Matthew Griswold

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Matthew Griswold (1620–1699), son of George Griswold

Anne Wolcott (say 1624–1700), daughter of Henry Wolcott

Matthew Griswold was born in 1620 and died on January 1699. [1] He married Anne Wolcott in 1646 in Windsor, Connecticut. [1]

Anne, the daughter of Henry Wolcott, was born say 1624. She died in 1700. [2] According to Anderson, she married Matthew Griswold on 16 October 1646 "so stated in all secondary sources, but no evidence." [3] The evidence is provided by Stott. [4] Anne's brother Christopher Wolcott left his estate to his siblings in his nuncupative will of 4 December 1662. By a 3 June 1696 deed of gift, Matthew and Anne Griswold of Lyme left their granddaughters Sarah and Anne Colton land that they had received by "decease and gift" from Christopher Windsor of Windsor.

Matthew and his brother Edward came to New England in 1639. [2]

Matthew was the first magistrate in Saybrook. He was a deputy from Saybrook and Lyme during the period 1649 to 1685. [1]

Matthew may have received a grant of land from George Fenwick, whose agent he was, in the southwest quarter of Lyme. He is said to have built a log cabin there—the first in Lyme. However, at first he left a black man to occupy it, prefering the safety of the fort in Saybrook at night. Later, he made his home there. [5]

In 1666 the General Court ordered Matthew Griswold and William Walter to submit a valuation of the property in Lyme. [5]

Children of Matthew Griswold and Anne Wolcott:

i. Elizabeth Griswold married first John Rogers. [6] She married second Peter, the son of Phineas and Mary (Priest) Pratt, on 5 August 1679 in Lyme. [6] Peter was born say 1643. [6]

ii. Matthew Griswold married Phebe Hyde in 1683. [7] Phebe was the daughter of Samuel and Jane (Lee) Hyde. [7]

Matthew and Phebe were the ancestors of Matthew and Roger Griswold, governors of Connecticut and William Woodbridge, governor of Michigan. [7]

iii. John Griswold

iv. Sarah Griswold on 12 September 1690 in Springfield. She married Thomas Colton.

v. Ann Griswold was born in April 1656 in Lyme, Connecticut. [1] She died on 13 April 1721 in Lyme. [1]. She married Abraham Bronsonon 2 September 1674. [1] Abraham was the son of John and Frances Hills. [1]

Ann was the ancestor of Morrison Waite, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and Alexander Graham Bell. [2]

References

1. Henry A. Hudson, Jr., "Hon. Henry Matson Waite — For the People," Connecticut Nutmegger 38 (2005), 192–3.

2. "The Woolcotts of Windsor, (Conn.),"Connecticut Nutmegger, vol. 11 (1978), 3–12.

3. "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), 2049–52.

4. Clifford Stott, "Humphrey Blake (1494?–1558) and his Descendants in New England and South Carolina: Blake, Richards, Selleck, Torrey and Wolcott," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 163 (2009): 85–97, 199–211, 278–95; 164 (2010) 63–74, specifically 163: 285–6.

5. Walter J. Noyes, "Early Settlers of Old Lyme," Connecticut Nutmegger, vol. 7 (1974), p. 3.

6. "The Great Migration Begins," 1516–7.

7. John W. Stedman, The Norwich Jubilee ... (Norwich: John W. Stedman, 1859), 206.

Revised 06-Jun-2023