Arrived in Springfield 1636 remained until his death 1640
Thomas Horton
Born 1602 Mowsley, England
Died 1640 Springfield, MA
Burial Old Burial Ground Springfield, MA, this cemetery disbanded to make way for the railroad. Some were relocated to
Father Joseph Horton,
b. 1572, First House Burksland, Halifax, England
d. 1640, Springfield, Hampton County, MA
(Age 68 years)
Mother Mary Schuyler,
b. 1578, Mowsley, Leicestershire, England
d. UNKNOWN
Married 1599
Thomas marriage to Mary?
Married 1635
Mary ____, possibly in Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut. Probably one of Rev. Thomas Hookers followers to the Connecticut Valley. He was one of the first settlers in Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts, arriving in Springfield in 1637, he died in Springfield in 1640
CHILDREN
1. Jeremiah Horton
Born 1636 at Windsor, CT
Married
Mary Gibbered.
Died at Springfield, Massachusetts.
2. Thomas Horton
Born 1640.
3. John Horton -
4. Barnabus Horton -
More about this family:
After Thomas's death, Robert Ashley entered into a prenuptial agreement with the Widow Horton on August 7, 1641. Mary (---) Horton was the widow of Thomas Horton of Springfield. After Thomas and Mary had married about 1637, he died in the summer of 1640 leaving her with two sons, one three years old and the other an infant. Widow Horton turned over to Robert her house, woodland and hogs provided Robert use the property for the benefit of her sons and Robert find them positions as apprentices to learn a trade when they were 13 or 14 years old. One must wonder how many hogs Mary had because her hogs were worth 18 pounds or 6 pounds more than her house and house lot. Although the marriage of Robert Ashley and the widow Horton was not recorded in the Springfield records, there is little doubt that it was actually consummated, for it is known that he married about 1641, that his wife bore the Christian name Mary, and that after 1641 the widow Horton's name disappears from the records.
Robert and Mary Ashley were the parents of three boys and three girls. The first children were twins, David, and "at the same tyme a daughter was borne to Ro Ashley with life in it, but it presently dyed." The five surviving children married and the sons alone fathered twenty-one children.
Robert Ashley was chiefly occupied with agriculture as were most of the inhabitants of Springfield. By 1641, he owned the fifth largest amount of land in Springfield and was taxed on fifty-one acres in 1647. He became, by means of grant and purchase, an extensive owner of land on the west side of the Connecticut River in what is now West Springfield. His houselot there was granted to him in February, 1661, "provided that he build and dwell there." He probably built his house on it soon after this, and lived there the remaining twenty years of his life.
In 1646, he was licensed to keep the ordinary, or inn, under the supervision of the town's officers. In 1655, an order of restraint was issued to Robert Ashley and his wife "forbidding them to sell wine or strong waters to the Indians." Dealings with Native Americans had been a matter of concern to the colonists from their arrival and the law prohibited selling guns to natives. In 1640, Widow Mary Horton was called before magistrate William Pynchon for "selling her husband's piece to the Indians." She protested that she had merely "lent it to an Indian because it lay spoiling in her cellar. The Indian is suddenly to bring it again and he left about six father of wampum in pawn for it. She knows of no order against it and doth promise to take it home again." She was ordered "to get it home again speedily or else it would cost her dear, for no commonwealth would allow of such a misdemeanor." However, the restraint order issued in 1655 to forbid sales of wine to Indians did not apply to the settlers themselves "for selling to the English we would not restrain you." Robert ran the ordinary until the fall of 1660.
Colonists frequently went to court to settle disputes; however, Robert Ashley did so only six times: in 1640, he and two others were ordered to bring back canoes they had sold to outside parties; in 1641, he sued John Woodcock for failing to deliver a gun Robert had purchased; another time he petitioned for "satisfaction for a horse killed by a Nepanett Indian;" in 1659, he sued Richard Fellows for detaining a sword; in 1660, Miles Morgan sued him for wrongfully impounding his swine; and 1663 when he and Miles Morgan complained against four men for violating town orders.
Mary Ashley also went to court, as one of the many persons who gave testimony when Hugh and Mary Parsons were accused of witchcraft. "February 27, 1650. Mary the wife of Robert Ashley saith upon oath that Mary Parsons was at her house last lecture day was sen'night, before meeting and among other speeches she said as for the death of Mr. Smith's children it lay very sad upon her, I asked why she said because my husband would have had me to have nursed his children: but said she doth any one think a fit nurse for them: I asked her why he would have her to nurse them: she said for lucre and gain, one may well know his reason: after this she fetched a great sigh and said little doth any one think how the death of those children lies upon me, and she said it was her near relation but said she it is better for others to bring him out than for me but I can speak a great deal for him if others bring him out." Mary Parsons was not convicted of witchcraft, but was sentenced to death when she confessed to murdering one of her children. Hugh Parsons was found guilty of witchcraft by a jury, but the General Court refused to accept the verdict.
Starting in 1640, Robert Ashley was actively engaged in the public service as a juryman, overseer of fences, surveyor of highways and town constable. He was elected selectman for the first time in 1653, was reelected annually until 1659, and again in 1660, 1662 and 1665. He also participated in the village church and always paid his proportion of the tax for the maintenance of public worship. Robert Ashley sat in the first seat, when the first list of seating was prepared in 1659, and was on the seating committee in 1659 and 1663. In 1669, he petitioned to be relieved of military training "by reason of the weakness of his body."
Robert Ashley died Nov. 29, 1682 at West Springfield. His will, dated October 9, 1679, and signed with his mark, was presented at court March 27, 1683 when his widow and son Joseph were appointed administrators. Robert confirmed his deed of gift to son Jonathan of land on the east side of the Connecticut River, son Joseph received lands on the west side of the river and a lot on the east side of the river, son David five pounds in addition to what he had already received, wife Mary one third of all lands for life, grandson Jon Ashley a colt, the children of David Ashley ten shillings, wife Mary one third of the rest of the estate for life, son Joseph two thirds of the rest of the estate and wife Mary's third at her death, and son David and his children to have Joseph' share if Joseph died without issue. The inventory of his estate amounted to 492 pounds, of which land comprised 300 pounds, or 80% of the total.
Mary Ashley died Sept. 19, 1683 at West Springfield. She died without making a will; her sons Jonathan and Joseph were appointed administrators of her estate.
Robert Ashley,
Born before 1618;
Died 29 Nov. 1682 West Springfield, Massachusetts.
Married about 7 Aug. 1641 Mary Eddy Horton.
Mary married first (about 1637 )Thomas Horton, born about 1602; died 1640 in Springfield, Mass.
