Newton genealogy, genealogical, biographical, historical, being a record of the descendants of Richard Newton of Sudbury and Marlborough, Massachusetts 1638, with genealogies of families descended from the immigrants Rev. Roger Newton of Milford, Connecticut, Thomas Newton of Fairfield, Connecticut, online

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NEWTON GENEALOGY

GENEALOGICAL, BIOGRAPHICAL
HISTORICAL



BEING A RECORD OF THE DESCENDANTS OF

RICHARD NEWTON

OF SUDBURY AND MARLBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS

1638



WITH GENEALOGIES OF FAMILIES DESCENDED
FROM THE IMMIGRANTS

REV. ROGER NEWTON OF MILFORD, CONNECTICUT

THOMAS NEWTON OF FAIRFIELD, CONNECTICUT

MATTHEW NEWTON OF STONINGTON, CONNECTICUT

NEWTONS OF VIRGINIA

NEWTONS NEAR BOSTON



COMPILED BY

ERMINA NEWTON LEONARD



PUBLISHED BY

BERNARD AMMIDOWN LEONARD

DE PERE, WISCONSIN

1915



Press of The Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Company
New Haven, Conn.



THE LIBRARY
BR1GHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY



PREFACE

In presenting to the public the result of my many years labor, I do so with
diffidence, being aware of how far short I come to being an "experienced geneal-
ogist." This is not the work of such an one. It is a simple family record in
detail, by one of the family — one who was curious to know the conditions, cir-
cumstances, characters and estates of those from whom we are descended. As
such I trust it will be accepted by every member of the Newton name, to whom
it is presented with grateful acknowledgments to every one who has so cordially
assisted me by sending their family records to be incorporated herein.

The beginning of this compilation was inspired about 1885, by the compiler
of the . Montague Genealogy in his letters to my father, who was ill, â–  and for
whom I acted as amanuensis. He told me more then, about his Newton and
Montague relatives than I ever knew, or ever cared to know. — I simply did not
think of those people at all. I have found the same indifference obtains in many
families regarding whence they came.

The work has been prosecuted at intervals covering the years since then. There
was no thought at first of ever printing my notes. As they grew in number
and extent — and continued to grow as time went on, — we began to realize their
value to the family as a whole. The burden of increasing years will not permit
me to add to them or revise them. Imperfect though they may be, I shall like to
see them securely bound together.

My authorities are the printed Town Records of New England ; Town Histories
of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire ; many genealogies of
every name; published and unpublished records from the archives of New Eng-
land and the United States; probate records at Boston, Cambridge, Worcester,
Mass. ; gravestones ; old Bible records ; unnumbered letters from elderly men
and women whose memory has supplied many missing links ; besides the younger
members of the family, who have cordially responded to requests for knowledge
of persons of the name now living. To all of these I hereby express my apprecia-
tion of and gratitude for their assistance. Their names are too many to give a
complete list; and I cannot select from a list where all are worthy of mention.

It is written that "It is impossible but that offences will come." It would seem
that the same must be true of errors in town records — so true is it that they are
almost the rule instead of the exception. Except in cases where the true date,
name or place has been discovered, these errors will be repeated in this genealogy
even as they are in many other printed genealogies. The fault lies with the
old-time recorder, not with the compilers. Where an error appears in this record
I ask your clemency — "She hath done what she could."

Several emigrants bearing the name of Newton came to America prior
to the Seventeenth century, all of whom left sons to perpetuate the name. Of
these the descendants of Richard Newton of Sudbury, Mass., are the most
numerous.

In gathering data it was impossible at the moment to know from which emi-
grant the person descended; whether from Richard Newton of Sudbury, or
from Rev. Roger Newton of Milton, Conn., or from Thomas Newton of Fairfield.
Conn., or from Matthew Newton of Stonington, Conn., or from Anthony
Newton of Milford, Mass., Thomas Newton of Boston, Mass., John Newton of
Plymouth Colony, or the Newtons of Virginia. Descendants of all are scattered
through every state in the Union. All were taken in and collated. Those not of
the Richard Newton branch were traced no further — and yet their number grew



i v NEWTON GENEALOGY

and increased — more than 1,200 persons. I could not leave them out, either to
be lost altogether, or to be confused again with the other branches ; so they are
given here as "Parts" of the book, although they are but fragmentary. Some-
one may, perhaps, be helped by finding them here. And they are Newions, too, —
why leave them out?

