LT. JOHN HOLLISTER, 1608-1665, CT
Bronson DJ Peters
Hello, rooters!!!
Hoping to get a little guidance here from some of you who have been
lucky enough to find the information to lead you to your family's
"homeland". Here's the family info I have to ask questions about:
Lt. John Hollister was born between 1608 and 1612 in Weymouth, England.
In 1642 he married Joanna Treat (dau. of Hon. Richard and Alice Gaylord
Treat). Joanna was born 1618 in South Trundle, P., England. and died in
October, 1694 in Wethersfield, CT. John and Joanna were married in
Wethersfield, CT.
Here is my dilemma:
Everytime I look in some ancestry book, even the LDS computer, I find
Lt. John Hollister's parents to be: Thomas Hale and Joan Kirby. How
would his name change that drastically=Hollister to Hale??? Is it
possible? I haven't found any other proof of lineage so far. Any other
researchers working on this line...please contact me. I'm getting
confused. Meanwhile, does anyone have any pointers?
Erin Peters
bron...@ix.netcom.com
Kathryn Graham
Erin Peter wrote:
According to 'Hale, House & Related Families', D.L. Jacobus, pg 615
'Lieut. John1 Hollister, born in England, about 1612, died at Wethersfield,
Conn., April 1665; married _____ Joanna Treat, baptized at Pitminster, co.
Somerset, England, 24 May 1618.
Jacobus says nothing about the ancestry of John but I would suspect they
met in Pitminster and married somewhere not far from that location as both
of Joanna's parents were Pitminster natives.
Jacobus does say some interesting things about their son Lazarus who caused
bits of excitement and, I'm sure, no end of gossip.
Kathie
Chris K. Moore
Bronson DJ Peters wrote:
> Here is my dilemma:
> Everytime I look in some ancestry book, even the LDS computer, I find
> Lt. John Hollister's parents to be: Thomas Hale and Joan Kirby. How
> would his name change that drastically=Hollister to Hale??? Is it
> possible? I haven't found any other proof of lineage so far. Any other
> researchers working on this line...please contact me. I'm getting
> confused. Meanwhile, does anyone have any pointers?
Erin-
Henry R. Stiles' "Families of Ancient Wethersfield" (1904) has
about a page on John Hollister, quoting several sources, including
Goodwin's "Geneal. Notes", Talcott's "NY & N. Eng. Families",
Hollister's "Hist. Conn.", "the Hollister Family" by Dr. L.W.Case, and a
manuscript of a Mrs. Anna C.N.Hawley of Hartford CT.
Stiles quotes a Mr. Alpheus Hollister of Hollisterville, PA as
stating "The H's were from Bristol, Eng., a good old family as early as
Henry VIII. There was a Jno. Hollister, Lord of the manor of
Stinchcombe in 1608. Dennis H. was a member of Cromwell's Privy Council
after the Protectorate was established. The name was derived from
"Holly" and "ter" or "terre", which means holly land or the place of
Holly trees. There is still a hamlet in Eng. bearing the name of
"Hollester" or "Hollesterre". From this it appears the name is Eng. and
of Somerset County, Eng."
Stiles doesn't advance any theories on the parentage or
birthplace of John, though.
Chris
Sandy McDougall
At 07:04 PM 10/5/96 -0700, you wrote:
>Hello, rooters!!!
>Lt. John Hollister was born between 1608 and 1612 in Weymouth, England.
>In 1642 he married Joanna Treat (dau. of Hon. Richard and Alice Gaylord
>Treat). Joanna was born 1618 in South Trundle, P., England. and died in
>October, 1694 in Wethersfield, CT. John and Joanna were married in
>Wethersfield, CT.
Hello Erin, I have this line........not the Hollister but Joanna's sister,
Susanna is my direct. So Hello Cousin!.
The children of Richard Treat (Trott) were baptized in the hamlet of
Trendle, now the parish of Trull, was the large parish of Pitminster, co.
Somerset, Eng. Joanna baptized on 24 May 1618. I do have her marrying
John Hollister and all of their children but had not searched out his
parents. I will look for you in the NEHGR disks, there may be something there.
Sandy
Gordon Fisher
At 07:04 PM 10/5/96 -0700, you wrote:
>Hello, rooters!!!