Mary died 19 Sept. 1683 West Springfield.
Children of Thomas Horton and Mary Eddy:
i Jeremy Horton,
born about 1637 in Windsor, Conn.;
died 18 Aug. 1682 in Springfield, Mass
. First married first at Springfield 3 October 1661,
Ruth Ely,
Born
Died 2 October 1662.
Father Nathaniel Ely
Mother Martha
Children of Jeremy & Ruth
1. Nathaniel
born 29 June 1662.
Jeremy married second at New Haven
Married 4 May 1664
Mary Gibbered
, baptized at New Haven 20 January 1643/4
Father William Gibbard
Mother Anna (Tapp)
Jeremy and Mary had nine children born 1665-1682.
2. John Horton,
born about 1640 in Springfield, Mass.
Children of Robert Ashley and Mary (---) were, born at Springfield:
1. David Ashley, TWIN
Born 3 June 1642
Died 8 Dec. 1718 at Westfield, Mass.
married
Hannah Glover.
2 Ashley TWIN
Born 3 June 1642; died 1642
3. Mary Ashley
Born 6 April 1644
Died 9 March 1702 at Westfield, MA
Married 18 Oct. 1664
John Root
Born about 1642;
Died 24 Sept. 1687 at Westfield.
Father John Root
Mother Mary Kilbourne
4. Jonathan2 Ashley,
Born 25 Feb. 1645/46;
Died Feb. 1704/05 at Hartford, CT
Married 10 Nov. 1669
Sarah Wadsworth
christened 17 March 1650 at Hartford, CT
Father William Wadsworth
Mother Elizabeth Stone
5. Sarah Ashley
Born 23 Aug. 1648
Married act 1670
Philip Lewis
christened 13 Dec. 1646 at Hartford, CTdied 1723.
Father William Lewis
Mother Mary Hopkins
Children Six, 3 baptized at Hartford between 1685-1692
1. daughter Sarah married in 1690.
6. Joseph Ashley
Born 6 July 1652
Died 18 May 1698 at West Springfield, MA
Married 15 Oct. 1685 at Springfield, MA,
Mary Parsons
Born 27 June 1661 at Northampton, MA
Died 23 Aug. 1711.
Father Joseph
Mother Mary Bliss
Two Presidents of the United States were descendants of Robert and Mary Ashley: Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893) 19th President of the United States (Rutherford Hayes Jr., Chloe Smith, Israel Smith, John Smith, John Smith, Mary Root, Mary Ashley, Robert Ashley), and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) 32nd President of the United States (Sara Delano, Catherine Lyman, Joseph Lyman III, Joseph Lyman Jr., Joseph Lyman, Abigail Lewis, Abigail Ashley, David Ashley, Robert Ashley).
References:
Trowbridge, Francis Bacon, A History of the Descendants of Robert Ashley of Springfield, Massachusetts (New Haven: Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor, 1896), 3-18.
Ashley, Jonathan Porter, An Ashley Genealogy, a paper read at the annual meeting of Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, February 26th, 1924 (Deerfield, Massachusetts, 1924), Craig Ashley library.
Green, Mason Arnold, Springfield, 1636-1886: History of Town and City ([Springfield, Mass.]: C. A. Nichols and Co., 1888), 45, 47, 53, 67, 69, 70, 77, 96, 97, 110, 125-127, 130, 134, 187.
Burt, Henry M., The First Century of the History of Springfield (Springfield, MA: Henry M. Burt, 2 vols., 1898-9), 2: 519-21.
Robert Ashley, The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 33 (1879): 310-1, regarding the prenuptial agreement and examination of Widow Horton 9 October 1640.
Harry Andrew Wright, Early Springfield and Longmeadow (Rutland, VT: Tuttle Publishing Company, 1940, reprinted from The Cooley Genealogy by M. E. Cooley), 48.
Hall, David D., Witch-Hunting in Seventeenth Century New England: A Documentary History 1638-1693 (Boston: Northeastern University Press, second edition, 1999), 47.
Trumbull, James Russell, History of Northampton, Massachusetts, from its settlement in 1654 (Northampton, MA: Press of Gazette Printing Co., 1898-1902, 3 volumes of which volume 3 is Northampton Genealogies), 1: 66. Robert Ashley was selected as a juryman at a court held at Springfield 29 March 1659.
Adaline Horton White, The Hortons in America (Seattle, Wash.: H.D. and A.H. White, 1929), 483-485. This work says Thomas Horton married Mary Eddy, but gives no authority to document the fact.
Carl W. Fischer, Descendants of Thomas Horton of Springfield (Interlaken, N.Y.: I-T Publishing Corp., 1976), 1-7. "The parentage of Mary had not been determined either. Any reference to Mary being Mary Eddy is in gross error, since Mary Eddy was the wife of Thomas Horton, the shipwright, of Charlestown. This is substantiated in numerous records, plus The Estates of Charlestown, Mass., and the records of the Eddy Family Association.
Gary Boyd Roberts, Ancestors of American Presidents (Santa Clarita, CA: Carl Boyer, 3rd, in cooperation with the New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 83, 85, 274.
Donald Line Jacobus, Families of Ancient New Haven. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1974) Pp. 792-793. (FHL-USA/CAN 974.68 D2j vol. 4 - 6.) NOTE - All data from this source except where noted.
2 Franklin Bowditch Dexter, compiler, Historical Catalogue of the Members of the First Church of Christ. (New Haven, Connecticut: 1914) P. 43. (FHL-USA/CAN 974.68 K2d.)∼Born about 1602 in Mowsley, Leicestershire, England, son of Joseph and Mary (Schuyler) Horton, where he married Mary Eddy.
They sailed to America on the ship "Mary and John", along with their firstborn child Mary, born 1629, and Thomas' brother, Jeremiah, about two years his junior. They arrived in Massachusetts early in 1636, preceded by his older brother, Barnabas, about a year earlier, on the ship "Swallow". Thomas and his family left immediately for Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut, where they sojourned for a short time. It was here that their second child, Jeremiah (1636- ) was born.
By 1638, Thomas and his family had moved to what is now Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts, where he was one of the founders of the town, a town officer, and proprietor. His signature is still to be seen in the "Pyncheon Papers", that have to do with the land purchase from the Indians. It was here that their third child, Thomas II (1638-about1714-15), and fourth child John (1640- were born.
Thomas I died in 1641 at about 39 years of age.
∼Father: Joseph HORTON 1578-?
(AFN: 8MHC-20)
Mother: Mary SCHUYLER 1578-?
(AFN: 8TSJ-XH)
Spouse: Mary Eddy 1625-1683
Marriage: 1632
Suffolk, Middlesex, Massachusetts
.......................
