A HISTORICAL NOTICE
OF
JOSEPH MYGATT,
One of the Early Colonists of Cambridge, Mass.
AND AFTERWARD
ONE OF THE FIRST SETTLERS OF HARTFORD, CONN.;
WITH
A Record of his Descendants
BY FREDERICK T. MYGATT
A Descendent of the Ninth Generation
BROOKLYN, N. Y.:
PRINTED BY THE HARMONIAL ASSOCIATION,
No. 100 Nassau Street, New York.
1853
TO
LEMUEL CARRINGTON MYGATT,
THIS RECORD OF HIS
PATERNAL ANCESTRY
IS INSCRIBED WITH MUCH AFFECTION,
BY HIS FATHER.
INDEX.
Abigail,born1744married John Taylor. 24CXXXV
""1779"William Parks. 35XXIII
""1785"Lewis Hoyt. 129LXXIV
""----"Mr. Innes. 505CCXXXVI
Abby,"1796"Glover Noble. 127LXXII
Abby S.,"1794 126
Abraham P.,"1811 52XXXVI
Albert,"1833 61
Albert A.,"1847 445
Albert S.,"1805 45
" ""1842 443
Almira,"1818 143
""----married J. Houston. 541
Alston,"1805 382CCXVI
""1838 449
Alvira,"1798marriedZ. Martin. 43XXX
Amanda,"1848 552
Ambrose,"1809 51XXXV
Aminta, "1785married G. Loveland. 357CCVII
Amirilles,"1762 112
Andrew B.,"1820 176CIX
Ann,"1602
Anna,"1844 84
Anna H.,"1841 220
Anna Maria,"1799 136
Anna M.,"1845 89
Annie,"---- 519
Arlett,"1850 87
Augustin,"1776 261CXXXVII
Augustus,"1791 40XXVII
Austin,"1732 308CXCVIII
""1776 355CCV
""---- 492
""---- 516CCXLII
""1810 540
""1845 551
Austin W.,"1810 396CCXXVI
Bathsheba,"1787 521
Benjamin S.,"1746 25CXXXVI
" ""1774 269
Betsey,"1791marriedZ. Fitch. 132LXXVIII
""----"S. Hull. 356CCVI
Betty,"1771"E. B. White. 116LIX
Calvin M.,"1818 54XXXVII
Camilla,"1837 442
Caroline,"----marriedZ. Atwood. 307CXCVII
""1763marriedS. Woodruff. 349CCI
Caroline C.,"1844 234
Caroline L.,"1825 165
" ""1827marriedR. I. Baldwin. 171CV
Catharine,"----marriedMr. Dickinson. 501CCXXXII
Charles A.,"1806 318CLXXXVII
Charles W.,"1836 325
Charlotte,"1805marriedD. Pixley. 395CCXXV
Clarissa,"----marriedMr. Duning. 543
Clarissa A.,"1815marriedJ. Donnelly. 161XCIX
Comfort,"1792 133
Comfort S.,"1763 113LV
" ""1815 141LXXXV
" ""1815 151
Daniel,"1755 502CCXXXIII
""1792 515CCXLI
""1837 548
David J.,"1773 117
" ""1777 118
Delos,"1813 387
Delos W.,"1812 386
Dorothy,"1696married J. Steel. 13XI
Dwight,"1846 76
Edgar G.,"1803 381CCXV
Edward C.,"1818 158
Edward S.,"1845 222
Edwin,"1807 46
""---- 483
Eleanor,"1809married A. Kent. 139LXXXIII
Eli,"1742 23LI
""1802 44
""1770 115LVIII
""1791 125LXXI
""1807 138LXXXII
""1809 148LXXXVIII
Elisha,"1752 503CCXXXIV
Elizabeth,"1733"D. Hoyt. 19XVII
""1765 28
""1781marriedF. Gay. 36XXIV
""1799married A. Hyde. 128LXXIII
""1817marriedH. Miller. 166CII
