Thomas Bunce

Thomas Bunce (c. 1612–by 1683)

Sarah Unknown (d. 1694)

Thomas was born about 1612 if he was freed from training at age 60. He died before 3 August 1683.

Sarah Unknown died in January 1693/4 in Hartford. [1][2]

Thomas’s origins are unknown; he came to New England by 1637.

On 1 May 1637 the Connecticut declared war on the Pequots. Thomas was a soldier from Hartford. [3] He was a proprietor in Hartford in 1639. [2] In February 1639 he bought land in Hartford form Lay and Gridley. [4] At an unspecified date after February 1639/40, Thomas Judd sold his land in the south meadow to Thomas Bunce and William Gibbins. [5]

On 5 March 1645 the Connecticut court ordered, “The Welchman Lewis for pilfering Bunces corned, is fined 40s.” [6, 1: 137]

Thomas was a chimney viewer in Hartford in 1646 and 1670. [2] On 16 Mary 1647 he bought land in Hartford from Stephen Post. [4] He was a constable in Hartford in 1648. [2]

On 24 April 1649 Thomas acknowledged himself bound for five pounds to appear at the particular court on the first Thursday in June 1649 and to “carry good behavior in the meane time.” [6, 1: 182] His offense is not mentioned and there is no record of it in the meeting of the June court.

In January 1650 Thomas bought land in Hartford from Joseph Eson. [4] On 26 February 1655/[6?] Robert Bartlett sold him three roods and 23 perches of swamp in the south meadow in Hartford. [7, 117] In 1660 he bought land in Hartford from Thomas Grave. [4]

At a 2 September 1661 Hartford town meeting, Thomas was appointed to a committee to “determine the controversy” between Hartford and Windsor over their boundary. [8]

In 1662 Thomas bought land in Hartford from Nathaniel Ward. [4]

On 21 December 1664 Thomas Bunce and Samuel Steele took the inventory of George Steele’s estate. [7, 1755]

Thomas was a juror at the Connecticut Court of Assistants on 12 October 1669, 6 May 1673, and 4 October 1667. He was a grand juror on 8 October 1672, 26 May 1674, and 25 May 1675. [9]

Thomas and his son Thomas are on an October 1669 list of freemen on the south side of Hartford. [6, 2: 518]
Thomas and his wife Sarah were original members of the South Church in Hartford on 12 February 1670. [2]

Thomas was a [tax] list maker in 1671, 1672, and 1673 in Hartford. [2]

On 11 May 1671 the Connecticut court granted Thomas 60 acres for his good service in the Pequot War. On 14 October 1672 they added another 50 acres to this grant. [6, 2: 154, 187]

Thomas was freed from training in 1672. [2]

On 20 August 1674 Thomas bought land in Hartford from Samuel Gridley. [4]

On 11 October 1675 Thomas was on a committee to help secure Hartford. [6, 2: 375]

On 19 January 1676 Thomas bought land in Hartford from John Watson. [4]

On 12 February 1681/2 Joseph Eaton appointed “my brother Thomas Bunes & Thomas Bull Senior” to be his overseers. [10] It is unclear what the relationship between Joseph Eaton and Thomas Bunce was.

Thomas Bunce of Hartford’s will is undated. He left his son John his house and land in Hartford that he bought from Thomas Gridley, a 40-acre lot also bought from Thomas Gridley near the Wethersfield boundary after the decease of his wife, the right and title in a mill built by Mr. Gardner, Stephen Hosmer, and himself, and six acres in the south meadow after the decease of his wife. He left his daughter Elizabeth White 20 pounds, each grandchild five pounds, his cousin Elizabeth White five pounds and his sister Katherine Clark ten pound. He left the use of his land and his movables to his wife during life, but only half if she remarried. He left his son Thomas the rest of his land after his wife’s decease and named him his sole executor. He appointed his bretheren Ensign Nathaniel Standly and Stephen Hosmere his overseers. He added a nuncupative codicil revoking his legacy to his cousin Elizabeth White and leaving only 20 shillings to each grandchild. This was entered on the oath of his witnesses on 2 August 1683. Inventory was taken on his estate in Hartford the next day and amounted to £1,024-03-00. Inventory on his estate in Wethersfield was taken in 1683 and amounted to £767-03-00. [1]

