COMSTOCK-THOMAS ANCESTRY OF RICHARD WILMOT COMSTOCK BY H. MINOT PITMAN, F. A. S. G. Assisted by DONALD LINES JACOBUS, F. A. s. G. Richard Wilmot Comstock TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I PAGE COMSTOCK . I AMES . 9 ATWATER . 12 AusTIN (John) 14 AusTIN (Thomas) 16 BALDWIN 20 BALL . • . 21 BARLOW . 23 BARNARD . 24 BARNES 26 BASSETT . 27 BAYSEY 28 BEACH (John) . 29 BEACH (Thomas) . 30 BELDEN 32 BENHAM . 34 BEVYS . 36 BIRDSALL . 37 BLAKE (George) . 38 BLAKE (William) . 40 BLATCHLEY 42 BRADLEY (Francis) . 44 BRADLEY (William) . 45 BRAINERD . 47 BRISTOL 49 BROWN (Francis) . 55 BROWNELL 57 BRUEN . 59 BRUEN ROYAL ANCESTRY 62 BULKELEY. 64 ... 111 . lV TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE BULLARD . 66- BusHNELL 1st line 67 BUTLER 69 CHURCHILL 72 CLARK . 73 CLEVELAND 74 CooK . 75 COOPER 76 CRAVATH - 77 CURTIS . 83 DAGGETT . 85 DE WORSLEY . 86 DUNNING . 88 DURFEE 91 EoDY . 92 EsTES • 94 EUSTIS . 97 FARNU:VI . 100 FERNES . 102 FOOTE. 103 FosTEN . 106 FosTER . 107 Fo\VLER . I IO FRANKLYN . I I 2 FREEBORN . 113 GLOVER . 115 GOODRICH . I 16 GosLETT . 125 GRANT . 126 GREGORY . 129 HALL (John) . 130 HALL (William) . 131 HATCH . 132 HITCHCOCK . 135 HOLFORD - . 137 HooKE . 139 TABLE OF CONTENTS V PAGE HovlARD (Hayward) . 143 HUBBELL . 147 lvEs . 149 JOHNSON (Edward) . 150 JOHNSON (Jan vVouters) . 154 JOHNSON (William-Wingle) . 155 JoNES (Thomas) . 156 KEYES . 159 KIDDER. 162 KIMBALL . 164 LAMBERT . 167 LAMBERTON 169 LEFFINGWELL . 171 LONG . 173 LUND . 175 MARSHALL. 176 MARVIN . 177 MEIGS • . 182 MERRIMAN. 184 MERWIN . 187 MILES . 188 MOORE. 190 MOREHOUSE . 191 MUNSON . 193 NEWCOMB . 196 NICHOLS (Francis) . 199 NICHOLS (Thomas) . 200 NORTH . • . 202 ODELL (Richard) . 203 ODELL (William) . 204 ORVIS . 207 PARKER CAbraham) . 209 PARKER (Edward) . 210 PARR . 212 PEARCE. 214 PECK . 216 . Vl TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE PERKINS . 217 PLATT . 219 PoNo . 221 PooR . 224 PRESTON . 226 PRITCHARD . 229 REYNOLDS . 230 RILEY . 232 ROBBINS . 233 RosE . 237 ROWLEY . 239 Royce Ist line . 240 RoYcE 2nd line . 242 Russ . 244 SANDYS . 245 SAYRE . 247 ScoTT . 249 SEDGWICK . 251 SEYMOUR . 256 SHERWOOD . 258 SMITH (George) . 260 SMITH (Samuel) . 262 SMITH (Thomas) . 264 SPENCER . 265 SPINNING . 267 STEVENS . 268 STOCKWELL . 272 STONE . 274 TAPP . 276 THOMPSON. 277 TROWBRIDGE . 278 TURNEY . 281 WHATLOCK . 284 WHEADON. 285 WHEELER 1st line . 286 WHEELER 2nd line . 288 .. TABLE OF CONTENTS Vll PAGE WILMOT . 289 WINN . 301 WINSTON . 302 WOODING . 3°3 WRIGHT . 3o4 YOUNG .. 3°5 PART II THOMAS . • . • • • • • . • • 309 AYLESWORTH . 317 BABCOCK (Badcock) • . • • . • • • • 31 8 BACKUS . • • . • • • • • • • 320 BASKERVILLE . 322 BERRY . • • • • • • • • 323 BINGHAM . • • • • . • • • • • 325 BLANCHARD . • . • . • • 327 BRAMAN . • • . • . • • • • 329 BRONSON . • • • . • • • • • 335 BROWN (Chad) . • • . • • • • • • • • 338 BUELL . • . • . • . • • • 340 BusHNELL 2nd line . • . • • • • • • 342 CARDER . • . • • . • • . 344 CHAMBERLIN . • • • . • 346 CLARKE . • • . • 347 CONANT . • • • • • 349 CRANDALL . • • . 352 CRANE . • . • • • . • • • 354 DISBROUGH . • . • • . • . 356 DRAKE. • • . • . 357 DRAKE ROYAL LINE • • . • . • . • 359 FRENCH •....•••.