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Jabez Utter |
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Mary |
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Jabez Utter (Nicholas) was the first son of Nicholas Utter CO8 and may have been born in about 1660 WA15. He was a tailor WA15 who was granted land in Stow, Middlesex
County, Massachusetts on June 15, 1683 HU22, WA15. Later, his “original Twenty acre Right” was held by Lemuel
Whitney MA26. His grant stated MA26, RE4:
Given & granted ye 15
June 1683 unto Jabez Utter & to his heires & assignes for ever Thirty acres of upland & Swamp land
Ten acres thereof being for his full proportion of meadow Ground w[i]thin this Town w[i]th all Rights and priviledges
belonging to a Twenty acres house lott provided yt
hee doe speedily com & build dwell & settle
upon ye said hous lott & make Improvm[e]nt of ye same & yt hee allso doe from time to time
pay (or cause to bee paid) unto all rates & to
all Town charges yt shall at all times here after
arise by due proportion w[i]th
others according to ye
Hon[o]rd comm[i]ttees order
He
married Mary circa 1684 BE7, and
he lived in Mortlake, Pomfret, and Killingly, which are all in Windham County,
Connecticut WA15. Jabez Utter, Major James Fitch, and
Josiah Cleveland purchased a tract of land between Quinebaug River and Appaquage (Little) River, about eight and one-half miles
north of Norwich, from Owaneco on January 18, 1698/9 LA16, WA15. This parcel was
adjacent to land owned by Captain
Blackwell on its northern boundary WA15.
Owaneco, the son of Uncas the Mohegan, sold the majority of the land formerly held by his father to
English settlers WA15,
OB1.
The residents of Canterbury, Windham County, Connecticut wished
to construct a meeting house on the west side of Quinebaug River, because they
found that crossing the river to attend services or train for military
operations at the existing meeting house on the east side was problematic LA16. In 1705, they
purchased three and one half acres of land from Robert Green, which became the
site of their new meeting house, but because they felt their numbers were still
rather low to be able to support a minister and build this meeting house, they
petitioned the General Assembly to annex a strip of land to their north to
their own boundaries LA16. Jabez Utter,
Richard Adams, John Woodward, and Edward Spalding, who resided on this strip of
land, “were anxious to join with them in establishing religious worship” LA16. Despite several petitions to the General Assembly, the town of
Canterbury was denied their request of this narrow margin of land LA16. In 1706, the area
in which Jabez resided was called Mortlake WA15.
Ellen
D. Larned stated, “Captain John Chandler… found a
wild and savage wilderness, with one rude bridle-path
running through it from north to south, and one family of
white inhabitants [the Utters] settled on a small clearing” LA16. Because Jabez had
cleared and improved seventy acres of land and built fences, the owner of the
land, Jonathan Belcher, granted Jabez the deed to that land, and allowed him
the use of the adjoining thirty acres LA16. Later, he changed
his mind and decided to obtain a quit-claim deed from Jabez LA16.
In the same period, Jabez was brought
before the New London County Court and subsequently found guilty
because he stole a young black horse from Daniel Cady LA16. For his sentence,
he was ordered to pay Daniel Cady ten pounds, as well as return the horse, and
if he failed, he was to work for Daniel “at the rate of eight pounds a year”.
Further, he was obligated to pay the court costs for his prosecution and
receive either ten lashes or pay forty shillings to the County Treasury LA16. He remained
incarcerated until the fine was paid, and after he was
released from prison, he worked off his debt in the service of Elisha Paine LA16.
Jabez
Utter of Mortlake, New London County, Connecticut conveyed a parcel of land in
Canterbury, Windham County, Connecticut to his son-in-law, James Hyde, on
January 15, 1715/16 ST33. Jabez
Utter of Mortlake also conveyed land in canterbury, Windham County, Connecticut
to his son, Abraham Utter of Mortlake in January 1715 WA15. On May 18, 1723, Jabez Utter, described as a laborer of Killingly in New
London County, Connecticut, sold a parcel of land in Killingly for forty-eight
pounds of current New England money to James Kenyon of South Kingstown, Rhode
Island; this sale was witnessed by Joseph Babcock and
Thomas Utter BR26. His brother,
Thomas Utter of Stonington, New London County, Connecticut, also sold two
tracts of land in Westerly (one tract of which was bounded on the west by land
which belonged to Jabez Utter) to James Kenyon, yeoman of South Kingstown on
that same day for the same amount of money; this sale was witnessed by Joseph
Babcock and Jabez Utter BR26. Jabez
signed a deed on May 25, 1727 WA15,
and
he died sometime after this.
