The Weth. Atwoods are descendants of Thomas, said to have been a captain, of a company raised by himself, in Cromwell's 'Ironsides' reg't, and that at the battle of Marston Moor, a spent bullet knocked out two front teeth and lodged in his mouth—tho' Savage discredits the tale, and says that he was no captain, but only a physician. He is supposed to have descended from Thomas, 'Gent,' of Bromfield Co., Essex, Eng., and came to Plymouth, Mass., about 1640, and m, in 1667, Abigail _____, she being then 17, and he 57 yrs. of age. Trad., also, says that their log cabin was erected on the spot now, at beginning of 20th century, occup. by the Congl. Ch, at P.; and that later he built on the same site, a brick mansion, destroyed by fire within the memory of some recently living. He was joined by a nephew, Edward, from Eng., who engaged with him in the W. I. trade; and it is said that they built the first sea-going vessel at Rocky Hill, and that later, they built vessels, but the nephew d. at sea, and their ppy. was lost.
He came to Weth., not as Savage says, in 1688-9, but as Weth. Rec. show, as early as 1663; and was a householder there in 1670 …; m. Abigail _____; d. prob. early part of 1682, as the invent, of his est. (£148-06-09) was taken by John Kilborn, Sen., and Thos. Wright, on 24 Oct., of that yr. …; 13 Dec, 1682.—Htfd. Co. Prob. As a physician, Thomas Atwood had an extensive 'ride,' extending (as we learn from certain bills and notes found in Htfd. Prob. Rec.,) from Saybrook on the South, to Woodbury on the West; and he owned ld. in Rocky Hill, and also West of the Mountain, in Newington, where his ygst. son sett, and this is still occup. by his descendants."
