1609 In a marriage settlement for his daughter Agnes Smyth to John Webster, "Richard Smyth of Cossington, yeoman" conveyed on November 2nd to "Ralph Weldon of Cossington, gent, and John Oswyn of Cossington" [1]
the messuage situated in Cossington in the tenure of William Chamberlyn and his assigns, and all the property in Cossington that used to be in the occupation of Edward Houghton with the land of Ralph Whalley deceased lying on the west. Also 3 selions of pasture situated in the field called Little Ryefield with the land of John Webster lying on the north. Also a croft with pasture in Cossington lately in the tenure of Robert Perkin or his assigns with the land of John Webster on the west. [Richard] obtained the above property from Matthew Babington. Also the virgate of land with the appurtenances situated in Cossington in the tenure of [Richard,] originally part of the Grange. Term: [Ralph Weldon of Cossington, gent, and John Oswyn of Cossington] to hold to the use of [Richard] during his life and then to the use of John Webster and Agnes and their heirs forever. Clause of Warranty. Consideration: The marriage of John Webster, yeoman and Agnes Smyth the daughter of Richard.
1609 "John Webster and Agnes Smith" were married "7th November" in Cossington, Leicestershire, England. [2] [3]
1611/12 Margaret Webster, daughter of John Webster, was baptized on February 21 in Cossington, Leicestershire. [4]
1614 William Webster, son of John Webster, was baptized on September 26 in Cossington, Leicestershire. [5]
1616 Thomas Webster, son of John Webster, was baptized on November 24 in Cossington, Leicestershire. [6]
1619 Robert Webster, son of John Webster, was baptized on November 17 in Cossington, Leicestershire. [7]
1621 Anne Webster, daughter of John Webster, was baptized on July 29 in Cossington, Leicestershire. [8]
1623 Mary Webster, daughter of John Webster, was baptized on March 30 and buried on April 15 in Cossington, Leicestershire. [9]
1624 Elizabeth Webster, daughter of John Webster, was baptized on May 10 in Cossington, Leicestershire. [10]
1627 Faith Webster, daugher of John Webster, was baptized on April 8 and buried on April 16 in Cossington, Leicestershire. [11]
1629 The counterpart of a "bargain and sale from Sir Henry Shirley of Staunton Harold" was recorded on October 21 in Sileby, conveying "to John Allen of Loughborough, mercer, John Webster of Cossington yeoman, Wm.Wilde of same, yeoman, and Wm Henton of Burton on the Wolds, yeoman, of 3 messuages, 1 croft, 1½ yardlands, with common rights, 1 cottage and other messuages and lands in Sileby (described in detail) to hold of chief lord of fee by rents and services accustomed, etc. Consid: £1872. Witnesses and 17th cent. description endorsed; also's No 1'." [12]
1636 John Webster was one of the original priprieters of Hartford, Connecticut, and secured rights to "South Side" land under the Warwick patent. [13] [14] [15]
1639 "In accordance with the forgoing articles [of confederation], the people assembled at Hartford on the second Thursday of April 1839, and elected the following officers for the year ensuing ... John Webster ... Magistrates or Assistants." [16]
1639-55 John Webster was Governor's Assistant and Magistrate. [17]
1654 John Webster was appointed a member of the Congress of the United Colonies. [18]
1655 John Webster was Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut. [19]
1656 John Webster was Governor of the State and Colony of Connecticut. [20]
1659 On April 18, Mr. Webster and William Goodwin, of Hartford, Connecticut, were the first names on the compact for Hadley, Massachusetts. [21]
1659 John Webster wrote his will on June 25. "In the Northampton, Mass., Probate Records, pages 20 and 21 is recorded the following instrument, attested as a true copy of the last Will and Testament of Mr. John Webster, late of Hadley, deceased." [22]
I John Webster late of Hartford in the jurisdiction of Connecticut being weak of body yett sound of mind and having my perfect understanding doe ordayne this to be my last will and testament in manner following—
Imprimis. I comitt my soule into the hands of the Almighty and most mercifull hoping to be saved by the alone meritts of the Lord Jesus Christ being washed with his blood and clothed with his righteousness and sanctifyed by the Holy Ghost. Amen.
My body also I bequeath to ye earth to be interred with comely bureall (if at this time I be taken out of this world) in some part of the New Plantation on ye east side of the river agt Northampton. Moreover my worldly goods wch the Lord hath blessed me with and left me as a father's portion, I bestow as followeth.