Mary was the mother of
nine known children: Rebecca, Mary, Abraham, Jabez Jr., Katherine, Elizabeth,
Beatrice, Mehitabel, and Samuel WA15, BE7. As
of yet, just two birth records (for Rebekah and Mary) and one death
record (for Mehitabel) have been traced which link
three of these children to Jabez and Mary. Rebekah Utter, the daughter
of Jabez and Mary Utter, was born on April 17, 1685 in Cambridge, Middlesex
County, Massachusetts MA26.
Mary Utter, the daughter of
Jabez and Mary Utter, was born on December 4, 1686 in Cambridge, Middlesex County,
Massachusetts MA26. Mary Utter, the daughter of Jabez and Mary Utter, married James
Hyde, the son of Jonathan and Dorothy (Kidder) Hyde WA15, ST33. Mary Hyde or Hide,
the wife of James, was baptized and admitted to the Canterbury First
Congregational Church in Canterbury, Windham County, Connecticut on January 11,
1712/13 CO29. Mary and James Hyde were the parents
of eight children whose births or baptisms were recorded in Canterbury, Windham
County, Connecticut. I believe that they may have actually
been the parents of seven of these children, the eighth (James Hyde)
perhaps being their grandson who was the son of their firstborn son, James
Hyde. The eight children born to Mary and James Hyde were James (born on April
22, 1709 WH12, baptized at the Canterbury First
Congregational Church on December 14, 1712 CO29, and died on December 5, 1732 WH12), Jonathan, born on May 9, 1711 WH12, Abraham, born on October 2, 1713 WH12, Jabez (born on May 22, 1716 WH12 and baptized at the Canterbury First
Congregational Church on June 24, 1716 CO29), Ebenezer, born on April 12, 1719 WH12, Mary (born on September 2, 1721 WH12, baptized at the Canterbury First
Congregational Church on September 10, 1721 CO29, and died on July 27, 1724 WH12), Dorothy, baptized on April 4, 1724 at the Canterbury First
Congregational Church CO29,
and James, born on December 8, 1732 WH12. It seems reasonable that this last child, James Hyde, may have
actually been the son of Mary and James Hyde’s
firstborn son, James Hyde, who also married an individual named Mary ST33. The Canterbury First Congregational
Church records state that Mary Hyde, a widow, was admitted to the church on
July 30, 1733, and that James, the son of the widow Mary Hyde, was baptized on
July 30, 1733 CO29.
Abraham
Utter may have been born in about the years 1688 or 1690 WA15. He married Lydia Russell, the daughter of
Captain John Russell in East Haven, New Haven County, Connecticut in 1715 WA15. Captain
John Russell, Sr. of New Haven, Connecticut wrote his will on February 12,
1723/4 and mentioned “my Grand Child Abraham Utter” but did not mention his
daughter or son-in-law CO31.
Abraham and Lydia were the parents of Abraham, Lydia, Samuel, John, and Isaac,
who were all born in East Haven, New Haven County, Connecticut, and of Mary,
who was born in 1727 in Branford, and of Sarah and Jabez who were born in
Waterbury WA15. Lydia was called the
daughter of Abraham Utter when she married Thomas Welton in 1739 in Waterbury,
New Haven County, Connecticut BU14. Mary Utter, the daughter of Abraham
and Lydia, was born on November 14, 1727 in Branford, New Haven County,
Connecticut WH18. Sarah, the daughter of Abraham and Lydia Utter,
was born on July 3, 1730 in Waterbury, New Haven County, Connecticut BU14. Jabez Utter, the son of Abraham and Lydia, was
born on November 7, 1733 in Waterbury, New Haven County, Connecticut BU14.
