JOHN (HADDAM FOUNDER)1 BAILEY was possibly born about 1618 in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, and died June 17, 1696 in Haddam, Middlesex, CT. He married LYDIA BACKUS 1655 in Wethersfield, Hartford, CT, daughter of WILLIAM BACKUS and possibly SARAH GARDINER (sister of Lyon Gardiner).
I Notes from the files of Adolphus Hiram Sage (a Bailey genealogist of the late 19th century. His research is in the NY State Library Archives located on Madison Ave., Albany, NY):
·John Bailey was one of the twenty eight original proprietors of Haddam, CT 1662.
·John Bailey was the progenitor of one of the largest Bailey families in America.
·John Bailey is said to have appeared in Hartford about 1642 where he resided on "South Side" which probably meant in the vicinity of Wethersfield.
·John Bailey was Constable and Tax Collector in Hartford during the years 1656 and 1657.
·John Bailey was made a "freeman" by the General Court at Hartford, May 21, 1657. (Connecticut Public Records 1-297)
·John Bailey was probably from England, but his origin has not been definitely learned. In May, 1638 a vessel "The Bevis" from Southampton, England arrived in New England with four passengers named Bailey. (SEE PASSENGER LIST FOR THE SHIP "BEVIS")
·If the Bevis passenger was our John Bailey, he would have been 24 years of age when he arrived in Hartford in 1642. This John Bailey was evidently born about 1618.
·If he was the John Bailey of Hartford and Haddam, he must have been about 78 years of age when he died at Haddam in 1696.
·About 1655, John Bailey married Lydia (Backus) and their first three children were born at Hartford, or at least before they settled in Haddam.
II PASSENGER LIST FOR THE SHIP "BEVIS":
In May, 1638 a vessel "The Bevis" from Southampton, England arrived in New England with four passengers named Bailey.
The following is an excerpt of that list:
May, 1638 The Bevis of (South) Hampton departed Southampton for New England "by virtue of the Lord Treasurers warrant of the second of May"
Primary sources: Public Records Office "PRO:CO1/9/112" and "PRO:E190/824/9"
Secondary sources:
·"The Planters of the Commonwealth" A Study of the Emigrants and Emigration in Colonial Times: to Which are Added Lists of Passengers to Boston and to the Bay Colony; the Ships Which Brought Them; their English Homes, and the Places of their Settlement in Massachusetts, 1620-1640, By Charles E. Banks.
·"The Complete Book of Emigrants", 1607-1776 by P.W. Coldham
Ship and Passenger Information:
Burthen: 150 tons
Robert Batten, Master
Passengers:
DESTINATION: Salisbury
Byley (or Biley), Henry . 26 tanner, of Salisbury, county Wiltshire
Byley (or Biley), Mary . . 22 (sister of Henry Byley)
Byley, John . . . . . . . 20 (servant, not listed in "Planters")
DESTINATION: Newbury
Dummer, Stephen . . . . -- husbandman of Bishopstoke, county Hampshire
(as listed in "Planters") and the following servants:
Hutchinson, John . . . . . 30 carpenter (or
Huchinson)
Alcock, Francis . . . . . 26 ?virg. (or Alcocke, Frauncis)
Mott, Adam . . . . . . . . 19 tailor
Wakefield, William . . . . 22 (or Wackefield)
Wakefield, Anne . . . . . 20 (or Wackefield)
Parker, Nathaniel . . . . 20 baker, of London (or Nathanuel)
Poore, Samuel . . . . . . 18
Poore, Danyell (Daniel) . 14
Poore, Alice . . . . . . . 20
Bayley, Richard . . . . . 15
Goods loaded May 12, 1638.
Shippers:
Richard Dumer & Co.
Henry Byles & Co.
·Whether these four Baileys were in any way related is not known.
III Probate Records, Volume VI, 1695 To 1700, Will on File:
Bailey, John sen., Haddam. Invt. 186-10-06. Taken 29 August 1696, By Daniel Cone, Timothy Spencer & James Welles. Will dated 17 June, 1696.