To my Deare and beloved wife Agnes Webster I give one bed and comely furniture for ye same. As also my house and lands in Hartford all the profitts of the same during her natural life. And upon her decease all shall come into the hands and be at ye disposal of my executor.
Item, to my son Matthew Webster I give the summ of ten pounds.
Item, to my son William Webster I give the summ of seventy pounds.
Item, to my son Thomas Webster I give ye summ of fifty pounds. "Item, to my daughter Marsh I give ye summ of twenty pounds. "Item, to my daughter Markham I give ye summ of forty pounds. "To my grandchild Jonathan Hunt I give the summ of forty shillings.
To my grandchild Mary Hunt I give ye summ of ten pounds.
To all my grandchildren else in N. England I give ten shillings apiece.
To Mary the wife of William Holton of Northampton in part of recompence for her great love and paynes for me I give forty shillings.
To my son Robert Webster I give all the remainder of my estate of one kind and another, whom also I doe appoynt and ordayn to be my sole and full executor of this my last will and testament.
My will further is that the foresaid legacys should be paid within fifteen months after my decease soe farr as my personall estate (that is all my estate besides houses and lands) will reach and the rest within eighteen months after my wives decease.
Which of the legacys shall be paid first or how much of them I leave to the discretion and faithfulness of my son Robert desiring yt if there appeare any difference he would in it take, and act by the advise of my loving friends Nathaneell Ward and Andrew Bacon who have beene acquainted with much of my mind herein. Only my just debts I would have first paid before ye legacys as also my funerall expences.
My lot at the New Plantation with ye accomodations thereunto belonging and I give to my sons William and Thomas upon condition of their inhabiting there as I myself was ingaged to doe wch is also my desire they should -
And soe doeing to have it equally divides between them.
In witness hereof I have sett to my hand this present 25 of June 1659.
John Webster. In ye presence of John Russell, Eleazer Mather.
1667 "Gov. John Webster's widow, Mrs. Agnes Webster died six years later, probably in Hartford, in the year 1667." [23]
Research Notes:
The Connecticut State Library biography of John Webster, online at the Museum of Connecticut History, states, [24]
John Webster
Governor of the Colony of Connecticut, 1656.
Baptized: August 16, 1590, Cossington, Leicestershire, England
College: None
Political Party: None
Offices: Assistant, General Court of the Colony of Connecticut, 1639-1655
Commissioner to the United Colonies of New England, 1654
Deputy Governor, Colony of Connecticut 1655
Governor, Colony of Connecticut, 1656
Chief Magistrate, Colony of Connecticut, 1657
Magistrate, Hadley, Massachusetts, 1660
Died: April 5, 1661, Hadley, MassachusettsJohn Webster was baptized on August 16, 1590 in Cossington, Leicestershire, England. He was the son of Matthew and Elizabeth (Ashton) Webster, a family of some substance. On November 7, 1609, he and Agnes Smith were married at Cossington. An article written by Mrs. S. H. Skillington gives this account of their time in Cossington:
"There is not much evidence of John Webster IV's life in England. He married, when only nineteen, a girl whose family had lived in Cossington at least as long as his own. She bore him nine children, only two of whom died in infancy. He prepared to leave his homeland in 1634. The deeds show that he then owned in Cossington three houses and a cottage, various small closes, about one hundred acres of arable land, and considerable grazing rights.
So John Webster set out for the New World with a wife still vigorous, six stalwart children, some implements of husbandry, and with more than £1,000 in his possession." *
John Webster and his family first settled in Watertown, Massachusetts and moved to Hartford in 1636, probably with Thomas Hooker's group, which left Newtown, Massachusetts in April 1636. He was one of the original landholders of Hartford, was a member of the committee that sat with the Court of Magistrates of the Colony of Connecticut in 1637 and 1638, and became an Assistant to the General Court of the Colony of Connecticut in 1639. As an Assistant, he was one of a small group of men who were second in power only to the Governor, Deputy Governor, and General Court of Magistrates. He traveled to towns in Connecticut as a judge, helped create criminal laws for the colony, settled land and boundary disputes, helped the New England Congress supply Connecticut towns with soldiers and ammunition for an expedition against the Indians, and surveyed the highway from Hartford to Windsor. He was a Commissioner to the United Colonies of New England in 1654.
The Colony of Connecticut elected him as Deputy Governor in 1655, with Thomas Welles as Governor. The next year, 1656, John Webster was elected as Governor. Elections were annual, and prior to 1659 it was believed that no person should serve a term of more than one year. In 1657 John Winthrop was elected as governor, with Thomas Welles as Deputy Governor and John Webster as Chief Magistrate.
