George Hubbard

  General Notes:

Came from England to Concord, Middlesex MA. in 1633.

He is listed on a monument as being one of the original proprietors ofHartford, Hartford County, CT.

George Hubbard was born in 1601, and probably in eastern or southeasternEngland, where those bearing the name were located in great numbers.Nothing in the form of records has yet been found determining hisbirthplace or time of arrival in America. His name first appears in 1639in a list of the early settlers of Hartford. These settlers came overlandfrom the vicinity of Boston during the years 1635 and 1636, and locatedthe towns of Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield, Ct., also Springfield,Mass. GEORGE HUBBARD was one of the number. He was given six acres ofland "by courtesy of the town, with privilege of Wood & keeping cows onthe common," and resided on a lot adjacent to the land of James Ensignand George Graves on a road that ran parallel with the Connecticut River,according to an early map, now extant. This road ran from South Meadow toGeorge Steel's land, and then turned and ran across the "ox pasture"towards Wethersfiled, passing near to the Great Swamp. In 1640 he marriedElizabeth Watts, daughter of Richard* [* for text of footnote, seeRichard Watts entry] and Elizabeth Watts, and was then assigned a"home-lot" and land upon the east side of the "Great River." The colonialrecords show that "William Swanyne and George Hubbard were appointed Sep4, 1640, appraisers of the estate of Edward Mason," and April 24, 1649,Geore Hubberd was "fined Ð10 for exchanging a gunn with an Indian." Heappears to have disposed of his land and removed with about fifteen otherfamilies in March, 1650-51 to Mattabesett, so called until 1653, when itbacame Middletown. It swelled rapidly in size from accretions fromWethersfiled, Ct., and Rowley, Chelmsford, and Woburn, Mass., requiringafterward a division into sections knowsn as, respectively, Middletown,East Middletown or Chatham - now Portland, North Middletown or UpperHouses - now Cromwell, and later, Middlefield and Westfield. About 1650,or when he left Hartford, he carried with him a commission from theColonial Government as "Indian Agent and Trader for the MattabessettDistrict." In 1654 he wasmade freeman, and settled with is son-in-law,Thomas Wetmore, upon opposite corners on the east side of Main Street. Heowned large land tracts ont he west side and on the east side of theriver. These lands were recorded Sep 5, 1654. He, Thomas Wetmore and twoother land owners on the west side of the street, gave land for thesecond meeting-house. Steps were taken for erecting the firstmeeting-house Feb 10, 1652. Mr. Samuel Stow of Cambridge College,England, for several years temporarily had charge of this congregation.The records read: "It was agreed at a meeting of John Halls hous to builda meeting hous and to make it 20 fot square & 10 fot between sill andplat, the heygt of it." This structure was a one-story log house with apalisade around it, and GEORGE HUBBARD, living adjacent, was naturallyselected as its keeper. Dec 17, 1666, he was allowed "40 shillings forsweeping the meeting-house and kepping the glass [hour glass]. This alsoincluded the services of his eldest son, Joseph, who beat the drum toassemble the congretation and to give warning of the approach of Indians.Ten men organized this church formally in 1668 and signed its covenant,the first minister, Nathaniel Collins, one of the first graduates ofHarvard, heading the list of signatures. Much of the "confession offairth" is still the creed of the church, which eventually came to beknown as the Old North Church. The donated land abutted "against thecorners of George Hubbard & Thomas Wetmer on the east sie - Thomas Wetmerhalf a rod at ye north corner; George Hubbard half a rod wide, three rodsin length, against ye body of ye meeting-house and from thence out intoan angle thre or four rods further," making in all thirty-two feetsquare. In case the meeting-house was reoved the land was to "return toye proprietors again." This site was exactly in the middle of thehighway, near or between what are now known as Liberty and Grand streets.Most of these dovenanters lcoated near this meeting-house, at thenorthern end of Main street, where is now St. John's Square, though threeresided at "Upper Houses." An appraisement of his property March 22,1670, showed him to be worth Ð90.10s.15d., and in 1673 Ð 132.10s. At hisdeath his inventory showed him worth Ð243.10s., and possessed of adwelling-house and home lot worth Ð50, "2 1-3 acres of long meadow" worthÐ18.10s., 3 "acres of meadow (at (?) Pessenchaug) on the east side theGreat River" worth Ð9, a tract at Long Hill of 226 acres, another"parcell west from the towne" of 300 acres, one "parcell on the east sideof the Great River" of 464 acres, and the "one-halfe Lott" of 30 acres ,a total of over one thousand acres. His original will in on file in theHall of Records at Hartford, Ct., in a box labelled "Wills-H, 1647-1750,"and bears date of May 22, 1681. In this document he states that he is"eighty years in age, yet in comfortable health of body & haveing the useof my understanding," etc. In his inventory, taken May 13, 1685, it isstated that he "deceased the 18 of March 1684." Sergt. Samuel Warde, JohnHall, senior, and Ebenezer Hubbard were the witnesses. His widow died in1702. One record of him says that he was "highly respected, and of markedintegrity and fairness." He appears at this distance of time to have beendevout, industrious, and possessed of those sturdy, wholesome qualitiesof mind and body without which the composition of our coutnry today wouldnot possess that element of robustness and stability that has enabled itto so successfully withstand foreign infections, manners, andmonarchisms. This New England fibre in the govermental-politico textureis now, sad to note, becoming gradually obliterated by unAmericaninnovations and practices. He must have been a man of "marked integrityand fairness" to have been selected byt the colony as its Indian Trader.Much judgment has to be used by this representative of the colony inthese dealings. Promiscuous trading by any one was forbidden, asfire-arms and fire-water were frequently bartered by indiscreet persons,which produced direful results. This resulted in the selection of one manto do the trading for all. On his judgment and prudence much depended. Hemust have erred, however, at one time, for the Colonial Court fined himÐ10 for exchanging a gun with an Indian. In a spirit of charity, hisdescendants are privileged to conjecture that he might have regarded thegun as an old and harmless one and incapable of going off and hurtinganyone.

