John Storrs (1735 - abt. 1799)

Born 1 Dec 1735 in Mansfield, Windham County, Connecticut Colony [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Hannah (Moore) Storrs — married 17 Dec 1767 in Southold, Suffolk, New York

Descendants

Died about 1799 at about age 63 in Mansfield, Windham County, Connecticut, United States [uncertain]

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Biography

Reverend John Storrs came from one of Mansfield's most prominent families, and one with a tradition of producing both farmers and Congregational ministers. After graduating from Yale College in 1756, he worked for several years before his ordination in 1763. John served in a Long Island parish until 1776, when the British army seized New York City. His Patriot leanings were open enough that he was forced to flee. During the summer and fall of 1776, as Washington's army fell back from New York and fought at White Plains, he served as a chaplain for a Connecticut brigade in the Continental Army. John apparently returned to Mansfield for several years after the brigade mustered out, but then served again as the military chaplain to a Waterbury unit in 1781.

After the war, John returned to Long Island until his retirement, after which he returned to Mansfield for good. His descendants Richard Salter Storrs and Richard Salter Storrs III achieved some measure of fame within both religious and literary circles. [[1]]

Rev. John Storrs, was ordained August 15, 1763, sixth pastor of the Presbyterian church at Southold, Long Island, New York. He left the Island near the commencement of the Revolutionary War, and was absent from his charge from August, 1776, to June, 1782. He was dismissed April 13, 1787. [Rev. Mr. Prime's History of Long island.] "After his dismission, Rev. Mr. Storrs came back to Mansfield, and preached for a time to a congregation in North Windham, as a supply." [Rev. A. S. Atwood, of South Mansfield.] Rev. John Storrs was twice married. 1. To Eunice Howe, widow of Dr. Howe, of Mansfield and daughter of Col. Shubael Conant, of Mansfield, by whom he had a son Richard Salter Storrs, who was settled in the ministry at Long Meadow, Mass. His son, bearing the same name, is Pastor of the church in Braintree, Mass., and his son bearing the same name, is settled over a church in Brooklyn, N. Y. [Zalmon Storrs, Esq., of Mansfield.] [2]

He was born in Mansfield, Windham County, Connecticut.

Children of John and Easter (Gurley) Storrs.

1. John, b. December 1, 1735.
2. Son (unnamed), b. August 2, 1738; died August 17.
3. Lidy, b. August 18, 1742.

Sources

• GENEALOGICAL NOTES, OR Contributions to the family History OF SOME OF THE FIRST SETTLERS OF CONNECTICUT AND MASSACHUSETTS. BY THE LATE NATHANIEL GOODWIN. HARTFORD: F. A. BROWN. 1856.
• Long Island source records page 280
• Tombstone Inscriptions from the Presbyterian Churchyard of Southhold. "The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record" (New York City, 1871)

• Vol. 2, Page 29: "..Rev'd. John Storrs, pastor of ye first Church of Christ in Southold,... This Rev. John Storrs was the sixth pastor of the Southold Church."

• The Storrs Family by Charles Storrs, privately printed 1886 - accessed on archive.org
• Dexter, Franklin Bowditch. Extracts From The Itineraries and Other Miscellanies of Ezra Stiles (Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, Conn., 1916) Page 573-4: "His son, grandson, and great-grandson bore the name of Richard Salter Storrs"