{genealogy} Foote ancestry part 2 - Nathaniel Foote 3rd

Nathaniel Foote III

Heather’s 8th great grandfather

When Nathaniel Foote was born on January 10, 1647, in Wethersfield, Connecticut, his father, Nathaniel, was 28 and his mother, Elizabeth, was 20. He married Margaret Bliss on May 2, 1672, in Springfield, Massachusetts. They had 9 children during their marriage, including my ancestor Mary Foote. He died on January 12, 1703, in his hometown at the age of 56, and was buried there, in the Wethersfield Village Cemetery, in an unmarked grave.

Nathaniel’s birth and death record, from the Barbour collection:

A transcript of his marriage:

From A History of the Old Town of Stratford and the City of Bridgeport, Connecticut, published 1886.

"Nathaniel III settled in Hatfield, Massachusetts; removed to Springfield, (Mass.), thence to Stratford, in 1679, thence to Branford, thence to Wethersfield, where he died in 1703 of consumption, aged 55 years. His widow died in Colchester Apr 1745, aged 95 years. He was a house carpenter at first, but eventually became a lawyer. On 24 Jun 1678, NF had liberty from the town of Stratford to settle at Oronoke. This was in accordance with a vote of the town in 1661, forbidding anyone making his dwelling more than 2 miles from the village. They had the following children between 1672 and 1694: Sarah, Margaret, Elizabeth, Mary, Nathaniel, Ephraim, Josiah, Joseph, Eunice."

From Foote Genealogy by Abram Foote, 1907.

"He settled in Hatfield, Mass., and married 2 May 1672, Margaret Bliss, dau. of Nathaniel Bliss, of Springfield. After residing in Hatfield 2 years, he removed to Springfield, like almost every householder, he was called into service of his country against the Indians, and was actively engaged in the bloody and successful attack on their encampment at the falls in Connecticut river, a few miles above Deerfield, since called Turner’s Falls, in commemoration of the brave Capt. Turner, who commanded the expedition. From Springfield, NF removed to Stratford, where his house lot of one acre was on Main Street, directly east of the old burial ground near the present Congregational Church. This lot he conveyed in March 1680 to Benjamin Lewis, having decided to move with his family to Branford, where in Feb 1679, he was admitted “a planter” of the town, and a “home lot” was granted to him, “on condition that it should have a tenantable house built upon it within 2 years, and that he come to settle amongst us, or else the lot to return to the town again.” In pursuing his “manifest destiny” to migrate, NF conveyed this lot with sundry other lots of which he had become possessed, to Jonathan Pitman, of Stratford, and moved to Wethersfield, where he continued to reside until his death, although he had, previous to that event, planned another removal to a new settlement begun under his enterprise, at “Jeremy’s Farm”, since and now called Colchester, on the road from Hartford to New London. An order authorizing a settlement at this place was made by the General Court in Oct 1698, and the new settlement was made to embrace the territory bounded north by Twenty-mile river, south by Lyme, west by Haddam and Middletown, and east and northeast by Lebanon and Norwich. This land was conveyed by Owaneco, Sachem of Mohegan, “for the consideration of love and affection,” to Nathaniel Foote, to be distributed by him “according to his discretion,” except 50 acres to be selected by himself, which he had the privilege of reserving to himself and his heirs forever. The settlement was commenced in 1701, but on account of failing health, Nathaniel Foote III did not remove. He died 12 Jan 1703, leaving a widow and 9 children, 4 sons and 5 daughters. His widow and 4 youngest children, 3 sons and 1 daughter, subsequently moved to Colchester. Mrs. Foote died 3 Apr 1745, at the age of 95. The children all married, and settled in the neighborhood of each other in the new town.  Although a house carpenter by trade, and as such was employed to repair the Meeting House at Bradford, Nathaniel Foote, after his return to Wethersfield, appears to have pursued the practice of the law, his name frequently appearing on the records of the County Court as Attorney in cases before the court."

From Genealogy of the Bliss Family, published 1881.

"'Jeremy’s Farm' was owned by Jeremiah Adams. Mr. Foote was a Quartermaster in the army during King Philip’s War, and was in the fight at Turner’s Falls (Conn. River) under the brave Capt. Turner, who, it is said, that night fought hand to hand with Philip himself. Next day Turner and most of his men were killed by the Indians, and Foote, though badly wounded, was one of the few who escaped."

From the dictionary: 

A quartermaster is a military officer responsible for providing quarters, rations, clothing, and other supplies.

This is Heather writing again:
When I read that Nathaniel was deeded land by a Native American, "for the consideration of love and affection," I was a little suspicious. Then when I learned that this same Owaneco also deeded land to another of my ancestors, I wanted to learn more. Owaneco, who is actually Owaneco Jr (he had a grandfather by that same name), lived from 1640-ca 1712, according to the Yale Indian Papers Project. Owaneco was the sachem (chief) of the small Mohegan tribe, and was something of a party animal perhaps, and definitely liked to drink rum and was easily persuaded by English colonists "into an opinion of their friendship to him" (ref: The Winthrop Papers, p. 309, also, Owaneco admits this in a land deed issued to Capt. John Fitch). It appears that once the colonists figured this out, it was really easy to get land deeds out of Owaneco, and Owaneco gave Mohegan land away "with reckless abandon" according to the Yale Indian Papers, and certainly evident by the pages and pages of land deeds that can be accessed various Connecticut history books. So it could be easily surmised that Nathaniel Foote was not actually a close friend of Owaneco, but may have only visited with him once in order to obtain the desired land deed. 

On the other hand, the Mohegans did fight alongside the colonists in King Philip's War, and as we know, NF 3rd was a quartermaster there and was wounded. Perhaps he did form friendships with the Mohegans.

It should also be noted that Nathaniel's aunt and her entire family were killed by Native Americans. I have not determined which tribe. Surely this, as well as the general attitude of the time, tainted Nathaniel's viewpoint as well.

The home that he never got to live in was started in 1702 and completed by his son. The building still exists today. It has been moved several times, and currently is found at 48 Norwich Ave, Colchester, Connecticut. It at one time was owned by the DAR, but I could not find evidence that they still operate it today. I believe today it is owned by the Bacon Academy Board of Trustees and is operated as a museum by the Colchester Historical Society. (Bacon Academy is a high school in Connecticut.) The Nathaniel Foote home is very small. Try to imagine at least 5 people living in it.

In 1704, Owaneco had a change of heart and tried to get land back from the colonists by writing to the Crown in England and complaining of the issue. Initially, England agreed to restore 7000 acres to the Mohegans. But the colonists appealed, and the ruling was overturned. Several more rounds of appeals were submitted over the next 50+ years, but England always ruled in favor of the colonists.