Person:John Rockwell (5)

"It has been supposed that John Rockwell, the founder of the family of which this account is given, was from the vicinity of Dorchester, England, where the Rockwell name was well known, and came to America about the time mentioned in the History of Stamford by Huntington, page 25. To Huntington's History, perhaps more than to any other source, we are indebted for the early history of the immigrant John Rockwell, of Stamford, Conn. The date of the first record referring to John Rockwell is December 7, 1641, where he is named as one of the first settlers, and received for his home lot two acres and a parcel of woodland. In the same history is found a list of first settlers of Stamford, containing his name, and again, on page 40, there is found a record of John Rockwell being a witness in court there at that date. At a town meeting held at Stamford Feb. 19, 1667-8, it was voted that John Rockwell, Sr., be granted liberty to mow and have the grass of Noroton Island as long as he shall live in Stamford. He is also mentioned on the Land Records in 1669 as conveying his land in two parcels, to one person his house and home lot, and to another his land, after which he removed to Rye, Westchester County, N. Y., where he died in 1676. The Whitney Genealogy, page 22, speaking of Daniel Keeler, calls him the son of John and Hittabel Rockwell Keeler, and a grandson of John Rockwell, Sr., one of the first settlers of Stamford, Conn.; and again, on page 81, a note speaking of John Rockwell, Sr., records his death as having taken place at Rye, Westchester County, N. Y., in 1676; and also, on page 1259, in referring to the said John Rockwell, Sr., says that his wife was probably Elizabeth Weed, daughter of Jonas Weed, of Stamford, Conn."^[2]

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Nichols, Weeden Rockwell. The Descendants of John Rockwell II (1588-1662) and Wilmet Cade (1587-1662). (Hays, Kansas: Hays, Kansas : W.R. Nichols, 1996, 1996).
2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Boughton, James. A genealogy of the families of John Rockwell of Stamford, Conn., 1641, and Ralph Keeler of Hartford, Conn., 1639. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1979)
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