William Bushnell

Notes:

First at Guilford. In Saybrook by 1660. In 1661 he was sergeant of the Saybrook train band under Lieutenant William Pratt, and in May 1679 he was lieutenant of the body himself. He was a representative to the general court in 1670. By the will of the native Uncas, 1675-76, he received 2000 acres of land.

William married Rebecca about 1643 in Saybrook, Middlesex, Connecticut. Rebecca died before 1683 in Saybrook, Middlesex, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. William Bushnell was born on 15 Feb 1648 in Guilford, New Haven, Connecticut; died on 9 Dec 1711 in Saybrook, Middlesex, Connecticut.

Notes:

He was a churchwarden in Horsham, 1626/7, and in 1637 he contributed towards the repair of St. Paul's in London. He emigrated in 1639 on the St. John along with his two daughters and the Rev. Henry Whitfield, his five living sons having preceded him to New England in 1635. His signature is the third one on the Guilford Covenant.

"He came with the company which settled Guilford, Conn., and was one of the signers of the 'Guilford Covenant' on 1 June 1639. He did not long survive, and his will was proved at Guilford, 13 Oct. 1646. Like the other wills of New Haven Colony, it is not extant, the first volume of Colony records having disappeared at least 150 years ago." [Donald Lines Jacobus, The Granberry Ancestry (citation details below)]

"It would appear that he was an artisan, perhaps a painter and decorator, for in 1610/11, 'Francis Bushnell' was paid vs (five shilligs) for 'collaring the funt' (of the church or altar); also his sons were artisans, for his son Francis was a millwright, his son William a carpenter, and his son John a glazier and later a barber, while his eldest son Edmund was evidently an artisan as well as a farmer. If, as has been stated, they were Independents in their religious beliefs, they at least subscribed to the Church at Horsham, for by a seating list of this church dated 1625, William, Henry, John, and Mathew Grombridge had the first 'Seats' for which they 'paid vz a peece' and in the 'fift Seats' was John Bushnell 'who hath paid xs'. In the 'sixt Seats' is placed Edmond Bushnell — and William Bushnell who have paid for their 'rooms xjs, - and a Seate under the new gallary stayers for Pharis Bushnell, the wife of Frauncis Bushnell, to belong to him and his heirs for ever.' In 1628/7 he was a church warden, and on 25 Mar. 1636 and 29 Sept 1637, 'Fra Bushnell' made donations for the 'reparation of St. Pauls in London'. It is not probable that this family emigrated because of religious persecutions." [Bushnell Family Genealogy, citation details below]

Francis Bushnell = Ferris Quenell
Francis Bushnell = Mary Grombridge
Sarah Bushnell = Joseph Ingham
Joseph Ingham = Mary
Ebenezer Ingham = Mary Dorothy Stone
Mary Ingham = Jonathan Chapman
Jonathan Chapman = Mary Smith
Mary Chapman = Ezekiel Van Gilder
Thompson Van Gilder = Priscilla Corson
Emily Cameron Van Gilder = Jesse S. Godfrey
Harold Godfrey = Lizzie S. Godfrey
Harold Godfrey = Mabel F. Boardman
Bonny Jean Godfrey = Donald Carl Jacobs
Jill Tracy (Jacobs) Biden

Francis married Ferris Quenell on 13 May 1605 in Horsham, Sussex, England. Ferris (daughter of Henry Quenell and Beatrix Carter) was born before 17 Apr 1587; was christened on 17 Apr 1587 in Horsham, Sussex, England; died before 10 Mar 1628; was buried on 10 Mar 1628 in Horsham, Sussex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

His son Francis was the executor of his will.

Henry married Beatrix Carter on 30 Jan 1586 in Horsham, Sussex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 1593

Notes:

Yeoman.

Nicholas married Elizabeth. Elizabeth died after 19 Jan 1594. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Aft 19 Jan 1593

Notes:

Husbandman.

"In Phillimore's Index, this will was dated 1545, but our copyist, Miss E. Stokes, first read the date as 1585, and when her attention was called to the discrepancy, made a check and reported, 'That not expecting to find the old character, used as a 4 in a document of that date, she had read it as an 8.' We are inclined to believe her first reading was correct, from the fact that he is named in his father's will, implying that he was living in 1564, the date of the will." [Bushnell Family Genealogy, citation details below]

Presumably "our copyist, Miss E. Stokes" was the great Ethel Stokes (1870-1944), one of the most important figures in the early-20thC movement to preserve and curate local British archives, an important contributor to the Complete Peerage and to several volumes of the Victoria County Histories, a a driving force in the work of the British Record Society. She died in 1944 after being hit by a truck in London during a blackout.

John married Alice. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Abt 1564

Notes:

Husbandman. Styled widow in the subsidy roll of 15 Jan 1524.