""1822marriedJ. H. Morley. 185CXVII
""1827 276
""---- 450
""---- 482
Elizabeth M.,"1802marriedJ. Coit. 316CLXXXV
Ella,"1845 201
Ellen,"1847 90
""1829 481
Emeline,"1814 397
""---- 494
Emily C.,"1837 79
Emily N.,"1823 169
Epaphras,"---- 507CCXXXVIII
Eveline,"1808 530
Ezra,"1793 41XXVIII
""---- 270CXLV
Frances A.,"1838 326
Francis L.,"1824 164
Franklin,"---- 486
Frederick N.,"1819 167
Frederick T.,"1811 156XCVII
Genevieve,"1848 469
Genevieve I.,"1846 468
George,"1797 135LXXX
""1820 153XCII
""1831 189
""1839 199
""1847209
""1804 273CXLVII
""1816 322CXCI
George W.,"1805 265CXL
German,"1798 47XXXI
Gilyard,"1802 380
Handley,"---- 53
Hannah,"1785marriedMr. Benjamin. 38XXVI
""1812married W. S. C. Otis. 140LXXXIV
""1786 271
Harriet,"1823marriedJ. Green. 56XXXIX
""1835 73
""1788marriedJ. McMahon. 358CCVIII
""1843 420
""---- 484
Harriet A.,"1823 154
Harriet C.,"1825 59
Harriet E.,"1816 389
Harriet J.,"1841 81
Henrietta,"----marriedW. B. Butler. 274CXLVIII
""1806marriedJ. Bullen. 283CCXVII
Henry,"1846 85
""1783 122LXV
""---- 278
""1804 317CLXXXVI
""1816 398CCXXVII
Henry M.,"1833 441
Henry N.,"1841 327
Henry R.,"1810 159XCVIII
Henry S.,"1846 235
Henry T.,"1818 152XCI
Hiram,"1795 362CCXI
Horace,"1801 48XXXII
Horatio,"1796 360
Howard,"1851 205
Isaac,"1763 27
""1820 55XXXVIII
Isabella C.,"1843 221
Jacob,"1633 1I
""1684 8
""1686 9
""1707 14XII
James H.,"1849 91
Jane,"1798 511
""1809marriedM. W. Powers. 319CLXXXVIII
Jane L.,"1822 399
John,"1754 312CLXXXII
""1803 365CCXIV
""1832 277
""1842 550
John E.,"1807 147
" ""---- 174
John P.,"1813 150
John T.,"1837 228
Jonathan,"1759 346CXCIX
""---- 18
J. P. Kirtland,"1833 191
Joseph,"1596the Ancestor
""---- 3IV
""1678 5VIII
""1710 15XII
""1721 302
""1749 26CXLIV
""1771 32XXI
""1780 522CCXLV
""---- 275
""---- 544
Joseph C.,"1852 335
Julia,"1789marriedE. T. Boughton. 131LXXVII
""1829marriedC. W. Noble. 188CXIX
""1832 173
""1840 83
""---- 485
Julia, A.,"1816 142
Julia S.,"1831 421
Kata,"1782 523
Lansing,"1831 58
Laura,"1788marriedS. Montgomery. 145LXXXVII
""1796marriedW. C. Bennett. 42XXIX
Laura A.,"1805marriedW. McFarland. 137LXXXI
Lemuel C.,"1815 157
" ""1849 223
Louisa,"1768 351
""1808marriedRev. A. Kent. 384CCXVIII
Lucy,"1767 30
""1790 39
""1794marriedAsael Adams. 134LXXIX
""1821"F. T. Backus. 184CXVI
""1801"R. Goodrich. 364CCXIII
""1811"S. C. Woodruff. 320CLXXXIX
Lucy A., "1829 60
Lydia A.,"----213
Malcolm,"----272CXLVI
Maria,"1801marriedA. Cook.393
""1821323
""----491
Maria E.,"----452
Maria L.,"1822married Elias Lee.391CCXXII
