Person:Thomas Tracy (5)

Thomas Tracy's Ancestry

Attempts to trace his ancestry into the Gloucestershire Tracy family have been shown to be incorrect. His ancestry is unknown, although a theory exists that he may have been from Norwich, County Norfolk, England.

The Life and Wives of Thomas Tracy

"(Lieut.) Thomas(1) Tracy, born perhaps in co. Norfolk, England, died at Norwich, Conn., 7 Nov. 1685; married first, ----- -----; married second, Martha (Bourne) Bradford, who died at Norwich between 1676 and 1783, widow of John Bradford; married third, Mary (Foote) (Stoddard) Goodrich, born in England about 1623, widow of John Stoddard (died 1664) and of John Goodrich (died 1680)."^[1]

Thomas Tracy's Career in New England

"He was a ship carpenter, and was received an inhabitant in Salem, Mass., 2 Mar. 1636/7, upon the recommendation of some Watertown citizens. He removed to Wethersfield, Conn., but probably not early enough to serve in the Pequot War of 1637, a service with which he has often been credited. He served on a jury in June 1644, and was one of those from whom Robert Bedle stole, for which the latter was tried in Dec. 1644, and he was called of Saybrook on 20 Mar. 1649/50 [Conn. Col. Records, 1-106, 115, 206.]

It is not certain when he settled in Saybrook, but Mr. de Forest suggests 1645, and makes out a good case for supposing that he was the companion of Thomas Leffingwell when he set out from Saybrook in May or June 1645 with a boat load of provisions for the Mohegan Sachem, Uncas. The grant of 400 acres by the General Court, in Oct. 1667, would then be interpreted as in recognition of this service rather than for participation in the Pequot War. The General Court, on 23 Feb. 1652/3, appointed Tracy to assist Capt. John Mason in charge of the fort at Saybrook.

It may have been this service under Mason which caused him to be called Ensign in records of 1663 and 1664. He became an original proprietor of Norwich, Conn., in 1660, and was appointed Ensign of the Norwich Train Band, Oct. 1666. He was appointed Lieutenant of the New London Troop, Aug. 1673; Muster Master of New London County, Nov. 1673; and served as Quartermaster in 1675 and 1676 during King Philip's War.

He was Deputy for Norwich to the Conn. General Assembly, Oct. 1662, May and Oct. 1663, May and Oct. 1667, May and Oct. 1670, May 1672, May and Oct. 1673, May 1675, May and Oct. 1676, May and Oct. 1677, May and Oct. 1678, Oct. 1682, May 1683, and May and July 1684.

He was one of the committee in charge of the Stonington Indians, Oct. 1666. He was Commissioner [Justice] for Norwich, 1678, 1681 and 1684.

[Conn. Col. Records, 1-384, 399, 410, 432; 2-49, 56, 59, 70, 74, 126, 136, 170, 192, 206, 209, 218, 249, 274, 286, 300, 318, 332, 455; 3-3, 5, 16, 76, 106, 115, 139, 140, 151.]

Qualifying ancestor, Society of Colonial Dames of America, and Society of Colonial Wars.

He was Constable of Norwich in 1670. Administration on his estate was granted to Sergt. John Tracy, and on 1 Feb. 1685/6 the heirs, including Sergt. Thomas Waterman, made an agreement of distribution."^[1]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Thomas Tracy, 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)
   334.
2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 The Goodrich Line, in Holman, Mary Lovering; Winifred Lovering Holman; and Helen Pendleton Winston Pillsbury. Ancestry of Colonel John Harrington Stevens and his wife, Frances Helen Miller: Compiled for Helen Pendleton (Winston) Pillsbury. (Concord, New Hampshire: Rumford Press, 1948, 1952)
   187.

   Lt. Thomas Tracy … died in Norwich, 7 Nov. 1685, aged seventy-six.

3.   Hunt, John G. Fiction versus Probability in the Tracy Genealogy. American Genealogist (D.L. Jacobus). (Oct 1965)
   41:250-251.

   This article presents evidence that a previous identification of Thomas Tracy of Salem, Mass. and Norwich, Conn. with a Lieutenant Thomas Tracy, son of William and Mary (Conway) Tracy of Gloucestershire and nephew of Lord Conway, is incorrect. The article indicates that Donald Lines Jacobus in The Waterman Family (1 [1939]:691-94) partially disproved the earlier identification, and then goes on to present more evidence that makes it clear the two were not the same man. The article further suggests the possibility of Thomas Tracy of Salem and Norwich being from Norwich, County Norfolk, England.

4. ↑ Norwich, New London, Connecticut, United States. Vital Records of Norwich, 1659-1848. (Hartford, Conn.: Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Connecticut, 1913)
   1:7.

   'liut. Thomas Tracy deceased 7th nouembr. 1685'