•• 363 GORTON . • . • . • • 365 GRISWOLD . • . • . • . • • 368 HILL Oames) . • . • . • • . • • 370 HILL {Luke) . • . • . • • • • • 371 Vlll TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE HINSDALE (Hinsdill) . 373 Ho L:\IES . 377 HOPKINS . 380 JONES (Teague) . 38~ JOURDAIN . 384 KELLOGG . 386 KELSEY . 389 LINGv.-000 . 39 1 LOOl\lIS . 392 MAPLETT . 394 MARLAN . 396 MERRILL . 397 PAINE . 400 PARl\1ELEE . 401 PRATT . 4o7 Ruoo . 408 SISSON . 410 SMITH C.\braham) . 411 SMITH (Joshua) . 413 STEVENS . 416 TRIPP . 417 WATSON . 420 WHITE . 421 .Abbreviations ae- aged Anc. - Ancestry or Ancestors Arch. - Archives b.-born bapt. - baptized Bt. - Baronet ca.-about Col.- Colony, Colonial or Colonel d.-died dau. -daughter Desc. - Descend an ts ff- following Fam. - Family or Families F.A.S.G. - Fellow of The American Soc. of Genealogists F.O.F. - Families of Old Fairfield, by D. L. Jacobus Gen. - Genealogy or Genealogical g.s. - gravestone Hist. - History or Historical ib-the same Mag. - Magazine Mil. - Militia or Military Prob. - Probate Quart. - QuarterI y q.v. -whom see rec. - record sic. -just so Ref. - Reference T.A.G. -The American Genealogist including Vol. 1-8 of The New Haven Genealogical Magazine. V.R. -Vital Records NoTE: Dates in Jan. Feb. or March followed by a year such as 1721/2 means 1721 Old Style (before Sept. 1752) and 1722 New Style the old year begin­ ning on March 25th . IX FOREWORD Over thirty years ago ancestral charts were prepared by Donald Lines Jacobus, F ....\. S.. G., for his cousin, Stephen Estes Comstock and the latter's wife, Martha i\delia Thomas. With that as a basis this volume was compiled with many additions and some corrections and with the very valuable assistance of Mr. Jacobus both on his own cousinly lineage and most of the other Connecticut famiJies, with which he is so outstandingly familiar. The direct Thomas lineage was prepared for Mr. Jacobus by George Andrews Moriarty, Jr., F. A. S. G. for the original work and has in the main been followed here. Acknowledgement has been made in the body of the work to those from whose sources much has been taken. A more complete account of a family is gi,ven where special research was done and the material is not else­ where in print, but the bare line of descent without collaterals is given where the material has heretofor been published. H. MINOT PITMAN, F. A. s. G. BRONXVILLE, NEW y ORK February I964 Xl PART I COMSTOCK AND ALLIED FAMILIES COMSTOCK 1. WILLIAM COMSTOCK, b. England, about 1595, d. New London, Connecticut, probably about 1683; m. in Eng­ land, Elizabeth (Daniel?), b. about 1607, d. after 1663. He is believed to have come to New England about 1635 and shortly thereafter removed to Wethersfield, Conn . •.\ History and Genealogy of the Comstock Family in .-\merica by John •.\dams Comstock (1949), hereinafter referred to as the Comstock Gen., points out that there is no proof or likelihood that the family originated in Germany as the Komstohk family of Frankfort-on-Main. Considerable research has failed to prove the right of the •.