David Way (1700 - abt. 1783)

Born 20 Jun 1700 in New London, New London, Connecticut Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Esther (Russell) Way — married about 1720 in East Haven, New Haven, Connecticut Colony

Descendants

Died about Mar 1783 at about age 82 in Waterbury, New Haven, Connecticut, United States [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Kim Fulford [send private message]

Biography

David Way was born on 20 June 1700 in New London, New London, Connecticut Colony. His parents were Thomas and Ann (Lester) Way.^[1]

The Thomas Way family moved to New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut Colony from New London by 1720. David married Esther Russell, daughter of Samuel and Esther (Tuttle) Russell, in late 1719 or early 1720, in New Haven, based on the birth of their first child there on 22 September 1720.

David and Esther had many children, the first six of whom were born in East Haven.^[2][3] In 1728 David and Esther Way bought land in Wallingford, New Haven, Connecticut Colony from Moses Yale. In that year they also bought Wallingford land from David's brother John Way and Timothy Jerome and sold that land to David's brother James Way.^[4]  The remaining children were born in Wallingford.^[5]

1. Esther (1720-1743), died unmarried in New Haven
2. Mary (1722), died young (but see Note below)
3. David (1723-1750), married Eunice Hall / Hoet
4. Mary (1725-1748), married Jehiel Baldwin
5. Hannah (1727-ca 1810), married Daniel Scott
6. Thomas (1728), married Zilla Ford
7. Elisabeth (1730)
8. Abigail (1732), married Ebenezer Allyn
9. Ame (1735/6)
10. Ann (1737/8)
11. Samuel (1738), married Sarah Lewis
12. Sarah (1739/40)

Note that the Barbour collection has a son "May" born on 17 February 1724/5, while Dodds' East-Haven Register and the Connecticut Way Family manuscript each have the Mary born in 1722 as dying young, replaced by a second Mary born in 1725, and no son May.^[2][6] David Way had a brother named May: born in 1702, married Abigail ____, died about 1767; but no records have been found for a May born in 1725, so the error seems to be with the Barbour collection.

The David Way family moved around quite a bit. The deeds and other records below identify the various towns in which they lived.

In 1731 Moses Yale of Wallingford sold land to David Way of Wallingford.^[7] In 1736 David Way of Wallingford and his siblings May Way of Branford and James Way and Hannah Way of East Haven sold land in New London to their brother Ebenezer Way, that was inherited from their father Thomas.^[8]

In 1738 David Way of the parish of Meriden in Wallingford sold land to his brother John Way, and in 1739 David Way bought land in Wallingford from Joshua Atwater.^[9] In 1744 David Way of Wallingford sold land in New London to his brother Daniel Way.^[10]

In 1747 David Way bought land in Litchfield, Litchfield, Connecticut Colony from Isaiah Grant of Litchfield, and moved there.^[11] His daughter Hannah was of Litchfield when she married Daniel Scott in Waterbury in 1750.^[12] The Litchfield land was sold in 1754 to Enos Hall.^[13]

In 1755 David Way of Litchfield paid for land in Waterbury, New Haven, Connecticut Colony, bought from Gideon Allyn of Waterbury, for the benefit of his son Thomas Way of Waterbury.^[14] Gideon's son Ebenezer Allyn had married David's daughter Abigail.

The David Way family soon moved to Waterbury, as his son Thomas was of that town when he married Zilla Ford in 1756.^[15]

In 1756 David bought land from John Trumble, and in 1758 and 1759 the town of Waterbury granted land to David.^[16] David sold some of his Waterbury land to Samuel Shelton in 1760.^[17] At some point David deeded part of his Waterbury land to his son Samuel, who sold it in 1776 to David Shelton, likely the brother of Samuel Shelton.

In 1772 David Way of Harwinton, Litchfield, Connecticut Colony bought land in Harwinton from Joel Sanford of Waterbury. In 1773 David bought land in Harwinton from Joshua and Sarah Smith of Litchfield, and in that year David granted land in Harwinton to his son Abel of Waterbury. David's son Samuel resided in Harwinton in 1773, as he had a child die and another child born there that year.^[18]

In 1776 David granted some of the land he had bought from Joel Sanford to his son Samuel Way of Harwinton.^[19] In 1777 David granted more land to his son Samuel, and in 1779 he sold some of the land he had bought from Joel Sanford to his son Thomas Way of Waterbury.^[20]

No death records have been found for David or for his wife Esther. David has a Find A Grave: Memorial #81531510 which has his death on 10 March 1783 in Wallingford. Esther has a Find A Grave: Memorial #81531655 which has her death date as 10 May 1779 in Plymouth, Litchfield, Connecticut. Both are said to have been buried in the Plymouth Burying Ground in Plymouth, but no markers were located for them. Their death years and locations should be considered uncertain until death or interment records are found. A possible source is a book by Zapatka, Linda J., Old Plymouth Burying Ground : Plymouth, Conn, 2015 (Allen County Library).

