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From Catalog of the Names of the First Puritan Settlers of the Colony of CT," by R. R. Hinman, originally published Hartford, CT 1846, reprinted by Gen. Publ Co Baltimore, 1968:
Gov. George Wyllys was the son of Richard, of Fenny-Compton, in Warwickshire, In England, he was the first of the family who came to New England. He held an estate there of 500 pounds per annum, in possession of George, his eldest son, who he left in England. In 1636, being a Puritan in principle and feeling, he became anxious to remove to CT with his family, he therefore to prepare a comfortable situation in the new country for himself and family at Hartford, during the year 1636 sent his steward (William Gibbins) with 20 men, to Hartford to purchase and prepare for him a farm, and erect such buildings as should be needed for his reception. Mr. Gibbins therefore came to New England, and purchased that elevated and delightful plat of ground, at this day celebrated not only by the location of the Charter Oak upon it, but as the Wyllys Place, at the south part of the city. He erected the necessary buildings, and prepared the grounds for a garden, where the family have uniformly resided. In 1638 Mr. Wyllys removed with his family direct to Hartford. His reputation in England had been of that high character, that in the following year he was made a magistrate, and in 1641 was elected Deputy Governor of the colony, and in 1642 was made Govenor. He was once elected Commissioner to the United Congress of the Colonies. Dr. Trumbull says,"he was a Puritan of the strictest kind, and lived in all the exactness of the most pious Puritans of the day." His death, which took place March 21, 1644, was deeply realized throughout the colony. He left a son Samuel, who was born in England, about 12 years of age at the decease of his father, who at the age of 22, was made magistrate, and became a prominent man in the colony. Gov. Wyllys, as early as 1639, was appointed with Gov. Welles to revise the laws of CT. Among the many important offices which have been held by the different members of the Wyllys family, it is worthy of remark, in this day of shifting and change, that three of the descendants of Gov. Wyllys (viz. Hezekiah, George and Samuel) held in succession, the office of Secretary of State of the Colony and State of CT 98 years. Gov. Wyllys had brothers, William and Richard. This family, so long and so favorably known in Hartford, are now all deceased, and the name become extinct in the State; - and that beautiful seat occupied by them nearly 200 years, has passed, for want of Wyllys heirs, into the hands of a gentleman no less talented than its original proprietors - a regular descendant of the Hon. Henry Wolcott the first, of Windsor. He left a wife, Mary, and children, George, Samuel, Hester and Amy. His son George remained in England, and was there as appears by the will of Gov. Wyllys, in 1644; property was given to his son George in CT, provided George should move with his family to Hartford, &c., otherwise given to his son Samuel. - Records, Trumbull, and Farmer.
From "Witchcraft Trials of CT"
It is appropriate that the Wyllys family, which played such a large role in the history of CT, should be the source of the most extensive collection of surviving original papers on witchcraft trials. These papers, which are original court depositions and records relating to theHartford Witch Panic of 1663, the Katherine Harrison Case of 1668-9 and the Fairfield Witch Panic of 1692, are preserved in the archives of the CT State Library in Hartford CT and the Brown Memorial Library in Providence, RI. The survival of these papers is undoubtedly due to the long continuity of Wyllys descendants; residence in the Wyllys mansion in Hartford from 1638 to 1828. It can only be conjectured why the original Wyllys emigrant, George Wyllys, chose to leave the luxury of his ancestral estate of Fenny Compton in Warwick Co., England for the CT wilderness. He apparently envisioned the formation of a new, Puritan society in New England as more feasible than the struggle for Puritan dominance in England. In 1636 he sent his steward, William Gibbons, with 20 men to erect a house for him in the fledgling settlement at Hartford and in 1638 George Wyllys brought his wife Mary and 4 children, GeorgeJr., Hester, Amy and Samuel, to live in this imposing 10 room mansion.George Wyllys was very active in the official life of the CT Colony. He was elected an Assistant in 1639, 1640, 1643, and 1644. In 1641 he was Deputy Governor and in 1642 Governor. He died March 9, 1645. The eldest son, George Wyllys, Jr., had returned to England to be Lord of Fenny Compton but Samuel Wyllys remained in Hartford and followed in his father's footsteps. Having graduated from Harvard in 1653 and married Ruth, the daughter of Gov. John Haynes, he was, at the age of 22, elected an Assistant. He was reelected every year from 1654 to 1665, from 1680-1693 and in 1698. He was a Commissioner to the United Colonies in 1662,1664, and 1667. In his first year as Assistant, 1654, he sat on the case of Lydia Gilbert, who was condemned to death for witchcraft.
Source: “Our Wyllys Family,” by Sheldon Whiting
George Wyllys was born in 1590 at the manor of Fenny Compton, Warwickshire, England, to Richard Wyllys (1572-1597) and Hester Chambers (1566- .) On November 2, 1609, he married Bridget Young at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-on-Avon. George Wyllys died in Hartford on 9 March 1645, just months before his two daughters married. He was about 55 years old.
