Person:William Chittenden (5)

Establishing William Chittenden's Ancestry

"The publication in 1882 of the Chittenden genealogy [Alvan Talcott, Chittenden Family: William Chittenden of Guilford, Connecticut, and His Descendants, (New Haven, Conn.: Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor, 1882), 7. When listing baptisms in Marden near Cranbrook, 'March 1594, William son of Robert Chittenden, (signed) Salmon Boxer, Vicar of Marden,' the author stated 'There is no reason to doubt that this William is identical with William the emigrant.'], purporting to identify the father of William¹ Chittenden of Guilford, Connecticut, as Robert Chittenden, of Marden, Kent, has obscured his real ancestry. A 1901 Register Article pointed out that this identification was only a possibility, but at least two later secondary sources have taken this possibility to be fact.

This article will show that William¹ Chittenden was actually the son of William^A and Elizabeth (Markley) Chittenden of Hawkhurst, Kent. Elizabeth's will, dated 24 February 1635[/6?], mentions son William Chittenden, his wife Johan, and their daughter Johan. Since we already know that William¹ Chittenden married Joan Sheafe and had a daughter Joan, it looked as if Elizabeth were the mother of William¹ Chittenden.

To establish the earlier ancestry of the family involved reconstructing the entire Chittenden family of Hawkhurst based on parish registers and wills. And during the research, the 1643 will of the immigrant's uncle, Thomas Chittenden, was found mentioning 'my cousin William Chittenden which is in New England' and his children Johan and Thomas. This made the identification a certainty since the family reconstruction showed the testator was a brother of William¹ Chittenden and the parish registers showed the first two children of William and Joan Chittenden were Joan (baptized 1634) and Thomas (baptized 1636)."^[1]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7} William Chittenden, in Lynes, Martha A. The Ancestry of William¹ Chittenden of Guilford, Connecticut. New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Jul 2006)
   160:210-213.

   William Chittenden..was baptized at Hawkurst 17 July 1608, and died at Guilford, Connecticut, by 24 October 1660 when his inventory was presented in the Guilford court.

2. ↑ Talcott, Alvan. Chittenden family : William Chittenden of Guilford, Conn., and his descendants. (unknown: unknown, 1883)
   11.

   "In the New Haven Colonial Records, p. 417, we find this entry: 'An inventory of the estate of Will[ia]m Chittenden of Guilford, deceased, was presented, amounting to £677 16s. 7 d. as presented and proved in court at Guilford, the 21st of February, 1660-1, upon oath of Joane Chittenden, the widow and relict of the sayd Will[ia]m Chittenden, deceased, for the quantity, and by the testimony of Abraham Cruttenden, sen[io]r, John Fowler, and Will[iam] Stone, appraisers, for the valuation to be just.'
   
   Will[ia]m Leete, Governor"