Henry Gregory (abt. 1589 - bef. 1655)

Born about 1589 in Nottinghamshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Margaret (Turner) Gregory — married 6 Sep 1609 in Uxbridge, Middlesex, England

Descendants

Died before 19 Jun 1655 before about age 66 in Stratford, Connecticut Colony

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Henry Gregory migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 140) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Grant Gregory, did extensive research on Henry Gregory's ancestors and descendants and published this information in The Ancestors and Descendants of Henry Gregory in 1938. He estimated Henry's birth about 1590-1595, but was not able to locate a record for this birth.

Henry Gregory was the immigrant ancestor of the Gregory family in America. He was called "of Boston." He is found in the records of Springfield in 1639. After a few years he removed to Stratford, Connecticut. Henry is also named in his brother William's will in 1650. ^[1]

Birth

Henry Gregory immigrant to New England was the son of John and Alice Gregroy of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England.^[2] His brother William left a will dated 1650 and proved 1651 stating: "I give to my brother Henry Gregory twenty marks if he live six months after my decease, and to every child of his body lawfully begotten (except my cousin Perry, his daughter) that shall be living at the end of six months after my decease, five pounds, to be paid within twelve months after my decease. I also give and bequeath the sum of four pounds to be paid towards the charges of fetching of the said legacies, given as aforesaid unto my said brother Henry and his children, they being now, as I am informed, in the parts beyond the seas called New England. I give and bequeath to my said Cousin Perrie, my said brother Henry’s daughter, the sum of ten pounds, to be paid within six months after my decease."^[3]

His birth date is unknown. His son testified in 1647 that Henry was old and losing his sight,^[4] so perhaps born about 1590. The Gregory family lived in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England.

Marriage

"Henricus Gregorie" and Margaret Turner were married 6 September 1609 at St. Margaret's Chapel in Uxbridge, Middlesex, England.^[5][6]

Nottingham, England

A Henrie Gregorie was awarded, in 1625, a loan, called the "Coventry Charity," given to four young men of "good name and thrift" who had served an apprenticeship, to aid them in business.^[2] About the same time he was elected a burgess. A book in the Nottingham Guild Hall titled "The Names of the Burgesses within the Towne of Nottingham now lyvinge, October 4, 1625" contains Henry’s name on page 18, with the notation "Henricus Gregorie, cordweyner. Gone into Newe England."^[2]

1626 "Itt is ordered by the companie thatt Henrie Grigorie and Henrie Dun shalle be field keeps this year for drivinge oute the deere there and they to have for their paines heerin five pounds, wch shal be raysed by the payment of two pence an acre of corne and grasse growing in the fields, ..." Henry was reappointed to this position in 1627 and 1629.^[2]

Boston, Massachusetts

A 1677 Gregory pedigree refers to Henry as Hen[ricus] de Boston in Nova Anglia. So perhaps Boston or somewhere nearby was the first stop for Henry and his family upon their arrival in the New World, perhaps within a couple of years of the burial of their son William in 1635.^[7]

Springfield, Massachusetts

Henry and his family arrived in Springfield before Jan 1638/9 and left probably not long after March 1642. The records tell us what is known of his life there.

"16 Jan 1638 [38/9] It is ordered that the three rod of ground yt lies betwixt John Woodcocks pale and Goodman Gregorys Lott shall be appropriated 2 rod of it to Goodman Grigory & one rod of it to Rich : Everit , reserving 40 rod for a pale for a meeting house wch is to be alowed out of Goodman Grigorys Lott ." This implies that Henry was in Springfield before this date.^[8]

14 Nov 1639 Henry Gregory was a juror on a couple of cases.^[9] "December 24th 1640. It is ordered & voted that wheras Henry Grigory John Leonard Robert Ashley have contrary to an order formerly made sold or pawned away theyer cannoes , they shall have therfor liberty granted them to redeme & bringe ym into the Plantation agayne untill the 15th of may next, & in case of defect herin they shall be lyabel to the forfeture yt is expressed in the order Dated ffebr : 14th 1638."^[8]

