Ruth Gaylord

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 3703

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 3806

Nathaniel married Abigail Bissell on 17 Oct 1678 in Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut, USA. Abigail (daughter of Thomas Bissell and Abigail Moore) was born on 23 Nov 1658; died on 23 Sep 1723. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 3831

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 3727
• Arrival: 1630, Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA; Aboard the Mary & John

Notes:

Birth:
baptism date

William married Elizabeth Drake on 9 Feb 1653/54. Elizabeth (daughter of John Drake and Elizabeth Rogers) was born on 9 Jan 1624/25 in Hampton In Arden, Warwickshire, England; died on 8 Jun 1716 in Norwich, New London, Connecticut, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Baptism: Warwickshire, England
• Reference Number: 4970
• Baptism: 9 Jan 1624, Hampton In Arden, Warwickshire, England

Notes:

Birth:
baptism date

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 3361

Thomas married Abigail Moore on 11 Oct 1655 in Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut, USA. Abigail (daughter of Deacon John Moore) was born on 14 Feb 1639/40 in Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 3365

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 3830
• Arrival: 1630, Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA; Aboard the Mary & John

William married Unknown Unknown. Unknown was born about 1585. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 3785
• Arrival: 20 Jun 1657

Notes:

Birth:
based on spouse's birth date

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 5634

Notes:

Previous genealogies going back over 150 years have John Drake as the son of William Drake of Wiscombe Park, Devonshire. This Drake family is an off shoot of the prominent Sir Francis Drake family of Esher, Surrey. However, more recent evidence shows that this is probably not the case. Thus John Drake of Windsor currently has no known accepted parentage. Refer to TAG 63:193-206 and 65:87-88.

Finding three of the five children of John Drake in Hampton In Arden, Warwickshire with the same names as the Windsor John Drake Family lends support to the Windsor John Drake being from Hampton In Arden. We also find an entry in the Hampton In Arden record for an unnamed child of John Drake and no wife named, a female baptized 20 May 1632.

Listed on a list of original proprietors of Taunton that dates to 1638 or 1639. He is found in 1641 in Windsor, receiving an average size grant of 16 acres.

He may have arrived on one of the ships that left Weymouth, England in Apr 1637, as several of those families ended up in Taunton.

Recorded in the 1640 Town Records at Windsor in the list of "First Settlers of Windsor, five years after their removal from Dorchester." (NEHGR 5:365) [The list includes people who arrived after 1635, such as those who came with Huit in 1639]

On his death, town records of Windsor gave the following account: " August 17, 1659, John Drake, Senior dyed accidentaly, as he was driving a cart loaded with corn, to carry from his house to his son Jacob's the Cattle being two oxen and his mare, in the high way against John Griffin'ssomething scar'd the Cattle, and they set a running, and he labouring to stop them by taking hold on the mare, was thrown down on his face, and cart wheels went over him: brake one of his legs and bruised his body, so that he was taken up dead, being carried into his daughter's house and life come again, but dyed in a short time and was buried on the 18th day of August 1659." 53

There are pedigrees floating around linking him to the Drakes in Ashe, Devon (the family of the navigator Francis Drake). However, that family was of considerable prominence and wealth, which is not reflected in the social standing of this John. In addition, the wills of the family don't mention him, with the exception of that of Francis in 1634 (the source of the speculation in the first place). He is also not likely the John Drake who came with Winthrop's Fleet to Boston in 1630. That John is listed as one to be made a freeman in Oct 1630, but did not actually take the oath. Most of the other men of whom that was the case died or returned to England. Furthermore, there is no other record of John Drake until 1638. It would have been virtually impossible for a man with a family to avoid any mention for 8 years. (See articles in The American Genealogist for a more in depth explanation.)

Savage's: JOHN, Dorchester, or Boston, came in the fleet with Winthrop prob. as we find his req. 19 Oct. 1630 to be made freem. yet his adm. is not found, and he rem. from our col. perhaps as a purch. of Taunton 1639 [Baylies, I. 286], and not long after to Windsor, and there, by a cartwheel running over him, was k. 17 Aug. 1659, leav. s. Jacob and Job, bef. ment. and John, beside one, if not more, d. His wid. d. 7 Oct. 1681, but we may hesitate at the old ch. rec. story of her hundredth yr. yet agree to the main truth of her being call. "old wid. D."

Birth:
estimated date

Buried:
Palisado Cemetery

John married Elizabeth Rogers about 1624. Elizabeth was born in 1581; died on 7 Oct 1681; was buried in Oct 1681 in Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Name: Elizabeth Drake
• Reference Number: 4952

Notes:

Birth:
reputed to be 100 years old, unconfirmed

Buried:
Palisado Cemetery

Notes:

Married:
based on death of 1st wife and birth of next child

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 3779

Notes:

From: findagrave.com:

Birth: Oct. 30, 1591, England
Death: Oct. 3, 1677
Windsor
Hartford County
Connecticut, USA

John Bissell, purportedly b. or bapt. on Oct. 30, 1591 in England. His gravestone indirectly says he was b. on or after Oct. the 4th 1591. He d. at Windsor, Conn. Oct. 3, 1677, Æ 86. He was twice married, but the name of each wife remains unknown.

