GENEALOGY.

*The following account has been compiled by N. Webster.*

Family of John Webster.

John Webster, the progenitor of a large family of that name in
Connecticut, was from Warwickshire in England. He was one of
the original settlers in Hartford, and one of the founders of the repub-
lic of Connecticut. From the formation of the constitution in 1639,
to the year 1659, he was chosen to office, and as a magistrate or judge,
he assisted in administering the government, from 1639 to 1655, when
he was elected deputy governor, and 1656 governor. In the three
following years he was chosen first magistrate.

In consequence of a long controversy in the church, of which Mr.
Stone was pastor, (for an account of which, see Trumbull's History
of Connecticut, Vol. I. Chap. 13,) John Webster and his sons, with
a number of their friends, determined to purchase a large tract of
land in Massachusetts, and remove with their families. The agree-
ment for this purpose was dated at Hartford, April 18th, 1659, and
signed by fifty nine persons, belonging to Hartford and Wethersfield,
including one or two from Windsor. The tract of land which they
purchased included the present towns of Hadley, Amherst, South
Hadley, and Granby, on the east side of the river Connecticut, and
Hatfield and a part of Williamsburg, on the west side. John Web-
ster's name stands at the head of the list of subscribers; the agree-
ment is also signed by Robert his son. This agreement is recorded
on the records of Hadley.

In the same year, 1659, the signers or some part of them, entered
upon the work of preparing for settlement in Hadley. John Web-
ster went probably to assist or superintend the laying out of the roads,
and other business, but he lodged in Northampton. There he was
taken sick, and made his will, which is dated June 25, 1659. This

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will is recorded on the probate records of Hampshire county, and a
copy of it is now before the writer. It is witnessed by John Russel,
Jun. (minister of Hadley,) and Eleazar Mather, (minister of North-
ampton.

Mr. Webster recovered from that sickness, and was appointed one
of the judges of the court, or as he is called, a commissioner. The
judges of the court were John Webster, John Pynchon and Samuel
Chapin. The court was held alternately at Northampton, and at
Springfield. On the 26th of March, 1661, a court was held at North-
ampton, and Mr. Webster was present, and he with others took the
freeman's oath, before Mr. Pynchon, and Mr. Holyoke, who was re-
corder. But Mr. Webster died on the 5th of April, and undoubtedly
was buried in Hadley, according to a direction in his will.*

John Webster's consort was named Agnes; and as her husband by
will gave her the use of his house and lands in Hartford during her
life, it is probable that she remained in Hartford after his death and
died there. The house of John Webster stood on the east side of
the highway, running north and south on the east side of the hill on
which stood the house of the late George Wyllys, and his house was
nearly east of the Wyllys house.

It appears by John Webster's will and by other documents, that he
had four sons, Robert, Matthew, William and Thomas, and three
daughters. Matthew is first named in the will, but Robert was prob-
ably the eldest son, as he was named sole executor, and received the
largest portion of the estate.

Matthew settled in Farmington. His name is not among those of
the *eighty four* original proprietors, who formed a company for set-
tling in Farmington in 1645. But by the records it appears he was
there in 1650, and from that year to 1671; when, being unable to
support himself, William Judd and John Woodruff undertook to pro-
vide for him and his *son John*, during their lives. In compensation,
Matthew Webster conveyed to them two parcels of land. It is not
known when he died.†

There was a Thomas Webster also, who owned land in Farming-
ton in 1650; but whether he was the son of John, hereafter men-
tioned, is not certain; if not, nothing further of him is known.

* Noah Webster, when he resided in Amherst, erected a monument to his an-
cestor in the Hadley burying ground.

† Extracts from the records of Farmington, communicated by Samuel Richards
and Horace Cowles, Esquires.

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John Webster, by his will, gave his lands in Hadley to his sons William and Thomas. William married Mary Reeves in 1671. He resided in Hadley, and died there about the year 1687 or '88, and probably without children. His wife, Mary Reeves, was accused of witchcraft about the year 1684-5, and her testimony was taken and sent to Boston. She however died in peace in 1696.

