Dorothy Hooker Chester, Hartford Founder

Compiled by Timothy Lester Jacobs, SDFH Genealogist

DOROTHY¹ HOOKER, WIDOW CHESTER, HARTFORD FOUNDER (THOMAS^A) was born abt. 1589 in Tilton, Leicester, England, and died bef. 27 May 1662 in Hartford, CT (inventory). She married JOHN CHESTER 01 Jun 1609 in Birstall, Leicester, England, son of LEONARD CHESTER and BRIDGET SHARP. He was born bef. 1521 in prob Blaby, Leicester, England, and died bef. 15 Oct 1628 in St. Margaret’s, Leicester, England (inventory).

Dorothy Hooker, known in Hartford as Mrs. Dorothy Chester (widow of John Chester, who died in England in 1628) may have come to the Massachusetts Bay Colony with her brother Rev. Thomas Hooker aboard the ship “Griffin” in 1633 from Leicester, England, but she was certainly in Cambridge in 1634, where she was granted four acres in Westend Field on 1 December 1634. She removed with her brother to Hartford in 1636 where she was an original proprietor. In the Hartford land inventory in February 1639/40, she held five parcels: 2 acres on which her home lot was located on the west side of the road from the Palisade to Centinel Hill; one acre and eight perches in the North Meadow; six acres and ten perches of meadow and one acre and one rood of swamp in the North Meadow; one rood and fifteen perches in the Little Meadow: and one acre and eight perches on the east side of the Great River.

On 14 January 1639 it was ordered that she have two years liberty to build upon her house lot. She may have at this time in living in her brother Thomas’ home, or with her son Leonard, who was in Wethersfield by 5 November 1637, when his daughter Dorcas was born.

Administration on her estate was granted on 6 June 1662 to Edward Stebbins, and inventory of the estate was taken 27 May 1662

Genealogy: no specific genealogy on the descendants of Dorothy Hooker Chester is known