More from Sheldon Whiting:
GEORGE WYLLYS was born in 1590 at the manor of Fenny Compton, Warwickshire, England, to Richard Wyllys (1572-1597) and Hester Chambers (1566- .) This little village is located about 15 miles east of Stratford-on-Avon. George’s family was an old one, and of considerable wealth. He attended several universities in England, but biographers make no mention of him graduating. His main focus in any training would have been to gain the necessary experiences and background to take his father's place as one of the landed gentry. It was probably during his university years or shortly thereafter that George Wyllys became a Puritan.On November 2, 1609, he married Bridget Young at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-on-Avon. She was born in 1580, the daughter of Mary Bonner and William Young, of Gloucestershire.
In Camden’s Visitation of Warwickshire, in 1619, George Wyllys is described as living at Fenny Compton, aged 29, with his wife. Bridget died in 1629. Her burial is recorded: “Bridget, wife of George Willys, Gent. was buried at Fenny Compton, March 11, 1629.”
George remarried, in 1631, (2) Mrs. Mary Brisbey, widow of Alexander Bisbey. She was the daughter of Francis and Alice (Ferneley) Smith of Stratford-on-Avon, England. Her father had been bailiff, or Mayor, of Stratford. The local parish register records the baptism in February 1631 of a son, Samuel, to “George Willys, Gent. and Mary his second wife.”
In the first part of the 17th century, the Puritan element in Warwickshire had become strong. Even during Shakespeare’s lifetime, the corporation of Stratford-on-Avon had forbidden the performance of plays or interludes in the Guild-hall. Many called their fellow townsmen “Puritan Knaves,” or “recussant” (one who refused to attend services of the Church of England; a dissenter or nonconformist). The most distinguished Puritans in the neighborhood were the Earl of Warwick and Lord Say and Sele (who ended up in New England), and whose seat was at Banbury in Oxfordshire, just over the border from Warwickshire and very near Fenny Compton.
Mr. George Wyllys may have been involved in a patent, dated March 12, 1629, for land in New Hampshire along with Say and Sele, William Whiting, and Robert Saltonstall. The wealth of this family, by today’s standards, was substantial. George Wyllys had been a partner with Saltonstall and Whiting in the Piscataqua patents, as recorded in the Massachusetts Records, I. 324. Whiting was connected with the Wyllys family by marriage to George’s daughter, Amy.
George Wyllys sent men to New England two years before he came to build a house for him. The house was on land where grew the oak later known as the Charter Oak. He was a wealthy man for his time. At any rate, George and Mary Wyllys and their children immigrated to New England early in the 1630s. He left his business affairs in the hands of brothers, James and Nathaniel Fiennes, Esqs., of the family of Lord Say and Sele. The value of George’s estate in England is stated in old family papers to have equaled £500 per annum. English writers have stated that one must multiply such a sum by six in order to ascertain the worth of such an income in England in the latter half of the 20th century. He owned lands and houses in other places, such as Napton and in or near Stratford-on-Avon, at Old Stratford, Clopton, Wellcombe, Hodnel and Bishopton. The manor house no longer stands.
The family may have sailed from Bristol, to Boston, where they settled for a time. By 1634 George had been appointed an Assistant to the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, serving in that capacity through 1636. In that year he sent his steward, William Gibbons, to Hartford, along with twenty domestics and indentured servants, to buy lands and oversee the building of a house.
On April 6, 1638, George Wyllys and his wife, conveyed to Richard Smarte all their land in Old Stratford, Wellcombe, and Bishopton, in England. The eldest son, “George Willys, Jur.,” was one of the witnesses. It has been thought that George Jr. was left in England in possession of the manor of Fenny Compton; however, it is more probable that he went with the family to Connecticut and then returned to England, and the manor, remaining there until his death in 1670.
The Wyllyses moved to Hartford in 1638. Theirs was the largest home lot of any of the early Hartford settlers, and one of the largest homes in Connecticut. The homelot covered the square between Main, Charter Oak, Governor, and Wyllys Streets. Governors Wyllys, Webster, Welles, and Hopkins all built homes along the same street, which was called Governor Street until, unfortunately, the name was changed to Popieluszko Court. What a foolish decision!
On this square was the oak tree which in the next generation became the famous Charter Oak, the State Tree of Connecticut.
THE CHARTER OAK
ON THE WYLLYS ESTATE
The State Tree of Connecticut
Deep-rooted in the historic tradition of Connecticut, the Charter Oak is one of the most colorful and significant symbols of the spiritual strength and love of freedom which inspired our Colonial forebears in their militant resistance to tyranny.Two English kings, a royal agent, a colonial hero and a candle-lit room are the figures and backdrop in one of the most thrilling chapters of America's legend of liberty. The refusal of our early Connecticut leaders to give up the Charter, despite royal order and the threat of arms, marked one of the greatest episodes of determined courage in our history.
