A Genealogical Register of the Descendants in the Male Line of Robert Day, of Hartford, Conn., Who Died in the Year 1648

Columbia Mnititn^itp LIBRARY ' A GENEALOCIICAL REGISTER BBSCENDANTS IN THE MALE LINE OP ROBERT DAY, OP HARTFORD, CONN., WHO DIED IN THE YEAR 1«4§. Seeond Edition. - NORTHAMPTON: PRINTED BY J. & L. MBTCALF. (^ 1848. PREFACE. It is now two hundred years since Robert Day, one of the early settlers of Hartford, and the ancestor of those whose names are recorded in the following pages, was gathered to his fathers. In presenting therefore to his numerous living descendants, on the second centennial anniversary of his death, this enlarged edition of their Family Register, the intention has been to render it a com- memorative offering. Scattered as they already are, and every year becoming more widely separated, it has been the hope of the compiler in laboring to preserve the memory of their Puritan lineage, that this Register, borne with them as they leave their fathers' sep- ulchres, will ever remind them of the obligation they are under, as descendants of the early settlers of New England, to cherish the virtues of their Pilgrim ancestors, and in testimony of their descent to uphold and support wherever they may dwell, freedom, laic, learning and religion. The small edition of this Register, printed at New Haven in 1840, was not only soon exhausted, but was found to contain, what indeed with the information then had it was impossible to avoid, some serious errors. These, with a considerable number of smaller mistakes, have been corrected and important additions made, by which the number of names is nearly doubled. Still, it is not ex- pected that the present edition will be found entirely free from error. In consequence of the great variety of sources from which information of the kind is gathered, and the defective accuracy of many informants, perfect correctness is probably out of the ques- tion. No means, however, have been left unemployed to approxi- mate to it as nearly as possible. Where the genealogy of any branch has not been followed out, or where dates are wanting, no further information could, be obtain- ed. There are some families of whom their nearest surviving rela- tives have wholly lost sight. The compiler would respectfully re- quest the aid of the family in supplying the deficiencies which exist. Although he does not expect to issue another edition of the Register, it is not impossible that a supplement contaniing additions and correc- tions may herealtcr be printed. t^f^ '< 1 ^/lOD : 4 PREKA.CE. The two most proniiuent clianges in the plan of tlie Register consist in denominating what was called the Colchester branch in the former edition the Hartford branch, and in reckoning the gen- erations in the running title according to the parents instead of the children. The reason of the fir.«t mentioned change is that so many of the descendants of John Day (son of Robert) have been traced—and among others the entire Northampton branch—whose ancestors never resided in Colchester, as to render the former des- ignation obviously inappropriate. A sufficient explanation of the delay which will be experienced before the members of the family will receive their copies, will be found in the necessity of sending proof-sheets to diflferent and dis- tant parts of the country. A few copies extra will be struck off and left at the book store of Mr. Horace Day in New Haven, Conn, and also with Mr. Aaron Day in West Springfield, of either of whom they may be ordered by members of the family who are not supplied, on inclosing (post paid) one dollar, for which 4w©. copA^ will be sent. ^ In addition to the gentlemen who aided him in the preparation of the first edition, the compiler desires to express his acknowledg- ments to Mr. Horace H. Day of New York, Mr, James I. Day of New Orleans and Mr. Thomas D. Day of St. Louis for their liberal pecuniary aid : also to Mrs. Charles Day and Mr. Guy B. Day of Colchester, to whom the members of that branch are indebted for the careful examination of the Colchester records and tomb-stones and to Rev. Hiram Day of South Cornwall, Conn, and Mr. Gideon Day of Monson, Mas?. For the valuable additions to the notices of the early settlers of New England of the name of Day, which will be found in the introduction, the family are under obligation to Hon. James Savage, by whose liberality the entire article under that name as it now stands in the maituscript copy of the forthcoming edition of Far- mer's Genealogical Register, on which he is now engaged, has been placed in the hands of the compiler. It has certainly been no small privilege, also, in preparing this edition, to be able to refer in cases of difficulty to Sylvester Judd, Esq. of this town, whose wide acquaintance with the history of the Connecticut river valley, and accurate knowledge of the genealogy of the families inhabiting it, have rendered the present Register much more perfect than it would otherwise have been. GEORGE E. DAY. NoiiTii.