George Langton (abt. 1598 - 1676)

Born about 1598 in Sawbridge, Hertfordshire, England [uncertain]

Husband of Hannah (Unknown) Langton — married 29 Jun 1648 in Springfield, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 29 Dec 1676 at about age 78 in Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay

Problems/Questions Profile managers: William Watts [send private message], Loren Fay [send private message], Denia Pearson [send private message], Kim Elder [send private message], and Jonathon Myers [send private message]

Biography

The date and location of George Langton's birth is unknown.

Marriages and Children

George Langton married in England by 1629; the name of his first wife and mother of all but his last child, is unknown.^[1] George and his (Unknown) wife had children born in England, and possibly some born in Wethersfield, cited by Savage from Langton's will mentioned in order as follows:^[2]

John Langton

Hannah Langon, m. Nathaniel Pritchard

Unknown Langton, m. William Corby of Haddam

Deliverance Langton, m. Thomas Hanchett

George Langston married second, in Springfield, Massachusetts, Hannah (Lambe ?) Haynes, widow of Edmund Haynes, on 29 June 1648.^[1] They had one daughter, called "Esther" in the colony records^[2]

Esther Langton, b. 22 Aug* 1649, m. John Hannum 20 Apr 1675^[3]

• Entry reads, "Lancton, Hester, d, George 22 6m 1649 Bk1 pg7" Springfield, MA, Vital Records. This has been mistaken for June 22, but the colonies were using the Julian calendar, where March was the 1st month of the year. Esther was born in August.

Springfield, Massachusetts - 1646

George Langton lived in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1646.^[2]

George of Wethersfield married Hannah (Lambe ?) Haynes, widow of Edmund Haynes, Springfield, 29 June 1648.^[4] Their daughter, called Hester in the record, was born 22 Aug 1649, recorded bk1 pg7. ^[5]

George and Hannah’s testimonies in the 1652 Springfield Witch Trial of Hugh Parsons are recorded in Project Gutenberg.org: The Witchcraft Delusion in Colonial Connecticut (1647-1697) by John M. Taylor.^[6] and at Annals of Witchcraft in New England and Elsewhere in the United States from their First Settlement by Samuel G. Drake, Pub: Boston: W. Elliot Woodward, 1869 pgs.: Appendix Number 1 219-221, 248-250, index 302. ^[7]

Northampton, Massachusetts - 1658

George and Hannah Langton moved to Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts in 1658.</Savage> ^[8]

According to the book on the History of Northampton, George arrived in 1656, two years after the town was settled. Ten years later, George's daughter Deliverance and her husband Thomas Hanchett moved to Northampton (1668).

NOTE: on page 36 it correctly states that George Langton gave part of his lot to his son-in-law Thomas Hanchett. There is a misprint on page 119, where the same information states it was "Thomas Langton" that gave the property to his son-in-law Thomas Hanchett. Let there be no confusion: George Langton's daughter Deliverance Langton married Thomas Hanchett, and it was her father George who donated land for their house, next to his, when they moved to Northampton.^[8]

He had his “home lot” of 2 acres on the east side of Hawley Street and 38 acres of meadow elsewhere. <pg.36>

In 1657/58, George and others signed a petition requesting the General Court to provide clarification of the town grant, finding them a minister and advise on preventing "excesse of liquor in comeing to Towne and of Sider."<pg. 59>

In 1658, he contributed 4 acres of land toward the support of the minister, Eleazar Mather (related to Cotton Mather, the brimstone and hellfire preacher of the time). <pg.78>

George and Hannah Langton both signed the church covenant that established the First Church of Christ.^[9] The population of Northampton was about 300 at this time. <pg. 107 and 145>

In 1672, he and a number of others, contributed to the upkeep of Harvard College. His portion being 2 bushels of wheat, valued at 6 shillings. <pg. 571>

Will

George Langton left a will, in which he mentioned: his son John; daughter Hannah, wife of Nathaniel Prichard; daughter (given name unknown) widow of William Corby of Haddam, Deliverance wife of Thomas Hanchett; Esther wife of John Hannum, and his grandson Samuel (son of John) who lived with him (George) at Northampton.

