Report Information
Address: 1311 Great Hill Road, North Guilford, CT 06437-3649,
Phone: (203) 457-9383
What: Client Research Report
Date: 2/22/1999
Report Number: SGS-2
Subject: Obadiah Seeley of Stamford, Connecticut
Objective: Conduct additional research to determine:
(1) Records relating to a relationship between Obadiah Seeley and John Lawre(n)son, and
(2) Records relating to a relationship between Obadiah Seeley and the family of John Miller.
Limitations: Estimated 8-12 hours, research and reporting, for these two items.
Other: Items (3) and (4) of this research will be covered in a later report.
General
This a progress report on the additional research requested in Mr. Waring’s letter of 28 January, 1999. Two of the four items are covered herein, and the two additional items remain to be investigated.
Summary of Results
It now appears definite that John Lawre(n)son, who settled his debts with Obadiah Seeley in Stamford in 1651, was previously from New Haven, and furthermore was a servant of Mr. Richard Malbon, one of the New Haven leaders. It further appears definite that Robert Seeley, at least, was in a position to know John Miller and his family well during the time they were both resident in Wethersfield, and perhaps earlier as well, since we do not yet know John Miller’s prior career. These circumstances tend to lead to a renewed speculation that Obadiah Seeley may have been a member of Robert Seeley’s family.
Records Searched
Town Records
New Haven Town and Colony Records as cited on the attachments.
Wethersfield Town Records as cited on the attachments.
Stamford Town Records as cited on the attachments.
Miscellaneous
Various secondary sources as cited on the attachments.
Findings and Analysis
Negative Indications
The following items all refer to conclusions or inferences that may be reached from the consideration of the records listed in the attached compilation. The negative indications are considered first:
Suggestions for Additional or Future Research
Two additional items remain to be investigated under this particular commission - those being:
(3) Investigation of the parish records of St. Martins, Warwickshire, to see if any other Stamford names appear, and
(4) Investigation of the sequence of arrival of Stamford settlers to see if any others appear to be associated with Obadiah Seeley’s, or if any other clues to his prior residence present themselves.
Other Research Notes and Observations
I realize that my preliminary speculations regarding the implications of these findings will naturally rekindle the hopes of many persons who have been looking for the connection between Robert and Obadiah Seeley. It is important to add my caution to these speculations, and I consider them only preliminary at this time. I would like to get feedback and comments from knowledgeable members of the Society, and in time from other genealogists outside of the Society, before elevating these speculations to any higher level, such as publication. But the basis seems to be there to make the effort of continuing this process.
Table of Attachments
A. “Lawre(n)son – Seeley Events,” (4 sheets).
B. “Miller – Seeley Events,” (2 sheets).
C. Preliminary – Work in Progress – “Circumstantial Evidence in Connecticut Records Suggesting That Obadiah Seeley of Stamford May Have Been Related to Robert Seeley of Watertown, Wethersfield, New Haven, Etc.,” (3 sheets.)
D. Reconstructed map of Wethersfield homelots (from History of Ancient Wethersfield), with residences of Robert Seeley and John Miller highlighted.
E. Reconstructed map of New Haven homelots (from New Haven – An Illustrated History), with residences of Robert Seeley and Richard Malbon highlighted.
REPORT NUMBER SGS-2
Revised: October, 1999
...continued
REPORT NUMBER SGS-2A
February 1999, corrections added January 2004
1634-1636
The year of 1634 is generally accepted as the year of the settlement at Wethersfield. Two of the earliest residents who had arrived in Wethersfield by or during 1636, most likely accompanied by their families, were Robert Seeley from Watertown (MA), and John Miller, whose previous place of residence is not yet determined.1 The places of residence of the Seeley and Miller families in Wethersfield are known from land records, and have been located on a reconstructed map, approximately ½ mile away from each other.2
1638
Robert Seeley was placed in command of the fort at Saybrook, and sold his home in Wethersfield to Matthew Mitchell.3
4 June 1639
Robert Seeley had moved from Wethersfield and/or Saybrook to New Haven by this time, since he was a signer of New Haven’s Fundamental Agreement on this date.4
Spring, 1641
John Miller was among the first group of settlers from Wethersfield to migrate to Stamford.5
1642
John Miller died at Stamford, leaving a widow Mary, and three small children (John, b. abt. 1635; Jonathan, b. abt. 1640; and Joseph, b. abt. 1642).6
Before 1649
Obadiah Seeley is known to have been in Stamford before 1649, and probably married the widow Seeley Miller before that time (their eldest children appear to have been born on or before 1650.) Since there is no record of purchase or town grant of land for him, he was apparently a resident on the widow Seeley’s Miller’s property, and had probably become her husband by then, although no marriage record has been discovered.
15 April 1695
At a Wethersfield Town Meeting, a committee was chosen to lay out 40 acres of land for Capt. Chester, next to his existing long lot North, “which forty acres of land was bought of Capt. Sele’s [Robert Seeley’s name was then added by the transcriber, probably Sherman W. Adams] heirs by Capt. Chester & sold to Sergt Joshua Robins & to be laid out to said Robins.”7
1 Henry R. Stiles
The History of Ancient Wethersfield Connecticut, 2 volumes (New York: The Grafton Press, 1904, repr. New England History Press and the Wethersfield Historical Society, 1990), 1:26, 286, hereafter Ancient Wethersfield. James Savage, A Genealogical Dictionary of The First Settlers of New England, 4 volumes (Boston, 1860-1862, repr. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1990), 3:210, 4:49. Stiles lists Robert Seeley among the first settlers in 1634, but Savage clearly states he “rem. to Wethersfield” in 1636.
2 Ancient Wethersfield
map between pp. 1:44-45.
3 Ancient Wethersfield
1:142, 295.