I John Bailey sen. of Haddam, in the County of Hartford, doe make this my last Will & Testament: I give half of my Lands, both Meadow & Upland, to my eldest son John, to be his on as equal division with his two brothers Benjamin & Nathaniel, to whome I doe give the other half to be equally divided between them two. I mean all that my Land at a place in Haddam Bounds called Higganum. I give unto my son John 20 acres of that 40 acres of upland I have in the upper Meadow on the East side of the Great River. Also I give to my daughter Lydia 20 Shillings.
I give unto my two sons Benjamin & Nathaniel all my other Land in Haddam and all Rights, to be divided equally between them, only that Nathaniel shall have that Lott whereon the house stands, & the house I now dwell in, as part of his division, and Benjamin the other half, the house to be Nathaniel's. And It is my Will that my daughters Susannah and Mary shall continue in the house until one or both of them marryeth or when they see cause of their own Will to leave the same; and when Susannah marryeth I would have her take the Care of Mary and let her live with her until she be married away. It is my Will to give to my daughter Susannah 8. My Will is that my two Executors shall pay 40 Shillings yearly until she marry away; and if in seven years she marryeth, I give her 7. My sons Benjamin and Nathaniel I appoint to be my Executors. And my neighbors Timothy Spencer & James Brainard to be Overseers.
Witness: Jeremiah Hobert, JOHN BAILE.
James Welles,
Upon the other side of the paper, Haddam July 3d, 1696 (was written):
Account of my several debts sch I will my Exequators to pay unto the several Creditors after my decease. Imprs. I owe to Samll Stone of Salem fiftie four Shills in pay, & 6 shll in money. It. Debts to the Widd Mrs. Waie of Hartford, two pounds 16s & six pence in pay. It. To Ensign Stanly of Hartford, seventeen Shills & odd pence, to be payd by my Exequtors out of my small share of Hartford mill, viz, the rent for it; & the rest of the soms aforesayd to be payd & made up to him pr my Exequators, the wholl in pay. It. To my son John ten shills given him pr his grand father (William Backus) to buy him a Bible. It. To my Daughter Lydia ten shs given her pr ditto (William Backus) to buy her a Bible with (all). It. To my Daughter Elizab. Clark fifty shills in pay for a weding gown I promised her. It. To my son Thomas Clark pr an old debt of five pounds 5s, & for work of himself & teame thirty six shills; both added together make in all seven pounds one shs in or pay. It. Debts to Thomas Dunke deceased, ye sum of fourteen shs in pay. These are the principal of my debts as far as I know at present, which I require you to pay or cause to be payed, as witness my hand on the day of the date hereof.
JOHN BAILY. (Copied from original Paper on file.)
IV Settlement At Haddam:
The first emigrant ancestor was John Bailey
or Bayley, as the name was then spelled. He was first member of
the Bailey family in America. He came from England before 1640
and lived in Hartford, Connecticut. John was a viewer of Chimneys
and ladders at Hartford in 1648. He was a constable in March 1656/57.
He became a Freeman in May 1657.
About one month after England's King Charles II signed the Charter
of Connecticut in April, 1662, a committee of the Connecticut
Colonial Legislature bought a large tract of land from the Wangunt
Indians for a trifling sum (about $100.00). That same summer John
Bailey was
one of twenty-eight young men, of Hartford and near by towns,
who took up the purchase and started a plantation on the lower
Connecticut River. This region was called "Thirty Mile Island
Plantation". It was opposite a small island in the river,
which was about 30 miles from Long Island Sound. Six years later
it became known as the town Haddam, named after Great Haddam,
England.