Thomas Webster, the son of John, removed to Northampton, where in 1663, he married Abigail Alexander, and by whom he had three children, Abigail, George and John. He sold his lands in Northampton, and purchased lands in Northfield, and removed to that town about the year 1673. In 1675, Northfield was attacked by Indians and the settlement broken up, and from 1676 to 1682, Thomas Webster resided in Hadley, where he had three daughters born. He afterwards returned to Northfield, where he died in 1686. Northfield was again destroyed by the Indians, and the settlers driven from the place; but the children of Thomas probably remained in that neighborhood, for I have known one person of that name, Ezekiel Webster of Northfield, who was in the house of representatives of Massachusetts with me in 1814, and I knew another in Bernardston.

One of John Webster's daughters, Anne, married John Marsh of Hadley, and died June 9th, 1662. Another married William Markham of Hadley, who afterwards returned to Connecticut. A third daughter, Mary, married one Hunt, but she died before the year 1659. She left two children, Jonathan Hunt, the ancestor of the Hunts in Northampton, and Mary Hunt, who married John Ingersoll of Westfield, from whom have descended the Ingersolls in Connecticut.*

Robert Webster was probably the eldest son of John. He was chosen to represent the town of Hartford in 1656, 1657, 1658, and 1659. He was sole executor of the will of his father, and probably did not remove his family to Hadley, or if he did, he returned to Hartford very soon. He died in 1676, and a copy of his will dated May 20th, in that year, (taken from the records in Hartford,) witnessed by Thomas Stedman and Phineas Wilson, is now before the writer. He gave all his estate to his consort Susannah, during her widowhood. She remained a widow till her death. Her will is dated January 23d, 1698. In this she bequeathed her estate to her five sons named, and to the children of John her eldest son, deceased. The sons then of Robert Webster, were John, Jonathan, Samuel, Robert, Joseph and William. He had also four daughters; Susannah, who was married

* Letter from Sylvester Judd, Esq. of Northampton.

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to John Grave of Hartford, and died before her mother; Mary, who was married to Thomas King; Eliza, who was married to John Sea-more, (probably Seymour,) and Sarah who was married to — Mygatt.

*Children of Robert Webster.*

JOHN, 2d, who died in 1694.

JONATHAN, who married Dorcas Hopkins in 1681 and died in 1735.

SAMUEL, who died in 1734.

ROBERT, 2d, who married Hannah Beckly and died in 1744.

JOSEPH, who died in 1750.

WILLIAM, who died in 1722.

*Children of John Webster, 2d, eldest son of Robert, 1st.*

JOHN, 3d, who married Abiel Steele in 1712, and died in 1753. He settled in Southington.

EBENEZER, who died old. I remember him.

JACOB, who married Elizabeth Nichols, and died in 1728.

DANIEL, my grandfather, born in 1693, the year before his father died, and deceased in 1765. He was the youngest child. He married Miriam Kellogg in 1719. I remember his funeral.

SARAH.

ANN.

ABIGAIL, who married Jacob Merrill in 1710.

*Children of Daniel Webster.*

DANIEL, who died young.

NOAH, my father, born March 25th, O. S., married Mercy Steele, daughter of Eliphalet Steele, in 1749. He died Nov. 9th, 1813, aged 91 years and seven months.

ZEPHANIAH, born June 1st, 1724, and died in March, 1761. He left two sons, Bavil and Zephaniah, who died in middle life.

ABRAM, who died in 1751.

MIRIAM, born Oct. 1st, 1729. Her first husband was William Sedg-wick, by whom she had children, Sarah, William, Timothy and Is-abel. She afterward was married to Mr. Marsh of New Hartford. She died at a great age at her son Timothy's, in West Hartford.