On October 9, 1662, the General Court of Connecticut formally received the Charter won from King Charles II by the suave diplomacy of Governor John Winthrop, Jr., who had crossed the ocean for the purpose. Twenty-five years later, with the succession of James II to the throne, Connecticut's troubles began in earnest. Sir Edmund Andros, His Majesty's agent, followed up failure of various strategies by arriving in Hartford with an armed force to seize the Charter. After hours of debate, with the Charter on the table between the opposing parties, the candle-lit room suddenly went dark. Moments later when the candles were re-lighted, the Charter was gone. Captain Joseph Wadsworth is credited with having removed and secreted the Charter in the majestic oak on the Wyllys Estate.
The venerable giant of the forest, over half a century old when it hid the treasured Charter of 1687, finally fell during a great storm on August 21, 1856.
A fascinating, and charmingly written, account of the Charter Oak and the hidden charter is found in the 1904 publication of Wadsworth, or Charter Oak, by W. H. Gocher.
On April 11, 1639, George Wyllys was appointed Assistant to the General Court of the Colony of Connecticut and served as such through 1640. In 1641, he served as Deputy Governor, and then in 1642 he was elected Governor of the colony.During Governor Wyllys’s one-year term as governor, there was a continuing rumor that the Narragansetts were going to form an alliance with several other Indian tribes, and try to destroy the English settlers. Connecticut had to keep itself in a state of military readiness. Wyllys and the General Court sent John Haynes and Edward Hopkins as their delegates to a meeting in Boston which eventually resulted in the Articles of Confederation between the colonies of Massachusetts Bay, New Haven, and Connecticut, answering a long-standing need for cooperation between the New England colonies. In December of 1642, the General Court created and passed the first penal code in Connecticut, naming twelve capital crimes.
After his term as governor expired, he again, in 1643-44, served as Assistant to the General Court of the Colony of Connecticut. He was also chosen in 1643 to be a Commissioner from Connecticut to The United Colonies of New England.
As one of the Hartford’s Original Proprietors, his name appears on the north elevation of the Founder's Monument which sits in the Ancient Burying Ground.
All George Wyllys descendants are eligible to be members of the Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford.
George Wyllys was one of several Hartford men, all of gentry status in England and of the highest rank in the new colony, who became the first proprietors of the town of Farmington, Connecticut. They owned land there but did not become settled inhabitants.
George Wyllys died in Hartford on 9 March 1645, just months before his two daughters married. His will, dated December 14, 1644, mentions the names of his sons George and Samuel, and daughters Hester and Amy, estate in Fenny Compton, lands in Wethersfield, and many surnames, including Whiting. At the time of his death, his estate, which included slaves, was greater than that of any other Connecticut resident until 1680. His wife, Mary, was living in 1655
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The Governor is buried in Hartford's Ancient Burying Ground. His enormous tomb is a replica, made in 1899, of the most elaborate kind of grave marker produced in 17th century Connecticut. Original period examples of such stones, which are memorials to families of the highest rank, can be found in Windsor and Saybrook. Matthew Griswold of Windsor is the only stonecutter known to have produced them. The stone is ornamented on one end with the Wyllys family coat of arms. The full Epitaph reads:George Wyllys
Born 1590 in Fenny Compton Co.
Warwick England
Came to Hartford 1638
Deputy Governor of Connecticut 1641
and Governor 1642 Died March 9, 1645
Bridget Young his Wife
Died at Fenny Compton
March 1629 and is there Buried
Mary Smith his Second Wife
Died in Hartford.Children of George Wyllys and Bridget Young:
1.George Wyllys, b. 1610, Breck, Cornwall, England; married Susannah Clark of Croton, Northamptonshire; they had 2 daughters and lived at Fenny Compton.
2.Maria Wyllys, b. 1613, Fenny Compton, Warwickshire, England.
3.Hester Wyllys, b. 1614, Fenny Compton, Warwickshire, England; married 17 October 1645, as his second wife, Captain Robert Harding, who came with John Winthrop in 1630, and afterwards removed to Rhode Island. In November 1646, he sailed for England and in 1651, he was a merchant in London.
4.Amy (Ammie) Wyllys, was born was born 1 July 1625, in Fenton Compton, Warwickshire, England, to Governor George Wyllys, one of the first colonial governors of Connecticut, (1590-1644) and Bridget Young (1590-1629.) She was the last child of four. Her mother died 11 March 1629, in Fenny Compton, England, when Amy was about 8; her mother was 39. Her father died 8 March 1644, at age 54. Amy came to America with her father. She married Colonel John Pynchon, 20 October 1645, in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut. Amy Wyllys passed away 9 January 1699, in Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, at age 73.
(Source: “Our Wyllys Family,” by Sheldon Whiting.)
Bridget was born in 1580, the daughter of Mary Bonner and William Young, of Gloucestershire.
Bridget Young died in 1629. Her burial is recorded: “Bridget, wife of George Willys, Gent. Was buried at Fenny Compton, March 11, 1629.” Bridget was about 49 years old.
(Source: “Our Wyllys Family,” by Sheldon Whiting.)