William Hayden (1602 - 1669)

Born 1602 in St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England

Husband of Unknown (Unknown) Hayden — married about 1638 in Connecticut [uncertain]

Husband of Margaret (Harvey) Hayden — married 1665 in Connecticut

Descendants

Died 27 Sep 1669 at about age 67 in Killingworth, Middlesex, Connecticut

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William Hayden migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 156) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Nothing definitive is known of his origins or early life.

William Hayden may have been from Hinton Blewitt, co. Somerset, England.^[1][2]

Mistaken Identity

Savage's Genealogical Dictionary identified William Hayden as from Dorchester, arriving in the Mary and John, 1630.^[3] This is then repeated by succeeding biographers and he was then further identified as having been made a freeman in 1634.

Anderson' Great Migration Series comments that Savage's statement : "may be a false association of William Hayden with John Hayden, who was in Dorchester from about 1632 to 1639. There is no record of William Hayden in Massachusetts Bay, and he first appears in Connecticut records in the late 1630s."^[4]

As far as being made a freeman in 1634: John Haydon was made a freeman 14 May 1634, but no William is listed in the Index of Freeman or in the main index of the Massachusetts Bay Colonial Records^[5]

Pequot War

William Haydon was a hero of the Pequot War. The traditional tale is that an Indian had his bow drawn and his arrow set and was about to fire at Captain Mason, surely bringing about his death, when Hayden swiftly cut the bow string and the Indian, with his sword, saving Mason to complete the destruction of the Pequot Fort.^[6] It is located at the Connecticut Historical Society.

Captain Mason mentioned William Haydon in his "History of the Pequot War." Captain Mason had entered a wigwam and was beset with many Indians. "At length William Heydon espying the Breach in the Wigwam, supposing some English might be there, entred; but in his Entrance fell over a dead Indian; but speedily recovering himself, the Indians some fled, others crept under their Beds:" and the Captain was able to make an exit. ^[7]

And Governor Roger Wolcott wrote the following on the incident.^[8]

“But fate that doth the rule of actions know,

Did this unequal Combate disallow,

As too severe to force one Man alone

To Beat an Army, take a Garrison,

Or if he failed in the Enterprize,

To fall a Victim to his Enemies;

Sent Hayden in, who with his sure Steel'd Blade,

Joining the General, such a Slaughter made,

That soon the Pequots ceased to oppose

The matchless force of such resistless foes.”

He had land in the soldiers field granted to him for his service^[9] and 12 Oct 1671 the heirs of Wm. Heyton were granted land for their father's service in the Pequot War. ^[10]

Hartford

William was a farmer, and would later become a stone cutter, in addition.

William Haydon sold 9 Feb 1642 to Thomas Olcott of Hartford, "a house & all my lands which I have in Hartford wth the appurtenances thereof that is to Say eight Acres as house & belowe next to goodman Brunston & in Soldiers field, Two Acres In the neck, Twelve Acres in the ox & Cow pasture & seven Acres of Swampe, & forth of upland on the other Side; these percels be they more of less, all that I have reced: as inhabitant of Hartford, or any here aftr due to me I doe Sell ratify & confirme unto the Sayd Thomas olcott ..."^[9] His houselot was #33 on the map.

Windsor

Although William didn't sell his land in Hartford until 1642/3, he had been established in Windsor by 1640, when his eldest son was born there. "The following names of the First Settlers of Windsor, are recorded in the Town Records of 1640 ... Wm. Hayden."^[11]

24 Jan 1644/5 William bought land (twenty-five and one half acres) from Francis Stiles. The site of his home was called Haydentown, then Haydens and Hayden Station^[12] A memorial stone was placed in 1885 to mark the place of his residence.

In Windsor he also purchased land from Thomas Gunn^[13]

William Hayden also owned a stone-pit or quarry at the upper end of town. Most of the early Windsor gravestones and foundation stones came from there.^[2]

4 Sep 1643 Particular Court Will' Heiton served on the Jury.^[14]

5 Mar 1645 John Byssell & Ja: Eggleston plts, agt William Heyton deft, in an ac. of the Case, to the damage of 10l^[14]

3 Jun 1647: Jury man Williã Heton.^[14]

6 Feb 1649: General Court Will: Phelps and Will: Hey [ton] of Wyndsor were required to submit a receipt to the colony for payment the year 1648.^[14]

8 Jun 1657 Mr. Hayden, one of three men chosen to take a list of the town estate.^[2]

11 Mar 1657/8 "The listed persons for Troopers [Troop of Horse] presented to, & allowed by this Court, under the command of Major John Mason, are as follow: - In Windzor Willī Heyden.^[14][2]

18 Jan 1659/60 William Hayden was on the list of church persons who paid for their seats in the meeting house.^[2]

Fairfield - A different William Hayden

13 Oct 1664: For Fayrefield ... Wm. Heyden ... were accepted to be made free.^[14] William had obviously been a freeman in Windsor and would not have needed to be designated so again. Jacobus tells us the William Hayden who came to Fairfield about 1661 m. the widow of John Tompkins and removed to Eastchester, New York