>lucky enough to find the information to lead you to your family's
>"homeland". Here's the family info I have to ask questions about:
>
>
>In 1642 he married Joanna Treat (dau. of Hon. Richard and Alice Gaylord
>Treat). Joanna was born 1618 in South Trundle, P., England. and died in
>October, 1694 in Wethersfield, CT. John and Joanna were married in
>Wethersfield, CT.
>
>Everytime I look in some ancestry book, even the LDS computer, I find
>Lt. John Hollister's parents to be: Thomas Hale and Joan Kirby. How
>would his name change that drastically=Hollister to Hale??? Is it
>possible? I haven't found any other proof of lineage so far. Any other
>researchers working on this line...please contact me. I'm getting
>confused. Meanwhile, does anyone have any pointers?
>
>bron...@ix.netcom.com
>
>
I'm sending what I have on John HOLLISTER in the hope it will be of interest
to you and others who have him as an ancestor --- but I don't have anything
on his parents. I have lots of HALEs, but none connected with a Joan KIRBY.
I'm a descendant of the original New England settler Samuel HALE
(1615-1693), as still reflected in my grandmother's name, Sophia Hale (CAMP)
FISHER.
Gordon Fisher gfi...@shentel.net
8th ggf of Gordon Fisher
John Hollister is used twice in this tree for father of DIRECT ANCESTORS
since Capt Jonathan Hale had a brother and sister among his grandparents.
The uses are as father of John Hollister, Jr. and father of Elizabeth Hollister.
"John Hollister, the first, of the name [sic] was admitted a freeman in 1643."
--- Rev. Alonzo B. Chapin, D.D.; Glastenbury for Two Hundred Years, A
Centennial Discourse, May 18th, A.D. 1853; Hartford, CT (Case, Tiffany
and Company) 1853, p. 183
See Appendix 3, Settling of Glastenbury, for an anecdote about John
Hollister and an Indian.
"HOLLISTER, JOHN, Weymouth, freem. 10 May 1643, was rep. in Mar. 1644, in
Mass. and Nov. of the same yr. in Conn. rem. to Wethersfield, where he had
been in 1642, when s. John was b. to him, as is said, strange as his resid.
seems at that date; was an efficient man in Conn. rep. 1645, and oft. until
1656, but with others engag. in a controversy with the ch. under Rev. John
Russell, wh. caused the plant. of Hadley [sic] 1659, was lieut. and d. Apr.
1665, by will of 1 Jan. bef. leav. good est. to w. Joanna, d. of the first
[listed] Richard Treat, five s. John, b. 1642; Thomas; Joseph; Lazarus;
Stephen; beside d. Mary, wh. m. John Wells of Stratford; Eliz. perhaps d.
unm. [BUT THIS CONTRADICTS SAVAGE'S OWN STATEMENT THAT SHE MARRIED SAMUEL
WELLES---see quote under his name]; and Sarah, w. first. 1674, of Rev. Hope
Atherton of Hatfield, and next, 1678, or 9, of Timothy Baker of Northampton.
..... Joseph and Lazarus had no ch."
--- James Savage, *A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New
England, Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came before May, 1692, on
the Basis of Farmer's Register; Boston (Little, Brown & Co.) 1860-1862; v.
2, p. 449
"Lieut. JOHN HOLLISTER, born in England, about 1612, died at Wethersfield,
Conn., April 1665; married JOANNA TREAT, baptized at Pitminster, co.
Somerset, England, daughter of Richard and Alice (Gaylard) Treat. (P) He
served as Deputy for Wethersfield to the Connecticut General Court, at the
sessions of Seot. 1644, Apr., Sept. and Dec. 1645, May 1650, Oct. 1653, May
and Sept. 1654, May 1655, Oct. 1656, Feb. and Oct. 1657, May and Oct. 1658,
May 1659, and Oct. 1661. The colonial records first refer to him as
Lieutenant, in April 1657. He was on Wethersfield's war committee, October
1654. ..... The will of Lieut. John Hollister [was] proved 1 June 1665.
