| Notes |
- https://sites.google.com/site/emilyfarrer/home/joseph-wadsworth-and-elizabeth-talcott
Joseph Wadsworth and Elizabeth Talcott
Joseph Wadsworth was born in Hartford, Connecticut the son of William Wadsworth and Elizabeth Stone about 1648.
Elizabeth Talcott was born February 21, 1656 to John Talcott and Helena Wakeman in Hartford Connecticut.
He was of an impetuous, aggressive nature, courageous and resolute, and early a leader among the younger set of Hartford. As a young man he must have taken an active interest in military affairs, for "at a meeting of the councill, held at Hartford, Sept. 6th, 1675, the Councill ordered that Sgt. Joseph Wadsworth should take under his conduct twenty men, and pass up to Westfield, to assist them against the common enemie." A few months later, on the 14th of January, 1675/76, the Council, when appointing John Stanley captain " of part of an affidavit made by Joseph Wadsworth in support of a petition of James Mini to the General Assembly at its session of May, 1721, gives the approximate date of his birth. It reads, " These may Informe ye Honoured General Court that my Hononed Father haveing been a first planter of Hartford I in my youth who am Now 74 years old did often hear my sd Father say that those Lots Caled the Soldiers field was the Lots Granted to ye Paquoit soldiers only ft yt for there Good service in said warr. Joseph Wadsworth."
Document 217, Vol. Ill, "Towns and Lands," in the archives, State
Library, Hartford.
He was propounded, for freeman in 1676, with his brothers Samuel and Thomas, and all were admitted the same year
He was a lieutenant and served in Philip's war.
He first married Elizabeth Barnard, daughter of Bartholomew Barnard. Joseph then married Elizabeth Talcott, daughter John Talcott. He married late in life, Mary, daughter of John Blackleach, the younger, who had been the first wife of Thomas Welles, next of John Oleutt.
Joseph is most remembered with gratitude as the preserver of the Connecticut Charter.
The Charter Oak is Connecticut's official State Tree. An image of the Charter Oak was selected to emblazon the back of Connecticut's state quarter. In 1662, Connecticut received its Royal Charter from England's Charles II. A quarter century later, James II's royal representatives attempted to seize the charter. Well, our Connecticut forebears were not about to take that lying down, even though the Brits threatened to split the state and divide its lands between Massachusetts and New York.
On October 26, 1687, Sir Edmund Andros, who had been appointed by the Crown as governor of all of New England, arrived in Hartford to demand the charter. What exactly happened during that evening's showdown at Butler's Tavern may never be ascertained, but the upshot is that, in the midst of heated debates between Connecticut leaders and the royal entourage over surrendering the Charter, the room was plunged into darkness when the candles that illuminated it were overturned.
Was it an accident, or a crafty maneuver carefully plotted by the feisty defenders of Connecticut's rights? We may never know, but what we do know is that one passionate Nutmegger, Captain Joseph Wadsworth, who was positioned outside the tavern, found himself in possession of the Charter during the ensuing chaos in the darkness. Wadsworth took it upon himself to hide the charter safely inside a majestic white oak tree on the Wyllys estate in Hartford. The stately tree was already more than 500 years old when it served its spectacular role as a hiding spot for the precious document. Wadsworth's bold move served to preserve not only the document but the rights of the colonists.
Thus, the tree earned its nickname – the "Charter Oak." The venerable tree stood as a proud Connecticut symbol for another 150 years until it was toppled during a storm on August 21, 1856.
Now, the symbol lives on thanks to the U.S. Mint's state quarters program. [Source: http://hartford.about.com/cs/cthistory/a/aacharteroak.htm]
At a session of the General Court held in September, 1689, Joseph was chosen lieutenant " for the traine band of the north side of Hartford," and at a session of the Court held in October 1697, Capt. Joseph Wadsworth was by this Court confirmed Capy." of the train band in Hartford on the north side of the river." He had been called Captain some years earlier, as in the list of deputies to the General Court in October, 1694, the first name is that of "Capt. Jos. Wadsworth."
For several years, intermittently, he was elected townsman and doubtless displayed his characteristic vigor in the discharge of that office. While his services as deputy or representative were not so continuous or so extensive as his father's, his name appears on the records during a period of thirty years, from May, 1685, to May, 1715. The sessions, in detail, at which he was a deputy were those of May and October, 1685, May and October, 1694, May and October, 1695, October, 1699, May and October, 1703, May and October, 1704, October, 1705, October, 1706, April and May, 1707, and May, 1715. A few allusions in the records indicate that, as deputy, he spoke his mind freely and sometimes intemperately, with utter disregard to the consequences.
