 Abt 1621 - Bef 1674 (~ 53 years)
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| Name |
John Rockwell [1, 2] |
| Birth |
Abt 1621 |
England  [2] |
| Gender |
Male |
| Death |
Bef Mar 1673/74 |
Rye, Westchester, New York [2] |
| Notes |
- It has been supposed that John Rockwell, the founder of the family of which this account is given, was from the vicinity of Dorchester, England, where the Rockwell name was well known, and came to American about the time mentioned in the History of Stamford by Huntington, page 25.
To Huntington's History, perhaps more than to any other source, we are indebted for the early history of the immigrant John Rockwell, of Stamford, Conn. The date of the first record referring to John Rockwell is December 7, 1641, where he is named as one of the first settlers, and received for his home lot two acres and a parcel of woodland.
In the same history is found a list of first settlers of Stamford, containing his name, and again on page 40, there is found a record of John Rockwell being a witness in court there at that date.
At a town meeting held at Stamford Feb. 19, 1667-8, it was voted that John Rockwell, Sr., be granted liberty to mow and have the grass of Noroton Island as long as he shall live in Stamford.
He is also mentioned on the Land Records in 1669 as conveying his land in two parcels, to one person his house and home lot, and to another this land, after which he removed to Rye, Westchester county, N.Y. where he died in 1676.
The Whitney Genealogy, page 22, speaking of Daniel Keeler, calls him the son of John and Hittabel Rockwell Keeler, and a grandson of John Rockwell, Sr., one of the first settlers of Stamford, Conn.; and again, on page 81, a note speaking of John Rockwell, Sr., records his death as having taken place at Rye, Westchester County, N.Y. in 1676; and also, on page 1259, in referring to the said John Rockwell, Sr., says that his wife was probably Elizabeth Weed, daughter of Jonas Weed, of Stamford, Conn.
John Rockwell is the patriarch of all Rockwell families that can trace their lineage back to Fairfield County, Connecticut. He was born in England, perhaps the son of John and Wilmot Rockwell baptized on 22 July 1621 at St. James Church in Fitzhead. If not, he was a close relative, as DNA evidence shows a close relation between the Rockwells of Fairfield County and those known to have migrated from Fitzhead to Windsor, Connecticut. No documentary evidence has yet been found, however, that links John of Stamford to the Rockwells in Windsor. He settled in Stamford, Connecticut, by December of 1641 where he first appears in the records when the town granted him two acres for a home lot and three acres of woodland. He remained there until 1669, when he relocated to Rye, then part of Fairfield County, Connecticut, but later part of Westchester County, New York. He returned to Stamford in January 1672/73, but probably went back to Rye and died there prior to March of 1673/74. John Rockwell married, first, a woman named Mehitabel, who died in September of 1656, perhaps from malaria. He married, secondly, Elizabeth Weed, daughter of Jonas Weed, a 1642 settler of Stamford. She was living in 1684, probably in Norwalk, where her sons would soon come of age. She probably died in Norwalk, though a record of it has not been found.
The probable children of John Rockwell by presumed first wife Mehitabel:
John
Daughter who married John Marshall
Sarah
Mehetable
Children of John and Elizabeth Rockwell:
Jonathan
Joseph
Thomas
John Rockwell received Dec. 7, 1641, two acres, homelot and woodland, as the first company. He probably went to Rye, where he died in 1676. John Rockwell, probably the same as the above, was here in 1656, as his testimony in court of that date witnesses. In 1669 he sold land to Daniel Westcott, the deed being witnessed by Clement Buxton and Matthew Bellamy. In the same year he sells his house and homelot to Daniel Weed. John "Keeiler," son or Ralph, formerly of Norwalk, married June 18, 1679, Hitttabel, daughter of John Rockwell, formerly of Stamford. . This John Rockwell is supposed by Savage to have been a son of William of Windsor, who was born in England, and who married Sarah Ensign in 1651. In town meeting, Feb. 14, 1667-8, it was voted that John Rockwell, sen., shall have liberty to mow and have the grass of the meadow upon Noroton Island, as long as he shall live in Stamford. Rockwell Ridge is a locality often referred to in the records of the town.
Numerous entries on Rootsweb WorldConnect list ancestors for John Rockwell, but it is unproven that John Rockwell & Wilmet Cade were parents of John Rockwell of Stamford; the elder John was son of John Rockwell b1563, m 19 July 1585 Honor Newton, d 10 Jul 1637, all at Fitzhead. Honor was b 1564 at Fitzhead and d 26 Jan 1637 at Dorchester in Dorsetshire , [3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
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| Person ID |
I17781 |
Mindrum |
| Last Modified |
4 Jul 2015 |
| Family 2 |
Elizabeth Weed d. Aft 1684 |
| Children |
| | 1. Jonathan Rockwell, b. Abt 1666, Stamford, Fairfield, Connecticut d. 19 Jun 1731, Ridgefield, Fairfield, Connecticut (Age ~ 65 years) |
| | 2. Joseph Rockwell, b. Abt 1667 d. Bef 11 Jan 1715/6, Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut (Age ~ 49 years) |
| | 3. Thomas Rockwell, b. Abt 1672, Stamford, Fairfield, Connecticut d. Jun 1712, Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut (Age ~ 40 years) |
|
| Family ID |
F12468 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
29 May 2015 |
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| Sources |
- [S292] James Boughton, A Genealogy of the Families of John Rockwell of Stamford, Conn., 1641, and Ralph Keeler, of Hartford, Conn, 1639, (1903), p. 3.
- [S5293] Kenneth W. Rockwell, The Rockwell Family in Fairfield County, Connecticut and beyond: Some of the descendants of John Rockwell, an early settler of Stamford, Connecticut,, (Third Edition, 2009), p. 22.
- [S292] James Boughton, A Genealogy of the Families of John Rockwell of Stamford, Conn., 1641, and Ralph Keeler, of Hartford, Conn, 1639, (1903), p 3.
- [S5293] Kenneth W. Rockwell, The Rockwell Family in Fairfield County, Connecticut and beyond: Some of the descendants of John Rockwell, an early settler of Stamford, Connecticut,, (Third Edition, 2009), pp. 13-25.
- [S3818] E. B. Huntington, History of Stamford, Conn., from 1641 to the present time, (1868), pp. 40-41.
- [S318] Frances Dumas, Mills Ancestors, Title: A Genealogy of the Families of John Rockwell of Stamford CT -1641 and Ralph Keeler of Hartford CT 1639 -Abbrev: Rockwell & Keeler Families -Author: James Boughton -Publication: 1903.
- [S322] Judy Tuccinardi, Our Family Tree, Type: Web Site, Author: Fred Knapp & Robin Bush, researcher, URL: http//www.gendex.com/users/pthree/proots97.htm, , Text: Robin Bush, researcher, Monksilver, 2 Kilkenny Villas, Kilkenny Ave., Taunton, Somerset, TA2 7PJ, UK (commissioned and paid for by Burton Spear), Fred Knapp (fritz@fidnet.com).
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