Ancestral Trails 2016 » Gerard SPENCER (1614-1685)

Personal data Gerard SPENCER 

• He was born in the year 1614 in Wilbury, Stotfold, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire.
• He died on June 29, 1685 in Haddam, Middlesex County, Connecticut, USA, he was 71 years old.
• He is buried in the year 1685 in Thirty Mile Island Plantation Burial Yard, Haddam, Middlesex County, Connecticut, Verenigde Staten.
• A child of Gerard SPENCER and Alice WHITBREAD

Household of Gerard SPENCER

He is married to HannahGrace HILL.

They got married on December 17, 1636, he was 22 years old.

Child(ren):

1. Hannah SPENCER  1641-1691
2. John SPENCER  1636-1683 

Notes about Gerard SPENCER

The son of GERARD & ALICE (WHITEBREAD) SPENCER, his name also appears as Jarad, Gerard, Gerrett & Garrett. His father, Gerard, was probably named for his grandmother, ANN MERRILL GERRARD. He was baptized in Stotford, Bedfordshire, Eng. on April 25, 1614.

Jared immigrated with his three older brothers, William, Thomas & Michael Spencer to Cambridge (now Newton), Mass. in 1632 in the party of Rev. Thomas Hooker. He and his brothers were there in 1634, but Jared and Michael removed to Lynn, Mass, while William & Thomas remained in Cambridge and later went to Hartford, Conn.

Jared married HANNAH HILL on December 17, 1636 in Lynn, Mass. and was made a freeman there on March 9, 1637. In 1639, the Court granted "Garrett Spenser" permission to operate "the fferry at Linn for two yeares".

The family removed to Hartford about 1660 and to Haddam, Conn. in 1662 where he one of the first settlers. On October 8, 1668, the Court at Hartford appointed Ens. "Jarrad Spencer" as part of a committee to view land leased by Mr. Richard Lord, Sr. that is thought to be in Haddam Plantation and determine the bounds. He was propounded a freeman for Haddam on June 26, 1672, and was appointed Ensign of the Trainband there in September, 1675, serving in the Narraganset Indian War. He was a deputy for Haddam to the General Court at Hartford from 1674 to 1680 and 1683.

His will, dated September 17, 1683, gave land & houses to his sons, William, Nathaniel, Thomas, and Timothy, and also to his daughter, Rebeckah. To "Jarrad Spencer", the son of his son, Thomas, he gave his Rapier; to Grace Spencer, the daughter of his son, Samuel Spencer, 40 acres; to Alice Brooks, the daughter of my daughter Brooks, 40 acres; to Jarred Cone, the son of my daughter Cone, his Carbine; to the church at Haddam, his pewter Flagon and Urim Bason (if it exists within five years); to Daniel Cone, his son-in-law, and the Cone children equal portions of his estate as his other children; to daughter, Ruth Clarke œ15 and to Joseph Clarke 40 acres of land at Matchemodus. He request that the "honoured MAJOR JOHN TALCOTT" and Capt. John Allyn would oversee his will, and that Daniel Brainard and William Spencer be administrators.

The children of Jared & Hannah Spencer:
Mehitable (Spencer) Cone, wife of Daniel Cone
John Spencer
Hannah (Spencer) Brainard
ALICE (SPENCER) BROOKS SHAYLER, my ancestor
Sarah (Spencer)Backus
Elizabeth Spencer Stannard b. 1646
Samuel Spencer
Thomas Spencer
Timothy Spencer
Ruth (Spencer) Clark
William Spencer
Nathaniel Spencer
Rebecca (Spencer) Kenard
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He was descended from the Spencer Family who is one of Britain's preeminent aristocratic families. Over time, several family members were Hereditary titles held by the Spencers include the dukedom of Marlborough, the earldoms of Sunderland and Spencer, and the Churchill viscoutcy. Two prominent members of the family during the 20th Century were Sir Winston Churchill and Diana, Princess of Wales.
The Spencers are connected to the British Royal Family.
______________________________________
Gerard emigrated with his three brothers and his sister, Elizabeth Tomlins. Three other siblings died young in England and the sixth surviving brother, John, did not emigrate, remaining with his parents. The “Four Brothers” and the sister arrived in the Massachusetts Colony before 1634 but perhaps not all on the same ship. The oldest brother, William, may have made more than one crossing and was closely associated with the early administration of the Colony and its governor, John Winthrop. It is not clear that this family emigrated as followers of Thomas Hooker, although they all arrived in the Boston area in the early 1630s while Thomas Hooker was the sole celebrity Reverend. Gerard, Michael and Elizabeth all left Newtown for Lynn soon after their arrival. The brother, Thomas, was more closely associated with Thomas Hooker, but again, no clear evidence that he made the original trek to Hartford with the Reverend Hooker. Thomas and his brother, William, were definitely, however, founding fathers of Hartford.

Many genealogical investigators have attempted to link this Spencer family to other more famous, titled families of the same name, but clear, documentary evidence for this is in short supply. The close geographical location of these families would imply some biological connection but I [M. Spencer, author of this] don’t believe that has been demonstrated, yet. It seems unfair to give these unproven assertions too much publicity.

All of Gerard’s children were born in Lynn, Massachusetts, and they all accompanied him to found the new plantation at Thirty Mile Island which became known as Haddam. Gerard and his son, John, were given original land grants there. Gerard’s oldest two daughters, Mehitable and Hannah, married Haddam neighbors Daniel Cone and Daniel Brainerd becoming the matriarchs of very large American clans.

References
Donald Lines Jacobus, “The Four Spencer Brothers, Their Ancestors and Descendants”, The American Genealogist, The American Genealogist, Volume 27, pp. 79-87 et seq
Anderson, Robert Charles, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vols I-III, 3 vols., 1995). Pages 419-428; 436-439; 1718-1725; 1828-1830
PROVIDED BY M SPENCER, FAG Contributor
SOURCE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/33379073/gerard-spencer

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Timeline Gerard SPENCER

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