M. (1) 17 Sep 1646
Wife: Sarah Wadsworth
M. (2) 18 Jan 1650 in Hartford, Connecticut
Wife: Katherine Stoughton
M. (3) 20 Apr 1660 in Dorchester, Massachusetts
Wife: Mary Lane
M. (4) before 1672 in Middletown, Connecticut
Wife: Esther Cornwell
D. 24 May 1676 in Middletown, Connecticut
By virtue of circumstances of early New England migration, John Wilcox became one of the first settlers in two different Connecticut towns: Hartford and Middletown.
John was born somewhere in England in about 1620 to John and Mary Wilcox, one of their three known children. Sometime during the early 1630s, the Wilcox family sailed across the Atlantic to become a part of the Puritan migration to America. After perhaps a short time in Massachusetts, they joined the followers of Reverend Thomas Hooker in carving out a new settlement on the Connecticut River that became Hartford. John was in his teens when they arrived there in 1636, and he likely helped his father build their first home.
John came of age and remained in Hartford during its earliest years. Along with being a farmer, he was said to be a “pail maker,” a trade that he learned from his father, and he seems to have worked at this occupation throughout his life. The inventory of John’s will supports this by listing 32,000 pail nails among his possessions.
On September 17, 1646, John married Sarah Wadsworth, the daughter of another Hartford settler. They had a baby girl born two years later, but shortly after the birth, Sarah died. John married a second wife, Katherine Stoughton, on January 18, 1650. During the next couple of years, they had two sons, both of whom died young. John’s father also died in 1650, leaving most of his estate to him.
By 1653, John was looking to leave Hartford for a community being started downriver. That new settlement was Middletown, and John agreed to develop a plot of land there. But something delayed him, causing the General Court to order that he build a house and occupy his land, or he would lose it. It’s known that he did follow through, and lived in Middletown by November 13, 1654, because he had a daughter born there on that date. After John and Katherine had two more children, she died, and John was a widower again.
John came of age and remained in Hartford during its earliest years. Along with being a farmer, he was said to be a “pail maker,” a trade that he learned from his father, and he seems to have worked at this occupation throughout his life. The inventory of John’s will supports this by listing 32,000 pail nails among his possessions.
On September 17, 1646, John married Sarah Wadsworth, the daughter of another Hartford settler. They had a baby girl born two years later, but shortly after the birth, Sarah died. John married a second wife, Katherine Stoughton, on January 18, 1650. During the next couple of years, they had two sons, both of whom died young. John’s father also died in 1650, leaving most of his estate to him.
By 1653, John was looking to leave Hartford for a community being started downriver. That new settlement was Middletown, and John agreed to develop a plot of land there. But something delayed him, causing the General Court to order that he build a house and occupy his land, or he would lose it. It’s known that he did follow through, and lived in Middletown by November 13, 1654, because he had a daughter born there on that date. After John and Katherine had two more children, she died, and John was a widower again.
Map of Middletown showing where John lived.
John seems to have left Connecticut for a time, moving to Dorchester, Massachusetts, where he took a third wife, Mary Long, on April 20, 1660. They had no children together, but she had two children from previous marriages; one of the children went on to marry John’s daughter Sarah in about 1668. It’s believed that John and Mary moved back to Middletown during the early 1660s.
Over the years, John became a huge landowner in Connecticut. Besides his 4 acres in Middletown, he acquired two lots of 7 acres, a 10-acre lot, a 23-acre lot, a 133-acre lot, a 243-acre lot, a 437-acre lot, a 493-acre lot and a 600-acre lot. On September 18, 1660, John gave his land in Hartford to his daughter 12-year-old Sarah for when she came of age; in the meantime, his former father-in-law, William Wadsworth, was to take care of the property.
There was some sort of dispute between John and a man named Samuel Collins in early 1668. After Collins was insulted by John, he told people that John was a “lying fellow” and he would “prove him so in public” the following Sunday. Collins carried out his threat, and was later taken to court by John for “abuse and violence done to his person,” likely meaning that Collins physically attacked him. The court ruled in John’s favor.
In about 1671, John’s wife Mary died, and he married a fourth wife, Esther Cornwell. Esther was much younger than John or any of his previous wives, and she bore him three children. A couple months after the birth of their youngest child, John died on May 24, 1676; he was only in his 50s at the time of his death. His estate was valued at almost £410. Esther remarried in 1677 and passed away in 1733.
Record of John’s third marriage and death.
Children by Sarah Wadsworth:
1. Sarah Wilcox — B. 3 Oct 1648, Hartford, Connecticut; D. 3 Feb 1718, Hartford, Connecticut; M. (1) Thomas Long (1644-1711), about 1668, (probably) Hartford, Connecticut; (2) David Ensign (1644-1727), 3 Oct 1684, Hartford, Connecticut
Children by Katherine Stoughton:
1. John Wilcox — B. 29 Oct 1650, Connecticut; D. 1660, Middletown, Connecticut; D. young
2. Thomas Wilcox — B. & D. young
3. Mary Wilcox — B. 13 Nov 1654, Middletown, Connecticut; D. young
4. Israel Wilcox — B. 19 Jun 1656, Middletown, Connecticut; D. 20 Dec 1689, Berlin, Connecticut; M. Sarah Savage (1657-1724), 26 Mar 1678, Middletown, Connecticut
5. Samuel Wilcox — B. 9 Nov 1658, Middletown, Connecticut; D. 16 Mar 1713, Middletown, Connecticut; M. (1) Abigail Whitmore, 9 May 1683, Middletown, Connecticut; (2) Ruth Westcott,
Children by Esther Cornwell:
1. Ephraim Wilcox — B. 9 Jul 1672, Middletown, Connecticut; D. 4 Jan 1712, Middletown, Connecticut; Silence Hand (1679-~1726), about 1690
2. Esther Wilcox — B. 9 Dec 1673, Middletown, Connecticut; D. 15 Mar 1698, Middletown, Connecticut; M. Joseph Hand (1671-~1699), 10 May 1692
3. Mary Wilcox — B. 9 Mar 1676, Middletown, Connecticut
Sources:
Middletown Upper Houses: A History of the North Society of Middletown, Connecticut, Charles Collard Adams, 1908
Digest of Connecticut Probate Records, Charles William Manwaring, 1904-1906
Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, 1636-1776, Arthur Adams, 1928
Hartford County Court Minutes, 1663-1687, 2005