..... At a Court, 2 Mar. 1664/65, "Lnt John Hollister for his affronting
the Constable (& abetting his son in the same) Jn [sic] the execution of his
office at Nayag (South Glastonbury), was fined #5 [#=pounds]. (P) The son
Lazarus, who never married, was frequently in trouble. On 4 Mar. 1679/80,
"Samuel Wells Lazarus Hollister Jonath Wells for there going to the Indien
Wigwams with Liqrs to trace & unseasonably in the night about 9 of the
clock" were fined 15 shillings; and shortly after, "Edw: Higby For
Traduceing Quareling Fighting & Excessive drincking is fined Twenty
shillings, Lazarus Holister is fined for his breach of the peace & extreem
beating Edward Higby the summe of Twenty shillings." On 22 Mar. 1681/2,
Lazarus Hollister for breach of the peace in fighting Stephen Chester was
fined 10 shillings. And on 3 Mar. 1686/7, "Mr. Lazarus Holister for
unseasonable being out of house in company of Isack Griswold the night
before the pub: fast" was again fined. On 24 Feb. 1707/8, the Sheriff,
Ichabod Welles, "haveing by vertue of a Lawfull writ Seized and Arrested the
body of [Lazarus] Hollister ... he ... took up an axx, and held it on his
shoulder, and said he would split any man down that Offered to lay hold on
him." The following 5 April he was put under bond to keep the peace, and
was finally discharged from his recognizance, 15 Sept. 1708. ..... He was
in service the year of his death [Wethersfield, Sept 1709; born about 1656]
under Capt. Samuel Gilbert, Col. William Whiting's Regt." (P) Among other
children of John Hollister, we have "ELIZABETH, b. (say 1640); m. abt. 1659,
Capt. SAMUEL WELLES ..., b. (say 1628), d. at Wethersfield, 15 July 1675,
son of Gov. Thomas and Alice (Tomes) Welles." (See ELIZABETH HOLLISTER,
this tree.)
---Donald Lines Jacobus and Edgar Francis Waterman, *Hale, House and
Related Families, Mainly of the Connecticut River Valley*. Hartford, CT
(Connecticut Historical Society) 1952, p. 615-616.
"HOLLISTER, JOHN, freem. 10 May 1643, was rep. in Mar. 1644, in Mass. and
Nov. of the same yr. in Conn. rem. to Wethersfield, where he had been in
1642, when s. John was b. to him, as is said, strange as his resid. seems at
that day; was an efficient man in Conn. rep. 1645, and oft. until 1656, but
with others engag. in a controversy with the ch. under Rev. John Russell,
wh. caused the plant. of Hadley 1659, was lieut. and d. Apr 1665, by will of
1 Jan. bef. leav. good est. to w. Joanna, d. of the first Richard Treat,
five s. John, b. 1642; Thomas, Joseph; Lazarus; Stephen; beside d. Mary, who
m. John Wells of Stratford; Eliz. perhaps d. unm.; and Sarah, w. first,
1674, of Rev. Hope Atherton of Hatfield, and next, 1678, or 9, of Timothy
Baker of Northampton. Farmer thot. two of the same name were made freem. on
the same day; but I am satisfied, as sev. others, of rarer name, are
repeated in that day's work, it was the blunder of the clk. Joseph and
Lazarus had no ch."
---James Savage, *A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New
England, vol. 2, 1860, p. 449
From Marjorie Grant McNulty, *Glastonbury: From Settlement to Suburb",
Glastonbury CT (The Woman's Club of Glastonbury) 1970, p. 10-18 *passim*:
"In 1639 the proprietors [of Wethersfield] hired two surveyors. Starting at
a point a little to the north of the present East Hartford line, the
surveyors laid out 34 strips of land running east from the river "three
large miles into the wilderness." In order to provide farms with fishing
rights, fertile meadow land, level upland and woodland, the strips were long
and some quite narrow. Known as "Naubuc Farms," the parcels varied in width
from seven to 200 rods, probably according to the amount each proprietor had
put up toward the original purchase price of Wethersfield. This survey of
1639-40 was the first official survey and layout of farms in Connecticut.
