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Ensign Thomas (Bunch) BUNCE

Ensign Thomas (Bunch) BUNCE[1]

Male 1612 - 1683  (71 years)

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  • Name Thomas (Bunch) BUNCE 
    Prefix Ensign 
    Born 1 Jan 1612  Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    Christened 20 Dec 1614  Westhorpe, Suffolk, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    Gender Male 
    FamilySearch ID LYVM-2LD 
    FindAGrave.com   [2
    Memorial ID#104994923 
    _UID 95C1753BF9B44DF8B8AEF540546AD4446920 
    Buried Aug 1683  Ancient Cemetery, Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    Died 8 Aug 1683  Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    Person ID I4726  Carney Wehofer Feb 2024 Genealogy
    Last Modified 5 Dec 2022 

    Father James BUNCE,   b. Abt 1585, Seabrook, Kent Co., England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1623  (Age ~ 38 years) 
    Mother Elizabeth RAYNOR,   b. 1 Nov 1589, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 11 Aug 1638, Goudhurst, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 48 years) 
    Married Abt 1604  Kent, Jefferson County, Indiana Find all individuals with events at this location  [3, 4
    Family ID F2363  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 1 Sarah,   b. Abt 1612, Connecticut Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Jan 1693, Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 81 years) 
    Married 1633  Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. Sarah BUNCE,   b. 1634, Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 20 Jun 1676, Hatfield, Hampshire, Massachusetts Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 42 years)
     2. John BUNCH (BUNCE), Sr,   b. Abt 1636, England Or Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1700, New Kent, New Kent County, Virginia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 64 years)
     3. Mary BUNCE,   b. 17 Sep 1645, Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Bef Aug 1682, Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 36 years)
     4. Elizabeth BUNCE,   b. 1646, Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1716, Of Hatfield, Hampshire, Massachusetts Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 70 years)
     5. Deacon Thomas BUNCE,   b. 1648, Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1712, Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 64 years)
    Last Modified 29 Aug 2016 
    Family ID F2367  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 2 Mrs Thomas UNKNOWN,   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Married Abt 1640  Hartford County, Connecticut Find all individuals with events at this location 
    • _UID732F9D1ADCB0D51199618B655571A9799DC0
    Last Modified 29 Aug 2016 
    Family ID F2356  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • Note: Thomas' wife is mistakenly referred to by researchers as Sarah Bull from published accounts of a "Prob" probable marriage mentioned in A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, James Savage, a confusion with their son Thomas. However, age differences cannot be ignored and the lineage of Sarah Bull and her children are proved in Thomas Bull's will. Sarah, wife of THIS Thomas will remain unkown as to her maiden name, and Thomas' son Thomas b: 1648 will remain as the proven husband of Sarah Bull.

      As one of an army of about 90 men raised from Hartford, Windsor and Wethersfield, he served as an ensign in the Pequot Indian war of May, 1637...Thomas Bunce was granted 60 acres in 1671 and an additional 50 acres in 1672 by the General Court "for his Good service therein." His land was located near the present site of the state Capitol.