John Webster was one of the leading members of the First Congregational Church of Hartford, whose minister, the Rev. Thomas Hooker, was the dynamic leader of the first settlers that came to Hartford. When Hooker died in 1647, a controversy arose as to who should become his successor. The Rev. Samuel Stone, Hooker's assistant, was supported by a majority of the church members. However, Rev. Stone wanted to change some aspects of church procedures, including liberalizing the eligibility requirements for infant baptism and admission to communion, while limiting the autonomy of each congregation. A significant number of the parishioners disagreed with Stone and wanted Michael Wigglesworth as Rev. Hooker's successor. A religious dispute arose, and the congregation became split. Church and state were not separate at that time, so this became a political as well as a spiritual crisis for Hartford.
The dissenting group, of which John Webster was a prominent member, wanted to withdraw from the Hartford church and move to Massachusetts, but Rev. Stone and his followers would not release them from their church covenant. The dissenters attempted to get other Congregational Churches in nearby towns to accept them, but none would. The principles disputed in Hartford were introduced in the General Assembly as the Half-Way Covenant in August 1657 and became points of conflict for Congregational Churches throughout New England for over a decade. A key provision allowed Congregational churches to baptize children of parents who had themselves been baptized but who had never professed conversion and had consequently never been fully admitted to the Church. The Half-Way Covenant was approved by a New England church synod in 1662 and finally passed by the Connecticut legislature in May 1669. On February 12, 1669/70 some members of the First Church of Hartford left to form the Second Church.
Meanwhile, on April 18, 1659, through the arbitration of some Massachusetts Congregational Church leaders, many of the initial dissenters and Rev. Stone's faction signed an agreement for the former group to move to Massachusetts. The Hadley Company, as it was known, left Hartford shortly after that, with John Webster as one of its leaders. He was given the responsibility of laying out the roads for the company. He and his family went first to Northhampton, Massachusetts, and later to Hadley, where he was made a magistrate in May 1660. He died there, of a fever, on April 5, 1661 and is buried in Hadley. His wife Agnes died in Hartford in 1667. His most famous descendant was Noah Webster, who was born in Hartford in 1758 and who died May 28, 1843 in New Haven.
John Webster's home lot in Hartford, Connecticut was on the east side of what became Governor Street (the present Popieluszko Court).
*Skillington, S.H. "The Ancestry of John Webster." The American Genealogist.
Bibliography
Encyclopedia of American Biography. New York: The American Historical Society, Inc., 1924, q.v. "Webster, Augustus Livingston", vol. XX, pp. 227-235 [CSL call number E 176 .A47].
Norton, Frederick Calvin. The Governors of Connecticut. Hartford: Connecticut Magazine Co., 1905 [CSL call number HistRef F93 .N 88 1905].Raimo, John W. Biographical Dictionary of American Colonial and Revolutionary Governors 1607-1789. Westport, CT: Meckler Books, 1980 [CSL call number E 187.5 .R34].
Skillington, S. H., "The Ancestry of Governor John Webster," The American Genealogist. (Oct 1948), pp. 197-214.
Talcott, Mary Kingsley. The Original Proprietors. Reprint. Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford, Inc., 1986 [CSL call number HistRef F 104 .H353 A26 1986].
Webster, William Holcomb and Melville Reuben Webster. History and Genealogy of the Governor John Webster Family of Connecticut. Rochester, NY: E. R. Andrews Printing Company, 1915 [CSL call number CS 71 .W38 1915]. Pages 1-19 give an overview of the life of Governor John Webster.
Webster, Wayne Hilton. The Indomitable Spirits: A Webster Family Anthology. n.p., 1995 [CSL call number CS 71 .W38 1995].
