Person:Isaac Willey (4)

"Isaac (Willey), Boston, by w. Joanna had Isaac, bapt. in her right, 2 Aug. 1640; Hannah, 6 Mar. 1642; rem. to Charlestown, there had Sarah, b. 19 June 1644; rem. next yr. with John Winth. to New London, as one of its first sett. Caulkins suppos. that 'he and his w. had pass. the bds. of mid. age, and that all their ch. were b. bef.' But this may be too large; at least we presume that Mary or Abraham, or both, and perhaps John (tho. he is said to have work. 1651, in build. the milldam, where he seems to be mistak. for his f.) were b. after the rem. He was selectman 1647, is seen on the freemen's list 1669; m. a. 1671, Ann, wid. who had been, Caulkins thinks, third w. but in my opin. only sec. of Andrew Lester, as I much distrust the exist. of any d. Joanna, w. of Robert Hempstead, to be tak. aft. his dec. by Lester; and he d. a. 1685. The wid. d. 1692. Hannah m. Peter Blatchford, and, next, Samuel Spencer of Haddam; Sarah m. John Terrill or Tyrrell, perhaps as sec. w. d. 7 Mar. 1712; and Mary m. Samuel Tubbs."

"Isaac Willey, died about 1685. Willey's house-lot was on Mill Brook, at the base of Post Hill. He was an agriculturist, and soon removed to a farm at the head of Nahantic River, which was confirmed to 'old goodman Willie,' in 1664. It is probable that both he and his wife Joanna, had passed the bounds of middle age, and that all their children were born before they came to the banks of the Pequot. Isaac Willey, Jr., was a. married man at the time of his death, in 1662; John Willey was one who wrought on the mill-dam in 1651; Abraham had married and settled in Haddam before his father's decease. No other sons are known. Hannah, wife of Peter Blatchford, is the only daughter expressly named as such, but inferential testimony leads us to enroll among the members of this family, Joanna, wife of Robert Hempstead, and afterward of Andrew Lester; Mary, wife of Samuel Tubbs, and Sarah, wife of John Terrall.

Isaac Willey married, second, after 1670, Anna, relict of Andrew Lester, who survived him. The Willey farm was sold to Abel Moore and Chr. Christophers. John Willey married in 1670, Miriam, daughter of Miles Moore. He lived beyond the head of Nahantick, and when the bounds between New London and Lyme were determined, his farm was split by the line, leaving twenty acres, on which stood his house, in New London. Abraham Willey, the ancestor of the Haddam family, married Elisabeth, daughter of Thomas Mortimer, of New London."

"Isaac Willey¹ was of Boston, Mass., as early as 1640, and removed to Charlestown, Mass., before 1644. All that is known about him there are the records of his children given by Savage and in the Boston Record of births, &c. He had wife Joanna, who died in New London, Conn., where he m. after 1670 Anna, widow of Edward Lester …. She died in 1692. In 1645 he went with John Winthrop, Jr., to New London. What is known about him there is given in Miss Caulkins's History of N. L. …

In a note, Miss Caulkins says he wrote his name Isark Willy. She was, however, misinformed as to Abraham being the ancestor of the Haddam family.

From the authorities cited by Miss Caulkins we learn that in 1645 Isaac Willey and John Stebbins mowed the meadows of the Upper Mamacook. At a meeting held Feb. 25, 1647, he was chosen, with John Winthrop, Robert Hempsteed, Samuel Lothroup and Thomas Minor, 'to act in all Toune affaires;' and at the same meeting he was granted 'to have a planting lot at the other side of the cove, near Mr. deane winthrops lot.' The house lots originally numbered 38, but the number was reduced to 36. The first grantee was John Winthrop, Esq., and Isaac Willey was the fifth after him, 'his homestead lying north west of Mr. Winthrop's on the upper part of what are now Williams street and Main street.' His name occurs as one of sixteen who had cattle marks before 1650. At a General Court in May, 1649, 'certain individuals at Pequot,' viz., Robert Bedell, Cary Latham and Isaac Willey, charged with resisting a constable and letting go an Indian committed to their charge, were summoned to appear at Hartford and answer for their conduct. Referring to rate bills of Sept. 20, 1657, Miss Caulkins says: 'After enumerating house and houselot, meadow, marsh and upland, the planter had from two to four cows; half a dozen calves, yearlings and two years old; a litter of swine and two or three sheep, or perhaps a share in two or three sheep. This was all the ratable property of even some of the oldest settlers, as Willey.' About 1652, two necks of land, one of them called 'a pyne neck,' with a broad cove between them, east of Pequot River, were granted to him, and sold by him to Amos Richardson. The Nahantic farm is described as 'rounding the head of the river.' His name is 15th in the list of 21 freemen in 1669. [Conn. Colon. Rec., ii, p. 523.] Nov. 29, 1669, the town appointed Wm. Hough, John Stebbins, Clement Minor and Isaac Willey 'to lay out the King's highway 'between New London and the head of Niantick river.' He appears to have been a participant in the affray in Aug. 1671, arising out of the disputed lands between New London and Lyme, now East Lyme, as he was among those arraigned at Hartford, March 12, 1671-2, (Miss Caulkins has it inadvertently 1661-2,) 'for attempts by violence to drive Mr. Mathew Griswold and Lieut. Wm. Waller off their lands, and resistance to authority and assault.' [Conn. Colonial Rec, ii, p. 558.] He took probate of the will of his son-in-law, Thomas Hungerford, at Hartford, July 9, 1663. [Goodwin, p. 201]

In 1667, Goodwife Willey was presented before the court 'for not attending public worship and bringing her children thither,' and fined 5 shillings. [Miss Caulkins, p. 250.]"