Mariette,"1823 57
Mary,"1666marriedJohn Deming, Jr. 2III
""1682"T. Stanley. 7
""---- 17
""1769married E. Gregory. 31XX
""1827"P. E. Latimer.187CXVIII
""1837 74
""1841200
""----192
""----marriedA. Barnard.500CCXXXI
Mary Ann,"1813"B. E. Mann.321CXC
" ""1838 80
" ""----493
Mary E.,"1826marriedH. Booth.178CXI
Mary Jessie,"1851224
Mary R.,"1807marriedE. Palmer.266CXLI
" ""1831268
Martha D.,"1823married H. Treadwell.177CX
Martha H.,"1834279
May Martin,"----193
Mehetable,"1794marriedA. Porter.359CCIX
Myles B.,"1787120LXII
Milton,"1802 49XXXIII
Minerva,"1788marriedD. W. McMahon.124LXIX
Minerva H.,"1820"J. T. Coleman.390CCXXI
Nancy,"----"--Smith.518CCXLIV
Nelson H.,"1804 50XXXIV
Noadiah, "1761111LIV
Norman A., "1802512
Orlando C., "1830267
Orlando N.,"1812160
Phebe J.,"1785marriedA. Benedict.119LXI
Philip R.,"1803394CCXXIV
Philo,"1765114LVII
Polly,"1787marriedE. Whittlesey.130LXXVI
Preston"1766 29
Rachel, "1787marriedS. Nicholson. 144LXXXVI
""----"H. Winchell. 305CXCV
Ralph,"1797 363CCXII
Rebecca,"1737marriedRev. J. Peck. 21XLIX
""1777 262
""1788marriedCurtis Clark. 264CXXXIX
""1789"J. H. Patch. 121LXIII
Robert, "1839 549
Roger,"1737 306
""1761 347
""1762 348CC
Roswell,"---- 504CCXXXV
""---- 532
Rufus D.,"1811 531CCXLVI
Sabra,"1727marriedJ. Hosmer. 306CXCVI
""1769"D. Rundel. 352CCII
Sanford,"---- 155XCIV
Sarah,"----marriedJohn Webster. 4VI
""1691"T. King. 11IX
""1714"W. Tiley. 16XV
""1739"Col. J. Starr. 22L
""1772"-- Atwood. 353CCIII
""1773"W. Jenks. 34XXII
""1779"Isaac Hayes. 263CXXXVIII
""----"J. Drury. 517CCXLIII
" "---- 542
Sarah A., "1821marriedA. B. Coe. 168CIII
Sarah E.,"1818 162CI
Sarah J.,"1844 82
Susan M., "1825 170
Susan T., "1822 163
Susannah, "1680 6
Sylvester,"1774 354CCIV
""1810 385
Sylvester N.,"1844 444
Thomas,"1688 10
""1724 304
""1735 20XVIII
""1739 310
""1765 350
""1773 33
""1775 313CLXXXIII
""1783 37XXV
""1797 314CLXXXIV
""1834 78
Wallace,"1814 388CCXIX
Webster,"1788 510
""---- 301CLXXXI
Whittlesey,"1824 186
William,"1785 123LXVII
""1798 361CCX
""1799 315
""1806 146
William Gay,"1825 324CXCII
William G., "1852 340
William H.,"1841 75
William L.,"1847 195
Zebulon,"1693 12X
""1740 311CCXXX
""1783 524
""---- 506CCXXXVII
JOSEPH MYGATT,
AND
DESCENDANTS.
" There is a spirit working in the world,
Like to a silent subterranean fire;
Yet ever and anon some monarch hurl'd
Aghast and pale, attests Its fearful ire.
The dungeon'd nations flow once more respire
The keen, and stirring air of liberty.
