Reverend Thomas Hooker

The First American Democrat

Tenth Great-Grandfather
Immigrant Ancestor

1. Reverend Thomas Hooker
+ Suzanna
2. Reverend Samuel Hooker
+ Mary Willet
3. John Hooker
+ Abigail Standley
4. Hezekiah Hooker
+ Abigail Curtis
5. James Hooker
+ Dorothy Parmalee
6. Thomas Hooker
+ Ruth Parmalee
7. Dr. Thomas Gould Hooker
+ Esther Sweet
8. Thomas Edwin Hooker
+ Lucy Hyde
9. Marus Edwin Hooker
+ Elizabeth Rosenburg
10. Jennie Estella Hooker
+ John Emil Dahlquist, Sr.
11. John Emil Dahlquist, Jr.
+ Florence Mary Bowman
12. Debra Florence Dahlquist
+ Edward (Ned) Deck Munson
13. Scott Edward Munson

In my first post for this blog, I alluded to the fact that I grew up knowing that I was a direct descendant of the Reverend Thomas Hooker, one of the most prominent of the New England puritan ministers and a leader in the founding of Hartford, Connecticut.  I decided that before posting about some additional ancestors who are closely connected to him, that I ought to at least give a brief account of his life and the lasting impact of his ministry. If you do a Google search you will discover a great deal more about his life and legacy.

Statue of Thomas Hooker in Hartford
(picture from http://www.foundersofhartford.org/)

Thomas Hooker was born in England about 1586. He attended Emmauel College in Cambridge, England where he studied for the ministry. He was a gifted preacher and soon held a position at the St. Mary's Church in Chelmsford, England.  It was there that Arch-Bishop William Laud objected to some of his puritan teachings which were considered contrary to the established Church of England.  Though 50 of his fellow clergy signed a petition in support of his ministry and character, Thomas Hooker found himself in more and more trouble with the Arch-Bishop. In 1630, he was to be put on trial before an Ecclesiastical Court, but instead fled to Holland.



Plaque found in St. Mary's Church
(picture from http://www.tigergrowl.wordpress.com/)


He returned to England in 1633, but before being arrested, he fled once more with his family and a group of friends. This time, his destination was not Holland, but the New World.  He arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts in the ship Griffin on September 3, 1633, just 13 short years after the Mayflower had landed there with the Pilgrims. 

Plaque located in Cambridge, MA
(picture from Wikipedia)

Thomas Hooker and his followers settled in Newtowne, Massachusetts where he was chosen to be the Pastor.  (Newtowne was later renamed Cambridge and is currently the sight of Harvard Square.)  There are several reasons Thomas Hooker and his followers decided to seek a new home only a couple years after arriving there.  First, it was getting crowded.  More and more people were arriving in Massachusetts every year.  Arch-Bishop Laud was on a rampage, and many Puritan ministers and their followers were fleeing the persecution in England. Secondly, Thomas Hooker had some theological disagreements with the church leaders in Hartford.  Reverend John Cotton was the most prominant minister in Boston at  the time, and there was friction between the two.  The third, and I believe, primary reason for his move is best described by Walter Seth Logan, a fellow Hooker Descendant, in a paper he wrote in 1905:

"He moved from Massachusetts to Connecticut for the same reason that he had moved from England to Holland and from Holland to America, to find a place not so much where he could worship God as he chose as to work out his own destiny for himself and to found a real democracy for himself and for his devoted followers.  He moved from the valley of Charles to the valley of Connecticut to escape from government theocratic in its origin and inevitably aristocratic in its nature, to a place where a real democratic government could be established - where the people could rule... Well may we claim for Thomas Hooker the title - to my mind the noblest title ever borne by the son of woman - the First American Democrat"



Statue commemorating the Puritan journey to Hartford
(picture taken in July 2010 by SEM)



Plaque which accompanies statue
(picture taken in July 2010 by SEM)

In 1636, Thomas Hooker led about 100 of his followers: men, women and children, on a 100 mile journey through the wilderness of Massachusetts and Connecticut to the site of a small Dutch trading post on the Connecticut River.  There they settled, and Hartford was born.