At the October session of 1703, for using " reproachfull words " against " William Pitkin Esqr, Assistant," and also for casting forth " reproachfull expressions against divers members of the Assembly," he was sentenced to pay a fine of ten pounds.* And during the last session that he attended, in May, 1715, he was publicly admonished by Gov. Saltonstall for a " discourse of a seditious nature and tendency," delivered on the 17th of that month. Only once does he appear to have been a member of the Council, and then toward the end of his life. At a meeting of the Governor and Council held at Hartford, August 16, 1726, Capt. Joseph Wadsworth was present as a member, and this is the last mention of him in the Colonial Records. [Colonial Records of Connecticut, 1665-1677, p. 400. lbid., 1689-1706, p. 5.]
Under date of Oct. 15, 1688, John Allyn, Secretary of the Colony,
wrote Gov. Andros, " I allso make bold to inform your Excelency that if you please to make Joseph Wadsworth Lieutenant of the company of the North side of or Towne & Mr. Niccols of the Sowth side, it will be most accomadating to the people as their habitations are settled." [Colonial Records of Connecticut, 1678-1689, p. 450.]
Many years afterwards when he himself was a deputy to the General Assembly for the last time, in May, 1715, his valiant exploit was recognized by the Colony as follows: — "Upon consideration of the faithful and good service of Capt. Joseph Wadsworth, of Hartford, especially in securing the Duplicate Charter of this Colony in a very troublesome season when our constitution was struck at, and in safely keeping and preserving the same ever since unto this day: This Assembly do, as a token of their grateful resentment of such his faithful and good service, grant him out of the Colony treasury the sum of twenty shillings." [Colonial Records of Connecticut, 1689-1706, p. 453. lbid.,
1706-1716, pp. 492 and 493. Jlbid., 1726-1735, p. 52. lbid., 1706-1716, p. 507.]
It is strange that the death of such a patriot is not recorded, but it probably took place in 1730, as his will was proved March 2, 1730-31.
Joseph Wadsworth married (1) Elizabeth Talcott, born February 21, 1656, daughter of Lieut. Col. John and Helena (Wakeman) Talcott, who died October 26, 1710. He married (2) Mary Blackleach, widow of both Thomas
Welles and John Olcott, and daughter of John and Elizabeth Blackleach of Wethersfield, Connecticut, who survived him. [Early Connecticut Probate Records, Vol. Ill, p. 122.]
There are several reasons for believing that Elizabeth Talcott, and
not Elizabeth Barnard, was the mother of his children. In March, 1753, Aaron Cook and his wife Hannah (Wadsworth) Cook of Harwinton, conveyed to Joseph Wadsworth Jr., Daniel Wadsworth and William Wadsworth, all right pertaining to them " by the Right of Our Hond Mother Elizabeth Wadsworth in the five mile so called on the East side of the great River." Hartford Town Records, No. 8, p. 424.
That Lt. Col. John Talcott possessed lands in the above described
tract, appears from a statement in the inventory of his estate taken Nov. 3, 1689, of his owning "2 prsells Land Giuen by Jos[h]ua Sachem And Cap' Sanupp nott yett deuided."
On the other hand, Bartholomew Barnard left by will only £20 to his
daughter Elizabeth. Still weightier evidence is presented in the petition of Joseph Talcott to the General Court, dated May 15, 1691. In it he recites that " Y Honourd father of your poor petitioner departed this Life upon ye 23d
day of July 1688 haueing made no writen will for yi setelment of his personall estate this Colony then being under y Gouerm' of his Excellency Sr Edmon Andros aplycation was made to him by my brother in law
Lift Jos Wardsworth: for leeters of Adminisstration upon y« sii estate etc." Document 47, Vol. IV, " Private Controversies," in the archives.
State Library, Hartford.
This proves that Joseph Wadsworth was married to Elizabeth Talcott
prior to April 18, 1689, when Sir Edmund Andros was arrested and
imprisoned. For further discussion of this question, see p. 81, Vol. LXIV,
of the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, where Mr. Frank
Farnsworth Starr, to whom the editor is indebted for the information,
examines the matter in detail.