DANIEL, born Sept. 4th, 1731, and died by palsy in 1783. He left two sons, Daniel and Asahel, and one daughter. Daniel died in Hartford, in middle age, leaving children. Asahel settled first in Putney, Vermont, and afterwards removed to Ohio.

ELIHU, who died in youth.

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Children of Noah Webster, my father.

MERCY, born Nov. 8th, O. S. 1749, married John Kellogg Belden, and died August, 11th, 1820.

ABRAM, born in 1751, the year his uncle died, and he was named from him. His first wife, Merril, of New Hatford, died in child-bed. He then married Dorothy Seymour, by whom he had children, Rachel, Eunice, Sophia, Dorothy, and a son named Seymour, who died in the army in the war of 1812-14. He afterwards married Eunice Childs, of Deerfield. He died in Sullivan, N. Y., August 4th, 1831, nearly eighty years of age.

JERUSHA, born in 1756, married Joel Lord of Salisbury, who removed to Danby in the state of New York. She died Feb. 21st, 1821. Her children are Chester, Harley and Jerusha. The latter married the Rev. Mr. Parker, now on a mission to the flat head Indians.

NOAH, born Oct. 16th, 1758, married Rebecca Greenleaf, of Boston, Oct. 26th, 1789.

CHARLES, born Sept. 2d, 1762, married Betsey Woodruff, by whom he had children; Charles, Elson or Nelson, and Woodruff. By a second wife, Mrs. Wilkinson, he had Elizabeth and Jonathan. Nelson was midshipman in the ship commanded by Capt. Eliot, in the engagement on Lake Erie, and conducted himself so gallantly, as to be promoted on the spot.

Children of Noah Webster, 2d.

EMILY, born August 4, 1790, married to William Woolcott Ellsworth Sept. 14, 1813.

FRANCES JULIANA, born February 5, 1793, married to Chauncey Allen Goodrich Oct. 1, 1816.

HARRIET, born April 6, 1797, married first to Edward H. Cobb of Portland, May 22, 1816; afterward to William Chauncey Fowler July 26, 1825.

MARY, born January 7, 1799, married to Horatio Southgate of Portland, and died February 28, 1819, leaving one daughter, Mary Webster Southgate.

WILLIAM GREENLEAF, born September 15, 1801, married Rosalie Eugene Stuart of Virginia, May 5, 1831; removed to Cincinnati in 1835.

ELIZA STEELE, born December 21, 1803, married to Henry Jones September 5, 1825.

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HENRY BRADFORD, born November 20, 1806, died about 10 weeks old.

LOUISA, born April 12, 1808.

*Other branches of the family.*

JONATHAN WEBSTER, second son of Robert, first married Dorcas Hopkins in 1681, and died 1735. His children were,

JONATHAN, born March 18, 1682.

SUSANNAH, born April 25, 1686, married to Thomas Steele in 1709.

MARY, born September 29, 1688, married to J. Brace 1706.

MEHITABEL, born March 8, 1691, married to David Bidwell in 1714.

STEPHEN, born January 1, 1693, married Mary Burnham in 1717.

BENJAMIN, born August 9, 1698. He removed to Litchfield.

Jonathan, the eldest son above named, married Esther Judd in 1704. He died about 1758. His issue,

JONATHAN, who settled in Glastenbury.

EZEKIEL, who married Rebecca Gaines in 1731, and settled in East Hartford. He died in 1756.

Also Stephen, Esther, Jemima, Mehitabel, Dorcas, Sarah, Mary, and David.

ROBERT WEBSTER, fourth son of Robert, married Hannah Beckley in 1689, died in 1744. His issue were,

ROBERT, born in 1689.

ABRAM, born in 1693.

HANNAH, born in 1695.

MATTHEW, born in 1698.

JOSEPH, born in 1700, married Hannah Baker in 1726.

CALEB, born in 1702.

MARY, born in 1704.

ABIGAIL, born in 1711.

