256. John1 Fish;183 born 1620/21 at Market Harborough, Great Bowden, Leicester, Eng;183 married Mary Ireland, daughter of Samuel Ireland and Marie Unknown, circa 1653; Date is my conjecture - PWB;183 died circa 1689 at Stonington, CT.183
He "John Fish of Stonington, Conn., was the second son of Robert and Alice (Fish) Fish of Market Harborough. He was bapt. in infancy (1620/21), and doubtless received an education in the school at his home village of Market Harborough, which had a wide reputation as a preparatory school for the Universities. After his father's death he and his older brother Thomas came to New England, and perhaps his younger brother Joseph. Thomas became an owner of land. was married, and was the father of a family, and this put him upon the records at Portsmouth, R.I. as early as 1643."
"We do not know just when John (3) Fish came to this country from Great Bowden parish in Leicestershire, England, but he apparently did not settle down as a landlord or head of a family. He found his way to Wethersfeld and Mystic, and was there in 1651 and married the Ireland irl. He was twelve or fourteen years older than she. Soon thereafter they went to Stratford in the New Haven colony, where he acquired land and established his home. At abou thte same time Robert Burrows and his family moved to New London and acuired a large plantation on the Westerly Bank of the Mystic River. John Fish was seemingly a man of quick temper, and spoke with a strong "North Country" dialect or accent. Doubtless that is the reason why his wife's family name is on the records as "Eland" instead of 'Ireland.'"
"In 1655 he sold his lands to one Wilcockson, and they moved onward to Groton and, as tradition says, their youngest son, Capt. Samuel Fish, was b. there last year, at the home of Mrs. Robert Burrows, his grandmother."
Children of John Fish and Mary Ireland are:
i. Samuel Fish, born 1656 in Groton, Connecticut; died February 27, 1733; married (1) Dorothy Wheeler Smith; married (2) Sarah Stark Abt. 1682.
ii. John Fish, died 1705; married Margaret Unknown.
iii. Alice Fish.
iv. Jonathan Fish.
v. Mary Fish.
183 He "73 JOHN3 FISH (Alice2, John1), colonist, surveyor, school teacher, colonial soldier. According to the late John Dean10 Fish, genealogist and historian, who was a descendant of this John3, and spent considerable time in England studying the origins of the Fish Family and the early life of Fish immigrants who settled in America, there were two John Fishes who came to America. In an article in the New York Genealog. and Biog. Record, Vol. LIII, 1928, pp. 53-58, he states that there was a John Fish of Mystic in 1654. He believes this John was a brother of Thomas3 Fish who was granted land at Portsmouth, R. I., in 1643. He does not state when this John landed in America, or where, and there is no record of an immigrant John Fish ever having been in any of the Rhode Island Colonies. (The first white man to climb Mount Washington in New Hampshire was Darby Field of the Plymouth Colony in 1642, accompanied by two Indian guides. It was not named until 1784.)
There was however a John3 Fish, brother of Nathaniel and Jonathan, who landed at Lynn, Mass., previous to 1637, and moved to Sandwich, Mass., on Cape Cod, about 1637. These three brothers were first cousins of Thomas3 of Portsmouth and his brother John. Jonathan3 removed to Newtown, L. I., in 1659, while Nathaniel remained at Sandwich and reared a family, and there is a history of John and his family at Sandwich, as evidenced by an inventory of Nov. 18, 1663.
But there is a definite historical record of a John Fish who between 1654 and 1686 owned land in the towns of Stratford, New London, Mystic, Stonington and Groton, all towns about the Thames River on the Long Island Coast of Connecticut.
The Rev. Frederic9 Denison, between 1859 and 1874, wrote us a very full and accurate genealogy of the descendants of this John3 Fish, which was brought up to date in 1935 by John Dean10 Fish. The Rev. Mr. Denison located John3 first in 1655 at Mystic and at Groton, Conn., and stated that John Fish who landed at Lynn, previous to 1637 settled with his wife and three children at Groton, in 1655.