      From The Connecticut Nutmegger, September 1991, page 238:
      Thomas, the original immigrant who came from England around 1635, probably marched with Hooker from Cambridge to Hartford in 1636. He was there early enough to be considered a "founder", and his name is on the proprietor's list of 1639. He and his wife were members of the Second or South Church.
      Thomas accepted civic responsibilities. He was a constable in 1648,
      juror in 1649, townsman (selectman) in 1655, 61, and 65, rate setter and list maker
      1668-71 and 1672-73. He served as an ensign in the Pequot War, and "for
      his Good service therein" was later granted 110 acres of land. His home was
      near the site of the present Capitol. He was evidently involved with
      construction work, since records show he helped build a new mill, and he worked to repair the bridge across Little River in 1648.
      His descendants were many in Connecticut, as evidenced by their numbers in
      Barbour's 'Families of Early Hartford'.
      Genealogical Guide to the Early Settlers of America, Henry Whittemore,
      1967:
      He had Thomas, John, Sarah, Mary 1645, Elizabeth.
      References - Hinman's Conn. Settlers, 403; Tuttle Gen. 658; Savage's Gen.
      Dict. vol. 1, 298.
      Boston Transcript, July 2, 1930, #9800: The list of names on the Hartford
      Monument is copied from the account of the Hartford, Ct., old burying
      ground, by the Ruth Wyllys Chapter, D. A. R.
      "In the center of the cemetery is a venerable monument erected in 1835 in
      1835 to the memory of 'The Founders of Hartford.' One hundred and two names
      including Thomas Bunce.
      Boston Transcript, 22 July 1908, #9961: The inventory of Thomas Bunce was
      taken August 3, 1683. Will not dated. To his son John Bunce he gave "my Lott
      Lyeing over against Mr. Webster," etc. The two last parcels of land John Bunce
      was "to possess immediately after the decease of me & my wife Sarah Bunce."
      Founders of Early American Families, Emigrants from Europe 1607-1657,
      1975:
      Documentation of Son Thomas - attributed to father:
      Bunce, Thomas. Hartford (Mass.) 1636 d there 1683. Ensign. Member of committee
      of safety. Stiles, Wethersfield; Savage.
      !A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, James Savage,
      1965: Bunce, Thomas, Hartford 1636, serv. next yr. in the Pequot war,
      had, prob. by a d. of capt. Thomas Bull, under wh. he had act. in that was, ch.
      Thomas; John; Sarah, wh. m. John White of Hatfield, and, next Nicholas
      Worthington; Mary, b 17 sept. 1645, wh. m. Thomas Meakins of Hatfield,
      and, next, John Downing; and Eliz. wh. m. Jacob White of Hartford, br. of John
      bef. nam.

      SOURCES: Austin's Gen. Dict. Vol. 1 pg. 294
      Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury, Mass.
      Conn. Gen. Vol. 1 pg. 535
      Abridged Comp. of American Gen. Vol. 1

      Thomas, the original immigrant who came from England around 1635, probably marched with Hooker from Cambridge to Hartford in 1636. He was there early enough to be considered a "founder", and his name is on the proprietor's list of 1639. He and his wife were members of the Second or South Church.

      Thomas accepted civic responsibilities. He was a constable in 1648, juror in 1649, townsman (selectman) in 1655, 61, and 65, rate setter and list maker 1668-71 and 1672-73. He served as an ensign in the Pequot War, and "for his Good service therein" was later granted 110 acres of land. His home was near the site of the present Capitol. He was evidently involved with construction work, since records show he helped build a new mill, and he worked to repair the bridge across Little River in 1648.

      His descendants were many in Connecticut, as evidenced by their numbers in
      Barbour's 'Families of Early Hartford'.

      The Genealogical and Family History of the State of Connecticut, p. 535, and other sources state that Thomas Bunce was born in 1612 in England, said to have been from "Saybrooke, England," of English or Scottish ancestry. He was a "sturdy Puritan, who was at Hartford in 1639, a landed proprietor."
      He was considered a wealthy man, as he owned land in Hartford and Wethersfield at the time of his death. His wife survived him by ten years, dying in January, 1693/94, leaving a will dated 1689, which mentioned their grandchildren, Sarah, Thomas and Mehitabel Meekins, and the two oldest children of her son, John Bunce, leaving the remainder of her property to her sons John and Thomas Bunce, executors of her will. A copy of her will also appears in A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records, in Vol. 1, p. 283,




  • Sources 
    1. [SAuth] Jim Carney, compiled by James H Carney [(E-ADDRESS), & MAILING ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE], Buderim, Queensland 4556 AUSTRALIA.

    2. [S1160] FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 5 Dec 2022), entry for Thomas (Bunch) BUNCE, person ID LYVM-2LD. (Reliability: 3).

    3. [S91] LDS: IGI, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, (Common Index of International Genealogical Information (Salt Lake City:UT, Family History Center, July 1996 ? data as of 2 January 1996), (Created by FamilySearch Internet Genealogy Service, 50 East North Temple Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84150, Oct 12, 2001 , http://www.familysearch.org), Film: #6142837 (Reliability: 3).

    4. [S90] Larson: Genealogical Research of Kirk Larson, Larson, Kirk, (Personal Research Works including Bethune & Hohenlohe Descendants, 1981-2001, Kirk Larson, Private Library).