Nathaniel Foote Sr.
Heather’s
10th great grandfather
When Nathaniel
Foote was born in 1592 in England, his father, Robert, was 39 and his mother,
Joan, was 37. He married Elizabeth Deming around the year 1615, in England.
They had 7 children during their marriage, the first 6 being born in England,
and the 7th probably in Massachusetts. One of those children was my ancestor, Nathaniel Jr. Nathaniel Sr. died in 1644 in
Wethersfield, Connecticut, at the age of 52, and was buried there, in the
burying ground in the rear of the Meeting House.
He has his own
Wikipedia page here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Foote
He is listed as
a Puritan in A Catalogue of the Names of
the First Puritan Settlers of the Colony of Connecticut, p. 133.
From A Modern History of New London, Connecticut published
1922.
NF being first
of New England record at Watertown, Massachusetts, where he took the oath of
allegiance in 1633. Later, he became of the first settlers of Wethersfield,
Connecticut, where he died in 1644, “an intelligent, pious, and industrious
farmer,” and one of the magistrates of the colony of Connecticut.
From The Great Migration:
Origin:
Shalford, Essex
Migration: 1634
First
Residence: Watertown
Removes:
Wethersfield, 1635
Freeman: 3 Sep
1634, Watertown
Offices: Deputy
for Wethersfield to Connecticut General Court, 9 Sep 1641, 9 Nov 1641, 5 Jan
1642, Apr 1644. Also served on jury twice.
Estate:
Watertown had homestead of 16 acres and marsh of 2 acres. Acquired by Henry
Curttris late 1635 or early 1636.
His birth
estimated at 1592 based on his apprenticeship record, being age 16 on 21 Sep
1608.
In 1644, there
is a reference to him suing Robert Rose and winning. (Robert Rose is also my ancestor.)
From 80 Immigrants, published 1969:
"Nathaniel Foote was one of
the first 10 settlers at Wethersfield. They were known as “the adventurers” and
he was the largest holder of so-called “Adventurer’s lands”, amounting in all
to over 400 acres. His home lot was at the south end of Broad Street, and his
name is still perpetuated there by a street known as Foote Path Lane. He died
intestate."
(Heather writing:) The word
“Adventurer”, though it sounds heroic and dramatic, actually is just derived
from the word “venture”. Also, Foote Path Lane still exists at the end of Broad Street in Wethersfield, just as described in 1969.
From Hartford County, Connecticut, Memorial
History 1633-1884
"In addition to
John Oldham, the few persons known in the Wethersfield records as the
“Adventurers” (that is, occupants of land not deriving their title from the
town) were, either in person or by representation, the settlers of 1634. Among
these were the following, all from Watertown: William Bassum, John Clarke,
Abraham Finch, Sgt. John Strickland, Robert
Rose, Andrew Ward, William Swayne, Leonard Chester, Nathaniel Foote.
NF had the
largest share of adventure-lands, his coming to CT was not the earliest; it
having been, according to all indications, in 1635. He was an elderly man, and
among his posterity have been some of Connecticut’s most distinguished sons."
From The Great Migration Newsletter, 1993:
"This all may be
true, without requiring that the permanent settlement actually began in 1634.
The Adventurers may simply have invested financially in the move to Connecticut
at an early time, and this would seem very likely for such wealthy men as Nathaniel Foote and Leonard Chester."
From Foote Genealogy Vol 2 by Abram Foote,
published 1932:
Abstract of the
record of the record of the apprenticeship agreement of our NF from the Court
of Rolls of the Borough of Colchester as follows: “NF aged 16 years, son of
Robert Foot of Shalford in Com. Essex yeoman doth put himself apprentice to
Samuel Croylye of Colchester, aforesaid grocer and Free Burgess from the Feast
of St. Michael the Archangel last past for the term of 8 years. Dated 21 Sep V
James I (1608). Sealed and delivered in the presence of me Robert Foot and of
me George Lumpkin.”
(Heather writing:) A “grocer” at
that time was a “grosser”, meaning, a wholesale merchant. Someone who sold big
lots of things, by the gross, not by the pound or small quantity. The Foote
Family Association also reports that Nathaniel was a grocer himself as of 18 Oct 1619,
when he bought a “messuage” from Beatrice Barker, located on East Street, St.
James Parish, Colchester, England. A messuage is a dwelling house with
outbuildings.
From Foote Genealogy by Abram Foote, published 1907:
"Nathaniel Foote, one of the
first settlers of Wethersfield, Connecticut, belongs, not to that great class
of men who fill a large place in the world’s history, because called by some
great emergency into positions of power and influence, but to that more
meritorious class of pious and excellent persons, who, born to the great
inheritance of labor, walk meekly along the paths of common life, perform every
duty, public or private, love and help their fellow men, and act always as if
in their Great Task Master’s eye. It is to such men that society owes at once
its peace, stability, and progress, and yet history takes no note of such, and
hence “The world knows nothing of its greatest men.”
His business in
life was that of agriculture, necessarily the leading pursuit of New England in
its early history.
From all that
we can learn, NF came from Shalford, in Colchester, England, and settled in
Watertown, Massachusetts. The first mention I find made of his name is in the
Records of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, in 1633, when he took the oath of
freeman."
Abram Foote goes on to write several pages
of flowery language to try to paint a picture of what life in the New World was
like for those early colonists.
Inventory taken
after Nathaniel's death:
One source says
that goats were a rare farm animal at that time.
Following
Nathaniel Sr.’s death, his widow Elizabeth married Thomas Welles. When
Elizabeth died in 1683, she also remembered her son Nathaniel Jr. as well as
her grandson Nathaniel III in her will:
His grave is unmarked, but in 1908 the Foote Family Association placed a marker at the original home lot, now called the Broad Street Green.
NATHANIEL FOOTE
THE SETTLER
BORN IN ENGLAND
1593
DIED IN
WETHERSFIELD 1644
ERECTED BY THE
FOOTE FAMILY
ASSOCIATION
OF AMERICA
ON THE ORIGINAL
HOME LOT
SEPTEMBER 17,
1908
In the
foundation, under the base is a sealed copper box, containing a copy of the
Foote Genealogy 1908, reports of the first meeting of the association, list of
moneys given to the memorial fund, and the members of the association.
Rededication
in 2009:
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