Frances M. Caulkins, in her "History of New London," locates John Fish at that place in 1655, and she states that he landed at Lynn in 1637, but gives no further account of him until 1655. Aaron Starke and John Fish were of Mystic in 1654. She states that a John Fish was living at Stratford, a town farther to the west, prior to 1655, but how long be made his abode there is not stated. He sold his home lot and six acres of land there, Sept. 25, 1655, to John Willcockson, the same year that Caulkins says he appeared at New London, with wife and three children, John, Samuel and Jonathan, but she was doubtless mistaken in saying that Samuel came with them, as according to the epitaph on his gravestone he was b. at New London, in 1656. How long the family lived at New London is not known, but records show that John had lived at Stonington long enough in 1668 to become a resident, which required two years in those days.
The following biographical record, prepared by John Dean10 Fish, is authentic:
In 1654, and probably for several years previously, John3 Fish had lived at Stratford, Conn. [He does not state whence he came.] He was young and impulsive. His house and lot where he lived was at the northerly end of the present village, and bounded on the west by Main St., and on the north and east by Ferry Road, and on the south by land of Daniel Tetterson. It is marked on the map drawn by Rev. Benjamin L. Swan and printed in the Hawley Record on page 432, where it is marked as belonging to John Willcockson. In the autumn of 1654, a controversy began between him and some men in the town growing out of some unwarranted accusations which he made against them. This trouble was carried into the courts and very probably was the cause of his selling all his property at Stratford a year later to John Willcockson, and leaving the town. There are no records of births to John Fish and wife at Stratford. Samuel4 was born after he left there. The records of the Stonington Congregational Church show the baptism of Samuel, John and Mary, children of John Fish, all in adult life, on Mar. 13, 1680. In 1668, he was one of forty-three inhabitants of Stonington. A home lot was layed out to each of these upon condition that they build upon it within six months and inhabit it. A twelve acre home lot was granted to John Fish, being allotment No. 5, and was retained by him through life. His son Samuel, under date of Dec. 26, 1710, conveyed this lot to James Dean, who on Nov. 8, 1711, conveyed it to Ebenezer Searles as shown by the Stonington Land Records. On Aug. 6, 1764, he acted as Town Clerk at a town meeting.
During the Narragansett War, or the Expedition against the Indians under King Philip, in 1675-76, the Connecticut Colony sent about 300 volunteers from among her settlers, and a number of friendly Pequot Indians. Both John3 and his son Samuel were among these volunteers, and about 1700, when the town of Voluntown was set apart to be alloted to the Indian War Volunteers, there were grants of land made for each of them, and as John3 Fish had died Samuel was alloted his father's acreage. In his will, dated Aug. 7, 1730, Samuel bequeathed his own grant to his son Samuel5, and divided his father's grant between his sons Moses5 and Aaron5. Two grandsons of Samuel4 settled on these lands at Voluntown, and their descendants are still owners thereof.
On Aug. 22, 1679, John3 was unanimously chosen school master of Stonington, to instruct the children in reading, writing, arithmetic and grammar, such as shall be inclined. On Dec. 5, 1680, he was admitted a member of the Congregational Church. On Aug. 25, 1681, he m. Hannah (Palmer) (Hewitt) Steery. It seems that he had no children that survived except by his first wife, who was supposed to have been a Miss Eland of an ancient and knightly family of Yorkshire, Eng. (In another place John Dean10 Fish names Mary Ireland as his first wife. The discrepancy may be in the spelling.) His second wife was Martha Stark, who proved unfaithful and absconded with Samuel Culver, in 1674. John obtained a divorce in 1680, the first mentioned in Fish genealogy, and in 1681 was again married.
He was a land surveyor, and laid out many of the public lands, as the Stonington records bear witness. His brother-in-law Gershom Palmer was associated with him in 1680 and 1681. By grant and purchase he became the proprietor of considerable land at Stonington and at Groton, and in other towns nearby, considerably over one thousand acres.