William Phynchon, founder of Springfield, kept a record of court proceedings. 19 Jun 1640, John Leonard complained against Henry Gregory. "for taking more recompense for driving home of certaine stray sowes then his share comes to: and for taking of more pigges with his sows then his share comes to." The jury found for Leonard. Henry was to give 8s to Leonard and the others involved in bringing the sowes home. On the same day William Warrener complained against Henry. "for layenge false imputations of money dealinge in taking of those pompions [pumpkins] that Richard Everit gave to both of them which Henry Gregory affirmes to be contrary to the appointment of Richard Everit" The page containing the judgement of the court has been damaged.^[9]

A few months later, 10 Sep 1640, Henry complained against John Woodcoke. The jury found for defendant, but Woodcoke complained there was an error, and both parties agreed to a new trial. (the damaged portion has once again to do with pigs and sows) 24 Sep 1640 the jury to determine the matter of Cheating found for Woodcoke. Henry started to complain about the jury but Mr. Moxon, the minister, "bid him take heed, and so gave him a grave admonition: presently after the admonition Henry Gregory acknowledged his fault and earnestly craved pardon and promised more care and watchfulness for tyme to come: and so all the Jury acknowledged satisffaction in hope of reformation." Apparently Henry did not pay very promptly, for 28 Sep 1640, John Woodcoke asked for a warrant to warne Henry Gregory to answer him in 2 actions of slander. Pynchon asked Woodcoke why he had not paid Mr. Moxon for a previous slander against him.^[9]

The only record of Henry’s wife was in Pynchon’s court where she was called simply "Goody Gregory". 15 Feb 1640/1, in a case of Robert Ashly against John Woodcok, Goody Gregory testified against Woodcock and Henry backed up her testimony. Woodcock backed by Richard Williams, then accused Goody Gregory of "swearing before God I could break her head:" Goody acknowledged the sin saying she was much humbled for it, but was fined 12d to be paid to Henry Smyth within 3 mos or sit in the stocks for 3 hours.^[9] By 5 Jan 1641/2, Henry was a single man.

5 Jan 1641/2^[2] "Lotts for ye 2d division of plantinge grounde , ... Single P’sons are to have 8 rod in bredth , maryed P’sons 10 rod in bredth , bigger familys 12 rod , to begin upward at ye edge of ye hill . Hen : Grigory . . . . . . 16 . . . 8" (lot #16 8 rod in bredth).^[8] Henry received a single persons lot.

"March 14th 1642. Henry Gregory beinge purposed to sell his lott and ppoundinge it to ye Plantation by his sonne Judah accordinge to order, Richard Everit beinge his chapman. The Plantation gave ye voate wherin they disalowed ye chapman ppounded and resolve to buy ye lott accordinge to ye conditions expressed in a former order, Dated January 24th, 1638." Part of this lot was used to build the first meeting house in 1645. It was the part of Court Square which faces Elm St.[SH] "Here follows the estimate of the value of Goodman Gregory's estate which the town purchased, and subsequently sold to Thomas Stebbins:^[8]

3 acres broken up .......... £3,

11 rod fencing at 2s 6d .. 1 7 6,

29 rod fencing at 14d ......1 14 0,

ye house .........................3 00 0

..................... 9 01 6"

Stratford, Connecticut

The next records for Henry concern his workmanship as a cordwainer (shoemaker). Henry was a resident of Stratford but the suit took place in the New Haven Colony Court.

7 Dec 1647. John Meggs brought Goodman Henry Gregory to court for making bad shoes that fell apart, and some were the wrong size. Meggs was blamed by the purchasers, who thought he should go to prison. Gregory in turn said the leather, supplied by Meggs, was bad and not well tanned, that Meggs had told him he would get hemp to sew the shoes, but he didn’t and Henry had to use flax instead., which Meggs told him was good enough. As for the sizes that was because of Meggs (cutting them wrong or marking the hide to be cut wrong). Testimony was given from both sides, including testimony by William Crooker’s wife, John and Judah Gregory, children of Henry, including "John Gregory saith, that aboute the time of the bargaine he gaue Goodman Meges some cautions, because his father was old and his eyesight failed hime, and he durst not imploye hime himeselfe, for he could not doe as he had done." The court had other shoemakers and tanners look at the shoes, who found that the leather was bad and the workmanship. Both men were fined: Meggs £10, to make restitution and not to sell the shoes except as damaged and not outside the colony; Henry was fined £5 and costs of court.^[4]

