Person:Richard Risley (1)

Although he is said to have come in the Griffin in 1633 with Rev. Cotton and Hooker, the Great Migration Study Project has not profiled him. It appears that the first record evidence of his presence in New England is in the February 1639/40 record of distribution of lands in Hartford^[1] cited by Mr. Jacobus, which implies that Risley was in Hartford no later than the fall of 1639. Mr. Risley also asserts that Richard Risley was a soldier in the Pequot War and participated in the adoption of the "Fundamental Order", Jan. 1639, but cites no record evidence for either. Neither Jacobus nor Risley cites any record evidence of his prior presence in the Massachusetts Bay. It also appears that there is no passenger list extant for the Griffin's voyage of 1633, so it is not clear how Mr. Risley determined that Richard Risley came with that group.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Jacobus, Donald Lines. The Risley Family of Connecticut. American Genealogist (D.L. Jacobus). (Oct 1949)
   25:233.

   Richard¹ Risley, born in England, died at Hartford, Conn., in 1648; married Mary -----, who died probably between 1655 and 1657. She married second, by December, 1648, William¹ Hills.
   Risley was an early settler in Hartford, where his lands were recorded in February 1639/40 in the Distribution of Lands. The last of six parcels entered was obtained by exchange in May 1648 [Conn. Hist. Society Collections, 14:266-7]. The inventory of the estate of Richard Risley of Hockanum, amounting to £135-05-16, was taken by John Cullick and William Gibbons. The names and ages of the three children were appended: Sarah, between 7 and 8 years; Samuel, about 2; and Rich., about 3 months. Distribution was ordered by the Court, 7 Dec. 1648, to the three children, and William Hill was to give security for payment of the portions and to bring them up to write and read. [Manwaring's Digest, 1:31.]

2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Risley, Edwin Hills. The Risley family history: including records of some of the early English Risleys; a genealogy of the descendants of Richard Risley of Newtown (Cambridge), Massachusetts (1633), and of Hartford, Connecticut (1636); an account of the family reunion at Hartford, August 3, 1904, and a list of the founders of the Commonwealth of Connecticut. (Grafton Press, 1909)
   33-37.
3.   Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford.

   Richard Risley (Wrisley), an original proprietor of Hartford; his home-lot in 1639 was on the west side of the road from George Steel's to the Great Swamp. He afterward went to Hockanum, and settled near Willow Brook. He d. about 1648; inv. £135. 5. 10. His widow m. William Hills, who agreed to bring up the children to read and write, and to give them their several portions.