(Author's note: I'm going to try to
consolidate a bit more in my sharing, so for one week I'll be looking at
ancestors who are on just one of my family trees. It will mean skipping some birthdays, but
with the thousands of relatives, I think some way to group them will be
more important, before I go completely bonkers!) (I heard that!)
Thomas Horton
1596–1687
Birth 1596 • Mowsley, Leicestershire, England
Death 1687 • Charlestown, Suffolk, Mass
He arrived in America in 1633 (Source: COLKET,
MEREDITH B., JR. Founders of Early American Families: Emigrants from
Europe, 1607-1657. Cleveland: General Court of the Order of Founders and
Patriots of America, 1975. 366p. Pg 151.
)
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| Mowsley UK - Bridge 51 This carries a public footpath across the Grand Union Canal in Leicestershire, England. |
Here's an excellent Time Line of the early Charlestown settlement. (Source:http://charlestownhistoricalsociety.org/history/historic-timeline-1600/)
Charlestown MA, Historic Timeline 1614 - 1699
1614
English Navigator Captain John Smith discovers the entrance to
the Charles River and names it for Prince Charles, son of the reigning
King of England, James I.
Before 1624, Mishawum peninsula was inhabited by Indians led by Sachem Wonohagaham (Sagamore John).
ca. 1624 Thomas Walford (blacksmith) and his family settle at the
southerly end of Breed’s Hill, “a little way up from the Charles River.”
They are members of an earlier expedition, possibly the Fernando and
Robert Gorges expedition of 1623 to Weymouth that failed, with its
members dispersing about the area.
1628
Massachusetts Bay Company receives a patent for settlement of the
Massachusetts coast from three miles north of the Merrimack River to
three miles south of the Charles River. To secure the claim, about 300
settlers are sent to Salem under the Governorship of John Endicott.
1629
The Company hires Kentish engineer Thomas Graves and sends him to
Salem to prepare for the settlement of a larger expedition to
come. Graves leads a band of about 100 settlers to the Mishawum
peninsula and directs the construction of the Great House and the laying
out of the streets of a new town given the name, Charlestown, after the
adjacent river and the reigning King, Charles l.
Thomas Graves builds a fort with “palisadoes and flankers” atop Fort Hill (now Town Hill) for protection from the Indians..
The Mishawum peninsula has three major hills: Bunker’s, Breed’s, and
Moulton’s, plus two minor hillocks: Fort (later Town) Hill and School
Hill (later site of the Phipps Street Burying Ground).
The territorial extent of Charlestown originally included the area
covered by these towns that were later set off: Malden, Medford,
Melrose, Everett, Woburn, Burlington, Winchester, Wilmington, Stoneham,
Somerville and parts of Cambridge, Reading and Wakefield.
1630
Governor John Winthrop leads an expedition of about 1,000 Puritan
settlers in 11 ships to Charlestown, arriving off Salem in June and
landing in Charlestown, on July 12. Despite hardships and disease, July
8 was declared a day of Thanksgiving for God’s protection from the
perils of the sea.
On July 30, the first signatures are appended to a religious covenant
and the first church is established under a spreading oak tree on the
slope of Fort (Town) Hill with Rev. John Wilson as the first Pastor.
Governor Winthrop and his Court of Assistants meet for the first time
in the New World on August 23 and establish a government for the
Massachusetts Bay Colony under a self-governing charter, with the Great
House as its first seat.
After a few months in Charlestown, a majority of the settlers migrate
to the Shawmut peninsula which they name Boston, and elsewhere in the
area in search of better water and more space. After the Governor’s
departure to Boston, the Great House is used as a meeting house (church)
for the Charlestown congregation.
1631
A severe food shortage is eased by the arrival of a supply ship
and the first general Thanksgiving Day is proclaimed for February 22.
A ferry to Boston is established by Edward Converse.
1632
A meeting house is built between the Market Square and Charlestown Neck where the peninsula joins the mainland.
The First Congregational Society of Charlestown is founded with Rev.
Thomas James as Pastor. Upon the arrival of Rev. Zechariah Symmes from
England, he is ordained Teacher of the congregation, giving it both a
pastor and teacher in accordance with scripture (Ephesians 4:11.)
The Train Band (militia) is organized by Capt. Robert Sedgwick for
protection from the Indians. The Training Field is set aside for the
drilling of the militia.
The first ship built in the Bay Colony, “The Blessing of the Bay,” is launched on the Mystic River.
1633
The boundary with Newtowne (later Cambridge) is established.
The Great House is sold to the General Court by the Massachusetts Bay Company.
