Many individuals and communities are interested to learn who the first settlers were in their current home or ancestral area. This can be for many reasons — to establish family lines, track property history or to understand cultural diffusion and the local historical heritage, to name just a few.
Research was undertaken by the Lyme Local History Archives in 2015 to identify the earliest families to settle in the Town of Lyme, CT. Two lists were developed for two points of time: List A (1663-1665) and List B (1667-1700).
LIST A – Families of East Saybrook (Lyme) c. 1663-1665 at the time of The Loving Parting
Matthew Beckwith
Peter Blatchford
John Borden
Thomas Bradford
William Briggs (Biggs, Bridges)**
Wolston Brockway **
Capt. Thomas Bull
Henry Champion **
John Comstock *, **
Balthazar DeWolfe
Thomas Dunk
George Duran (Durant, Duren)
Richard Ely **
Matthew Griswold *
Joseph Hand
Thomas Hungerford
?John Huntley
John Lay, Sr *
John Lay II (called ‘Drummer”)?
Thomas Lee
Hugh Lees
William Lord **
Lt. Renold Marvin *
William Measure
?Joseph Peck **
Robert Perigo**
Henry Peterson
John Robbins **
Richard Smith *, **
John Tillotson (aka Tillerson?)
John Tinker Ens.
William Waller*
Capt. Abraham Watrous (Waterhouse)**
Ens. Issac Watrous
* signed the LOVING PARTING document
** known to have been active in the northern part of Lyme
Note on the Search for the English Settlers in East Saybrook in 1665: It was found that there is no list from the seventeenth century naming the thirty families who were settled in East Saybrook in 1665 at the time of the Loving Parting. Elizabeth Plimpton, historian of the Town of Lyme ( 1987-1993) made an effort to identify these families based on her research and work done earlier by Ellen Ely and Susan Holly Ely. Barbara Dietrick who authored a booklet The Ancient Town of Lyme for the Lyme Tercentenary in 1965 included a list of Lyme’s first settlers but did not discuss her sources. This list, compiled by the Lyme Local History Archives in 2015, combines the Plimpton and Dietrick lists. However, both of these lists included Moses Noyes. We chose not to include him since he was called to the ministry in Lyme in 1666, a year after the Loving Parting document was signed. Mrs. Dietrick did not include Thomas Hungerford, John Lay II “Drummer”, and William Measure on her list of first settlers.
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LIST B – Names of Additional Settlers in East Saybrook, 1667 to 1700
Note: This list is based on names frequently mentioned in “Lyme Records 1667-1730″ transcribed by Jean C. Burr. It is not a comprehensive list. Many sons of the earliest settlers inherited land in Lyme. These descendants are not listed below. Those starred ** are known to have been active in the northern part of Lyme (current Town of Lyme).
Roger Alger
Leonard Austin
Joseph Becket (Bagwith) **
Henry Benit (Bennett) **
Gershom Bulkly
Abraham Bronson
Sgt. Chadwick
John Chapell
Christopher Christophers
John Church
Samuel Church **
Nathaniel Clark
John Coult
Walter Davis
Edmund Dorr
Thomas Giddings
Jasper Griffins
Martin Hall
Thomas Handchut
William Harris
Charles Hill
Charles Hodges
Jonathan Hudson
John Jordan
John Larabee
John Mack **
Richard Mather
Issac Matson
Robert Miller
William Miner
John Mott **
Samuel Mott **
Moses Noyes
Edward Palmes (Palmer)
Ralph Parker
Henry Peterson
Samuel Pierson (Pearson, Person) See also Peter Pearson (Person) **
John Post
Peter Pratt
John Prentis
William Robeson
Hugh/Henry Rolland (Rowland, Rolling, Roulen)
Arthur Schofill (Shofele)
Samuel Seldon**
Benjamin Shapply
Joseph Shelding (Sheldon?)
Joseph Sill
Abraham Skinner
James Standclift
Joseph Stark
William Starling **
Thomas Terry
William Thomson
John Tillman? Usher
John Wade
Richard Wallis
William Warman
Andrew Warner **
Samuel Wate George WayeJohn Willy
** known to have been active in the northern part of Lyme
Compiled 2015, Ann Brubaker
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