Person:John Bidwell (1)

"John Bidwell was a proprietor 'by the courtesie of the town' in 1640, when his home-lot was south of Seth Grant's home-lot, and on the east side of the road from Seth Grant's to the Mill. He also owned a tan-yard on an island in Little River, receiving four acres in all. He m. Sarah, dau. of John Wilcocks, of Hartford. Chosen chimney-viewer, 1655, 1661; freed from watching, warding, and training, Nov. 9, 1670. He and his wife, Sarah, were original members of the Second, or South Church, Feb. 12, 1670. He d. in 1687; inv., June 4, £419. 10. 6."^[3]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6} John Bidwell, in Jacobus, Donald Lines, and Edgar Francis Waterman. Hale, House and Related Families, Mainly of the Connecticut River Valley. (Hartford: The Connecticut Historical Society, 1952)
   459-65.

   "John Bidwell, founder of the Hartford family, was adult by 1640 when he had lands recorded, and it is doubtful whether his birth can be placed much later than 1615. Edwin M. Bidwell, compiler of the Genealogy published in 1884, supposes him to be the son of a Richard Bidwell of Windsor; and brother of a younger Richard of Windsor, of Anna [Hannah] wife of James Eno of Windsor, and of an early Bidwell who settled at Marshfield, Mass. These are assumptions and the present compiler (Jacobus) finds little to sustain them. … John¹ Bidwell, born _____, died at Hartford, Conn., in 1687; married Sarah² Wilcox, … daughter of John¹ and Mary (_____) Wilcox."

2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} John Biddle, in 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)
   1:174.

   "Biddle, John, Hartford 1639, d. 1687, leav. John, Joseph, Samuel, and Daniel, beside ds. Sarah House, Hannah Waddams, and Mary Meekins, prob. w. of John of H.
   
   [Additions and Corrections] [ Savage, 1:505] [Vol. 1] P. 174, l. 5 from bot. aft. Waddams, ins. b. 2 Oct. 1644,"

3. ↑ John Bidwell, in Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4} Bidwell, John sen., in Manwaring, Charles W. A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records. (Hartford, Conn.: R. S. Peck & Co., 1904-06)
   1:274-75.

   "Probate Records. Vol. IV, 1677 to 1687. Page 253-4.
   
   Bidwell, John sen., Hartford. Invt. £419-10-06. Taken 4 June, 1687, by William Pitkin, Joseph Olmsted. Will dated 10 February, 1680.
   
   I John Bidwell of Hartford do make this my last Will & Testament: I doe give to my son John Biddoll, & his heirs forever, my Lott in the swamp on the east side of the Connecticutt River, being about Two acres & a half, Lyeing between Thomas Bunce his Land & the Land of Goodman Easton; and allso I doe give & confirme unto him & his heirs forever all my Lands and buildings & appurtenances of them whatsoever, which Lye or are in the township of Hartford, on the west side of the Connecticut river. Also I give unto my son Joseph Bidwell £30 in current pay of this colony, £20 to be payd within two years after my decease, and £10 to be payd him for the use of his children after my wife's decease. Also I give to my son Samuel Bidwell £20—£10, to be payd him two years after my decease, and £10 for the use of his children after my wife's decease. Also I give to each of my Two daughters, Sarah House & Hannah Waddams, £20 apeice. Also I give to my daughter Mary Meekins the one halfe of my upper Lott in the swamp, Lyeing south of Ozias Goodwins Land thereby, and the other halfe I give to my grand son John Meekins, to be to them & their heirs forever, only my will is that my wife shall have the one halfe of that Lott during her Life, & that John Meekins shall not have the halfe of that lot unless he live with me or my wife until he be twenty years of age, If my self or wife do Live soe long. Also my will is that my wife Sarah Bidwell shall have all my household goods & stuffe, to be at her dispose forever; & I doe moreover give her the one halfe part of all my estate whatsoever that is not before disposed of, both Lands, houseing, Chattells, Cattell, or any other thing whatever it be, to be For her proper use during her natural Life & no Longer; & If it shall seem good to my wife at any time to leave that part of the housing & Lands & Cattell which I have given her during her Life as before unto my son Daniel Bidwell, Then I doe give her £8 by the year out of it, the Lands, houseing & Cattell to be payd her in current pay of the Colony by my son Daniel Bidwell or who soever enjoyeth the sayd Lands, houses, Chattells & Cattell. Also I doe give the other halfe of my whole estate not before disposed of, both Lands, houseing, Chattells, Cattell, & every other thing not before disposed of, unto my sayd son Daniel Bidwell & his heires & assigns forever. Also I doe in like maner give unto him, after the decease of my wife, the other halfe of my estate which was before given my wife for and during her natural life. I make my wife Sarah Bidwell and my son Daniel Bidwell Executors, and Mr. John Crow to be Overseer.
   
   JOHN X BIDWELL. LS.
   
   Witness: William Pitkin, Joseph Olmsted.
   
   A Codicill, dated 22 August, 1683: I give to my wife Sarah Bidwell, in addition, 2 cowes; to my son John Bidwell 4 acres of Land adjoyning Bartholomew Barnards Land. Son John Bidwell is to pay to Rev. John Whiting 20s, and £20 to my son Joseph Bidwell. And whereas Sarah House & Hannah Waddams were to receive £20 to each, my will is that my daughter House shall have £30, my daughter Waddams £10.
   
   JOHN X BIDWELL. LS.
   
   Witness: William Pitkin, John Makins.
   
   Court Record, Page 133—1 September, 1687: Will Proven."

5. ↑ John Bidwell, in Find A Grave.

   Although there is no record, it is probable that he was buried in the Ancient Burying Ground since the second cemetery in Hartford dates to roughly 1770.