On a list dated before 1651 "A note of every man's fence in the old field with what numbers and the several rods." Henry Gregory 8 rods 0 ft 0 in.^[10][11]

On March 7, 1652 the town granted him a "slipe of meadow on the west side of the ditch if it be no disposed of by the towne they give liberty to Henry Gregory to cut it till such tyme as they see cause to order it to the contrary."^[10]

The Probate Court, 19 June 1655, ordered administration on Henry Gregory's estate, giving the eldest son, John, a double portion and making him the distributer of the estate. It mentions the children, but names only John.^[11][12][13]

Children:

1. Judah.^[2] Judah, born at Uxbridge son of Henrici Gregorie, was baptized 25 February 1609/10 at Hillingdon, co Middlesex, England.^[5][14]
2. Thomas, son of Henry Gregorie was baptized at St. Margaret's in Uxbridge, co Middlesex, 14 June 1612.^[5][15] Thomas was buried 26 February 1612/3.^[5][5][16]
3. John.^[2] John the son of Henry Gregorie was baptized 19 December 1613 at Uxbridge.^[5][15]
4. Perry (daughter) was mentioned twice by her uncle William Gregory and received twice the amount her other siblings did.^[2] Persis, was baptized 11 February 1615/6 at St. Margaret's.^[5][15]
5. Elishaphate, son of Henry Gregorie was baptized at St. Margaret's, 19 April 1618.^[5][15] Gyles Gibbs of Windsor, mentioned this Gregory in a post script to his 1641 will "I give to Elizaphatt Gregory 10 bushels of corne in case hee discharge the debt I gave my worde for him to Mr. Huitt." The distribution of Henry’s will calls John the oldest living son, implying a younger living son, and Judah and William had both deceased. He had a wife and children.^[2]
6. Alice, daughter of Henry Gregorie & Margaret his wife was baptized at St. Margaret's, 3 September 1620.^[5][15] Alice was buried there 26 Jan 1620/1.^[5][17]
7. Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Gregorie & Margaret his wife was baptized at St. Margaret's, 26 Jan 1622/3.^[5][15]
8. Anne bpt St. Peter’s parish, Nottingham 29 Jan 1625; m. Crooker and Rodgers.^[2]
9. Triphosa, bpt 23 Sep 1627; bur 2 Oct 1629, St. Peter’s parish^[2]
10. William, bpt 27 Jun 1630 bur 6 Aug 1635, St. Peter’s parish^[2]
11. Abigail, bpt 17 Mar 1632; bur 25 Mar 1633, St. Peter’s parish^[2]

Research Note

• Unsourced: 14 Jan 1589 Broughton-Sulney, Nottinghamshire, England^{[citation needed]}
• Incorrect death 14 June 1655 as seen on Find a Grave record. A death date was not recorded.