The sorting out process was a work of much time and concentration of
thought. — An active imagination also was indispensable. Without it I do not
sec how anyone could place names in a town record. Following the example of
many town historians, I have used my imagination to "suppose" and "perhaps,"
in several cases. I was told by a genealogist that it was better to give one's
deductions when a case could not be proven than to say nothing; for the deduc-
tions were something to begin upon — to refute if wrong, to confirm if right.

While indebted to many others for information and facts, the work of com-
pilation, search of records, copying, abstracting of historical matter, construction
and arrangement of the material, has been wholly the labor of the compiler. She
makes no apology for what may appear too lengthy an account in some cases, or
too unimportant and trivial a matter in others; this being a Newton family
record is the place to recount the merits or demerits of the members of it — at
length or more briefly as the facts shall justify.

The labor of correspondence has been the means of forming a large circle
of pleasant acquaintances — "Cousins" we call ourselves. This in itself has been
the source of much pleasure. That through this correspondence many now
know their descent (whether they ever see the notes in book form or not), from
the immigrant ancestor, is a great satisfaction to the compiler; for I have
made a point of furnishing this information to every family who had lost it, in
return for their known family record.

The index of Part I, sections one and two, contains the Christian names of
all Newtons mentioned, with a separate index of the surnames of their wives
and husbands. The same is true of the indexes of Parts II, III, IV and V. Of
sections three and four, Part I, and the whole of Part VI, there are no indexes.
Being alphabetically arranged, each constitutes its own index.

In regard to the notes, I feel they add value to the book. People generally
are quite as much interested to know the ancestry of mother as of father. Of
course these notes are reprints, but being here they are available to the family
concerned.

E. N. Leonard.
June, 1914.



EXPLANATIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS

The compiler has adopted the system of giving to each son of Kichard Newton 1
a separate place — branches, so called, as : Branch of John, Branch of Moses, etc. ;
and in each branch the generations in their order; and to each name a number.
The name holding a certain number in one generation as a child, will hold the
same number in the succeeding generation as the head of a family — or wherever
else he may be mentioned in the book.

The heads of a family are in large capitals, the children are in small capitals,
the grandchildren are in italics, the great-grandchildren are in the same type
as the text. In the notes the children are in italics. The names of children
marked with a dagger (f) indicate there will be more of that number in the
next generation.

Unless another State is mentioned after a town the State of Massachusetts is
to be understood.

The usual abbreviations of the states, countries, years, months, days, are used :
b., for birth; d., for death; m., for married; dau., for daughter; prob., for
probably; sup., for supposed; C. B., for church record; T. B., for town record;
B. B., for private record, are all readily understood. Brackets [ ] usually
contain a "suppose" or a "perhaps" of the compiler and is a statement not
wholly proven, but not always.

The indexes contain the names of all Newtons, by number. The wives and
husbands of all Newton descendants are indexed by surname and found in
number referred to, and in the notes below.



TABLE OF CONTENTS



PAKT I.



PACE



Preface m

Explanations and Abbreviations v

Introductory : The settling of the Newtons at Sudbury and Marlborough 1-9

Eichard Newton 1 and his wife, Anne Loker 10-18

Second Generation and children 18-59

Branch of John 2 60-164

Branch of Moses 2 165-445

Branch of Joseph 2 446-499

Branch of Daniel 2 500-650

Section Two, Part I.

Abner Nelson Newton of East Windsor, Conn. . . . 651-653

Jabez Newton from Connecticut to Herkimer, N. Y 653-655

Ebenezer Newton of Sudbury, and Falmouth, Me 655

John Newton of Gosport, N. H 656-657

Ebenezer Newton of Keene, N. H 657-666

Ephraim Newton of Marlborough and Charlton, Mass 666-669

Hiram Newton of Lyndon, Vt 669-670

John Edward Newton of Templeton, Mass 670-671

Lemuel Newton of Andover, Me 671-672

Nathaniel Newton of New Ashf ord, Mass 672-678

Nathaniel Newton (son of Anthony R) 678-682

Reuben Newton from Vermont, to Mansfield, N. Y 682

Elizabeth Wood Newton, who m. Moses Hunting 682-684

Section Three, Part I.

Newton Probates — Middlesex County, Mass. Index 685

" " —Suffolk County, Mass. Index 685

" " —Worcester County, Mass. 1731-1881. Index 685-689

Newton names changed in Mass. 1780-1892 689

Section Four, Part I.