Sarah, the late wife of Thomas Bunce, Sr. of Hartford, made her will on 19 August 1689. She left her grandchild Sarah Meekins 15 pounds, of which part was to be a feather bed and furniture and a great brass kettle. She left her grandchild John Meekins five pounds and a chest. She left her grandson Thomas Meekins 40 shillings and a chest. She left her grandchild Mehitable Meekins, her son John Bunce, and his two eldest children 20 shillings each. The rest of her estate was to be divided equally between her sons Thomas and John Bunce. [1]

Children of Thomas Bunce and Sarah Unknown:

i. John Bunce married Mary ___. [2] She died before 1734. [2]

ii. Elizabeth Bunce married Jacob White (John) by 1699. [2][7, 1979]

The physician John Winthrop, Jr. treated “White, Elis[abeth], wife of Jacob of Hartford” on 8 July 1669. [7, 1979]

iii. Thomas Bunce died by 3 September 1711. He married Susanna Bull. [2][11] Susanna, the daughter of Thomas and Susanna Bull of Hartford, was born about 1645. [11]

Thomas was a substantial landowner in Hartford.

Thomas and his wife were admitted to the church in Hartford in 1677. [2]

Thomas Bunce made his will on 25 April 1709. [2] It was proved on 3 September 1711. He left his estate to his sons Thomas and Jonathan and his daughters Susannah, Sarah, and Abigail. On 7 February 1711/2 administration was granted to his son Jonathan, his son Thomas having died. Inventory of his estate was taken on 25 April 1712 and amounted to £1,683-12-01. [1]

i. Sarah Bunce died on 20 June 1676. She married first Sergeant John White. She married second Nicholas Worthington.

v. Mary Bunce was born on 17 September 1645 in Hartford. [12] She probably died by 2 August 1683, as she was not mentioned in her father’s will. She married first Thomas Meakins about 1666. [2][13] Thomas, the son of Sarah (Bell) and Thomas Meakins and grandson of Thomas Bell and Thomas Meakins, was born on 8 June 1643 in Braintree. [13] He was killed by Indians on 19 October 1675 in Hatfield. [2][13] She married second John Downing of Hatfield. [2]

Endnotes:

1. "Connecticut: Early Probate Records, 1635–1730," digitized book, AmericanAncestors.org, originally published as Charles W. Manwaring, A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records (Hartford: R. S. Peck & Co. Printers, 1904), vol. 1: 283–4 (Thomas, Sr.); vol. 2: 168–9 (Thomas, Jr.), vol. 5: 416 (Sarah).

2. J. Hammond Trumbull, Memorial History of Hartford County, vol. 1 (Boston: Edward L. Osgood, 1886), 232–3.

3. Hosea Starr Ballou, “Dr. Thomas Starr, Surgeon in the Pequot War,” New England Historical and Genealogical Register 89 (1935): 172–7, specifically 175.

4. “Hartford, CT: General Index of Land Records of the Town of Hartford, 1639–1839,” database, AmericanAncestors.org, entries for Thomas Bunce.

5. "Great Migration, 1634–1635, I–L," digitized book, AmericanAncestors.org, originally published as Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration to New England, 1634–1635, Volume 4, I–L (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2005), 123.

6. J. Hammond Trumble, The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, vol. 1 (Hartford: Brown & Parsons, 1850); vol. 2 (Hartford: F.A. Brown, 1852).

7. "The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620–1633, Volumes I-III," digitized book, AmericanAncestors.org, originally published as: Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 volumes (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995).

8. Homer Worthington Brainard, “Henry Gaines of Lynn, Mass., and Some of His Descendants,” New England Historical and Genealogical Register 85 (1931): 30–56, specifically 35.

9. “Connecticut: Minutes of the Court of Assistants, 1669–1711,” database with images, AmericanAncestors.org, 7, 20, 25, 34, 39, 50.

10. "Great Migration 1634–1635, C–F," digitized book, AmericanAncestors.org, originally published as: Robert Charles Anderson, George F. Sanborn, Jr., and Melinde Lutz Sanborn, The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634–1635, Volume 2, C–F (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001), 394.

11. "Great Migration 1634–1635, A–B," digitized book, AmericanAncestors.org, originally published as: Robert Charles Anderson, George F. Sanborn, Jr., and Melinde Lutz Sanborn, The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634–1635, Volume 1, A–B (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1999), 474.

12. "Connecticut: Vital Records (The Barbour Collection), 1630–1870," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org > Hartford, 45.

13. Clifford L. Stott, “The English Ancestry of Thomas Bell and His Sister Sarah (Bell) Meakins, Wife of Thomas Meakins of Roxbury, Massachusetts,” New England Historical and Genealogical Register 175 (2021): 223–230, specifically 230.

Last revised: 16-Aug-2023