Person:Jonathan Rudd (1)

Before his wedding, he was found in Hartford 2 Apr 1640, when he appeared in court for “being intimate with Mary Bronson.” He was also fined for defective arms in 1635 and later for attending a drinking party. His wedding was his first appearance in Saybrook. He was listed as a leathersealer there on 4 Oct 1656. (DuMond)

Savage's (vol. 3, p. 585): RUDD, JONATHAN, New Haven, perhaps 1640, certain. took oath of fidelity 1 Oct. 1644, Saybrook 1646, adm. freem. 1651 at hartford, M. in the winter of 1647, by John Winthrop of New London, wh. act. under commis. from mass. there, and made the young couple meet him half way, bec. the snow was so dep, and he had no authority at S. See Trumbull, Col. Rec. Ii. 558. Miss Caulkins, New london 48, tells the story, with docum. in full, and has also commeno. it in verse. He prob. d. 1668. his d. Patience m. 7 oct. 1675, Samuel Bushnell. Other ch. prob. were Mary, suppos, first b. who m. 12 Dec. 1666, Thomas Bingham; Jonathan; and Nathaniel.

?"Connecticut Nutmegger", Vol. 6, June 1973:

«i»In the winter of 1646/47, Jonathan Rudd and Mary Metcalf of Saybrook wished to be married. There was no magistrate in Saybrook and as the winter was very severe. the magistrate from Hartford was unable to make the trip to Saybrook. John Winthrop of New London was asked to perform the ceremony. At that time New London was part of the Massachusetts Colony and Winthrop was not authorized to perform the ceremony in Connecticut. The stream now known as Bride Brook was considered to be the boundary between the Connecticut and Massachusetts colonies. The parties met on the stream bank and Winthrp officiated at the marriage on the east bank or Massachusetts side where he had authority. A dower chest belonging to the bride with the initials JR and MM carved on it has been preserved. Until recently it was owned by the Bingham family and a photograph of it is in the Bingham Genealogy. It was last owned by the Lyman-allen Museum in New London until two years ago when the ladies of the society raised funds to purchase it. The chest now stands in the keeping room of the house.

Documentation of the Bride Brook wedding is unusually good. During the 1670s there were some excellent hay fields in the vicinity of the Lee House. The right to cut the hay was claimed by farmers from both New London and Lyme. John Winthrop, Jr. testified before the court that was attempting to settle the boundary dispute and told of the wedding and established Bride Brook as the boundary at that time. The dispute remained unresolved until finally it was agreed to settle the matter by means of a fist fight; each town selecting a man to represent it. The fight was held and the man from Lyme won. As a result, the boundary was moved about 2-1/2 miles eastward where it remained until 1839 when East Lyme was formed from parts of Lyme and Waterford."

«/i»

From:  [The Atlantic monthly. / Volume 37, Issue 222, April 1876]

BRIDE BROOK. by G.P. Lathrop

«i»WIDE as the sky Time spreads his hand, And blindly over us there blows A swarm of years that fill the land, Then fade, and are as fallen snows.

Behold, the flakes rush thick and fast; Or are they years that come between, When, peering back into the past, I search the legendary scene?

Nay; marshaled down the open coast, Fearless of that low i~ainparts frown, The winters white-winged, footless host Beleaguers ancient Saybrook town.

And when the settlers wake, they stare On woods half-buried, white and green, A smothered world, an empty air: Never had such deep drifts been seen!

But Snow lies light upon my heart! An thou, said merry Jonathan Rudd, Wilt wed me, winter shall depart, And love like spring for us shall bud.

Nay, how, said Mary, may that be? Nor minister nor magistrate Is here, to join us solemnly; And snow-banks bar us, every gate.

Winthrop at Pequot Harbor lies, He laughed. And with the morrows sun He faced the deputys dark eyes: How soon, sir, may the rite be done?

At Saybrook? There the power s not mine, Said he. But at the brook we 11 meet, That ripples down the boundary line;-~ There you may wed, and Heaven shall see t.

