Thomas Hunt (abt. 1613 - 1695)

Born about 1613 in Titchmarsh, Northamptonshire, England [uncertain]

Husband of Cicely (Clarke) Hunt — married about 1639 in New Haven, Connecticut

Descendants

Died 8 Feb 1695 at about age 82 in Grove Farm, Westchester, New York Province

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Kenneth Kinman [send private message] and John Hunt [send private message]

Biography

Thomas Hunt was a New Netherland settler.

Disputed Parents

Thomas Hunt, son of Richarde Hunt, was baptised 18 Apr 1613 at Pilton, Northamptonshire, England.^[1] Richard Hunte was married at Pilton, Northamptonshire, to Dorothy Swales on 08 March 1606.^[2] Richard Hunte apparently died a poor man,^{[citation needed]} and thus, it is not surprising that his son Thomas would become an indentured servant.

But it seems even more likely that he was Thomas Hunt (son of Tho Hunt) baptised 14 Feb 1612/3 at Titchmarsh, Northamptonshire.^[3] Titchmarsh is even closer to Keyston than Pilton is. There’s a burial 8 Jun 1619 at Titchmarsh for Thomas Hunt;^[4] it could be either father or son. If it was immigrant Thomas Hunt’s father, it could explain why he became an indentured servant. Thomas Hunt who was buried in June 1619 is most likely the father, because the youngest child of this family was baptised in February 1618/19. Like Pilton, Titchmarsh is close to Keyston, Thrapston, Sudborough, and Islip (mentioned in John G. Hunt).^[5]

Thomas is a common name in this Hunt family, but it appears Thomas the immigrant doesn’t have any children or grandchildren named Richard or Dorothy. This too makes it more likely that the immigrant was Thomas Hunt (Jr.) of Titchmarsh.

The existence of these two records doesn’t mean that immigrant Thomas Hunt’s father was either Thomas Hunt of Titchmarsh or Richarde Hunt of Pilton. However, it is very interesting to note that Edward Jones of Titchmarsh appears in an 1639 apprenticeship record at Boston. There are no similar records of anyone coming to New England from Pilton.

Note: Northamptonshire is the neighbouring county of Huntingdonshire.

Birth

Thomas Hunt, the “Immigrant,” was born about 1613-1615, in the vicinity of Keyston, Huntingdonshire (now Cambridgeshire), England.^[6][7][8] Other birth place possibilities are the neighbouring towns of Thrapston, Sudborough, and Islip, all in Northamptonshire, England.^[5] However, Titchmarsh, Northamptonshire, seems the most likely birth place (as discussed above).

Immigration

Thomas Hunt immigrated in 1639 from England to the New Haven Colony as an indentured servant to William Leete of Keyston.^[7] William Leete lived at Keyston, Huntingdonshire after his marriage to Ann Pain in 1636.^[9] Leete and company sailed from London, England about 20 May 1639 and arrived at Quinnipiack, Connecticut between the 6th and 10th Jul 1639. They settled at New Haven, about 16 miles away.^[10] (Thomas Hunt’s name does not appear in ships’ passenger lists, or Anderson’s The Great Migration Directory, 2015.)^[11] Thomas was admitted to New Haven "on sufferance," probably because he is a strong supporter of the Church of England.^[5][7][8] William Leete went on to serve as Governor of the Colony of New Haven from 1661 to 1665 and Governor of the Colony of Connecticut from 1676 to 1683.^[12]

Marriage

Thomas Hunt married Cicely Clarke about 1639 at New Haven, Connecticut.^[5][8][13] One otherwise well-sourced narrative mentions, without giving an "authority", a different maiden name for Cicely: "Pasley".^[14] Thomas Hunt’s wife, Sisely, signs a deed 9 Apr 1691.^[15]

Sycillie Clark arrived in Boston on the ship Planter in 1635, at age 16, with the Tuttle family, with whom she moved to New Haven Colony in 1639. Since the Tuttles came from Ringstead, Northamptonshire, it seems that Sycillie was from there as well, and may have been a servant to the family.^[16]

Timeline

Following is a timeline for Thomas and Cicely Hunt:^[5][7][8]

1 Mar 1643 - Goodman Hunt and his wife were banished from the New Haven Colony because of their friendship with William Harding, a local sawyer who had been banished by an earlier court for his lewdness.^[5][17]

"Goodman Hunt and his wife for keepeing the councells of the said Willaim Harding, bakeing him a pasty and plum cakes, and keeping company with him on the Lords day, and she suffering Harding to kisse her, they being onely admitted to sojourne in this plantation upon their good behavior, was ordered to be sent out of the town with one moneth after the date hereof, yea in a shorter time, if any miscaryage be found in them."^[17]

