Peter A. Rhodes of Enfield, Ct.:Information about THOMAS HURLBURT

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THOMAS HURLBURT (b. 26 Mar 1610, d. 12 Oct 1671)

THOMAS HURLBURT (son of RICHARD HURLBUT and ANNE BOWER) was born 26 Mar 1610 in CHIPPENHAM, WILTSHIRE, ENGLAND, and died 12 Oct 1671 in WEATHERFIELD, CT.. He married SARAH on 1639 in WETHERFIELD, CT.

Notes for THOMAS HURLBURT:
From the History of Ancient Wethersfield, vol II, by Stiles, page 442-4

Biography: Thomas came across the Atlantic, it is supposed, in the year 1635, as a sailor with Lion Gardiner, who built and commanded the fort at Saybrook, Ct.

Thomas, while at Saybrook, was in an encounter with the Pequot Indians in 1637, and was wounded by an arrow. This appears in a letter of Lion Gardiner, written in June of 1660, some 23 years after the skirmish with the Indians, addressed to Robert Chapman and Thomas Hurlbut, detailing incidents regarding the Pequot War. Capt. Gardiner said that Robert Chapman, Thomas Hurlbut and Major Mason urged him to write the letter, 'and having rummaged and found some old papers then written, it was a great help to my memory.' The document laid in manuscript until 1833 (173 years) when it was printed in Vol 3, 3rd Ser. of the Mass. Historical Society Coll.

Thomas Hurlbut was by trade a blacksmith, and after the war with the Pequots, he located and established himself in business at Wethersfield, Ct., and was one of the early settlers, as well as the first blacksmith.

He seems to have been a man of good standing in the community. He was Clerk of the 'Train Band' in 1640, Deputy to the General Court, Grand Juror and also Constable in 1644. It appears on the records that he received various tracts of land in several divisions of the town, which were recorded together in 1647. In 1660, the Town of Wethersfield granted Thomas Hurlbut Lot 39, one of the 'four score acre lots (in Naubuc, east side of the river), which he afterward sold to Thomas Hollister. For his services in the Indian wars, the Assembly voted him a grant of 120 acres of land on 12 Oct 1671. It is supposed that Thomas died soon after the last date, as no evidence appears that the land was set off to him during his life. In that early day of the Colony, land was plenty and cheap, and no attempt appears to have been made to avail himself of the bounty, nor even by his sons, it was not until 1694, on the petition of John Hurlbut, Jr,. of Middletown, a grandson of the settler and soldier, that it was set off.

More About THOMAS HURLBURT:
Burial: Unknown, OLD BURYING GROUND, WETHERSFIELD, CT..

More About THOMAS HURLBURT and SARAH:
Marriage: 1639, WETHERFIELD, CT.

Children of THOMAS HURLBURT and SARAH are:

+THOMAS HURLBURT, JR., b. Abt. 1640, WEATHERFIELD, CT., d. Sep 1690, WEATHERFIELD, CT..