Thomas Horton
Born 1602 Mowsley, England
Died 1640 Springfield, MA
Burial Old Burial Ground Springfield, MA, this cemetery disbanded to make way for the railroad. Some were relocated to
Father Joseph Horton,
b. 1572, First House Burksland, Halifax, England
d. 1640, Springfield, Hampton County, MA
(Age 68 years)
Mother Mary Schuyler,
b. 1578, Mowsley, Leicestershire, England
d. UNKNOWN
Married 1599
Thomas marriage to Mary?
Married 1635
Mary ____, possibly in Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut. Probably one of Rev. Thomas Hookers followers to the Connecticut Valley. He was one of the first settlers in Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts, arriving in Springfield in 1637, he died in Springfield in 1640
CHILDREN
1. Jeremiah Horton
Born 1636 at Windsor, CT
Married
Mary Gibbered.
Died at Springfield, Massachusetts.
2. Thomas Horton
Born 1640.
3. John Horton -
4. Barnabus Horton -
More about this family:
After Thomas's death, Robert Ashley entered into a prenuptial agreement with the Widow Horton on August 7, 1641. Mary (---) Horton was the widow of Thomas Horton of Springfield. After Thomas and Mary had married about 1637, he died in the summer of 1640 leaving her with two sons, one three years old and the other an infant. Widow Horton turned over to Robert her house, woodland and hogs provided Robert use the property for the benefit of her sons and Robert find them positions as apprentices to learn a trade when they were 13 or 14 years old. One must wonder how many hogs Mary had because her hogs were worth 18 pounds or 6 pounds more than her house and house lot. Although the marriage of Robert Ashley and the widow Horton was not recorded in the Springfield records, there is little doubt that it was actually consummated, for it is known that he married about 1641, that his wife bore the Christian name Mary, and that after 1641 the widow Horton's name disappears from the records.
Robert and Mary Ashley were the parents of three boys and three girls. The first children were twins, David, and "at the same tyme a daughter was borne to Ro Ashley with life in it, but it presently dyed." The five surviving children married and the sons alone fathered twenty-one children.
Robert Ashley was chiefly occupied with agriculture as were most of the inhabitants of Springfield. By 1641, he owned the fifth largest amount of land in Springfield and was taxed on fifty-one acres in 1647. He became, by means of grant and purchase, an extensive owner of land on the west side of the Connecticut River in what is now West Springfield. His houselot there was granted to him in February, 1661, "provided that he build and dwell there." He probably built his house on it soon after this, and lived there the remaining twenty years of his life.
In 1646, he was licensed to keep the ordinary, or inn, under the supervision of the town's officers. In 1655, an order of restraint was issued to Robert Ashley and his wife "forbidding them to sell wine or strong waters to the Indians." Dealings with Native Americans had been a matter of concern to the colonists from their arrival and the law prohibited selling guns to natives. In 1640, Widow Mary Horton was called before magistrate William Pynchon for "selling her husband's piece to the Indians." She protested that she had merely "lent it to an Indian because it lay spoiling in her cellar. The Indian is suddenly to bring it again and he left about six father of wampum in pawn for it. She knows of no order against it and doth promise to take it home again." She was ordered "to get it home again speedily or else it would cost her dear, for no commonwealth would allow of such a misdemeanor." However, the restraint order issued in 1655 to forbid sales of wine to Indians did not apply to the settlers themselves "for selling to the English we would not restrain you." Robert ran the ordinary until the fall of 1660.
Colonists frequently went to court to settle disputes; however, Robert Ashley did so only six times: in 1640, he and two others were ordered to bring back canoes they had sold to outside parties; in 1641, he sued John Woodcock for failing to deliver a gun Robert had purchased; another time he petitioned for "satisfaction for a horse killed by a Nepanett Indian;" in 1659, he sued Richard Fellows for detaining a sword; in 1660, Miles Morgan sued him for wrongfully impounding his swine; and 1663 when he and Miles Morgan complained against four men for violating town orders.
Mary Ashley also went to court, as one of the many persons who gave testimony when Hugh and Mary Parsons were accused of witchcraft. "February 27, 1650. Mary the wife of Robert Ashley saith upon oath that Mary Parsons was at her house last lecture day was sen'night, before meeting and among other speeches she said as for the death of Mr. Smith's children it lay very sad upon her, I asked why she said because my husband would have had me to have nursed his children: but said she doth any one think a fit nurse for them: I asked her why he would have her to nurse them: she said for lucre and gain, one may well know his reason: after this she fetched a great sigh and said little doth any one think how the death of those children lies upon me, and she said it was her near relation but said she it is better for others to bring him out than for me but I can speak a great deal for him if others bring him out." Mary Parsons was not convicted of witchcraft, but was sentenced to death when she confessed to murdering one of her children. Hugh Parsons was found guilty of witchcraft by a jury, but the General Court refused to accept the verdict.
Starting in 1640, Robert Ashley was actively engaged in the public service as a juryman, overseer of fences, surveyor of highways and town constable. He was elected selectman for the first time in 1653, was reelected annually until 1659, and again in 1660, 1662 and 1665. He also participated in the village church and always paid his proportion of the tax for the maintenance of public worship. Robert Ashley sat in the first seat, when the first list of seating was prepared in 1659, and was on the seating committee in 1659 and 1663. In 1669, he petitioned to be relieved of military training "by reason of the weakness of his body."
Robert Ashley died Nov. 29, 1682 at West Springfield. His will, dated October 9, 1679, and signed with his mark, was presented at court March 27, 1683 when his widow and son Joseph were appointed administrators. Robert confirmed his deed of gift to son Jonathan of land on the east side of the Connecticut River, son Joseph received lands on the west side of the river and a lot on the east side of the river, son David five pounds in addition to what he had already received, wife Mary one third of all lands for life, grandson Jon Ashley a colt, the children of David Ashley ten shillings, wife Mary one third of the rest of the estate for life, son Joseph two thirds of the rest of the estate and wife Mary's third at her death, and son David and his children to have Joseph' share if Joseph died without issue. The inventory of his estate amounted to 492 pounds, of which land comprised 300 pounds, or 80% of the total.
Mary Ashley died Sept. 19, 1683 at West Springfield. She died without making a will; her sons Jonathan and Joseph were appointed administrators of her estate.
Robert Ashley,
Born before 1618;
Died 29 Nov. 1682 West Springfield, Massachusetts.
Married about 7 Aug. 1641 Mary Eddy Horton.
Mary married first (about 1637 )Thomas Horton, born about 1602; died 1640 in Springfield, Mass.
Mary died 19 Sept. 1683 West Springfield.
