Line of Descent from Thomas Hurlburt (1610-1671)
Blacksmith Helped Build Saybrook Fort and Fight Indians
Sep 25, 2009
Hurlburt was born in 1610 at Chippenham, Wiltshire, England, and died in 1671 at Wethersfield, Connecticut, where he was interred in the “Old Burying Ground”. Family researchers have put together genealogical data on thousands of his descendants over 14 generations.
Thomas Hurlburt Wounded by Arrow
While at Saybrook, Thomas was wounded by an arrow during a 1637 encounter with the Indians. Lion Gardiner wrote of this Pequot War incident 23 years later in a letter to Thomas Hurlburt and Robert Chapman. This letter was printed in Vol. 3, Third Series, of the Massachusetts Historical Society Collections 173 years later. An 1890 drawing by Stanley Reinhart depicts Lion Gardiner and his men fighting Indians in the Pequot War (see below).
Thomas Hurlburt at Wethersfield
After the Pequot War, Hurlburt established a blacksmith business at Wethersfield, Connecticut, becoming one of that community’s first settlers. He became clerk of the “Train Band” (the local militia) in 1640 and General Court deputy. He also served as a Grand Juror and was constable in 1644.
Wethersfield records document various tracts of land Hurlburt in town land divisions. Several of them were recorded together in 1647. In 1660, the town granted him Lot 39 on the east side of the river. For his service in the Indian wars, the Assembly in 1671 voted him a 120-acre parcel. He died shortly after that. Land was cheap and plentiful then and not until a 1694 petition by grandson John Hurlburt Jr. was the property officially set off.
Line of Descent
Thomas Hurlburt married Sarah Ney in 1639 at Wethersfield, Connecticut. All six of their children were born at Wethersfield. This line of descent is through their son, Joseph.
- Joseph Hurlburt, son of Thomas Hurlburt and his wife, Sarah, was born ca. 1646 at Wethersfield, CT, married Rebecca Brown and died in 1732 at Woodbury, CT.
- Joseph Hurlburt (son of Joseph) was born ca. 1677 at Woodbury, CT. He married Mary Castle in 1698. Joseph died in 1729 at Woodbury, CT.
- Caleb Hurlburt was born in 1722 at Woodbury, CT, and died at Whitehall, NY. He married Mary Bartholomew in 1743.
- William Hurlburt was born in 1739(?) at Litchfield, CT.
- Charlotte Hurlburt was born in 1785 at Whitehall, NY, and married John Foote in 1806 at West Haven, VT. John died in 1825 at Whitehall.
- Frederick S. Foote, born in 1815 at West Haven, VT, married Azuba Kelley in 1838. Frederick died in 1898 at West Haven.
- Olive Maria Foote, born in 1840 at West Haven, VT, was married there in 1859 to Elias Benjamin Smith. Olive died in 1924 at West Haven.
- Benjamin Franklin Smith was born in 1861 at West Haven, VT, and died in 1932 at Fair Haven, VT. He married Winifred Ann Sexton in 1893 at Hague, NY.
- Maude Winifred Smith, born in 1896 at Fair Haven, VT, married George Moss Backus at Granville, NY, in 1914.
- Dorothy Rosalie Backus was born in 1917 at Fair Haven, VT, and married Clifford Offensend there in 1932.
This lineage was submitted to Rosemary Bachelor in 1988 by Dorothy (Backus) Offensend, who was then living in Wells, VT. It should only be used to provide clues to family researchers who are documenting their own lineage.
(A related article tells how to find gravestone inscriptions for Wethersfield, CT.)
Additional Source: Stiles, Henry R., History of Ancient Wethersfield, Vol II, pp 442-444 (New York: 1904). Note: This 1800+-page work is now available on CD-ROM.
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