Broersma Family Tree » George Denison (1671-1720)

Personal data George Denison 

• He was born on March 28, 1671 in Stonington, New London, Connecticut, USA.Sources 1, 2
• He died on January 20, 1720 in Connecticut, USA, he was 48 years old.Sources 1, 2
• A child of John Denison and Phebe Lay
• This information was last updated on December 3, 2011.

Household of George Denison

He is married to Mary Wetherell.

They got married in the year 1693 at Connecticut, USA, he was 21 years old.Source 1

Child(ren):

1. Grace Denison  1694-????
2. Phebe Denison  1697-????
3. Hannah Denison  1699-????
4. Barodell Denison  1701-????
5. Daniel Denison  1703-????
6. Wetherell Denison  1705-????
7. Ann Denison  1707-????
8. Sarah Denison  1710-1797 

Notes about George Denison

New England families, genealogical and memorial: Vol 3
by William Richard Cutter
Pg 1176

(IV) George (2), son of John Denison, was born in 1671 in Stonington; married, in 1693, Mary (Wetherell) Henry, widow of Thomas Henry, and daughter of Daniel and Grace (Brewster) Wetherell (see Brewster II). George Denison died in January, 1720, aged sixty-one. His wife Mary died in 1711. Children:
Grace, born 1694;
Phebe, 1697;
Hannah, 1699;
Barodell, 1701;
Daniel, 1703;
Wetherell, 1705;
Ann, 1707;
Sarah, 1709.

History of New London, Connecticut
By Frances Manwaring Caulkins
Pg333-335

Capt. George Denison, died Oct. 23d, 1694.
This event took place at Hartford during the session of the General Court. His grave-stone at that place is extant, and the age given, seventy-six, shows that the date of 1621, which has been assigned for his birth, is too late, and that 1619 should be substituted. This diminishes the difference of age between him and his second wife Ann, who, according to the memorial tablet erected by her descendants at Mystic, deceased Sept. 26th, 1712, aged ninety-seven.
The history of George Denison will not be fully attempted here, but a few data gathered with care may be offered, as contributions toward the task of liberating the facts from the webs which ingenious fancy and exaggerative tradition, have thrown around them.
William Denison is accounted a fellow-passenger with the Rev. John Elliot, of Roxbury, in "the Lyon," which brought emigrants to America in 1631. His name is the third on the list of church members of Roxbury, in the record made by Elliot. He is known to have brought with him three sons, Daniel, Edward and George. The latter married in 1640, Bridget Thompson, who is supposed to have been a sister of the Rev. William Thompson, of Braintree, Mass. They had two children, Sarah, born March 20th, 1641, and Hannah, born May 20th, 1643. His wife died in August, 1643. Mr. Denison the same year visited his native country, and engaged in the civil conflict with which the kingdom was convulsed. He was absent a couple of years, and on his return brought with him a second wife*a lady of Irish parentage, viz., Ann, daughter of John Borrowdale or Borrodil. It is a probable conjecture that he brought also an infant son with him. He is known to have had a son George, of whose birth or baptism no record is found on this side of the ocean. The elder Winthrop at this period calls him "a young soldier lately come out of the wars in England," whom the young men of Roxbury wished to choose for their captain; but " the ancient and chief men of the town," gathered together, out-voted them and prevented them from carrying their point.1 Two children of George and Ann Denison are recorded in Roxbury, John, born June 14th, 1646; Ann, May 20th, 1649.
* It is one of the many traditions respecting Capt. George Denison, that he started for England to obtain a second wife, from the funeral of the first, only waiting to see the remains deposited in the grave, but not returning to his house, before he set out.

---------
In 1651, we find George Denison among the planters at Pequot, where he took up a house lot, built a house and engaged in public affairs. In 1654 he removed to a farm, on the east side of Mystic River, then within the bounds of the same plantation, but afterward included in Stonington. In 1670 he had three children baptized by Mr. Bradstreet, William, Margaret and Borradil, which makes his number eight. On the old town book of Stonington is recorded the death of Mary, daughter of George Denison, Nov. 10th, 1670-1. This, we suppose to have been a ninth child, who died an infant.
Our early history presents no character of bolder and more active spirit than Capt. Denison. He reminds us of the border men of Scotland. Though he failed in attaining the rank of captain, at Roxbury, yet in our colony, he was at his first coming greeted with the title, and was very soon employed in various offices of trust and honorsuch as commissioner, and deputy to the General Court. When the plantation of Mystic and Pawkatuck, was severed from New London and placed under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts with the name of Southerton, the chief management of affairs was intrusted to him.
Yet notwithstanding Capt Denison's position as a magistrate and legislator, we do not always find him in the strict path of law and order. He had frequent disputes and lawsuits; he brought actions for slander and defamation against several of his neighbors, and was himself arraigned for violations of existing laws.