The struggling giant wakes and feels he's free;
By Delphi's fountain-cave that ancient choir
Resume their song; the Greek astonished hears,
And the old altar of his worship rears.
Sound on, fair sisters: Sound your boldest lyres -
Peal your old harmonies, as from the spheres.
Unto strange gods too long we've bent the knee,
The trembling mind, too long and patiently.”
- GEORGE H. II.
THE name of Joseph Mygatt is found in the local record of “New Towne," one of the early settlements in the Colony of Massachusetts. Of his parentage and early history nothing is known besides the fact, that he was born in England in 1596, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth,[1] and passed the earlier years of his life in the stormy times of religious intolerance, when the Throne and the Hierarchy waged a common war upon the rights of the Dissenters in their attempt to stifle the growing spirit of religious freedom, and "provoked the nation almost beyond endurance." Facts connected with his subsequent history conclusively show that he took sides with the friends of popular right, the Puritans, and possessed the spirit of a Pilgrim in its most comprehensive meaning.
The first successful attempt toward establishing a colony in New England, was made by the celebrated Pilgrim Fathers in 1620; and Plymouth Rock, notwithstanding the privations which befel that company of heroic men the first year of their settlement there, soon became the beacon around which the hopes clustered of many deprived of the freedom of speech, and the rights of conscience in the Fatherland. In 1624 the Rev. Mr. White, a celebrated minister of Dorchester, in England, sent over several persons who began a colony at Cape Ann.[2] The next attempt at colonization, was made by John Endicot, in 1628, who commenced a settlement at Naumkeak, (now Salem,) and was joined by two hundred persons in June following, (1629.) In 1630 a large addition was made to the colony, by the arrival of a fleet of vessels, in which came Gov. Winthrop and others; and this year, settlements were begun at Charlestown, Dorchester, Cambridge, Roxbury, and Boston.[3]
About this time the infant settlements on Massachusetts Bay, began to attract general attention in England; and to those who had been guilty of the heresy of non-conformity in their desire to worship the Deity in their own peculiar way, the Colony was regarded as the goal of human freedom, the shelter of their principles, and their long cherished hopes.
The year 1632 opened with a determined purpose of emigration, and large numbers were preparing to enrol themselves as passengers for the Western World. England was not only threatened with the depletion of some of her best blood, but she was banishing by a short sighted and Jesuitical policy, a class of men loyal in the truest sense to the realm, but determined to maintain certain rights affecting their social privileges, in which they were supported by constitutional laws.
In the Summer of 1633, among other vessels that sailed out of the English port for the American Colony, was the ship Griffen, a vessel of about three hundred tuns; she took her departure from the Downs about the middle of July[4] with two hundred passengers, Joseph Mygatt, and his wife Ann, being of the number; and among others distinguished were his friend and pastor, Rev. Thomas Hooker, the celebrated Rev. John Cotton,[5] and Rev. Mr. Stone. The suspicion that Messrs Hooker and Cotton, who were obnoxious to the government, were seeking a favorable opportunity to leave the country, sharpened the vigilance of spies who were watching for them at all the ports, and presented some obstacle to the peaceful departure of this company, "and such was their danger of being pursued and arrested, that these men were under the necessity of coming on board in disguise and continuing incognito till the ship was well out upon the main ocean.[6] Other restrictions to the popular current, setting towards the American Colony, were imposed this year. An order in council was published forbidding a number of ships, ready to sail with passengers and provisions; it set forth “that because the resorting thither of divers persons, known to be affected not only with civil, but ecclesiastical government at home, such confusion and distraction is already grown there in New-England, in point of religion, as beside the ruin of the said plantation, can not but highly tend to the scandal, both of church and state, at home." All such measures, however; as were devised to frustrate the embarkation of these good people, were overruled by their own superior tact and vigilance.
The Griffen at length spread her canvass to the breeze, and they were upon the sea,
“the open sea,
The blue, the fresh the ever free.