The first settlement at Haddam was on the low
ground immediately north of the present village and on the western
border of the great meadow which is still a notable natural feature
of the landscape there. The tract of land, including the great
meadow, and extending some 60 or 70 rods westward from the river
was divided into lots of about seven acres each and drawn as home
lots of the original proprietors in 1662. The actual settlement
was probably made in Spring of 1665. Thomas Smith's lot was south
of Gerard Spencer's whose lot has
remained in the Spencer family at least until the early 20th century.
John Bailey had the next lot south of Thomas Smith and built his
house on the rise of ground where the present house stands on
the east side of the road. The next house south of John Bailey's
was Daniel Brainard's.
V Additional Notes:
· John Bailey came from England to Connecticut with two brothers. One of his two brothers (names of the brothers are unknown) had several sons (Amaziah, John, Timothy, and Richard are known)
· John Bailey was one of the original 28 founders of Haddam, CT.
· There is a hand-drawn map of the Haddam area showing the original residence of John Bailey called "Higganum". This was located between the CT river and Candlewood Brook. Slightly to the Northwest is an area called "Baileyville". Current maps of CT show both Higganum and Baileyville.
· The "Connecticut Public Records" contain numerous citations of this John Bailey:
-He was given a receipt for 60 Pounds that he had collected in his capacity as Constable.
-On 24 Sep 1669 he is listed as a Freeman of Haddam.
·John Bailey of Hartford in 1648 and 1666 and of Haddam in 1676 was the father of the Bailey Family of that place, per R. R. Hinman's book "First Puritan Settlers of the Colony of Connecticut".
·John Bailey (Sr.) died 1696, will dated 17 Jun, 1696. The will mentions his eldest son John and other sons Benjamin and Nathaniel, land in Haddam at a place called "Higganum", and daughters Lydia, Susannah, and Mary. On the back of the will he mentions "my daughter" Elizabeth Clark and my son Thomas Clark.
· "General History of Connecticut",
Pg. 1797 The Haddam Bailey's began with John Bailey, immigrant,
who came from England to Haddam, but first in Hartford 1656-57
and May, 1659. Died at Haddam, 1696. Had sons Benjamin and John.
· "Manwaring's Hartford Wills"
Thomas Smith died 2 Nov 1674; will dated 22 Sep 1674. He wills
his property to "Wife of John Bailey , Daniel Brainwood (Brainard?),
James Wells, Nicholas Noyes, John Smith, John Bailey, Daniel Cone
(?), (?) Stennard and Steven Luxford. Executors: John Bailey and
David Brainard,
who declined.
· On 28 Dec 1728, John Bailey, Jr. of
Haddam, was appointed Administrator of the estate of Thomas Smith,
"Late of Haddam". The court ordered the estate distributed
according to the will of Thomas Smith. Distributees: John Bailey,
heirs of Lydia Spencer, dec'd, Elizabeth Clark,
Benjamin Bailey, heirs of Susannah Hubbard, Nathaniel Bailey,
Mary Cornwell and the children of Lydia Bailey, dec'd. It appears
that 54 years later, John Bailey Jr. had located additional estate
assets not previously inventoried. (1-234)
· The Hartford, CT State Library Old Manuscripts Section contains the will of John Bailey of Haddam.
· The publication "Two Hundredth Anniversary of the First Congregational Church of Haddam: 1696 - 1902" contains information on John Bailey, one of the 28 original settlers of Haddam.
· "Town Votes, Vol. 1"
In a very early undated list of property owners is John Bailey
108 Pounds - this is before 1671; his number 6 on the list and
is spelled "Baly".
· "Land Records of Haddam, CT"
18 Feb 1730/31: Benjamin Bailey to his son Samuel Bailey 29A (acres)
where Samuel now lives plus 63 A land laid out in right of his
"honored father John Bailey, late deceased".
· Town Records: Haddam, CT
Proprietors' Record:
2 Mar 1730/31: Lots in the Third Division
Nathaniel Bailey - Lot 27
John Bailey Jr. - Lot 72
Ephraim Bailey - Lot 77
John Bailey, dec'd - Lot 85
18 Jan 1731/32: Land grants to:
Samuel Bailey
John Bailey Jr.