Mr. Harding himself was convicted of

“ a great deale of base carryage and filthy dalliances with divers yong girles, together with his inticeing and corrupting divers servants in this plantation, haunting with them in night meetings and juncketting, etc."^[17]

Soon after 1 Mar 1643 - Thomas and Cicely Hunt were in Stamford, Connecticut.
1658 - The family moved to Newtown, now Elmhurst, in the New York City borough of Queens.
1660-61 - The family still in Newtown, and Thomas found in records of Stamford in 1660.
1661-62 - The family returned to Westchester in Connecticut (which later became part of the borough of the Bronx, New York City), where Thomas and his son Josiah were among the founders of St. Peter's Church.^[7] That same year, Thomas was made a “freeman” of Westchester by the Connecticut general court (Westchester at that time was claimed by Connecticut).^[18]
1663 - On 8 Oct 1663, at General Assembly in Hartford, the court accepted "the town of West Chester as a member of this Corporation," appointed "Mr. Edward Gishop [Jessup] a Commissioner for the Towne of West Chester" and made free "Tho: Hunt, John Quinby, Rob: Huested, Nicholas Bayley, Rich: Ponton, Samˡˡ Mills, Mr. Rich: Mills" — all of Westchester (Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, Vol 1, p. 409ff)
1664 - Thomas Hunt was one of 24 deputies representing various Connecticut towns at the General Assembly in Hartford of 13 Oct 1664. But nothing suggests he was representing Rye. On the contrary, the "Court orders that Lnt [John] Bud continue in his place of Comr for Hasting and Rye." Thomas Hunt was, of course, representing Westchester as above (Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, Vol 1, p. 431ff)
1665 - Thomas Hunt was in court, vs. Pomoquecee Indians in an action of taking a canoe.
1670 - Thomas in court again, when he accused "in the behalf of the town" a woman, Harryson, of being a witch, which was eventually ordered off.

Grove Farm

Thomas Hunt purchased fifty morgen of land, known as Throckmorton's Neck from Augustine Hermans, who had bought it from the original owner, John Throckmorton. Under Hunt’s ownership, it becomes known as Grove Farm. This property, approximately 106 acres, is patented to him by Governor Richard Nicholls of New York, 4 Dec 1667.^[7]

Thomas Hunt’s home at Grove Farm.

Thomas Hunt did not purchase his Westchester farm in 1652. This would have been early for the area and early for Thomas, who was not recorded in Westchester until the 1663 freemanship cited above. Instead, Thomas Hunt bought the land no earlier than 1661, and probably between March 1661 and March 1662, as a natural part of the move from Newtown.

The mistatement again owes to Bolton, but this time only indirectly. According to Bolton, in October 1652, Augustine Hermans bought the land patented by John Throckmorton and "soon after his purchase, conveyed fifty morgen [actually just 35 morgen] of land situated on Throckmorton's Neck, to Thomas Hunt" (ibid, p. 266). Bolton chose the phrase "soon after" because he didn't know the precise date of the transaction, not because it happened the next day.

On 30 Oct 1666, at court in New York, Augustine Hermans, on behalf of Thomas Hunt, challenged John Archer’s “Claime to Certaine Parcel of Land, wch this plt: hath sold to Thomas hunt, Lying uppon Trockmortons Neck.” In his testimony, Hermans stated that he signed a sales agreement for the land with Archer "in the yeare 1658." However, Archer failed to keep his side of the bargain, so “in the yeare 1661,” Hermans “made a Collatteral agreemt with this deft: by wch the sd Covenant for the sd Land was made void, provided this plt should pay to this deft 36 gildrs Wampum (wch several times was Tendered to him).” Archer himself confirmed Herman’s account. The cancellation or attempted cancellation cleared the way for the subsequent sale to Thomas Hunt which, therefore, occurred no earlier than 1661 (The Records of New Amsterdam, ed. Fernow, Vol 6, pp. 42-3).

We also know the sale occurred before 21 Mar 1662, for on 21 Mar 1667/8, Gov. Nicolls cited a complaint by Thomas Hunt that a new fence would "debarre him from a watering place for his Cattle in the Summer tyme which he hath made use of for the space of six yeares past and upwards" (Books of General Entries of the Colony of New York 1664-1673, p. 156).

