Nathaniel Denton
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Nathaniel Denton (1629 - bef. 1690)

Nathaniel Denton
Born in Turton, Bolton Priory, Lancashire, Englandmap
Son of and [mother unknown]
Husband of — married 1653 in Hempstead, New Netherlandmap
Descendants descendants
Died before before age 61 in Jamaica, Queens, New York Colonymap
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Profile last modified | Created 30 Dec 2010
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Contents

Biography

Nathaniel Denton immigrated to New England as a child during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640).
Puritan Great Migration
Nathaniel Denton immigrated to New England between 1621 and 1640 and later departed for Long Island.
This profile is part of the Denton Name Study.

Nathaniel Denton, son of Richard Denton was baptized at Turton, Boldon Priory, Lancashire, England March 9, 1629; so he was probably born a few weeks prior since it was customary to baptize soon after birth. [1][2]

Migration, Residences

As a child, he probably migrated with his father to New England in about 1640. The family resided in Massachusetts Bay Colony, Connecticut Colony and then Long Island.[1]

Marriage

As the oldest surviving son, Nathaniel probably married by 1653 in Hempstead, Long Island. His wife is identified in 1664 and 1689 records with the name of Sarah, no surname. See (BDC 73 and JTR 1:316, 319). Combs added a last name, "Smith" citing the will of Nathaniel Jr, who referred to one "Nathaniel Smith" as his "cousin." According to Krumm in "Descendants of the Rev. Richard Denton", "Solid evidence is lacking for Combs' conjecture since there may be another explanation for Nathaniel, Jr.'s reference."[1] (See comment with sources here: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Denton-127)

Public Life

  • Nathaniel's name first appears in September 13, 1655 on a deed record when Long Island natives sold him land. Next we see his signature on a petition on March 1, 1656 when thirteen "Heemsted" residents requested confirmation from Dutch authority for this purchase which was originally called "Conorasset" by the Indians, then "Rustdorp" by the Dutch, and finally "Jamaica" by the English.[1]
  • Jamaica settlers were each granted land for a home lot, ten acres for planting, and twenty acres of meadow; "in consideration of our charge and trouble in getting and setling off ye plase . . ."[1].
  • He was in public matters at Jamaica, serving as Town Clerk, signing town documents at their first meeting on February 18, 1656 and apparently continuing in that position most of his life from 1660-1689.[1]
  • He was made Overseer of Jamaica 14 February 1663 and 3 April 1678.[3][4]
  • At the town meeting of 14 February 1663 Goodman Benedic and Nathaniel were authorized to supply the needs of Mr. Walker who had been on trial for a year as a new minister.[5]
  • As Town Clerk, Nathaniel's name was on the civil contract for someone to mow the field in the common and to take care of the village bull.[1]
  • He was commissioned as a Justice for Queens County in 1689 and commissioned to hold a Court of Oyer and Terminer, in Queens County, in 1690.[6]
  • He was chosen as Assessor in 1687 and 1688.[7] Though, on 16 April 1688 Nathaniel and seven other assessors (2 each from the towns of: Jamaica, Flushing, Hempstead and Oyster Bay) were “summoned before the council” for “refusing to take the prescribed oaths as assessors”.[8] Then on 26 April 1688 Nathaniel and the seven other assessors were “dismissed from their offices for refusing to take the legal oath.” The four towns were ordered to elect new assessors.[9]
  • In 1689 he served as deputy to the Governor. [citation needed]
  • In 1664, when the English took control of New Netherland, Nathaniel had to negotiate with these new authorities regarding his land rights. This uncertainty apparently led to a land speculating deal where he and his brother Daniel applied for land at Achter Kol, later known as Elizabethtown Patent and now Elizabethtown, New Jersey; but they never resided there. In 1665 the land was sold to John Ogden and Capt. John Baker.[1]

Rev. Richard Denton (Nathaniel's father) returned to England in 1658, Nathaniel did not, however. He continued living in Jamaica with his five children; dying there before 18 October 18, 1690,[1]leaving no will.

Children of Nathaniel Denton and Sarah are:

  1. Nathaniel Denton, born about 1653 at Hempstead, Long Island. In his will he named "brother Foster," and Richard "brother . . . John Foster," as overseer.[1]died in Jamaica, Queens, Long Island, New York; married (1) Deborah Ashman 1679; married (2) Elizabeth Smith 1690.[citation needed]
  2. Samuel Denton, born 1655 at Hempstead,[1]died 1699; married Mary Clement 1676; born 1656.[citation needed]
  3. Richard Denton, born 1658 in Jamaica, Long Island;[1]died Aft. Apr 16, 1699 in Hempsted, Long Island, New York; married Mary Jane Thurston 1686 in Hempsted, Long Island, New York.[citation needed]
  4. Phebe Denton, born 1662; married John Foster[1]
  5. Maria Denton, born about 1664 and baptized at Jamaica on June 18, 1664.[1]

Research Note

for birth, death, marriage, please see comments posted by Anne B here: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Denton-127