\Mrro.\. Dlc. -^5, 18 IS. — INTRODUCTION. It has been handed down by tradition that the family of Day originally came from Wales. This tradition is undoubtedly correct. In a book of Heraldry, containing the arms of William Day, B. D., Provost of Eton College and Dean of Windsor, confirmed by Wil- liam Flower, Norroy, on the 21st of October, 1582, in the twenty- fourth year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, he is said to be *' descended from the Dees of Wales, viz. being younger son of Richard Day, who was the son of Nicholas Day, the son of John Dee, (called by the English, Daye.) He was son of Morgan Dee, .jfounger brother to Richard Dee, Welshman." '\ i>ee,* signifying, it is said, dark or dingy, is the name of a small river in Wales, and was probably applied to some ancestor of the family, dwelling upon its banks, in order to distinguish him from others—^just as WicklifTe took his name from the village in which he was born—and in time, the word Dee came to be written, according to its apparent sound, Daye or Day. This name, more- over, still prevails in Wales, and is there pronounced as in England and this country.* •iVithin the first thirty years after the settlement of New England, eight persons of the name of Day are found upon record, .viz. 1. Robert, first of Cambridge, then of Hartford, Conn., who arrived in 1G34, and was the ancestor of those whose names are given in the following pages. 2. Robert of Ipswich, came over in 1635, in the Hopewell, Capt. Bundock, from London, aged 30 : made freeman June 2, 1G41, and was living in 1681. 3. Nathaniel o{ Ipswich, in 1637. (Kimball's Eccl. Sermon.) *4. <S'ifepy^cn of Cambridge, who is considered by Thomas, in his history of printing, as the first printer in this country. He was brought over by Rev. Mr. Glover, who died on the passage ; and began business in March, 1639. He had probably a wife and family, as the death of a Stephen is on the record Dec. 1, 1639, and oi Rebec- ca Oct. 17, 1658, presumed to be his son and wife. He died Dec. 22, 1668, aged 58. Thomas, vol. 1, pp. 227-234, gives a cata- logue of the books supposed to be printed by him. He was, per- * MS letter from Rev. Warren Day of Richmond, N.Y. ; b INTRODUCTION. haps, unthrifty, for the press passed into the hands of Green twenty years before Day's death, and Day wrought as a journeyman. Yet he was engaged in the settlement of Lancaster, in 1643, and had received a grant of 300 acres in 1641, for his enterprise. 5. Wenti^T^t of Boston, received into the Church Sept. 12, 1640, with prefix of respect, though a single man : member of the Artillery Company in 1640. He was perhaps the surgeon at Cam- bridge in 1652, who saved a woman accused as a witch : (Hale's Witchcraft, 65.) had Elizabeth bapt. Sept. 26, 1641, who died eight days after birth, and a son Wenttvortk, bapt. Aug. 13, 1643. 6. Ralph of Dedham, made freeman in 1645, and died Oct. 28, 1677, naming in his will, Sept. 12, his wife Abigail, and children John, Ralph, Mary, (wife of John Payne,) and Abigail; also his son in law John Ruggles. His wife was daughter of Daniel Pond but his first wife Susan, by whom he had four children, was daughter of Jonathan Fairbanks, who in his will, 1668, speaks of her four children, and in the records of Dedham, are found Elizabeth, bapt. July 3, 1648, Mary, b. Nov. 9, 1649, Susan, b. in 1652, and John, b. April 15, 1654 ; followed by Abigail, daughter of Ralph and Abi- gail, b. April 6, 1661. From him are descended the Days in Wren- tham, and also it is supposed in Attleborough, Ms. and Killingly, Ct. 7. Mattheto of Cambridge, a printer, whose name is found in the imprint of Danforth's Almanac for 1647 : was steward of Harvard College in 1645 : freeman in 1646 : and died in May, 1649. It is inferred from his will that he had neither wife nor child, because he gave most of his property to his mother, and to elder Frost, <£4. 8. Anthony of Gloucester, in 1645, had a wife Susanna and ^v- eral children born after 1656. He died April 23, 1707, aged m. ; his widow died Dec. 10, 1717, aged 94.

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