Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy

Joseph Loomis

Male 1590 - 1658  (~ 68 years)


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  • Name Joseph Loomis 
    Christened 24 Aug 1590  Braintree, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Died 25 Nov 1658  Suffield, Hartford, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Buried Loomis Homestead, Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I1919  Petersen-de Lanskoy
    Last Modified 27 May 2021 

    Father John Lummys or Loomis,   c. 29 Jan 1562, Thaxted, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. From 14 Apr 1619 to 29 May 1619, Braintree, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 57 years) 
    Mother Agnes Lingwood,   b. Abt 1565, of Bocking, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Aft 21 Jun 1619, of Braintree, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 54 years) 
    Married Bef 1590  of Braintree, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F1189  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Mary White,   c. 24 Aug 1590, Shalford, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 23 Aug 1652, Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 61 years) 
    Married 30 Jun 1614  Shalford, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. Mary Loomis,   b. Abt 1615, of Braintree, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 19 Aug 1680, Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 65 years)
     2. Joseph Loomis,   b. Abt 1617, of Braintree, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 26 Jun 1687, Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 70 years)
     3. Sarah Loomis,   b. Abt 1619, of Braintree, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1667, Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 48 years)
     4. Elizabeth Loomis,   b. Abt 1620, of Braintree, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Aft 1665, Killingworth, Middlesex, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 46 years)
     5. John Loomis,   b. Abt 1622, of Braintree, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1 Sep 1688, Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 66 years)
     6. Thomas Loomis,   b. Abt 1624, of Braintree, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 28 Aug 1689, Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 65 years)
     7. Nathaniel Loomis,   b. Abt 1626, of Braintree, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 19 Aug 1688, Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 62 years)
     8. Samuel Loomis,   b. Abt 1628, Braintree, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1 Oct 1689, Westfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 61 years)
    Last Modified 28 May 2021 
    Family ID F1172  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • RESEARCH_NOTES:
      1. Mentioned by name in father's will, for which he was the executor.

      2. May also be known as Lomas or Lomys.

      3. Per 12 Feb 2002 email from Dave Francis : "Joseph Loomis was a woolen draper, a merchant engaged in the purchase of cloth from the many weavers who wove on hand looms in their cottage homes. He had a store in Braintree, Essex, Eng., stocked with cloths and other goods which a draper usually dealt in. These products he sold both wholesale and retail to tailors and consumers in general. Braintree and near-by towns were centers of the cloth manufacture, as many weavers from Flanders had been induced to come to England by Edward III and they had been followed by others in the latter part of the sixteenth century, who had settled in Essex, not far from Braintree, in 1570. Joseph Loomis was in prosperous circumstances and his father-in-law, Robert White, was a man of considerable means for those times. Joseph Loomis settled at Windsor near the junction of the Farmington river with the Connecticut, on the island. The island was high land and so called because it became an island at every great freshet of the river. His house has been in the perpetual possession of the family down to the present time and is probably the oldest one now standing in Connecticut, which is still owned by the descendants of the pioneer builder. It was on this island that Capt. William Holmes and a few other men of the Plymouth colony established a trading house in 1633, which was the first permanent English settlement in Connecticut. Joseph Loomis was Deputy in 1643, 1644. In Feby. 1640 he had granted him 21 acres on the west side of the Connecticut river; he also had several large tracts on the east side, partly from the town and partly by purchase. (Encyclopedia of Connecticut Biography) Joseph Loomis, b. about 1590; was a woolen draper in Braintree, Essex county, England. He m. June 30, 1614, Mary White, bapt. in Shalford, England, Aug. 24, 1590. They sailed from London, April 11, 1638 in the ship "Susan and Ellen," and arrived in Boston, July 17, 1638. It is mentioned in the town records of Windsor, Conn., Vol. I, that on Feb. 2, 1640, Joseph Loomis had granted to him from the plantation 21 acres adjoining Farmington river, on the west side of the Connecticut; also several large tracts of land on the east side of the Connecticut partly from the town and partly by purchase. He therefore probably came to Windsor, in the summer or autumn of 1639, he is generally supposed to have come in company with Rev. Ephraim Huet, who arrived at Windsor, Aug. 17, 1639. He brought with him five sons and three daughters. His house was situated near the mouth of Farmington river, on the Island, so called because at every great freshet it became temporarilly, an island, by the overflowing of the Connecticut river. His wife d. Aug. 23, 1652; he d. Nov. 25, 1658. (Ancestry of John Barber White and of his Descendants) He married 30 June, 1614, at Messing, Essex, Mary White, baptized in Shalford, Essex, Eng. 24 Aug. 1590; died 23 Aug 1652, at Windsor, Ct. He married (2) according to the Loomis Genealogy, one whom we have already accounted for at 209-11 according to the claims of the Olmstead genealogist: Mary () Lord, widow Dr. Thomas Lord of Wethersfield. Perhaps both are right. The date of neither marriage is given, but the first wife of Joseph Loomis d. in 1652, the first wife of Capt. Nicholas Olmstead d. fifteen years later. Dr. Lord was a man of so great a reputation that his name was remembered where Grandfather Loomis was forgotten."