Death - 1676

George Langton, early New England emigrant and a founder of Northampton, Massachusetts, died in Northampton on 29 Dec 1676.^[2]

Research Notes

Savage's Dictionary in regular English

"LANGTON, LANCKTON, or LANKTON, GEORGE, Springfield 1646, married a second wife 29 June 1648, Hannah, widow of Edmund Haynes, had Esther (strangely called son in the record printed in Genealogical Register IX, 171), born 22 August 1649, and no more children but had formerly been at Wethersfield, and by first wife had there or in England several children; removed about 1658 to Northampton, there died 29 Dec. 1676. His will mentioned son John, daughters Pritchet [which was Hannah, wife of Nathaniel, married 1651], Corbee [probably widow of William Corby of Haddam], Hanshet [which was Deliverance, wife of Thomas], Hannum [which was Esther, wife of John,] and grandson Samuel. This name is oft. mispr. interchang. with Langdon.” </A Genealogical Dictionary of The First Settlers of New England, Before 1692. Volume #3, Lane - Lathrop By James Savage> [1]

There was no daughter with a given name of "Corbee". That was the phonetic spelling of her married surname, Corby, who was William Corby of Haddam, who died about two years before George made his will. The given name of his daughter who married William Corby has not been discovered.

Name missing from Burial Map

George Langton is indexed as being buried in the Bridge Steet Cemetery, however his name does not appear on the map where indexed at #231. https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/90814/bridge-street-cemetery

Disputed Parents

DNA testing indicates that Jacques Nathaniel Langton as father and Mille (LeDuc) Langton as mother are not the parents of George Langton. The history of these speculative (disproved) parents may be found at RootsWeb.

Mistaken Identity

George Langton of Northampton, Massachusetts was not the same Georges Landon b. 1564 in Herefordshire, England, who became an officer in the army of Oliver Cromwell. That would have made him 112 years old at his death.

George Langton and DNA Results

Hello, Jonathon, I am a direct descendant of George. I have been communicating with the Lost Langtons web site in the UK. My cousin did a DNA test and it came back to Wold Langton by Malton, Yorkshire. They have a family tree back to 1250. They do not believe that Jacques Landon could have been George's father, although they are trying to define exactly where George is on the tree (probably the Bristol branch.) ... I believe we should divorce Jacques from George for the moment at least until we find some kind of proof. I hope I can be of service. Best, Liz Nyreen (Rinker Langdon) Rinker-65

According to the DNA results, George was from the Wold Langton by Malton, Yorkshire. The earliest known ancestor of George is “York Bailiff and Mayor Nicholas Langton, of Towthorpe, Earswick, Huntington, Heworth, Skelt‏‎ b.‎ abt. 1250, died ‎between jul 1322 and 21 apr 1324.”

Here is the early part of The Yorkshire tree: [2]

This is the link to the DNA results: Lost Langtons DNA Project

This is what David Langton from the Langton DNA project wrote me about the DNA:

"There are some things we can say with confidence and others with less certainty. Firstly looking at Lost Langtons gold group entries 2-6 they all descend from George Langton. Over the course of the years the name has drifted to Langdon, Lankton, Lanckton and with some also remained as Langton. There are no what is termed non paternal events, everyone is indeed descended in the male line from George in the 17th century.... George is said to come from Lincolnshire but we suspect his lineage comes from neighboring county Yorkshire and that the name originates from Langton by Malton. After the Norman Conquest in 1066 the local landowners were Flemings i.e Belgium/northern France. It looks like, but needs confirming that the group's DNa is r-U106 which occurs most frequently in Belgium so that fits nicely..."