Hinman's biographical sketch of John Webster states, [25]
Webster, Gov. John. This gentleman probably came into Connecticut in 1637, or in the autumn of 1636. His first appearance as an officer of the Court was in April, 1637. He was then one of the Committee, who for the first time sat with the Court of Magistrates for the purpose of declaring war against the Pequot Indians. He was again the same year elected to the General Court, and was also elected as one of the committe (deputy) in 1638. He was elected a member of the Court of Magistrates at the first General Court holden by Gov. Haynes, in April, 1639. From this time forward for many years he was a member of the General Court as a magistrate or assistant. That the public may appreciate the arduous services of Gov. Webster, I take the liberty of stating, that in 1639 he attended four sessions of the General Court--three sessions in 1640--four in 1641--three in 1642--five in 1643--five in 1644--five in 1645; and held five sessions of the Particular Court in 1639--four in 1640--two in 1641--two in 1642--six in 1643--five in 1644--six in 1645, and four in 1646--and so continued faithfully to discharge all the duties of the responsible and important offices bestowed upon him by the people for years. He was uniformly a magistrate or assistant while he remained in the colony after 1638. He was appointed with Mr. Ludlow and Gev. Welles to consult with their friends in the New Haven Colony, respecting the Indian murders which had been committed, to learn of them whether they would approve of a declaration of war as a reparation of the injury, in 1640; he was appointed with the Hon. William Phelps, to form a law against lying, and to hold a consultation with the elders upon the subject. He was of the committee with Wm. Phelps, &c., who formed the noted criminal code of laws for the colony, reported and approved by the General Court in 1642--several of which laws yet remain in our statute book with little alteration, except in punishment. In 1655 Mr. Webster was elected Deputy Governor of the colony, and the following year was made Governor. In 1654 he was appointed with Maj. Gen. Mason a member of the Congress of the United Colonies.--Enough is already said to show the elevated position held by Gov. Webster in the colony, while he remained in it. He was the first in this country who gave the high character for talent to the name of Webster, which has been since so nobly and amply sustained by Noah as a man of literature, and Daniel as a statesman and orator. Many of his descendants yet reside in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Gov. Webster was from Warwickshire, in England, and was an original settler in Hartford as early as 1637, when he was a member of the General Court. He greatly aided and improved the new form of government in the colony. The severe quarrels in the churches at Hartford and Wethersfield so disgusted, not only Gov. Webster, but 59 others of the settlers in the colony, that upon the 18th day of April, 1659, they signed an agreement, in which they engaged to remove themselves and families out of the jurisdiction of Connecticut, into Massachusetts. Gov. Webster headed the list of names. About three-fourths of the signers did remove to Massachusetts, and purchased and settled the town of Hadley, which then included what is now Hadley, South Hadley, Granby and Amherst, east of Connecticut river, and Hatfield and a part of Williamsburg west of the river. Gov. Webster became a Judge of the Court in Hampshire. He died in 1661, and left four sons, Robert, Matthew, William and Thomas. He also left three daughters. Matthew settled in Farmington, William in Hadley, Thomas moved to Northampton, afterwards to Northfield, and was driven from the latter place by the Indians, he then located at Hadley, but finally returned and died at Northfield. His daughter Ann married John Marsh, of Hadley; the other two married Markham and Hunt. Robert, the eldest son, appears to have remained in Hartford, where he died in 1676. Robert left six sons and four daughters. The daughters were connected by marriage with the families of Seymours, Mygatts and Graves, some of the most respectable settlers. Robert was the branch of Gov. Webster's family through whom Hon. Noah Webster, LL. D., late deceased, traced his ancestry.--(See Robert Webster.)
Savage states of John Webster, [26]
From the will of 25 June 1659, little is learn[ed] but the names of four sons two daughters Ann Marsh, w[ife] of John and d[aughter] Marcum beside two gr[and]ch[ildren] Jonathan and Mary Hunt. The name of the m[other] was not ment[ioned] and prob[ably] she was oldest d[aughter] if not even oldest ch[ild]. When or where she m[arried] Hunt, or what even was his bapt. name is unkn. Tradition in the family makes his name John and hers Mary and it may be conjectured that both were d[ead].
Norton's biographies of governors of Connecticut (1905) and Americana (1935) include biographies of John Webster. [27] [28]
[1] The National Archives of the United Kingdom Catalog, Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland, Reference 44'28/619, [UKNationalArchives].
[2] Florence E. (Mrs. S. H.) Skillington, "The Ancestry of Governor John Webster," The American Genealogist 24 (1948), 197-214, at 208, citing the Cossington Parish Register, [AmericanAncestors].
[3] Florence E. (Mrs. S. H.) Skillington, "Ancestry of Agnes (Smith) Webster," The American Genealogist 29 (1953), 80-86, at 82, citing the Cossington Parish Register, [AmericanAncestors].
[4] Florence E. (Mrs. S. H.) Skillington, "The Ancestry of Governor John Webster," The American Genealogist 24 (1948), 197-214, at 208, citing the Cossington Parish Register, [AmericanAncestors].
[5] Florence E. (Mrs. S. H.) Skillington, "The Ancestry of Governor John Webster," The American Genealogist 24 (1948), 197-214, at 208, citing the Cossington Parish Register, [AmericanAncestors].
