Rev Thomas Hooker

thomas_hooker

• Death Notes
  • Will: According to "A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records (Hartford District, 1635-1700)" edited by Charles W. Manwaring, 1902:
    
    Hooker, Thomas, Hartford. Invt. L1136-15-00. Taken 21st April, 1644, by Nathaniel Ward & Edward Stebbing. Will dated 7 July, 1647. I, Thomas Hooker, of Hartford, uppon Connecticutt, in New England, being weakened in my body through the tender visitation of the Lord, but of sound & prfect memory, doe dispose of that outward estate I have been betrusted withall by him, in maner following: I doe give unto my sonne Jno. Hooker, my housing and Lands in Hartford aforesaid, both that wch is on the west and also that wch is on the east syde of ye River, to be injoyed by him and his heires for ever, after the death of my wife Susannah Hooker, provided he be then att. the age of one & twenty yeares. It being my will that my sayd deare wiefe shall injoy and possess my sayd Howsing & Lande during her naturall life, and yf she dy before my sonne Jno come to the aforsaid age of one & twenty yeares, that the same bee improved by the overseers of this my will for the maintenence and education of my children not (_____) disposed of, according to their best discretion, I doe also give unto my sonne Jno my Library of printed books and manuscripts, under the limittations and provisoes hereafter expressed. It is my will that my sonne Jno. deliver to my sonne Samuel Soe many of my books as shall be valued by the overseers of this my will to be worth fifty pounds sterling, of that he pay him the summe of fifty pounds Sterling to buy such books as may be useful to him in thee way of his studdyes, att such tyme as the overseers of this my will shall Judge meett. But if my sonne Jno. doe not goe on to the prfecting of his Studdyes, or shall not give up himselfe to the service of the Lord in the worke of the ministry, my will is that my Sonne Samuel enjoy and possesse the whole Library and manuscripts to his proper use forever; onely, it is my will that whatever manuscripts shall be Judged meett to be printed, the disposall thereof and advantage that may come thereby I leave wholy to my executrix; and in the case she depart this life before the same be Judged of and Settled, then to my overseers to be improved by them in their best discretion, for the good of myne, according to the trust reposed in them. And however I doe not forbid my sonne Jno from seeking and takeing a wife in England, yett I doe forbid him from marrying and tarying there. I doe give unto my sonne Samuel, in case the whole Library come not to him, as is before expressed, the summe of Seventy pounds, to be payd unto him by my Executrix att such tyme and in such maner as shall be judged meetest by the overseers of my will. I doe also give unto my daughter Sarah Hooker, the summe of one hundred pounds Sterling, to be payd unto her by my Executrix when she shall marry of come to the age of one and twenty years, wch shall first happen; the disposall and further education of her and the rest, I leave to my wife, advising them to attend her counsell in the feare of the Lord. I doe give unto the two children of my daughter Joanna Sheperd, deceased, and the child of my daughter Mary Newton, to each of them the summe of tenn pounds, to payd unto them by my son John within one year after he shall come to the possession and injoyment of my Houseing & Lands in Hartford, or my Som Samuell, if by the decease of Jno he come to injoy the same. I doe make my beloved wiefe Susannah Hooker, Executrix of this my Lat will and Testament, and (my just debts being payd) doe give and bequeath unto her all my estate and goodes, moveable and immoveable, not formerly bequeathed by this my last will. And I desire my beloved friends, Mr. Edward Hopkins and Mr. William Goodwin, to affoard their best assistence to my wife, and doe constitute and appoint them the overseers of this my will. And itt haveing pleased the Lord now to visitt my wife with a sickness, and know not how itt may please his Matie to dispose of her, my mind & will is, that in case she depart this life before she dispose of the estate bequeathed her, my aforesaid beloved friends, Mr. Edward Hopkins and Mr. William Goodwyn, shall take charge both of the education and dispose of my children (to whose love and faithfullness I comend them) and of the estate left & bequeathed to my wiefe, and doe comitt itt to their best judgement and discretion to manage the sayd estate for ye best good of mine, and to bestow itt uppon any or all of them in such a proportion as shall be most suitable to their owne apprehensions. Being willing onely to intimate my desire that they wch deserve best may have most, but nott to Lymett them, but leave them to the full scope and bredth of their owne Judgement; in the dispose whereof, they may have respect of ye forementioned children of my two daughters, if they see meete. It being my full will that what trust I have comitted to my wife, either in matter of estate of such manuscript as shall be judged fitt to be printed, in case she live not to order the same herselfe, be wholly transferred and past over from her to them for ye ende before specifyed. And for mortality sake I doe putt power into the hands of the forementioned Beloved friends to constitute and appoint such other faithfull men as they shall judge meett (in case they be deprived of life or libberty to attend the same in their owne persons), to manage, dispose, and performe the estate and trust comitted to them in as full maner as I have comitted it to them for the smae ende. Thos. Hooker This was declared to be the last will and testament of Mr. Thomas Hooker, the seventh day of July, 1647, in the presence of Henry Smith, Sam. Stone, John White.