Sources

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 Dr. Walter C. Krumm. "Descendants of the Rev. Richard Denton" October (1986). New York Genealogical Biographical Register Vol. 120, # 1 pp. 10-14. membership required.
  2. Lancashire Parish Register Society Publications 50:107, 114.
  3. Josephine C Frost, ed., Records of the Town of Jamaica, Long Island, New York: 1656-1751. (Brooklyn, NY: The Long Island Historical Society, 1914), 1:20.
  4. Frost, ed., Records of the Town of Jamaica, Long Island, New York: 1656-1751, 1:36.
  5. Frost, ed., Records of the Town of Jamaica, Long Island, New York: 1656-1751, 1:20.
  6. E. B. O’Callaghan, ed., Calendar of Historical Manuscripts, in the office of the Secretary of State, Albany, N. Y.: Part II, English Manuscripts 1664-1776. (Albany, NY: Weeds, Parsons and Co., 1866), 186.
  7. Frost, ed., Records of the Town of Jamaica, Long Island, New York: 1656-1751, 1:141-142.
  8. Berthold Fernow, ed., “https://archive.org/details/calendarofcounci00newy_0 Calendar of Council minutes 1668-1783.]” (Albany: University of the State of New York, 1902), 58.
  9. Berthold Fernow, ed., “https://archive.org/details/calendarofcounci00newy_0 Calendar of Council minutes 1668-1783.]”, 89.

See also:

Acknowledgements

  • Denton-142 was created through the import of Shortened files.ged on 30 December 2010.
  • Denton-3052 by John Hunt JR,II by 22 Sep 2019.


Name Sarah Denton Gender Female Birth Date 1628 Birth Place Long Island City, Queens County, New York, United States of America Death Place Long Island City, Queens County, New York, United States of America Cemetery Prospect Cemetery Burial or Cremation Place Jamaica, Queens County, New York, United States of America Has Bio? Y Spouse Nathaniel Denton Children Nathaniel Denton





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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Nathaniel by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Nathaniel:

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Comments: 9

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This person immigrated to New England between 1621-1640 as a Minor Child (under age 21 at time of immigration) of a Puritan Great Migration immigrant who is profiled in Robert Charles Anderson's Great Migration Directory (or is otherwise accepted by the Puritan Great Migration (PGM) Project).

Please feel free to improve the profile(s) by providing additional information and reliable sources. PGM encourages the Profile Managers to monitor these profiles for changes; if any problems arise, please contact the PGM Project via G2G for assistance. Please note that PGM continues to manage the parent's profile, but is happy to assist on the children when needed.

posted by Bobbie (Madison) Hall
A middle name "George" was recently added to the profile.

My apologies if I overlooked something, but I did not see a contemporaneous supporting source for this change, nor did I find a related discussion.

Middle names were not common at this time.

I plan to revert the change. If there are sources to support a middle name please post about this as a comment so that we may further collaborate. --Gene

posted by GeneJ X
Might someone with access to Walter Krumm's article in The New York Genealogical Biographical Register vol. 120 (1986) be able to assist us in updating this profile?
  • Hope to learn/have identified the source cited by the author for the various claims.
  • Hoping he might have included a child list, as this profile is in need of such information.

FYI, attached children's profiles are,

Note on the profile of Sarah (Denton) Cornell (1667-1725), Denton-1316, includes comment,

There were two Sarah Dentons:
  1. Sara Denton 1623 or 1633-1681 NY married to Richard Cornell 1632-1693 NY. Sara's parents are Richard Denton 1586-1662 and Helen. Richard's parents are John Cornell 1605-1705 and Mary Barber 1610-1710.
  2. Sarah Denton 1667-1725 NY married to Richard Cornell 1656-1725 in NY. Richard's parents are Richard 1624 England - 1694 NY and Elizabeth Jessup 1635-1698 NY. This Sarah's parents unknown.
Ancestry message board poster's note are they related? It is quite a coincidence that I have 2 pairs of married people with the same names in NY but different birth years and parents ...
posted by GeneJ X
Since there is no "solid evidence" for the surname of Nathaniel Denton's wife "Smith," her LNAB should be changed to "Unknown."

Objections? Comments?

Since Nathaniel Denton was born in 1629 in England, and migrated with his father, I'm adding the PGM project box, and since he removed to LI, I'm adding PGM Beyond sticker.. Katherine and John, will you please continue to co-manage this profile as you have in the past? Thanks.

PGM LEADER, please kindly add PGM as co-manager. Thank you.

posted by Cheryl (Aldrich) Skordahl
edited by Cheryl (Aldrich) Skordahl
Hello PMs. Please see comment by Anne B on the profile of Richard Denton. here: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Denton-127

I've done some updating on this profile.

I'm wondering if anyone has a reliable source for "Maria Durden" as his mother? Please comment, thanks.

Also please see the areas in the biography where I added "citation needed." Any sources for those areas of the biography would be appreciated.

Hello PMs,

I'm working on the genealogy of the William Smith-36298 family. Wondering if you have a quality source that shows Nathaniel Denton's birth date and place? I am unable to access NYGBR 117. Could you possibly have a quote from NYGBR 117 indicating that Nathaniel was a son? And/Or that he married Sarah, a daughter of William Smith-36298?

Thank you for your time... I appreciate it. And thanks to Anne B for e-mailing me copies of NYGBR120:10-14 - which I have used to update this profile

posted by Cheryl (Aldrich) Skordahl
edited by Cheryl (Aldrich) Skordahl