\merican Comstocks to the coat-of-arms often attributed to them. William Comstock held land in Wethersfield, Connecticut Colony, in 1641, purchased from Richard Miles. Before that he was one of the twenty-six men from Wethersfield in the expedition in the Pequot War commanded by Capt. John Mason that captured the Pequot Fort at Mystic, Conn., 26 May 1637, slaughtering about 500 Indians. He received a grant of land in 1647 at Pequot, now New Lon­ don, to which he moved in 1650. In 1651 he "wrought on the mill dam,'' establishing a corn mill at New London. On 25 Jan. 1659 with the consent of "my now wife Elizabeth" he sold property in New London (N.L. Deeds 3:75). He always signed by mark W.C. John Adams Comstock in the above cited work, p. 1, considered this an indication that Elizabeth was his second wife. As a matter of fact this was a phrase common enough at the time, especially in wills, which merely meant that the wife at the time was the one intended and was a sort of safe guard in case the grantor or testator should remarry at a later date. There seems to have been no other indication that William Comstock had more than one wife. The wife of William has been called, without citing any authority or evidence, Elizabeth I 2 COMSTOCK-THOMAS ANCESTRY Daniels (ib. p. 2). Elizabeth Comstock testified on 12 Sept. 1662, aged about 55 (New London Town Records, 1647-66, p. 94). On 25 Feb. 1661/2 "Old Goodman Comstock" was elected Sexton of the Church ''to order youth in the meeting house, sweep the meeting house and beat out the dogs'' for ten shillings a year and was paid four shillings to dig all graves for adults and two shillings for children's graves, this to be paid by the Superv~sors. He is said to have lived to an old age on Post Hill near the north corner of Williams and Vauxhall Streets. For his five children see Comstock Gen., p. 2. The youngest of four boys and one girl was: 2. CHRISTOPHER COMSTOCK, b. about 1634, d. Nor­ walk, Conn., 28 Dec. 1702; m. (rec. at Norwalk) 6 Oct. 1663, Bannah Platt, b. Milford, Conn., 1 Oct. 1643, d. ·there, after 1713 daughter of Richard and Mary Platt, q.v. Donald Lines Jacobus in his Families of Old Fairfield, here­ inafter referred to as F.O.F., Vol. 1, p. 156 says he was probably son of William above. Since three of his children bore the same names as three of his four supposed brothers and sisters the circumstantial evidence seems very strong. He settled in Fairfield 1654 (Hinman's Early Puritan Settlers) and soon removed to Norwalk, Conn. In 1654 he testified to visiting the convicted witch, Goodwife Knapp, who was later executed and in 1692 he served on the Grand Jury which in­ dicted Mercy Disbrow and others for witchcraft. He kept an inn at Norwalk (Holman's Stevens Miller Anc., 1: 479). He was Deputy fo: Norwalk to the Connecticut General Court in Oct. 1686, May and June 1689 and May 1690. Hinman says Christopher Comstock brought with him from England a silver tankard with his coat-of-arms upon it but if brought at all, it must have been brought by his father as Christopher was a mere babe at the time of his parents' immi­ gration, if, indeed, he was not actually born in New England. It was said to have been given to the Church at Wilton, Conn. by his great grandson and unfortunately melted up. THE COMSTOCK LINE 3 His_ will, dated 2 2 Dec. I 70 I, was proved 4 Jan. I 702 / 3. It bequeathed a Bible to every grandchild. For his eight children see F.O.F., I :I 57 or Comstock Gen. p.