[6] Florence E. (Mrs. S. H.) Skillington, "The Ancestry of Governor John Webster," The American Genealogist 24 (1948), 197-214, at 208, citing the Cossington Parish Register, [AmericanAncestors].
[7] Florence E. (Mrs. S. H.) Skillington, "The Ancestry of Governor John Webster," The American Genealogist 24 (1948), 197-214, at 208, citing the Cossington Parish Register, [AmericanAncestors].
[8] Florence E. (Mrs. S. H.) Skillington, "The Ancestry of Governor John Webster," The American Genealogist 24 (1948), 197-214, at 208, citing the Cossington Parish Register, [AmericanAncestors].
[9] Florence E. (Mrs. S. H.) Skillington, "The Ancestry of Governor John Webster," The American Genealogist 24 (1948), 197-214, at 208, citing the Cossington Parish Register, [AmericanAncestors].
[10] Florence E. (Mrs. S. H.) Skillington, "The Ancestry of Governor John Webster," The American Genealogist 24 (1948), 197-214, at 208, citing the Cossington Parish Register, [AmericanAncestors].
[11] Florence E. (Mrs. S. H.) Skillington, "The Ancestry of Governor John Webster," The American Genealogist 24 (1948), 197-214, at 208, citing the Cossington Parish Register, [AmericanAncestors].
[12] The National Archives of the United Kingdom Catalog, Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland, Reference 26D53/486, [UKNationalArchives].
[13] William Holcomb Webster and Melville Reuben Webster, History and Genealogy of the Gov. John Webster Family of Connecticut (Rochester, New York: E. R. Andrews, 1915), 3, [InternetArchive].
[14] William Holcomb Webster and Melville Reuben Webster, History and Genealogy of the Gov. John Webster Family of Connecticut (Rochester, New York: E. R. Andrews, 1915), 6, [InternetArchive].
[15] J. Hammond Trumbull, ed., The Memorial History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884, Vol. 1 (Boston: Edward L. Osgood, 1886), Map, [HathiTrust].
[16] Letters from the English Kings and Queens, Charles II, James II, William and Mary, Anne, George II, &c: To the Governors of the Colony of Connecticut (Hartford: John B Eldredge, 1836), 28, [GoogleBooks].
[17] William Holcomb Webster and Melville Reuben Webster, History and Genealogy of the Gov. John Webster Family of Connecticut (Rochester, New York: E. R. Andrews, 1915), 8, [InternetArchive].
[18] William Holcomb Webster and Melville Reuben Webster, History and Genealogy of the Gov. John Webster Family of Connecticut (Rochester, New York: E. R. Andrews, 1915), 8, [InternetArchive].
[19] Letters from the English Kings and Queens, Charles II, James II, William and Mary, Anne, George II, &c: To the Governors of the Colony of Connecticut (Hartford: John B Eldredge, 1836), 11, [GoogleBooks].
[20] Letters from the English Kings and Queens, Charles II, James II, William and Mary, Anne, George II, &c: To the Governors of the Colony of Connecticut (Hartford: John B Eldredge, 1836), 9, [GoogleBooks].
[21] J. Hammond Trumbull, ed., The Memorial History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884, Vol. 1 (Boston: Edward L. Osgood, 1886), 202, [HathiTrust].
[22] William Holcomb Webster and Melville Reuben Webster, History and Genealogy of the Gov. John Webster Family of Connecticut (Rochester, New York: E. R. Andrews, 1915), 15, [InternetArchive].
[23] William Holcomb Webster and Melville Reuben Webster, History and Genealogy of the Gov. John Webster Family of Connecticut (Rochester, New York: E. R. Andrews, 1915), 15, [InternetArchive].
[24] History and Genealogy Unit, Connecticut State Library, "John Webster, Governor of the Colony of Connecticut, 1656," (June 2011), [URL].
[25] Royal Ralph Hinman, A Catalogue of the Names of the First Puritan Settlers of the Colony of Connecticut, collected from the state and town records, Vol. 1 (Hartford: E. Gleason, 1846), 91-93, [GoogleBooks], [HathiTrust].
[26] James Savage, John Farmer, Orrando Perry, A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, Showing three generations, Vol. 4 (Boston: Little Brown & Co, 1861), 449, [GoogleBooks], [HathiTrust], [InternetArchive].
[27] Frederick Calvin Norton, The governors of Connecticut: biographies of the chief executives of the commonwealth (1905), 25, [GoogleBooks].
[28] Americana (American Historical Company, Incorporated, 1935), 669, [GoogleBooks].