William Tryon (abt. 1646 - 1711)

Born about 1646 in England [uncertain]

Husband of Sarah (Robinson) Tryon — married before 17 Jan 1689 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut

Descendants

Died 2 Oct 1711 at about age 65 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut

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Biography

PLEASE NOTE: William Tryon is the first Tryon in America and nearly all Tryons there today are his descendants. As such, this profile is accessed frequently and needs to be as accurate as possible. A lot of effort has gone into researching William's life and separating fact from family lore. Please consult with the profile's managers before making any modifications.

There are a number of claims made about William Tryon, for instance his origin in Bibury, Gloucestershire, England, a first marriage in England resulting in two sons left behind, the name of one of his wives, etc. What follows in this first section is what is known about William Tryon in America. The second section discusses current research regarding his origins. The final section deals with other lore associated with him.

What is Recorded About William Tryon

Much of what follows in this first section is more thoroughly described and documented in the scholarly research journal "The American Genealogist, Vol. 83, No. 2, William Tryon of Hartford and Wethersfield, Connecticut, by Gale Ion Harris" with many of those citations repeated here.

William's earliest mention in the records in Connecticut shows that he appeared at a Quarter Court held in Hartford on 7 September 1665. The mention suggests William was an associate of some sort of Caleb Benjamin ^[1].

Three years later (13 January 1668/9) he is mentioned in the medical records of John Winthrop Jr., as being the recipient of a prescription "at Mr. Lords at Hartford." ^[2]

4 March 1668/9 William sued Samuel Hurlbut (Hollybutt) of Wethersfield for a debt of £1 10s, but the action was withdrawn from the court, presumably because the debt was settled ^[3].

13 Oct 1669 William is not found on any of the lists of freemen of the towns of Connecticut ^[4]. More specifically, Richard Lord signed the list for Hartford and William is not included. Since he was living at Richard Lord's in January 1669 and is also found there in March 1670 (see next item), he may have been indentured to Mr. Lord and achieved his freeman status at the end of 1669.

9 Mar 1669/70 He is included on a "List of Families of Hartford with Quantity of Grain in Possession of Each" ^[5]. His is a family of two, is two down from Mr. Richard Lord, and is one of few who has no grain. The lack of grain suggests his is a new household.

His first marriage likely occurred between the time he was noted as being "at Mr. Lords at Hartford" in 1668/9 and 9 March 1669/70 when he was included in the list of families in Hartford.

His first marriage was not recorded, and his wife was not named, but she was possibly Mary Loveland, the step-daughter of Thomas Edwards with whom William had close associations, and sister to John Loveland, who also had close associations with William (see below).

1 November 1670 "William Trian" was noted as a creditor of the estate of John Loveland for the sum of £13. (Loveland died 2 Sep 1670.)

19 March 1672/3 William Tryon and Richard Smith witnessed Samuel Hale's sale of a parcel of land.

Before 15 January 1672/3 William's household moved to Wethersfield where on that date he was included among those assessed for a share in the purchase of land from the Indians.

May, 1682, he was noted as among the "sundry inhabitants of Wethersfield".^[6]

Some time in the seven months between 7 June 1688 and 17 January 1688/9 he married Saint (Robinson) Lattimer, widow of Bezaleel Lattimer of Wethersfield. The earlier date is that of an inventory of the deceased Bezaleel Lattimer being presented to the court of pleas at Hartford that documents an "oath made by [th]e Releit Saint Lattimore", and the second date is that of a complaint by Saint Tryon against William.

24 April 1691 William, listed as husbandman, purchased a 10-acre parcel of land from Peter Blinn.^[7]

1 June 1692 William, still a husbandman, purchased a one-acre parcel from John Hollister, Sr.^[8]

15 April 1695 William (William Tryan 021) is in a list of men who drew lots in Wethersfield.^[9]

14 April 1697 he appeared in the county court at Hartford to acknowledge a judgment against himself for 32 shillings and 9 pence, due to Walter Harris of Glastonbury.^[10]

28 April 1701 he was appointed to a committee to lay out plots in Glastonbury.^[11]

8 May 1706 he gave step-daughter Bathsheba Lattimer a mortgage deed for property adjoining his own land, apparently to secure a loan of £20. On 1 Mar 1708/9 Bathsheba put her mark to a quitclaim deed for the same parcel.^[12]

May 1711 William sold 8 acres to George Stillman, part of the £32 consideration to be given to William's son Joseph.^[13] (A year later George Stillman petitioned the general court, saying that William had died before he completed the deed.)

