Ensign Thomas Bunce

• Death Notes
  • Thomas Bunce's will is recorded in a series of books, A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records, compiled by Charles William Manwaring, 1902, R.S. Peck & Co. Printers, Hartford, Connecticut, in Vol. 1, p. 418 and reads:
    
    
    Will of Thomas Bunce, Hartford, Inventory £1024-03-00. Taken August 3, 1683, by James Steele, Nathaniel Stanly, John Easton, in Hartford. £767-03-00. Taken 1683, by Samuel Talcott, John Deming, Wethersfield. A Home lot and dwelling house, £100; to 9 acres of Meadowland at the Pond, £70; to land at the Wherle pool, £9; to Land in the Wett swamp £6; to 30 acres of Land in the Wett swamp, £30; to 6 Acres dry swamp, £12; summe £257; £767-03-00-£1024-03-00. Will not dated.
    I, Thomas Bunce, do give and confirme to John Bunce, my sonn and his heirs forever, all that my house and Lott and barn with all the appurtenances belonging to it (which I bought of Thomas Gridley) within the Bounds of the Township of Hartford and my 40 acre Lott which I bought of the aforesayd Gridley which Lyeth near Weathersfield Bounds, together with my whole, right, title and interest in the saw mill built by Mr. Gardener, Stephen Hosmer and my selfe, and doe put him in present possession thereof. Moreover I doe give and bequeath unto my sayd sonn John Bunce six acres of Meadow land in the South meadow on the south side of my Lott Lying by John Wattson's, Thomas Catlin's and Steven Hopkins' Land, as I also give and bequeath to him my Lott lying over against Mr. Webster, which abutts on the Highway east and on John Wattsons land on the west and on John Richards' Land on the South and on the Highway on the North. These last two parcels of land my sayd son John Bunce is to possess immediately after the decease of me and my wife Sarah Bunce. Moreover I give to my sayd (sonn) John Bunce out of my moveable estate £10. I doe give unto my dau. Elizabeth White £20. I doe give unto all my grand­child­ren to each of them £5. I doe give unto my cousin Elizabeth White £5. I doe give unto my sister Katheren Clark £10. I doe give to my wife all my moveable estate, both of cattell and household stuffe, to be to her use and behoofe whilst she shall Live and to dispose of it at her decease to our children. I doe give unto her the use and improvement of all my houseing and Land that I stand possessed of at my decease, to be for her comfortable subsistence, she keeping houses and fences in good repayre; provided, if she marry again she shall have but one halfe of my houseing and Lands. I do give unto my son Thomas Bunce, Jr. and his heirs forever, after the decease of my wife, all my houseing and lands of what nature and kind they soever be, or wheresoever situated. I doe nominate my sayd sonn Thomas Bunce to be my whole and sole Executor and to enable him to per­forme this my will and to pay such legacies as I have herein given, I do grant him the power to sell any part of my Land at Weathersfield for the end afore­sayd, not with standing any clause or bequest in this my will to the contrary and that he may have a refuge to repayre unto for advice and councill in all difficul­ties that may arise in the attendancy of this my will, I do desire my Breathern Ens. Nath Standly and Steven Hosmore to be my desired overseers to assist him with council and advice as there shall be need.
    
    
    Thomas Bunce
    Witness: John Allyn
    
    Joseph Whiting

• General Notes
  • The Genealogical and Family History of the State of Connecticut, p. 535, and other sources state that Thomas Bunce was born in 1612 in England, said to have been from "Saybrooke, England," of English or Scottish ancestry. He was a "sturdy Puritan, who was at Hartford in 1639, a landed proprietor."
    
    As a member of an army of about 90 men raised from Hartford, Windsor and Wethersfield, he served as an ensign in the Pequot Indian War of May, 1637, which was undertaken at the order of the General Court after 30 people had been killed. The Pequot nation (the word "Pequot" is interpreted as "The Destroyers") was considered to be the "most warlike and blood-thirsty Indian nation in New England" because having about 500 warriors (Hinman, First Puritan Settlers of Connecticut) and, along with other Indian tribes in the vicinity, they posed a threat of 4,000-5,000 warriors against the small English settlements of about 800 persons in the Connecticut Colony. Additionally they were trading with the Dutch, and the English were interested in settling in New York, then controlled by the Dutch. Thomas Bunce was granted 60 acres in 1671, and an additional 50 acres in 1672, by the General Court "for his Good service therein [in the Pequot Indian War]." His land was located near the present site of the state capitol.
    
    He and his wife, Sarah, were early members of the First Church of Hartford, but separated from it, and had joined the Second or South Church by 1670.
    
    Historians differ on when Thomas came to America and settled in Massachusetts, but it was sometime between 1632 and 1639. It is thought he marched with Rev. Hooker from Cambridge to Hartford in May, 1636. His name is inscribed on the Founders' Monument in Hartford as a proprietor "by courtesie of the town" which is assumed to indicate that he did not come with the first settlers, but settled there a short time later.
    
    Thomas Bunce filled a number of civic offices in Hartford, i.e., was chimney viewer in 1646 and 1670, constable in 1648, juror in 1649, Townsman or selectman for the years 1653, 1661, and 1665; was Rate and list maker in 1669; and list maker in 1671, 1672 and 1673. He was an active investor in real estate in Hartford, as there are records of nine land transactions for him in the Grantor Land Files of Hartford, and he was also a land speculator in Wethersfield. From early records it appears he also was involved in construction in Hartford, since his will shows he helped to build a saw mill, and also he worked on repairs to the bridge across Little River in 1648. In September, 1672, he was relieved of military training, because he was then sixty years of age.
    
    He was considered a wealthy man, as he owned land in Hartford and Wethersfield at the time of his death. His wife survived him by ten years, dying in January, 1693/94, leaving a will dated 1689, which mentioned their grandchildren, Sarah, Thomas and Mehitabel Meekins, and the two oldest children of her son, John Bunce, leaving the remainder of her property to her sons John and Thomas Bunce, executors of her will. A copy of her will also appears in A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records, in Vol. 1, p. 283, but is not reproduced here, but it has been transcribed on the genealogy message board for Hartford County, Connecticut. In some records Sarah (______) Bunce is confused with her daughter-in-law Susannah (Bull) Bunce, who married her son, Thomas Bunce, Jr.
    
    --- Leslie R. Bunce and (Miss) Vida E. Bunce

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