Thomas Graves

Thomas Graves (by 1590–1662)

Sarah Scott (c. 1599–1666)

Thomas Graves was probably born by 1590. [1] He died in November 1662 in Hadley, Hampshire County, Massachusetts. [2, 291] He had a wife named Sarah.

Sarah, the wife of Thomas Graves, died in 1666 in Hatfield (then in Hadley). [2, 291]

Sarah was probably the daughter of the Christopher Scott who was born about 1599 and died in Hatfield Broadoak, Hertfordshire between 1 April 1640, when he made his will, and 2 August 1660, when it was proved. [1] The primary basis for this belief is an item in his will, transcribed in Mahler [1]:

Item I geve my Dafter Sara the wife of Thomas Grave the some of fife pounds to be Equally divided Among she and children Mary grave Isaake John Elzebeth and Nathanell when they come of age xxj.

Thomas Graves came to New England with his wife and five children—Isaac, John, Samuel, Nathaniel, and Elizabeth—before 1645. [3] He went from Wethersfield, Hartford County, Connecticut to Hatfield in 1661. [3]

The earliest record of Thomas in New England was when he was freed from training in 1645 in Hartford. [1]

Thomas bought land in Hartford from Thomas Scott and Thomas Gridley on 14 March 1649 in Hartford. [4]

On 23 November 1659 Thomas's wife was treated by the physician John Winthrop, Jr.. He recorded that she was over 60. [1]

Hatfield was part of Hadley until it was formally incorporated in 1670.

Children of Thomas Graves and Sarah Scott:

i. Mary Graves was born say 1622.

Mary is named in the will of her presumed grandfather, but apparently did not come to New England with her family. She may have died or married before then.

i. Isaac Graves was baptized on 16 February 1623/4 in Thundridge, Hertfordshire. [1] He died on 19 September 1677. [3][2, 52] He married Mary, the daughter of Richard and Anna Church. [3]

Isaac was killed, along with his brother John, in the Indian attack on Hatfield. [3]

ii. John Graves was baptized on 26 December 1626 in Thundridge. He died on 19 September 1677. He married Sarah Smith.

iii. Samuel Graves (possibly) died, as Samuel Graves, Sr., on 8 February 1692 in Hatfield. [2, 304] He married Sarah ___. Sarah, the wife of Samuel, Sr., died on 11 July 1689 in Hatfield. [2, 302]

Wells and Wells say that Thomas brought a son Samuel, but he is not named in his presumed grandfather's will.

v. Elizabeth Graves was born say 1628.

iv. Nathaniel Graves was born say 1630. He died on 28 September 1682, age about 53, in Wethersfield. [6] He married Martha Betts on 16 January 1655/6 in Wethersfield. [5][6, no last name] Martha, the daughter of Mary (__) Betts, was born about 1625 (based on her age at death, which might be an exaggeration) in Wethersfield. She died on 13 April 1701, age 75, in Wethersfield. [5][6]

Endnotes:

1. Leslie Mahler, "The English Origin of Thomas and Sarah (Scott) Graves of Hartford, Connecticut and Hadley, Massachusetts," The American Genealogist 82 (2007): 107–110.

2. "Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620–1850," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org > Hatfield.

3. Daniel White Wells and Reuben Field Wells, History of Hatfield, Massachusetts (Springfield: F.C.H. Gibbons, c. 1910), 409–10.

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

5. Gale Ion Harris, "The First Wife of Ralph Keeler of Hartford and Norwalk, Connecticut," The American Genealogist 80 (2005): 177–87, specifically 183.

6. "Connecticut: Vital Records (The Barbour Collection), 1630–1870," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org > Wethersfield, 130–1.

Map: Google Maps, 11 August 2023.

Last revised: 11-Aug-2023