Additional Biography Notes

GEORGE LANGTON was born around 1598 in England. He may be the son of Henry Langton and Cassandra (maiden name unknown). The name of George’s first wife’s is unknown, but they were married around 1623. They had 4 children together: John (1/1/1624-7/22/1689); Hannah; unknown; and Deliverance. George brought the family to America before 1646. His first residence noted was Wethersfield, Connecticut, as by 1646 he moved from Wethersfield to Springfield, Massachusetts. It is unclear when his first wife died, but he remarried to Hannah Lambe (1601-1691) on 6/29/1648 in Springfield, Massachusetts. She was the widow of Edmund Haynes. George and Hannah had 1 child together: Esther. In 1649 he provided an estimate on damage done by a team of oxen. The following year in 1650 he was chosen as a surveyor of the highways. By 1652 Hugh Parsons was charged with witchcraft and George was one person that testified at the trial. George stated that he was helping his wife with pudding and when some spilled it landed in two separate lines “as if it had been cut with a knife,” and then Hugh Parsons came to the door about an hour later. It was also noted that George had refused to sell hay to Parsons. With other testimony and incidents claimed against Parsons, he was convicted by a jury, but a judge later threw out the verdict. By 1656 George moved to Northampton, Massachusetts. His house lot was located on Hawley Street. In 1656 George’s wife Hannah was noted as hearing gossip and slander when a woman accused another woman of being a witch. During the slander suit, George was also noted when he was helping John Bliss and William Hannum “break ground” with ox teams. By 1658 he had accumulated 2 acres for his home lot and 38 acres of meadow land. In 1658 he was a signer of a petition by the town, requesting clarification on the grant of power given to the town to handle claims, as well as asking for a minister and asking how to prevent excess liquor and cider from coming into the town. The following year in 1659 he donated 4 acres of land to Northampton for the minister. He also was a signer of the town’s first church covenant in 1661, creating the First Church of Christ in Northampton. In 1672 he donated 2 bushels of wheat for the building of Harvard College. George died on 11/28/1676 in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} New England Marriages to 1700, Vol 2, page 920, citing Pope's Pioneers page 277, Kimball Anc 29, Booth (1910) 33
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} A Genealogical Dictionary of The First Settlers of New England, Before 1692. Volume #3, Lane - Lathrop, by James Savage, (1851), Vol 3, page 56
3. ↑ William Hannum of New England and some of his Descendants, by Rev William Hamilton Hannum, M.A., NEHGR Vol 90, page 159, #2
4. ↑ A Springfield marriage record provides only the name of the late spouse of the bride ("Haynes"): "Massachusetts, Springfield Vital Records, 1638-1887," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XPJV-H86 : 22 February 2021), George Landon and Haynes, 29 Apr 1648; citing item 1, Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, Springfield City Hall; FHL microfilm 185,414.
5. ↑ Early Records of Boston, NEHGR, Vol 9, page 171 ["borne 22 (6) 1649)"
6. ↑ The Witchcraft Delusion in Colonial Connecticut
7. ↑ Annals of Witchcraft in New England by Samuel Drake (Boston, 1869), page 219 (in year 1651)
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} History of Northhampton, Massachusetts, From its settlement in 1654. Vol. 1, by James Russell Trumbull. (Pub. Press of Gazette Printing Co. 1808)
9. ↑ History of Northampton, Massachusetts from its Settlement in 1654, by James Russell Trumbull, at HathiTrust.org, Original pub 1898. pp 36

• New England Marriages to 1700. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. [subscription required] Vol 2, page 920, [citing Pope's Pioneers page 277]

• Torrey, Clarence Almon, New England Marriages Prior to 1700, at GoogleBooks.com, By Clarence Almon Torrey, Elizabeth Petty Bentley, (reprint: Publisher - Genealogical Publishing Com, 1985) page 451

• Trumbull, James Russell, History of Northampton, Massachusetts from its Settlement in 1654, at GoogleBooks.com, (Original pub. 1898), Vol 1, pp 36, 59, 78, 107, 119, 145, 291, 571

• Savage, James A Genealogical Dictionary of The First Settlers of New England, Before 1692. Volume #3, Lane - Lathrop, at USGenNet.org, a transcribed from the Original: (pub. Boston, 1851). See also: A Genealogical Dictionary of The First Settlers of New England, Before 1692. Volume #3, Lane - Lathrop, at Archive.org, by James Savage, page 56.

• Early Records of Boston, The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2018.) NEHGR, Vol 9, page 171

• William Hannum of New England and some of his Descendants, by Rev William Hamilton Hannum, M.A., The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2018.) Vol 90, page 159 #2

• Historical catalogue of the Northampton First Church, 1661-1891 (1891) Pg. 6
• Green, Springfield, 1636-1886 (1888) Pg. 102, 106, 579
• Massachusetts, Springfield Vital Records, 1638-1887, Hampden, Springfield, 6/29/1648
• Cutter, Central New York Family Histories (1912) Pg. 493
• Burt, The first century of the history of Springfield (1898) Pg. 43, 217

See Also:

• Drake, Samuel, Annals of Witchcraft in New England, at HathiTrust.org, (Boston, 1869), page 219 (Appendix #1)

• Lost Langtons - bio for George Langton

• Note N1396From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 2 January 1996.

• Ancestors and descendants of Thomas Rice Lyon and his wife Harriet Wade Rice : with related families p. 429-30 https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/552590-ancestors-and-descendants-of-thomas-rice-lyon-and-his-wife-harriet-wade-rice-with-related-families?viewer=1&offset=47#page=439&viewer=picture&o=info&n=0&q=

• WikiTree profile Langton-110 created on Oct 6, 2012 by Denia Pearson. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Denia and others.