Killingworth

About 1665, William went with the first settlers to Kilingworth.^[1] Killingworth was first known as the plantation of “Homonoscitt” (Hammonasset). William was one of the three men to petition the court to give authority for the gathering of a church. and his name was the third on the list of membership.^[12] 10 Oct 1667, he served as Deputy to the Colonial General Assembly from Killingworth^[10]

Marriages

William' first wife was unnamed in the records. She had his children in the years 1640, 1642/3 and 1648. She died Windsor, 17 July 1655^[15][16]

William's first wife was the sister of Sarah, wife of Francis Stiles and then Robert Clark of Stratford.^[1][17]

At a Quarter Court at Hartford 6 Sept 1655. "Will Heyton Complaines of John Griffin Jacob Drake and Jno Bancraft for misdemeanor in breaking the peace of the Common wealth." "... for theire riatous misdimeanor in William Heytons ffamily and thearby frighting his wife ..."^[18]

Both Jacobus^[1] and Stiles^[2] in their biographies of William state that his first wife died in 1664. Stiles cites the O.C.R. (Old Church Record) which is Matthew Grant's record, which actually says she died in 1655.

William married second Margaret (Harvey), widow of William Wilcoxson. They were married between the first wife's death 17 Sep 1655 and 22 Dec 1657.^[19] John Winthrop treated ""Wm. Heiden his wife, 47 yrs old. 1657."^[20]

There are genealogies that say they were not married until 1664 or 1665, allowing for the erroneous death of the first wife in 1664. But since she died in 1655 and Margaret's husband died in 1652, it would have been highly unlikely for the two to have waited 10 years or so to remarry.

Death

William died 27 Sep 1669 in Killingworth, Connecticut.^[1][21]

Children

Children by first wife, recorded in Windsor:^[1][22]

1. Daniel b. 2 Sep 1640; d. Windsor 22 Mar 1712/3; m. Hannah Wilcoxson
2. Nathaniel b. 2 Feb 1742/3; d. Killingworth 20 Apr 1706; m Sarah Parmelee
3. Mary b. 6 Jun 1648; m. Judah Evarts of Guilford.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5} Jacobus, Donald Lines, MA (compiler, editor.) History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield. (Fairfield, Conn.: The Eunice Dennie Burr Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution, 1930.) [pp 267-8]
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5} Stiles, Henry Reed. and Sherman W. Adams. The History of Ancient Wethersfield Connecticut... Vol I – History, Part 1. (New York: The Grafton Press., 1903.) [1657 p. 62], stone-pit p. 132, troop, p. 147, seats p. 150
3. ↑ Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692. Vol. I-IV. (Boston, MA, USA: 1860-1862) Vol 2 p. 387. "HAYDEN, WILLIAM, Dorchester, came prob. in the Mary and John, 1630, rem. early to Hartford, thence, after serv. 1637, in the Pequot war, to Windsor, had Daniel, b. 2 Sept. 1640, bef. ment.; Nathaniel, 2 Feb. 1643; and Mary, 6 June 1648, all at W. His w. d. at Windsor, 1655; and he m. 2d Margaret, wid. of William Wilcockson, rem. 1666 to Killingworth, was rep. 1667, and there d. 27 Sept. 1669. Perhaps he was of Fairfield 1662. Mary m. 3 Aug. 1670, Judah Evarts of Guilford. Sometimes in Conn. rec. the name is giv. Heyton; in Mass. Heiden, or Hoiden."
4. ↑ The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III. William Hayden. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010), (Originally Published as: New England Historic Genealogical Society. Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 3 vols., 1995). https://www.americanancestors.org/DB393/i/12107/2100/235200530
5. ↑ Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England. Vol. 1 1628-1641(William White, Boston, 1853) p. 369 pp 474-475]
6. ↑ Connecticut Historical Society, "What is this?" July 9, 2013 · Collections, Exhibits · Mike Messina
7. ↑ Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Volume VIII of the Second Series, Second Edition. "An Epitome of Brief History of the Pequot War." p. 139 (Boston: Nathan Hale, 1826.
8. ↑ Wolcott, Roger. The Poems of Roger Wolcott, Esq., 1725 Boston: Club of odd volumes, 1898 p. 66
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} Collections of the Connecticut Historical Society Vol. 14 Original Distribution of The Lands in Hartford Among the Settlers 1639. [https://archive.org/details/collectionsofcon14conn/page/404 pp. 405, 406. (The Connecticut Historical Society and the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Connecticut, Hartford 1912)
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} Trumbull, J. Hammond. (transcriber) The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut from 1665 to 1676; with the Journal of the Coucil of War 1675 to 1678... (Hartford: F A Brown, 1852.) AKA Colonial Records of Connecticut. Vol II.1665-1678 Deputy p. 70 soldier. p. 161
11. ↑ "Early Records of Windsor" New England Historical and Genealogical Register 5: 365/6 (1851).
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1} Hayden, Jabez Haskell. Records of the Connecticut line of the Hayden family. [Windsor Locks, Conn. : The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co.], 1888 1644/5 p. 72
13. ↑ Thomas Gunn in Great Migration 1634-1635, G-H. Cites Windsor Land Records 1:28r, 110. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009.) Originally published as: The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume III, G-H, by Robert Charles Anderson. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2003. https://www.americanancestors.org/DB116/i/7118/170/235151700
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5} Trumbull, J. Hammond. (transcriber). The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut Prior to the Union with New Haven Colony May 1665. (Hartford: Brown and Parsons, 1850.) AKA Colonial Records of Connecticut. Volume I. 1636-1665 Google Books pp 92, 137, 154, 204, 309
15. ↑ Welles, Edwin Stanley (ed.) Births, marriages, and deaths returned from Hartford, Windsor, and Fairfield, and entered in the early land records of the colony of Connecticut : volumes I and II of land records and no. D of colonial deeds Hartford, Conn. : Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co., 1898. p. 43
16. ↑ Grant, Matthew. Some early records and documents of and relating to the town of Windsor, Connecticut, 1639-1703 Hartford, Connecticut historical society, 1930 p. 81
17. ↑ Great Migration 1634-1635, R-S. Francis Stiles. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2012.) Originally published as: The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume VI, R-S, by Robert Charles Anderson. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009.https://www.americanancestors.org/DB397/i/12124/516/23901596 Text:"Francis Stiles" married "by about 1636" Sarah _____. She married (2) Robert Clark and died at Stratford 2 Feb 1682/3 [Fairfield PR 3:93]. She was sister of the first wife of William Hayden.[FOOF 1:267-8]; Windsor Hist. 2:369-70].
18. ↑ Records of the Particular Court of Connecticut 1639-1663, (Hartford: Connecticut Historical Society, 1928), p. 152.
19. ↑ Anderson: "William Wilcockson" wife Margaret Harvey, d/o James of Ilkeston, Derbyshire. She married (2) after May 1656 [RPCC 162,163] and before 22 Dec 1657 [WMJ 268] William Hayden. 22 Dec 1657 - John Winthrop Jr. treated "Heiden William his wife 47 years old" at Windsor [WMJ 268]
20. ↑ "Items from the Medical Journal of John Winthrop." The American Genealogist 23:128 (1946) Link at AmericanAncestors ($)
21. ↑ White, Lorraine Cook, ed. The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records. Vol. 1-55. Killingworth. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1994-2002. p. 49 [https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/1034/VBMDUSACT1634_0021-0011 Accessed at Ancestry ($)
22. ↑ Grant, Matthew. Some early records and documents of and relating to the town of Windsor, Connecticut, 1639-1703 Hartford, Connecticut historical society, 1930 p. 81; children p. 45