The record of his death at Wethersfield on 12 October 1711 shows he died in "the 66 year of his age",^[14] giving a birth year of about 1646.

7 January 1711/2 an inventory of his estate was exhibited at the court in Hartford by Joseph and David Tryon. The account submitted in April 1713 by administrator James Steele included items related to the estate of Bezaleel Lattimer and his children. On 6 April 1713 the court approved a distribution of William's estate to:

1. Joseph Tryon eldest son
2. David Tryon second son
3. Thomas Tryon third son
4. Abell Tryon 4th son
5. Zybah Tryon 5th son
6. Abiall 6th son
7. Sarah wife of John Gillit eldest daughter
8. Elizabeth Hills 2nd daughter
9. Mabell Tryon 3rd daughter

Research Regarding His First Wife

The argument for Mary Loveland as William's wife is based on the small circle of associates we find around William at that time, most of whom are associated with the household of Thomas Edwards. William lived in Hartford through at least 1670 and in Wethersfield before the end of 1673. John, Thomas, and Mary, children of "The Widow Loveland" grew up in the Thomas Edwards household of Glastonbury in the 1650s and 1660s. John Loveland died in 1670 and William was a creditor of his estate. Widow Loveland and Thomas Edwards' daughter Ruth married Samuel Hale Jr. of Glastonbury in 1670. William's associate, Caleb Benjamin, married Mary Hale (sister of Samuel) in 1670 and moved from Hartford to Glastonbury. William witnessed a land sale by Samuel Hale in 1673. The quick association with the sparsely settled town of Glastonbury and the Edwards and Hale households about 1670 would be consistent with him marrying a woman of the Edwards household about 1669 (daughters of the Hale household are otherwise accounted for). We find no further notice of Mary Loveland after 1663 at age 19 in the Edwards household. This is just speculation but it fits what little evidence we have.

Research Regarding His Origins in England

William was born in, or very close to, 1646. Early records of the Tryon family are difficult to trace because written records only started becoming common in the later half of the 16th century. During this time, and through most of the 19th century, few people were literate and spelling was entirely phonetic and dependent on those few who were trained to make records. What has become the Tryon name was spelled Trioen, Tryoen, Trion, Trian, Tryan, Triant, Tryham, and on and on. This obviously makes records searches difficult. By the early 1600s, the Tryon family of Bulwick became established as a wealthy and powerful family and the spelling of their name had begun to stabilize as Tryon. Because of that, that spelling also began to become accepted among others with similar names. See The Tryon Family in England for an overview of the various English Tryons. William is generally thought to be of the Gloucestershire Tryons but by the time of his birth, there are still a number of Tryon-like family members who we haven't been able to connect. At this point in time (2021), William Tryon (bef.1620-1657) is the best speculative candidate for the father of William based solely on circumstantial evidence. His location in Wapping, Stepney, London, which had a thriving maritime business, would be a good place for a young man to get passage to America. The elder William named his first son Joseph, an uncommon name at the time around London, and that Joseph died an infant when William of Wethersfield would have been about 8 years old. William of Wethersfield named his first son Joseph. The elder William died in Wapping in 1657 and his wife, Jane, died there in 1664. William of Wethersfield arrived in America before 1665. Records suggest William may have been indentured to Richard Lord who, along with his father, were merchant traders and ship owners. William may have been indentured in exchange for passage to America.

I have looked through all the handwritten baptism records for St Dunstan Church, Stepney, from 1644 through 1647 and have not found additional records of this family, though we do not know William Tryon's whereabouts between his birth in Bibury and the birth of Joseph in 1653 in Stepney so I could easily be looking in the wrong place.