Children of Thomas Horton and Mary Eddy:
i Jeremy Horton,
born about 1637 in Windsor, Conn.;
died 18 Aug. 1682 in Springfield, Mass
. First married first at Springfield 3 October 1661,
Ruth Ely,
Born
Died 2 October 1662.
Father Nathaniel Ely
Mother Martha
Children of Jeremy & Ruth
1. Nathaniel
born 29 June 1662.
Jeremy married second at New Haven
Married 4 May 1664
Mary Gibbered
, baptized at New Haven 20 January 1643/4
Father William Gibbard
Mother Anna (Tapp)
Jeremy and Mary had nine children born 1665-1682.
2. John Horton,
born about 1640 in Springfield, Mass.
Children of Robert Ashley and Mary (---) were, born at Springfield:
1. David Ashley, TWIN
Born 3 June 1642
Died 8 Dec. 1718 at Westfield, Mass.
married
Hannah Glover.
2 Ashley TWIN
Born 3 June 1642; died 1642
3. Mary Ashley
Born 6 April 1644
Died 9 March 1702 at Westfield, MA
Married 18 Oct. 1664
John Root
Born about 1642;
Died 24 Sept. 1687 at Westfield.
Father John Root
Mother Mary Kilbourne
4. Jonathan2 Ashley,
Born 25 Feb. 1645/46;
Died Feb. 1704/05 at Hartford, CT
Married 10 Nov. 1669
Sarah Wadsworth
christened 17 March 1650 at Hartford, CT
Father William Wadsworth
Mother Elizabeth Stone
5. Sarah Ashley
Born 23 Aug. 1648
Married act 1670
Philip Lewis
christened 13 Dec. 1646 at Hartford, CTdied 1723.
Father William Lewis
Mother Mary Hopkins
Children Six, 3 baptized at Hartford between 1685-1692
1. daughter Sarah married in 1690.
6. Joseph Ashley
Born 6 July 1652
Died 18 May 1698 at West Springfield, MA
Married 15 Oct. 1685 at Springfield, MA,
Mary Parsons
Born 27 June 1661 at Northampton, MA
Died 23 Aug. 1711.
Father Joseph
Mother Mary Bliss
Two Presidents of the United States were descendants of Robert and Mary Ashley: Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893) 19th President of the United States (Rutherford Hayes Jr., Chloe Smith, Israel Smith, John Smith, John Smith, Mary Root, Mary Ashley, Robert Ashley), and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) 32nd President of the United States (Sara Delano, Catherine Lyman, Joseph Lyman III, Joseph Lyman Jr., Joseph Lyman, Abigail Lewis, Abigail Ashley, David Ashley, Robert Ashley).
References:
Trowbridge, Francis Bacon, A History of the Descendants of Robert Ashley of Springfield, Massachusetts (New Haven: Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor, 1896), 3-18.
Ashley, Jonathan Porter, An Ashley Genealogy, a paper read at the annual meeting of Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, February 26th, 1924 (Deerfield, Massachusetts, 1924), Craig Ashley library.
Green, Mason Arnold, Springfield, 1636-1886: History of Town and City ([Springfield, Mass.]: C. A. Nichols and Co., 1888), 45, 47, 53, 67, 69, 70, 77, 96, 97, 110, 125-127, 130, 134, 187.
Burt, Henry M., The First Century of the History of Springfield (Springfield, MA: Henry M. Burt, 2 vols., 1898-9), 2: 519-21.
Robert Ashley, The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 33 (1879): 310-1, regarding the prenuptial agreement and examination of Widow Horton 9 October 1640.
Harry Andrew Wright, Early Springfield and Longmeadow (Rutland, VT: Tuttle Publishing Company, 1940, reprinted from The Cooley Genealogy by M. E. Cooley), 48.
Hall, David D., Witch-Hunting in Seventeenth Century New England: A Documentary History 1638-1693 (Boston: Northeastern University Press, second edition, 1999), 47.
Trumbull, James Russell, History of Northampton, Massachusetts, from its settlement in 1654 (Northampton, MA: Press of Gazette Printing Co., 1898-1902, 3 volumes of which volume 3 is Northampton Genealogies), 1: 66. Robert Ashley was selected as a juryman at a court held at Springfield 29 March 1659.
Adaline Horton White, The Hortons in America (Seattle, Wash.: H.D. and A.H. White, 1929), 483-485. This work says Thomas Horton married Mary Eddy, but gives no authority to document the fact.
Carl W. Fischer, Descendants of Thomas Horton of Springfield (Interlaken, N.Y.: I-T Publishing Corp., 1976), 1-7. "The parentage of Mary had not been determined either. Any reference to Mary being Mary Eddy is in gross error, since Mary Eddy was the wife of Thomas Horton, the shipwright, of Charlestown. This is substantiated in numerous records, plus The Estates of Charlestown, Mass., and the records of the Eddy Family Association.
Gary Boyd Roberts, Ancestors of American Presidents (Santa Clarita, CA: Carl Boyer, 3rd, in cooperation with the New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 83, 85, 274.
Donald Line Jacobus, Families of Ancient New Haven. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1974) Pp. 792-793. (FHL-USA/CAN 974.68 D2j vol. 4 - 6.) NOTE - All data from this source except where noted.
2 Franklin Bowditch Dexter, compiler, Historical Catalogue of the Members of the First Church of Christ. (New Haven, Connecticut: 1914) P. 43. (FHL-USA/CAN 974.68 K2d.)∼Born about 1602 in Mowsley, Leicestershire, England, son of Joseph and Mary (Schuyler) Horton, where he married Mary Eddy.
They sailed to America on the ship "Mary and John", along with their firstborn child Mary, born 1629, and Thomas' brother, Jeremiah, about two years his junior. They arrived in Massachusetts early in 1636, preceded by his older brother, Barnabas, about a year earlier, on the ship "Swallow". Thomas and his family left immediately for Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut, where they sojourned for a short time. It was here that their second child, Jeremiah (1636- ) was born.
By 1638, Thomas and his family had moved to what is now Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts, where he was one of the founders of the town, a town officer, and proprietor. His signature is still to be seen in the "Pyncheon Papers", that have to do with the land purchase from the Indians. It was here that their third child, Thomas II (1638-about1714-15), and fourth child John (1640- were born.
Thomas I died in 1641 at about 39 years of age.
∼Father: Joseph HORTON 1578-?
(AFN: 8MHC-20)
Mother: Mary SCHUYLER 1578-?
(AFN: 8TSJ-XH)
Spouse: Mary Eddy 1625-1683
Marriage: 1632
Suffolk, Middlesex, Massachusetts
.......................
