Genealogy Data Page 23 (Notes Pages)

Leete, William (b. 1612, d. 16 APR 1683)

Note: Governor William Leete was educated as a lawyer and worked as a registrar in the Bishop's Court at Cambridge, England. He was so impressed by the fortitude of the Puritans who were being persecuted by the religious authorities that he looked into their doctrines and was converted.

To escape the persecution he had witnessed, he joined Reverend Henry Whitfield's company and sailed for America in May, 1639, with his wife. On June 1st, 1639, during the voyage, he signed with others a Plantation Covenant. Arriving in New Haven, they bought land from the Indians and established a town later named Guilford. Leete was chosen as one of the six trustees of this land and one of the four who acted as a temporary government. He was town secretary from 1639 until he resigned in 1662. He was also one of the "seven pillars" who organized the Guilford Church in 1643, after which the town entered the "combination" at New Haven and Leete was sent to represent the town there.

He became town magistrate in 1651, a position he held until his death. He frequently undertook missions for the colony to other New England colonies and represented New Haven colony in the New England Confederation from 1655 to 1664. He was deputy governor of New Haven Colony from 1658 to 1661 and Governor from 1661 to 1664.

After the restoration of King Charles II, most of those who had sided with Parliament and the Commonwealth were forgiven by the general pardon issued by Charles II and by the Act of Oblivion passed by Parliament. The exceptions were the so-called regicides, those who had directly partaken in the trial and execution of Charles I. Those who were captured mostly suffered the penalty for treason (see No.3812). Two of the judges at the King's trial, Edward Whalley and William Goffe, however, escaped to New England.

On May 11, 1661, two King's Pursuivants called on then Acting Governor Leete's house at Guilford, and asked for his authority to arrest the two fugitives, who were known to be hiding in New Haven. Leete parleyed with the king's officers for as long as he could, meanwhile having sent a messenger to warn the two men. The two escaped and the officers' attempts to have Leete arraigned by Governor Endicott in Boston were unsuccessful.

It was largely due to the influence of William Leete that New Haven peacefully submitted to the Connecticut charter of 1662. As a reward, he was chosen as a magistrate by the Connecticut General Court. In 1669 he was named deputy governor of Connecticut and served for seven years until, following the death of Governor Winthrop, he became Governor. He served that office until he died in 1683.

There is an article on Governor William Leete in the Dictionary of American Biography and in the American National Biography.

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: DAB
Title: Dictionary of American Biography

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: ANB
Title: American National Biography

Given Name: William

Death: 16 APR 1683 Hartford, Connecticut

Burial: The cemetery of the First Church of Hartford, Connecticut

Change: Date: 12 Apr 2003

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Payne, Anna (b. 1621, d. 1 SEP 1668)

Given Name: Anna

Death: 1 SEP 1668

Change: Date: 9 Feb 2003

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Chittenden, William (b. ABT 1594, d. 1 FEB 1660/61)

Note: Major William Chittenden served in the English army in the Netherlands during the Thirty Years War, holding the rank of major.

He came to Guilford, Connecticut, in 1639, and was one of the founders of the church there on Jun 1 1639. he served as a representative to the General Court in twenty-seven sessions between 1643 and his death in 1661. He also served as a town magistrate. He was one of six people selected to purchase land from the Indians in Guilford and was one of four who received "full power and authority to act, order and dispatch all matters respecting the publick weal and civile government of the plantation until a church is gathered amonge us."

Because of his experience and rank, he was the chief military man in the town of Guilford.

His home lot was on the south side of Broad Street at the turn west of the green.

His estate was inventoried at 677 pounds 16 shillings and 7 pence.

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: Flagg
Title: Ernest Flagg, The Founding of New England (The Case, Lockwood & Brainar
d Co., Hartford, Connecticut, 1926)
d Co., Hartford, Connecticut, 1926.
Page: p. 287.

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: Threfall
Title: John Brooks Threlfall, Twenty-Six Great Migration Colonists to New Engl
and & Their Origins (Madison, Wisconsin: n.p., 1993.)
and & Their Origins
and & Their Origins. Madison, Wisconsin: n.p., 1993.
Page: p. 260.

Given Name: William

Death: 1 FEB 1660/61 Guilford, Connecticut

Change: Date: 9 Feb 2003

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Sheaffe, Joan (b. ABT 1614, d. 16 DEC 1668)

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: Threfall
Title: John Brooks Threlfall, Twenty-Six Great Migration Colonists to New Engl
and & Their Origins (Madison, Wisconsin: n.p., 1993.)
and & Their Origins
and & Their Origins. Madison, Wisconsin: n.p., 1993.
Page: p. 260.

Given Name: Joan

Death: 16 DEC 1668 Guilford, Connecticut

Change: Date: 9 Feb 2003

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Trowbridge, Thomas (b. ABT 1600, d. BEF 7 FEB 1672)

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: Trowbridge I
Title: Francis Bacon Trowbridge, The Trowbridge Genealogy: History of the Ttro
wbridge Family in America (New Haven, Connecticut: n.p., 1908)
wbridge Family in America
wbridge Family in America. New Haven, Connecticut: n.p., 1908.

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: Trowbridge II
Title: Charles Fitch-Northern, The trowbridge Ancestry (The Genealogist, Vol. X
, 1987, pp. 3-39)
, 1987, pp. 3-39.

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: Ancestors of American Presidents
Title: Compiled by Gary Boyd Roberts, Ancestors of American Presidents (Santa C
larita, California: C. Boyer 3rd, in cooperation with the New England H
istoric Genealogical Society, 1995.)
larita, California: C. Boyer 3rd, in cooperation with the New England H
istoric Genealogical Society, 1995.

Given Name: Thomas

Death: BEF 7 FEB 1672 Taunton, Devon

Burial: 7 FEB 1672 Taunton, Devon

Change: Date: 12 Apr 2003

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Marshall, Elizabeth (b. ABT 1605, d. BEF 1640)

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: Ancestors of American Presidents
Title: Compiled by Gary Boyd Roberts, Ancestors of American Presidents (Santa C
larita, California: C. Boyer 3rd, in cooperation with the New England H
istoric Genealogical Society, 1995.)
larita, California: C. Boyer 3rd, in cooperation with the New England H
istoric Genealogical Society, 1995.

Given Name: Elizabeth

Death: BEF 1640 New Haven, Connecticut

Change: Date: 9 Feb 2003

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Rutherford, Henry (b. , d. 1668)

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: Ancestors of American Presidents
Title: Compiled by Gary Boyd Roberts, Ancestors of American Presidents (Santa C
larita, California: C. Boyer 3rd, in cooperation with the New England H
istoric Genealogical Society, 1995.)
larita, California: C. Boyer 3rd, in cooperation with the New England H
istoric Genealogical Society, 1995.

Given Name: Henry

Death: 1668

Change: Date: 9 Feb 2003

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----------, Sarah (b. , d. 1673)

Source: (Individual)
Abbreviation: Ancestors of American Presidents
Title: Compiled by Gary Boyd Roberts, Ancestors of American Presidents (Santa C
larita, California: C. Boyer 3rd, in cooperation with the New England H
istoric Genealogical Society, 1995.)
larita, California: C. Boyer 3rd, in cooperation with the New England H
istoric Genealogical Society, 1995.