William Hyde came to Hartford, Conn. in 1636 and was one of the original proprietors of Norwich, Conn. when it was settled in 1660. His wife's name is not known. He probably came to the USA in 1633 with the Rev. Thomas Hooker, the first minister of Hartford.
Second Marriage: Ancestors and Descendants of Jonathan Abell, author unknown, date unknown.
Information Barbour, Families of Early Hartford Connecticut (Genealogical Publishing Co., 1977), page 334. "An original proprietor; his home lot in 1639 was on the south side of 'the road from George Steele's to the South Meadow' (old Buckingham St); chosen surveyor of highways 1641; he removed to Saybrook and thence in 1659/60 to Norwich.
2102!Death "Genealogical and Family History of the State of Connecticut," editor William Cutter, NY, Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1911, pg. 398.
It is probable that William came from Essex, England, approximately 40 miles northeast of London. William was a follower of Rev Thomas Hooker, a controversial and charismatic leader whose political views tended to run afoul of the establishment. Beginning in 1631, several groups of Congregationalists (Puritans), calling themselves the Braintree Company, left the Braintree and Chelmsford areas of Essex to settle in Mount Wollaston, aka the notorious “Merrymount”, now known as Quincy, MA. More than a few of the colonists are listed as coming from Devonshire, England, several of whom sold their properties and moved to London in preparation for the trip to America. The Braintree colonists were relocated sometime around 1633 to Newtowne, MA by order of the General Court, ostensibly because of a gap in the defenses of the new colony. On Sept 4, 1633, their pastor, Rev Thomas Hooker and his assistant, Rev Samuel Stone arrived in Boston on the ship Griffin. Hooker had been a pastor and teacher at Chelmsford between 1626-29 before being forced to retire to nearby Little Baddow, then fleeing to Rotterdam in 1631. Almost from the moment he arrived at Newtowne (later Cambridge, MA), Hooker was at odds with the local governing body.
In 1636, Hooker and his followers traveled nearly 100 miles through wilderness to Suckiag, which they renamed Hartford, CT. William Hyde was one of the first landholders there, in 1639 his home lot was on the south side of the road “from George Steele’s to the South Meadow” (old Buckingham St.) and he was chosen surveyor of the highways in 1641. He is honored, along with Hooker and his other followers, on several monuments.
Hooker’s death in 1647 created a leadership vacuum in Hartford, with his successor, Rev Samuel Stone, at odds with others over control of the colony. It is not known precisely when William removed to Saybrook, CT, but it can be said that many left Hartford around this time. Later, in 1659 or ’60 William became one of the original proprietors of Norwich, CT. He was a man of considerable importance among the settlers, frequently elected as a representative or selectman. He died 6 January 1681 at Norwich Village (New London), CT.
He is sometimes said to have married
Hester Trott in England, but there is no evidence to date of his wife’s first or maiden names. He and his as-yet unnamed wife had the following children:
Esther or Hester and
Samuel.
Late in life, William Hyde married again, 4 June 1667, Mrs.
Joanna/Johanna (—-) Abell/Abel, widow of Robert Abell of Rehoboth, Connecticut. She and William had no children. She had eight children from her previous marriage to Robert. Note that Robert’s father George Abell attended Oxford, Bracenose College; also note mother Frances Cotton’s descent: “Abell-Cotton-Mainwaring: Maternal Ancestry of Robert Abell of Weymouth and Rehoboth, Mass.,” TG 5 (1984):158-71. Joanna had an unusual will – unusual for a woman at that time – that clearly designated her property and lands and provided exclusively for the children of her first marriage upon her death, which occurred after 1682. There was a legal dispute over land which broke out among the heirs of William’s children around the same time, but it appears that Joanna’s legal arrangements were in place before this occurred.
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