Benjamin Bailey
22 Feb 1731/32:
Ephraim Bailey
· Among the very early Baileys in the New England were:
1. William Bailey of R.I. very early.
2. Stephen Bailey of Southold, L.I. before 1673 and probably much
earlier. Associations between this and the Haddam family might
seem to
indicate some degree of relationship.
3. Thomas Bailey was given a home lot at Milford, CT in 1646.
4. Another Thomas Bailey was one of the original proprietors of
New London in 1651.
5. Among the earliest settlers of New Haven was "Samuel Baile".
Children of LYDIA BACKUS and JOHN BAILEY are:
i. +JOHN2 BAILEY, b. 1656, Hartford, Hartford, CT; d. September 28, 1734, Haddam, Middlesex, CT.
ii. LYDIA BAILEY, b. 1660, Hartford, Hartford, CT; d. December 28, 1728, Haddam, Middlesex, CT.
iii. EPHRAIM BAILEY, b. Abt. 1662, Hartford, Hartford, CT; d. Bef. 1692
iv. BENJAMIN BAILEY, b. November 11, 1665, Haddam, Middlesex, CT; d. July 1740, Haddam, Middlesex, CT.
v. NATHANIEL BAILEY, b. Abt. 1668, Haddam, Middlesex, CT; d. 1760.
vi. ELIZABETH BAILEY, b. 1663, Haddam, Middlesex, CT; d. Bef. June 04, 1743, Haddam, Middlesex, CT.
vii. SUSANNA BAILEY, b. 1674, Haddam, Middlesex, CT; d. December 02, 1719.
viii. MARY BAILEY, b. Abt. 1677, Haddam, Middlesex, CT; d. 1743, East Haddam, Middlesex, CT; m. DAVID CORNWALL.
Notes for MARY BAILEY: Was living at East Haddam in 1743.
SOURCES:
"The Backus Families of Early New England" by Reno Warburton Backus 1966
"History of Norwich Connecticut from its Possession by the Indians to the Year 1866" by Frances Manwaring Caulkins
"HALE, HOUSE AND RELATED FAMILIES Mainly of the Connecticut River Valley" by Donald Lines Jacobus and Edgar Francis Waterman
"Crook An American Family 1698-1955", Compiled and Published by Charles Henry Leavitt.
"Genealogies of Connecticut Families", from the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. I, p. 66 - 68.
R. R. Hinman's book "Catalogue of the Names of the First Puritan Settlers of the Colony of Connecticut" includes his name as being present in Hartford in 1640.
"New England Marriages: Prior to 1700" C. A. Torrey, p. 31
"The Spencers of the Great Migration - Vol 1 1300 A.D. - 1783 A. D." by Jack Taif Spencer and Edith Woolley Spencer, 1997.
Lydia Backus' Family History
Lydia BACKUS, wife of JOHN (HADDAM FOUNDER) BAILEY, was born 31 DEC 1637 in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England She died about 1696 in Haddam, Middlesex, CT.
Generation 2 (parents)
WILLIAM (SR) (NORWICH &SAYBROOK FOUNDER) BACKUS (Backhouse) was born about 1606 in Sheffield, Co. Yorkshire, England. He died 7 JUN 1664 in Norwich, New London, CT. While it is still unproven, I believe Lydia's mother is Sarah GARDINER who was born about 1606 in Sheffield, Co. Yorkshire, England. She died after 1644. Sarah Gardiner is the sister of Lion Gardnier who built the first fort at Saybrook in 1635 and founded Gardiners Island, NY. (See BACKUS FAMILY for additional information.
Generation 3 (grandparents)
Lionel GARDINER was born about 1573 in England.
He died before 1618 in England. He married Elizabeth WOODHOUSE
in Stepney, London, England, 1593. Elizabeth WOODHOUSE was born
about 1570/75 in England.