1 Savage's Winthrop, vol. 2, p. 307.
2 These dates from the Roxbury records were communicated by James Savage, Esq., of Boston, who observes that Margaret, the third wife of Rev. Thomas Shepard of Cambridge, and after his death the wife of his successor, Rev. Jonathan Mitchell, bore the family name of Borrowdale, and was probably sister to Mrs. Ann Denison. As these two females are the only persons known in the new world of the name, their consanguinity can scarcely be doubted.

--------------

He was, however, encompassed with difficulties. The young town of which he was one of the conspicuous founders was convulsed by territorial and jurisdictional claims and he could not be loyal to two governments at once. If he obeyed one, he must of course be stigmatized as a rebel to the other.
As a magistrate of Massachusetts he performed the marriage rite for William Measure and Alice Tinker, and was immediately prosecuted by Connecticut for an illegal act, and heavily fined. As a friend to the Indians and an agent of the commissioners of the United Colonies, he was in favor of allowing them to remain in their customary hamlets by the sea, and haunts upon the neighboring hills; but the other authorities of the town and colony, were bent upon driving them back, to settle among the primeval forests. This of course, led to contention.

The will of George Denison dated Nov. 20th, 1693, was exhibited and proved in the county court, in June, 1695.1 The children named in its provisions were three sonsGeorge, John and William, and five daughtersSarah Stanton, Hannah Saxton, Ann Palmer, Margaret Brown, and Borradil Stanton.
George Denison the second, became an inhabitant of Westerly, a town comprising the tract so long in debate between the king's province and Connecticut colony. He had three sons, George, Edward and Joseph.

John Denison married Phebe Lay, of Saybrook. The parental contract between Capt. George and Mrs. Ann Denison on the one part, and Mr. Robert Lay on the other, for the marriage of their children, John Denison and Phebe Lay, is recorded at Saybrook, but bears no date.
William the third son of Capt. George, inherited the paternal homestead in Stonington.

George Denison, son of John, of Stonington, and grandson of Capt . George, (born March 28th, 1671,) graduated at Harvard College, in 1693, and settled as an attorney in New London, where he married (1694) Mary, daughter of Daniel Wetherell, and relict of Thomas Harris. The family of this George Denison belongs to New London, but it can not be here displayed in detail. He had two sons, Daniel and Wetherell, and six daughters. The latter, as they grew up, were esteemed the flower of the young society of the place. They married Edward Hallam, Gibson Harris, John Hough, Jonathan Latimer, Samuel Richards, and William Douglas.

In 1698, George Denison was chosen clerk of the county court, and at the time of his death, January 20th, 1719-20, was recorder of the town and clerk of probate. His signature so often recurring on the files and books of the town, may appropriately be represented here.

Robert Denison, brother of the last named, (born September 17th, 1673,) purchased a tract of Indian land in 1710, near the north-west corner of New London. It lay upon Mashipaug (Gardiner's) Lake where the bounds of Norwich, New London and Colchester, came together. At what period he removed his family thither is not known, but probably about 1712. He is known to the records as Capt. Robert Denison, of the North Parish, and died about 1737. His son Robert served in the French wars during several campaigns, was a captain in Wolcott's brigade, at the taking of Louisburg, and afterward promoted to the rank of major. Being a man of stalwart form and military bearing, he was much noticed by the British officers, with whom he was associated. He married Deborah, daughter of Matthew Griswold, 2d, of Lyme, and in 1760, removed with most of his family to Nova Scotia.

1 The original will is not on file in the probate office, but is supposed to be extant.

Do you have supplementary information, corrections or questions with regards to George Denison?
The author of this publication would love to hear from you!

Timeline George Denison

Click on the names for more info. Symbols used:  grandparents    parents    brothers/sisters    children