John Munson (1740 - 1829)

Born 2 Aug 1740 in Wallingford, New Haven County, Connecticut

Ancestors

Husband of Lydia (Todd) Munson — married 2 Jul 1761 in Wallingford, New Haven County, Connecticut

Descendants

Died 29 Mar 1829 at age 88 in Lee, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States

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Biography

Birth

John Munson, son of Moses Munson and Phebe (Merriman) Munson, was born 2 August 1740, in Wallingford, New Haven County, Connecticut^[1][2][3] His father, Moses, died when John was about ten. His mother, Phebe, was appointed guardian of the estates of their children. John inherited a double portion (£293 5 1/2 s as eldest son. His grandfather, Caleb, left him and his siblings land in Wallingford. Phebe remarried in 1752 to Josiah Bartholomew.^[3]

Marriage

John and Lydia Todd, daughter of Stephen and Lydia (Ives) Todd, were married 2 July 1761, in Wallingford.^[1][2][3][4] Lydia, then "of Mount Carmell," received 31 Oct 1765, 4 acres in Mount Carmel, from her parents Stephen and Lydia.^[3]

Residences, Etc.

John was a farmer, and cooper, a member of the Congregational Church and resided in Wallingford, New Haven (Mt. Carmel), Goshen, Litchfield, Connecticut and Lee, Massachusetts.”

According to the Munson record, John was "entered freeman and sworn" at Wallingford in April 1759. He was only 19 at the time, which makes this very unusual or incorrect. He took the oath of fidelity at Goshen in 1778. Active in the town of Goshen, he was chosen highway-surveyor in Dec. 1773, '75, '77, and '85, and tythingman in 1779. In Dec. 1774 the town chose him as an agent to "prosecute" those who should "Refuse to Serve as officers," and such as refused "the last year."

There are several entries in the Northford Congregational Church Records, beginning with their marriage 2 July 1761. They were admitted to full communion 20 Sept. 1761. Their daughter, Lydia, was baptized there 1 Aug 1762. One entry says they were dismissed and recommended, (____) 1751 to the Church in Mount Carmel.^[4] Said date must be an error. Northford is now part of Branford. It is south of Wallingford and east of New Haven.

The church at Goshen also has records of John and Lydia. John and wife, were church members 7 Sep 1791. They were dismissed and recommended to Milton (Milton Society) 12 June 1800. Deacon John and his wife were dismissed and recommended to Lee, Massachusetts, 1 Sep 1816.^[5] A 1782 Goshen town record reads: " These may Certify whom itt may Concern that Mr. John Munson hath Been a member of the Strict Congregational* meeting att Conwell [Cornwall] for 10 months past or more and hath Done his part."^[3]

John, born and married in Wallingford, resided in the Mt. Carmel Parish of New Haven, Connecticut, now Hamden, Nov 1764 and Oct 1765. He lived in Goshen, Connecticut, as early as 1767, and lived there forty years. His wife was "of Litchfield" in June 1808 and records June 1809, July 1810 and Oct 1812, place him in Litchfield. Sept 1815, 1818 and 1824, he was in Lee, Massachusetts where he went to live with his daughter, Lucy.^[3]

• Feb. 1762, John "of Wallingford" received £10 from Levi of Branford for real-estate.^[3]
• Nov. 1764 John, Junior of the Parish of Mount Carmel in the Colony of Connecticut in New England, sold for £19 to Samuel Munson, Junior, land near Muddy River, on the west side of the highway, land that was from his father's estate. ^[3]
• 5 Oct 1767, he and Lydia, of Goshen, conveyed to Abner Todd about 5 acres, lying northwest from the Mount Carmel Meeting house in the 2nd tier of lots near the Meeting house.^[3]
• 13 Dec 1767 he sold £20 worth of land which was bonded on the north and east by his own land, west of the Musshupoge Stream.
• 11 April 1768, John purchased 60 acres in the southwest part of Goshen, "west of Mushupoge stream,"
• Oct 1768 he bought another 30 acres
• 4 Feb. 1773, he purchased 46.25 acres for £60, mostly west side of Masshupoge Stream near the Litchfield North Line.
• 1780 sold 1 acre on Shipoge river for £1.
• 19 May 1784, he secured the undivided 1/2 of 70 acres and bought of Capt. Moses Lymand in March 1785 the other half.
• Sept 1785 he acquired another 8 3/4 acres.
• 1787 for a little over a month John owned in Litchfield, a log house and barn.
• 4 May 1807 made a purchase in Litchfield
• 7 May 1807, John of Goshen, sold 50 acres "cornering on Mashapoge stream" for $1600.
• 8 June 1808, Johns wife "of Litchfield" bought 10 acres 26 rods
• 8 June 1808, he bought 2.5 acres in Milton Society, part of Litchfield, bounded by Lydia's land.
• 1810 John sold 10 acres in Milton Society
• 1812 John and Lydia sold 12 acres in Litchfield
• 1818 He sold another 10 acres or more
• 1824 sold 2 pieces, one with a dwelling house and the other "a Bark mill and Tan Vats." In 1812 he and Lydia sold another 12 acres in Litchfield.

Death

Jacobus' Families of Ancient New Haven says John died in 1828.^[1] However his tombstone in Fairmount Cemetery, Lee Berkshire County, Massachusetts, USA, lists the date as March 29, 1829.^[6] Furthermore, the town record states: Deacon John Monson (sic) died March 29, 1829, age 88y. 7m. matching his birth August 1740^[7]

Children^[3]

1. Lydia b. 29 Apr 1762, recorded in Wallingford
2. Moses about 1764
3. Ruth b. 1765
4. Lucy (Lueice) b. 22 May 1768, recorded in Goshen
5. Caleb b. 5 Feb 1771, recorded in Goshen
6. Diodama b. 18 Feb 1775, recorded in Goshen, died young
7. Asa b. 26 Jan 1778,, recorded in Goshen. He and diodama are buried in one grave, having died it is believed of measles.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Jacobus, Donald Lines (compiler). Families of Ancient New Haven, Vol I-VIII. and Index Vol IX New Haven: 1931. Reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1974, 1981, 1997. Originally published as New Haven Genealogical Magazine, Volumes I-VIII. Rome, NY and New Haven, CT 1922-1932. p 1300.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Connecticut Vital Records to 1870 "Wallingford" p. 245.(Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011.) From original typescripts, Lucius Barnes Barbour Collection, 1928.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9} Munson, Myron A.. The Munson record : a genealogical and biographical account of Captain Thomas Munson (a pioneer of Hartford and New Haven) and his descendants. New Haven, Conn.: Printed for the Munson Association, 1895. # 1166 p. 1065 Accessed at Ancestry ($)
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Connecticut. Church Records Index. Connecticut State Library, Hartford, Connecticut. Northford Congregational Church 1750-1926. Vol 081.
5. ↑ Connecticut. Church Records Index. Connecticut State Library, Hartford, Connecticut. (1940) Vol 040 Goshen First Church of Christ Congregational 1791-1855 p. 52 Accessed at Ancestry ($)
6. ↑ Photo of gravestone. Find a grave Memorial # 104783214 at Fairmount Cemetery, Lee, Massachusetts
7. ↑ Vital Records of Lee Massachusetts to the year 1850. Boston: New England Hist. and Gen. Society, 1903 p. 215