(P) The southernmost lot of this first purchase (known as Naubuc Farms)
ended at the mouth of Roaring Brook. Below that were farms probably bought
directly from the Indians by John Hollister and Richard Treat [BOTH DIRECT
ANCESTORS]. (P) The great desire of these Englishmen to invest in land is
shown by the sircumstance that many of the first purchasers never occupied
their farms on the east sie, but later sold them to others or gave or willed
them to their sons. In 1684, a second survey revealed that many of the
original farms had changed hands, and the names of the new owners were those
known to us as old Glastonbury names: Welles, Hale, Talcott, Goodrich,
Hubbard, Kilborn, Loveland and others [WE HAVE DIRECT ANCESTORS WITH THE
FIRST 4 OF THESE NAMES]. The Hale farm, widest of the 34, which more than
two and a half centuries later became famous for its peaches, was bought
from Clement Chaplin, a first owner-investor, by Samuel Hale [DIRECT
ANCESTOR] and the Rev. Timothy Stevens. ..... (P) As nearly as can be
figured out, the first house, no longer standing, was built by Thomas
Edwards sometime between 1645 and 1649 in Naubuc (the Indian name for "east
side") near Hoccanum. (P) But Nayaug ("Land of Noisy Waters"), now in South
Glastonbury, was the area that first attracted the settlers, perhaps because
of Roaring Brook, which flowed through the wild countryside from its rise in
the eastern hills south-westerly to the Connecticut River. Sturgeon River,
they called this brook, for it was teeming with fish. Cascading down its
stony length in many natural little waterfalls, the brook offered great
possibilities for water power. Small wonder that in time a thriving village
sprang up along its lower banks to become for a century or so Glastonbury's
industrial center. (P) If Thomas Edwards built the first house in
Glastonbury, closely following him was John Hollister. Mr. Hollister built
a house in Nayaug in about 1649 on the river bank near the old Coal Dock at
the rear of a Tryon Street farm now owned by a lineal descendant, Theordore
Pratt [NOTE THAT WE ARE ALSO LINEAL DESCENDANTS OF JOHN HOLLISTER]. This
first John Hollister probably never lived in the house. He had a tenant
named Josiah Gilbert who leased the Hollister farm, together with his
brothers, Jonathan and JOhn. Situated as the house was, so close to the
river, spring freshets flooded the place badly every year. Yet the Gilberts
and, after 1665, the Hollisters endured this recurring misery until early in
the next century when either the whole house or part of it was moved to
Tryon Street. (P) According to one story, the house was moved east and
north to a location near the Roaring Brook bridge, where it is still
standing, owned by the Killam family. But according to another version,
only the back ell of the original house was moved, hauled directly to Tryon
Street, where it stood for many years, eventually being used as a storage
shed at the rear of the Pratt home. (P) Whether or not the Killam house was
built in 1649, it is of very early construction, undoubtedly seventeenth
sentury, and is the oldest house still standing in Glastonbury, the
ancestral home of the Hollister family for many generations. ..... (P)
Glastonbury grew slowly, household by household, during its first years.
..... [During King Philip's War, 1675-6] the Standing Council ordered the
settlers to make defense preparations. On October 11, 1675, the Council
authorized John Hollister to "hire two or three men to fortify his house and
secure his corn." They undoubtedly meant Indian helpers, as Mr. Hollister
and the Indians were known to be so close as to help each other with their
corn-raising. The next month the Council suggested that the Nayaug Indians
join with the Wongunks (referriing to the tribe at Portland) and, under the
direction of John Hollister, build a fort either at Nayaug or at Wonggum
(Portland), as they thought best. The Red Hill location was chosen and the
old fort reconstructed, but fortunately no attack came and it was not long
before the fort was again unmanned, never to be used again for defensive
purposes. (P) One of the most remarkable Glastonbury property holders of
the early colonial period was the Rev. Gershom Bulkeley. The Rev. Bulkely
was serving as Wethersfield's minister when he was appointed surgeon to the
Army in King Philip's War. When he returned, wounded, after the war, he
asked for dismissal from the church and evidently moved across the river to
live with his daughter, the widow of Thomas Treat. The house where he died
(in 1713) is still standing, a quaint gambrel-roofed house on Tryon Street,
just below Ferry Lane. (P) Gershom Bulkeley was undoubtedly one of the best
educated men in central Connecticut at that time. A graduate of Harvard, he
was not only a minister and a physician, but a lawyer, a surveyor and a
linguist, being familiar with several languages including Latin, Greek and
Dutch. An ardent royalist, he sided with Sir Edmund Andros and his right to
seize the Connecticut Charter in 1687, and wrote many forceful essays on the
subject of loyalty to the mother country, foreseeing, no doubt, the
colonists' rebellion in the next century. ..... He was important in
Glastonbury's history, for he was ultimately responsible for a boundary
dispute in 1684 which changed the actual size of the town's area. ..... (P)
[Bulkeley claimed some land belonging to John Hollister. The original
boundary had used Pewter Pot Brook, but this had changed its course over the
years in such a way as to reduce the land owned by Hollister, provided one
kept the brook as boundary. Bulkely won, and Glastonbury was deprived of 85
1/2 rods of land now belonging to East Hartford.] ..... (P) Despite the
friendliness of the Wongunks [Indians local to Wethersfield], families in
Glastonbury were always on guard against possible attack by hostile tribes.