Sources

1. ↑ Henry F. Waters, Genealogical Gleanings in England, Absracts of Wills Relating to Early American Families, with Genealogical Notes and Pedigrees Constructed from the Wills and from Other Records (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co. (1969), originally published in serial form, NEHGR, July 1883-January 1899; first published in complete book form Boston: NEHGR (1901)), p 717-718. Cit. Date: 14 Nov 2015
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12} Gregory, Grant. Ancestors and descendants of Henry Gregory. (Provincetown, Mass., The Compiler, 1938)
3. ↑ The Will of William Gregory. Waters, Henry F. "Genealogical Gleanings in England." New England Historical and Genealogical Register. 47:276. (1893)
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Records of the Colony and Plantation of New Haven, From 1638 to 1649.] (Hartford: Case, Tiffany and Company, 1857.) pp. 345-354.
5. ↑ ^{5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10} West, Randy A. FASG, "Henry¹ Gregory of Springfield, Massachusetts, and Stratford, Connecticiut: His Marriage and the Baptisms of His Elder Children in England." Connecticut Ancestry Vol. 65, No 1, p. 1. (Connecticut Ancestry Society, August 2022).
6. ↑ St. Margaret, Uxbridge, co. Middlesex, chapel register, 1538-1656 (London Metropolitan Archives, DRO/010/001) [London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 (Borough: Hillingdon) at www.ancestry.com, image 53.
7. ↑ Thoroton, Robert. The antiquities of Nottinghamshire extracted out of records, original evidences, leiger books, other manuscripts, and authentick authorities : beautified with maps, prospects, and portraictures. (London: 1677) pp 497, 498. https://www.wikitree.com/photo/png/Gregory_The_English_Pedigree-5
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3} Burt, Henry Martyn. The First Century of the History of Springfield, The Official Records from 1636 to 1736, with an Historical Review and Biographical Mention of the Founders. Vol 1. (Springfield, Mass.: By the Author, 1898) pp. 164, 167, 168, 170, 49, 153, location 144. Burt cites various town records.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3} Massachusetts (Colony) Courts (Hampshire County), Joseph Henry Smith, and William Pynchon. Colonial Justice In Western Massachusetts, 1639-1702: the Pynchon Court Record, an Original Judges' Diary of the Administration of Justice In the Springfield Courts In the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1961. Pp 206, 207, 208, 209, 210
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} Wilcoxson, William Howard.. History of Stratford, Connecticut : 1639-1939. Stratford, Conn.: Stratford Tercentenary Commission, 1939. pp 72, 109
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} Orcutt, Samuel. A history of the old town of Stratford and the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut ([New Haven, Conn. : Press of Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor], 1886) Parts I and II p. 93
12. ↑ Abstract of Probate Records at Fairfield, Connecticut, Down to 1721 p. 131
13. ↑ The record itself is badly damaged by fire destroying part of the inventory, but the abstract reflects the original. Fairfield probate Probate records v. 1-5 1648-1750 p. 5 or 6 Henry Gregory. 1655. https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/359148?availability=Family%20History%20Library
14. ↑ St. John the Baptist, Hillingdon, co. Middlesex, parish register, 1559-1668 (London Metropolitan Archives, DRO/110/A/01/001) [London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 ([Borough: Hillingdon) at Ancestry image 25
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5} St. Margaret, Uxbridge, co. Middlesex, chapel register, 1538-1656 (London Metropolitan Archives, DRO/010/001) [London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 (Borough: Hillingdon) at www.ancestry.com, images 21 (Thomas), 22 (John), 23 (Persis), 25 (Elishaphat), 26 (Alice), and 27 (Elizabeth).
16. ↑ St. Margaret, Uxbridge, co. Middlesex, chapel register image 84
17. ↑ St. Margaret, Uxbridge, co. Middlesex, chapel register, image 87

See also:

• Coddington, John Insley. Some Ancestors of Henry Gregory: Worsley and Parr. The American Genealogist. New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society,) Vol. 38 (1962), pages 171-174.
• Find A Grave: [https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/37616931 Memorial #37616931, Created by: Nareen, et al, Record added: May 28, 2009]
• Gregory's of Leicestershire and Nottingham, England and Connecticut NEHGR 23 (1869) pp 304-306.
• Jacobus, Donald Lines. Families of Old Fairfield. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield. Compiled and edited by Donald Lines Jacobus. 2 vols. New Haven: The Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Company, 1930-1932. Vol. 1, page 236.
• Parke, Nathan Grier Parke, 1884-, and Donald Lines Jacobus. The Ancestry of Lorenzo Ackley & His Wife Emma Arabella Bosworth. Woodstock, Vt: The Elm Tree Press, 1960. p. 228, 229
• Frost, Josephine C., Ancestors of Evelyn Wood Keeler, Wife of Willard Underwood Taylor ([Brooklyn?], N.Y.: privately printed, 1939) https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89066178021&view=2up&seq=114
• Knapp, Alfred Averill, The Ancestral Lines of Mary Lenore Knapp (Peoria, Ill.: [Edwards Bros.], 1947)
• Frost, Josephine C., Ancestors of Frank Herbert Davol and His Wife, Phebe Downing Willits (F. H. Hitchcock, New York, 1925) p. 60 is William Crooker p. 79 https://archive.org/details/ancestorsoffrank00fros/page/175/mode/2up pedigree... b. c 1570 em 1633; Boston: Springfield; Stratford 1647; New Haven (sometime)
• Frost, Josephine C., Ancestors of Henry Rogers Winthrop and His Wife Alice Woodward Babcock ([New York?], 1927)
• Frost, Josephine C., Ancestors of Benjamin Ferris Blakeney and His Wife Stella Peronne Sabine, Showing Lines of Descent From the Belden, Fenner, Greene, Montague, Northup, Seymour, Waldron and Whipple Families (n.p., 1926)