      4. Elias Loomis "Descendants of Joseph Loomis in America," update of 1875 edition published by Elisha S. Loomis, Berea, Ohio, 1908. Note - Dr. Elias Loomis died before the Supplement was published. But this third (1908) edition contains all new materials which he had collected, along with all new data collected and obtainable since his death.
      From Preface: 'While we have retained unbroken Dr. Elias Loomis's historical account of Joseph Loomis, his origin and his name, as set forth under the heading, Historical Data, p. 21, yet we deem it best to add such supplementary facts as have come to light since 1875, especially as touching the name Loomis. Indeed it is very doubtful if our ancestral name originated in the way Dr. Loomis surmised, as the investigations of Prof. C. A. Hoppin, Jr., hereinafter given, seem to show. That Joseph's great-grandfather died at Thaxted, Eng., in the year 1551, is now proved as evidenced by Thaxted church records. But whence came his ancestors, what was the origin of the name, and what is our right to a coat-of-arms? These queries are raised and discussed in Prof. Hoppin's scholarly report to which the reader is referred. Evidently our antecedents are not Royal, but something far better, viz., clean, God-fearing, industrious men of respect and influence - men of character and back-bone.'
      Proof that Joseph Loomis came from Braintree, England. - Joseph Loomis, one of the first settlers of Windsor, Conn., came from Braintree, Essex County, England, in the year 1638. This fact is established by the following document, being a deposition made July 30, 1639, by one of the passengers in the same ship with Joseph Loomis. The original, of which this is a copy, is in the possession of Mr. J. Hammond Trumbull of Hartford, Conn., President of the CT Historical Society. The following is a copy of the original draft (unsigned) of the deposition of Joseph Hills of Charlestown, taken 30th July, 1639:*
      'Joseph Hills of Charlestowne, in New England, Woollen Draper**, aged about 36 yeares, sworne, saith upon his oath that he came to New England undertaker in the ship called the Susan & Ellen of London whereof was master Mr. Edward Payne, in the yeare of our Lord one thousand six hundred thirty and eight, the 14th yeare of the raigne of our Souraigne Lord the King that now is and this dpt knowes that divers goods and chattells, victualls & commodities of Joseph Loomis late of Brayntree in the County of Essex, Woolen-draper, wch were put in three butts, two hogsheds, one halfe hogshed, one barrel, one tubb & three firkins, transported from Malden in the County of Essex to London in an Ipswch Hye, were shipped in the said ship upon the eleventh day of Aprill in the yeare abovesayd, and this deponent cleared the said goods wth divers other goods of the said Joseph Loomis and other mens, in the Custome-house at London, as may appeare by the Customers bookes, and this deptsaith that the said goods were transported into New England in the said ship where she arrived on the seaventeenth day of July in the yeare aforesayd.'
      (Notes: *The N. E. Hist. and Gen. Reg., Vol. VIII, p. 309, contains the Will of Joseph Hills, lawyer, late of Maldon, Mass. He d. Feb. 5, 1687-8. **So designated by Savage, vol. II, p. 417.)
      Several of the facts stated in the preceding disposition are confirmed by other documents.
      The following is a document contained in a volume of Land Records preserved in the office of the Secretary of State at Hartford, Conn. It is a copy of a letter from an attorney of Braintree, Eng., dated 1651, and addressed to an acquaintance in Hartford, Conn., in which letter allusion is twice made ot Loomi. The writer of this letter (W. Lyngwood) is mentioned in the history and antiquities of the county of Essex, by Phillip Morant, London, 1768, vol. 2, p. 391.
      'Cousin Clark:
      Since I have received your letter in March, 1650, with your letter to your brother Richard and the testimonial of your being alive, under the Governor's seal, I have proceeded against your brother and taken out a commission in chancery, to examine witnesses which I intended to have had executed about Michaelmas, etc.
      And now I desire only to have a good warrant and order from you testified by such of my friends there with you whose hands I know, as my cousin Loomis, cousin Cullick, John Talcott, John Steele, or some of those to whom you would have me pay the money, that I may have a good discharge and you may be sure to have the money, for I should be very sorry, after so much time, pains and money spent that either you should fail of your money, or myself of a good discharge for the ₤29, and so desiring to hear from you as speedily as you can, with my love to you, my cousin Loomis, cousin Cullick, and the rest of my cousins and friends there with you, I rest, Your very loving cousin, W. Lyngwood. Braintree, March 20, 1651.
      This is a true copy, Oct. 11, 1654. John Cullick.'
      In a manuscript by John Talcott the second (shown to me by Mr. Charles J. Hoadley of Hartford), he says: 'My uncle Mr. Mott sold my hon'd father Talcott his house that he lived in in Braintree in Old England per order in the year 1644, my father Talcott then living in this house in Hartford.' (Footnote: John Talcott of Hartford had an uncle who was born in Braintree, Eng., and went to Spain and was a merchant in Madrid. He had a cousin who died in Seville, Spain. See Talcott's Gen., p. 8.)
      In the will of John Talcott (made between 1655 and 1660) he mentions his kinsman John Skinner. This John Skinner was the son of John Skinner and Mary, daughter of Joseph Loomis (4).
      In Hotten's Lists of Emigrants from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600-1700, the ship Susan and Ellen, Edward Payne, Master, is said to have sailed with a load of emigrants from London to New Engalnd in May, 1635. This is the same ship, with the same master, that brought over Joseph Loomis in 1638.
      Again in vol. 2, Records of Particular Court for the colony of Connecticut (preserved in the office of the Secretary of State, Hartrford, Conn.), p. 116, is given an inventory of the estate of Mr. Joseph Loomis, deceased, Nov. 25, 1658, in which it is stated that there is a debt in England against Mr. Loomis's estate amounting to ₤12. 14s. 8d.
      The preceding documents are regarded as sufficient authority for the statement that Jospeh Loomis, who is mentioned in the records of Windsor as having bought a piece of land in that town, Feb. 2, 1640, came from Braintree, England, and landed in Boston in 1638.
      Children of Joseph Loomis. - Joseph Loomis had five sons and three daughters, whose marriages are recorded in the town records at Windsor, as also the births of their children, but as the date of the birth of Joseph's children is not recorded, it is difficult to determine the order of seniority.
      In the Records of Particular Court for the colony of CT, vol. 2, p. 115, is recorded the agreement of the children of Mr. Joseph Loomis respecting the division of the estate of said deceased, as approved by the court Dec. 2, 1658. This agreement is signed by the children in the following order: Joseph Loomis, Nicholas Olmsted, Josias Hull, John Loomis, Thomas Loomis, Nathaniel Loomis, Mary Tudor*, Samuel Loomis. (*The ages assigned to the children of Mrs. Skinner indicate that she was older than John Loomis. See 'Fem. Branch, Loomis Gen.,' Vol. I, p. 108.
      It is believed that the above order indicates the relative ages of the sons. This conclusion is founded upon the sentiments generally prevalent at that period with regard to the rights of seniority, and is confirmed by several circumstances.
      I. Since the laws of Engalnd secured to the oldest son very important privileges over his younger brothers, the position of Joseph Loomis's name in the agreemnmt above-mentioned is regarded as proving that he was the oldest son.
      2. Joseph Loomis, the younger, and John Loomis had land granted to them from the Windsor Plantation in 1643. The other sons acquired no land until several years afterwards. The names of the five sons are repeatedly mentioned on the records at Windsor and Hartford, as jurors, freemen, troopers, etc., and these dates laed to the conclusion that jospeh and John were oder than the other three sons.
      3. The marriages of the sons, as recorded at Windsor, took place in the order of the names mentioned above.
      ...Unfounded traditions. - In my numerous visits with members of the Loomis family, I have met with a considerable number of traditions respecting the first settlement in this country which are either very inaccurate or entirely erroneous. One statement(*) which I have repeatedly seen is the following: 'Joseph Loomis (then spelled Lomas), wife and Children, left Plymouth, Eng., in the ship Mary and John, March 20, 1634, and landed at or near Boston, Mass., May 30.'
      This statement is entirely untrue, and contains a jumble of facts and dates derived in part from the history of other settlers in Windsor. On the 20th of March, 1630, a company of 160 persons, including Rev. John Warham, afterwards the first minister of Windsor, embarked at Plymouth, Eng., in the ship Mary and John, a vessel of 400 tons burden, and landed at Nantasket, near Boston, May 30th. But it is established that Joseph Loomis and his family did not come over until 1638, and the first record which can be found of his name in CT is dated Feb. 2, 1640, when he bought a piece of land at Windsor.'
      Another statement, furnished me by a gentleman who has given considerable attention to the genealogy of the Loomis family, is the following: 'Some sixty years since, Dr. Wheelock, then president of Dartmouth College, N.H., received a letter from a gentleman in Leyden, Holland, stating that a Mr. Lomas had deceased at that place, leaving some property to the oldest Lomas in Windsor, Conn., and from concomitants it is believed that our family once resided in Leyden.'
      In July, 1857, I visited Leyden, mainly for the purpose of testing the truth of this rumor... [Explains his research and then concludes:] This evidence satisfies me that the rumor referred to is erroneous, either in respect of the place (Leyden) or the person (Lomas). I have found no evidence which indicated that Joseph Loomis of Windsor ever resided upon the continent of Europe.
      [The author continues for several pages explaining the statistical occurence of the surname Lomas, Lomax, etc. throughout the various English counties. He also discusses the general historical usage of the surname throughout England and the European continent. I have not copied this since it is unrelated and more modern research confirms our traceable and specific ancestry back only three generations or so in the Thaxted, Essex, area. He also discusses the Lomax coat of arms which originates sometime prior to the year 1561 with Lawrent Lomas of Lancaster Co. - which has no connection to us whatsoever.]
      Other [unrelated] families of the Loomis name. - Besides the descendants of Jospeh Loomis of "Windsor, there are in the United States other families known by the name of Loomis, Lummis, Lomas. Edward Lomas, born about 1606, came from London in 1635, and settled in Ipswich, Mass., as early as 1648. He had six children...
      That pioneer Joseph Loomis was a man of "respectable pecuniary means" is also evidenced by the fact that his name appears on the tax list of Braintree, England, for building a ship of 800 tons, to be built at Portsmouth, March 1, 1636, said ship to cost ₤8,000, the parish of Braintree being assessed ₤951-12-4 1/2. Moreover Joseph Loomis's father-in-law, Robert White, was considered a rich man for his time, and this is fully verified by his will, which see hereinafter."

