Sgt William Cornwell Genealogy

Record modified: 2023-01-30
This is my ancestor 11 generations back.

 / George Cornwell
 / William Cornwell|
|  \ Joan (unknown)
Sgt William Cornwell |
|  /
 \ Margery Haywarde |
 \

Born: 1609-05-25 Terling, Essex England
Died: 1678-02-21 Hartford Co, Connecticut USA
Marriages:
1. 1639-00-00 Mary Hyanno

Children of Sgt William Cornwell and Mary Hyanno:
*Sgt John Cornwall b. 1640-04-00


Notes:

birth and death dates new-style

other children:
William 1641-06-24 d 1677-11-02 + 1670-06-08 Mary Bull/Bell
Samuel 1642-09-xx d 1728-12-06 + Rebecca Bull
Jacob 1646-09-xx d 1708-04-18 + 1677-01-16 (new style) Mary White
Sarah 1647-10-xx + 1677-01-16 Daniel Hubbard
Thomas 1648-09-xx d 1702 + 1675-10-16 Sarah Clarke
Hester 1650-05-xx d 1733-05-02 + John II Wilcox
Elizabeth 1652-01-xx + John Hall

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from this page : (edited slightly)
William, the immigrant ancestor, is first listed in America in the Reverend John Eliot's list of the members of his church in Roxbury, Massachusetts as William Cornewell and Joane Cornewell, the wife of William Cornewell, 1633. By 1636 he joined a group of settlers moving to Connecticut, according to a "Commemorative Biographical Records of Middlesex Co., CT. (F-576.8)

According to an unnamed genealogy on William Cornwell, his parents were William Cornwell and Joan Martyn instead of Margary Hayward and its source was the Parish Records of Terling. The Parish records, however, only list his father, William.

In 1639 when the land records began in Hartford, Connecticut, he was already living there at #54, west of South Street, south from the Lane, with eight acres of land in the village. He was not an original landowner of Hartford but was still one of its earliest residents. Part of his lands were received for his services in the Pequot War.

A land inventory was taken of Hartford in 1639 where he is called "William Cornwell, Sergeant-at-arms". Some sources say that this title comes from the fact that he was a bodyguard for Charles I before emigrating to the new world, but this has not been proven. All records in England indicate he was a farmer, pure and simple. He emigrated to New England about the time he married and became a Puritan. Historian Christopher Kylin believes this would have been in the early 1630's. Shortly after his first marriage he travelled to the Americas in search of other opportunities. He is listed as a founder of Hartford in their monument in 1636. He was an Indian Fighter in the territories here, participating in what is now the famous Pequot Massacre of 1637 in Mystic, Connecticut. This is where he achieved the rank of Sergeant. He was one of 77 soldiers involved, 58 of them from Hartford, CT under John Mason, and 19 from Massachussets under Capt. John Underhill. It is statistically likely that William had moved to Connecticut by 1637. In any case, he joined up under John Mason as his troops moved through Hartford on his way to Fort Saybrook. In 1638, he helped negotiate the purchase of Indian lands for the Stratford Colony in Connecticut. In 1639, he was granted a plot of land in Hartford and was called the "Sgt." in these records. By 1639, he supposedly had married again a person named Mary. No marriage record has been able to be located, at a time period when marriage records were being documented. It is entirely possible that William's second wife was a common-law wife.

One source, United Ancestries, a professional genealogical research group, published on CD-100 that Mary's maiden name was Hyanno. This happens to be the name of an Indian Princess of that time period. This was research done for Sharon L. Dodson and they gave her no sourcing for their work. (F-639) There is another family, the Bearce's, that claims her in their line from: "Who our Forefathers Really Were. A True Narrative of our White and Indian Ancestors" by Franklin Ele-watum Bearse. It lists as proof a diary of one of her grandchildren where she was the wife of Augustine Bearse and was having children with him from 1640-1660 in Massachusetts. Bearse submitted this lineage to the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Connecticut during the depression hoping to gain financial assistance for his supposed "Indian Blood". Jacobus, in the "The American Genealogist" Vol. XV (1938-9), disproved much of this document and considered the Mary Hyanno, wife of Augustine Bearce, to be highly suspect. The diary wasn't in existence in the Library of Congress as was stated in Bearse's work either. A professor in Florida discovered that even Bearse's middle name was not his name on his birthrecord, but made up to support his claim that he was descended from 3 Indian princesses. In 1937, he applied for a U.S. social security number about the same time he was submitting his lineage to the Indian Bureau, and claimed he was Schagticoke Indian.... with the middle name of Elewathum. (F-642)

Although the Bearce lineage can be easily dismissed, no first hand evidence has been found that Mary Hyanno is the wife of our William Cornwell either. There is some circumstantial evidence that supports this connection though. William was involved in negotations with the tribe that Mary Hyanno was a member of. He appears to be the original land owner of sections of land on "Indian Hill" in Middletown, the town he helped found. (Could he have inherited this through a marriage to Mary Hyanno?) The fact that his 2nd marriage wasn't recorded in a time period when marriages were listed in the public records possibly indicates that it could be because of a marriage to an Indian. (F-582)

They next were found living in Middletown (Mattabeseck Settlement) on the Connecticut River, fifteen miles below Hartford. He could have actually moved to the Mattabeseck settlement by as early as 1642. It appears that William had some land he was renting in Hartford previous to 1644, that he sublet out to a William Lewis. William Lewis defaulted on his payments, for which the landlord, Matthew Allen, sued him. The court case mentions the fact that Mr. Lewis had made arrangements with William Cornwall for the rental agreement. There are no other land transactions or records that suggest William continued to live in Hartford at the time of or after this court case.