Secondary Sources and Unsubstantiated Assertions

The Tryon Family In America, Second Edition 1980 by Wesley Tryon: (accessed @ http://www.gratisbooks.com/pbookdet.php?title_id=61 - retrieved 22-9-2015), (hereinafter TFA), is the only known Tryon family genealogy book and, for many people, the primary source for information on this family. In the 40 years since its publication a lot of new resources have been found and much more research has been accomplished. A major shortcoming of this book is that Wes did not cite his sources but in the years since, the managers of this profile have worked to published sources of Tryon family history here on WikiTree. That effort has uncovered many errors in TFA. It is still a good reference but every relationship in it needs careful research. Here we review some of the problems in TFA regarding William Tryon.

TFA Ch 30 states: Edward Tryon or Tryhern, son of William of Bibury and his wife Rebecca, born in England September 25, 1643, came to America with or about the same time as his younger brother William. He settled in Stamford, Connecticut, married Sarah (---), and was the father of one daughter, name not known, who married John Webster. Sarah died on September 2, 1702. and Edward died on May 14, 1714, both at Stamford, thus ending this family as far as the Tryon name is concerned.

To date no evidence has been found of William's origins in Bibury or elsewhere. No records of an Edward Tryon in New England have to date (Aug 2021) been found. TFA tied Edward to a baptism in Bibury, England, that is the baptism of Thomas Tryon (1634-1703), a wealthy merchant and author. TFA tied Edward to a death record, will, and probate for Edward Trehern (Trehen, Trihern, etc.) in Stamford ^{[15] [16]}. There are also records of his wife's death and their marriage in Stamford and all are with a variation on the surname Trehern. Trehern would be a very unusual misspelling of Tryon but is a relatively common surname in records of England.

TFA Ch 30 continues: "William Tryon, youngest son of William of Bibury and his wife Rebecca, was born in England in the year 1645. That he was the father of the two nephews of Thomas seems evident from the fact that he did not give any of his six American sons the names of William or Rowland, and both of these names appear among his grandsons, and that he did name one of his sons Thomas, presumably after his brother Thomas, the author. The most reasonable assumption is that he married quite young in England, that his wife died there, and that he left his two young sons in the care of their uncle Thomas, and came to America. We have found nothing to indicate that either William or Rowland ever came to this country. In fact, Rowland became a wealthy West Indies merchant, and purchased Frognal in Chiselhurst."

His age at death and calculated age of about 19 years at the time of his first documented appearance in Connecticut suggests that the earlier marriage and children story is very highly unlikely. Marriages before about age 20 was not the custom of the time. Furthermore, Rowland Tryon was son of Rowland Tryon, who was the brother of Thomas Tryon, the author. Rowland (son of Rowland) was a wealthy West Indies merchant and purchased Frognal. When he died in 1720 he left Frognal to his brother William Tryon. William died in 1742. William and Roland had another brother, Edward, who was a planter in Barbados. William, Roland, and Edward are well documented as brothers and sons of Rowland Tryon, not William of Wethersfield.

TFA Ch 31 states: "We have been unable to find a record of the mother of his first eight children in this country, and are inclined to accept the strong circumstantial evidence that she was Mary Steele, first daughter of Samuel Steele, about 1670, and sister of James Steele."

"William named his two oldest sons in America Joseph and David, and James Steele and his sister Sarah (Steele) Boardman also named sons Joseph and David, although neither of these were Steele or Boardman names. Later, Ziba, son of William, named his eldest son James, which was not a Tryon name. And when William died in 1711 in his 66th year, administration of his estate was granted to James Steele, son of Samuel, 'by request of the children of William Tryon,' thus indicating that he was a near relative."

The assumption that names as common in early New England as Joseph and David may signify relationships between two families is unwarranted. James Steele was a prominent resident of Wethersfield, married into a prominent family (his wife was granddaughter of the former governor of Connecticut), had been chosen to administer his grandfather's estate, and held many other responsible positions. He would be a natural choice to administer William's estate without necessarily being a close relative.