      5. From the article/chapter: "The Loomis Family in the Old World: An Original and Exhaustive Inquiry into the Origin of the Name and Ancestry in England of Joseph Loomis the Emigrant to New England in 1638" by Charles A. Hoppins, Jr. for "The Loomis Family of America" in the book by Elias Loomis "Descendants of Joseph Loomis in America," third (1908) edition, pp. 93-96:
      "It is already known, of official evidence, that the "Joseph Lummys" ("Lommys"), who resided in the town and parish of Braintree in Essex, England, left that place in the spring of the year of 1638; also, that without any appreciable delay thereafter, he became a passenger of record in a vessel of goodly register, known as the "Susan and Ellen," and that this vessel did depart on the eleventh day in the month of April, of that year, from the port of London, bound for Boston in New England, carrying quite a number of other voyagers with their personal properties.
      In this connection it is the writer's duty to deal with facts that have not been made manifest hitherto - with respect to the scenes and circumstances amid which he lived; and as well, to the elements contributing chiefly to his taking leave of England. Thereunto let attention first be directed to the ways and the means by which Joseph Lummys, with his family and worldly goods, had "come up to London" from Braintree. By the sworn deposition, or affidavit, of one Joseph Hills of Charlestown, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony (see herein page 21), made thereat on the 30th day of July, 1639, he, (Hills) being the "undertaker" - the manager or promoter of this particular vessel, voyage or emigration - it is learned that the various parcels embracing the goods of Joseph Loomis (we shall principally refer to him as Loomis hereinafter) were "transported from Malden, in the county of Essex, to London, in an Ipswich hye." This place of "Malden" being Maldon, the Essex port, and an "Ipswich hye" meaning a smart craft of small size and especially engaged, we may retrace the journey of the said Loomis, his family and friends, from London, viz: down the Thames, up the Essex coast, across the Maplin and Foulness Sands, into the wide and long reach of the mouth of the river Blackwater, and continuing thence up the river some ten miles, and so, back to Maldon. This small port was one through which there long had passed commerce and people between England and the Continent. That Joseph Loomis and family attended personally the transportation, from Maldon in this hye, of their eleven separate and varying pieces of baggage and "divers other goods," which the above-noted deposition recounts, may well be believed. The inland Blackwater river, though but a very small stream of only a few feet in width, reaches northwestward from Maldon, to and past "Six Bells Corner" in the end of Bocking parish, by Braintree. But by so devious a route does it flow, that Joseph Loomis, in his journey seaward, only followed it in its lower half, viz: from Witham to Maldon. The "River Brain," - a mere brook - lightly slips down direct from the southern slope of Braintree to Witham, there uniting with the Blackwater. So it was that the emigrants came out of Braintree by the pleasant highway, paralleling the Brain. They passed through Black Notley, White Notley and Faulkbourne, - all sparse hamlets strung along the gently undulating road, above the stream, yet each little settlement with its handy inn. Thus was reached Witham, then on the great Roman road between London and the northeast. Thence out of Witham, they followed the course of the Blackwater by Wickham Place, through Langford and Heybridge to Maldon. Some fifteen miles in all from Braintree it was, and over a favorite route for bicyclists nowadays. Alternating copses and fields, freshly furrowed for the seed-sowing, marked the way between the snug hamlets and the occasional houses plastered in white or yellow beneath their low-browed roofs of thatch. Some of these houses still exist along the way, and pretty much the same sort of people as of yore still abide in them.
      This longest way around, of 100 miles to London, may have been both an easier and a quicker progress than by the forty miles of the shortest highway thereto, by the way of Chelmsford. It should have been less costly a journey than that which necessitated frequent stops at taverns for rest and refreshment. Very well-ordered seems to have been the Loomis's departure. Many a stop was made at gate and door, in those familiar fifteen miles, to give and receive blessings and farewells - the last of earth - repeating what had but just happened in Braintree church and market-place.
      Braintree scarce could afford to lose such a citizen as Joseph Loomis; but America needed him more, and he knew it. Just that same need was exactly why he went away. Verily, it was not merely religion, not all prospect of gain, not great dissatisfaction with home, - not any one of these things that chiefly moved him to arise and go to set himself down three thousand miles from the ease of home. Broader than any of these causes was the reason. To help found a new country, with fairer laws and wider liberties, where the ordinary man might be more supreme - that was the Great Idea that possessed him, and many others. As of the non-conformist faction out of the church of England they wanted to dominate the church at home, which power they could not quite attain to there. But deeper than that desire in the breast of Joseph Loomis was the spirit that moved him. He felt himself equal to the task that other men had set. The challenge of their example stirred him. The appeal of Opportunity decided him. It convinced his mind that he was one of "the chosen" for the Great Purpose. And the apparently unlimited possibilities, to him and his, of the natural resources of an unclaimed land, hovered in his imagination."He had all the money that he would require to pleasantly establish his family in America. Let us dismiss, as being insufficient, the idea of "a band of Christians fleeing from persecution" - save with respect to the Mayflower's Pilgrims mostly. To the so-called Puritan settlers, the comforts of religion were vastly more of a necessity and more relished in the New than they had been to them in the Old England. Daily spiritual refreshment kept them to their hard tasks, soothed the longing for a return to the beautiful land they had forsaken, and, in fact, the church was the keystone that held up the arch of the early colonization.
      'John Lummys,' the father, and tailor, is shown by his will, dated 1619, to have been a tradesman and real-estate holder in comfortable circumstances, and a citizen of esteem in the church and community. His son Joseph advanced the fortune of the family. Contemplating his means and position in England, and his situation in America, it seems entirely fair to say that he was a prosperous man in England, and of the better class of settlers in New England. Long it has been seen that he was independent in Windsor - and particularly so as to the location of his estate there...
      Joseph Loomis was not one of these unfortunate yet ambitious farmers. His wife was the daughter of a man considered as very well-to-do in that time and region; a man whose testamentary bequests of money alone were upwards of fourteen thousand dollars (present reckoning). Loomis is known to have been a woolen draper, a merchant engaged in the purchase of cloth from the many weavers who wove on hand-looms in their cottage-homes. He had a store in Braintree stocked therewith and with other goods which a "draper" dealt in. These products, he sold at large, both wholesale and retail, to tailors and consumers in general: Braintree and nearby towns were centres of cloth manufacture..."
      Not driven out of England, not forsaking duties or obligations there, not an enthusiast or Puritanical extremist in religion was Joseph Loomis. He came to America on general principles, after long deliberation. As a practical business man of the world his decision so to do, it will be now agreed, was the apotheosis of wisdom. A study of his life in America prys up no indication that he regretted his transplantation, as did many other settlers, with cause..."