In 1668, Thomas Hunt Jr. purchased his father-in-law, Edward Jessup’s, share of the West Farms Patent from Edward’s widow, Elizabeth.^[14][15]

There are lots of Land Assessment records for Thomas (between 1686 and 1696) here: https://www.familysearch.org/search/record/results?q.deathLikeDate.from=1694&q.deathLikeDate.to=1696&q.deathLikePlace=New%20York&q.givenName=Thomas&q.surname=Hunt

On 18 Aug 1688 Thomas Sr. deeded 100 acres of land to his son Thomas.^[19][20] That land has since become known as Hunt's Point, now part of The Bronx in New York City.^[14]

Children of Thomas Hunt and Cicely Clarke

Thomas and Cecily had at least one daughter and four sons:^[7][8][15]

1. Abigail Hunt, aft abt 1640- ; m. John Pinckney
2. Thomas Hunt, 1640-after 1705
3. Josiah Hunt, abt 1648-1732
4. John Hunt, abt 1650-
5. Joseph Hunt, abt 1652-

Death

Thomas Hunt died 8 Feb 1694-5.^[5][8][15] He is buried in the family burial ground at Hunt's Point, The Bronx, New York.^[21]

Hunt family burial ground.

Thomas Hunt Jr. came in possession of half the lands in West Farms by marriage to Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Jessup.^[15] This property is held by his descendants for one hundred and sixty years. On the extremity of Hunt's Point is the ancient burial ground of the family. It is made famous by being the last resting place of poet Joseph Rodman Drake.^[21]

Last Will and Testament

Thomas made his will on 6 Oct 1694 at Grove Farm, Throgs Neck, Westchester County, New York. In this will, proved on 27 Feb 1694-5 at New York City,^[21][22] are mentioned four sons: Thomas (the eldest), Joseph, John, and Josiah; a daughter, Abigail Pinckney; a granddaughter Abigail, the child of Thomas; and three chlldren of Josiah: grandson Josiah, to whom he bequeaths the Grove Farm; and granddaughters Abigail and Martha.^[15][21]

Thomas Hunt left his Grove Farm to his grandson Josiah who left it to his son Jacob who died without heirs and title passed to Jacob's brother Caleb and then to Caleb's son Gilbert, who died without children leaving a Will which authorized his mother, brothers, and unmarried sisters to live on the farm for 12 years after which it was to be sold and the proceeds divided. The property was sold by Gilbert's brother Marmaduke in 1760, and then purchased in 1775 by John Ferris who was married to Marianne (usually seen as Miana or Myana) Hunt.

DNA

As noted in the comments section, Y-DNA results are now available and show that this Hunt family is part of Haplogroup I-M253. Source: Group 027, line 14: https://www.familytreedna.com/public/Huntsurname/default.aspx?section=yresults

Research Notes

Suggestions of connections to a Thomas Hunt, prominent in Shrewsbury, Shropshire^[23] are not evidenced by any persuasive sources.

Some sources show Cicely's maiden name as Pasely, but research has produced no evidence of a Cicely Pasely or any other name variations. It has been noted that Thomas came to this country as an indentured servant, and Cicely may also have been a servant. Both people Thomas and Cicely were associated with lived in New Haven by 1639. Circumstantial evidence makes the Hunt Clark marriage a likely scenario. It is a known fact that Thomas married a woman named Cicely.