Newton soldiers in War of the Revolution from Mass. and those of

them who received U. S. pensions 689-693

Newton soldiers of the Revolution from New York 691

Newton soldiers of the Revolution from Vermont 691, 693

Newton soldiers of the Revolution from Connecticut 693

Newtons in the First Census of the United States, 1790 694-699

PART II.

Rev. Roger Newton of Milford and Farmington, Conn 700-734

Isaac Newton of Goshen, Conn 717-725

Thomas Newton of Cheshire, Conn 711, 725-6

Jonas Newton of Doylestown, Pa 727-734

Index 734-736



v iii NEWTON GENEALOGY

PAKT III.

PAGE

Thomas Newton of Fairfield, Conn 737-761

Christopher Newton from Groton, Conn 761-763

Samuel Newton of Groton, Conn 763-766

Caleb Newton of Long Island 766-768

David Newton of Hartford, Vt 768-780

Index 780-784

PART IV.

Matthew Newton of Stonington, Conn 785-796

Index 796, 797

PAKT V.

John Newton of Dorchester, Mass., 1632 798

Anthony Newton of Dorchester, Mass., 1610 798

Thomas Newton, Attorney of Boston, Mass., 1688 799-803

Joseph Newton of Hull, England, 1809 804, 805

Isaac Newton of Lancaster, England, 1806 805, 806

George Newton from Sheffield, England, 1818 806

Richard Newton from Liverpool, England, 1822 807

Thomas Newton in Virginia, 1662 808-810

Jared Newton in Virginia, 1700 810

Gen 1 John Newton of Norfolk, Va 812

Index 813, 814

PAKT VI.

Newtons, who, for lack of information, have not been traced — men and
women arranged separately and alphabetically and not included in

any index 815-847

Errata (Catherine Elvira) 848

Index to Richard Newton 1 of Sudbury 849-872



RICHARD NEWTON

FIRST GENERATION IN AMERICA AND CHILDREN

RICHAED NEWTON came from England. We do not know from what part
he came, nor when he came, nor how he came, nor how old he was when he came,
nor whether he was married before or after he came. But none of those things
need trouble his descendants. They are questions that cannot fail of answers
sometime, if the data is in existence. With genealogists searching everywhere
for hidden things of this kind, some one of them will stumble upon data showing
all those matters, I firmly believe. I cannot go beyond our own shores in this
matter. I have tried to gather what is recorded of him since he came to America,
and give it in its order. It is evident that he lived in New England sixty-two
or sixty-three years. And during those years he was as much a factor in
establishing the foundation principles which the colony — and this country — was
built upon, as was any other one man of the time. It was a case where "all were
of one mind."

Richard Newton probably came in the summer or fall of 1638, as did many of
those who settled Sudbury. He evidently did not stop long in the then settled
towns; but came to Sudbury with the intention from the first of settling there —
settling a new town in company with people he was already acquainted with. This
seems to me to have been the condition of things. He was not a young man in
years, reckon them as we will. Taking the record of his death as a premise, he
must have been thirty-six, 'seven or 'eight years old when he emigrated — a man
in his prime for strength and energy.

It does not seem out of place, nor a useless reproduction of what is already in
print, that I should give here a short description of the towns, the times, the
people and the conditions of Sudbury and Marlborough, to which the descendants
of Richard Newton will forever look back as being the home-place of our kin
in America. The homestead — where the fathers and mothers of any civilized
people have lived and brought up children — has come to mean a sacred place to
those children through many generations. It is also well to have at hand a
knowledge of their social environment — to know who were their neighbors, and
the people among whom their sons and daughters were to choose their life
companions.

It is not for genealogists, nor for historians, nor for those who have within
reach all the here given facts ; but for the various members of the Newton family
who are not so favored — who are, many of them, far removed from the sources
from which the data are gathered. They, I am sure, will commend me for this
setting of the scenes in which our forefathers lived and moved, had their being,
and incidentally founded this great country.

If length of years is conditioned upon right living in the eyes of the Almighty
Father, then Richard Newton surely had much to his credit, for in the record
of his death on the town books of Marlborough the registrar added to the date,
"almost a hundrid years old." The town clerk for the year 1701 was Isaac
Amsden — either the father of that name, aged 45 years, or his son of the
same name, aged 21 years, both of whom were intimately acquainted from the
beginning of the settlement of the colony with Richard Newton, whose great-
granddaughter, Hannah 3 , had married Abraham Amsden, son of Isaac. It will
be noticed that Isaac Amsden signs as witness on two of the deeds given below.
He was no stranger to Richard Newton [see note to John Newton 3 ], who calls
him "my loving friend."