      6. From the Rootsweb site of Sue Biedlingmaier at sueb@provide.net. The following information was taken from the website "http://www.loomis.8k.com/": The Loomis family has been a part of the fabric of American History from this country's very beginnings. Coming to the shores of the New World landing at Boston Harbor in 1638, just eight years after the founding of Boston, Joseph Loomis brought his family seeking a new life and hoped for prosperity. From here the family wintered in Dorchester, Massachusetts and in 1639 traveled overland to the Connecticut Valley, where Joseph established his homestead at Windsor, overlooking the great Connecticut River near the mouth of the Farmington River. Today, the original Joseph Loomis homestead still stands and is part of the Loomis family heritage carried on by The Loomis Chaffee School for boys and girls. From here, the family continued to be pioneer's in America's history, Inventors, Entrepreneurs, mathematics, philosophy, art, business, there is hardly a profession that a Loomis descendant has not put a stamp on. And the land, forging the Oregon Trail, mining the gold fields of the Yukon, where there are new opportunities, a Loomis is sure to go! The following was taken from the website www.loomis.org . 'This is the history of the school, the Loomis Chaffee School, which was named after Joseph's descendants. The Story of the School: Our roots are deep, running as far back as 1639, when Joseph Loomis and his family first settled at the confluence of the Farmington and Connecticut rivers. Several generations later, the inspiration for our school was born out of family tragedy, when, in the early 1870s, four Loomis brothers and their sister had outlived all their children. As a memorial to their own offspring, and as a gift to future Children, they pooled their considerable estates to found a secondary school. The original 1640 Loomis homestead was chosen as the site where their dream would become reality. James Chaffee Loomis, Hezekiah Bradley Loomis, Osbert Burr Loomis, John Mason Loomis and Abigail Sarah Loomis Hayden broke new educational ground by planning a school that would offer both vocational and college preparatory courses. (Vocational offerings were discontinued during the later development of the school.) The founders' enlightened and democratic school would have no religious or political admission criteria. And boys and girls would be given as free an education as the endowment would allow. As The Loomis Institute, we opened our doors in 1914 to 39 boys and five girls. In 1926, our girls' division broke off to focus more closely on girls' educational issues and became The Chaffee School. Both schools continued to expand. The Loomis Institute built several new facilities in 1967, and the two schools reunited in 1970, forming The Chaffee School. Six years later we began admitting girls as boarders. Our reunification led to a major revision of our curriculum. The new curriculum combines a demanding basic program with a broad range of electives in art, music, philosophy, religion and other subjects. We have enjoyed a period of unprecedented growth since the 1970s. We strengthened our endowment to bolster financial aid. We broadened the diversity of our student body. We built dormitories, an enclosed hockey and skating rink, a visual arts center and a new school center. We invite you to join us as we continue our educational tradition of excellence imagined over a century ago in the hearts and minds of our five founders.'"

      7. The following Loomis info. came from Jane Devlin (janedevlin@ameritech.net) at her web site at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jdevlin/source_files/loomis.htm: Joseph Loomis, son of John Loomis and Agnes Lingwood, was born on 24 Aug 1590 in Braintree, Essex, Eng1 and died on 25 Nov 1658 in Windsor, Hartford Co., CT. Documented events in his life were:
      a. Mention in Will, Inv. or Prob.; 14 Apr 1619; Braintree, Essex, Eng. Legacy in father's will, made executor.
      b. Emigrant Ancestor; 1638; Boston, Suffolk Co., MA. Sailed on the Susan and Ellen.
      c. Residence; 1640; Windsor, Hartford Co., CT. Listed among the First Settlers in the Town Records.
      d. Jury Duty; 2 Mar 1641/42; Hartford, Hartford Co., CT.
      e. Administrator of Will / Estate; 4 Mar 1651/52; Windsor, Hartford Co., CT. This Courte Confirmes the Bargine that John White hath made with John Skinners widdow for some land that did belong to the said John Skinner now deceased nd do order that hee the said John White Shall make pay for the Same to Mr. Joseph Lumis senior of Wyndsor, and they doe Allowe the said Mr Lumis ten pounds for his Charge of wintering and sumering 4 head of Cattle belonging to the estate, for 3 years past, and doe order and appoint Mr Lumis aforesiad to gather vp the said estate and to bee Accountable to the Courte for the same when hee is Called by them therevnto:
      f. Jury Duty; 14 May 1652; Hartford, Hartford Co., CT.
      g. Probate; 2 Dec 1658; Windsor, Hartford Co., CT. Children reached an agreement on the division of the estate. From The Records of the Particular Court: An Inventory of Mr Joseph Loomis his Estate was prsented and accepted and ye Devision of the sayd Estate accordinge to ye mutual agreemt of the children of ye sd Mr Loomis manifested to ye Court was confirmed.

      8. The book "The Descendants of Joseph Loomis (1590-1658) in America," author Elias Loomis, published 1909 Call Number CS71.L863:
      "From our Ancestors come our Names, But from our Virtues our Honors."
      Joseph LOOMIS, son of John and Agnes Loomis, was probably born before 1590, England; married in Messing, Co. Essex, England, June 30, 1614, Mary White, bap. Aug. 24, 1590, (See N. E. H. and G. Register, Vol. 55, pp. 28-29, for copy of Register of Shalford, England, marriages and baptisms), d. Windsor, Aug. 23, 1652.
      Mary White was a daughter of Robert and Bridget (Allgar) White of Messing, Co. Essex, England, who were married June 24, 1585.
      Joseph Loomis was a woolen-draper in Braintree, Essex county, England; sailed from London April 11, 1638, in the ship "Susan and Ellen," and arrived at Boston July 17, 1638, tarrying about 1 year at Dorchester, Mass., it is thought. It is mentioned in the town records of Windsor, Vol. 1, that on the 2nd of Feb., 1640, he had granted him from the plantation 21 acres adjoining Farmington river, on the west side of the Connecticut river, this 21 acres including the site of the first English settlement made in Conn.; (See Records of Abigail Wolcott Ellsworth Chapter, D. A. R.), also several large tracts of land on the east side of the Connecticut, partly from the town and partly by purchase.
      He therefore probably came to Windsor in the summer or autumn of 1639, and he is generally supposed to have come in company with Rev. Ephraim Huet, who arrived at Windsor, Aug. 17, 1639. He brought with him five sons, all of whom were freemen, Oct. 7, 1669, and three daughters. His house was situated near the mouth of the Farmington river on "The Island," so called because at every great freshet it became temporarily an island by the overflowing of the Connecticut River. He died Nov. 25, 1658, as appears from the following record:
      Abstract of the Disposition of the Estate of Joseph Loomis, Windsor, Connecticut.
      Found in Original Records, Vol. 2, page 115-116, and in the printed Digest of Manwaring, Vol. I, page 135. He died Nov. 25, 1658.
      Inv't. L178-10-00. Taken by Henry Clark, John Moore. Ct. Records, p. 115. 2 Dec. 1658. An agreement for a Division of the Estate by the children of Joseph Loomis, Dec'd and approved by this Court of Magistrates to be an equal Division. To Joseph Loomis, to Nicholas Olmsted, to Josiah Hull, to John Loomis, to Thomas Loomis, to Nathaniel Loomis, to Mary Tudor, to Samuel Loomis.
      This agreement of the children of Mr. Joseph Loomis respecting the division of the Estate of ye father deceased, approved by the Court 2 Dec. 1658: We whose names are hereunto subscribd doe by these presents testify that it is our mutual and joynt agreement to attend an equal division of the Estate of Mr. Joseph Loomis, Our father, lately deceased, wch said estate being distributed in the equal prption we doe by these presents engage to set down Satisfied and Contented respecting any future trouble or demands about the foresaid estate now presented by Inventory to ye Court of Magistrates.
      Witness our hand, 2nd December, 1658. Joseph Loomis, Josiah Hull, Thomas Loomis, Mary Tudor, Nicholas Olmsted, John Loomis, Nathaniel Loomis, Samuel Loomis.
      That pioneer Joseph Loomis spelled his name Lomas is conclusively proven by the rare document of which the insert opposite is a photographic copy. Notice, this signature occurred 6 yrs. before his death. This being his own writing it seems as though he held, in his riper years, that it should be written Lomas and not Loomis."