Without a mark, without a bound.”
And here they saw in that wonderful expanse, a creation too vast for the scope of human ambition, suited only to the government of Him, "who holds the winds in his fist, and the waters in the hollow of his hand." Toleration prevailed here, from forecastle to cabin, and as the summer winds betokened a favorable passage, their hopes brightened, as each day's reckoning brought them nearer to the shores of New-England.
As the company was made up mostly of' practical men, the first impulse appears to have been for a profitable use of their time. The services of the three ministers were had in requisition, and each day was radiant with privileges to which many persons on board had long been strangers. "By one or another of these divines there was a sermon preached every day while they were on board: indeed they had three sermons or expositions for the most part every day; from Mr. Cotton in the morning, Mr. Hooker in the afternoon, Mr. Stone after supper in the evening.”[7]
The Griffen arrived at Boston on the 4th of September, 1633, after a passage of eight weeks, and a considerable number of the passengers[8] went to Newtown, (now Cambridge,) some four miles distant, where the "Hooker Company”[9] who came over the previous year, and had begun to settle at Mount Wallaston, (now Quincy,) had been ordered by the court.
Mr. Mygatt joined the Newtown settlement; and his name was soon enrolled among those persons privileged to draw from the general domain a sufficiency of land for his temporary wants. "A piece of land by the pine swamp" was the first grant made to him; and here he built a house to shelter his family - for the town was barely a twelve month old, and afforded only scanty accommodations to new comers. Little could be done, however, at this advanced season, but to prepare for a rigorous New-England winter.
It is proper to note here that there was great rejoicing, and many mutual congratulations when the Griffen's party sat down in Newtown; the happiness of the future pastor was complete, according to Mather’s account,[10] who describes his joy as inexpressible in meeting his friends," saying to them, "Now I live, if ye stand fast in the Lord."
Very little progress had been made in Newtown, until the arrival of the company ordered from Mount Wallaston the year previous, numbering some forty, or more, men; and when their newly arrived friends by the Griffen joined interests with them, it gave an impulse to the concerns of the town, that led the people to hope it would become the capitol of the colony in fact settlers from other places, encouraged by promises that were reliable, had "obligated themselves to build houses there, and remove their ordnance and munitions thither."[11] Comfortable houses and other evidences of wealth soon multiplied; for among the recent settlers were many men of ample means, some few of them possessing large estates. Boston possessed too many advantages, however, to allow Newtown to bold the balance of power beyond a very brief period; all pledges were soon overruled by other and higher interests; and Boston from that moment became the great metropolis of New-England. About this time Mr. Mygatt built another house.[12] The people of Newtown had been without the services of a regular pastor from the beginning; but their good habits piety were always ready for use. Prince in his history[13] tells us “that preparation for the privileges of the public ministry and the ordinances of the gospel, was a primary object of the pious attention of the Newtown people." In 1632, or soon after the removal of the “Hooker company," they built a house for public worship, with a bell upon it. Happy recollections and glorious thoughts were awakened the minds of the people by the sounds of an English bell - now, truly, a "church going bell " - and Nature was saluted with the silvery music, and sweet echoes charmed the ears of aboriginal listeners, when its tones called the people to worship in their wilderness sanctuary.
On the 11th of October, 1633, the Rev. Thomas Hooker was chosen pastor, and the Rev. Mr. Stone teacher, the latter office being considered necessary in early times, to the successful ministration of affairs relating to the church. This event was preceded by a fast, and other religious observances.
The church and society of Newtown, was the eighth formed in the Massachusetts colony; the one at Plymouth is not included, for at time it was known as a distinct colony. Winthrop in his Journal (Vol. I,95,) furnishes a statistical account of them all, from which we infer that this Newtown church was formed about four years after the one at Salem, which was the corner stone of the churches in Massachusetts.[14]
These collateral points of history, collated from valuable records, are introduced for the obvious reason that, Mr. Mygatt’s daily life being identical with the fame and progress of this Newtown association, every thing pertaining to its welfare reflects upon the present hour his own presence and voice in its affairs; thus as a constituent, we shall embody our narrative of him, in the progressive account of that company, furnishing all the data, and notices of him, that we have been enabled to glean from the public record. Among the earliest memoranda is the following from that of Cambridge.