1634
Charlestown Battery is built at Sconce Point to command the
mouth of the Charles River. It accommodates six cannon left on the
beach by Governor Winthrop upon his departure to Boston in 1630.
1635
A windmill for grinding grain is erected atop Fort (Town) Hill by
Robert Hawkins causing the hill to become known as “Windmill Hill.”
The Great House is sold to Robert Long and becomes the Three Cranes tavern and inn, named for a London tavern.
1636
The fort atop Windmill Hill is improved with breastworks and platforms for three cannon.
The first free public school is established and a schoolmaster engaged.
1637
Clergyman John Harvard arrives from England, is admitted as an
inhabitant and freeman, and becomes Teacher in the Charlestown
church. He builds his house on Country Road (later Market and now Main
Street) next to Gravel Lane. The site is now Harvard Mall. Gravel Lane
(remnants still visible) was so named due to the gravel dug from the
hill in the town’s earliest days. Behind Harvard’s house, his orchard
extended up the hill.
1638
John Harvard dies leaving his library and half his estate to the
nascent college at Cambridge which is named in his honor the next year.
1639
A new meeting house is built on the slope of Windmill Hill facing the Square.
1640
Penny Ferry across the Mystic River to Malden is established by
Phillip Drinker. Receipts from the Boston Ferry are assigned to Harvard
College for its support.
1641
The town’s first shipyard is built by Francis Willoughby.
1642
Woburn is set off from Charlestown. Other towns are later set
off from Woburn: Wilmington (1730), Burlington (1799), and Winchester
(1850).
1648
Phipps Street Burying Ground is established on School Hill. (Previous burials were on Fort (Town) Hill.)
Margaret Jones of Charlestown, the first person in the colony accused of witchcraft, is convicted and hanged in Boston.
The first schoolhouse is built on Windmill Hill.
1649
Malden is set off from Charlestown. Other towns are later set off from Malden: Melrose (1850) and Everett (1870).
1650
Charlestown has about 150 houses.
1655
Elizabeth Foster is born in Charlestown. She later marries Isaac
Goose (or Vergoose) and moves to Boston. The rhymes sung to her
children and grandchildren are copied by a son-in-law and printed as
“Mother Goose’s Nursery Rhymes” in 1719.
1657
A Town House (town hall) is erected on the lower slope of Windmill Hill facing the Square.
1670
The fort atop Windmill Hill is abandoned as cannon-fire would endanger adjacent buildings and set fire to the grass.
1671
Benjamin Thompson, “celebrated” teacher, is engaged to teach in the town school, succeeding the “renowned” Ezekiel Cheever.
1672
The Meeting House is repaired and enlarged.
1673
A Great House addition is built to better accommodate the Long family.
A swing bridge is built crossing the slip through which vessels pass to enter Wapping (Town) Dock.
1674
Samuel Phipps replaces Benjamin Thompson as schoolmaster.
1675
A watch-house is built on Charlestown Common. (The Common was a
pastureland located where the Sullivan Square MBTA station now lies.)
The Meeting House galleries are rebuilt.
1678
The first dry-dock in the colonies is built by James Russell on the Charlestown waterfront.
1682
The school house is replaced by a new one with a cupola for a bell.
1686
The Massachusetts Bay Colony’s self-rule charter is
revoked. Democratic representative government is suspended. Royal
Governor Andros and the King’s Council rule by decree.
1689
Capt. Sprague of Charlestown leads a revolt against Royal
Governor Andros to protest the revoking of the charter. Governor Andros
is imprisoned. Rebellious Charlestown votes to reinstate self-rule and
town meeting democracy.
1690
John Knight is appointed town’s first postmaster.
1691
The first general letter (post) office is opened in Charlestown.
1692
The first “American Revolution” is successful. A new self-rule charter for the Bay Colony is obtained from England.
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| 1629 site of Puritan leader John Winthrop's "Great House" in City Square, |
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I recently found some ancient links to Hortons, which may or may not be the ancestors of my Thomas Horton...but it's certainly interesting reading
HERE.
It speaks of Thomas Horton, but there isn't anything as late as the 16th century.
There are at least 2 other Thomas Hortons who lived in New England at the same time. And apparently they all married women named Mary. I'll talk about another one tomorrow.
Thomas Horton was my 10th great grandfather, on my grandmother Ada Swasey's Family Tree.
Today's quote:
"Artists are nourished more by each
other than by fame or by the public. To give one's work to the world is an
experience of peculiar emptiness. The work goes away from the artist into a
void, like a message stuck into a bottle and flung into the sea." Joyce Johnson
