John STEELE, I b. Bef 12 Dec 1591 Fairstead, Essex, England d. 25 Feb 1665 Farmington, Hartford, Connecticut, British Colonial America: Our Family History

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Bef 1591 - 1665 (~ 73 years)

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Name	John STEELE [1]
Suffix	I
Born	Bef 12 Dec 1591	Fairstead, Essex, England [1]
Christened	12 Dec 1591	Braintree, Essex, England [1]
Gender	Male
Arrival	1633	Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America [2]
	Came on ship Lyon
FamilySearch ID	L1MX-2SB
Residence	1634	Freeman 14 May, Massachusetts Colony, Massachusetts [2]
Occupation	1635	Cambridge, Massachusetts [2]
	deputy
Occupation	1639	Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America [2]
	Proprietor
Occupation	Bef 1645	Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut [2]
	town clerk until he removed to Farmington in 1645
Died	25 Feb 1665	Farmington, Hartford, Connecticut, British Colonial America [1]
Buried	Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut [1]
Person ID	I594767372	Carney Wehofer 2024 Genealogy
Last Modified	2 Jan 2023

Father	Richard STEELE, II, b. 12 Apr 1549, Fairstead, Braintree District, Essex, England , d. 12 Jan 1631, Fairstead, Braintree District, Essex, England (Age 81 years)
Mother	Elizabeth GRAHAM, b. 1565, Fairstead, Essex, England , d. 4 Apr 1626, Fairstead, Essex, England (Age 61 years)
Married	10 Jan 1585	Fairstead, Essex, England [3]
Family ID	F536728922	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Family Rachel TALCOTT, b. 10 Oct 1602, Braintree, Essex, England , d. 24 Oct 1653, Farmington, Hartford, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America (Age 51 years)

Married 10 Oct 1622 Fairsted, Essex, England [4]

Children

	1. John STEELE, II, b. 17 Jun 1624, Fairstead, Braintree, Essex, England , d. 8 Mar 1653, Farmington, Hartford, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America (Age 28 years)
	2. Lt. Samuel STEELE, Sr., b. 1626, Fairstead, Essex, England , d. 14 Aug 1685, Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut, British Colonial America (Age 59 years)
	3. Daniel STEELE, b. Abt 1628, Fairstead, Essex, England , d. Bef 1645 (Age ~ 16 years)
	4. Rachel STEELE, b. 29 Jun 1632, Fairsted, Essex, England , d. Yes, date unknown
	5. Mary STEELE, b. 20 Nov 1637, Farmington, Hartford, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America , d. 27 Oct 1718, Farmington, Hartford, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America (Age 80 years)
	6. Lydia STEELE, b. 20 Nov 1637, Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America , d. Farmington, Hartford, Connecticut

