(<-- 5. Capt. Richard(2) Seymour) (Back to Start) (7. John(3) Seymour -->)
6. Matthew Seymour
6. CAPT. MATTHEW3 SEYMOUR (Thomas2, Richard1), of Norwalk, Conn., born at Norwalk in May 1669, died there about 1735. He married first SARAH HAYES, born at Norwalk 19 Sept. 1673, living in Feb. 1712, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Moore); and secondly CATHERINE —.
Matthew Seymour was a selectman of Norwalk for several years and deputy to the General Court from Norwalk in 1712 and 1713. He was made lieutenant in 1710, and was chosen captain of the North Company in Norwalk, 26 May 1729. In his will, dated 4 Jan. 1734/5 and proved 6 Jan. 1735/6, he names wife Catherine, sons Matthew, Samuel, Thomas, and Jehiel, youngest son Daniel (who is under age and is to have the whole of the house after the decease of Catherine, his mother), and daughters Hannah St. John, Elizabeth Bouton, Ruth Smith, Sarah Bouton, Catherine and Susanna. He directs that some of the estate and “also my Negro man Bristoll” be sold. He appoints his wife Catherine and his brother John Seymour as executors. The amount of the inventory was £436. 5s. 1d.
| Children by first wife (order of births unknown):1) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 14. | i. | MATTHEW4, b. abt. 1691, bapt. 7 Oct. 1694. 2) | |
| 15. | ii. | SAMUEL, bapt. 17 Nov. 1695, Norwalk, CT, d. 1751 New Canaan, Fairfield, CT3), Nine children | |
| 16. | iii. | THOMAS, b. abt. 1702. | |
| 17. | iv. | JEHIEL. | |
| v. | HANNAH, d. at Ridgefield, Conn., 22 Aug. 1768; m. 7 June 1721, NATHAN4 ST. JOHN, b. at Norwalk in 1692, d. at Ridgefield 10 Mar. 1749, s. of Matthias3 (Matthias2, Matthias1) and Rachel (Bouton). | ||
| Children, recorded at Ridgefield: | |||
| 1. | Hannah, b. 16 Apr. 1722. | ||
| 2. | Nathan, b. 26 Jan. 1724; m. Abigail —. | ||
| 3. | David, b. 15 May 1726; d. young. | ||
| 4. | Elijah, b. 20 Apr. 1728; d. in 1752. | ||
| 5. | Rachel, b. 14 Aug. 1731; m. 20 Dec. 1752, Gideon Betts. | ||
| 6. | Sarah, b. 9 Oct. 1733. | ||
| 7. | Ann, b. in 1736; m. in 1754, Ebenezer Jones. | ||
| 8. | David, b. 18 Nov. 1738; m. 13 Mar. 1762, Mary Smith. | ||
| vi. | ELIZABETH, m. ELEAZER4 BOUTON (John3, John2, John1), b. at Danbury, Conn., in 1701. | ||
| Children: | |||
| 1. | Ezra, b. 18 Nov. 1723; m. 28 June 1749, Mary Bouton. | ||
| 2. | Hezekiah, b. 2 Nov. 1725; m. 12 Oct. 1749, Abigail Penoyer. | ||
| 3. | Eleazor, b. 22 Jan. 1728; m. 10 Nov. 1763, Dinah Benedict.4) | ||
| 4. | Elizabeth, b. 8 Feb. 1730. | ||
| 5. | Sarah, b. 19 Dec. 1733. | ||
| 6. | Matthew, b. 17 or 19 Mar. 1735; m. Rachel —. | ||
| 7. | Ruth, b. 6 or 16 July 1737; m. in Sept. 1763, Stephen Rusco. | ||
| 8. | Hannah, b. 2 Oct. 1739; m. in 1764, Nathaniel Gray. | ||
| 9. | Seymour, b. 28 June 1742; m. 16 Jan. 1765, Esther Levake. | ||
| 10. | Nathan, b. 4 Mar. 1745; m. (1) Dorothy —; m. (2) Rhoda Curtis. | ||
| 11. | Simeon, b. 11 Apr. 1748. | ||
| 12. | Levi, b. 15 Oct. 1750; m. (1) Hannah Waterbury; m. (2) Polly Ketcham. | ||
| vii. | RUTH, m. at Ridgefield, Conn., 12 June 1729, JABEZ4 SMITH, b. at Milford, Conn., 29 Nov. 1705, d. at Ridgefield, 22 Sept. 1787, in his 82d year, s. of Thomas3 (John2, John1) and Hannah (Camp). | ||
| Children, recorded at Ridgefield: | |||
| 1. | Sarah, b. 17 Sept. 1730. | ||
| 2. | Jabez, b. 12 Dec. 1731. | ||
| 3. | Abraham, b. 6 June 1733. | ||
| 4. | Joel, b. 9 — 1735/6. | ||
| 5. | Ruth, b. 16 Jan. 1736/7. | ||
| viii. | SARAH5) m. before Jan. 1734/5, JOHN BOUTON. | ||
| Children by second wife: | |||
| ix. | CATHERINE,6) d. before her father, probably in 1735. A bequest was made to her in his will, but the statement is appended that before the execution of the will the aforesaid Catherine had departed this life. | ||
| x. | SUSANNA7) m. before Mar. 1742/3, JOSIAH RUSCO. | ||
| 18. | xi. | DANIEL. | |
(<-- 5. Capt. Richard(2) Seymour) (Back to Start) (7. John(3) Seymour -->)
The following information was supplied by Paul Carleton Seymour.
