Founders of Hartford

The following list is based on the names that were engraved on the original Founders Monument in the Ancient Burying Ground, also sometimes referred to at the "Old" or "Center" Cemetery. The cemetery is located at the rear of the First Congregational ("Center") Church at the corner of Main and Gold Streets in Hartford. The original brownstone Monument erected in 1837 was replaced by one of pink Connecticut granite in 1986, and the names on the new monument differ slightly from the list shown here.

Those descended from an ancestor who settled in Hartford before February 1640, as evidenced by the Original Distribution of the Lands may be eligible for membership in the Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford.

Jeremy Adams Matthew Allyn Francis Andrews William Andrews John Arnold Andrew Bacon John Barnard Robert Bartlet John Baysey John Bidwell Thomas Birchwood William Bloomfield Thomas Bull Thomas Bunce Benjamin Burr Richard Butler William Butler Clement Chaplin Richard Church John Clark Nicholas Clark James Cole John Crow Robert Day Joseph Easton Edward Elmer Nathaniel Ely James Ensign Zachariah Field William Gibbons Richard Goodman Ozias Goodwin William Goodwin Seth Grant

George Graves Samuel Greenhill Samuel Hale Thomas Hale Stephen Hart William Hayden John Haynes William Hills William Holton Thomas Hooker Edward Hopkins John Hopkins Thomas Hosmer William Hyde Thomas Judd William Kelsey William Lewis Richard Lord Thomas Lord Richard Lyman John Marsh Matthew Marvin John Maynard John Moody Joseph Mygatt Thomas Olcott James Olmsted Richard Olmsted William Pantrey William Parker Stephen Post John Pratt William Pratt Nathaniel Richards

Richard Risley Thomas Root William Rusco Thomas Scott Thomas Selden Richard Seymour John Skinner Arthur Smith Thomas Spencer William Spencer Thomas Stanley Timothy Stanley Thomas Stanton Edward Stebbing George Steele John Steele George Stocking Samuel Stone John Talcott William Wadsworth Samuel Wakeman Nathaniel Ward Andrew Warner Richard Webb John Webster Thomas Welles William Westwood John White William Whiting John Wilcox Gregory Wolterton George Wyllys

For additional information, see:

Bates, Albert C., ed. Original Distribution of the Lands in Hartford Among the Settlers. Collections of the Connecticut Historical Society, Volume XIV. Hartford: The Society, 1912 [CSL call number HistRef F 91 .C7 v. 14].

Talcott, Mary Kingsley. The Original Proprietors. Reprint. Society of The Descendants of the Founders of Hartford, Inc., 1986 [CSL call number: HistRef F 104 .H353 A26 1986]. Includes information reprinted from Trumbull's Memorial History of Hartford County (below) on the individuals listed above as well as additional individuals having been proved to have resided in Hartford prior to 1640. Should you wish to purchase a copy of this booklet, contact the Connecticut Historical Society, 1 Elizabeth St., Hartford, CT 06105.

Barbour, Lucius Barnes. Families of Early Hartford, Connecticut. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1977 [CSL call number: HistRef F 104 .H353 A22 1977]. Contains genealogical information on over 950 families of early Hartford.

Hosley, William. By Their Markers Ye Shall Know Them: A Chronicle of the History and Restorations of Hartford's Ancient Burying Ground. Hartford: The Ancient Burying Ground Association, Inc., 1994 [CSL call number HistRef: F 104 .H362 H68 1994]. Includes a transcription of headstone inscriptions in the cemetery keyed to a map in the back of the volume.

Love, William DeLoss. The Colonial History of Hartford. Reprint. [Chester, CT]: Centinel Hill Press, 1974 [CSL call number F 104 .H357 1974].

Trumbull, J. Hammond. The Memorial History of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884. Boston: Edward L. Osgood, Publisher, 1886 [CSL call number F 102 .H3 T8]. See in particular Volume I, Part II, pp. 221-276.