They list Jane's father as John Coggins b.1593, Bedfordshire,England.

Other Events:

• _UID: 73763198D5164F04A05DB8AD04BC5CC836A8

Notes:

CONFLICT: Birth date 28 Feb 1598/99, WFT #0259 CONFLICT: B abt 1592 of Crewkerne ,Somersetshire,England. BIOGRAPHY: WFT #0259 Story widely told in the Phelps family that "We had royal blood in our veins". An ancestor (Phelps) was rightful heir to the crown of England, but there was another more favorite with the people, he to avoid bloodshed fled to this country with a young man by the name of Caverley then about 18 years of age, his nephew and the king's foot page. Having access to the royal treasury he loaded a ship with silver, came to Boston, changed his name, and purchased land largely, as Boston Neck, a part of Charlestown, and other public lands. After some time, learning that a great reward was offered for his capture, he changed his name again, destroyed all his papers, and went to Connecticut (Hebron), to hide himself from his pursuers. Temperance Phelps, daughter of Solomon (Great-Grandson of William II) says that Abigail Caverley showed her a room where some of the silver was deposited in walls. Solomon Phelps owned a good deal of Boston and was a very rich man. When asked why he did not recover the fortune of silver he replied "that it would hurt very many people a great deal more than it would do him good". When Temperance Phelps was partially engaged to another person and her father (Solomon) finding it out asked her to take a ride with him, and disclosed to her some of the facts of his early history in connection with the Caverleys in consequence of which she accepted the hand of Ezra Strong (the son of Abigail Caverley) and the two families were united in one. The truth of this history has not been verified, but adds spice and curiosity from one generation to another. It is not known if William is the person in question but he was the first to come from England. His kingly name Guelph was changed to Phelps, dropping the g and altering u or v to ph. BIOGRAPHY: on first jury empaneled in New England, 9 Nov 1630.

William married Ann (Mary Ann) DOVER on 14 Nov 1626 in Crewkerne, Somersetshire, England. Ann was born in in Porlock, Devonshire, England; died on 27 Nov 1675 in Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• _UID: 87AFDCE09E2844639F45D32DD97AFBB44586

Notes:

BIOGRAPHY: 1636 moved to Windsor, CT.

Notes:

Married:
CONFLICT: FamilySearch.org lists marriage to Anne Dover d. abt 1617 of Tewksbury,Gloucestershire,England.