Stile's first version of his "History of Ancient Windsor" (1859) contains a poor outline of the structure of the Bissell family of Windsor, Conn. He gave John Bissell only one wife in this version. Savage, Hinman, Cutter and others also misrepresent the initial Bissell family structure.

Stiles' more familiar second version of his "Ancient Windsor," in two volumes (1891 and 1893), does not correct the errors made forty years earlier in 1859. He continued to give the immigrant only one wife in Vol. II (1893 Genealogies). However, in Vol. I (1891 History) he added an obscure reference apparently contained in the 1662 deed to son Nathaniel of his housing at present-day East Windsor that proves the immigrant had two wives.

John Bissell, the immigrant, had six known children, all by his first wife who d. of record at Windsor, Conn. May 21, 1641. According to the Matthew Grant Records, Grant was aware only one child born to the immigrant at Windsor, and as only John's youngest son is recorded at Windsor prior to the death of his first wife, there were no children by his unnamed second wife.

Some writers give the first wife the name of Mary and still others claim she was Mary Drake. But, neither variation has any proof and it is quite likely Mary Drake has been confused with the married name of John Bissell's daughter Mary (Bissell) Drake. On this point, in 1969 the eminent genealogist, Donald Lines Jacobus, wrote:

• May I try to set the record straight once again? [The immigrant] John1 Bissell [Sr.] did indeed die in 1677; there is no authority that I know of for calling his wife Mary Drake. A nameless wife, perhaps the mother of his children, died in 1641; he thereafter had another nameless wife, whose death, as wife of John "Sr.", was recorded in 1665...(NEHGS Register, 123:278-279.)

John Bissell's second wife d. of record at Windsor Mar. 29, 1665 ["the wife of John Biffell senor dyed"]. Per Stiles in 1891, in 1662 when John Bissell was in excess of 70 years old he gave to youngest son Nathaniel his housing at present-day East Windsor:

• "in part of his portion of his marriage," a part of his land and house "at Scantuck," on the E. side of the Conn. River with provision for the remainder at his father's death...Nathaniel doubtless resided on the river bank, below the Scantic, from the time of his marriage. This home was garrisoned at the time of King Philip's War. John Bissell, Senr, evidently died here, having made provision for his second wife, stipulating that Nathaniel should give "his now present mother-in-law [i.e., stepmother], if she is willing and choose to have the use the parlor for her abode," it should be granted. (History of Ancient Windsor, 1891, Vol. I, p. 152.)

The aforementioned death of the immigrant's second wife has been consistently confused as the date that the wife of John Bissell, Jr., died. This caused Stiles to give John junior an unnamed second wife as the mother of his youngest children. John Bissell junior's wife, Israel Mason, outlived her husband. This error is more fully outlined in the Israel (Mason) Bissell memorial page.

The earliest in which the immigrant John Bissell appears at Windsor is in the record of youngest son Nathaniel's birth at Windsor, on Sept. 24, 1640. The earliest in which he appears in the Conn. Public Records is as a juryman in Sept. 1641. He was a juryman for numerous sessions of the Particular Court during the mid-1640s until he was elected a deputy to the Conn. Court from Windsor in Sept. 1648. He served as a deputy from Windsor almost continuously until 1656.

While some claim John held the title of Capt., he was relieved of the requirement for military training by the Conn. Court in April 1645, when he was about 53 years old. Unless one wishes to attach the title of Capt. to a public ferryman, there is no record of any military rank for the immigrant in the Windsor or Conn. records. Also, none of his sons reached the rank of Capt. during their lifetime.

On Jan. 5, 1641/2 Windsor was provided the right to operate a ferry across the Conn. River. However, not until Jan. 1648/9 was John Bissell, Sr. granted exclusive right to operate the Windsor ferry for the ensuing seven years (Conn. PR, Vol. I, p. 174-5). This right was extended annually beginning in May 1656 until eldest son John Bissell, Jr. was granted exclusive rights to operate the ferry in Mar. 1657/8 for the ensuing 10 years. This was followed in May 1677 by the immigrant's youngest son Nathaniel granted the right of operation for the ensuing 7 years.