Last Modified 2 Jan 2023

Family ID F536728904 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Notes

(1) DO NOT CONFUSE THIS JOHN STEELE (b. 1591, Fairstead, Essex; m. Rachel Talcott; d. 27 Feb 1664, Farmington, CT) with JOHN STILES (b. 1596, Millbrook, Bedfordshire; m. Rachel (Unknown), d. 4 June 1662 )
(2) VIEW BIOGRAPHICAL ITEMS IN STORY (MEMORIES) FOR THIS RECORD, L1MX-2SB.
(3) See also BIOS:
(A) Excerpts from sketch about John Steele in outstanding historical series, "The Great Migration Begins......" by Robert Charles Anderson.
JOHN STEELE
ORIGIN: Fairstead, Essex
MIGRATION: 1633
FIRST RESIDENCE: Cambridge
REMOVES: Hartford 1635, Farmington 1645
CHURCH MEMBERSHIP: Admission to Cambridge church prior to 14 May 1634 implied by freemanship.
FREEMAN: 14 May 1634 [ MBCR 1:369].
EDUCATION: Sufficient education to be recorder at Hartford and Farmington. His inventory included "two Bibles" valued at 16s., "fourteen books" valued at £3 and "three quires of paper" valued at 2s.
OFFICES: Deputy to the General Court for Cambridge, 4 March 1634/5, 6 May 1635, and 2 September 1635 [MBCR 1:135, 145, 156].
Appointed Massachusetts Bay commissioner for new settlements on Connecticut River, 3 March 1635/6 [MBCR 1:171].
On 11 April 1640 "Mr. Steele is returned Recorder for the town of Hartford, and hath brought into the Court 114 copies of the several parcels of land belonging to & concerning 114 persons" [ CCCR 1:48]. On 1 December 1645, as part of the establishment of Farmington, "Mr. Steele is entreated for the present to be recorder there, until the town have one fit among themselves" [CCCR 1:134].
Probably the "Mr. John Steele" requested 5 March 1656[/7] "to go over the great river and take an exact view of the land in difference between Robt: Sanford & Jno White" [ PCCR 175].
ESTATE: On 5 August 1633 granted three roods for a cowyard in Cambridge [ CaTR 5]; granted two acres in Westend Field, 1 December 1634 [CaTR 10]; in 20 August 1635 division of meadow ground given a proportional share of two [CaTR 13].
In Cambridge land inventory of 20 August 1635 John Steele held nine parcels: one house with garden and backside in town, about half a rood; three roods in cowyard row; half an acre in Old Field; two acres on Small Lot Hill; two acres in Westend Field; ten acres and a half in the neck of land; one acre in the Ox Marsh; three acres and a half in the Long Marsh; and twelve acres in the Great Marsh [ CaBOP 13-14]. On 28 August "John Steele of the New towne" sold to Robert Bradish "all his parcels of land lying or being in Newtowne" [CaBOP 15-16].
In the Hartford land inventory John Steele held four parcels: two acres "on which his dwelling house now standeth with other outhouses, yards & gardens"; two acres in the Little Meadow "part whereof was received of Georg[e] Steell"; three acres and thirty perches in the North Meadow; and twenty-one acres, three roods and twenty-two perches "part whereof he bought of John Tayllcott" [ HaBOP 410-11].
In his will, dated 30 January 1663[/4] and proved 15 June 1665, "John Steel of Farmington, being stricken in years and weakness," bequeathed to "my dear and loving wife Mercy Steel the house wherein I now dwell with the appurtenances belonging to it in all three little closes thereunto belonging, also one barn during the time of her natural life"; to "the said Mercy a certain parcel of household goods that were hers at the time when I married her ... also a mare colt ... also two cows and one three year old heifer, as also one third part of all the provision in the house ... one half of all the linen cloth she hath made since I married her ... a parcel of pasture land enclosed ... at three acres for her use during her natural life"; to "my son Samuell Steel my best bed" and household goods, also "a silver bowl which was mine own marked with three silver stamps and an "S" all on the upper end of the bowl ... also ... one half of all my books, also my gold scales and weights ... a piece of enclosed pasture" of three acres after "my and my wife's decease"; "and to avoid the trouble of other conveyances of house and land to my son Samuell Steel of what I gave him at his marriage with Mary Boosy I here express it," also a parcel of land on which his stillhouse stands, and seventeen acres and one parcel of three and a half acres of meadow; one parcel of land in the **** Crook; to "my son-in-law William Judd one third part of my land called ****'s Crook"; to "my son-in-law Thomas Judd one third part of my land at *****crook" and twenty acres at Hartford"; to "my two sons-in-law William and Thomas Judd my now dwelling house and barn, house lot, yards, garden, orchard" after "mine and my wife's departure out of this natural life"; "a few things should be disposed to my loving wife and children and grandchildren: to my wife two small silver spoones and some small matter of linen, and to Mary Judd one piece of gold and to Sarah Judd one piece of Gold to John Steel son of John Steel deceased one silver spoon, to Samuell son of the said John deceased one silver spoon and to Benony Steel one silver spoon and to Rachel daughter of Samuel Steel one silver spoon to be delivered to them at their marriage by my son Samuell Steel, but my wife and two daughters shall have theirs immediately after the departure of my natural life"; "the remainder of my silver spoons broken or whole as also a small gold ring I give and bequeath to my son Samuell Steel"; residue to "my two sons-in-law William and Thomas Judd and do make them my sole executors"; "my son Samuel Steel and James Steel to be the overseers" [ Hartford PD Case #5187; Manwaring 1:239-40; Steel Anc 251-52].