Arrived in Springfield 1636 remained until his death 1640
Thomas Horton
Born 1602 Mowsley, England
Died 1640 Springfield, MA
Burial Old Burial Ground Springfield, MA, this cemetery disbanded to make way for the railroad. Some were relocated to
Father Joseph Horton,
b. 1572, First House Burksland, Halifax, England
d. 1640, Springfield, Hampton County, MA
(Age 68 years)
Mother Mary Schuyler,
b. 1578, Mowsley, Leicestershire, England
d. UNKNOWN
Married 1599
Thomas marriage to Mary?
Married 1635
Mary ____, possibly in Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut. Probably one of Rev. Thomas Hookers followers to the Connecticut Valley. He was one of the first settlers in Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts, arriving in Springfield in 1637, he died in Springfield in 1640
CHILDREN
1. Jeremiah Horton
Born 1636 at Windsor, CT
Married
Mary Gibbered.
Died at Springfield, Massachusetts.
2. Thomas Horton
Born 1640.
3. John Horton -
4. Barnabus Horton -
More about this family:
After Thomas's death, Robert Ashley entered into a prenuptial agreement with the Widow Horton on August 7, 1641. Mary (---) Horton was the widow of Thomas Horton of Springfield. After Thomas and Mary had married about 1637, he died in the summer of 1640 leaving her with two sons, one three years old and the other an infant. Widow Horton turned over to Robert her house, woodland and hogs provided Robert use the property for the benefit of her sons and Robert find them positions as apprentices to learn a trade when they were 13 or 14 years old. One must wonder how many hogs Mary had because her hogs were worth 18 pounds or 6 pounds more than her house and house lot. Although the marriage of Robert Ashley and the widow Horton was not recorded in the Springfield records, there is little doubt that it was actually consummated, for it is known that he married about 1641, that his wife bore the Christian name Mary, and that after 1641 the widow Horton's name disappears from the records.
Robert and Mary Ashley were the parents of three boys and three girls. The first children were twins, David, and "at the same tyme a daughter was borne to Ro Ashley with life in it, but it presently dyed." The five surviving children married and the sons alone fathered twenty-one children.
Robert Ashley was chiefly occupied with agriculture as were most of the inhabitants of Springfield. By 1641, he owned the fifth largest amount of land in Springfield and was taxed on fifty-one acres in 1647. He became, by means of grant and purchase, an extensive owner of land on the west side of the Connecticut River in what is now West Springfield. His houselot there was granted to him in February, 1661, "provided that he build and dwell there." He probably built his house on it soon after this, and lived there the remaining twenty years of his life.
In 1646, he was licensed to keep the ordinary, or inn, under the supervision of the town's officers. In 1655, an order of restraint was issued to Robert Ashley and his wife "forbidding them to sell wine or strong waters to the Indians." Dealings with Native Americans had been a matter of concern to the colonists from their arrival and the law prohibited selling guns to natives. In 1640, Widow Mary Horton was called before magistrate William Pynchon for "selling her husband's piece to the Indians." She protested that she had merely "lent it to an Indian because it lay spoiling in her cellar. The Indian is suddenly to bring it again and he left about six father of wampum in pawn for it. She knows of no order against it and doth promise to take it home again." She was ordered "to get it home again speedily or else it would cost her dear, for no commonwealth would allow of such a misdemeanor." However, the restraint order issued in 1655 to forbid sales of wine to Indians did not apply to the settlers themselves "for selling to the English we would not restrain you." Robert ran the ordinary until the fall of 1660.
Colonists frequently went to court to settle disputes; however, Robert Ashley did so only six times: in 1640, he and two others were ordered to bring back canoes they had sold to outside parties; in 1641, he sued John Woodcock for failing to deliver a gun Robert had purchased; another time he petitioned for "satisfaction for a horse killed by a Nepanett Indian;" in 1659, he sued Richard Fellows for detaining a sword; in 1660, Miles Morgan sued him for wrongfully impounding his swine; and 1663 when he and Miles Morgan complained against four men for violating town orders.
Mary Ashley also went to court, as one of the many persons who gave testimony when Hugh and Mary Parsons were accused of witchcraft. "February 27, 1650. Mary the wife of Robert Ashley saith upon oath that Mary Parsons was at her house last lecture day was sen'night, before meeting and among other speeches she said as for the death of Mr. Smith's children it lay very sad upon her, I asked why she said because my husband would have had me to have nursed his children: but said she doth any one think a fit nurse for them: I asked her why he would have her to nurse them: she said for lucre and gain, one may well know his reason: after this she fetched a great sigh and said little doth any one think how the death of those children lies upon me, and she said it was her near relation but said she it is better for others to bring him out than for me but I can speak a great deal for him if others bring him out." Mary Parsons was not convicted of witchcraft, but was sentenced to death when she confessed to murdering one of her children. Hugh Parsons was found guilty of witchcraft by a jury, but the General Court refused to accept the verdict.
Starting in 1640, Robert Ashley was actively engaged in the public service as a juryman, overseer of fences, surveyor of highways and town constable. He was elected selectman for the first time in 1653, was reelected annually until 1659, and again in 1660, 1662 and 1665. He also participated in the village church and always paid his proportion of the tax for the maintenance of public worship. Robert Ashley sat in the first seat, when the first list of seating was prepared in 1659, and was on the seating committee in 1659 and 1663. In 1669, he petitioned to be relieved of military training "by reason of the weakness of his body."
Robert Ashley died Nov. 29, 1682 at West Springfield. His will, dated October 9, 1679, and signed with his mark, was presented at court March 27, 1683 when his widow and son Joseph were appointed administrators. Robert confirmed his deed of gift to son Jonathan of land on the east side of the Connecticut River, son Joseph received lands on the west side of the river and a lot on the east side of the river, son David five pounds in addition to what he had already received, wife Mary one third of all lands for life, grandson Jon Ashley a colt, the children of David Ashley ten shillings, wife Mary one third of the rest of the estate for life, son Joseph two thirds of the rest of the estate and wife Mary's third at her death, and son David and his children to have Joseph' share if Joseph died without issue. The inventory of his estate amounted to 492 pounds, of which land comprised 300 pounds, or 80% of the total.
Mary Ashley died Sept. 19, 1683 at West Springfield. She died without making a will; her sons Jonathan and Joseph were appointed administrators of her estate.
Robert Ashley,
Born before 1618;
Died 29 Nov. 1682 West Springfield, Massachusetts.
Married about 7 Aug. 1641 Mary Eddy Horton.
Mary married first (about 1637 )Thomas Horton, born about 1602; died 1640 in Springfield, Mass.
Mary died 19 Sept. 1683 West Springfield.
