William Wadsworth, Hartford Founder

Compiled by Timothy Lester Jacobs, SDFH Genealogist

WILLIAM¹ WADSWORTH, HARTFORD FOUNDER was born abt. 1601 in prob Essex, England, and died bef. 16 Oct 1675 in Hartford, CT (inventory). He married (1) SARAH TALCOTT bef. 1626 in England, daughter of JOHN TALCOTT and ANNE SKINNER. She was born in Braintree, Essex, England, and died Bef. 1644 in Hartford, CT. He married (2) ELIZABETH STONE 02 Jul 1644 in Hartford, CT, daughter of HARTFORD FOUNDER JOHN STONE and _______ ROGERS. She was baptized 21 Oct 1621 in Hertford, Hertfordshire, England, and died bef. 06 Mar 1681/82 in Farmington, CT (inventory).

William Wadsworth emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony aboard the ship “Lyon” in 1632. He was made freeman in Massachusetts 6 November 1632, and probably resided in Watertown. He removed to Hartford in 1636 where, in the Hartford land inventory in February 1639/40, he held: four acres on which his dwelling house stood located on the corner the road from Seth Grant’s to Centinel Hill and the road from the Meeting House to the mill; three roods and twenty perches in the Little Meadow; two acres, two roods and ten perches in the North Meadow; twenty-three acres and twenty-two perches also in the North Meadow; three acres and twenty-four perches on the east side of the Great River; eight acres of swamp; twenty-two acres in the Old Oxpasture; eleven acres, thirty perches in the Cow Pasture; ten acres in the Neck of Land; and twenty-five roods on the east side of the Great River.

He was Collector for Hartford and 1638; Deputy to the General Court from 1652 to 1675; was on the Committee on Stonington and Indian Bounds in 1666; Indian Commissioner in 1666, and on the Militia Committee also in 1666. He was on the War Committee 1673 and the Committee on Indian Complaints in 1674, during King Philip’s War.

His first wife Sarah Talcott was sister of Hartford Founder John Talcott and of Rachel Talcott who married Hartford Founder John Steele, and she was an aunt of Hartford founder John Skinner. His second wife was Elizabeth Stone, the sister of Hartford Founder Rev. Samuel Stone.

His will was dated 16 May 1675 and was proved 26 January 1675/6.

Genealogy not recommended: “The Wadsworth Family in America, 1632 – 1985, New England and New York”, Book 1, Mary Jane Wadsworth, 1985. This genealogy puts forth an English origin of William Wadsworth which is not accepted. It has numerous errors, and has minimal citation.