Center Church in Hartford - Thomas Hooker was the first Pastor
(picture taken in July 2010 by SEM)

By 1638, the settlements at Hartford, Windsor and Wethersfield had created a General Court (legislature) together and established the Connecticut Colony. On May 31, 1638, Thomas Hooker preached the opening serman at a  meeting of that court convened to frame a set of laws to govern the colony.  The themes of that sermon were used in establishing the new written constitution.  Among them: the choice of leaders belongs to the people, public service is a trust to be used for the good of the people and the public has the right to limit the power of their leaders.  He ends his sermon with the statement, "As God has given us liberty let us take it." These were some radical ideas at the time, but they became the foundation for the new Connecticut Constitution and later for the Constitution of the United States.

Thomas Hooker's name appears on the Founder's Monument in Hartford
(picture taken in July 2010 by SEM)

Thomas Hooker lived another eight years under the government that he helped establish.  Connecticut thrived as a Colony and today Thomas Hooker can be remembered for his part in History.

Table marking the burial location of Thomas Hooker reads:
IN MEMORY OF THE REV THOMAS HOOKER
WHO IN 1636 WITH HIS ASSISTANT MR STONE REMOVED
TO HARTFORD WITH ABOUT 100 PERSONS WHERE HE
PLANTED Y FIRST CHURCH IN CONNECTICUT
AN ELOQUENT ABLE & FAITHFUL MINISTER OF CHRIST
HE DIED JULY 7TH 1647  AE LVI
(picture taken July 2010 by SEM)

As a side note: sorry guys, but there is no connection between the man Thomas Hooker and the Connecticut brewing company that carries his name. As a Puritan Minister, he would probably be horrified to know that his name was being used to promote alcoholic beverages.  When he arrived in Chelmsford, England, it was a town known for it's wild ale houses and pubs.  His public teachings there were credited with helping transform it to a more "respectable" community.

I on the other hand love the Hooker Brewing Company and love the idea that I am imbibing in a beverage that brings me great joy and is named for my tenth great-grandfather :)

Thomas Hooker Brewing Company
(picture from http://www.hookerbeer.com/)

Capt. Thomas Munson part 2

This is a follow-up to my Captain Thomas Munson post. I was in Hartford last week visiting the Center Church which was founded by my Tenth Great-Grandfather Thomas Hooker in 1636. In the ancient burial grounds which are located next to the church is the monument which has been erected in honor the the founders of Hartford. It turns out that Thomas Munson is listed on the monument as one of the 163 men who owned land in Hartford before February 1640.

This monument was erected in 1986 and is made of pink Connecticut Granite. It replaced a brownstone monument which had been erected in 1837. The new monument contains several names which were not on the original monument, including that of Thomas Munson.

Update

I updated the Scott Munson's Family Tree page on this blog to include the next generation, my third great-grandparents. In case your not sure how this works, if you double a person's number, it is the number of that person's father. If you double a person's number and add 1, it is the number of that person's mother. If numbers are missing, then I don't know who those parents are yet. For instance, Ida Hotchkiss is #9. Her father, Charles Hotchkiss, is #18 and her mother, Ada Rockwell is #19. Mary Zantop is #23 but there no #46 or #47 because I haven't figured out who her parents are yet. As I add more and more generations, there will be more and more missing numbers.

My oscar winning cousin :)

Did you know we were related to Katherine Hepburn, the four time Oscar winning actress. Her Eighth Great-Grandparents, Robert Parke and Martha Chaplin are my Ninth Great-Grandparents. I think that makes us second cousins, eight times removed. Does that sound right?

This photo is by Alfred Eisenstaedt who used

to live in the building where I now live!

