Thomas Hanchett (abt. 1621 - 1686)

Born about 1621 in Essex, England [uncertain]

Husband of Deliverance (Langton) Burt — married before 1648 (to 11 Jun 1686) in Springfield, Massachusetts [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 11 Jun 1686 at about age 65 in Suffield, Hartford, Connecticut

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Biography

Origins

Thomas Hanchett was born likely not earlier than 1620 in England.^[1][2] His parents have not been found: they are unknown. Thomas' birth place is not known, and it is not known how and when Thomas came to America.^[1]

John Hansett (Hanchett) has been suggested as a possible brother of Thomas, arriving with him in Boston as early as 1634, ^[1] a boy of about fourteen. However, there is a distinct lack of evidence that John and Thomas knew each other, outside of the name, which is common in parts of England. Anderson doesn't believe Thomas came with John Hanchett, and does not include Thomas in the 2015 Great Migration Directory, although there is an entry for John Hanchett.

First Records - Wethersfield, CT - 1647

On February 28, 1647, Thomas was granted a house lot of 1 1/2 acres in Wethersfield, Connecticut.^[3] The lot was bounded on New St. east, way to Hartford (Back Lane) west, Michael Griswold's south and Hugh Wells' north.^[1] This is the earliest known record for Thomas Hanchett in New England.

Marriage and Family

Thomas Hanchett married Deliverance Langton, daughter of George Langton, on September 22, 1647, probably in Springfield, Massachusetts at the home of her father.^[4] He was taxed in Wethersfield on four acres 1647-8.

Thomas and Deliverance had the following children:

Thomas Hanchett, Jr., was born some time after the marriage and before John (say June 1648 - November 1648) in Wethersfield.

John Hanchett was born September 1, 1649, in Wethersfield.^[1]

Deliverance Hanchett was born around 1651 probably in Wethersfield.^[1] However, Deacon Thomas appeared in New London in 1651 in a list of those at the Mill Dam, as a transient resident. It is not clear that the family lived there. The profile for Deliverance has her born in New London.

Hannah Hanchett was born around 1653 probably in Wethersfield.^[1]

Wethersfield, CT to Northampton, MA - 1660

"Deacon Thomas Hanchet came to Northampton from Wethersfield in 1660."

In 1660, the family moved from Weathersfield in Hampden County, Massachusetts, to live on land granted to them by his father-in-law, George Langton in Northampton, Massachusetts.^[1]

George and Hannah Langton moved to Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts in 1658.</Savage> ^[5]

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 the correctly states that George Langton gave part of his lot to his son-in-law Thomas Hanchett. There is a mis-print 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.^[5]

Elected Deacon - 1668

"A modest, retiring man, of blameless life..." Thomas Hanchett was elected second Deacon of the new church at Northampton in 1668.^[6]

A Founder of Suffield, CT - 1679

In around 1679, Thomas was one of the founders of Suffield.^[1]

Death - 1686

Deacon Thomas Hanchett died in Suffield, Connecticut, June 11, 1686, at around 66 years of age.^[1][2]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9} Hanchett, Junius T., "The Hanchett Family", 1957.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Suffield Historical Society
3. ↑ The English Ancestry of Thomas Hanchett: Puritan Settler of Connecticut. Leland J. Hanchett Jr. Pine Rim Publishing, Falmouth, Maine. 2015. ISBN No. 978-0-9637785-1-2, p.3; Author Hanchett Jr. explains that the european style 7 was misread as a 2 by Sherman W. Adams, Esquire. The Official Index to Land Grantees in the Wethersfiled Town Records list this record as 1647.
4. ↑ A Genealogical Dictionary of The First Settlers of New England, Before 1692, Volume #3, Lane - Lathrop, by James Savage, (1851), Vol 3, page 56 "Springfield 1646
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} History of Northhampton, Massachusetts, From its settlement in 1654. Vol. 1, by James Russell Trumbull. (Pub. Press of Gazette Printing Co. 1808)
6. ↑ History of Northampton, Massachusetts from its Settlement in 1654, by James Russell Trumbull, (1898), pages 107, 108, 119

• Anderson, Robert Charles, F.A.S.G., The Great Migration Directory, (Boston, Massachusetts, NEHGS, 2015), "Concise entries for all immigrant families for the entirety of the Great Migration, from 1620 to 1640." Includes all entries from The Great Migration Series, the Study Project, The Pilgrim Migration 1620-1633 and the The Winthrop Fleet 1629-1630. John Hansett page150; Thomas Hanchett not present under either spelling. This John Hansett is the supposed brother of Thomas.

• Trumbull, James Russell, History of Northampton, Massachusetts from its Settlement in 1654, at GoogleBooks.com, Original pub. 1898, pages 36, 99, 107, 108, 119, 146

• Savage, James, A genealogical dictionary of the first settlers of New England showing three generations of those who came before May, 1692, on the basis of Farmer's Register, at Archive.org,, Original (pub Boston, 1851), Vol 2, page 351

• Hanchett, Junius T. The Hanchett Family, at HathiTrust.org, pp 4-13

• Sheldon, Hezekiah Spencer, 1820-. Documentary History of Suffield: In the Colony And Province of the Massachusetts Bay, In New England, 1660-1749. Springfield, Mass.: C.W. Bryan Co., 18791888.

• Warren, Thomas B., and Ella May Lewis. 1935. Springfield families.

• Suffield Town Records, Vol. 1 Births, Marriages, Deaths, miscellaneous 1662-1795

See Also:

• Keith M. Seymore, The Descendants of Thomas Hanchett, 1985. https://openlibrary.org/works/OL5117629W/The_descendants_of_Thomas_Hanchett
• John C. Hanchett / Merlin Hanchett, The Hanchett Family, 1986. Augmented the work of Seymore.
• Leland J. Hanchett Jr., The English Ancestry of Thomas Hanchett: Puritan Settler of Connecticut. Pine Rim Publishing, Falmouth, Maine. 2015. ISBN No. 978-0-9637785-1-2.
• http://www.suffieldhistoricalsociety.org/newsletters_folder/2011_04.pdf
• Ancestors and descendants of Thomas Rice Lyon and his wife Harriet Wade Rice : with related families. p. 361-363. 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=371&viewer=picture&o=info&n=0&q=

Contributors to Hanchett Research

• Frank E. Hanchett and Jay Bush Hanchett. Seymore's work.
• Charlotte P. Kent. Completed details of Seymore's work.
• Charlotte P. Kent and Cathy Hanchett. Leland J. Hanchett Jr.'s work.