2 NEWTON GENEALOGY

Kichard Newton died August 24, 1701. There can be no doubt as to the
correctness of this date of death. His will was proved November 17, 1701. But
it is the recorder's say-so that he was "almost a hundrid years old." This expres-
sion usually means that a few months, weeks or days are lacking. Yet if a man
were ninety-six years old, one would not be far wrong to say he was almost a
hundred years old. I am not making an argument of this. I speak of it for the
comfort of those of his descendants who wish to prove that our ancestor, Richard
Newton of Sudbury, was Richard Newton, uncle of Sir Isaac Newton the great
philosopher. Such an ancestor could not be if our Richard was born 1601;
because Sir Isaac's father, Isaac, was (born) baptized in 1606, the eldest of four
sons, of whom Richard was the youngest.

And for the benefit of those who do not know it, let me say that Sir Isaac
Newton, the philosopher, never married, and had no children. Thus will our
tracing in that direction be vain. Yet some who should know better, have written
to me that he was their ancestor. The "One authority places his birth in 1609"
must be of the class "whose wish is father to the thought." There is no evidence.

The territory of Sudbury, Massachusetts, was in part granted to the people
collectively who formed the plantation and established the town, and in part to
individuals. The grants to the former were allowed at three different times and
were preceded by three different petitions. The first petition was by the inhabi-
tants of Watertown, and was granted November 20, 1637. The other two were
for small amounts to make up a deficiency in the five mile square granted.

These lands granted by the Court first had to be bought from the Indians.
Cato (or Karto, Karte) was the Indian owner of that part of Sudbury first
granted to the Englishmen. His house was on a hill, a little southeast of Sud-
bury Centre, about a mile west of Sudbury river, called Goodman's Hill. The
name "Goodman" was given him by the English. It is said he was an
attendant on the preaching of Rev. Edmund Brown, the first minister at Sud-
bury, and was converted to Christianity. Other prominent natives there were
of whom a few facts have been preserved. As a general thing the whites and
Indians here lived on friendly terms prior to King Philip's War, and it was
mostly through other Indians that trouble came.

To a large extent the settlers of Sudbury came direct from England; only a
small proportion of the early grantees are on the Watertown records. The
Sudbury records show the names of fifty-seven early grantees who were there
in 1638 and 1639. Some of these were passengers on the ship Confidence of
London, John Jobson master, in April, 1638. About one-half are known to have
emigrated from the south part, of England. In all probability many of the
others did.

The names of the original Proprietors of Sudbury to whom lands had been
assigned in 1640, together with the ages of some of those who came in the ship
Confidence, where they came from and when they first appear in America, are
as follows:

Names Age Where from First appear

Andrew Belcher London 1639

John Bent 35 Penton-Weyhill, Hampshire 1638

Robert Bett (Beast) 1636 Is this the same as Robert

Beale?

Richard Bildcome Sutton-Mandeville.Wiltshire 1638

John Blandford 27 " " " 1638

Mr. Edmund Browne ( Rev. ) prob. Bury St. Edmunds,

Suffolk 1637

Thomas Browne Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk 1637

William Browne 1639 His wife came from Het-

corsee and Frittingden,
Co. Kent.

Widow Buffumthyte 1639



RICHARD NEWTON



Names


Age Where from First appear


Henry Curtis




1635 Joan Parker of St. Sav-
iours, Southwark, Surrey,
was his sister.


Robert Daniel (Darvill)




1636


Robert Davis


Penton-Weyhill, Hampshire


1638 m. Bridget Loker.


Thomas Flynn




1639


Rev. Robert Fordham




1639


John Freeman




1635


Edmund Goodenowe


27 Dunhead, Wiltshire


1638


John Goodnowe


42 Semley, Wiltshire


1638


Thomas Goodnowe


30 Shaftsbury, Dorsetshire


1638 Brother of John.


Hugh Griffin




1639


Walter Hayne


55 Sutton Mandeville, Wiltshire 1638


JohnHayne under 16 " "


1638 Son of Walter.


John Howe




1639


Thomas Hoyte




1639


Robert Hunt




1638


Widow Hunt




1638


Solomon Johnson




1639


Thomas Joslin


London Apr


. 1635 Came in the ship Increase.


William Kerley


Ashmore, Dorsetshire


1638


John Knight




1636


Henry Loker


Bures St. Mary, Essex


1639 Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk.


