Person:George Colton (5)

Quartermaster George Colton - His Life and Career in New England

"George Colton, called in the records of the time "Quartermaster" George Colton, was born, tradition says, in the town of Sutton Coldfield, County of Warwick, England, date unknown. He married Deborah Gardner, of Hartford, Conn., about 1644. Her antecedents are also uncertain. She died 5 September, 1689, in Springfield, Mass. He married, second, Widow Lydia Lamb, 1 March, 1692, whose maiden name was Lydia Wright, daughter of Deacon Samuel Wright, of Springfield, Mass., who settled there 1638. It is thought his paternal ancestor was Nathaniel Wright, merchant, London. She had been previously married three times; first, 25 Oct., 1654, to Lawrence Bliss, who died in 1666; second, 31 Oct., 1678, to John Norton, who died 24 Aug., 1687; and third, 7 Jan., 1688, to John Lamb, who died 28 Sept, 1690. The second wife of Capt. Thomas Colton …, Hannah Bliss, was her daughter by her first husband. She died 18 Feb., 1699. He died 17 Dec., 1699 [All the published accounts of these deaths have these dates transposed, thus making the wife survive her husband. The dates given here are from the original official record of deaths in Springfield and are unquestionably correct.

The name of the Quartermaster's first wife, Deborah Gardner, is given here as it appears in the record of Jabez Colton, to whose painstaking labor we owe so much of our present knowledge of the old Longmeadow families, and from whose compilation all the published accounts of the Colton families seem to have been copied; but what his authority for the statement was, cannot be traced. We do not find the name of Gardner among those of the early colonists, but there was a Thomas Goodner who lived in Salem in ____, and who subsequently settled in Hartford, Conn. Some who have given much attention to the matter are confident that Gardner is a clerical error, or a misreading of Goodner, and that the family name of Quartermaster George Colton's wife was Deborah Goodner. This statement is made herewithout endorsement, but it is possible that this may be the fact.

It would be very gratifying if we could trace Quartermaster George Colton, to his home and ancestry in England. Future search or accident may bring the desired facts to light, but thus far all attempts to find records that would settle the questions of parentage, date and place of birth, and of his arrival in this country, have been unsuccessful. The records in the parish church in Sutton Coldfield, which seem to be full and complete from 1603 down, have been examined at different times for facts relating to our ancestor, and again, lately, for this work, but without result, and it seems possible, therefore, that he may have been born and recorded elsewhere, but, from having spent much of his early life in that place, that he spoke of it, as his old home in England.

The first fact we certainly know of him here is his marriage. Of previous history there are traditions, but these are generally vague, contradictory, and without proof. The one giving his birthplace as Sutton Coldfield, a small place about six miles northward from Birmingham, England, is the oldest and has apparently the best foundation, but to this time repeated searches have failed to reveal his name, or that of any other Colton with whom he might be connected. The date of his marriage, about 1644, shows, that he probably was born not much, if any later, than 1620, and that of his death, 1699, points to a year not earlier than 1610; between these dates, therefore, we may suppose him to have been born.

His name does not appear in any of the known lists of departures from England, or of arrivals here; but this is easily accounted for by the political and social conditions of the times. The suggestion has been made that he probably came in the ship "Lion's Whelp" on one of her many trips between the old country and the colonies; but of this no positive proof has been found. The place of landing and the date of his arrival here must, therefore, much to our regret, remain for the present unanswered questions.

He reached the Springfield settlement as early as 1644, and located in Masacksick, Longmeadow, Springfield. He took the oath of allegiance in 1665, and was made a freeman in 1669-71, and in 1677 was a Representative in the General Court of Massachusetts. In 1670 he and Capt. John Pynchon, Benjamin Cooley, Lieut. Thomas Cooper, Rowland Thomas and Capt. Elizur Holyoke were appointed commissioners to lay out lots, and organize and sell the lands in the new Plantation (of Suffield) by the General Court of Massachusetts. On the 20th of March, 1672, the General Committee instructed Lieut. Cooper, and Quartermaster George Colton, to lay out and establish the bounds of Suffield, and Charles Ffeury, Joseph Leonard, Samuel Harmon and Joseph Harmon, were appointed to attend them while performing that duty. In the year 1722 fifty acres of land were laid out in Suffield, to the assigns of said George Colton, then deceased, in recognition of public services. Other honorable mention is made of him in the old records, from all of which it is apparent that he was a prominent, trusted and public-spirited member of the community in which he lived."^[1]

Emigrated to Springfield, MA in 1644.Later to Longmeadow. Quartermaster in Hampshire Co. troop in 1663. Served in King Philip’s War. Deputy to General Court 1669, 1671, 1677.