Forth went, next day, the bridal train Through vistas dreamy with gray light. The waiting woods, the open plain, Arrayed in consecrated white,

Received and ushered them along. The very beasts before them fled, Charmed by the spell of inward song These lovers hearts around them spread.

Four men with netted foot-gear shod Bore the maids carrying-chair aloft; She swayed above, as roses nod On the lithe stem their bloom-weight soft.

At last beside the brook they stood, With Winthrop and his followers; The maid in flake-embroidered hood, The magistrate well cloaked in furs,

That, parting, showed a glimpse beneath Of ample, throat-encircling ruff As white as some wind-gathered wreath Of snow quilled into plait and puff.

A few grave words, a question asked, Eyelids that with the answer fell Like falling petals, form that tasked Brief time; yet all was wrought, and well!

Then Brooklet, Winthrop smiled and said, Frosts finger on thy lip makes dumb The voice wherewith thou shouldst have sped These lovers on their way; but, come,

Henceforth forever be thou known By name of her here made a bride; So shall thy slender musics moan Sweeter into the ocean glide!

Then laughed they all, and sudden beams Of sunshine quivered through the sky. Below the ice the unheard streams Clear heart thrilled on in ecstasy;

And lo, a visionary blush Stole warmly oer the voiceless wild, And in her rapt and wintry hush The lonely face of Nature smiled.

Ah, Time, what wilt thou? Vanished quite Is all that tender vision now; And like lost snow-flakes in the night, Mute lie the lovers as their vow.

And 0 thou little, careless brook, Hast thou thy tender trust forgot? Her modest memory forsook, Whose name, known once, thou utterest not?

Spring wakes the rills blithe minstrelsy; In willow bough or alder bush Birds sing, with golden filigree Of pebbles neath the floods clear gush;

But none can tell us of that name More than the Mary. Men still say Bride Brook in honor of her fame; But all the rest has passed away.«/i»

1. ↑ Jonathan Rudd, in Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Directory. (Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, Jun 2015)
   290.

   "Rudd, Jonathan: [Origin] Unknown; [Emigration] 1639; [Resided] Hartford, New Haven, Saybrook [CCCR 1:45, 2:558-59; Granberry 310-12]."

2. ↑ DuMond, Dorothy Rudd. Some Ancestors and Descendants of Joseph Rudd, Jr. (1740-1818) and his wife, Sarah Story (1744-1842): of Bennington, Vermont and miscellaneous Rudd notes and records. (Ulster Park, New York: D.R. DuMond, 1982).
3. ↑ ^3.0 3.1 Genealogical and Family History of the State of Connecticut:.
4. ↑ Rudd Family, in Jacobus, Donald Lines, and Edgar Francis Waterman. The Granberry Family and Allied Families: including the ancestry of Helen (Woodward) Granberry. (Hartford, Conn.: E.F. Waterman, 1945)
   310-12.

   "Jonathan Rudd first appears at Hartford, Conn., 2 Apr 1640 when with other youths he was before the court for being too intimate with Mary Bronson. He came to New Haven where he was one of several fined for defective arms, 4 Jan 1643/4. Three months later he was fined with others for attending a drinking party; and he took the Oath of Fidelity, 1 July 1644."

5. ↑ The Connecticut Nutmegger. (East Hartford, Connecticut: Connecticut Society of Genealogists)
   24:445.

   "Jonathan Rudd - first appears in New Haven, where he was a worker in leather, a farmer and a soldier. New Haven County court records show that 'he kept a dirty gun and drank spirits while on guard duty.' He was a sergeant in the Saybrook train band in 1646 and married that winter to the nameless bride of the 'Bride Brook Story,' which has been immortalized in poetry, history, and fiction. Some genealogists believe she was Mary Metcalf, while others think she was Mary Burchard. After Jonathan's death in 1658, the Rev. Fitch was appointed guardian for the children and the family moved with him to Norwich."