John Loker


tt it n tt


1639 " "


John Maynard




1639


George Munnings


Rattlesden, Suffolk


1639


Richard Newton




1639


Mr. Peter Noyes


47 Penton Weyhill, Hampshire


1639


Thomas Noyes


15


1639 Son of Peter.


William Parker




1635


John Parmenter, Sr.




1639


John Parmenter, Jr.




1639 Son of John, Sr.


Mr. William Pelham




1630 He came with Winthrop
and returned in 1652.


Bryan Pendleton




1634


Henry Prentiss




1639


John Ruddocke




1639


Edmond Rice


Barkhamstead, Hertfordshire 1639


Henry Rice


« «


1639 Son of Edmond.


John Rutter


22 Penton-Weyhill, Hampshire


1638


Richard Sanger


Dunhead, Wiltshire


1639


John Stone


Great Bromley, Essex


1635 Son of Gregory.


Joseph Taintor


Upton-Gray, Hampshire


1639


Nathaniel Treadway




1639


William Ward




1639


Anthony White


Ipswich (?), Suffolk


1639


Thomas White




1636


John Wood




1639


Widow Dorothy Wright




1639 She m. 1642 John Bland-
ford.



In connection with the names of the settlers of Sudbury it is appropriate to
state something of their character. They were Puritans both in theory and
practice. The whole trend of their conduct is indicative of self-reliance, though
they recognized all proper authority. Their proceedings in town meeting, and
the manner in which the records were kept, indicate that the education of a
part of them, at least, was good for the times. As a religious people they in no
way lacked what we ascribe to the historic Puritan. Their Christianity mani-
fested itself in their steadfast adherence to the Christian faith, their reliance
on God, and their love for His holy law. Industry was a prominent characteristic.
From the minister down to the humblest citizen, each shared in the manual
work of the settlement. They were young men, or in the prime of strong man-
hood, and those with whom, because of their prominence, we associate dignity
and gravity, were comparatively young men.



4 NEWTON GENEALOGY

The town was incorporated September 4, 1639. The name ordered by the
Court, Sudbury, is that of an old English town in the County of Suffolk, near
the parish of Bury St. Edmunds. It is not improbable that they and their
minister, Rev. Edmund Brown, selected the home town of many of them for the
new home town.

At first the land was held in common, except such house-lots and a few acres
as were assigned at the outset, or such tracts as were obtained by special grants
from the Colonial Court. But divisions soon came. Three divisions of meadow-
land were made in 1640 — "the first divided according to discretion, the second
by lot." In 1642 an addition of upland was divided "at their discretion" by
the committee appointed, and the "Cow Common" laid out and apportioned.

In all tbese divisions and apportionments Richard Newton received his share.
His house-lot was east of and not far from the Sudbury river, and north of
Mill Brook. Seven others had house-lots along a highway to the river, which
highway is now discontinued to public travel. This is shown on a "Map of
the First Roads and Houselots in Sudbury," drawn by J. S. Draper, for the
"Annals of Sudbury," etc., to which I am indebted for much of the above.

Richard Newton became a freeman in May, 1645, and his name appears again
in another list of men who took the oath* May 26, 1647. [Col. Rec, Vol. II,
pp. 78 and 163.]

June 27, 1647, Richard Newton was debtor to the estate of Nathaniel Sparrow-
hawke of Cambridge.

After a residence of eighteen years, more or less, in Sudbury, during which
time we suppose all, or nearly all, of his children were born ; where his church
home was, and where he had no doubt prospered financially; we find his name
among others of the town signed to a petition to the General Court for another
grant of land. This petition is always spoken of as the "Petition for Marl-
borough," and is as follows: —

To the Honrd Governour, Deputy Governor,
Magistrates, & Deputies of y e Geperh Court now
Assembled in Boston
The humble Petition of severell of y e Inhabitants of Sudbury whose
names are here und r written
Humbly Showeth
That whereas yo r Petition rs have lived divers yeares in Sudbury & God hathe beene
pleased to increase o r Children w ch are now divers of them growne to mans Estate, & wee

* Freeman's Oath. — Before a member of the colony conld exercise the right of suffrage, or
hold any public office, he inust be made a freeman by the general or quarterly court. The
applicant must be of age, have a certain amount of property, and was required to produce
evidence that he was a member of some Congregational church. '"This regulation was so far
modified by Koyal order in 1G64, as to allow individuals to be made Freemen, who could obtain
certificates of their being correct in doctrine and conduct from Clergymen acquainted with
them." Later the requirements were further changed, and at the time (1688) of the revolu-
tion in England, the practice of making freemen ceased. The following is a copy of one