Children of Thomas Horton and Mary Eddy:
i Jeremy Horton,
born about 1637 in Windsor, Conn.;
died 18 Aug. 1682 in Springfield, Mass
. First married first at Springfield 3 October 1661,
Ruth Ely,
Born
Died 2 October 1662.
Father Nathaniel Ely
Mother Martha
Children of Jeremy & Ruth
1. Nathaniel
born 29 June 1662.
Jeremy married second at New Haven
Married 4 May 1664
Mary Gibbered
, baptized at New Haven 20 January 1643/4
Father William Gibbard
Mother Anna (Tapp)
Jeremy and Mary had nine children born 1665-1682.
2. John Horton,
born about 1640 in Springfield, Mass.
Children of Robert Ashley and Mary (---) were, born at Springfield:
1. David Ashley, TWIN
Born 3 June 1642
Died 8 Dec. 1718 at Westfield, Mass.
married
Hannah Glover.
2 Ashley TWIN
Born 3 June 1642; died 1642
3. Mary Ashley
Born 6 April 1644
Died 9 March 1702 at Westfield, MA
Married 18 Oct. 1664
John Root
Born about 1642;
Died 24 Sept. 1687 at Westfield.
Father John Root
Mother Mary Kilbourne
4. Jonathan2 Ashley,
Born 25 Feb. 1645/46;
Died Feb. 1704/05 at Hartford, CT
Married 10 Nov. 1669
Sarah Wadsworth
christened 17 March 1650 at Hartford, CT
Father William Wadsworth
Mother Elizabeth Stone
5. Sarah Ashley
Born 23 Aug. 1648
Married act 1670
Philip Lewis
christened 13 Dec. 1646 at Hartford, CTdied 1723.
Father William Lewis
Mother Mary Hopkins
Children Six, 3 baptized at Hartford between 1685-1692
1. daughter Sarah married in 1690.
6. Joseph Ashley
Born 6 July 1652
Died 18 May 1698 at West Springfield, MA
Married 15 Oct. 1685 at Springfield, MA,
Mary Parsons
Born 27 June 1661 at Northampton, MA
Died 23 Aug. 1711.
Father Joseph
Mother Mary Bliss
Two Presidents of the United States were descendants of Robert and Mary Ashley: Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893) 19th President of the United States (Rutherford Hayes Jr., Chloe Smith, Israel Smith, John Smith, John Smith, Mary Root, Mary Ashley, Robert Ashley), and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) 32nd President of the United States (Sara Delano, Catherine Lyman, Joseph Lyman III, Joseph Lyman Jr., Joseph Lyman, Abigail Lewis, Abigail Ashley, David Ashley, Robert Ashley).
References:
Trowbridge, Francis Bacon, A History of the Descendants of Robert Ashley of Springfield, Massachusetts (New Haven: Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor, 1896), 3-18.
Ashley, Jonathan Porter, An Ashley Genealogy, a paper read at the annual meeting of Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, February 26th, 1924 (Deerfield, Massachusetts, 1924), Craig Ashley library.
Green, Mason Arnold, Springfield, 1636-1886: History of Town and City ([Springfield, Mass.]: C. A. Nichols and Co., 1888), 45, 47, 53, 67, 69, 70, 77, 96, 97, 110, 125-127, 130, 134, 187.
Burt, Henry M., The First Century of the History of Springfield (Springfield, MA: Henry M. Burt, 2 vols., 1898-9), 2: 519-21.
Robert Ashley, The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 33 (1879): 310-1, regarding the prenuptial agreement and examination of Widow Horton 9 October 1640.
Harry Andrew Wright, Early Springfield and Longmeadow (Rutland, VT: Tuttle Publishing Company, 1940, reprinted from The Cooley Genealogy by M. E. Cooley), 48.
Hall, David D., Witch-Hunting in Seventeenth Century New England: A Documentary History 1638-1693 (Boston: Northeastern University Press, second edition, 1999), 47.
Trumbull, James Russell, History of Northampton, Massachusetts, from its settlement in 1654 (Northampton, MA: Press of Gazette Printing Co., 1898-1902, 3 volumes of which volume 3 is Northampton Genealogies), 1: 66. Robert Ashley was selected as a juryman at a court held at Springfield 29 March 1659.
Adaline Horton White, The Hortons in America (Seattle, Wash.: H.D. and A.H. White, 1929), 483-485. This work says Thomas Horton married Mary Eddy, but gives no authority to document the fact.
Carl W. Fischer, Descendants of Thomas Horton of Springfield (Interlaken, N.Y.: I-T Publishing Corp., 1976), 1-7. "The parentage of Mary had not been determined either. Any reference to Mary being Mary Eddy is in gross error, since Mary Eddy was the wife of Thomas Horton, the shipwright, of Charlestown. This is substantiated in numerous records, plus The Estates of Charlestown, Mass., and the records of the Eddy Family Association.
Gary Boyd Roberts, Ancestors of American Presidents (Santa Clarita, CA: Carl Boyer, 3rd, in cooperation with the New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 83, 85, 274.
Donald Line Jacobus, Families of Ancient New Haven. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1974) Pp. 792-793. (FHL-USA/CAN 974.68 D2j vol. 4 - 6.) NOTE - All data from this source except where noted.
2 Franklin Bowditch Dexter, compiler, Historical Catalogue of the Members of the First Church of Christ. (New Haven, Connecticut: 1914) P. 43. (FHL-USA/CAN 974.68 K2d.)∼Born about 1602 in Mowsley, Leicestershire, England, son of Joseph and Mary (Schuyler) Horton, where he married Mary Eddy.
They sailed to America on the ship "Mary and John", along with their firstborn child Mary, born 1629, and Thomas' brother, Jeremiah, about two years his junior. They arrived in Massachusetts early in 1636, preceded by his older brother, Barnabas, about a year earlier, on the ship "Swallow". Thomas and his family left immediately for Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut, where they sojourned for a short time. It was here that their second child, Jeremiah (1636- ) was born.
By 1638, Thomas and his family had moved to what is now Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts, where he was one of the founders of the town, a town officer, and proprietor. His signature is still to be seen in the "Pyncheon Papers", that have to do with the land purchase from the Indians. It was here that their third child, Thomas II (1638-about1714-15), and fourth child John (1640- were born.
Thomas I died in 1641 at about 39 years of age.
∼Father: Joseph HORTON 1578-?
(AFN: 8MHC-20)
Mother: Mary SCHUYLER 1578-?
(AFN: 8TSJ-XH)
Spouse: Mary Eddy 1625-1683
Marriage: 1632
Suffolk, Middlesex, Massachusetts
.......................
