David Gardiner I (1636 - 1689)

Born 29 Apr 1636 in Saybrook, Middlesex, Connecticut

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Lerringham) Gardiner — married 4 Jun 1657 in St Margaret's, Westminster, Middlesex, England

Descendants

Died 10 Jul 1689 at age 53 in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut

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Biography

David Gardiner was the first white child born in Conn. His parents were Lion Gardiner and Mary Willemsen. His father was an officer and engineer from England and his mother was from Holland. David's father worked in the service of the Prince of Orange. He was hired to sail to Conn. to build and command Fort Saybrook. His father commanded Fort Saybrook during the Pequiot War. Lion Gardiner purchased an island from the Montaukett Indians. He named the island "The Isle of Wright". The island today is renamed "Gardiner's Island". It is located between North Fort Suffolk Co NY and South Fort Suffolk Co NY.(3,700 acres of land, in that finger off the coast of East Hampton). Lion Gardiner used the entire island as the site for his plantation. The island was in no way connected to New England or New York. Lion created his own laws and government. ^[1]

David Gardiner I was educated in England, where he married the widow Mary Mascal (?) Lerringham. Another source gives her maiden name as Mary Lingman Herringham, a longtime member of the fashionable St. Margaret's Westminster.

After his parents' deaths, David inherited Gardiner's Island as evidenced in the will of Mary Willemsen Gardiner. His father left everything to his mother. At her death, she left the Island to David and the Easthampton properties to her daughters. David became the second proprietor of Gardiner's Island.

David Gardiner I died suddenly at Hartford in 1689, leaving issue John, David, Lyon and Elizabeth. John became 3rd proprietor of the Island.

Gardiner branch:

1. Sir Thomas Gardiner, born 1440, died 1492.
2. John Gardiner, born 1460, Bury, St. Edmunds, Lancashire, England, married Helen Tudor, born 1465, daughter of Duke of Bedford, Jasper "of Hatfield" Tudor, born 1430, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England and KatherineWydeville, born 1458.
3. Archdeacon Stephen Gardiner, born 1483, Bury, Lancashire, England, married Margaret Grey, born 1486, Wilton, Hertfordshire, England, daughter of Edmund Grey and Florence Hastings.
4. George Gardiner, born 1510, Berwick-on-Tweed, Northumberland, England, married Margaret Neville.
5. George Gardiner, born 1535, Berwick-on-Tweed, Northumberland, England, married Dorothy Constable, born 1536, Wallington, Northumberland, England.
6. Lionel Gardiner, born 1573, Stepney, London, England, married Elizabeth Woodhouse, born 1575, Stepney, London.
7. Lion Gardiner, born 1599, England, married in 1635 at Worden, Holland, Mary Willemson, born 1610 in Worden, Holland. Lion purchased from an Indian chief of the island east of Long Island still known as Gardiner's Island. He reported his son David to be the first white child born in Connecticut.
8. David Gardiner, born 1636, Saybrook, Middlesex County, Connecticut, married in 1657 at Westminster, London, England, Mary Leringmore/Lerringham.
9. Elizabeth Gardiner, born 1658 in Southold, Suffolk County, Long Island, NY,

married in 1668 in Mattituck, Suffolk County, NY, James, Gent of Pers Ale, born 1645 in Staffordshire, England, son of Jonas Pershall (1600-1660) and unknown mother (was mistakenly attributed as Mary Willemsen).

The following is from James Clark Parshall's "The History of the Parshall Family. Syracuse, 1903", reprint from University Microfilms Inc: DAVID GARDINER, ESQ. Second proprietor of Gardiner's Island.... educated in London.... He died very suddenly at Hartford, Conn., whither he had gone, probably on public business, 10 July, 1689. His grave was discovered in 1836, in the ancient burying ground back of the Congregational Church at Hartford, and bears this inscription: 'HERE LYETH THE BODY OF MR. DAVID GARDINER OF GARDINER'S ISLAND DECEASED JULY 10, 1689 IN THE FIFTY FOURTH YEAR OF HIS AGE. WELL, SICK, DEAD IN ONE HOURS SPACE. Engrave the rembrance of Death on my heart When as thou doest see how swiftly hours depart'.^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11435747/david-gardiner
2. ↑ James Clark Parshall's "The History of the Parshall Family. Syracuse, 1903" University Microfilms Inc.

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11435747/david-gardiner
• (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V526-FFX : 10 February 2018), David Gardyner and Mary Heringman, 04 Jun 1657; citing Saint Margaret,Westminster,London,England, reference , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 942 B4HA V. 64, 942 B4HA V. 88, 942.1 W1 V26M PT 1, 942.1 W1 V26M PT 2.
• Barber, John Warner. Connecticut Historical Collections (Durrie & Peck and J.W. Barber, 1849) Page 59
• Pelletreau, William. Records of the Town of Smithtown, Long Island, N.Y. (1898) Page 4
• Lion Gardiner and His Descendants by Curtis C. Gardiner, A Whipple publisher, St. Louis. http://tinyurl.com/lvck2gk
• History of Long Island from Its Discovery and Settlement to the Present ..., Volume 2 By Benjamin Franklin Thompson. http://tinyurl.com/n5bn6pt Gives evidence that Mary Lerringham was a widow.
• The Heraldic Journal. http://tinyurl.com/qfn9kja
• American Genealogical-Biographical Index (AGBI)
• Connecticut, Deaths and Burials Index, 1650-1934
• Connecticut, Hale Cemetery Inscriptions and Newspaper Notices, 1629-1934
• U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
• U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700
• U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970
• Connecticut, Find A Grave Index, 1636-2013
• Long Island Genealogy Surname Database - Gardiner/Prime, LongIslandGenealogy.com online [1], Long Island Genealogy Surname Database - Gardiner/Prime, LongIslandGenealogy.com online [2]
• Records of the town of East Hampton, Long Island, Suffolk Co., N.Y. Vol I; page 46: Lion Gardiner