Manwaring's abstract of John Bissell's estate, citing Hartford Probate District vol. III, p. 194:

• John Bissell of Windsor. Inventory of £520-16-03 taken Oct. 22, 1677 by Daniel Clarke, Benjamin Newbery and Return Strong. Will dated Sept. 25, 1673:
• I John Bissell of Windsor doe make this my last Will & Testament:
• I give to my daughter Mary, the wife of Jacob Drake, £10;
• to my daughter Joyce, wife of Samuel Pinney, £30.
• I give to my son John £50.
• The remainder of my estate after my just debts and funeral charges are paid, with 20 shillings a peice to each of my grand children naturally descending from my foure sons and two daughters, I bequeath to my four sons John, Thomas, Samuel, and Nathaniel.
• The remaynder of my estate to be equally divided.
• I appoint my sons John and Thomas Bissell to be executors.
• I desire Deacon John Moore and Daniel Clark to be supervisors......JOHN X BISSELL LS.
Witness:
John Moore sen.,
Daniel Clarke.
• Court Record, Page 165--6 December, 1677: Will approved.

The children of John Bissell, Sr. and his unnamed first wife, the order uncertain, are:

• i. Mary Bissell, b. circa 1631 in England, d. testate Sept. 11, 1689 at Windsor, Conn.; m. Apr. 12, 1649 at Windsor, Sgt. Jacob Drake, s. of John Drake & Elizabeth Rogers, b. circa 1624 in England. He d. testate at Windsor, Conn. Aug. 6, 1689. They had no known children.

• ii. Lieut., also referred to as Cornet, John Bissell, Jr., b. circa 1633 in England, d. intestate before Oct. 15, 1688 at an undefined place in the Province of New York while in the King's service; m. June 17, 1658 at Windsor, Isreal Mason of Saybrook, Conn., dau. of Maj. John Mason and his unnamed first wife, b. circa 1637-38, prob. at Windsor, and d. after Mar. 15, 1693/4. Nine children of the family.

• iii. Quartermaster Thomas Bissell, b. circa 1635 in England, d. testate at Windsor July 31, 1689; m. Oct. 11, 1655 at Windsor, Abigail Moore, dau. of Dea. John and Abigail Moore, b. June 16, 1639 at Windsor. She d. at Windsor purportedly July 31, 1728. Twelve children of the family, three dying in infancy.

• iv. Samuel Bissell, b. circa 1637 in England, d. testate at Windsor Dec. 3, 1700; m. 1) June 11, 1658 at Windsor, Abigail Holcomb, dau. of Thomas and Elizabeth Holcomb, bapt. Jan. 6, 1638/9 at Windsor, Conn. He d. at Windsor Aug. 17, 1688. Nine children of the family. Samuel m. 2) after Aug. 1688, Mary Buell, dau. of William Buell and Mary Post, and widow of Simon Mills, who had d. intestate at Simsbury, Conn. July 6, 1683. There were no children by this marriage, Mary having ten children by her first husband. She d. testate at Windsor, Conn. June 24, 1718.

• v. Joyce Bissell, b. circa 1639 in England, d. after Sept. 8, 1689 when named in her sister Mary's will of that same date; m. Nov. 17, 1665 at Windsor, Samuel Pinney, s. of Humphrey Pinney and Mary Hull, b. Mar. 30, 1635 at Dorchester, Mass. He d. after Dec. 13, 1689 when he was appointed one of four administrators of his sister-in-law Mary (Bissell) Drake's estate. Three children of the family.

• vi. Nathaniel Bissell, b. Sept. 24 (bapt. Sept. 27), 1640 at Windsor, Conn, d. testate at Windsor Mar. 12, 1713/4; m. 1) Mindwell Moore, dau. of Dea. John and Abigail Moore, and sister of his brother Thomas Bissell's wife Abigail, b. July 10, 1643 at Windsor. She d. at Windsor Nov. 24, 1682. Nine children of the family. Nathaniel m. 2) July 4, 1683 at Windsor, Dorothy Fitch, who d. at Windsor June 28, 1691 by whom he had four children. He m. 3) on an unknown date after June 1691, Deliverance Haines, formerly the wife of 1) John Rockwell of Windsor and 2) John Warner of Middletown, Conn. She d. intestate June 12, 1718. There were no children by this marriage. Deliverance had seven children by her first two husbands.

Family links:
Children:
Samuel Bissell (____ - 1700)*
John Bissell (____ - 1688)*
Thomas Bissell (1630 - 1689)*
Mary Bissell Drake (1631 - 1689)*
Nathaniel Bissell (1640 - 1714)*

*Calculated relationship

Inscription:
Heare Lyeth
The Body of Iohn
Bissell Deceased-
October the: 3: 1677
in the 86 Yeare of
his Age.

On the day that John died he was 85 years old, and Ætatis (i.e., Æ, "Aged," in the XX year of his Age) 86.

Burial:
Palisado Cemetery
Windsor
Hartford County
Connecticut, USA

Maintained by: Don Blauvelt
Originally Created by: Grant
Record added: Nov 05, 2000
Find A Grave Memorial# 5091692


Buried:
Palisado Cemetery

John married Unknown Unknown. Unknown was born about 1591; died on 21 May 1641. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 3458

Notes:

Birth:
based on spouse's birth date

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 3515
• Death: 18 Sep 1677

Notes:

Birth:
based on est marr date

Death:
Age: 74