Lydia Sperry

Lydia married Samuel Baldwin on 8 Jan 1713 in Branford, New Haven, Connecticut. Samuel (son of Samuel Baldwin and Abigail Baldwin) was born on 13 Jan 1689 in Guilford, New Haven, Connecticut; died on 21 Jan 1764 in Milford, New Haven, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Caleb Baldwin was born on 27 Jul 1724 in Branford, New Haven, Connecticut; died on 19 Jul 1797 in Danbury, Ridgefield, Fairfield, Connecticut.

Nathaniel married Sarah Dickerman on 2 Oct 1683 in New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut. Sarah (daughter of Abraham Dickerman and Mary Cooper) was born on 28 Apr 1663 in New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut; died about 1705 in New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 25 Jul 1663

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptised: 16 Feb 1606, Thurleigh, Bedfordshire, England
• Alternate birth: 1607

Notes:

"Richard Sperry was a proprietor of New Haven in 1685 and a member of the 'Night Watch.'" [Spooner Saga, citation details below.]

"[T]he most famous incident involving Richard Sperry concerns the regicide judges, Edward Whalley and William Goffe. They had been denied amnesty for their part in the execution of Charles I and were being pursued for retribution by agents of his son, the restored King Charles II. New Haven was, perhaps, the most Puritan of all the colonies and, accordingly, Whalley and Goffe fled there for protection in the late spring and summer of 1661. In the period between May 13th and June 11th, they hid in the 'Judges' Cave' near the West Rock. Atwater's history [Edward E. Atwater, History of the Colony of New Haven to its absorption into Connecticut, 1881] states that this was located about a mile from Sperry's farm and that he and his family provided them with shelter in inclement weather as well as food, which it is told they left on a nearby stump. From a tradition handed down in the family, it has been said that Whalley and Goffe left the cave on June 11th because they had been frightened by a wild animal (supposedly they saw the 'glaring eyes' of a 'panther' at the entrance of the cave). However, this is probably merely a legend since Atwater makes no mention of it and indicates that they left their hiding place and showed themselves openly so that Davenport and others who might have been thought to be concealing them would be relieved of suspicion. It is not known where Whalley and Goffe went between June 11th and the following 22nd, however, on the latter date they returned openly to New Haven. At this time, they considered surrendering to the authorities, but by June 24th on the advice of friends they had changed their minds and, again, went into hiding at the Judges' Cave. Undoubtedly, as before the Sperry family provided sustenance for the regicides. Atwater reports that they remained in secret at the West Rock until August 19th 'when the search for them being pretty well over', Whalley and Goffe went to Milford where they stayed two years and afterward went to Hadley, Massachusetts. They were never captured by royal agents." [David R. Evans, Richard Sperry, immigrant. Evans's essay at that URL is a good overview of the facts and legends around Richard Sperry.]

Richard married Dennes about 1648 in New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut. Dennes was born about 1631 in England; died in Mar 1707 in New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1625

Notes:

Also called Dennis.

It has been persistently asserted over the years that Richard Sperry's wife Dennes was the daughter of the affluent London merchant Stephen Goodyear who emigrated to New Haven in or before 1638. In 1646 Goodyear's wife embarked back to England and was lost at sea. Goodyear himself returned to London in 1656 and died shortly thereafter.

It appears to be actually the case that Sperry's passage to New England was paid by Goodyear, that Goodyear had a house built for Sperry on the Connecticut lands that Goodyear had purchased, and that Sperry farmed those lands for Goodyear and later acquired them in his own right. Certainly all of this makes sense if Sperry was the man who married "the boss's daughter", as W. M. Bollenbach puts it in The New England Ancestry of Alice Everett Johnson (citation details below). Unfortunately no record exists to confirm this, and no "Dennes" or variant thereof has ever been found listed among the documented offspring of Stephen Goodyear.

Abraham married Mary Cooper on 2 Jan 1659 in New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut. Mary (daughter of Cpl. John Cooper and (Unknown first wife of John Cooper)) was born about 1636; was christened on 15 Aug 1641 in New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut; died on 4 Jan 1706 in New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Mary about 1596. Mary died after 1606 in Thurleigh, Bedfordshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Thomas married Eleanor Whittington on 20 Oct 1631 in Little Missenden, Buckinghamshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He was in New Haven by 1640.

John married (Unknown first wife of John Cooper). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Agnes Rawlins on 19 May 1562 in Thurleigh, Bedfordshire, England. Agnes died on 18 Jun 1613 in Thurleigh, Bedfordshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]