Jabez
(Jabeze) Utter, Jr. married Sarah Mirick (Mirict) on April 23, 1719
in Boston, Massachusetts in a ceremony officiated by the Presbyterian Reverend
Joseph Sewall MA26. Katherine Utter
of East Haven married Edward Russell, the son of Captain John Russell, Sr., on
January 3, 1723 at Putnam First Congregational Church (formerly North
Killingly) in a ceremony officiated by Reverend J. Fisk CO29, WA15. Elizabeth Utter, the daughter
of Jabez, was baptized on January 28, 1722 by Reverend J. Fisk at the Putnam
First Congregational Church (formerly North Killingly) CO29. It is unclear if she was the Elizabeth Utter who had a son
named Daniel Herrington who was born on March 19, 1729/30 in Canterbury,
Windham County, Connecticut WH12;
Daniel Utter was baptized on May 31, 1730 at the Putnam First Congregational
Church CO29. Beatris Utter, the
daughter of Jabez, was baptized on January 28, 1722 by Reverend J. Fisk at the Putnam
First Congregational Church (formerly North Killingly) CO29. Mehitabel Utter was
called the “daughr of Jabez & Mary Utter” on
her death record, dated September 13, 1705 in Boston, Massachusetts MA26. Samuel
Utter was baptized on November 17, 1723 by Reverend J. Fisk at the
Putnam First Congregational Church (formerly North Killingly) CO29.
Ellen D. Larned
wrote of Mary Utter’s fight to keep her home: “Mary, a woman
of great spirit and resolution, remained in charge of their little
home in the wilderness, and when summoned by Captain Chandler to
relinquish it, positively declined to yield possession” LA16. When the New London
County sheriff rode out to the premises to command the Utter family to vacate
their Mortlake residence, Mary refused to allow him to enter, and blockaded the
doors and windows LA16.
Captain
Chandler decided that the Utters would have to be evicted with force, and
assigned the task to his son, John. Many young men
heard of this and joined John in this pursuit. On January 19, 1715, more than
twelve men “came to the little log hut in the clearing… bringing
with them drums, clubs, axes and all things needful
for a siege” LA16. At this time, Mary’s husband was still
in prison, and she decided to defend her home and protect her children the best
way she could. The sheriff told her that unless she surrendered, he would
“besiege her to death”, but Mary “replied that she did not care for him or his
authority” LA16. John Chandler allegedly said, “We’ll
starve you to death, and your daughters shall die in the house” LA16.
The men destroyed the fences, threw stones
at the house, and as the night progressed, became drunk. They beat drums,
shouted, marched around the house several times, and
one of them spit in Mary’s face when she happened to look out of her window.
Later, three of the men used poles to vault up to the roof and enter the house
through the chimney. “Even
then, Mary Utter would not quit without a struggle, and had to be pushed and
dragged and flung down backward out of the door” LA16. Mary said they “drove me away from my
home, and drove my children with me into the wilderness, and set a guard about
me till near sunset, and then left us there to perish without any shelter but
the heavens” LA16.
She
was able to describe the events to a magistrate two days
later, on January 21, 1714/5 LA16, PR8. A brief summary of
her statement related that the “sheriff & 13 men besieged her house in
[the] name of Capt. Belcher & put up banners in
defiance of King George, insulted her & finally entered through [her]
chimney & drove her & her children into the wilderness to perish” PR8. In May 1715 the General
Assembly heard her complaint and an inquiry into the issue was made, but
because these men had left Connecticut, no further action was taken LA16. The record of the
General Assembly stated HO1:
Upon the information of Mary Utter, wife
of Jabez Utter, to this Assembly, against the sheriff of the county of New
London, that on the 19th of January last
past, he, the said sheriff, with divers other persons therein named, came to
the house of the said Utter in Mortlake, and there many high and heinous
enormities, treasons, profaneness, and other grievous wickednesses
did commit: This Assembly do order the Worshipful Capt. Bushnell, one of his
Majesties justices of the peace for the county of New London, to enquire into
the premises and proceed against the offenders according to law.
Mary died on February 13, 1729/30 in Canterbury, Windham County,
Connecticut WH12,
WA15, BE7.