Nathaniel Ely
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: 1605 - Tenerton, Kent, England
Christening:
Death: 25 Dec 1675 - Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts
Burial:
Cause of Death:
AFN #:
Parents
Father: Nathaniel Ely (1572-Bef 1615)
Mother: Susan Dowle ( - )
Spouses and Children
1. *Martha ( - )
Marriage:
Status:
Children:
1. Samuel Ely ( -1691)
2. Ruth Ely ( -1662)
Notes
General:
Freemen of Massachusetts Bay Colony: * Ely Nathaniel May 6 1635 Ely Sam. May 19 1680 Springfield Ely Joseph Dec 19 1690 Springfield
He was a carpenter and constable. He was "keeper of the ordinary".
From post by Betty Ralph to Ely genealogy forum at genforum on 10/25/99:
Nathaniel probably migrated from Ipswich, England, to Boston, Massachusetts, in April 1634, on the ship "Elizabeth". He settled at Newtown (now Cambridge) and was made freeman (elibible to vote) there 6 May 1635 which meant that he was "twenty-one yeasr of age, sober and peaceable conversation, ortodox in the fundamentals of religion and possessed of a ratable estate of twenty pounds."
Rev. Thomas Hooker, the first minister of Cambridge, led about one hundred people, including Nathaniel Ely’s family, to Hartford, Connecticut, in June, 1636. They threaded their way through the wilderness with only a compass to guide them. Nathaniel appointed constable there by the Particular Court of Connecticut on 6 February 1639 which meant he was responsible for preserving the peace of the town, executing its laws when resisted, enforcing penalties, collecting rates, and overseeing watches and wards. He was a selectman in 1643 and 1649. His name appears on a monument in Hartford honoring its earliest settlers.
Nathaniel Ely and Richard Olmsted were granted their petition to the court in 1649 to make the first settlement in Norwalk, Connecticut, on land Governor George Ludlow had purchased from the Indians in 1640 for "tenn fathom Tobackoe, three kettles of six hands about, tenn looking, glasses." The Indians signed a deed on 15 February 1651 to Richard Webb, Nathaniel Eli, Matthew Marven, senr., Nathaniel Richards, Isacke More, Thomas Fitch, Thomas Hales, Richard Holmsted, Richard Seamer, Ralph Keeler, Matther Marven, Jr., Nathaniel Haies, Edward Church, and Joseph Fitch, all planters of Norwalke, for lands known as Runckinheage, Rooaton, for "thirtie fathom of wampum, tenn kettles, fifteen coates, tenn payr of stockings, ten knifes, tenn hookes, twenty pipes, tenn muckes, and tenn needles."
Roger Ludlowe conveyed his entire interest in Norwalk to Nathaniel Ely and others on 13 April 1654. Town records are incomplete, but we know the Ely family had settled there by 1654 when Nathaniel was elected constable. He sold his property in Norwalk to Thomas Betts in 1659 and moved to Springfield, Massachusetts.
He was selectman in Springfield in 1661, 1663, 1666, 1668, 1671, and 1673. Seating assignments in the meeting house were determined by worldly condition and social importance. Women sat on one side and men on the other. In 1663 Nathaniel’s seat was on the second row. Not all people were happy with their assignments and in 1666 the selectmen imposed fines on people who did not sit where they were supposed to.
In 1665 he became the keeper of an "ordinary" or tavern, the occupation he followed the rest of his life. Licenses were granted to only the most respectable of men, but the vocation was not without its headaches. On 24 September 1667 "Nathaniel Ely was complained of by the selectmen of Springfield for selling four quarts of cider to Indians contrary to law. Being called upon to purge himself by his oath, as provided by law, he refused to do it, and was adjudged to pay 16 pounds, or 40 shillings per pint. In consideration of his regard for the sanctity of an oath, or from some other motive, the General Court afterward abated this fine one-half." Then in September 1674 "the jury presented Nathaniel Ely, the ordinary keeper at Springfield, for not keeping beer constantly in his house according to law, for which they testify his own confession. Whereupon he being called into ye Corte, sitting in his house, and examined about the case he did acknowledge the thing; that he of late has kept only table beere, but could not say it was according to law, viz: after the rate of 4 bushels of good barley malt to be hhd., and further, he said he would not be turned out of his way; whereupon ye Corte fyned him 40s for ye use of ye county, all persons also judging this beere farr below that rule in ye law."" The old Ely tavern was on Main Street in Springfield for 200 years, then moved to the corner of Dwight and Sanford streets.
He died intestate and the estate was valued at 164 pounds. The inventory included land, a negro man, books, and numerous debts owed to him.
Sources: "Records of the Descendants of Nathaniel Ely" by Herman Ely "Records of the Particular Court of Connecticut 1639-1663" "Springfield 1636-1886, History of Town and City" by Mason A. Green
ELY, Nathaniel, Cambridge, propr. 1634; frm. May 6 1635. Rem. to Hartford Conn. in 1636, where he held several important offices. (The Pioneers of Massaachusetts p. 156)
The Ely and Day families had adjoining land in both Cambridge and Hartford. 1st Generation. Nathaniel Ely appears to have been one of the early settlers of the town of Springfield. He is said to have come from England and first to have settled in the town of ----------- in the southwestern part of Connecticut, and fron thence to have removed to Springfield. The time of his death as recorded is Dec. 25, 1675. The widow Martha Ely died Oct. 23, 1683, supposed to have been his widow. The only child of Nathaniel at present known of, was Samuel, probably born before they came to Springfield. It further appears from records that Ruth Elly, probably daughter of Nathaniel, was married to Jeremy Horton Oct. 3, 1661, and had one son Nathaniel Horton who settled in Enfield or Somers. He was born June 29, 1662. Ruth the mother died Oct. 12, 1662. (Longmeadow Families NEHGS Reg Volume 35 p. 236)
Title: English Emigrants to New England Author: Charles Edward Banks Publication: Southern Book Company, Baltimore 1957 Page: p. 85
Title: Longmeadow Families Page: NEHGS Reg Volume 35 p. 236 Text: Nathaniel Ely ............... .
From a book on the history of Springfield, illustrating Pynchon's handling of his patronage-client relationships with the tenants of the feudal manor of Springfield:
Nathaniel Ely's ordinary, or tavern keeper, served as the courtroom where Pynchon sat as magistrate. Ely, hwo rented his house and ladns from Pynchon for 8 shillings annually, was indebted to his landlord for more than 130 shilligns by 1664. Rather than hectoring Ely or threatening litigation, he allowed the tavern-keeper to get by simply by paying a 5 percent annual interest on the principal.
He was a brickmaker, carpenter, surveyor. Credited in 1663 for 3000 of bricks, 200 of cutt bricks... 200 of clapboards. In Dec 1664, JP paid him for "measuring 130 acres of land at freshwater brooke", and for "measuring land in Chik Plaine"; in April 1668; JP paid hm for 1 day to measure land at Woronak" adn for "measuring land at Mill River"; in 1669, credited for the "stairs for the Prison" house cellar" and "to geth teh Prison house finished"; Ely purchased the wine and rum needed for his ordinary in JP's general store.