Mr. M. E. Tracy of Los Angeles, in searching the records of Sandwich, Mass., found that the inventory of the estate of John Fish of Sandwich was made Nov. 18, 1663, and exhibited at Plymouth Court May 3, 1664, mentioning the widow, Cecilia Fish, Inventory taken by Nathaniel Fish. Now this would appear to be the John3 of the brothers, Jonathan, Nathaniel and John, who settled there from Lynn. His death must have occurred a short time before Nov. 18, which would have made him possibly 51 years old, assuming he was born bout 1612. He was baptized at East Farndon, England, June 20, 1619, with his brother Nathaniel who was b. in 1618, son of Thomas2 and Mary (Sprigge) Fish. Tracy also found in "The Pioneers of Massachusetts," by Pope, that there was a son Nathaniel4, born to John and Cecilia Fish, Nov. 27, 1648, and a son Caleb4, born and died in 1649. In the Sandwich records was also found a son John4, born to John and Cecilia Fish, who d. before Oct. 28, 1669.
After studying these findings and the extensive work of John Dean10 Fish, it is the opinion of the author that this John Fish was one of the three brothers that landed at Lynn, that he remained at Sandwich with his brother Nathaniel3, and contrary to the opinion of the other historians and genealogists mentioned above, that the John Fish who d. at Stonington, Conn., was the John3 who was brother of Thomas3 of Portsmouth, R. I., as John3 of Sandwich d. about 1663, while John3 of Stonington d. about 1687, or 1689.
Of John3 of Connecticut it was written, "He lived in the days when men were famous according as they lifted up axes upon the thick trees and bravely did battle with the wild beasts of the wilderness." His lands were obtained from "goodman Robert Burrows," lying along the eastern part of Fort Hill on the north, along the northern slope of Pequot Hill extending to the Mystic, and embracing about one thousand acres. He was the second son of (68) Robert and (12) Alice2 (Fysh) Fyshe, and was bapt. at Great Bowden, England, Jan. 21, 1620/21. He d. at Stonington, Conn., at about 70, probably in 1689. John3 m. three times: first, Mary Ireland of the famous family of that name of England; (2) Martha Stark, who deserted him and ran off with another man; and (3) Hannah (Palmer) (Hewitt) Steery. It would appear that his three sons and one daughter were born to his first wife. "183
Children of John1 Fish and Mary Ireland were:
257. Captain Samuel2 Fish (John1); born 1656 at Stonington, CT; married Sarah Stark, daughter of Aaron Stark, 1682;183 died 27 Feb 1733.
He was (an unknown value) 7 children. He "1360 CAPT. SAMUEL4 FISH, ESQ. (John3, Alice2, John1), youngest son of (73) John and Mary (Ireland) Fish,
was b. 1656. His father appeared at Mystic and Groton, Conn., in 1655, so presumably he was b. at Mystic (others
say New London). He was bapt. at Stonington, Conn., in 1680. His estate, inherited from his father, John3, was
situated between the Mystic River and the northcastern slope of Fort Hill. Near the center of his lands was Pequot
Hill, on the northeastern slope of which, between the present highway that runs parallel with it and the river, he erected his house. The old cellar, in the west end of the field belonging to the late Russell Fish, Esq., may still be traced (1872) by a depression in the earth. He was a Capt. in the French and Indian War (1676). He was admitted to the first church at Stonington Apr. 18, 1689. His name appears in patent of New London in 1704, the year prior to the incorporation of Groton. He was the second selectman at Groton on its organization and was reclected to this position for many years. He m., about 1682/83, Sarah Starke, who was b. 1660, dau. of Aaron Starke, Sr. She d. Dec. 11, 1722, and he m. (2) Dorothy (Wheeler) Smith. He d. Feb. 27, 1733. He was a Representative to the Gen. Court of Connecticut in 1706-07-08-12, a man of dignity and influence. He lies buried in the old Packer Burying Ground at Groton.
