A Whole Lotta Family - Person Sheet
A Whole Lotta Family - Person Sheet
Spouses
Birth1624, Stamford, Fairfield Co, Connecticut Colony, BCA13
FatherPhillip Thomas (1604-~1686)
MotherSarah (Thomas) (1604-)
Marriageabt 1643, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America13
ChildrenJoseph (1649-1691)
Notes for Thomas Stedwell (Studwell)
Thomas was born in England, perhaps ca 1620, probably in a county near London. The most likely counties, based on occurrences of the name, are Sussex, London and Surrey.
Marion Stedwell, in “Steadwell, Stedwell, Studwell”, cites several instances of a Thomas Stidwell/Stedwell/Studdell in Virginia, beginning in 1633. The last such reference is for the transport of Thomas Studdell, wife and child on March 6, 1654/5. So it’s possible that Thomas went first to Virginia, then later moved to Connecticut, where he first appears in 1656.
* When he arrived in Connecticut he had sufficient resources to buy a fair amount of land.
* He was an inhabitant of Greenwich on Oct 6, 1656, when he (and 10 others) signed a petition asking the Colony of New Haven to assume responsibility for the settlement. (Authority over the area around Greenwich and Rye seems to have been disputed by New Netherlands, New York, New Haven and Connecticut and it appears that the early settlers may have tried to play the situation to their advantage. One result in that the early records are fragmentary and sometimes confusing.)
* He bought land from Richard Crabb on Feb 22, 1658, and resold parts of it in 1660 and 1661.
* On June 29, 1660, Peter Disbrow, John Cole and Thomas Studwell bought Manursing Island, and Thomas then built a house there.
* On July 26, 1662 he considered himself an inhabitant of Manursing, when Disbrow, Cole and Thomas Stidwell petitioned Charles II for protection. He signed the document with his mark, so it seems he couldn’t write.
* On March 26, 1663 he signed a letter to the General Court at Hartford acknowledging its jurisdiction and requesting the appointment of a constable or other agent with authority to grant warrants.
* On April 28, 1663 he bought land on the mainland, and on April 29 he sold his interest in Manursing. He moved to the mainland and in 1667 he was a proprietor of the salt marsh in Rye.
* In 1667 he sold his house and home lot in Rye and went to Stamford.
* On July 19, 1667, in Stamford, he received compensation for fulfilling the indenture of his son Joseph.
* On Jan 1, 1667/8 he bought a house and land in Stamford from Timothy Knapp.
* At Stamford in March 1667/8 he promised to return a parcel of goods which he had borrowed, and offered as security 3 acres of meadow in the east field at Stamford. The parcel included hatter’s tools, pots, sheepskins, wool and etc.
* In April, 1668 he applied for horse pasture as a resident of Stamford.
Thomas died before May 8, 1669, when an inventory of his estate was taken.
After his death, the fortunes of Thomas’ family seem to have deteriorated rapidly. This may have been due to Thomas’ debts or to mismanagement of his estate:
* On Nov 16, 1669 Elizabeth Studwell sued Jan Hendrix Van Gunst for breach of promise.
* The Stamford Town Meeting records (p.236) then state:
“ Ye 25th of March 69/70.... it is voted yt Mr. Laws, Goodman Slawson, Goodman Brown have power comited to them from ye town to take order with & dispose of Elizabeth Studwell, ye wife of Thomas Studwell, desessed & her child together or apart as thay se cause and ye town air to stand by wt thay doe.”
Marion Stedwell, in “Steadwell, Stedwell, Studwell”, cites several instances of a Thomas Stidwell/Stedwell/Studdell in Virginia, beginning in 1633. The last such reference is for the transport of Thomas Studdell, wife and child on March 6, 1654/5. So it’s possible that Thomas went first to Virginia, then later moved to Connecticut, where he first appears in 1656.
* When he arrived in Connecticut he had sufficient resources to buy a fair amount of land.
* He was an inhabitant of Greenwich on Oct 6, 1656, when he (and 10 others) signed a petition asking the Colony of New Haven to assume responsibility for the settlement. (Authority over the area around Greenwich and Rye seems to have been disputed by New Netherlands, New York, New Haven and Connecticut and it appears that the early settlers may have tried to play the situation to their advantage. One result in that the early records are fragmentary and sometimes confusing.)
* He bought land from Richard Crabb on Feb 22, 1658, and resold parts of it in 1660 and 1661.
* On June 29, 1660, Peter Disbrow, John Cole and Thomas Studwell bought Manursing Island, and Thomas then built a house there.
* On July 26, 1662 he considered himself an inhabitant of Manursing, when Disbrow, Cole and Thomas Stidwell petitioned Charles II for protection. He signed the document with his mark, so it seems he couldn’t write.
* On March 26, 1663 he signed a letter to the General Court at Hartford acknowledging its jurisdiction and requesting the appointment of a constable or other agent with authority to grant warrants.
* On April 28, 1663 he bought land on the mainland, and on April 29 he sold his interest in Manursing. He moved to the mainland and in 1667 he was a proprietor of the salt marsh in Rye.
* In 1667 he sold his house and home lot in Rye and went to Stamford.
* On July 19, 1667, in Stamford, he received compensation for fulfilling the indenture of his son Joseph.
* On Jan 1, 1667/8 he bought a house and land in Stamford from Timothy Knapp.
* At Stamford in March 1667/8 he promised to return a parcel of goods which he had borrowed, and offered as security 3 acres of meadow in the east field at Stamford. The parcel included hatter’s tools, pots, sheepskins, wool and etc.
* In April, 1668 he applied for horse pasture as a resident of Stamford.
Thomas died before May 8, 1669, when an inventory of his estate was taken.
After his death, the fortunes of Thomas’ family seem to have deteriorated rapidly. This may have been due to Thomas’ debts or to mismanagement of his estate:
* On Nov 16, 1669 Elizabeth Studwell sued Jan Hendrix Van Gunst for breach of promise.
* The Stamford Town Meeting records (p.236) then state:
“ Ye 25th of March 69/70.... it is voted yt Mr. Laws, Goodman Slawson, Goodman Brown have power comited to them from ye town to take order with & dispose of Elizabeth Studwell, ye wife of Thomas Studwell, desessed & her child together or apart as thay se cause and ye town air to stand by wt thay doe.”