4 Charles J. Hoadley
Records of the Colony and Plantation of New Haven From 1638 to 1649 (Hartford: Case, Tiffany and Company, 1857), 1:17.
5 Ancient Wethersfield
1:142-3.
6 Fairfield Probate Records
2:13. The dates of birth for the children have been estimated by others, and not yet verified.
7 Wethersfield
Town Votes and Miscellaneous Records, volume 1, transcription copy at the Town Hall, 198. This item is included here with the Miller items simply because it is a Wethersfield event, not because of any Miller connection. This record is often mis-quoted in the literature, starting with Sherman W. Adams himself in his Ancient Wethersfield, 1:296, where he says incorrectly that “Sgt. Joshua Robbins bought the right from Seeley’s heirs and had the land (40 acres) laid out next South of Capt. John Chester’s mill lands. The difference is only important in that it shows (unfortunately) that the sale by Seeley’s heirs was to Chester and not to Robbins, and was apparently not recorded, since it is not found in the Wethersfield Land Record Index. Therefore it is lost to our knowledge (1) when this earlier transaction took place, and (2) exactly who were the Seeley heirs who took part as grantors. This single transaction would probably have clarified forever the issue of whether Obadiah Seeley was Robert’s son, if it had only been recorded at the time.
REPORT NUMBER SGS-2B
Preliminary – February, 1999
The records of Stamford and New Haven prove at least one connection between Obadiah Seeley of Stamford and certain residents of New Haven. Since Robert Seeley was himself a prominent New Haven resident, this has renewed the speculation that Obadiah and Robert were related, as was formerly considered at least possible by many writers, but recently considered unlikely. In addition, the prior residence of Robert Seeley (and his family) in Wethersfield in close proximity to the family of John Miller during the period from 1636 or earlier, to at least 1638 is evidence that Robert Seeley would have known John Miller and his family directly during this time. Since John Miller’s residence prior to Wethersfield is not known, it is possible that this relationship could have existed even earlier than 1636. In light of this earlier relationship, the marriage of Obadiah Seeley with John Miller’s widow in Stamford is seen to be another possible connection between these two Seeley individuals. The following circumstantial events are proposed for consideration:
> Robert Seeley and John Miller and their families both arrived in Wethersfield, CT about the same time (by 1636) and lived in the same section of town, about 1/2 mile from each other.
> Robert Seeley was a parishoner of St. Stephen Coleman Street Church in London, and therefore known to the Rev. John Davenport prior to their emigration from England. It is logical that he was either encouraged or inclined to take part in the New Haven settlement because of this association with Davenport and the other parishioners of St. Stephen’s, and he moved to New Haven in 1638-39, presumably with his family. Another prominent leader of New Haven was Mr. Richard Malbon, who arrived directly with the Davenport party. The homelots of Richard Malbon and Robert Seeley were only about ¼ mile away from each other in New Haven.
> John Miller, presumably with his young family, participated in the migration from Wethersfield to Stamford led by the Rev. Richard Denton in 1641-42.
> John Miller died shortly after arriving in Stamford, sometime in 1642, leaving a widow, Mary, and three young sons with ages of about 1, 3, and 7 years. This event would certainly have been recognized in New Haven, which had brokered the entire Stamford settlement as a part of the New Haven Colony, and had an interest in its success.
> Obadiah Seeley’s arrival in Stamford is not recorded, nor is his marriage to the widow Seeley (which could of course have taken place in another town, including at New Haven). He was certainly there before 1649, and was apparently living on the widow Seeley’s property, probably as her husband, by the beginning of that year (February 1648/49).
> Mr. Richard Malbon returned permanently to England from New Haven during 1648. One of his former servants, John Lawre(n)son, had often been in trouble with the New Haven authorities, and apparently moved from New Haven to Stamford about the time Mr. Malbon returned to England.
> John Lawre(n)son, now at Stamford, settled a long-standing debt with Obadiah Seeley at that place on 5 May 1651. The settlement referred to his debt “from the beginning of the world to this day,” suggesting that Seeley had loaned to him some time previously. Although there is no direct evidence that Lawre(n)son and Obadiah Seeley were residents together in New Haven, it is certain that Lawre(n)son would have been at least acquainted with Robert Seeley in that place.
> Furthermore, Richard Malbon and Robert Seeley were the two foremost military leaders of New Haven (at least after the loss of Capt. Nathaniel Turner on the “Phantom Ship” in the Winter of 1645/46,) and their families and households were undoubtedly closely associated with each other.
Summary and Speculation
* In summary, Obadiah Seeley of Stamford knew and had made at least one loan to John Lawre(n)son of New Haven and Stamford, regardless of when or where the loan took place.
* Obadiah Seeley could have been unmarried and living in the household of Robert Seeley in New Haven prior to his marriage and move to Stamford, which would explain the lack of any records left in his own name in New Haven (or Wethersfield.)
* If Obadiah Seeley had been in the household of Robert Seeley during the latter’s residence in Wethersfield, then he would certainly have known the John Miller family directly in that place (and possibly at earlier locations as well), and most certainly would have been aware of Miller’s death in 1642 (as would most of the New Haven leadership).
* Assuming an age of at least 21 years in 1648 for Obadiah Seeley, his birth year could be estimated at no later than about 1627. Robert Seeley’s marriage to Mary (Heath) Mason on 15 December 1626 is well documented, and it may be stipulated that Obadiah was not her son (since her children by previous marriages are all accounted for, and since it is unlikely that Obadiah was a child of this marriage union.) However, since Robert Seeley was born in 1602, there seems to be no reason not to consider that Obadiah Seeley may have been his son by a still earlier marriage, to an unknown first wife, who may have died before 1626.
REPORT NUMBER SGS-2C