Source: An Account of Some of the Descendants of John Russell, the Emigrant from Ipswich, England, who Came to Boston, New England, October 3, 1635, Together with Some Sketches of the Allied Families of Wadsworth, Tuttle, and Beresford by Gurdon Wadsworth Russell, Edwin Stanley Welles, Samuel Hart, J. R. Hutchinson, published by Case, Lockwood & Brainard, 1910, original from the University of Wisconsin - Madison, Digitized Nov. 1, 2007
http://books.google.com/books?id=XrxOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA239&lpg=PA239&dq=joseph+wadsworth,+1648&source=web&ots=3SyqRC4vtp&sig=b2XzSlO-y0ULjwgD7RDw_3rhtG8&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result#PPA243,M1
The Charter Oak
Connecticut's history of constitutional government dates back to the seventeenth century and two significant documents: the 1639 Fundamental Orders, which bound the three original towns of Windsor, Wethersfield and Hartford into a colonial entity, and the Royal Charter of 1662 granted by Charles II. Twenty-five years later, when agents of James II attempted to seize the charter, it was spirited away and hidden in a majestic oak tree on the Wyllys estate in Hartford, thereby preserving the charter and the rights of the colonists. For over a hundred and fifty years, the "charter oak" was a prominent and widely recognized Connecticut landmark. When it was toppled during an 1856 storm, acorns were collected as keepsakes, as were a considerable amount of twigs, leaves, branches, and lumber. [Google images]
http://kristinabraham.com/CT%20constitution.jpg
http://kristinabraham.com/CT%20constitution.jpg
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The Charter Oak - Connecticut's Most Famous Tree
The "Charter Oak incident," though never fully proven as fact, remains one of the
most exciting chapters in both Hartford and Connecticut history.
Thanks to the diplomacy of Gov. John Winthrop Jr., the General Court of
Connecticut won a charter from King Charles II on Oct. 9, 1662. Among other
things, the document legitimized all existing settlements in Connecticut, set the
boundaries of the colony, and - most importantly - perpetuated the rights laid out
in the Fundamental Orders, allowing the colonists a high degree of self-
government.
But by the time James II assumed the throne 25 years later, England wanted
greater integration of the New England colonies - and more centralized control.
Sir Edmund Andros, assigned by the king to rule New York and all of the New
England colonies in a single "Dominion of New England," demanded return of
Connecticut's charter. After trying various strategies for accomplishing this, he
finally marched to Hartford with an armed force to seize it. The following is
legend:
On October 27,1687, Andros' party met with Gov. Robert Treat and other
colonists at the public meeting house. Andros again demanded surrender of the
charter; Treat responded with a long speech in defense of the colony. The
debate went on for hours. Eventually, candles had to be lit - darkness fell early at
that time of year. With the Charter on the table between the opposing parties, the
room suddenly went dark. Moments later, when the candles were re-lighted, the
charter was gone. Captain Joseph Wadsworth is credited with swiping the
document and hiding it nearby, in the trunk of a giant white oak before the home
of Samuel Wyllys, one of the magistrates of the colony.
"This secreting of the charter in the great Charter Oak tree soon grew into one of
Connecticut's cherished traditions," historian Albert V. Van Dusen wrote.
"Whether or not the charter ever was actually put there, even for a few hours, is a
matter of conjecture. It does seem fairly certain, though, that the charter actually
was spirited away under cover of darkness." He noted that 28 years later, in
1715, the colony paid Wadsworth 20 shillings for "securing the Duplicate Charter
of this Colony in a very troublesome season."
Yet, despite all the drama of that night, the colony effectively surrendered to
Andros, who named Treat and John Allyn to his council and made various other
Dominion appointments before leaving. Van Dusen observed, though, that
Andros "undoubtedly felt vexed at his failure to obtain the charter." Moreover, the
colonists had only recorded that he was taking control; they never made a
positive vote of submission.
Andros' reign did not last long anyway. The spring of 1689 brought news of the
Glorious Revolution in England. James II had fled to France; in Boston, Andros
was arrested. Connecticut colonists convinced James' successors, William and
Mary, to confirm the 1662 charter.
The tree itself lasted another century and a half as a cherished landmark.
According to historian Ellsworth Grant, its base eventually reached a
circumference of 33 feet. When a windstorm finally toppled it in 1856, the
marching band belonging to gun maker Samuel Colt played funeral dirges on the
site. In 1907, the Connecticut Society of Colonial Wars erected a monument at
the corner of Charter Oak Avenue and Charter Oak Place, near the spot where
the tree stood. The monument remains.
In tribute to the Charter Oak legend, Connecticut designated the white oak as the
state tree.
The Charter Oak is Connecticut's official State Tree - am image of the Charter
Oak was selected to emblazon the back of Connecticut's state quarter. Until very
recently, every Connecticut school child was familiar with Hartford's Charter Oak
and the stirring legend which planted the venerable tree firmly at the center of the
state's cultural symbolism - the tree that played a pivotal role in saving a young
colony from tyranny and preserving her people's freedom. The history (and
legend) surrounding the Charter Oak is of interest to all Connecticut historians
and may be of interest to Charter Oak Figure Skating Club members.
