Person:Gerard Spencer (2)

Gerard and his siblings were raised in Stotfold, Bedfordshire, England. Gerard is alleged in some sources to have come to New England in 1630 under John Winthrop. However, he does not appear on any passenger list, and that information may well refer to his brother WIlliam, who does appear on early lists in Cambridge by 1632.^[6] Gerard does appear in Cambridge in 1634: "in the prime of September 1634, Lots granted one west side River - Gerrad Spencer 4 ackrs." He was a Freeman on 9 March, 1637.

He moved to Lynn, MA with his brother Michael in 1638 and ran the ferry there. The ferry ran from Needham's Landing in Lynn to Biards Landing in Saugas. In 1661 he was one of the 28 purchasers of the town of Haddam. He was commissioned as an Ensign for the town of Haddam on September 14, 1675. A pewter flagon and Urim Basin are in the glass case in the rear of the church sancturary at Haddam. He was Rep. Gen. in CT., 1674 and served in King Phillips War. The townspeople of Haddam, CT presented him for "an Ensigne for their Trayn Band."

Colonial Records of Connecticut, Volume 2, published 1852, states on p. 182 that "Ensigne Jarrad Spencer is propownded for a freeman." This entry was made at a Court session held at Hartford, June 26, 1672. This session was presided over by Governor John Winthrop, and a footnote indicates that this session was hastily called in response to a letter from the King of England that he had declared war against the States General. The King's letter advised the Colonies to make "speedy and effectual provision for their defence against the Dutch."

At page 260-61 of the Colonial Records of Connecticut, Volume 2, Ens. Gerrard Spencer is listed as a deputy at a "Generall Court by Speciall Order of the Gouernor," which met on July 9, 1675. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the Indian War which broke out in Plymouth Colony and the danger it presented to the eastern towns in Connecticut. ("The Court being mett, they were acquainted wth the occasion of theire meeting, which was the present trouble of the Indians now risen against the English, spoyleing and destroying of them by fire and sword . . .")^[7]

The Estate of Ensign Jarrad Spencer

"Vol IV, 1677 to 1687 Probate Records

Spencer, Jarrad, Ensign, Haddam. Invt. £124-112-00 of Estate not disposed of by Will. Taken June 29, 1685 by Joseph Arnot & Alexander Rollo. Will dated 17 September 1683.

The last Will of Ensign Jarrad Spencer of Haddam: I give unto my son William the Land which I bought of Steven Luxford's Estate. How I come by it the Court Record will show. I give unto my son William 1-3 part of 48 acres lying by that wch was commonly called Welles his Brook. I give to my son Nathaniel my now Dwelling house with the Lott that was the Houselott, with an Addition lying by the side of it, granted by the Committe. I give unto my daughter Rebeckah that Houselott I bought of Thomas Smith. Likewise I give unto my daugthter Rebeckah 1-3 part of the Lott by Welles his Brook. I give unto my son Thomas 40 acres on Matchamodus Side. I give unto my son Thomas his son, Jarrad Spencer by name, my Rapier. I give unto my son Timothy Spencer the remainder of that 6 score acre lott wherof his 2 brothers had their shares. The other 6 score thereof I dispose of as followeth: To Grace Spencer, the daughter of my son John Spencer, 40 acres; to Alice Brooks, the daughter of my daughter Brooks, 40 acres; to Grace Spencer, the daughter of my son Samuel Spencer, I give the other 40 acres. I give unto Jarred Cone, the son of my daughter Cone, my Carbine. A pewter Flagon and Urim Basin I give to the Church at Haddam, if there be one within five years. It is my Will that my son John Spencer his Children and my son-in-law Daniel Cone his Children have an equal proportion of my Estate with my other Children. It is my Will that however my Estate falls out for portions to my Children, that my daughter Ruth Clarke's portion shall be £15, which was my Covenant with her father at her marriage, which £15 she hath received some part thereof, as my Books will testify; & to son Joseph Clarke I give him 40 acres of land at Matchemodus. It is the humble request of Jarrad Spencer that the honoured Major John Talcott and Capt. John Allyn would be pleased to oversee this his Will. I appoint my two sons Daniel Brainard and William Spencer Adms. to the Estate.

JARRAD SPENCER Witness: John James, Joseph Arnot.

Court Record, Page 111 - 3 September, 1685: Adms to Daniel Braynard and William Spencer, with the Will annexed."^[4]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Jacobus, Donald Lines. The Four Spencer Brothers: Their Ancestors and Descendants. American Genealogist (D.L. Jacobus). (Apr, Jul 1951; Jan, Apr, Oct 1952; Jan, Apr, Jul 1953; Jan, Oct 1954)
   27:164-65.

   Ensign Gerard¹ Spencer, baptized at Stotfold, Beds, England, 25 Apr. 1614, died at Haddam, Conn., in 1685 (will 17 Sept. 1683. proved 3 Sept. 1685).

2. ↑ Emmison, F. G. (Frederick George). Bedfordshire parish registers (Stotfold 1559-1812). (Shire Hall: Bedford County Record Office, 1948).
3.   Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England: Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register. (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co, 1860-1862)
   4:147.

   JARED, GERRET, GARADE, or GARRETT, Cambridge 1634, removed to Lynn, freeman 9 Mar. 1637, in Mar. 1639, had gr. of the ferry at Lynn removed to Haddam before 1660, was propound. for freeman of Connecticut 1672, was ensign of the militia representative 1674 and 5; had wife Hannah, son John: Thomas: Samuel: William: Nathaniel: Timothy: and daughters Hannah, who married about 1665, Daniel Brainard, grandfather of the celebrated missionary to the Indians; Mehitable married Daniel Cone; Alice married early in 1662, Thomas Brooks, and, next, 1673, Thomas Shaler; Rebecca married about 1682, John Kennard, and, next, John Tanner; and Ruth married Joseph Clark; and he died 1685.

4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4} Manwaring, Charles W. A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records. (Hartford, Conn.: R. S. Peck & Co., 1904-06)
   1:363-64.
5. ↑ ^{5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12} Jared Spencer, in Anderson, Robert Charles; George F. Sanborn; and Melinde Lutz Sanborn. The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635. (Boston, Massachusetts: NEHGS, 1999-2011)
   6:419-28.

   ORIGIN: Stotfold, Bedford.
   MIGRATION: 1634 (based on grant of land at Cambridge on 1 September 1634 [CaTR 10]).
   OCCUPATION: Ferryman. On 13 March 1638/39, "Garret Spencer is granted the ferry at Linn for 2 years, taking 2d. for a single person to the furthest place, & but a 1d. a person for more to the furthest place, & but a 1d. for a single person to the nearest place" [MBCR 1:253].
   CHURCH MEMBERSHIP: Admission to Lynn church prior to 9 March 1636/7 implied by freemanship.
   FREEMAN: 9 March 1636/7 (as "Garret Spencer," third in a sequence of three Lynn men) [MBCR 1:372]. On 26 June 1672, "Ensign Jarrad Spencer is propounded for a freeman" of Connecticut [CCCR 2:182].
   BIRTH: Baptized, Stotfold, Bedford, 25 April 1614, son of Gerard and Alice (Whitbread) Spencer [TAG 27:84, 164].
   DEATH: By 29 June 1685 (date of inventory).

6. ↑ Great Migration lists Gerard's year of arrival as 1634.
7. ↑ “Haddam, CT web site (Founders list),” http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wcarr1/gerrard_spencer.htm Accessed 5 February 2014.