The Steele family lived principally in Farmington. On 24 October 1670 a Mary Steele married John Thomson in Farmington ^[17]. There were two Mary Steeles in Farmington: the sister of James named in TFA, who was born 5 December 1652, daughter of Samuel Steele, and her first cousin who was born 20 November 1646, daughter of John Steele, Jr. No records specify which of these married John Thomson, however, the wills and probate records of Samuel, John, and their father, John Steele, Sr. may help. John Jr. died young and his March 1654 probate record indicates he left a pregnant wife and three children, Mary, John, and Samuel, with Benoni being born a few months later [1]. John Sr., grandfather of both Mary Steeles, left a will dated 30 Jan 1663/4 ^[18]. In it he mentions his three grandchildren, John, Samuel, and Benoni Steele, with instructions to deliver to them silver spoons upon their coming of age or marriage. He actually has many more grandchildren but, of the children of Samuel, only Rachel is also mentioned, separetely, as a grandchild. At the end of that section of the will he states "it is my will, that if at any of these my three grandchildren, John Steel, Samuel Steel, Benoni Steel, shall die before they marry, then the forementioned spoons shall be divided among the surviving. He seems focused on the children of his son John. The conspicuous absence of their sister Mary makes it seem like she may be deceased before 1664. When his other son Samuel died in 1685 it was noted in the will that the older three of his daughters (who were Mary, Rachel, and Sarah) were all living and married. This family continues to show up on many Farmington records. Mary, daughter of John Steele Jr., b. 1646, is not noted in any records beyond her birth while brothers Benoni, John, and Samuel are found.

We are frequently asked regarding the possibility that there was another woman named Mary Steele in Connecticut who could have been William Tryon's first wife:

There is a logical error in this question. The connection to William is not the name, it is the relationship with James Steele. Mary Steele was the older sister of James Steele, executor of the estate of William Tryon. TFA suggested, based on their relationship, that she was the wife of William. However, this Mary appears to have married John Thomson. There is a possibility that a different Mary Steele married John Thomson, however there is no reason to think that a different Mary Steele could be wife of William. He either married this Mary Steele or someone else with a different association.

TFA Ch 31 continues: "After the birth of his first eight children in America by Mary Steele, and after her death, William married third, in about 1688, a young widow named Sarah Saint (Robinson) Lattimer, daughter of Thomas Robinson and Mary (Welds) Robinson, and widow of Bezaleel Lattimer. There are several ways of spelling Robinson: Robbinsson, Robbards, Robbins. Correspondence with L. B. Atwood of Quitman, Georgia, and Illa Atwood, of Corvallis, Oregon, in 1960 and 1961, disclosed that when William married the widow at Windsor, Connecticut, she was the mother of two small children. She was born at Wethersfield in 1646, and at the age of 15, married her first cousin, Begaleel or Bezaleel Lattimer, son of John Lattimer. The wives of Thomas Robinson and John Lattimer were sisters, making Bezaleel and Sarah Saint first cousins. They were the parents of a boy Jonathan and a girl called Bathsheeba, the girl being only three months old at the time of her father's death. Bezaleel was born at Wethersfield July 26, 1657, and married Sarah Saint on August 18, 1661. William died at Wethersfield on October 2, 1711, aged 66 years, and Sarah Saint died there on December 7, 1711, aged 65 years. Their one son was Abiel."

His second wife was not named Sarah Saint; these two names were used interchangeably in those times. Sarah's mother's maiden name was not "Welds". There was a Mary Wells who married a different Thomas Robinson and they are frequently confused. Sarah was born in 1656, not 1646, she and Bezaleel married in 1680, not 1661, and they were not cousins. Wes' use of hearsay rather than documentation is particularly bad here.

"Stile's History of Wethersfield gives the family of William and Sarah Saint as follows: 'Joseph, David, Abel, Ziba or Zybah, Rachel, Thomas, Sarah, Elizabeth, Mabel, and Abiel, in addition to Saint's two, Jonathan and Bathsheeba,' making a total of twelve children. We find no mention of Rachel beyond her baptism. From the same book, page 717, we find this court record: 'William Tryon, Inv. (llbs. ) 209-08-08, taked (no date) by Joshua Robbins, Sen., Joseph Belden, Thomas Wells.--Ct. Rec. 7 January 1711-12. Adms. gr. to Capt. James Steele. Joseph and David Tryon now exhibit invtr.--the children of William Tryon chose Capt. James Steele for that office and trust 7 April, 1713. James Steele no exhibit account of his adm.--allowed order to distribute to Joseph Tryon, to David, to Thomas, to Abell, to Zybah, to Abial, to Sarah Gillitt, eldest dau., to Elizabeth Hill, to Mabel Tryon, 4 August 1712. Abial Tryon, 17 years of age, chose Abraham Kilbourn to be his guardian."