George Colton, known to his descendants as Quartermaster George, married Deborah GARDNER of Hartford in 1664. His wife died September 5, 1689, and he married second, Widow Lydia LAMB, March 1, 1692. She died February 13, 1699 and he died December 17, 1699. For seventeen years he was one of the Selectmen of Springfield, having first been chosen in 1657. In 1669 he was chosen Deputy to the General Court, to which office he was twice re-elected, sitting in 1671 with Captain William Davis, a son-in-law of William Pynchon, and a non-resident. He received his military title of Quartermaster from the General Court. He was appointed Quartermaster of the Hampshire troop, of which John Pynchon was Captain, in 1668, Ensign of the foot company in 1681 and Lieutenant in 1688. From the frequency that he was called to perform public duties it is evident that he was an influential citizen. His children were:--

  Isaac, b. November 21, 1646, m. Mary COOPER.
  Ephraim, b. April 9, 1648, m. Mary DRAKE, and second, Esther MARSHFIELD.
  Mercy, b. September 22, 1649, m. Samuel BARNARD.
  Thomas, b. May 1, 1651, m. Sarah GRISWOLD.
  Sarah, b. February 24, 1653, m. Samuel GRAVES.
  Deborah, b. January 26, 1654, m. Nathaniel BLISS, Jr.
  Hepzibah, b. January 7, 1656, m. Jonathan WELLS.
  John, b. April 18, 1659, m. Abigail PARSONS, and second, Joanna WOLCOTT.
  Benjamin, b. April 26, 1661, d. young.

George and Deborah had ten children.

RESIDENCE: Lived in Hartford, Connecticut, moved to Springfield, Massachusetts ca. 1644-45. Later lived in Longmeadow, Massachusetts.

MILITARY SERVICE: Quartermaster, Hampshire Co. troop 1663, served in King Phillip's War.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Colton, G. Woolworth (George Woolworth). A Genealogical Record of the Descendants of Quartermaster George Colton. (Philadelphia: John Milton Colton, 1912)
   1-4.
2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Best, Frank E. (Frank Eugene); William John Keep; and Helen Elizabeth Keep. John Keep of Longmeadow, Massachusetts, 1600-1676, and His Descendants: in which is Incorporated an Unpublished Keep Genealogy Prepared by W.J. Keep; a Record of Ancestry by Helen E. Keep; and the Extended Ancestry of Sallie Keep Best. (Chicago, Illinois: Frank E. Best, 1899)
   14-15.
3. ↑ ^3.0 3.1 Stott, Clifford L. Vital Records of Springfield, Massachusetts to 1850. (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2002)
   70.

   Quarter Master Georg Colton dyed December the 17th at night 1699

4.   Hubbard, George David Read, and Romania Clarke Wittstruck. Ancestors and descendants of Josiah Hosmer Jr. 1600 to 1902: 1993 addition, descendants of Charles Clarke and Clara Ann Wood: descendants of Henry Wood Clarke and Alice Gertrude Hansen. (Waco, Texas: R.C. Wittstruck, 1993).
5.   George Colton, in Find A Grave.
6.   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)
   1:438.

   "GEORGE, Springfield 1644, came from Sutton Coldfield, as is said, Co. Warwick, a. 8 ms. from Birmingham, m. Deborah Gardner, had Isaac, b. 1646; Ephraim, 1648; Mary, or Mercy, 22 Sept. 1649; Thomas, 1651; Sarah, 1653; Deborah, 1655; Hepzibah, 1637; John, 1659; and Benjamin, 1661, d. young; was freem. 1665, a grantee of Suffield 1670, call. "quartermaster" in the rec. rep. 1669, 71, and 7. His w. d. 5 Sept. 1689, and he m. 1692, Lydia, d. of deac. Samuel Wright, wid. of John Lamb, wh. had been wid. of John Norton, and bef. him of Lawrence Bliss; d. 17 Dec. 1699."