      9. Henry R. Stiles, "The History and Genealogies of Ancient Windsor, Connecticut," 1892, v. 2, pp. 432-433, {bracketed notes from "Genealogy of the Descendants of Joseph Loomis of Windsor" by Elias Loomis}: "Joseph Loomis (Lomys, Lomax), prob. born abt. 1590; was a woolen draper in Braintree, Co. Essex, England; sailed from London 11 Apr 1638, in the 'Susan and Ellen': arrived at Boston 17 Jul 1638; first appears in Windsor subsequent to 1639; Church Record gives date of his son John's admission to Windsor Church 11 Oct 1640. Probably he was of Mr. Huit's company, 1639, and was the '___ Loomys' adm. to Windsor church same date as his son John. - O.C.R. He m. in Messing, county Essex, Eng., 30 Jun 1614, Mary White, bp. 24 Aug 1590. She was the daughter of Robert W. of Messing, and Bridget Allgar, who was bp. 11 Mar 1562, and was dau. of Wm. Allgar of Shalford, Co. Essex, Eng. - 'Extracts from Parish Record of Messing, Communicated by Henry D. White of New Haven, Conn.' She was prob. sister-in-law of John Porter, another prominent Windsor settler. He d. {25 Nov} 1658; wife d. 23 Aug 1652." children (all born in England):
      A. John (Dea.), b. abt. 1622 acc. to 'Loomis Genealogy.'
      B. Joseph, b. abt 1616 acc. to 'Loomis Genealogy.'
      C. Thomas.
      D. Nathaniel.
      E. Samuel (Lieut.)
      F. Elizabeth, m. Josiah Hull, 20 May 1641; removed {was living 1665} in Killingworth, Conn.
      G. Mary, m. (1) 13 Nov 1651 {John} Skinner; (2) Owen Tudor, d. 30 Oct 1690; she d. 19 Aug 1680.
      H. ___, a dau. who m. {Capt. Nicholas Olmsted of Hartford, 1640}."

      10. Henry R. Stiles, "The History and Genealogies of Ancient Windsor, Connecticut," 1892, v. 2, pp. 621-622: " 'John Porter, Sr., came from Engl. and settled here in Windsor in 1639.' - O.C.R. According to statements furnished by Henry D. White, Esq., of New Haven, Conn., he came to New England with wife and nine children from Felsted, County Essex, England, probably in the ship 'Susan and Ellen,' 17 Jul 1638, and in company with his borther-in-law, Joseph Loomis - see 'Loomis.' In the Parish Register of Messing, County Essex, Engl, is the following rec. of mar.: '1620, Oct. 18. John Porter of Felsted and Anna White of Messing.' Anna, as we find from the Messing Parish Register, was bp. 13 Jul 1600 and was the dau. of Robert White of M., by his wife, Bridget (dau. of William) Allgar of Shalford, County Essex, and was probably the sister of Mary White of M., who m. Joseph Loomis, the emigrant ancestor of the Windsor family of that name (see 'Loomis,' p. 432). Another sister, Elizabeth White, m. 7 Nov 1616, William Goodwin of Hartford, and the three are thought to have been the sisters of Elder John White, though this is not yet proven. Both the Loomis and Goodwin marriages are from the 'Shalford Parish Register.' "

      11. The original Loomis ancestral home has been in perpetual possession of his descendants, coming down in an unbroken regular succession. It is part of the Loomis Institute in Windsor. On file with me (file 2656) are various maps of early Windsor, Connecticut that are copies of those found at the Windsor Historical Society. Included are:
      A. "Plan of Ancient Windsor, 1640-1654." Also includes a blow-up of the Palisado. Ancestral "Heads of Households" shown on the plan include John Bancroft, Thomas Barber, William Filley, Jonathan Gillett, Nathan Gillet, Edward Griswold, Jos. Loomis, Wm. Phelps, Jr., Wm. Phelps, Sr., John Porter.
      B. "Map of Windsor, 1633-1650." Shows many ancestral heads of households.
      C. A map entitled "Southern New England in the 17th Century," which also shows the "Great Trail" leading from Dorchester, Mass. to Windsor, Connecticut.
      D. Misc. other Windsor maps in the same time periods locating ancestral heads of households and their land.

      12. The book "Memorial History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884," v. II, Chapter 27 "Early Windsor Families," p. 554:
      "Joseph Loomis (1640) had a lot granted to him 35 rods wide. He had two children born here. He died, 1658. (This lot is now occupied by Thomas W. Loomis.) Of the sons, Joseph married Sarah Hill, 1645, and had two sons and two daughters. He married second, Mary Chauncey in 1659, and had five sons and two daughters. By gift of his father in 1643 he received a lot twelve rods wide, next north of Matthew Allen, on which he built. John married Elizabeth Scott, and had eleven sons and two daughters. He had his father's homestead. Thomas married Hannah Fox, 1653, and had two sons and two daughters. He married for a second wife Mary Judd, and two sons and five daughters. By gift of his father he received a lot twelve rods wide, east of the highway, between his brother Joseph and H. Wolcott, Jr. Nathaniel married Elizabeth Moore, and had seven sons and five daughters, 1655-1680. He bought the lot and house of John Moses on the west side of the street, directly opposite Joseph Loomis, Jr. Nathaniel was among the early settlers on the east side of the Great River. Samuel had two sons and three daughters, 1660-1670. He bought Mr. Witchfield's place. He removed to Westfield, Mass."

      13. The book "Descendants of Joseph Loomis in America," by Elias Loomis, Berea, Ohio, third (1908) edition, pp. 100-108:
      A. In describing Braintree and Joseph's association with John Hawkins:
      "Above all there is one fine old house remaining which has very particular interest to the American Loomises. This is the house that was occupied by John Hawkins who, when about to die in 1633, has Joseph Loomis visit him to witness his will. As this will pays to Joseph Loomis the tribute of the words 'my loving friend and neighbor,' it now may be well believed that Joseph Loomis was more than just this friend and neighbor in Braintree. The proof that he was eminently prosperous man, and an intelligent one, enjoying social privileges of distinction, locally, is here had in plenty to our view - for who was this John Hawkins? He was no less than a Braintree man, who had risen to commerical eminence and wealth in London, becoming a dignitary of the Grocers' Company there, (then 300 years old); and he was made an Alderman of the city of London in 1626. This office was then of more significance than it is today in America. The house of John Hawkins now faces 'Great Square'... The house of Hawkins stands on the upper side of the market-square, facing west. Some of the property of John Lummys, as his will shows, stood 'near the market-cross.' This cross is just below the Hawkins house on the south..." [The author describes the area in great detail with the view in mind that Joseph's home was probably in near proximity.]
      B. Results of the search into various local records:
      "Braintree was a part of the Duchy of Lancaster; part of these personal possessions of the sovereign, in Essex, were held of the crown as the Honor of Clare, by the family seated principally at Clare Castle in the County of Suffolk. A search of the Court Rolls of the Honor of Clare now filed with the Records of the Duchy of Lancaster, in London, has not resulted favorably. The 'Book of Reliefs and Fines,' number 124,862, from 1377 to 1742, made up from various records remaining in Clare Castle and the Duchy office, does not contain the name of Lomas in any form, which seems peculiar, since every person upon first entering into the occupancy of a building, for the purpose of residence or of business, became subject to a 'fine', or tax. This book is fragmentary, in the earlier portion, and also may be from 1600 to 1638, as seems evident. Court Roll 123-1860 (5 Nov 1591 to 1605) for Braintree names no Lomas, which omission may be taken to indicate that John Lummys, father of Joseph, may have been within this period, in the employ of another man and resident upon that man's premises. The court Rolls of the Duchy, numbers 123-1860, and 123-1861 for Braintree, give no Lomas evidence...
      Feet of Fines, the governmental records of the final agreements between querants and deforciants (buyers and sellers) of real estate, have been searched for the entiere period of residence of the Lomas family in Essex; there is no such record of such Loomis ownership. The lands, houses, business premises, etc., in their occupaition were principally held by them (with the possible exception of the house of John Lummmys in Thaxted, grandfather of Joseph Loomis), under conditions similar to those of their neighbors, i.e. - by lease for life, of for the period of several lives, or for a lesser term of years, or by yearly rental. They owned the right of occupancy, and could bequeath this right by will; the land and buldings were held by the lord of the manor to whose court let they, the lessees and tenants were subject, and the lord, in turn, paid a yearly revenue into the Honor of Clare or the Duchy of Lancaster therefor, the first title to the property being vested in the crown.
      The Lay Subsidy records in the Record Office, London, which yielded vital results in Lancashire, as has been seen, also favor us a little in Braintree. The first mention in these national taxes of a Lomas occurs in roll number 112-626 for the third and fourth years of Charles I (1628-29). This roll is an assessment upon the taxable inhabitants of the whole Hundred of Hinckford in which Braintree is embraced; the membranes composing this roll are in a fine condition. The subsidy was levied upon goods ('stock in trade') as follows:
      'Brantry. John Hawkins gent., viii li - xxi s iiii d.
      Brantry. Wm. Lingwood gent., iii li - viii s.
      Brantry. Josiph Lomys, iii li - viii s.'
      Subsidy Roll number 112-630 is headed: -
      'Payment of the two first subsidies of five entire subsidies granted from the Temporalty by Act of Parliament holden at Westminster 4 Chas. I.' (1624); and gives:
      Braintree 'Goodes,'
      Joseph Lomays iii li viii's - - viii's.
      John Hawkins vi li Xvi's (xvi's)'
      These are the only subsidy rolls now remaining bearing the name of Loomis before 1640; John Lummys may have been similarly taxed, and the roll therefore be now missing; the above items are scant, but brief as they may seem, the figures are eloquent. First it is seen that Joseph Loomis was thoroughly established as a merchant in 1628 in Braintree, and doubltless has so stood for some years before; second, we see herein that the taxable value of his goods - in comparison with those of his friend, the wealthy John Hawkins, (probably then the richest merchant in Braintree), was as large as one-half; also that he was estimated exactly the same as his relative, Wm. Lingwood, whose means and position (inherited) gave to him the rank of gentleman. Loomis doubtless inherited little, and as for the affix 'gent,' he assumed nothing, as became such a sensible Christian man. The tax paid in 1629 was eight shillings. ₤3:8:0 in (taxable) goods nowadays seems trifling; but to the assessors of 1629 and to their owner, this sum meant over $150.00, which was a highly respectable showing for a Braintree merchant of that time. The sum represented a formidable pile of 'Bays, Says and Perpetuanos.' Pennies went as far then as dollars do now; everything was then on a small scale. To an American even the business of the Braintree of today would appear as 'upon a small scale.' By ten years later than 1628 our venturesome ancestor, with due care, could have easily accumulated the fair estate with which he embarked for America.
      Joseph Loomis also paid the ship money tax, an act of special legistlation. The account of the assessments of this tax is headed: - 'An account of the money raised in the County of Essex for the setting out of a Ship of eight hundred Tunne appointed by his Maiesties writt to be ready at Portsmouth on the first of March 1636.
      'In which the Several Summes imployed by the Sheriffe upon the inhabitants and the rates of the Whole County are particularly expressed according to an order made by his Maiestie at the Councell Board the 23th of Aprill Last Upon occasion of a complaint then exhibited against the proceedings of the Sheriffe in that business. The whole charge being eight thousand pounds'...
      'Brayntree.' 'Joseph Loomis, ₤00 9s 4d.'
      This assessment was the one which caused such an uproar. John Hampden refused to pay and fought the measure in Parliament. This item, and the will of John Loomis are the only known instance of the name being spelled 'Loomis' in England, and the former is, undoubtedly, the last existing record of Joseph Loomis in England."
      C: On Joseph's possible widespread business:
      "The Braintree men, through their business abroad, had opportunities to look out upon a world that was wider than their own shire. London was doubtless no strange city to Joseph Loomis. There he must have gone both to sell and to buy. As a wholesale cloth merchant he may have visited the continent, - even Spain and Portugal, since it was that the Braintree-Bocking cloth was largely sold in those countries. Non-conformity developed with Braintree's commercial growth. Both features seem to have started together. [The author continues with a lengthy history over several pages of religious dissension in the Essex county area, which even though no specific mention is made of Loomis involvement, there may have been influence upon them.]
      ...Conditions continuing contentious, without improvement for the reformers, and discouragement at the growing power of Bishop Laud, alll contributed to the cause of the emigration of the so-called 'Braintree Company' in 1632, a year after Collins's letter. Laud's accession to the Archbishopric in 1633 made the situaltion in Braintree still less agreeable for those who did not leave with the first voyagers. These people followed, from time to time, in small groups. Joseph Loomis doubtless felt some force of the threat, that 'they who make innovations in religion are enemies of the Kingdom.' Business became affected by religious controversy. War was about to quite upset commerce and manufacturing altogether. Joseph needed not much foresight to see that the prospects at home were unfavorable. Several things conttributed to his decision to join his kin in New England..."

      14. The following mentions of the Loomis family is from a biography of Nicholas Olmstead's father James. Citation Information: "The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633," Volumes I-III:
      "James OLMSTEAD
      Origin: Fairstead, Essex... Estate: ...In an undated will (attested 28 September 1640) James Olmstead of Hartford divided his estate equally between his two sons Nicholas and Nehemiah (dependent upon a settlement to be made on Nicholas by his father-in-law Joseph Loomis), with small legacies to "my cousin Rebecca Olmstead that now dwelleth with me," and to servant Will[iam] Corby...
      iv [son] Nicholas, bp. 15 February 1612/3; m. by about 1645 Sarah Loomis, daughter of Joseph Loomis (eldest known child d. 1646 and next child b. 20 November 1646 [Grant 81; HaVR Barbour 237]; among the "Children of Mr. Joseph Loomis" who received a distribution on 2 December 1658 was "Nicholas Olmsted" [Manwaring 1:135-36])..."