"4th August 1634, Granted Joseph Mygatt; by the pine swamp, four acres."
"1st December, 1634. Granted William Spencer, that corner of ground by Joseph Mygatt's, between the swamps.”[15]
On the Proprietor’s Record, or "Book of Possessions,” is a description of property as follows: "Joseph Mygatt about the pine swamp, one house and about four acres; the common on the north-west, and south-west, and south-east; the pine swamp on the north-east."
On the 20th of August, 1635, among certain meadow lands ordered to be divided according to a scale, ranging from half an acre to six acres, among seventy-two men, whose names are recorded, Mr. Mygatt's name is registered as entitled to a share; and is written, "Jo. Mygate.”
In summing up the owners of houses in Newtown, we find recorded, "8th February, 1635-6, among those who have houses in the town at this present," "by the pine swamp, Joseph Mygate, two."
From an entry made in the colony record, page 153, it appears that Mr. Mygatt was admitted a freeman at the General Court, held in Boston, May 6, 1635; this was about a year and a half after his arrival in the Colony.[16] A large number of his associates took the oath at the court held the previous year. Three persons, however, of the company of 1632, were enrolled as freemen with him at the same sitting of the court.
In less than a year after Mr. Mygatt’s settlement at Newtown, the people began to complain for want of room, as they termed it; "they had not a sufficiency of land for cultivation, especially Meadow, and desired leave of the court to look out for enlargement or removal, which was granted; whereupon they sent men to see Agawam and Merrimac, and gave out that they would remove, &c.” This according to Winthrop’s account, was as early as the 15th of August, 1634. Mather notices this movement[17] in this wise: "It was not long before the Massachusetts Colony, was become like a hive overstacked with bees, and many of the new inhabitants entertained thoughts of swarming into plantations, extended farther into the country, &c.”
It should be remarked that large numbers of emigrants were constantly arriving at Boston; for the summer months were regarded as the auspicious season for crossing the ocean, and these were necessarily colonized upon the towns in the vicinity, which embraced all the cleared lands; the rest being a wilderness. The same historian, alluding to this subject,[18] says, "such numbers flocked over to New-England after them, (Mr. Hooker and his people,) that the plantation of Newtown became too straight for them, and it was the pastor's advice that they should not incur the danger of a sitwah or an Esek," (i. e. contention and hatred,) "where they might have a rehoboth," (i.e. ample room and commodiousness.)[19]
It is amusing to notice, that, so early in the history of Newtown, as well as other towns in the Colony, there was not room enough to accommodate the apparent wants of the people; they saw the necessity of producing as far as they were able, the supplies necessary for themselves, and those of their brethren who were flocking to this hospitable shore. Some writers account for this "straitness" in the natural increase of their cattle, and want of pasturage, in connection with the fact that the Court obliged every man "to live within half a mile of the meeting house."
This law which appears rather singular at first sight, it is presumed, was a precautionary measure against attack from the Indians, who in large numbers occupied the lands around them; and was designed as well for individual safety, as the common defense.
The people of Newtown were not satisfied with the report made by their townsmen, who had been sent to look at places on the coast, and soon after dispatched six of their men in a vessel called the “ Blessing of the Bay,"[20] to the mouth of the Connecticut River. The Dutch had already taken possession and built a fort on the river; but this was no obstacle to the party, nor did it intimidate them: their intention was to find a spot adapted to their wants, and having no very exalted estimate of the courage of their Dutch neighbors, were willing to risk the chances of a broadside, especially as their errand was urgent in its character, and the voyage was one of discovery.