Mary (Buell) Bissell (1642 - 1718)

Born 3 Sep 1642 in Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut

Wife of Simon Mills II — married about 1660 (to 8 Jun 1683) in Windsor, Connecticut Colony

Descendants

Died 24 Jun 1718 at age 75 in Massaco, East Simsbury, Hartford, Connecticut

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Biography

Mary was born in 1642. She is the daughter of William Buell and Mary (Unknown) Buell (1616-1684). Mary Buell was born in Windsor, Connecticut Colony on 3 Sep 1643, the daughter of William and Mary Post Buell, Founders of Simsbury, Conn.

• Married (1) Simon Mills
• Married (2) Samuel Bissell. Mary was mentioned in his will.

Mary Bissell wrote her will 9 April 1718, leaving her estate to her Mills children she identified her daughter Mary wife of Samuel Humphrey; daughters Hannah and Elizabeth. She left bequests to the heirs of John Mills, heirs of Sarah Ellsworth and son Symon Mills who was named executor.^[1] Marey Bissell, w. Samuell, of Windsor, d. June 24, 1718 in Simsbury.^[2] At least two of her children lived in Simsbury.

Mary (Buell) Mills, identified as the wife of Simon of Windsor, was treated by John Winthrop Jr., physician and Governor of Connecticut Colony, in 1668; he recorded her age as 27.^[3]

^[4]"When young Simon [Mills] II was 22 years of age, he was married on February 23, 1659, to Mary, the captivating daughter of their old friend William Buell. This marriage took place four months before the death of Joan, the step-mother, her funeral being held on July 5. 1659. Young Mary's kindness brought much comfort to this good woman, while her cheerful nature filled the home of the two Simons with contented domestic orderliness. Two years later this home was blessed with beautiful twin sons, born to Mary and Simon Mills II, on April 23. 1661. The babies were christened Simon III and Samuel Mills. Grandfather Simon I was filled with pride for his namesake, and promising grandsons. The two precious babies of Simon II and Mary Buell Mills, were born April 23, 1661. One month later, May 19, 1661. occurred one of the most inhuman onslaughts of Indians to be imagined. On this date were slain not only these two beloved infants, but their heroic grandfather, Simon Mills, I, who gave his life in his efforts to protect the colonists in this Indian raid. ...

Simon Mills II. b. 1657 — Windsor, Conn. (Son of Simon I and Sarah Bissell Mills.) d. June 8. 1683, Simsbury, Ct. Married Feb. 23, 1659.
Mary Buell Mills b. Sept 3, 1643, Windsor, (dau. William and Mary Post Buell.) d. 1718. Simsbury, Ct. Founders of Simsbury, Conn.
Children of Simon II and Mary Buell Mills.

1. Simon Mills III b. April 23, 1661, and
2. Samuel Mills | Twins ) d. Mav 19. 1661 (Their grandfather Simon I d. the same day Indian savagery.)
3. Mary Mills, b. Dec. 6. 166I Windsor, Conn. m. Samuel Humphrey, Simsbury.
4. Hannah Mills, b. 1665. Windsor. m 1. Simon Drake, Dec. 13. 1687 (killed in Indian Raid) m. 2. Daniel Loomis, July 9. 1713.
5. Simon Mills, b. May. 1667. Died in infancy.
6. John Mills, b. June 23,1669. Windsor, d. Mar. 11. 1697. Simsbury. When John was a baby, the family moved to Simsbury. 1669/70. When he was 7 or 8. Simsbury was burned by the Indians. John m. on Nov. 4. 1690. Sarah Pettibone, dau. of John and Sarah Eggleston Pettibone. John Mills was killed in Indian warfare when but 29 in Pequot Wars.
7. Sarah Mills, b. Sept. 16. 1670. Windsor. Conn. in. July 24, 1691. Thomas Ellsworth, Windsor.
8. Abigail Mills, b. 1672. d. July 24. 1691. age 19. She died the same day her sister Sarah was married. Was this Indian treachery?
9. Elizabeth Mills, b. 1674.
10. Prudence Mills, b. 1676-1683.
11. Simon Mills III., b. 1678. When he was a young man he was always accompanied by two large dogs when working in the fields as the country was so infested With lurking and hostile Indians. One day an Indian lay in ambush all day waiting to kill him and take his scalp. Simon was closely followed by his faithful dogs. The Indian was afraid that unless he killed him outright Simon would Set his dogs upon Kim and he should he torn to pieces. This alone saved Simon's life. The Indian was later executed for another murder, and at time of his death he disclosed these facts.

... Mary Buell Mills named several of her Mills children after her Buell family: Mary, Hannah, Sarah, and so on. Mary Buell seemed to he a favorite of both her parents. Her father, William, died in 1681, and his will gave Mary Buell Mills £ 5 pounds more than his other children — a considerable sum to be sure, in those early days."

NOTE - An extensive accounting of this family's experiences helping settle colonial Connecticut can be found in The Mills Family: Twelve Generations Descended from Pilgrim Simon Mills I from Yorkshire, England, 1630 https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/761880

Burial Jun 1718 Hartford, Connecticut

Sources

1. ↑ Connecticut. Probate Court (Hartford District); Probate Place: Hartford, Connecticut Probate Records, Vol 9-10, 1716-1729 Accessed at Ancestry ($)
2. ↑ Simsbury Connecticut Vital Records to 1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011.) (From original typescripts, Lucius Barnes Barbour Collection, 1928.) p. 17.
3. ↑ Banks, Charles E., abstractor, "Genealogical Items from the Medical Journal of John Winthrop," in The American Genealogist, Vol. 24, p. 43, cited as a source by Torrey, viewed on americanancestors.org
4. ↑ Mills, Vera E.. The Mills Family: Twelve Generations Descended from Pilgrim Simon Mills I from Yorkshire, England, 1630. United States: n.p., 1963. pp. 24-25, 33 https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/761880

• Phelps, Noah Amherst. History of Simsbury, Granby, and Canton, from 1642 to 1845 (Case, Tiffany and Burnham, Hartford, 1845) Page 168
• Hayden, Horace. Major John Garrett, Slain July 3, 1778, A forgotten Hero of the Massacre of Wyoming, Pennsylvania (E.B. Yordy, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., 1895) Page 20