Robert Treat (bef. 1625 - 1710)

Born before 25 Feb 1625 in Pitminster, Somerset, England

Ancestors

Husband of Jane (Tapp) Treat — married 25 Dec 1647 in Milford, Connecticut

Husband of Elizabeth (Powell) Treat — married 24 Oct 1705 in Milford, New Haven Connecticut

Descendants

Died 12 Jul 1710 after age 85 in Milford, New Haven, Connecticut

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Robert Treat migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Robert Treat was born in Pitminster, Somerset, England, and baptised there on 25 February 1624/5^[1] and emigrated to Massachusetts with his family when he was fifteen. His father was Richard Treat and his mother was Alice Gaylord. His family were early settlers at Wethersfield, Connecticut. He settled in Milford, Connecticut in 1639 and became one of the leaders of the New Haven Colony, serving in the General Court as its assembly was known.

On Christmas Day, 1647 he married Jane Tapp in Milford, with whom he had eight children. Their great-grandson, Robert Treat Paine, signed the Declaration of Independence. Jane died on October 31, 1703. He then married Mrs. Elizabeth (Powell) Bryan, the daughter of Elder Michael and Abigail Powell of Boston, on October 24, 1705. She was twice widowed before marrying Gov. Treat. She died on January 10, 1706.[1]

Christening

25 FEB 1625 Trendale, Pitminister, Somerset, England

Title

When the New Haven Colony was absorbed into the Connecticut Colony in 1662, many of the Puritan settlers were displeased at the fact that the new colony's constitution didn't include certain restrictions on non-Puritan settlers.[2] The New Haven colonists believed that only members of the Puritan church should be allowed to vote, and that only the children of church members could be baptized.[2]

In response, the New Haven Puritans sent Treat and John Gregory to meet with Philip Carteret, the new Royal Governor of New Jersey. The group chose the present day site of Newark for a new settlement. In May 1666, the Puritan settlers led by Treat purchased the land directly from the Hackensack Indians.[2] They were joined by other dissidents from Branford, Connecticut, another part of the former New Haven Colony. The dissidents from Branford were led by the Rev. Abraham Pierson, Sr. Robert Treat wanted the new community to be named Milford, New Jersey. Pierson, a devout Puritan, preferred the name New Ark, and this place is now known as Newark.[3] Robert himself returned to Milford, Connecticut in 1672 and lived there the rest of his life.

Treat headed the colony's militia for several years, principally against the Narragansett Indians. This included participating in King Philip's War in 1676. He served on the Governor's Council continuously from 1676 to 1708.

First elected Governor in 1683, Treat was supplanted by Sir Edmund Andros in 1687, making Connecticut part of the Dominion of New England. Treat is credited with having a role in concealing the state's charter in the Charter Oak, and resumed his job as governor when the dominion scheme fell apart in 1689. He was re-elected annually until being defeated by Fitz-John Winthrop in 1698.

Offices

• Surveyor of Milford Lands, 1639-1640, 1652
• Tax Collector, Wethersfield, 1647
• Deputy, New Haven Colony General Court, 1653,1655-1659
• Chief Military Officer of Milford, 1654
• Magistrate, New Haven Colony, 1660-1664
• Town Clerk, Newark, New Jersey, 1666-1667
• Newark Delegate to New Jersey Legislature, 1667-1672
• Assistant, General Court of the Colony of Connecticut, 1673-1676
• Deputy Governor, Colony of Connecticut, 1676-1683, 1699-1709
• Governor, Colony of Connecticut, 1683-1698

Burial

Treat died in Milford, New Haven County, Connecticut, on July 12, 1710. He is interred at Milford Cemetery in Connecticut.[4]

Inscription:

HERE LYETH INTERRED THE BODY OF COLL ROBERT TREAT ESQ. WHO FAITHFULLY SERVD THIS COLONY IN THE POST OF GOVERNOUR AND DEPUTY GOVERNOUR NEAR Ye SPACE OF THIRTY YEARS AND ATT. Ye AGE OF FOUR SCORE AND EIGHT YEARS EXCHANGED THIS LIFE FOR A BETTER JULY 12 ANNO DOM: 1710^[2]

He emigrated to America and Settled in Wethersfield in 1639.

Notable Descendants

• Robert Treat Paine (1731–1814), signer of the Declaration of Independence
• Stephen Crane (1871–1900), author (The Red Badge of Courage)
• Thomas Edison (1847–1931), inventor
• Charles H. Treat (1842–1910), Treasurer of the United States from 1905 to 1909
• Charles W. Woodworth (1865–1940), entomologist
• Treat Williams (born 1951), actor, director, singer, pilot[5]
• William W. Treat (May 23, 1918 - January 10, 2010), banker, founder of Bank Meridian, founder of the National College of Probate Judges, and Chairman of the NH Republican Party from 1954-58[6]

Sources

1. ↑ Treat, John Harvey, The Treat family: a genealogy of Trott, Tratt, and Treat for fifteen generations... (Salem, Mass.: The Salem press, 1893) p. 31.
2. ↑ Find A Grave Memorial# 8485

See also:

• Mayflower Families through 5 Generations, Vol. 2, Pg. 80
• Sons of the American Revolution. A National Register of the Society, Sons of the American Revolution (A. H. Kellogg, 1902)
• Yates Publishing, U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 (Provo, UT, USA, The Generations Network, Inc., 2004)
• "Connecticut Deaths and Burials, 1772-–1934." Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2009, 2010. Index entries derived from digital copies of original and compiled;
• Additional reading about Gov Treat Gov. Treat at Rootsweb
• His Find A Grave Memorial
• The Encyclopedia Americana.
• Stearns, Ezra S., Genealogical and Family History of the State of New Hampshire (Lewis Publishing Co., 1908) Vol. 2, Page 971
• Pond, Nathan. Inscriptions on Tombstones in Milford, Conn., Erected Prior to 1800 (New Haven, Connecticut, 1889) Page 59: #416
• West, Randy A., Michael¹ Powell of Dedham and Boston, Massachusetts: An Update, The New England Historical & Genealogical Register (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., 2020) Vol. 174, Page 115.