quoted from "A Catalogue of the Names of the first Puritan Settlers ofthe Colony of Connecticut":

Hubbard, George, in 1665, certified before William Leete, at Guilford,the consideration paid Lowheag, by the inhabitants of Wethersfield, forsix miles in breadth on both sides of the river, and six deep from theriver west, and three deep from the river east, in Wethersfield. He wason the committee of the General Court in March, '37, with Talcott, Mason,and others. While he remained in the colony he was an important man atthe General Court, and upon committees appointed by the Court. He was oneof the first settlers fo the colony -- was appointed with two others, in'56, to survey the town of Wethersfield--was a committee to the GeneralCourt in '37 and '38, and a deputy in '39 in April, August and September,and was one of the leading men in the colony. He resided at Wethersfield,but remained in the colony but a few years before he removed to Milford,the to Guilford, and afterwards to Middletown, where he died in 1684,aged about 80. Children, Joseph, Daniel, Nathaniel, Samuel, Elizabeth,Mary Ranny, and Richard. (His wife, Elizabeth.) Joseph, of Middletown,died in '86--his children were Joseph, 15 years old, Robert 13, George11, John 8, and Elizabeth 3.
Birth* c 1601 Child; E or SE?, England, His will, dated 22 May 1681,states that he is "eighty years of age".2,3
Marriage* 1640 Groom; Bride: Elizabeth Watts4,5
Residence* Upper Houses, Middletown, Middlesex Co., CT, USA, Hishomestead in Middletown was on Main street extending south from what isRapello Avenue and reaching back to the Connecticut River. Thomas Allen'shoestead lay between Hubbard's and Riverside Cemetery.
Will* 22 May 1681 Middletown, Middlesex Co., CT, USA, According to Day(1895) on file in the Hall of Records at Harford, CT, in a box labelled"Wills-H, 1647-1750."

In his will, George Hubbard, aged 80, said, "I give to my daughter MaryRany fourty shillings out of my Estate, but on further considerationinstead of that fourty shillings I give my sayd daughter the on halfe ofmy halfe Mille Lott on the East side the Great River by the List of1673"6,7
Death* 18 Mar 1684 Deceased; Middletown, Middlesex Co., CT, USA8,3
Burial* c 1684 Interred; Riverside Cemetery, Middletown, Middlesex Co.,CT, USA, Thousand Years of Hubbard History:

GEORGE HUBBARD and his widow were buried in the Middletown RiversideCemetery (near the original log church), laid out in 1650, and lyingtriangularly on the west bank of the Connecticut River, close to theUnion Depot, and within a stone's throw of where he resided. Thiscemetery was laid out shortly after the year 1750 [probably 1650], andwas the only buring-ground until 1713, the inhabitants upon both sides ofthe river using it. In it are several tombstones bearing the years uponthem of 1600. These are mostly of blue slate, upon which the letteringbetter retains its contour than upon the brown sandstone, though theslate sometimes flakes off and is thus lost....

...Tradition locates GEORGE HUBBARD'S grave close to the burying-groundentrance, fronting west, on St. John's Square, but no headstones showwhere he or his widow's dust is mouldering.8,3

George married Mary Bishop in 1627 in Hingham, Norfolk, England. (Mary Bishop was born in 1610 in England and died on 14 Sep 1675 in Guilford, New Haven, CT.)

George next married Elizabeth Watts in 1639-1640 in Hartford, Hartford, CT. (Elizabeth Watts was born in 1617-1618 in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England, christened in Middletown, Middesex, CT, died on 6 Dec 1702 in Middletown, Middesex, CT and was buried in Dec 1702 in Middletown Cemetery, Middletown, Middesex, CT.)