Sources

1. ↑ FreeReg : Baptism entry Thomas, son of Richarde Hunt, 18 Apr 1613 : accessed 20 Sep 2019] and Baptism record on Ancestry.com Photograph of record : Subscription site $
2. ↑ FreeReg : Marriage entry Richard Hunte and Dorythye Swales
3. ↑ FreeReg : Baptism entry Thomas, son of Tho Hunt, 14 Feb 1612/3 : accessed 20 Sep 2019]
4. ↑ FreeReg : Burial Entry Thomas Hunt, 8 Jun 1619
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6} Hunt, John G. Origin of the Families of Hunt, Fowler, Barnes, Kirke, and Embree, of Westchester, N.Y., and of Hunt, of Charlestown and Northampton, Mass. pp. 63-5. [https://www.worldcat.org/title/new-england-historical-and-genealogical-register-vol-113/oclc/428807997 New England Historic Genealogical Society. The New England historical and genealogical register. Vol. 113. Boston, Mass. : New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1959.
6. ↑ Jones, Howard L. Early Westchester Families. Orlando, Florida. 1953. pg. 125. This is a bound volume of carbon copies of a thick typewritten manuscript.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6} Mackenzie, Grenville C. Families of the Colonial Town of Philipsburgh. Photocopies of individual pages available from Westchester County Historical Society. Mackenzie Index : Hunt, pp. 340-55
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5} Descendants of Thomas Hunt Thomas Hunt : accessed 14 Sep 2019
9. ↑ Leete, Joseph, 1831-; Anderson, John Corbet. The family of Leete. Blades, East & Blades, Printers. London, 1906. William Leete, pg. 162
10. ↑ Steiner, Bernard Christian, 1867-1926. A history of the plantation of Menunkatuck and of the original town of Guilford, Connecticut : comprising the present towns of Guilford and Madison. Steiner. Baltimore. 1897. pp. 26-8
11. ↑ Anderson, Robert Charles. The great migration directory : immigrants to New England, 1620-1640 : a concise compendium. Boston, Massachusetts : New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015.
12. ↑ William Leete, Wikipedia [William Leete]
13. ↑ Torrey, Clarence Almon. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. Baltimore, MD. 1985. pg. 404
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1 14.2} Leggett, Rev. Theodore A. and A. Hatfield, Early Settlers of West Farms, Westchester County, NY, (New York, 1913, privately printed), pp. 26-9; pg. 131.
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5} Jesup, Henry Griswold. Edward Jessup of West Farms, Westchester Co., New York, and His Descendants. Priv. print. for the author by J. Wilson. Cambridge, Mass. 1887. pg. 378...
16. ↑ Hotten, John Camden (editor). The Original Lists of Persons of Quality: Emigrants, Religious Exiles, Political Rebels, Serving Men Sold for a Term of Years, Apprentices, Children Stolen, Maidens Pressed, and Others, who Went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600-1700. London: John Camden Hotten, 1874. pp. 47-9
17. ↑ ^{17.0 17.1 17.2} New-Haven Colony; New Haven (Conn.); Hoadly, Charles J. (Charles Jeremy), 1828-1900. Records of the colony and plantation of New-Haven, from 1638 to 1649. Printed by Case, Tiffany and Company. Hartford. 1857. pp. 81, 84.
18. ↑ Savage. Genealogical Dictionary, Vol. II, pg. 501.
19. ↑ Pelletreau, William S. (William Smith), 1840-1918. Early wills of Westchester County, New York, from 1664 to 1784. A careful abstract of all wills (nearly 800) recorded in New York surrogate's office and at White Plains, N.Y., from 1664 to 1784. F.P. Harper, New York, 1898. Thomas Hunt, pg. 389
20. ↑ Theresa Hall Bristol, "Westchester County, N. Y., Miscellanea", 285.
21. ↑ ^{21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3} Pelletreau, William S. (William Smith), 1840-1918. Early wills of Westchester County, New York, from 1664 to 1784... F.P. Harper, New York, 1898. Thomas Hunt Sr. Of Grove Farm, pg. 15
22. ↑ Recorded for Josiah Hunt, Will of Thomas Hunt 1694: Courtesy of Robin Assenza. Thomas Hunt, 1694.
23. ↑ For example in, Bolton, Robert, 1814-1877. A history of the county of Westchester, from its first settlement to the present time. Printed by A.S. Gould. New York. 1848. Hunt of Hunt’s Point, pp. 523-4

• Mackenzie, Grenville C. Early Records of the Hunt Family of Westchester Co. Westport, Conn. 1936
• Descendants of Thomas Hunt : accessed 14 Sep 2019
• Wyman, Thomas Bellows, 1817-1878; Hunt, Wellington L. G. Genealogy of the name and family of Hunt : early established in America from Europe; exhibiting pedigrees of ten thousand persons. J. Wilson and Son, Boston. 1862. New York Line, pp. 160-74
• The Descendants of Thomas Hunt, Sr., Who Deceased at the Grove Farm, Westchester, New York, February, 1695, compiled by John G. Hunt, Arlington, Virginia, December 1936, Manuscript, John Griffiths Hunt, December 1936, Copy in possession of Everett Hunt, Santa Barbara, California, p 50.
• Ancestry.com Northamptonshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1532-1812 for Thomas Hunt; Pilton Parish Registers 1569-1812 : Subscription site $$
• Ancestry.com Person : Subscription site $$

• See also:

Family History: The DeVoe, Josselyn, and Related Families Thomas Hunt : accessed 14 Sep 2019

Family Central Family History Services Thomas Hunt and Cecily Clarke : accessed 14 Sep 2019

Lieutenant-Colonial Benjamin Hunt, the Loyalist, NYBGR, 1912: https://archive.org/details/newyorkgenealogi43gree/page/236/mode/2up?q=Nova

Acknowledgments

• Sara V Mosher, September 2019
• WikiTree profile Hunt-3199 created through the import of Tom Roland Family Tree.ged on May 6, 2012 by Tom Roland. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Tom and others.
• The WikiTree profile Hunt-4837 was created by Eowyn Langholf through the import of Smith_Schooley.ged on Jun 29, 2013.