Children:
+1497 Samuel6, b. 1682 or 1684; d. Jan. 20, 1731; m. Elizabeth Williams.
1498 John, b. about 1686; d. Mar. 29, 1704/05.
+1499 Moses, b. about 1688; d. Jan. 24, 1773, age 85; m. Martha Williams.
1500 Abigail, b. 1690; d. June 17, 1784, age 94; m. Capt. Daniel Eldridge;
m. (2) Dea. Daniel Denison.
+1501 Aaron, b. about 1693; m. Irene Sprague, of Lebanon, Conn.
+1502 Nathan, bapt. Aug. 19, 1699; d. July 13, 1732; m. Abigail Havens;
m. (2) Mary Burrows.
1503 Sarah, b. about 1702; d. Dec. 20, 1733; m. Rev. Hezekiah Lord of
Preston, Conn. "183 He " ... and they [John and Mary (Ireland) Fish] moved onward to Groton and, as tradition says, their youngest son, Capt. Samuel Fish, was b. there that
year at the home of Mrs. Robert Burrows, his grandmother."
"His estate, inherited from his father, John, was situated between the Mystic River and the northeastern slope of Fort Hill. Near the center of his lands was Pequot Hill, on the northeastern slope of which, between the present highway that runs parallel with it and the river, he erected his house. The old cellar in the west end of the field belonging to the late Russell Fish, Esq., Roswell Fish, Esq. may still be traced (1872) by a depression in the earth. He was a Capt. in the French and Indian War (1676). He was admitted to the first church at Stonington Apr. 18, 1689. His name appears in patent of New London in 1704, the year prior to the incorporation of Groton. He was the second selectman at Groton on its organization and was re-electd to this position for many years ... He was a Representative to the Gen. Court of Connecticut in 1706-07-08-12, a man of dignity and influence."
Samuel Fish and his father, John Fish, each received allotments about 1700 in Voluntown, when the town was set apart for Indian War Volunteers. "... as John Fish had died, Samuel was alloted his father's acreage. In his will, dated Aug. 7, 1730, Samuel bequeathed his own grant to his son Samuel, and divided his father's grant between his sons Moses and Aaron. Two grandsons of Samuel settled on these lands at Voluntown, and there descendants are still owners thereof." [The Fish Families in America by Lester Warren Fish, 1948, p. 253, 265, 269. . - via http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/w/a/l/Katherine-T-Walter/GENE19-0024.html]
Buried at Old Packer Burying Ground in Groton, Connecticut.
Children of Samuel Fish and Sarah Stark are:
i. Samuel Fish, born Abt. 1683; died January 20, 1731; married
Elizabeth Williams.
ii. John Fish, born Abt. 1686; died March 29, 1704.
iii. Moses Fish, born Abt. 1688; died January 24, 1773; married
Martha Williams.
ivAbigail Fish, born 1690; died June 17, 1784; married (1) Daniel
Eldridge; married (2) Daniel Denison.
v. Aaron Fish, born Abt. 1693; married Irene Sprague.
vi. Nathan Fish, born Abt. August 19, 1699 in Stonington or Groton,
Connecticut; died July 13, 1732 in Groton, Connecticut; married (1)
Abigal Havens Abt. 1726 in Fisher's Island, New York; married (2)
Mary Burrows Abt. 1729.
vii. Sarah Fish, born Abt. 1702; died December 20, 1733; married
Hezekiah Lord.
Children of Captain Samuel2 Fish and Sarah Stark were:
258. Sarah3 Fish (Captain2, John1); born 12 Jul 1702 at Stonington, CT;184 married Hezekiah Lord, son of James Lord and Elizabeth Hill, 9 Feb 1724; "Hezekiah s. of James;"39 died before 1738.
Children of Sarah3 Fish and Hezekiah Lord were: