George Steele, of Hartford

Biographical Summary:

George Steele, brother of John; Cambridge, 1632-3; freeman, Massachusetts, May 14, 1634; an original proprietor of Hartford; his home-lot, in 1639, was on the west side of what is now Washington St., extending from the present Capitol Avenue to Park St. He served in the Pequot War; was chosen surveyor of. highways, 1641, 1651; townsman, 1644. He died in 1664, "very aged;" inventory £131. 6. 10. His will names his brother, John.

Surviving Children:

i Elizabeth; married Thomas Watts, May 1, 1645; died February 25, 1684-5.

ii James, Hartford; born about 1623 ("aged about 58," June, 1681); married (1) Ann Bishop, daughter of John, of Guilford; townsman, 1655, 1660, 1664; fought against the Pequots in 1657-8; appointed commissary in the King Philip War, .1675, and allowed £50 per annum for his services; he was also employed to lay out the bounds of several towns. His wife died in 1676, and he in. (2) Bethia, widow of Samuel Stocking, and daughter of John Hopkins. She died before November 1695; he died 1712.

iii. Richard; died 1639 (without children.). [??]

iv. Martha; married John Hannison, or Henderson, of Hartford. [SIC: she was his grand daughter]

SOURCE: James Hammond Trumbull, editor, The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884, Volume 1 (Boston, Massachusetts: Edward L. Osgood, 1886), page 262. Retrieved: 3 May 2011 from Google Books

Complete list of children

1. Richard b. say 1610; d. at Hartford by 1640, when he was mentioned as deceased in a land description.[22]
2. Margery, bp Fairstead, Essex, 24 Sep 1612.[23][24] No further record (n.f.r.)
3. John bp Fairstead, 2 Sep 1615;[25] died soon
4. John bp. Fairstead 20 Sep 1618;[26] n.f.r.
5. Mary bp. Fairstead 7 May 1620; n.f.r.[27]
6. James bp Fairstead 30 Nov 1622;[28] m. (1) (possibly at Guiford 18 Oct 1651) Bethia Bishop, d/o John Bishop, [TAG 36:188-89]; m. (2) by 1685 Bethia (Hopkins) Stocking, widow of Samuel Stocking [TAG 36:188]
7. Elizabeth, bp. Fairstead 4 May 1628;[29] m. Hartford 1 May 1645 Thomas Watts [HAVR 606; TAG 22:161]
8. Sarah buried at Fairstead 10 Nov 1629.[30]

Notes

From the 1663 will of George Steele

• Alsoe I give unto my grandchild Martha Hanison my best chamber pott.
• Alsoe I give unto Moses and Micah Mudge ten shillings apeece.

From “The Descendants of John & Martha (Steele) Handerson of 17th Century Ma & Ct” page 5

in summary, we can postulate several possible scenarios for Martha’s parentage. However the one that seems to best fit with the known facts is as follows: Richard Steele came with his parents to Hartford in 1635. Not long afterwards he married some unknown woman (first name possibly Miriam). He had by her about 1638 a daughter Martha. Richard had served in the Pequot War in 1637 and was granted a lot in Soldiers Field as a result. Sometime about 1640 he died and left a widow and an only child, Martha. His widow was married about 1641 to Jarvis Mudge. Any land belonging to Richard was given to his father, George, to hold in trust for his daughter.
By Mudge, Richard’s widow had two sons, Moses (b. abt. 1642) and Micah (b. abt. 1645). About 1646 Martha’s mother died also (probably in childbirth) and left Martha an orphan. It is possible that the Steeles did not trust Jarvis Mudge to look after Martha properly, and that Martha went to live in her grandparents home. At this time James was still at home and Elizabeth, a newly wed, lived nearby. Martha was undoubtedly very close to her Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle James.
Jarvis Mudge married Rebecca Elsen so his sons had a step-mother. When he died in 1653 the Steeles may have considered her not to be a very good woman (she was executed for witchcraft in 1663), so the Steeles may have taken these orphans in to live with their half-sister, Martha, until they were old enough to be on their own. As the Mudge boys would have been about 8 and 11 in 1653, they may have lived with the Steeles for several years. George Steele remembered them in his will, as they were once members of his household.
Why do we consider Richard to be the most likely parent of Martha? First, he is the only child of George Steele (besides James and Elizabeth) whose name ever shows up in the colonial records. Sec- ond, the fact that he had real property which should have passed to his heirs and Martha did receive real property from Capt. Watt which we can surmise he held in trust for her. If she were the child of a daughter of George Steele, there would be less likelihood of a real property transfer from the Steele side. Her mother’s property, if any, would have gone to the mother’s husband and thence to her. There is no record of any Mudge property going to Martha.
Also, the naming of her children suggests she was not Margery’s child. As the name Mary was not used until the 5th daughter, it is not likely she was Mary’s daughter either. Last but not least, if a dau. of George’s is her mother and yet the Mudge boys are not George’s grandchildren, Jarvis Mudge would have to have had 3 different wives (the mother of Martha, the mother of Moses & Micah and Rebecca Elsen) within in a span of ten years; a possible but unlikely sequence of event!

References

1. George Steele in New England, The Great Migration and The Great Migration Begins, 1620-1635. Great Migration Begins, Vol 3, P-W. Pages 1754 - 1756. AncestryImage
2. Jacobus Donald Lines. George Steele of Hartford and his son James. The American Genealogist 36:186 (1960) Link at < AmericanAncestors >