STEPHEN, the son of Jonathan, 1st, born January 1, 1693, and married Mary Burnham in 1717. His issue were,

ISAAC, born in 1718, settled in West Hartford, and died in 1802. I knew him well.

MARY, born in 1720.

TIMOTHY, born in 1723, removed to Litchfield, and died in 1802 or 3.

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Isaac above named had issue,
STEPHEN.

ISAAC, the father of Truman, who married a daughter of Dr. Per-
kins.

GIDEON, the father of Ira, who married Miss Francis.

With all these I was well acquainted.

Isaac had also a daughter who married Elisha Mix, a companion of
my youth, brother of John Mix, and of Samuel, my companions.

EBENEZER, second son of John 3d, born about 1689 or 90. I re-
member him. His issue were,

MATTHEW, } All these I knew. Matthew was the father of
MEDAD, } Charles R. and George Webster of Albany. Medad
EBENEZER. } died in Hartford.

JOHN WEBSTER, 3d, eldest son of John 2d, married Abiel Steele
in 1712, removed to Southington, and died in 1753. His issue,

ELISHA, born in 1713, graduated at Yale College in 1738; minis-
ter of the gospel. I knew him well. He lived many years mostly
upon opium.

JERUSAHA, born in 1715.

AARON, born in 1716.

ABIEL, born in 1718.

MERCY, born in 1720.

SARAH, born in 1722.

ANN, born in 1724.

SUSAN, born in 1726.

JOHN, born in 1728.

OSEE.

JOSEPH WEBSTER, fifth son of Robert 1st, had issue,
MARY, born in May, 1697.

ELIZABETH, born in March, 1700.

One daughter is said to have married Isaac Kellogg, who settled
in New Hartford; and the other married a Waters.

Ezekiel Webster, second son of Jonathan 2d, married Rebecca
Gaines in 1731. He settled in East Hartford. His issue, Rebecca,
Ruth, Ezekiel and Elijah.

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WILLIAM WEBSTER, youngest son of Robert 1, had issue by Sarah his wife,

CYPRIAN, born in 1701, who married Elizabeth Seymour in 1729.
He removed to Harwinton.

MOSES, born in 1702.

WILLIAM, born in 1703; settled in Wintonbury.

MOSES, born in 1706; married Mary Brace, 1733.

SUSAN, born in 1710.

SAMUEL, born about 1714.

Moses had sons, Moses born in 1734, and Abijah in 1736.

## PELATIAH WEBSTER.

Pelatiah Webster was a native of Lebanon in Connecticut, but it is not ascertained from which branch of the family he descended. He was graduated at Yale College in 1746. He entered into the ministry, and settled in Greenwich, in the County of Hampshire, Massachusetts. He was predecessor to the Rev. Mr. Cutler, father of the late Dr. Cutler of Amherst.

Mr. Webster being dismissed from his pastoral charge, entered into trade, and settled in Philadelphia, where he accumulated a handsome estate. He had attended a good deal to matters of finance, and during the revolution it was customary for members of Congress, especially the Connecticut delegation, to pass evenings with him, and consult upon the money concerns of the United States. In 1783, he wrote a dissertation on the *Political Union and Constitution of the United States*. In this, he attempted to prove the necessity of vesting Congress with more power.

Mr. Webster had one son, who died in Philadelphia in the summer after the British troops left the city. He had two daughters who married in Connecticut. RUTH married John Perit, by whom she had two sons, John and Pelatiah. John settled in Philadelphia, and Pelatiah in New York. After the death of Mr. Perit, she married Mr. Leffingwell of Norwich. She is still living, and a widow.

SOPHIA WEBSTER, the other daughter of Pelatiah, married Thaddeus Perit, and had one son, Pelatiah, who died in early life.

Tradition reports that Pelatiah Webster had two brothers, Constant and Oliver, who settled in Worthington, Massachusetts.

New Haven, January, 1836.