Francis Bushnell (1649 - 1697)

Born 6 Jan 1649 in Saybrook, Middlesex, Connecticut

Ancestors

Husband of Hannah (Seymour) Bushnell — married 12 Oct 1675 in Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut

Descendants

Died 4 Oct 1697 at age 48 in Danbury, Fairfield, Connecticut Colony

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Disputed Information

Birthdate of 1649 vs, 1650

Biography

Francis was one of the founders, in 1685 of Danbury, CT ^[1]

Conflicting Parents Information

Francis Bushnell, husband of Hannah Seymour, was mistakenly included as a child of Richard Bushnell & Mary Marvin in the article "Francis Bushnell of Guilford and his Descendants” NEHGR Vol 53 p 209. A correction "Bushnell." NEHGR Vol 59 p 109 refutes this placement, stating that if Richard and Mary "had a son Francis, of which I find no evidence aside from Dr. Steiner who gives the date of his birth, he must have died young, for the will of Richard gives 'to my 4 children' one-half of his estate, "Allowing my 2 sones each of them L5 more than to my 2 daughters." These two sons were Joseph, who married Mary Leffingwell, and Richard, who married his step-sister, Elizabeth Adgate. From these it seems probable that the Francis who married Hannah Seamour was the son of Lieut. William Bushnell, as stated by Hinman. Dr. Steiner gives a son Francis to Lieut. William, but says he died young. He has apparently confused the two of the same name."

Richard Bushnell & Mary Marvin are also listed as parents in "Descendants of Richard Seymour" ^[2]

Marriage

Francis Bushnell was married Oct 12 1675 in Norwalk, CT to Hannah Seymour, age 20, his 1st cousin. Hannah was oldest daughter of Thomas Seymour I, son of Richard I, and Hannah Marvin, daughter of Matthew Marvin, Sr. ^{[1] [2]}

Children

Children of FRANCIS BUSHNELL and HANNAH SEYMOUR are:

1. HANNAH6 BUSHNELL, b. 22 Aug 1676; m. SAMUEL KNAPP.
2. MARY BUSHNELL, b. 21 Dec 1679; m. JOHN TAYLOR.
3. ABIGAIL BUSHNELL, b. Abt. 1680; m. SETH SHOVE; b. 10 Dec 1667, Taunton, Massachusetts. Notes for SETH SHOVE:--Reverand;
4. LYDIA BUSHNELL, b. 1681.
5. MERCY BUSHNELL, b. 1687; d. 09 Nov 1767, New Milford.
6. REBECCA BUSHNELL, b. Abt. 1689; m. THEOPHILUS TAYLOR; b. 1687; d. 1777.
7. JUDITH BUSHNELL, b. Abt. 1691.

Death

Francis died Oct 1697 in Danbury, CT, before his daughter Lydia married John Fitch II ^[1][2]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} History of the Fitch family, A. D. 1400-1930; a record ... v.1. Fitch, Roscoe Conkling, 1903- pg 116-117
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Morris, Seymour. Richard Seymour of Hartford and Norwalk, Conn., and Some of His Descendants, NEHGR (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., 1918) Vol. 72, Page 210.

• Nash, Sylvester. Records of Saybrook, CT., The New England Historical & Genealogical Register, (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Mass., 1850) Vol. 4.

• Page 19: "The children of William Bushnell... Francise, born the 6th of January, in the year 1649"

• Seymour, George Dudley. The English Home and Ancestry of Richard Seamer Or Semer of Hartford, Conn. (Stanhope Press, Boston, 1917) Page 9
• Fitch, Roscoe Conkling. A History of the Fitch Family (Record Pub. Co., Haverhill, Mass., 1930) Vol. 1, Page 117-8.

• "Francis and Hannah Bushnell founded a home at the foot of Strawberry Hill, Norwalk, and their old well, probably jointly used the the Barnum's (Thomas Barnum was next neighbor) can be seen today a little north of the home of the late Daniel Fitch of Norwalk."

• The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records - White, Lorraine Cook, ed. (Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, MD, 1994-2002)

• Vol. Danbury. This volume does not list Birth, Marriage, or Death records for anyone in the Bushnell family.
• Vol. Norwalk. Page 24: Bushenall, Francis, m. Hannah Seamer, d. Tho[mas], Oct. 12, 1675

• Hill, Susan Benedict. History of Danbury, Conn. 1684-1896 (Burr Printing House, New York, 1896)

• Page 13: "In October, 1697, Francis Bushnell, another of the original settlers, died, leaving seven daughters."
• Page 44: "Francis Bushnell was a carpenter, who came to America in 1635, when twenty-six years of age, bringing with him his wife and one child, aged one year. [The name of Francis Bushnell appears among the first planters of Guilford, Conn., in 1650.] He arrived in Norwalk in 1653, and in October, 1675, married, for his second wife, Hannah, the daughter of Thomas Seamer."
• Page 49: "Francis Bushnell married, for his second wife, Hannah, daughter of Thomas Seamer, of Norwalk, on October 12th, 1675. Their children were : Hannah, Mary, Abigaile, Lidia, Mercy, Rebeckah, and Judith. Abigaile Bushnell chose Ensigne Thomas Tailer for her guardian after her father's death in 1697."

• Selleck, Charles Melbourne. Norwalk (The Author, Norwalk, Conn., 1896)

• Page 64: "A creek put into Duck Pond, and permission was given, in 1677, to Francis Bushnell and Jas. Benedict to there erect a dam "to stop out the tide". Pleasure or profit lay at the base of the petition, but the dam must be built within seven years, or the property would revert back to the town. Norwalk Town Records."
• Page 197: "Francis and Hannah Bushnell founded a home at the foot of Strawberry Hill, Norwalk, and their old well, probably jointly used the the Barnum's (Thomas Barnum was next neighbor) can be seen today a little north of the home of the late Daniel Fitch."