• General Notes
  • He married:
    (1) UNKNOWN in England.
    (2) SUSANNA UNKNOWN in England.
    
    Children of Thomas HOOKER and Unknown are:
    
    i. JOANNA HOOKER, b. England; d. April 28, 1646, Newtowne, MA.
    ii. MARY HOOKER, b. England; d. February 04, 1674/75, Milford, New Haven, CT.
    
    Children of Thomas HOOKER and Susanna Unknown are:
    
    iii. SARAH HOOKER, b. Little Baddow, Essex, England.
    iv. JOHN HOOKER, b. Abt 1626; d. 1684, Mazeworth, Bucks, England.
    v. SARAH HOOKER, b. 1628, Little Baddow, Essex, England; d. 1629, Little Baddow, Essex, England.
    vi. SAMUEL HOOKER, b. 1633; d. November 06, 1697, Farmington, CT.
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    Thomas Hooker (July 5, 1586 – July 7, 1647) was a prominent Puritan religious and colonial leader remembered as one of the founders of the Colony of Connecticut.
    
    Born at rural Marefield, Leicestershire. After Mr. Hooker's conversion to belief in the authenticity of Scripture and the saving grace of the Christ, his keenly reasoned reflections upon the meanings of Biblical passages and upon the life of a Christian helped his rise into the leadership of the Puritan movement in England. But this status as a leader in the Puritan movement would cause him to emigrate first to Holland and then to New England in 1633, on the ship Griffin, to escape the persecution of Archbishop William Laud for non-conformity. He was appointed the first pastor of the church at Newetowne, Massachusetts (now Cambridge). He is attributed as being the first minister of the First Parish in Cambridge, a church that still exists in the present day. His home was on a plot of land which today is part of the yard at Harvard College. His departure from the Colony of the Massachussettes Bay (the nucleus of the present-day Commonwealth of Massachusetts) was one of the key events leading to the creation of the Colony of Connecticut (the nucleus of the present-day State of the same name).
    
    In 1635, he was appointed by the General Court of Massachusetts to try to persuade his friend Roger Williams (theologian) to give up his controversial views. Hooker and Williams took part in a public debate, but Williams refused to change his opinions.
    
    In 1636, Thomas Hooker led 100 of his congregation west to found the new English settlement at Hartford, Connecticut. One of the reasons he left Massachusetts was his failure to agree with John Winthrop about who should take part in civil government. Winthrop held that only admitted members of the Church should vote and hold office; Hooker maintained that any adult male who owned property should be able to vote and participate in civil government, regardless of church membership.
    
    He and his party, which included Thomas Welles, traveled on the Native American trail that was soon known as the Old Connecticut Path. After settling in Hartford, Hooker continued to be in contact with John Winthrop and Roger Williams. Hooker often traveled to Boston along the Old Connecticut Path, to help settle intercolonial disputes. He is also remembered for his role in creating the "Fundamental Orders of Connecticut". This document is one of the modern world's first written constitutions and an influence upon the current American Constitution, written nearly a century and a half later.
    
    His granddaughter Mary Hooker married the Rev. James Pierpont. Their daughter Sarah Pierpont married Rev. Jonathan Edwards. Some other direct descendants of his included Henry Hooker, William Howard Taft, William Gillette, Edward H. Gillette, George Catlin, Sheryl Golkow, Emma Willard, and J.P. Morgan.

Click here for details of Thomas' family with Susanna Garbrand

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This page is within a frameset. View the entire genealogy report of Hooker families, or surname index of Hooker pedigrees or report summary of Hooker heritage from "Eden Family Genealogy".
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