      15. NEHGS Register, Vol. 55, pages 22-31, 1901, see notes of Robert White for full transcript of article from which the following partial excerpt is taken:
      "The children of Robert White of Messing, Co. Essex, England, Who Settled in Hartford and Windsor. By a Descendant.
      Robert White of Messing, yeoman, died in 1617. He was a rich man. He seems to have lived in Shalford in Essex most of the time from June 24th, 1585, the date of his marriage to Bridget Allgar, until a few months before his death. The baptisms of nearly all his children are there recorded, and also the marriage of his daughters - Mary in 1614 and Elizabeth in 1616. It was the home of his wife, where she was baptized March 11, 1562, and where her father, William Allgar the elder, was buried Aug. 2, 1575. Shalford is about two miles south of Wethersfield...
      According to his will, hereinafter given, he left surviving a wife Bridget; three sons - Daniel, Nathaniel and John who was his youngest Child; three married daughters - Sarah, Mary and Elizabeth; and two unmarried daughters-Bridget and Anna. As he makes his son Daniel joint executor with his wife, it may be inferred he was his eldest son, and possibly by a former wife. His wife Bridget was the mother of his other children, of whom Sarah, wife of James Bowtell of Little Sailinge in Essex, was the first born.
      It is believed that three of his daughters came with their husbands to New England, namely: Mary White, wife of Joseph Loomis of Braintree; Elizabeth White, wife of William Goodwin of Bocking; and Anna White, wife of John Porter of Felsted.
      Matthew Grant's Old Church Record (in Stiles's Ancient Windsor) records the death in 1647 of "John Porter, Sen's wife," and also the death in 1652 of "Joseph Loomis, Sen. his wife." This is valuable information, but it would have been more satisfactory had the record contained the Christian names of these wives. Nor does the entry in the Windsor Town Records of the birth of John Porter's two children, Nathaniel in 1640 and Hanna in 1642, give the mother's name. In the same town records is this entry: "John Porter, Sr., came from England and settled in Windsor in 1639." Mr. Porter was present as a member of the "Committee" of the General Court in Hartford, August 8th, 1639. He died in Windsor 21st April, 1648, leaving a will, an abstract of which is hereinafter given, and it is to be noticed that two of the beloved friends made supervisors of his will were "Mr. William Goodwin of Hartford and Goodman White of Hartford."
      In the Loomis Genealogy, pages 9-11, evidence is given proving that Joseph Loomis, of Braintree in England, came to Boston in 1638, and settled in Windsor in 1639. It is believed that this Joseph Loomis is the Joseph Loomis whose marriage, June 30th, 1614, to Mary White, is recorded in the Parish Register of Shalford, and this theory is supported by the bequest in 1617 of Robert White to my "daughter Marie, the wife of Joseph Lummis of Brantree."
      The home lots of Joseph Loomis and John Porter in Windsor were adjacent, and these two sisters, Mary (White) Loomis and Anna (White) Porter, began in 1639 new homes side by side, in which they lived the rest of their days. Three years before, in 1636, their brother John White, and their sister Elizabeth (White) Goodwin, had settled in Hartford...
      It is very plausibly supposed that the John White who came over in the "Lion" in 1632 and settled first in Newtown, now Cambridge, in Massachusetts, and then came with the Rev. Thomas Hooker and his church to Hartford in 1636, was the son of Robert White of Messing. The record of his baptism has not been found. He was not of age in 1617, when his father made his will, in which it was provided that if should marry without the approbation and consent of his mother, and of Joseph Loomis of Braintree and William Goodwin of Bocking, his legacy of 200 pounds should be reduced to 100 pounds. In the list of thirty-three passengers of the "Lion," given in Drake's Founders of New England, page 12, his name follows next after the name of William Goodwin. [Footnote included after the work "Lion": "We know the name of the vessel from Gov. Winthrop's Hist. N.E., vol. I, p. 107."] His wife's name was Mary, as appears from an unexecuted lease in the handwriting of his son Nathaniel White (now in the possession of one of his descendants), dated March 28, 1666, the lessors being John White and Mary his wife, the lessee their son Nathaniel; the premises, his house and garden, etc., in Hartford, reserving the use of two rooms therein for the term of the lives of said John and Mary, and of the longest liver, whether said John or said Mary...
      It deserves to be mentioned that family genealogies have been printed of all the members of Robert White's family who are known to have emigrated to New England, namely:
      Elder John White and his descendants, in 1860.
      The Loomis Genealogy, in 1875.
      Loomis Genealogy, female branches, in 1880.
      The Goodwin's of Hartford, Conn., in 1891.
      John Porter and his descendants, in 1893.
      Memorials of Roderick White and descendants, in 1892.
      From these books some of the preceding facts have been taken, and to these genealogies the reader is referred for full and interesting memorials of these families...
      Extracts from Parish Registers of Shalford and Messing, Co. Essex, transcribed by Mr. Frank Farnsworth Starr.
      From Parish Register of Shalford.
      Marriages...
      1614, June 30, Joseph Loomis and Mary White...
      Baptisms...
      1590, Aug. 24, Mary Whighte, dau. of Robert Whighte..."

      16. FHL book 929.273 Emi33s "An Emerson-Benson Saga; The Ancestry of Charles F. Emerson and Bessie Benson And the Struggle to Settle the United States...," by Edmund K. Swigart (Baltimore; 1994), pp. 351-53:
      "Joseph1 LOOMIS (JohnA LUMACE, JohnB LUMMYS, Thomas C) was born by 1590, perhaps in Braintree, county Lincoln, England, and died 25 November 1658 at Windsor, CT. He was the son of JohnA LUMACE, a tailor of Thaxted and Braintree and AgnesA LINGWOOD, daughter of JOHN8 LINGWOOD and JaneA MarLAN?, daughter of WilliamB and MargaretA (PERYE) MarLAN? of Braintree. He was also the grandson of JOHN8 LUMMYS, a carpenter of Thaxted, and Kryster (Christian (___). Joseph1 married 30 June 1616 at Messing, county Essex, England, Mary1 WHITE, daughter of Robert", a wealthy yeoman, and BRIDGETA.(ALLGAR) WHITE of Shalford, county Essex. Mary1 was baptized 24 August 1590 at Shalford and died 23 August 1652 at Windsor. Mary1's younger sister, Anna1, married ancestor JOHN1 Porter.
      United States Presidents Ulysses Simpson Grant (18th Chief Executive), Stephen Grover Cleveland (22nd and 24th), and Gerald Rudolph Ford, (38th), were descendants of Mary1'S parents and Millard Fillmore (13th President), of her and her parents."
      Joseph1 was a woolen draper. He and his wife lived in Braintree until 1628. They moved to London and from there sailed with their eight children 11 April 1638 aboard the "Susan and Ellen"... The LOOMIS family arrived in Boston 17 July 1638. They may have spent their first year in Dorchester, MA, but moved by land in the summer of 1639 to Windsor, CT, "Probably in the company with the Reverend Ephraim Huet who arrived there August 17, 1639" (ref. 3). "On 2 Feb. 1640 he had granted to him 21 acres on the west side of the Connecticut River adjoining the Farmington River" (ref. 6). Joseph1 continued to acquire land and served on juries in 1642 and in 1644 with Nathaniel1 Foote... On 6 January 1650, he was sued ... "for trespass and for damage to the extent of seven bushels of corn; one may infer that his stock got away from him (ref. 3).
      Joseph1 apparently left no will. His estate was valued at 178 pounds 10 shillings, with a "debt in England" (ref. 3) of 12 pounds 14 shillings 8 pence against it. On 2 December 1658, his wife having predeceased him, his five sons and three daughters (two represented by their husbands) signed an agreement in place of a will to divide Joseph 'S estate equitably among them.
      The children of Joseph1 and Mary1 (WHITE) LOOMIS, all probably born in Braintree, county Lancaster, England, and probably not all listed in the correct order of birth, were:
      1. Joseph2, b. 1615, ca. 1616; d. 26 Jun 1687 at Windsor, CT; m. 1/wf 17 Sep 1646, Sarah2 Hill (William) who d. 1653; m. 2/wf 28 Jun 1659, Mary Sharwood.
      2. Sarah2, b. ca. 1617-8?; d. 1667, 1687, perh. at Hartford, CT; m. by 28 Sep 1640, Nicholas Olmstead.
      3. Elizabeth2, b. ca. 1620?; d. aft. 1665, prob. at Killingworth, CT; m. 20 May 1640-1 at Windsor, CT, Josiah2 Hull (see HULL).
      4. Mary2, b. 1620?; d. 19 Aug 1680, prob. at Windsor, CT; m. 1/hs by 1637-8, by 1633, John Skinner, m. 2/hs 13 Nov 1651, prob. at Windsor, Owen Tudor.
      5. John, b. ca. 1622?, 1620; d. 2 Sep 1688 at Windsor, CT; m. 3, 6? Feb 1648-9 Elizabeth2 Scott (Thomas1).
      6. Thomas2, b. ca. 1624?; d. 28 Aug 1689, prob. at Windsor, CT; m. 1/wf 1 Nov 1653, Hannah Fox/Fowkes who d. 1662, prob. at Windsor, m. 2/wf 1 Jan 1662-3, Mary2 Judd (Thomas1).
      7. Nathaniel2, b. ca 1626?; d. 19 Aug 1688, prob. at Windsor, CT m. as 1/hs 24 Nov 1653-4, Elizabeth2
      Moore (John1) who m. 2/hs aft. 3 Nov 1991, John Case.
      8. Samuel2, b. 1628?; d. 1 Oct 1689, prob. at Westfield, MA; m. 27, 2~? Dec 1653, Elizabeth2 Judd (Thomas1),. sis. of Mary2 who m. Samuel2's older? bro., Thomas as 2/wf.
      References
      1) Brainerd, Dwight, "Ancestry of Thomas Chalmers Brainerd," [Portland, ME, Anthoensen Press, 1948], [hereinafter Brainerd, D.] 301-2.
      2) Colket, M. B., op. cit., 196.
      3) Ferris, M. W., op. cit., Dawes-Gates, 11:453-62; 567-72.
      4) Parke, N. G., op. cit., 78.
      5) Pierce, R. Andrew, personal correspondence, research and material on the Hull and Loomis lines, 25 May 1993, MAT, Swigart, E. K., Washington, CT.
      6) Pitman, H. M., op. cit., 391-2, 396.
      7) Roberts, G. B., op cit., 182.
      8) Roberts, Gary B., review of the Emerson-Benson ancestral lines and material on the Lingwood, Loomis and White lines, NEHGS Library, Boston, MA, 19 May 1993 with Swigart, E. K., MAT, Swigart, E. K., Washington, CT.
      9) Savage, J., op. cit. 11:494; 111:112-3.
      10) Torrey, C. A., op. cit., 139, 401, 472, 545, 677, 757."
      17. FHL book 929.273 F597g "Genealogical Notes on the Founding of New England…," by Ernest Flagg (Hartford, 1926), p. 278:
      "Joseph Loomis1 of Windsor, Conn.; b. about 1690; son of John and AgnesA (___) LoomisA of Thaxted, Essex, England; m. June 30, 1614 Mary White1; d. Nov. 25, 1658. Inventory, £178, 10s.
      He was a woolen draper in Braintree, co. Essex, Eng., and came in the ship "Susan and Ellen," leaving London, April 11, 1638 and arriving at Boston, July 17, 1638, as is proved by the deposition of Joseph Bills of Charlestown. (N.E. Reg., 30, p. 459.) He brought with him his sons, Joseph, John, Thomas, Samuel and Nathaniel, and daughters, Mary, Elizabeth, and another who m. Nicholas Olmstead. He is supposed to have come to Windsor, Conn. in company with Rev. Ephraim Huit, who arrived there Aug. 11, 1639. Feb. 2, 1640, he was granted twenty-one acres of land adjoining the Farmington River, and his house was on what was known as "the Island" because at every freshet it became temporarily an island. Stiles says "this Ancestral Home" has been in perpetual possession of his descendants coming down in an unbroken regular accession to Epaphras Loomis, who sold it to Rev. George Loomis, who in turn sold it to John Mason Loomis. He served twice on the jury of the Particular Court, March 2, 1642-3 and September, 1644. (Col. Rec. of Conn., I, pp. 81, 110; The Loomis Family, by Elias Loomis; Conn. Genealogies, p. 508; Savage, 3, p. 112.)"

