Page images
PDF
EPUB
[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

DEATH OF JOHN Ross.-The well known Indian Chief, John Ross, died in Washington on the 1st of August. His age is not stated, but it is judged to have been about 70 years. He was an influential and active Chief upwards of thirty years ago; and strenuously exerted himself to prevent the removal of his tribe (the Cherokees) from Georgia; but corruption and might prevailed over right, and the deed was done. See Drake's Book of the Indians, Book iv.

[graphic]

THE TUTTLE FAMILY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.

JOHN TUTTLE, Planter-Dorothy.

Ebenezer. John. Hon. Thos, Wallingford, Daughter. Apr. 26, 1699.

b. Jan.7, 1697-8.

THE TUTTLE FAMILY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.*

[Communicated by CHARLES W. TUTTLE, A.M.]

TUTTLE OF TUTHILL is a surname borne by families in New England for more than two centuries. The English surnames, whence the surname Tuttle is derived, are Tothill or Tuthill, ancient family names in England. These surnames are said to be taken from names of old localities in England and Wales.

Tuttle, the American surname, came to be generally adopted by the second and third generations of descendants of the emigrant settlers, although some branches continue to this day to adhere to the Eng lish form of the surname. The second syllable of the English surname passed through every possible change of spelling, before it finally settled into its present form "tle."

The first appearance of this family name in New England was in 1635, when the ship Planter, of London, brought, among her passengers, three families to Boston, viz. Richard Tuttle, wife and three young children; John Tuttle (brother of Richard), wife and four young children; and William Tuttle, wife and three young children. After remaining a few years in Charlestown, William removed to New Haven, Conn., where descendants of his name continue to this day. Rev. Joseph F. Tuttle, D.D., President of Wabash College, the celebrated Jonathan Edwards and Aaron Burr, are descended from William of New Haven. Richard settled in Boston, and his brother John in Ipswich. The Tuttles of Massachusetts descend from these two brothers.

JOHN' TUTTLE, the ancestor of the New Hampshire Family of Tuttles, settled in Dover, sometime between 1633 and 1640.† Tradition says he had a brother who settled in Connecticut; otherwise it is not known that he was connected with those who came in the Planter to Boston. There is a tradition, current among his descendants, that he came to Dover from Wales; another tradition says he came from the

For nearly one hundred and fifty years after the first settlement of Dover, there was no person of this surname residing in New Hampshire not of this family. To-day, Tuttles descended from those who came to Boston in 1635 are quite as numerous in the State as those descended from John Tuttle, of Dover.

"The same day [Oct. 10, 1633] Mr. Grant, in the ship James, arrived at Salem, having been but eight weeks between Gravesend and Salem. He brought Capt Wiggin and about thirty, with one Mr. Leveridge, a godly minister, to Pascataquack." Winthrop's Hist. of New England. No list of the names of these "thirty" can now be found. It is supposed that they were the planters of Dover; John Tuttle may have been one of them.

VOL. XXI.

12

*

western part of England. A coat-of-arms, in the possession of one branch of the family, corresponds with the arms of the Tothill families of Devonshire, Eng. Besides, it is a well-known historical fact, that the planters who settled in Dover, between 1633 and 1640, consisted of "families in the west of England, some of whom were of good estates, and of some account for religion." As John' Tuttle is here aptly described, so far as estate and religion are concerned, it may be safely concluded, from all the facts, that he is as to the place whence he came. No attempt has yet been made to trace out his connection in England, there being still hope that the private papers of his son, Judge Tuttle, may be discovered and throw more light on this subject of inquiry. All that is here related of him and his children, is derived from public records in New Hampshire.

The history of John' Tuttle commences with the appearance of his name in 1640, among the names of the principal citizens of Dover, on a protest against the project of Underhill to place the little republic. of Dover under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts. It has been inferred that the signers of this protest were the royalists and Church of England men of the settlement, who favored the political and religious views of Mason and Gorges, rather than those of the Massachusetts Puritans. John Tuttle selected for his residence a charming site on the east side of Dover Neck, "bounded with the river on the East, and the lott of Thomas Bearde on the South," and the "Greate High Streete" on the west. This site is about forty rods S. S. East of the first Church-the fortifications about which, are still plainly visible-in what is now Henderson's field. As it was designed to build a compact town" on this Neck, the land was laid out into house lots and streets, "one quarter of an acre" being called a "house lot." The planters built their houses, and dwelt here, "it being a fine, dry, and healthy situation; so high as to command all the neighboring shores, and afford a very extensive and delightful prospect," while their plantations were farther off in less protected places where there was more room.† John' Tuttle owned" eight acres" of this prospective city, on which he lived, and died in 1663, with a belief, probably, that his posterity would be enriched "beyond the dreams of avarice" by this investment. His plantation was on the "west side of Back River adjacent to the Three Creeks;" it is now owned and possessed by Samuel Tuttle, Esq., a descendant of the sixth generation, having always been owned and possessed by the Tuttles. This plantation embraced "lot No. 7" of the twenty acre lots," which was laid out to John Tuttle