• Barbour, Lucius Barnes, 1982, Families of Early Hartford, Connecticut, Genealogical Publishing Co. Inc., Baltimore, Maryland and Connecticut Society of Genealogists, Inc., Glastonbury, Connecticut pp.297
• Mackenzie, George Norbury, and Nelson Osgood Rhoades, editors. Colonial Families of the United States of America: in Which is Given the History, Genealogy and Armorial Bearings of Colonial Families Who Settled in the American Colonies From the Time of the Settlement of Jamestown, 13th May, 1607, to the Battle of Lexington, 19th April, 1775. 7 volumes. 1912. Reprinted, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1966, 1995.https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/61175/colonialfamiliesiii-002102_204
• Torrey’s New England Marriages Prior 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.) WILCOCKSON, William (-1652) & Margaret ____ (1612-), m/2 William HAYDEN; by 1633, by 1630?; Concord/Stratford, CT {McCormick-Hamilton 1085; Hale (1952) 732; Parke Anc. 87; :TAG 24:114; Winthrop Notes. "Wilcoxson. p. 435. Timothy, 23 yrs., his mother is wife to Wm. Hayden of Winsor. Stratford, 1660.; Keeler-Wood 291; Bassett-Preston 326; Beach (1898) 168; Benton-Bishop 25; :NYGBR 2:110; A Query; Fairfield Fam 689; :Reg 27:192; A Query. :Fairfield Prob. 12, 26; Ludington-Saltus 220; Benton (1906) 47; Smith-Bull Anc. 28; Fulton Anc. 313; Dillon Anc. 12, 35; Nash Anc. 144; Hayden 97; Fallass 174}
• Find-A-Grave Virtual Cemetery memorial #8979208 in Palisado Cemetery, Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut, USA
• Dorset Pilgrims by Frank Thistlethwaite published in 1989.
• https://www.foundersofhartford.org/the-founders/william-hayden/
• https://sites.google.com/site/haydonhaydenkeysgenealogy/SGT-WILLIAM-HAYDEN-IN-THE-PEQUOT-INDIAN-WAR-1637