Fear of the Indians was always present. Doors and outer walls were made
doubly strong. Some houses --- the Benjamin Talcott [DIRECT ANCESTOR]
house, for one, which stood opposite the present Academy Junior High ---
were surrounded by palisade fences. The stockaded Talcott house, torn down
in 1851, is said to have been the first house to be built here after
Glastonbury became a town. Alfred E. Hollister, who celebrated his 99th
birthday in 1970, owner of the house now occupying the site, believes the
ell of his house to be the original Talcott ell, an early 18th century
addition to the 17th century house. The Talcott house had been stockaded so
that it could serve as a place of refuge for women and children in case of
Indian attack. It may never have been used for such a purpose since there
are no records of Indian hostilities against Glastonbury people.
Nevertheless, said Mrs. Florence Hollister Curtis in her Glastonbury history
published in 1928, little children, as a disciplinary measure, were apt to
be warned by their mothers to "watch out, or the Mohawks will get you!" (P)
Deprived of their lands, weakened by rum and subject to tuberculosis and
other diseases passed on to them by the white people, the Indian families in
Glastonbury gradually died off. Some moved west to join other tribes. By
the time of the French and Indian War in mid-18th century, there were still
a few here who fought on the side of the English. By 1765 there were only
40 Indians living in a reservation on the Wongunk meadows, Portland, which
had been set aside for the heirs of Sowheag in about 1664. Tike, whom the
settlers called Mary, widow of Sowheag's son, Cushog, died in 1774,
apparently the last survivor of the Wongunks."
"JOHN [HOLLISTER] ..... Watertown (Mass.) 1635, Weymouth 1643, Wethersfield
1644. d. Wethersfield by 20 Apr 1665. Deputy. Lieutenant. Hale-House
1952. Stiles, *Wethersfield: John Hollister of Wethersfield and
descendants* 1886."
--- Meredith B Colket, *Founder of Early American Families*, Cleveland OH
1985, p 159
"John Hollister, the founder of this family, is said to have been born in
Glastonbury, Somersetshire, England, in 1612, died in Wethersfield,
Connecticut, in April, 1665. He married Joanna, daughter of Richard and
Joanna Treat (see Treat [i.e., under their names]. Children: 1. John,
referred to below [here, under John (2) HOLLISTER]. 2. Elizabeth, died in
1673; married, in 1659, Samuel, son of Governor Thomas and Elizabeth (Hunt)
Welles [latter should be Alice TOMES] (see Welles II [i.e. Thomas (2)
WELLES]). 3. Sarah, died December 8, 1691; married (first) in 1674, the
Rev. Hope Atherton, and (second) about 1679, Lieutenant Timothy Baker. 4.
Mary, married, about 1669, John Welles Jr. 5. Thomas, died November 8,
1701; married (first) Elizabeth Latimer, (second) Elizabeth, widow of Amos
Williams. 6. Joseph, died August 29, 1674. unmarried. 7. Stephen, born in
1658, died October 2, 1709; married (first) in 1683, Abigail Treat, (second)
Elizabeth Coleman Reynolds."
--- William Richard Cutter, *New England Families*, NY 1913, p 595