Research Notes

David and Samuel's removal to remote Harwinton at the time of the Revolutionary War hints that they may have had Tory sympathies. For a flavor of the place from the Tory point of view, see The Tories of Chippeny Hill, Connecticut.^[21]

A David Way served in the French and Indian War in 1756. The David of this profile seems unlikely to have first entered military service at age 56.

Sources

1. ↑ Connecticut: Vital Records (The Barbour Collection), 1630-1870 , New London, p. 313 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011.) From original typescripts, Lucius Barnes Barbour Collection, 1928; NEHGS member site
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Dodd, Stephen, The East-Haven Register, Part 1, p.159 GoogleBooks
3. ↑ Connecticut: Vital Records (The Barbour Collection), 1630-1870, East Haven, p.93 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011.) From original typescripts, Lucius Barnes Barbour Collection, 1928. NEHGS member site
4. ↑ Wallingford, Connecticut Deeds, v.6 pp. 30, 35, 186 FHL film #8141605, images 404, 406, 482 [1]; [2];  https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKH-HQMC-2?i=481&cat=331859 FamilySearch (restricted view)]
5. ↑ Connecticut: Vital Records, (The Barbour Collection), 1630-1870, Wallingford, pp. 321-322 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011.) From original typescripts, Lucius Barnes Barbour Collection, 1928. NEHGS member site
6. ↑ C. Granville Way, compiler, Connecticut Way Family, see esp. pp.479-482 FamilySearch
7. ↑ Wallingford, Connecticut Deeds, v.6 p.495; FHL film #8141605, image 641 FamilySearch (restricted view)
8. ↑ New London, Connecticut Deeds, FHL film # 8105288, image 650  FamilySearch (restricted view)
9. ↑ Wallingford, Connecticut Deeds, v.8 pp.197, 391; FHL film #7833801, images 489, 589 [3]; FamilySearch (restricted view)
10. ↑ New London, Connecticut Deeds, v.14 p.59, FHL film #8140610, image 258  FamilySearch (restricted view)
11. ↑ Litchfield, Connecticut Deeds, v.4 p. 239, FHL film #8299044, image 320 FamilySearch (restricted view)
12. ↑ Connecticut: Vital Records (The Barbour Collection), 1630-1870, Waterbury, p.329 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011.) From original typescripts, Lucius Barnes Barbour Collection, 1928. NEHGS member site
13. ↑ Litchfield, Connecticut Deeds, v.7 p. 197; FHL film #8299045 image 527 FamilySearch (restricted view)
14. ↑ Waterbury, Connecticut Deeds, v.8 p.591; FHL film #8398234 image 672 FamilySearch (restricted view)
15. ↑ Connecticut: Vital Records (The Barbour Collection), 1630-1870 Waterbury, p. 329 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011.) From original typescripts, Lucius Barnes Barbour Collection, 1928. NEHGS member site
16. ↑ Waterbury, Connecticut Deeds, v.9 pp. 122, 356, 552; FHL film # 8200398, images 110, 234, 337 [4]; [5];  FamilySearch (restricted view)
17. ↑ Waterbury, Connecticut Deeds, v.10 .29; FHL film #8200398 image 402 FamilySearch (restricted view)
18. ↑ Connecticut: Vital Records (The Barbour Collection), 1630-1870 Harwinton, p.64 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011.) From original typescripts, Lucius Barnes Barbour Collection, 1928. NEHGS member site
19. ↑ Harwinton, Connecticut Deeds v.2 pp.452, 426, 685; FHL film #7833611, images 685, 671, 765 FamilySearch (restricted view)
20. ↑ Harwinton, Connecticut Deeds v.3 pp.83, 136; FHL film #8140841 images 56, 83  FamilySearch (restricted view)
21. ↑ Pond, E LeRoy, The Tories of Chippeny Hill, Connecticut, 1909, FamilySearch

See also:

• Connecticut Soldiers, French and Indian War, 1755-62 Publication: Guertin, Iris, Rose, comp. Connecticut Soldiers, French and Indian War, 1755-62 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000.