Here's how it Goes:

.....................................1. Robert Parke

.....................................+Martha Chaplin

2. Samuel Parke.............................................2. Thomas Parke

+ Martha ?......................................................+ Dorothy Thompson

3. William Parke.............................................3. Dorothy Parke

+ Jane Bordwyn.............................................+ Joseph Morgan

4. Abigail Park................................................4. Dorothy Morgan

+ David McWithey.........................................+ Ebenezer Witter

5. Simeon McWithey.....................................5. William Witter

+ Sarah Van Deusen......................................+ Hanna Freeman

6. Levi McWithey...........................................6. Mary Witter

+ Lorinda Church...........................................+ Oliver Spaulding

7. Jane Stephens McWithy...........................7. Erastus Spaulding

+ Nicholas Jones Rosenburg........................+Jennet Mack

8. Elizabeth Delphine Rosenburg..............8. Marth Spaulding

+ Marcus Edwin Hooker...............................+Lemon Garlinghouse

9. Jenny Estella Hooker................................9. Caroline Garlinghouse

+ John Emil Dahlquist Sr..............................+Alfred Houghten

10. John Emil Dahlquist Jr...........................10. Katherine Houghten

+ Florence Mary Bowman............................+ Thomas Hepburn

11. Debra Florence Dahlquist.......................11. Katherine Hepburn

+ Edward Deck Munson

12. Scott Edward Munson

Our common ancestors, Robert and Martha (Chaplin) Parke arrived in Boston from England in 1630 on board the ship Arabella. Robert served a time as secretary to the first governor of Massachusetts, John Winthrop. The couple moved to the newly settled town of Wethersfield, Connecticut in 1639 where Martha died after a short time. Robert served as Deputy to the General Court in 1641 and 1642. He married Alice Freeman in 1644. In 1649, the couple moved to New London, where their newly built barn served as the first house of worship. They finally settled in Stonington where Robert died in 1664 at the age of 84. Alice died two months later.

Captain Thomas Willett

The First Mayor of New York City

Tenth Great Grandfather

1. Thomas Willett
+Mary Browne
2. Mary Willett
+Samuel Hooker
3. John Hooker
+Abigail Stanley
4. Hezekiah Hooker
+Abigail Curtis
5. James Hooker
+Dorothy Parmalee
6. Thomas Hooker
+Ruth Parmalee
7. Dr. Thomas Gould Hooker
+Esther Sweet
8. Thomas Edwin Hooker
+Lucy Hyde
9. Marcus Edwin Hooker
+Elizabeth Delphine Rosenburg
10. Jennie Estella Hooker
+John Emil Dahlquist Sr.
11. John Emil Dahlquist Jr.
+Florence Mary Bowman
12. Debra Florence Dahlquist
+Edward (Ned) Deck Munson
13. Scott Edward Munson :)


Thomas Willett was born in Norfolk, England about 1610 to Thomas and Mary Willett. The family was a member of a separatist congregation (Puritans) who were pursecuted by the King of England and the family moved to Holland where Thomas would have spent a significant portion of his childhood. This is important later, as it would give him some understanding of Dutch culture and allow him to feel at home in New Amsterdam (New York).


Thomas Willett arrived at the Plymouth Colony in 1629 at the age of 19. He was on board a second ship called the Mayflower (The first Mayflower had arrived in 1620 and established the Plymouth Colony). He was a well respected and honest young man and within a couple of years he was sent by Governor Bradford to Maine where he was soon in charge of the trading post on the Penobscot River. Beaver Furs were the life blood for trading in the New World and competition soon grew fierce. It was not long before a French battalion arrived at the post and chased the English traders, including Thomas Willett, out of the post. In 1635, he was assigned to a new post at the current site of Augusta, Maine.