The great white oak stood taller than other trees in the forest long before
circumstances rooted it deep in the colonial history of Connecticut. Ancient
(perhaps 400-500 years old) at the time of Columbus' voyages to America, the
tree had been an object of veneration by generations of native Americans, who
had traditionally held their councils beneath its expanse. In 1614, the old tree
became the property of Samuel Wyllys, one of the first landowners in what would
come to be the city of Hartford. But according to legend, as Wyllys was busy
clearing away the forest around his homestead and getting ever closer to the
white oak, he was visited by a delegation of Indians fearful that their revered tree
would be destroyed. The Indians begged him to spare the tree, explaining that it
had originally been planted as a token of peace by a great sachem who had
brought his people from the west to the Connecticut River valley, and that the
appearance of its first leaves in spring was a signal from the Great Spirit to begin
the spring planting. To the relief of the Indians, Wyllys left the ancient tree
standing.
In 1662, Connecticut received its Royal Charter from England's Charles II. The
Charter granted concessions to the Connecticut colonists' home rule making it
the most liberal guarantee of rights enjoyed by a British colony in America, with
the exception of Rhode Island. A quarter century later, King James II, in
contempt for the colonies' chartered rights, attempted to seize the charter. The
monarch was upset by the number and variety of rights granted to the people by
their separate charters, and wanted to bring all of the colonies together under a
consolidated patent which made it unequivocally clear that the word of the King
of England was law. The colonies would be "encouraged" to give up their
charters to the crown. They would then be revoked. Sir Edmund Andros, who
had been appointed by the Crown as governor of all of New England, began
putting pressure on Connecticut by sending messengers into the colony,
demanding that the precious Charter under which the people had lived more or
less happily for a quarter-century be surrendered to the Crown. When Governor
Treat refused, Andros responded with a threat to eliminate Connecticut. All of the
colony's lands east of the Connecticut River would be annexed to
Massachusetts, while territory west of the river would become part of New York.
In a last attempt to take control of the Charter, Andros personally appeared in
Hartford ad Moses Butler's Tavern on the evening of October 26, 1687 to
address Governor Treat and the Assembly on the meaning of treason.
By accident of as part of a conspiracy on the part of defenders of Connecticut's
rights, Guilford's Andrew Leete knocked over two candelabra on the table,
plunging the chamber into darkness. Captain Joseph Wadsworth, who was
positioned outside the tavern, found himself in possession of the charter during
the ensuing chaos. Wadsworth took it upon himself to hide the Charter safely
inside the majestic white oak tree on the Wyllys estate. Wadsworth's bold move
served to preserve not only the document but the rights of the colonists. Thus,
the tree earned its nickname - the "Charter Oak."
The tree, which in 1687 seemed on the verge of collapse, continued to put out
new growth for almost 170 years thereafter, until it was finally destroyed by a
great storm on August 21, 1856. The city of Hartford and all of Connecticut
began a period of civic mourning. On the day the Charter Oak fell, an honor
guard was placed around the remains, Colt's Band of Hartford played a funeral
dirge, and an American flag was attached to the shattered trunk. At sunset, all of
the bells of Hartford sounded in homage. From near and far the people of
Connecticut came to gather even the smallest fragments of the oak to hold and
to pass along to posterity as precious reminders of their heritage. At least three
chairs, including the one used today by the Speaker of the House in the General
Assembly, were fashioned from the wood of the Charter Oak, while acorns
dropped by the tree were gathered and planted, to produce in time a forest of
trees directly descended from the historic oak.
http://www.charteroakfsc.com/TheCharterOak.pdf
BIRTH: Also shown as Born Abt 1647
DEATH: Also shown as Died Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, United States.
In 1662, the colony of Connecticut, owned and governed by England, was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II. The “Connecticut Charter” permitted the colony to make some of its own rules and to elect certain officials. Charles’s death in 1685 brought his brother, James II, to the throne. James disapproved of the Royal Charters and demanded their return. The charters interfered with James’s plan to establish the Dominion of New England—a combination of the New England colonies and the colony of New York under the leadership of one royal official.
In 1687, Sir Edmond Andros, the Royal Governor of the Dominion, met with leaders of the Connecticut colony in Hartford. Debates continued for hours as the colonists steadfastly refused to give up the Charter. According to legend, all of the candles in the meeting house suddenly blew out and, during the confusion, the Charter disappeared. It was hidden in the trunk of a large white oak tree where it was protected from the King and from Andros.
Despite Connecticut’s resistance, it became part of the Dominion of New England for the next two years. In 1689 James II was overthrown and Andros lost power in the colonies. The Connecticut Charter emerged from hiding and was used to govern Connecticut until 1818.
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1650 - 1729 (78 years)