Person:Henry Peck (1)

HENRY PECK, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT

"Henry Peck early settled at New Haven. He was among the first settlers there in the spring of 1638. He and Deacon William Peck, who also settled there in 1638, were doubtless relatives, and may have been brothers. They are supposed to have emigrated to this country in the company of Gov. Eaton, with the Rev. John Davenport and others, who arrived at Boston, June 26, 1637, in the ship Hector.

Who his progenitors were has not yet been ascertained. I have found none of the descendants to second any efforts of mine to do so, although many of them are abundantly able. He signed the fundamental agreement or compact of the settlers, made June 4, 1639, and took an active interest in the management and affairs of the settlement His home lot was in that part of the town now the city. A portion of it on what is now George Street, continues in the possession of his descendants. He died in 1651. His will is dated October 30,1651.

GENERATION: (l) Eleazer, bap. March 13, 1648; (2) Joseph, bap. Sept. 5, 1647; (3)- Benjamin, bap. Sept. 5, 1647; (4) Elizabeth, b. March 16, 1649, and bap. March 24, 1650. She m. John Hotchkiss, Dec. 4, 1672.

These baptisms are upon the church records. The birth of Elizabeth is upon the town records.

Mr. Savage says, in his Genealogical Dictionary, that there were two sons by the name of Eleazer, one dying young. There may have been, but I found but one name on record. Mr. Savage and others also say that Joseph and Benjamin were twins; but if there is any evidence of it upon the records, I failed to find it.

The following is the entry as it stands upon the record, with the two preceding entries, which I give to show its relation to them:

'Mary Hooker daughter of Mr William Hooker bap 5-7 [September]-1647. Susannah & John Brasy ye same day. Joseph & Benjamin Peck ye same day.'

They were both baptized the same day that Mary Hooker was, Sept. 5, 1647, but I see nothing in the record which indicates that they were twins."^[1]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Peck, Ira Ballou. A Genealogical History of the Descendants of Joseph Peck, who Emigrated with His Family to This country in 1638: and Records of his Father's and Grandfather's Families in England, with the Pedigree Extending back from Son to Father for Twenty Generations, with their Coat of Arms, and Copies of Wills, and also an Appendix ... (Boston, Mass.: Alfred Mudge & Son, 1868)
   324.

   He died in 1651. His will is dated October 30, 1651.

2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Jacobus, Donald Lines. Families of Ancient New Haven. (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1974)
   VI:1389.

   Henry Peck, d 1651; res. NH.