William and Mary moved to the east side of the Connecticut river at Hocanum probably years before Mar. 5, 1648. On that date, he indentured his seven-year-old second son, William, to Susannah Hooker of Hartford, CT for his education.

According to the research of Christopher Kylin, he and his sons helped found Middletown and could have been some of its earliest settlers around 1650 or 1651. They and their oldest son John lived next to each other near the present-day corner of Main and Washington streets. (F-322) He owned 5 acres at the intersection of these streets and ten acres across the street from his home, as well as 900 acres in Middletown and "a great lot over the Great River." He was granted 903 acres of this land on Mar 15, 1652, and the deed was recorded for it on Feb. 30, 1657. It is interesting to note that his will indicates that he owns multiple acres on Indian Hill (Indian lands before his ownership of them). (F-576)

William and family joined the church in Middletown on 3 Dec. 1668 shortly after it was founded. William became a representative from Middletown in the Colonial Legislature in 1654, 1664, and 1665. He was also a constable in 1664. A March 26, 1670 tax list gives 52 house holders in Middletown, CT, including him and three of his sons, the other two having stayed behind in Hartford. He was included in this list even though the General Court in 1667 had freed him from paying taxes, probably due to his age. Sons John, Samuel, and William Jr. had accompanied him to Middletown. William's house was taxed or worth 160 lbs. at that time. (F-534)

He was 64 when he signed his will in 1674, and he called himself "well stricken in years and much abated in any natural strength." "William Cornwell, Senior, of Midletowne," gave to his son "John Cornwell so much addition to his present house lot out of my house lot as may make up his present house lot the full half of the whole,"..."two acres of the meadow and swap at the riverlet"...and "one half of that wood land in the south division of the land beyond the mill"..the other half of this lot to his daughter Sarah Cornwell, ... to his "son William Cornwell ten acres of of land upon the Indian Hill" as well as "one third part of (his) land yet to be divided by the list of 1674 on the east side of the river, the other two thirds of the aforesaid land to (his) sons Samuel and Thomas equally to be divided between them"; to his "son Samuel one hundred acres of my wood lot at the Long Hill, the remainder to go to (his) son Jacob", to his "son Thomas what is aforesaid the remainder of (his) lot at the Indian Hill, the ten acres as above mentioned being taken out of it"; to his "daughter Hester Willcox (his) whole lot lying on the east side of the river"; to his "daughter Elizabeth Hall one parcel of upland lying in the Boggy Meadow Quarter"; to his "loving wife Mary Cornwell (his) house, homestead, all the buildings, household stuff and movables whatsover with the remainder of (his) meadow at the riverlet .. during the term of her widowhood," She was told to maintain their daughter Sarah while she was single; after his wife's decease, he willed the "above mentioned house, household and meadow land at the riverlet to (his) son Jacob Cornwell." Jacob was told to pay his sister, Sarah, "one third part of the valuation of the forementioned housing and land" unless of course his wife remarried. In that case, when she died, their 3 daughters were to have the household stuffs divided amongst them.

The inventory of his estate on Feb 22, 1677 included a listing of his lands: The house, barn & 3 acres of land, 5 acres of meadow by the ferry, 10 acres of upland at the Indian Hill, 27 acres joining the other, 395 acres beyond the mill, 250 acres at the Long Hill, 65 acres in the Boggy Meadow Quarter, 24 acres over the Great River, 4 acres of pond and a great lot over the Great River.

He is probably buried in Riverside Cemetery, though no tombstones exist from that date. (F-322, 576) He actually spelled his name Cornell in all the Middletown, CT deeds and records.

This William, original immigrant, had a Thomas Cornell follow him shortly after he arrived who settled in Rhode Island. According to a Prentiss Glazier, William is the nephew through a half-brother to this Thomas of MA, NY and Rhode Island .

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born 1608-02-21?

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from "Genealogies of Connecticut Families from the New England Historical and Genealogical Register":

He came to Massachusetts about 1634.
In 1636 he went with the "Great Removal" to CT.
In 1637 he was in Hartford, in 1638 in Saybrook, and in 1639 back in Hartford.
He lived in Hartford until 1651, then removed to Middletown.
His land in Middletown was recorded 1657-02-30, total 903 acres.
In 1666 he received a land grant in E Hartford for his service in the Pequod war.
He made his will 1674-04-02, naming children John, William, Samuel, Jacob, Thomas, Sarah, Hester Willcox, and Elizabeth Hall.

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"Collections of the Connecticut Historical Society vol 14"

p494
[original distribution of Hartford lands]
The upland on the east side ye River next to windsor Bownds:
Wm Cornwell 24 acres

p501
The names of such inhabitance as were granted lotts to have onely at the townes courtesie wth the liberty to fetch wood & keepe swine or cowes by proportion on the common.
... Will Cornwell

Hinds Site: Genealogy of Ken Hinds -- page 1471
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