"46. Lieut. Samuel Doolittle, (Samuel, Abraham), s. of Samuel and Mary (Cornwall) D., was b. at W., Aug. 31, 1691, but the family soon rem. to Middletown. He and Jane Wheeler were m. Aug. 1, 1714, at W. by 'Capt. Ward, Justice.' They res. at W. till the birth of their third child (1720). On June 20th of that year he was among the first settlers of Stafford, Ct., and laid out four acres of meadow land. In 1723 he was assigned 50 acres, in 1724 another 50 acres, in 1726 a division of 80 acres, and in 1728 a piece of meadow of 4 acres. Other entries regarding him appear on the Stafford records.
The records at Springfield, Mass., state that Oct. 7, 1731, he bought a farm in Palmer, Mass. (then called the Elbows), of Thomas Richardson. This farm is now owned by John St. John.
Samuel was called Sergt. in 1732, and his name occurs quite frequently in the town records of Palmer. It appears that he was a very capable and well-to-do man, and appreciated by his fellow townsmen. In 1732 he was one of the signers of a petition to the General Court for redress of grievances. In 1733 he was appointed one of the committee to lay out necessary roads; this was the time when nearly all of the original roads were laid out in Palmer and must have been quite an undertaking with the limited means then at command. The same year he served on the committee who built the first meeting house in Palmer. He owned at least 100 acres of land at this place in 1733. His useful life was cut short soon after the completion of the first church in town and in all probability his was the first funeral held within its walls.
The following interesting notice of his death and funeral appears on the Palmer records: 'Lieut. Samuel Doolittle Departed this Life on Saturday ye 17th Day of July 1736. After a Short Illness of two or three days, and was Decently Inter'd on the Day following, after ye Afternoon Service, it being the Sacrament Day, a multitude of people Respectfully attended ye Funeral.'
He was probably the first one who was buried at the old Centre cemetery, which was laid out the previous year. It is to be regretted that no headstone marks the place of his burial. The est. of Lieut. Samuel D. was inv. at £900, a goodly sum for those days, and was divided among the heirs in 1738, …"