Thomas Willett traveled extensively as a trader and soon found himself in New Amsterdam (New York) where he established himself as an honest businessman and befriended then Governor Petrus Stuyvesant. He probably spoke Dutch and understood Dutch culture having spent a portion of his childhood in Holland. This would prove invaluable in his business, personal and political dealings with this very important trade city. He was a learned man and probably was able to converse extensively on the affairs of New England, New Amsterdam and the World. In 1650, he actually represented New Netherlands in settling the disputed border with the Connecticut Colony.


In 1636, he married Mary Browne in Plymouth. Together they had 12 Children including my Ninth Great-Grandmother Mary, who married Rev. Thomas Hooker's son Samuel.


In 1647, Thomas Willett succeeded Miles Standish as Captain of the military company at Plymouth. This would have been an extremely important post, as tensions with the French, Dutch and Native Americans would have been a source of continued anxiety in the English settlements. In 1651, he was elected as Assistant Governor of the Plymouth Colony, serving for four years.


In 1660, Charles II became King of England. His brother, James, the Duke of York, decided that the Dutch settlement at New Netherlands was the only obstacle to English dominance in controlling trade in the New World. So, in 1664, a battalion was sent to invade New Amsterdam and take control of New Netherlands from the Dutch. Captain Willett joined the expedition as an advisor, again putting to use his knowledge of the Dutch culture, language and city.


When the people of New Amsterdam saw the show of force which the English were prepared to bring against them, they were ready to surrender. Stuyvesant tried to rally his neighbors for a fight, but the English had sent word that they would be treated fairly and peacefully if they surrendered. On September 8, 1664, the Dutch surrendered and New Amsterdam, New Netherlands became New York, New York, in honor of the new King's brother.


The English treated the Dutch very fairly as they had promised. The new English Governor Nicholls appointed Thomas Willett as the first mayor since he was known and liked in the town - an extremely judicious move. Thomas Willett served for mayor for one year, then as an alderman for one year and then for a second year as mayor.


In 1667 he retired to the Plymouth Colony. His home was in Swansea. His wife, Mary, died in 1669. He married Joanna (Boyse) Prudden in 1671. He died in Swansea in 1674 and is burried on land which was part of his property and is now located in East Providence, RI.

Introduction

OK. So, back in November of 2009, I decided to sign up for a free two week trial at ancestry.com. My great-grandmother on my Mother's side was Jennie Hooker, a direct descendant of Thomas Hooker, the "founder" of Hartford and Thomas Willett, the first English mayor of New York City, but that was all I knew. My uncle, Jim Buggie, had been doing some research on that side of the family, so I was especially interested in researching the Munson side. As far as I knew, nobody that I knew had ever taken on that task. What I discovered in those two weeks has opened my eyes to a whole new world of investigation and discovery and has kept me an addicted subscriber to ancestry.com.

I decided that I wanted to share some of what I was discovering with family members around the country, and hopefully tap into some of their collective memory and wisdom. At first I was thinking of publishing some sort of newsletter which I could mail or email to family quarterly. How old fashioned! I had been throwing that idea around for several months before it occured to me I could much more easily create a blog to post pictures, articles and stories as I discover them. So here we go.

I have been researching both sides of my family tree using an ancestral approach rather than a descendant approach. I have information on all of my Great Grandparent's names: Munson, Hotchkiss, Koerner, Von Deck, Dahlquist, Hooker, Bowman and Crogent. I hope to present profiles of ancestors in such a way that they are more than just a name and dates, but are connected to the events of the world around them. So far I have found immigrants from England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands. There are original puritan settlers of New England, key members of the Salem Witch Trials and other witch trials and a well-known King. Yes, a King!

I will try to indicate how each post is connected to me so that you will be able to figure out how it is connected to you. Hopefully you will enjoy what you read and maybe be sparked to do some research of your own. Be sure to add any comments you want to the post and make any corrections which need to be made.

I dedicate this blog to my Grandparents: Gram, Gramp, Nana and Grampa John (George, Ruth, Florence and John).