Capt. Matthew Seymour (1669-1735)
I don't know about you, but when I read Thomas' will, it sounds like younger son John is the favorite. Maybe it's just my imagination. When I looked at John's history, it's said that he died in 1746 with “an unusually large estate”. But in our case, we're descended from Capt. Matthew, who was an ensign at the time of his father's death.
As Thomas died in 1712, we see that a few years earlier, his oldest living son Matthew had already left Norwalk. Capt. Matthew Seymour, in the tradition of his father and grandfather, founded yet another prosperous American town, this time Ridgefield CT, moving there in 1708 when he was 39 years old. Note that they dealt directly with the Indian chief. I can only imagine what they traded for the land, but a quick internet search at the time of writing in 2010 shows that there's a house for sale on Seymour Lane in Ridgefield for just over a million dollars. I guess we should expect that kind of appreciation in 302 years. Also note the witchcraft superstitions, which occurred long after GGGGGGGG Grandpa Matthew's time. He was evidently a soldier in the Connecticut Militia as an Indian fighter long before the Declaration of Independence was issued.
http://www.archive.org/stream/ancienthistorica00hall Google Books, Ancient Historical Records of Norwalk, Conn.
At a Norwalk town meeting in 1718, Matthew, is picked as part of a 6-man committee to represent the town in a major political dispute. Presumably the townspeople voted for the guys they knew to be impartial and fair.
A group of 25 people from Norwalk, led by Matthew and 3 others, purchased a large tract of land from the Indians between Norwalk and Danbury in 1708, about 10 years earlier, which explains why the Norwalk residents would have to pay for their services now. Ridgefield looks to be about 7 miles NW of Norwalk.
Looking at the tree, we see that after his first five children were born in Norwalk, including Samuel, the sixth of Matthew's twelve kids was born in Ridgefield in 1708, but that his next daughter was born in Danbury in 1709, then later ones back in Norwalk, so he apparently returned back to his hometown. I wonder if it was related to this trip back to resolve the dispute. It looks like he was very popular after resolving this issue and the Norwalk folks wanted him to stay on as one of their leaders. http://www.genesmall.net/Genealogy/Seymour/Book.006.Matthew.html
“Matthew Seymour was a selectman of Norwalk for several years (the board of selectmen is commonly the executive arm of the government of New England towns. The board typically consists of three or five members) and deputy to the General Court from Norwalk in 1712 and 1713. The General Court was the precursor to the State Legislature, and each town had 3-4 deputies, who were what we would call today, State Representatives. He was made lieutenant in 1710, and was chosen captain of the North Company Militia unit in Norwalk, 26 May 1729 when he was almost 60. In his will, dated 4 Jan. 1734/5 and proved 6 Jan. 1735/6, he names wife Catherine, sons Matthew, Samuel, Thomas, and Jehiel, youngest son Daniel (who is under age and is to have the whole of the house after the decease of Catherine, his mother), and daughters Hannah St. John, Elizabeth Bouton, Ruth Smith, Sarah Bouton, Catherine and Susanna. He directs that some of the estate and “also my Negro man Bristoll” be sold. He appoints his wife Catherine and his brother John Seymour as executors. The amount of the inventory was £436. 5s. 1d.”
I have no idea what 436 pounds would be in year 2010 dollars. As I understand having a slave indicated some sort of wealth, but not an “unusually large estate” as was noted for younger brother John, here an executor.