      18. The book "Dorset Pilgrims," 1989:
      pp. 144-5: "The minority who arrived upriver direct from England consisted of two groups … The [second] group came in 1638 in the company of the Rev. Ephraim Huitt, John Warham's new teaching colleague of Windsor church … He and his family brought with them a party consisting of Warwickshire neighbours like Edward Griswold; Joseph Loomis and John Porter from Essex..."
      p. 180: In a section of the book in which the Reverend Warham meditates upon the past year of 1658 in Windsor: "indeed he had only taken one burial service that whole year and that was for old Joseph Loomis who lived to a ripe age. The previous year there had been nine deaths..."
      pp. 200-1: Among the [horse] troopers [organized in 1658] … there were only two brothers. Thomas and Nathaniel Loomis were the sons of Joseph Loomis who … came from East Anglia; he and his family of five sons probably came from the Huitt party in 1638. He was a man of substance, receiving from the plantation grants valued at ₤which placed him among the most wealthy which placed him among the most wealthy. His large home lot of 26 acres was prominent on the Island next to old Henry Wolcott on the Rivulet bank of Plymouth Meadow. He did not, however, play any notable role in Windsor's affairs nor indeed, with one exception, did his sons, save that three of them served as town constable. The exception was the second son, John, who was a townsman and a deputy and, with a family of thirteen children, inherited his father's homestead. His true importance was as a deacon of Windsor church, an office which he exercised with authority for many years. Neither of our troopers, Thomas and Nathaniel, achieved distinction, though they lived respectably and comfortably, Thomas with four and Nathaniel with twelve children. Nathaniel married deacon Moore's daughter. This marriage, together with that of his brother Joseph to Mary Chauncey, daughter of Warham's successor as minister, and brother John's becoming a deacon, were to bring the family well within the ambit of church dignity and influence."

      19. The book "Colonial Ancestors. Four lineal genealogies of eastern Connecticut families…," by Bernice Andrews (Livingston) Rieg (Camden, Maine; Penobscot Press, 1991), pp. 183-87 [Note: I neglected to copy the source list.]:
      "Some productive inquiries into the English origins of John White were made by one of his descendants around the year 1900. John is understood to be the youngest child of ROBERTA WHITE, yeoman, well-to-do, born possibly in Messing, county Essex; he died there in 1617. Robert married in Shalford, county Essex, 24 Jun 1585, BRIDGET ALLGAR, where also she had been baptized on 11 Mch 1562, the daughter of William Allgar. Robert and Bridget seem to have lived in her native town or parish, Shalford, most of their married life.[1]
      Robert White was buried at Messing, 17 Jun 1617, less than three weeks after making his will, which provided for daughters Sarah (called the eldest; mar. James Bowtell), Mary (mar. Joseph Loomis), Elizabeth (mar. William Goodwin), Bridget White and Anna White, in that order; he then names sons Nathaniel and John, the latter being a minor and believed to be the youngest child; finally, he names his wife, Bridget, and his son, Daniel as joint executors.[2]
      Subsequently, Anna White married at Messing, 18 Oct 1620, John Porter; and John White married at the same place, 26 Dec 1622, Mary (Lev).[3]
      A sizeable portion of the White family moved from the Old World to New England in the Great Migration, and stayed near to one another in the new land.[4] Moreover, there clearly existed within the family, and with its in-laws, a sense of closeness, mutual support, and common interest. This is apparent from the respect and trust implied in assigned responsibilities, as illustrated in several legal instruments in which members of the family partook. For example, Robert White, wishing to assure sensible marriages for his children, Bridget, Anna and John, by his will conditioned receipt of their full inheritance upon approval of the intended spouse not only by his wife Bridget, but also by his "sonnes in law" Joseph Loomis and William Goodwin.[5] The father's high opinion of these two young men was well substantiated by their later careers as leaders in Windsor and Hartford in Connecticut.
      In the same vein, it is worth noting that the White children tried to stay together when they settled across the Altantic: when Joseph Loomis and John Porter occupied adjacent home lots in Windsor in 1639, their wives, Mary (White) Loomis and Anna (White) Porter, became next door neighbors.[6]
      The English shire of Essex was one of the prime centers for nonconformist preachers, and of course most of those who came to New England in the two decades after Robert White's death were following their inspiring preachers, often making the move as congregations. It's not surprising, then, to find in Robert White's will an early bequest for "...Mr. Richard Rogers preacher of gods word at Withersfield in Essex...,"[7] and study of the ecclesiastical jurisdictions of Essex discloses that the parish of Wethersfield adjoins that of Shalford, in the north central part of Essex. For Robert White to attend a lecture by Mr. Rogers, he may have had to travel no more than ten miles.
      Out of this moderately wealthy English family, comfortably settled in the shire of Essex, but imbued with nonconformist fervor, came the hard working, well liked and increasingly respected man who was to become an early, founding settler of no l