Thomas Horton
Born 1602 Mowsley, England
Died 1640 Springfield, MA
Burial Old Burial Ground Springfield, MA, this cemetery disbanded to make way for the railroad. Some were relocated to
Father Joseph Horton,
b. 1572, First House Burksland, Halifax, England
d. 1640, Springfield, Hampton County, MA
(Age 68 years)
Mother Mary Schuyler,
b. 1578, Mowsley, Leicestershire, England
d. UNKNOWN
Married 1599
Thomas marriage to Mary?
Married 1635
Mary ____, possibly in Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut. Probably one of Rev. Thomas Hookers followers to the Connecticut Valley. He was one of the first settlers in Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts, arriving in Springfield in 1637, he died in Springfield in 1640
CHILDREN
1. Jeremiah Horton
Born 1636 at Windsor, CT
Married
Mary Gibbered.
Died at Springfield, Massachusetts.
2. Thomas Horton
Born 1640.
3. John Horton -
4. Barnabus Horton -
More about this family:
After Thomas's death, Robert Ashley entered into a prenuptial agreement with the Widow Horton on August 7, 1641. Mary (---) Horton was the widow of Thomas Horton of Springfield. After Thomas and Mary had married about 1637, he died in the summer of 1640 leaving her with two sons, one three years old and the other an infant. Widow Horton turned over to Robert her house, woodland and hogs provided Robert use the property for the benefit of her sons and Robert find them positions as apprentices to learn a trade when they were 13 or 14 years old. One must wonder how many hogs Mary had because her hogs were worth 18 pounds or 6 pounds more than her house and house lot. Although the marriage of Robert Ashley and the widow Horton was not recorded in the Springfield records, there is little doubt that it was actually consummated, for it is known that he married about 1641, that his wife bore the Christian name Mary, and that after 1641 the widow Horton's name disappears from the records.
Robert and Mary Ashley were the parents of three boys and three girls. The first children were twins, David, and "at the same tyme a daughter was borne to Ro Ashley with life in it, but it presently dyed." The five surviving children married and the sons alone fathered twenty-one children.
Robert Ashley was chiefly occupied with agriculture as were most of the inhabitants of Springfield. By 1641, he owned the fifth largest amount of land in Springfield and was taxed on fifty-one acres in 1647. He became, by means of grant and purchase, an extensive owner of land on the west side of the Connecticut River in what is now West Springfield. His houselot there was granted to him in February, 1661, "provided that he build and dwell there." He probably built his house on it soon after this, and lived there the remaining twenty years of his life.
In 1646, he was licensed to keep the ordinary, or inn, under the supervision of the town's officers. In 1655, an order of restraint was issued to Robert Ashley and his wife "forbidding them to sell wine or strong waters to the Indians." Dealings with Native Americans had been a matter of concern to the colonists from their arrival and the law prohibited selling guns to natives. In 1640, Widow Mary Horton was called before magistrate William Pynchon for "selling her husband's piece to the Indians." She protested that she had merely "lent it to an Indian because it lay spoiling in her cellar. The Indian is suddenly to bring it again and he left about six father of wampum in pawn for it. She knows of no order against it and doth promise to take it home again." She was ordered "to get it home again speedily or else it would cost her dear, for no commonwealth would allow of such a misdemeanor." However, the restraint order issued in 1655 to forbid sales of wine to Indians did not apply to the settlers themselves "for selling to the English we would not restrain you." Robert ran the ordinary until the fall of 1660.
Colonists frequently went to court to settle disputes; however, Robert Ashley did so only six times: in 1640, he and two others were ordered to bring back canoes they had sold to outside parties; in 1641, he sued John Woodcock for failing to deliver a gun Robert had purchased; another time he petitioned for "satisfaction for a horse killed by a Nepanett Indian;" in 1659, he sued Richard Fellows for detaining a sword; in 1660, Miles Morgan sued him for wrongfully impounding his swine; and 1663 when he and Miles Morgan complained against four men for violating town orders.
Mary Ashley also went to court, as one of the many persons who gave testimony when Hugh and Mary Parsons were accused of witchcraft. "February 27, 1650. Mary the wife of Robert Ashley saith upon oath that Mary Parsons was at her house last lecture day was sen'night, before meeting and among other speeches she said as for the death of Mr. Smith's children it lay very sad upon her, I asked why she said because my husband would have had me to have nursed his children: but said she doth any one think a fit nurse for them: I asked her why he would have her to nurse them: she said for lucre and gain, one may well know his reason: after this she fetched a great sigh and said little doth any one think how the death of those children lies upon me, and she said it was her near relation but said she it is better for others to bring him out than for me but I can speak a great deal for him if others bring him out." Mary Parsons was not convicted of witchcraft, but was sentenced to death when she confessed to murdering one of her children. Hugh Parsons was found guilty of witchcraft by a jury, but the General Court refused to accept the verdict.
Starting in 1640, Robert Ashley was actively engaged in the public service as a juryman, overseer of fences, surveyor of highways and town constable. He was elected selectman for the first time in 1653, was reelected annually until 1659, and again in 1660, 1662 and 1665. He also participated in the village church and always paid his proportion of the tax for the maintenance of public worship. Robert Ashley sat in the first seat, when the first list of seating was prepared in 1659, and was on the seating committee in 1659 and 1663. In 1669, he petitioned to be relieved of military training "by reason of the weakness of his body."
Robert Ashley died Nov. 29, 1682 at West Springfield. His will, dated October 9, 1679, and signed with his mark, was presented at court March 27, 1683 when his widow and son Joseph were appointed administrators. Robert confirmed his deed of gift to son Jonathan of land on the east side of the Connecticut River, son Joseph received lands on the west side of the river and a lot on the east side of the river, son David five pounds in addition to what he had already received, wife Mary one third of all lands for life, grandson Jon Ashley a colt, the children of David Ashley ten shillings, wife Mary one third of the rest of the estate for life, son Joseph two thirds of the rest of the estate and wife Mary's third at her death, and son David and his children to have Joseph' share if Joseph died without issue. The inventory of his estate amounted to 492 pounds, of which land comprised 300 pounds, or 80% of the total.
Mary Ashley died Sept. 19, 1683 at West Springfield. She died without making a will; her sons Jonathan and Joseph were appointed administrators of her estate.
Robert Ashley,
Born before 1618;
Died 29 Nov. 1682 West Springfield, Massachusetts.
Married about 7 Aug. 1641 Mary Eddy Horton.
Mary married first (about 1637 )Thomas Horton, born about 1602; died 1640 in Springfield, Mass.
Mary died 19 Sept. 1683 West Springfield.