Arms. Az. on a bend ar. cotised or, a lion passant sable. Crest. On a mount vert a Cornish chough proper, in its beak a branch of olive, fructed or. These arms were borne by the Tothill family of Peamore, Co. Devon. Other Tothill families in Plymouth and Exeter, Co. Devon, and in London, bore arms differing but slightly from those of the Peamore family. John Tuttle's descent from the Devonshire family is inferred from the possession of these arms by his descendants, and his probable origin in that part of England. + Dr. Belknap accurately describes this location and the fate of the first settlement: "At Dover is a high neck of land between the main branch of Pascataqua and Back River, about two miles long, and half a mile wide, rising gently along a fine road, and declining on each side like a ship's deck. It commands an extensive and variegated prospect of the rivers, bays, adjacent shores, and distant mountains. It has often been admired by travellers as an elegant situation for a city, and by military gentlemen for a fortress. The first settlers pitched here, but the trade has long since been removed to Cochecho Falls, about four miles further up, and this beautiful spot is almost deserted of its inhabitants."Hist. of New Hampshire, Vol. iii. page 202.

in 1642. It is the only one of these well-known twenty-four "twenty acre lots," laid out to as many persons in 1642, that is now, and always has been, owned by the descendants of the first grantee. Besides this he owned thirty acres of the "400 upland on the Great Bay;" and had granted him by the town a parcel of land which was laid out to his son Judge Tuttle, in 1706.

He is styled in the public records, "John Tuttle, Planter," the last half of the surname being written in all manner of ways. He seems to have communicated to his posterity a bias for his own calling; for, with but very few exceptions, his descendants to this day have been "husbandmen," tenaciously holding on to landed property, as illustrated by the fact of the uninterrupted ownership of the farm, which he owned and cultivated more than two hundred years ago, by his descendants.

John' Tuttle died intestate in May or June, 1663, leaving widow Dorothy, and three children. He was probably not far from forty-five years of age at his death. She was appointed Administratrix of her husband's estate, and made return to the Court June 30, 1663. Although cut off by death in the prime of life, soon after he settled in this wilderness his personal property inventoried shows him to be a well-to-do Planter. The Court decreed a distribution of the estate, reciting in its decree "yt the eldest daughter of the deceased is married and hath had her portion already; "that the "youngest daughter is to have £15 when she comes to the age of 18 years, or be disposess of on marrying." The bulk of the property, consisting of real estate, was given to the only son then living, John Tuttle, "when he comes to 21 years of age." The widow Dorothy was taxed for several years after, but nothing further is known of her; nor is it known whether she married her husband in England or here.

1. John' Tuttle, by wife Dorothy, had four children, as follows: (2) I. Daughter,' who married prior to 1663; she appears to be the wife of Capt. Philip Cromwell; if so, and she survived him, her name was Elizabeth. (3) II. Thomas: he was accidentally killed by the fall of a tree while a young lad. The cause of his death was officially inquired into by the Coroner and a jury consisting of twelve principal citizens of Dover. The verdict of the jury is recorded at Exeter: it recites how "wee found Thomas Tuttell, the son of John Tuttell by the stump of a tree which he had newly fallen upon another tree, rebounding back and fell upon him which was the cause of his death, as wee consider." (4) III. JOHN, b. 1646, d. June, 1720. (5) IV. Dorothy she married Capt. Samuel Tebbets, one of the principal citizens of Dover. Capt. Tebbets was grandson of Henry Tebbets, the first settler of the name.

4. JOHN, son of John' and Dorothy Tuttle, was a man of distinction in civil and military life. He filled, successively, every public office within the gift of the citizens of Dover; and was, by appointment in 1695, Judge of Their Majesties' Court of Common Pleas under the administration of Lt. Gov. Usher. He was Selectman of Dover in 1686-87-88: Town Clerk from 1694 to 1717: Town Treasurer in 1705, and other years following: member of the Provincial Assembly in 1698-99, 1705-6-7. Ife was one of the six Commissioners sent from Dover to the Convention of 1689, to "meet with the Commissioners of ye other towns of ye Province, to confer about and resolve

« PreviousContinue »