"The two children of Bezaleel Lattimer and Sarah Saint (Robinson) Lattimer were: Jonathan Lattimer, born Wethersfield, Conn., September 24, 1681, and Bathsheeba Lattimer, born Wethersfield, February --, 1688. These two children were half brother and half sister to Abiel, but no blood relation to the eight children of William and Mary, although they were all raised in the same household."

Stiles' History of Ancient Wethersfield mentioned above, has a bit more to say regarding William. The list of children gives three sources "Mix Rec.; Prob. Rec.; Guilford T. Rec." The first is the church records of Rev. Stephen Mix which records the baptism of daughter Rachel and many of William's grandchildren. The second is the probate of his will listing all the living children in 1711. The third is Guilford Town Records. A thorough search of Guilford records have turned up no Tryons so the reason for that reference is unknown. The list of children begins with Rachel and is followed by "(His will gives name of three other children.)" No will is known, only probate records with distribution of his estate. The remaining children follow after that statement.

Sources

1. ↑ Hartford County, Connecticut, County Court MInutes, Vols. 3 & 4, 1663 – 1687 (Boston, 2005)
2. ↑ "Medical Records of John Winthrop," MS, Mass. Hist. Soc., Boston, 864.
3. ↑ Ullmann, Hartford Co. Court Minutes, 97
4. ↑ "Lists of Freemen in the Several Towns, October 1669", The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, 15 vols., Hartford, 1850-90. 2:518-26
5. ↑ The Wyllys Papers: Correspondence and Documents Chiefly of Descendants of Gov. George Wyllys of Connecticut, 1690-1796, Conn. Hist. Soc. Coll., 21 (Hartford 1924)
6. ↑ Public Records, Connecticut; 3L:98-99
7. ↑ Wethersfield Deeds, 4:86 verso
8. ↑ Wethersfield Deeds, 4:86 verso
9. ↑ Wehtersfield Town Votes, 1: 119
10. ↑ Ullman, Hartford County Court MInutes, 453
11. ↑ Harris Gale Ion (1989), "Walter Harris's Widow and the Blinns of Wethersfield, Connecticut," New England Historic Genealogical Register, Vol. 143, 303–24 pp, mention on pp. 305-6
12. ↑ Wethersfield Deed, 3:193–94.
13. ↑ Wethersfield Deeds, 4:61
14. ↑ Wethersfield Vital Records; 1:8, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Film No. 1315118
15. ↑ Connecticut Town Death Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection), Stamford Vital Records 1641-1852, Edward Trehern, May 14, 1714
16. ↑ Connecticut, Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999 for Edward Trihern, Hartford, Probate Packets, Thorp, P-Turner, D, 1648-1880
17. ↑ Farmington Land Records, vol. I, pg. J
18. ↑ Steele family: a genealogical history of John and George Steele, settlers of Harford, Conn., 1635-6 and their descendants: with an appendix, containing genealogical information respecting other families of the name who settled in different parts of the United States, by Durrie, Daniel S. (Daniel Steele), 1819-1892

• Families of Ancient Wethersfield, Connecticut, Vol. 2 of The History of Ancient Wethersfield by Henry R. Stiles, p. 717, published in 1904 [2]

• The Connecticut Magazine, Mar-Apr 1901, Volume 7, p. 102 [3]

• The Tryon Family In America Second Edition 1980 by Wesley Tryon: Online edition at GratisBooks.com

• Harris, Gaile Ion (2009) "William Tryon of Hartford and Wethersfield, Connecticut" in The American Genealogist, Vol 83, No. 2 (July), pp. 81– 100.

• Connecticut, Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999, Hartford, Probate Packets, Treat, M-Tuller, J, 1641-1880,images 1125-1135 of 1495 (Ancestry.com).