Children of Thomas Horton and Mary Eddy:
i Jeremy Horton,
born about 1637 in Windsor, Conn.;
died 18 Aug. 1682 in Springfield, Mass
. First married first at Springfield 3 October 1661,
Ruth Ely,
Born
Died 2 October 1662.
Father Nathaniel Ely
Mother Martha
Children of Jeremy & Ruth
1. Nathaniel
born 29 June 1662.
Jeremy married second at New Haven
Married 4 May 1664
Mary Gibbered
, baptized at New Haven 20 January 1643/4
Father William Gibbard
Mother Anna (Tapp)
Jeremy and Mary had nine children born 1665-1682.
2. John Horton,
born about 1640 in Springfield, Mass.
Children of Robert Ashley and Mary (---) were, born at Springfield:
1. David Ashley, TWIN
Born 3 June 1642
Died 8 Dec. 1718 at Westfield, Mass.
married
Hannah Glover.
2 Ashley TWIN
Born 3 June 1642; died 1642
3. Mary Ashley
Born 6 April 1644
Died 9 March 1702 at Westfield, MA
Married 18 Oct. 1664
John Root
Born about 1642;
Died 24 Sept. 1687 at Westfield.
Father John Root
Mother Mary Kilbourne
4. Jonathan2 Ashley,
Born 25 Feb. 1645/46;
Died Feb. 1704/05 at Hartford, CT
Married 10 Nov. 1669
Sarah Wadsworth
christened 17 March 1650 at Hartford, CT
Father William Wadsworth
Mother Elizabeth Stone
5. Sarah Ashley
Born 23 Aug. 1648
Married act 1670
Philip Lewis
christened 13 Dec. 1646 at Hartford, CTdied 1723.
Father William Lewis
Mother Mary Hopkins
Children Six, 3 baptized at Hartford between 1685-1692
1. daughter Sarah married in 1690.
6. Joseph Ashley
Born 6 July 1652
Died 18 May 1698 at West Springfield, MA
Married 15 Oct. 1685 at Springfield, MA,
Mary Parsons
Born 27 June 1661 at Northampton, MA
Died 23 Aug. 1711.
Father Joseph
Mother Mary Bliss
Two Presidents of the United States were descendants of Robert and Mary Ashley: Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893) 19th President of the United States (Rutherford Hayes Jr., Chloe Smith, Israel Smith, John Smith, John Smith, Mary Root, Mary Ashley, Robert Ashley), and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) 32nd President of the United States (Sara Delano, Catherine Lyman, Joseph Lyman III, Joseph Lyman Jr., Joseph Lyman, Abigail Lewis, Abigail Ashley, David Ashley, Robert Ashley).
References:
Trowbridge, Francis Bacon, A History of the Descendants of Robert Ashley of Springfield, Massachusetts (New Haven: Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor, 1896), 3-18.
Ashley, Jonathan Porter, An Ashley Genealogy, a paper read at the annual meeting of Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, February 26th, 1924 (Deerfield, Massachusetts, 1924), Craig Ashley library.
Green, Mason Arnold, Springfield, 1636-1886: History of Town and City ([Springfield, Mass.]: C. A. Nichols and Co., 1888), 45, 47, 53, 67, 69, 70, 77, 96, 97, 110, 125-127, 130, 134, 187.
Burt, Henry M., The First Century of the History of Springfield (Springfield, MA: Henry M. Burt, 2 vols., 1898-9), 2: 519-21.
Robert Ashley, The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 33 (1879): 310-1, regarding the prenuptial agreement and examination of Widow Horton 9 October 1640.
Harry Andrew Wright, Early Springfield and Longmeadow (Rutland, VT: Tuttle Publishing Company, 1940, reprinted from The Cooley Genealogy by M. E. Cooley), 48.
Hall, David D., Witch-Hunting in Seventeenth Century New England: A Documentary History 1638-1693 (Boston: Northeastern University Press, second edition, 1999), 47.
Trumbull, James Russell, History of Northampton, Massachusetts, from its settlement in 1654 (Northampton, MA: Press of Gazette Printing Co., 1898-1902, 3 volumes of which volume 3 is Northampton Genealogies), 1: 66. Robert Ashley was selected as a juryman at a court held at Springfield 29 March 1659.
Adaline Horton White, The Hortons in America (Seattle, Wash.: H.D. and A.H. White, 1929), 483-485. This work says Thomas Horton married Mary Eddy, but gives no authority to document the fact.
Carl W. Fischer, Descendants of Thomas Horton of Springfield (Interlaken, N.Y.: I-T Publishing Corp., 1976), 1-7. "The parentage of Mary had not been determined either. Any reference to Mary being Mary Eddy is in gross error, since Mary Eddy was the wife of Thomas Horton, the shipwright, of Charlestown. This is substantiated in numerous records, plus The Estates of Charlestown, Mass., and the records of the Eddy Family Association.
Gary Boyd Roberts, Ancestors of American Presidents (Santa Clarita, CA: Carl Boyer, 3rd, in cooperation with the New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 83, 85, 274.
Donald Line Jacobus, Families of Ancient New Haven. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1974) Pp. 792-793. (FHL-USA/CAN 974.68 D2j vol. 4 - 6.) NOTE - All data from this source except where noted.
2 Franklin Bowditch Dexter, compiler, Historical Catalogue of the Members of the First Church of Christ. (New Haven, Connecticut: 1914) P. 43. (FHL-USA/CAN 974.68 K2d.)∼Born about 1602 in Mowsley, Leicestershire, England, son of Joseph and Mary (Schuyler) Horton, where he married Mary Eddy.
They sailed to America on the ship "Mary and John", along with their firstborn child Mary, born 1629, and Thomas' brother, Jeremiah, about two years his junior. They arrived in Massachusetts early in 1636, preceded by his older brother, Barnabas, about a year earlier, on the ship "Swallow". Thomas and his family left immediately for Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut, where they sojourned for a short time. It was here that their second child, Jeremiah (1636- ) was born.
By 1638, Thomas and his family had moved to what is now Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts, where he was one of the founders of the town, a town officer, and proprietor. His signature is still to be seen in the "Pyncheon Papers", that have to do with the land purchase from the Indians. It was here that their third child, Thomas II (1638-about1714-15), and fourth child John (1640- were born.
Thomas I died in 1641 at about 39 years of age.
∼Father: Joseph HORTON 1578-?
(AFN: 8MHC-20)
Mother: Mary SCHUYLER 1578-?
(AFN: 8TSJ-XH)
Spouse: Mary Eddy 1625-1683
Marriage: 1632
Suffolk, Middlesex, Massachusetts
.......................
Family Members
Children