The inventory of the estate of John Steele, presented on 20 June 1665, was untotalled, and included £67 in real estate: "house, barn, lot & orchard," £55; and "one piece of pasture land," £12 [Hartford PD Case #5187].
BIRTH: Baptized Fairstead, Essex, 12 December 1591, son of Richard Steele.
DEATH: Farmington 27 February 1664[/5?] [ Farm VR Barbour 158, citing Farmington LR 2:319].
MARRIAGE: (1) Fairstead 10 October 1622 "John Steele, son of Richard of this parish, & Rachel Talcott of Brancktree [i.e., Braintree]." She died at Farmington 24 October 1653 [Farm VR Barbour 158, citing Farmington LR 2:320].
(2) Farmington 25 November 1655 Mercy (Ruscoe) Seymour [Farm VR Barbour 158, citing Farmington LR 2:331], widow of Richard Seymour [ NEHGR 71:111-13]. She died after 4 July 1668 (on which date John Winthrop treated "Mrs. Steele, widow, 67 y. of Farmington" [ WMJ 829]).
CHILDREN:
With first wife
i JOHN, b. say 1624; m. Hartford 22 January 1645[/6] Mary Warner [ HaVR 606], daughter of ANDREW WARNER.
ii SAMUEL, b. about 1626 (deposed 6 June 1685 aged about 59 [ Goodwin Anc 253, citing Farmington LR 1:43]); m. by 1652 Mary Boosey (eldest child b. Farmington 5 December 1652 [Farm VR Barbour 158, citing Farmington LR 2:330]).
iii DANIEL, b. say 1628; living in 1636 (named in grandmother's will of January 1636/7 [Goodwin Anc 240]); apparently d. by 1645 (when a younger brother of the same name was born).
iv RACHEL, bp. Fairstead 29 June 1632; living in 1636 (named in grandmother's will of January 1636/7 [Goodwin Anc 240]); no further record.
v LYDIA, b. say 1635; m. Farmington 31 March 1657 James Bird [Farm VR Barbour 158, citing Farmington LR 2:331].
vi MARY, b. say 1637; m. Farmington 31 March 1657 William Judd [Farm VR Barbour 158, citing Farmington LR 2:331].
vii SARAH, b. about 1639 (d. 22 May 1695 "in the 57 year of her age" [Goodwin Anc 253, citing Waterbury LR 1:67]); m. by 1663 Thomas Judd (see father's will).
viii DANIEL, b. Hartford 29 April 1645 [HaVR 575]; d. [6?] November 1646 [HaVR 575].
ix HANNAH, d. 17 July 1655 [Farm VR Barbour 157, citing Farmington LR 2:320].
ASSOCIATIONS: Brother of GEORGE STEELE of Cambridge and Hartford.
BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTE: The best account of the family of John Steele was prepared in 1915 by Frank Farnsworth Starr [Goodwin Anc 239-53].
(B) Data in "Steele Family," by Daniel Steele Durrie (Munsell & Rowland, Albany, NY, 1859) and in "Various Ancestral Lines of James Goodwin and Lucy (Morgan) Goodwin of Hartford, Connecticut," By Frank Farnsworth Starr, (Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Press, Hartford, CT, 1915, Pages 239/253).
(1602-1653)
John Steele (Richard, Richard,Robert) immigrated to Cambridge in 1633 and removed to Hartford in 1635 and to Farmington in 1645. He was made a freeman in Cambridge 14 May 1634. He was appointed Massachusetts Bay commissioner for new settlements on the Connecticut River on 3 Mar 1635/6. He was deputy to the General Court for Cambridge on 4 Mar 1634/5, 6 May 1635, and 2 Sep 1635. He is reported to have been leader of a pioneer contingent from Cambridge who traveled in the autumn of 1635 to the new location on the Connecticut River, ahead of the group led by Rev. Hooker the next year to this new settlement eventually named Hartford. John Steele had moved to Farmington, CT, about nine
miles west of Hartford, by 1652 - even though he had served as recorder for Farmington starting in 1645. He was admitted to the church in Farmington "about the 30th day of January, 1652." He left a lengthy will, dated 30 Jan 1663/4 and proved 15 Jun 1665.
He was educated enough to be recorder at Hartford and Farmington. His estate inventory included two bibles and 14 other books.

Sources

[S1160] FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 2 Jan 2023), entry for Mary Steele, person ID 9SV2-YN4. (Reliability: 3).
[S1160] FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 2 Jan 2023), entry for John Steele, person ID L1MX-2SB. (Reliability: 3).
[S1160] FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 2 Jan 2023), entry for Richard Steele, person ID LBP7-W58. (Reliability: 3).
[S1160] FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 2 Jan 2023), entry for Rachel Talcott, person ID LCJ4-ZJ2. (Reliability: 3).